Knight and Wand

Chapter 188 Heraen Mine Team

The first shot missed, and Hem wanted to shoot again before those green ghost faces disappeared.

But after pulling the trigger several times, there was only a clicking sound, and no fire arrows could be ignited from the melting pot in the pistol.

"Ulfgard's idiot! I knew the goods from the profiteers at Silver Mountain were useless."

Hem cursed, threw down his pistol, picked up the rune battle axe at his side, and jumped out of the stone cabin with a flip.

Enduring the sluggishness and discomfort of his body that had just been freed from petrification, he stretched out his short, thick and strong legs, rushed to the wall of the secret room, and pounded the brick button in front of him with his fists.

The sound of stone slabs rubbing against each other followed.

Without waiting for his petrified compatriots to wake up, Hem, as the Rune Furnace Guard, held the battle axe, shook his big beard full of silver ornaments on his chest armor, and rushed towards the hole blown open by the "Green-faced Demon", trying to buy time for others to undone the petrification.

"Come on, hairless devil, your grandfather is in need of a horned wine cup--!"

Roaring, he rushed out of the cave, stepped on the ground with heavy footsteps, swung the battle axe over his head, and jumped directly towards a demon figure he saw.

The passage of time seemed to be stretched out.

Herm's eyes widened.

He saw clearly that the man dropped the light source in his hand and drew his sword to attack him. Huh?
Lantern?

The dwarf's hands in mid-air couldn't help but stop.

He could see more clearly the army holding torches not far away.

Torch?

This situation doesn't seem to be caused by those demons from the spiritual world.

However, before his body hit the ground, Olivia had already approached from the side and swung the hilt of the sword.

The octagonal handle smashed hard on the side of the short and stocky enemy's head armor like a war hammer.

clang!
The huge force knocked Hem away before he even hit the ground. He turned half a circle in the air and fell to the ground, with his helmet flying off.

The guards raised their shields and surrounded the lord. Several knights drew their swords again, ready to chop the enemy who suddenly attacked their lord into pieces.

He rolled on the ground with a few clanging sounds and stopped only when he hit the steps. Hem's head was buzzing.

He took advantage of the situation and stood up from his knees, holding the battle axe.

Turning his head to look at the swords, hammers and shields that were gathering around him, Hem quickly put down his weapons and raised his hands to swing them vigorously.

(Feru language) "-Wait a minute!! Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!" Hem shouted in shock.

Olivia was a little surprised. Although she did not use all her lethal strength, she was aiming to knock the opponent out with one blow. After such a heavy blow, even a Knight of the Order of Arms wearing a helmet would have fallen to the ground.

When Leon saw the short, grumpy man in heavy armor suddenly saluted in the French style, he thought for a moment and raised his hand to order the knights and guards to stop temporarily.

"You speak Feru?"

Leon looked at the guy who had just fired without knowing the reason, and then frowned and scolded: "You shorty, you almost shot me to death just now! Are the people of Helan used to shooting first and then saying hello?"

Leon was still sweating.

The fight with the golems just now was not as thrilling as the sudden "Dwarf Iai".

If I hadn’t practiced martial arts for a long time in this world and hadn’t had extraordinary reflexes, if it were my previous life, I would have been caught off guard and would have been shot in the head.

Next time I go caving, I'd better bring a helmet in advance. Although I don't know how powerful the bullet is, Dossen's thick steel helmet should be able to provide some cushioning effect, and it can also increase the chance of survival if I encounter any traps.

Hem couldn't help but shake his thick beard when he heard that. He really wanted to complain about the lantern that the other party used, which had a particularly gloomy light. Anyone who woke up and suddenly saw a circle of strange and miserable green faces staring at him would probably think of many bad things.

But knowing that he was in the wrong, Hem did not argue, and could only patiently apologize: "In the name of Ulfgard, I apologize to you, stranger. I was too nervous. You would never imagine what disaster we experienced here not long ago."

After saying this, Hem looked around and breathed a sigh of relief.

He found that the surrounding environment was different from when he was petrified and dormant in the stone cabin. The Helan people's low-light vision could clearly see that the strange color of the spiritual field in the mine had completely disappeared.

".No, wait for me."

Suddenly remembering his compatriots who had been awakened by him, Hem was afraid of an accidental discharge of the gun, so he quickly turned around and ran back to the secret room that had been blown up.

In the time it took to say these two sentences, dozens of Helan people in the secret room had jumped out of the stone cabin.

Thirty Helan miners, carrying their own cast steel round shields, lined up and stood in the front.

Eleven Rune Furnace Guards held battle axes and hammers, and pointed their molten guns directly at the cave entrance.

Several furnace technicians also held up their heavy mining forks and spears.

