Chapter 505: You can cheat your brothers, but don’t cheat yourself
Turin, Royal Palace.
Looking at the body of the young dwarf with his head and body separated in the hall, the Dwarf King could not help but burst into tears again.
It seemed that because the object of the curse died, the power of the curse disappeared, and his son was finally able to die as a dwarf.
Restraining the grief in his heart, the Dwarf King found his son's old clothes and carefully dressed them for his son, hoping that his son could retain this last bit of dignity.
But no matter how gorgeous his clothes were, they could not hide his physical imperfections.
Because the body of the dwarf prince was incomplete. Not only was his right arm missing, but his chest was also empty.
Seeing the old dwarf king's sad expression, Loen couldn't bear it:
"Is that all?"
"Well, I asked Frey. When Braki and his men did it, they took away part of the body, saying that they wanted to keep it as a souvenir of slaying the dragon."
Freya answered quietly, her eyes flickering.
Lorne nodded and said nothing more.
Friends who often kill people know that destroying a body is often done to cover up certain traces. There are usually special intentions for targeting specific parts.
If his guess was correct, he probably already knew the true face of "Rhine Gold".
After finishing the meeting with the Dwarf King, it was already late at night.
After Loen handed the remaining mess over to Freya who was accompanying him, he moved to the small courtyard provided by the Chamber of Commerce to relax.
Since his teammates were still on their way back to Turin, it was very quiet here.
However, as soon as he entered the door, a lazy voice came from the yard:
"You're back?"
A canine goddess with wolf ears and long brown hair was sitting comfortably on a chair, her two smooth, white long legs resting on the table. She was munching on an apple with a crunching sound, her dusty jade feet swaying leisurely, as if this was her own wolf den.
Lorne couldn't help but touch his face, which was not under the illusion, and looked at Holo in surprise:
"You don't seem surprised?"
"Dad, you don't think your disguise is very clever, do you?"
Holo pointed at her own nose, quite proud of herself.
It turned out to be because of the smell.
Loen realized his oversight, then shook his head, pulled out another chair, sat down opposite the stone table, and raised his hand to rub his sore temples.
Seeing this, Holo dropped the fruit core in her hand and asked:
"It seems that things are not going well this time?"
"Something unexpected happened."
Lorne answered in a deep voice, and then briefly told Holo what had happened.
After listening to the narration, Holo frowned and asked:
"So, what exactly is [Rheingold]?"
"A ring."
Lorne took a sip of tea and answered leisurely.
According to Norse mythology, the dwarf Andvari owned a magical ring - Andvari Ranot.
It means "The Treasure of Andvari", also known as the "Gold-Attracting Ring", which has the magical power of "making gold split and multiply" and "leading the holder to find gold mines".
With the help of this artifact, he accumulated a huge amount of wealth, but it also brought disaster upon him.
——The great god Odin robbed his treasure and ring and gave them to another dwarf as compensation for accidentally killing the other's son.
That’s right, this dwarf is the father of the two brothers Fafnir and Regin, the unlucky guy who was killed and robbed of his treasure by two filial sons.
Afterwards, the brothers Fafnir and Regin fled to the north with the treasure and the ring, and were captured by Durin's clan.
In order to survive, they handed over their treasures, and the magical ring that could explore gold mines and split and multiply gold eventually fell into the hands of the dwarf prince.
However, the Nordic world adheres to a universal law of fate - everything has a price.
Although the [Gold-Attracting Ring] can bring huge amounts of wealth to the holder, it also contains a terrible curse. Excessive use will bring serious consequences.
For example, [Dragon Syndrome]!
If my guess is correct, this is probably the cause of the [Dragon Disaster] in the Dwarf Kingdom.
"Andvari..." Holo chewed on the name and murmured meaningfully, "We have been trading with the Dwarf Kingdom for so long, but I have never heard of such a person among the seven clans."
As the goddess in charge of trade, if the Dwarf Kingdom really had such a wealthy person, she should have had an impression of him.
Then, Holo paused, picked up an apple, looked at her adoptive father, and said quietly:
"That [Gold-Attracting Ring] sounds familiar to me. However, it's not in the Dwarf Country, but in Asgard. Its official name should be -"
"Dropnir Gold Ring..."
Lorne murmured, tilting his head back and drinking the tea in the cup.
Legend has it that this thing is a symbol of wealth. Every nine days, it will replicate eight copies of itself, allowing the holder to have an inexhaustible supply of gold.
The original one was worn on the hand of his good brother Odin.
Looking at Holo who was still chewing the apple with relish after saying this, Lorne rubbed his sore temples:
"You guessed it a long time ago?"
"That's about right."
Holo took a bite of the apple and looked at her adoptive father with a smile.
"Although that person did it perfectly and didn't leave any evidence, you taught me that whoever benefits the most is the most suspicious. Just when the seven major dwarf clans showed signs of unification, a [Dragon Disaster] that swept across the entire dwarf country broke out. Even the next heir died in this dragon disaster. Don't you think it's too coincidental?
Moreover, we heard that the god of poetry Bragi brought people to quell the dragon disaster this time with a condition - he wanted to marry Iden and represent the marriage between the Asar and the dwarves. "
Lorne sighed: "Do we have to do this?"
"If not, how can we hold the power of the dwarves in our hands?" Holo looked towards the palace and said with a joking smile, "The kingdom has been through a great turmoil, and his own son has died. The old dwarf king will probably be exhausted and won't be able to hold on for much longer. When he reports to the underworld and marries Iden's poetry god Braki, he will be the most legitimate heir to the dwarf kingdom."
"Killing the other party's son, forcibly marrying the other party's daughter, and annexing the other party's clan power, killing people and destroying their hearts is just like this. This method is too cruel." Loen shook his head and commented.
As a witness, he understood the hardships of the Aesir's rise, so he did not object to Odin using power to gain benefits for his own people, but some things could not be done too drastically.
"cruel?"
Hearing the voice, Holo looked at her adoptive father with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"Dad, why do you think he is kind?"
Luo En opened his mouth, somewhat speechless, and could only refute angrily:
"At least he wasn't like this before."
"No, he always does!"
Holo shook her head in denial, and proved them one by one.
“He exchanged hostages with the Vanir through fraudulent means, causing the Vanir to lose three powerful gods.
Spread rumors to stir up infighting between the light elves and the dark elves, letting them consume each other;
He tricked the giants into building a fortress for the Aesir with the promise of benefits, but then broke the contract and killed them... these were all good things that His Majesty the God-King had done.
And now, the Vanir, the elves, and the giants have all been weakened by him directly or indirectly, so it is not surprising that it is the turn of the dwarves."
Then, Holo looked at her adoptive father faintly:
"Dad, he is just that kind of person. He will do anything to achieve his goal. As long as you stand in his way, it doesn't matter if you are merciful or not.
It’s okay to lie to others about something, but don’t end up lying to yourself.”
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
