Chapter 134. Ear-ling (1)

Scammers have a common characteristic.

A friendly smile.

Excessive empathy and praise.

A peculiar way of speaking that explains things vaguely.

Above all, the interjection, ‘I’m not good at lying….’

The reason ‘Trust me, oppa?’ became the typical line of an untrustworthy man is probably the same.

Elves are the same.

In the temporary office set up in Kalisto City.

I sat facing the elf diplomat with a teacup in front of me.

“A peace-loving fairy?”

“Yes, we love nature and like people. Until now, the continent was too broken, so we were in our own little world, but the Senate decided it was not the time for that, so we came out. To deliver the news of peace.”

Let's see how many lies are in those few words.

First of all, loving nature is nonsense.

The nature they talk about is only the forest.

Deserts, wastelands, snowfields without greenery, and even the sea are all polluted terrain to them.

Besides, liking people is also the same.

When playing as the elf race, once a war starts, the burden of food supply is greatly reduced.

There's no other reason.

It's because there's nothing those guys can't eat.

There is a unique elf tech tree called [Nature's Supply], and if you look at the description closely, it says that elves are specialized in looting 'structures of nature' like private homes, and they eat 'wild animals of nature' like humans, dwarves, and orcs.

Well, if you have a perverted way of thinking that accepts being eaten as an expression of affection, I can agree.

Personally, I don't have such a mental illness.

“I see. I heard a rumor that there is a holy land of elves in the northwest of the continent.”

“That's right. We call it Paradise. You seem to be very interested in geography and continental history, my lord.”

“I had no choice but to learn as I came to this position.”

“I understand. Humans are a race that gathers and then scatters. How hard it must be to gather such people together and try to live together.”

Look at that subtle racist remark.

As I watch silently, the elf diplomat keeps rolling her eyes this way and twitching her ears.

She must be checking my reaction.

What a detestable race.

“Well, something like that.”

I lifted the teacup without changing my expression.

Thanks to my long acting life supported by [Lord’s Unyielding Mind], I have already mastered the poker face.

Anyway, the diplomatic line with the elves can be seen as a single, one-way street.

‘All-out war.’

It's a fixed result.

Regardless of the process.

The elves are one of the final boss-level factions in Warlord Conquest.

They are a race that gained infamy in World Scenario 1.0.

In fact, before the game was released and the elves were officially incorporated as a race, their popularity was high.

Ears that perked up like a rabbit's.

Large eyes and delicate features.

A tall stature and an appearance that everyone envied.

And the habit of talking about peace at the drop of a hat.

At that time, the naive players were in an uproar, asking when the elf faction would be updated, saying they wanted to play a peace-oriented game with the pretty fairy race.

After the official release, however, it wasn't long before they made a fuss, saying that there must be an ear-ling lover among the developers.

Anyway, the controversial fairy race, as they say themselves, stays cooped up in the ‘Paradise’ in the northwestern part of the continent and doesn't come out in the early game.

Then, in the mid-to-late game, they suddenly start a war of conquest against the entire continent.

The pretext is also quite a spectacle.

Something like, ‘All the forests of the continent are ours, and any land where even a single blade of grass grows is a forest.’

Then, it would be normal to leave the wastelands or great deserts where not a single blade of grass grows…

But there, they say, ‘We will purify the polluted land,’ and completely devastate it before scattering the tree seeds they brought everywhere.

“So why did you come all the way to this distant south?”

“I came to look around. And to have a philosophical conversation about the harmony of nature with foreign lords.”

For now, it's a reconnaissance mission.

The stage where the ones who had confined themselves in Paradise begin to survey the continent's situation.

Therefore, the reason I invited them to the temporary office in Kalisto City is not because I welcome their kind.

I need information.

The only race among the three major final boss-level factions that has not yet shown itself.

If they have started to move, the continental situation will change even more rapidly than now.

“Feel free to look around. I'll tell the soldiers. If you need anything, look for me or the Captain of the Guard, Brol, over there.”

“Oh my, thank you. You are very kind.”

Old man Brol and the intelligence department have a lot of work to do.

* * *

The daily routine of a commander and an infantryman is different.

There are pros and cons.

A commander is usually one step away from the front line, and is less likely to roll in the mud while being protected by soldiers.

In return, they suffer from lack of sleep and nervousness due to morale management, training schedules, supplies, and administrative and personnel work, both in peacetime and wartime.

An infantryman is the exact opposite.

While under more direct pressure on the battlefield and in training, they don't have to worry about other trivial matters of unit management.

Of course, it can't be divided so dichotomously, and there are many more cases that fall in the middle depending on the years of service and promotion, but that's not the important thing.

The important thing is that whether the elves dream of world conquest, or the administration works overtime like crazy due to the opening of a trade route with the dwarves, it has nothing to do with the soldiers.

It's time for the expedition to rest.

Coincidentally, a new facility has been built in Kalisto, the pioneer city on the eastern border of the Wolfskrig Viscounty.

“Hwaaaah.”

“Phew, this is nice….”

It's an open-air bath.

An outdoor hot spring that draws up hot spring water from under the city.

It was built in the form of a spacious bathhouse a few blocks away from the central avenue.

From morning to evening, hot spring water gushes out from the central fountain, and the overflowing water naturally flows into the drainage channel.

“There was some time left before the expedition returned, so I tried making a few things. Coincidentally, this city is a dwarven city, so the water facilities are good and there's groundwater too.”

Looking at the steaming open-air bath, old man Poodle laughed heartily.

Inside the bath, soldiers tired from the long expedition were flocking to relieve their travel fatigue.

“Fortunately, the reactions are good.”

