A dwarf.

As a border city in the actual sense of the word of the word (although a small part of the Wind Forest and the Great Plains is the nominal territory of the capital, there are no ordinary residents, only the imperial garrison and a few outposts), Sovis undertook a considerable part of the empire's import and export trade, and after the end of the Pan-continental Race War and the reconciliation of the three kingdoms, Sovis's position became more and more important.

"Hmm...... Praise the gifts of God, bless the mountains and stones, Uncle Dwarves, is your caravan going to Kulot?"

Del Cola stroked his left shoulder with his right hand and bowed his head slightly, performing a standard aristocratic etiquette, while Assas beat his chest with one hand and performed a knightly greeting -

Human etiquette is indeed quite cumbersome, and the middle-aged dwarf obviously did not adapt to it, but just knocked on his chest (this is the common etiquette among dwarves), and said in a sharp voice characteristic of dwarves: "My name is Barlow Hammer, the master of the White Furnace caravan, my caravan is passing by Landmund, do you want to take a ride?" And don't call me uncle, I am only eighty years old, and I am a young man of my clan!"

The dwarf showed off his braided pale yellow hair and beard to the two, and seemed dissatisfied with their title.

The dwarven's hair color is affected by age, and the older he gets, the darker his hair color becomes, and the yellowish color does prove his assessment of his "young people" (the average life expectancy of the dwarves is four hundred years, and fifty years old is considered an adult, and they are allowed to leave the Crucible Valley) - but it is true that there are not many dwarves who can own a caravan at the age of eighty, or rather, dwarves who are only fond of blacksmithing and fine wine, and rarely actively participate in commercial activities on the mainland.

"Of course I'm different from them," Barlow Hammer inherited the traditional boldness and rough lines of the dwarven character, and was not angry at the doubts of the two, "I like forging and I like good wine, but I prefer this land created by the creator god, I hope to one day travel to every corner of the Lanman continent, and it is best to meet a hero on the way, and be written into a heroic epic by the bard- Young people, old Summers of the tavern seems to want to recommend you to my caravan, and honestly, he probably thinks you are small children and wants me to take care of you. I'm on my way to Landmont!"

"So the tavernkeeper is pretty good......" Delkora muttered, bowing to the young dwarf.

"Salute to you, Your Excellency, Apprentice Magician Del Kora, Quasi-Knight Assas, escorting you. ”

——————

There were no other dwarves in Barlow's caravan—or rather, it was just Barlow and his pack cattle. The pack oxen pulled the two-wheeled cart, and the cart contained a lot of animal skin magic crystals, as well as some metal ores with high production in Yadu.

Del Cola and Assas in the first car, which was slightly larger than the others, appeared to be Barlow's residence during his travels—by the way, to give direction to the bullock carts behind.

"In the summer, the trade routes of the Windy Forest are the safest," Barlow said, pointing to the open spaces on either side of the trade routes that had been deliberately cleared by the Imperial garrisons, "there are no hungry beasts and bandits, only sentinels under the control of the Empire...... This trade route in the Wind Forest is the safest along the way. ”

"Then you must have never been inside the Empire. Assas's tone was tinged with pride, "It's been a long time since there have been robbers within the empire. ”

"The development of the Yadu Empire has attracted worldwide attention. The dwarf said, "Humanity should indeed be proud of the elves of the Racial Federation and the orcs of Kulot—provided that the Acan continues to adhere to its current policy of racial peace." ”

"We may do something wrong, but we don't do something stupid. Del Cora scratched her head, "Besides, racial peace is the will of the Holy See...... If the orcs in the north can insist on not invading the elven territory, it should not be difficult for the terrans to keep the peace. ”

The elves and orcs of this world are still feuding...... It seems that all the orcs and elves of the world you know are feuds.

There is no way, the conservative race that advocates etiquette, purity, and loves nature is destined to be difficult to coexist with wild tribes that are intertwined with blood and fire, and barbarism and civilization are mixed. Humanity has struck a delicate balance between the two, but it has also aroused the hostility of the other two countries because of its excessive desires and strong pioneering ability.

But that was a long time ago, more than a thousand years after the end of the Second Pancontinental War.

"The creator God looks at us as if he were looking at every mountain, every furnace. Barlow recited a prayer popular among the dwarves, "Praise the God of Creation, and may peace last forever on the continent of Ranman." ”

"Peace be forever. The two prayed together.

