Chapter 125 Dwarf Halkin

"Master, we have arrived at the campsite."

The wheels rolled forward, and a cleared flat ground was waiting ahead. A dozen townspeople were helping to carry supplies and clear the open space.

In the center of the open space was the money and food collected by the mayor, enough to feed 1000 people for three days.

The Duke's steward of the Mayo Mountain Mine was waiting by the money and grain with a smile on his face, and from time to time he angrily yelled at the townspeople to hurry up.

The townspeople who had arrived at the campsite early to help looked at the group of men in black with curiosity and fear.

This group of people in black included both old and young, and most of them had a piece of black clothing on them.

Different from the common noisy refugees, these hardened villagers always line up in an irregular but orderly queue.

No matter what they did, they were very methodical and their actions were quick and efficient. In the blink of an eye, a camp was built in an instant.

This is the experience and skill gained while turning and routing, and it has almost become a subconscious habit.

Even though the Duke repeatedly stated in his letter that these were a group of mercenaries hired by him.

But the townspeople knew clearly that these were not mercenaries at all, but the short-haired rebels who had escaped into the Blackbone Swamp a month ago.

They are not fools. Just look at their hair and short beards to tell you.

They were used to the mayor's servility. The mine steward was a close associate of the Duke. How could he be servile to mercenaries?

This also gave the townspeople an ominous feeling, as the Duke had recently accepted a number of rebels in the name of refugees.

Is there going to be a war?
Amid the whispers and strange looks of the townspeople, Horn put away his luggage and led the shopping team to Mayo.

Gregory walked in front, holding Horn's horse, while the Duke's steward of the mine smiled and chatted with Horn.

After walking for about 30 minutes from the campsite, we arrived at the town of Mayo.

The town of Mayo is actually not very big, with a population of about 800-1000, most of whom are miners and iron smelters.

Most of the buildings in the town have chimneys and stoves, and the overall structure is a wooden frame with an earth foundation.

It is similar to the first floor being rammed earth in a wooden frame, and the second floor and above are pure wooden walls.

Stone houses, those are things only knights have.

These houses are generally two to three stories high, with a loft on the top in the shape of a horizontal triangular column.

It's like a red book is placed on a white rectangular shoe box.

Behind the residents' houses are mostly animal pens, blacksmith shops, vegetable gardens and manure pits.

On the gray-white walls of the rectangular exterior walls on both sides of the house, a long wooden board is installed on the diagonals of two pillars.

Due to construction technology reasons, the rectangular wall is not stable and wooden boards must be used to connect the diagonals to form a triangle.

Otherwise, any snowstorm or heavy rain would blow down these houses.

The width of the house is between 2 and 3 fathoms, because if it is wider, the triangle cannot be supported.

These houses are divided into small areas according to family, relatives, assets and work. Inside the areas are densely scattered houses, and outside the areas are narrow roads.

According to the list written by Horn, several senators and bishops were scattered in the narrow alleys under the escort of the Guards.

Horn and Jeanne followed the mayor to find the blacksmith.

The tip of the Yunzhongxue sword was broken, but it was his dominant weapon after all, so Horn wanted to repair it if possible.

Rector's skills are too poor to handle this level of dwarven craftsmanship.

When he arrived in Mayo Town, Horn originally just wanted to ask out of a try, but he didn't expect that there really was one.

"This dwarf is a Dragon Worshiper from the Dragon Sleep Mountains. His craftsmanship is absolutely impeccable."

Mayor Gregory continued to introduce as he walked.

"As I recall, aren't you guys specialized in mining and iron smelting?"

Although Joan of Arc is called a duchy, it is actually only as big as an earldom, equivalent to two townships.

Among them, the towns related to the iron smelting industry are Mayo Town and Huilu Town. The former is responsible for mining and smelting, and the latter is responsible for forging and processing.

"Yes, our two towns are the two pearls of the iron industry in Jeanne d'Arc, and can provide His Excellency the Duke with an income of more than 4000 gold pounds every year."

When thinking of the Duke of Kush's wealth and iron smelting, even the Duke's lackey butler would involuntarily puff out his chest.

Hearing this, Horn couldn't help but laugh.

4000 gold pounds, even if calculated based on the highest profit margin of military weapons in the weapons industry, that would mean selling 6000 weapons.

Not to mention anything else, the 800-odd miners among these 300 people definitely cannot dig out enough iron ore to supply 6000 military weapons.

Apart from this, no guild would allow the lord to do this, because priests and nobles also stand behind the guild.

"Shouldn't such a dwarf craftsman be in Ashforge Town?"

"Of course he came here for a reason. The craftsmen in Huilu Town are rich and love gambling, and there are gambling houses everywhere... As we were talking, we arrived."

Gregory turned sideways, revealing an alley in front of him.

The dwarf's blacksmith shop is located in this narrow alley.

The outer walls of the blacksmith's shop were covered in black smoke from the potion and dust from the slag.

Atop the porch hung a rusty wooden sign with crude inscriptions on it: "Brock's Blacksmith Shop."

But at this moment, the quiet alley was filled with violent voices.

"You see, this is the reason," Gregory said with a wry smile.

"Halkin, open the door! I know you're in there!" A burly man with hairy arms hammered frantically on the door of the blacksmith shop. "Pay your debt! Come out!"

