“King of the dwarves? But that’s me,” E said and furrowed his brow. “Besides, you’re not even a dwarf. What are you hoping to gain by doing this?”

“It’s just something I want to do,” Vur said with a nod. He held out his hand. “Crown please.”

E frowned at Vur. He rubbed the stubble on his chin before asking, “What do you plan on doing as king? If you’re going to bring about peace and prosperity, I’ll happily hand it over. Oh, you also need to promise to take good care of me and protect the interests of my people.”

“I’ll be claiming your kingdom as part of mine. Does that make my kingdom an empire?” Vur tilted his head. “Well, I’ll take good care of your people as long as they follow my rules.”

“Hmm, so I’ll basically be your subordinate,” E said. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a coin. “Intuition, intuition, help me out, intuition. If I guess incorrectly, I’ll hand over all my land and power. If I guess correctly, I’ll fight you.” He flipped the coin into the air before calling out his pick. “Heads.”

The coin clattered to the ground and bounced around a few times before landing on its side. Vur, E, and Stella stared at it, waiting for something to happen, but the coin didn’t fall. E scratched his head. “Well—”

Stella flew down to the coin and tipped it over. “Tails!” she said and flew back onto Vur. “All your lands belong to us.”

E dusted off his hands. “I guess that’s that then,” he said with a nod. He went behind his throne, dug out a dusty crown, and blew on it before handing it over to Vur. “Here you go; take good care of my kingdom.”

Stella tilted her head as the crown was lowered around her in Vur’s hair. “You’re giving it up just like that?” she asked. “Why?”

“I followed my intuition,” E said with a shrug. “Besides, I never really liked being king. If someone’s here that can do a better job at it than I can, then why shouldn’t I hand him all the responsibility? Do you know how annoying it is to have to make decisions affecting a whole race? It’s much easier to lie in bed and do nothing all day. My friend here, Vur”—E nudged Vur’s thigh with his elbow—“promised to take good care of me. I’ll live the life I want, and my race will thrive. I’d be stupid not to take such a wonderful offer.”

Vur knit his brow. “Why do I feel like I lost this encounter?” he asked and chewed on his lower lip. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll make Tafel do all the real work.” He nodded. “A true king knows how to delegate roles to trustworthy people. Too bad Auntie isn’t here.”

***

A loud explosion rumbled through the Gemstone Merchants Clan’s headquarters. An elf with light-brown hair stomped through the tunnels, ignoring the frightened rock-people whose stick-thin limbs were trembling like leaves on a plant. The elf sighed as she came to a stop in front of a dead end. “Another one? Seriously?”

Dozens of earth elementals who were following behind the elf dove away as a massive surge of purple mana enveloped the elf’s hand. She raised her arm into the air and punched the glowing rock wall. It shattered in an explosion of dust and powder that rocked the whole mountain. The elf glanced at the ceiling, making sure it wasn’t caving in, before entering the newly created passage.

“Find the source of the earthquake, she says,” the elf said in a nasally voice as she rolled her eyes. “You need to pass our trials for approval, she says.” She ground her teeth together before speaking in a normal voice, “God, dragons make me so angry. Why are they all such unreasonable children dressed in adult lizard skin?”

A nearby boulder let out a whimper as the elf kicked it aside. “What are you staring at?” Lindyss asked with a snort. “I’ll rip your eyes out and fashion them into rings if you don’t stop.”

The boulder nodded before scurrying away. Before it could get very far, Lindyss grabbed one of its arms. “Hold on a second,” she said. “There was an earthquake caused by a mountain elemental recently. And after lots of traveling on this miserable continent, I tracked down the quake’s epicenter to here. Take me to the mountain elemental.”

“E-ex-clan master Diamant is away right now,” the boulder said while trembling. Tiny grains of sand fell from the surface of the elemental.

“Where is he?” Lindyss asked, narrowing her eyes. “He’s the only mountain elemental around? Did he contract with someone recently?”

“The ex-clan master made a contract with the new clan master, and both of them went to the dwarven kingdom after the king of dwarves made an appearance here,” the earth elemental said.

“New clan master,” Lindyss said. “Was it a phoenix?”

“N-no,” the boulder said as cracks appeared on its arm where Lindyss’ grip had tightened. “He’s a human. A young man named Vur.”

Lindyss blinked and released the boulder’s arm. Her mouth parted as a slight furrow appeared on her brow. The boulder swallowed its gravelly saliva as Lindyss loomed over it, unmoving. Lindyss’ gaze snapped onto the boulder. “Say that again. What was his name?”

“The new clan master’s name is Vur,” the boulder said, its voice getting softer with every word. Lindyss’ gaze seemed to be burning a hole through his body.

“What did he look like?” Lindyss asked. “Brown hair? Golden eyes? Half or fully naked? Tattoos? Golden dragon aura?”

“Everything but the golden dragon aura,” the boulder said.

“Was anyone with him?” Lindyss asked.

“Yes,” the boulder said. “A fairy named Stella. She…” The boulder gulped as Lindyss’ eyes narrowed into slits. “She had silver hair, golden horns, and she was about this tall.” The boulder gestured with its arm.

“And where did you say they went? The dwarven kingdom? Specifically where?” Lindyss pursed her lips. The dwarven kingdom was awfully large, at least half the size of the continent. Vur could be anywhere.

“Maybe they went to the Dwarven Dungeons of Doom, Despair, and Decay?” the boulder asked. It elaborated after seeing the blank look on Lindyss’ face. “It’s where the dwarves sentence criminals. The clan master invented a game called … dwarf punting when the dwarven tribute collectors came here to do their jobs. The dwarves were not happy.”

Lindyss sighed. “At least that confirms this is the person I know,” she said before shaking her head. “Alright, the Dwarven Dungeons of Doom, Despair, and Decay it is then. God, why is the name so long?”