“Speak or die.”
“Grwak?!” The dwarf didn’t respond correctly, so I slammed his head into the stone floor, quickly realizing from the lack of a dent that something was protecting the floor. “Ghuuurk! Aka!”
“Boss!!!”
Hmm? But, from the sounds of it, the damage I inflicted is still pretty much what I expected. Good thing all these dwarves are suited up in heavy armor.
While the floor didn’t even show a small crack or even a slight mark from my action, the indented helmet and the fact blood was seeing from the dwarf’s head proved to me it wasn’t ineffective. Slamming the dwarf's head back into the stone once again for science, the dwarf cried out in pain, but the floor still wasn’t damaged at all.
Mana Eyes.
I knew there was something suspicious here, but what I didn’t realize was that this whole place was brimming with mana. There wasn't nearly as much mana as Shaturein or current Elyonda; no, in fact, the mana wasn’t nearly as disorganized as those other places. The mana in the former two was like a wild, untamed river, while the one in this place was like a perfectly outlined waterway.
The mana below me was streaming through this alleyway to the end of the walls surrounding us, where I noticed the stream flowing into these blocky boxes. I also noticed multiple manatech decorating the place, each given either a share or the mana was entirely isolated from this network of mana. Fascinated by this, I looked even further, where I noticed spots where Peolyncian words were scribbled on. Were these runes?
“—go of me!” Finally finished with my inspection, my attention returned to reality as I noticed the dwarf trying to punch my face. As it landed, I noticed a green and brown rune lighting up on his gauntlet.
Wind blasted from his gauntlet, increasing the strike force of his punch before I felt mana suddenly enter my body, bypassing my [Draconic Barrier]. Did this mana really ignore it?
‘Crack sounds coming in our skull,’ my parallel minds informed me, visualizing in my mind how the mana was seeping from his gauntlet and was forming something like a crack. My Wisdom immediately went into action, protecting me from the full brunt of the attack the moment the mana exploded.
From the look of it, this foreign mana was passing through my mana paths. Maybe this was why my [Draconic Barrier] treated it as normal, outside mana, instead of something dangerous. Well, at least my Wisdom came into play.
“W-what?!” the dwarf stuttered as I pushed his fist away with my head, showing no signs of damage despite his tricks. “A-attack!”
“Save the boss!” The remaining dwarves all charged towards me with their weapons ready in hand. However, before they could do anything, Shay body checked the dwarf in the front, sending the Taz flying back into the rest of the gang before he unleashed his cryo breath.
The dwarves quickly activated their barriers, probably [Defensive Rune: Auracoil], to defend themselves. The ice froze over their mana barrier, leaving the dwarves undamaged and allowing them to use their equipment to break through the ice. Just like the dwarf I was threatening, all of the Taz dwarves we were dealing with had runes adorning their metal armor and weapons.
I snapped my fingers. “Boys,” I called out, signaling for Tatsuya and Kyouya to help out Shay while I healed Haruka.
“Got it!” Both shouted before activating what seemed like new abilities they probably had just gained from their training with Saori.
Kyouya, in his bulky shadow armor, touched his shadow and began pouring mana into it to not only clad Tatsuya in a shadow armor like his own, but also to create a shadow shield for himself. He unsheathed his sword and charged forward like a steam train, seeing as how his armor was exuding black mist.
Tatsuya, on the other hand, took out a single fulinoe leaf and placed it in his mouth as he began to transform with his druidic powers. However, instead of the wolf form I was used to seeing, he transformed into a felgheist — one of the giant bat monsters! In fact, it looked eerily similar to the vampire transformation we saw those poachers use, but I couldn’t tell for sure, due to the black goo-like armor from Kyouya’s shadow.
I had only asked them about their Unique Jobs, but I clearly forgot that Tatsuya was celebrating a new unique skill too. I should ask them afterwards.
In any case, I left the fight to the boys while I slammed the “boss” dwarf once again on the ground, knocking him unconscious and busting up his helmet to the point someone would need to pry it off his head to get it off. I then went over to comfort the frightened and crying Haruka, all while the fight against the dwarves continued.
