Grom sat beside a rough tombstone.
By the light of a magic lamp, he tore open one letter after another,
reading their contents aloud to the cold stone in a low voice.
His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly over the silent cemetery.
An atmosphere that should have been filled with sorrow felt somewhat... subtle at this moment.
“Old Anvil, your adoptive son Bronzebeard is living well in New Covenant City.”
“Oh, he said in his letter that if his brother refuses to help him pay his debts,”
“he wants me to tell you to help cover them.”
Grom couldn't help but chuckle and curse as he read up to this point.
“That bastard, you're already buried in the ground, and he still wants to rip you off.”
He shook his head and pulled out the next letter.
“Second kid of the Stonehammers, the sister you recognized has gotten married in Caran City.”
“The guy is a short human blacksmith who doesn't mind her background. She says she's living quite well,”
“except she always remembers how you used to steal roasted potatoes from her forge when you were little.”
As Grom read on, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.
The other dwarves in the cemetery did not show much sorrow either.
They listened quietly, occasionally letting out a soft chuckle or sigh.
For these warriors who fought on the line between life and death year-round,
death had long ceased to be unfamiliar.
They had seen too many companions fall,
and had long since learned to face parting in the most open-minded way.
Grom finished reading the last letter in his hand.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the forest of tombstones around him.
“Brothers, did you all hear that?”
“Those Stoneheart clan members who left and scattered to far-off places are still alive.”
“They are all living well.”
His voice deepened, carrying an unquestionable solemnity.
“And the one who brought back these messages is a human mage.”
“His name is Lin Gui.”
“With only High Rank strength, he crossed the entire wilderness.”
“From New Covenant City to Caran City, and then to the Carter Royal Capital...”
“And finally, he arrived at our Shield City.”
Grom stood up and brushed the dirt off his trousers.
“I don't know how he did it.”
“But the Stoneheart Clan has noted this kindness in their letters, and we, too, will remember this debt of gratitude.”
“You all should too.”
He spoke to the tombstones as if he were truly having a conversation.
“I will thank him properly on your behalf.”
“And I will also follow that kid Copperhammer's instructions.”
Grom paused, his eyes turning exceptionally resolute.
“Keep him in Shield City.”
“We absolutely cannot let him go to the Wall of Sighs.”
His voice lowered, yet carried even more weight.
“Even if we have to use force, or resort to any means necessary,”
“we must stop him.”
“From going to that... barren land where no living soul remains.”
Having said that, he picked up the flask at his feet,
tilted his head back, and took a deep draft.
The golden liquor flowed down his beard, glistening in the firelight.
Then, he placed the empty flask heavily in front of the tombstone,
picked up the last letter, and walked out of the cemetery without looking back.
His steps were resolute.
High above the cemetery.
Lin Gui and Eve, hidden beneath the Shroud of the Gloomy Night, watched this scene in silence.
Eve leaned in close to Lin Gui's ear,
her warm breath brushing against his earlobe.
“I really didn't expect to hear something like that.”
“It seems the dwarven leader doesn't want us to set off.”
Lin Gui did not respond.
He looked up, gazing at the buildings constructed along the mountain cliffs.
Densely packed ventilation shafts were sealed with iron grates, revealing scattered lights.
“With the Shroud of the Gloomy Night and Levitation,”
he said softly, his tone calm.
“they can't stop us.”
With that, he steered the broom, silently turning around,
and flew back toward Council Hill, where they were staying, with Eve in tow.
The night was deep.
The bustle of the mountain city-state gradually subsided.
Only the never-extinguished fires of the forges flickered in the depths.
What Lin Gui did not know, however,
was that the greatest obstacle he would face did not come from Grom.
Instead, it came from the recipient of that final letter.
The City Lord's manor of Shield City.
Located in the deepest part of the mountain's belly, this was the core of the entire city-state.
The heavy metal doors were tightly shut, carved with defensive runes.
Inside was an extremely spacious office.
The walls, carved from a single piece of obsidian, gleamed with a cold, hard luster.
A dwarf sat behind a massive stone desk.
His build was a whole size larger than Grom's.
His beard was woven into intricate braids, interspersed with several prominent streaks of graying white.
He wore simple leather artisan clothes, yet exuded an invisible pressure.
He was the City Lord of Shield City,
the Fortress Lord, a Low-tier Epic warrior.
Heart of the Mountain—Balin Heavyhammer.
At this moment, he was clutching a letter in his hand,
his brow furrowed, his expression terrifyingly grim.
Grom stood in front of the desk, reporting cautiously.
“City Lord, the letter was written by that fellow Copperhammer,”
“sent from the Carter Royal Capital.”
Balin Heavyhammer abruptly raised his head.
“The Carter Royal Capital?”
His voice was deep, sounding like grinding rocks.
“Yes,” Grom said, bracing himself. “And...”
“And what?”
“And the hundred thousand gold coins you gave him for travel expenses...”
Grom swallowed hard.
“If there are no surprises... he gambled it all away.”
Naturally, Copperhammer himself would never honestly confess that he had gambled away all his money.
In fact, in his letter to the Fortress Lord,
he had even emphasized that the letter was written in Caran City.
He just hadn't expected that when Lin Gui arrived in Shield City,
he would accidentally "sell him out."
Furthermore, while Grom was drinking with Lin Gui and the others, he had learned from Theia
about Copperhammer's miserable life in the Carter Royal Capital.