——————

The trade routes of the Forest of the Wind are long and boring, and only the patrolling Imperial garrisons can bring them a bit of civilized solace when passing through the outposts. But most of the time, they were accompanied only by the roar of beasts from the depths of the forest and the creaking of ox-carts pressing down the road.

In order to ensure sufficient material supply, the three major countries have built trade routes in all directions in the country, and regularly cleaned and maintained, which provides great convenience for the traveling merchants who travel on the mainland. However, the ability of the three major powers is limited after all, and there are still quite a few places that, although nominally included in the territory of the three powers, have been abandoned because they are too desolate and have no development value. Such a place may have a trade route, but no country has sent garrisons to guard it, and even some of the plots were originally a buffer zone between two or several parties during the period of racial antagonism.

For example, the Great Plains.

The Great Plains is called the Great Plains, and no race has named it. It is said that this is the land where the creator god gave birth to life, and countless races have traveled from here to the whole continent and multiplied various civilizations - but in reality, it is just a desolate, barren, but immensely vast grassland.

It's been two weeks since Barlow's caravan left Sauvis City, and it was only yesterday that they had completely stepped out of the borders of the Wind Forest and said goodbye to the oppressive, towering trees. It's not that fast, but Assas and Del Cola aren't rushing either.

Going to Randmund was originally just a temporary plan for them, and they were already very excited to leave Yadu.

"These pack oxen can run very fast, and the elves who sell livestock tell me that each of these pack oxen has the strength of a black iron professional. Barlow is always bragging about his pack oxen, as if he were always emphasizing his craft in blacksmithing, "These lovely cows are like my hammers, they are my most precious companions!"

"Like a hammer", this is the most cherished metaphor of the dwarves who are born to forge them.

"Yes, Uncle Barlow, I know you love your cows. Del Cora yawned and knocked on the roof of the carriage with her staff in her hand—the three of them were sitting on the roof at the moment, "This is even more boring than the journey in the Wind Forest, Uncle Barlow, has the merchant's journey been so boring?"

"Most of the time, yes," Barlow replied with a smile, "most of the time, we are on our way from one city to another, especially in cross-border trade, and in order to save time, we choose the nearest trade routes, some of which may have small villages nearby, and some of which are deserted. ”

"Traveling alone is very lonely, so there are very few solo traveling merchants like me, and ordinary traveling merchants like to form large caravans, dozens or hundreds of pack oxen to go together, and the journey with companions is not so boring. And they will choose to mercenary groups before entering these undeveloped areas, because they are too big to be targeted by predators. ”

"Speaking of predators...... "Del Cola looked at the huge procession of a dozen ox carts and whispered, "I remember that there were steppe wolves in the Great Plains ......"

"Whew~~~"

An incomparably clear wolf howl.

The pack ox team panicked, and several of the oxen scrambled and dragged the cart to the ground.

"Ho yo ~ ho yo!"

Barlow's short, high-pitched voice sounded just in time, and the frightened pack oxen gathered towards Barlow's oxcart as if they had found their backbone, forming a loose circle.

And in the distance, in the shadows, an unknown number of steppe wolves have appeared, surrounding the small caravan.

"You're a funeral bird, Del Kora," Assas shook his head, reaching out to remove his sword from his back, "protect the caravan." ”

(Funeral birds, birds that like to hover above cemeteries and chirp, are seen by humans as messengers of death.) It means "crow's beak")

"Don't worry, boys," Barlow the dwarf didn't seem to be in a hurry, "I told you, these pack oxen have the strength of a black iron professional...... Well, the equivalent of you human would-be knights or apprentice magicians, they're more than enough to defend against wolves!"

Using the mercenary level to replace the professional system is a way that has only emerged in the last ten years, but most of the time it is not accurate, it is just convenient to remember, and the strength of the professional is not equal to the mercenary of the same rating.

For example, Del Kora, who calls himself a trainee magician, is a black iron professional in the eyes of the dwarves, and so is Assas, a would-be knight. But both are only oak-class mercenaries.

"I'm just too bored, Uncle Barlow," Del Cola's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the approaching wolves, and he grabbed the staff he threw aside and jumped out of the carriage first, shouting without looking back, "Protect your cargo, Uncle Barlow!

“...... It's too reckless. Assas shook his head and jumped off his heels.

"This is the young man of the human race......

Barlow scratched his head, reached out and fumbled for a while, and pulled out a double-sided hammer from somewhere in the carriage that was close to 1.5 meters (the dwarf is 1.3 meters tall, which is definitely a miracle - how did he pull it out?).

"But don't forget, I'm a young dwarf too. ”

He grunted and jumped down.