As mentioned before, the dwarves were using their weapons to break free from the ice. Once they had a clear shot, the dwarves used their weapons to begin shooting out spells as projectiles through their runes. The basic four elements were all they had, but I could recognize spells like [Fire Ball], [Wind Slash], [Water Bolt], and [Rock Bullet] amongst them.
However, Kyouya remained unfettered. As Shay flew up to dodge, Kyouya passed under him and charged right through the spells. He was slowed down and I saw fragments of his shadow shield and armor breaking off, but he still reached the dwarf in the front. Whether these mobsters were actual fighters or not, the dwarf didn’t panic, simply slamming his hammer right into Kyouya’s shield.
“Got you!” he shouted as his shield snapped around the dwarf’s weapon. Kyouya then touched the coated weapon, forcing the dwarf to drop the weapon, as if it was too heavy to hold on to, the weapon slowly being submerged in his shadow.
“Wh—Tuuwark!” the dwarf wanted to cry out, only for Tatsuya to slide right in and interrupted the cry by running his spear into the dwarf’s shoulder.
Too shallow! The spearhead couldn’t even pass through whatever under armor Tatsuya’s opponent had, being stopped completely by the shoulder plate. I knew dwarven culture was very artisan-heavy, but to the point some random thug could afford armor strong enough to block Tatsuya’s spear? Then again, to be fair, it wasn’t made from my materials like my spear was; this was still the spear he got from the church.
Realizing this, Tatsuya instead chose to kick the dwarf in his head. It didn’t deal as much damage as I could do, but it still staggered the dwarf. The boys had clearly improved, but I was still a bit worried they couldn’t handle this … but all that worry disappeared once Shay descended.
[“Support me!”] he commanded, and both boys agreed immediately.
With the boys acting as tanks, disrupters, and engagers, this allowed Shay to pressure the dwarves with his ice and temperature control. Even if the dwarves had runes to back themselves up, Shay was still a rank B wyvern and trained by Mom. The dwarves could put up a good fight, but Shay ultimately was far too strong.
I can leave them be.
“Hestia-chan!” Haruka suddenly hugged me, forcing me to look away. “They took them away! They took them away! We need to—”
“Okay, okay, okay!” With her face covered in tears and snot, coupled with how she had clearly lost weight and smelled as if she hadn’t shown in days, I could understand the gist of it. “I know, but you need to calm down. You’re safe. I’m late, but we will handle everything once you’re back on your feet!”
I helped her up, noticing how she winced when she tried to straighten her legs. Haruka wasn’t a combatant, as she had a strong blood phobia, so her level was extremely low compared to our party’s standard. Her stats were decent, as she had been training to keep her body fit, but she was mostly our party’s treasurer and our third merchant.
Still, seeing her like this was unbelievable. What happened during the two weeks when the siege began and up till now? There was no question this unconscious dwarf knew something. As such, while helping her up, I grabbed the guy by the arm and slowly dragged him towards the open portal. I didn’t like to interrogate people, especially if I had to use torture, but that might be needed this time …
“Stop!”
… However, it seems that time wasn’t on my side.
What?! I snapped my head around, noticing there were now several armed Taz dwarves blocking the right entrance of the alleyway, just as the earlier thugs were blocking the left side. Similar to those thugs, these dwarves were heavily armored and equipped with long polearms to compensate for their height, but unlike the former, all of them looked like they were uniformly equipped. Like soldiers or guards.
“By the order of the Hold King, stop right there! Cease any further hostilities, or face the earth’s punishment!” the guards shouted at us, slightly relieving me of the stress, since I could just turn this guy in.
“No!” However, the moment I took a step forward, Haruka shouted at me. “Don’t! The guards are all in cahoots with the Luedbrumdar clan! The entire hold is on their side, including the ruler! They tricked us! They were responsible for Nishio-san’s beating. No, we need to get out, Hestia-chan, please!”
What exactly was happening here?! I didn’t follow along with their travels, but I never thought it would be this complicated. However, now Haruka was telling me the guards were corrupt? What exactly did she mean by Nishio here? Did something happen to him? And what did all of this have to do with Grimnir’s ex-clan?
