Grom sat beside a rough tombstone.
By the light of a magic lamp, he opened one letter after another, reciting their contents in a low voice to the cold stone monuments.
His voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly over the silent cemetery.
What should have been an atmosphere thick with sorrow now felt a bit... nuanced.
“Old Anvil, your godson Bronzebeard is doing just fine in New Covenant City.”
“Oh, he says in the letter that if his brother won't help him pay back what he owes,”
“then I should tell you to help him cover the difference.”
When Grom reached that part, he couldn't help but let out a laugh-filled curse.
“That scoundrel. Even with the man buried in the ground, he still wants to fleece him.”
He shook his head and pulled out the next one.
“Second son of the Stonehammer family, that sister you recognize married into a family in Caran City.”
“The guy is a short human blacksmith who doesn't look down on her status. She says her life is going pretty well,”
“except she always remembers how you used to steal roasted potatoes from her forge when you were kids.”
As Grom read on, the corners of his mouth unknowingly curled upward.
The other dwarves in the cemetery didn't show much sadness either.
They listened quietly, occasionally letting out a low chuckle or a sigh.
For these warriors who lived on the edge of life and death year-round, death was no longer a stranger.
They had seen too many companions fall and had long ago learned to face departure in the most open-minded way possible.
After Grom finished 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 kin who left and are scattered in far-off lands are all still alive.”
“They are all living well.”
His voice dropped slightly, carrying an unquestionable solemnity.
“And the one who brought back these messages is a human mage.”
“His name is Lin Gui.”
“Despite only having the strength of a High Rank, he crossed the entire wilderness.”
“From New Covenant City to Caran City to the Carter Royal Capital...”
“And finally, he came to our Shield City.”
Grom stood up and brushed the dirt off his trouser legs.
“I don't know how he did it.”
“But the Stoneheart Clan has noted this debt of gratitude in their letters, and we, too, will remember it.”
“You should, as well.”
He spoke to the tombstones as if truly holding a conversation.
“I will thank him properly on your behalf.”
“I will also follow that boy Copperhammer's instructions.”
Grom paused, his eyes becoming exceptionally firm.
“I will keep him in Shield City.”
“He absolutely cannot be allowed to go to the Wall of Sighs.”
His voice grew quieter but carried even more force.
“Even if I have to use forceful means or any method necessary,”
“I must stop him.”
“From going to that... wasteland of no return, where no living being survives.”
After speaking, he picked up the wineskin by his feet, tilted his head back, and took a long, deep swig.
The golden liquid flowed down his beard, shimmering under the firelight.
Afterward, he placed the empty wineskin heavily before the tombstone, took the final letter, and walked out of the cemetery without looking back.
His steps were resolute.
Above the cemetery, Lin Gui and Eve were hidden under the Shroud of the Gloomy Night, watching the 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 words like that.”
“It seems the dwarven leader doesn't want us to set out.”
Lin Gui did not respond.
He looked up at the buildings constructed within the cliff walls.
The dense network of ventilation shafts was sealed with iron grates, with stray lights flickering through them.
“With the Shroud of the Gloomy Night and Levitation,” he said softly, his tone calm, “they cannot stop us.”
With that, he controlled the broom and silently turned around, leading Eve back toward Council Hill where they were staying.
...
The night was deep.
The clamor of the mountain city gradually subsided.
Only the never-extinguished fires of the forges flickered in the depths.
What Lin Gui didn't know was that the greatest obstacle for him did not come from Grom.
Rather, it came from the recipient of that final letter.
Shield City, Fortress Lord's Manor.
This place was located in the deepest part of the mountain hollow, and it was also the core of the entire city-state.
Thick metal doors were tightly shut, their surfaces carved with defensive runes.
Inside the doors was an extremely spacious office.
The walls were chiseled from a single block of obsidian, gleaming with a cold, hard luster.
A dwarf sat behind a massive stone desk.
His build was even sturdier than Grom's by a full measure.
His beard was woven into complex braids, interspersed with several noticeable strands of gray-white hair.
He wore simple leather artisan clothes, yet he exuded an invisible pressure.
He was the Lord of Shield City, the Fortress Lord, and a Low-tier Epic warrior.
The Heart of the Mountain—Balin Heavyhammer.
At this moment, he was clutching a letter in his hand, his brow furrowed and his face terrifyingly dark.
Grom stood before the desk, reporting cautiously.
“Lord Balin, the letter was written by that guy Copperhammer.”
“It was sent from the Carter Royal Capital.”
Balin Heavyhammer snapped his head up.
“The Carter Royal Capital?”
His voice was low, sounding like stones grinding together.
“Yes,” Grom said, bracing himself. “And...”
“And what?”
“And, that hundred thousand gold coins you gave him for travel expenses...”
Grom swallowed hard.
“In all likelihood, he gambled every bit of it away.”
Copperhammer himself, of course, would never honestly admit that he had lost all the money.
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, the mage would unintentionally "sell him out."
And while Grom was drinking with Lin Gui's group, he had learned about Copperhammer's miserable life in the Carter Royal Capital from Theia.
