"You may have misunderstood. I only came to have my armor repaired, and I'll pay for it.
"And you say I bully ordinary people, but look at my armor..."
Then Dick opened the bag holding his armor, took out the damaged armor, and showed the monster's slash marks on it. "This was damaged fighting a monster while I was saving a woodcutter.
"Do you think someone who bullies ordinary people would risk his life to save a woodcutter?"
"Huh? You really saved a woodcutter?"
The blacksmith turned to ask the two somewhat younger dwarves behind him, "You two, have you heard anything these past two days about a witcher saving a woodcutter here in Odinburg?"
One dwarf said, "Master, I went to the market yesterday, and I did hear about it. It happened just as this witcher said.
"And there really were rumors about him bullying people before, but I've been going to the market every day to buy vegetables lately, and everyone says this witcher has changed a lot for the better and hasn't bullied anyone again."
"Really?" The dwarf turned back. "Say, Dick, have you turned over a new leaf?"
Dick had no desire to keep taking the blame for the original owner's actions.
He explained in a low voice, "Seeing is believing; hearsay isn't.
"Since you've never seen me bully anyone, why would you believe rumors like that?
"You should know that doing this not only hurts my feelings, but could also cost you a customer."
The moment he opened his mouth, he sounded like a seasoned PUA master.
Hearing this, the dwarf scratched his messy hair and apologized somewhat sheepishly. "You have a point, hahaha."
Then he asked, "Shall I repair this armor for you now? Let me have a look first..."
Without waiting for Dick to say anything more, he reached out with his thick, large hands, picked up Dick's damaged armor from the workbench, and examined it closely, muttering, "Very sharp! This monster had very sharp claws!"
"A monster's wing did that."
"Oh, I'm no expert on that. Your armor is made of good material, too. It must be the hide of some rare, unusual animal?"
"It's made of Forktail leather. Every School of the Lynx Witcher has one," Dick said.
"Fine material, fine material. I've never had any Forktail leather." As he spoke, he licked his lips, looking reluctant to put it down.
"Luckily, the steel rings and iron wire joining it together weren't damaged. There's just a cut in the leather.
"It'll still be usable once it's stitched up. You there!"
Then he turned and pointed at a young dwarf. "Go fetch the special dwarven iron wire. I'll stitch it myself."
"Right away, Master."
With that, the young dwarf opened a side door nearby. A moment later, he came out carrying a small box, walked over to the workbench, and handed it to the dwarven blacksmith.
The dwarven blacksmith opened the box and took out the special silvery-white needle and thread inside.
Then he paused and looked at Dick. "Normally, I'd charge fifty Kelang, but I did wrongly accuse you. How about thirty Kelang? Is that price acceptable?"
"Yes." Dick nodded.
"Straightforward. My name's Zeus. I'm sure you saw the sign outside."
"Hello, Master Zeus."
"Hahaha, I'm hardly a master, but I am the best blacksmith in Odinburg. You've come to the right place. Just wait a little while." The dwarf smiled proudly.
Dick nodded again and casually sat down on a stool in a corner of the otherwise empty room.
He watched the burly blacksmith concentrate on carefully stitching the cut in his armor. His needlework was quick yet maintained a certain rhythm. Clearly, the blacksmith knew his craft.
After watching for a while, Dick suddenly thought of something:
Now that the stabbing pain in my head from studying too much has faded, I need to make the most of the time and keep studying Signs.
He opened his belt pouch again, took out the compact monster-hunting notes, and flipped through them for a while before finally finding the skill he wanted to learn.
This was also the last of the Signs recorded by his senior fellow witcher. It was called the Protection Sign.
After an unknown amount of time, Dick yawned, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
A new notification had appeared on his panel:
[Signs]-Protection Sign (novice).
It could cover a small part of his body with translucent, flowing light. In a sense, it was like a shield, capable of blocking some damage.
But based on Dick's experience playing this game before, witchers should have had another Sign: the Hypnosis Signs, which could hypnotize other creatures.
Yet there was no mention of it in these monster-hunting notes, and given how much his senior cared for the original owner, he could not possibly have kept this Sign to himself.
In other words, his senior did not know this move.
It seemed that only the protagonist had mastered all the Signs in this game world.
As for acquiring this Sign, he would have to wait until he met another witcher from his school to learn it.
Putting that aside, Dick looked up and saw the dwarven blacksmith squeezing pale yellow gel from a soft test tube onto the gap in the leather armor that had already been stitched up.
Then he took an unfamiliar flat tool and slowly pressed and patched it. Finally, he placed the leather armor in strong sunlight.
Zeus turned to Dick and laughed. "Been waiting long? You'll have to wait a little longer, though. After ten or fifteen minutes in the sun, this leather armor will be ready to use."
Dick immediately took several Kelang from his purse and handed them to the dwarf. The dwarf accepted them without counting and passed them straight to the apprentice beside him, then found a stool and sat down as well.
"By the way, when I mentioned the Cleaver Gang to scare you earlier, why didn't you react at all?"
"Because I don't know what the Cleaver Gang is."
"Well, I didn't expect that. I thought witchers traveled the world. Ah, looks like I overlooked that. You're so young, and you don't look all that experienced.
"The Cleaver Gang is a huge gang in Long River Town. Although it's called a town, it's actually a city. The boss of the Cleaver Gang there, the fellow nicknamed Cleaver-his real name is Thor, of course-is my cousin.
"He's made quite a name for himself there. If you ever get the chance to go, tell him you know me. He'll be sure to look after you."
"Then thank you in advance."
The dwarf laughed, then lowered his voice and said conspiratorially, "Dick, did you know Baron Odin III marched out yesterday?"
"I know about that."
"Those damned Jatu bitches treat our border folk like prey every autumn, or carry off women and grain. Sometimes they don't even spare the chickens and dogs, killing them and taking them away.
"Tell me, how can they be so poor and still survive on the Jatu Plains for so many years? Ah, the surrounding kingdoms are useless, too. Each has its own agenda. Every time, they call for an alliance to wipe out the Jatu, but every time they fail."
This was not Dick's first time hearing about the Jatu, either. He asked in return, "Then with so many soldiers, Baron Odin III will surely deal with these Jatu bandits soon, won't he?"