Chapter 892: Persuading the Dwarf Soldier Captain

The young people in the village moved their hands quickly; even though the lighting was far inferior to daytime, their movements were agile and precise. More importantly, they were completely unafraid that this stubborn Dwarf Captain on the ground might suddenly lash out and try to escape.

After all, Jier the Knight was right there, lifting his foot to step on the Dwarf, making this Dwarf "obediently" have his armor removed.

In just a short while, thanks to their familiarity and practice with the previous few sets of armor, the village youths dismantled the Dwarf's upper-body armor in a few quick motions. Not only that, but because the lining of the Dwarf's armor also had decent defensive capabilities, they didn't bother considering the face of the Dwarf Captain on the ground and stripped off the thick leather lining of his armor as well.

"Knight, it's time to take off the armor on his legs."

A young man spoke up and said to Jier.

"Oh, right, I'll move my leg now."

But the moment Jier finished speaking, as he lifted his foot slightly, the Dwarf Captain on the ground, who had only been stubborn until now, suddenly exerted force and twisted his waist, directly twisting away from Jier's foot.

Immediately, he waved his hands repeatedly, scattering the dirt he had secretly grabbed from the ground onto the heads and faces of the people around him.

"Ah! Watch out!"

"It's dirt, watch your eyes!"

Jier squinted to block the dirt primarily thrown at him and stomped down fiercely with his foot; there was a dull thud, but he missed!

And the Dwarf who had been under his foot, despite being short and sturdy like a wild boar in the mountains, moved with agility; with a nimbleness that would make a fox bow in admiration, he twisted his waist, then straightened his body and lunged, rolling away along the ground.

Although his movements were agile, this sudden escape did not take him very far.

Because the area was surrounded by idle onlookers, the Dwarf Captain, who had just broken free, saw Villagers in front, behind, and to his sides. He stood up, pushed hard with his hands, and shouted in a fierce tone: "Get out of the way! Whoever stops me, I'll kill them!!!"

But to this guy's surprise, the mediocre Human Villagers, who would usually avoid his gaze and bow their heads to greet him if he so much as glanced at them, were now completely different from before.

One of his hands was injured, and the opportunity for escape was extremely rare, so his strength was a bit weaker when he struck, but it was still much greater than that of an average Human adult. However, the Human village woman in front of him only stumbled slightly before standing firm.

Not only that, but this village woman also opened her arms and grabbed the Dwarf's pushing hand, shouting: "I've caught him! I've caught him!"

The Dwarf Captain's expression changed drastically; he didn't know how this Human village woman had become so bold.

In an instant, the surrounding Villagers swarmed up. Someone took advantage of their height to press both hands onto the top of the Dwarf Captain's head, firmly gripping the Dwarf's sparse hair.

"Don't pull my hair..." the Dwarf shrieked.

Someone else grabbed the Dwarf's injured arm, causing the Dwarf Captain to wail from the sharp pain in his wound.

There was also a short young lad who bent down, found an opportunity in the crowd to hug the Dwarf's waist, and tried to use his body weight to pull him to the ground during the struggle.

As for Jier, he first raised a hand to signal the armed youths around him to relax, then patted the dirt off his head in annoyance, took out a fine cloth handkerchief to carefully wipe his face, and only then looked up at the comical scene before him.

"Ha, you brought this on yourself."

Jier chuckled and walked toward the Dwarf in the crowd.

People consciously cleared a path for Jier. Jier nodded encouragingly to the farm woman who had grabbed the Dwarf's left hand, offering a word of encouragement. He gave a thumbs-up to the Villager pulling the Dwarf's hair, signaling that they had done well. He also patted the shoulder of the young Villager who had hugged the Dwarf's waist and pulled him down, signaling that it was safe to hand the Dwarf over to him to handle.

The three people and those around them let go, and Jier didn't take action, just watching the disheveled Dwarf Captain in front of him.

This Dwarf had a ferocious look on his face, but his eyes appeared somewhat lost and helpless; everyone saw this expression, and that naturally included Jier.

"Run? Why aren't you running anymore?"

Jier looked down at the baring-teeth Dwarf from a high position, which made the proud Dwarf lower his head, avoiding Jier's gaze full of mockery.

"These people..."

He muttered.

