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

"This is the work of those two Losmons. It's not great, but it's about the same as the armor out there." Although Vondar kept calling them Losmons, he still had some confidence in his apprentice. He pulled out the warhammer with force and handed it to Angrita. "Come on, miss, try it and see how it feels."

"My stuff is more durable than humans' and those pointy-eared creatures. Play with it as you like, don't worry about breaking it. Old Vondar won't ask you to pay for it, ha."

Angrita carefully took the weapon from the dwarf. It looked more rugged than those in the palace, and had a more wild beauty. When she caught it, Angrita's arm sank slightly, but it was not as difficult to swing as she had imagined. She clumsily imitated the dwarf's performance just now, and felt that it was not too difficult to accept.

"Don't be fooled by the initial feeling; it's easily misleading," Reslaufer warned with a smile, while Vondar nodded in agreement. "Just like this, move around for a while, get a good feel for its weight and center of gravity, and try to get used to it."

"She's not as frail as she looks, man. It's just not obvious, like those pointy ears. But she's human," the dwarf craftsman observed Angrita's movements to prevent her from hurting herself. "You got my hint, didn't you? Blunt weapons are not as easy to use as sharp ones. A sword will cut, but a hammer or a club won't even break the opponent's skin if you don't use it properly."

"So you chose the one with pointed horns for her, didn't you?" Raslaufer didn't take the dwarf's words seriously. "Don't worry, I'm more familiar with this one."

Chapter 26 Stalking

Perhaps because he saw that Leslaufer got along well with him, or perhaps because he was worried that his hard work would be wasted by a little girl, Vondar Banqiu led the two of them to the yard behind the shop and let Angrita clumsily swing the hammer in her hand at the dummies that were either carved from wood or made of metal.

Angelita felt completely defeated. She had already given her all in every attack, yet it seemed difficult to defeat even the dummy—even though it was covered in white streaks, it couldn't even match the effect of a dwarf's casual swing. Little did she know that Vondar and Reslaufer, watching this scene, were already very satisfied.

As the dwarves themselves say, blunt weapons aren't as easy to wield as sharp ones. While almost anyone of any race, including goblins and murlocs, will instinctively pick up a stick as an extension of their arm, and even mages with limited combat experience and skilled monks will choose it, inflicting noticeable damage and effects like a sharp weapon requires more than just swinging it with all your might.

"She does have talent. Although she is far from a genius, she does have talent," three days later, Vondar stroked his beard and whispered to Reslaufer, who was standing nearby and giving guidance as usual. "You can stay nearby, my friend, and teach your 'niece'."

"I'm sorry, Vondar, we're not destined to be so leisurely," Leslaufer shook his head. "She herself doesn't want this either. But we will indeed stay in Giranda for a while, perhaps a week, perhaps..."

Reslaufer paused abruptly, his eyes becoming extremely sharp, sweeping across Vondar's wall that was barely as high as a person like the wind of a sword.

The other party was equally cautious and he didn't catch him.

"What's wrong?" The dwarf realized belatedly that something was wrong with Reslaufer. "Is someone targeting me?"

This is his backyard.

"It's better to say they've targeted me and her," Leslaufer immediately raised his hand to signal Angelita to stop. "It seems we've been here for quite some time."

Angelita's face turned pale. "Caught up? This... this is too fast!"

"It's already very slow," Reslaufer shook his head and turned to look at Vondar. "I'm very sorry, but it seems we have to decline your kindness. We will leave here as soon as possible and not cause you any trouble."

The dwarf immediately became displeased: "What? You think old Vondar is a burden? You are wrong! I am still very strong! If there is any danger, let it come to me. It will never knock me down!"

"But that's unnecessary," Leslaufer handed over a few gold coins. The other party had no idea where the person chasing Angrita came from and might have thought she was a servant from a noble family. "I've been thinking about this for the past few days. Although she's quite used to using a war hammer, it would be better for her to bring another sharp weapon for self-defense."

"Old Vondar can't take your money! You're humiliating me! Do you think the dwarves will be bullied in your human empire?!"

"Mr. Vondar," Angrita bowed sincerely to the dwarf craftsman, "We have no intention of humiliating you, but doing this will give us peace of mind - if it causes any inconvenience to your life in the future."

"Well," Vondar stopped talking. He was silent for a moment, then reached out to take the gold coin from Reslaufer, turned around and waved to the two of them, "Come with me."

The dwarf brought Reslaufer and the other two back to the store. He didn't seem to care much about the selection of daggers. He just grabbed a handful from the shelf and asked his apprentices to register them. In this short while, Vondar took two customers with good tempers into a deeper part of the store, and there he found a piece of armor that was obviously different from the usual style.

It was a studded leather armor, dotted with dozens of metal studs, and reinforced with iron plates in key areas. While its protection couldn't compare to chainmail or scale armor, it was lighter and more protective than ordinary leather armor.

