Imperial Crown

When Raven and his companions arrived at the Scorpion Nest, it was already completely dark.

As soon as the group rushed into the hall, a blizzard began. The whistling wind hit the door and lingered around the castle, as if dozens or hundreds of witches were singing together.

However, this did not make the Eagle Army more energetic. They forced themselves to enter the gate, and even did not care about dinner. They found a place to lie down in a mess and fell asleep one after another.

"Put up the pot and cook whatever good things there are in the kitchen of the Scorpion Nest." Raven yawned, "Don't wait until they wake up and can't find anything to eat, and they will be hungry."

The horse thieves in the Scorpion Nest died or escaped, and the two big horse thieves, Firebeard and Steel Teeth, had already fled.

After a series of battles, they were finally safe for the time being.

Volaf took the order to retreat, and began to prepare meals with a few personal soldiers who were not seriously injured.

Soon, the pot was set up, and the air began to smell rich meaty aroma. When the first bowl of meat soup was brought to Raven, some soldiers of the Eagle Army sat up with sniffles.

Raven's personal soldiers were in charge of cooking. They could not say that they had any skills, but the soup was solid.

Chunks of frozen meat, whole peeled potatoes, stored white radishes, pickled snow vegetables, horse cheese, salt, butter, and a few snow clams were cooked into a sticky pot of stew.

Looking at the hot appearance, it looked like a pot of Northeastern stew in the previous life.

High oil, high salt, and high temperature, from the perspective of the previous life, it was definitely not healthy, but on the bloody highlands, after experiencing a series of battles, it was the most delicious delicacy in the world.

Using a spoon to stir slightly and skim off the oil on the surface, Raven lowered his head and ate it in big mouthfuls. The salty taste, fresh taste, milky flavor, and meaty flavor were harmoniously mixed together, warming up the body that was about to be penetrated by the cold wind again.

It would be nice if there was a bowl of rice!

The soldiers of the Eagle Army were attracted by the aroma and picked up their bowls to eat. The atmosphere was still dull, but it was somewhat lively.

After a simple meal, Raven called Volaf over: "Before leaving, you said you had something for me to decide. What was it?"

"It's like this, Baron." Volaf's eyes flashed with a strangeness: "We found a group of gray dwarf slaves in the dungeon, the same group Simon mentioned before, a total of seventeen."

Looking at his expression, Raven felt a little surprised.

It's obviously a good thing to find gray dwarf slaves, why is he acting so strange?

Forget it, we'll know when we meet.

"Are they the only ones in the Scorpion Nest?"

"There are also many women who were abducted." Volaf said: "I'm afraid they will run around, so I'll temporarily lock them up with the slaves."

"Then bring them all up." Raven ordered.

Volaf turned around and left, opened the side door and went to the dungeon.

Raven was a little bored for a while, his eyes wandering around.

Seeing Nancy sitting in the corner sniffing, Raven smiled and handed over the softened water bag: "Thank you for this expedition."

"Hmph, you have a conscience." Nancy took the water bag and held it in her arms. She was not very polite, but she still had a smile on her lips.

Not long after, accompanied by the chaotic footsteps, a group of gray dwarves came up wearing handcuffs and shackles.

This scene immediately attracted everyone's attention. After all, the Eagle Army who had been living in the Eagle Territory had never seen any "magical creatures".

Raven also looked at the appearance of these guys.

Gray dwarves are a branch of dwarves. Not only are their height and physique very similar to dwarves, but they are also good at processing minerals and forging weapons and equipment like dwarves.

The price of an adult gray dwarf is usually more than 2,000 gold coins, and the younger they are, the more valuable they are.

These seventeen people are worth at least thirty or forty thousand gold coins.

They are generally about 1.3 to 1.4 meters tall, wearing thick black leather armor, with sturdy bodies like buckets, and big beards of different styles, some of which even drag down to their feet.

Unlike the bronze skin color of ordinary dwarves, the skin of these gray dwarves is blue-gray like ore, and their pupils are a kind of blood red that looks very cruel.

In the darkness, more than a dozen pairs of scarlet eyes, combined with their square but gray faces, are like more than a dozen zombies, giving people a huge sense of oppression.

But when they opened their mouths, this sense of oppression disappeared, and the value of two thousand gold coins disappeared.

