It took Rino and his shadow army two days to complete the cave renovations. It was two days too long for Rino, but he was finally able to claim his reward and understand the secrets left behind by the dwarves.

===

Daily Quest #25 (complete)

Objective: Repair the Dwarven Mines

Time Limit: 15 Days

600/100 Broken Tracks

10/5 Minecarts

5/2 Lifts

Tutorial here.

Reward: Dwarven Language Interpreter

Claim your reward here.

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep upon failure and [Curse of Overtime] until quest is forcefully completed.

===

The number of things they fixed up in two days far exceeded the expectations for gods, and for the first time in a while, Rino did not mind the extra work.

Noir felt proud of the new look in the abandoned dwarven mines. The cave was well lit, smelled better with improved ventilation systems and was bustling with activity wherever he went. The new vibes reminded him about how they moved their god's office to a bigger one after their team's first promotion. The god of prayers only hoped that Rino and his subordinates wouldn't lose this festive spirit after the novelty.

[Come back. Ark and Stephanie are holding a meeting. Your divinity is almost used up. We haven't gotten any offerings in the last two days, so you have to do some explaining. - Phil.]

Blinking at the sudden message, Ace looked at the busy earth gnomes and decided to teleport to Rino, who was locked up in his study. Ever since the lich claimed his reward, his time with Noir became lesser, although the black cat's voluntary company was always welcomed.

"Meow!"

Rino heard the cat's meow before he saw it appear in his study. Quickly, the lich opened the door so that there was fresh air in this area. He'd been so busy for the last two days that he did not have much time to fawn over Noir. Feeling slightly guilty, Rino patted the cat on its head and scratched behind its ears apologetically.

"What brings you here? Were you feeling lonely?"

Batting Rino's bony fingers away, Noir sniffed and pushed his head against Rino's shin and nuzzled the lich.

"I've got to go, just here to tell you not to slack with food. I saw that cat statue in front of that pathetic farmhouse. If you're going to feed me, it better be consistent. I don't care if that's just my replica. I want to be fed daily."

Hearing Noir's complaints and news of departure, Rino could only sadly promise that he would make the cat offerings daily even if he had to drop by personally.

"When will you be coming again?" Rino asked sadly.

Ace couldn't answer. He liked being here, but he had a duty to carry out beyond this small world. 

"Maybe soon, maybe later. I'm wearing this choker of yours, so I'll return someday when I feel like it. You better live in a more comfortable house when I drop by the next time. The stone cottage you have here is still unacceptable. I want a comfortable rug to sleep on. If it wasn't for the food here, I wouldn't have stayed this long."

Blurting out in laughter, Rino wasn't expecting such a bipolar declaration. Noir actually loved living here. That was great.

"Mm," he agreed and nuzzled the cat with his forehead. "I'll work harder so that the next time you visit, there will be a fireplace, a lovely rug and delicious food for you. I might have to move houses to afford those kinds of luxury."

Rolling his eyes, Ace placed a soft paw on Rino's exposed teeth and snorted. "Teleportation magic makes travelling simple. Don't spend time thinking useless things, and remember to feed me. I'll be going now."

Sad that Noir was leaving so soon but grateful that the black cat stayed in Town Zera for longer than he did in Spudville, Rino offered to escort the cat to the borders of his town. Ace allowed Rino that privilege and wondered if he should caution Rino about the possibility that Ark and Stephanie might make him do something ridiculous soon. After all, Stephanie's project was already halfway done.

Shaking his head, Ace decided that it was best not to add to Rino's current concerns for now. Besides, the lich wasn't alone. He had reliable buddies to help him out if he was ever in a pinch.

Rino waved goodbye to Noir and watched as the black cat teleported away after leaving Town Zera's defensive barrier. Noir was always Rino's easiest hello but also the hardest goodbye. Deciding not to wave goodbye, Rino turned around and headed back to his study. There were only two times when Rino would pour himself into the endless ocean of research. The first was when someone's life was on the line, and the second was when he wanted to distract himself from reality.

If he worked hard enough and kept himself needlessly busy, he might forget all about Noir until the black cat returned.

With the new skill, interpreting the dwarven language made it easier for Rino to read the stone tablets. However, the lich had other plans. He couldn't be the only one fluent in dwarven tongue. It was better if more people knew it. In fact, he might make the written language of dwarves a regional language for Town Zera's citizens.

Rino returned to his study and looked at the scattered papers. The ex court magician wrote many things from letters, books, and even decrees in his previous life. However, he had no experience writing dictionaries before. Even if he understood the letters used in the dwarven language, it was still difficult to categorise everything. He wanted to group the words into categories, but the syntax of their language did not align completely with Rino's spoken and written language from the empire of his previous world.

If anything, the dwarven language was incomplete in many ways. Grammar was unique to every language, and words were formed with unique origins over a long time. The dwarven language was probably in its beginning stages of creation that lacked many things.

Rino poured through the words he managed to translate and categorise. Eventually, it was better to ditch half of the dwarven system and replace it with something he was more familiar with. He would still keep the dwarven writing method but introduce vocabulary from his previous world to make the flow and message smoother. Instead of simply translating the dwarven tongue to the common language Rino wanted to standardise in his empire, Rino thought about inventing a dialect as a mix between the two languages.

Dialects were languages that branched from an original system, customised for the locals. It suited Town Zera perfectly. While the dwarven tongue was advanced for the standard of civilisations in this new world, Rino thought it could use some flavour and spent the whole time creating a new written language. He did not know what the dwarven language sounded like, but inventing new sounds to suit the writing shouldn't be difficult. When chanting spells, there were a total of a hundred and forty-three unique syllables. There was no lack of unique sounds required to match the dwarven characters.

Just like this, Rino completed his new basic dwarven tongue textbook. The dictionary wasn't completed, but it wasn't too important for now. After deciding that he would spend his leisure time transcribing all the dwarven stone plates into proper journals for documentation, Rino no longer felt the need to create a dictionary. There would be no loss for anyone not to learn their dwarven tongue when there was a better dialect to communicate with.

So far, Rino was able to communicate effectively with his summons because of the soul bond. Soul bonds surpassed the need for languages and brought all species together in death. Rino and Kragami were able to communicate because magic was a universal language. The lich did not have a need to create an official language until now. Might as well build upon what the dwarves had done, like how he modified their mines to make it better now that he was the new owner.

Returning to the mines after the first stone plate was accurately transcribed, Rino took a look at the renovated interiors. The tunnels were definitely well lit and more spacious than before. He could smell food as he passed by the canteen. Half of the cookhouse's operations had relocated to this canteen when they learned about the advanced alcohol production.

Kragami told some fairies from Cypress County to remain here and teach Town Zera's citizens how to brew taro beer. In fact, they tried experimenting with other food sources such as rine, corn and even soybeans.

Rino let them do whatever they wanted. As long as the facilities were used wisely, he had no complaints. Besides, their cooking activities would only help him satisfy Noir's wish to be fed. Noir's statue might not accept food offerings like pizza, but they could always let him smell it before they ate.