Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 194 Secrets

This immediately delighted Richard. It seemed that having a powerful backer was indeed advantageous; that was the benefit of having an organization with official backing.

The long queue of grey dwarf civilians, merchants, and even many mercenaries who had reached the level of formal knights all watched with envy as Richard and his party, escorted by grey dwarf ram knights, entered the VIP passage.

"Look! Another wizard has arrived." A lizardman carrying a short bow said to his companion, sticking out his long, forked tongue, his eyes filled with envy.

"Tsk tsk, a squad of argali knights guarding him, he's probably no ordinary wizard. Usually only high-ranking nobles among the gray dwarves, or those highly respected senior wizards, would receive such treatment."

The companion next to him explained, his eyes filled with envy, which was clearly no less than that of the lizardman who was speaking.

"Hey, when will I be able to be so impressive, with a team of argali riders protecting me, and then walk through the VIP lane instead of having to squeeze together in line like this, all smelly and stuffy?"

Clearly, the young lizardman was already dreaming of a future where he too could have privileged access like Richard and his companions.

At this moment, an elder lizardman standing nearby, leaning on a gray wooden cane, shook his head and said irritably:

"Stop daydreaming! Hone your archery skills and hunt more low-level monsters. You'll be living a better life than many others."

The lizardman elder looked at his family's offspring, who had absolutely no talent for wizardry, yet dreamed every day of making a name for themselves.

Young people really don't know their own limitations.

But when I was young, wasn't I the same?

You have to have dreams, otherwise what's the difference between you and a wild boar leg drying on a beam?

When Richard and his party arrived at the VIP passage on the side of the city gate, there were very few people in line, and judging from their clothing, they were all either rich or noble, either nobles wearing elaborate patterns or wizards holding staffs.

The difference is huge compared to the long queue at the main entrance.

However, there was not a single team like Richard's, which was guarded by a full twelve argali riders.

At this moment, the twelve argali riders who had escorted Richard from Grey Fern Town to Tug City collectively pulled on their reins and stopped. One of the grey dwarf argali riders stepped forward; he was probably the captain of the squad. He bowed slightly and said:

"Lord Dissol, now that we have safely arrived in Tug City, our escort mission is complete. We bid you farewell and will soon be returning to Grayfern Town."

"You've worked hard!" Dissol said kindly, then turned and nodded to the twin gray dwarf girls beside him.

The twin gray dwarf girls spoke as they stepped forward and handed a large package to the argali knight squad leader; it looked quite heavy.

"Thank you all for your hard work. This is a small token of Lord Dissol's gratitude."

The squad leader seemed quite hesitant, knowing that even their leader, Hansel, was inferior in status and position to Lord Disol in front of him.

If I accept Lord Desol's gift...

The elder of the twin girls chuckled and said, "This isn't anything valuable; it's just some barley liquor that my sister and I brewed ourselves. Please accept it."

This delighted the group of argali knights, and the squad leader immediately beamed, saying, "Thank you, Lord Dissol! Thank you, ladies!"

No grey dwarf would refuse a bottle of wine offered to him.

The argali rider squad leader immediately accepted the package. Upon opening it, he found it contained pre-packaged sheepskin wine bags, emitting a faint aroma of ale.

Richard smiled inwardly upon seeing this scene. It seemed that the books were absolutely right about the gray dwarves' fondness for fine wine.

However, he hadn't expected that the gray dwarf twins were actually brewers; no wonder Dissol treasured them so much.

After all, given the population size of the Grey Dwarves, a pair of ordinary twins wouldn't be so rare for a seasoned wizard.

It turns out he's also a winemaker, which is quite rare. Plus, Dessault is not only good at wine but also at women, so naturally he treasures it very much.

After paying their respects to Dissol and Richard, the group of argali riders couldn't wait to pull out their sheepskin wine sachets and start drinking. As they drank, they rode their rams away from Tug City, heading towards Gray Fern Town.

