Chapter 135: Sinuoli the Generous

Thinking of this, Sinuoli began to disguise himself once again. It was the same old routine: put on a fake beard, throw on a hooded cloak, and that was that. For a race as relatively conservative as the Dwarfs, disguise was still considered a novel thing.

Sinuoli headed once more to the information hub for male Dwarfs—the pub. For this round, he was still playing the role of an itinerant merchant, though his purpose had shifted to scouting out potential business opportunities for his next stop.

Sinuoli made his way to the entrance of the Yongshi Pub, the largest pub in Karak-Azgalaz. In a Dwarf hold, the largest pub usually had some degree of official backing, managed by the lord's own family or their closest vassals, and thus was more guaranteed in terms of both the quality of the drink and the personal safety of the customers.

Pushing open those two half-doors, Sinuoli instantly felt the fiery atmosphere unique to a tavern. Large, ornate candles hung from the high ceiling, their soft candlelight illuminating the entire hall.

Table after table was packed with merry clansmen, from Longbeards to Little Beards, all gathered before the tables, using hearty drinking and gluttonous feasts to relieve the fatigue brought on by a day of hard labor.

Sinuoli knew that the tavern's booming business these days was influenced by the arrival of the caravan; he saw quite a few merchants who had traveled the same road lingering here as well.

Some of them formed their own tables to exchange experiences from their day of trading and share business intelligence, while others were likely just like him, having infiltrated the local Dwarfs to seek out business opportunities.

Sniffing the aroma of wine and roasted meat that filled the room, even though he had already eaten dinner, the glutton in Sinuoli's belly was still stirred. Who wouldn't agree that tavern food had a special flavor compared to a canteen?

"Hey! Make some room, lads!" Fearing he would give himself away, Sinuoli didn't squeeze toward the independent tables, but instead carved out a seat at the bar.

"What would you like? Friend. Thanks to Master Sinuoli, the Chosen of the Goddess, we have a new batch of Bergman's brew today! This kind of good stuff, you can only drink it at this time of year!"

Seeing a new customer arrive, the bartender, who could be called burly even by Dwarf standards, greeted Sinuoli while wiping a beer mug with a damp rag.

"Ho! That's truly not bad! Give me a glass of Bergman No. 7, and also, hmm, give me a platter of roasted sausages!" Sinuoli thought about it and decided to get a meat dish; it wasn't comfortable to drink without something to line the stomach.

"One platter of roasted sausages!" the bartender shouted toward the kitchen with his booming voice.

"You look like a new face, friend, but you've ordered the right dish. Our Yongshi Pub has spent a lot of money to hire a Halfling chef, and the food they make is famous throughout the Grey Mountains!" The bartender before him could be considered someone who had seen countless people, and he took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Sinuoli.

Bergman's brew was already expensive, and after the long-distance transport from the World's Edge Mountains to the middle section of the Grey Mountains, the price had skyrocketed.

The bartender had just mentioned it casually; in his experience, the peak consumption for that stuff was during the New Year. It wasn't a holiday season right now, so any Dwarf who could afford to drink this fine wine daily undoubtedly had solid financial means.

"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad. I am indeed not a local Dwarf; I come from Karak-Hern." The bartender's initiative to talk suited Sinuoli's wishes, though he casually reported false information, which the bartender didn't mind.

"I thought so! Your financial means and your way of speaking are not something those Plain Dwarfs who hang around with scrawny human brats can compare to!" the bartender praised.

Sinuoli was slightly stunned. When a Dwarf uttered an insulting term like "dwarf" (shorty), it meant that the conflict between the "Empire Dwarfs" and the "Karak Dwarfs" here had already intensified significantly. Of course, this also meant that his population migration policy would yield better results.

After winning the Battle of Black Fire Pass and establishing the "Great Covenant," the first Human Emperor, Sigmar, invited the Dwarfs to come out of the mountains and settle down with his people.

Because he sought the Dwarfs' help to build cities and towns. Many Dwarfs responded to this call, and their descendants remain loyal citizens of the Empire to this day.

In the two thousand years since then, as the Mountain Kingdom has increasingly declined, many Dwarf holds, settlements of all sizes, and mining outposts have fallen one by one.

This forced some Dwarf clans to walk out of the mountains and go to the lands of Humans. Attracted by the high wages offered by Humans, they were willing to dedicate their unique, superb craftsmanship as Dwarfs for this pay.

On the surface, these Dwarfs living in the Human world looked very similar in appearance and behavior to their relatives living in the mountains, the "Karak Dwarfs," but in many subtle ways, they were quite different.

Many Dwarfs living in the mountains believed that their compatriots' long-term contact with Humans had diminished the reputation and traditions of the Dwarf race. Conversely, in the eyes of the Empire Dwarfs themselves, their mountain-dwelling compatriots in the Dwarf Kingdom were too conservative and short-sighted.

Nevertheless, when their compatriots encountered danger, most mountain Dwarfs were still willing to take them in, and the Plain Dwarfs were also willing to contribute their strength to the revival of the Mountain Kingdom's homeland.

Sinuoli coughed twice and moved past this topic. As far as he knew, compared to the clansmen of the World's Edge Mountains, the clansmen of the Black, Grey, and Vault Mountains were already relatively more open-minded.

The current situation might be because the bartender had lost a lot of business; after all, the incoming clansmen didn't have fixed assets here, so it was very reasonable for them to engage in the service industry and run taverns and restaurants.

"Innkeeper, I haven't traveled this trade route for many years. I've been running up north for a while; by comparison, it's much warmer here! Walking north from Karak-Kadrin to Kislev, that wind and snow can freeze a person half to death!" Sinuoli opened a new topic.

"True, there are quite a few adventurers from Kislev coming to our side to make a living! You don't say, they really suit our tastes!"

"Karak-Zifulin, how is the weather as the year draws to a close? If it's too cold, my old aching legs will have to prepare some heating in advance!" Sinuoli steered the topic back to Weifengbao.

"Ho! That place, well, as the name implies, it's Weifengbao (Breeze Fort)!" The bartender pushed a glass of golden, bubbly liquid toward Sinuoli.

"The climate is quite mild! In winter, the humid and hot sea breeze blowing from the Vast Ocean means the northern section of the Grey Mountains doesn't see any snow at all!" the bartender said with a smile.

"That's truly not bad. I heard that Master Sinuoli has a secret mission on this trip; I wonder if you know about it?" Sinuoli decisively threw himself out there to build rapport.

Thanks to the Cangjiang Sea Area for the monthly ticket, Chi for the tip, and Grand Marshal Skard for the monthly ticket.