"Get ready to throw shit, Halkin. Don't blame me for not reminding you not to sleep too deeply at night!"

"Get out of the way, a distinguished guest is coming." The mayor yelled at them.

The debt collector turned around, raised his head and glared at Horn.

"Which bastard..."

As soon as he started speaking, he saw four soldiers wearing breastplates behind the person who came, and they looked extremely fierce.

Horn was wearing a fine purple-red feather satin robe, and was guarded by beautiful maids.

Beside him were the old mayor and the Duke's mine steward, both of them with fawning looks on their faces.

The leader of the debt collectors felt a pang in his heart immediately.

"...Which bastard was shouting so loudly and disturbing the noble master? Can you take responsibility?!"

The leader of the debt collectors used his hairy paw to knock his companion to the ground.

After this side smoothed over the words, the debt collector immediately bowed and said: "Master, we are a group of poor creditors. The youngest son of this family owes us a large sum of money..."

"I'm not interested in listening." Horn interrupted directly, "I came here to find this family to repair my knight's sword. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, I understand. A good dog doesn't block the road. I'll leave right away, right away!" With smiles on their faces, the three debt collectors ran away like the wind.

Horn went forward and knocked on the door, and the mayor shouted, "Brock, I have a distinguished guest to see you, open the door."

A figure flashed by on the second floor, and soon the door of the blacksmith shop opened.

They were greeted by a male dwarf about 4 feet tall. He was wearing a silk robe and linen pants, and one of his heels was missing.

The young dwarf had arms and neck as thick as his thighs, and a red beard hanging down to his chest.

His dark blue eye sockets were filled with eyes as smart as a fox, which was rare among dwarves.

"Old mayor." The young dwarf smiled ingratiatingly.

Gregory pushed him inside and said, "We are here to find your father. Lead the way."

The dwarf named Halkin was not annoyed. He led Horn and others through the house and to the backyard.

In addition to the vegetable garden and ditch in the backyard, there is a spacious and dark studio.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt wood and medicine. In the middle of the room, under a huge medicine jar, the stove was emitting billowing heat waves.

In a corner of the studio, iron blocks, medicine bricks and charcoal of various sizes were piled messily on the floor.

On the other side, an iron workbench is filled with various iron tools, including hammers, pliers, rulers, etc.

A dwarf with a big head, thick neck and red beard was sitting dejectedly in front of the anvil, his sweat soaking his coarse work clothes stained with rust and burn marks.

His hands were rough, forged and polished by time and as strong as iron and stone.

When he saw the old mayor coming, he didn't say hello, but just sat there gloomily.

The old mayor stepped forward and explained his purpose, then handed Horn's Snow in the Cloud to him.

Pulling out the Snow Cloud and observing it for a while, the dwarf Brock shook his head in a muffled voice: "I can't repair this."

The mayor immediately asked anxiously, "How can it not be repaired? This is the craftsmanship of you dwarves."

"I can fix it, but I can't repair it." Brock looked at his son with bruises all over his face. "I'm old, and things aren't peaceful here. I'm leaving for my hometown the day after tomorrow. It will take at least ten days to fix this sword."

"Dad, I won't go back to Dragon Sleep Mountains. There is nothing there except the tavern." The young dwarf said anxiously.

Grabbing the hammer and throwing it at Harkin, Brock was rarely angry and said, "You've got yourself into this state, with debt collectors coming to your door every day. Why don't you go back to the Dragon Sleep Mountains and stay here to be sold to the Flesh and Blood King's Court?"

After dodging the hammer in a panic, Harkin showed the classic stubborn character of a dwarf: "I said I won't go, and I won't go! Dad, I got some good treasures in Brandywine City.

If it falls into those hands, they will definitely lower the price. If I still can’t pay off my debt, I will go to the pawn shop and I will definitely get a high price.”

"If you go out now, you will be caught by debt collectors. Where can you be a pawnshop owner?"

Halkin's eyes rolled around and he looked at Horn. He turned around and knelt at Horn's feet.
"My lord, please hire me as your guide for free.

I'll take you to Jeanne d'Arc, an area I know so well that I know which prostitutes are cheap and pretty, which gambling houses are interesting, and I have a book in my head.

You leave the sword here. My father will not leave and will stay here to repair the sword for you. You don’t have to pay a penny for the repair and material costs.”

"You little bastard!" Brock grabbed Harkin's collar with his iron hand and pulled him back. "You have brought shame upon the dwarves. You are not allowed to kneel."

Harkin was still struggling despite being strangled by the neck:

"My father can even give me a good sword or axe, and you can give me a 30% discount later..."

Ten days?
Horn left Jeanne d'Arc no later than mid-November.

This wasn't a very troublesome thing, and Horn was too lazy to go through so much trouble.

Without paying any attention to Halkin, he looked Brock in the eye and said, "If I send him to Castle Jeanne, can you stay here and help me with my sword?"

"I..." Brock was about to refuse, but when he saw his son's pleading look, he hesitated.

After thinking it over again and again, he threw Halkin heavily to the ground and finally said, "I'll help you fix it. I won't charge you for the repairs and materials. Just take this little bastard away."

"As expected of my father, he has many of my good qualities... Hey, I won't say more, I won't say more..."

　p.s. there is one more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)