Chapter 325: Act 92 – Brendel’s Chief Architect (Second Update)
The earl’s orders elicited a soft hum from the young man seated on the couch; he had to admit that using someone else’s knife to kill was a smart move.
However, the confidant was a little taken aback and quickly lowered his head. No one understood better than him the consequences of the earl’s command; Madara’s invasion had brought unprecedented difficulties to the mountain people—at this moment, for those tribes in the woods, eliminating taxes or reducing the grain burden on young men could be a lifesaving measure.
Thus, it was clear the other party would neither refuse nor could they refuse.
As for war, wasn’t it always a commonplace occurrence for those barbarians?
He mentally estimated that even without counting the armies of Madara and Sir Parsons, the mountain people’s forces could easily exceed ten thousand.
This number made him a bit uneasy; this time, the usually low-key earl was determined to show Duke Anlek and Princess Grifian his strength.
But how many years had it been since this last happened? Ten years, or twenty? It seemed in the blink of an eye, a generation had grown up since the kingdom began to tremble.
Yet that did not mean the elder had lost his former vigor.
This confidant, who had followed Count Rendener for many years, took a covert glance at his lord and the young man on the couch. The older earl now had graying temples, but his gaze remained dark and sharp.
The three present understood that once these two letters were sent, the march to war would become unstoppable. But the situation was curious; as everyone’s gaze fixed upon the impending great battle in the north, little did they expect that the onset of this civil war would begin unnoticed at the southern border of this ancient land.
In that seemingly forgotten corner known as Toniger.
…
The footsteps of war quietly approached—
But at this moment, Brendel had little understanding of the massive army from the Rendener region looming near.
He may have recognized that the course of history had changed; once the news of Sir Minate’s crushing defeat spread, it meant he had placed himself upon the enormous wheel of fortune deciding Erluin’s fate in the forthcoming civil war.
As for the outcome, it would depend on the performances of all parties involved next.
However, at this moment, Brendel was not primarily concerned with this issue. He was currently sitting in a coach traveling from Schafflund to Firburh, the carriage jolting incessantly due to the mountain roads, but the young man was merely gazing out at the bluish sky between the mountains, lost in thought for a moment.
He had abandoned all matters regarding the Schafflund silver mine and hurriedly boarded the coach to Firburh, not because he had heard news of Count Rendener’s army closing in, nor because an accurate reply had arrived from the regent princess.
The reason was another entirely.
However, Brendel shifted his gaze back from the changing scenery outside to the familiar old dwarf sitting across from him—then they stared at each other in silence.
“Mr. Odum,” the young man finally spoke first, “I would like to know what you are doing here?”
“Eh…?” The old dwarf was taken aback, sporting a puzzled expression as he stuffed a piece of confectionery into his mouth. “What do you mean?”
In fact, since boarding the coach, this old dwarf had shamelessly devoured half of the snacks prepared for his lord by Neffro—now he was about to finish off the remaining half.
Upon seeing his eating manner, Brendel felt a loss of appetite. Of course, this was likely part of the old dwarf’s strategy.
At least, it appeared to be effective so far.
“I remember I did not invite you to accompany me, did I?” Brendel said irritably. “Weren’t you doing well at the mine? I never told you to leave; why are you constantly wandering in front of me?”
He thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and added, “For the past two weeks—”
“Are you talking about this?” The old dwarf nearly choked, quickly patting his chest and swallowing the other piece of confectionery. “Um, uh… Ah, good point! Young man, that is indeed a question…”
Brendel felt the corner of his eye twitch and thought that if he could, he would surely kick this character off the coach.
However, he wasn’t in the mood for that now and answered coldly, “Then Mr. Odum, may I ask you to get off the coach immediately?”
“No, no, no!” The old dwarf hurriedly shook his short, thick hands. “Of course not, of course not!”
“Reason?”
“Uh… let me think,” Odum visibly hesitated; he certainly couldn’t say that he wanted to assess whether this kid had the potential to become the king of the earth, attracting all the rune dwarves to follow him, could he?
He figured that saying such a thing would surely have him treated as a madman.
After pondering for a while, the old dwarf finally found a stilted excuse: “Young lad, do you not need someone to work for you?”
Brendel felt like he was about to laugh in anger. He spoke bluntly, “Fine, then what can you do, old man?”