At this moment, a gray dwarf who looked like an officer stepped out of the VIP passage, followed by a gray dwarf dressed as a clerk and several gray dwarf guards. He stepped forward and said, "Distinguished guests, welcome to Tug City!"

After speaking, he bowed slightly and gave a salute to Richard and the others.

Clearly, the other party had also witnessed what had just happened and knew that Richard and his group were no ordinary people.

"According to regulations, authentic wizards can enter the city for free, but VIPs cannot be accompanied by more than two servants. If there are more than two, an entrance fee must be paid."

However, before the other party could finish speaking, Desol tossed him a black diamond-shaped token and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Isn't Simon here? I'm Desol."

Clearly, the grey dwarf officer had heard of Dissol's name and quickly said, "Lord Simon is on an inspection tour and is not here at the moment. So it is Lord Dissol of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood. I have often heard Lord Simon mention your heroic deeds."

The other party became even more respectful, taking a crystal ball from the scribe behind him. As soon as the token and the crystal ball came into contact, the appearance and identity of Dissol appeared inside the crystal ball.

"Lord Disol, I would also like to trouble you to provide the verification password you used when you stayed in Tug City last time."

"The verification password, I think, should be: I want to brew the best wine!" Dissol frowned and tried hard to remember, and said after a while.

This made the twin gray dwarf girls next to them cover their mouths and chuckle. It seemed that their adult was not very talented in brewing. They had collected many rare brewing recipes, but the taste of each brew was completely different from the taste described in the recipe.

"Password correct, welcome home, Lord Dissol!" The gray dwarf officer smiled and handed the sign back to Dissol.

Richard nodded slightly. There must be some kind of verification mechanism between the crystal ball and the token. The crystal ball can verify the authenticity of the token and then read the token's information.

At the same time, the token holder also needs to say the password left before leaving Tug City for secondary verification.

In this way, even if someone obtains the token by stealing, they will not be able to pass the secondary verification.

From the perspective of the gray dwarves, this should be considered a very remarkable tactic.

However, Richard, with his past life experience, immediately discovered the flaws.

If the token owner is killed by an enemy wizard and their soul is searched, then the second verification will naturally fail. If the enemy wizard is also proficient in magic such as shapeshifting, they can still swagger into Tug City.

Of course, only a minority of people possess such abilities.

In comparison, the pupil and fingerprint verification method from my previous life was far more advanced.

"By the way, who is this gentleman?" The gray dwarf officer possessed the strength of a third-level wizard apprentice, so he could easily discern that, apart from Dissol, Richard had the strongest aura among the group.

"This is also an elder of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood. I vouch for Lord Levi, so there's no need for a check. These two are Lord Levi's followers," Dissol interjected.

"Yes, Lord Disol, with your guarantee, there's naturally no problem."

Once inside the city, it was far more prosperous than Gray Fern Town, but the standard of living for ordinary residents seemed not to be much different from that of Gray Fern Town.

The houses are still similar to small cubes, built of hard stone, and they even look a little smaller than the houses in Grey Fern Town.

Is it because the housing prices in Tuge City are relatively high?

Inside Tug City, Richard and his two servants continued riding towards the city center for about half an hour, following Dissol.

Gradually, the flow of people began to thin out, and the pedestrians became increasingly well-dressed. The surrounding environment also improved, with more and more flowers and green plants appearing.

It seems we've arrived in the wealthy area of ​​Tug City. The houses around us are starting to have more diverse layouts, no longer the boring blocky shapes.

Two- or even three-story buildings began to appear, and almost all of them were large villas with aesthetically pleasing gardens and lawns.

In the heart of Tug City, where land is incredibly valuable, one can only imagine how luxurious this is.

As Richard stepped into Dessall's villa, his eyes lit up. The yard was filled with flowers and had a fountain. The villa was quite large, with the yard alone being about four or five hundred square meters.

But the next second, he was shocked!

More than ten beautiful grey dwarves, each with their own unique charm, were already waiting nearby. As soon as they saw Dissol appear, they exclaimed in unison, "Welcome home, Lord Dissol!"

