Volume 4 Chapter 15 The Dwarf
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I’d been kneading Katarina’s soft flesh, lighting her up with desire. Her body was warm against my fingers—a welcome relief after the day I’d had: no sleep, a self-inflicted scalp wound, blood loss, a running battle, and hours dangling from a rope repairing the hull with [Fireball] until my Mana ran thin.
I was exhausted. I just wanted to be gently healed.
”You’re so noisy. Am I not enough for you?”
Katarina read that thought with [Mind-read], which I meant to keep to myself.
”No, your body is magnificent. Stunning curves, tall, slim, long limbs—you’re the best. The best.”
Besides, the hammock’s mesh pattern left on her face? If I just pretended it was part of some kind of play… it worked.
Right.
Looking up at her from below, I gripped her small head—the one swallowing my pride right now—with both hands.
”Hey, what is this? Are you trying to finish all by yourself?”
Since my “equipment” was plugging her mouth, Katarina had to complain through [telepathy]. But I couldn’t stop. I squeezed her precious head tightly, letting my desire set the rhythm, even adding a bit of hip movement.
A “tired member” is easy to let go early, you see.
”No, stop—”
Katarina tried to pull her head away, but I held her firmly with both hands.
The pleasure was already rising from the soles of my feet.
Then—the sound of hurried footsteps.
Then, with a loud bang, the door was kicked open violently.
What? What happened? Startled, I let it all go in a leak.
What a half-baked ending. I couldn’t even break position until I was finished, and now the lingering afterglow was ruined by the situation.
”What are you two doing?”
The one who ruined the mood was the shut-in Elf Mage (a master of magical engineering).
”Knock, for god’s sake.” I muttered.
The base of my roots was still twitching, so I couldn’t pull out of Katarina’s mouth.
”Elf Mage?”
The door was diagonally behind Katarina. She asked through [telepathy], her neck pinned by my lower abdomen, unable to turn her head. It seemed she hadn’t realized who the shut-in Elf Mage was.
”It’s Department Head Camillo from the Engine Department.”
”Ah.”
She seemed to understand.
”Never mind that, take your hands off my head.”
As told, I loosened my grip, and she slowly pulled her head back, my member slipping out from her mouth with a wet, slick sound.
As expected, she was used to this. It seemed she’d even sucked up the last bit at the final second.
”You really gave me a start.”
It was a pathetic look, but in moments like these, you can’t afford to be rattled. I asked while pulling up my pants and trousers, and Katarina turned her back, not even looking at the shut-in Elf Mage’s face.
Both of us had our hearts pounding like drums, partly because we’d just finished.
”Department Head Camillo, this is inside the ship, and this is a woman’s private space. Could you at least knock?”
Katarina demanded in a sharp tone, her back still turned.
”Ah, well, I suppose so.”
Even he looked embarrassed. Good.
”So, what is your business?”
”Ah, right. That. Can you fix seasickness? I need you to cure the two in the Engine Department immediately.”
?
”The bypass pipe (a spare channel) for the First Boiler is also broken.”
I knew the Third Boiler’s bypass pipe had broken during the clash with the pirates this morning.
But if the First Boiler was also broken and couldn’t be fixed, the ship’s operation would be critically limited. Or rather, we’d be in a state where we’d have to return to port.
”But, there was one Dwarf, wasn’t there?”
In the Engine Department, there were several burly men who carried coal and swapped out parts, and as Mages, there was this Department Head, Janet Gower—who used to be a research student of mine—Claudia Ehlert, who had been a student, and there was supposed to be one more Dwarf.
If you and the Dwarf were both there, you should be able to do the repairs.
”That guy, Kai?”
What’s your point?
”That one, he’s a Dwarf and can handle Mana, but his clumsiness is beyond the pale.”
According to Camillo, Kai was listed as general personnel—coal-carrier—not a Mage. He had Mana, sure, and could use [Simple-type Magic], but he couldn’t control it. A candle needed a thumb-sized orange flame; Kai would throw a white-hot [Fireball] the size of a human head, unstable, flickering from white to red. And he was clumsy with his hands—shoveling coal, he’d miss the intake; holding a pipe, a slight sway would crush it.
”That’s not the point. With the storm last night, the men in the Engine Department, including myself, have been out the whole time. And yet, the pipes must be fixed. In other words, I need those two women who are still laid up with seasickness to get moving.”
Even Katarina had been wiped out by seasickness until just a moment ago, so it wouldn’t be strange for the two in the Engine Department to be in the same state.
”Curing seasickness is simple. I just draw a little Mana from the head.”
”And how exactly?”
”By kissing.”
Camillo’s face twisted. “That’s indecent.”
I shrugged. “Fingers would probably work too, but I recommend the lips.”
”Place my finger on their lips?” He recoiled. “I am a superior officer.”
What a pain. Two hundred years old and hopeless.
”Fine. I’ll go myself.”
”Indeed. If it’s you, there shouldn’t be any issues.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
”Right, Katarina. You—”
”No.”
She refused before I could even finish.
She’d been having a deep one with Tatyana just a moment ago, hadn’t she?
”I don’t like those girls (Claudia and Janet).”
She turned her back to me, took my arm, and told me via [telepathy].
”Fine, fine. Then I’ll go.”
I wasn’t a fan of Claudia, my former student, either—she’d gone and broken the fixed-wing drone back at the Academy—and I wasn’t great with people as socially smooth as Janet, anyway.
I took the reluctant shut-in Elf Mage into the women’s large room. The smell of vomit hung thick and sour. I found his subordinates in their hammocks, placed the pad of my thumb on their lips, and drew out the Mana in a slow pull.
”Ah, no more, I want to get off this ship.”
Janet, who had recovered a little, said that, but we were in the middle of the Norden Sea.
”Once I eat, I’ll fix the boiler myself. You two rest for now.” I said it mostly to shut down the argument before it started, then left before they could answer.
I was heading up the stairs toward the Dining Hall when I saw my former students coming down.
They stopped mid-step and stared at me.
”What is this place? Aren’t we on the sea? Take us to the port.”
Maybe because the storm had passed, the night had come, and the airflow had settled, the sea was calm and the ship was barely moving, so the two of them seemed to have mistaken it for being in port.
Besides, while two of the three boilers were broken, they were all stopped for the time being, and the ship was just floating.
The lights were provided by Mana stored in Amber and by candles.
”According to the operation plan, I heard there are no plans to enter port until we reach Suez.”
”But you just said we could get off.”
”I didn’t say anything of the sort. I just asked if you meant right now, or if you meant because you signed the contract.”
”Then why didn’t you say that when we were packing our bags?”
It didn’t matter if they said that or not.
Since I didn’t have the authority to let them leave the ship—I wasn’t their superior officer—I told them to tell their superior officer, the Elf Mage, or the Captain. They went back to their room while muttering to themselves.
”Once I eat, I’m going to fix the boiler, so help me out.”
I said that to their backs, but was completely ignored.
I ate alone in the near-empty Dining Hall—cold stew and hard bread—then descended into the engine spaces. The air got heavier with every step down, thick with the smell of coal dust and hot iron. The Third Boiler room was lit by a single Mana lamp. True enough, the bypass pipe, about thirty centimeters across, had split clean off the valve and bent a meter away like a broken arm.
”I suppose I’ll have to cut this out, remove it, and repair it.”
From there, I went to the next room, the Second Boiler room.
There was no one there, either; the coal intake was open, and when I looked inside, the soot and charcoal had already been removed.
I headed toward the First Boiler room, where I found a boy scraping out the furnace with something that looked like a long-handled rake.
Stocky build. Was this kid… a Dwarf?
”Are you Kai?” I asked, my voice steady.
When I called out from behind, he turned not just his head, but his ash-covered face toward me.
Square face, square body.
His build reminded me of the kidnapped Rosa, though he wasn’t wearing a sailor suit. He was dressed in baggy shorts and a baggy, sleeveless undershirt-like garment, covered head-to-toe in coal ash, giving him the look of an abused child forced into labor.
”P-papu, y-yes, a-cough—” Kai stammered, his words simple and small.1
I assume he wanted to say “Yes, sir.”
He must have breathed in some coal dust; when he coughed, fine coal ash sprayed from his nose and the corners of his mouth.
I didn’t really know what else to do, so I grabbed a hand towel from the top of the ash bin and started patting down his face and head.
