Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 55 Alton

"Dangdang!"

The metal bottom of the pot collided with the pebbles in the soil, making a crisp sound.

The iron pot, which exuded the aroma of food, fell heavily onto the grass.

"Eat it quickly, I've been stewing it for a long time, it must be delicious!"

The person who appeared in front of Xia Nan at this time was a short man whose height just reached his waist.

A pair of hazel eyes shone slightly in the twilight of the sky; the skin was fair and rosy, and on top of the short curly brown hair, she wore a pointed soft hat decorated with feathers.

The clothes he wears are simple and neat like those of an adventurer, but the color combination is eye-catching and bright. If you look closely, you can see small and exquisite decorations such as the "four-leaf clover pattern on the shoes".

Alton,
A halfling, and also one of Xia Nan's companions on this mission.

It was different from the "dwarves" he had seen before, who seemed to be flattened and stretched horizontally, as solid as a tree stump; nor did they look like those pygmies with big heads and light bodies.

Although halflings are also short, adults are only three or four feet tall.

But the body proportions are more similar to humans.

At the same time, its limbs are covered with brown fur, like those of small animals.

However, the Alton in front of him seemed to be a "light-foot halfling" of their race.

As a result, there was much less hair on his body, and probably only his legs were hairy - after all, he was wearing thick linen pants. Xia Nan just guessed so.

“Radish, honey, and even a little secret pepper I brought from the village.”

"You have definitely never tasted this!"

Alton held the pot lid in one hand and put the other hand on his waist, with a smug look on his smiling face.

Xia Nan quickly took two bites of the dried meat in his hand, pretending to be full, and recalled in his mind the information about "halflings" that he had learned from various places during this period of time.

Compared to dwarves, there are many dwarf subspecies such as "hill dwarves", "mountain dwarves", and "gray dwarves" depending on various factors such as living environment and clan origin.

There are two main types of halflings on the continent of Ephra: "Strong-hearted Halflings" and "Light-footed Halflings".

The former has thicker hair and a slightly stockier build.

They are keen on comfortable home life and often choose to settle down in one place and live there for a long time.

Harmonious neighborhood relationships, a warm fireplace, and a slice of freshly baked pecan pie are what the Strongheart Halfling seeks.

In contrast, lightfoot halflings are more keen on traveling.

They don't deliberately pursue a certain goal, but just enjoy all the interesting things during the journey.

In most cases, the only ones willing to leave the community and become adventurers traveling between various missions are the "light-foot" types.

It is worth mentioning that compared with the love-hate relationship between the "subspecies" of the major tribes on the continent, the relationship between the Lightfoot Halflings and the Strongheart Halflings is very good.

Although conflicts sometimes arise due to their different pursuits, given the way they get along as a big ethnic family, they are just everyday quarrels between brothers and sisters and are not serious.

I couldn't escape after all.

When Alton opened his big, sparkling eyes and looked at Shanan with an extremely expectant look and a desire for your approval.

He still agreed to try it.

hiss--

The taste was unexpectedly good.

The various and complex seasonings mixed together actually neutralized the conflicting tastes to a certain extent, leaving only a mild and comfortable aroma in the orange-red soup.

Plus the meat chunks that were stewed to a soft consistency and the radish slices that were soaked up with the broth...

With some surprise in his eyes, Xia Nan made a "thumbs-up" gesture to Alton and praised him:

"It tastes really good, not much worse than the food in the pub."

As for Shanan's praise, Alton also fully expressed his emotional value in accordance with his ethnic characteristics. He smiled happily and heartily:

"Hahaha, thank you! It's not that good."

At the same time, he put two more spoonfuls into his bowl.

It’s not that Shanan has any prejudice against Alton, it’s just that the character he has shown in the past two days is really too “distinct”.

Like most lightfoot halflings, he is easy-going and open-minded. He is curious about everything he encounters on his travels and is keen to try all kinds of new things.

Whether it's the exact workings of the wheel or the cost of a day's fodder for a packhorse...

He enthusiastically chatted with almost everyone in the convoy from the front to the back.

He tried driving a carriage and learned how to set traps from a relatively friendly adventurer, but the final results were often not what he expected.

Even a little superstitious——

Shanan saw with his own eyes that Alton took off his hat and saluted towards an inconspicuous bush on the side of the road.

According to him, this is a tribute to one of their halfling gods, the goddess of nature "Sheela Perilol" who is in charge of agriculture and climate.

All in all, although he looks a little strange at times, Alton, at least for now, is a good person.

Gollum—

Adam's apple rolling.

Shanan scooped two mouthfuls of stew into his mouth and chatted casually with Alton beside him.

"So, you believe in your race's goddess of agriculture?"

There are many gods on the continent of Ephra, and the various god systems are even more complicated, and there are many with overlapping powers.

The Halfling tribe alone is protected by seven gods in charge of different fields.

They called it the "Heyin" pantheon.

——"Heyin" is the name that the Halflings use to refer to their own race. It originated from rural slang and then gradually spread to all parts of the continent.

Xia Nan was therefore somewhat curious about how the halflings themselves viewed these direct gods who were as close as their parents but difficult to reach.

Unexpectedly, in response to Shanan's doubts, Alton shook his head.

The halflings' extended family-like community relationships allow them to regard the gods who protect their own people as members of the family.

In this case, it is not appropriate to expect the halflings to devote all their resources to devout service like the priests in the outside world.

"so you……"

Just when Xia Nan thought that the other party had no faith in gods like himself.

Alton suddenly smiled.

He took out a metallic coin from his waist bag.

Ding--

With force from the fingertips, the coin bounced high up.

Spinning and falling.

Alton opened his fingers and in his palm, the coin was facing up.

Revealing the patterns carved on its surface:
A long-haired woman whose face is blurred but a smile can be vaguely seen on her lips.