An ‘Equipment’

After Maregof left, Serea chatted idly with the other clan chiefs for quite some time. Because of Stro’s earlier example, no one dared to cause trouble in front of Serea anymore, so the meeting ended smoothly.

To be honest, Serea felt that this meeting was utterly baffling, but she didn’t think much of it and took it as Maregof testing her.

At this moment, Serea and her group were on their way down the mountain. Since her troops were still stationed outside the Dwarven territory, Serea needed to go and regroup with them first.

As soon as she approached her troops, Serea saw several dwarves gathered around Little White.

“Oh! This is truly a masterpiece of art. May I touch it?”

It was the dwarven scout captain from before. Hearing the voice, Serea walked over. Noticing the Queen’s return, Little White and the others greeted her.

“Queen.”

“Yes, I’ve returned.”

Serea replied. Hearing this, the nine dwarves encircling Little White turned to see Serea.

“It’s you! Has the meeting ended?”

“Yes, we intend to head back.”

“That’s a real shame. I was hoping to examine it more closely.”

The dwarven scout captain said, his tone full of regret.

“Examine?”

“Yes, your subordinate’s gear—uniformly styled magic equipment is extremely rare.”

The dwarven scout captain looked over Serea’s troops and saw that all the lightly armored fighters wore red-cloaked leather armor, all matching magic equipment (Blood Elf Stalker Armor).

“Is this equipment very rare?”

“Of course it is rare! And it’s not just the equipment itself—even more precious is the armorsmith who forged it. The ability to mass-produce such exquisite magic gear must mean a master-level armorsmith at the very least.”

The scout captain explained. Serea pondered. Judging from the dwarves’ reactions, perhaps this was an opportunity to establish ties with the Eriwin Dwarven tribe. After all, dwarves value nothing more than their beer and their forge, so maybe she could…

“Heh, you’ve got a good eye. But you’re mistaken—it wasn’t just a master who made these.”

Serea said with a meaningful smile. The dwarven scout captain froze for a moment, his face turning red as he shouted,

“You mean, the armorsmith who forged this equipment is…”

“A master.”

Serea said plainly. At this answer, not only the dwarven scout captain, but all the other dwarves drew in a sharp breath.

Heavens, a master!

“You’re not deceiving me, are you?”

“Why would I deceive you? Besides, that master is right in my camp.”

“That’s impossible. A master or grandmaster would be a most honored guest in any nation of wisdom. How could one be out here in the jungle?”

The dwarven scout captain protested. Serea countered,

“But isn’t your Clan Chief, vandock, himself a master-level armorsmith? Didn’t he also come into this jungle?”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“It’s written right on your armor: ‘Crafted by Master Vandock Eriwin.'”

Serea pointed to a corner of the dwarven battle armor. At this, the scout captain looked at the name and scratched his head awkwardly.

“So that’s it. I hadn’t noticed. Dad really has to show off.”

“Oh? You’re Vandock’s son?”

At the revelation, Serea looked as if she’d discovered some new world.

“Lodran Eriwin. That’s my name; I serve as scout commander of the Eriwin Dwarven tribe, and I’m also a senior armorsmith.”

Lodran said. From his tone, it seemed that the title ‘senior armorsmith’ made him prouder than ‘Eriwin Dwarven scout commander.’

“I see. I didn’t expect the son of the Eriwin Clan Chief himself to greet me here.”

“It’s just that I happened to be on duty.”

“Fate brings us together! Since you’re so interested in this leather armor, let me give it to you.”

As she spoke, Serea took an identical set of ‘Blood Elf Stalker Armor’ from her spatial ring and handed it to Lodran.

“For me?!”

Lodran pointed to himself, stunned.

“Yes, you seem to like it, and you clearly don’t believe it’s the work of a master. You can take it home and have your father appraise it.”

Serea said. Since Dogsius was indeed a master-level armorsmith, she wasn’t worried about anyone verifying it.

“This… It’s too precious. I cannot accept it.”

Lodran waved his hands. Though he yearned for the gear, he was a dwarf, and dwarven principles were deeply rooted in him.

“If you feel bad, you can always send me a few of your finest pieces in exchange. Consider it a fair trade.”

Serea gently prompted him. Lodran eyed the leather armor in her hands.

“Not trading? If not, I’ll take it back.”

“Trade! Trade!”

Seeing Serea about to withdraw it, lodran stopped thinking and snatched the leather armor right from Serea’s hands.

After acquiring it, he inspected the leather armor in place, and the other dwarves crowded around him.

“Let me see!”

“This feels amazing!”

“Don’t push! I was here first!”

The dwarves swarmed around Lodran, as if he were holding not equipment, but a seductress too tempting to resist.

“You have guests present! Hold yourselves together!”

Lodran finally lost his patience, clutching the armor to his chest.

“Heh, you guys take your time. I’m leaving now.”

Serea said, preparing to go.

“Wait, where’s your camp? I’ll deliver my best work once the gear is ready.”

“Follow the northwest path all the way, my camp’s by the upper reaches of the river.”

“Alright, within three days I’ll bring my ‘masterpiece’ there.”

“No rush.”

Serea stated nonchalantly, playing hard to get with ease.

With those words, Serea and her party departed. Watching them leave the territory, lodran turned to his fellow dwarves.

“Cover my shift. I’m heading back.”

“You…”

“None of that! Drinks are on me tonight.”

“Deal!”

And so Lodran, armor clutched to his chest, dashed back toward the camp, sprinting with unprecedented speed straight for Vandock’s residence.

Bang!

He kicked in the door, stopped before Vandock, armor still in his arms.

“Dad, look what I brought back!”