”U-um, is there something you need?” the boy asked, his voice small.
Once the ash was cleared away, his face looked remarkably like a statue of David—very much a Dwarf, with intense, heavy features.
Furthermore, so much for thinking he was slow; he immediately checked my shoulder insignia and addressed me with formal, polite language.
”Are you the only one here?” I asked.
”Yes, sir,” he replied, his tone formal. “Everyone else has been working straight through for a full day and night.”
No, I held back from mentioning that the women were probably just bedridden with seasickness.
”Are you alright?” I asked.
”I am a Dwarf, sir,” he stated. “I can manage at least one more night.”
I knew they were a sturdy race, but it started to make me feel sorry for him.
”Is this boiler still hot?” I asked.
”Yes, sir,” he replied. “It might be quite hot for a Human.”
”I see,” I said. “Then let’s start by fixing the Third Boiler.”
At a glance, the pipe here just seemed slightly bent, so it should be simple to fix, but I didn’t want to touch the hot boiler and end up with burns.
”Um, is the Second Lieutenant going to fix it yourself?” Kai asked, his eyelashes fluttering as he blinked away the remaining ash.
”Yeah,” I replied. “Can’t be helped. If no one does it, we can’t get the ship running properly. It’ll be a disaster if we get attacked by pirates again, won’t it?”
”Um, may I watch you repair it?” the boy asked.
A studious kid.
Well, I don’t mind.
”Alright,” I said. “We’ll go once you finish cleaning up here.”
A solid kid, this one.
”How old are you, Kai?” I asked.
”I am still twenty,” the child replied simply.
Oh, I see.
Well, I was over forty in my past life, but here I’m still sixteen, I suppose.
Meh, whatever.
I returned to the Third Boiler room alone to look at the damaged part once more.
I ran through the problem quietly. The boiler’s steam has three routes: to the turbine, to the bypass, and to the funnel. The bypass is the only path that lets you control pressure—you crack the valve and bleed steam into the cooling tower, watching the iron-ball pressure gauges drop. Rosa had built this section with copper pipe: soft, easy to shape, but with a melting point too low for eight-hundred-degree pressurized steam.
A design flaw. The Second Boiler would probably go the same way.
I picked up a ruler and measured, thinking out loud. The cylinder behind the valve was cast iron—I could cut it back, reroute a copper pipe around the rear of the cooling tower, and brace it with a wooden frame to prevent collapse when the pressure dropped.
”Pardon the intrusion,” Kai said, stepping in.
I explained my plan—cut the iron cylinder back, reroute copper around the cooling tower, brace it with wood. He listened, then raised two fingers.
”First, welding copper to iron needs a special filler. Something like silver, mixed with ball-bearing material.”
I had those in my drone repair kit. Good.
”Second… copper can handle rising pressure, but if the internal pressure drops too fast—like when the steam cools suddenly in the pipe—it’ll dent. Collapse, even.”
He was right. The fix wouldn’t hold with bare copper.
”What do you suggest?”
”Make the cylinder behind the valve out of cast iron,” he said. “Then run the copper through a wooden frame to keep the heat in and the pressure steady.”
Practical. Smarter than I’d expected from the clumsy kid Camillo described.
”Alright. Wooden frame it is.”
The ball bearings I’d brought for drone repairs were barely a few millimeters across. I asked Kai to shape them into welding rods, but his hands shook on the small stuff—I ended up doing it myself, showing him how to hold the file steady as I worked.
While the metal heated, we talked.
His family ran a blacksmith shop in the Royal Capital, subcontractors for the Arsenal Bureau. They specialized in bearing alloys—the carriage bearings I’d helped develop sold like wildfire, making them wealthy. He said it with a mix of pride and distance, as if the money had never quite reached him.
”Former Arsenal Chief Aslan recommended me to the Kure shipyards.”
”Then how’d you end up here, on the ‘Izumo’?”
He stammered, looked at the floor. I didn’t push. This kid has the knowledge but can’t execute—that’s a story I know.
Hours passed in the glow of hot metal and the rhythm of hammer strikes. The ship rocked gently as the night deepened around us. I finished the Third Boiler well past midnight, then moved to the First, working by the amber light of a single Mana lamp while Kai handed me tools and asked questions I answered without looking up.
