Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 391 - 17 Peace is the Truth_1

Chapter 391: Chapter 17 Peace is the Truth_1

The Beastman Prairie spans three point three million square kilometers, with seventeen trade posts built along the outskirts, and Warhammer Stronghold is one of them. Warhammer Stronghold is one of the larger ones among the seventeen foreign trade hubs. Most caravan teams, whether entering or leaving the prairie, would often pass through this stronghold if their destination was the Neville Federation. Because of this, the stronghold gathers a variety of different races: from the commonly seen humans and beastmen, to the less common dwarves and elves, and even the rarely seen winged people and sea race. Any intelligent creature existing on the Yarran Continent can potentially be seen in this stronghold, although the chance is very small.

Compared to its importance, the stronghold is not large, spanning only two to three square kilometers. Seven to eight rudimentary and aged streets, over a hundred weather-worn buildings, a stone wall, several wooden arrow towers - these seemingly shaky structures together form the largest trade outpost in the southern prairie.

While the stronghold is small, it is fully functional: taverns, inns, shops, trading offices, warehouses, carriage stations, beast stalls, healing places, one can find everything here. For some service industries like taverns, inns, and shops, there even exists competition among the same industry. Walking on the streets, one can see various shops everywhere just like in a smaller city. Yet there are not many people here now since spring is the off-season for trading, and there are not many trade caravans coming and going. If one were to pass by here in the fall, they would witness what it means to be overcrowded. Many travelers would have no choice but to sleep on the streets of the stronghold or even outside the wall.

Under the glow of the setting sun, a horse-drawn carriage slowly entered the stone gate of the stronghold. Guarding on both sides of the gate were four beastman guards. There were also quite a few patrolling beastman guards on the street. These guards were directly dispatched by the Beastman Alliance to maintain the stronghold’s public security. Among the thirty or so guards, each beastman’s strength had to reach at least the Bronze Rank, and the captain overseeing the guards was of Gold Rank, serving to deter professionals who were entrusted with protection or serving as attendants yet proved to be unruly.

"Gentlemen, we have finally arrived at Warhammer Stronghold," Cerasis was still in control of the horse carriage. He tilted his felt hat to shield his eyes from the glaring sun, pulled down the cloth kerchief tied around his collar to wipe his sweat, and then, turning his head back towards the passengers inside the carriage, said, "I’m really sorry, it looks like we will have to spend the night in the stronghold."

"It’s not your fault, Mr. Cerasis," Catherine lifted the carriage curtain, jumped down gracefully, secretly flexed her body to make her joints creak and naturally relaxed her body, helped Vivian down from the carriage, and then continued, "We know that you didn’t want to arrive this late either, but who could help it when we encountered the misfortune of a broken axle?"

It had already been two days of continuous travel for the group. Regrettably, on the second day, which was today, the derailleurs of the rear wheels abruptly broke due to the bumpy road when they were about thirty kilometers from Warhammer Stronghold, causing the carriage to stop in the middle of the road, completely unable to move forward. Fortunately, the carriage carried one or two spare axles to cope with this kind of situation, thus they were spared the misfortune of having to walk the thirty kilometers carrying their goods. However, sadly, when they gathered around the broken carriage, they discovered that none of them knew how to replace the axle. Even Vivian and Pannis, both of whom had knowledge of machinery, were completely helpless when it came to this primitive machine, only able to watch the spare axle without knowing how to proceed.

Thankfully, this was after all a primitive machine and the carriage had four wheels. Even if they didn’t know what to do at first, they could roughly figure out the installation method by cross-referencing the structure of the front wheels. Thus, all five grouped together and busied themselves for over three hours before managing to change the axle and get back on the road. However, Pannis’s sudden comment that if they had decided to walk from the beginning, they would have almost reached by now, completely shattered the sense of achievement the girls had felt. For this reason, the girls rudely decided to send the truthful Pannis to the top of the carriage to face the wind, until Pannis stuck his head out from the top of the carriage, complaining indignantly about their violent act before they grudgingly allowed him back inside the carriage.

"Hold on." Just as they were preparing to pass through the stone gate, several wolf clan guards stopped the carriage: "Your cart isn’t carrying goods? What are you here for?"

"Adventurers," Catherine took out the special emblem representing adventurers and replied, "We accepted a commission and have come to meet with the commissioner."

"Ah, adventurers." The leader of the four wolfmen took a careful look at Catherine’s emblem, then nodded and said, "Go in, but be careful."

"What’s wrong, my fellow wolfman brother?" Cerasis asked in the Beastman language, "Normally, there’s no need for such a tight guard. Did something happen?"

