Goddess Kaleidoscope

End of this chapter

"Old friend! I've come to see you!"

Standing at the temple entrance, Lud saw a cheerful bald man waving as he walked towards him from afar. It was none other than Hamilton, the fire magician whom he had not seen for more than half a year.

Beside him, among his companions, were two familiar faces: the Green Pepper Knight Sharo and the Ural Bishop of the Cult of the God of War.

The mere sight of this "strange" combination gave Lud a sense of impending trouble.

"Damn it, are they trying to gang up on me?"

After muttering a few words under his breath, Lu De quickly adjusted his expression and greeted her with an impeccable "business smile."

"It's been a long time, Master Hamilton. What brings you all here today?"

"Haha! I just came out to relax and catch up with some old friends. This girl was busy with the summer hunt, so I came along with her. As for the other guy, I don't really know anything about him."

Hamilton pursed his lips, gesturing to Ural on his right, who simply smiled and nodded to Lud, pretending not to have heard Hamilton's barbed remark.

Hamilton's "reputation" is known to all. Ural considers himself merely a bishop of a subdistrict in the upper-middle rank of the Church of War, and he truly dares not provoke this super-powerful fire-type old man.

Nearly eight months after their last parting last winter, Lude finally saw the old magician with the peculiar anal fissure again. The man looked to be in relatively good health, suggesting that his long-standing ailment hadn't recurred yet. However, if he didn't change his penchant for spicy food, Lude estimated that it wouldn't be long before he experienced a second anal fissure.

The biggest mistake humans make is failing to learn from their mistakes; the saying "once the wound heals, the pain is forgotten" perfectly illustrates this!

At Lude's invitation, the group entered the temple, where they ran into Romian, who was coming out of the kitchen. The little dragon girl was carrying a bamboo basket filled with freshly roasted dried chilies.

Everyone else present was relatively calm, but Hamilton completely lost his composure upon seeing the red, shriveled fruits. The old man rushed towards Romian with lightning speed, startling Little Dragon Girl so much she almost screamed.

"W-what do you want to do?"

"Oh! This is dried flamingo pepper."

Unaware of how terrifying his expression was, Hamilton's entire attention was focused on the dried chili peppers. His eyes were wide open, and he was licking his lips with a hungry look. At first glance, he looked like some lecherous old man staring intently at a young woman's chest!

Seeing that the old man had frightened his apprentice, Lude quickly stepped forward and pulled Hamilton back, then stood between Hamilton and Romian, leaving his female apprentice with a solid and reliable back view.

"Hey old buddy, can't you be a little more dignified? You just scared my disciple."

"What? Ah! I'm so sorry! It's just that... I was a little too excited. I didn't expect you to actually succeed in cultivating it!"

You mean this?

"This is it!"

Hamilton was extremely excited upon seeing the dried chili peppers and immediately pressed Ludd about how he had managed to cultivate them successfully. He had given Ludd half of the seeds as a thank you gift and kept the other half for himself to cultivate at the Three-Man Tower, but it ended in failure.

Upon learning that Hamilton's chili pepper cultivation had failed, Ludd initially thought it was simply a matter of the soil and water not being suitable. However, Hamilton told Ludd that the reason his cultivation had failed was because the plants had exploded.

Hamilton's words startled Ludd, who assumed it was an accident during an experiment at the magic tower that had inadvertently damaged the plantation. However, upon closer questioning, she learned that the plants had indeed exploded, a consequence of Hamilton's short temper.

It turned out that after Hamilton returned to the Three-Man Tower, he planted all kinds of spices in the Wizard Tower's botanical garden, which was then cared for by his chief disciple.

But Hamilton, eager for quick results, was not satisfied with the normal growth rate of the plants, just like Lud. So he used all kinds of magical potions with growth-inducing effects on these crops. As a result, he accidentally did not control the dosage well, causing some of the plants to mutate and become dangerous magical plants.

One of the Flame Fruit (chili peppers) plants was particularly robust and was the first to bear fruit, each giant chili pepper the size of a human head. Hamilton's eldest disciple, who was in charge of tending these crops, merely touched it lightly, and these giant chili peppers, containing a high concentration of fire-elemental magic, exploded in a terrifying manner.

