Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"...No, what kind of pastor are you?!"

"Angola above, let me grant them death!" "You look like a shaman from Ghuush!"

There was some commotion behind him, but Raslaufer couldn't care less about that at the moment. All he could see were his friendly forces and the squealing chunks of flesh all around him. He needed to avoid the former, and as for the latter—he wanted to shut them up forever!

On the battlefield, Dople remained the same Dople, giving only simple instructions to his comrades without concern for any tactical or strategic adjustments—his sole mission was to sow death upon every living thing that attempted to attack or obstruct him. His position quickly broke free from the spearmen's cover, and like a chisel driven into the horde of orcs, even the overwhelming numbers of the Arakkoa were eventually forced to fight their way through, allowing Dople to reach the heart of the Arakkoa encirclement.

However, there was only one dark elf there. The other creatures were neither Arakkoa, nor humans, nor elves. They were all dwarfs, only about half the height of Raslaufer. They looked just as dark as stone. Now, facing Dobler emerging from the sea of ​​blood, the fear on their faces was even greater than when they were besieged by Arakkoa. They didn't look like enemies, but they weren't allies either.

So what are these...?

Chapter 498 Language Barrier

As Raslaufer stared blankly at the underground dwarf in front of him, Glip Stone Shield was also somewhat bewildered.

“Go...Goliath?” Grip Stone Shield tilted his head back, one of his eyes covered in blood, which further impaired his judgment. “Never mind, whatever your reason for being here, help us get rid of these crow people first!”

Dobler couldn't understand what the other side was babbling about, but even so, he understood that the most urgent task was to repel the crow people. Grip also quickly realized that the two sides couldn't communicate, so he simply told his compatriots to shrink their defensive line and give up most of the battlefield to avoid unpleasant conflicts between the two sides.

At first, the crowmen tried to fight back by taking advantage of their numbers, but they soon found it to be an almost impossible task. Faced with a large number of opponents and spells that covered a wide area, their crossbows and short swords were extremely ineffective. Then, one of the larger crowmen suddenly opened its mouth wide and let out a piercing howl in a hoarse voice.

The sound was so penetrating, only slightly less powerful than the screaming mushroom they had encountered before, but when other crow people began to imitate it and sing at the top of their lungs, its power became even more terrifying than the most unpleasant sound in the world.

"Plug your ears!" Glip shouted, dropping his obsidian shield and covering his ears. Black Lewin and the other dwarves beside him did the same. Seeing that these underground natives had suddenly given up all resistance, Raslaufer was taken aback at first, then quickly understood.

"Mage! Priest! Silence spell!"

Three different holy symbols lit up with three different colors of light in the dim environment, but then a loud "hum" was heard, and three invisible barriers instantly unfolded, completely blocking out all sound from inside and outside the three overlapping spherical areas. Within the range of the silencing spell, no matter where the crow people were, they could no longer disturb everyone's senses with their annoying cries.

Raslaufer saw that the dwarves lowered their fingers with a sigh of relief. Being underground, their hearing was perhaps more acute than their relatives on the surface, so they were more affected. These silencing spells were a great help.

Seeing that their tactics were ineffective, the crows ceased their fighting and hastily disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind a trail of corpses and feathers. Raslaufer grabbed Elwin's shoulder, who was trying to give chase, and signaled for everyone to regroup. The three priests maintained the spell for another ten minutes, only lowering their guard after the spell naturally dissipated.

The echoes of the crows still lingered in the distant caves, but the culprits that made these sounds had indeed fled far away.

“Many were injured, but fortunately they are all still alive,” Elwin reported, looking around. “Lord Raslaufer, it seems we have the wrong people. They don’t look like dark elves, or at least not entirely.”

All eyes turned to Black Lewin.

“Hey, they’re watching you.” With the external threat gone, the two groups separated on their own. The human leader, Raslaufer, was tall and imposing, putting a lot of psychological pressure on the dwarves. Glip couldn’t help but nudge the dark elf’s thigh with his elbow, “Say something.”

"'Say something?' You make it sound so easy!" Black Lewin was also a little flustered at this moment, and retorted in the language of the subterranean dwarfs, "I don't understand their language—and stop poking my legs!"

Despite saying that, Black Lewin still stepped forward, the dark elf forcing himself to smile and raise his hands above his head to make himself look as harmless as possible: "Hey, friends, you saved our lives! We're not enemies, understand? Not enemies."

The dark elf repeated his words in Underdwarven, Dark Elf, and Dark Elf sign language, but judging from the other side's reaction, apart from the last two gestures (meaning "deny" and "enemy"), which had some effect, the rest were almost useless.

“They can only see simple sign language, how are we supposed to communicate?” Helewin muttered irritably. “I’m out of ideas, Stone Shield, you’ll have to give it a try.”

