Chapter 177: Environmental Simulation Hall, Banquet, Bostafa Baroness

Mr. Bogete Boshitafa seems to hold some status within the Baron's family; not only did he come personally to invite Jier and his group, but the way he called for the city gates to be opened along the way, and the fact that the patrolling city guards took the initiative to salute him, all show that his status within Suishi Cheng is quite high.

At this moment, facing the most important, sturdy, dwarf-style castle of the Boshitafa Family, the guards at the gate took the initiative to step forward and open the thick doors.

This entire gate is almost entirely cast from refined steel; opening and closing it requires the guards outside to notify the guards inside to operate the mechanism, allowing the massive gears, whose power source is unknown, to gradually open the refined steel gate.

The horses and ox-cart walked inside, and behind the thick gate was a relatively spacious inner courtyard, surrounded by various additional functional and residential buildings, where some noble servants were busy preparing something.

Mr. Bogete dismounted first and handed his pure white, expensive horse to the inner courtyard groom who had come forward: "Oh, Knight Jier, those people are the family servants preparing for tonight's banquet. After all, you are a knight from afar, and you helped us wipe out those bandit groups causing trouble near Duoen Town. Ha, and there are even rare dwarves present; today's banquet is of a certain scale."

Mr. Bogete reached out and drew a circle in the air: "People in the city with certain qualifications and status will all come. I estimate that some merchants from the Merchant Guild will want to thank you, while more people will come to see the rare dwarves. Please tell your dwarf mercenary friends not to worry too much if those people are too enthusiastic later; many of them have no ill intent, just curiosity, purely curiosity."

"I will pass that on to them."

After Jier finished speaking, he leaned over to the old dwarf's ear and pretended to say something; in reality, the old dwarf could of course understand the human language, and even the other two accompanying dwarves could understand it, but everyone just pretended not to.

Jier and his group also dismounted; he handed Tianxuecao to the groom who came forward and briefly informed him of what Tianxuecao likes to eat.

"Very well, sir, I will arrange a sufficient amount of beans for your warhorse to ensure it is fed," the sturdy groom responded cautiously, looking at the warhorse covered in large pieces of metal armor plate.

As for the dwarves' ox-cart, it was quite ordinary, and everyone could tell at a glance that it was modified from a common plowing ox and a common carriage. So the groom who came forward to take over didn't ask anything.

Before, when the old dwarf and the others were on the ox-cart, it wasn't very noticeable, but once they got off and walked on the ground like everyone else, the height difference between the dwarves and the humans became very obvious.

While Mr. Bogete was briefly leading Jier and his group on a tour around the castle's perimeter, not only did he himself frequently look back at the three dwarves, but even the servants and maids who occasionally passed by widened their eyes to look at the dwarves as they walked past.

The tallest one, 'Shishou', was not even as tall as the twelve or thirteen-year-old human maid passing by, which made the dwarves' expressions grow increasingly sour along the way.

After a brief tour of this Boshitafa family castle, which has a strong dwarf style, in the last light of dusk, Mr. Bogete led Jier and the others to the castle's main hall.

The castle as a whole is relatively low, the building walls are thick, and every door inside is made of metal, filled with the style of items made by dwarves—sturdy and durable. Even now, nearly a hundred years after humans took over, most of the basic facilities inside the castle are still those left behind by the dwarves.

And they still appear to maintain good functionality and reliability.

Every important gate inside the castle has guards stationed there, and the human guards can easily open and close the multi-ton metal doors by themselves, allowing Jier and his group to enter and exit during their tour.

As for the castle's main hall, it breaks away from the sturdy but somewhat low environment compared to humans; the interior hall here is very high, and just like the hall Jier had seen inside the old dwarves' mine, the walls and ceiling here are decorated with intricate environmental simulation patterns.

Unlike the one before that was painted, the environmental simulation patterns in this core hall of the former copper mine management center are actually generated using magic, and at a glance, it feels just like being in the outside environment.

It is already night outside, but inside the hall, it is a morning environment with floating white clouds.

The sun, which is slowly rising, is far from as scorching and oppressive as the real sun today; instead, it is full of the gentleness and vitality of the morning sun, making one feel relaxed while bathed in this soft light.

The scenery on the surrounding walls is also the traditional natural rural landscape of ponds and wheat fields; one seems to be able to smell the bursts of plant fragrance emitted by the golden wheat fields in the air, the water vapor coming from the pond, and the gentle breeze blowing on those entering the hall, making the whole person feel lazy.

However, the dining tables spread throughout the hall and the servants standing guard by the tables make one realize immediately that this is not the real outside world, but the core center of the Boshitafa family's castle.

