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Chapter 132 Returning to Edentail
🕑 Added 2023-05-05 13:12:06 +0000 UTCChapter 132 Returning to Edentail
"Lord Alistar, what about the ores?" Rhegar asked. Now that Niece was no longer with us, she returned all of our belongings. We didn't bring much anyway, so our preparation for the return trip was swift.
"We can pick them up later after we make another potion for the tailfolk, or we could ask for a carriage now and return it to the dwarves later. Nevertheless, the titan ores would be unused without the golderite. There's no need to rush," Alistar said.
"Who will be the sacrifice?" Mattheus asked the important question.
"Probably one of the central nobles with their vassals," Alistar answered.
"Huh? Those guys would be willing to be sacrificed?" Lily was astonished. Elven law prohibited ordering someone else to die, regardless of the circumstances, as it would be against their high magic moral standard. It was unthinkable for Lily and me to think they would sacrifice their own body willingly without being ordered.
"I am not sure about it. It is just a passing rumor. I am sure they would not do it for free, but we are also willing to pay any price," Alistar said.
"I see."
We chatted for a bit after leaving the dwarven capital. Sig offered an inn, but Alistar politely declined, referring to his reports and preparation for the undead assault. Then we departed from the dwarven county and arrived at Edenthal late at night. After bathing inside the quarantine zone, Alistar registered himself inside an inn in Edenthal with Edelweiss.
"Hmm…. maybe we still have an adventurer party's mood or something, but isn't sleeping inside the same house forbidden for elven men and women?" I muttered.
"Well, in the future, maybe Alistar will court Edelweiss. They seem to have a good relationship. Let us not be spoilsports and just let them be," Lily answered. I might sound like a hypocrite, but we also slept with Alith and Sana inside the town hall. We even slept in the same room, although with different beds.
"Hmm… but they aren't saying anything either. Maybe they do actually have feelings for each other?" Lily suggested.
"But they didn't sound like they fell in love either. This is what you call friend-zoned, right?" I retaliated.
"That's just how elves are. They usually get friendly like this for about fifty years, get married, then have children fifty years later until the end of their life expectancy at 250." Lily said. She didn't actually know how elves actually behaved. After all, we only started living in the elven country for a maximum of two years. Moreover, we were always together, and I have never seen other elves describe elven love life.
However, Lily's interpretation of elven love life seemed right on the money. It was believable. Now that I think about it, no wonder their species were on the brink of extinction. They didn't fall in love like ordinary people. They simply stayed put with the one they felt most comfortable with. Elves didn't fall in love in the heat of the moment, I think. Instead, they spend multiple years ascertaining their compatibility.
"Enough gossiping. Let us sleep," Lily said as she changed into her pajamas. Her clothes were left for servants to wash. There was no celebration here as we arrived in the dead of night. But I am sure there will be a lot of citizens congratulating us tomorrow.
Edelweiss and Alistar spent over a week sleeping inside our inn, which concerned me about our schedule to assault the undead. The elves were really lax with time management. However, they wrote a letter to King Garme detailing their adventures and success in obtaining Titan ores the morning after they arrived in Edenthal. Despite having the option to return, they chose to wait for the promised Titan ores from the dwarves.
The dwarves kept their promise and arrived at our quarantine zone five days later with a caravan bearing news from the trader. As usual, they requested food in exchange, and upon seeing the list of ingredients they wanted, I rolled my eyes. Lily winced as well, as it was almost the same list of ingredients as the feast we had previously, minus the alcohol.
"At least they're paying with ores," Lily said.
"Is that our entire shipment?" Edelweiss questioned as Lily brought the ores to the town hall.
"Indeed, Lord Edelweiss and Alistar. In these wagons are our 700 kg Titan ores, and in that wagon are steel bars that the dwarves wanted to trade for food."
"Another trade?" Edelweiss frowned. "Considering how frequently they request extra food from us, I wonder if King Sig requested much lower food from King Garme than he needs."
"Perhaps they didn't want to rely solely on us," I suggested. "It's hard for an entire country to depend on a single valley for food. They must procure it from somewhere else. But given their history of being abandoned, I can understand their hesitation."
"We should offer them a place to produce their own food," Lily proposed.
"No way," Alistar disagreed. "We cannot just give away lands to whoever we please. No country does that except under dire circumstances. Even humans never sell their lands to other nobles. If we did, there would be a risk of the dwarves staging a rebellion there."
However, their mindset was outdated. As someone from modern Earth, I knew about foreign investment. Foreign investment could help Lily and me get out of debt in one go and also give the dwarves a reason to fully trust us. By offering to help with farming, the dwarves could produce their own food, and our market prices would not be affected since their food would always be more expensive. However, as Alistar had mentioned, the relationship between the three races was fragile. They didn't trust each other and feared rebellion at all times.
Nonetheless, Lily's trusting and innocent nature might set a precedent for foreign investment in the future. I could see Edenthal being the trade hb for dwarves, elves, and possibly humans too.
