Level Down 12 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 12 - A Man Called Dolban

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Allen, who had worked as a servant for Dolban for a while, knew what the current situation in the workshop was. Yesterday, on his way home after receiving money as Nera, he glanced at the situation and judged that he would be able to talk to him today, so he resolved himself and came.

Dolban's blacksmithing method is special; once he starts, he won’t rest at all until it's completed. Without even eating or drinking water, he just continuously and single-mindedly pours everything into his blacksmithing. No matter how many times Allen fell down as he went along with him, his style never changed.

After the production is finished, he goes to sleep like a dead person, and only the next day when he wakes up could one talk to Dolban.

The day after that, he starts a new blacksmith job, so if he missed today, he wouldn't know when the next one would be, Allen knew this very well from experience.

In front of the door, Allen let out a deep breath and prepared himself. Without knocking or calling out, he put his hand on the doorknob, opened it, and stepped inside.

At that moment, a strong smell of alcohol wafted through the air, as if a barrel of liquor had been overturned, Allen couldn't help but grimace at that and turned his attention to its source.

Countless empty bottles were lying on the desk and sofa that were supposed to be used for reception. To the dwarf in the center of them who was wholeheartedly eating and gulping down alcohol.

“Shishou, it’s been a while.” (Allen)

“Oh, if it isn’t Allen boy. It's not like it's been that long. Didn’t you do some maintenance some two years ago?” (Dolban)

“To the human senses, even two years is quite a long time.” (Allen)

“Ha, ha, ha. Guess, that’s my bad.” (Dolban)

The dwarf, Dolban, laughed cheerfully at Allen's words. His appearance had not changed at all from the one Allen saw two years ago. No, even compared to ten years ago when he first had a sword made, he had hardly changed at all. Of course his clothes and the like had changed, but Allen couldn't detect any physical changes.

It's not because Allen had bad eyes. This was because dwarves, Dorban's race, are a so-called long-lived species.

Basically, humans have a lifespan of around 60 years. Even if one lives a long time, the normal limit is around 100 years old. However, dwarves live to be around 500 years old on average, and some lived to be over 1000 years old.

Two years is no different for humans than it is for dwarves. However, the way they see it is completely different, as evidenced by the fact that Dolban still treats the 29-year-old Allen like a boy.

“So, you need something?” (Dolban)

“Aa─h, well, yeah. Before that, this is a drink that Shishou likes.” (Allen)

While slurring his words, Allen placed on the desk a bottle of liquor that he had gone out of his way to take a detour to buy before coming here. The next moment, Dolban grabbed it as if to snatch it away, forcibly pulled out the cork that would normally require a special tool to be opened, and gulped it down.

Allen watched with an indescribable look on his face as the high-class liquor worth half a month's salary of a guild employee disappeared in the blink of an eye. After drinking it all, ‘Puha─’ Dolban said deliciously and he let out a breath that smelled like alcohol.

“So, what did you do?” (Dolban)

“No, what are you talking about...” (Allen)

“For the money-hungry Allen boy to go so far as to buy such high-class alcohol to please me, you have a reason that’s as important, right?” (Dolban)

Allen could not continue to speak as he heard those words filled with such conviction. Because he can only say that he is exactly right.

Allen's plan was to please him with some high-class liquor, make small talk while tidying up the room, and naturally turn the conversation to his sword, then tell him that he had broken his sword and apologize with his whole heart. That plan fell apart right from the start.

Allen was hesitant for a while, but he quickly made up his mind. Or rather, he knew that if he didn't hurry, Dolban would be in a bad mood.

“I broke Shishou’s sword. I'm really sorry.” (Allen)

Allen pulled out the sword that was hanging from his waist, complete with its sheath, and held it out to Dolban. Dolban, who took it with a furrowed brow, slowly pulled out the sword and ran his eyes over its broken blade. Allen waited, watching him in an upright position.

Only a few minutes passed, though it felt like a very long time for Allen, before Dorban slowly turned his gaze to Allen. Feeling his sharp gaze, Allen gulped.

“You, how did this break?” (Dolban)

“Eh?” (Allen)

Allen, who had expected to be reprimanded, let out a stupid voice.

