Chapter VI

"...... The dwarves of the eastern mountains moved their settlements from the open ground into the towering mountains to avoid the dragons' gaze, and as they dug deep into the mountains, the dwarves discovered that they contained rich mineral resources that were not found in the Central Highway. These almost endless resources www.biquge.info as well as the history of digging settlements deep into the mountains, also formed the basis for the future dwarven engineering civilization. ”

—Excerpt from "The Hammer and the Spark", by the Dwarven History Editing Society of Wuerde City

Since the second royal family, the Fiblanche family, the royal family's domination and influence on the continent have been declining, and to this day, the edict of His Majesty Prez of the sixth royal family can only command the three provinces of the northern wasteland. The lords, led by the Duden family of the Middle Avenue, recruited unbridled private armies in their domains, established their own tax laws, and were not much different from a small independent kingdom, except for the ceremonial oath of allegiance to the king of the north and the payment of some basic taxes.

In order to reverse this situation, the former High King Pritz XIX led the three knights on an expedition south to the Dushnida Forest, hoping to re-establish the supremacy of the royal family through this war. But this expeditionary force was at the junction of central and southern China, and even the shadow of the forest of Dushnida was attacked by the undead army before it could be seen, and the three major knights were all wiped out, and Prez XIX himself was killed on the battlefield. The defeat brought the prestige of the royal family to almost freezing point, and not only did some of the lords in the West and South openly declare that they would no longer pay taxes to the North, but even the confidence of the die-hard royalists in the Northern Heath began to waver.

However, the problems that come with this defeat are not limited to the human kingdom, as the predatory grey elves of the southern forests and the rising orcs of the west pose a serious threat to lords who have lost their royal protection. Although the lords were allowed to recruit private troops in their fiefdoms until Fiblanche IX, few lords could actually afford the huge military expenses of the private army, except for the great nobles such as Duden and Banrui. Most of them recruited a dozen people to serve as their escorts, leaving the real security of their territories to the three knights loyal to the royal family. After the fall of the Three Knights, the "private army" used by these lords to support the scene was simply unable to cope with the frequent invasions of foreign races. These weak lords enjoyed the supremacy of kings in their fiefdoms while worrying about whether their kingdom would be overrun by aliens the next day, a precarious situation that lasted until the Holy Knights appeared.

Although the human supremacy preached by the Holy Knights had little market in the Central Highway, it was very popular in the southwest, which was plagued by foreign races, especially since the Holy Knights' main fortress was established outside the northern imperial city and was not subject to royal restrictions, which also eliminated the worries of those lords about the security of power in their hands. Although the presence of the Holy Knights has boosted the morale of the Southwestern Territory, although it cannot shake the orcs who have formed a climate and are quite large, several large gray elf rogues and bandit guilds in the Southern Territory have been wiped out by the Holy Knights one by one, making the Southern Territory usher in a peaceful scene that has not been seen for decades. As the Holy Order's influence in the South grew, the human supremacy they preached was enthusiastically supported by lords, nobles, and even commoners. Although the Alien Dispersal Decree has not yet been officially enacted as in the Northern Wastelands, civil conflicts between humans and aliens have intensified, and with the intervention of the Holy Knights and the nobles, the favorable outcome of each conflict has been tilted in favor of the humans. The repressed aliens fled their homes, hoping to find another place in Azonica or the Middle Way. ...,

First and foremost are the gnomes, who have been managing finance since the days of the Seventy-Seven Empires, when the dwarves began to leave their ledgers in the hands of these savvy little things. After three eras, the Seventy-Seven Empires, the Gwendrin Elven Dynasty, and the Human Kingdom, the Gnome Chamber of Commerce has formed an irreplaceable force in the continent of Mokelen. However, the rise of the Holy Knights has brought these ancient gnome chambers of commerce to a catastrophe, although the gnome chambers of commerce once united in the hope of using their economic strength to fight back, but human prejudice and jealousy of the gnomes for a long time to occupy the top of the wealth pyramid, and under the Holy Evangelist fanaticism for the nobility and commoners, the dwarf's resistance is obviously so powerless. A large number of dwarf shops were looted by mobs, and some of the gnome chambers of commerce that had been in business for tens of thousands of years were forcibly raided and confiscated by the Holy Knights and nobles.