“I…” Odum blurted out. “I can prospect! Right, I have quite the knack for mining. I… I apprenticed under the gold dwarves, you know; while rune dwarves aren’t known for this kind of work, gold dwarves are exceptional miners…”
“Yes, you needn’t say any further,” Brendel shook his head. “If you’re so specialized in this field, why not stay at the mine?”
The old dwarf found himself at a loss, stuttering for a long time before finally responding, “Well… I mean, although I’m skilled in mining, I actually wanted to try a different job…”
He smiled awkwardly at Brendel.
The smile was exceedingly forced.
“Oh?” Brendel suddenly felt that conversing with this guy was not that unbearable, at least he realized that his behavior was rather odd. “Then what do you want to do?”
The young man asked with a tone tinged with malicious teasing.
Odum scratched his head; this question was challenging for him. Aside from working in the mines, what else could he do? The old dwarf thought this was an unusually tricky question—what do you expect? He grew up among the gold dwarves; besides his original occupation as a miner, could he do anything else?
Wasn’t this deliberately making things difficult for him?
If it were someone else who asked, Odum would have made them pay. But he understood that this awkward situation was of his own making.
After hesitating a lot, he finally managed to say, “Um… I know a bit about… architecture…”
Odum was not lying to Brendel; this old dwarf indeed had some knowledge in that regard. Architecture and engineering were actually his hobbies—this hobby stemmed from his belief that rune dwarves should have at least a bit of architectural knowledge.
However, his knowledge of architecture certainly did not come from the heritage of the rune dwarves, but was pieced together from various sources; thus, to put it bluntly, he was still a miner.
So when the old dwarf spoke, he obviously lacked confidence.
But Brendel became interested; others didn’t know what the rune dwarves were capable of, but he did. Upon hearing Odum claim to have architectural skills, he instantly felt a spark of inspiration, even the worries in his heart were momentarily forgotten.
“You say you know architecture?”
Brendel raised his voice slightly.
But the young man’s raised voice startled Odum, who had already been lacking confidence; he stammered, “I… I know a little, I suppose…”
However, adhering to the stubborn nature of dwarves, Odum suddenly realized that he could not appear so weak; he was a dwarf—and not just any dwarf but a descendant of the People of Silver, the only bloodline of the rune dwarves!
He quickly cleared his throat and replied, “Young lad, you see, everyone starts from nothing; while I may only know a bit, it just means I lack experience. You also know, I used to be a miner.”
This bizarre statement sounded full of holes, and even Little Romain might not believe it, but surprisingly, Brendel, whose belief in the architectural talent of the rune dwarves had risen to a level of superstition, bought it.
The young man felt there was an opportunity; he nodded, “I see, you can build a city?”
“You want to build a city?”
The old dwarf was taken aback.
Building a city was not an ordinary construction project; he immediately thought about how, given his ability, if he were to build a city, it might end up like this:
He could imagine a crooked city he presided over being built somewhere, turning into a famous landscape in later generations; of course, that would be a negative example, all rune dwarves and even other dwarves might come here—bearing a sense of pilgrimage—then tell their descendants,
“Look, that’s the work of old dwarf Odum, the one who boasted too much—he even forgot to build the city gate.”
Cold sweat broke out instantly on the old dwarf’s forehead; he quickly shook his head, dispelling this disordered idea from his mind, for he saw the expectation on Brendel’s face—
“How about it?” Brendel asked in an enticing tone. “Not just building a city, but a grand fortress complex. Once it’s completed, it could ensure your name is remembered forever—”
The young man lowered his voice and spoke in an ethereal tone, “Look, that will be the work of the architectural master Odum, restoring the glory of the rune dwarves—you wouldn’t know what your ancestors excelled in, would you?”
The phrase “the glory of the rune dwarves” finally moved Odum, or rather, it gave him a great sense of reassurance. The scene Brendel painted had completely made him forget that he was merely a typical amateur in this area; the old dwarf almost instantly solidified his decision.
He thought, no, he was a descendant of the rune dwarves; he wouldn’t fall short.
Thus, he nodded vigorously.
Great! In his own clueless way, Brendel felt a sense of relief, thinking that just when he needed a pillow to sleep, someone had come bearing one; it seemed that Lady Martha was still looking out for him. With a descendant of the rune dwarves assisting him, constructing a fortress complex would surely not be a difficult task.
Brendel felt he had struck gold, and Odum felt the same.
For the moment, both seemed to envision a bright future.
…(To be continued. To know how the story unfolds, please visit for more chapters and support the author, supporting legitimate reading!)
