Out came the dwarves from the shadow passage.

The moment Miss Rubia laid eyes on them, her expression went wide-eyed.

“Did you really summon all those dwarves? How did you… no, that’s not important right now…”

I had expected her to be somewhat shocked, but she was beyond that, sweating bullets. It didn’t take long before I realized why she was acting that way.

“We have to send them back immediately! If those money-obsessed bastards actually try to drain us dry, no matter how flush we are right now, we won’t stand a chance!”

Miss Rubia passionately warned that those dwarves would suck us dry to the very bone. Apparently, the infamous reputation of the greedy dwarves was far worse than I anticipated. I couldn’t help but feel a bit distressed about the fact that the serious and dignified image of dwarves had somehow gotten to this level.

But, honestly, that was all irrelevant to me right now.

“Don’t worry too much. They’ve agreed to work for free.”

When I said that, Miss Rubia looked as if her brain had short-circuited. Evidently, she couldn’t connect the dots between “dwarves” and “volunteering.”

To clarify her confusion, I casually grabbed one of the dwarves and asked, “How much do you plan to charge for your services?”

Upon being caught, the dwarf’s face went ashen. He fumbled for words and held up his fingers.

Five, and then a fist as if to say he’s counting something else.

He proposed 50 gold per person.

That was completely unexpected, and I could only feel astonishment.

“What the hell, are you out of your mind?! Do you have your head just as an ornament?!”

Before I could even finish my rant, another dwarf smack on the back of his head.

“Please forgive this fool, brother! I will ensure he’s educated properly!”

The dwarf bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

Rob, subtly referring to me as “brother”, said so earnestly.

I couldn’t help but be a bit impressed.

It was a seemingly normal exchange.

But hidden behind those words were multiple layers of intentions.

He hadn’t established a class divide, yet he naturally took on the role of overseeing the other dwarves.

Plus, he was sneakily trying to build rapport with me.

‘Really, a true dwarf is a dwarf indeed.’

It made sense why he’d succeed.

After suddenly ending up in a position reminiscent of a slave, one could hold a grudge against me, but instead, he was still aiming for upward mobility even now.

“Well, it’s the first time. You can cut them some slack.”

Rob’s eyeballs were rolling around like crazy.

He was hanging on every word I uttered, analyzing my expressions in detail to gauge my personality.

Before long, flattery slipped out of his mouth.

If I hadn’t frequently come across this dwarf in my previous work, I might not have recognized it as flattery at all, it was that thorough.

He smoothly praised my benevolence.

Not too blatant, so it didn’t come off as off-putting, but rather blended seamlessly within the normal conversation as a pleasant compliment.

He was truly an expert in groveling.

Honestly, I found myself wondering if he was more suited for flattery than blacksmithing.

‘Oh well, can’t complain about that.’

If he was incompetent yet adept at flattery, it would be one thing, but being both competent and good at it just made him a high-quality asset.

He was quick-witted and capable.

I figured I could leave the management of the dwarves to this guy.

“Uh, wait a second.”

Just as I was thinking that, Miss Rubia’s voice suddenly interjected. I turned my head to face her.

“Are you telling me that you… caused the mysterious disappearance of the dwarves?”

She stared at me with trembling eyes.

It was only a week ago, and now she was already attaching such a grand name to it.

“Well, technically speaking, it was my doing, although it wasn’t intentional. It just kind of happened…”

Her jaw dropped at my words.

Maybe it was the accumulation of her experiences, but I could sense what she was thinking without her saying a word.

All these dwarves.

Did I really just manage to gather the world’s top engineers ‘by happenstance’ and ‘on a whim’? That’s surely what she was thinking with that expression.

I could practically see her viewing me as some sort of walking disaster or incomprehensible entity.

But… I couldn’t think of a way to explain myself.

It wasn’t an accusation; that was the plain truth. What else was there to clarify?

“Oops! Guess I accidentally went shopping for dwarves instead of weapons,” would do nothing to improve the situation.

In moments like this, it was best to change the subject quickly.

“Well, what’s important is that these dwarves are going to help us now. With the world’s best engineers on board, we have nothing to worry about when it comes to fixing the mansion.”

