Chapter 8 Chapter 6 The Extraordinary Wisdom of the Orcs

The arrival of the two dwarves disturbed Brokenheel Village, and this disturbance also spread deep into the wilderness of the Spine of the World. The local people did not like these disturbances very much.After the two dwarves set off to leave, the villagers recovered from their initial fear—they thought they would be attacked, and added to the tragedy as victims.Be careful and prudent when dealing with external affairs and you will never go wrong. At the same time, the residents of Broken Heel Village were sophisticated enough to realize that the retreat strategy should not be overestimated. They restricted business trips going out, and doubled and tripled the number of people on duty and night watch respectively.

Every night, as soon as the slightest sign of trouble is detected, the sentry will pass the signal "Everything is OK!" from one checkpoint to the next.Each scans the floor of the village wall with the heightened vigilance they have trained in the harsh environment of survival. Even at the end of the first ten days the dwarves were away, the security was still tight, and no one slouched or slept; One of the sentinels, Kai Rumantaupinis, who was on duty on the seventh night when Cudd and Nikvillig were on the road, was so exhausted that he dared not even lean against the wall to relieve his fatigue for fear of falling asleep.Whenever he heard 'everything is normal' coming from the surrounding wall to the right, the man perked up, shook his head, stared at the black area outside the wall, and prepared for his call.

It was just after midnight, and the password transmission was still going on, and Kai Ruoman, who was peeping into the darkness, had just finished passing the command.He is very confident that the next order will be fully in line with the actual situation on his side.When it was his turn, he shouted - or was about to shout - "everything is fine". As soon as he opened his mouth, he heard the sound of breaking through the air above his head, and he was unlucky because he blocked the trajectory of the throwing stone, so his 'everything is normal' became 'everything is-ah'.

In an instant, he felt his head explode, and then he was buried under the bricks and bamboo strips of the wall and the stones that hit him, and died. Kai Ruoman didn't hear the noise around him, and the endless crackling sound of big rocks smashing into the walls and buildings, which were disintegrating the defense of the small village; A warning to the orc armies, they wiped out the ruined towns. What he didn't hear even more was the annihilation of his relatives, friends, and homeland. The Marquis of Erastu touched his beard, which is a dwarf's gesture of pride, often used to show off his beard.Togg, of course, hadn't paid much attention to the red beard of the Marquess of Man, for a man's beards were no more fruitful than the worst dwarves.

"What's the matter, Togg Hammerbeater?" Behind him, the four bodyguards, the Hammerhead Guards, whispered angrily in a circle. "Don't you think it an honor for me to have you?" replied the Dwarf. "I was busy with my business at Mirabar before you and your father were born, and you were nothing to me." The Marquis's frustrated expression showed that he did not react too violently to the statement or the obvious fact: Torgue had served Mirabar for a long, long time. "It's just that the family blood makes me feel trapped," Erastu explained.

"Dilemma?" Togg asked, scratching his whiskers, "a situation where you have both gravel and milk?" The Marquis's face was full of bewilderment. "A dilemma," he explained. "What?" asked the dwarf.Togg managed to hide his smile.As he knew, humans have a natural sense of superiority, and pretending to be deaf is the easiest way for dwarves to relieve their anger. "What is it?" asked the Marquis. "Yes, that's it." "Enough!" cried the Marquis.It was obvious him, and Togg just shrugged at him, as if he didn't understand how this could be. "Your actions bother me."

"Would that be the case?" "The people of Mirabar respect you. You are their most trusted commander of the Ax Guard, a dwarf of honor and honor." "Aah, Erastu, you are embarrassing me, a bearded dwarf, and making other dwarves blush." ​​After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at him, "But I guess, these boys grow up with age. , will soon be able to change into a big beard." Erastu looked at him as if he was going to slap him in the face, and this expression was very useful to Togg. The man sighed heavily and was about to speak, but the door leading to the preaching hall was pushed open unexpectedly, and then the consul Santilla Xingyao walked in.

"Master Marquis." She bowed. "We are discussing whether I should send you to melt the ax emblem on Togg's armor." The Marquis replied, quickly changing the subject of Togg. "Really?" asked the dwarf innocently. "Enough!" reproached Erastus again, "you know well what we think; and you know why I have called you here. Consider that you will represent the dwarves to our enemies. " Togg raised his short-fingered palm, his expression suddenly became serious. "Take care of those you call our enemies," he warned Erastu. "Shall I remind you how much wealth Bruenor Warhammer and his people stole from us?"

"Hey, they didn't take a little bit! I've been watching them for a long time." "It's not the caravan, it's their iron ore. And need I remind you how much our trade has dropped since the furnace in Mithril Hall was rekindled? Ask Santilla, she knows better than anyone else how to maintain transactions and Difficulties in broadening the buying base." "Indeed," the woman said, "since the recovery of Mithril Hall, my work has become very difficult." "Ours, too," Togg agreed. "They'll make us better off, as far as I can see."

"The Warhammers are not welcome in Mirabar!" Erastur declared. "Then they're not our enemies," Togg replied. "Before you call them that, you'd better be careful." The Marquis was sitting in a chair, and his body suddenly leaned forward, so that Togg instinctively raised his hand and moved it to his right shoulder, close to the handle of the huge ax he slung behind him. The grievances are facing each other. "King Bruno came here with good intentions," Togg said after the situation eased a bit, "he came all the way here as a friend, and he was also welcomed into the city as a friend." "Or to inquire about him The fiction of the biggest competitor," Santilla said.But Togg just shrugged off the idea.

"Besides, if you've already put a dwarf's legend into it, how can you prohibit the dwarves in your city from traveling with them?" "There are many dwarves in my city who have made strong demands to send spies against King Bruenor's Mithril Hall," Erastus reminded him, "you have also heard of them sending spies into Mithril Hall, closing the forge, Or pouring water, drowning the voices of mines that have not been fully excavated, and some of them want to add defective products to the armor and weapons exported to the market by the Warhammer family." Torg could not deny the truth of the Marquis' words; nor could he deny that he himself had cursed Mithril Hall in the past.But that's not the same as this personal interview, it's a rant about an opponent you haven't met.Tog may not have high expectations of Bruno in terms of market competition strategy, but if an enemy invades Bruno and his people, Tog is very willing to lead a team to aid them. "Did you ever think it was wrong for us to boycott Bruenor?" asked the dwarf.The Marquis and Santilla exchanged curious glances. "Do you ever think that we should combine our strength with theirs to benefit both sides?" "What do you want to say?" asked Erastus. "They can find ore veins of finer quality than we can find by digging hundreds of feet; and they have many excellent craftsmen. Don't believe it, that's how it is. Maybe we and their best craftsmen , can use their ore to make some big things, and our apprentices and their apprentices-or else send the old eyes, or the hammers-can process the small ore into some small things, Like railings and carriages, not swords and breastplates, if you know what I'm talking about." The Marquis' eyes narrowed, but he wasn't completely uninterested.Togg noticed this at once, realizing that he had crossed a chasm. Erastus was shaking so badly that he seemed to be rocking out of his chair, and he forced himself to calm down with all his willpower.He shook his head, seemingly too angry to say no. "Just an idea," Togg said. "Thoughts? Here's a thought, why didn't Santilla melt off the ax affixed to your breastplate? Why didn't I drag you out to eat the whip, or file a charge of treason against Mirabar for you? How dare you replace the principle For a dwarf who has stolen a large number of gold coins from us! How dare you state the prospect of a friendship between Mithril Hall and Mirabar! What's more, you dare to mention all this to me!" Santilla Xingyao walked to the side of the Marquis' seat.She put her hand on Erastus' arm, apparently to calm him down. She cast her eyes on Togg and nodded to the door, motioning him to leave quickly. However, Togg had no intention of leaving, at least not until he had finished his last sentence. "You may hate Bruno and his compatriots, and there may be good reasons for that," he said, "but I think it's more about us not being competitive than what Bruno and his compatriots did to us." The Marquis of Erastou said again "How dare you" but Togg continued his speech. "This is my point of view," the dwarf stated calmly, "and you wish to remove my ax emblem and command the ax guard. But if you want to whip me, watch out for my people. " The threat was faintly heard, and Togdanzo Hammer turned and strode out of the room. "I'm going to put its head on a spike." "Then you will see two thousand shield dwarves rampaging in Mirabar." Santilla said, still holding the Marquis's arm firmly. "I don't quite agree with your assessment of all that is going on in Mithril Hall, good Erastu. But given the reactions of Togg and many others, I doubt the wisdom of maintaining open hostility for now." Erastu gave him a threatening look, which made her think that no one in the Yaoshi Council would stand by her. So Santilla left him alone, bowed his head humbly and retreated, silently thinking how much King Bruno's visit had shaken Mirabar.If the Marquis remains so exclusive, the result may be bad for this historic mining city. Santilla also secretly applauded King Bruno's shrewd behavior in making it clear that he would not be publicly reprimanded even if he was unpopular.Yes, it was a devious ploy; and as Mirabar's consul, her leadership was being played to applause by Bruenor. "Any prisoners?" Obard asked as he and his son looked down at the ruins of Broken Heel. "There are not many who can breathe." Argen replied with an evil grin. "Are you interrogating?" Argen straightened his body, as if he had never had such a thought. Obard roared and slapped it on the back of the head. "What do we need to know?" asked the confused orc? "Anything they say will help," said Obird, emphasizing each word slowly and clearly, as if speaking to a small child. Argen roared but did not show his displeasure, after all, the humiliation was his own doing. "You know how to interrogate, don't you?" Obard asked, and his son looked at him as if the question was out of reach. Ask a few questions." Argen's lips curled into an evil grin, and he nodded before heading back towards the village, where many of the warriors had already started toying with the hapless villagers who survived. Argon caught up with his father an hour later and found Obard negotiating with the giants who had helped plunder the village, playing politics as usual. "We didn't kill all the dwarves when we struck," Argen said, his tone a mixture of excitement and frustration of the pursuit. "Dwarves? Are there dwarves in such a small village?" Argon was a little puzzled. "They're not," he said, "and it's not that there are no dwarves here." Now it was the turn of Obald and the giants to act like two monks. "There are no dwarves in the town," Argen said clearly, trying to end the cycle of confusion. "Ten days ago we attacked the dwarves, and two ran away." That did not surprise Obard, for he knew that at least some dwarves had passed through this fast zone.A group of orcs were massacred not far from town.Judging from the tactics used by the attackers, it seems that they were ambushed by the dwarves. "They've been there and they've been hurt." "Where did they die?" "No, still running, looking for Mithril Hall. We ran away before the attack." "how long?" "soon." Obird's interest surfaced. "An interesting kill?" he asked the giant.At this time, the giant with blue skin nodded to him in affirmation. But Obard's expression quickly changed when he remembered Adnon Crisse's warning. "Small raids, don't be rash. We catch them out, bit by bit. That's what the drow said. Tracking the dwarves south could dangerously lead them to Mithril Hall's forces, sparking a fight Obard didn't expect. "No, let them go." The Beast King decided, and when the giants seemed ready to accept, Argon's eyes widened, as if they were about to fall from his ugly head. "You can't..." Young Brash orcs want to argue. "I can," Obard interrupted him. "After you let them spread the tragedy of destruction and death throughout Mithril Hall, the dwarves there will send people to investigate. It will be a bigger and more interesting battle." Argen's laugh widened again, and Obard, prudently, let it join in at the end of his statement.After all, any mention of Mithril Hall would have sent warriors charging south. "We got close enough, and then we got into a fight, and some dwarves went home. Stinky Mithril Hall just let us in, and we couldn't wait to tear it down." Despite a nod of approval, Obard had to add to the reluctant Argen that "the time has not come."