Misa was reluctant to offer his wings, leaving Lance and Hillsilver with no recourse.
He carefully avoided the jar of medicine in Hillsilver’s hand. Hillsilver felt quite hurt and could only sit pitifully to the side, preparing food for the two. Misa examined the ingredients multiple times, confirming that the soup contained no strange arthropods and the dish held no wriggling monsters before finally relaxing.
Lance remained by his side, still seemingly worried about his injured wings. Misa slowed his speech, softly saying, “Trust me, they’ll be healed by tomorrow.”
Lance: “…”
Lance slowly nodded.
Misa glanced at the busy Hillsilver, unable to contain his curiosity. He lowered his voice and asked Lance, “I have a question.”
Lance was startled: “What is it?”
“There’s no ore in the Blessed Lands, is there?” Misa frowned. “Where exactly are these ore veins you’re talking about?”
To Misa’s knowledge, although the Blessed Lands were called “Blessed” due to their proximity to the Divine Tower, the surrounding area was extremely barren. Only a small river could be considered its only “resource.” There were absolutely no ore veins in the Blessed Lands. Lance hadn’t left the Blessed Lands in the past three years, so he couldn’t understand where the many ore veins Lance spoke of were located.
Lance blinked: “In Sky City.”
Misa was surprised: “Sky City?”
They had only stayed in Sky City for two days. Had Lance already figured out all of Sky City’s ore veins?
“I asked the administrator of Sky City,” Lance explained earnestly to Misa. “He compiled the information on the ore veins near Sky City for me.”
Misa: “…Why did you ask?”
Lance scratched his head: “Just casually asking.”
Misa: “…”
Does anyone casually ask about such things?!
“Actually, I didn’t only ask about the ore veins,” Lance said. “I also asked him for a map of the surrounding areas of Sky City.”
At least this was something a normal hero would do.
Lance: “I also asked about their annual income and expenditure, the situation of the merchants coming and going, the agricultural distribution, and the problem of population loss.”
Misa: “…”
Misa: “Ah???”
Misa couldn’t understand.
Such data was clearly not something a hero would want to know. He didn’t understand what the hero wanted to do, nor did he understand why the administrator of Sky City would actually provide this information to a hero.
“Oh, he didn’t want to give it to me at first,” Lance was very honest. “But I said I was the Chosen One, that their god trusted me, and he should trust me too.”
Misa: “…”
No, the day before yesterday the hero said this was superstition.
“Actually, I also asked for other information, not much, their data statistics are really poorly done,” Lance sighed. “But even so, it’s clear that Sky City…is a little poor.”
Misa frowned and carefully reviewed the appearance of Sky City he had seen.
Although there were indeed fewer people in Sky City, the city itself looked quite clean. The church was quite large, and didn’t seem to be very old; it must have been built recently. It didn’t look like a very poor city at all.
“About three years ago, your goddess issued an oracle, saying that Sky City would eventually be destroyed by the flames of the End-of-Days War,” Lance frowned slightly. “She didn’t give a specific time, but many people in the city have gradually moved away.”
Misa thought about it, the looming, unknowable disaster and death of the future…
If it were him, he’d want to run too.
“After the massive population loss, Sky City encountered many problems,” Lance propped his chin, frowning slightly. “The administrator told me that if this state continues, Sky City will be abandoned in a few years.”
Misa added, “If they’re not destroyed in the End-of-Days War.”
“They won’t be destroyed in the End-of-Days War,” Lance said earnestly. “I won’t let them be destroyed.”
It was like a promise, a vow to protect humanity. This was exactly what a normal hero would do. Misa was slightly enlightened, inwardly sighing, “Good, the hero is finally growing up—”
“Make more money, hire more mages,” Lance yawned. “Set up seventeen or eighteen guardian magic formations; it’ll be difficult to be destroyed in the End-of-Days War.”
Misa: “…”
Misa had a bad feeling.
He suppressed the tremor in his voice and couldn’t help but ask, “Sir Lance, what’s your role?”
Lance: “My role?”
Misa: “You’re a hero!”
