The tribe living in the mountains

 
 ”Uurgh, jeez, it’s hot, hot! What’s up with it being so hot!”
 
 A girl ranted so, her forehead soaked in sweat. In front of her was a rather short and stout man, single-mindedly striking at the iron in front of the furnace.
 The man was a dwarf. And the girl was the daughter of the dwarf striking the iron.
 Dwarven men and women differ greatly. When they reach adolescence, dwarven boys quickly age and grow beards.
 After reaching roughly the age of 50, they spend most of their remaining life looking like that.
 On the other hand, a dwarf woman’s appearance is almost fixed as what it was during her childhood, except for one part. Unlike dwarven men, other than the hair on top of her head, she won’t grow any other hair. A dwarven woman’s skin is always smooth like that of a peeled egg.
 As a result of these characteristics, though these two are parent and child, the atmosphere around them feels like that of a grandparent and grandchild.
 
 ”Hey, Papa, are you listening?”
 ”…”
 
 The dwarf father didn’t particularly reply to the girl. He simply pounded away at the iron. The dwarves in the surroundings were the same.
 
 ”Listen to me for a bit, Papa!”
 
 — Clang! — Clang! — Clang!
 
 ”Oi, Papa!”
 
 — Clang! — Clang! — Clang!
 
 ”Papa!”
 ”Shut up, I’m working.”
 
 He finally gave a short response as he stared fixedly at the quenched sword. The girl, his daughter, puffed out her cheeks and pouted.
 
 ”… this one’s also no good.”
 
 The dwarven man then casually threw away the sword he was striking, and then spoke to his daughter.
 
 ”Now quite a lot has piled up. Eph, go dump it at the usual place.”
 ”Again!?”
 
 His daughter, called Eph, looked at him bewildered. Because this thing happens frequently.
 
 ”Papa, and everyone, stop this! “Work” this, “work” that, always striking iron, making all these swords, armour, and such, but what the h**l do you plan to do with it!”
 
 Eph shouted. Of course, she has reason to show her anger like this. This undeveloped island where they live is somewhere no one seems to stop by. Therefore, no matter how much equipment they make, there’s no one who’ll buy it.
 In particular, there’s no trade with the outside world, and yet the dwarves simply keep striking at their iron. Apart from that, they do a surprising bare-minimum, such as eating and going to the toilet.
 Meal preparation was the job of the dwarven women. They don’t even hunt, as even the hunting is dealt with by the women.
 
 ”It’s about making the perfect weapons and armour. The traditional way of doing it is the right way, they’re certainly established techniques.”
 ”Papa, I really don’t get what you’re saying. I heard from Mama that you moved to this island before I was born, but weren’t you living on the continent before that? Didn’t you do a business then?”
 ”… it’s impossible to do business with products you don’t approve of.”
 
 Dwarves were stubborn. A dwarf’s lifespan is roughly 150 years on average. Even so, it was his father’s generation that moved to this island, then Eph’s father took over the ruler’s position after that.
 
 ”I was entrusted this by the previous generation. That is, to make the best weapons and armour.”
 
 Then he began striking the iron once more. Eph sighed, thinking it was useless to say anymore.
 She had no choice but to do as she was told and take out the items she was told were failures in the cart.
 
 ”Eph, while you’re at it, water please.”
 ”You can do that much yourselves!”
 
 However, after saying only what he needed to, he began striking the iron once more. These guys wouldn’t be moving from this workshop at all.
 
 ”Uurgh, I really hate it! It’s really inconvenient around here! How far are we from the river! And it’s so hot because of the lava!”
 
 Eph was frustrated. Lava veins were spread all over this mountain. She wanted to ask, “why live in such a place?”, but it had to do with the dwarves’ obsession.
 The dwarves use this lava as a natural furnace. Meaning, the iron is melted in the lava.
 The lava flowing in this area is characterised by its high temperature of around 1600 degrees.
 The dwarves had no doubt that the blessings of this lava would lead to the creation of the ultimate equipment.
 They were so particular that they even used low-temperature lava for quenching. [TL: That is not how quenching works. No wonder your things are failing XD]
 However, Eph had serious doubts as to whether this was the right thing to do.
 
 ”Ara, princess-sama is going on about such things again.” (random dwarven woman)
 
 When Eph left the workshop, she was approached by a dwarven woman. The most common people she meets outside are women, as dwarven men stay indoors all the time, hammering iron.
 
 ”It would be nice if King Jay could do something other than just hammering iron, wouldn’t it?” (random dwarven woman)
 ”Honestly. But no matter how much I tell him, he just won’t listen.”
 
 Jay was not only Eph’s parent, but also the king of the dwarves. However, he doesn’t seem to be doing anything particularly parental or even kingly, which is why she usually complains even in front of Eph, the princess. His daughter, Eph, is incessantly dissatisfied, which is only natural.
 
 ”Seriously, if that’s how it’s going to be, then I wish he’d at least make a house…”
 ”It hurts to hear such.” (random dwarven woman)
 
 At present, the dwarves have simple dwellings. They use a space made by digging a hole in the side of the mountain.
 But it’s hot here, as the mountain is constantly flowing with lava. And because of the lava, there’s no water nearby.
 In the end, to fetch a single drop of water, you have to go down the mountain, all the way to the river, fetch the water, and then come back. It is a very primitive way of life.
 For Eph, the only good thing is the natural hot springs. That’s why they don’t have any trouble with baths.
 After talking to some female dwarves, Eph pulled the cart to the intended hole. The dwarves’ failed products are always dumped in this hole.
 They found it convenient because when they dumped it there, the discarded items would disappear before they knew it.
 But that was nothing more than the influence of mana, which made them move around on their own.
 
 ”Haa, next I have to fetch water, huh…”
 
 After returning for a short bit, Eph started moving towards the river with a large bottle on her back. Dwarven women are also very strong, even though Eph is very young in appearance. An ordinary human wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to Eph, even if ten common humans worked together.
 
 ”Huh?”
 
 It happened on the way down the mountain. On a hill overlooking the foot of the mountain, Eph saw something strange.
 
 ”Eh? Eh? Why’s there a wall put up there? And also, what’s that I see over there… no ways, a fortress!?”
 
 Yes, it was a wall and a fortress. But nothing like that had existed there until recently.
 And then Eph, the Dwarven Princess, thought to herself. “Why was a wall built in such a place,and why was even a fortress built there?”. As a result, Eph came up with the following answer.
 
 ”N-, no way, there’s invaders on the island!”