"Oh my god! These guys eat so well, how can it smell so good?!"

"Look at them, so miserable, they are so injured after beating Heleti, so fucking weak! If they hadn't come too early, we would have killed the King of Sand by now!"

"That big fool, what the hell are you looking at? Come on, give me the food in your hand, and I will forgive you!"

This is another characteristic of the gray dwarves, they are talkative and dirty.

"Stop arguing--" The gray dwarf with a long beard like a braid walking in front shouted: "It's because of you that outsiders think we gray dwarves are rude and rude!"

"Come on!" A gray dwarf with a messy beard bumped him from behind: "It's because you keep talking about shitty manners and make us look easy to bully that we are captured and made slaves!"

"Stop talking!" Raven was also a little headache because of the noise of these guys. Now he finally knew why Volaf's expression was so strange.

But no one listened to him. One of the gray dwarves even jumped up and said to Nancy: "Hey, red-haired girl, do you want to try my skills? My spit is much bigger than that of humans. It will definitely make you feel so good that you can spray it on the face of the Lord of Light!"

Swish.

A ball of fire immediately appeared in Nancy's hand, and she stared at the guy.

"Lord of the Forge! Magician!" The guy who was talking nonsense immediately covered his mouth. He knew that he had offended the wrong person, but he was still pressed down by several dwarves next to him and punched and kicked.

"I told you to talk dirty, I told you to talk dirty!"

"Stop it!" Raven shouted.

With Nancy's deterrence from behind, the group of gray dwarves finally quieted down.

Raven raised his eyelids and looked over: "Who is the leader among you?"

"Me."

"Me!"

Both the pigtailed beard and the messy beard did not give in to each other and took a step forward.

Raven asked: "What are your names?"

"Bowell Gray Hammer!" The man with braided beard proudly puffed out his chest: "The heir of the thousand-year-old jewelry family!"

"Sohei Iron Hand!" The man with messy beard did not give in: "The founder of the thousand-year-old forging family!"

Raven's mouth twitched. Facing this group of "lively treasures", he really couldn't get angry, but he didn't have any extra energy to waste on them. He got straight to the point:

"I am Raven Ota Griffith, the Baron of the Keynes Empire."

"You were once slaves of the Sand King. Since I rescued you from the Sand King, now you are , you are the slaves of my Griffith family. "

"I will provide you with housing and food. If you work hard, I can even provide you with beer and wages!"

"Hey!" Bowell suddenly interrupted Raven: "Don't mention dwarves as wine. Who said that dwarves must drink? You are racist!"

"Bullshit!" Sohei shouted: "If dwarves don't drink, they are not dwarves, and they betray the teachings of the Lord of the Forge!"

"Shut up!" Even Raven couldn't bear it anymore. He spit out a syllable and a flame suddenly ignited in his palm.

Another magician!

The gray dwarves covered their mouths together.

"From today on, you must obey my orders and serve me. Do you have any opinions?"

The gray dwarves shook their heads together.

"Then it's settled." Raven shook off the flame in his palm: "Swear to the Lord of the Forge."

The Lord of the Forge is the god of fire and forging, and the guardian of the dwarves. His status among the dwarves is equivalent to that of the Lord of Light among humans.

"Before you swear, can I ask another question?" Although it was a question, Bowell didn't expect to get an answer at all, and asked again: "How many years will we serve you?"

"One hundred years." Raven said.

When this sentence came out, the gray dwarves were about to explode again.

Although they have a long lifespan, a dwarf can live to more than 600 years without illness or disaster, and a hundred years is equivalent to more than ten years for humans.

But that is a hundred years after all, not just a dozen years.

Seeing their displeasure, Raven did not intend to continue to nag at them: "It's a hundred years now. Every time you bargain, add another hundred years!"

"Vampire!"

"Black-hearted nobles!"

"You deserve to be in the furnace!"

The gray dwarves complained, but they still had to swear to the master of the furnace one by one and pledge allegiance to Raven.

"Volaf, give them the keys to the handcuffs and shackles." After they finished swearing, Raven ordered: "Bowell, Sohei, take your people to find a place to rest. You are not allowed to leave the scorpion nest, and you are not allowed to harass women. You can drink, but you are not allowed to get drunk, and don't disturb my soldiers."

