stjorthotic Chapter 165: I, Sandramea, have arrived!
Chapter 165: I, Sandramea, have arrived!
Chapter 165 I, Sandramea, am back!
A short queue had already formed at the checkpoint entrance, with people waiting in line to enter.
Li Ang's gaze swept across the queue, and he noticed that besides the majority of dwarves and some human merchants, there were a few figures that stood out.
They are slightly taller than dwarves, covered in thick hair, with fluffy triangular ears standing upright on their heads, and a long, flexible tail trailing behind them.
"Cat-cat people?" Rudik pushed up his thick glasses and exclaimed softly. It was the first time he had ever seen a real half-orc outside of a book.
Helena looked on curiously and whispered, "Their ears and tails—they look so soft."
Upon hearing this, Celia, standing beside them, glanced indifferently at the cat-people with her golden eyes and spoke calmly. Her voice was soft, yet it clearly reached the ears of her uninformed teammates: "Cat-people are a branch of the orcs who inhabit desert regions. Their reaction speed is said to be seven times that of humans. They are extremely agile and have excellent balance. Moreover, it is said that they also have an even rarer and more powerful variant, the tiger-people."
After explaining the facts, Celia seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "By the way, don't keep staring at the cat people, they'll take it as a provocation."
Upon hearing this, the group quickly averted their gazes.
At this moment, Li Ang noticed another figure on the other side of the group, with huge spiral horns on its head, which at first glance did indeed look somewhat similar to the horns on Olivia's head.
"That's the Deer Antler Tribe?" Li Ang's heart stirred slightly. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that although the antlers on their heads were somewhat similar, their eyes were not the same.
The Deer Antlers' pupils are horizontal rectangles, like those of a goat, quite unlike Olivia's vertical pupils.
Olivia glanced at the antlered creature, yawned lazily, and seemed to have no interest in her fellow antler-bumper.
Soon, it was Li Ang and his group's turn.
Bronzebeard immediately stepped forward to negotiate with the guards, and Nelson followed closely behind to pay the entry fee.
Li Ang entrusted Nelson with handling all the miscellaneous expenses along the way, but required him to keep a clear record of every expense and to verify it afterward.
"There are thirteen of us in total. The entrance fee is ten copper coins per person, which will amount to one silver coin and thirty copper coins in total," Copperbeard said to Nelson after negotiating.
Nelson took out coins from his purse and handed them to the guard. The guard took the coins and was about to let him pass when his gaze inadvertently fell on Bronzebeard's face.
The guard was taken aback at first, then a mixture of surprise and amusement spread across his face. He spoke loudly in Dwarven, "Oh, isn't this our esteemed former commander of the Royal Guard, Lord Bronzebeard? What, instead of enjoying a life of luxury in Ironforge, you've come here to be a guide? How many coins do you earn a day now? Enough to buy you Molten Core drinks?"
The guards beside him chuckled softly, clearly recognizing this once-important figure and knowing his current downfall.
Although Copperbeard tried to maintain his composure, his slightly trembling hands betrayed him. However, while he could endure it, others could not.
Sandra Meya stepped forward, looking down at the guard. Her emerald eyes blazed with fury at the insolent man: "If you don't apologize right now, I'll smash you so badly your own mother wouldn't recognize you!"
The guard was intimidated by Maya's imposing presence. When he saw her face clearly, all color drained from his face, and he became terrified.
He stammered, "Your Highness—? No—Max—no, Miss—" He spoke incoherently, finally turning his head away, unable to meet Maya's fiery eyes. His voice trembled as he weakly reminded her, "Your—your father, His Majesty the King, has banished you—from the dwarf kingdom. According to—according to the rules, you are not allowed to enter—"
"Bang!"
Maya slammed the warhammer in her hand into the ground with a dull thud that made the ground tremble slightly.
"Didn't you hear me tell you to apologize?" Although Maya was only 1.2 meters tall, she appeared imposing in front of the dwarf guard who was only 60 centimeters tall.
Overwhelmed by Maya's imposing presence, the guard bowed his head and apologized to Bronzebeard.
Seeing the guard apologize, Sandra Maya raised her head and declared loudly enough for the entire outpost to hear: "Listen up, I, Sandra Maya Maxwell, have returned! Not as an exile, but as a challenger, to tell my father that I will challenge his throne with my ten knights."
This earth-shattering declaration was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, startling the guard who had spoken so much that he collapsed to the ground, and instantly causing an uproar among the surrounding crowd, with all eyes focused on the imposing dwarf princess.
Li Ang and the others couldn't understand the dwarven language, but judging from the situation just now, it seemed that the guard had insulted Bronzebeard and Maya had stepped in to help him out.
Ignoring the stunned guards, Maya snorted, shouldered her warhammer, and led Li Ang and the others through the checkpoint with her head held high, leaving the deathly silence and shock behind.
Only after their figures disappeared into the road within the checkpoint did one of the guards snap out of his daze and frantically shout to a messenger beside him, "Quick, quick, report to the chief advisor via the Swiftwind Bird! Princess Sandramea—she has returned with the Ten Knights!"
The messenger dared not delay and scrambled toward a stone house inside the outpost. He quickly wrote a message on a specially made piece of thin paper, rolled it up, and stuffed it into a wooden tube on the foot of a bird messenger.
The bird flapped its wings and took flight, transforming into a gray shadow as it swiftly flew towards Ironforge.
According to Maya, the town after the checkpoint is called Frontier Town, and it is about a two-day drive from the royal capital Ironforge.
Led by Copperbeard, the group arrived directly at the Iron Hammer Merchant Guild branch located in the border town.
Copperbeard stepped forward and explained the situation to the branch leader. They had encountered an extreme thunderstorm on their way, and the rented Earth Beast had unfortunately been struck and killed by lightning. The wagon, along with most of the supplies, was currently left outside the city. They hoped that the Chamber of Commerce would send someone to retrieve and inspect it.
The person in charge was a dwarf with a meticulously groomed black beard. Upon hearing this, he said in a businesslike manner, "According to regulations, we need to send someone to examine the body. If it is confirmed to be caused by an accidental natural disaster, you only need to compensate half the value of the earth beast, which is one gold coin. But if it was intentional sabotage—" He paused, his tone becoming serious, "then you will need to compensate at the full value, two gold coins."
Li Ang's heart skipped a beat as he listened. Examine the corpse? Olivia had chewed up and swallowed even the bone fragments of that earth beast. How could they examine it? He subconsciously glanced at Olivia, who was idly playing with the ends of her red hair.