“Well done. And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Try selling boiled eggs. It would be nice to have sikhye too….”

“What's sikhye?”

“Never mind. I'll have to talk to Karen about this.”

Since we started rice farming, it would be good to make refreshments like sikhye.

And pot rice and nurungji too.

It would be nice if I could make puffed rice too.

Unfortunately, I only know that it's made in some special machine with a popping sound, but I don't know exactly how to make it.

‘What is sikhye, master?’

‘Looks like a snack?’

‘Tick-tock?’

Ignoring the murmuring in the subspace, I walked down the alley with old man Brol.

As a pioneer city, the further out you go, the fewer people there are.

The buildings retain hundreds of years of history, and dusty junk is rolling around on the narrow streets.

If I go back to Wolfskrig and implement the immigration policy, people will flock here too.

The problem is that it's at the eastern end of the Wolfskrig Viscounty, which is at the very edge of the imperial territory…

It'll probably be fine.

As I saw in Gunterburk, the outermost cities where trade routes pass through are bound to attract people.

The priests will also work hard on purification, and I will also push for promotion on my end.

Maybe the catchphrase could be something like ‘A City Built by Dwarves’?

“That fairy lady, you know.”

An alley where there was no sign of people.

Old man Brol opened his mouth.

With a grim expression.

“It's a bit much to say this, but I think you should be careful.”

“Really?”

“I didn't like her. For some reason. The same goes for her companions who came as her escort.”

Old man Brol scratched his bushy bandit beard.

“I have a bad feeling. She's pretty, but… it's like looking at a pretty snake?”

“I trust you, Brol. I'll be careful.”

“Huh? No, you don't have to just listen to me. I'm human too and I can be wrong….”

Old man Brol muttered in a flustered voice, but his intuition is accurate.

Elves are a dangerous race.

The answer is clear from the fact that everyone except for old man Brol and me is drooling, taken in by their appearance and sweet way of speaking.

No matter her status as a diplomatic envoy, the very fact that a foreign race was able to enter a newly occupied, near–wartime city without resistance is itself proof of that.

The elf diplomat and her twenty guards will stay in this city for a while and roam freely.

While pretending to enjoy their leisure on the outside, they will try to scan everything, including our military strength, with their race's unique sensitive senses.

I plan to use that against them.

They have good senses, but because of that, they have a tendency not to believe anything other than what they have seen and heard with their own eyes and ears.

That arrogance will make them mistake this expeditionary force for my entire military strength.

“Just don't let them go outside the city. If they do, ask where they are going. Don't let them go west.”

The viscount's army, tired from the long expedition, will return to Wolfskrig to recover and be reinforced.

The traits and dwarven-made weapons obtained this time will make the viscount's army even stronger.

The elves do not know about the Aerial Battleship hidden on the border of the domain, nor about my faithful minions who transported it here.

Therefore, I let them loose.

So they can misunderstand as much as they want.

However, there is one thing that bothers me.

“Brol, do you know where Karen is? I haven't seen her since we returned.”

“I heard she's not feeling well. A cold or something.”

“A cold?”

When I asked back, old man Brol shrugged his shoulders.

“That's what I'm saying. I thought she was so strong she never got sick. Did she get too much sun during this expedition?”

Probably not.

Because she has elven blood mixed in.

Not all elves are psychopathic cannibals.

Some tribes are treated as rebels among the elves.

There are those who were not allowed into Paradise and were cast out.

Half-elves are also part of them.

‘I should go and see her.’

Not now.

I have arrived at my destination.

An inn with a worn-out sign was in front of me.

Old man Brol's intelligence department.

“Oh, you're here?”

When I opened the creaking door and entered, a young man with dark skin greeted us.

A characteristic feature was the yellow tattoos drawn on his dark skin.

“My lord, this is Leopard. He is my most trusted man. Well, you know who this is, right?”

“My goodness, of course. He is my employer, isn't he? I will give you my loyalty.”

“I've heard a lot about you.”

I sat down.

There was dust on the table.

“Leopard, right? Real name, Amir Zaki. From the southern tribes.”

“That's right. This guy is so clever, he uses the prejudice that southern tribesmen are stupid. He acts dumb and blends in with the crowd.”

“Haha, if you just grin like an idiot, they tell you all their secrets.”

“And then in front of the organization he manages, he acts all high and mighty. A real two-faced guy. Hahaha! Ah, there should be some booze stashed around here somewhere.”

While old man Brol went to get a bottle of liquor, I listened to the report.

In summary, it was as follows.

An underworld organization has already infiltrated this pioneer city, where not even a hundred households have moved in yet, smelling something.

Fortunately, the intelligence agents stationed in advance handled it appropriately, and by connecting with the already tightly controlled organizations in Wolfskrig, they have completely taken over.

The problem was what came next.

In any case, to engage in illegal trade, a warehouse to hide the smuggled goods is necessary.

Coincidentally, they found a vast warehouse in the basement of an abandoned building.

Without imagining what was inside.

“It was spiders. Ranging from the size of a puppy to ones larger than a person. We woke up a swarm of spiders.”

They retreated after losing several members.

Luckily, there were no casualties in the intelligence department, but the problem remains.

In order to secure the underworld of a city that will become a hub of trade in advance, this situation must be handled well.

Fortunately, there is a solution.

The Legacy of Duke Meister received from the dwarves is not just the Aerial Battleship.

There is also something brought legally with the approval of the Dwarf King.

“Brol, bring William.”

Our artillery commander's master made all sorts of bizarre weapons during his lifetime.

Among them is a weapon called the 'Breath of the Subterranean Dragon'.

A flamethrower.