He had actually been reduced to sleeping in a dilapidated garbage station.
With no surprises, that fellow had indeed gambled all his money away.
The air in the office instantly froze.
Balin Heavyhammer fell silent for a moment.
He slowly set the letter down, resting both hands on the desk,
his knuckles turning white from the pressure.
“One hundred thousand gold coins...”
He repeated in a low voice, squeezing each word through his teeth.
“I gave him a whopping hundred thousand gold coins!!”
“And he just gambled it all away for me?!!”
“That was my secret savings!!”
The next second.
Boom!!!
He slammed a fist down onto the steel desk in front of him!
The solid steel desk, half a meter thick, instantly dented downward with a clear fist print!
A terrifying vibration exploded outward from the point of impact.
The ground of the entire City Lord's manor shook slightly.
The torches on the walls swayed wildly, shadows dancing in chaos.
Ancient books and scrolls clattered to the floor from the shelves,
and even the ceiling showered down fine dust.
Outside the office.
Several dwarves busy in the hallway were startled.
They subconsciously looked at the alarm on the wall.
It didn't ring.
The source of the tremor seemed to come from the City Lord's office.
They exchanged glances, helpless expressions on their faces.
“Who made the Fortress Lord angry this time...”
“This is quite a commotion.”
Before the words could fully leave their mouths,
a sharp female voice suddenly exploded outside the office.
“Balin Heavyhammer!!!”
The voice was full of energy, carrying a sky-high fury.
“What kind of madness are you throwing in the middle of the night?!!”
“The three little brats I finally managed to coax to sleep were all woken up by your shaking!!”
Thump, thump, thump came the approaching footsteps.
A female dwarf, equally stout and wearing an apron around her waist, rushed over aggressively.
She was still clutching a ladle in her hand, having clearly just come from the kitchen.
“Are you just too bored?!”
“Do you have to let the whole city know you're smashing tables?!”
“That table was a gift from the guild! If you break it, are you going to pay for it?!”
She rushed to the office doorway.
Pointing at Balin Heavyhammer inside, she gave him a fierce scolding.
Balin Heavyhammer's imposing aura instantly deflated by half.
He shrunk his neck and tried to explain.
“No, honey, listen to me...”
“Like hell I will!”
The female dwarf didn't give him a single chance.
“Quiet down right now!”
“If you wake the kids up again, you can get the hell out and sleep in the forge tonight!”
With that, she glared fiercely at Balin,
then glanced at Grom, whose face was flushed red from trying to hold back his laughter.
“And you! Grom!”
“Not sleeping in the middle of the night and coming here to make trouble!”
“Get the hell back!”
Grom quickly stood at attention.
“Yes, sister-in-law!”
He slipped out of the office as if fleeing for his life,
leaving Balin Heavyhammer alone to face his wife's wrath.
The office door was slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Vaguely, the female dwarf's lingering grumbles could still be heard from outside.
“None of them can make things easy...”
Balin Heavyhammer stood in place, looking at the crumpled letter on the desk,
then at the fist dent he had made.
Ultimately, he let out a deep sigh,
bent down, and began to pick up the scattered documents on the floor.
He placed the final two letters on the desk.
One was from Copperhammer to Grom, which contained the request to keep the human mage here.
And the other was from Blackwater Port.
It came from Freya, the leader of the North Wind caravan.
The supplies from the North Wind caravan had arrived in Shield City nearly a month ahead of schedule.
They had just reached the city.
A letter from the North Wind had also been delivered to the Fortress Lord's hands.
In the letter, she explained why the caravan had been able to deliver the supplies so far in advance.
It was because of a human mage who had joined them from the Carter Royal Capital.
She described the abilities he had displayed along the way.
She also hoped that if he visited Shield City,
Balin Heavyhammer would not make things too difficult for him.
She knew of the dwarves' hostility toward humans, but still hoped he would show some leniency for her sake.
If his supplies ran low and he wished to replenish them in Shield City,
she hoped Balin would allow them to enter the city to rest and recuperate.
Furthermore, to persuade Balin to agree to her request,
Freya mentioned Lin Gui's exquisite mastery of Levitation in the letter.
Perhaps it could provide unexpected assistance to Balin's plan to construct the Second Shield City.
Balin was naturally aware that Levitation represented an alternative peak in the field of magic.
And when he saw Freya state
that Lin Gui's mastery of Levitation
almost surpassed all mages, including the Wind Tower Master of the City of a Thousand Towers,
Balin's eyes narrowed.
Balin knew exactly how trustworthy little Freya's words were.
If that human mage truly possessed such a level of mastery over Levitation...
Recalling the request of that bastard Copperhammer, Balin walked to the window and looked out at the fortress cliffs,
specifically at the embrasures meant for firing magic crystal cannons.
“Sigh, just in case, I should activate that thing.”
“Anyway, the North Wind caravan's supplies are almost here,”
“which will be enough to sustain it until the beginning of next year.”
As for the help with his plan that Freya had mentioned,
even if the man truly had the ability, Balin would not make use of it.
Because the man was a benefactor to the Stoneheart Clan.
And the Stoneheart Clan was the benefactor of the entirety of Shield City.
Returning to the desk, he picked up a photograph he had carefully stored away.
Looking at the horned demon who was holding him in the photo, smiling brightly,
Balin sighed.
“Marbas, if you were still here to see these letters, how happy you would be.”
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