#390 King of Craftsmen

And so, it begins: the ultimate showdown of craftsmanship between Aileron and Edward.

Will it be Aileron’s preaches on natural beauty or Pops Edward’s pride in his superb craftsmanship?

The event will be held at the expo hall, specifically at Aileron’s Pottery Pavilion. 

Plates, bowls, and other ceramic items from the elven side are displayed.

On the dwarven side, there are exquisitely crafted crowns, guards, and treasured swords.

They are lined directly opposite each other. 

The spectators walk through the room and vote for their favorite at the exit.

To prevent block votes, only races other than elves and dwarves are eligible to vote.

And to prevent anyone from voting more than once, special magic has been applied to the voting cards.

Once a person touches a card, it will leave a trace, and if they pick up another tag, an alarm will go off.

This system was all constructed by Belena.

“They’re not pulling their punches, alright...!”

Whatever the case, I could see that they’re enthusiastic about this.

“They both want to prove so badly that they’re correct.”

Aileron’s pottery and Pops Edward’s smithing.

Both of them are masters of their craft, and that’s why they want to prove who’s superior; is that it?

It’s not just a matter of two people’s pride, it’s a battle between two races as a whole.

“Hey! Elves and dwarves are having a fight over there!”

“What? They’ve even prepared an event like that? This expo is amazing!”

Rumors had spread, and spectators had started gathering.

Elves and dwarves are both sub-races and unfamiliar to the demon race.

Elves, in particular, don’t interact with other races, so they are even more mysterious and intriguing.

But it’s not just the uniqueness of elves and dwarves that draws attention.

There are the exhibits too.

“Are... Are these... Dwarven masterpieces?!”

“The dwarves unsparingly used golden jewels they mined and decorated it with their age-old finesse! Just look at this intricate fretwork!”

“It’d take hundreds of years for a demon craftsman to create something like this!”

“Ohhhh! You can’t go wrong with a large emerald. Even the cutting is superbbbbb!!!”

It became an instant hit.

I watch the competition from the sidelines, wondering how this game will turn out.

From my amateur point of view, it looks too one-sided.

The dwarves’ exhibit is a lavish showcase of gold and silver treasures, while the elves’ is just plain pottery.

They’re only made of clay. There’s no way it can compete with gold, silver, and jewelry in terms of value.

I was puzzled as to why Aileron would make a rash move such as this, but...

Surprisingly, their pottery also received a lot of votes.

“Noujou has yet again come up with a willful collection!”

“...The colors! The shapes! It’s like a piece of nature itself!”

“I can see the world in these bowls!”

“Noujou’s ceramic artisans have broken new artistic grounddd!”

No way...

The ballot box on Aileron’s side is also filled with votes.

“A lump of earth is competing with precious metal!”

“Lady Aileron’s work is a big boom in the capital, you know!” explains a man standing next to me.

I wondered who it was, but it was Mr. Shax, the demon merchant.

“She is an alchemist who adds more value than pure gold to a mere piece of clay. Depending on the item, a single bowl she makes can be worth a castle.”

“A castle?!”

You think we’re in the Warring States period or something?!

I was beyond astonished, but the foot traffic flowed like a mighty river, uninterrupted.

At that time, I heard a shrill voice from the crowd.

A scream?

“Why?! How can such a wonderful thing be created by human hands?!”

“Master Bebegitt! We’re disturbing the others. We must go!”

A young man, perhaps a disciple, is desperately trying to control an old man clinging to a glass case (by Poel) surrounding the exhibit.

“This color combination! This distortion! Not even my kiln can make this! I’m going to become the apprentice to the genius behind this masterpieceeeeee!”

“You know we can’t do that, sir! You’re a great craftsman who controls the biggest pottery workshop in the capital!!!”

“Noooo! We have to leave everything behind and start from scratch!”

“If you do that, we’ll be left out in the cold!”

After that, he was dragged away.

What was that all about?

Well, they seem to be in the same business, but is Aileron really that good to make people go mental?

***

Anyway, while all this was going on, the voting was eventually closed.

We will now tally the votes to see which side got the most.

“Hah! The time’s here when all your naïve grumblings will be proven wrong, elves!”

“I can’t wait to see your smug face distorted in humiliation when the voting is over!”

Pops and Aileron are back to sending sparks flying with their scowls.

Which master craftsman will the goddess of craftsmanship smile upon today?

But just before we could open the box...

“Please wait!!!”

With just that, everyone’s movements stopped.

“Can’t we just call this game off?”

What?

Why now?

And who’s the girl calling for the cancellation?

“It’s me! Eltrigger, a member of the Pottery Team!”

One of the farm’s elf teams, the pottery team, is led by Aileron, with a little more than a dozen members to help her.

Eltrigger is one of them.

“Leader Aileron and Mister Edward’s works are amazing in their own right, and that’s all that matters! It’s foul to try to force them to be inferior to the other!”

“What are you talking about, Eltrigger?”

Team leader Aileron is shocked by the sudden objection of her group members.

“Hahaha! Got cold feet, have you?”

Pops Edward laughs.

“You don’t think you’ve got what it takes to win, so you want to keep things unsettled. Wise decision for an elf, I must say. I mean, your hasty preparations are no match for our ancestral finesse!”

“No, Pops. I agree with her.”

“Huh?”

A young dwarf steps forward.

He’s one of Pops Edward’s men.

“Baudwin! What are you talking about?!”

“Pops! You’ve lost sight of what it means to be an artisan! It doesn’t matter who’s better, does it?”

I’m not sure what’s going on, but it looks like both sides’ subordinates are trying to talk some sense into their seniors.

“...Yes, perhaps I forgot something important.”

“It’s not natural to be concerned with superiority. One cannot produce good work with that kind of attitude.”

Did they succeed in persuading them?

Well, that was awfully easy.

“It seems we were in the wrong, Mister Edward.”

“Mm. It’s good that each of us has a different approach to devoting ourselves to our work. Beauty comes in many forms, and each shines in its own way.”

The people committed to each other’s path shake hands firmly.

A reconciliation after a fierce clash of arguments. I couldn’t ask for a better ending.

“...Yeah, right!”

What?

It was so sudden I couldn’t process it at all.

The people who turned the tables around went somewhere far from prying eyes.

“Whew, that was over quick.”

“It wasn’t so serious after all.”

Huh? 

Were they in cahoots?

“It was obvious that if we have a clear winner, the loser will suffer a huge loss!”

“Winning is cool and all, but what if you lose? The brand image you’ve built will be ruined, and you’ll lose a lot of orders! Maybe even a life-or-death crisis!” 

“And yet, if all we get out of winning is satisfaction, it’s too high risk and too low reward! Why even bother participating in this contest?”

“Good of us to trick them in the heat of the moment!”

These level-headed subordinates did a good job taking over their leader.

“Well, let’s shelf the voting results, the potential source of disaster!”

“Burn it down to ashes before it creates a breeding ground for future problems!!!”

***

Thus, the Elf vs. Dwarf showdown came to an end.

The winner remains unknown at the hands of the two capable retainers.

Nonetheless, the event attracted a lot of attention, and both sides have been flooded with new orders.

Maybe, just maybe...

Those two had everything sorted out and stepped in just in time?!