In the end, they managed to subdue Anrui (without causing fatal injuries), and then took her finger and signed the permission certificate, but luckily Rika was only temporarily staying, and the contract was not important, no need to swear, just a formality.

"It's long overdue," Rika said breathlessly, "why do you keep her? I remember she had a son. ”

"He's not yet an adult, and if Anrui dies, Grand Duke Luzel has the right to be his guardian, and I don't want to face that human and his army. Ryitt said.

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"McGee?"

Gnome McGee turned around and called out to him, a dwarf who was also a dwarf, staggering over, all of them looked like children or enlarged dolls, and this one was no exception. Every place was carefully decorated, the cheeks were smeared with rouge, the eyebrows were trimmed, the dark brown hair was curled, and the dark blue satin clothes matched the cobalt blue eyes, except for the necklace around the neck and the ring on the finger, even the little boots under the feet were hung with gold chains on the edges.

In the past, McGee would not have paid attention to his people at all, but at the festival on the main island of the Eastern Crown, the gnomes unfortunately died nearly a hundred, which was a big blow to their group of only a few thousand people, so he became a little more relaxed and tolerant now, at least willing to stop and listen to what the other party had to say.

The dwarf held up a handkerchief smoked with myrrh and agarwood, and tried not to be so obvious in front of his nose, "Can't you wash your body?" the little one said in a gentle reproach, "with geothermal water, starch, and sesame oil." Washing your body will also make you feel comfortable and make you healthy. ”

McGee shook his head, "Dwarves don't bathe. “

"But you're a dwarf. His people said helplessly, "You are a dwarf, McGee, even if you put on a fake beard and a leather apron." If you don't take a bath and drink ale every day, you won't become a dwarf. ”

"But I want to be a dwarf. McGee said, reaching out and touching his false beard No. 282, which was originally made of palm and neither resembled nor strong enough, but now it was all drawn out of copper wire, slender and curly, rightfully metallic, and with flesh-colored hooks on both sides. Hung directly on the outer ear bone, the jaw also used a special glue, only with water with a temperature greater than the human body can be dissolved, even a hurricane may not be able to blow it away, he has also concentrated on the study of the color of the ointment these days, dark reddish-brown, wiped on the face and body can cover the original fair skin at all.

He's definitely not going to take a shower, look. It is not easy for a dwarf to stink like a dwarf, but it takes him a long time to produce such a stench.

"What's so good about a dwarf?"

"Better than a gnome. ”

"Is it because we stole your father's drawings?"

"That's one of the reasons. ”

"But we all love you. ”

"Love my drawings. ”

"You don't even want to talk to us now. ”

"I'm talking to you. ”

"Don't go with those humans. ”

"I want to hear their stories. McGee said.

The bard would have said. Whatever you want to hear, I'm willing to pay you to get one. ”

"There are no gnomes in the minstrels' stories. ”

"No dwarf has ever ventured. ”

"So I want to be a dwarf. ”

"McGee ......"

"I want to go on an adventure. ”

Baldwin saw that McGee was walking with a gnome, and he was about to tell Leona to prepare an extra snack, but the ornately decorated gnome turned away when he saw him.

"Am I that annoying to gnomes?"

"They're worried I'm going to give you too much technology. McGee said, climbing into her chair and sitting upright. Leona offered him a glass of ale, and he bowed to the princess in thanks, his little hand pressed tightly to his heart, indicating that his feelings were from the heart.

"I'm not Cremar," said Berdwin with a wry smile, "I wouldn't be able to read the drawings even if you put them in front of my eyes." ”

McGee shrugged.

"Then you can bring him with you. "If he could have listened, he wouldn't have to worry about us stealing your drawings." ”

"Then they'll just suspect that we're making a trade at other times that we shouldn't have done. McGee said, "And it's not him, it's her, she's my fiancée." ”

Berdwin's body stiffened subtly, these gnomes resembled dwarves in this respect, and the dwarven women also had beards, and their bodies were just as strong, round as a wine barrel, and without curves, so it was difficult to distinguish them from male dwarves, and the gnomes were because men also liked to dress up, dressed brightly, had fair skin, and never grew beards, so it was difficult for Baldwin to pick the males among them from the female dwarves.

"When will Lord Kremar return?"

"We'll have to wait a while. ”

"He should finish his work before leaving," McGee complained, "and it makes me feel uncomfortable with your arms just like that." ”

Baldwin smiled brightly, he was no longer anxious and impatient, the loss of an arm did not mean that he could no longer be a trustworthy and beloved leader, he had come to his knights again before Kremar had left, he had been defeated by his former subordinates, and had accidentally collided with his own stump, but these would no longer be a gloom in his heart that could not be brushed away- He was, of course, himself, and so did his knights and soldiers, and no one despised or questioned him because he had lost his arm, and they called him Your Excellency, complained to him that the dishes of the Dragonfire Islands were too sweet, and drank sugar cane wine with him until he was drunk, and danced with him in front of young women—and some came to ask for permission to marry.

Most of the people who came to the Dragonfire Islands were sturdy men, and there were only about a thousand women, and some of them were old enough to be mothers of these soldiers, and the tragic death had already passed away from them. Instead, there was an urgent thirst for a new life, and Berdwin could fully understand that in Thundercastle, after every winter battle with the orcs, Thundercastle would welcome the arrival of a new batch of newborns - perhaps this is human nature. Prosperity and prosperity.

