Chapter 26: The Capital

We approached the Dwarven King to introduce ourselves.

Why are they kneeling, though? They seem to be a good-natured lot.

Idmon: “(t) There is no need for formalities. We are both leaders. I came here to confirm, are we in agreement for an alliance against the goblins of the south region?”

Wargh: “We are, and we are giving you the abandoned outpost that you stayed for a while as your temporary base. You can do whatever you want with that outpost since it is already under your ownership.”

There was an awkward silence because they were nervous about letting undead inside their city. So, I made the first move.

Idmon: “(t) Thank you, King Wargh. Is it okay if I tour the capital with my advisors?”

Wargh: “We will guide you.”

Now, if anything went wrong, they could just say we threatened the King to let us in instead of them inviting us inside.

Horrified dwarves filled the city. They would flee at the sight of me.

Do I look that ugly? I am a monster to them, so maybe that’s it.

It’s a good thing I got a good coat made of negative energy that made me look like a leader.

Bon made it for me. It was like additional protection, and he made it wearable above real armor.

I tried piercing it earlier, and it seems to be sturdy enough. It also damages any living things that it touches. I accidentally bumped Dolf earlier with it, and it burned his left arm quite severely. Anyways, it's healed already now.

How did Bon get this strong?

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We are walking now at the entrance to the capital.

Idmon: “(t) By the way, King…”

Wargh: “Call me, Wargh. I never wanted to be King, but the dwarves needed a powerful leader who won't fool around.”

Idmon: "I see, so they chose the strongest warrior?"

Wargh: "Exactly."

Idmon: "Understood. I'll make sure to call you Wargh then."

He laughed heartily. I would smile at him, but that's just going to be creepy. He was not from a noble family, but he's more than qualified to be king. At least from my standards.

Idmon: “We are having problems with equipping my warriors with quality equipment. We don’t have blacksmiths or any gold to pay you, but we can harvest materials for you guys as payment.”

Wargh: “Hmm… We are short of materials. Especially for our special weapons, which are the cannons. They are powered by a special black powder that comes from the heart of the goblin territories.”

Idmon: “(t) Actually, we got barrels left from them that we found in the battle earlier and our previous battles. It seems that they intended to use cannons also against your people.”

He looked at me in surprise.

Wargh: “What!? Goblins using cannons? How do they even know the use of the black powder?”

He told me that this was supposed to be ancient knowledge that came from their ancestors.

He was confused now.

Wargh: “How did they do that…”

Hmm.

Wargh: “By the way, Lord Idmon… some old-timers are not very fond of the undead. Be careful and don’t mind the angry stares. We can’t just remove old hatred.”

Idmon: “(t) I understand.”

Wargh: “It may also seem weird to you that I accept so easily. I only did it because the very existence of the Dwarves is at risk. I’ll just take the hatred and be content with the safety of my people.”

Hmm, he is a good king.

Idmon: “(t)I also have a proposal. It is outrageous, and it may sound offending. It will help both of our armies win this war, but that is if you permitted me.”

Wargh: “To what?”

I ask him to bring us to a private room. I looked around and made sure no one else could hear.

Idmon: “(t) To raise your dead people.”

He looked real quick at me. A dangerous look that says that he wants to smash me, but he didn’t

He remained calm even though this must be disrespectful to their race.

Wargh: “Can you tell me how this will help us?”

“(t) We can have blacksmiths of our own to improve our fighting force significantly. We can also double our fighting force and give the dead a chance to take revenge on those who took their lives from them and, most importantly. "

I paused, thinking if it's okay to say it, but there is no other way.

Idmon: "We can raise your heroes of old.”

Wargh: “Ancients!? That’s blasphemy!”

Idmon: “(t) Wargh… I learned this on my travels. I did everything without following and traditions of religions. I saved all that I could by doing any means given to me. I don’t care if I disrespected the Skeleton King in some of my ways because, to me, he is gone. Someone had to do something. For you people, it’s time to look forward rather than in the past. We need everything that could help us win this war.”

He made a furious look and was gripping his war hammer(Diamond) hard. It looked like the handle was about to break.

Wargh: “I will think about it… Don’t tell anyone about this. I will give my orders, and none will have any say about it.”

“(t) Thank you, King Wargh.”

Now the King left me, and I meet up with Dolf to give me the tour.

He took me to the residential districts and, after that, the industrial zone.

The industrial zone which had, of course, a fantastic collection of different workshops

Dolf told me that their food is mushrooms and berries that grow out of rocks, which they call Hardberry or Rockberry.

The berry is used to make wine that they love.

It was a pleasant town. Very orderly, and everyone had something to do.

Most of the dwarves look bulky. They have muscular bodies, and I believe everyone can qualify as a warrior if they tried.

Bon and Lina looked disinterested. Bon bought some materials from spell shops that we passed by. He purchased some spell books too. I wonder what spells dwarves use?

He got the money from some of the goblins earlier, it seems.

Idmon: “(t) Dolf… I also want to make a proper spear out of the claws of the Behemoth that I usually use.”

Dolf: “I believe my friend could help you with that. I can convince him. Let’s go there.”

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We arrive at his friend Golb’s house. It was an ordinary house that could fit only a few people inside.

We were staying outside looking from the window.

Golb was surprised at my sudden appearance with Lina and Bon in tow.

We do look like villains.

Lina and Bon have been quiet, though. I wonder why?

Dolf: “Hey, Golb, these guys are our visitors. They are the leaders of our new alliance. My friend here wants to make a spear out of the claw of a Behemoth. Can you help us with this one?”

Golb: “Dolf, This is another huge favor, you know… The other people won’t like this.”

Dolf: “Please.”

Dolf bowed.

Golb: “Okay, okay. Claws? It is a Behemoth claw. Amazing, amazing. Now, this weapon would take me a few days to complete. I’ll just have it delivered to you by our scouts.”

The dwarf with white hair and white beard said that while excitedly examining the claw.

“That’ll be great. We good to go Idmon-dono?”

I nodded.

I gave out a pretty crystal that I got from the caves. It glowed blue and was emanating small amounts of mana.

Golb: “Oh… a Mana crystal. Do you want this to be part of the weapon?”

Idmon: “(t) It depends on you; it is yours.”

Golb: “Woah!”

He was surprised when I talked to him in his mind.

Golb: “Okay… I’ll make a great one, you just wait!”

Idmon: “(t) Thank you very much, friend Golb.”

He nodded, and we said our farewells after that.

Now I think it’s about time to have that official meeting with the King and his advisors.

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Lina was in the market before we went to the meeting.

Lina: "Will he like this? or this?"

She was browsing the jewelry store of the dwarves. The store owner seems to be visibly terrified.

Suddenly, another undead came in. It was Ran. She was a female Skeleton Marksman.

Lina: "You're finally here! Now which one looks better?"

Lina held an emerald necklace and a ruby necklace.

Ran: "???"

Ran was confused. Ran was called here because of an emergency, but now she can't answer because it was an entirely different thing now.

Lina: "Oh, who am I kidding. I'm a ghost, and I'll look like a monster no matter what I do."

Storekeeper: "You're b-beautiful miss! That one suits you better!" The storekeeper pointed at the emerald one.

Lina: "Thank you, but these stupid things aren't my specialty. I'll make sure to become a more powerful weapon so that I can be useful to him."

Lina dropped the amulets and went to the meeting. Ran was dismissed, still confused, but remained quiet.