But Angelita saw more. "A magical item!" the princess exclaimed softly.

"It can't be considered a true magical item. The magic on it only allows it to perfectly fit the wearer's body shape, but it doesn't provide any protection." Feng Daer shook his head. "A long time ago, a little halfling girl came to me to modify this thing. She didn't have much money, so she asked me to modify it into this shape because it was too big for her. But she never came back since then. It has been a full ten years now."

"Adventurer?"

"I think so. She probably won't be coming back. Keeping this thing in the shop doesn't show off my skills. Maybe it would be more valuable if I gave it to you."

"This...how much does it cost?" Angelita's eyes lit up. The style of this leather armor was not really to her liking, but it was a magical item! She had never owned a piece of magical equipment before!

"Just take it, it's what gives me peace of mind."

When this "semi-magical item" without even a name was put on Angarita, the girl felt it automatically fit her body and stopped changing at a comfortable size, not making her feel too tight or too loose at all. When they walked out again, Feng Daer's apprentice had already given the change and packed up the owlbear-headed warhammer and the short sword, placing them respectfully on the counter.

"Go ahead and continue your work." Vondar drove the apprentice away with a stern face. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Reslaufer felt that there was a trace of panic in the young man that did not come from awe of his master.

"It's not easy to meet guests familiar with the dwarven world in the Matt Dynasty, but unfortunately, good times are always so short-lived," Fengdal said regretfully as he escorted the two to the door. "Go, continue your journey. If you ever have some free time, come back and see old Fengdal. I'll always be here."

Fengdal Banqiu is only over two hundred years old this year, and it will take a long time for death to catch up with him.

"I definitely will." Angelita, wearing new clothes, smiled sweetly. The princess didn't put away her smile until they were completely away from the Old Mountain Forge.

"Can I know who is targeting us?"

"No, I'm sorry," Raslaufer lowered his voice, "but I'm sure it's not an illusion."

"Want to leave here now and return to the wilderness?"

Reslaufer shook his head. "No, remember that half-elf who hit on us? Let's go find him, to that manor."

"But those who are targeting us may take advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack," Angelita warned, "and you may not be able to take care of me."

"Yes, the other party will think so too."

Chapter 27 A robber who never leaves home?

Being targeted was definitely not a good experience, so Reslaufer decided not to give the other party this opportunity. Although Angelita did not agree with Reslaufer's strategy, she was obviously unable to influence Reslaufer's decision now.

Following the address left by the half-elf, Leslaufer and Angarita soon saw Buddy Antich's face again. It peeked out from the door of its residence, with messy hair and obvious shadows around its eyes. It looked quite tired.

"Who is it...ah, it's you guys. Please come in, please come in. Have you finally decided to take this order?"

"Yes, but I need to confirm first what price you can offer."

Buddy's residence was just a single-family house in the town. Although the furnishings inside were quite luxurious, it didn't even have a yard.

Leslaufer glanced around. There were books and scrolls discarded everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of old things, making the owner of this house look more like a scholar than a simple noble.

"Oh, oh," Buddy's thoughts slowed down for a moment. "Don't worry, Grandma's estate means a lot to me. I won't be stingy. Fifty gold coins, how about fifty gold coins? Although it's new currency, I'm sure this is a generous reward that you can't get in your own regiment in a month."

Actually not.

Angelita muttered silently in her heart that the other party obviously did not know the "gold content" of Reslaufer, but this time the mercenary had no intention of bargaining.

"Okay, according to the rules, half is the deposit and half is the payment," Leslaufer immediately nodded in agreement. "You can pack up first. We'll meet at the entrance of the tavern and set off immediately."

"Now? By the time we get to the manor, it will be dark..." Buddy Antichi was stunned for a moment, but suddenly seemed to understand, "Good idea! No one would expect to be ambushed at that time!"

"You two can wait for me here, we'll go together--" The half-elf wanted to ask the two to wait here for a while, but Leslaufer had already turned and walked to the door with Angelita, and did not respond to his invitation.

"This guy looks a little strange," Angelita twitched her nose and took a few deep breaths of fresh air. "I saw quite a few arcane books at his house, but I don't think he's a spellcaster."

Leslaufer remained noncommittal. A few days ago, the mystery surrounding Buddy forced him to be cautious, but now, this was actually good news.

The mercenary proposed to meet at the door of the tavern not to show his eagerness. He really needed to return to his place of residence to change into his equipment. A fighting sword alone could not give him enough sense of security. Moreover, he had another thing to confirm.

An inconspicuous grass stem lay alone in the shadow under the window sill of the room.

"Someone's been here," Leslaufer said, picking it up. This wasn't a very clever move; the other party was either very reckless or simply didn't take him seriously. "I think there's good reason to suspect this is the same person who was watching from the blacksmith shop."

