The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 954: Inland Lore

People began to come over to see what the commotion was, thinking that it was a larger sale.

Many shops were putting on sales now that there had been rain for the first time in ages, and everyone liked a good deal. So, when they found that one of the magical goods shops had healing totems set up on the roof, they were pleasantly surprised, but it somewhat fit the theme of the day.

”While I have you here, I have a question for you, Governor. We came west from Bara looking for unattended Monster Spawns. The Dragon Gods want them dealt with, to restore balance to the region.

Do you have an idea where we should start looking? None of the local adventurers could seem to agree on what we would find when we went inland.” Karl asked.

”Thatʼs because nobody knows, now isnʼt it?”

Karl gave the Dwarf a confused look, so Governor Ironforge elaborated.

”Every time we send a group to the centre of the nation, the reports come back different.

Now, there are two major schools of thought on this one. One is that there is a massive illusionary domain in effect. The second is that there might be time distortions, so itʼs all the same region at different points in time.

But the most common is the third.

That that damnable Chaos Dragon is fucking with us and keeps changing the layout of our country.”

Karl chuckled. ”Honestly, I canʼt blame you for thinking that, and she might do it just for fun if someone mentioned it. But the last time that I talked to her, she was more interested in her own lands. Well, that and her new Vampire.”

”You spoke to Supreme Lady Matilda? And whatʼs this about a Vampire?”

Karl nodded. ”Well, we are in the same Guild. However, I have met with her a few times now, and the last time, she claimed a Totem Ranked Vampire as her own. Apparently they had an agreement that the Vampire would never let Lady Matilda see her again, and when they met on the battlefield, the Dragon simply took her.”

That bit of news seemed to have overloaded Governor Ironforgeʼs brain.

”The Supreme Lady was on a battlefield? Wait, youʼre in the same Guild? How does that even happen? You didnʼt invite that psychopath to your Guild, did you?”

Karl shrugged. ”We were both in the same Guild before the last resurgence ended. Now that the System functions are coming back online, weʼre still both in the same Guild, but different branch locations.

We donʼt really have any connection other than that, and her branch only had two people in it the last time that I checked.”

The City Governor rubbed his temples and sighed. ”Pretend that I never asked. Just speaking that dragonʼs name is bad luck. You never know if sheʼs got some sort of monitoring spell active, listening for people to speak about her so that she can turn their lives into a living hell.”

Karl chuckled. ”I donʼt think that she would actually need a monitoring spell to tell when there was ill-will being directed towards her. At her power level, itʼs more likely that her senses are just that powerful.”

The dwarves made signs of protection, and the beastkin nearby laughed.

”Kind of like when your mother knows from halfway across the city that youʼre up to no good, but on a larger scale.” One of the wolf-kin laughed.

A few others nodded in agreement. ”Exactly like that. Itʼs definitely a mom power, and the Supreme Lady is older than any nation on the planet. Who knows how many generations of descendants she has.”

”What are your plans now that youʼve washed a yearʼs worth of dirt and dust out of the streets of Barukth?” One of the beastkin asked.

Karl shrugged. ”We were planning to leave after we finished selling our goods, but things got a bit out of hand.”

City Governor Ironforge laughed. Dwarven hospitality demanded food and a night of drinking after a favour of this magnitude.

Everyone in the city would know within an hour or two that their rain issues had been due to a curse, and that todayʼs storm had broken it. With that rumour spreading already, it would be bad form to let Karl and his team simply leave.

”How much more did you plan to sell?” The Governor asked Karl, with a glance towards the mostly full case of assorted rings.

Karl gestured out towards the crowd. ”Whatever sells before dinner. Itʼs not like weʼre travelling merchants, in need of a sale to pick up new goods. Weʼre a crafting Guild, so we just peddle our wares as we go.

It helps us make new friends.

It also makes money, but more importantly, it spreads the good name of the Darklight Host.”

Governor Ironforge smiled. ”Well, I imagine that you wonʼt have too many issues selling, now that youʼve proven the effectiveness of your magic. Iʼm more concerned about what happens when you leave.”

Karl smirked and winked at the Governor. ”So, you did want one of the water creation statues?”

”Yes, but thatʼs not the issue I was thinking of. The water district is broken up into sixteen separate irrigation districts. Filling one of them will not fill the others.”

Karl nodded in understanding. ”And there arenʼt sixteen statues, so the question becomes, who will hoard theirs, and who will profiteer off theirs to keep the canals near their district filled?”

Governor Ironforge paused. ”You donʼt have to keep the statue active all the time to fill the canals?”

Karl shook his head. ”An Overlord should be able to fill the canals in their entire district in about an hour, after theyʼve been filled the first time. So, itʼs not unreasonable that they might go to the districts on either side of them for a couple of hours to keep them watered as well.

I think that the larger issue will be which districts have a statue, and which are going to have to pay for water until the rainfall normalizes.”

A large Werebear laughed at Karlʼs comment. ”Even in normal situations, the canals were rarely full, or even flowing well. So, once the rain starts again, and this round has dried up, there will still be a significant demand for the water from the statues.”

Governor Ironforge nodded in agreement. ”How about we let you get back to business and I will bring the council back to get you for dinner?”

Lotus stepped in front of Karl and gave the Dwarf two enthusiastic thumbs up. ”We will be here. Well, probably. Weʼve got lots of stuff to sell, if people keep buying it.”

She liked the Dwarven cities. She wasnʼt the short one here. Well, most of the time. Some of the Dwarven men were still her height or slightly taller.

That was unfortunate, but unavoidable in her opinion. Men were meant to be taller than women, and while she wasnʼt a Dwarf, it was perfectly reasonable for Dwarven men to be taller than she was.

If anyone else had thought about it that way, they would certainly have questioned their sanity. But Lotus had long since accepted that she was made in size small for a reason.

She just didnʼt know what the reason was yet.