Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 348: Settlement! [Disappearing Gravel]

Two days after leaving Chenxi Town, Luo Xiu and his convoy finally saw the outline of Red Maple City in the distance in the morning.

Almost ten days have passed since I left Hongfeng City for Songyuan City, and now I have finally returned to this place—

During these ten days, Luo Xiu had no idea what had happened in Hongfeng City. However, from the frontline battle reports received from Songyuan City, it seemed that although the border of Songyuan Territory had been attacked several times by the Dark Principality, the situation was not serious.

Luo Xiu had already opened the car curtain, and the walls of Red Maple City were becoming clearer and clearer in his field of vision.

His convoy soon arrived at the gate of Red Maple City, and the elite guards of the frontier fortress quickly came over to inspect them.

When the guards saw Luo Xiu behind the curtain, they were stunned at first, then quickly stepped back and gave him the most standard military salute:

"——Welcome Bishop Ross Carlos back to the city!"

The guard leader greeted Luo Xiu loudly, and the guards on both sides immediately followed the leader and chanted together:
"——Welcome Bishop Ross Carlos back to the city!"

"Welcome Ross Carlos..."

"..."

Bathed in the uniform praises and greetings, Luo Xiu nodded slightly and signaled to the guards. His convoy immediately drove into the city and soon merged into the city streets.

……

The main street of Red Maple City.

At Luo Xiu's instruction, his convoy drove towards the church, and one of the accompanying clergymen rode on a fast horse to the cathedral to inform the "acting bishop" Saint Deacon Hubert who stayed behind that he had returned.

When they were about to enter the street where the Church of the Glorious Church was located, Luo Xiu ordered the carriage carrying the dwarves of the "Gravel" clan to drive into the side street. Luo Xiu also left his own carriage in advance, summoned the "Golden Pegasus" Pegasus, rode it, and followed the carriage carrying the dwarves.

His destination was quite clear—[Authentic Dwarf Blacksmith Shop]!
The first thing Luo Xiu had to do after returning to Red Maple City was to safely transport the dwarves of the "Gravel" clan to Mir's forging manor.

……

In Red Maple City, in Mir's Forging Manor.

When Luo Xiu rode the "Golden Pegasus" to the vicinity, he could hear the clanging sound of iron coming from the manor from afar.

The forging manor seemed to have received a lot of forging commissions recently, and the forging masters were working on the orders in full swing. Luo Xiu took a quick look and saw that there seemed to be a lot of new faces in the manor. It seemed that during the time he was in Songyuan City, Mil had recruited many skilled masters and the manor also had more apprentices.

Asking the accompanying clergy to wait outside the manor, Luo Xiu recalled the "Golden Pegasus" and walked into the manor.

A young blacksmith came up to him and entertained him, and Luo Xiu asked him:

"Where's Master Mir?"

"You're asking the master forger?" The young blacksmith scratched his head and quickly responded, "The master forger has been in the forging room these days and doesn't allow anyone to disturb him."

"No one is allowed to disturb him?" Luo Xiu asked back in a somewhat puzzled tone.

"Yes..." The young forger blinked and said:

"Because of 'Bianting'... I heard that the new general there gave the master chef a somewhat difficult commission? I don't know much about it..."

It's "Thunder General" Albert... Luo Xiu nodded, "I know."

He then patted the young blacksmith on the shoulder and walked towards the largest villa in the manor.

Behind Luo Xiu, the young forger who had just entertained him suddenly became anxious and trotted to catch up with him, shouting:

"Guest, guest! You can't... huh, you can't go in!"

"The master chef said that no one should disturb him..."

"..."

As the young blacksmith shouted, he suddenly felt his feet leave the ground, as if someone was lifting him up by the collar.

"Do you know who that is, bunny?"

A low and heavy voice came from behind him. The young blacksmith looked back in confusion and saw a helpless expression on his master's face.

"Who?" the young blacksmith asked in confusion.

"That's Luo Xiu, the 'bishop' of the Red Maple City Church, you little bastard."

"'Bishop'?" The young blacksmith's eyes widened. "You said he was a 'bishop'? But he obviously doesn't look older than me..."

