I almost blurted it out.

Because of certain dwarf jokes, El did indeed have some stereotypes about dwarves before he even met them.

So when he saw that the dwarfs weren't actually as short as he had imagined, he almost blurted out, "What tall dwarfs!"

"Thank goodness I held back and didn't say anything that would be detrimental to unity."

With this thought in mind, El bent down and reached out to shake hands with the dwarf in front of him.

"Hello……"

"Dude, I know what you're thinking. It's not mind reading, it's that you wear your heart on your sleeve."

The dwarf responded by extending his right hand and covering his face with his left. He had also witnessed the changes in El's expression from surprise to being unable to hold back to composure.

El seemed to say nothing, yet he also seemed to say everything.

"It's because of the dwarf joke, right? I knew that's how everyone who sees a dwarf for the first time reacts."

Don't mind him, buddy. I've met a lot of people, and you're one of the more polite ones.

The dwarf, looking both used to it and tired, knew very well how popular dwarf jokes were across the entire continent.

Putting aside everything else, a few days ago a demon assault team attacked the dwarven defenses, and on one of the demon's corpses, they found a complete collection of dwarven jokes...

At that moment, the dwarf realized clearly that his reputation had been ruined by these damned jokes.

Because the border with humans had been notified via communication devices, and El presented his Hero's Certificate immediately.

So the dwarf at the outpost led him toward the command post of the defensive line.

On the way, he was still complaining about the dwarf jokes.

"You have no idea, the jokes about dwarves are getting more and more outrageous these days, especially about our height."

The dwarf said that the joke from a few years ago went like this:

"Faced with the same river, the giant said: This water barely covers my toes."

The human says: It's just above my knee, no big deal.

The dwarf said: "Gurgle gurgle..."

The later dwarf joke went like this:

"In human towns where dwarves live together, it is not recommended that humans wear high heels, because the holes made by the heels could cause dwarves to fall in."

"Good heavens, my brave friend, listen to this! Is this thing even speaking human language? What does it take us dwarves for?"

"Ah...indeed, it was a bit too much."

Listening to the dwarf's narration, El felt as if he were facing the most difficult battle of his career.

Hearing endless jokes about dwarves without being able to laugh is really tough.

"That's not even the worst part. Recently, some strange conspiracy theories have also emerged."

They say the dwarf jokes were spread by us dwarves ourselves to create stereotypes.

Then, the first thing they'll notice when they see our true faces is how tall we are…”

El: ...

He can't say anything now because suppressing laughter is very difficult.

Honestly, he felt that holding back his laughter and maintaining politeness was harder than dealing with the great lich Perid.