Just as humanity was celebrating their victory, and celebrating that these parasites, who had been exploiting the gold coins in their pockets for years, had finally come to an end, they suddenly found that the economy in their territory was about to collapse. A large number of ripe crops rotted in warehouses and could not be sold, prices in the market skyrocketed several times overnight, the deposits deposited in the dwarf chambers of commerce were wiped out, the tickets in their hands became a piece of waste paper, and the nobles did not even know how much money to pay their horse boys as a reward.

"And that's when the idiots came up with a 'great idea.' Tepeni said with a look of schadenfreude.

Haredith yawned listlessly in the soft chair, and said to Tepenny rather impatiently: "Halfling, I've known you for seven or eight years, I really didn't expect you to be such a verbose guy." You've been talking about it for a long time, what does it have to do with me?"

Tepenny glared at the Drow elf viciously and said, "Isn't it you bastard who wants to get to the bottom of the matter just now?" If you don't want to hear it, get out of here, and you don't have to waste your saliva." ”

Hareddik waved his hand and pretended to be aggrieved and said, "Okay, okay, it's my fault, you continue." ”

Tepenny cursed a few swear words in annoyance before continuing: "All in all, after the dwarfs were driven out, the nobles found some other people who could be 'trusted' to figure out for them how much money they had spent on the woman's ass. ”

"You mean the human guilds?" said Haredith.

"That's what the fuck is. While the damned gnomes are more stingy and greedy than the other, and even their souls are strung with gold coins, it's not for nothing that these dwarfs have been able to trade in Mokelen for tens of thousands of years, because you can't find other more trustworthy buyers than them. It's true that these little dwarfs will do everything they can to poach out of every penny you make, but what about humans? Oh, look at me, look at me. Not only will we humans swallow your whole body and bones into our stomachs, but we will also bury the dregs that we pull out into the fields and grow crops, which is what we humans do. So in the south, the nobles were guests of honour at the marquisate's ball the night before, and the next day they were poorer than the coolies in the mines of Azonica. As he said this, Tepeni's eyes were filled with inexplicable excitement and mockery.

Hareditik tilted his head, blinked his pale eyes without pupils, and said slowly, "I see, that means there is a bankrupt Southern nobleman who wants to go to the Middle Avenue through you, right?" But I still don't know what's in it for you? You're not the kind of guy who likes to do good. ”

Tepenny glanced at Haredik in an unfathomable manner, and said mysteriously, "Harley, do you know what the greatest wealth of a nobleman is?",

"Money. Haredith blurted out.

"Big mistake, it's bloodline!" Looking at Haredith's disdainful look, Tepenny continued: "You elves will not understand this truth, elves have a much longer lifespan than us humans, you don't even have the concept of family, you will not appreciate how much bloodline and family affect an individual." ”

Haredik shrugged his shoulders noncommittally and said, "Let's move on to the guy who is going to the Uuld, and he's a descendant of which of your nobles on the human race?"

"It's not him, it's her. Going to Ulder was Baroness Miles and her two children. ”

"Where's her man?"

"Dead, the day I learned I was bankrupt, I hanged myself like a coward. Tepeni said nonchalantly, as if it weren't a man but a bug that had died.

Miles ...... I've never heard a human nobleman call it that way. Haredith said as he recalled the noble names in his mind.

"Baron Miles is indeed not a famous nobleman, he is just a ninth-rate nobleman with a small fief and a few orchards in the southern forest, but his wife was surnamed Duden before she got married. ”

Haredick, who was still lying like a piece of mud lying on the sofa just now, immediately came to his senses and said, "Duden?

"It's that Duden. Tepeni said, holding his head up.

"Go on. ”

"You know, my old nest was in Dragon Bridge, just a mile away from the dead Baron, and I had a lot of property in Wood, and I had a good personal relationship with the Duden family, and I grew up watching Emma, well, Baroness Miles. So she's coming to me with her baby now and begging me for help, and I'm going to help this time. ”

Haredik narrowed his eyes into slits, looked up at Tepeni and said, "Come on, halfling, be honest with me." I've seen countless people, men, women, rich and poor, come to you from the Middle Avenue or the Southern Forest, and every time you squeeze them all out and sell them to the coolie camps. Even if she's from the Duden family, I don't believe you'll really want to help her. ”

Tepenny's eyes widened viciously, and he was about to get angry but suddenly let out a long sigh and said, "Alas...... Damn drow, well, well, actually. I did grow up watching Emma, who still calls me Uncle Tepenny, but the main reason I helped her get back to Midpart Avenue was because I wanted her to help me get some support in the Duden family to get me back to Wood. ”

It wasn't surprising that Tepeni wanted to return to Middle Avenue Haleydick, after all, Azonica was an alien city dominated by orcs, and a human would not be truly respected and had equal rights here anyway. Tepenny continued, "I've been thinking about returning to Middle Avenue since the day I escaped from the Uld eight years ago, but the Holy Forces are growing on Central Avenue and my name is on their wanted list. So if I want to go back to the Middle Avenue, the only possibility is to get in touch with the Duden family, and this time, Emma is the best gift from God. Now you understand why I'm so concerned about this, right?"

