When delegation steward Ronan followed the guiding dwarf soldier to their lodgings, his expression immediately turned ugly.
The stone houses were clean enough, but cramped and confining. Door lintels required stooping to enter. Interior space was cramped—tall guards could barely stand straight. Even for the relatively petite Inanna, it felt abnormally constricted.
"Isn't this somewhat improper?" Ronan suppressed his anger, questioning the dwarf official responsible for reception. "This hardly seems suitable for human habitation."
That dwarf official was expressionless with cold, hard attitude: "This is dwarf territory. All buildings are like this. If you feel any discomfort... please be understanding."
Ronan pointed toward the other end of the alley at a passing figure who was clearly human: "What about them? How do they live?"
The dwarves had accepted quite a few refugees fleeing from the human side. Naturally their figures appeared in Forge Ash City too.
The dwarf official glanced over, voice utterly flat: "That I don't know. In any case, the lord's manor has no guest quarters specially prepared for humans."
After speaking, he nodded slightly, then turned and left, leaving the delegation to face this humiliating arrangement.
Even harder to bear—not far from this row of stone houses was Forge Ridge City's largest public forging area.
Even after nightfall, that place remained brightly lit with firelight. Massive bellows roared. Clanging hammering sounds continued all night without rest.
The first night, Ronan attempted going out, wanting to find human merchants or prominent figures settled in the city. Even at great expense, at least secure a place where Miss Inanna could have some peace.
But before he could act, he was softly called back by Inanna.
"No need, Ronan." The girl's voice remained clear against the noisy background. She held the round, plump No. 4. "Little Four says it has a solution."
No. 4's so-called solution was plugging ears—but don't laugh, it really worked!
It extended two soft yet extremely resilient mycelial tentacles, gently probing into Inanna's ear canals, tightly filling all gaps.
The next moment, Inanna's world sank into deep water-like tranquility. Aside from her own steady breathing and heartbeat, Inanna could barely hear any sound.
The only thing slightly disturbing her all night was actually No. 4 itself.
When bored, it would unconsciously start playing with Inanna's hair. The movements weren't large, but came intermittently.
However, after adapting, this minor disturbance instead became a certain reassuring companionship, letting Inanna quickly enter dreamland.
Other delegation members made do by their own means, barely closing their eyes amid the noise.
But the knight Puchi didn't sleep.
In fact, since becoming a mushroom, Lin Jun no longer needed sleep.
The knight Puchi stood atop the rooftop. Within perception range, it discovered several dwarf hidden sentries specifically watching the delegation's lodgings.
Though just watching—seemingly without intent for further action.
They also noticed the knight Puchi. After all, Lin Jun had no intention of hiding.
However, the knight Puchi merely stood there doing nothing, so no dwarf stepped forward to manage it.
And Lin Jun, through the knight Puchi, observed the nearby public forge.
Or rather, observed the dwarves coming and going inside.
Thinking carefully, Mycelium Puchi Fortress indeed still lacked self-manufacturing equipment capability.
The Northern Territory wasn't without mineral deposits.
Though far from comparable to the mountains' abundant veins, supplying the Northern Territory's own use should still suffice.
Lin Jun wasn't short of mining methods either. Mining frozen soil veins was difficult for other forces, but not difficult for Mushroom Garden, which could mass-produce burrowing Puchis.
What was truly scarce were forging talents who understood how to smelt, forge, and temper crude ore into excellent armor and sharp blades.
The many tribal peoples the Northern Territory absorbed need not be mentioned—they might never have gripped a forging hammer in their lives. Even if wearing armor and weapons, most were likely old goods sporadically flowing out from Empire interior.
The human side did have smiths who could forge, but such craftsmen were prominent figures anywhere. The vast majority still served lords.
For such craftsmen, Lin Jun couldn't simply and crudely take them away like supplementing "D-grade personnel."
In human citadels, craftsmen needed to report to guilds or lords even for normal city exits. If they suddenly disappeared, it would inevitably draw official investigation.