Jier pressed, "What about the Villagers? Were they frightened by their own Yongqi and momentum?"

The Dwarf spat on the ground, rubbed his right arm that had been pulled and injured again, and then looked up to meet Jier's gaze: "These people shouldn't be like this. What did you do? To make them..."

Jier gradually withdrew the smile from his face, opened his hands, and slowly raised them: "I gave them what they deserved—freedom. A precious thing that you have taken away for nearly a hundred years."

Jier pointed directly at the Dwarf in front of him: "Anywhere else, they do not need to be, nor should they be, ruled and managed by a handful of Dwarves. The outside is a vast Human Kingdom called Saint Hors; I know you know this."

The Dwarf's mouth twitched, which Jier noticed.

He added: "You Dwarves know this. Oh, you definitely know. Perhaps at the very beginning, the situation was unclear, and you didn't know. But as the number of outsiders you forcibly controlled here increased, you must have learned everything from the previous generations of these Villagers."

The Dwarf's movement of rubbing his shoulder stopped.

"Knowing this, yet still maintaining something that sooner or later cannot be sustained, what are you Dwarves thinking? Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid that the Villagers, who have the population advantage, will rise up against you? Aren't you afraid that a Human Knight like me will discover this place? Aren't you afraid that someone will escape and then bring the outside Human army to trample you?"

Jier finally said: "If it were me, I would be terrified. It's like holding up a giant Stone that could crush you to death; although you are struggling to support it to stay alive, as long as you relax even a little bit, you will be crushed to death by the Stone above your head."

After he finished speaking, he saw the Dwarf Captain in front of him; his shoulders slumped all at once, as if some important pillar that had been supporting this Dwarf had been pulled away.

Beneath his messy hair was a pair of bewildered eyes.

"Afraid."

The Dwarf said softly.

Hearing this, Jier waved his hand to silently signal the people around to move back a bit, giving him and this Dwarf a space to talk.

"In fact, my brothers and I have always been terrified. But that old guy 'Iron Fist' said it was no problem, always telling us it was no problem. From the beginning, to decades ago, and now, whenever we asked him, he always said it was no problem."

"Having received an answer that I don't know if we wanted, we could only pretend that everything was fine. After all, there were other Dwarves in the mine who were younger than us and even more worried. We are the soldiers guarding the mine; we must pretend like this to give others strength so that the other Dwarves can work and live in peace."

Speaking of this, the Dwarf simply sat on the ground, and after hesitating for a moment, he even took the initiative to start taking off the armored boots on his feet. The Dwarf understood his own equipment best; after a few simple motions, the dense and complex soldier's armor was dismantled.

Seeing this, Jier raised his eyebrows and teased: "Oh, wouldn't it have been better to be this proactive earlier."

The Dwarf sighed, as if resigned to his fate: "I can see it, Human Knight. You don't have the intention to continue fighting, right?"

Jier also simply sat on the ground, picked up the armor parts the Dwarf had proactively taken off, threw them to the young people around, and instructed: "Collect them all together, don't lose them; these are valuable spoils of war."

Then he looked at the Dwarf opposite him: "How did you see that I had this intention?"

The Dwarf Captain pointed at the surrounding Villagers: "The moment I escaped just now, I noticed that you didn't chase after me immediately, and you didn't take your weapon into your hands right away. That is not the reaction when someone is escaping. Your emotions were too calm, or were you even confident that I couldn't get past the obstruction of the others around?"

"That's right." Jier shrugged, his tone relaxed, and he added: "As for not using a weapon, ha, you are empty-handed; if I wanted to subdue you, where would I need to use a weapon? Don't forget, your upper-body armor is gone; I could kill you with a single heavy punch."

"Heh." The Dwarf snorted, then took the initiative to ask: "Let me confirm, how exactly are you going to deal with us."

Jier rested his chin on his hand, pondered for a moment, and then said: "Do you see the Villagers around?"

The Dwarf looked left and right, then looked at the young Knight.

"They are all Villagers who are willing to resist the Dwarves with me; I have only been here for one day."

Hearing this, the Dwarf widened his eyes and looked left and right again. This time, it wasn't a casual look, but a careful and earnest one.

Including the number of people, the gender composition, the age composition, and the key figures among them.

