The sun's light gradually disappeared in the gorgeous sunset. As night fell, the moon began to emit a soft glow.
After a whole day of trekking, the team finally entered the Black Rock Mountain area. The fat man sat on the ground. Sir Priest had trained his body when he was an apprentice. He had been used to being pampered all these years. How could he bear this kind of hardship?
"No, I can't walk anymore. Let's camp here and rest."
Ina looked at the surrounding environment and frowned, "No! Not here! Let's go quickly. "
"I really can't walk anymore. I have to rest here. No matter what you say, you can't change my decision!" The fat man panted heavily. He didn't care about being dirty and laid down on his back. His bulging fat belly moved up and down, reminding Chen Rui of a certain amphibian on Earth.
Ina shook her head and ignored the fat man's complaints. She led the team to continue walking forward. After walking for a while, she said from a distance, "With this kind of terrain and the cover of the night, the enemy only needs to throw stones down from the mountain to turn us into meat patties in our sleep."
The fat man's panting stopped. He thought of the falling stones ambush he encountered before escaping into the terrifying forest that day, and he couldn't help but shudder. He got up again with unknown strength, intending to keep up with the team. After just a few steps, his foot was tripped by a stone. If it weren't for the arm beside him holding him in time, he would definitely fall to the ground.
The fat man nodded to Chen Rui who held him and said while panting, "Thank you, Richard."
Chen Rui handed over a bottle of potion, "Drink this, it should help your physical recovery."
The fat man opened the cork and gulped it down. He felt his physical strength recovering quickly, and his triangular eyes lit up, "What kind of recovery potion is this? It's actually so effective! Is it a master-level potion? "
"Master-level … almost. This is a gift from my teacher. Unfortunately, there is only one bottle."
Chen Rui was right. This bottle was the recovery potion made by his teacher, Tetenis. It had reached the quasi-grand master level, and it was the last bottle. However, there were still endless grand master-level recovery potions in the Super System's exchange center.
"My friend, your friendship makes me feel ashamed. I have no choice but to confess to you. Actually, I've been hiding a few pieces of wheat biscuits and have never shared them with you. I'll share them with you now …" The fatty was touched as he took out a few biscuits.
Due to the destruction of the carriage and the loss of the mounts, the originally abundant food and supplies were also lost. Fatty usually had to eat raw and cold rations with the mercenaries. Only when he was lucky would he be able to hunt some prey for a sumptuous meal. He did not expect that he would have a secret stash of goods.
"I'm also touched by your frankness, but thank you. There's really no need, I won't accept it! Because my friend needs it more than I do. Alright, hurry up and catch up with the group. "Chen Rui smiled, patted Fatty's shoulder, and walked forward.
In fact, he knew very well that this damn fatty's private stash was more than just a few pieces of wheat biscuits. The so-called "frankness" was naturally reserved. Otherwise, why didn't he share the dried meat he secretly ate in the morning?
The team continued to march until Ina chose a suitable hillside, then they stopped to camp.
"Don't light a fire, don't make noise, reduce the patrol range, and try not to alarm the hill dwarves." Ina instructed while assigning tasks, organizing everyone to rest and be vigilant.
The exhausted fatty hid in the tent to rest. He secretly ate some of the stock hidden in the space bracelet, then he lay down. A few minutes later, snoring sounded in the tent.
Chen Rui sat among the mercenaries and listened to the bearded Silva's story about the cave dwarves.
Compared to the cave dwarves who were addicted to excavating all kinds of minerals in the underground mines, and the forest dwarves who were only willing to associate with elves, the hill dwarves who were proficient in forging had more interactions with humans. Most of the dwarven craftsmen in human society were hill dwarves.
The hill dwarves loved the wine and food of humans, while humans coveted the various equipment forged by the dwarves. Shrewd merchants came to the settlement of the hill dwarves and traded relatively cheap food and wine for dwarf-made equipment, profiting from it. Some even took advantage of the carelessness and impatience of the dwarves and used various means to deceive them … As time passed, many dwarves began to enter the human world, and after coming into contact with all kinds of humans, the dwarves finally woke up to the various deceptions they had been subjected to before.
After being deceived time and time again, the dwarves' good impression of humans turned into hatred. They no longer traded equipment with humans directly, but sold equipment and bought supplies through dwarves in the human world or through special spokespeople. Many dwarven tribes even listed humans as unwelcome, such as … the hill dwarves who lived in the Thick Earth Castle in the Black Rock Mountain.
A young lad who had just joined the mercenary group asked, "This time we're only passing through. We shouldn't attract the dwarves' hostility, right?"