At dawn, just as I finished fixing the First Boiler, the shut-in Elf Mage finally showed up.
”Is it fixed?” she asked.
Haaaah…
What the hell. Can’t you start with “Good work” or some words of appreciation?
”Probably,” I said.
”‘Probably’ won’t do,” she retorted. “I need you to do it properly.”
I’m gonna punch you. You crappy Elf Mage.
This is your job, isn’t it.
”Kai, even for a Dwarf, two sleepless nights will take their toll. Go rest,” I urged.
I grabbed his upper arm to drag him away—a firm grip on a tired kid who’d been worked like a tool.
The moment my fingers closed around his sleeve, a jolt of surface thoughts bled through. Mind-reading. His Mana was dense, a Dwarf’s natural reservoir, and the contact opened a crack in the wall between us.
I felt embarrassment first. Then fear. Then—underneath the coal dust and the baggy clothes—a quiet, guarded secret that I hadn’t even thought to question.
Soft curves. Hidden. Tucked away.
A girl?
Until that second, I’d thought he was a guy. The nipples I’d noticed earlier seemed large for a man, but the breasts were flat enough that I’d written it off as a Dwarf build.
I looked at Kai. His face was beet red.
”You idiot—!” Kai shouted.
He’d felt me reading him. His Mana surged, and before I could let go or apologize, a shockwave hit me square in the chest and hurled me backward into darkness.
”Are you awake? What a troublesome one you are,” Pamela said.
It was Pamela who was looking down at me as I lay in bed.
”Two broken ribs, and a bump on the back of your head,” she noted. “What on earth did you do to that Dwarf girl?”
”I didn’t do anything,” I said.
”I see,” Pamela said. “You’ve already taken the Elf Mage and the Amazoness, but not the Dwarf yet, so I just assumed…”
”Assumed what?” I asked.
”Never mind,” Pamela replied. “To complete your set in this world, you have to bag an Androgynos (a being with both male and female traits) too, you know.”
What is this idiotic Elf Mage talking about?
When I tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through my chest.
”What are you doing? I and Nikole can find a break, but we can’t heal it,” Pamela warned.
Pamela and Nikole—that’s all the medical staff we had. Neither could manage a proper Heal for a fracture. And I’d seen bone-setting done by a real Medical Mage once; the patient shat himself from the pain.
If these two can’t fix it… good. Broken ribs mean bed rest for weeks. A long vacation, watching the ceiling sway.
I let the pain settle and smiled at the thought.
—
Summary:
The protagonist, exhausted and recovering from a chaotic day, finds his intimate moment with Katarina interrupted by the abrupt entrance of the Engine Department head, Camillo. The story shifts to a tense professional dynamic as the protagonist assists with urgent boiler repairs while navigating the incompetence and complaints of his former students. The chapter concludes with the ship currently adrift and the protagonist preparing to repair the damaged machinery.
The protagonist investigates the ship’s boiler rooms and encounters a young-looking Dwarf named Kai struggling with maintenance. After performing repairs and mentoring the boy, the protagonist discovers Kai’s true gender via accidental physical contact, leading to a violent reaction from the boy. He subsequently wakes up in the medical bay under the care of Pamela, suffering from injuries and contemplating a long recovery period.
—
Trivia:
The protagonist uses a fixed-wing drone during combat, which required him to perform minor surgery on his own head.
The ship is in the middle of the Norden Sea and is currently operating on emergency power after boiler failures.
Dwarves in this world are canonically capable of using Mana, but they suffer from extreme lack of control, making them poor candidates for delicate magical engineering.
Elf Mages, or at least the ones encountered, appear to have an arrogant social disposition regarding cross-gender interactions.
Kai is a Dwarf, which explains the high Mana and Mind-reading ability.
The ship’s steam system utilizes bypass valves and cooling towers to manage pressure.
Copper piping was used for its ease of work, but the protagonist identifies it as a design flaw due to heat expansion.
Pamela and Nikole are the only medical staff available on the ship.