The explosion instantly turned the Crystal Botanical Garden, which the Three-Man Tower was so proud of, into a scene of utter devastation. Hamilton's spices and the precious plants collected by other magicians were all reduced to ashes.

Hamilton's top disciple was also seriously injured in the explosion. Although he survived, he is still bedridden.

After hearing Hamilton's account of the whole story, Lude was speechless. He thought to himself, "You're really something else. You just wanted to grow a chili pepper, but you turned it into a Plants vs. Zombies game. You even managed to cultivate a powerful weapon like the 'Jalapeño' for clearing out enemies."

Lude thought about it carefully, and it seemed that the apprentice Hamilton had with him the last time he saw him was named "Dave".

Given the magnitude of the incident this guy caused, Lude guessed that his escape was probably not as simple as he claimed, to catch up with some old friends. It was more likely that he was being condemned by other mages in the mage tower and finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he slipped away.

"That's so damn embarrassing!"

To save face for the old man, Lude, who had already guessed the truth, did not expose him. He naturally moved on from the topic and even promised to send him some seeds in return, along with some "high-efficiency fertilizer" that could promote plant growth without side effects.

At this moment, the female knight Sharo, who had been following Hamilton, coughed twice intentionally. Lude had actually noticed before that Sharo had been trying to say something, but Hamilton's voice was too loud, and she hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise. In the end, she could only helplessly remind Hamilton with a cough.

The old magician then came to his senses, realizing he had been so engrossed in chatting that he had almost forgotten about the important matter at hand.

"Old friend, may I have a word with you in private?"

"Don't just say one, two are fine too!"

The group arrived at the temple's study. Ludger asked Romian to prepare some tea and snacks, then told her and Aina to leave first. He could tell that Hamilton and the others had important matters to discuss with him. He trusted his female apprentices, but that didn't mean he trusted the others.

"Speak your mind, my friend. As long as it's not about slaying dragons again, I'll do my best to help."

Hamilton deliberately brought up the "dragon slaying" incident, and a subtle twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth. His gaze towards Ludd was full of resentment, as if he was blaming him for bringing up such a sensitive topic.

Sharo and Urals, who were present, seemed to know about what happened last winter, but they didn't know that Hamilton's words had another meaning—that he had a dragon behind him, and a damn two of them!

"Don't worry, old friend, this matter isn't that bad, but it is closely related to you. Let the two of them explain the details."

Hamilton pointed to Sharo and Ural beside him, passing the task of discussing serious matters to them, while he crossed his legs and started eating sunflower seeds. Ural then stepped forward to explain the situation to Lud.

It turns out that the incident began with the lizardman extermination war a few months ago. Under Lud's deliberate guidance, the adventurers successively discovered the ruins of two ancient cities in the Void Forest.

One was closer to Pine Village, only a few days' journey away, but this ruin was of little value, just a collection of broken walls and rubble. But the other one discovered later was different. This city, built by dwarves, was divided into above-ground and underground parts, and like almost all dwarf cities, it was situated on a vast mineral vein.

So theoretically, now that the remaining lizardmen of the Grayscale Clan have fled, as long as they can take over this unclaimed city, they can quickly start mining, because the mines and many facilities are already in place, and it is much easier to resume production than to start mining from scratch.

Lude had initially considered occupying this resource-rich ancient city, but the problem was that its location was far too far from Pine Village, separated by towering mountains and dense primeval forests, teeming with dangerous monsters and hostile demi-human races. With Lude's current resources, developing the ancient city was undoubtedly a pipe dream.

Left with no other choice, Lu De could only concentrate his efforts on developing Songshu Village first, thinking that he would gradually plan to develop the ancient city when conditions allowed in the future.

The problem now is that, as the news spreads, more and more people in the kingdom are hearing rumors about the ancient city. Everyone says that the ancient city holds treasures, and some rumors are even more exaggerated, saying that peerless artifacts have appeared in the ancient city, waiting for fearless heroes to come and claim them as their masters.

And these rumors about the underground city inevitably reached the ears of the dwarves!

The dwarves are a subhuman race with harmonious relations with humans, and most dwarf clans worship the Earth Mother Goddess. Three hundred years ago, in the War of the Gods, the former dwarf kingdom suffered a devastating blow, losing two-thirds of its people and all the direct descendants of the royal family.