He had been reduced to sleeping in a dilapidated salvage station.
Undoubtedly, that fellow had lost all the money.
The air in the office froze instantly.
Balin Heavyhammer was silent for a moment.
He slowly set down the letter and leaned his hands on the desk, his knuckles turning white from the force.
“A hundred thousand gold coins...”
He repeated the words in a low voice, each syllable sounding like it was squeezed through his teeth.
“I gave him a full hundred thousand gold coins!!”
“And he just lost it all like that?!!”
“That was my private stash!!”
In the next second—
Boom!!!
He slammed his fist onto the solid steel desk before him!
A clear fist-shaped indentation appeared instantly on the half-meter-thick solid steel surface!
A terrifying vibration radiated from the impact point, exploding outward.
The entire floor of the manor trembled slightly.
The torches on the walls flickered wildly, casting chaotic shadows.
Ancient books and scrolls cascaded off the bookshelves, and even fine dust shook down from the ceiling.
Outside the office, several dwarves busy in the corridor jumped in fright.
They instinctively looked at the alarms on the walls.
They weren't ringing.
The source of the tremors seemed to be the Fortress Lord's office.
They looked at each other with expressions of helplessness.
“Who offended the Fortress Lord this time...”
“That was quite a commotion.”
Before they could finish speaking, a sharp female voice exploded from outside the office.
“Balin Heavyhammer!!!”
The voice was full of vigor and carried an overwhelming fury.
“What kind of madness are you up to in the middle of the night?!!”
“I just managed to get the three brats to sleep, and you've gone and shaken them all awake!!”
Thundering footsteps approached.
A female dwarf, equally stocky and wearing an apron around her waist, rushed over aggressively.
She was clutching a soup ladle in her hand, having clearly just come from the kitchen.
“Are you just bored out of your mind?!”
“Do you have to make sure the whole city knows you're smashing the furniture?!”
“That desk was a gift from the guild! If you break it, are you going to pay for it?!”
She charged to the office door, pointing at Balin Heavyhammer inside and delivering a blistering scolding.
Balin Heavyhammer's imposing aura instantly withered by half.
He shrunk his neck, trying to explain, “No, wife, listen to me...”
“I won't listen to a damn thing!”
The female dwarf didn't give him a chance.
“Quiet down right now!”
“If you wake the children again, you can go sleep in the forge tonight!”
With that, she gave Balin a fierce glare and then glanced at Grom, who was standing nearby with a face turned beet-red from trying to hold in his laughter.
“And you! Grom!”
“Not sleeping in the middle of the night and coming here to cause trouble!”
“Get out of here!”
Grom immediately snapped to 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 heavily.
The female dwarf's fading mumbles could still be faintly heard outside.
“Every single one of you... you never make things easy...”
Balin Heavyhammer stood where he was, looking at the crumpled letter on the desk and then at the fist print he had made.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh and bent down to start picking up the scattered documents from the floor.
He placed the final two letters on the desk.
One was from Copperhammer to Grom, containing the request to keep the human mage here.
The other came from Blackwater Port, from Freya, the leader of the North Wind caravan.
The supplies from the North Wind caravan had arrived in Shield City a full month ahead of schedule.
A letter from the North Wind had also been delivered to the Fortress Lord's hand.
In it, she explained why the caravan had been able to deliver the supplies so early.
It was because of a human mage who had joined them in the Carter Royal Capital.
She described the abilities the man had displayed throughout the journey and expressed her hope that, should he visit Shield City, Balin Heavyhammer wouldn't make things too difficult for him.
She knew of the dwarves' hostility toward humans, but she still hoped he could grant this for her sake.
If the party's supplies ran out and they wanted to restock in Shield City, she hoped Balin would allow them entry to rest for a while.
At the same time, to ensure Balin's agreement, Freya mentioned Lin Gui's exquisite mastery of Levitation.
She suggested that it might provide unexpected help for Balin's plan to build Second Shield City.
Balin was naturally aware that Levitation represented a unique peak in the field of magic.
But when he saw Freya say that Lin Gui's mastery of the spell almost surpassed all mages—including the Wind Tower Master of the City of a Thousand Towers—Balin's eyes narrowed.
Balin knew exactly how credible Little Freya's words were.
If that human mage truly possessed that level of mastery over Levitation...
Thinking of the scoundrel Copperhammer's request, Balin walked to the window and looked toward the fortress cliffs.
He looked at the windows through which the magic crystal cannons were fired.
“Tsk, just to be safe, I should activate that thing.”
“Anyway, the North Wind caravan's supplies are almost here. It'll be enough to keep it running until the beginning of next year.”
As for Freya's mention of help with his plan, even if the man did have the ability, Balin wouldn't do it.
Because the man was a benefactor to the Stoneheart Clan, and the Stoneheart Clan were benefactors to all of Shield City.
Returning to the desk, he took out a carefully placed photograph.
Looking at the curved-horn demon in the picture who was smiling brightly with an arm around him, Balin sighed.
“Marbas, if you were still here and saw these letters, how happy you would be.”
Rate on N.U.