"Are we going to buy slaves?" said Berdwin, distressed, glad to see his soldiers regaining their health in good rest and plenty of food, their eyes brightened, their chests and backs strengthened again, and their limbs strengthened, but with them came an irresistible instinct, they were all men in the prime of life, and no one craved a woman's caresses more than they did—some merchant had come to test Birdwin's wishes. Although the tentative manner was deeply embarrassing to the warrior, for these merchants also managed the prostitutes of the port, and these prostitutes ...... Well, it's a bit too much work.

"Remember what Dada said?" said Leona, "We can have them hand over to us the female slaves who have been eliminated and are about to be sent to be used as 'cattle and horses', so that we can at least save their lives." ”

"But such female slaves," said Baldwin dryly, "can hardly have any more children." "Not every slave girl is qualified to bear offspring for her lord, and those slave lords will not sell them.

Leona was silent.

"Let's ask the merchants. ”

The businessmen's reply was quick. They do have a batch of female slaves to sell, not very beautiful. He was a little older, but he was strong and good at farming, and as docile as a lamb.

"Where did you get these people?" asked Leona.

The temporary leader of the merchants blinked his eyes helplessly, generally speaking, it was an unwritten rule not to ask where the slaves came from, how could they be stolen? "A lord sold them to us," said the merchant, holding his hand, "not their lord." It is the enemy of their lord, you should know, two nobles fight, fight and fight, knights who fall from their horses and do not die will be ransomed, soldiers may be, but those who have been plundered will not - male serfs are kept as soldiers, and their wives and daughters are not left at home? That's how they came, merciful highness, it's not necessarily a good thing for you to buy them, they are not beautiful in appearance, their temperament is not gentle enough, and they have never done the work of serving people, their fingers are as thick as flax leaves, if they are sold to other people, they can only become 'cows and horses', and it is not a good thing to be 'cows and horses', like this, at most they will last for a few years and die. ”

"Would you like to?" asked the Norman princess of the Highlands in a low voice, "I mean, I need some young women to be the wives of soldiers." ”

Yes, the women were not pretty, one could even say dark and thin, and there was a foul smell all around them, huddled together in piles, holding each other's hands to resist fear and hunger.

Leona waited a long time before one of them spoke, and the woman looked fairer than the others, neatly dressed, and wearing a turban.

"Gods above, kind lady," she said in a lingua franca, but with a strong accent, like that of the people in the highland Norman and the places where the Luzel bus is bound, "what else can we do?" Our men are all dead, and we have been sold here by the nobles, and my man is a groom, a respectable good man, and he has traveled a lot, and I have heard of it from him, and I know that we are all slaves, and even if we die, no one will come to restrain us, and no priest will come to read the eulogy, and no one will be willing to appeal for us, what hope can we have? If you want slaves, buy us, be a soldier's wife, or grow sugar beets and sugar cane for you, but if you can, buy us together, we are all strong and very good at working, don't let us separate, that's all we have on our minds. ”

"Are you Highland Normans, or are you Luzel?"

"We are Highland Normans, and we are Luzels. The woman said slyly, "We were always taxed twice, once for the Normen of the Highlands and once for Luzel, and we had to serve twice in labor, once for the Normen of the Highlands and once for Luzel, but when we were fighting, no one recognized us as their men, and when the Norman soldiers of the Highlands came, they took away our clothes and food, and when the soldiers of the Highlands came, it was the same, and when there was nothing left, they took us away." ”

Leona was silent for a moment, "How many people are here?" she asked.

"Three hundred and forty. The merchant hurriedly and earnestly said, "They are all young and strong." ”

Leona didn't look at the black sludge that was evidently plastered on her gray hair, and the little girls who were trying to stand on their tiptoes, and the women who were able to stand on their own straight, hiding them behind them.

"I'm going to do it all. ”

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Gnomes were also one of the most popular patrons of merchants.

The status of the gnomes in the Dragonfire Islands is very peculiar, they are free, but most of the gnomes will be controlled to live on an island, casting all kinds of utensils for the lord, but they cannot be called slaves, because there is no slave who only needs to work a third of the day to rest, and also get a good salary, and live with real slaves to serve, as for the few gnomes, those elders or councilors, their food, clothing, housing and transportation may be more extravagant than some nobles on the mainland, their movement is not restricted, the dimensional bag hanging around the waist is full, and they live in spacious and tall housesA pair of small feet may not touch the ground all day long.

This dwarf came to the merchant in a soft sedan chair carried by two people.

"Your Excellency," the merchant bowed happily, "do you want something?"

Bright rouge, or ivory makeup box, or albino leopard fur, the merchant's eyes were much sharper than Leona's, and at once he could tell that the dwarf sitting on the sedan chair was a woman.

"I want a bard. ”

The merchant blinked, "It's not easy. ”

A bag of gold coins was thrown into his arms.

"Bards are rarely seen in the Dragonfire Islands. "Originally, but since a lord castrated one of his favorite bards, not many bards came.

Two bags of gold coins.

"I can only try. ”

Three bags of gold coins.

"Well, wait for the good news. (To be continued.) )