Humanity, admiring or even coveting the dwarves' exceptional mining and metallurgical techniques, seized the opportunity presented by the dwarven kingdom's devastation and internal disarray to aggressively recruit numerous exiled dwarves. It was reminiscent of the global frenzy for Russian scientists after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So three hundred years have passed, and the former dwarf kingdom has never been able to rebuild itself because it lacks a king who can command respect. It has split into large and small clans, some of which are dependent on the human kingdom, while a few larger clans have established their own independent city-states, none of which submit to the others.

It is no exaggeration to say that the dwarves have now integrated at least half of their bodies into human society. With their technological advantages, which are almost like racial gifts, they can enjoy the treatment of "first-class citizens" wherever they go, and they do not look like an exiled people at all.

It is worth mentioning that with this unusual ethnic integration, some of the new generation of dwarves who grew up in human society also changed their traditional beliefs, no longer worshipping only the Earth Mother Goddess, but instead joining other sects.

Ural told Lud that just last month, a dwarven clan that had settled in the south of the kingdom suddenly migrated north. The clan leader, Gulig Steelwhip, declared that he would lead his people to settle in the ancient dwarven city in the Void Forest, a city built by the dwarves, so they had the right to go there to reclaim their heritage.

This Gulig is a very clever dwarf. His clan has been loyal to the Duran royal family for many years. He himself holds the title of viscount in the kingdom and is also the chief blacksmith of the royal family, specializing in forging weapons and equipment for the royal guard.

Upon learning of the discovery of the ancient dwarven city in the northern Void Forest, Gulig immediately met with the king. Leveraging the good relationship his family had cultivated with the royal family over the years, he successfully persuaded the king to issue a decree allowing him to lead his clan northward.

To persuade the king to support him, Gulig swore an oath to the gods (all the deities) of the dwarven blood oath, promising to remain loyal to the Duran royal family after reclaiming the ancient city, and even leaving all his sons in the capital. Ostensibly to learn court etiquette, he was in reality a hostage to pledge his allegiance.

Furthermore, this guy also announced that the Steelwhip Clan is a dwarf tribe that advocates "freedom of religion," and that Gulig allows his people to follow any sect that has ever helped their clan.

This short man, whose cunning surpasses even his height, successfully garnered substantial support through this series of maneuvers. Currently, Gulig is leading his people northward, and they are expected to arrive at Pine Village before the end of this month.

Having heard Ural speak to this point, Lud basically understood. The dwarves were a people of skilled craftsmen, their superb blacksmithing techniques making them popular wherever they went, and the royal family had also expressed their support for the Steelwhip Clan's journey to the Void Forest to reclaim their heritage.

After all, dwarves are a race that highly values ​​integrity and honor. It's not that they're completely free of liars and villains, but their average level is indeed much higher than other races, at least humans can't compare. In addition, the "blood oath" that Gulig used to swear to the king was a notoriously solemn oath, with all the gods in the sky as witnesses, and anyone who dared to break it would be torn apart alive. Naturally, the king had no reason not to believe it.

End of this chapter

According to Ural, the migrating army led by Gulig has already exceeded 10,000 dwarves.

Besides his Steelwhip Clan, the group also included other small tribes and scattered individuals, all dwarves living within the kingdom's borders. They had heard that Gulig had been appointed by King Duran and was going to the Void Forest to take over an ancient dwarven city, and many had joined him out of admiration.

Ural estimated that, given their snowballing pace of movement, as they continued to recruit new members, by the time they reached Pine Village at the end of the month, Gulig's army would have swelled to at least 15,000 men, effectively bringing one-third of the dwarves in the Kingdom of Duran under his command.

Such a massive migration made Lud very curious about the reactions of the lords along the way.

The current King Duran supports the dwarves primarily because the Steelwhip Clan has been a member of the Duran Kingdom for over two hundred years. Three generations of dwarven chieftains have served seven kings, forging weapons for the king's army and even personally leading the charge when necessary. Their contributions and hardships are undeniable; their loyalty is beyond words!

However, their relationship with the lords was far less harmonious, as the Steelwhip Clan was loyal only to the royal family and were staunch royalists. Over the past two centuries, they had participated in no fewer than ten internal rebellions without a single defeat, earning them the reputation of being "traitors' nemesis." Therefore, they actually harbored many grudges against the feudal nobles below them!

