Your war hammer is too fake

"You hate Belegar." Krag the Grim next to him bluntly pointed out the reason why the girl didn't want to go to Eight Peaks Mountain.

"Yes, I hate him." It's better to be straightforward when communicating with dwarves. An Jiyue knows this very well: "Recovering the homeland should be a complex emotion that is both restless and depressed, and is also mixed with eagerness to try. But Belegar is left with despair of having nothing but his long-cherished wish. This despair has driven him crazy. Some pressures are too heavy even for dwarves."

"Ma'am," Cragg said in a particularly calm tone, "you are offending a king."

"A king who doesn't even have his own throne room," An Jiyue tried hard to control her disdain, but judging from the expressions of the people in front of her, this attempt had obviously failed. "Beilejia's long journey to recover his ancestral land has just begun, and he hastily announced his coronation as king. Excuse me, with his current achievements, is he really worthy of this crown?"

"Madam, what you just said is enough to get your name included in the Angrande clan's book of hatred." The older Rune Lord kept his eyes fixed on An Jiyue's eyes while saying this.

"Belegar is free to write whatever he wants in the Book of Hate. If he dares to come and seek revenge on me, I promise you that I will not show mercy." The girl shrugged disapprovingly. "Even among dwarves, not every one of them can be trusted."

Iron Peak Castle is a small fortress, famous for its rich iron ore. Its current king is Kazador Dragon Slayer, a brave warrior with an unusually tall stature. Among the dwarves with an average height of 1 meters, Kazador, who is 3 meters tall, is simply a giant. The most famous thing about this king is his amazing strength that is proportional to his height.

Kazador was cheerful and energetic. An Jiyue heard his loud laughter before the Goblin Scourge landed. The king warmly welcomed the arrival of the expedition team. Looking at his laughing face, An Jiyue knew that she had changed the fate of this dwarf giant forever.

In the original "history", the orc warrior Gorga O'Dare, who was entrenched in Black Crag, would launch a highly successful raid on Iron Peak a year later. The greenskins looted the fortress and many of Kazador's relatives were abducted in the attack. Although his only son Kazrik was not taken away by the greenskins, he was shaved, had an orc totem tattooed on his face, and was nailed to Kazador's throne. The dwarf prince became insane because of this and finally ran away to become a butcher.

Thorgrim helped to avenge this vengeance. On the way to the Eight Peaks, Thorgrim attacked Black Rock Castle and successfully killed Gorya O'Dare, and rescued several surviving relatives of Kazador. But now all this is impossible to happen, Gorya O'Dare had already been killed by An Jiyue in an unknown ravine.

Silently recalling the "plot" she knew in her mind, the girl turned her head slightly and saw Kazrik following behind Kazador. The unfortunate child puffed out his chest and looked curiously at the guests visiting the fortress. An Jiyue noticed that the dwarf prince was mainly looking at Krag, and then staring at her.

At the banquet held that evening, An Jiyue met Torek Tiemei, one of the greatest surviving rune lords in the Mountain Kingdom, a true big shot who could invent new runes in this day and age.

To be honest, just based on this point, An Jiyue felt that he was better than Krag...

"So, this is the skill of our ancestors?" Torek sat opposite An Jiyue, staring at the warhammer in the latter's hand.

"At least Gazul told me that this 'key' was forged by Granni himself," the girl placed the glittering golden hammer horizontally on the table, "It is compatible with the Eternal Furnace, and only it can activate the device."

According to Gazul, after the expedition team finds the Plateau Castle, they only need to follow the method he provided to find the secret passage hidden by the runes, walk to the end of it, and then unlock the three rune locks in a specific way to reach the location of the Eternal Furnace. At that time, An Jiyue needs to use this war hammer to strike the Eternal Furnace, ignite Granni's legacy, and thus usher in a new era.

In parentheses, the old lighthouse and echoing hall, which are supporting facilities, must also be repaired. The former guides the soul, and the latter rebuilds the body. Granny had completed the basic design of the two, but the limitations of the dwarven runes made it impossible for them to achieve the intended functions. An Jiyue needed to use the extraordinary knowledge from An's Zhendan to improve them.

Judging from the design manuscripts handed over by Gazul, this work was surprisingly not complicated, because wherever runes could be used, Granni was quite determined to use his own stuff to solve the problem, so An Jiyue's workload was actually not that large.

