Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

Bruno was about to speak when a voice came from the side.

"I heard a traveling merchant had arrived, so I hurried over," a man looking like a government official approached with several attendants.

Char noticed that Bruno and several other dwarfs, as well as the elf named Ryan, showed slight changes in their expressions.

Char and Freyja exchanged glances, it seemed that even amidst formidable opponents, Fireplace Town was not united but rather divided.

However, as Char was new to the place, he could not judge who was right or wrong, so he tacitly chose to watch developments along with Freyja.

The Frost Deer and Floral Blue Leopard had earned enough respect for Char and his companion that the human official soon greeted them with a smile.

Compared to the straightforward dwarfs and aloof elves, humans seemed much more adept at diplomacy. The man before them, being a government official, was naturally even better at it. Quickly, he replaced Bruno and others as the converser with Char while Bruno’s group was politely asked to leave.

After all, they were also responsible for standing guard and patrolling when not out hunting.

Normally in a town, different departments would handle their specific duties—the safety patrol managed town, and those in charge of reception dealt with important external guests. This wasn’t unusual, but the behavior of Bruno and his group indicated a significant rift between them.

The waters of Fireplace Town were deeper than he had imagined.

Char thought to himself.

At that moment, he felt relieved that he had not left the Florence Forest at the outset but had waited until now to engage with the outside world.

If he had reached Fireplace Town when only protected by Star Worm, Lantern Firefly, and Lotus Leaf Frog, he could indeed have settled in Fireplace Town, utilizing its power to fend off external threats. Yet, he would also constantly risk losing his life due to the undercurrents within Fireplace Town.

It wasn’t that someone would intentionally target him, but in a complex situation, if you were just an ordinary person, a single confrontation or conflict among the higher-ups could easily affect you.

Now it was different. He had enough strength to protect himself, no matter how turbulent Fireplace Town might be, he would stand firm.

The people of Fireplace Town only accompanied Char and his companion for a while. When Char indicated he wanted to explore on his own, they tactfully left.

It must be said, whether good or evil, unclear as it was, they were considerably more comfortable to be around than Bruno and his group.

Char and Freyja walked around Fireplace Town, interacting with people occasionally.

Freyja’s social skills were average—due to her aloof, calm nature and closeness to nature, elves generally lacked social skills.

But Char was quite sociable. As long as he wished, he could strike up a conversation with almost anyone, so, with his deliberate inquiries, he quickly learned the general situation of Fireplace Town.

Fireplace Town was originally a dwarf tribe with less than three thousand people. Their days were secure and prosperous because of their superior blacksmithing skills. However, as crises like the undead catastrophe worsened within the kingdom, more and more people started gathering in Fireplace Town.

Now, the population of Fireplace Town had grown to over thirty thousand. Humans made up the vast majority, having long surpassed dwarfs as the primary demographic within Fireplace Town.

This might explain why Bruno and the others showed such clear grievances against that human official.

Though uniting was a survival instinct, humans came to Fireplace Town because this place was easier to defend and offered greater chances of survival, while dwarfs welcomed humans fleeing from various places as a way to strengthen the town and better repel external enemies.

But with dwarfs being the original inhabitants of Fireplace Town, now becoming the "minority," conflicts were inevitable.

This was like immigration, where problems escalate as the number of immigrants increases, especially when their population surpasses that of the original residents.

Among these more than thirty thousand people, there were three advanced professionals, each with a professional level that had reached 11 or 12. They were the pillars that upheld Fireplace Town.

These were the only three beings in Fireplace Town that Char felt wary of.

When he found out that there were three advanced professionals in Fireplace Town, Char was initially surprised, but then he thought about it—Fallen Leaf Town, with a population of less than ten thousand, had high-level professionals. So, why wouldn’t Fireplace Town, with a population of over thirty thousand, have three high-level professionals?

You said Fallen Leaf Town is a multi-racial town, the likelihood of encountering a master is higher compared to a pure human town.

Fireplace Town is also a multi-racial town.

Under these three advanced professionals, Fireplace Town also boasts a double-digit number of intermediate professionals.

This is the core strength of Fireplace Town, losing even one is a huge loss, and they cannot be replaced in the short term.

Then there are the many low-level professionals.

Overall, the strength of Fireplace Town is not weak, just the three advanced professionals, that itself is a formidable force, at least in the border areas.

Besides this, Fireplace Town also has traces of three Divine entities.

These three Divine entities are the Dwarf, the God of Flame and Forging Andar, one of the advanced professionals is a priest of the Dwarf God.

The remaining two are respectively the Tomb God Futesi and the Dawn God of divine falls, one of them, a god mainly worshiped on the Siran Continent, presides over the Tomb God’s church in Fireplace Town, and is one of the three advanced professionals in Fireplace Town.

The last Divine entity is Forest Goddess Melikai, whom Char is more familiar with.

As one of the earliest gods to spread the faith on the Siran Continent, and being so close to Florence Forest, it’s not surprising that the Forest Goddess has a church in Fireplace Town—even if it’s the smallest scale church.

However, compared to the Dwarf God and the Tomb God, the influence of the Forest Goddess in Fireplace Town is not strong, and its strongest individuals have not reached the level of advanced professionals.

The remaining advanced professional, also a Dwarf, is the leader of this Dwarf tribe and also the current mayor of Fireplace Town.

Along the way, Char and Freyja not only learned about the situation in Fireplace Town but also bought some life necessities—mainly various iron tools.

The most scarce resource in Fireplace Town is food, apart from food, clothing and other items are also in shortage, but what they have the most of is iron tools.

Of course, he also sold all the food he brought.

Char did not intend to profit from rarities, selling at market price, and the small amount of food he brought couldn’t really become a rarity.

After this, the two planned to leave.

"Char—" Freyja suddenly called out to Char, motioning for him to look in a certain direction.

Down the street, a convoy dressed in black with white Forever Flower patterns embroidered, heads covered with black scarves exposing only their eyes, slowly advanced toward them.

The vehicle was a flatbed, a long procession of them with gaunt, scarcely clothed bodies lying atop, although these priest-like individuals covered each with a black cloth, there were too many bodies to completely cover, and Char’s vision was too good, he took in the situation at a glance from a distance.

[Elvin Gard]

[Race]: Human

[Profession]: Eternal Sleep Priest

[Level]: 6

[Skills]:...

[Introduction]: A priest serving the Tomb God and Eternal Sleep God, possesses a certain power over death, but unlike Undead Mages, they believe that disturbing the rest of a corpse is a sacrilege, thus they are completely hostile towards Undead Mages.

Char’s gaze swept over the man with the most intricate embroidery on his priest robe, obviously of the highest status, and the system quickly provided the relevant information.

But he did not act rashly, merely watching silently as the convoy moved forward.