Chapter 341: Act 109 – Duke Toniger and the Young Lord (Part 9)
“No, you are mistaken, Master Berun.” Brendel shook his head.
The young man closed the door. The mysterious guest tore off his cloak, revealing a stooped figure covered in a feathered robe with wrinkled skin. Tagib bowed deeply to Brendel.
Berun was taken aback. “Cave dweller?” he said in surprise, “Wait, my lord, are you saying…” The artisan master reacted quickly; the device he designed according to the blueprints was entirely unusable by humans but tailored for these underground beings.
“My lord, when did you come into contact with cave dwellers?”
“Didn’t we fight against them once?”
“But… what on earth is going on?” The elder was momentarily baffled.
During the battle with Sir Minate, Brendel intentionally restricted information, and most captives were held separately in dungeons to prevent contact. Thus, the news about cave dwellers participating in the fight never leaked.
Moreover, due to his indifference towards Brendel’s military group and his immersion in his forging workshop, he was unaware that a large clan of cave dwellers had already joined Brendel’s forces.
“My lord… impressive.” Tagib maintained a respectful posture but responded to the artisan master in somewhat awkward Cruz tongue.
“So you’ve tamed them?” Berun turned to ask.
Brendel nodded.
“Martha above!” the elder exclaimed, “How many did you tame?” He immediately stopped, suddenly thinking of a possibility; the elder’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at Brendel and trembled as he extended a palm: “Five hundred?”
Five hundred was indeed the number of armors that Brendel had requested.
But the young man smiled and shook his head. Berun had underestimated the situation; just like humans, no matter how militarized the cave dwellers were, not every individual could be the strongest fighter. Besides, he glanced at Tagib. Although the chief showed great respect towards him, it was unlikely that he would trust the fate of his entire clan to Brendel.
“Three thousand,” he said.
Berun choked a little and quickly steadied himself by the edge of the table. “I understand now; it seems my old bones really can’t keep up with you young folks—” He shook his head. Three thousand cave dwellers? How did the young man win? Let alone tame them.
No wonder those mercenaries—especially the younger generation—held this lord in such high esteem. Previously, he was somewhat dismissive, but now it seemed this was not mere blind worship.
“Alright,” Berun replied, “I understand; it looks like Pallas is going to be in big trouble—”
“It’s not that simple; Count Rendener won’t recklessly charge in; he is an old fox.” The young lord shook his head. “The lesson from Sir Minate is enough to make him cautious.”
“You mean Pallas will have reinforcements?”
“Isn’t that a given?” Brendel answered.
The elder stroked his chin. “So you intend to arm these cave dwellers?”
“Precisely,” Brendel patted the armor, then said to Tagib, “Tagib, give it a try.”
“My lord, what… is this?” Tagib’s eyes were not functional, but it could tell that it was the sound of metal.
“You’ll know once you wear it.”
“Shaman… I am.” Tagib finally realized it was a set of armor and waved its hands: “My lord!”
“It’s alright, it’s just a test.” Brendel smiled gently. “This is a gift for you; you wouldn’t want to refuse it, would you?”
“A gift?” The cave dweller chief was taken aback.
“Your clan is not one of the strong ones underground, right?” Brendel asked.
Tagib fell silent and nodded. If it were a strong clan, they wouldn’t have been driven to the surface, for they would prefer to return underground compared to living on the surface world.
However, it could not deny that its tribe was not insignificant in size; it just had never found a powerful underground lord to rely on. Tagib knew that it had a hidden danger—most of the clan that had been handed down through generations was old and weak, and truly competent fighters were few.
“It’s alright,” Brendel was not concerned. “I’ve long said, if we cannot improve in strength and skills, then we should focus on upgrading our equipment—”
“Upgrading… equipment?” Tagib repeated in confusion.
“I plan to gift your clan five hundred suits of armor,” Brendel answered, “heavy armor, specifically for cave dwellers.”
The cave dweller chief was clearly stunned by this number; five hundred suits of heavy armor were an enormous wealth even underground, and underground lords wouldn’t use such items to arm a bunch of cave dwellers—essentially treating them as cannon fodder.
Tagib stammered as it lifted its head to respond, “Cave dwellers… do not wear armor… my lord!”
Cave dwellers not donning armor? Brendel couldn’t help but curse silently. The cave dweller lord and siege master, Elyche, had heavy-armored cave dweller shock troops in the third war that he still vividly remembered.
The armor in Brendel’s hands was, in fact, the original design of the rhino armor designed by Elyche. Of course, he hadn’t come across any newer versions, but this piece was already considered ahead of its time in the blossoming and summer years.
Brendel remembered clearly; the first set of rhino armor should be born about five years later.
“Are you really so willing to be cannon fodder? This is something that will become history in the future, Tagib,” the young man shook his head. “I’ve said before, this armor has been specifically designed for you.”
