“Don’t be agitated, my friend.”
The other party was a fellow with a full beard, dark skin, but even shorter than the two children, Luo Yi and Xue La.
He spread his hands, indicating he had no weapons.
The only “weapon” seemed to be the pet he carried with him.
A black boar, wild nature unmasked, with thick, short tusks.
“A dwarf?”
Kargon spoke.
As a retired imperial guard from the royal capital, he had seen dwarves before, this unique race. Strange beings living underground.
“Haha, that’s right, old chap.”
The other grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth.
“I’m Duwalf, from the great mountains to the south, an… uh, adventurer. Here’s my adventurer card.”
Even so, Kargon’s vigilance did not diminish much.
Was it because Duwalf was an adventurer, and a dwarf!
After all, Xue La had transmigrated into a game world centered on swords and magic, so adventurers were nothing unusual.
Even in Baldwood Town, under the rule of Count Brian, there was a branch of the Adventurer’s Guild specifically for handling emergencies!
Of course, they charged too much.
The manticore kidnapping the local count’s daughter would have been a bounty worthy of posting at the Adventurer’s Guild, but the price was too high.
To open a bounty sheet, you first had to pay a handling fee; to post it on the bulletin board, a posting fee; for top placement, a traffic fee; and to extend it, an extension fee.
Even if an adventurer took the job, how would the money be split?
The bounty for the adventurer would only be a small portion; the Adventurer’s Guild would take a cut. A fifty-fifty split would already be like a benevolent god.
Therefore, all costs considered, if they relied on unreliable adventurers to deal with the manticore and save his daughter, it would cost at least one thousand gold coins.
Unless absolutely necessary, it was better not to use these people’s help.
Relying on the count’s own knights and guards was more suitable—and also displayed the count’s certain “strength.”
After all, a noble so weak as to need adventurers to rescue him would not have a good reputation.
Xue La, as a top player in her previous life, had always sensed a hint of wariness toward adventurers in this world.
Regardless, whether their contributions to the world were mostly positive or negative was a big question.
In the history of the Patagonia Continent, there were many folk tales of sneaky adventurers angering local villagers and getting killed by pitchforks, even if it all started because the adventurer killed someone’s chicken.
In short, if Patagonia weren’t a continent plagued by the Southern Demons for a hundred years, the adventurer profession would hardly have developed so well.
Even now, adventurers did not receive enough respect from nobles—especially country nobles like House Linde.
Besides that, dwarves themselves… were not beings humans could fully trust.
Do not forget the kingdom’s history—the rulers of this continent were the Four Kingdoms, whose glorious history could be traced back to the common Great Emperor Frank. A great warrior and explorer, he led his people across the sea westward, landing here with thousands of white sails.
At that time, the rulers of this land were the talkative elves and dwarves, both claiming to be the sole rulers of the continent, disregarding the peace declarations made by the wise elven king and the dwarven elders in older times.
In short, it was a classic fable of the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman caught both.
Humans took over, seizing all the lands of dwarves and elves—the remnants either stayed in human cities as second-class citizens or fled to undeveloped lands like deep forests and mountains.
Does anyone really think elves naturally love living in forests and dwarves naturally love living in mountain valleys?
Who doesn’t love lands under the sun?
But that history had been dead for half a millennium. The elves and dwarves who remembered those tragic events were also aging, and with the Southern Demons raging and invading all living beings indiscriminately, there was a slight possibility of compromise.
In short, dwarves and elves within the human Four Kingdoms remained suspicious allies and second-class citizens.
Duwalf was obviously not surprised:
“I came to find a manticore cave—the same manticore that kidnapped the Linde girl a few days ago.”
‘Ah?’
‘Has her own terrible experience spread so far?’
Indeed, this dwarf adventurer spoke frankly, stating his business.
The manticore had been defeated, and the Linde young lady rescued—this news had already spread from a merchant.
“He had the manticore’s fangs and venom glands—we could tell at a glance in the tavern.”
Duwalf said, “My pig, Pigus, is a smart, good boy with a keen sense of smell. He’s a great helper for finding that cave.”
Dwarves raise pigs instead of using dogs as hunting companions?
Kargon and Luo Yi exchanged glances, but first they made their stance clear.
This was the territory of House Linde. The local mountains and forests belonged to the lord’s property, naturally including the manticore’s cave.
According to the laws of Norsenia, mountain resources also included various beast resources, and although the manticore was a monster… theoretically, it was also the lord’s property. So without the lord’s permission, unrelated people should not go up the mountain privately.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Duwalf said boisterously, laughing wildly.
“Whose property would kidnap their own daughter? As an adventurer, I have the right to explore and deal with monster dens—this is also stipulated by your human kingdom’s laws!”
“And who are you? An old and a young knight, with a few pretty girls by your side—aren’t you also sneaking up the mountain? Guarding the treasure but stealing it yourself!”
After he finished, the black pig, Pigus, at the dwarf’s feet also grunted.
Xue La stepped forward, standing out—she didn’t have much liking for this dwarf, and his bold remarks made it even more unpleasant.
‘Time to put him in his place.’
“I am the young lady of House Linde, Xue La—Xue La Linde.”
She said, “This dwarf uncle, if you want to find anything or do anything in my father’s forests, you’d best report it first.”
“Ah, since you’re the young lady of the house—the official in charge is more important than the emperor. You can vouch for me. As an adventurer, I guarantee my work—it’s not a bad thing.”
Duwalf maintained his adventurer persona.
Xue La pondered for a moment, then fixed her eyes on the black pig, Pigus, at Duwalf’s feet.
“First, tell me what you came here to do.”
“I already told you, the manticore cave. About twenty years ago, before you were born, I and some adventurer brothers encountered a manticore on the road. We fought desperately, but some brothers became food and were taken to the manticore’s lair…”
Duwalf explained.
“Many years have passed. I just want to retrieve my brothers’ corpses. The manticore is gone now. I don’t want anything else. I just want them back, to bring them home for burial.”
This…
Xue La suddenly felt as if she had been a bit heartless for a moment, like her mother, Lady Katarina.
Duwalf was slippery, a mercenary adventurer, but the matter of retrieving his comrades’ bodies…
“Alright.”
Xue La nodded.
“I suddenly feel that you and I have a bit of fate.”
“Really?”
Duwalf suddenly smiled, not a fake smile, but a genuine one.
Xue La nodded.
“Yes, but I cannot casually allow a dwarf to come and go in the forests. That is also the rule. You should make some gesture.”
“What gesture? It can’t be asking an adventurer for money. I’ve seen plenty of stingy nobles like that before!”
“No.”
Xue La pointed at the black pig, Pigus.
“I want to borrow him for a while.”
“What? My pig doesn’t taste good…”
“A black pig with a keen sense of smell can help us obtain another delicacy in the mountains.”
Black truffle.