This was the idea of Bellegar's queen, Kermanic. She asked her husband to use copper rings and a piece of linen to attach the cut beard back to the original one. Bellegar immediately did as he was told, and no one would be able to tell that he had shaved his beard.
"Oh? Sure. " Lorek nodded. "Breezy Castle is huge. It won't be a problem to arrange a place for your people."
Bellegar let out a sigh of relief. He and his tribe had finally found a kingdom that was willing to accept them. This tribe that had been through so much finally found a place to settle down.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the dwarves began to get drunk. Belega gulped down the malt wine as if he wanted to forget the shame and pain of losing the battle. He said drunkenly, "Is there any news about the guy who made the inferior goods? Is there any news about the human? I heard that the Chaos in the north once again came down south and beat them up. "
"That's all in the past. It's time to move on." Lorek hugged a barrel of ale and gulped it down. "Bellegar, my friend, there's a strong guy in the Knight King Kingdom on the other side of the mountain. His name is Laing Macado, Count Glamorgan. He actually defeated the Chosen of Khorne, the King of Skalinth, 'Red-eye' Egil Steelbjorn. He even killed him. Thanks to him, many dwarven kingdoms were able to erase a few pages of the Book of Hatred!"
"There's such a strong warrior among the humans?" Bellegar asked curiously as he stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. "I knew Emperor Karl-franz was a man of his word.
"Hey, Bellegar, your opinion is outdated. Count Glamorgan is also a man of his word." A dwarf with a long beard immediately retorted. "Many dwarves are working under him. Thanks to him, Breezy Castle earns a lot of money every year."
"Count Laing Macado of Glamorgan? Can you tell me more? I've heard of his name before. He's said to be a fierce man who can fight very well. " Bellegar stroked his beard. "He reminds me of the biggest failure of the butcher, Gauldrik Gonison."
Thus, Bellegar learned from Lorek about Ryan's experience from beginning to end.
There was a special kind of soldier among the dwarves called the Dwarf Butcher. The Butcher was the symbol of the dwarves' power. When a dwarf felt that he had been humiliated, he could choose to take the Butcher's Oath and become a Dwarf Butcher.
Dwarven butchers would trim their beards and hair, dye them orange, and cover their bodies with tattoos. They would travel far away to fight for revenge and atone for their sins until they found a glorious death.
Some dwarven butchers were too strong and were unable to seek a glorious death. These people were called "failed butchers" and were the strongest of the dwarven butchers.
The biggest failure of the butcher was called Gauldrik Gonison. He wielded Grimnir's Axe (two, the other in the hands of the white dwarf, Rimbrindale). He fought from the Wastelands to the Wastelands of Chaos, from the Eastern Dark Realm of the Roof of the World to the westernmost part of the Old World, Estalia. All powerful enemies fell in front of him, but he was never able to seek a glorious death. Thus, he was called "the biggest failure of the butcher".
Belle Jia had once planned that if he couldn't take back Ba Feng Mountain, he would also swear the Butcher's Oath. However, it wasn't the end of the road yet. Belle Jia still had loyal subordinates. Although his people were scattered, there were still many people who were willing to contribute to the recovery of Ba Feng Mountain. The situation wasn't irreversible for Belle Jia.
Eight Peaks Mountain contained countless treasures of his ancestors. Bellegar hadn't been in Eight Peaks Mountain for long, but he still managed to dig out a treasure that his ancestors had buried and sealed with a rune stone. It was worth about five thousand gold coins, which wasn't too much. It could only temporarily solve the problem.
Bellegar had already sold this treasure in Breezy Castle to raise a sum of money.
There were dozens of places where treasures were buried in the depths of Eight Peaks Mountain. In addition, if he could retake the main castle and open up the Ancestral Temple and the dwarven treasury, there would be even more gold and silver ores, ancestral weapons, rune armors, and other rare treasures. These things were all sealed deep in the mountains by the dwarves. With the inferior digging and mining skills of the Green Dwarfs, it was impossible for them to open up these treasures.
This was why Bellegar was so confident that he could defend Eight Peaks Mountain after retaking it. The accumulation of the dwarves for ten thousand years wasn't a joke. As long as he could completely recover Eight Peaks Mountain and take out countless treasures, the Grand clan of Xing 'an would be just around the corner.
