Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 559 - 27 Searching for Soldier Langdon_1

Chapter 559: Chapter 27 Searching for Soldier Langdon_1

The Mountain Country is home to the dwarves, but similar to how beastmen can be classified into different races, there are also distinctions among the dwarves. Generally, dwarves are divided into three races: Mountain Dwarves, Hill Dwarves, and Cavern Dwarves. Mountain Dwarves prefer living atop mountains, constructing numerous hilltop cities for their dwelling. These dwarves are adept at architecture. All the large structures in the Mountain Country are built by Mountain Dwarves. Even humans from all regions enjoy hiring them for construction. The buildings they create, in terms of both materials used and technique, outmatch any other race. Every structure they build is guaranteed to last for thousands of years without collapsing or becoming damaged and can still function normally.

Hill Dwarves prefer to live in valleys or on hills, with their cities also built by Mountain Dwarves because they do not like dealing with earth and stone construction. Instead, they have a fondness for smithing. They would rather spend their whole life with an anvil and hammer. The tools and weapons they forge are top-notch—liked by everyone worldwide. In the Mountain Country, all tools used are made by Hill Dwarves in exchange for assistance from the other two dwarf races.

Cavern Dwarves spend their entire lives underground. They are neither fond of architecture nor of smithing, but they have an inborn curiosity for ores. These dwarves have extraordinarily powerful dark vision and surprisingly agile movements for a dwarf, allowing them to maneuver nimbly around mines and caverns. They enjoy the company of ores, able to make the most accurate judgment on any type of ore. Sometimes, they can even determine what quality and type of ore lies buried hundreds or thousands of meters beneath the surface just by grabbing a handful of dirt. This discernment is almost infallible. They provide high-quality special stone for Mountain Dwarves and a massive amount of metallic ore for Hill Dwarves. In return, the Mountain Dwarves reinforce their mines and caverns with architectural techniques, and the Hill Dwarves provide them with mining tools.

Overall, the three races are closely interconnected, each one is very important and indispensable. The relationship among them is also very intimate. Although they are different races with different habits, they coexist harmoniously and rarely have major conflicts. Nevertheless, occasional minor frictions arise between races. If the Mountain Country were only governed by one race, the other two would not feel at ease. Therefore, the rulers of the Mountain Country consist of a three-person council. This council becomes structured with each race internally selecting one councilor to form it. They are tasked with the formulation of various decisions to maintain the normal operation of the Mountain Country.

However, the three-person council was only the initial form of governance in the Mountain Country. Eventually, goblins, humans, and beastmen joined the Mountain Country, transforming the three-person council into five. Among them, goblins occupy one seat, while humans and beastmen share the remaining one. Each councilor represents their race’s fundamental interests and wields considerable power; not just anyone can assume this position. They need to possess high reputation, formidable strength, and excellent governing abilities. People usually equate each councilor’s rank with at least that of a human duchy’s duke. What makes them even more formidable than a duke is their personal strength.

The adventure team was well aware of this, but who could have expected to hear news about a certain councilor from a dwarf they accidentally encountered on the borders of the Beastmen Prairie, and the news was said to be concerning this councilor’s safety.

"Sorry, Chief Kairom." Catherine did not rush to inquire but nodded at the Horse Clan’s elder chief first. "It’s my fault for causing trouble first thing in the morning. However, we have no issues here now. Mr. Bart should have calmed down too. Please be at ease."

"That’s good, that’s good. You all are our benefactors and friends. We really don’t want to see conflicts arise among you." Being quite old, Kairom had ample experience and acuity. Realizing Catherine’s intention he said: "You should talk it out. I need to check on our sick livestock, so I will leave you be."

After Kairom tactfully excused himself, Catherine lowered her voice and asked, "You’re saying that your request is related to the safety of Councilor Cella? Are you sure? From what I remember, Councilor Cella herself is a Legendary Rank powerhouse. How could she...?"

"I can’t talk about it now." Bart was silent for a moment before firmly saying, "Help me find Langdon first. Show me your sincerity, then I will tell you about the subsequent tasks. Otherwise, if you decide not to take the task after hearing it, or if you are not good people, I dare not gamble with Lord Cella’s safety."

The members of the adventure team exchanged glances, curiosity piqued in each one of them. Lina nudged Pannis whispering, "The big trouble you mentioned yesterday, was it referring to Langdon? If you know, tell him. I’m not angry anymore. Also, Sister, I think we all find this matter quite intriguing. Let’s accept the task."