"Hurry up and turn off the fuse, everyone! Listen to me, the spirit-like field has dissipated! There are no demons outside, only a bunch of living people, and we can go home!" Hem laughed at his compatriots with great excitement.

The people of Helan, who had just heard the war roar outside and were about to fight the devil to the death, looked at each other in surprise when they saw the captain of the mining team's guards coming back and saying this, with a hint of relief in their eyes for having survived the disaster.

After avoiding misunderstandings between the mining team and the people outside, Hem came to the outside of the cave again.

Several bearded furnace guards put their molten pistols back on their waists and followed.

As soon as he got out of the secret room, he saw densely packed soldiers standing in front of the cave entrance with spears at attention and crossbows aimed at him and others. Hem waved at the man who seemed to be the leader of the army.

"Don't be nervous, it's all a misunderstanding. We are a mining team from the Edel Mining Chamber of Commerce, and we are definitely not thieves. We have a contract signed with His Majesty Gelvin, and it is completely legal to mine here! But the document is not here, we have to go to the branch to confirm it."

As he said that, he asked doubtfully, "What about you? Are you the army of the Kingdom of Kronia? Or are you mercenaries hired by the Chamber of Commerce to rescue us?"

Edel. Mining Chamber of Commerce?

Leon couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the dwarf warrior's question.

Naturally, he had never heard of this organization.

But the other party actually gave the predecessor of Orland, the Kingdom of Kronia, the suffix of "country" like "kingdom".
In addition, this dwarf respectfully calls the founding king of Orland a thousand years ago, the former commander of the Sun Guard who was demoted by Laura, Olivia's ancestor, the Dusk Knight Gelvin, "Your Majesty".

Hiss, how did these short guys survive to this day?
Even though the time and space in the spirit-like field are disordered, Leon still managed to survive for such a long time. He remembered that the racial biography in the magic book said that the Heran people only had a lifespan of about 300 years.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he looked at the leading dwarf warrior and prepared to tell him the unavoidable cruel fact.

Leon asked Lohak and Larian to keep an eye on the formation to prevent any accidents, and brought Corvis and Olivia to the side.

Avoiding the eyes and ears of ordinary soldiers, he waved to the dwarf who had just attacked him due to misunderstanding: "Are you the leader? Come and talk to me."

Hem scratched his beard in confusion, not understanding what he meant, but he turned around and asked his men to stay where they were. He didn't bring any weapons with him, so he just walked over.

Halfway through, he caught a glimpse of a large number of "Miners" lying in disarray on the platform, and the torso of a "Furnace Golem" paralyzed in the distance, emitting a shrill alarm.

Such a huge loss of property made the corners of Hem's mouth twitch slightly under his beard. This was a last resort to protect the people in hibernation, but it was not his own property. Thinking that the mine owner who organized this branch mine had died at the beginning of the disaster, Hem could only shrug sympathetically.

He came to the army leader, put his hands on his waist and raised his head to test: "Are you not His Majesty Gelvin's army? Nor are you the mercenaries of the Chamber of Commerce?
~Ha, don't worry, I won't hold you responsible for the property you destroyed. Even if you are a gang of robbers, the Chamber of Commerce will give you a reward for saving us."

Leon regretfully shook his head at the dwarf in heavy armor and said, "I am not a bandit, but the lord of this place, Baron Avalon of Nightmare Forest. Although, you are not wrong to mistake us for the army of Kronia. I called you here because I have some unfortunate news to tell you."

"What?" Hem was confused.

"The King Gelvin of Kronia you just mentioned has been dead for more than a thousand years.

The Kingdom of Kronia had already unified the northern countries hundreds of years ago, and now it has changed its name to the Kingdom of Orlando. "Leon spread his hands and said.

"."

The old furnace guard scratched his head and was silent for a while before he reacted.

"Ulfgard's beard!!"

Hem was so horrified that his thick beard on his upper lip blew up. "What are you saying? We have been sleeping here for a thousand years?!"

The old furnace guard couldn't believe it. Even if they were petrified and in hibernation, they couldn't live that long.

Although they live much longer than ordinary humans, a thousand years is enough to take the lives of several generations of Helan people.

Leon nodded with a little sympathy.

As time goes by, there is no way of knowing where the Helan people who disappeared from the continent hundreds of years ago have gone.

But when these dwarves who traveled through time returned to their hometown, their relatives and acquaintances had all passed away, and their descendants had gone through several generations.

Leon felt that even judging by the lifespan of dwarves, this situation was like someone who lived during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty in his previous life, waking up and finding that the time had come to the modern society of the 2020s.

Of course, considering the extent of the decline of civilization on the Western Continent today, perhaps the opposite would be more appropriate.

When Leon thought of this, he couldn't help but look at the holster of the pistol on the dwarf's waist.

It turns out that someone in this world had invented firearms a long time ago.