Lodran was excited, but Vandock was a little annoyed and barked,

“Always so rowdy! Don’t you know how to knock?”

“No, dad! It’s something good!”

“What good thing?”

“This! Leather armor crafted by the hand of a master! Wasn’t that something you always dreamed of—”

Before he finished, vandock was already in front of him, snatching the armor.

“Uh… Dad, you’re even more excited than I am.”

“Enough nonsense! Where did this come from!”

“Serea gave it to me, said she wants to trade for my finest work.”

“Serea?”

Vandock remembered now—Serea was the Elf woman who attended the meeting today.

With this in mind, he began to examine the equipment carefully.

Vandock’s brows knit and then relaxed. At his ‘master-level’ skills, one glance was enough to confirm it—at minimum, the creator was a master!

“Father, what do you think?”

“It’s crafted by a master, but just from style alone, I can’t tell which master forged it.”

“Then… when I deliver my work, I’ll try to get a meeting with the master. That is, if they’re willing.”

Lodran scratched his head awkwardly. As just a senior armorsmith, whether a master would meet with him was not up to him.

“That’s as it should be. But whether you get to meet the person isn’t their decision—it depends on your own skills.”

Vandock said, causing Lodran to show a look of confusion.

“Uh… my skills?”

“What did you think? Haven’t you considered why they entrusted such precious armor to you and asked you to trade your masterpiece for it?”

Vandock conjectured with his not-too-quick wits.

“You mean—the master deliberately gave me the gear to test me?”

“Though I don’t know why a master would take notice of you, since you have the opportunity, seize it! If you can both meet a master and get their guidance, your forging path will go further.”

Vandock said, beaming with a hearty smile, secretly thinking—

Impressive, my son! He’s managed to earn the favor of a master.

But all Serea wanted was—

You’re really overthinking it. I just wanted to win you over.

Unintentionally, Serea had created a beautiful misunderstanding, into which Lodran was now fully immersed.

“Heavens, a master noticed me! This is incredible—I don’t even know how to describe this feeling.”

Lodran was excited, even elated, but seeing his son getting carried away, vandock’s tone grew stern.

“Don’t get complacent! This is just an opportunity. If you can’t deliver a piece that satisfies the master, it will all be for nothing.”

“Got it, dad. I’ll work hard these next few days and make the best piece I’ve ever forged.”

“Excellent. The camp’s resources are at your disposal, but first, you have to forge something I can’t find fault with, or else you’re not going to embarrass us before the master.”

“Understood! I’ll go now. Dad, wait for my good news.”

Full of confidence, lodran strode off for the forge.

Watching Lodran run off brimming with excitement, vandock’s eyes were filled with hope. Building relations with a master could greatly enhance their forging skills.

But then he remembered something and silently murmured three words.

“Serea…”

As he repeated the name, vandock stared off into the distance.

“A character who suddenly appeared in the jungle, accompanied by werewolves, elves, undead, trolls, even humans have gathered to her… and she even has a master-level armorsmith at her side. Who exactly is she…”

Vandock muttered to himself, clearly not believing Serea was just a simple elf queen.

No matter what, though, he had to handle their relationship well. The only conflict between him and Serea was—

Maregof!

Back when he needed forging materials from the outside world, he formed a trade alliance with Maregof. Now, maregof seemed to be at odds with Serea, making things rather tricky.

“In any case, until things become clear, under no circumstances can we be enemies—not at any cost!”

Vandock reminded himself, then let the matter rest.

He left the house—he needed to supervise his foolish son. This rare chance to approach a master simply had to be grasped.

……

Meanwhile, Serea had no idea her gift of the ‘Blood Elf Stalker Armor’ had caused such an uproar. Instead of pondering that, it was better to consider what to do about their current predicament.

As she stared at the mountain road blocked by rocks, Serea’s brows furrowed. She looked up to see traces of fallen rocks on the snow-covered slope. That the way was blocked just as she tried to return could be no coincidence.

“Queen, I checked. Clearing all this debris would take a long time. It might be better to take the small path down the mountain and circle around this area.”

“How long will it take to return to the camp via the small path?”

“Uh… normally about 5 hours, but with the snow-covered roads, it could take much longer.”

Lola explained. Hearing this, Serea’s expression grew darker.

“It appears someone doesn’t want us to return…”

Hearing these meaningful words, everyone guessed what she meant.

“So, queen, shall we…”

“We’ll take the small path, and Little Black, Little White, you scout ahead.”

“Yes.” x2

Little Black and Little White rushed off up ahead, while Serea’s group turned toward the small path. Noticing something amiss, Serea used her spirit link to transmit intel and instructed the camp to guard vigilantly. If someone didn’t want her to return, that meant they were either planning to ambush her on the road or strike at the heart—her camp.

With half her forces out in the field, if something happened at camp…

That meant she’d have to prepare that tactic. If someone dared to attack, she’d show them what it meant to ‘mass deploy troops right before your eyes.’

A sly smile appeared on Serea’s lips. Meanwhile, back at camp, Doluka, Dorulu, augustin, and Leklis moved swiftly in response.

“Maregof, don’t disappoint me. Best if you show up in person today!”

Thinking this, Serea’s group hurriedly took the small path toward the camp.

……

Elsewhere, five kilometers from the Darkmoon clan camp, a team of humans was already lying in ambush. All wore matching white gear and carried fine weapons—clearly not rabble.

There were nearly a hundred of them in all. Their leader was a handsome archer, with a short man at his side dressed in a black robe and wearing a mask, wrapped tightly from head to toe.

The two waited, and before long, a leather-armored scout raced toward them from the distance.

(To be continued…)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep