Mercenary Wars

Chapter 140 The Red Dwarfs

In conclusion, the red-bearded men's appearance has improved considerably, at least from a human aesthetic point of view.

This is especially true for them.

So when the miracle ended, every dwarf who had gained a new appearance rejoiced.

"I have hair! I have hair!" the female dwarves cheered, clearly thinking they also found their bald appearance unsightly.

"Ah, look at this fiery red skin, a thousand times more noble than Durag's pale complexion!"

"We are no longer gray dwarves, we are a new race!"

Praise be to Prometheus!

Praise the flame!

Prometheus's gaze has already faded into the distance.

But the dwarves still performed solemn ceremonies to express their gratitude and worship to the Fire Titan.

Then Groin returned to the stone platform and addressed his people: “I believe you have all heard the oracle of the Fire Titan, who promised us that as we free more slaves, our unclean holy names will be transformed into the holy names of fire—and we will be blessed!”

The human mercenaries exchanged bewildered glances: "Prometheus spoke?"

"No, I didn't hear it."

"I didn't hear it either." The mercenaries all said they hadn't heard Prometheus speak.

But seeing the dwarves' confident demeanor, they quickly realized that Prometheus had indeed issued an oracle, but only Redbeard could hear it.

They were just a group of unrelated onlookers, and naturally had no chance to hear the Fire Titan's oracle.

They could only roughly deduce the contents of the oracle from Groin's speech, translated by Hilgon.

Groin said, "In addition, from today onwards, we have also broken away from the Grey Dwarves and become an independent dwarf race."

He paused for a moment: "However, Prometheus did not name us. What do you all think our race should be called?"

"Fire dwarves!" some of the dwarves blurted out.

But this immediately drew a rebuttal: "There is already a race called 'Fire Dwarves'."

“But the ‘fire dwarves’ are not dwarves. They have no common ancestor with us. This name should not belong to them. We are the children of the fire titans. We should be the ‘fire dwarves’!”

"But when people hear the name 'Fire Dwarfs,' they immediately think of those bronze-cast guys!"

"This isn't our fault!"

"Go tell the Faralo Race Compendium!"

The dwarves discussed it at length, but couldn't come to a conclusion.

Finally, Groin gestured for everyone to be quiet and said, "There are two options now: 'Fire Dwarves' and 'Red Dwarves.' The former is closer to our beliefs, but they already belong to another race... Let's vote by raising our hands, with the minority obeying the majority."

"Raise your hand if you support the 'Fire Dwarf'!" Many red-bearded men raised their hands.

"Raise your hand if you support the 'Red Dwarf'." Many red-bearded men also raised their hands.

After a count, the number of people on both sides was extremely close. In addition, several dwarfs changed their minds after being persuaded by their relatives and friends, and the vote failed, leading to another argument.

"Can a vote be changed? That's unreasonable!"

"His opinion has changed, is that not allowed?"

Let's vote again!

"The voting results should be followed!"

Groin was starting to feel overwhelmed. He was now the mayor of Dibusara, but in just a few days he had realized that the position was not easy to hold.

He quickly quieted everyone down and then said, "Let's ask the guards of Eboshir for their opinion!"

The dwarves looked at the Flameguard Eboshir. Eboshir replied, "I speak the language inscribed on the Tower of Babel. Dwarven or human 'names' mean nothing to me. You should ask those humans instead."

Groin had no choice but to turn to Gaucano again.

Gaucano stroked his chin: "Are you sure you want me to decide your race name?"

"You decide!"

Gaucano: "Then I'll choose according to my own preferences?"

"Okay!" Reaching a consensus is often more important than the consensus itself, and the dwarves clearly needed the former more at this moment.

After a brief silence, Gaucano pondered and said, "In that case, I like red, so I vote for the 'Red Dwarf'."

Another argument broke out in the square, but it was noticeably less intense than before.

Seeing this, Groin said, "Gaucano is our friend, and now the supporters on both sides are almost equal, so let's go with his suggestion!"

The controversy has subsided considerably.

"Alright, alright, let's call them 'Red Dwarfs,' at least they're much better than Gray Dwarfs!" The dwarfs finally reached a consensus.

"Red Dwarf!"

"Red dwarfs—Red dwarfs!" Once the consensus was reached, they began to shout their names, their voices growing ever more unified, one wave higher than the next.

After the ceremony, there was drinking and singing and dancing.

The Red Dwarfs, like all dwarfs, are passionate about drinking, and they even have their own famous wine, known to the outside world as Flame Wine.

In the atmosphere of flames, their songs and dances, inherited from the gray dwarves, are gradually changing as they are sung and performed. Clearly, they will soon have their own racial culture...

Gaucano also drank quite a bit of flaming liquor.

This spirit, brewed from flame mushrooms, is fiery and has a mild hallucinogenic effect.

Therefore, not long after, when he inadvertently looked up, he vaguely saw the Eye of Prometheus, which had disappeared, appearing and disappearing again.

Gaucano knew it was an illusion.

However, he stared at it for a long time, recalling the majesty of Prometheus's glance and his own insignificance.

This is God.

What would God's life be like? Would He be busy every day dealing with the prayers of countless beings from all dimensions?
Gaucano ended the day lost in thought.

At the same time, he realized it was time for him to leave.

However, before leaving, he needed to ask the red dwarf for a favor.

The silver ingots taken from the Silver Tooth Treasury were of mixed quality, with three types of silver mixed together. To realize their true value, they would inevitably need to be refined and separated.

Dwarfs are experts in this field.

So Gaucano found Brian, who had extensive knowledge of smelting techniques and had the time, and gave him several silver ingots, asking him to help smelt them.

This was obviously a piece of cake for Brian.

Before long, the silver ingots were refined, separated, and recast, becoming several high-purity silver ingots, plus one mithril and one serpentine.

The mithril block was very small, less than half the size of a palm.

Gaucano had already handled some mithril items before, so he wasn't curious. He weighed them in his hand a couple of times and put them away, then reached out and picked up the thorium.

Thorium blocks are even smaller; they are more like "grains" than "blocks".

However, due to its extremely high density, this tiny amount of thorium is actually heavier than mithril.

Gaucano brought the silver grain up to his eyes and examined it closely.

(End of this chapter)