I don't know what the principle of the round-barreled pistol that the other party used just now is. He was looking for isotopic materials similar to saltpeter and sulfur in this world to experiment whether the gunpowder formula can be effective in this different time and space. Now that he has a technical senior, it saves him a lot of trouble.

"It's not that I don't believe you, my friend, but what you said is really hard to accept for the time being. Let's leave here first. I want to contact the Chamber of Commerce as soon as possible to find out the situation." Hem lowered his head and paced a few times, then turned around and said.

".What is your name, sir?" Leon suddenly asked.

"To use your Feru pronunciation, my name is Hem Ironbeard, and I am the captain of the 'Rune Furnace Guard' who is responsible for protecting this Edel Mine Team." Hem replied.

"Then, Lord Hem, I have even worse news to tell you."

Leon lowered his head and continued to the dwarf warrior: "I don't know where the 'Edel Mining Chamber of Commerce' you mentioned is, but Helan people like you have disappeared from the continent for hundreds of years.

To be honest, it was the first time for everyone present, including me, to see a living Helan. "

"Disappear? What do you mean? What do you mean by disappear?"

Hem felt a chill in his spine after hearing what this man said.

He couldn't help but ask, "The nearest base of our Chamber of Commerce is in Yinshan City. Are there no people of my clan there?"

Leon nodded and turned to look at the Helan miners not far away who were walking out of the secret room one after another with shields raised and in a vigilant manner.

There were also a few dwarves holding strange weapons that looked like harpoons in their hands, carrying unique style backpacks on their backs, and wrapped in technical armor.

Looking at these legendary natural born master craftsmen appearing in front of him in batches, his heart was particularly excited.

This made him more jealous than seeing any beautiful woman or treasure.

Knowledge is priceless. At this moment, the dwarves who accidentally survived in the spirit-like field and came to the era thousands of years later are probably much more valuable than this underground mine.

Those autonomous constructs, golems, and creations used by the Heran people, who are naturally slow in magic power, do not have such a high magical technology threshold as the Lorelites.

Turning around, Leon gave the dwarf named Hem a kind smile.

"What you said just now is correct. Let's leave the underground first and talk about it again when we get upstairs. This is just my one-sided story, and it's not enough to prove it. You can go outside and confirm it yourself.

Now that we have resolved the misunderstanding, why don't you take your people to my castle? As the ruler of this land, I will also do my best to be a good host to you all."

Regardless of whether he could keep these dwarves or not, he had to try his best.

Even if these short guys have to leave in the end to look for their fellow tribesmen who disappeared hundreds of years ago, it would be a good thing for the Lord of Avalon to establish a good relationship with these short guys.

Maybe there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Hem listened to the proposal of the local lord and glanced at the main mine tunnel behind the statue.

If that kind of spiritual field covers the mine, the fastest way to contact fellow tribesmen is to go directly along the main mine tunnel to the nearest underground mine site.

But I don't know if what they said is true or not. If they are really in a state of petrified hibernation waiting for help, a thousand years have passed in the outside world, and their compatriots have long disappeared as they said.
The situation was stronger than the person. After weighing the pros and cons, Hem nodded to the lord in front of him. He had finally survived the disaster, and he was unwilling to rashly engage in any conflict with the army in front of him, so he accepted the proposal. Anyway, it would be the same if he came back to visit other sites later.

"Then I'll trouble you to lead the way, Your Excellency the Baron."

Leon raised his eyebrows, secretly delighted.

As soon as he returned to Avalon, he planned to go to the Mage Tower to consult Laura.

Although she didn't intend to rashly expose Laura's existence to these unknown dwarves.

But since these Helan people had lived in the era before Laura was alive, maybe her little teacher could find a way to keep them.

After confirming that there were no more traps here, Leon led the warriors of Avalon and the dwarf mining team to gather together.

Even the three-legged construct that the warriors had captured before was debugged by the dwarf technicians. The orange light went out, and it calmed down and shrank into a shuttle shape. The Helan people did not ask Lion to return the two machines with their pickaxe arms chopped off.

The two teams left the underground mine together, crossed the rock suspension bridge, returned to the tunnel leading to the Nightmare Forest, and walked towards the ground.

When they returned to the sunny forest surface, Leon looked back at the dwarves who were walking out of the mine in groups of three or five.

Miners, mine guards, and maintenance technicians, a total of fifty-one people survived from this mining team.

Spirit Vein Ore, Iron Ore, Ancient Mine, Heraen People.
He didn't expect that a simple leisure outing would bring him such an amazing discovery. He found that he had underestimated how many ancient heritages were hidden in this forest that had been shrouded in a spiritual field for thousands of years, in addition to the fortress of Aphrodite.

Leon couldn't help but look at Larian.

How about letting the knights-errant and the soldiers explore this forest together?

(End of this chapter)