“Wait!” At this moment, Berun interrupted the two. “My lord, you mean to say this armor never existed before?”
“Of course not.”
The elder looked at the young man, getting a bit furious. “A newly designed armor that you haven’t even let these guys try on, and you’re asking me to produce over two hundred sets!”
As he spoke, the artisan master nearly shouted. He felt that Brendel was making a joke of him; nothing like this had ever happened throughout history. A newly designed armor went straight into mass production without even experimentation—did this guy think it was a toy?
If Brendel were a rich man, he could understand, but it was clear they had just started developing the territory, struggling to maintain what they had.
The iron ore used to produce over two hundred sets of armor was nearly the entire stock of the Cold Fir Territory; even for this reason, the reconstruction of the city walls was delayed. Antinna had approached him more than once to complain about it.
The more Berun spoke, the angrier he became, especially thinking about how Brendel kept saying he stood by the princess. If everyone around the princess were like this young man, he was even beginning to doubt if this damned kingdom still had a future.
He felt that as a master craftsman of a kingdom, he had been toyed with by this young man. The elder stared fiercely at Brendel, as if to say if this young lord didn’t give him an explanation, he would let him know that he—a master craftsman—also had his own temper!
And that temper was quite bad!
But Brendel’s expression seemed unperturbed, even not showing a hint of disturbance. It was only when Berun first lost his temper that he showed a bit of surprise. He hadn’t expected the elder to get this angry, but after the latter finished speaking, the young man laughed.
“Is it really worth getting that angry, Master Berun?” He shook his head.
“You can still laugh? You better give me an explanation, damn it!” the elder replied angrily. “Otherwise, I’ll give you an explanation today!”
“How do you plan to give me an explanation?” Brendel folded his arms and asked leisurely.
When the two began to argue, it seemed they forgot about Tagib—of course, our “Mr. Duncan” had been neglected in the corner from the very beginning.
“I, I quit!” the elder jumped up.
“Alright, alright, calm down,” Brendel shook his head. “Master Berun, you are the chief craftsman of the kingdom; can’t you tell if this armor will work or not?”
“Precisely because I am the chief craftsman of the kingdom, I must stop your irresponsible behavior!” the elder said angrily. However, he still glanced at the cave dweller chief nearby—he was familiar with the armor he crafted with his own hands, and just a glance at this cave dweller let him know that Brendel’s design was likely sound.
It seemed just a bit big.
However, Tagib called itself a shaman, so the warriors among the cave dwellers were clearly stronger, meaning this armor would fit them exceptionally well. As for those with slightly different builds, a small adjustment would suffice.
Seeing this, Berun’s anger involuntarily lessened, replaced by a sense of wonder. Merely drawing up design blueprints based on experience and completing a finished product required decades of forging experience; even he might not be able to do that—the elder glanced at Brendel, thinking this young man could be a deeply concealed master?
However, he couldn’t fully believe this speculation and instead, still somewhat irritated, asked, “This thing isn’t something you came up with, right?”
Brendel nodded, feeling embarrassed about taking credit for someone else’s work. “This is designed by a friend of mine, who has extensive research on cave dwellers.” Of course, he casually mentioned that Elyche was now his friend.
At this moment, someone far below Jotungrund couldn’t help but sneeze.
“That’s more like it,” Brendel satisfied his thoughts, and the elder no longer pursued the matter. He said, “In the future, it’s best not to pull such stunts on me. This kind of surprise is better left for you young people. My old bones can’t handle being toyed with frequently.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Brendel replied with a smile. “How could it be? I didn’t do it on purpose; Master Berun, you are the most valuable asset in my territory now.”
“This is only a temporary job—” the elder muttered, reminding Brendel of this fact. However, the compliments from the young man still made him feel quite pleased.
Brendel shook his head and then turned to the cave dweller chief beside him. “So, Tagib, are you willing to accept this gift?”
Tagib hesitated for a moment. While Brendel and Berun were talking, it had felt the armor. Due to the lack of sight, cave dwellers were more sensitive to touch and hearing than ordinary people. Even though it had only superficially felt it, it could already confirm the armor was tailor-made for its clan members.
It was somewhat tempted but also knew that there was no free lunch in the world. This cave dweller hesitated and asked, “My lord… conditions?”
Brendel nodded.
He was pleased with Tagib’s response. He certainly wouldn’t give away five hundred sets of battle armor for free. Although cave dwellers and the Cold Fir Territory enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship, it wasn’t enough.
“The conditions are simple.” Brendel replied, then lowered his voice and leaned down to whisper something into the cave dweller chief’s ear.
Tagib was initially taken aback before becoming conflicted, but it eventually nodded.
“Deal…”
……
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