The more he looked, the more the Dwarf Captain let out dry coughs in discomfort, seemingly out of embarrassment, and also out of unease and lingering fear.

The surrounding Villagers made up at least half of the village's population, nearly over two hundred people, which was more than five times the number of their Dwarves.

Among the two hundred plus people, there were both men and women; although it was late at night, everyone had an excited look on their faces, full of high spirits. It seemed that those who dared to come had all prepared for battle.

As for their ages, adults were in the majority; it was not that there were no young ones, but they had all grown to an age and height where they could pick up weapons to fight.

The Dwarf Captain even saw the three Tusi brothers in the crowd, as well as the Herbalist Zuojigela. He did not think there was much of a problem with the former being present; after all, these three brothers had not been here for many years, and they had come here together, possessing some skills, so participating in the Human Knight's resistance was quite normal.

But the fact that the Herbalist Zuojigela was also here greatly exceeded the Captain's expectations. After all, this Herbalist had a good relationship with their Dwarves, and had been here for many years, even getting married, having children, and having a nice house here, as well as a good social status in the village, whether among the Humans or the Dwarves.

That this Herbalist had actually joined the ranks of those resisting the Dwarves on the very first day and the first night of the Human Knight's arrival really made the Captain feel astonished.

"Why? Why is Zuojigela here too?" The Dwarf Captain withdrew his searching eyes and asked the young Knight anxiously.

Jier smiled: "Yes, why did this Herbalist, who has an important status in the village, also join my ranks? I would like to know the answer to this question too. I thought you Dwarves understood the reason behind it. How about I call him over and you ask him yourself?"

Jier's words were like a whip, making the Dwarf Captain jump in alarm, and he hurriedly declined: "No need, no need. I don't want to know. That has always been something for that old 'Iron Fist' to consider; it has nothing to do with me."

Seeing the Dwarf's disheveled and worried appearance, Jier spread his hands: "How about it? Having seen my manpower, you should understand that your Dwarves' worries are correct. Boiling water will push the lid off the pot at any time, right here."

Jier gestured with his hand at the surroundings: "Here, a conflict will break out sooner or later, if not today, then some day in the future. The reason it is today is simply because I arrived, which led to the current situation. As for how to deal with you, heh, the battle between the Humans and Dwarves in the village hasn't officially broken out yet."

"But just now, the young people in the village clearly already took action against us!" the Dwarf said solemnly.

Jier nodded: "Yes, yes, yes, but that was an ambush, a trap, wasn't it? Besides, you and your men were defeated; do the other Dwarves know?"

The Dwarf Captain turned his head to look in the direction of the village center, which was blocked by Villagers and houses: "I haven't brought my men back from patrol at this hour; they must know something happened to me."

Jier spread his hands: "But no one has come to find you, so let's assume they don't know. My meaning is, we will wait until dawn, and after dawn, we will organize the men and try to arm every Villager who dares to fight, then go head-on to find the Dwarves at the village center."

"Are we going to war?" the Captain asked anxiously.

Jier shook his head, and this answer made the Dwarf Captain let out a long sigh of relief: "We won't go to war, phew—"

Jier glared directly at him: "Aren't you part of the so-called pro-war faction? Aren't you and your Soldiers capable of defeating everyone in the village who dares to resist you? What, now that you know your Dwarves will fail, you're worried? You are truly hypocritical."

Not knowing if it was because of the surrounding lighting from the fire, Jier noticed that the Dwarf Captain's face seemed a bit flushed.

"Let's talk about something useful now, can we save the mockery for later?" The Dwarf's voice seemed somewhat humble; it appeared he understood Jier's accusation of him being hypocritical and felt somewhat guilty.

"Talk about something useful, hmm..."

Jier tapped his forehead with his finger to think for a moment, then said: "I need to talk to that old 'Iron Fist' your Dwarves speak of; this is the most important thing. He is your leader, right?"

The Captain nodded and added: "During the day, you wounded him! We all respect him very much, and that is the biggest reason why we all dropped our respective tasks to surround and capture you."

"Since he is so respected by you, then I must talk to him even more. Depending on the result of the conversation, I will decide the fate of you Dwarves," Jier said.

"How could the other Dwarves let you make contact with him again?"

