Tina's Workshop Story: The Blacksmith Girl with Sake and War Hammer - Blazing Speech and Creeping Trap

The forge fire flickered. It was the third day. Ever since that damnable proclamation had been posted, Tina hadn't touched a single drop of rum. The fire poker in her hand trembled with a faint clatter. "Tch...!" She slammed the poker against the floor. An ugly metallic clang echoed through the workshop. Her fingers, trying to turn the furnace's temperature control valve, refused to obey. She put in too much force, and the brass valve let out a grinding shriek. Her short orange hair was messier than usual. Her small, sharp eyes were bloodshot, faint dark circles shadowing the skin beneath them. Even the leather belt she usually wore crisp and tight seemed somehow loose today. *(Damn it, I need a drink... I don't have enough booze.)* For a dwarf, alcohol wasn't just a luxury. It was blood, it was soul, it was the source of creation. Ever since she was born, she had lived surrounded by forge fire and the scent of distilled spirits. And now— "Master! We're here!" Leena's shrill voice flew in from the shop entrance, followed by the clatter of noisy footsteps. The girl with her red hair tied in a side-tail came running in, wearing her usual energetic grin. "Good morning, Master." Leon stepped back and bowed his head modestly. His brown, frizzy hair trembled slightly with nervousness. Beside him, Milia, with her short, pale blue hair, quickly scanned the workshop. Her intelligent, light blue eyes caught the fire poker lying on the floor. "Huh? Master, you look kinda pale. You okay?" Leena peered unabashedly into Tina's face. At 160 centimeters, she had to look down to do so—Tina stood only 138 centimeters tall, though normally she never made you feel that for an instant. This morning, however, she seemed small and shrunken. "Shut it... I'm just a little short on sleep." Her voice had completely lost its usual fire. Leena opened her mouth. "Speaking of which, yesterday at the market street I saw—" "Leena." Milia cut her off sharply, shaking her head with a small motion. Leena blinked in confusion for a moment, then her face went pale and she clamped a hand over her mouth. *(She was about to bring up alcohol, that idiot.)* Tina cursed inwardly. But she didn't even have the energy to yell. She just stood there in silence, glaring at the furnace's temperature control valve. "Master, why don't we take a look around town?" Leon spoke in a voice that was a little firmer than usual. His brown eyes flickered, reflecting the forge fire. "...What's this, now you too? What happened to your blacksmith training?" "Today, I think... observing the state of the town is also an important lesson." Leon's ears turned red, but he still said it clearly. Faced with that desperation, Tina let out a small sigh. "...Fine. I'll go along with you." The sky over Chromgard hung low and heavy, like lead. The four of them walked west along Hammer Sound Street, heading for the central plaza. Normally, this city was a mix of blacksmiths' hammering, the angry shouts of drunks, and the calls of peddlers. Today, it was eerily quiet. A cold wind tumbled across the cobblestones, carrying trash with it. They arrived in front of the tavern, the "Copper Cup." The tavern was as good as dead. Heavy oak doors had been crudely nailed shut with several rough wooden planks. A notice reading "CLOSED BY ORDER OF THE MAGISTRATE'S OFFICE" flapped noisily in the wind. The face of Magus Oren—the tavern's jovial owner, a fat man in his fifties and a former Copper-rank adventurer—flashed in her mind. "I wonder if old man Magus is okay..." Leena murmured quietly. A dwarf miner passing by the shop stared up at the tavern's sign with hollow eyes. The hand holding his pickaxe trembled with a faint clatter. He wasn't the only one. The miners loitering in the plaza were all equally lifeless. These were men whose daily routine was to finish work and have a drink at the Copper Cup. Now, they just sat on the cobblestones, staring up at the sky. "They all seem to be in poor physical condition," Milia analyzed coolly. She was unconsciously tracing circles on the ground with the tip of her staff. "A dwarf's alcohol tolerance is said to be four times that of a human. That means alcohol is deeply involved in their body's neural transmission. If you cut it off suddenly—withdrawal symptoms like that are only natural." "I get the logic, but... that's just too cruel." Leena's voice trembled with anger. Tina silently surveyed the miserable state of the plaza. *(Feldrich... you'd go this far.)* Her small fists clenched with a grinding sound. "Milia, that proclamation. You remember the text?" "Yes. 'The manufacture, sale, and possession of distilled spirits (alcohol content of 25% or higher) within the municipal limits of Chromgard is prohibited. Violators shall be subject to a fine of 50 gold coins or 30 days' detention. Fermented beverages (beer, wine) are exempt from this article.' That is the full text." Milia recited it from memory. A brilliant mind. "Right. The problem is that part about 25%." Tina's voice gradually grew heated. "Traditional dwarven liquor is almost all distilled. Rum, whiskey, fire spirits—all of it exceeds 25%. On the other hand, human booze is mostly fermented stuff like wine and beer. Low alcohol content. In other words, this ordinance is—" "A de facto racial discrimination ordinance, targeting only dwarven alcohol..." Leon murmured quietly. Realizing the weight of his own words, he hastily covered his mouth. "Exactly, Leon!" Tina's voice rang out across the plaza. It was a huge voice, unimaginable from her tiny body. "That damn magistrate spouts pretty words on paper about 'public health' and 'public morals,' but his real motive is money! He's going to crush the brewers and hand the rights to bootleg liquor over to merchants in his own pocket!" Her small, sharp eyes blazed like fire. Her short orange hair seemed to stand on end with rage. Her tiny 138-centimeter frame felt, in that moment, larger than a giant twice her size. People