I darted my head from side to side, evaluating what exactly I should do here. Shay, Tatsuya, and Kyouya had stopped their fighting, but they had already beaten up the majority of the dwarven thugs. They didn’t look tired, especially Tatsuya who was tapping his feet on the ground like a restless dog. We could still fight.
Mana Eyes.
Lv. 57
The levels of these guards were around level 50 and 60 and their skill build was pretty average for normal people, as in, the average skill level amongst these people was around five. They didn’t have any advanced or hybrid skills. Their weapon skills were mostly level six, so they were decent with their weapons, but not masters.
Essentially, they were on par with capable rank C adventurers, and clearly stronger than the average guard of Artorias and Elyonda, who were around level 30 or so. In fact, these guards could probably fight on par with a standard human knight, though people like Renee or Farron could kick multiple of their asses at once.
In comparison, the thugs were around level 25 to 45. No wonder Shay was able to overpower them without any problems. The only thing that was problematic about the group was their equipment. That closed the level gap, as Tatsuya and Kyouya had to actually try to beat them. Which made me a bit impressed at how these guards’ standard armor was pretty up there.
Standardized Eoriant Dwarf Guarder: A dwarven breastplate made from eoriant alloy. Standardized and perfected in its form and function in accordance with the materials and labor required, the efficiency of this armor is unparalleled. Although not the best, it is the standard-issue armor for the common guards of the dwarven holds. As such, it is the perfect graduating test for novice blacksmith, as it didn’t require any local materials and ores to increase its function.
Vitality Power: 220
Wisdom Power: 220
Skill: [Sundering Resistance Lv. 3] [Piercing Resistance Lv. 3] [Crushing Resistance Lv. 3] [Fire Resistance Lv. 3] [Heat Resistance Lv. 3] [Physical Resistance Lv. 2]
Rune: [Defensive Rune: Auracoil] [Defensive Rune: Pavise] [Utility Rune: Clean Armor]
It had been a long time since I spoke with Grimnir or seen a lot of runes being used, as I was the only one in the Elyonda siege who had a weapon with a full set of runes, but I still remembered the Rules of Blood. Each individual weapon or armor piece normally can only contain three runes, but the higher the rank of the being the blood came from, the more you could add. At rank D you could add two more runes, and it increased twice with every higher rank.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Since it only had three, they probably just used whatever blood was available to bind the runes on the weapon. The more runes you wanted, the more intense the runesmithing session. After all, you had to etch all the runes you wanted during the same day, since the ritual to start runesmithing was pretty elaborate. That was why Grimnir could only do so much as our only runesmith.
That was why seeing about … 21 guards with this armor impressed me. This was not mentioning their gauntlets, helmets, and greaves. At least chainmail couldn’t carry runes, since the rings weren’t large enough for a rune to fit on it.
“Surrender now!”
My accelerated thinking speed stopped once the guards shouted once again, the lot of them not readying themselves for immediate combat. What should I do? Should I try to speak with these guards and use my title as princess to turn things over, or … risk losing time and a chance to rescue my friends if Haruka was correct about these people. What was the correct decision here?
“You have until the count of three to stop! If you do not, we will take this as a further act of hostility!”
“Stop, stop!” And just like that, the remaining thugs gave up, dropping their weapons and kneeling down with their hands up. Strangely, their faces were all too relaxed. They weren’t smiling, but it seemed like they were expecting the situation to turn around in their favor… now that we weren’t beating them up.
… Really?
“Hestia-san!” Tatsuya called me, looking nervous at what to do.
Shay turned around, too, looking at me as he gave me a nod, almost as if he was urging me forward before speaking with telepathy, [“My lady, I will listen to whatever decision you want. I will follow through, but you need to make a decision before it is made for you!”]
He was right, but this decision wasn’t easy. It was a diplomatic situation the moment I disobeyed these guards, but I also couldn’t risk losing a chance to rescue my friends. To me, my friends and family were the most important people to me. Some dwarven king? Unless you were the High-King of Ankor-Nazta, I didn’t believe they were allowed to stop an Imperial Dragon Princess!