High-level healing magic in this world can be incredibly painful to the point of causing involuntary bowel movements.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Katarina – Tall and stunning with long limbs, this assertive 30-year-old Flight Section leader is a former Chief Researcher who pilots a twin-engine fixed-wing drone. Prone to getting carried away by an explosion-triggered instability, she serves as Earnest’s telepathic attendant, plans to marry her partner Larry, and maintains a strained yet intimately close relationship with the protagonist.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Camillo – A tall, silver-haired Elf Mage from Great Norden Island, this introverted Engine Department Chief acts with superiority as the former mentor to the First Sage. Though a hermit who prefers his engine room, peers view him as untrustworthy. Despite his arrogant exterior, this Section Chief secretly struggles to maintain composure under pressure and manage his subordinates.
• Claudia – A former Royal Capital researcher, Engine Department Mage, and subordinate of the protagonist, this student of Camillo grew from a chubby youth into an unstable beauty. Now teaching boiler maintenance on the Kisaragi, they struggle alongside Janet to cope with the environment and once questioned the protagonist about his wives.
• Janet – An unstable 22-year-old Mage, former Bizan Magic School research student, and pupil of Camillo. Now the protagonist’s former subordinate, she works in the Engine Department of the destroyer Mutsuki, teaching engine maintenance. A gossipy communicator who constantly pries into the protagonist’s life, she currently battles severe seasickness and desperately wants to leave the ship.
• Kai – A 20-year-old Dwarf sailor and ship’s smithy in the Engineering department. Appearing as a square-jawed, ash-covered young boy with a non-erotic build, this crew member possesses raw mana but lacks fine control. Prone to overly dramatic apologies, he is easily drawn from a crowd by the smell of tuna cheek meat, which he enthusiastically consumes.
• Tatyana – A playful, composed 31-year-old Royal Magic Academy Assistant Professor and divorced mother of two from Viscount Bizan is intimately involved with Katarina. This sailor suit-wearing Artillery Squad leader and former 101 Golems Battalion member guides students, respects veteran grannies, synchronizes with Golems, and uses a Coilgun to fire yellow suppression cartridges at escaping lower deck intruders.
• Amber – An object or entity that receives mana infusion from Pamela, serving as a vital source of Mana to power the Golems.
• Rosa – A 14-year-old, square-built Sabaski shipyard professor of noble half-Dwarf descent, this cynical genius has immense mana and psychopathic tendencies. A wealthy Kure associate and drone pilot, she profited from the protagonist’s blueprints to design the ship’s piping and Bohemian glass propulsion before being kidnapped by the Amazoness, deemed a state danger, and targeted for assassination.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Ho – Ho is the family name of Oliver, a 17-year-old deck crew member and comrade of the protagonist. As a member of the military unit that defended Garao Village, the young man was ultimately murdered during a night watch, slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Aslan – Aslan Gar is a tall, sharp-eyed, bearded Dwarf, former captain, and former Arsenal Bureau Chief who recommended Kai for his position. Currently Director of Kure’s naval shipyard, he uses a strict, high-pressure command to oversee equipment, logistics, and training. Roland’s brother, he reports to the Fourth Sage, maintaining an authoritative, commanding presence.
• Izumo – The iron-hulled ship serving as the primary vessel for the protagonist and his crew.
• Pamela – A sharp, cynical female slave and Medical Mage in a Corporal’s uniform. Sharing a bed with Larry, this bold medical professional playfully mocks his finances and looks while monitoring his interactions with other women. Known for using arcane techniques to instantly knock out patients or intruders by draining mana, she also previously issued strict movement instructions to Katarina.
• Pam – An escort to the protagonist who is observant and loyal.
• Nikole – A Level-3 Nikole medical mage and repeat Bizan Magic School graduate, this Izumo health officer, former Student Council VP, and Chulpan’s assistant is Larry’s senior colleague she once hoped to marry. Sporting silver-streaked shoulder-length hair, a rune-etched coat, and a sailor uniform with a vermilion Rhein insignia, she battles alcoholism and a haunted past of club work for tuition.
• Niko – An elderly, dignified former slave, he is a loyal bondservant to the protagonist and the Getys household, helping raise her child alone. As the family’s oldest male servant, he drives carriages and manages groundskeeping, preferring the stable loft. His deep knowledge of the local landscape and the sugar beet business allows him to aid their estate transition with quiet wisdom and steadfast service.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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