“That’s true! Phew, thank goodness…”

Looking at Miss Rubia’s tearful smile, it seemed like my attempt to change the subject didn’t quite have the intended effect, but it was too late to turn back now. I called Rob and gathered the dwarves in front of me before continuing the conversation.

“Let’s turn this mansion into a fortress from now on.”

While the dream of having a secret base was a big reason, revitalizing the mansion was essential.

Our influence was steadily expanding.

Siel, Lien, along with Miss Rubia, and even Lucy, the reformed villain, who we’d temporarily sheltered alongside the Black Fangs that we were nurturing.

With so many around now, I couldn’t imagine this number dwindling.

The need for a base that could repel intruders and serve as a foothold was far greater than I thought.

“If we’re going to build it, we might as well go all out.”

There was no guarantee that the Empire wouldn’t send their knights back. Therefore, we needed a fortress strong enough to withstand the imperial army.

“We have to be careful regarding how the place looks since people are watching us. While we shouldn’t change the mansion’s exterior too much, we definitely need to upgrade the materials used.”

The strongest materials infused with the strongest defensive magic spells were necessary.

And it wasn’t just the appearance that needed addressing. There was no reason not to work on other aspects as well.

“It would also be a good idea to create a base underground. Just in case we get discovered again, it would be smart to hide a genuine base somewhere.”

As I concluded that, I suddenly thought, “If we’re building a base underground…”

“It would be nice if it connects to the temporary army’s garrison.”

That would make things a lot more convenient.

Right now, thanks to Siel’s shadow passage, the dwarves could reach here easily, but that trick relied on the powerful talisman that Siel had created. Now that the talisman was gone, it couldn’t be used anymore.

Teleportation was originally high-level magic.

The stronger the target to be teleported was, and the more people there were, the exponentially greater the difficulty became.

“Wouldn’t it be great to install a mana train underground? That way, we can freely travel between the mansion and our garrison, saving us time.”

In other words, an underground subway.

Moving via underground would ensure we wouldn’t be spotted by people.

And that was just the starting point for benefits.

‘Warp Points.’

A necessary element found in every RPG.

Creating a fast-travel option with my own hands.

If we’re building an underground subway, we should definitely build stations too.

Up until now, we’d been relying on the mana train with no alternatives, but thinking back, it was a pretty risky endeavor.

Even though we hadn’t been caught yet, we had already committed several hostile acts against the Empire.

But if we implemented the subway and could roam freely throughout the Empire, that wouldn’t matter anymore.

Though, I didn’t foresee that happening anytime soon.

If by chance we ever had to go head-to-head with the Empire in war, it would definitely come in handy.

“We should also ensure tight security. Let’s cover the area with curse spells that respond to any enemies.”

That could easily be handled with Lucy’s assistance.

She appeared to be quite adept with curses. Having her directly inscribe them would create power beyond imagination.

“What do you think?”

After showering them with ideas, I turned to Rob to ask for his opinion.

The dwarves’ expressions were rather amusing, like they’d just bitten into manure.

Even Rob, who was typically adept at navigating social situations, couldn’t hide the confusion on his face. After pondering for a while, he eventually spoke in a calm voice.

“So… you’re saying we should reconstruct the mansion with adamantium, build a hidden base beneath it, which should connect to a garrison that’s over a month on foot away, and also recreate the legendary mana train, known as the pinnacle of imperial engineering, in the underground? Not to mention, it should connect all over the Empire, and then we need to imbue powerful curse spells all over the place?”

Well…

Listening to it laid out like that, I had to admit, it sounded a bit ridiculous.

I knew how to mass-produce adamantium, and I somewhat remembered the designs for the mana train from a game art book, but even so, it still felt very unrealistic.

In fact, it was basically akin to asking for a Bluetooth showerhead.

Just as I expected, Rob looked at me with a troubled expression and asked, “How on earth do you propose we make that?”

But…

Let’s put aside my conscience for a moment and model myself after the protagonists of alternative history novels.

Here, hundreds of genius dwarves were born to be engineers, akin to Jang Yeong-sil. And once we put those talents to work, most things could somehow work out.

With an evil smile, I replied to Rob’s question.

“Well, I don’t know. That’s why I need you guys.”

Let’s exploit the hell out of the dwarves and create a slick base!