"This is precisely one of the reasons I am leading the village people to rise up and resist you Dwarves! Understand? It's not just about encouraging them to resist bravely; it's also that I need them to stand by my side as part of my strength to create the conditions for a face-to-face conversation with you Dwarves. We need to talk."

Jier was silent for a moment: "A conversation between Humans and Dwarves as equals. Equality in strength, equality in status."

"Just a conversation?" the Dwarf asked.

"Just a conversation," Jier replied.

After the Dwarf Captain lowered his head to think for a moment, he suddenly looked up at the young Human Knight and asked: "So, since you've told me so much, are you going to let me go?"

Jier laughed, stood up, walked over to the Dwarf, and patted his shoulder: "Yes, I am going to let you go, but not now."

"Then when?"

"Tomorrow at dawn, before the two sides make official contact. I hope you can bring my thoughts and expectations to them at that time, instead of the Dwarves seeing so many of us and retreating directly into the underground mine. How about it?"

The Dwarf looked at the young man's eyes with a piercing gaze, seemingly wanting to see more hidden thoughts and plans, but Jier met his gaze, and his eyes did not move a fraction.

"No conspiracy?" the Dwarf asked.

"No need for a conspiracy," Jier shook his head and replied.

Seeing that the other party still held doubts, Jier explained: "Let the fighting end here. In fact, for some reasons, I have been holding back in the fighting. Think carefully, from the daytime battle until now, inside and outside the village, has any Human or Dwarf died because of this?"

Jier reached out his finger and tapped the Dwarf Captain's chest: "In the previous battle with you, after I lured you into the ambush, I had every opportunity to kill you all, but I didn't, understand?"

"Let me say one more thing, in the hope that you will understand."

"What?" the Dwarf asked, somewhat confused.

Jier stood up straight, took two steps back, and squinted at the Dwarf sitting on the ground.

Seeming to feel something, the Dwarf Captain's hair stood on end, and his eyes, like copper bells, stared at the young Knight.

Killing intent, massive killing intent; his body subconsciously tensed up, even becoming uncontrollably stiff. His heart pounded, and a feeling of being killed at any moment enveloped this Warrior.

Only then did this middle-aged Dwarf realize that the young Human Knight before him truly had not used lethal force in the previous battles.

'The other party really holds good intentions toward resolving the conflict here.'

When the Dwarf came to his senses, this thought kept circling in his mind.

"I'm done talking to him. Someone come over, tie his hands and feet, and take him back to be guarded."

Jier clapped his hands and called over a young man from the village to tie up the still-dazed Dwarf Captain and drag him away.

After finishing all this, Jier came to the place where the Dwarf Warrior and Soldier armor were piled up, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the five sets of Dwarf Soldier Armor on the ground with satisfaction. Especially one set of the Captain's armor, which satisfied him the most.

Although there wasn't a single piece of this Dwarf armor that he could wear, whether one could wear it was one thing, and whether one had it was another.

Not being able to wear this Dwarf equipment now did not mean it wouldn't be possible in the future.

Jier picked up a Dwarf Gauntlet from the ground and reached his hand, which was still wearing Steel Armor Gloves, into the wrist of the Gauntlet, only to find that even this did not fill the Dwarf Gauntlet.

He tried the armor's boots and found that they were also a bit large.

Clearly, the Dwarves' hands and feet were much larger than those of Humans, and therefore they were naturally stronger.

Afterward, Jier tried the Helmet of the Dwarf Soldier Armor and found it was okay; compared to the Gauntlets and boots, the Dwarf's skull was only slightly larger than a Human's. This item could be used directly with just a little modification, which made Jier somewhat satisfied.

However, after Jier tried the Dwarf Helmet, he discovered that the chin area was empty; this was the internal space the Dwarves specifically prepared for their cherished beards. Since he didn't have much of a beard, this area seemed too empty.

Moreover, the helmets of Dwarf Warriors and Dwarf Soldiers were also different; the Dwarf Warrior's helmet only protected the head and sides, with basically no protection for the face, while the Dwarf Soldier's helmet covered most of it, only having extra space for a beard at the connection between the helmet and the Neck Armor.

Shaking his head, Jier felt that if he wanted to use the Dwarf Soldier Helmet, it would also need some modifications.