Chapter 458: I, the Dwarf Prince, Play Money

Chapter 458: I, Dwarf Prince, Playing for Money

“I will strengthen the building of militia forces north of the Wis River, and at the same time inform the other lords to be more vigilant.”

After making the above decision, Paul and Stanford did not discuss too much on the issue of the dwarves in the eastern section of the Rocky Mountains.

Stanford inquired about the news of the other two exploration fleets.

“The last news from the fleet that went south came last month, a letter came back through the layers of merchant caravans, and according to it the place of sending was the Kingdom of Naro, which is located in the southern part of the Holy See – God knows what that place is. They said that several letters with the same content were sent at the same time, entrusted to different caravans and adventurers, but only one of them reached me – which was lucky. All in all, the fleet is in pretty good shape, and they plan to continue sailing east.”

Paul’s brow furrowed next.

“As for the fleet sailing deeper into the western ocean, unfortunately there has been no news of them since their departure, so let us continue to pray to the Lord of Light to bless them.”

Hearing Paul’s words, Stamford had a vague sense of foreboding in his heart, and he could also sense a pessimistic mood in his lord’s heart towards the western exploration fleet as well.

“Right!” Paul changed to a lighter tone.

“I heard you came back with a dwarf this time?”

Stanford nodded in confirmation and said, “Yes, Lord Gleeman. His name is Imar, and he was our guide as we traveled through the Rocky Mountains.”

“I would like to meet him immediately.”

……

Imar was led into the hall with an apprehensive look on his face.

As hard as he tried to put on a calm face, he could never do so.

When he first entered the castle, the human guards had felt him all over, inside and out.

This inspection reminded him of an unpleasant experience when he first set foot in human territory.

First, he was asked to take a bath, at first he thought it was a unique hospitality custom of the Northwest Bay, but after taking a bath, he felt something was wrong, being naked and being held down and inspected by two burly men covering their mouths and faces and wearing all white lab coats, and even their own chrysanthemums were not spared.

Luckily, he didn’t suffer such a crime again when he entered the lord’s mansion.

A man who claimed to be Philip’s butler came in, served him a cup of honeyed tea, and looked at him curiously for a few moments before leaving.

Imar observed the furnishings of the place with great curiosity. In one corner of the parlor, a huge porcelain vessel caught his interest. The hammer was on it, ah, the vase was so big, as tall as he was. The vial that Stanford had given him was instantly worthless compared to the fellow in front of him.

He stretched out his stubby fingers and ran them over the bottle with a mesmerized expression.

“Count Greiman arrives!” An abrupt voice sounded from behind.

Frightened, Imar immediately retracted his hand.

He turned around and a young human stood at the exit of the corridor looking at him.

Behind the side of the other man was Stanford, who had said the words just now.

So, that young man was the owner of this land, Paul Graiman, as Stanford had called him.

“Greetings, King of Mankind!” Immael moved forward to approach him and extended his hand.

But to his dismay, the human lord didn’t move a muscle, just stared at him intently, only his eyes rotating with their target – which was himself.

Well, even if it was the first time he had met a dwarf, this attitude was too much.

“Too …… too ……”

Too what the heck! Both Imar and Stanford looked puzzled.

“It’s incredible!”

“A living, breathing dwarf just standing in front of my eyes.” The human lord stood for half a day before finally uttering a complete sentence.

Both Immael and Stanford had underestimated the impact the dwarf’s appearance had on Paul’s heart.

In his previous life as a mild western fantasy lover, elves la, dragons la, mages ah and other fantasy words often haunted his mind, and he was also a cloud fan of famous fantasy works or settings such as Lord of the Rings and D&D.

Upon arriving in this world, the mage, a necessary element of the fantasy world, he had already met, Laddie Sertia, Servia Ashitini, both of which were magical girls or witches.

But they were human after all – at least human in appearance and looks, or rather good-looking humans.

He had never seen a race other than human.

Oh, and kobolds, creatures that bordered on beasts and couldn’t even speak human, didn’t count.

Paul reached out his hand to touch the dwarf’s thick, bushy beard. Halfway there, he felt a bit rude and withdrew it. Immediately, he reaches out to take the dwarf’s hand again.

This caused the shorter guest to become slightly exasperated.

“Lord Graiman, this is our guide, Mr. Imar Stonemason.”

Stanford broke the silence.

“Oh! Welcome, welcome, please sit down, Mr. Dwarf.”

Paul shook the dwarf’s hand firmly – heck, the other man’s hand wasn’t too strong – and greeted the other man as he resumed his seat.

“Ruler of mankind!” Once seated, the Dwarf yelled impatiently, “I have something to say to you alone.”

Paul glanced at Stanford at his side, “Can’t even he be present?”

Imar replied, “Yes.”

He turned to Stanford, “I’m sorry, my friend, but what I have to say is really a bit inconvenient.”

Stanford nodded his understanding and left the hall with a word of farewell to Paul.

“Those people?”

The dwarf pointed to the guards at the door.

Paul waved his hand, “Haha, you don’t have to worry about that, they’re all men who are loyal to me, and if they ever give away half a word, it’ll be because I ordered them to do so.”

The dwarf continued, “Well, human lord, first of all I have to give an account of who I am. If I were to put it in your human terms, I would actually be considered a ‘prince’ or something.”

“Really?” Paul was a bit surprised, “Well, that’s quite a disrespect, your ‘prince’ highness.”

The dwarf stared at Paul, “I have a rather good deal, I wonder if you’re interested?”

“Then …… please elaborate.”

The dwarf cleared his throat and lowered his voice:
“I come from a certain Dwarf clan in the eastern section of Rocky Mountain, and was originally the son of the patriarch, but was framed by a villain, and my dimwitted, incompetent, and confused father banished me from the clan.”

“Now all you need to do is provide me with an army and sponsor me with a large sum of money – preferably in hard currency like gold and silver, or that contraption in your hand called china – and I’ll be able to fight my way back to the patriarchal seat.”

“And once I get the patriarch’s seat, I’ll repay you exponentially for all the help you’ve given me. The Rocky Mountains have untold mines, and my people are all top-notch blacksmiths.”

Saying so much in one breath, by the end the dwarf’s eyes began to glow red.

Paul was surprised!
He had never dreamed that this dwarf he had just met would be able to say such words.

Wait, why are these words so familiar?
(End of chapter)