Besides, if these people did help some gangsters kidnap and hurt my friends, then they were my enemies. Plain and simple.
“Are you their allies? Do you know them? Did you help kidnap a few humans who were friends of this girl?” I demanded from the guards, wanting to confirm one last time before I did anything. Even if this was a precarious situation, these guards did not attack me yet, so I had to show at least some willingness to end this peacefully for my later excuse.
“One! Two!”
I squinted my eyes as they clearly ignored me. Raising my voice and covering Haruka’s ears, I roared out with [Draconic Aura] active. “ANSWER MY QUESTIONS! My name is Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, third Dragon Princess of Kargryx! You will answer my questions! ARE YOU ALLIES TO THESE IDIOTS, AND IF YES, WHERE. ARE. MY. FRIENDS?!”
“U-uh?!” The dwarves froze in place, shuddering as I shouted at them. Some even shivering so much, they almost dropped their weapons, only to clumsily catch them with their huge, sausage-thick fingers. The silence waved around the stuffy, almost cave-like air, to the point I noticed the ceiling wasn’t showing a blue sky. No, the bright lights above were actually lamps illuminating the dark grey cavern ceiling.
… Most likely under a cave, or inside this hold. Can’t remember Grimnir really mentioning his homeland. Not like he talked too much about himself either way.
“Y-Your Highness!” Finally, somebody spoke up. I turned around to my right, where a guard was walking up, towards the thugs with his hands placed up high. “W-we apologize for not recognizing you. W-we are guards of the hold city, n-not one of these thugs. I-if you wish, you may hand them in to us and we can—”
“Last chance.” I glared at him.
“Grrrk!”
“Answer my questions. Are you these people’s allies, or are you not? If you are, where are my friends? This is your last chance. Don’t put in your demands, just answer my questions if you don’t want any trouble. Because, I will be your problem. Speak the truth.”
“I …” The guard looked over to his fellows. It really didn’t seem like he knew what to do in this situation; he couldn’t even answer. That made him a bit too suspicious.
However, I still didn’t know if these guards were just doing their jobs or actually complicit. I had started thinking of them as enemies, so I was carefully parsing through their Profiles to find some clue, but they really were just a bunch of guards. Some were also miners, woodcutters, and had some side skills, but that was about it.
“Are you going to make me repeat myself?” I spoke. “If you’re not going to answer, then move out of the way. This is my business.”
“W-we can’t do that! Stop!” They pulled up their weapons again the moment I tried to pick up my subspace runes. “We will call our commander! Yes, so please put down the criminals you are holding, Your Grace, and we will—”
“You really can’t read the mood, huh?”
Volcanic Blaze. I stomped the ground as I said that in my head, only for nothing to really happen. Flabbergasted, I looked down, only to realize the ground had started to suddenly shine blue. I was trying to heat up the ground by controlling the temperature around my feet, but somehow it wasn’t working as well.
“Stop using mana!” The guards shouted, now really agitated. “You have violated the Laws of Mana within a Hold. Mana casting, mana usage, and mana manipulation is reserved for only specific areas or for certified professions. Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, you are under arrest for breaking the law.”
I, what now?! Using mana is a crime, how?! How did they even fig—Oh damn, hold on, was that flicker the mana barrier on the ground? Was that why the ground didn’t even crack when I slammed his head? Is it also restricting my mana usage?
The dwarves couldn’t cast spells nor expel mana unless it was a tool. In a society where the culture was disadvantaged compared to other races, it would make sense for them to make contraptions to avoid this weakness.
However, Shay and the boys were still able to cast spells and use mana normally, but [Volcanic Blaze] didn’t work. Specifically, I couldn’t heat up the rocks beneath me to turn them into lava. Which meant, mana usage wasn’t restrictive per se, but it was blocked from interacting with the ground. I couldn’t confirm it yet, so I tried to cast [Terra Wall].
However, the ground turned blue.
Aha.
“Enough!” And that was enough for the dwarven guards to engage us. It really did seem like I would be treated like a literal criminal right from the get go.
“Shay, get us out of here! Do not hurt them … too much.”
