Laine began to think about the matters of his territory.
Currently, his territory was already very prosperous, with various construction projects proceeding smoothly. Trade with the Wood Elves brought him substantial wealth and a hospital, and taking in Dwarves brought him three workshops, but this was far from enough.
After this war, Laine realized that without a strong army, how could one fight against evil? A few n forming an elite squad barely survived to set fire to a few siege engines; he couldn't keep doing this.
Speaking of which, Vampires really love to change hos. Once wasn't enough, so they ca a second ti. Thinking of this, Laine shook his head with a bitter smile. Now, the Vampires in Musillon would need to be quiet for many years. For a Vampire army, bodies and skeletons were common, but the losses of Blood Knights and the Bloodthirsty Celestial Ghosts and Bloodthirsty Bat Wolves would pain the Vampires of Musillon.
Changing hos? A good thing~
A Blood Knight needs decades or even centuries of training and must go through high-mortality trials to qualify, and in the wars at Turis Castle and within Charon Forest, the Vampires lost dozens of Blood Knights. For Musillon, this was a truly terrifying loss, and it might take many years to recover.
The sa goes for the Bloodthirsty Celestial Ghosts and Bloodthirsty Bat Wolves; these creatures must be raised from childhood.
"Baron, the blacksmiths in the town have complaints. The things made by the Dwarves are of too high quality and reasonable price, leaving them without work, which has led to so conflicts," Kasenberg continued to report on the situation within the territory.
"Then let them learn the skills from the Dwarves. Everyone earns a living through craftsmanship. Naturally, the less skilled should be weeded out. The Dwarves aren't stopping them from taking on human apprentices." Laine calmly stated, "Those unwilling to learn can leave."
"Yes, my Baron. Additionally, Craftsman Delong ntioned another group of Dwarves has heard about the conditions here and is trying to settle. He wants to ask if you're willing to accept them?" Kasenberg took out a piece of parchnt and continued.
"How many people?"
"About... over four hundred."
Laine thought this number was alright, not too many, but he didn't want to decide rashly: "Let's visit the Dwarves' new ho first. I think Delong is resting today."
"Then let lead the way, my Baron." Kasenberg stood up, and the four people set off under the sun.
After riding for over half an hour, they reached the Dwarven community.
This was a separate community, and the Dwarves had built their hos under a range of hills. Indeed, under the hills, when Laine followed the stone-paved road to the Dwarf community, he found the Dwarves had hollowed out the underside of the hills. They had created a deep network of basents to live in, with only a small number of Dwarves willing to build houses outside. The Dwarven houses had an ancient style, mostly opting for sturdy stone structures with pointed roofs, lacking exterior decoration, except for a specially built statue of the Dwarf Main God in their community's center.
Two Dwarves were standing guard on a watchtower, holding Long Fire Cannons. When they saw Laine appear, they happily saluted, "Hello, Lord Laine, may your beard be long and splendid."
"Pfft~" The two Ranger Knights couldn't help but laugh. Laine didn't keep a beard; he had so stubble after returning from battle, but he soon shaved it off. At twenty-eight years old, he wasn't at the age to grow a beard yet.
Laine didn't say anything special; he just smiled, "Thank you. Is Mr. Delong here?"
"Oh! My old friend~ Lord Laine." Dwarf Rune Craftsman Delong Feinson ca out from inside the community, "Welco~"
The group entered the community, and Olivier looked around as if discovering a new continent. Though he wasn't very curious about anything Dwarven, it was his first ti seeing a Dwarven community. Hex and Kasenberg tried hard to stay calm, but they also found the Dwarf community intriguing.
Many Dwarves looked at the humans' curious expressions with disdain, thinking these silly students were making a fuss over nothing.
Indeed, though most Dwarves had good relations with humans, they felt humans were their foolish students. Since the Empire and Dwarves ford the "Holy Alliance," human weapon manufacturing skills were taught by Dwarves, and siege weapon techniques shared generously. Gunpowder technology and steam weapons were gifts from the Dwarves.
So from the Dwarves' perspective, humans were friends but also not very gifted students. Whenever humans made a major technological breakthrough, Dwarves felt their pride was wounded. The Dwarf Engineer Association would imdiately unveil new research results to suppress human technology while showing off a bit.
Delong noticed Laine constantly looking around, so he proactively said, "My Baron, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, I just noticed your buildings are especially thick and covered with huge stones. Is there a reason for this?" Laine examined the Dwarven stone houses. Despite the plain materials, the Dwarves built their hos neatly and beautifully. They lacked lavish decorations but had a unique Dwarven solemnity.
"Building houses is an art, my Baron." Delong pointed to his stone house, "If the walls are too narrow, the house will be warm; if too thick, it'll be cold inside."
The Dwarf's words sounded evasive, but Laine didn't mind. Delong opened his door, and it was the largest and most luxurious in the community, nearly three ters tall (for a Dwarf): "Please co in, Lord Laine and gentlen."
Laine and his group bent over to enter the room and sat in the living room. Delong brought out several cups of malt beer and laid out so smoked at and roasted bacon: "Please enjoy. I apologize, Lord Laine, for not having Bagman Beer to entertain you, but I should have so soon. I've ordered a few barrels from Breeze Castle."
"It seems Mr. Delong is doing well now!" Laine smiled. The Dwarven beer was strong in flavor, and the at quite salty, barely palatable.
"It's alright, as you see, many of my compatriots still aren't used to living under the open sky, so they opened a network of basents within the hills." Delong stroked his white beard, "At first, I wasn't used to it either, my Baron. Don't you feel scared you'll fall into the infinite starry sky when you look up?"
"I never thought so. On the contrary, when I look up at the sky, I always feel incredibly small." Laine shook his head gently. Delong didn't mind and continued, "Lord Laine, your visit must be about Sven, right?"
"Yes, I am not unwelcoming to your clansn; I just want to know their origins and what they might need from ," Laine said calmly.
"Of course, of course." Delong nodded repeatedly, "He's my friend, nad Sven, Sven Novigrin, a powerful Dwarf Race Leader and Rune Blacksmith. He's an eighty-seven-year-old young man (Dwarves can live at least four hundred years), and his stronghold was destroyed by night goblins. Most of his clansn died in the war. After many years of desperate struggle, Sven finally realized that the remaining four hundred clansn were not enough to reclaim their ancestral stronghold. They needed a place to recuperate, so I suggested they co here."
The remaining clansn of the Novigrin clan are not many, but they are all excellent warriors. They are willing to use their hands to earn what they need to survive, whether through work or battle, as long as you provide them a place to live and enough malt beer." Delong, not good with words, used this dry language to try to gain Laine's trust.
"Recuperate, hmm?" Laine thought for a mont before nodding, "Very well, let them co. I approve."
His territory also needed so ti to recover.
At that mont, a Knight's Squire rode up from afar and delivered a ssage to Laine.
The King's Envoy had arrived.
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