"Oh," Torek sat up straight and even put down the wine glass in his hand. "I think the expedition team must need an expert in runes to solve various..."

"Kraag said that his presence is enough," An Jiyue interrupted, "He believes that Iron Peak Fort cannot do without you. We have discussed it, and you are not included in the list of members of the expedition team."

Without a doubt, this was the first time An Jiyue saw such a complex and twisted expression on the dwarf's face. Torek's old face twitched a few times, and his eyebrows were almost twisted into a ball: "This is unfair, lady. You gathered together and decided on the candidates for the expedition in a private meeting, and I had no idea about it from beginning to end!"

"I agree with Krag's point of view, Master. I expressed my support for it when we held the meeting."

"You really should have thought about it more, ma'am! Instead of making a rash decision!"

"The reason why I support Krag," An Jiyue raised her voice slightly, forcing Torek to be quiet and listen to what she was going to say next with dissatisfaction, "is because of you, Torek. You have an equally important task to complete."

The old dwarf looked furious. "I am listening, ma'am."

The Rune Master clearly sensed the abnormal flow of the magical wind at that moment (Note 1). Some invisible barrier enveloped the two of them, blocking the propagation of sound waves and any other form of prying eyes.

"The Valaya Gate is in Iron Peak Castle," An Jiuyue said, "Find it, but don't try to open it, and don't let the secret be exposed. The goddess' plan is not yet ready. Opening the door rashly will not only destroy the goddess' plan, but also attract some 'old friends' and endanger the goddess' safety. This is the task given to you by the Supreme King, Torrek Tiemei. Oh, by the way."

After a pause, the girl showed a rather subtle smile on her face: "Kraag doesn't know about this, and Thorgrim said there's no need to tell him. How about it, are you satisfied?"

Torek: “…”

……

Note 1: Dwarves don't have magicians, but that doesn't mean they don't have magical senses. If you think about it, how can a runesmith bind the wind of magic to a rune without a magical sense? Therefore, at least the runesmith must be able to sense the wind of magic.

Chapter 65: Border

Early in the morning, An Jiyue rubbed her eyes and got up from the bed.

The so-called "bed" was actually a pile of shell boxes covered with several layers of goat skin, and then a sleeping bag and pillow were added as makeshift supplies, surrounded by neatly stacked lead ingots, barrels of black gunpowder, and bundled crossbow arrows. Since embarking on this journey, An Jiyue and Jinzhi Shigeru have fallen asleep every night accompanied by the smell of gunpowder.

The cabin of the Goblin Scourge was filled with supplies, ammunition, spare weapons, and other materials needed for the expedition. If the expedition team needed to spend the night on the airship, the men would have to make do with sleeping on the deck. Only An Jiyue and Nishikori Shigeru were given some special treatment due to their female status and could rest in the cabin.

Turning her head and glancing to the side, An Jiyue did not see Jin Zhifan as expected. Although they slept in the same bed every night in this narrow cabin full of military equipment, the governor had never seen the sleeping face of the deputy captain. Jin Zhifan always went to bed later than An Jiyue, and always woke up earlier than An Jiyue.

After putting on her clothes and boots, and wrapping her silver hair with a black headscarf, An Jiyue began to put on her armor. Since the arrival of the Mysterious Water, she finally no longer had to wear the makeshift chain mail sponsored by the Tongchu Clan. She put on her arm guards, leggings, and foot guards in order, followed by the shoulder guards hanging around her neck and the shoulder cape to protect her shoulders. An Jiyue picked up the heavy armor with both hands and put it on, then wrapped the robe and belly around her waist and tied it tightly with a hu headband. The girl didn't have any fat on her abdomen, so it had to be tied tighter to hang it.

He tied the breastplate to his chest, fastened the leather belts that also served as armor straps, and finally hung two big red waist flags embroidered with gold thread on the hu hat strap, with a pattern of a savage biting a sword. An Jieshuai, who didn't like wearing a helmet, was now dressed.

After leaving Tiefengbao, An Jiyue required all members of the expedition to wear armor as long as they were awake. Well, except for a dwarf butcher who couldn't wear armor because of his oath, and a human swordsman who didn't have armor. When the girl came to the deck wearing a black lacquered black iron mountain armor and carrying a purely decorative sword, it was time for dinner: Grim Brockson had installed a simple heating device on the airship, which could use the waste heat of the steam engine boiler to boil water and cook.