These dozen or so beautiful grey dwarfs seemed to span a wide age range, including both mature grey dwarf women and young grey dwarf girls.

That old lecher is really...

Are you sure you can handle all that?!

Richard realized that he had underestimated Dessol's "fighting power"!

However, upon seeing the dozen or so beautiful gray dwarfs, the twin sisters' faces darkened, and they seemed quite unhappy.

"Aunt Ikserla!"

At this moment, the twin gray dwarf girls stepped forward and bowed to one of the extremely mature and charming gray dwarf women.

"What? Auntie!" Richard was stunned!

"Damn it, I underestimated that old pervert Desol's fighting power!" Richard roared inwardly. This old man is too explosive!

I initially thought these two twin gray dwarf girls were all that Dissol had to offer along the way.

结果

But this is only the tip of the iceberg of the concubines that Dissol possesses!

If this were in my previous life, this old man, Dissol, would have been an absolutely explosive existence.

Seeing the strange looks on Richard and his two servants' faces, Dessol blushed, a rare occurrence for him.

"Ahem. Your Excellency, I apologize for the embarrassment." Dissol coughed to cover up his awkwardness.

Although Richard envied—no, strongly disagreed with—Dessol's style, he still had a fairly pleasant time with Dessol along the way.

Moreover, upon arriving in Tug City, it is essential to cultivate a good relationship with Dissol. Clearly, at this time, not only should one refrain from mocking the other party, but one should also provide him with a way out.

So Richard looked at Dissol with "sincere" eyes and said against his will, "Lord Dissol, your fondness for young, naive girls is out of pity for their vulnerability, which is benevolence; and your fondness for mature women, without abandoning them as they grow older, is loyalty. You are a grey dwarf wizard of noble character!"

"What?!"

This immediately stunned everyone, especially Desol's many concubines, who now stared intently at Richard.

It's unbelievable that someone as lecherous as Dissol could be explained in such a way by his friend, the young wizard Lord Levi!

Are all human wizards like this? Are they good at sweet talk?

Stephania, standing to the side, covered her face in shame and lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at the expressions of those around her as they looked at her owner.

The master had only spent a few days with that lecherous old man, Disol, and had already been corrupted.

Wait, Master's speaking style seems a bit like Fingart's!

Immediately, Stephania looked up and glared at Fingart beside her, while Fingart felt a sudden chill on the back of his neck and shivered.

Richard himself didn't quite believe what he was saying, but it deeply moved Dessol.

At this moment, Dessall felt as if he had found a kindred spirit, and pulled Richard aside to say:

"Lord Li Wei, you understand me so well. By the Titan Father, if only you had been born a hundred years earlier."

"By the way, Mr. Li Wei, let me show you around my residence."

That evening, the banquet hall of Dessol's villa was filled with singing and dancing. Although Dessol's concubines were only about 1.3 meters tall on average, they were all curvaceous and had a unique exotic charm.

However, Richard still couldn't appreciate these short, gray beauties who were less than 1.3 meters tall.

Meanwhile, Desol was drinking heartily, and after a few shots of strong liquor, he started groping and having a great time!

Stephania glanced at Dessol with disdain, then looked at Richard beside her, and couldn't help but think, how can there be such a big difference between two formal wizards!

"Your Excellency Li Wei, this is the very famous Grey Iron Beer of Tug City! It originated from the workers who mined Grey Iron and brewed it themselves. After several improvements, it became the famous beer of Tug City."

Richard was quite surprised. He hadn't expected that beer existed in this world. At least, in his memory, the human kingdoms on the surface didn't seem to have beer as a type of alcohol; they mostly had ordinary alcoholic beverages made from barley.

If you want a higher alcohol content, distill it; if you want a lower alcohol content, blend it.

"Huh! The beer doesn't have any bubbles!" Richard muttered to himself after taking a small sip.

Already completely drunk, Dessall clearly didn't hear Richard's words.