The gold, silver, and copper coins of the humans were completely copied from the dwarven currency system. The dwarven currency was the same as the human currency system, and the value was also the same. The only difference was that the dwarves preferred to have the image of the Book of Hatred, mountains, or anvils printed on the front. The back of the coin was usually printed with the portrait of the current supreme king, the clan emblem, and the date of production.
After a sumptuous dinner, Bellegar left the scene and came out of the dwarven hall. The king of Eight Peaks Mountain swaggered back to his temporary residence.
Breezy Castle was built in the middle of the Grey Mountains. It was a large fortress with tens of thousands of dwarves. This fortress had a very good relationship with the Empire's Rick territory and Marlin Castle. They traded all year round and would also send troops to help when they needed help.
There were a few huge stone pillars that towered into the sky. The entire top of Breezy Castle was made of rocks. The walls were divided into three, and the gate was made of huge rocks that were dozens of meters thick. There were hundreds of cannons everywhere. Bellegar knew that this was a powerful dwarven kingdom.
Could he ask them to help him retake Eight Peaks Mountain?
Of course, Bellegar immediately thought of his lost homeland. He wondered if he could ask King Lorek of Breezy Castle to help him retake Eight Peaks Mountain.
Bellegar's heart couldn't help but have some expectations. He almost subconsciously wanted to return to the venue and ask King Lorek to help him retake Eight Peaks Mountain.
Just as he took two steps back, he suddenly felt a cold and refreshing feeling that made him stop.
He suddenly felt that this scene had happened before, and it had happened more than once.
Every time he came to a dwarven kingdom, he would do this. Those dwarven kings would choose to help him out of respect or because of their past relationship.
Bellegar relied on these dwarven kings to launch three expeditions to Eight Peaks Mountain.
However, he had already failed three times.
Bellegar, Bellegar, do you want to lose your last foothold? Breezy Castle and Desolation Castle are the last two dwarven kingdoms that you can ask for help from. Do you want to offend them? The king of Eight Peaks Mountain thought of the dwarves that had died in battle. When he thought of the grievous news of defeat again and again, he clenched his fists tightly.
He sobered up.
Bellegar looked up. The walls, statues, and pillars of Callak Breezy Castle were engraved with a large number of dwarven runes. Many braziers were burning, and the ancestral statues were shining under the light of the fire. The flames were making crackling sounds.
Bellegar, who had survived hundreds of battles, had mixed feelings. He couldn't help but feel sad. The king of Eight Peaks Mountain, Bellegar Ironhammer, hid behind the ancestral statues and cried loudly. Eighty-five years had passed. Retaking Eight Peaks Mountain had become an impossible task. In the past three hundred years, Bellegar had thought of every possible way. In the past two thousand years, the Angran clan had shed all their blood for this dream.
For his family, Bellegar had shouldered too much. However, this was the mission of his clan. He knew that he had to bear it. The shame of cutting off his beard and abandoning his robes? This was of course. For dwarves, this was a shame that was worse than death. However, Bellegar knew that he couldn't die. Otherwise, no one would be able to avenge his clan.
After crying, Bellegar wiped his tears and washed his face with water. He sat in place for an hour. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with him, he returned to his residence.
In a warm and tall hotel, Bellegar's wife, Kermanic, was sitting on a chair in the room. She was weaving some handicrafts with an oxtail. When she saw Bellegar return, she looked up and said, "You're back?"
"Yes, I'm back." Bellegar looked normal. He pulled a chair over and sat down. He sighed and said, "I've been thinking for a long time. Kermanic, we can't borrow people like this anymore. The mercenary method won't work. We have to find a way to get our own land. We need a dwarven fortress to gather our people, engage in production, and train our army."
Kermanic sighed after hearing this. She looked around the clean and tidy room. There was no fire in the fireplace. A large wooden table was placed in the middle of the room. There were many things on the table. The queen of the Angran clan said in a low voice, "I've been telling you this for decades, but you didn't listen. At that time, we had many places to go. Now that you've thought it through, we have nowhere to go."
"Rest first. If there's anything else, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
"Yes."
It was a quiet night.
