As the richest city-state in the south, the lord's mansion of Noren is a testament to the city's wealth: tall and magnificent courtyards, lavish decorations, and handicrafts that are placed in a room at will, any of which can make a small nobleman live comfortably for a year... The value of this dwelling alone was enough to make the dragon, who had always been proud of his treasure, go crazy with jealousy.

However, this did not affect the members of the team in the slightest - although the expedition was formed for the purpose of wealth, whether it was Heim, Nack, Tomahawk, or Willy, they never thought about anything that did not belong to them, and as for Rhaegar, in the eyes of this once godly geist, there was no difference between gold and dust.

"As a host, it is undoubtedly the most pleasant thing to receive a delightful group of guests," Hano, lord of the city-state of Nolen, raised his glass and greeted the team, "Welcome again, warriors from afar." To tell you the truth, your courage and vigor are the jealous of me, an old man, and if I had been sixty years younger, I would have not hesitated to go on an expedition with you. ”

The tall old lord with snow-white hair and a droopy beard had a peculiar attraction. Unlike the pretentiousness and arrogance of most nobles, he never gets angry or reprimands others, whether it is with Kroon or the squad, and even those who are responsible for entertaining guests, he is extraordinarily kind and patient - considering the age comparison between humans and other races, it is said that Hano, who is one hundred and thirty years old, is the oldest person in the room besides Rhaeggar. After the initial exchange, Hano, who learned that the team had no ill intentions, immediately showed his hospitable side, and his warm words and sincere attitude quickly won the favor of almost everyone, and his youthful adventures resonated with the team, and as the banquet drew to a close, almost all the members of the team, including the battle axe, who hated the human nobles the most, regarded the owner of Norren City as a friend.

"The greatest thing we learned from this trip was to get to know someone as wonderful as you," said Heim in a tone of respect, "I never thought that a man of such noble birth would have such an extraordinary experience, and I wish I could see for myself how you slay those ogres." ”

"This is my wish," said Hano, "and if I had the opportunity to live as long as an elf, even if it was only half of it, I would trade all my possessions for it, and then leave everything behind, and take my sword, armor, and mount with me to challenge all the places that are considered forbidden by humans, instead of sitting here waiting to enter the grave." ”

"You look even stronger than a young man," Tomahawk swallowed a large gulp of wine brewed in the Lord's Mansion before looking up to Hano, "If you will, I'm sure even a bull is no match for you." For the dwarves, such words are already the highest compliment to an old man.

"A bull is too much for me," said Hano, laughing, "but if it were a girl as strong as a cow, I think I would try to take on such a challenge." His words immediately provoked a heartfelt laugh from the men in the group.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation," C-C. Crownes, who had been silent since the beginning of the banquet, suddenly said, "I have bad news to inform you." He got up from his seat, walked over to Hano's side, and whispered a few words to him.

"How dare it!" At this moment, the kind old man next door turned into a raging lion, and Hano's roar almost pierced the ceiling, "Gather our army, I'm going to teach that beast a lesson myself!" He jerked to his feet, and then immediately realized his gaffe.

"I think I'm sorry to end our conversation," said Hano, hurrying, Nolen's master's face flushed with rage, "There's a little trouble in my territory. He nodded to the team and apologized, then hurried out the hall.

"What's wrong?" The tomahawk asked aloud, "Has anyone encroached on your territory?" The dwarf jumped from his chair to the ground and pulled out the double-edged greataxe behind his back, "My buddies and I will teach those guys a hard lesson!"