The method is clever, but not particularly clever.

"Our luggage hasn't been touched," Angelita hurriedly checked their bags, only to find that not a single copper was missing. "We're not here for the money!"

"That's right," Leslaufer fastened the last strap on his armor and slung the greatsword behind him. "Let's go meet that guy."

Buddy didn't keep them waiting too long. He quickly arrived at the tavern, wearing leather armor and a longsword slung at his waist. He looked at Angarita beside Reslaufer with extreme nervousness: "This... your niece is going too?"

"Where's the money?" Reslaufer didn't respond, but held out his hand until a purse was placed in his palm. "She will be responsible for protecting you. Lead the way, we will finish this quickly."

Buddy couldn't help but be amazed at Leslau Fred's decisive attitude, but this was obviously what he wanted. The young man, called "little unlucky guy" by the rats at the mercenary gathering point, immediately left the town with the two people he hired and headed in a certain direction.

"Look, there are two entrances to the manor's cellar: one in the courtyard, and the other leading to the living room. I went through the outer one," Buddy Antichi explained the layout of the manor to the two men on the way. "Those bad guys should be underneath the main building, so they didn't find me last time."

"But you went into the building, didn't you?" Angelita asked. "You didn't notice anything was wrong?"

The half-elf lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, no. My grandmother stopped taking care of the manor when she got old, and I was still young. When I grew up, the manor was abandoned for many years. I'm not familiar with the conditions inside."

"But at least we can tell from the dust and other places whether anyone has been there," Leslaufer shook his head. "Never mind, that's not what we need to consider."

The distance between the winery and the town of Kiranda wasn't far, but the three of them were only on foot, so by the time they reached the outside, it was already dark. Leslaufer signaled the two weaker men to rest outside, while he himself took down his greatsword and cautiously stepped through the manor's collapsed two-leaf iron gate.

This place was indeed deserted enough. At least in this yard, Leslaufer did not see many people. However, this was the confusing part. If they were really robbers, they would not be able to just live in the cellar. They had to go out.

But Reslaufer saw no trace of these demands, not even a single one.

"Are you sure it's a group of bandits who occupied your estate?" Reslaufer waved the two men in and asked, "Have they taken root in the cellar?"

"I... I don't know." Buddy understood that Raslaufer must have seen something, but now he could only smile bitterly. "I assure you that I'm telling the truth. I don't even know what they are! But anyway, they occupied my grandmother's estate, so it's not wrong to call them robbers."

"It's no problem," Reslaufer said. For some reason, he felt a little irritated, but he couldn't find the source. "Then let's see for ourselves. Where is the entrance you entered last time?"

When Buddy led the two to an open entrance, even he himself was stunned: "This... I thought it was like this when I escaped last time! It... It hasn't changed at all!"

Could it be that... those "things" didn't come out? But he was sure he had been discovered!

Chapter 28: Throat-Choke Monster

Even Angarita was convinced that the half-elf was hiding something, but he seemed equally overwhelmed by the situation. Under this premise, there was no way to get anything out of him. Leslaufer could only climb down the iron ladder first, Angarita second, and Buddy at the end.

It seemed that he was protecting this half-elf who was all show and no substance but could not be relied upon in a real fight, but in fact, he was letting him act as a cover for Angelita to ensure the girl's safety.

Reslaufer crouched down and moved forward step by step. After only a few steps, he found the sword that the half-elf had left behind. The rusty iron piece proved that the half-elf had indeed been here, but Reslaufer did not hear the drinking and boasting sounds he had mentioned before, nor did he find any fire.

"Maybe... they went to bed early... right?" The half-elf muttered so softly that even he felt guilty, but it had come to this point, and neither Leslaufer nor Angrita had the heart to ask him any more questions.

The surrounding walls made of huge stones may have been strong and solid many years ago, but now they have cracks of various sizes. Some of the joints have even broken into pits of varying depths, some of which extend deep into the surrounding soil, gathering the surrounding moisture into droplets, nourishing layers of moss and fungi.

At the same time, it also nourishes other creatures, but they do not feed on those simple plants. What they need is some... fresher food.

As the three of them carefully moved deeper into the passage, some flexible structures, as if without bones, also slid slowly behind the stone wall. Eyes with dark vision looked at the new prey with ill intent through the gaps. It had originally planned to stay away from this hunting ground where there would be no prey for a long time, but the escape of a half-elf not long ago made it realize that patience might be rewarded.

Closer, closer. Start with the last one, then the second, the first...

When Reslaufer, who was at the front, was about to reach a corner in front of the passage, a tentacle shaped like a starfish at the end suddenly stretched out from the stone wall, grabbed the half-elf's defenseless neck, and tied the unfortunate guy to the rock wall!