Richard thought for a moment and realized that when it came to matters of wine, it might be better to ask the twin gray dwarf girls than Dessol, since as winemakers, they would certainly have some knowledge of different types of wine.

If the alcoholic beverages among the Grey Dwarves were all non-bubbly, perhaps I could start a side business.

After all, these are all the target group—so many gray dwarves who are addicted to alcohol!

Richard then waved to the twins.

"Greetings, Lord Richard!" Two gray dwarf girls approached Richard very obediently.

After some investigation, it turned out that in the territory of the Grey Dwarves, there was no beer with a lot of bubbles like the one Richard knew about. Instead, they all had a so-called "beer" that was similar to rice wine from his previous life.

This delighted Richard, but the next second, a question popped into his head: he didn't know if hops existed in this world.

Just as Richard was lost in thought, a heavily drunk Dessall staggered over to Richard's side, and with an expression that every man understands, stammered:

"Lord Li Liwei, do you like these two girls? Then I'll give them to you."

This immediately embarrassed the twin girls and left Richard speechless.

I love both vegetables and drinks!

Although Richard showed little interest in the singing and dancing of the beautiful grey dwarf women, he was full of praise for the table full of grey dwarf delicacies.

Made by mixing hulled barley with chopped argali offal and adding various spices, this is a high-class staple food of the Grey Dwarves called Magis, which is generally only affordable for the very wealthy Grey Dwarves on a daily basis.

A plate of sliced ​​smoked wild boar meat, supposedly smoked with cherry wood, so each slice has a faint fruity aroma. The side dipping sauce is honey strawberry sauce. Take a slice of wild boar meat, dip it slightly, and put it in your mouth.

Mmm~ The aroma is rich, slightly sweet but not cloying, and it really whets the appetite.

There was also a plate of blood sausage made from bear meat, which Richard greatly admired.

It is said that the meat from the spine of a spotted black bear is chopped up, mixed with coagulated bear blood, and stuffed into sausage casings. A large amount of spices are then added to enhance the aroma and remove any fishy smell.

Fingart ate eight half-meter-long bear meat blood sausages in a row. It was the first time Richard had ever discovered that his number one servant could eat so much!

After the meal, a bunch of desserts and something that looked like a vegetable salad were served.

But by this time, Richard and his two servants were completely unable to eat anymore.

Richard shook his head as he looked at Desor, who was already lying in the warm embrace of a beautiful woman.

The dinner ended abruptly.

Back in his room, Richard didn't rest immediately. Instead, he sat down in a chair behind his desk and began to close his eyes and think.

Just now, through some indirect inquiries, I learned about the general situation of the wizarding organization in Tug City from Dissol and several of Dissol's concubines.

Among Dessol's concubines, not all were ordinary grey dwarf women, but several were at the level of third-level wizard apprentices.

Because of Richard's problems, which were not a secret in Tug City, and "Lord Li Wei" was a distinguished guest of the master! The concubines were completely unguarded with Richard and told him everything about the wizarding organizations in Tug City, almost like pouring out beans from a bamboo tube.

This delighted Richard. He had originally planned to find an excuse to send Fingart and Stephanie out to scout ahead the next morning.

It seems that we can just send Fingert out to verify this tomorrow.

First of all, Dithor wasn't exaggerating; the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood is indeed the premier large wizarding organization in Tug City.

However, it is not the only large wizarding organization.

By the way, it should be noted that in Tug City, a large wizarding organization must have three second-level archmages in charge to be recognized as a large wizarding organization.

There are four large wizarding organizations in the entire city of Tug, a whopping seventeen or eighteen medium-sized wizarding organizations, and countless small ones.

This surprised Richard quite a bit. How could there be so many wizarding organizations in just one city like Tug? This was too unreasonable!

If a single city like Tug possesses such strength, he believes that not only would the night elves be no match for the grey dwarves, but even all the human kingdoms on the surface combined would be no match for them.

There must be some secret he doesn't know about.

(End of this chapter)