Chapter 177: From Arrival To Negotiation (1/2)

Loren and Lapis went back inside, woke up the still-unconscious Gula, unloaded their luggages, then spent the night at the base. Unfortunately, Lapis didn’t really live at this base and didn’t keep any beddings and such here, so they had to use the sofa and chairs to make some simple beds. It was still much more pleasant than camping outside. The best thing was, they didn’t need to keep guards; they just closed the door, and everyone could sleep soundly until morning. Loren was worried that Lapis and Gula would do weird things during the night, but it seemed like mental fatigue also came after their bout of off-routine physical exercise; both of them slept without doing anything.

The next morning, they had a simple breakfast, then divided their luggage into three and put them into the backpacks Lapis kept at the base. They each carried a backpack and left the base.

The plan was to walk to the foot of the outer mountains, then Lapis would talk to her dwarf friends there.

“Please leave the negotiation to me. If you two come forward, they’ll become cautious.”

Lapis warned them beforehand, but neither Loren nor Gula felt like interrupting a talk between dwarves. She had brought some ores from the base to use in the negotiation, and was carrying them in a bag hanging from her waist.

Under Lapis’ guidance, they reached the dwarves’ base after two hours of walking. It was a group of cave-like dwellings situated near a section of hole-ridden mountain. It could be called a dwarf village, but compared to human villages with fields and water wells, it wasn’t very impressive. Rather dreary, to be honest.

A quick look over the village showed no signs of inhabitant, but as if to prove that there were indeed people – no, dwarves – living here, the sound of metal striking earth could be heard from the caves. They stepped into the village, but there was no sign of anyone coming out. While Loren was wondering if the dwarves were being too careless, Lapis called out someone’s name:

“Is Grandpa Dig here?”

The sounds of hammers and pickaxes they had been hearing immediately stopped at the same time and short, stout bearded men came out of the caves. They were holding huge hammers in both hands, and all looked rather unhappy.

“Who?! Who interrupted our work?!”

“It’s me. Is Grandpa Dig here?”

The dwarves turned to Loren’s party with such harsh gazes that it wouldn’t be incorrect to say they were seething with anger, but Lapis stepped between the other two and their line of sight. Dwarves were known for their sturdy bodies and physical strength, and thus were quite capable warriors. But against such powerful opponents like Loren with his white sword and the Evil God Gula, they were, without a doubt, not a match. If either Loren or Gula took offense at the dwarves’ glare, it would turn into a brawl, so Lapis had to hurriedly step in. Also, dwarves were known to be short-tempered; even if Loren and Gula didn’t take offense, the dwarves might just attack first depending on the answer they received.

“And who are you?”

“It’s Lapis, Lapis. Lapis the priest. Did you forget me?”

Lapis answered with an amiable smile. The dwarves surrounded and scrutinized her, then one of them dropped the hammers he was holding and pointed at her face:

“I remember you. The miss with the hangover medicine!”

“Ooh, that very good medicine!”

Once one had remembered, the others also did, one by one. They began drawing nearer with bright smiles.

Lapis responded with a smile that was almost bitter. Things wouldn’t be able to progress like this though, so she asked the dwarves in a louder voice:

“I’ve come to meet Grandpa Dig. Is he not here?”

“Is that the little miss demon? Long time no see.”

In response to Lapis’ question, a dwarf with an impressive white beard came forward as if breaking up the crowd of dwarves.

When that dwarf called Lapis a demon, Loren was worried about the other dwarves’ reaction, but their attitude didn’t change at all. They didn’t seem to despise Lapis.

“Long time no see, Grandpa Dig. I’ve come for a guide request.”

“Guide? To the demons’ place? You’ve finally come home?”

The dwarf called Grandpa Dig turned his eyes towards Loren and Gula.

“Human and… What’s that sexy one? Doesn’t seem to be human.”

“That sexy one is some being I don’t fully understand.”

Dwarves’ bodies were wholly covered themselves in leather and thick clothes, and their faces were covered with beards. They didn’t really expose skin. Therefore, to them, someone with bare shoulders, stomach, and exposed thighs and legs like Gula could only be described as ‘sexy’.

As the other dwarves also started saying ‘Sexy, sexy’, Gula clung to Loren’s arms and looked closed to tears:

“What, they give me such an awful assessment”

“It’s not like you don’t know why though.”

Loren did plan to shut them up if it was something unwarranted, but Loren did understand why the dwarves gave Gula this assessment; it was difficult to tell them to stop.