Mercenary Wars

Chapter 168: Plants at Work
Since the Oracle Chest had already been bought, Gao Jiano didn't say much. After a brief period of frustration, he went about his business.

For him, the most pressing matter right now is undoubtedly improving his herbalism skills in preparation for becoming an alchemist.

For a period of time thereafter, taking advantage of the privileges and preferential treatment granted to him as a "warrior of Nordanron," Gorgano did almost no actual work in the fortress, devoting most of his energy to improving his herbalism.

The process of studying herbal medicine required frequent weighing of herbs, so Gaugano's life in the fortress could almost be described as "weighing plants while working".

Nominally he was working, but in reality he spent most of his time sitting in front of the scales, meticulously processing and weighing different herbs, and then making medicines.

In addition to that, he also needs to learn magic.

It mainly consists of two spells: "Preparation of Potions" and "Potion Fusion".

"Preparation of Potions" is only a first-circle spell, and it's very similar to "Simple Activation," so Gaucano mastered it quickly. "Potion Fusion," on the other hand, is a third-circle spell, requiring considerable effort, and the fusion methods differ depending on the potion being prepared. This makes it the biggest obstacle for many apothecaries to advance to alchemy.

Some time passed.

That day, just as Gaucano was sitting on the scales weighing the plants, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Knock knock." There were many voices outside the door, it seemed that quite a few people had arrived.

Gao Jiano pushed open the door and immediately showed a surprised expression.

But there stood a dozen or so people outside the door, led by General Peter and a strange dwarf in armor.

"Hello!" The dwarf extended his hand warmly. "My name is Muradin, a lieutenant general of the Kingdom of Sain. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

As Gao Jiano shook hands with him, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He hadn't expected that this unassuming dwarf was actually a general of the Kingdom of Sain, and a lieutenant general at that.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.

General Muradin nodded: "I am aware of your and your friends' feats in the Underdark. You defeated the corrupt Grey Dwarves and found a group of reliable allies for the Kingdom of Justice!"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "We've decided to make contact with the Red Dwarfs, so we need your help—you should be able to show us the way, right?"

“Of course,” Gao Jiano said.

The two then discussed some more details.

From the somewhat vague explanation, Gao Jiano roughly understood the Kingdom of Sein's plan.

As the current Pope's stronghold, the Kingdom of Sein is generally an open and tolerant country, much more so than the Kingdom of Liberland. Therefore, they don't really mind the red dwarves who hold pagan beliefs.

In addition, the mountain dwarves despise the gray dwarves, and out of shared hatred, they naturally feel a strong affinity for the red dwarves.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Sein quickly reached a consensus to establish an alliance with the Red Dwarves.

There are still obstacles.

The biggest obstacle remains faith.

It was for this reason that the Kingdom of Sain chose to send General Muradin.

General Muradin was tolerant and had almost no prejudice against faith. In fact, in Gaugano's eyes, this enthusiastic dwarf had never truly converted to Mosaism and still maintained his polytheistic beliefs.

More importantly, Saint Muradin was an ancient dwarf hero, worshipped by almost all dwarves, including some grey dwarves, and was also an important saint of the Mosaic Church. This made General Muradin, who was named after him, the only choice for this mission.

General Muradin will participate in this war and will be in charge of the restoration and renovation of the Labzat fortress.

The red dwarfs are the craftsmen who will carry out the actual work. It is believed that with their superb skills, Labzat Fortress will not only soon become a fortress belonging to Mosa, but will also become more solid and reliable, serving as a bridgehead for conquering the Yemeni kingdom.

In return, the Red Dwarfs will be granted the right to appear in public in the Mosa kingdom—provided they do not promote heresy.

After all, it's unrealistic to expect the Red Dwarfs to collectively convert to Mosa, but if their pagan beliefs are too pronounced, the Mosa Church will also face some difficulties.

At the very least, openly worshipping the Lord of Fire is certainly unacceptable, and Prometheus is even less so. Pure elements can be considered part of nature to some extent, but Prometheus, as a fire titan, has a distinct personality and cannot be equated with pure elements.

According to the Mosaic Church, the Red Dwarfs can only express their reverence for Saint Muradin in public.

This is not an excessive request.

The Red Dwarfs already revered Saint Muradin, so this arrangement would best accommodate the beliefs of both sides.

Based on his understanding of the Red Dwarfs, Gaucano believed that the two sides should be able to establish an alliance as desired.

Of course, there was another matter before that.

“Gaucano, General Muradin and I have discussed this. If you wish, you, along with your friends who entered the Underdark with you, can choose to join the border guards of South Muradin Fortress. I think this will help maintain our relationship with the Red Dwarves,” General Peter said.

“South Muradin Fortress?” Gaugano was taken aback.

General Peter laughed and said, "This is the place. We can't keep calling it 'Labuzat Fortress,' can we? That's a Dibto name."

General Muradin added, "There is already a Muradin Fortress to the north, so this is the South Muradin Fortress, and I will be its first commander."

Gao Jiano nodded knowingly.

General Peter: "You are all excellent soldiers, especially you. If you are willing to join the border guards, you can immediately serve as a senior military officer of the fifth rank."

“As a warrior of Nordanron, as long as you don’t perform too badly, promotion to general is entirely within your reach. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be the second commander of South Muradin Fortress,” he added.

To be honest, the conditions are acceptable.

Even disregarding the somewhat distant possibility of "being promoted to general," a senior military governor is still a good position.

He was, after all, a mid-level officer in the border defense force.

The kind that's organized by the church.

Unfortunately, Gaucano was not interested.

Having a permanent position means stability and may also mean generous benefits, but it certainly doesn't mean freedom of choice.

Gaugano did not want to be a real soldier, whose duty was to obey orders and do whatever his superiors told him to do.

So let alone a high-ranking military governor, he might not even be willing to be made a general.

Of course, this was just his own choice.

Others may not do the same.

So Gaucano said, "I probably can't handle military work, but my friends might be able to. I can ask them for you."

(End of this chapter)