The guard was taken aback, not expecting to hear such pure Beastman language from a human. He looked Cerasis up and down. Once he saw his image and temperament, he realized this was a human who had lived among the beast clans in the prairie. His serious facial expression was immediately replaced by a friendly smile: "So you’re a human brother from one of the clans. There’s no big deal really, just that someone started a fight in the afternoon. They fought from the dining hall to the tavern, from the tavern to the inn, beating up everyone who could be beaten up, including the patrol team."

"Haha, doesn’t that happen every day?" Cerasis laughed heartily, "If we don’t fight a few times a day, can we still be considered men of the prairie?"

"Hehe, this time it was a one-sided defeat. Those guys from the Horned Horse Tribe always act superior and believe they are very powerful, but this time they were easily defeated." The wolfman said gleefully, "Don’t worry, I’m just reminding you to be careful to avoid further conflict. Don’t worry, go in without worry."

"Thank you, wolfman brother," Cerasis punched the wolfman’s chest a few times, producing a dull thud, "When I pass by again in a few days, I’ll treat you to a drink."

"Alright, I’ll be on duty here all year." The wolfman slapped his large hand on Cerasis’s shoulder, "Looking forward to your wine, haha."

"Hmm, another fight." Cerasis was gathering information when Pannis was translating. Catherine, after hearing, chuckled lightly, "Every time I hear about the beastmen, why is it always related to fights and disturbances?"

"Well, beastmen are followers of the War God." Pannis casually said something that could potentially cause a religious dispute, "Followers of the War God, eating and fighting are necessities. They would feel uneasy if they don’t fight a few times a day. I bet they would find not fighting for a few days more unbearable than not eating."

"Don’t be so annoying." Lina secretly kicked Pannis’s leg under the table, "If you have to say that, say it quietly. Be careful not to get everyone’s attention and get beaten up. We’ll pretend not to know you then."

"See, you’ve admitted it." Pannis giggled, "You also think they solve problems with their fists. I’ve only said the truth."

"That’s why you shouldn’t say it." Lina gave Pannis a look, "Even though it’s true that all of them admire violence, the truth hurts the most."

"Actually, it’s not entirely fair to say that all are like this." Pannis said, "There are a few elders in their ancestral temples who really love peace. Well, there are also some in the Hall of War God, but they are few and far between. We’ve actually met one, don’t you remember?"

"We’ve met one?" Catherine asked in surprise, "How come I don’t remember?"

On their way, they chatted and walked along the makeshift street to the tavern near the south gate of the stronghold. According to Cerasis, the Tiger Clan members who had accepted the task would meet here. The tavern wasn’t large and looked as run-down as other buildings. As Catherine pushed open the old door, she heard pain-filled groans coming from inside the tavern. Many people were wailing in agony.

"Why must you go out of your way to provoke me?" A woman’s voice, gentle and calm as still water, rang through the room, "I’m just here to eat, wait for someone, and find a place to stay. Why must you insist on fighting me? The War God teaches us to strive for victory in battle, but he doesn’t command us to instigate baseless fights. Look at the beasts and magical beasts on the prairie. Unless it’s a matter of survival, they won’t attack each other without reason. This is the true doctrine of the War God. You, who blindly seek battle, have already strayed from the original teachings of the War God. To seek victory in battle but to cherish peace in life - that’s what devout followers should do. Do you understand? Repeat after me: peace is the truth of the world, the pursuit of victory is the means to peace."

Within the tavern, the few customers who happened to be passing by had voluntarily cleared the center of the room. Several Bear Clan males dressed in guard armor were lying around in pain, emitting continuous groans of agony. A tall, well-built female warrior, who carried a two-handed greatsword nearly as tall as a man, was sat cross-legged atop one of the victims. Her face was full of devotion and reverence, and she was patiently explaining the doctrine to the victims scattered around her, regardless of her peculiar method of teaching. Not far from the female warrior stood a tiger-man whom they had met once before in the City of Knowledge. He stood awkwardly, uncertain how to deal with the situation.

"Hey, there’s a peace-loving follower of the War God." Pannis pointed towards the female warrior, "Isn’t there one right here?"

"Miss Marcia, we meet again so soon?" Seeing the female warrior, Catherine also took a moment, she had quite a strong and favorable impression of this warrior who, during their journey, would simply operate on Pannis’s instructions without thinking by herself. Seeing her here, Catherine felt a sense of excitement, "You... don’t tell me, you’re the gold-rank professional the client mentioned?"

"Yo, young lady, we meet again." Pannis also waved and greeted, "I didn’t expect to see you here sweating and doing some intense activities again within two months."

"Oh, Mr. Pannis, finally I see you, I’ve missed you so much." Marcia of the War God Church ran joyously towards Pannis, clasping Pannis’s arms, her face full of anticipation, "I’m hungry, I want to eat your stewed mix and potato cakes."

"Heh, heh." Pannis sighed in desperation, "At this point, should I cry or should I laugh?" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to come to qidian.com to vote and vote monthly, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)