The breakfast was simple, sliced ​​bread with butter and a big bowl of steaming lamb and onion soup, while An Jiyue and Jin Zhishi replaced the bread with the pot cakes they brought with them when the airship docked at Xuanshui. No one followed the boring rules such as not talking while eating or sleeping, and everyone chatted with each other while eating.

"Is there anything worth noting?" An Jiyue asked Joseph Bergman as she broke the pot cake apart and soaked it in the soup.

"Yes. Last night, after you all fell asleep, I heard a strange noise on the starboard side." The brewmaster slurped down half a bowl of broth, and grease dripped down his beard onto the deck. "It should be a manticore, or an immature wyvern, flapping its wings and flying past from a mile away. It should have noticed us, but it had no intention of getting closer."

"I didn't hear any noise from the wild animal last night," the girl thought. "Did it not roar?"

"Unless we have all become deaf," Joseph replied firmly, "then definitely not."

The brewer's words made An Jiyue fall into deep thought. The World Edge Mountains are home to a large number of manticores, wyverns, griffins, and other winged beasts. Since coming to this world, An Jiyue has seen these creatures more than once, but she has never encountered these flying beasts up close.

It was as if... they were deliberately avoiding her.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"I caught Grim doing weird things to his machine again. Does this count?"

"…Please continue to ignore all of our Great Engineer's antics, thank you."

Ironfort is the southernmost fortress in existence. There are no other Karaks further south. Only a few dwarven strongholds are left, surrounded by countless enemies, stubbornly holding on to their homes where they have lived for generations. The next stop of the Goblin Scourge is Deringraka, which is one of the few strongholds south of Ironfort that is still under dwarven control.

In fact, there is also a dwarf stronghold in Dragoncliff Castle, but An Jiyue is not planning to visit it now. The original name of Dragoncliff Castle was Karak-Izril, which means the City of Gems. This fortress, which is famous for its rich gems, fell at the same time as Eight Peaks Mountain and Black Rock Castle. After it fell, it was renamed Karak-Azgal by the dwarves, which translates to "Treasure Peak".

After the fall of Treasure Peak, the Greenskins destroyed the Stronghold and left. Before the Dwarves realized that the Greenskins had left and returned in time, a dragon, attracted by the Dwarven treasure, came and occupied the ruins of the Stronghold, and then this place had another nickname, which is also the more widely used name: Dragoncliff Stronghold.

In order to recapture the treasure, especially the gemstone veins here that are comparable to those of the Eternal Peak, the dwarves organized many actions but all failed. It was not until 1032 of the Imperial Calendar that the dwarf butcher Skof killed the dragon, recaptured the treasure stolen by the dragon, and proclaimed himself the King of Treasure Peak. Of course, the gold content of this crown is the same as Belegar's "King of Eight Peaks", or even worse than the latter, who is at least the orthodox bloodline of the Eight Peaks royal family.

Although Scooby killed the dragon, he failed to drive away the greenskins and rats. More importantly, Scooby did not realize what was hidden under the Treasure Peak...

The dwarves have not been able to truly retake Treasure Peak, and the underground of the fortress is full of night goblins and rats. Skof's relatives built a town called Silver-Fountain near the surface entrance of the fortress. The current ruler is Thordin, a direct descendant of the dragon slayer Skof. According to An Jiyue's plan, after she finishes dealing with the affairs of Plateau Castle and hands over the follow-up work to Gazul, she will go to Silver Fountain Town on her way back to solve some hidden dangers there and earn some points "by the way".

There is nothing much to say about the experience in Delinglaka. The local dwarves are well-informed, or to put it another way, except for the geographically remote and isolated Dulong City, no dwarf gathering place is truly isolated from the news. They warmly welcomed the arrival of the expedition. The long-bearded venerables gathered around An Jiyue, listening attentively to the girl's story of the series of battles she had experienced. The meeting with Gazul was even begged to be repeated several times. Of course, this is the version without confidential information.

Even the local dwarves were eager to send people to join the expedition. An Jiyue decisively handed this troublesome matter to Krag to deal with. The old man was too old and had a bad temper. As the oldest dwarf in the Mountain Kingdom except for the white dwarves, Krag dared to scold even Thorgrim when he got angry, not to mention the "short-bearded kids" of these small clans.