passing by stopped and stared at her. "...Tonight." Tina said it quietly. "I've already talked to old man Magus. We're gathering allies at the closed Copper Cup. You three are coming too." Night. One by one, shadows slipped in through the back door of the closed Copper Cup tavern. Tina, Leon, Leena, Milia. And the city's former adventurers—led by Ganzo, over a dozen dwarves and humans had assembled. Inside, it was pitch black. Even the lamp light was turned down to a bare minimum, for fear of it leaking outside. In the dusty air, the faint lingering scent of rum was somehow painful. Magus Oren—the fat, jovial former Copper-rank adventurer and owner—scratched his head apologetically. "Sorry about this, everyone. Having to meet in the dark like this." "Don't worry about it, Magus. Just lending us the place is more than enough." But everyone was silent. Without alcohol, they couldn't even muster the energy to speak. Everyone's hands trembled with withdrawal, greasy sweat beading on their faces. That was when it happened. —THUD! Someone leaped onto a table. It was Tina. She looked down at her comrades. The lamp light illuminated her orange hair and her burning, small, sharp eyes. "Are you all fine with this?!!!!" A single roar. Everyone's back straightened. "Three days. Just three days without booze, and you're already in this state! What happened to dwarven pride! What happened to the spirit of former adventurers!" She raised her fist. "Alcohol is a dwarf's blood! Our soul! We're a race that built the world with forge fire and distilled spirits! To take that away is to trample on our pride!" Her voice shook the tavern walls. "That damn magistrate is wearing the armor of the law, trying to make us toothless. Are you all just going to sit there and watch with your fingers in your mouths? I won't have it! I'll never forgive such injustice!" Leon stared at his master, breathless. *(Amazing...)* He'd always thought she was lazy, with nothing but alcohol on her mind. But now, it was different. Where in that tiny body was she hiding such a burning soul? Here was an adult he wanted to protect. Leena's mouth hung open, unable to close. *(Boss lady... she's seriously pissed.)* This wasn't the usual cheerful drunk. This was the face of the warrior who had once made her name resound across the continent as a Gold-rank adventurer. Tina the Thunderclap—for the first time, Leena felt the weight of that title. Milia watched Tina's words with a serious expression, analyzing them. *(She appeals to emotion, but her logic is clear. Alcohol is culture, prohibition is discrimination, and there's profit behind it—the structure of her speech is perfect. This is the charisma of a former Gold-rank adventurer...)* "I'll do it!" Ganzo, sitting in the corner, stood up. Sweat glistened on his bald head, and he clenched his fist. "The boss is right! Give us back our booze!" "Yeah!" "Let's do this!" One by one, they stood up. Even without alcohol, the heat of raised fists filled the gathering. Tina grinned. "It's decided then! First, a petition drive. We'll gather signatures opposing this ordinance in the central plaza. And in three days, we'll carry out a peaceful protest march! Don't give them an excuse for violence. We'll fight fair and square, within the bounds of the law!" """"YEAAAHHHH!!"""" The next morning, the central plaza was shrouded in fog. They set up a desk on the cobblestones and spread out the petition sheets. A sign Leon had handmade, reading "Oppose Prohibition! Alcohol is Culture!", swayed in the wind. Leena was the first to call out to a passerby. She cornered a young human merchant. Stretching her 160-centimeter frame as tall as she could, her greenish eyes sparkled. "Excuse me! Please sign! If I don't drink—if I don't drink alcohol, I'll die! Please help me!!" The passerby stopped, looking dumbfounded. "Wrong! That's not how you do it, you idiot!!" Tina smacked Leena on the back of the head from behind. A satisfying *smack* echoed. "But I'm nervous! I don't know what to say!" "You just say it normally: 'Please sign the petition opposing the prohibition ordinance'!!" Beside them, Leon took off running with a bundle of petition sheets—and the next moment, CRASH! He tripped over some cargo in the market and dove headfirst into a greengrocer's basket. Cabbages flew through the air, potatoes scattering across the cobblestones. "I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll pay for it!!" Bright red, Leon crawled out and bowed his head desperately. Seeing him covered in vegetables, Tina clutched her stomach and burst out laughing. "Ahahaha! You guys are the absolute best no matter what you do! I laughed so hard my withdrawal symptoms flew away!" Her laughter echoed throughout the plaza. As if drawn by that cheerfulness, a crowd began to form. "Here now, you lot. If you want to sign, write your names here." Tina called out to the young adventurers. Instead of just asking for signatures, she began to passionately talk about alcohol. "Listen up, youngsters. The rum of Chromgard is made by a dwarven brewing family that's been at it for three generations. Underground water from the coal mines, wild sugarcane from the Ortgar Mountains—" Drawn by her voice, even more people gathered. Her storytelling had, before anyone knew it, turned into a speech. "—and that's why protecting this liquor means protecting this city's culture." "Whoa, awesome!" "I'll sign too! I wanna drink!" Leena watched this with a complicated expression. "...It kinda pisses me off that Master talking about booze gets more signatures than me begging for my life." "So this is the teaching method of 'speaking with one's back'..." Leon, still with vegetable leaves in his hair, was trying to take notes in admiration. "Leon, I think you should deal with that cabbage first." Milia retorted coolly. By the afternoon, they had gathered 312 signatures

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 2

Name: Tina's Workshop Story: The Blacksmith Girl with Sake and War Hammer
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt