The ego in the God Hands wasn’t a magical creation. It was a physical result of beating the soul of another into it. Grid faced this truth and was greatly abhorred by it. The appearance of the sword and the coffin, which held the souls of the old popes, overlapped with the God Hands and made Grid feel disgusted.

‘Pagma, how many people have you sacrificed?’

Was his definition of justice really correct? The condition to trigger the skill Granting an Ego was the ‘other person’s consent.’ Grid speculated on the relationship between Pagma and the empress and his disappointment toward Pagma was beyond description. Pagma wasn’t a brat in his teens and the belief Grid had in him was reaching a fragile point.

‘Did he betray friends other than Braham?’

Grid recalled a certain memory and his expression relaxed—it was the image of Pagma, who died alone on the Behen Archipelago while stopping the invasion of the great demons. Yes, Pagma had already tasted enough pain. It was cruel for Grid to blame him even now. At this conclusion, Grid put down all the emotions and thoughts that messed up his mind. He chose not to think too deeply about Pagma. He decided to only focus on the situation in front of him.

‘I accept the quest.’

He understood, sympathized with, and respected Pagma, but he didn’t honor Pagma. In order to clarify his own will, Grid chose a different path from Pagma.

[A new quest has been created!]

[Different Path from Pagma]

[Class Quest

You have learned something new after arriving in Talima.

Collect information about the empress and understand how pavranium was created.]

It was a progressive quest—a quest in the form where the contents were filled as Grid progressed. Grid checked the quest information and quietly rose from his spot. The dwarves had been baffled by his attitude of kneeling down and apologizing. Now they instantly focused on him.

Grid spoke in a blunt manner, “I only read Pagma’s Rare Book and acquired his skills. There is no face-to-face encounter with Pagma. I don’t know the reality of pavranium and I don’t know the identity of the empress. Please get rid of your hostility and talk to me. Who is the empress? What is the situation of her soul being in the pavranium?”

“Umm...”

The dwarves who actually met Pagma, including the lion-maned Pelot, clearly remembered Pagma’s personality. The man who acted like he only existed for justice and inevitable peace was never a person who would kneel down to others. He combined his stubborn beliefs into self-centeredness and always looked down on others.

‘...Was his name Grid?’

Pagma's Successor, who claimed to have only inherited Pagma’s technique, not spirit. Surely he was different from Pagma. They thought the rumor that even the blacksmithing god Hexetia acknowledged Grid was true. They were wary, but should they proceed with a conversation first? It was for the sake of the empress’ rest.

Pelot recalled that the pavranium was in Grid’s hands and, after exchanging looks with his colleagues, opened his mouth slowly, “Maribel B. Talima was the first person in dwarf history to create a mythical ‘growth’ equipment and she was our ruler at the time. In order to praise her greatness, we regarded her as the empress.”

Pelot was a royal blacksmith who assisted Maribel. He learned the proper etiquette. He transcended death with his obsession and lived for hundreds of years. He was mature unlike the usual dwarves and was the first to respond to the polite Grid with more politeness.

“Both her vision and skills were perfect without any flaws...”

Pelot recalled old memories and the past was projected from his eyes. Grid’s consciousness was sucked into it.

***

The dwarves were good at making anything due to their natural dexterity and aesthetics. They were able to distinguish beautiful things and make it directly. The one and only dwarf royal palace was built by melting gold, and it was the crystallization of dwarf techniques.

“Huhuhut.”

It was before she was called empress. Maribel, who would one day prove her qualifications to become a ruler by making several ‘growth’ weapons one day, loved her palace. She was born with the best aesthetic standards of the dwarves and believed that the royal palace was the most beautiful work in the world. Then her faith was suddenly broken one day.

“I would like to ask for your teachings.”

“......!”

A human with black hair and black eyes. It was the day when Pagma visited Talima with lonely eyes reminiscent of a wounded beast. Maribel’s aesthetic standards were shaken.