The Rune Lord scolded the "short-bearded boys" severely, accusing them of only seeing the glory in their eyes, but not whether their own abilities were enough to accomplish such a great feat; and the "short-bearded boys" could only endure the scolding honestly and did not dare to talk back at all.

After replenishing food and beer, the Goblin Scourge continued to fly south. After flying for a whole day, the expedition arrived at the last supply point of this trip, which was also the southernmost stronghold of the dwarves, Caradromen.

What happened here was basically a high-definition reproduction of Deringraca. They were warmly welcomed upon landing, told stories to a group of "short-bearded boys" with gray beards, and finally watched these "short-bearded boys" being scolded by Krag. When the Goblin Scourge slowly took off the next day, every member of the expedition knew that they had finally reached the border of the known territory and were about to enter a new world that was extremely unfamiliar to the dwarves.

Chapter 66: Search (Part 1)

The airship flew straight over the airspace above the Misty Mountains.

Misty Mountain is a place of "talented people and beautiful scenery". The legendary goblin warrior, "Big Belly" Gollum, came from here. Although apart from King Gollum, this place doesn't seem to have produced any other celebrities.

If you continue to fly south from here, you will reach the territory of Red Cloud Mountain. This is an active volcano, and there are a large number of goblins and night goblin tribes nearby. If you turn southwest here, you will fly for a few hours and plunge into the death land full of yellow sand.

That is the territory of the Nehekhara people. An Jiyue was not interested in dealing with those skeletons, and the mission of this trip had nothing to do with them. Now was not a good time to contact the Tomb King. After all, if Setra came up and asked you to surrender, would An Jiyue kneel? Although the emperor was a good boss, the girl would never be his lackey.

In An Jiyue's plan, unless she could rescue Shenzhu, or at least bring back accurate information about the whereabouts of Sister Guanglong, she would try to avoid direct contact with Zhendan. If things went well, she would use the merit of rescuing Shenzhu to establish a connection with the Heavenly Court, and then become a nominal subordinate, the kind who would follow orders but not instructions.

Anyway, she is not going back to Aurora to develop, and will not compete with the high-ranking officials of the Celestial Empire for the cake. There is no conflict of interest, so there is no contradiction. It is so happy to be a local emperor in Sanhe Prefecture. Why should she go to Aurora? By the way, she can also use the tiger skin of the Celestial Court to cause trouble in the old world.

After seeing the Red Cloud Mountain from afar through the telescope, An Jiyue ordered the airship to find an open space to land, preparing to let the expedition team rest for a day. It must be said that flying in the sky for a long time is a double torture for most dwarves, both physically and mentally, and it is not something that can be overcome by nature alone.

After arriving at Hongyun Mountain, there was no accurate map to refer to. Even if all the clerks of Yongheng Peak went together and turned the archives upside down, they could not find a detailed map south of Hongyun Mountain. They only found some general trends of the mountain ranges on the edge of the southern world, and a few rumors that were difficult to distinguish true from false and had very low reference value.

Fortunately, there is An Jiyue, the real hammer man, in the expedition team. Since crossing over, the girl found that her memory has become stronger than she imagined, and she can even recall a quick glance from a long time ago.

"We are here now," An Jiyue pointed to a place on the map, "Turning southeast from here, we will arrive at Mount Doom sometime between noon and evening the day after tomorrow. This is a dead volcano, and we will turn our course to the south on its west side. At the cruising speed of the Goblin Scourge, it will take us about 30 to 35 hours to fly over the mountains and reach the Coffin Canyon. This is a rather special place, and there may be some trouble when passing by there."

"Trouble?" Krag asked on behalf of everyone else: "What kind of trouble?"

“It’s a sacred place for the Nehekhara people, and the only strategic route between the main city-states of Nehekhara and the Kings of the East. Remember those she-bats that occupied Silver Spire? They came from a Nehekhara city-state called Lahmia, east of Coffin Canyon.”

"Very good," Krag nodded, "Now my people know where to seek revenge."

An Jiyue suddenly felt a little worried. If Granni's plan was successfully implemented, the first battle of Granni's little golden men would not be to dismantle Lahmia... Lahmia had been sent long ago, so why go there? As far as the girl knew, Manfred von Carstein had gone to the ruins of Lahmia to "archaeology" in order to obtain a more powerful pelta, but was defeated by Khalida's army. Man himself was also injured by the Warrior Queen in the duel and almost died there.

