Beatrice nodded towards the Three-Braid Scoia'tael. "I have contacted other comrades nearby and have planned the attack route. We are just waiting for the Great Elder to come back tomorrow. Once the signal is given, all comrades will rush into Carbon Mountain and control the Great Elder."

"It's Brovar Hog, not the Great Elder." The three-braided dwarf corrected, "It is precisely because of his inaction that the dwarves have suffered so much in human society... No, not only is he inaction, he is even happy to see it. Because human oppression will make us willing to return to Mahakam and continue to be ruled by his 'traditions' and those messed up rules. He has never thought about improving our lives, he is even an accomplice of humans!"

Beatrice was silent for a while: "Okay, it's Brovar Hogg..."

"Also, did you bring that thing?" The three-braided dwarf looked at Beatrice.

Beatrice reacted quickly. He lowered his shoulders and pulled out a backpack behind him. Without searching, he took out a bottle the size of his palm. Not only Beatrice, but the other Ferenc youths behind him also took out a similar bottle.

"This is the poison the Patriarch originally planned to give Kelturis," said Beatrice, "but it can no longer be used now."

"Ice giants... should be similar to trolls, they are all afraid of poison. Since these poisons are prepared for Keltulis, it will be no problem to deal with ice giants."

In order to deal with the red dragon, the Ferencz clan had made two preparations. In addition to the abortion drug, they actually prepared a really strong poison, but now it was obviously no longer possible and there was no need for them to use the poison. So it was stolen by Beatrice and used to deal with the ice giant.

Lann was not originally in the Scoia'tael's plan, and the Scoia'tael didn't take Lann seriously. But the subsequent swagger of the Frost Giant made the Scoia'tael realize that if they wanted to launch a coup in Mahakam, they had to get rid of this giant who could hold down the red dragon.

"But now that we have the poison, how can we poison the ice giant? Such a large amount of medicine cannot be done secretly."

Beatrice held the large bottle in his hand, along with the poison brought by other accomplices, and expressed doubts.

"Why do you think I let you into the dungeon to rescue me instead of letting me out in advance?" The three-braided Scoia'tael dwarf patted Beatrice on the shoulder. "Entering the dungeon is the key to our plan."

Then the two of them shifted their sights and looked towards the end of the dungeon. The prisoners there had already stood up with anticipation in their eyes when they saw Beatrice knock down the guard.

"Chief Sieglin." The three-braided dwarf called out the prisoner's identity, "We need a little help."

"A terrifying monster appeared next to the Lion of Cintra. Only people in the Cintra team can get close to it. Fortunately, many Sieglins have appeared in his team recently."

The three-braided dwarf looked at Chief Zegrin in the cage and said condescendingly: "I need your help to persuade those Zegrin to cooperate with our actions. In return, we will give you freedom again and let you join our great cause."

…

House finished his report without stopping, but he was still not satisfied. He looked at Lane expectantly, as if expecting praise.

"These are what I gained in Mahakam, sir." House held the lion-headed long sword at his waist with his right hand, and hesitated to speak. "I heard... you encountered a dragon in the Ferenz clan. I was not able to stand by your side with a sword at that time. It was my fault."

Lann waved his hand: "I ordered you to negotiate with the dwarves here, and you have completed your task very well."

House's completion of the mission in Mahakam really exceeded Lane's expectations.

On the surface, Lane left House in Carbon Mountain to negotiate with Mahakam's quartermaster and finalize the quantity of iron ore resources and military weapons to be traded to Cintra; but House was obviously not so honest. In addition to his apparent work, he also made an excuse to visit Mahakam's military factory forging and the legion's daily drills, inquired about various intelligence, and made the mysterious Mahakam open the door to the people of Cintra.

Sintra needs to conduct a comprehensive investigation of potential partners; taking a step back, if this "partner" is likely to become an enemy in the future, this will also allow Sintra to be prepared.

Intelligence is always the most important thing, and House was indeed shocked by the information he collected.

