True Friendship

“Very good, Richard. This is some of the best alcohol I have tasted in the 130 years of my life. Although every human visitor has known we dwarves like liquor, yours is the best.” Bamor then pointed to the three remaining buckets, “Are these three barrels any different?”

“Why don’t you try them all?” Richard waved.

“Alright!” Bamor immediately had the guards open the rest of the barrels, finishing them all off alongside his elders. These barrels truly were inferior to the first, getting blander as he went along.

A thought struck Bamor, his gaze at Richard suddenly lighting up. “Are these the things you want to offer in trade?”

Richard smiled in reply, “These barrels are all of different qualities: supreme, high, average, and mediocre. Descendants of the noble Toro Anvil, how is the taste of the mediocre liquor to you all?”

Bamor exchanged looks with a few of the elders, one of whom admitted straightforwardly, “Even that is very good. The...