The bearded man thought about it and shook his head. "Logically speaking, it shouldn't be. However, things are unpredictable. No one can tell what will happen in the next minute. As mercenaries, we have to be prepared to deal with accidents at all times. For example, right now, I have a bad premonition. Maybe something will happen tonight. "
Looking at the young mercenary's nervous expression, the bearded man and the few people around him laughed. How was this a premonition? It was clearly a veteran teasing a rookie.
Suddenly, Chen Rui raised his eyebrows and looked into the distance.
Soon, Samuel also revealed a vigilant look and slowly stood up. "Seems like you're right, Silva. Remember not to casually 'premonition' in the future."
Everyone was shocked. Ina knew that Samuel would not speak carelessly. She quickly picked up her giant shield and ordered, "Everyone, prepare for battle! Remember, if it's the dwarves, do not attack first! "
The mercenaries hurriedly picked up their weapons and formed a defensive formation. Fatty Mana, who was sleeping, was also woken up.
In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded the hillside.
With the help of the moonlight, they could clearly see that there were about four to five hundred people approaching. These figures were generally short and fully equipped with metal helmets. They were uniformly equipped with a square shield that was about the same height as their bodies, while their other hand held a relatively large hammer or battle-axe. From the footsteps on the ground, this set of armor and weapons was much heavier than ordinary equipment. However, these figures still maintained a steady pace, as if they were used to it.
"The Shield Warriors of the Hill Dwarves!" Ina was secretly surprised. Logically speaking, even if this was the territory of the Hill Dwarves, with the number of people in their small team, they would only be given a warning. It was impossible for them to mobilize so many regular troops.
"Put down your weapons! Remember not to show any hostility! I'll try to negotiate with them. " Ina saw that the situation was not right and hurriedly got everyone to put down their weapons to show friendliness. With the terrifying combat power of these Shield Warriors, if a conflict broke out, no one would be spared except for Samuel who might be able to escape.
Ina did not know the true level of Samuel's strength, nor did she know that there was someone more powerful than the deputy leader in the team. If they were to really calculate based on this strength, the dwarves were in a more dangerous situation.
The Dwarf Shield Warriors quickly surrounded the hillside. A dwarf in the lead walked out and shouted in the common tongue that was a little hard to pronounce, "Despicable bandits, I'll give you one minute to return what doesn't belong to you to the dwarves! Otherwise, you'll have to bear the wrath of the dwarves with your blood! "
Bandits? Everyone looked at each other. Ina finally understood what the misunderstanding was. She hurriedly stepped forward and said, "This is a misunderstanding! We're just mercenaries passing by! "
"You have forty seconds!" The dwarf turned a deaf ear to Ina's explanation. With a wave of his hand, the formation of the dwarves behind him began to change, assuming an offensive stance.
Ina knew that this was not a bluff. Most dwarves were stubborn, and once they decided on something, it was difficult to change their minds. She hurriedly shouted, "I'm a friend of Black Beard Takelin! I can swear on Takelin's beard that my friend and I have nothing to do with this! "
This guarantee was not funny at all, as dwarves valued their beards the most. Hearing this, the leading dwarf was stunned. "You're really a friend of Takelin's?"
"Yes! My father used to be good friends with him. I still remember that he had a habit of singing after drinking … "
"That's right, Takelin does have this habit …" The dwarf's tone had just eased up a little, but it became fierce again. "No! You humans are all very cunning fellows, and not trustworthy! If you don't want to be turned into minced meat under the dwarves' axes and hammers, give up all resistance and follow me back to Thick Earth Castle! "
Ina quickly considered for a while, looked at her companions, and finally nodded. In the current situation, it was not advisable to fight head-on. Otherwise, not only would they not be able to pass through the Black Rock Mountain, but they would also be attacked and hunted by the dwarves.
Thus, everyone's weapons were confiscated, and the dwarves escorted them along the mountain path.
Even though visibility was poor at night, the dwarves were extremely familiar with their surroundings. They passed through the complicated mountain paths, and after about three hours, they finally arrived at the Hill Dwarves' residence — Thick Earth Castle.
Although the dwarves were not tall, especially in front of the tall Silva, they could only reach his waist. However, the castle they built was majestic, with countless vines wrapped around the tall greyish-white walls. Under the moonlight, it looked like an ancient giant with its head lowered in thought.
It was already late at night, but the castle gates were wide open. Rows of armored dwarves stood in two rows, holding torches and weapons in their hands. The security was tight, and it was obvious that something big had happened in Thick Earth Castle. It should have something to do with the "thieves" that the dwarf leader of the shield-bearers had mentioned.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
