Dwarven Tribe

Early the next morning, Lola entered the wooden house, accompanied by Serea’s personal elven handmaiden.

After instructing the other handmaidens to wait outside, Lola walked alone into the bedroom, which was separated by a wooden palisade.

“Queen, you need to attend the Forest Council in the western jungle today, so… Eh?”

Lola looked toward Serea’s bed and saw Celia sitting at the bedside, lying across Serea, their hands tightly clasped together.

Hearing Lola’s call, Serea woke up as well.

She ruffled her messy hair and tried to sit up, but felt someone holding her hand. Looking closely, she realized it was Celia.

“Celia, it’s time to get up.”

At Serea’s call, Celia suddenly opened her eyes; even in her sleep, she had remained vigilant.

“Is it morning already?”

“Celia, could it be that you stayed beside me all night, taking care of me?”

“No.”

Celia turned her head sharply and denied it outright.

“Since you’re awake, hurry and get up.”

Leaving those words behind, she tidied her clothes and left Serea’s bedroom.

When Celia came out of the room, Vina, Dorulu, Doluka, and Camilla were all stunned.

They watched Celia leaving with confusion, then saw Serea walk out of the room as well—both of them emerging from the same room in the morning.

Suspicious—far too suspicious!

“As expected, miss Celia has finally fallen…”

“In that case, Lola has truly lost now.”

“How bold.”

Vina and the others whispered among themselves, but their mutterings did not reach Serea’s ears.

“Morning.”

Serea greeted them naturally, and the handmaidens responded one after another.

Washing up, dressing, getting up—everything proceeded as usual. When Serea stepped out of the wooden house, Little Black and the others were already assembled in formation.

Looking at the lineup of Skeleton Warriors, elven archers, wolf riders, trolls, and blood slaves, Serea was confused.

“What is all this…?”

“Queen, did you forget? We were invited to attend the Forest Council in the western jungle. It’s nearly time to depart.”

“Oh, right, I almost forgot.”

Serea slapped her forehead as she remembered.

“Counting travel time, we have less than an hour left. Is there anything else the Queen needs to prepare?”

“No need, let’s just set off.”

As Serea gave her instructions, Celia returned, now clad in a light knight’s armor, her usual icy expression restored.

Leaving half the combat personnel to guard the camp, Serea led the rest of the troops toward the ‘Eriwin’ dwarf tribe.

Because of last night’s blizzard, their journey was not very smooth, but fortunately, Serea’s party reached the territory of the ‘Eriwin’ dwarven tribe ahead of the agreed-upon time.

…

It was a territory nestled within the mountains and forests. Among the endless mountains were all kinds of metal and gemstone veins, perfectly suited to the dwarves’ forging needs. As the second-largest tribe in the western jungle, only inferior to Maregof, the total population of all camps in the Eriwin dwarven tribe reached an impressive 3,400, making it an enormous tribe.

Naturally, such a tribe became one of Maregof’s “allies.”

In the distance, a massive camp came into view. Constructed with a combination of wood and stone, its sheer scale amazed Serea, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the dwarves’ construction techniques.

Of course, this camp wasn’t as large as the one Serea herself was building.

After confirming her destination, Serea led her group straight toward the camp. However, before they got far, a shout suddenly rang out from the trees flanking the path.

“Halt! Who are you?”

Hearing a deep, masculine voice, Serea looked over to see three dwarven archers in leather armor standing in the trees, with six dwarven warriors blocking Serea’s path below.

As for the so-called dwarves—just as Serea expected—they looked similar to humans, but their bodies were much stockier. Among the nine dwarves, the tallest was only about 1.4 meters, with the average height around 1.3 meters.

But they should not be underestimated. All nine were level 15 or 16 bronze elites. Although not as strong as Serea’s Skeleton Warriors, they were considered excellent soldiers in the great forest.

“What are you waiting for? Answer quickly, or we have the right to expel you.”

The captain of the dwarven scout squad pulled his bowstring taut.

Despite his tough words, faced with a team composed of 25 Skeleton Warriors, 10 humans (blood slaves), 15 wolf riders, 10 elves, and 3 trolls, they were also quite nervous.

Especially those at the front—each looked formidable. Why would such a team appear here…?

In response to the dwarven scout’s questioning, Serea showed no sign of resistance and spoke up.

“We were invited to attend the ‘Western Jungle Forest Council.’ Here is our invitation letter.”

Serea displayed a scroll of parchment to the dwarven captain, who jumped down from the tree and came over to take it.

“This is indeed an invitation letter, but why are you only arriving now? You made us think someone was invading.”

Hearing their guests were here for the council, the dwarven captain breathed a sigh of relief. Serea, however, frowned slightly.

“Hmm? By your tone, has the meeting already begun?”

“Yes. The chiefs and leaders of every tribe arrived half an hour ago.”

As the dwarf explained, Serea’s eyes narrowed.

“Punctuality is a good habit, but since you’re late, there’s nothing to be done. Take your followers and go in quickly.”

“Alright, I’ll trouble you to lead the way.”

Serea spoke. There was no sense explaining more to a scout captain, so she decided to enter first and sort things out there.

But as per the rules, each lord could only bring six guards inside, so Serea chose a group of chiefs and captains to accompany her.

Lola, Aruka, maro, Little Black, Celia, and last…

“Avril, come with me, please.”

Serea said, and Avril was momentarily stunned—she hadn’t expected Serea to bring her along.

“Take this opportunity to meet our common enemy.”

Avril understood Serea’s intent.

“All right.”

“But you have to wear this.”

As Serea spoke, she tossed a mask to Avril—the very one Pelleme had fashioned.

Avril put it on, and as it adhered to her skin, her appearance shifted, changing her into an elf.

“This is…”

“Just a little trick.”

Serea replied, not noticed by the distant dwarves.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yes. The seven of us will attend the meeting—please lead the way.”

“Follow me.”

With that, the scout captain mounted his highland goat, and Serea and her party rode their direwolves to keep up.

(To be continued…)

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