After pondering for a moment, Catherine nodded at Pannis. Pannis sighed, walked over and patted Bart’s shoulder, "You know, sometimes our eyes can deceive us. What you see may not be the truth."

"What do you mean?" Bart asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with finding Langdon?"

"Of course it does." Pannis pressed a hand against his forehead, lamenting Bart’s lack of comprehension. "I just want to tell you that the one you think is the culprit may not be the culprit. And the Langdon you think has disappeared, has he really gone missing?"

"Langdon is not missing?" Bart stared blankly at Pannis, entirely bewildered. "Then where did he go?"

"What do you think?" Pannis rolled his eyes, "Forget about it, follow me. Let’s find Chief Kairom first. After all, it would be impolite to do anything in his tribe without informing him."

"Are you implying that I’m impolite?" Bart glared, "Even if you accept my request, you can’t just insult my character at will."

"Huh, only sensitive at such times." Pannis grumbled under his breath, then waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, alright, I won’t insult your character anymore. If you keep talking like this, the only thing you’re wasting is your own time."

"Ah, let’s get going then." Bart finally reacted, urgently saying, "Let’s not dawdle."

Kairom hadn’t gone too far. He was kneeling in the middle of the camp next to two newborn lambs, feeding them medicine through an ox horn. Noticing the group approaching, he quickly handed the medicine bottle to a female tribeswoman beside him, brushed off dust from his knees, stood up, and hurriedly came forward: "Friends from different tribes, what can I do for you?"

"Here’s the thing, old chief," Pannis said, "I’m looking for someone from your tribe, a tall man of the Deer Clan. Could you take us to his tent?"

"Are you talking about Bayden? He went out to graadze the flock before dawn," Kairom was taken aback, nervously asking, "Why, did Bayden offend you guys in anyway? If he did, I’ll have him apologize when he comes back."

"No no no, he didn’t offend us in any way," Pannis shook his head, "You’ll know once we get there. I’ll show you a bit of illusion magic then, it’s very interesting."

Kairom wasn’t as slow as Bart. He immediately sensed a hidden meaning in Pannis’s words, showed a brief hesitation, before leading the six people towards Bayden’s tent, "Bayden lives alone so he goes out to graze before dawn everyday. Nothing is out of the ordinary today."

"Hmm hmm, he’s fine," Pannis nodded, "Chief Kairom, you can put your mind at ease."

"Whew, that’s good to hear," Kairom breathed a sigh of relief, then somberly added, "The tribe can’t afford to lose any more adult men. I was really afraid something had happened to him. It’s good he’s safe."

The camp was small; within a few minutes, they stood at the entrance of a small tent. Tents on the prairie had no doors, only a thick curtain between the inside and the outside. Kairom showed no hesitation in lifting the curtain and entering. Pannis and Bart followed. With the tent being so small, the young girls had to look in from the entrance.

As soon as Bart entered the tent, he saw Langdon, deeply asleep and laying down face up, unaware of the helmet that had rolled to the side. Delighted, Bart quickly went over, helped him up, and vigorously shook his body while yelling, "Langdon, Langdon, wake up. Weren’t you on guard last night? How come you ended up sleeping here?"

Langdon was jolted awake from his slumber, rubbing his eyes in a daze. Looking around at his surroundings, in a sleepy voice he said, "Captain, good morning."

"Not a good morning at all," Bart replied angrily, "We have been looking for you for an hour! How did you end up here?"

"Ah, right, the assassin." Langdon suddenly woke up fully alert, jumped up on the spot in alarm, and blurted out, "Captain, we’re in trouble. One of those assassins caught up with us last night. I was on guard when he broke into the tent out of nowhere and sprayed something on my face. I immediately fell asleep, didn’t even have time to alert you guys. Are you guys okay?"

"We’re fine," Bart said angrily, "So it’s those assassins again, huh?"

"That’s right, it’s them," Langdon, face grim, replied, "I remember their faces very clearly; there’s no way I can mistake them. Captain, let’s go quickly. That guy’s too scary. If we travel through the night, we’ll reach Grand Highland City in a few days. They won’t be a problem there."

"Idiot! How can we travel through the night when it’s already dawn?" Bart snarked before adding with some confusion, "But why didn’t he kill you? Instead, he left you here. Oh, I get it. He must not have had enough time, so he left you in an empty tent first. They’ll probably come back later and force you to reveal where the goods are. Those bastards are too cunning."

"Really?" Pannis, with a look of amusement and arms crossed over his chest, was enjoying watching Bart’s facial expression. (To be continued. If you like this story, please support it by voting on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)