CHAPTER 1041: CHAPTER 160 - THE DWARF KINGDOM (1)

I had already told the Dwarven King that I would come to their kingdom, and thankfully, they seemed more than willing to let me pay a visit. Just a day after I sent them the letter, another one came back to me and it was a very neat handwriting, heavy paper, that earthy dwarven smell—and it politely confirmed that I could come anytime.

"It looks like we’re here," I said, still keeping Filia close to me. She looked absolutely gone with her expression still fucked-out and dazed, like her soul hadn’t caught up with her body yet.

I leaned forward and looked down at the kingdom itself.

There wasn’t anything resembling a castle. No towering spires, no massive fortress, no royal-looking structure dominating the skyline. Instead, the whole place looked like a giant cluster of houses and structures carved directly out of enormous slabs of rock. Some were stacked, some were shaped oddly, but all of them looked like they could survive a meteor falling straight into them.

Well, if a kingdom of dwarves didn’t look like this, I’d honestly be disappointed.

"Alright then," I said, "let’s look for a place to land."

"I see an open area, Lady Amon. It seems very viable for us to land," Anne said.

Her eyes were scanning the terrain nonstop, her gaze slicing through the clouds and rooftops like a machine-calibrated radar. I could practically feel her calculating the helicopter’s weight, the angles, the clearance, everything that would make a safe landing spot. If she said it worked, it definitely worked.

But as soon as we descended lower, the dwarves immediately noticed the massive machine coming down from the sky. Their heads tilted up in unison, their eyes widening like they were witnessing a legendary beast emerging from the heavens.

Dwarves were naturally curious and they were the type to poke glowing crystals, dismantle ancient relics, and take apart anything they didn’t understand just to figure out why it moved. They lived long, longer than humans by a landslide, maybe even thousands of years like elves—but that didn’t make them omniscient. Even if they probably had knowledge that could rewrite textbooks, there would always be something new that could make them scratch their heads.

And as people who prided themselves on knowing everything, being confronted with the unknown?Of course they’d chase answers.

Which was perfect for me.

I was an opportunist. My company specialized in inventions that flipped the world upside down and rebuilt it in a new direction. If I could use that as leverage, then I absolutely would. Showing them something their centuries-old eyes couldn’t comprehend was the fastest way to get them interested in talking to me.

And it worked.The moment they received my letter with me sending a smartphone that was included in it, looping Starry Knights’ songs—they caved. Not even a few days later, a letter came back saying they wanted to talk.

And now here I was—showing up in a helicopter, making their curiosity explode.

When we finally landed, I realized the dwarves weren’t exactly as tiny as I had imagined. Sure, they were small, but not that small. A lot of them were around the height of a young teen. Some were shorter, yeah, but honestly, plenty of them could pass off as middle schoolers if someone didn’t know any better. I mean, they definitely looked like Lolis and Shotas. Filia, despite being small herself, actually stood taller than quite a few of them. Well, she was a half-dwarf, half-human, after all.

Anne opened the helicopter door for me, and as I stepped out, the dwarves stared at me with a mix of worry, awe, and that unmistakable look of "What the hell is this creature?" No. They were only looking at the helicopter behind me.

Totally natural. From their perspective, I was a tall stranger who just descended from the sky in a metal beast.

As they watched, the group suddenly parted like a river being pushed aside by an unseen force. A single man walked down the middle—an old dwarf with a beard so long it swept the ground with every step. His garb was simple, but there was something regal about the way he carried himself, like he didn’t need a crown to show authority.

Naturally, I assumed he was the Dwarven King.

"The Queen wants to meet you, Human," he said.

Well, guess he wasn’t the King after all. And apparently, the Dwarven Kingdom had a Queen. That was new information—I didn’t even know they were ruled by a woman. But considering the last ruler who appeared outside their kingdom did so thousands of years ago, it made sense that things had changed since then.

He gestured for me to follow him.

Honestly, walking among people so much shorter than me felt surreal in a weirdly amusing way. But their reactions made it clear they weren’t used to seeing someone like me either.

As I walked, we arrived at what looked like a settlement centered around a huge rock structure. The building stood right in the middle, carved so meticulously that every line and curve looked intentional.

That was definitely the Dwarven Queen’s castle—or their version of their own castle.

I followed the bearded man up to the entrance while dwarves stared at me, whispering to each other. They were suspicious, of course, but underneath that suspicion was a burning intrigue they couldn’t hide.

Most of their eyes were locked on Anne.

Well, yeah. This was probably the first time they had ever seen a woman made of metal. They couldn’t understand her at all, and that only made them more fascinated.

The man stopped in front of the stone door and knocked firmly.

"Come on in," a woman’s voice called from inside.

Her tone had a playful, almost cheeky lilt to it that seemed like the voice belonged to a child, but it was unmistakably the voice of an adult woman.

The man pushed the door open for me, and I stepped inside—only to be greeted by the sight of a woman waiting there.

"Welcome, Human," she said. "To the kingdom of the Dwarves."