"It's none of your business," said Hano, turning to the dwarf, "just a small beast, and my knights and I will take care of it." ”

"I don't think the two-headed lizard is just a small beast," the elf's keen hearing made Haim hear Kroons' whisper clearly, which he thought would never be heard, as he left the table and walked in front of Hano, "As far as I know, this beast is even more dangerous than the demons of the abyss, and it is very cunning, even if you send out ten thousand people, even if you use this mage, it will be difficult to find its trace in the mountains." And when your knights return to the city, it will appear again. ”

Hanoh visibly hesitated, and it was clear that Haim's words hit the nail on the head. This lord is well aware of the difficulty of the two-headed demon lizard: this monster with a huge body does not just have an extra head than an ordinary lizard, even a juvenile demon lizard can easily wipe out an army composed of hundreds of knights, and to deal with such an existence, at least five hundred elite soldiers must be dispatched. But two-headed lizards are no less intelligent than humans, and they are very good at hiding their tracks, and when they realize that their opponents are too strong to defeat, they will hide in places where no one can find them, until the enemy retreats, and even a mage like Kroens cannot find a two-headed lizard that deliberately hides itself. In front of these monsters, the brigade of centaurs has no effect.

"Maybe we can do something," Heim continued, "there are only five of us, and that's not enough to attract the attention of the beast that has infested your territory and slaughtered the entire village, and it will come out to us. ”

"This will not work," Hano refused without thinking, "it is too dangerous, I will never allow you to do such a thing." He turned his head and instructed Crownes, "Go and gather the army and tell the whole city of a state of emergency." After seeing the mage walk out of the hall, the old lord faced Heim again: "I'm sorry, but this is our business, you can feel free to visit the city during my absence, I am sure there will be a lot of things here that will interest you." ”

"We have to do something. Looking at Hano's back as he hurried away, Tomahawk said to Haim, "He's our friend, and we should help him." ”

"I agree with the dwarves," Nack said, "those knights can't deal with the two-headed lizard, and we're the ones who can really destroy that monster." ”

Instead of speaking, Willy turned her gaze to Rhaegar as it became clear that the female warrior would take a common ground with him.

"Alright," Rhaegar said slowly, "although Hano doesn't allow it, I think we can do it another way. ”

There is no doubt that most of the people of Norren were wealthy, but this wealth did not make them settle for a comfortable life, and as a city-state, even if they formed alliances with other city-states, they still felt the pressure from the powerful kingdoms around them, which made them always vigilant against war. The order of the state of emergency from Hano was soon reached to everyone, the gates were immediately closed, the heavily armed soldiers ascended to the top of the city, and more soldiers gathered in the city square to follow their lord to fight the enemy, the old and weak women and children quickly returned to their houses and closed the doors and windows, and the men took up arms and organized patrols of their own accord - and within an hour the commercial city was transformed into a vast fortress of war.

In such a tense atmosphere, no one noticed that several men left the city before the order to close the gates was given, and hurried towards the Hornfest Mountains to the west.

"They should still be on their way by now," said Haim, looking at the map he had bought from the city, "the trail saved us about two days, which means we had two days to find the big lizard in the mountain." ”

With the help of galloping, the explorers advanced even faster than their galloping horses, and they did not have to walk along the flat avenues like the horses, and according to the paths indicated on the map, the group that had set out ahead of Hano's army reached the two-headed lizard-infested mountains.

A burst of white light emanated from the members of the squad, and after a day of traveling, the time for the swift spell to take effect finally arrived, and as the spell dissipated, a wave of exhaustion came over them - even with the support of magic, a full day of non-stop running was enough to exhaust the most physically exhausted.

"We'll rest here," said Haim to his companions, "and we'll start after dawn, Tomahawk and Nack will be in charge of finding firewood, I'll see if I can hunt some beasts, and Willy and Rhaegar will stay here to look after our bags." ”

There was no doubt about this arrangement, as the only woman in the squad, Willy was taken for granted as the object of care, and Rhaegar, as an archmage, the strongest combat power in the squad, no one was stupid enough to let him work at this time instead of regaining his strength as quickly as possible.

The team's friends quickly laid down their bags and walked deeper into the mountains according to their division of labor, and soon only Willy and Rhaegar were left alone in the recess they had chosen to camp in, and it was the first time they had the opportunity to spend time alone since leaving the wasteland.

This article was first published and supports genuine version