Hareddick nodded and said, "I see, in this case, I can indeed help you this time, but which question is it, what should that warlock do?"

"Bastard. Hearing Harleydick's promise, Tepenny finally breathed a sigh of relief and scolded with a smile: "If you want to sit on the ground and raise the price of your bitch, a warlock who is not in the flow can stump you, and your grave can grow grass now." ”...,

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When Haredith woke up from his sleep the next morning, he got up from his bed, dressed neatly, and hung two brand-new steel scimitars he had gotten from Tepenny the night on his left and right waists. Haredith pushed open the door just as he was confronted by the oncoming samurai leader Burke.

"Quinn, I was about to look for you, and you woke up so early. Burke said with a smile.

Haredith put on his white mask, which only showed his eyes, and said to Burke, "What's wrong?"

"The boss asked me to take you to meet Baroness Miles, and the rest of the convoy. ”

Haredith's brow furrowed under the mask and said, "Do you need to be in such a hurry?"

"Baroness Miles has been in Azonica for weeks, and all the preparations for departure have been well prepared, and you can leave without a guide like you, and since you are here, the boss hopes to be able to leave in a day or two. ”

"I didn't expect this guy to be so anxious, I should have knocked him a few more gold coins if I knew it. Haredith muttered, then said to Burke, "Not yet, I have to go to the market." ”

"Are you missing anything? Tell me, boss, let me prepare all the apps for you. ”

"Hey, I promise that bastard's words weren't so polite. Burke didn't say anything but smiled slightly, and Haredith continued, "No, I'm going to buy some herbs and magic ingredients, and I'll have to go myself." ”

Burke made an understanding gesture and said, "You're going to get your cross-dressing trick, aren't you?"

Haredith gestured with his finger to the mouth zipper and said, "I'll be back before the thirteen bells, it's not too late for your human etiquette, is it?" ”

"The time is just right, so let's see you then. After saying goodbye to Burke, Haredith walked out of the quiet and deserted Jenna Club, where the dancers who had been crazy all night were lying on their beds recuperating their tired bodies to cope with the guests who were coming tonight, except for some gray elf handymen in the empty brothel cleaning up the filth and garbage left over from the previous night, and outside the house was a different bustling scene.

Although the poisonous sun of the desert scorched the city, the orcs and gnomes who lived here were not nocturnal creatures, and they had carved out wide caverns in the ground where the sun could not reach, replacing the open areas that could not be used during the day. The Cavern of Warencha, where Jenna's Club is located, is a relatively remote area of Azonicari dominated by coolies and miners, and the real thriving underground of Azonica is the central market district and the orc settlement.

Light-armoured orc overseers wielded long whips and drove coolies toward the deposits, mainly yellow-skinned and dirty, mainly prisoners of war and hostages looted by orcs, and some of the inhabitants of Azonica who were bankrupt or in debt, and whose fate awaited them was starvation or exhaustion.

A gray elf coolie whose feet were already swollen and oothed foul-smelling pus suddenly fell to the ground, and the two orc overseers who had just been talking and laughing while still riding the Blood Attack Dragon immediately walked up to him with cold faces, and raised their whips to whip them. The gray elf coolie who fell to the ground didn't seem to have the strength to even moan in pain, but only raised his arm as thin as a bamboo pole to protect his head and make some instinctive resistance movements. After a brief beating, the orc overseer flicked his aching wrist and unshackled the gray elf's feet, dragging his dirty, unkempt hair to the side of the road to fend for himself. The other coolies in the group did not react at all to the brutal scene, and did not even give it a second glance, but numbly let the overseer's leather whip whipped on them and walked forward. Haredith also ignored the meddlesome, and glanced twice at the gray elf lying on the side of the road, who was angry and angry, and turned his head towards his destination.