Moreover, Gulig led his clan northwards, absorbing many scattered dwarves along the way. These dwarves were mostly craftsmen, essentially poaching talent from the lords' ranks; it would be strange if they weren't angry!

However, even if the lords were angry, there was nothing they could do. Dwarves were recognized as the most skilled artisan race in the world, so they were not like ordinary lowly commoners who would cower in fear and fawn over the powerful. They even had the confidence to challenge these arrogant and domineering nobles.

The most crucial reason why lords in various regions dared not take drastic measures against the dwarves was that the dwarves were very united when dealing with external threats.

Despite three hundred years of infighting, these dwarves have yet to establish a truly independent kingdom, with some clans harboring deep-seated hatred and even ready to fight to the death. Yet, if news spreads of outsiders mistreating their own kind, the dwarves instantly set aside their differences and unite against a common enemy. Once that matter is resolved, they return to their internal conflicts.

This distinct ethnic character has led to a consensus among humans when dealing with dwarves: a certain degree of accommodation and courtesy should be given to them in order to avoid giving them any reason to unite.

A scattered dwarf race that can be used by humans is undoubtedly the dwarf race that humans most desire!

Given this situation, even if they were unwilling, the lords in various places dared not hinder the Steelwhip Clan's migration, and even had to provide them with as much assistance as possible in order to maintain good relations with the dwarves.

Earl Ramley supported the dwarf migration, partly because his family and the Steelwhip Clan, both royalists, had a good relationship, and many dwarves in the territory served the Ramley family.

Furthermore, this migration is from south to north, and a large number of dwarves will move to the Void Forest to settle down. This will not only become a barrier for the Earl's territory, resisting various threats from within the Void Forest, but also mean a large number of technical talents. The Earl's territory has a natural advantage and can make a lot of money if it operates properly.

Therefore, considering both traditional friendship and their own interests, the Ramley family indeed had no reason not to support the Steelwhip Clan.

This is why Hamilton and his group are here. The Earl of Ramley, the Three-Man Tower, and the Northern Branch of the Kingdom of Duran, the Church of War, have reached a consensus on this issue.

As for why Hamilton said earlier that this matter was also closely related to Ludd and Pine Village, it is not difficult to understand.

Once the dwarves settle in the ancient city, Pine Village will no longer be an insignificant border village, but a vital transportation hub connecting Earl of Ramley, Duke of Gamelin, and Dwarf City, instantly surpassing the status of the old Riverwood and Unos.

In the foreseeable future, this place will rapidly prosper and become a trading center that attracts merchants and adventurers alike.

However, as the saying goes, "fortune and misfortune are intertwined," the arrival of the dwarves brought opportunities to Pine Village, but also aroused the covetousness of various forces.

For example, when Sharo came this time, he brought a full eight hundred men, all of whom were the standing army of the Earl's territory, truly elite forces that could fight!

This force was nominally there to assist the Steel Whip Clan in their relocation, but in reality, it was to reinforce Pine Village and counterbalance Duke Gamelin, who also had designs on the area. Intelligence indicates that a similar army from the duchy recently set out and is currently advancing towards Pine Village, expected to arrive in the next day or two.

Sharo's mission was to arrive at Pine Village before the other party and, incidentally, deliver a personal letter from the old count to Lud.

In this handwritten letter, Earl Ramley first expressed his highest respect for the Medicine God Cult and Lud himself, and then reminded Lud in a very sincere tone that they were now in a precarious situation. Many forces, including Earl Ramley himself, coveted Pine Village, but they were also wary of each other. Therefore, Lud could cleverly remain neutral and reap the benefits of others' actions.

At this moment, Lud had to admit that he had underestimated Count Ramley. The man was more cunning than he'd imagined; the letter had even amused him. While the letter's contents seemed somewhat absurd, it conveyed some very important information to Lud.

"Miss Sara, is your father teaching me how to trick him?"

“Father said that as long as you can fairly take advantage of both sides, he doesn’t mind being a sucker along with Duke Gamelin.”

Sara relayed her father's "original words" verbatim. Although she felt something was off about what he said, Sara trusted her father's decision.

She remembered the old count's instructions before she left: never try to coerce or entice Ludwig. All she needed to do was maintain her presence in Pine Village, keep Duke Gamelin's men from making any rash moves, and then wait for Ludwig to make the choice that was most advantageous to him.