Request of the Dwarves

In the middle of the mist, the Blue Lagoon elites relentlessly charged forward. They knew the Swift Gazelle Tribe was not very far but the mist was making it hard to orient themselves.

Underwater was apprehensive of the quest: "Request of the Dwarves". It was a very risky quest which was essentially asking him to make Blue Lagoon an enemy of the Swift Gazelle Tribe. However, the rewards were extremely enticing. The mechs could not only be extremely useful to Blue Lagoon physically, but the craftsmen of the guild could also study them and develop better models.

More importantly, Blue Lagoon would be willing to give up their influence in this region if he succeeded. The main reason they invested so much here was because of the dungeon where they would be able to build a town in the later stages of the game.

But the situation changed with the developments taking place in the East of the Sylvester Empire. According to the discussion he had with the elders, they had more or less acquired a town in a strategic location. While the town did not officially belong to the guild, it belonged to the daughter of one of the captains. It was just a matter of handing over the rights and compensating that person.

Losing a dungeon would be worth it if he managed to obtain the blueprints of the robots. As the game progressed and more updates took place, the death penalty was going to become more and more severe. To be able to use mechs would drastically reduce the number of death of the guild members. The earlier they started researching this technology, the better it would be.

"According to the map, we should already be seeing the outskirt of the village," commented one of the players.

"Yes! I can see it, now. It's because of the morning mist. I hope they won't instantly treat us like attackers because of the mist."

"Just be careful and raise our banners, they should recognize it. We haven't dealt with the Swift Gazelle Tribe yet but our reputation should have spread around a little bit," said Underwater.

If the players could already see the village, so could the barbarians. The barbarians standing guard at the entrance of the village naturally noticed the large blue banners in the distance. He wanted to warn the others but one of his comrades stopped him. He was an ex-member of the Bramble Deer Tribe. While the merchants had yet to go to the Swift Gazelle Tribe's old village it did reach the Bramble Deer Tribe in the past.

"Wait. I recognize this banner. It is the one used by the townsmen merchant group. There is no need to panic. Just inform the chief."

"The townsmen merchant? I heard of them. They are finally coming here. This bunch of cowards; they don't come and trade with us when we need them. Now that we have secured a dungeon, they bring their *ss over here..."

"Let's see how the chief is going to treat them. I bet you he won't even allow them in the village," said another barbarian. They broke into laughter before one barbarian left the other guards to warn the chief.

He rushed to the chief's tent but was stopped outside the tent by the chief's personal guards. The hierarchy in the Swift Gazelle Tribe was stricter; ordinary barbarians like the guard did not have the right to speak directly to the chief. Instead, he needed to relay the message to the chief's personal guard.

"There is a group of townsmen making their way to the village. We believe it is the merchant group that has been supplying the surrounding tribes during the past month."

The chief's guard raised an eyebrow. "The merchant group? Alright, I'll speak to the chief. You return back to your post."

The barbarian nodded and left without further ado.

Watching the departing figure of the barbarian, the personal guards looked at each other. "Who is going in? The chief will probably not be happy to be disturbed."

"Let's draw straws again."

Eventually, the youngest barbarian was the one tasked with informing the chief. His name was Vince. He gulped down before pushing the flap of the tent apart.

"What is it?" A voice sounded at the side. It was the chief's wife, Farah. In the background, Vince could clearly hear the sound of two people rubbing against each other.

"We have visitors. Townsmen have been sighted making their way to the village; they should be arriving soon. We believe they are merchants."

Farah let out a faint smile and lightly coughed.

The sound in the background instantly stopped and was quickly followed by the shuffling of clothes.

"Yes?" The curtain separating the tent into smaller part was pulled open, revealing the half-naked and sweating figure of the chief of the Swift Gazelle Tribe, Dorcas. Next to him was a naked woman barely covering her private parts with a piece of cloth. She was very pretty; her long blazing hair and her fiery eyes were especially attractive. She was the Flame Belle who Dorcas decided to officially name Slut. As degrading as it was, she was unable to refuse it. The Flame Belle lowered her head, not daring to look at herself or the other people present in the tent. Nevertheless, she still attracted Vince's attention.

Similarly, Farah stared at the Flame Belle for a moment. She did not like to share her husband with other women but she knew it was the custom of the Swift Gazelle Tribe. She was his official wife but Dorcas also had three other concubines.

The reason the Swift Gazelle Tribe was acknowledged as the strongest tribe was mainly because compared to all the other tribes who settled down in peace, the Swift Gazelle Tribe wanted to promote war. It was not scared to fight and conquered quite a few tribes in the past decades. It was customary for the chief to take the most beautiful woman of the conquered tribe as a concubine.

Farah sneered. "Stop pretending you did not hear. Just leave now. You disgust me."

"My wife. You are in a bad mood? I will make up to you tonight," playfully said Dorcas.

"Hmmp, you have your slut to play with. You only had eyes for her for the entire week," Farah crossed her arms and disregarded her husband.

Dorcas was embarrassed. He was showing his family affairs in front of his subordinate. "Fine, I know what to do. Let me deal with this situation first and I'll come back," said Dorcas as he searched for his shirt. He put on some warm clothes before signaling Vince to lead the way.

He briefly glanced at the two women in the tent. "Slut! As I promised, you can go and see your sisters now. Just be a good girl and I'll let you see the other Flame Sisters regularly."

The Flame Belle did not respond. She lifelessly stood up and looked for her clothes. Farah did not feel any pity for her. She was truly beautiful and still had some pride but in the end, she was just like the other girls. Sooner or later, she would submit just like all the other girls from the conquered tribes. In her eyes, the dungeon was just like another tribe that lost to her husband.

Dorcas followed Vince to the entrance. A few barbarians had gathered to watch what was going to happen. Dorcas stood straight in front of the group and waited for the players to arrive.

"Halt! This is the village of the Swift Gazelle Tribe! Identify yourself and reveal your intentions!" shouted Vince.

Underwater, who was in the lead, raised his hand, signaling his men to stop their horses. "We come in peace! We are the Blue Lagoon Guild. We come here with the intention to engage in trade." His answer was brief and concise but he could already feel that something was wrong.

It was especially true for Iron Shark. He went to many villages for trade and experienced a 'welcoming ceremony' every time. The barbarians were always happy to see the merchants who would exchange their junks for useful items but this time, the reception was clearly a little different.

Dorcas examined the merchants for a moment and let out a faint smile. "So you are the merchants who have been going from tribe to tribe to trade. Unfortunately, our tribe is not interested in exchanging any items with you."

The Swift Gazelle Tribe literally did not need anything at the moment. They had the dungeon that could provide them with anything they needed: mounts, weapons, food and even women. Why would they need to trade with outsiders and risk being scammed?

Had it been in the past, Dorcas would have been just like the other tribes; he would have been warmly greeting the merchants but the situation had changed. He was now looking down on these merchants.

Underwater was taken aback. He had never expected to be flat out rejected. "You don't want to trade with us? We have brought special items from the different regions of the Sylvester Empire."

"Really?" Dorcas paused for a moment. "Then take them out and let me see if there is anything that interests me."

Iron Shark watched the scene from the side. He did not have a good feeling about this. The chief did not even invite them to enter the village; it even looked like he was just playing with them.

The players quickly complied to Underwater's instructions and took out several items. There were many useful materials, food, and Grade 3 items but nothing attracted Dorcas' attention.

"You call these special items? They are all trash!" exclaimed Dorcas. All of them paled in comparison to what he could obtain from the dungeon. The materials were interesting but what was the point of buying the materials if he could directly buy the finished products from the dungeon shop?"

He looked condescendingly at the players and waved his hand, "Just leave. Our tribe is not a junkyard where you can get rid of these things."

Underwater froze. He never expected to be treated like this; he was enraged. 'D*mn barbarian! Truly an uneducated person. As if I want to trade with you... I am only here for the quest. The dwarves can go f*ck themselves too. Why did they give such a tight quest duration? We did not even have time to refill our supply or call for backup...'

Nevertheless, Underwater maintained a straight face. The thoughts of attacking the Swift Gazelle Tribe crossed his mind but he quickly dismissed them.

"I apologize chief. However, I would still like to ask if it would be possible for my group to spend the night at your village. As you can see, the weather is not ideal for traveling."