When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#460 - Where will the future of the dwarves go?

“No need to go to eat, we are not used to human food.” Calling over another dwarf to take over, Kelgan wiped the sweat from his body and face with his apron, and casually pulled a wooden stump to sit down. “Whatever you have to say, just say it here.”

“The chaos caused by the system of weights and measures, you just heard me talk about it.” Horn wasn't fussy, and casually moved another wooden stump to sit down.

“I understand, but your method will easily leak dwarven craftsmanship. I don’t want to be a sinner.”

Due to the glorious deeds of the empire repeatedly stealing dwarven craftsmanship, they have a morbid defensiveness and post-traumatic stress disorder regarding humans stealing technology.

Horn immediately shook his head and said, “You’re wrong about that. Let me ask you, why are you afraid of your craftsmanship being stolen?”

Since it was approaching noon, several dwarves were resting. Hearing this important figure in a sleeveless jacket chatting with Uncle Kelgan, they naturally gathered around.

Kelgan didn't drive the dwarves away, but said with a straight face, “You humans learn the skills and forget your masters, stealing the jobs of the dwarves.

Originally, we dwarves were all rich. We could eat and dress warmly by relying on iron forging. It's all you humans who caused us to live in the deep mountains, so poor.”

Horn slowly shook his head: “How much of the craftsmanship of those humans was invented by dwarves?

You know, some skills can be accumulated over time.

Many times, some crafts are discovered and summarized by humans themselves, not by dwarves.

In human craftsmanship, the technology stolen from dwarves, although critical, is not indispensable. Humans can research it in another hundred years.

As for what you said about apprentices starving their masters, doesn't that happen among dwarves?

I've heard Halkin say a lot about this, like your brother Boka.”

“That jibbering kid, why does he tell everyone everything…” Kelgan's old face was a little embarrassed, and he muttered.

This Boka is Kelgan's younger brother, also Halkin's second cousin. Originally, Kelgan's father should have only passed on the family's craftsmanship to Kelgan alone.

But seeing that Boka was both hardworking and filial, his old father softened his heart and ultimately passed on some core skills to Boka.

Then Boka took these technologies and defected to the Franks, causing Kelgan's family to lose face among the dwarves of the Dragon Mountains, and his old father died in depression.

“So what? What do you want to prove?” A young dwarf who couldn't stand it stood up and asked.

Horn shrugged: “Putting everything else aside, we can recognize that humans and dwarves are the same in greed and betrayal, there is no difference.

As for leakage, it is almost impossible to avoid by dwarves themselves. Master Kelgan, do you agree?”

“Get me a glass of mead.” Kelgan said dejectedly to a young apprentice next to him, “Even so, we should still try to slow down the loss of dwarven skills.”

“Okay, then let me ask you another question, how much ahead of humans is dwarven craftsmanship currently?” Horn asked the dwarves present.

“Two hundred years.”

“Three hundred years.”

“Five hundred years, at least five hundred years.”

The dwarves present shouted confidently, the numbers they shouted rising and falling.

Only in terms of antiquity and craftsmanship can they currently step on the heads of the humans of the empire.

“Master, what do you think?” Horn still had a confident smile on his face.

“Less than a hundred years.” After taking a full sip of mead, Kelgan was silent for a long time before answering with a heavy trill.

The rising and falling shouts instantly stopped, and the dwarves were stunned. They didn't expect these words to come from Kelgan's mouth.

A dwarf slowly walked forward and stretched out his short, thick hand to touch Kelgan's head.

Kelgan kicked out like lightning, knocking over the young dwarf in front of him.

The dwarf rolled on the ground and stood up again, and said with a smile: “I thought you had caught a cold.”

“Who would catch a cold in the hot weather?” Seeing that the dwarves around him looked puzzled, Kelgan sighed and explained, “This is not what I said, it was said by Elder Dunak.”

“Grandmaster Dunak?!”

That was the only grandmaster among the Dragon Worship dwarves, who invented dozens of new crafts and expanded the market for the Dragon Worship dwarves by tens of thousands of gold pounds.