The next day, Bellegar met with King Lorek of the Breezy Castle again. He mentioned that he wanted to seize a fortress of his own and gathered the lost people of the Angran clan. Then, he would consider an expedition to the Eight Peaks Mountain.
They talked for the whole morning.
In the afternoon, Bellegar was excited and worried. He called his subordinates to discuss things.
"We still have two places to go." Bellegar unrolled the long map scroll on the table. He called his chief engineer, Harhafer, and Torik, the captain of the Oathguard of Angrund, over. He then caressed his sleeping son lovingly before returning to the table to continue the meeting.
"King Lorek told us that there are two ideal places to go. The first is the Eternal's Dragonrock Castle, also known as the Blackstone Fortress. It's a very good fortress with a lot of ores and gold and silver veins. However, it seems that there are some undead creatures there."
"The second place is Callak's Bronze Mountain Castle, located in the south of the Grey Mountains. There is also a fortress there. Currently, there is only a goblin tribe nearby. There is a large copper vein in the Bronze Mountain Castle, but there are no other veins or places to grow crops. The Bronze Mountain Castle's geographical location is very special. There is no underground network in this fortress."
Torik, the Angran Oathguard, explained, "My king, King Lorek, said that we can try to seize these two fortresses. He promised that he will trade with us after we seize the fortresses."
"Seize … Seize … It's easy to say. Do you think I don't know what Lorek is thinking?" Bellegar shouted in dissatisfaction. "There is a large group of undead in the Blackstone Fortress in the north! My beard can feel it from 500 kilometers away! If we want to take down the Blackstone Fortress, we will have to face an army of undead. Who do we rely on? Just a few hundred of us? "
"As for the Bronze Mountain Castle, it's even worse. The Bronze Mountain Castle is located in the south of the Grey Mountains. There are pointy ears in the west, green dwarfs in the north, green dwarfs in the south, and green dwarfs in the east! This fortress doesn't even have an underground network. If we are surrounded by the green dwarfs, we may not even be able to send out a letter for help! Lorek wants us to guard his home! "The King of Eight Peak Mountain glared at him." But what can we do? Live under someone else's roof? Oh, the dwarfs can't stand this. I understand now that we must have a territory to revive our clan, reorganize our military, raise funds, and plan to seize Eight Peak Mountain again. "
"The Blackstone Fortress is difficult to attack, but it's easy to defend. Once we take over the Blackstone Fortress, the Empire is in the east, and the Brittany is in the west. These are all human countries. The people who make inferior goods (referring to humans) generally won't make things difficult for the long-bearded dwarfs. The situation at Callak Bronze Mountain Castle is even worse." Halhaver looked at the map and shook his head. "There are green dwarfs everywhere. The Angran clan has never been afraid of strong enemies, but the Bronze Mountain Castle can't produce food, and there is no underground network. It's too risky to rely on the Breezy Castle for food."
"No matter which castle we try to attack, we don't have enough soldiers now," Belger said. Bellegar had a clearer understanding of his own situation. "We only have a few hundred people, and we lack enough funds. We can't rely on Lorek to support us for the rest of our lives!"
Several dwarves at the meeting nodded. The pride of the dwarves did not allow them to be helped by others for a long time. They were vengeful and repaid kindness. Many dwarves still thought that they owed human beings a favor.
"First, we need to find a way to gather our lost clansmen." Belega stroked his beard and said, "We don't have enough people right now. We can't do anything if we want to."
The King of Eight Peak Mountain touched his beard so hard that he almost pulled it off. He quickly fixed it back. "Ahem, I mean, we should send a message to all the dwarven kingdoms to gather our clansmen at the Breezy Castle and gather more soldiers. This way, whether it's the Blackstone Fortress or the Bronze Mountain Castle, we can only continue to plan our next move if we have enough soldiers."
They continued to discuss what to do next. At this time, Halhaver, the chief engineer, suddenly remembered something. "By the way, I heard from King Lorek that there is a group of dwarfs living in the territory of Count Glamorgan in Brittany. They are working for the count and are living a good life. Their leader is Dugan Ironman, the chief engineer of the Angran clan. I remember him."
"I remember him too! Dugan, Dugan Ironman! "
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