The dwarf was greatly surprised: "Me? You just said it in my native language, I heard you!"

"Please, use something else. You know one more language than me, remember?"

Glip Stone Shield's expression immediately darkened: "I swear by stone, Black Lewin! I will never speak that language again in my life!"

"I think you want to be a slave again!" the dark elf exclaimed anxiously. "Hurry up, didn't you see they just put down their weapons and picked them up again?!"

Perhaps it was the expression on the dwarf's face that had frightened everyone, because the two mercenaries instinctively raised their spears again.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Glip's expression shifted (though it wasn't easily noticeable), and finally, he resignedly stomped his foot, punched the elf in the lower back, and walked in front of her. "Alright, let me try!"

“Hopefully this will work…” Glip muttered, beginning to repeat Halewin’s words in another language, but this time, his pronunciation was filled with a lot of harsh consonants and guttural sounds.

If he could, Glip would have preferred never to use this language—ideally, never to have learned it at all. But unfortunately, he not only learned it and could speak, listen, read, and write it, but he also clearly saw that the faces of the three girls opposite him brightened considerably.

He really needs to use this to communicate with the other party!

“Annie?” Leslaufer tilted her head, following Glip's gaze, and saw Angreta beside her. “You could understand what he said?”

“Seven or eight out of ten,” the girl looked back, her eyes first puzzled, then relieved. “He spoke Dwarven language. Uncle Vondar taught me some.”

“We were all there,” Bella shrugged, “but it seems you don’t have much talent for this.”

Dobler turned around and rolled his eyes at the druid: "I'm lucky if I can even speak clearly in my life. Three languages: Inasan, Imperial, and Ampiri. What more do you want from me?"

He paused, deciding to change the subject to avoid mentioning that he wasn't actually very good at Ampiri: "Let's not talk about this. Can you translate what he's saying?"

“They said ‘friends,’ Your Excellency Raslaufer,” Mary explained slowly, while Angelita spoke slowly to indicate that her side was equally without hostility, “and then they said that we saved their lives, and that we are not enemies.”

Chapter 499 The Caravan of the Underground Dwarfs

Now I understand everything.

A moment later, beside an underground river not far away, the two groups sat down together to rest. Although these underground dwarves looked much more serious and aloof than their tundra relatives on the surface, they were not actually like that. Many dwarves offered their own rations to the mercenaries, who reciprocated with military food. Although they couldn't understand each other's languages, they seemed to get along quite well.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the people in charge and the translators began more in-depth negotiations.

“…In any case, having three translators is really a bit too extravagant,” the underground dwarf muttered, reluctant to communicate in Dwarven, even though he spoke it more fluently than Angelita and the other two combined. “I am Grip Stone Shield, a dwarf who lives in the underground world, as you can see. Whatever your friendships or disagreements with our relatives on the surface, we’d better start from the beginning. That way it’ll be clearer and less likely to cause confusion.”

"And the one next to me, as you can see, is a dark elf named Black Lewin, but she has no surname—she insists she does, but in reality, her family was wiped out by other dark elves long ago."

"Where is she from? Why did you two get together?"

Compared to the underground dwarfs in front of them, Raslaufer and the others were clearly more interested in Halewin.

“It’s a dark elf city quite far away, I don’t quite remember the exact name, and she’s not willing to say more,” Glip glanced at the dark elf beside him. “If there’s nothing special, please allow me to skip asking her—I don’t want to upset her unnecessarily.”

Angelita hesitated for a moment, but still translated it for Leslaufer. As she expected, Dopler wouldn't let go of this information: "I'm afraid you must ask. We came here for the Dark Elves, and we've already had quite a few conflicts with them."

Glip hesitated for a moment: "But... it should be the dark elves in this area, right? It shouldn't matter. Qiu Licheng? Or those families that are rumored to have gone to the surface? I'd be happy to repay your life-saving grace with the information I have."

“If the translation is correct, Chou Li City,” after listening to the translation, Raslaufer took out a map and pointed to the city marker on it, “we must confirm whether you and this dark elf beside you pose any threat to us.”

Glip thought for a moment, then said something to Halewin, who glanced at Raslaufer, first pointing to his own eyes, then taking out a divine emblem: it depicted a dark elf woman dancing with a sword under a full moon.

“It’s the emblem of Elestra,” Christian said with certainty after glancing at it. “The records of the elves describe this goddess as follows: after Lolth broke with the elven chief god Corelon, in order to save the dark elves who had fallen into darkness with the Spider Queen, Elestra also resolutely threw herself into the abyss and rebelled against her mother.”

"I never expected to meet her followers here."

But why is she pointing to her own eyes?

Bella relayed the question and quickly received a reply: "The vast majority of dark elves have red eyes, which is proof of Lolth's favor, while dark elves who worship Elestestris are not entitled to such a gift."

