The celebrations continued, with the dwarves teaching the HobMankeys everything they knew about drinking alcohol.
Laughter and slurred speeches resounded through the town plaza even deep into the night.
Thrain and Lolo became quite competitive about drinking and competed in a game on who could finish a cup of beer the fastest.
Even Fudge, who usually stayed in Michael’s shadow, couldn’t help but join in on the festivities.
He ended up becoming quite the mascot for the village, with him showing everyone his ‘ninja’ moves, which was quite contrary to what a real ninja should do.
The dwarves joined in too, making fun of themselves by braiding their beards in odd and strange ways. One even made Michael’s likeness onto the beard, which everyone enjoyed quite well.
Kong and the other HobMankeys felt themselves becoming closer to the dwarves on a deeper level. They began talking about their lives before this, and how everything seemed hopeless and lost. Then, everything changed when they met Michael.
Both dwarves and the HobMankeys understood each other on that end.
So many dwarves and HobMankeys continued to drink beer that all the barrels Michael prepared were dried to the last drop.
The HobMankeys, due to their stronger constitution from evolving into a higher species, found themselves able to compete against the dwarves in a drinking game.
But of course, the dwarves still drank them under the table.
By the end of the night, the only ones still awake were Michael, who refrained from drinking, and Thrain, who proved to be the one with the strongest stomach.
“This beer, Michael… it’s quite something else. Even the royal dwarves with the most refined tastes would find themselves taking a liking to this cold beverage.
And it’s not just this beer, Michael. Everything you have made in this desolate land is something that will capture the hearts of dwarves and even other creatures, I’m sure.
Your plumbing system, your electricity, this beer, the game of baseball, and most of all…the atmosphere and feel of this village—
I am sure that everyone would want to experience this in their life. Us too. If it was possible, then we would want to live in this place forever.”
Michael looked at Thrain and saw the pained expression on his face.
“What do you mean? Why can’t you stay here in our village?”
Thrain sighed and looked up at the stars. “It is not that simple, Michael. Even though we are on the outskirts of the Dwarven Kingdom, we are still part of it nonetheless. We cannot simply leave our responsibilities to our kind.”
“What responsibilities?” Michael asked.
“Our village is the very first defensive line of the kingdom. Now that it is destroyed, then it is our responsibility to build it back up. So, once time has passed and the landslide poses no more problem for us, then we will have to return to our village to rebuild it by hand,” Thrain explained.
This was a hard decision for Thrain. Even though they had only been in this village for a day, they found themselves deeply attracted to its culture and lifestyle.
It was extremely hard to part ways with this village now that they discovered how amazing it was. But, they pledged an oath to the kingdom itself. Betraying it would be tantamount to ripping out their own heart.
Michael thought for a second and found a solution.
“What if we build a defensive line in place of the village?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“You said that your village is the first line of defense for the kingdom, right? What if we build a wall instead? It would serve a defensive purpose for the kingdom, which means that you won’t betray your oath and still live here permanently.”
Thrain thought Michael was simply offering a thoughtless solution, but the sincerity in his eyes told him otherwise. Michael was serious.
“We appreciate your kindness, but we can’t let you and this village bear that burden. Creating that defensive wall would take months upon months of hard work. Not to mention the distance between this village and the dwarven kingdom, it simply isn’t possible.”
Michael chuckled, almost offended that Thrain would think that such a simple job would take more than a few days’ worth of work.
“Please. You underestimate our construction prowess. Isn’t that right, Kong?”
The inebriated Kong slowly got up from under the table and nodded his head.
“A simple wall? Hmph. That would take four days, max.” Kong bragged.
“We have about twenty construction HobMankeys available for this project,” said Lolo, wiping the foam out of his mouth. “But for such a simple project, I doubt we’d need more than ten.”
Thrain looked at the three of them and couldn’t believe what they were saying.
A defensive wall taking less than four days? That was absurd! Even the best and fastest craftsman in the Dwarven Kingdom would need a month at least.
“I appreciate your gesture, but I do not think it is possible, at least not at the level that we dwarves consider acceptable.”
Thrain thought that Michael and the others would create a simple wooden wall. After all, that was the only thing they could create in four days.
To convince him, Michael pointed at the floor underneath their feet.
“Thrain, do you think the ground is sturdy enough to be considered a good wall?” he asked.
Thrain looked at the floor and tested its durability with a single stomp of his foot. After hearing the dull sound it produced, he knew that this ground could indeed make for a great wall.
“But this is made out of stone, is it not?” asked Thrain. “I doubt you could carve out a stone wall within a month, much less four days as you said.”
Michael smiled smugly. “Kong, tell him.”
Kong cleared his throat and said, “Only one day. This ground used to be made out of mud and soil, but we were able to make it like this within one day.”
Thrain got up from his seat, with the shock immediately turning him sober.