Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 383 - 366: Shearing Wool

"Duoruru, what’s this guy doing here?"

Seeing a certain figure appear in Black Rock City, Brin muttered to himself twice.

It was an Underground Dwarf dressed in luxurious human noble attire. Although the human clothing looked nice, it didn’t really suit the dwarf, making him appear more like a clown than anything noble.

At this moment, this Underground Dwarf was accompanied by several trusted aides, hurrying toward the Death God Temple in Black Rock City. There was an anxious and worried expression on his face, as if something urgent had happened.

The Underground Dwarf, Duoruru.

He was Brin’s classmate during his studies in the Underground City of Shanatal, the first heir of the most powerful Underground Dwarf family in the Shanatal City State, and also the grandson of the current chief.

He was currently an envoy for Shanatal, rumored to be the next candidate for the chief position.

And much like the relationship between Blade City and Shanatal City, even though the two were classmates, they never got along.

After Brin became the chief of Blade City, it was said that Duoruru even publicly commented that "with Brin’s idiotic abilities, he would surely lead Blade City into decline" and so on...

Of course, the truth was that he was simply envious of Brin for becoming an Underground City chief first.

And when Brin saw Duoruru, Duoruru also saw him.

In that instant upon seeing Brin, Duoruru immediately put away his expression, lifted his nose to the sky, and sarcastically said,

"Oh! Isn’t this Brin of Blade City?"

"I heard that not long after the war started in Blade City, they spent years of their savings and even owed nearly ten thousand sets of fine equipment to surrounding city-states. The reinforcements suffered heavy casualties too. It seems... this current chief of Blade City still isn’t up to the task."

"I wonder what Lord Huo Xu was thinking, giving the chief position to such a guy..."

Hearing the mockery in Duoruru’s words, Brin’s expression darkened.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and replied,

"Better than someone who’s just a good-for-nothing talking behind others’ backs."

After speaking, he glanced at the weary and slightly worried guards following Dororo, considered the geographical positions of the two city-states, and combined it with the well-known deployment of the Dark Alliance... and understood what was happening.

He smiled slightly and said,

"Lord Duoruru, you’d better get your affairs in order quickly. I’ve heard that Shanatal has also become a target of the Dark Alliance’s attacks. Now that we’ve repelled the enemy here, they might redirect their focus. If that’s the case... your city could be in danger."

"Unfortunately... the heavy losses Blade City suffered in this war mean we can’t provide any support."

"Hmph!"

Hearing Brin’s words, Duoruru’s face turned dark.

He gave Brin a long look before leading his guards to the Death God Temple.

Watching Duoruru’s back, Brin shook his head slightly.

Seeing Duoruru like this, it seemed that just as Lord Huo Xu had guessed, the Dark Alliance didn’t choose to retreat, but instead changed their main offensive direction, targeting another Underground City—Shanatal.

And Duoruru had clearly come to seek aid.

Even though the elves and the Silent Alliance had formed an alliance, many of the Silent Alliance’s Underground Cities were still in a wait-and-see state when it came to dealing with the elves.

On the one hand, this was because the current war pressure wasn’t too significant for them. On the other hand, they were skeptical of the abilities of those long-eared fellows.

It was only when Blade City was surrounded by a vast army and desperately needed reinforcements that they brought in the elves, demonstrating their terrifying fighting capabilities.

Blade City’s successful defense allowed other city-states to truly witness the elves’ power.

Of course, they still didn’t know the details of the battle; all they knew was that with the elves’ help, Blade City drove back the enemy in just three days...

And it seemed that Blade City had amassed quite a debt during this war...

Watching Duoruru enter the Death God Temple, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Brin’s mouth.

Hehe.

Blade City in debt?

*I rather wondered how much Shanatal would owe!*

Indeed, he had renegotiated the agreement with the elves on behalf of Blade City, but that was merely a one-sided effort by Blade City.

The Underworld had always been a place full of competition and chaos. Although Blade City and Shanatal were both member city-states of the Silent Alliance, they were also rife with competition between each other.

In such circumstances, Blade City, having suffered greatly, would naturally not consider other city-states.

Even if they were allies.

It was also these allies who, when Blade City was besieged, dramatically hiked prices to profit from the war, even raising the cost of equipment Blade City had purchased from other city-states...

Not to mention providing excess reinforcements.

No wonder the Silent Alliance couldn’t triumph over the Dark Alliance; without unity, even the most powerful force couldn’t be effective, much less when it was weaker than the enemy...

In fact, in the Silent Alliance’s agreement with the elves, the equipment clause only stated that "the alliance must provide necessary equipment to supporting elves."

The other detailed parts were added during the specific implementation process by the Underground Cities.

In other words, Blade City’s agreement was not applicable to other Underground Cities.

Now, seeing Shanatal come seeking aid, Brin naturally wouldn’t offer any reminders.

With the elves involved, the city would most likely hold, but just how much debt would be incurred was unknown.

It would most likely go bankrupt; after failing to take down Blade City, the Dark Alliance would certainly pour more resources into besieging Shanatal...

Brin thought to himself.

Imagining Duoruru’s possible expression after the war ended, Brin felt a twinge of pleasure in his heart.

As a mature resident of the Underground, he was quite vengeful.

Hmm...

After returning, I’ll prepare thoroughly to see if I can use Shanatal’s defense campaign to make up for the lost wealth.

Yes, as a competent commercial chief of an Underground City, he was already contemplating how to exploit the information gap to fleece Shanatal...

...

Duoruru had indeed come seeking aid.

Once the Dark Alliance abandoned their siege of Blade City, they quickly shifted their main focus to Shanatal, intensifying the pressure on the city immensely.

With Blade City’s successful precedent, they naturally turned to the elves for help.

Their call for help went smoothly.

Having lost the opportunity to farm equipment through resurrection abilities in Blade City, the players received a new city-state’s call for help and were immediately thrilled, as if discovering a new continent.

Thus, Duoruru easily reached an agreement with the players.

Just like Blade City.