At this moment, at the most central tables among the many, the members of the Boshitafa family have already taken their places; some are in comfortable casual clothes, whispering instructions to the servants standing by their sides, while others are dressed formally in bright noble attire, acting as managers and pointing at the guest list with several butlers to adjust the seating.

And at the head table in the depths of the hall, the main seat is vacant, while next to it sits a middle-aged noble woman of about fifty years old. This Baroness is dressed in luxurious clothing that highlights her status, with gems decorating every corner of her body as if they cost nothing, and the most important jewelry positions are uniformly worn with traditional jewelry bearing the Boshitafa Family emblem.

Jier and his group were led by Mr. Bogete through the dining tables, which were still more than half empty, to the front of the main seat in the hall.

Before approaching the Baroness and the core members of the Boshitafa family, the dwarves were asked to temporarily hand over the weapons on their bodies, especially the large metal sword that 'Shishou' had been carrying on his back. As for Jier, the head of the water-crossing monster he carried on his back was required to be temporarily handed over to the servants, though his sword and shield were not required to be removed.

"Greetings to the Bostafa Baroness and everyone, I am Qiao Jier from Kendall County in the Northwest Province."

Jier was wearing armor; he took off his helmet and held it in his left hand, knelt on one knee, and tapped his chest armor with his right hand.

The Baroness smiled, sat in her seat, and lifted her hand slightly, signaling Jier to rise: "A young knight from the distant Northwest Province. I just heard that you defeated the bandits disrupting the trade route on the merchant road this time. Well done. May you continue to defend the right to free passage on the trade route with your martial prowess, allowing people to walk smoothly upon the earth."

After speaking, the Baroness waved her hand at the maid beside her. This maid of the Baroness immediately walked up holding a small box, and a young girl from the Boshitafa family beside her took the wooden box from the maid's hand and handed it to Jier in a milky voice: "Knight brother, Grandmother asked me to give this to you. She said you did a great job teaching those bad guys a lesson."

Jier smiled: "It's nothing."

Although he said that, Jier still took the reward.

On the way here, Mr. Bogete had mentioned this matter. Jier helped wipe out the bandit group that disrupted the safety of the trade route in Duoen Town, and as the Boshitafa family, who found it inconvenient to intervene in the affairs of Duoen Town, they would of course show their appreciation.

However, at this time, most of the respectable figures in the city who were coming to attend the banquet had not yet arrived, and the Boshitafa family finished the matter of the reward first; it was clear they did not intend to make a scene about this in front of everyone.

Along the way, Jier discovered that unlike the empty Sasi County, the Boshitafa family in Cuikuang County has sufficient remaining forces. Although he didn't know how many Knight Lords were left to guard or if all the Knight Lords had been taken away, just looking at the number of city guards and elite soldiers inside and outside Suishi Cheng, he knew that the Boshitafa family was not unable to deal with the bandit groups near Duoen Town; they probably just didn't want to get involved in the affairs there.

After all, Duoen Town itself is located on the important border between the Southern Province and the Western Province and is an important trading town. No one cares what the merchants do themselves, but as the lords, the Boshitafa family's large-scale use of troops in the border area would inevitably make Mengtuoka City, which controls Baishi Pass, raise its guard.

Because Baishi Pass is controlled by the Mengtuoka side, it is more convenient to use troops there, and it is very difficult for the Suishi Cheng side of the Southern Province to do anything to the west.

Therefore, the Boshitafa family seems very cautious in exerting power toward Duoen Town.

Facing the plight of Duoen Town, they could only watch and accept the reduced trade tax after the trade route was cut off, and Jier's actions happened to help everyone.

And the best part is his identity; he is neither a Knight Lord under some noble in the Southern Province nor a knight from the Western Province, but a young knight from the more distant Northwest Province.

Jier did not open the wooden box on the spot to see what the reward was; he put the item away, stood up, and followed the attendant to his assigned seat.

This place is not far from the main seat of the hall and is a position that every person who arrives will see.

As for the dwarves brought by Jier, they were introduced by the old dwarf regarding their identities, of course, still the same story of dwarf mercenaries. However, unlike other ignorant people, there were still people in the Boshitafa family who raised questions.

"I remember that all alien people who come to our Saint Hors Kingdom will be suppressed by the power of the gods, and they cannot exert even half of their strength? But it doesn't look like that with you?"

The person speaking was a middle-aged man wearing bright, noble attire. This person had been talking to the butlers earlier; it seemed that many affairs within the Baron's family were handled by this middle-aged man.