Upon closer inspection, sure enough, Black Lewin's eyes were a grayish-green, unlike any dark elf they had ever seen before.

The dark elf nodded to the crowd and, through the interpreter, further explained: "In this world, the power of the Dark Maiden has been greatly weakened, to the point that Rose and her followers are no longer overly wary of moonlight or even sunlight on the surface. But her faith has not died, and I am one of the followers who have received her blessing. If you want to wage war against the dark elves of Chou Li City, I will stand on your side."

“But you look like a caravan,” Mary questioned. “Aren’t you on your way to Chauley to buy and sell goods?”

“These are two different things, young lady,” Glip said immediately. “Only by eating and surviving can one carry out the will of the gods, right? Halewyn is all alone and cannot harm any dark elf who worships the drow. Moreover, even if she were to seek revenge, she would certainly prioritize the blood debts on her own home front.”

He was communicating in the Dwarven language, so he didn't have to worry about Halewin's feelings.

Go to Qiuli City to trade? This might be an opportunity.

Leslaufer thought for a moment: "Is this your first time on this route? Or have you done it many times before?"

"Mr. Forty Years, Forty Years, if you have any questions, please ask us. We will answer them to the best of our ability."

“A dark elf, who wields a snake-headed whip, and another who looks somewhat like her, who wields a chain mace,” Dople described the appearance and weapons of the Mares sisters. “Do you know who these people are?”

Glip and Halewin exchanged a glance: "That must be Marise Larembass and her sister! In fact, if we hadn't heard her voice, we wouldn't have so recklessly put ourselves and the caravan in danger!"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

“Hellerwin heard Maris’s shouts and the sounds of battle, and she couldn’t have been mistaken,” the underground dwarf sighed. “But what she didn’t expect was that it was a trap set by the crowmen to lure their prey—those cunning feathered monsters are masters of this kind of trick, but they usually don’t pass through here. We were careless and overlooked this possibility.”

There was nothing we could do about it. After walking this road for so many years, who could have predicted that we would encounter the Crow People here?

"Now that I think about it, perhaps they encountered Arakkoa, but with Maris's strength, she could definitely have escaped. It's just a pity for us unlucky ones," Grip said, having cleared Black Lewin of suspicion. After chatting for a few more minutes, he suggested, "You don't seem to be at odds with the entire city of Chouley, do you? As long as that's not the case, the various Dark Elf families have always been a disorganized mess. When one family suffers, the others can only watch the show and divide the spoils. If you all want to go there, why don't we go together?"

“You surface dwellers are likely to get lost down here. Even if you don’t get lost, the messy things along the way are quite annoying.”

Dubler raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the other party to speak first on this topic: "In that case... I'm honored. But would it be convenient for you to tell me exactly what kind of business you're doing over there?"

“It’s no secret that the Mara family, the second-largest family in Chou Li City, ordered a shipment,” Glip Stone Shield pointed to the wagon being pulled by the subterranean Lothian. “It seems there were some losses. Hopefully, that hot-tempered mistress won’t be too upset.”

"Also, if possible, when I go to a dark elf city, I usually look for any of my suffering brethren and try to rescue a few if I find any—of course, by buying them with 'spider coins'. As for Black Lewin, she usually goes to find some like-minded companions to see if she can avenge her family, but so far she hasn't found a single companion."

“Interesting, very interesting…” Doble nodded repeatedly as he listened. He stood up and looked around at the people who had followed him. “Annie, tell him that if he’s willing to go the same way as us, we might as well go a step further and help him to the end.”

"I have an idea."

Chapter 500 Raslaw's Plan

"You want to go and save people?"

Halewin hesitated for a moment: "That would be very difficult. Putting aside everything else, your appearance alone would be hard to hide. Once discovered, it would be impossible to avoid being attacked."

It's not that their caravan was unwilling to help, but the gap between dwarves and dark elves is as vast as the gap between Loss Beasts and Purple Worms. There are at least tens of thousands of dark elves in Chou Li City. Let alone rescuing people, it would be difficult to even protect oneself once caught in the middle.

"What if that's the case?"

Raslaufer waved his hand, and the spellcasters immediately understood and extinguished the light. Instantly, as Dobler's appearance changed, the eyes of Helewin and the other underground dwarves widened.

“This is a disguise? No, that’s not right,” Glip mustered his courage and reached out to touch Reslaufer, but couldn’t reach the latter’s pointed ears. “If it’s just a disguise, it’ll be easy to spot… Could you be a shapeshifter?!”

“You’re the shapeshifter!” Angelita protested irritably. “Don’t make wild guesses about things you don’t understand! Uncle Leslaufer is a genuine human!”

“You don’t need to understand the specific principles,” Leslaufer slapped away the dwarf’s still-fumbling paws. “You just need to answer whether this can fool the other dark elves.”

