kingnovel Chapter 436 Dragon's Tears
Chapter 436 Dragon's Tears
Catherine stood alone in the midst of the buzzing whispers. When it really came to this, the princess who had been worried all the way finally relaxed in her heart. She had already given her chips, and now she was just waiting to be countered.
Catherine thought so and even began to observe her surroundings.
In a circular hall filled with gear linkage mechanisms, the current Dwarf King Mordo Wildhammer sat on a high chair made of hundreds of hammers, talking to his colleagues on his right and left. The chair was very high, and Catherine had to look up to see the volcanic crystals inlaid on the back of the chair. When she thought of the representatives of the dwarves who had just climbed onto the chair, Catherine could not help but lower her head and stare at the floor to avoid losing control of her expression.
She must have learned bad things from Lilith. ——The princess, who never showed her emotions, reflected on herself.
"Is that all?"
The buzzing sound above stopped for a moment, and Catherine raised her head again. The dwarf king Mordo pushed the single crystal mirror on his nose, which made him look more like a scholar than a warrior. At this moment, he just pushed the scroll handed by Catherine, and seemed to be uninterested in the generous conditions on it.
Catherine's heart sank, but that was all she could come up with after preparing for a long time.
"Human lifespan is only a hundred years, yet you want to repair a thousand-year-old rift?" A dwarf who looked like a warrior standing in front of him smashed his war hammer to the ground, creating sparks on the hard obsidian.
Catherine tilted her head and looked over. "I've seen you before, at the Red Maple Leaf Tavern in Goletia. You also watched the entire Goletia College Cup, right?"
All the dwarves turned to look at the person who spoke - the good-for-nothing Densi!
"You must have misunderstood something. Just because we are willing to make friends again with Goletia doesn't mean we are willing to make friends again with all humans." A priest spoke first, his voice as strong as a bell and his tone was not good.
"Besides, she's just a crown prince, not a real queen—" A sneer came from the corner.
"In the name of Zora." Catherine said loudly, and the scene suddenly became quiet.
"--I am not here to negotiate with you as the Crown Prince of Bishop, but as a descendant of Zora, asking for help from my former allies. No one knows how many void beasts there are, and I don't know how long my compatriots can hold out. Once Ozler falls, it will not only be the Gaia Empire that will suffer. On this continent, we are one." Catherine raised her eyes and stared at the king's every word.
"——Just like a thousand years ago."
The tail end of Catherine's voice trembled amid the mechanical sound of gears meshing. King Mordo leaned forward and looked at the human girl in front of him carefully again.
"Zora's bloodline..." He pushed his glasses again, recalling the story in history, "Thousands of years ago, when the void beasts extinguished the Molten Core for the first time, it was she who planted the battle flag in the crater. That queen is admirable."
It's just that—Mordo tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair.
"If you think my sincerity is not enough, I--" Catherine gritted her teeth and tried to come up with new conditions that would benefit the dwarf.
"I agree." The dwarf king on the throne suddenly said.
Catherine was stunned: Did she, did she hear it wrong? It was so easy?! It was unbelievable.
"Modo?!" There was a cry of disapproval from the side. This is too casual! This will deepen the stereotype of dwarves among these humans! Where is their face? !
"--But I think you don't know enough about dwarves, nor do you know the history of the holy war, girl Bishop." King Mordo continued, looking at the princess with joy in her eyes.
"I don't understand what you mean." Catherine looked at him.
"Oh, those heroes, I believe we all grew up listening to their legends. My ancestor Mors Wildhammer is the pride of all dwarves." Mordo couldn't help but swing his short legs on the high chair, but when he thought of outsiders, he quickly stopped.
"But not all dwarves have the same fighting power as him. In fact, there are very few. Look at us, those void beasts can just lower their heads and take away our heads." Modo opened his hands and shrugged.
"--So in the holy war, we dwarves are more responsible for war preparations and forging all kinds of weapons with magical powers. Oh, and those furnace guards, you saw them when you came here, they are all products of the holy war period." Even in this magnificent ceremony hall, there is still a huge bronze statue standing.
This was something Catherine had not expected, but after thinking about it, she was still unwilling to let go of this only possible ally, "That's great too, I can provide the materials--"
"No." King Mordo suddenly interrupted her and said flatly, "You can't provide it."
He pointed to the furnace guards holding huge braziers by the wall and said, "Do you know why they are just for show now?"
Catherine looked confused.
"Whether it's magic weapons or these humanoid weapons, they all require a very important magical material to exert their power." Modo said slowly, with an attitude that he was looking forward to a good show.
“——That’s Dragon’s Tears.”
Mordo's monocle showed pity. "Tell me, human girl, do you have any?"
Dragon...tears? Catherine searched for the dark shadow that blocked out the sun and sky in her mind.
"Everyone knows that those two adults are closer to the Forest of Elves." Someone finally reacted and added with a chuckle. "They are heroes in the Holy War!"
At this moment, Catherine finally understood why the Dwarf King agreed so easily - after all, the elves were still the mountain that blocked all races, and as long as they couldn't cross it, everything else was meaningless.
Catherine's shoulders suddenly collapsed as if she was deflated, but a few seconds later, she straightened her back again and looked up at the Dwarf King above her. "That's what I will do later. With your support, I believe we will be able to establish an alliance with the Elf Forest soon—"
"It's a good idea." Mordo jumped off the throne clumsily and walked towards the gray-haired human girl. "If Zora hadn't murdered the Elf King Elrohir, I believe you would have succeeded."
"...You, what did you say?" The hall fell into silence. After a long time, Catherine finally found her voice. Her throat seemed to be tightly strangled by an invisible hand, and it was extremely difficult for her to speak.
King Mordo stood before her, his short stature emanating an unquestionable majesty, his monocle reflecting the faint light of the turning gears in the hall, his eyes looking at her with a complex emotion of both pity and scrutiny.
"Human ambition is more exciting than any storybook. Back then, the Jihad Alliance was established by her, but it eventually fell apart because of her. How ironic, isn't it?"
Catherine only felt a buzzing in her head.