Before, when Allen was working for Dolban as a servant, he saw Dolban beat up an adventurer who had broken his sword in the same way. The adventurer who was beaten up was a much higher-ranking adventurer than Allen, but he was unable to even fight back and was thrown out of the store like a rag.

That image was so strong that, while Allen could hear Dolban's question, he couldn't comprehend it right away.

“I was the one who taught you how to take care of your sword, Boy. I know when I saw it two years ago that you were taking good care of it on a daily basis, and you also didn’t handle the sword poorly. Even now, when I look at this broken sword, I know that nothing has changed.” (Dolban)

“...” (Allen)

“There shouldn't have been any problems with the sword’s durability. It's more than enough for you who knows your stuff, Boy.” (Dolban)

Hearing Dolban's words, Allen fell silent, unable to even utter a word. Because Allen himself knew that Dolban's words were absolutely correct.

Before Allen used the level-up and level-down traps to raise his level, the only monsters he was fighting were ones that could not even be described as strong even as flattery. This was because he thoroughly avoided risks and prioritized his safety in order to make a living.

Dolban was well aware of this, he felt that there was no sign that the blade had been smashed by cutting into something hard, far from it, the sword had broken even though there was no sign that it had been used to cut anything after it was maintained. There was no way he wouldn't feel something out of place at that.

“Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve heard that you became a guild employee, Boy, but, it can’t be...” (Dolban)

Seeing Dolban stop his word, Allen resolved himself. Allen wants to keep people from knowing that he has become stronger as much as possible. However, if his benefactor Dolban realized Allen's strength, he thought it ungrateful for him to cover it up.

Well, he had calculated that if it was Dolban, he would keep quiet if he asked him to.

“Shishou, actually, I...” (Allen)

“You increased your level with the level-up trap in the Slime Dungeon that was discovered the other day, didn’t you?” (Dolban)

Allen's eyes widened at Dolban's words that he said with a knowing look on his face, and his expression gradually changed into an indescribable one.

“Aah...” (Allen)

“Come to think of it, I’ve also heard that the person who found the trap was an employee who was a former adventurer, I guess you reported it after raising your level to the maximum huh, Boy. You probably got carried away by the hugely improved stats and swung your sword around until you started swinging in a weird way.” (Dolban)

“...It’s as you say.” (Allen)

“You stupid idiot!” (Dolban)

If he left out the fact that he used the level-down trap and that the increased stats was higher than expected, Dolban's prediction was almost correct, so after thinking for a while, Allen nodded his head in affirmation.

Immediately after that, Dolban's fist fell on Allen's head. Allen crouched down, holding his head as the pain brought tears to his eyes, even though his increased stats should have made him more resistant to pain.

As Dolban looked down at Allen, he flapped his hand.

“You got a stone head before I knew it.” (Dolban)

“Hmm, did you say something?” (Allen)

“Nothing! But because of that, I can't repair it. In the first place, it was broken at the base, so even if I repair it, it won't keep its strength. It would be faster to remake it from scratch.” (Dolban)

Dolban yelled back at Allen who responded to his small murmur. Then, as he returned the sword he was holding to Allen, he informed Allen of his judgment as a first-class blacksmith, that the sword could not be repaired.

Allen's expression contorted at these words.

“If it’s money...” (Allen)

“That's not the problem, you know it already, don’t you, Boy?” (Dolban)

“I guess so.” (Allen)

When Allen tried to push back again, Dolban firmly denied it. As a blacksmith, what Dolban is looking for is not money. It is the quality of the weapon. There was no way that Dolban would produce a defective weapon.

Dolban stared intently at Allen, who was plain depressed. And then, his mouth quickly loosened into a grin.

“I won't repair it. But if you really want to...” (Dolban)

“You’ll do it?” (Allen)

“Like I said, I won't do it. If you really want to repair it, try doing it yourself. You have enough money anyway, and since you're a guild employee, you should have the time, right?” (Dolban)

Allen looked back at him with his mouth wide-open at the sudden suggestion, and Dolban burst into laughter as he grabbed a bottle of alcohol on the desk and began drinking it in a good mood.

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(T/N: I thought about just using ‘shishou’ for ‘master’, because ‘master’ can also be ‘goshujin-sama’ or plain ‘master’ in katakana. In the end, I did use ‘shishou’ instead of ‘master’)

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