In addition to the novel knowledge obtained from the ogres, some strange potions, and the additional "protection" fee from the great merchant Epicurus, Quest, who was traveling with the caravan, had a new harvest before he was about to reach the core area controlled by the dragon's lair dependents.

Several Elven captives who had been released after the previous battle were quickly brought back with Salem chieftain's reply to redeem his son.

The news was carried by a team of sh-jin, ten powerful elven warriors led by an elven chanter, who escorted the elven captives who delivered the news to ransom their chief's beloved son.

The elven singer who leads the team is named Brach, but those who know him well in the tribe will directly call him by his nickname - "The Tongue Puller". He has a sturdy body, muscles all over his body, and he walks with a hawkish look at the wolf, which is really fierce.

It was once rumored by the elves that he actually had the blood of green-skinned orcs in his veins, but those who spread these words were challenged and defeated by him one by one. According to the rules of the Horde, these defeated elves were to be taken a piece of their own as the victor's spoil, and Bracky's choice was always the same - the tongue of the rumormonger.

Ruthless Blatch, cruel tongue puller.

Not only was he the tribe's most elite ten-pillar warrior, but he needed to place ten spears with the heads of rival tribal warriors at the door of his tent as a human skull.

Bradch is also a chanter capable of manipulating the unique art of speech of the Desert Elves, which requires rare talent and decades of diligent practice, in addition to the rigors of not eating anything flavored with spices in his lifetime.

Only such a strongman can subdue such an elite team composed entirely of ten pillars of great warriors.

As Hajar Otto's childhood friend and as Hajir Khan's most trusted warrior commander, he was well aware of the perilous situation the tribe was facing.

Although the people were all in high spirits, the samurai were busy sharpening their swords and guns. But the war like the equally powerful Sashanite tribe has made the quartermaster, who are in charge of logistics, despair.

The army gathered by the tribe could drain the water of an oasis in a week, and the newborn meat animals would not have time to graze and raise them, so they would be used as rations by the army, and the quartermasters were even studying whether they could use the captured enemy to solve the dilemma of food and grass!

In addition to this, the outer periphery of the tribe has the eyes that the human empire has been watching. They seem to be plotting to settle the elven threat once and for all in a battle between two alien tribes, and within the tribe the decaying tribal elders, who take pride in holding the chieftain in check, greedily enjoy the power bestowed on the tribal traditions, slowly extinguishing the tribe's vitality like a swarm of parasites.

However, the war could not be stopped, and only by defeating the Sashan tribe could the Great Chief be eligible for the title of Khan, the co-leader of the Elven Tribe.

Only when Hajar becomes the Khan of the Elven tribes can he unite the forces of all the warriors of the desert tribes.

Only this force can conquer the city-states of the Human Empire, and the desert elves will be able to enjoy more water and raise more livestock.

Only by breaking the blockade of the city-state can the cowardly and powerful kneeling people untie the iron rings around the throats of the desert tribes.

Queth, who had turned into a human boy, looked at the messenger of the Salem tribe in front of him, who was more like an orc than an elf, and his keen spiritual sense made him realize that this person dressed as a warrior seemed to have a lot of magic aura fluctuations on his body.

"It turned out that he was still a spellcaster, and he should be the one who used sound waves to fight like the three brothers of Bru. ”

"Awesome Dragon's Lair Emissary, I am the envoy of the Salem tribe Hajar Khan, and I am in charge of communicating and negotiating the exchange of tribal warriors. "The Elven Singer Brach's neck is wrapped around a leather tube, an enchanted device he invented to enhance the effects of the Sound of Words, which greatly increases the power of the Words. It's just that when Bradge speaks, there is always a gurgling sound after the water boils.

Originally, the chief sent the elite warriors of the elite as negotiation envoys, thinking that if the negotiations did not go well, he could use force to subdue the other party, and described the size of the blue dragon through the captivity. The well-informed chief knew that his son might have been captured by a young dragon, or at most a young dragon.

Brach the Tongue Puller has killed two-headed monitor lizards and sand elemental giants, all of whom are monsters close to the strength of adult dragons. As for whether or not to consider the matter of the young dragon asking for help from the same kind, the blue dragon's conceited and arrogant personality and the price that the elders of the same clan need to pay for making a move are all unbearable for a young dragon. Of course, the young dragon can't be killed, and the revenge from the adult blue dragon in the dragon's nest is something Salem can't afford.

Although he traveled day and night, he caught up with Epicurus' caravan before entering the core area of the dragon's lair, and met the young blue dragon who had captured Harkonam. But in the current situation, not to mention the fact that the baby dragon seems to have a strength far beyond his age - it is the intuition that Bracky's combat experience has brought on and the strength of his opponent is surprisingly accurate. There are also three strong ogres standing behind the blue dragon that has turned into a human boy, the strongest one probably has the potential to grow into an ogre overseer, and the other two are all vaguely exuding spell fluctuations, these are two ogre spellcasters.

