Chapter 95 Chapter 94
Jima said, “Don’t forget, that group of dwarves came out asking for help.”
“I know,” George stood up and turned his head, saying, “Dwarf friends, I would like to inquire about the situation in your city. I’ve heard you are surrounded by ratmen?”
The dwarf engineer became annoyed, lifting his mining lamp and stammering in the common tongue, “Y… you yesterday… still regarded us… as…”
The dwarf engineer struggled to find the right words, but unfortunately, his vocabulary was limited.
Butcher Galtrek said, “… as bowling pins. Now you act all friendly while asking about our city’s situation.”
George replied, “That was a choice made out of necessity, my friend.”
“I’d rather go to my death with you,” butcher Galtrek said, “so I won’t say anything bad to you, but the other dwarves are quite unwilling.”
The common tongue has a magical property: everyone can understand it.
“Enough already, Galtrek,” the dwarf engineer said in dwarven, “the blood feud mainly concerns the Eternal Chosen Marus.”
Galtrek added, “And a certain long-eared one.”
The seven dwarves nodded in agreement. That long-eared one was indeed becoming increasingly annoying. Even a demon with horns on its head looked less harmful than her; it’s only normal that short-lived and foolish humans don’t realize that long ears are essentially more wicked goblins.
After the anger subsided a bit, the dwarf engineer gloomily urged Galtrek to tell them about the city’s situation.
Butcher Galtrek said in the common tongue:
“The city is called Karak—Dragon City. In the distant ancient times, it once withstood the attack of the Eternal Chosen’s doomsday army. Brave dwarves defended with high walls, runic crossbows, and their resilient spirit against the doomsday army.
“Every step they took cost blood. When the walls were breached, the dwarves fought in street battles until the doomsday army could advance no further and had to retreat, sighing at the dwarves’ high walls. Ah, those were the days—”
Eve Frostleaf interrupted, “Now Dragon City is sadly miserable, not even one-thousandth of its former glory, is it?”
Butcher Galtrek shot Eve Frostleaf a glare, “Don’t provoke me, long-ear. What do you know?”
“But I know that dwarves are a twilight race,” Eve Frostleaf said. “Sad.”
The dwarves were so angry that their long beards curled up. They picked up their axes, ready to confront Eve Frostleaf.
“Frostleaf!” George said. “You go patrol now, don’t argue.”
The angry dwarves marched towards Eve Frostleaf, but she swiftly disappeared into the darkness, leaving the dwarves shouting angrily at her vanishing figure in the shadows, “Coward long-ear! If you have the guts, don’t run!”
From the darkness, a dwarven voice said, “Turtle!”
The dwarves stomped their feet in frustration.
George approached to apologize, but the dwarves refused to accept it. Butcher Galtrek angrily stroked his beard and, after a moment, said:
“Considering you are human, at least the Empire has been allies of the dwarves since ancient times…”
Jima was not dumb and reminded butcher Galtrek that George was actually a Bartonian.
Butcher Galtrek reluctantly calmed down, while the other dwarves were not as forgiving. They gathered together, grumbling and reminiscing about last night’s shame.
“We actually ran away like cowards, leaving our companions to fend for themselves and die while we escaped.”
“We couldn’t even protect the crafts of our ancestors. That human was right; it was a choice made out of necessity. It was precisely because we fled that we had to sacrifice the glory left by our ancestors…”
Ignoring the whiny dwarves, Jima gestured to butcher Galtrek, saying, “Please tell us about the city’s predicament so that we don’t get ambushed by ratmen on the way.”
Butcher Galtrek sat down heavily, picked up a flat flask, shook it, and found it empty. The day before, before killing the Eternal Chosen, he had drunk it all in preparation for the arrival of glorious death. But he hadn’t died.
With a sigh, butcher Galtrek put down the flask and said:
“The entrances and exits of Dragon City have all been sealed. We have blocked the mine tunnels and put down sealing stones, and the barley fields above have also been abandoned. However, the ratmen are as vile as the long-eared ones; they took hundreds of years to dig through the underground river, flooding our lower district.
“They previously dug hundreds of tunnels to bypass our sealed passages, attacking our walls every day. The siege has lasted for half a year. The clan chief knew that treaties made hundreds of years ago with short-lived humans basically didn’t count anymore.
