The Valley of the Rivers is a small city-state built between valleys.

Because a dark river flows out of a cave in the mountain, forming two small rivers on the outskirts of the town, enclosing the whole city in the middle, so the place is named "Valley of the Rivers".

It's a different kind of city.

There are no tall and solid city walls, no armies of the Southern Kingdom, and no power struggles in the dynasty.

In this hot summer, the whole valley is cool and pleasant, the mountains are full of birds and flowers, and the fish swim happily in the clear water.

Here, old people take a nap on their chaise longues, barefoot urchins play mischievously, industrious women wash their clothes by the river, thick dwarves shout toasts in taverns, and beautiful elven men and women hop through the mountain forests, and the whole valley is enveloped in peace and tranquility.

At Blank's kind invitation, Lance and Ike decide to stay in the Valley of the River.

Anyway, they didn't care too much about when they would get to the northern border, and in Candita's words, the process was the most important, and maybe they could see how much more they could see here.

After settling the remaining fees outside the valley, Blanc and the grooms handed over the unloaded goods to a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant.

When the task was completed, the grooms received their wages and drove back satisfied, while Blanc led Lance, Ike, and Puff towards the valley mouth.

As he crossed a stone bridge, Blanc exchanged views with the guards guarding the bridge, and the guards warmly beckoned them into the valley amid hearty laughter.

"You know?"

Lance asked Blank with some curiosity.

"Of course, they are soldiers of the Valley Guard, there is no king's army in the Valley of the River, the Valley Guard is an armed force organized spontaneously in the valley, I have some friendship with their guard captain, these guards are veterans, and naturally they also recognize me. ”

Blanc explained to Lance as he walked.

But when he almost became the vice-captain of the Vale Guard a few years ago, Blank didn't say it.

"Oh, isn't the Valley also a city-state of the Southern Kingdom, why doesn't the king send an army, but let them develop their own armed forces?" Lance wondered, he had never heard of a city-state where the king would not send an army.

"There must be some special reason for this!" Ike guessed.

"Haha...... This is because the first owner of the Valley was a peace-loving goblin, and after paying a certain price to King Robert Nusal at the time, he had such a special existence as the Valley of the River. ”

It's no secret that almost everyone who has been to the Valley knows that the bards also wrote some beautiful songs for it.

After Lance and the others crossed the stone bridge, they were greeted by a small town, the architectural style here is not much different from other places, except that there are many trees and plants between the buildings, which makes the whole city look as if it was built in a forest, very beautiful and harmonious.

Occasionally, bold animals can be seen running through the streets, jumping from branch to branch, or stopping to watch from the eaves.

This is definitely a scene that you can't see anywhere else, and it's really a picture of harmony between man and nature.

"My friend, Blank, you're finally back, what good things have you brought me this time?"

A deep and heroic voice accompanied by heavy footsteps, coming quickly from far and near, the sound of knocking footsteps broke the peace and tranquility in front of several people.

Lance and Ike followed the prestige, and a dwarven strong man who was almost square in size walked quickly towards Blank with open arms.

"Teklin ......"

"Blank ......"

A spherical fat man and a square dwarf brawl hugging each other vigorously should be imagined only by a very imaginative bard.

After the two men hugged for a while, Blank solemnly introduced the three people around him to the dwarf man.

"Hello, my friends, I'm 'Teklin Bredak', you can call me Teklin, just like my friend Blank!" haha......" A thunderous voice came out of the mouth of the dwarven strong man, shaking the fledgling Lance and Ike a little stunned.

'Teklin Bundak' was a dwarf about four feet tall, unusually burly and muscular, with a gray-brown leather armor on his body, a large black pipe pinned to his waist, his exposed skin with a metallic sheen, brown hair and a messy beard tangled together, and it was difficult to distinguish which ones were hair and which were beards.

The talkative and bold Tyclin warmly invited them to a tavern for a drink.

On the way to the tavern, the "humorous" Tyclin babbled on and on jokes that he thought were funny.

“...... A dwarf was about to go to sea, but unfortunately ran aground. He needed to go down and tow the boat out, so he used a bamboo pole to test the depth of the water, and found that the water was not as deep as a person, and as soon as he jumped down, the water flooded over his head, and he quickly surfaced, and cursed in his mouth, 'It's so unlucky, others are stranded in the shallows, and I am stranded in the deep sea...... 'Ahahaha......"

After telling this very cool joke, Teklin laughed to himself again, still like a thunderous sound, every time he caused the dissatisfaction of the people around him, Teklin would apologize in embarrassment, and the originally dissatisfied crowd smiled with understanding.

"Teklin, these jokes of yours are only funny to you, how many times have I told you, can't you change them to something fresh? These are not funny at all, why don't I tell you one?"

Blank said patiently.

Along the way, Blank didn't know how many times he rolled his eyes at Tycklin, and even though Lance and the other three felt very embarrassed, they still barely put a polite smile on their faces out of politeness, and it was these smiles, in Teklin's eyes, that was the greatest affirmation of him, maybe this was called "no self-knowledge".

"Isn't it funny? But I think it's very funny, you see, this dwarf, the water is deeper than him, and he says it's the deep sea, isn't it very funny...... Ha ha...... Blanc, don't tell me, I told the rest of my brothers the joke you told me last time, and they couldn't stop laughing...... Ha ha...... It's so funny, I want to laugh again thinking about it...... Aha......"

As he spoke, Tecklin began to laugh to himself again, and it looked like he couldn't stop at all.

This is not the beginning of the talk, just a little recollection...... Maybe his laugh is really low.

Led by the dwarf Tyklin, he was already in front of a tavern in a short time, and Tyklin stretched out his thick fingers to wipe the tears from the smile in his eyes, and slammed open the door of the tavern, and at the same time opened his throat and shouted inside: "Old Bill, give us some ale and some more to eat, my good friend Blanc has brought his new friend to see me, you know, I don't like the fruit wine that the goblins drink, give us the strongest kind, and we will have a good drink today." ”

It was still early, and there were not many people in the tavern, so Teklin took a few people to a large empty table and sat down, and the tavern, which was a little deserted, began to be a little lively after the group entered.

"Okay, Teklin, don't get drunk today and can't find your way home!haha......"

A middle-aged man in his forties standing at the tavern counter laughed at Teklin's words and walked towards the back kitchen.

"Old Bill, when did I get drunk?"

Tekrin slapped the table and shouted loudly, so fierce that unfamiliar people thought he was trying to find someone to fight.

But old Bill, who knew his character well, didn't pay any attention to it, what should he do.

After a while, Old Bill came out of the back kitchen with a large tray with five large glasses of golden ale.

After distributing the wine to a few people, Old Bill asked the dwarf Tyklin in a mocking tone, "Can you tell where North is now?"

Asked by Old Bill, Teklin scratched his head blankly, "Do you have to find a direction for drinking?" Old Bill, when did you add the rules? Isn't it okay to be able to find your mouth when you drink?"

The guests in the tavern who watched the events erupted in laughter.

Compared to Tycklin's "humorous" jokes, Tycklin's blank expression at this time is the real funny.

It was in the midst of everyone's laughter that Tecklin realized that he had been teased by the old fellow again, and it was clear that this had happened more than once or twice.

Teklin looked slightly embarrassed and didn't speak.

Blank was obviously also familiar with Old Bill, and picked up the ale in front of him and said to Old Bill, who was still holding the tray, "Old Bill, have a drink with us? ”

Old Bill is also the kind of person with a bold personality, and he is not verbose, he went to the counter and brought a large glass of ale, and unceremoniously sat down in an empty seat and talked with a few people.