‘Kyah! Beautiful!’

In front of Pagma’s snow-white skin, even the gold shining under the sunlight seemed dark. The structure of the palace that she had believed to be close to the perfect ratio was reduced to crudeness in front of Pagma’s body proportions...

"Kyaaak! Kyaaack!”

“...?"

Maribel was elated at the appearance of Pagma, who made the dwarf palace as ugly as a squid.

She fell in love at first sight and devoted herself to Pagma. The cooperation between them gave her the opportunity to rapidly develop her blacksmithing technique that had been stagnant for many years.

From this point on, Pagma started producing weapons that could grow to the legendary rating and Maribel gained the title of ‘empress’, meaning that she would become the ‘parent of all battle gear in the world’ by creating weapons that could grow to the mythical level.

***

“...It was a terrible foolishness.”

Grid’s thoughts after returning to reality from Pelot’s memory was simple.

“Foolishness?”

“No, I was talking to myself. Rather, Empress Maribel was a really great blacksmith. She grew much faster than Pagma, who was already called a legendary blacksmith.”

“Why else would she be praised as the parent of all the battle gear in the world? Originally, the legendary blacksmith should’ve been the empress instead of Pagma.”

‘Certainly...’

If all of Maribel’s items had been legendary rated instead of growth-type normal and rare rated then Maribel would’ve achieved the title of ‘legend’ first. However, the reason for this result was Maribel’s greed.

‘The problem is that she tried to put too much into her work.’

Maribel was a perfectionist. She considered many things when making a single sword and attempted to create an ideal object with ‘no defects and multiple functions’. It was an advantage and a disadvantage. Her creations generally had high potential, but they were poorly rated because their current level was rough.

‘The expectations when the potential fully blossomed would’ve been indescribably high...’

Hundreds of years later, how far would her works have grown? Did an item succeed in finding the right master and achieving the ideal form she pursued?

‘Ah...?’

Grid was thinking things over and over when he realized that he was excited. He was excited to learn about the hidden history. How wide was the world of Satisfy? Grid was once again able to feel this reality through Empress Maribel’s presence. The thought that even at this moment, a second Maribel or Pagma was being born somewhere on the continent caused his heart to pound and he was filled with the desire to work harder.

An ordinary person would’ve felt wary and stressed by the idea of competitors, but Grid was the opposite. His vessel had already grown large enough.

“The development of the empress served as an example for all the dwarves in Talima and Talima enjoyed an unprecedented boom. At that time, Trauka was wandering around to catch a thief and people were able to move freely to and from Talima. Talima’s weapons started to spread across the continent. Our days were happy.”

“It was a short happiness.”

“Yes, it was as short as a spring day. Those days passed and Talima lived a hard winter that lasted until now.”

Pelot’s eyes became as red as his hair. He seemed to be holding back the tears that wanted to emerge. Then he barely managed to open his mouth, “We... we will never forget it. The nightmare of the day when the empress, who was still young like a girl, suddenly passed away. I will never forget it even if I die.”

“Suddenly?”

The words made him anxious. Empress Maribel looked young in the memory he saw. She wasn’t old enough to die of a natural death. Yet she suddenly died...?

‘Don’t tell me?’ A chill went down Grid’s spine as he recalled the scene of Pagma sticking a knife in Braham’s back. ‘No, it is impossible. Pagma couldn’t have killed her.’

Pagma had the history of stabbing and killing Braham, taking away his life force. However, it was a special case that could happen because the fact that ‘Braham was a demonkin’ was applied. Yes, Pagma had some justification for killing Braham. On the other hand, Empress Maribel was a dwarf. She was far from the evil demons who could threaten humanity one day and she was a valuable figure when it came to the development of humanity. It was unlikely that Pagma would’ve murdered her to take her soul...

“Pagma! Talima collapsed the day when Pagma killed the empress and seized her soul!”

"...!!"

Grid’s mind was blank. The naive smile of Empress Maribel and Pagma’s warm gaze directed at her in the memory passed through his mind.