"Okay, Baron!"

These gray dwarves are very adaptable to their new identities, and they turned around and left very obediently.

Just as they were about to leave, Bowell suddenly turned back: "Baron, that...you are not allowed to harass any woman?"

"Of course, what do you mean?" Raven was a little puzzled.

"That's right... Heleti has a woman imprisoned on the third floor." Bowell said, "It seems that no one has brought her food for two days!"

"Three days, idiot!" Sohei jumped and shouted.

Raven raised his eyebrows.

A woman imprisoned on the third floor?

"Margaret, go to the third floor and bring her here!"

"Ah?" Margaret, who was recovering her energy, opened her eyes in surprise. Although she was helpless, she still agreed: "Yes, Baron."

Then he turned to Volav: "Bring the women up too."

Nancy was originally unwilling to spend any more energy on the "untouchables".

But after experiencing the difficult march on the bloody highlands and witnessing the heroic spirit of the Eagle Army who risked their lives, her mentality has quietly changed. She began to understand why Raven attaches so much importance to the lower class.

Ordinary people in her eyes are no longer just property and numbers, but gradually become flesh and blood.

Therefore, when the women who were captured and taken to the Scorpion's Nest appeared in the hall, Nancy was still quite shocked, and the scene before her aroused her sympathy.

Even in the winter on the Bloody Highlands, these women were wearing the crudest, thinnest linen clothes, which were quite torn. Their hands and feet were exposed, covered with mud and dust, and patches of frostbite could be seen.

Their bodies were curled up and hunched, with scars of various shapes on their necks and cuffs, including burns, scratches, and whip wounds. The new wounds overlapped with the old scars, which was shocking.

For the horse thieves, these women were toys for them to vent and have fun. They could abuse and insult them at will without feeling any pity.

There were many women under the bloody highlands. If this batch died, they could rob another batch.

This scene immediately made the Eagle Army present breathe heavily!

They were born in the Eagle Territory, and they had witnessed the attacks of the horse thieves and lost their wives, daughters, and sisters. Although they had long known that they would not have any good results, when they saw it with their own eyes, they still hated the horse thieves a little more!

They should have killed more people on the battlefield before!

The bullied women looked at Raven and others with vigilance and panic. They knelt down as soon as they entered the door, but no one dared to speak.

"...I am Raven, a baron." Raven introduced himself again: "I have killed the King of Sand. I plan to rest here for a few days and then set off to return to my territory."

"I will take you away with me to my territory, where you can have your own house, your own life, your own future, and even regain your freedom, provided that you can work for me, and work long enough and diligently enough."

Raven's conditions were not loose, but the women still refused to believe it. They were stunned and looked at Raven with a suspicious look, as if they wanted to see what the lord was thinking.

It can be imagined what kind of life these people live in the Scorpion Nest.

Raven would not force them to believe him now, and waved his hand: "There is nothing for you now, let's go."

The women saluted and left.

Raven felt a little heavy, but like the Eagle Army, he was also a little relieved in his heaviness.

At least their arrival rescued a group of innocent women.

"Okay, things are almost done, you all go to rest." Raven looked at Volaf and Eric.

Volaf and Eric were also very tired. Although the decisive battle lasted only one day, the fatigue had penetrated into their bones, so they bowed to Raven and left, and went to sleep.

The bonfire was burning, and the hall soon became quiet again.

At this time, a fierce shout came from the corridor: "Let me go, you dirty heretic, I will never believe your lies!"

As soon as he looked over, Raven saw Margaret walking back to the hall holding a chain, and behind the chain was a heavy handcuff, buckled on the hand of a female knight.

This kind of handcuffs is made of "magic steel" and can seal the fighting spirit and magic power in the body of the extraordinary.

Raven frowned slightly, and Nancy's eyes showed a bit of vigilance, because this woman is really beautiful enough.

She had chestnut hair as smooth as satin, a clean and delicate face that was almost invisible on the bloody highlands, eyes as sharp as a lioness, teeth biting her thin lips.

The most eye-catching thing was the enchanted plate armor she was wearing, which was both practical and ornamental, and radiant in the dim environment - this was the standard plate armor of the Vatican Knights!

The moment she saw Raven, the female knight was stunned:

"Who are you?"

"Where is Heleti!?"

...