Chapter 562, Section 561: Ash City
Number Four is very conflicted.
Pinky hasn't been able to hug it for three days.
And this is all because of the trophy it treasures—a head from a cultist.
The encounter with the cultists when he first left the Scarecrow Abyss was no accident.
With the situation on the mainland in turmoil, the Hand of the Dead took the opportunity to wreak havoc everywhere, and the buffer zones between the borders of various countries were the areas where they were most active.
Along the way, they repeatedly detected traces of the Hand of Death. Some were just vague rumors, while others were real tragedies.
Refugee civilians mysteriously disappeared, and the remains of adventurers were found in a remote mountain cave, their bodies gnawed beyond recognition by monsters, with traces of a sacrificial ritual remaining nearby...
Whenever he sensed a clue, Fourteen would always insist on going to investigate.
As a result, the trip has been delayed considerably.
If Number Ten were still here, he would probably be arguing with Number Fourteen by now.
But those present now are Number Four, who doesn't care about this, and Inanna, who is almost endlessly indulgent towards the Puji.
Ronan, the mission's steward, had some complaints about this, but he obviously had no say in the matter.
Number Four always went along, and that head was the one he personally severed, which he regarded as proof of his honor.
Unfortunately, PinkPuji doesn't seem to appreciate this honor.
On one side were the spoils she planned to take back to show off to the other mushroom tribe members, and on the other side was a warm and soft full-service kneading massage.
It struggled with this for a very, very long time...
"No... Xiao Si, even if you stuff that head back into your belly, I still won't hug you..."
"By the way, that head of yours is starting to stink; you need to take a shower."
Number four, with its bulging belly, drooped its mushroom cap, looking extremely disappointed.
It slowly moved to the roadside, reluctantly took out the shriveled and darkened head, and solemnly placed it on the branch of a low tree, bidding it a final farewell.
Then, Inanna herself used magic to carefully wash it from head to toe.
As the mission entered the mountainous region, the cultists finally disappeared.
The roads began to change; they were no longer dirt roads over forests and wilderness, but neat stone paths carved along the mountain ridges.
The road is narrow, sometimes clinging to the cliff, with a deep valley shrouded in mist on the other side.
The mountains stretch endlessly, their bare rock faces displaying an iron-gray or dark red hue, amidst which tenacious trees with blade-like leaves and dense thickets of thorns grow.
The higher peaks in the distance are covered with snow that never melts, gleaming with a cold, silvery light in the thin sunlight.
In order for the carriages to travel on these roads, the mission had to replace the fine horses they brought from the kingdom with high-horned sheep adapted to traveling in the mountains before entering the mountains.
Highhorn sheep are good at climbing mountain roads and have great endurance, but in terms of appearance, they are far inferior to horses.
A day later, a city came into view on the horizon.
It was not built at the foot or top of the mountain, but rather as a medium-sized fortress nestled halfway up the mountainside – Ash City.
From a distance, the city appears to grow out of the mountain. Large, thick, bronze-colored rocks form its base and outer walls, with towering walls following the contours of the mountain.
Several square towers jutted out from behind the city wall. Instead of pointed tops, the towers were flat watchtowers, from which one could vaguely see the figures of dwarven sentries clad in heavy armor.
Even more striking is the central part of the city, where several spacious open-air platforms have been carved out. On the largest platform, a faint, dark red flame can be seen, clearly visible even in daylight. That is the dwarves' communal forge that never goes out.
Several thick columns of smoke rose slowly from holes in different parts of the mountain, ascending straight into the clouds.
The final stretch leading to the city gate is a steep, zigzagging slope, with massive, boldly carved reliefs on the rock walls on both sides depicting hammer-wielding warriors fighting alongside their best companions, griffins.
Unfortunately, given the current number of griffins, only the royal family can possess a griffin knightly order.
For a border city like Ash City, especially one facing its allies, the only thing left is to carve a statue like this as a token gesture.
The delegation finally arrived at the city walls.
The heavy, black iron gate was tightly shut, its surface covered with rivets, gleaming with a dull luster from years of smoke and rain. At the gate's watchtower, a squad of dwarven warriors clad in chainmail and wielding battle axes coldly watched the delegation's arrival.
A dwarf with a thick braided beard and a captain's insignia emblazoned on his shoulder armor stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Who goes there? What brings you here?"
Ronan's brow furrowed immediately. As an experienced mission manager, he had dispatched a messenger by fast horse several days earlier to deliver the message.
Normally, even without a grand welcoming procession, the city gates should be open at this moment, and at least there should be officials in charge of etiquette waiting there.
Instead of being greeted, the city gates were tightly closed and they were being questioned rigorously. Could it be that something had happened to the messenger he sent out?
He suppressed his doubts and stepped forward to give a proper bow: "We represent the United Kingdom and have come to discuss a new alliance with our dwarven allies! Lady Inanna, daughter of Duke Alama and a heroine of the Battle of Dragonroar Valley, is also in our delegation."
He hoped that the other party would change their attitude because of Inanna's name.
However, the dwarf captain listened expressionlessly and replied briefly, "Understood, I'll go report."
He then turned and left, leaving the entire delegation stranded outside the closed city gates on the cold, windswept mountain path.
This goes far beyond the scope of negligence or ignorance.
Ronan's face darkened. It seemed the problem wasn't with the messenger, but with the dwarves of the area, who were deliberately neglecting or even making things difficult for him.
Time passed slowly in silence, and the mountain wind swept across the cliffs, bringing with it the distant roar of forges.
Only after a long time did the two huge black iron doors slowly open inward with a heavy, grating scraping sound, just enough for a carriage to pass through.
The group was finally able to enter, and the world beyond the door was filled with a richer atmosphere of smoke and metallic echoes. The streets were narrow and steep, and warm yellow light shone through the windows of the stone houses on both sides.
Just then, Number Four, who had been peacefully nestled in Inanna's arms, enjoying the long-awaited kneading service, suddenly started tattling to Inanna through the fungal network:
"That guy who was shorter than me, the one who was only a little taller than me, was secretly calling them 'treacherous villains' behind their backs."
When Number Four said "they," he was referring to the humans in the mission. After all, he and Pink Puji were both Puji, so they couldn't be included in the list of those being criticized.
Inanna turned around and met the dwarf captain's disgusted gaze.
This puzzled Inanna; had they done something that the dwarves disliked?
...
At the highest point of the castle, inside a tower cast from massive stone and bronze, the dwarf lord Badley Deepfire leaned on his rune battleaxe, looking down at the delegation slowly entering the city below.
The mountain wind outside the tower ruffled his thick, iron-gray beard, and the metal rings at the ends of his braids clinked together, making a soft sound.
"Allies? A new alliance?" Badley scoffed. "A bunch of cunning humans, what tricks are they trying to pull now to drag others down with them?"
(End of this chapter)
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