Chapter 26: Riverguard  

After a lively celebration banquet, Rynar and his companions bid farewell to Thorin the next morning, departing the city of Erebor nestled within the Lonely Mountain under Thorin's "farewell."

Riding on horseback, Rynar sighed as he looked back at the emptying ranks. 

Losing 300 valiant Rapid Infantry was a disaster for him; the most severe consequence was the significant reduction of his military strength. 

He tossed the scroll in his hand, finally revealing a faint smile. 

This was a mutual defense treaty signed by the Zaltarion Empire, the Kingdom under the Mountain, the Woodland Realm, and the Vale Kingdom—the four northern realms. 

The clouds of despair looming over them due to Azog and Bolg's escape had yet to disperse, and fighting separately would lead to their defeat one by one. 

So, that night, at Rynar's call, they signed this covenant witnessed by the gods.

As for now, Rynar was about to establish his first city…

"Let's part ways here…" Rynar said, looking at Gandalf and Bilbo.

"Farewell! Rynar, good luck!" Gandalf nodded in acknowledgment.

"Lord Rynar, if you happen to pass by Bag End again, please do come in for a visit. By the way, afternoon tea starts at four! There will be plenty of snacks!" Bilbo's eyes turned slightly red.

"Of course! Baggins, I hope you save me dinner next time I visit!" Rynar laughed heartily, his laughter dispelling some of his earlier discomfort.

"Uh, I'll definitely have dinner ready for you next time!" Bilbo blushed, recalling how Rynar had left with nothing the last time he visited, all taken by that group of delightful dwarves.

"Then it's goodbye for now!" Rynar and Gandalf waved farewell at the foot of the Lonely Mountain.

…

"System! Let's set up the River Running Town right here!" Standing on the eastside of Long Lake, where the original Riverguard of Zaltarion once stood, Rynar called upon the system.

"Received! Retrieving terrain…"

"Terrain meets requirements…"

"Generating city walls…"

"Generating lord's castle…"

"Generating houses…"

"Construction complete. Please check, host."

A stream of data enveloped a large expanse of land before Rynar. 

Just as he was marveling at the sight, the system's voice chimed in, indicating completion. Rynar looked up excitedly at what would be his residence for a long time to come…

"System!" Rynar questioned.

"What is this?" Rynar angrily pointed at the collection of structures that could barely be called a village.

"Is this seriously what you call town?" Rynar fumed.

"System scanning… Detection confirmed!" the cold, emotionless voice of the system responded.

"Are you kidding me? I won't even mention the size of this pathetic excuse for a town! And why is the stone wall only two meters high? 

What's up with these drafty houses? There's grass growing inside! 

The only building that resembles a castle is the so-called lord's castle, and it looks shabby!" Rynar was shocked by the system's shamelessness.

"…" The system remained silent.

"Seriously? Playing dead now?" Rynar's understanding of the system took a new turn.

…

"Ahem, well, from now on this will be our home. It's considered a remnant of the old Riverguard…" 

Just as Rynar was contemplating how to soften the blow to everyone, a cheer erupted from the group as they rushed forward.

"Look, look, this is our Zaltarion style!"

"A typical Zaltarion village!"

"Not bad, not bad; it feels like home again!"

Everyone was pleased with the environment. It had been a long time since they had seen traces of Zaltarion while wandering in foreign lands. 

Seeing the Zaltarion village settled on the site of the old Riverguard filled them with immense excitement.

"System, aren't you going to say anything?" As Rynar listened to the discussions, his expression grew darker! 

He had clearly manifested a town, yet what he received was a crumbling village. 

This was way too much cutting back.

"My lord, this place is great! We've finally returned to our homeland! Huh, why do you seem unhappy?" Caslow cheerfully approached Rynar, only to notice his darkened expression.

Rynar was at a loss for words. Should he tell you that what was supposed to be a town turned out to be worse than a village? 

He suddenly felt that participating in this Battle of the Lonely Mountain had cost him dearly. 

Well, not entirely, considering he had left with 1,000,000 wealth points worth of gold coins from Thorin—each wealth point equating to 10,000 gold coins.

Alright, Rynar finally understood why Thorin had smiled so brightly when sending him off.

"Ah, let me browse the marketplace…" Rynar looked at the people busy tidying up the "town" and opened the system page out of boredom.

"Griffin Eggs: Quantity 5. Unit Price: 10,000 wealth points."

"Mystic Archers: Quantity 100. Unit Price: 10 wealth points."

"Earth Elemental War Mage: Quantity 1. Unit Price: 50,000 wealth points."

…

"Wow! They even have war mages?" Rynar nearly drooled.

War Mages were the fourth rank of mages, considered the hardened figures among mages, capable of leading a small war on their own—hence the name. 

(The ranks of mages include Apprentice Mage, Mage, Archmage, War Mage, Sorcerer, and Sage!)

Finally, after recently acquiring a fortune, Rynar grit his teeth and exchanged 5 griffin eggs and the war mage. 

The reason for getting the griffin eggs was simple: griffins were one of the few aerial super beasts. 

They were slightly weaker than dragons but far superior to giant eagles. Griffins grew quickly; it took about a year from hatching to adulthood. 

However, their reproductive capacity was tragically low, even worse than that of elves. 

In their two-hundred-year lifespan, they could at most reproduce a dozen times, averaging once every ten years, with a single egg each time. 

Domesticated griffins were better off, but wild ones might only leave one offspring in their lifetime. 

The newly born were so fragile that even a street dog could snatch them away, and due to various accidents, wild griffins were scarce. 

However, Rynar seemed not to have heard any news about griffins in this world, suggesting that they might have gone extinct or never appeared at all. 

The reason for exchanging for the war mage was straightforward: an earth-element war mage could serve as an efficient builder. 

Back in the day, when Zaltarion City was expanded and Riverguard was established, it was a few earth-type sages who achieved great things in just a few days, creating towering cities. 

After these two purchases, Rynar's wealth points were reduced by a tenth.

"The system has set the war mage to arrive with 5 griffin eggs to pledge allegiance to the host. Please pay attention to check, host." A line of text appeared on the system's screen.

"My lord, please give this city a name!" Reynard's arrival interrupted Rynar's contemplation.

"Hmm… Let's call it Riverguard. We will inherit the will of our ancestors! The city that was destroyed will be rebuilt by us!" Rynar clenched his fist and said solemnly.

"Riverguard… It feels so good to hear that name again…" The priest of the Guard wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Ding! Main quest activated…" Suddenly, the voice of the system echoed.

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[ A.N: Hey everyone I wanted to inform you all that I have changed appearance of some characters especially Rynar cause I didn't feel his old appearance that warrior like, so please look in the auxiliary chapter Characters to see new look of some characters.

Also thank you all for reading and supporting this story, means a lot to me.]

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