Facing this question, the old dwarf glanced at Jier, and Jier answered on behalf of the old dwarf: "That is the case. I have also heard of this matter and specifically asked my dwarf friends, and I received an accurate answer from them."

He shrugged, and the metal armor plates on his body made a crisp friction sound due to the movement: "The fact is that they are indeed much weaker, far from what they are when they are outside our kingdom's territory. But even so, ha, when I 'sparred' with this friend 'Shishou' the other day, he could still exert his full strength to blast a huge deep pit into the ground. I dare not imagine how strong he must be at his peak."

Jier's words made the people of the Boshitafa family slightly surprised. Someone asked Jier about the scale of the deep pit he mentioned, and after learning from Jier that it was about thirty meters in diameter, the eyes of many people looking at the dwarf 'Shishou' changed.

Some timid guys even had the idea of leaving the banquet and going home to eat before it had even started.

It was the Baroness who had seen big scenes, and after a few light coughs, the commotion in the hall immediately subsided. She smiled and said: "Knight Jier can spar with dwarf mercenaries of such strength and successfully hire them; it seems our young knight is also quite capable."

The meaning in her words was that there is no need to worry about these aliens; Knight Jier, as a human, can confidently suppress these mercenaries, and everything is under control.

"Speaking of Kendall, a while ago, it seems an army passed by here. The Baron and his knights who were invited to be guests seem to be from the same place as you, Jier?" the Baroness asked.

Jier immediately answered excitedly: "Yes, yes, we were together. It's just that when we were in Mengtuoka City, the Baron gave me a temporary task, a rescue mission requested by the priest of the God of Agriculture who was with the army, asking me to go to Sasi County in the south to save a group of villagers who were being bullied by soldiers who had retreated in defeat last year. Therefore, I separated from the army. After rescuing the people, I am now leading my men to catch up with our Kendall army."

"There is such a thing..."

Mr. Bogete and several other Boshitafa family members exclaimed.

And what surprised everyone even more was that Jier then briefly talked about the incident in Sasi County, which made the Boshitafa family members feel even more incredible; they did not expect such a serious incident to have occurred in their neighboring county to the south.

In the end, an alien evil god who was hostile to humans actually died at the hands of the God of Hunting.

At this time, as Jier told the story of how he led his team to crusade against those parasitic monsters, respectable figures from Suishi Cheng entered the hall one after another and went to the Baroness to greet and salute her.

They also saw Jier and those Dwarves sitting in the important seats.

Compared to the rare Dwarves, some Presidents and Vice Presidents of large Merchant Guilds expressed more gratitude toward Jier. News always travels fast; although Jier's team only arrived at Suishi Cheng before dusk, these well-informed business people still knew through connections at the Government Office that Jier had led a team to crush a large Bandit Group that had blocked the Shanglu.

"Thank you, Knight Jier, thank you for exterminating those damned Bandits! You did a great job!"

"If only you had come earlier, our Merchant Guild would not have lost so much cargo last time. But it is not too late now; the important Shanglu has been reopened, and this is exactly the time for us to be active!"

"Knight Jier, you were still too soft-hearted; those Bandits who plundered the Caravan deserved to die, rather than being allowed to surrender. They never showed mercy when they killed our Shop Assistants."

Jier perfunctorily dealt with these Merchants whom he would likely never see a second time in his life; he had just been carefully recounting the story of the crusade at Momona Village when he was interrupted one after another by these people, and his interest vanished all at once.

After these people finished their thanks and flattery, Jier spoke a few simple words and ended his story about the crusade battle at Momona Village.

After Jier finished talking about the story regarding the Alien Evil God, the people of the Bostafa Family discussed how they should respond to and handle similar Evil God incidents that had occurred within their county.

Because the Parasitic Vine Monster is quite troublesome, ordinary Soldiers or guards only have the fate of being parasitized when facing them; to clear out those Parasitic Vine Monsters without damage or with low damage, the Soldiers must all be armored.

As Suishi Cheng, which once had a developed forging industry, it naturally had a large number of armored Soldiers and sergeants on hand.

After a simple discussion, they felt that if they wanted to avoid damaging the foundation of the entire county, they had to deploy personnel to transmit information and news in various remote Villages, so that they could know about the spread of the Evil God Faith at the very beginning and nip this possibility in the bud.

But if things really happened, they would have to immediately dispatch an army composed of armored Soldiers led by a reliable Knight; the scale did not necessarily need to be very large, but the power of the Priests accompanying the army must be sufficient.

Before the scale of the Parasitic Vine Monster expands, send people to destroy the Monster's lair or Altar!