“Kids, the speed of mortal craftsmanship development is on par with the dwarves, even slightly faster.” Wiping the wine foam on his beard with a handkerchief, Kelgan pondered for a moment and still said, “In the current situation, in another hundred years, the dwarves will have no advantage except to be heavy-armored mercenaries.”

This heavy topic suppressed the hot atmosphere at the scene, and the dwarves had not even woken up from their trance.

If Kelgan said it, it might still be drunken talk, but when it came from the mouth of Dunak, the pinnacle of dwarven craftsmen, the credibility was different.

Has the era changed? Is the glory of the dwarves about to disappear? How is this possible? How could the dwarves, who have been passed down for thousands of years, die out?

“Master Kelgan, is this true?”

“What should we dwarves do? My child is only five years old. By my grandson's generation, wouldn't he be…

“Master, say something.”

“The pure-blooded Elves who lived at the same time as the dwarves are all dead. Why wouldn't the dwarves suffer the same fate?” Kelgan lowered his head, looking at himself in the mead, the bewilderment in his eyes clearly visible.

“Do you think the elders are cooperating with the tall woman just because she promised to let the dwarves settle down the mountain and monopolize a region's steel industry?”

Unlike the dwarves of the Furnace Plateau, they still have volcanoes and mines to rely on. If things don't work out, they can still return to their old homes.

Humans cannot move volcanoes and mines home.

But the Dragon Worship dwarves are different. They are a heretical group expelled by the Furnace dwarves.

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If their skills are completely lost and they are not allowed to settle and buy land on the plains, they may only be trapped in the deep mountains waiting to die, or even be captured as slaves.

How could the Dragon Worship elders cooperate with the Duchess just because of a few hostages? The hostages only created an environment for meeting with the elders.

The real cooperation is that Melia gave the dwarves an opportunity.

An opportunity to integrate into human society, an opportunity that the dwarves once disdained.

But the current situation is indeed forcing them to bow their heads.

“So we have two conclusions. First, even if humans don't steal your skills, dwarves will steal them. Second, even if they don't steal, the dwarves' craft advantage is slowly shrinking, right?” Sitting opposite Kelgan, Horn looked enviously at the dwarven mead in Kelgan's hand.

“……Yes.”

“Can I offer a few suggestions?”

Kelgan didn't speak, so Horn took it as tacit consent: “The first problem is that thieves exist in all ethnic groups, and there are very mature ways to deal with them, which is to send someone to punish them specifically.

Of course, it may not be possible to catch them, but it can minimize the possibility of such incidents occurring. The reason why dwarves cannot implement it is because human countries are on the side of the thieves.

Dwarven countries are not the opponents of human countries in terms of force, so they can only sit back and watch the theft. Within your dwarven countries, there are also many kinship connections, making it impossible to effectively punish.

If a thief steals something, they will only be beaten up if caught by the owner. If they run far away and the owner can't catch them, there is absolutely no way.”

Kelgan was initially self-pitying, but as he listened, he raised his head and stared at Horn.

What he said was indeed to the point. The reason why the dwarves were helpless against stealing craftsmanship was because they couldn't effectively punish it.

Because everyone coveted their technology, and the dwarves had bad tempers, almost no one was willing to speak for them.

“The second problem is that it is inevitable that dwarven skills will be caught up by humans, unless you can give birth like humans.

Otherwise, with the current level of human civilization and population, it is not a problem to produce a sufficient number of craftsmen and geniuses.

Talent is the main factor in promoting craftsmanship. Humans are not much stupider than dwarves, but they just lack the time to ferment civilization into skills.

Unless the ancient dragon you worship descends, otherwise, I think it may not be possible to solve it.”

“Neither of your two problems can be solved, what suggestions are you making?”

“I haven't finished yet.” Horn nodded to the young dwarf who spoke, and turned his face to Kelgan, whose expression was gradually becoming serious. “Do you have time to listen now?”

“Speak, I'll have time all afternoon today.” Rubbing his knees, Kelgan leaned forward slightly and answered seriously.