Halewin was undoubtedly the most qualified person to speak present. She circled Raslaufer a few times, and after waiting for a while, she lit a lantern. In the candlelight, Raslaufer returned to her human form.

“To be honest, it’s not easy,” the dark elf shook his head regretfully, gesturing to Glip for him to translate, “It’s not good that it will become visible in the light—can’t you control it yourself? Well, probably not.”

But since the other party already has such capabilities, it would be too unreasonable not to cooperate. Black Lewin walked to the side, beckoned over a few dwarfs from the caravan, and began to discuss the matter.

"You plan to infiltrate them?" Angelita's eyes sparkled with excitement. "I know similar stories! We can disguise ourselves as caravan members or slaves, and then wait for the right opportunity—"

“That’s not how it works,” Leslaufer interrupted the girl’s reverie. “That’s too dangerous. There are three thousand of us up there. Why would we throw ourselves into a fire?”

"I'll go alone. I'll find a way to get them out. You and some of the caravan will wait outside. Remember, our purpose here is to bring those dark elf warlocks over, not to attack the city."

"But this—"

"If you can also become a dark elf, I'll take you there."

The girl visibly wilted, and she turned her back in a huff: "Not everyone can be like you..."

“Let’s listen to Raslaufer, Anne,” Bella stepped forward and patted Angrita on the shoulder. “If you’re worried, I can go with him. Although I can’t transform into a dark elf, it’s easy for me to transform into something else.”

For example, a subterranean Lothraki. This creature is clearly a common pack animal in this dwarf caravan, just like their larger surface relatives. The druids can use this as cover without arousing any suspicion.

While everyone else had already made their decision, on the other side, Halewin, Glip, and others also came up with a solution: a thick black canvas that was wide enough, about the size of a tablecloth or curtain, and a dwarf who came over with a measuring tape and scissors.

“We’ll have to tailor this cloak to fit you,” the dark elf’s voice sounded rather cheerful. “That shouldn’t be too difficult. In addition, you’ll need a hood and scarf to cover your entire face in darkness as much as possible.”

“But you’d better start thinking of an identity now, and a whole backstory, preferably one that’s full of bitterness and hatred, reclusive, irritable, cold, and unapproachable,” Glip pointed cryptically at Halewin. “That way, you won’t have to prove your identity all the time, and you can stay in the shadows all the time.”

If Raslaufer didn't have the eye color issue, this wouldn't have been so complicated, but Dople's ice-blue eyes are quite different from the scarlet ones after transformation, so this method was the only option.

But this is hardly a challenge. Raslaufer doesn't even need to create any special atmosphere; he just needs to be himself.

It would be best if a few more fools came to provoke him, so that he would have a deeper impression of it.

“Hmm, not bad,” Halewin nodded, looking at Raslaufer. It would be perfect if the dwarf tailor who was busy working next to him were kicked aside. “Then there is one last question: your weapons and armor.”

That two-handed greatsword was too conspicuous; dark elves rarely used such weapons, and their heavy armor was equally rare in their society.

Do you have anything that could be a substitute?

This really stumped Raslaufer. In the past, he could have used a dueling sword, but since he switched to that Hellfire Blade, he had no weapon that could reduce his recognizability—which was the exact opposite of what he needed. More often than not, he needed people to be able to recognize him at a glance.

“Use my sword,” Mary said, handing her swift sword to Leslaufer. “It’s my way of helping to rescue Daisy.”

“You can’t be without weapons,” Leslaufer frowned. “There are dangers everywhere underground.”

The girl with long braids laughed and brandished another pink rapier in her hand: "How could I not have a weapon? Daisy isn't here, so I'll use hers."

The Blade of the Sea Song, though kept in the poet's possession because Daisy salvaged it, was actually difficult for Daisy herself to wield. In Mary's hands, however, it would have a positive effect.

“That is indeed a fine sword,” Glip, a businessman with a discerning eye, lingered on the Blade of the Sea Song for a moment longer. “If you are willing to sell it, I am willing to offer three hundred black jade coins in exchange.”

“Black jade…coins?” Angelita and Marie exchanged a glance and quickly asked, “You use black jade as currency? But we just heard you mention ‘spider currency’…”

“That’s the general term, Miss,” Glip shrugged, pulling a finely crafted round coin from his purse. One side was engraved with a spider, the other with a spiderweb pattern. “Here it is. This circulates in the cities of the Dark Elves. Besides this, there are also zircon coins and lapis lazuli coins. Dwarves have their own currency, but it’s not accepted, so our caravan mainly uses the Dark Elf currency.”

"Seeing how surprised you are, perhaps you use gold, silver, and copper as currency, similar to the dwarves? In that case, it's best not to show it in their cities, otherwise it will be easy to be exposed."

Chapter 501 Arrival in Qiu Licheng