[“Your will, my wings!”] Shay blasted ice cold breath at the right side of the alley way, stopping the guards from advancing as they focused on using auracoil.
Meanwhile, Tatsuya and Kyouya took on the left side as I picked up my runes and lifted Haruka up into a princess carry. She yelped, but I ignored it to cast [Unheilige Engel] to make a chair for her to sit in. Once that was done, I decided to spit up some lava. If I couldn’t heat up the ground, then I had to be resourceful.
“Bwwuuuuuuargh!”
Noticing this sound, Kyouya and Tatsuya dodged backwards and turned around, ducking under the steam of lava. Once again, it reminded me to finish the three custom spells I had been developing ever since I reunited with Master. When I couldn’t heat things up for lava or use [Magmakammer], I needed something to use [Volcanic Blaze] on!
Regardless, the stream of lava crashed against the dwarves’ shieldwall, so I continued releasing more of it until I was satisfied. Using [Volcanic Blaze], I controlled the lava and created something like a staircase with it.
[“Get on!”] I told everybody with [Telepathy] before clearing up my voice.
“In my purgatory, I make the devil cry ♫
In Hellfire ♫
All you hear are his screams, begging to be released ♫
It’s Music ♫”
[Music Resonation (Minoir)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
[Dragon Fire], but not for the flame meteor, but for the fire immunity to my attacks. I didn’t want a certain person to burn himself now. So, before we left, I picked up the unconscious body of the “boss” dwarf and threw him on the stairs, letting his face hit the burning lava. Good thing he couldn’t be burned.
In any case, once everybody was on, I manipulated the lava stream to begin moving us forward at a decent speed. Outside of the alleyway, our group quickly came to realize the huge crowd of tazics and inkos, the slightly smaller and stereotypical looking dwarf, forming around the alley entrance. It was then that I also fully realized what sorta city I was in.
Neon light illuminated more than just the ceiling, it also banished the darkness in this place, as everywhere I looked there was some color brightening up the place. Like the glaring lights of nightlife in Tokyo or Manhattan, this dark cavern felt more like I was outside in the sun right now. [The Light] wasn’t making me feel uncomfortable, in fact, I felt right at home.
Similar to Gleisvale’s dwarven district in Estralia, most of the architecture involved stone. However, instead of being uniform, most of the stone houses looked sleek and individualistic. The dwarves would add colors, those neon lights, or even jarring shop signs to attract your attention. The aesthetics was a far cry from all the cities I’ve visited up until now, to the point it almost went to the gaudy zone, for me. Certainly unique.
With so many people looking at the flying lava, it was clear we couldn’t stay here, as somebody would just report us to the guards again, so I used the lava stream to fly us slightly away before taking to the streets once again. As such, we dashed through the people, running as fast as we could while helping Kyouya keep pace with us as he carried Haruka.
It was simply fascinating, honestly—this city, I mean. The loud ruckus from the area we came from was just the prelude, as a few corners away the liveliness of this place was further accentuated. The streets weren’t super filled with dwarves, but there was either a tavern, a street stand for noodles, or some smithy in every corner we went to. All of them were filled to the brim with people working or drinking their Davi away.
The slurping of noodles, the cooking of rice, and the ear-ringing singing of drunk patrons; you couldn’t avoid them even if you wanted to. The only way you could find sleep in this underground version of Chinatown—or maybe Japantown—was if you either drank yourself into unconsciousness, or if you got a runesmith to install a silence rune in your bedroom.
Speaking of noise, just like in Estralia’s dwarven district, there were minecarts transporting people around like a metro through the railway system above all the houses. The sound of rails clunking and creaking would amuse any train fan. In this already cramped space, the dwarves managed to use their available space wisely, although it did make this place feel even more claustrophobic. I thought Tokyo and downtown Manhattan were bad, but this place made me feel so tiny. Insignificant.
The bright lights and the loud roars of this underground city were mesmerizing to me. We took a trip on the roof of this place to shake off some guards we nearly met. There, we saw just how big this “hold city” really was. And, boy, was it large enough to make me amazed. It wasn’t nearly close to the actual size of the big cities I’ve been to or even Shaturein, but the amount of apartments and people stuffed into this place made it feel super large. With all the people traveling with the minecarts, it probably solved the problem of overcrowded streets.