"Lhamia has been destroyed. You won't find anyone to avenge yourself on there," the girl waved her hand. "Although they are both undead, there are still essential differences between Tomb Kings and vampires. I know something about the hatred and conflict between the dwarves and the Tomb Kings, but as a whole, the Tomb Kings are not the enemy of the dwarves. At least, not the main enemy."

"Hmm, where was I? Anyway, the Canyon of Coffins is a problem. The Nehekhara have a large number of dormant constructs stored there. This is their most valuable military asset, nothing less. We'd better move quickly when we pass through there. The Tomb Kings' air force is not strong (Note 1), but it is pointless to conflict with them."

As she spoke, the girl's finger moved across the roughly drawn map: "After passing through the Coffin Canyon, we will truly set foot on the mountain range on the edge of the southern world."

The World's Edge Mountains are the longest mountain range in all of Warhammer. It stretches from the Arctic Wasteland in the north to the end of the Southland in the south, and may be more than 15,000 kilometers long. Along the way, there are Dwarven strongholds and former Dwarven strongholds - mostly the latter. According to some legends about ancient times, the ancestors of the Dwarves, those who are older than Granni, originally lived in an area "further north", and later migrated south to the area of ​​Plateau Castle.

Under the leadership of Grungni, Grimnir, and Valaya, the dwarves built the first Karak, the legendary Highland Castle, the origin of dwarven civilization. In the years that followed, the dwarves expanded northward along the World's Edge Mountains, building many of the later fortresses one by one. Among all these fortresses, Valaya liked Everpeak the most and settled there for a long time. After the ancestors disappeared for various reasons, Grungni's eldest son Snorri Whitebeard was crowned as the first High King at Everpeak, and Everpeak officially established its status as the "capital".

"And then?" Grimm, who was at the helm, asked, "Ma'am, where are we going next?"

"That's the problem, Master Engineer," An Jiyue spread her hands, "I only know the approximate location of Plateau Castle, but I don't know its exact location. What's worse is that we all know..." The girl glanced at a blond human swordsman from the corner of her eye: "...Except for Mr. Felix Jaeger, we all know that Plateau Castle is different from other castles. It has no above-ground part. It is a completely underground Karak. This means that it is unrealistic to search for it from the air."

The dwarves began to whisper to each other. An Jiyue noticed that Felix looked at Gotrek for help, but the latter just rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Don't keep me in suspense, girl," Gotrek muttered. "You look in your eyes and I know you've got an idea."

"Watch your words, butcher," Krag glared at Gotrek, "Madam, did the ancestors tell you more information about Plateau Castle? Or any special tricks on how to find it?"

"The answer is none. Gazul told me that I had to find Plateau Castle by myself. He didn't explain why he did that, and I didn't ask," An Jiyue showed a meaningful smile on her face, "Anyway, I do have a plan."

……

It was not until four days later that the dwarves learned what An Jiyue's plan was.

The process of flying over the Coffin Canyon was uneventful. Whether the Tomb King did not notice the lonely Thunder Airship or was simply too lazy to care, the Goblin Scourge arrived at the edge of the southern world very smoothly.

On the night of entering the edge of the mountains in the Southland world, An Jiyue ordered another landing. As the leader of the expedition, she ordered Joseph Bergman and Nishikori Shigeru to scout the area around the landing point and bring back a prisoner, dead or alive. The others built defenses on the spot to avoid possible attacks by the enemy.

The brewing master and the deputy captain of the Jinyiwei did not return until the early morning of the next day. They brought back a night goblin captive who looked like a small leader, and was still alive. Amid the complex expressions of disgust and entanglement of the dwarves, An Jiyue performed [Search Soul] in public and carefully checked the memory of this unfortunate night goblin.

"What are you doing?" Krag looked quite unhappy: "Does your witchcraft work?"

"I searched the memory of this little green man," An Jiyue casually threw the night goblin, who had become an idiot, aside, "with the help of this little green man, I focused on understanding the distribution of forces in this area."

"So," the Rune Lord said, raising his voice slightly, "what's the use of this?"

"What should I do if I don't know the way in an unfamiliar environment? The answer is of course to ask the locals for directions." The girl used the [Water Control Technique] to condense a ball of water and washed her hands. "Now, I know where to find the next person to consult."

"Are you sure this will work, ma'am?"