One or two might still be concealed, but once numbers increased, secrets would be extremely hard to keep.
And just a few craftsmen were merely a drop in the bucket for Mycelium Puchi Fortress's current scale.
Precisely because of this, Lin Jun had never successfully "recruited" sufficient craftsmen from the human side.
But on the dwarf side, the scene was vastly different.
According to knight Puchi observations, among dwarves bustling about the public forge were plainly dressed commoners as well as affluent households with refined decorations, males with thick beards and hair, and quite a few sturdy females.
While saying all dwarves mastered forging would be exaggeration, over seventy percent of dwarves clearly possessed basic forging experience and skills.
This meant among the dwarf population, "craftsman" wasn't some rare, special identity.
This undoubtedly let Lin Jun see opportunity. He could confidently absorb a batch of hands from here.
Of course, among dwarves, those legendary craftsmen possessing unique skills who could craft enchanted equipment or even skill weapons would naturally still receive close attention and protection.
But they weren't Lin Jun's target anyway.
What Lin Jun needed were ordinary craftsmen capable of mass-arming soldiers and Puchis.
However, how to poach people and how to transport them to the Northern Territory still required careful consideration. After all, the Empire still lay between both sides.
...
Early the next morning, Inanna emerged from the stone house holding No. 4, stooping. She stretched her body in the clear morning light, breathing air carrying a trace of coal fire smell. Her face showed not half a trace of fatigue but instead was full of spirit.
However, others in the delegation weren't so fortunate.
Most had obvious dark circles under their eyes with dispirited expressions.
In the entire delegation, the most spirited besides Inanna were only No. 4 and the Sword Saint Puchi.
No. 4 had dutifully plugged Inanna's ears at night.
And No. 14, as usual, practiced swordwork all night.
Current No. 14 increasingly felt becoming a Puchi was truly fortunate. No need for sleep or eating—just one mana potion could restore all energy.
If not for still needing to travel by day, it wished it could immerse itself in sword art tempering all day long.
It even felt if it had become a Puchi earlier, its strength could have risen another level.
...
The dwarves again sent someone to the delegation. This time finally not some nobody, but the local lord's son—young Badri.
Though called "young," his build a full size more robust than ordinary dwarves couldn't be called small at all.
As soon as he came over, he demanded re-verifying delegation members' identities, even using multiple specialized detection magics, saying it was to prevent spies mixed among them.
And the first one—he wanted to inspect Inanna!
How could this be permitted?
Ordinary soldiers, even Ronan himself accepting inspection was one thing. But what was Inanna's status? How many magic items and methods serving as trump cards did she have on her? How could everything be revealed?!
However, no matter how Ronan explained, young Badri maintained a hardline attitude of either accept inspection or return the way you came—clearly looking for trouble.
Since entering the city yesterday, they'd constantly received inexplicable difficulties. Even with Ronan's cultivation, veins now bulged on his forehead, anger unbearable:
"Privately making difficulties for allied delegations—how will you explain to higher-ups later?"
Young Badri smiled: "Don't slander people. You've stopped fighting demons, but we dwarves are still at it up front. Naturally we must strictly guard against spies. How can this be called making difficulties? As for allies... hehe."
Ronan gritted his teeth yet was helpless.
Conflict naturally couldn't arise. They came to negotiate. If real conflict occurred, regardless of right or wrong, this mission would be more than half failed.
Entering the mountains didn't necessarily require passing through Forge Ash City. At worst, take a detour and enter the mountains through other border cities.
Just that would delay time.
Just as Ronan was in difficulty, Inanna behind first nodded to herself, then stepped forward two paces, coming before young Badri. Her pink eyes stared at him as she spoke word by word:
"I believe you are insulting me. Therefore, I issue an honor duel challenge to you! According to mountain tradition, you either apologize to me and cease your obstructive behavior, or accept this challenge."
"Of course, as a noble, I'll send a representative to fight..."
Speaking, Inanna brought the Sword Saint Puchi before the completely dumbfounded young Badri...
(End of Chapter)
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