Pelot kneeled down and grabbed Grid’s pants. “Please... please liberate the soul of the empress!”

“It is a request!”

“Please!”

Pelot’s plea was the signal. Hundreds of dwarves knelt down and bowed to Grid.

“We will give you sufficient rewards! I will be by your side and teach you how to communicate with your work, even if I have to use the rest of my life!”

Ttring~

The quest was updated.

[Different Path from Pagma]

[Class Quest

Pelot and all the dwarf blacksmiths are begging you.

Release the soul of Empress Maribel that is currently dwelling in Greed.

Quest Clear Conditions: Go to the dwarf palace and liberate the soul of the empress.

Quest Clear Results: The loss of the ego in pavranium.

Quest Clear Rewards: The Advanced Ego Item Making skill will be acquired.]

[Advanced Ego Item Making]

[Type: Passive

When making an item, there is a chance to interact with the item to awaken the soul of the item.]

“......!”

Grid was able to tell the precise difference between the ‘Granting an Ego’ skill and ‘Ego’ concept. In fact, he had noticed from the very beginning. Granting an Ego was to hammer an ‘existing soul’ into the item while the dwarves’ ego items mean waking up the soul of the item.

The ego item that Grid once produced by chance belonged to the latter. There was less of a burden, compared to Granting an Ego, where someone’s soul was sacrificed. To be honest, it was difficult to discern which one had a better performance. It was natural since he had never seen a high rated ego item.

“You are different from Pagma and will be able to communicate with your works!”

“……”

Grid was cautious. He remained silent as he thought about it without answering. It was natural to be cautious because he noticed that Greed could be lost. Surprisingly, his worries were short-lived. “I understand.”

The soul of the empress who had left regret in tens of thousands of dwarves...

Was it necessary to keep it? No, it wasn’t. He felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to keep it around. He would engrave the ego he wanted on the second pavranium. Repeating the work until he engraved a better ego might lead to a better mineral than Greed.

‘I want to have my own mineral, not Pagma’s mineral...’

Grid made a decision and urged the flustered Pelot. “I will liberate the soul of the empress.”

“A-Are you serious?”

“I have no intention of tricking Talima.”

“Thank you...! Once again, thank you!”

"Waaahhhhhhhh!"

The cheers of the dwarves shattered the silence that had hovered over Talima for many years. The dwarves’ expressions were bright like they were celebrating a festival after hundreds of years.

[Affinity with dwarf craftsman ‘Pellot’ has risen to the maximum.]

[Affinity with the dwarves of Talima has increased to 80.]

[You can get a discount up to 80% when purchasing items in Talima.]

[Talima’s merchants will buy the items you sell at a price higher than the market price.]

‘Good.’

Grid had a pleased expression on his face as they arrived at the dwarf palace. He was guided by Pelot to the VIP room and soon met the dwarf king, who rushed inside in a hurry.

“Mother! Mother!”

“……”

The sight of a dwarf king running with a hairy chest and wide open arms wasn’t very pleasant. Grid saw him hug the God Hands and recalled that the king would’ve only been a young boy when Pagma stayed in Talima. Then he was convinced. ‘Pagma didn’t kill the empress.’

At the very least, Pagma was a person who knew and understood the pain of others. This meant that he wasn’t a psychopath or sociopath.

‘Probably...’

There had to be a hidden story. Grid wanted to believe it.

“Then let’s start the liberation of the soul.”

Grid saw that the dwarf king was crying while hugging the God Hands and thought that it wasn’t the time to exchange polite greetings. It happened the moment Grid made a judgment and glanced at Pelot...

The God Hands hit the dwarf king and raised their middle finger.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence filled the palace and Grid was once again convinced.

‘The empress really wasn’t murdered by Pagma.’

Empress Maribel was likely to be the same as Pope Chreshler, who willingly dwelled in the coffin to embrace Marie Rose.