Lance nodded: “So I’m helping them negotiate with the dwarves.”
Misa: “…”
Is this really something a hero should be doing?!
Misa painfully covered his face, feeling he had no energy left to argue with the hero.
Lance continued to explain the situation in Sky City.
“There are many ore veins around Sky City, on the other side of the volcano,” Lance said earnestly. “However, after the massive population loss, they lack the manpower to mine them, so all the veins are lying idle and wasted.”
No, Misa didn’t want to know anything about Sky City’s ore.
“Dwarves need ore, and Sky City needs people to mine it,” Lance concluded. “It’s a win-win situation.”
Hillsilver struggled to carry the food basin, placing it on the low stone table in front of the two. He happened to hear the hero’s last sentence, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Human hero,” he said anxiously, “Are the ore veins you mentioned in Sky City?”
Lance nodded.
Hillsilver shook his head vigorously.
“No, the Earth Folk don’t do business with humans; humans are all annoying stinkers,” Hillsilver frowned, filled with unspeakable displeasure. “We don’t want those ore veins.”
Right! As monsters, they should have that attitude.
Misa winked at Hillsilver, trying his best to praise Hillsilver’s unyielding spirit.
“Who wants to go to Sky City,” Hillsilver mumbled. “You have to go around the volcano; it’s too troublesome.”
Misa: “…”
Misa gasped.
He secretly nudged Hillsilver, urging him to be firmer in front of the hero. They were monsters; even if monsters accepted a human hero, they would never accept a trade with humans.
Hillsilver immediately understood Misa’s intention. He puffed out his chest and said loudly, “Hah! Humans!”
Lance: “…”
His attitude changed too quickly, causing Lance to frown in surprise.
“We are monsters!” Hillsilver said loudly. “We’re super ferocious!”
Misa covered his face.
Damn it, he should have opened an acting improvement class for monsters during those three years of free time.
What does “We’re super ferocious!” even mean? The acting was terrible; he couldn’t even watch it.
Hillsilver was still trying.
“We’ll eat human children,” Hillsilver bared his teeth. “We’ll tear them apart—”
Lance interrupted him: “But you can’t get to the surface.”
Hillsilver: “…”
Lance: “No human children will come to the volcano.”
Hillsilver: “…”
Hillsilver took a deep breath, refusing to give up.
Hillsilver: “We’ll dig tunnels to human houses!”
Lance: “Oh?”
Hillsilver: “We’ll dig through the earth! See this lava and volcano! We’ll dig a big hole underground, and then we’ll—”
Lance: “But you can’t dig up Sky City’s gold mine.”
Hillsilver froze, as if struck by a great blow, but he still tried. He raised his hands, tiptoed, and drew a large circle around the hero’s waist.
Hillsilver: “Dig a big hole! Erupt lava!”
Lance: “You also can’t dig up Sky City’s silver mine.”
Hillsilver trembled, gnashing his teeth.
Hillsilver: “Dig through the mountain! Create an earthquake! Crush the humans!”
Lance: “And you can’t dig up the crystal mines near Sky City.”
Hillsilver: “…”
Hillsilver’s eyes welled up.
When Hilkin returned to the house with the Dwarf City Lord’s orders, he saw this strange scene.
Hillsilver was squatting in the corner, his back to everyone, as if he had just suffered a great blow, silent and unwilling to interact with anyone.
Hilkin didn’t know what had happened. He couldn’t help but speak, looking at Misa, and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
Misa, having just witnessed the hero’s despicable actions, covered his face with his hand, unwilling to answer.
Lance was very calm and composed, saying, “Oh, nothing, he just told me that you dwarves have done many bad things.”
Hilkin instantly understood his brother’s efforts. He realized he should show the ferocity of the monsters in front of the human hero, so he solemnly nodded, adopting the most ferocious appearance of the dwarf race, and said without hesitation, “Yes! We will steal the humans’—”
Hillsilver covered his mouth.
“Don’t say it, let’s go see the City Lord,” Hillsilver’s expression was listless, and his eyes were filled with tears. “Wuu.”