"Don't underestimate the information network of these greenskins, Rune Lord," An Jiuyue said, "For example, this little greenskin, although it doesn't know what Plateau Fort is, it has heard a legend about the 'stone tent' in the south. I'm not sure whether the place described in this rumor is a certain Nehekhara city-state or the Plateau Fort we are looking for, but... there's no harm in investigating. After all, that's why we are here."

Krag said in annoyance: "This is just wandering around aimlessly, hoping to find Plateau Fort by luck. Maybe the lost fort has never been discovered by anyone, and these dirty greenskins don't know the news about Plateau Fort."

"What else can we rely on?" An Jiyue asked back, "And this is not luck, Rune Lord. Plateau Castle may indeed be unknown, but what about your underground tunnel network? The night goblins like to dig holes randomly just like the Skaven ducknecks. They have lived in these mountains for at least thousands of years. Have they never discovered any dwarf tunnels during this period? Remember, everyone, there is only one Karak in the South. As long as you can find at least one tunnel or the remains of a tunnel, it is equivalent to finding Plateau Castle."

"...Damn it!" The Rune Lord's face turned pale. The old dwarf stretched out his right hand, clenched it into a fist and hit his helmet hard: "I must have been exposed to too much sun and too much wind, which seriously damaged my health. I actually ignored such an obvious thing!"

"That kind of thing doesn't matter," the girl said disapprovingly, "The place where the Eternal Furnace is located is protected by a powerful rune. You just need to not get senile dementia when you remove the rune!"

……

Note 1: Regardless of the background setting or the tabletop rules, the Necrosphinx can fly, and the pair of wings on its back are not decorations. It's a pity that the dog CA confiscated the flying ability of the big cat... The protagonist's evaluation of the Tomb Kings' air force as "not strong" is based on the big cat, after all, the number of these things is too rare, and the combat power of the carrion vultures is too weak.

The author says:

Author's words: Damn, I didn't catch up

Chapter 67 Search (Part 2)

Somewhere in the eastern part of the Border Prince's Territory.

The battle, or rather the one-sided massacre, was over in a very short time. The enemies who were foolish enough to take the initiative to fight either fled in all directions or became one of the many corpses lying on the ground. The Lothern Sea Guards raised their large shields and slowly advanced forward with a forest of spears, and on both wings were the fully deployed Arion Reavers. These agile riders galloped on their horses, covering the flanks of the infantry.

Dustan Falcon rode on an elven horse, looking at the scene in front of him boredly. As the most elite force under the mage, the Silver Helmet Knights did not participate in the battle, but surrounded their master and temporarily assumed the responsibility of guarding.

Under the watchful eyes of the Asur wizard, the light cavalry, which came and went like the wind, caught these so-called cavalrymen riding inferior horses or even mules before the defeated enemy fled into the town - if this pile of shabby ruins could be called a town. The Arion plunderers drew their bows and arrows, but did not attack. After a brief standoff, the human cavalry dropped their weapons, dismounted with great skill, and raised their hands high in salute to the Hair Country.

Well, in this world, it would probably be called the Bretonnian salute?

Seeing that the guards of their "prince" had surrendered, the infantrymen who lagged behind also dropped their weapons and knelt down when the sea guards approached them, allowing the Asur warriors to tie them up tightly. About half an hour later, this mini "principality" raised the flag of the Kingdom of Safri: a glove with the index finger and pinky finger raised holding a crescent moon, with the background of the dark blue starry sky. Dustan did not have a personal exclusive symbol, so he could only make do with the flag of his birthplace.

"What was the harvest?" Dustan asked, sitting on a chair that once belonged to the "Prince" who ruled the local area, with his legs crossed.

"My lord, today we captured 681 monkeys... humans, half of whom are capable of heavy labor," Dustan's adjutant and the real commander of the high elf army, an Asur noble, coughed lightly, "So far, our supplies can still sustain a week of normal consumption. My lord, I think it's time to return."

"The normal consumption of a week that you mentioned," Dustan looked at his men suspiciously, "does it include the prisoners we captured?"

"My Lord, humans can eat their own food," the Asur noble replied calmly, "We have seized a lot of this crude feed, enough to feed all the captives on the return journey."

"That's all. Damn it, these princes and grand dukes are poorer than each other," the wizard cursed and stood up from his chair, "Only they themselves are worth a few cents... Go and make arrangements and prepare to return to Akendorf."