Early the next morning, Frieren was dragged out of bed by Shane.
According to what they had discussed yesterday, they would head into the nearby mountains today and try to find clues related to the dwarven helt.
"Can't we go in the afternoon instead?"
Frieren looked utterly unwilling.
Shane ignored her completely.
The air after the rain was cool and refreshing.
The two of them walked along a small path. Because it had just rained, there were puddles everywhere.
Shane carefully avoided them.
Frieren, still half-asleep, followed behind him without even looking at the ground. Every now and then, she stepped right into the water. Along the way, she kept stumbling, and the [Dry Clothes Magic] never stopped.
Well, having magic really does let you do whatever you want.
After carefully climbing onto a massive rock, the two finally arrived at the place the old man had ntioned—the spot where the helt had been found.
Just as Frieren had expected, there were nurous grooves carved by axes.
Shane ran his hand over the marks left on the mountain rock. The deepest cuts were half a ter deep, while even the shallowest were as deep as a finger. Despite decades of wind and sun, the edges were still sharp.
He couldn't help but admire how naturally powerful dwarves were.
"These marks vary in depth. When those strikes were made, that warrior must have already been close to exhaustion."
There was a hint of sadness in Frieren's voice.
She had traveled with Eisen for ten years and understood well the strength of dwarven warriors.
These marks might seem incredible, but compared to the average power of a dwarven warrior, they were still too "ordinary." Most likely, they were left behind during a desperate struggle at the brink of death. He must have fought that monster until the very end…
The two continued searching the area.
Unfortunately, too much ti had passed. Aside from the marks on the rock, there was nothing else left to find.
Drip. Drip—
The rain started again.
Frieren couldn't help but shrink her neck. "This kind of damp, chilly weather really isn't suitable for going out."
Shane glanced around. "There's a rock over there that juts out. Let's go take shelter under it first."
Before he even finished speaking, Frieren had already taken off, flying over in the blink of an eye.
Shane: "…"
Sitting around a small fire, the two stared blankly at the mountains veiled by rain.
Shane had a faint feeling that there was definitely sothing unusual behind this helt.
Like elves, dwarves were few in number, but their history stretched back for ages.
In countless fantasy tales, dwarves were always associated with "treasures" and "divine artifacts." He found that fascinating. If he could find a dungeon filled with magic tools or broken equipnt, he'd be able to farm attributes again.
"Frieren, did Eisen ever tell you anything about dwarven history or stories?"
"Eisen doesn't talk much. Occasionally, he ntioned his hotown, but he never talked about the dwarves as a whole. But I did hear Flam talk about it…"
Frieren hugged her knees and scooted a little closer to the fire.
As she felt the warmth of the flas, she began recounting the history Flam had once told her:
Before the Demon King ordered the extermination of the elves, the first race they had tried to wipe out was actually the dwarves.
Unlike elves, who had little desire and preferred to live in seclusion, dwarves were warm and hospitable. They loved interacting with humans, especially trading with them.
Dwarves were skilled at locating iron ore, slting, forging, and inventing. The Demon King once tried to recruit them, but they refused.
Their reason fit their nature perfectly: demons were not as intelligent as humans.
Before the era of the Unified Empire, dwarves created a brilliant "steel civilization." They even began experinting with large-scale machinery, hoping to bring greater convenience to human society.
But this imdiately drew the Demon King's attention.
Demonic spies infiltrated the largest dwarven tribe. Sohow, they incited internal conflict, causing the dwarves to split and fight among themselves, greatly weakening their strength.
Taking advantage of this, the demons launched a massacre against the dwarves. In less than a hundred years, the dwarven race was wiped out piece by piece.
The surviving dwarves fled into human society, hiding their identities and living low-profile lives.
It was precisely because they witnessed the fate of the dwarves that the elves chose to side with humanity from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, even so, they still couldn't escape the Demon King's slaughter.
Frieren seed to recall her childhood mories. Her mood grew heavy, and she didn't continue.
Shane sighed.
Whether elves or dwarves, both were victims of the thousand-year-long war between humans and demons.
…
Before long, the rain stopped.
During this kind of drizzly season, the weather was always like a person's mood—changing unpredictably.
The two continued wandering through the mountains.
From a distance, Shane spotted a small mountain village with smoke rising from chimneys.
The village was nestled among the trees, with only a dozen or so households.
Shane walked over and asked an old woman at the village entrance for information. He wanted to know if there were any local legends or stories about dwarves nearby.
Maybe he could find so useful clues.
"Outsiders?"
The old woman's attitude turned cold the mont she saw him. After giving him a quick once-over, she turned around and shut the door.
Shane was left stunned.
Did I say sothing wrong?
He tried knocking on another house. But as soon as the door opened and they saw him, they shut it again without a word.
This felt strange to him. His face had always been well-received—people from eighty to eight years old usually liked him. Why wasn't it working today?
"It's probably not your problem."
"Maybe these isolated mountain villages just don't like outsiders."
After hearing that, Shane nodded in agreent.
At that mont, the door of a house ahead quietly opened a crack. A chubby little girl peeked out, looking left and right.
Then she squeezed out through the gap and skipped over to Shane.
The girl first coughed shyly, then carefully stretched out her small chubby hand and opened it in front of him.
"Big brother, you're really pretty. You're the most handso person I've ever seen."
"This is sothing I found in the forest before. It's as pretty as you, so I want to give it to you!"
In her palm lay a strangely shaped hazelnut, faintly glowing with a blue sheen.
Shane couldn't help but pick it up and examine it closely. It was the first ti he had ever seen a hazelnut like this.
Just as he was about to say sothing, a woman rushed out from the house behind the girl, grabbed her, and dragged her back inside.
"…"
Shane looked at the hazelnut in his hand, then at the tightly shut door, unsure whether he should return it.
Beside him, Frieren noticed the object in his hand.
Her interest was instantly piqued.
"There are actually blue hazelnuts here too. It's been many years since I've seen one."
"Is it so kind of special magical material?"
"No, it's just an ordinary hazelnut."
Ordinary?
Shane couldn't help but complain internally. How is this ordinary? Since when do hazelnuts glow blue and look like this?
You've got to be kidding .
"It really is just an ordinary hazelnut."
"It's just that it grows on the back of a Sky-Mountain Dragon. Looks like one passed through here recently…"
User Comments
0 comments from readers