Being able to judge the situation correctly is also a good habit of Brach. Abandoning the plan to prepare a show of force, the "tongue puller" came up with a plan to prepare for the situation.

As the fourth son of Hajir Khan, Hakonnam has de jure the right of preemptive redemption. The freed captives brought back news that Harkonnam is still alive, so I would like to exercise my right of first refusal," Bradch pulled out an elf from behind him, apparently with the scars of a recent whiplash, bowed slightly to Quest and said, "Thank you for the mercy of the mighty Dragon's Lair Emissary, this is a captive you repatriated, who brought your request to the leader of Salem, Hajar Otto. ”

Quest could be sure that the captives he chose to repatriate were all unwounded in battle, and that he had never had Epicurus or anyone else whip them. And the captive in front of him, who was pulled out by the elven messenger called Brachi, obviously suffered a disaster after returning to the tribe.

"The environment is really able to influence people, I used to think that elves are elegant and peaceful creatures, but I didn't expect that in the cruel natural environment of the ash world, the desert elves here have become so violent. Quis couldn't help but smack his tongue secretly.

"Elves of Salem, I agree that you give priority to the purchase of the son of your tribal chief, but I remember that the redemption condition I asked this man to bring was a wealth that matched the status of the son of this chief!" Quest watched as several caravan warriors brought the son of the elven chieftain bound with hemp rope, and motioned for them to stand back and not untie the bindings, including the "chew" that the elves wore to prevent them from yelling.

With a cold look, Brach stopped the great warriors behind him who were so angry that they wanted to draw their swords when they saw Harkonnam being bound.

Then he turned his head and tried to make his eyes look at the human boy in the form of a terrible monster: "The Great Chief taught the people of Salem that 'the principle of the transaction is fairness and justice,' and since I have been appointed to negotiate the ransom, I am ready to pay the equivalent exchange." ”

The principle of the transaction is fairness and impartiality, and I am afraid that the source of profit in the next sentence lies in bullying the weak, and it is more cost-effective to pay with a knife than with money, Quis guessed the malevolent looking messenger with malice.

Bradge took out a leather scroll from his bosom, signaled, and seeing that the blue dragon boy had no intention of objecting, he opened the leather scroll himself, squatted down and spread it on the carpet.

"It's a map, but it takes a little bit of a special trick to show the terrain. ”

In full view of everyone, the elven messenger suddenly got up and grabbed the hair of the wounded messenger captive standing beside him.

With a sudden force, the wounded warrior was knocked to the ground by Bradge, and a stroke of the knife cut through his armor, as if a dagger made of crystal had been accurately inserted into the samurai's heart, and in the hands of the cruel and powerful elven messenger, the hapless warrior was killed before he could even scream for mercy.

Quest stopped Epicurus, who was so frightened by the rabbit's slaughter that he wanted to shout for his guards.

"I'm sorry for staining your carpet, but it's a necessary way to make the map visible. Harvesting a fresh life with a soul dagger, similar to condensing obsidian orbs to cast spells, can activate the magic circle on the map, and follow these map clues to track down unimaginable treasures. ”

Bracchi glanced at the leader of the caravan nonchalantly, as if to tell something insignificant.

Regardless of the elven demonstration-like "performance", his attention was drawn to the change in the map.

The dagger made of soul crystals turned bright red, indicating that soul energy had been stored inside. The dagger plunged into the map, like a pool of clear water, and blood-red soul energy rendered the entire scroll, and lines like blood vessels emerged.

"This spell scroll doesn't seem to be the handiwork of the elves. Quest asked, looking up.

"Indeed, this map was the equivalent of the chieftain in exchange, and the provenance is no longer known, perhaps it is a legend of the tribe, or perhaps it is the property handed over by some of the tribesmen who plundered it before. But it's safe to assume that the people who made this map weren't elves. ”

Bradge replied cautiously that he could intimidate the ignorant and cowardly businessman, but he had to be careful with the young man who was the embodiment of a strong blue dragon.

"This map shows a secret place west of the Dragon's Lair, and after getting this map and figuring out how to make it visible, Hajir Khan led the elites, including me, to explore the place that the map guided. ”

In the end, only Hajar and I escaped... Bradch deliberately withheld the results of that exploration.

"And what have you found, and what is there of value enough in lieu of a ransom in exchange for a chieftain's son?"

"Actually, we're in some trouble with it," Bradge said thoughtfully, withdrawing the modifier for "lethal" for those "troubles."

"That place seems to be the laboratory of a deceased ancient soulbinding mage, a huge structure hidden beneath a sea of sand. Our exploration was based on our identification of some of the stone tablets carved into similar ancient Elven scripts, so we determined that this was an ancient caster's lair. As for the judgment that the caster is a sorcerer, it comes from the attacks we encountered by the synth guards, which is an area where sorcerers excel. ”