In the meeting hall of the Dwarven King's palace, the king listened to his minister's words while thinking. After some time passed, he looked at the minister and said:
"But if we refuse to sell the new metal, or to respond to the rumors, our position in the continent of Mira will be bad."
The minister looked at his king and smiled, saying:
"My lord, are we not the ones who manufacture most of the magical weapons and artifacts on the continent?"
The king looked at him in surprise at the question, but replied:
"Yes, we are the ones who make all those items."
The minister's smile widened, and he said in a confident tone:
"My lord, if we say that the newly discovered metal is still being examined to see whether it can be forged in the usual way or not, we will reduce the quantity of weapons we sell. In this way, everyone will know that if they ask about the new metal again, we will not sell them the weapons we have made."
The king and the ministers looked at him in astonishment at his words, and one of the elder ministers said:
"But that will create more problems, and we will have more enemies."
The king agreed and said:
"Yes, your suggestion will increase the resentment of the other races toward us, especially while we are in a massive war in the Fallen Isles against the demons."
The smile did not leave the minister's face even after the king and the ministers opposed him, and he said in a sinister tone:
"Exactly, my king. We are in a war, and it is they, with their false rumors, who are creating chaos. If we tell the dragons what the other races are doing, and the rumors they are spreading, the dragons will be on our side—especially since the dragons prefer us over the rest of the races of the continent of Mira because of the weapons our ancestors made for them hundreds of years ago."
The Dwarven King looked at him while thinking, and said in a tone filled with doubt:
"Is this really worth all these efforts? We do not know whether the new metal will be suitable for making artifacts or even magical weapons. All we know about it is that it receives many energies and absorbs them, and we still do not know whether it is a suitable and important metal to that degree or not."
The minister replied encouragingly, in an enthusiastic tone:
"My king, since ancient times there have been very few metals similar to this metal, and our ancestors made many great artifacts from them. They even made from them one of the sacred items passed down in legends. But those metals were extremely rare, and it was not easy to obtain them or replace them."
Then the minister continued, his tone growing more excited:
"We cannot risk selling the new metal, my king. If this metal is truly capable of making artifacts or even sacred weapons, then we must not squander it so easily, or we will regret it when it is too late."
As soon as the minister finished his words, all the ministers in the hall began discussing among themselves, exchanging opinions in low voices, before their collective agreement with his opinion became clear. When the king saw that all the ministers had agreed with the minister's words—and that he himself was convinced by his logic—he raised his hand, calling for silence. Once calm filled the hall, he said in a firm voice:
"The minister's words have earned my approval. We must respond to all envoys and messengers from all races that the new metal we discovered is taking all of our time and effort, and therefore we will reduce the number of artifacts we sell in the markets, so that we can study this metal well."
Then he added in a formal tone:
"Tell them also that we do not know the specific time it will take to discover the properties and capabilities of this metal, and that we cannot offer any promises before the research is completed."
When the king said that, the ministers laughed, imagining the faces of the envoys and messengers from various states—their arrogant expressions and condescending tones—and how those faces would turn into astonishment and anxiety, and perhaps even pleading, when they realized that the dwarves had stopped selling artifacts.
When the king saw his ministers laughing, he added:
"And tell them also that a curfew will soon be imposed on the dwarven royal city, due to the presence of a thief inside the royal city who stole something from the palace. They must leave the city before this decision is implemented."
At that point, one of the ministers spoke in a hesitant tone:
"Do you suspect a specific person, my king?"
The king looked at him and said in a sarcastic tone that concealed a long history of bitterness:
"Of course not. There are many powers and races, and even kings, who covet our treasures. Since ancient times, the races of the continent of Mira have coveted our treasures and our magical weapons."
Then his voice lowered slightly, and he added:
"They even once stole a sacred weapon from us, at a time when we had not yet discovered how to bind sacred weapons to their owners, so that no one else could use them."
As soon as the king mentioned the stolen sacred weapon, shame and anger appeared on the ministers' faces. It was a disgrace that haunted the entire dwarven race. Even now, the dwarves were still searching for the stolen weapon by all possible means, without any result. The forging of a sacred weapon was an extremely rare event, and only a few had been made since the emergence of the dwarves. Each weapon had a known name that spread throughout the continent, to the point that even the demons of the demonic continent knew those names. The theft of one of those weapons was an indelible stain on dwarven history.
When the king saw the poor morale that had befallen his ministers, he sighed inwardly and realized that he should not have reopened that old wound. He quickly changed his tone and said:
"Go and inform the envoys and messengers of everything I have said. Deploy the soldiers in the royal city, for the thief may still be inside it. Send several search teams outside the city, with some artifacts to track his trail if he escaped."
Then he ended his words in a firm tone:
"The most important thing is not capturing the thief now, but that news of what is happening—the closure of the city, the movement of the teams, and the mobilization of the guards—reaches the envoys and messengers, so that everyone realizes that the dwarves do not let anyone who steals something that belongs to them go without reckoning."