"The Mahakam army doesn't have a distinction between standing troops and conscripted troops. Their structure is very strange," House analyzed. "The standing garrison of Carbon Mountain is actually only over a thousand people, but the number of qualified 'warriors' they actually have far exceeds this number. This is because Mahakam itself has compulsory military service, and every dwarf who joins the army is able to skillfully master a variety of weapons including axes, arrows, hammers, and shields."

"If dwarves who have completed their military service choose to retire, they will mostly engage in physical labor such as mining, iron smelting, hunting, and light combat work after returning to the clan to maintain considerable combat effectiveness. Once a battle is needed, Mahakam can mobilize about 10,000 soldiers, and they are all veterans."

"Dwarves have an extremely long lifespan, so their peak period will last very long; their long lifespan also allows them to receive training in multiple military services. Coupled with Mahakam's rich military resources--" House swallowed.

"These 10,000-plus warriors can be equipped with armor and become heavy infantry of 10,000 people at any time, or the military structure can be adjusted according to needs to be divided into archery regiments, light infantry regiments, equipment regiments, etc. No country in the North, including Redania and Temeria, can fight them alone! The power of the dwarves is far more terrifying than humans can imagine."

"Although this 10,000-strong army is not a 'standing army' and is usually dispersed among various clans, the Dwarf Grand Elder has the final say in Mahakam and his authority is greater than that of the King of Skellige. As long as he gives an order, these Dwarf soldiers can be gathered together at any time."

The fertility of dwarves is not as strong as that of humans, but their long lifespan is enough for them to build an unrivaled army. The only problem of dwarves may be that they have poor mobility and cannot find suitable mounts, so they cannot deploy cavalry and can only stay in the mountains.

"Humanity has ignored Mahakam for too long," Lann sighed, "and in the short term, we will have to help human society continue to ignore Mahakam."

In addition to investigating Mahakam's war potential, House also counted and registered the number of dwarves who would later live in Cintra.

"The Fuchs and Sieglin clans are both large clans in Mahakam. Together, they can provide us with more than 2,000 to nearly 3,000 soldiers. With the help brought back by the Ferencz clan and Cohen, we can probably stabilize the number to around 3,500."

This seems to be a very good force, but among these 3,500 people there are many young people who have not yet served in the military, and most of them can only be responsible for logistics. Their combat effectiveness is not at the same level as the "10,000-man army" that House had reported before.

"However, there are also about two thousand veterans among them. If they are fully equipped and lead the front, they can also display good combat effectiveness with the new recruits." House reported his situation faithfully.

"They are enough. I don't plan to use them as standing troops at the front. They are only used to guard against Nilfgaardian heavy cavalry at critical moments." Lan rubbed his forehead.

For Cintra, which has only 5,000 soldiers, this dwarf infantry regiment is a strong reinforcement.

"What about equipment?"

"The dwarves who reinforce us are all wearing armor according to the standard of heavy infantry." House answered decisively, "And the additional armor they provide us is enough for our own soldiers to reach a 100% armor coverage rate - of course, not the standard of heavy infantry."

The dwarves were not generous enough to provide heavy armor to each of the Cintra people, but it was enough for Lann and his men.

"Build a good relationship with the dwarf's quartermaster. We may have further contact in the future. We need to establish long-term trade with the dwarves." Lann ordered.

House nodded in agreement. He knew what he was doing with this matter.

"We can have our people start packing up our baggage now. When Cohen returns in a few days and the support from other clans arrives, we will immediately set off to return to Cintra. I'm sure everyone can't wait."

"Yes." House responded excitedly. Apparently he was one of those who couldn't wait.

"But during these days, make sure everyone keeps their armor and swords on them and stays vigilant," Lann reminded again.

This sentence made House stunned, and then he became serious.

"You mean..."

Lann didn't say much, but just asked as if he suddenly thought of something: "Who is in charge of watching over Yoton now?"

Jotun is the name of an ice giant.

House thought for a moment and replied, "Ms. Saskia is taking our people to take care of him. Everyone is still afraid of the giants and dares not approach them without you. Now the giants only calm down a little when they come into contact with Ms. Saskia."

Although the ice giant has been contracted by Lann, he is still wild and unruly. Even if he is not out of control and kills people everywhere, he usually keeps strangers away. In the past, the Cintra soldiers would be at risk of being accidentally injured if they approached him. It is because Saskia, as a green dragon, has enough confidence in his heart, and the ice giant also knows Saskia's true identity, so he is more willing to get close to Saskia than humans.

But it was not the time to throw the ice giants into the mountains. Being in the capital of Mahakam, the giants' daily care and food supply still had to be taken care of by someone else. Lan thought for a moment and said, "Let's also arrange for the dwarves in our team to take care of Yotun."

"Especially Sieglin, have them bring their weapons."

Although he didn't know what Lane's purpose was, House still responded, "Yes."

…

It was just getting light, and people were exhausted.

Gabo slapped his face hard and called out to those behind him: "Follow me."

Since joining Lann's team, Gabor has consciously looked for any opportunity to contribute. After returning to Carbon Mountain, he did not hesitate to take on the task of taking care of the ice giants, a task that even Cintra's own people would hesitate to do.

To say that he was taking care of them was actually just cooperating with the reception staff of the Carbon Mountain to prepare food for the giants, and cooperating more when the armorer came to measure the size. The ice giants were not livestock, but the overlords of the mountains. If something really happened, it would be unclear who would take care of whom.

"Gabor, is it necessary to be so cautious?" The young man Zieglin who was following Gabor yawned, "This is Carbon Mountain, what danger can there be?"

These Sieglin youths do not have as much energy as Gabor. They were assigned a task last night and were asked to stand guard all night. Now is the most tiring time.

Gabo shook his head and looked into the distance. It was early morning and the first rays of sunlight in Mahakam had not yet appeared.

"The people of Cintra are already packing their baggage. In a few days, perhaps tomorrow, we will follow them and leave Mahakam, never to return.

Gabo turned around and looked at his fellow tribesmen: "Don't you want to take this opportunity to take a closer look at your hometown?"

As soon as these words came out, the Sieglin youth behind Gabor fell silent. The sleepiness that lingered in his mind was instantly swept away, and was replaced by a stronger emotion.

There were footsteps coming from not far away. The guarding force of the Ice Giant was not only the Sieglin Dwarves.

Gabor took a deep breath as he looked at the tall figure approaching. He felt no more relaxed than when he faced the ice giant.

"Ms. Sakia."

Saskia waved her hand cheerfully: "I am not a lady, Gabo. We will all go to Sintra to work together in the future, so don't meet like this..."

…

Accidents always happen unexpectedly.

Before Saskia finished greeting her colleagues, an arrow suddenly flew out from the darkness.

This was obviously a strong bow with a very straight trajectory. The tip of the arrow pierced into Saskia's thick cloak without any hindrance, making a dull "dong" sound.

Gabo stared blankly at Sakia who was shot by an arrow but had no reaction.

The attacker in the dark paused for a moment, then shot the second arrow, and the third arrow. Each arrow maintained incredible force, and each arrow accurately hit Sakia.

It was only at this moment that Saskia seemed to react. She screamed and fell to the ground, without a sound.

Before he could even utter the word "enemy...", another arrow was nailed to Gabo's feet. The person who shot the arrow didn't seem to want to kill him, but just wanted to warn him, not wanting Gabo to make any more noise.

Gabo took one look at the fallen Sakia and thought of something. He immediately shut his mouth and stopped shouting.

A troop of soldiers immediately appeared in the darkness, roughly counting nearly a hundred people. The leading dwarf, holding a longbow, glanced at Gabor, who had drawn his weapon as if facing a formidable enemy, and sneered.

"Is this Gabo who led his people to overthrow you? He's not very tough."