Chapter 1176 - 681: Dwarf King’s Capital City of Lonely Mountain (Part 2)
This is also the origin of the ministers of the Dwarf Kingdom.
In fact, even if possessing exceptional wisdom, not many dwarves are willing to become ministers.
Their minds are much simpler.
For most dwarves, so-called power is not as appealing as the sparks flying around the forging furnace and the aroma of rich ale.
The dwarf ministers looked at each other and said as usual:
"So this time, everyone will discuss the matters at hand and then report them collectively to His Majesty?"
"Still doing it this way?"
A relatively young dwarf frowned slightly.
He had just become a minister of the Dwarf Kingdom not long ago and was still somewhat worried.
"It was one thing before, but now with all the chaos around the northern Phillips Crystal, aren’t we going to intervene?"
"Alfonso, let those people do what they want."
Nearby, an old dwarf named Habeden shook his head and said indifferently.
His beard had started to turn white, making him look quite elderly.
"After all, there’s nothing in that area worth paying attention to, no minerals or kin living there. Why waste the effort?"
"I say, just set up a kingdom trading post nearby."
"We can’t be bothered with those people, but the extraordinary materials from the small world are quite good stuff."
"What about the small world?"
Alfonso asked after a moment of silence:
"Do we really not need to occupy the small world?"
"There’s no need for that."
Habeden smiled, holding a wooden decision cup in his right hand, and said:
"The small world may be good, but our Dwarf Kingdom hasn’t even fully occupied the Jianuo Mountain Range, so much land is lying barren, why compete with those people over the small world?"
"Besides, there are very few places in those small worlds suitable for our dwarves’ forging lava environment, even if there are, we can trade with those occupants."
"Anyway, apart from us dwarves, other races won’t care about those places."
"Likewise, those extraordinary metals and materials can be traded over."
"I don’t think anyone would refuse the weapons and equipment of our Dwarf Kingdom!"
"There are already too few young people in the tribe, why let their lives be wasted in the Otherworld."
"This... alright then."
Alfonso listened to Habeden’s reasoning, hesitated for a moment, and agreed.
"I heard there are often Evil God believers appearing around the Phillips Crystal, shouldn’t we do something about it?"
"Contact the Church of the Gods, leave it to them!"
Habeden nodded and said with a smile:
"Since My Lord hasn’t issued an oracle commanding us to get involved, why take the initiative?"
Hearing this, Alfonso nodded.
The reasons given by Elder Habeden were indeed quite sound.
Although Alfonso always felt something was off, he couldn’t find any reasons to oppose.
He rubbed his sturdy beard and stopped worrying about it.
The surrounding dwarf ministers saw the two reaching a consensus and had no objections.
Thus, the matter was decided.
The dwarf ministers then began to discuss other matters.
"Those long-eared ones at the border are causing trouble again, should we?"
"Fight back, we must fight back!"
...
"I hear the Evil God believers have been quite active lately, should we be more vigilant?"
"Indeed, let’s have the temple pay more attention later, if they’re disobedient, cut off their ale!"
...
"We recently got a lot of extraordinary metals and other materials from the small world, the Iron Hammer Forge wants to recruit more apprentice helpers..."
"Those old stubborn ones... alright."
...
The sounds of debate continued in the palace, but they didn’t affect the clanging sounds of forging in the Dwarf Royal City.
In fact, aside from those in the Dwarf Royal Court, ordinary dwarves rarely paid attention to outside affairs.
Besides ale and ores, dwarves needed to trade very few goods with the outside world.
Moreover, the high-quality weapons and equipment produced by the Dwarf Kingdom were very popular with the Human Kingdom and other forces.
Thus, the goods from the Dwarf Kingdom were almost always in high demand in a seller’s market.
And as the global situation grows more tense, strategic goods like weapons and equipment are in even greater demand.
This makes the products of the Dwarf Kingdom even more sought after.
However, this had no impact on the normal life of the dwarves.
To them, forging was an exceedingly enjoyable process.
And once the forging was done, the process was over.
Unless the finished product from the forging was extremely satisfactory, they wouldn’t care much.
At this moment, a large caravan was slowly approaching this Dwarf Capital City.
Unlike other caravans, this was a caravan of the Human Clan.
Ordinary caravans usually headed to dwarf cities on the outskirts of the Jianuo Mountain Range for trade there.
It was quite rare for a caravan to gain the privilege to reach the Dwarf Capital City, especially a human caravan.
Only those with close ties to the Dwarf Royal Court could possibly gain such permission.
And indeed, this human caravan fit that situation.
They were from the Secret Silver Chamber of Commerce in the Hernandez Kingdom.
The Secret Silver Chamber of Commerce, being the top guild within the Hernandez Kingdom, was also part of the Hernandez Royal Family.
As the Human Kingdom closest to the Jianuo Mountain Range, the Hernandez Kingdom shared special ties with the Dwarf Kingdom.
Because every king of the Hernandez Kingdom had a rather short stature, or rather, the entire Royal Family was like this.
Many people suspected that the Hernandez Royal Family possessed the bloodline of the Dwarf Royal Family.
Of course, this was just speculation.
No evidence currently proves this point.
But within the Hernandez Kingdom, the faith in the Dwarf Gods was indeed prevalent.
This was a fact.
Within the Secret Silver Merchant Team,
The leader Alfi looked up at the magnificent royal capital in the distance, situated atop the Heroic Mountain, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
No matter how many times he came here, he was always shocked by this masterful creation of ghost axe divine skill.
"Everyone, push a bit harder!"
Alfi glanced at the distant Lonely Mountain City and turned to cheerfully call out to the people in the caravan:
"Everyone’s worked hard, once we reach Lonely Mountain City, I’ll treat everyone to a good meal and some fine dwarven ale."
"But let me say in advance, there’s no place here like the ones you all like to visit."
"So when you’re drunk, don’t wander off!"
Alfi’s words elicited cheers from everyone in the caravan.
"Boss, don’t worry, it’s not our first time here, we know the rules!"
"It hasn’t been easy this time, I’m going to drink a lot of good ale."
"Haha, I’d rather not go to those places, I can’t handle it...."
...
With the endpoint of the journey approaching, everyone’s pace quickened slightly.
Seeing this, Alfi nodded slightly.
This time, the caravan was comprised solely of people from the Secret Silver Chamber of Commerce, with no outsiders joining in, which made Alfi feel much more at ease along the way.
At this moment, Alfi noticed a sturdy figure standing beside the caravan.
"Lord Ris, this is Lonely Mountain City."
Alfi approached the robust figure with a smile and said.
Ris looked at the Dwarf Royal City in the distance and sighed slightly:
"Is this Lonely Mountain City?"
"I definitely should have come here!"
"Lord Ris, do you have any plans upon entering Lonely Mountain City?"
"If you don’t have accommodation for a short stay, why not rest at our Secret Silver Chamber of Commerce’s place?"
Alfi smiled and tried to persuade, continuing to attempt to win over this dwarf.
Indeed, Ris was a Black Iron Dwarf.
One of the more common dwarf races in the Dwarf Kingdom.
Ris shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"No need."
"Having finally arrived in Lonely Mountain City, I want to explore on my own."
"Thanks to Alfi this time for letting me accompany the caravan."
"You’re welcome, and thank you for your assistance multiple times along the way."
Alfi felt a bit regretful, but didn’t say much more.
Although this dwarf had joined the caravan halfway, he quickly earned everyone’s respect.
Not only did he have Golden Rank strength, but his ability in forging was also quite formidable.
Many damaged pieces of equipment in the caravan were easily restored to like-new condition with his simple treatment, and even exceeded their previous state.
He gestured, and a subordinate immediately handed over an exquisite small box.
"Lord Ris, this is a small token of appreciation from the Secret Silver Chamber of Commerce."