Chapter 62: Chapter 19: Gnome (1)
It seems like no one went upstairs just now, so who came here?
Su Ziyu silently placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, then quietly pushed open the door to his room. With just one glance, his brow furrowed because someone had tampered with his backpack, and the BTL82M Anti-Material Sniper Rifle had been moved slightly. It seemed someone tried to pick it up but put it back because it was too heavy.
There was no one seen in the room.
But Su Ziyu immediately closed his eyes. He concentrated, maximizing his Perception Ability, then suddenly slashed his sword towards a dark corner.
Bang.
The wooden cabinet nearby fell as if by magic. Su Ziyu heard very light footsteps and swung his sword again, this time aiming fifty centimeters lower. He had found the little thief who snuck into his room; it didn’t appear to be human but some kind of intelligent creature about the same height as a Great Elf.
"Don’t kill me!" A child-like shriek came, and then an extremely short dwarf appeared in front of him, rolling clumsily to dodge, removing the cloak he was wearing, saying, "I’ll give everything back to you."
"Please, don’t kill me!"
The blade stopped at the tip of the dwarf’s nose, and Su Ziyu tilted his head, eyeing the peculiar creature before him, and asked, "A dwarf?"
"Yes." The tiny figure froze in fear and replied.
His height was about 1.23 meters, his skin pale like a corpse, body slightly twisted, short legs but very long arms that extended past his knees, with messy black hair, a big head, and a weathered, wrinkled face.
This dwarf was barefoot, with dirty feet, leaving traces behind.
"Why did you steal my things?" Su Ziyu did not retract his weapon but instead disdainfully retrieved his light gray cloak, now stained with dirt from the dwarf wearing it.
This cloak was made for someone of normal human height, so he could only drape it over himself.
"I..." The dwarf looked frightened, his eyes darting as he spoke, "I know about this. It’s the Witch’s thing."
He hesitated for a moment.
Then, as if giving up resistance, he said, "Okay. I’ll tell you everything. But you can’t harm me."
Su Ziyu looked at him, nodded, and said, "Alright. But first, you have to return the stolen gems."
Upon hearing this, the dwarf’s face scrunched up, reluctantly pulling five or six gems out of his pocket, muttering, "Those gems are useless to a human like you, but for me, they can be used to create powerful Magic Weapons."
Su Ziyu reached out and snatched the gems, taking out a ruby and tossing it in the air, "Alright. Speak."
"If I’m satisfied, giving you one might not be impossible."
The dwarf’s eyes followed the gem’s movement up and down, with an expression of greed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I know someone."
"No, wait."
"It should be a Great Elf."
"His name is Pick."
"He was once my companion. He had a cloak just like yours, one that grants Invisibility, which he got from the Witch."
"He comes from the Dream Forest."
"As a human, you probably don’t know this place. It’s the realm of the Witches, inhabited by many Elves, and the Witches’ existence is akin to your Human Realm’s White Queen. Pick snuck out of the Dream Forest, accompanied by a little girl and a talking squirrel."
"We traveled together in the north, even infiltrating the Banshee’s lair and taking down vicious Minotaurs and Mountain Giants."
"But later, they headed south."
"They supposedly wanted to see the White Queen of your Human Kingdom. After that, I haven’t seen them."
The dwarf rambled on, seeming somewhat similar to Pick.
Pick?
Upon hearing Pick’s name, Su Ziyu’s expression changed slightly. He listened carefully to what the dwarf had to say before speaking, "A Great Elf, a little girl, and a talking squirrel?"
"Yes." The dwarf nodded honestly, saying, "That squirrel loves to curse."
"And the most annoying thing is, I can’t out-curse it."
Su Ziyu continued to ask, "What did the little girl look like?"
"I don’t remember very well." The dwarf shifted his footing half a step back, away from the sharp blade, cautious as he said, "To me, humans all look similar, but I remember she had beautiful silver-white long hair. Among humans, supposedly only the White Queen has that hair color."
Winter Witch?
Wearing an expression as if in thought, Su Ziyu put away his weapon and asked, "What’s your name?"
"York-Durin." The dwarf replied proudly.
He seemed quite proud of his name. Is the surname Durin very prestigious among dwarves?
"This is indeed the Witch’s item." Su Ziyu said in a more relaxed tone, "It should be the cloak Pick took at that time. I know Pick too."
"I come from the Dream Forest."
York-Durin looked pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help but ask, "Really? You’re not lying to me, are you?"
"How’s Pick doing?"
"Is he alright?"
"He said he’d visit me when he has time, but it’s already been ten years."
Su Ziyu fell silent for a moment when he heard that, finally saying slowly, "He’s fine. But there are some matters he can’t leave behind, and I’m leaving the Dream Forest this time also to find the White Queen because the witches have some minor troubles and want her help."
"I see." York-Dur scratched his head and added, "No wonder you have this cloak."
"Is there anything I can help with?"
Su Ziyu thought for a moment and said, "I need to go to the Royal Capital. Do you know the way?"
"I do." York-Dur said, eyeing the gems in Su Ziyu’s hand, "But I can only take you to the Bor River, because for some reason, I can’t go south."
After speaking, he added cautiously, "Could you get me something to eat?"
"I want blood sausage, wheat porridge, and beer."
"Things found underground taste terrible!"
Su Ziyu nodded in agreement, casually asking, "Do you usually live underground?"
"Yes." The dwarf nodded, saying, "Most dwarves live underground, though there are fewer in the north, maybe more in the south."
"I really miss Pick’s cooking."
"It was so delicious!"
The dwarf had a nostalgic expression, and it must be said that the Great Elves’ food is indeed excellent.
"Wait here for me." Su Ziyu glanced at York and said, "I’ll go down and get someone to bring food over."
With that, he took the Invisibility Cloak by hand.
This was a test.
If York escaped, then he was lying and not to be trusted. But if he stayed put, then what he said might be true, and perhaps Su Ziyu could enlist his help.
.........