158 Chapter 155 Backing Up The Tough Talk (1/2)
While they walked, Joseph sent an invisible mage eye around. He quickly discovered that, as soon as the dwarves were out of sight, they stopped acting like ale obsessed simpletons. It became obvious after a few moments of looking around, that they acted the way they did, specifically for their benefit. Some of them even chose to take different routes when they discovered there were visitors.
He was particularly interested in their workshops and a group of their mages were working to keep the volcano under control. It looked to be a constant job.
Keeping the eye in the corners, in case any of them could see it, he remembered that he could see them at the age of 7. Since he hadn't bothered to learn the beta version of the system here, and his level was only 1, he didn't want to risk getting caught. Then he saw a group of their elite forces, and they were all glowing red.
(IT WAS MEANT TO DISCOURAGE PEOPLE FROM FIGHTING ENEMIES TOO MANY LEVELS HIGHER THAN THEM.)
'They needed that much help?'
(I CAN USE THE FEAR AND AWE THEY FEEL, ONLY WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE, JOSEPH.)
'Fair enough.'
The door they came up to was ornately carved, with images of a dwarf defeating a six headed hydra, then being crowned king. It took six dwarves, three on each door, to open it. Joseph didn't miss the dusty footprints they were leaving, meaning, they didn't use this entrance very often. He looked around as soon as they stepped inside.
a.n.a.lYZE CREATURE.
There were royal guards along the walls, positioned between great carved murals. The elite royal guards were positioned along the walk way they proceeded down, and standing on either side of the throne, were two princes…er, one prince and one princess. Her beard was neatly trimmed and decorated with tiny precious gems.
Joseph ignored all the comments that Joe started throwing at him about girls and hair, so he used telepathy to send them to Stella. She gave him an icy glare.
'Joe, we're going to get burnt food again. Shut up.'
'Eh, I don't care, we don't need to eat anymore, remember?'
'And you think she's not going to force it down our throats?'
Joe was silent as he mulled that over, then sighed and went back to working on the summoning circle.
They stopped in front of the throne, and Joseph looked over the dwarf wearing fancy armor.
”Where's the king?” he asked, looking over at the commander who had brought him here.
He looked at him suspiciously.
”What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
”The guy sitting on the throne is not the king. The armor's fancy, but he's obviously just a guard. Those are the royal children, and everyone else are just guards…is this some kind of test?”
He shook his head and said, ”To see through the disguise ring is quite impressive.”
Stella raised an eyebrow.
”Cut the c.r.a.p. You led us on a roundabout while everyone got this little farce together. That door hasn't been opened in months; I could hear the squeak of the hinges. Now, are you going to lead my master to your king, or are you just wasting our time?”
”Stella!” snapped Joseph, shocked.
”What? These guys aren't the idiots they're trying to show us. They're guards. They're warriors. Whatever reason they have for their act, I'm sick of it.”
”Just because they're acting like that doesn't mean that you should call them out on it. What if they're afraid of showing us how impressive they are?”
The dwarves were obviously listening in. When he gave her the gift of tongues, that meant he didn't swap back and forth between languages when he talked to her anymore. The shock they had at her initial outburst, had worn off, and they were starting to get annoyed and angry.
”Your etiquette teacher never taught you how to deal with warriors, only diplomats. This guy we're trying to see may be a king, but he was a warrior before that.”
Joseph mulled that over, then nodded. ”All right. I concede that you are right, but we are guests still.”