"Hmph," the old forger snorted.
"Anyway, when the master chef told us not to disturb him, it wasn't just about that person. That person can come anytime he wants. If he wants, even the master chef has to come down to receive him in person!"

"But……"

"Not so many 'buts', little bastard."

Bang! The young blacksmith felt as if someone had slapped him on the head, not too hard or too light.

"You can understand what I say, right? If you do, get to work, you bastard."

The old forger admonished:
"Remember, hum. Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask, and don't inquire about things that you shouldn't inquire about."

"Yes……"

The young blacksmith nodded, not quite understanding.

……

Forge Manor Villa, in front of the largest forge room on the third floor.

The door was locked from the inside, and from time to time there could be heard the "sizzling" sound like electric current, the "clang clang" sound of iron forging, and the "bang bang" sound of small explosions from the other side of the door - Mir was inside, concentrating on the forging he was commissioned to do, but the noise inside seemed a little too loud, and even Luo Xiu couldn't understand what he was doing.

When the noises quieted down a bit, Luo Xiu raised his wrist and knocked lightly on the door.

"Damn it! Didn't I tell you not to bother me? Get lost!"

Mil's somewhat rough roar came from the other side of the door. He slammed the table heavily in anger, seeming to vent his dissatisfaction and irritability.

"It's me, Mir."

Luo Xiu said in a gentle voice.

"..."

"Luo Xiu?"

Mir, who was standing opposite the door, seemed to calm down all of a sudden, and asked tentatively:
"You're back?"

"It's me." Luo Xiu still maintained a gentle tone, "Open the door, Mir, I have something to talk to you about."

"..."

There was a rustling sound of the door lock being clicked, followed by a "creak", and the door of the forging room was opened from the inside by Mil.

Luo Xiu saw that the dwarf in front of him had lost all his hair, which was not much to begin with. His eyes were still bloodshot, and the wrinkles on his face were deeper than before. It seemed that his recent work intensity was a bit too high.

"Why are you bald?" Luo Xiu asked with a smile.

Mir: “…”

Visibly, black lines quickly crept across Mir's face. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't beat the "bishop" on the opposite side, Mir felt that he would have to hit him twice.

"I'm bald, so what?" Mir snorted and said:

"I've become balder and stronger." "Pfft."

"why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing, I remembered something happy."

"..."

The brief greeting ended with laughter and scolding. Luo Xiu had already walked into the forging room, and Mir closed and locked the door.

Luo Xiu looked at what Mir was busy with. On the obsidian table in the middle, there was a large red giant sword.

"That's the commission from 'Thunder General' Albert?"

After looking at the giant sword and then at Mil beside him, Luo Xiu asked casually.

"Hey, that's right." Mir nodded and said:
"During the time you were away, the Dark Army seemed to have heard the news and gathered its forces to launch another surprise attack on Red Maple City."

"You don't know, Luo Xiu. Facing the fierce attack of the Dark Army, that 'Thunder General' Albert actually took the initiative to lead his troops to attack - right in front of the two armies, he beheaded an executioner of the fifth level of the [Red Lotus] destiny!"

"Wow, there is such a thing." Luo Xiu nodded, not seeming surprised, and asked, "Then what is this sword?"

"That's General Albert's weapon," Mir replied as he walked to the giant sword and flicked it twice.

"When beheading the Red Lotus Executioner, it sustained some damage," Mir pointed to a large area of ​​corrosion on the blade. "The blood of the Executioner has some kind of corrosive ability, which caused this sword... well, it's called Thunder Wolf Slash, and the original rune circuit on it was destroyed."

"There's no rune forger like me in Fangbeiyuan. Humph, even the 'Great Rune Master' Eureka may not be as good as me in repairing weapon runes. So, that 'Thunder General' came to me!"

"That's it," Luo Xiu smiled and nodded, praising, "You are really amazing, Master Mir."

What Mir said was indeed true - the two great generalists of the "Fangbei Courtyard" had been working together for a long time, and their "alchemy" and "rune" skills were mainly used to make puppets, and they were not good at engraving and repairing runes on weapons and equipment.

"Why do I feel like you're not praising me..."

Mir snorted, then jumped up and sat on the table, shook his head and said:
"But it is indeed a bit troublesome, because this [Thunder Wolf Slash] is a legendary weapon... For now, I have only found some replacement materials for repair, but I still need someone to help me."

"But the other blacksmiths in the manor are not capable enough, so I have to rely on myself now... Well, it doesn't matter."

"So Luo Xiu, why did you come to see me?"

"..."

"Remember what I promised you, Mir?"

"What you promised me..." Mil pondered for a while.

At a certain moment, Mir's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at Luo Xiu and asked awkwardly:
"About my... people?"

"..."

"Yes." Luo Xiu nodded, "About the dwarves of the 'Gravel' clan."

——Clang!
After confirming these from Luo Xiu, Mil just raised the forging hammer and then dropped it heavily, hitting the obsidian table.

"real……"

"Master Mir, my friend," Luo Xiu said with a smile:

"Let the forgers of the manor go back today. I have brought the 'Gravel' clan and your compatriots here, but they are not in a good condition to be seen in public."

"I know, I know..."

Mir nodded solemnly, then he trotted out the door, walked to the corridor, and shouted to all the forgers in the manor with full energy:

"——Everyone, go home!"

……

In the forging manor, although the blacksmiths did not understand why the "master chef" suddenly asked them to go home, they were already exhausted from working for days and naturally had no complaints about this sudden holiday. They quickly packed up their respective "workstations" and went home.

When only Luo Xiu and Mir were left in the forging manor, the clergy who had been waiting outside the courtyard received Luo Xiu's instructions and drove their carriages into the courtyard.

The gate of the courtyard was immediately closed, and Luo Xiu and Mir had come to the courtyard of the manor side by side. Luo Xiu had raised his arm, activated a light pattern of "authority", and pulled up the "cage without light".

The outside world could no longer see the scene inside the "Lightless Cage", so Luo Xiu asked the clergy to open the carriages of the four carriages and help the dwarves of the "Gravel" clan out one by one.

They were dressed in khaki dwarven costumes, but their clothes were already tattered, their eyes were colorless, and their minds had been clouded by forbidden means, obscuring their normal perceptions, and they were completely unaware of being in a new environment.

But when he saw these ragged dwarves, Mir's expression froze for a moment.

"Aldor, Tanmur... and Salen..."

"Really, it's really you..."

"..."

Mir had recognized his "tribesmen", and Luo Xiu just watched quietly without disturbing him.

At the same time, right in front of Luo Xiu, a new prompt appeared on his panel -

[Completed the hidden mission: Disappearing Gravel (Hell Difficulty)]

[After many hardships, you finally got the clue about the "Gravel" dwarves and saved the lives of a total of 39 dwarves.]

[Serial tasks are waiting for new developments]

【…】

[You have completed the main mission objective]

[You have completed the additional mission objective]

[The task is being settled...]

[Obtain the main completion reward: Basic experience +43000, free attribute points +5]

[Obtain additional completion rewards: Basic experience +273000, free attribute points +10, rare expertise "Grit Tribe·Friend of the Dwarves"*1]

【…】

[Friend of the Gravel Dwarves (rare, limited): You saved the tribe, and the dwarves of the Gravel tribe will always regard you as a friend.]

[Your "Wisdom" attribute +18, craft slot +3, skill slot +3, level I authority slot +1]

[You will be more likely to gain favor from the "Dwarf" race. The expenses required to learn knowledge and trade with dwarves will be reduced by 30%, and the expenses required to learn knowledge and trade with "Grit" dwarves will be reduced by 50%. ]

【…】

Not bad for a limited rare specialty... Luo Xiu thought to himself and silently closed the panel.

[The Disappearing Sand] is only one part of the hidden mission. Luo Xiu knows that he will receive a new mission later, so he is not in a hurry.

He just watched quietly as Mil "recognized" his former tribesmen, but those dwarves from the "Sand" tribe just stood there blankly without any reaction.

After greeting the last fellow member of the "Sand and Gravel" tribe but getting no response, Mir finally turned around and asked Luo Xiu anxiously:
"What happened to them?"

……

(End of this chapter)