“But he still sent out a suicide squad to break through, seeking support, first from our dwarf relatives. I joined the suicide squad, but unfortunately, we had great luck, encountering ratmen who were more cowardly than the last…” At this point, butcher Galtrek was livid, slamming his runic axe down:
“Thousands of clan rats fled in a panic. I chased them down, cutting at their heels, and they refused to turn back and fight me. By Gronnie’s beard! They clearly had the numbers to chew me to a skeleton and grant me the glory of death.”
George took notes nearby.
Jima couldn’t help but interrupt, “Get to the point. I guess you didn’t find any relatives?”
“We did,” butcher Galtrek said, his face turning red with anger. “That group of ratmen has already taken another underground dwarf city. It is said their filthy god sent a powerful sorcerer to blow the ancient walls apart.”
Jenna felt a wave of despair: “No wonder you chose to seek help from Kisliv.”
Let’s not even mention the spirit of human contracts. Kisliv is an entire ogre kingdom away from here.
Jima seized the point: “If I’m not mistaken, that powerful sorcerer, bringing a army of ratmen that has conquered the dwarf city, is now joining in the siege of Dragon City?”
“Exactly,” butcher Galtrek said. “The underground world surrounding Dragon City, those caverns must be packed with scurrying ratmen.”
“How many dwarf soldiers are left in Dragon City?”
Butcher Galtrek said, “I can’t remember. All I know is that we lack manpower everywhere, many soldiers haven’t slept for three days and nights. Ratmen are everywhere.”
“Estimate.”
“A thousand…”
“How many ratmen?”
Butcher Galtrek said, “All I know is they are filling the caverns, nearly countless.”
“Just tell me how many ratmen you saw.”
Butcher Galtrek counted on his fingers: “Twenty to thirty thousand, I guess.”
This number was astonishing. The three listeners instinctively felt that there must be a mistake. This was only a portion of the ratmen that butcher Galtrek had seen; if true, the total number of ratmen would likely exceed one hundred thousand.
George stopped writing. Jenna looked at George, who nodded, indicating at least butcher Galtrek wasn’t lying.
George asked, “Is there enough food in the underground world for that many ratmen?”
Butcher Galtrek snorted and said:
“Ratmen eat anything, even the corpses of their own kin. They have been planning to take this grand city for a long time. One ratman I caught said they had been scheming for hundreds of years, stockpiling food in advance.”
Jima said:
“Never underestimate the numbers of ratmen. We could think positively. Do you know the legend of Sigma? It’s said he defeated the then Eternal Chosen and smashed the Demon King’s crown to smithereens, after which a horde of ratmen surged behind him, attacking the remnants of humanity.
“It is said he rolled his eyes heavenward, lifted his hammer, charged, and chased down the fleeing ratman leader, following him across nearly half the battlefield, and with one blow, smashed him dead. Since then, for hundreds of years, people have not seen ratmen again.”
Bard Felix raised his head and happily said, “Well said. We can also recreate the ancient hero’s deeds; I can’t wait to witness the epic revival.”
Jima rolled her eyes and said:
“Look at us here; is there anyone like Sigma? If someone truly had Sigma’s abilities, that Eternal Chosen Marus would have long been dead, and we wouldn’t have to escape underground, would we? I mean, we should take a detour; we can’t provoke them, but we can hide.”
Butcher Galtrek said, “There are no exits to the surface nearby.”
“There are always more ways than difficulties,” Jima said. “We can search. There must be tunnels excavated by ratmen; if worse comes to worst, we can dig one ourselves.”
George shook his head: “We don’t have much time, and after reaching the surface, we won’t have a guide.”
“Then we fight our way into Dragon City?” Jima said, “Isn’t that running into the ratmen’s encirclement?”
“No, we can try to cut a path through the ratmen army.”
Butcher Galtrek shook his head: “Dragon City is in the underground world, equivalent to a stronghold guarding a crossroads… I’ve seen the map you gave me. To reach your destination, you must go underground and definitely pass through Dragon City.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful,” Jima complained, suddenly slapping her thigh, “Damn it, I forgot.”
George asked, “What?”
“At the beginning, I really should have used Eve Frostleaf’s name,” Jima said. “Go to Elven Isle and borrow a dragon. That way, I could invite the dragon to be our airliner, taking us directly to our destination.”
Before George could speak, Jima sighed again: “Unfortunately, that’s no longer possible; it’s too far from Elven Isle, I can’t fly there in my dreams.”