The sneak attack came so suddenly that Buddy didn't even have the chance to scream!

Even though it was his second time here, he still couldn't see clearly what those things looked like!

"Ugh, uh uh uh!" Buddy, who was about to suffocate in just a few seconds, slammed his sword on the surrounding stone walls and the ground in fear. This did not hurt the attacker at all, but it was enough to make Leslaufer and Angelita pay attention to the situation behind them. A war hammer with a hook at the end immediately hit the tentacle behind Buddy. With a strange howl coming from the wall, the half-elf who escaped death fell forward to the ground, his face pale, breathing in the rare air in big gulps.

However, the other arm followed and grabbed Angelita's even more slender neck!

"What the hell is this thing?!" The girl jumped back a step, narrowly avoiding the seemingly powerless attack that almost killed the half-elf silently. She gripped the warhammer tightly with both hands, which allowed her to better control the weapon in her hand and swing it to deliver a fatal blow.

"Overhead!" Leslaufer's shout reached her ears, and the mercenary turned and rushed over, kicking the half-elf on the ground, causing it to fall several times. The thin and agile body missed, and when it tried to escape, it was hit by the giant sword and cut in half.

It was not until this moment that the other two saw the attacker's appearance clearly for the first time: the creature had almost no hard bones, and a large amount of cartilage supported its body like a skinny dwarf, but it was obviously not a humanoid creature. Its two arms were as thin as whips or tentacles, dragging on the ground, and the ends were like starfish, forming a grip, and it was this thing that was strangling Buddy's neck.

"Choke Monster!"

Leslaufer and Angarita both looked in surprise at the half-elf who had shouted the name, while the latter stepped back in horror: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't know it was such a thing! I really don't know—"

The front end of the giant sword created a strong wind in the narrow passage, brushing against the half-elf's hair and swinging behind him. Angelita grabbed Buddy's wrist and pulled the guy to her side.

"Since you know what it is, come closer to us!" the girl shouted in frustration, "How come you're even more troublesome than me?!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was scared." Buddy Antich only recovered a little at this time. He looked at the strangler that had been killed by Reslaufer and quickly warned, "Please be careful! They communicate by howling. The one just now may have summoned more of its kind!"

"How could there be something like this in your basement?!" The girl brandished her warhammer and stood back to back with the half-elf, who had regained his consciousness, to fend off these incredibly agile monsters that liked to attack from overhead and other corners. "You should be arrested and hanged by the sheriff!"

"I don't know!" Buddy was at a loss for words. "I can swear to any god that I have no idea why they appear!"

"Then how do you know what they are? Even Reslaufer doesn't know these monsters!"

"I'm not omnipotent!" The mercenary's voice rang out at the right moment. Compared to the two men who were struggling to coordinate back to back, he seemed much more at ease and could even help Angelita and Buddy out. "Don't just defend. This is their home ground. If you don't kill them until they're scared, you'll be dragged here to death sooner or later!"

"I want to too! But their arms are longer than my hammer! How can I reach them?" Angelita responded loudly. The chokehold monsters that failed to launch a sneak attack came out from their hiding places and started a fierce battle with them in the passage. Although the torso made of cartilage was exposed in their sight, Angelita and Buddy still had no way to deal with it. They could only passively resist the attacks that were heading for their necks again and again.

The fear that they would be caught and dragged away if they made the slightest mistake made it impossible for them to launch an effective counterattack.

"That's your problem!" Reslaufer's response sounded cold and heartless. "You asked for this. You should learn how to get out of this situation yourself!"

Doppler's giant sword attracted most of the monster hunters, but he did not intend to kill all the monsters, otherwise there would be no point for Angelita to follow him this time. He also had another reason to do so. When he changed the giant sword to one hand and used inertia to nail another throat-stuck monster to the wall, Leslaufer's left hand reached for the sword at his waist at lightning speed and pulled it out.

Metal collided with metal, and two sparks flashed in the dim passage, reflecting the smile of Leslaufer and the astonished expression of the attacker.

"I've waited for you!" The mercenary switched the sword to his right hand and suddenly pounced to the side like a tiger. The tentacles that had originally attacked him suddenly changed their target and grabbed the attacker who had been hiding in the dark waiting for an opportunity!

Chapter 29 First Kill

"Ho, ho—"

A hoarse roar came from the throat locked by the tentacles. As the throat-locking monster shook its slender arms vigorously, the two daggers fell to the ground from the assassin's hands. He stretched out his hand towards the direction of Reslaufer, as if wanting the person he wanted to kill just now to rescue him.

Leslaufer did not give him this opportunity. As the sword thrust out, bright red blood quickly seeped out from under the black cloak and smeared on the surrounding floor tiles.

"At least this gives you a quick fix," Leslough muttered, turning and rushing towards the strangler before he could retract his arm.