“Jeez, this place would be really amazing if we weren’t running around. Haruka-san, do you know where we are going?” Tatsuya asked for our only clue, outside of the dwarf.
“… Yes. We should be around the Beats’N’Rocks district,” Haruka answered meekly.
“‘Beats’N’Rocks?’” Kyouya looked at her funny.
“The Revolution Queen was a western rock fan. She has pretty much spread the culture around here. Uhm, it’s called the Quarry Beats music culture here, but the musicians just call it ‘Beats’N’Rocks.’” Just as Haruka told us that, the loss of tension also meant our beating hearts managed to calm down enough, relieving us of our tunnelvision. It was also then that we started hearing more than just the random noises of the streets below us.
We heard … roars and string instruments … in particular—
“Wait, is that an electric guitar?! Drums?” I blurted out, dashing over a few rooftops in pursuit of the sound, until I finally stopped.
I looked down, noticing streams of blinding neon lights like a disco rotating around at the entrance of a garage-like door, luring in dwarven men and women with weird orange and black mohawks and pompadours. Most of them wore black leather outfits, making them look like some Yakuzas or sleazy bikers, while the others had clothes with mismatched colors mixed with parts of metal and monster armor.
“Ahwrrrrrrrrooooooh! Wooooo!” One of the dwarves even slid right into the crowd, knocking people over as he howled like a lunatic while looking like a sunglass-wearing rocker boy in a miner’s outfit. However, despite his clearly rude behavior, none of the people he disturbed complained, in fact, they were cheering him on.
“YYEAAAAAAAAAH!” That sunglass taz then pulled out the two sheathed sticks from his back, revealing them to be axes as he danced like some tribal raindancer. This, similarly to before, hyped up the group even more as they copied that howling he did before.
The noise was outrageous. It was a real WTF moment I had never expected to experience in Peolynca.
“Let’s goooo! Down with the corpos! Down with them guilds! Rocks on, Beatles!”
‘Beatles?’ I noticed as the sunglass guy bellowed his message out.
“Wooo, down with the corporations, man! Down with the Hold King! Rocks on!”
“Punker Paradise, unite! Fuck them industry sellouts! Goddess Chihiro ain’t wantin’ this quarry waste!”
“Chihiro! Chihiro! Chihiro! Punker Paradise, unite! Rocks on, peeps!”
And now those dwarves were chanting Chihiro’s name before they all shouted “Punker Paradise” simultaneously. Once that was over, the bustling noises didn’t stop, but they began entering through that garage door. As the crowd slowly entered the place in a orderly manner, contrasting the wild nature of their chants, some of the Taz dwarves were spitting out fire breaths while Inkos were shooting out neon-colored confetti with some manatech, leaving no waste behind as it was made from mana.
“What the hell?”
[“Indeed. It sounds pretty asinine …”] Shay expressed his dislike for the loud sounds, covering up his ears once he caught up. Was it that unpleasant for him?
“… This really feels like some rocker scene, right?” Tatsuya talked to me after he and Kyouya arrived, probably only witnessing the latter part of the hype show.
“It does, right?”
Huh?
I snapped around as I heard that unfamiliar voice, only to see an Inko dwarf walking forward as he held onto a metal guitar with an axe head on the body. He reached up to my waist and, unlike the wild crowd below, this guy seemed more normal.
As in, he was wearing a black tank top which revealed his trained muscles while his pants were just a set of metal greaves. He wore a small cap on top of his slick blond locks, greased up to hell with fat or some kind of oil. His long beard, which reached down to his chest, was decorated not only with that rock hair dwarves had but also with rings, strings, and some braids here and there. Two glowing tattoos covered his respective shoulders, telling me they were runic tattoos.
All in all, he was pretty bulky like most dwarves, but he didn’t have a belly like Grimnir did, caused by all his drinking. Then again, the fact he was an Inko dwarf made him look incredibly different from Grimnir. Especially the fact he seemed far more confident and charismatic.
“Heya, I guess from those red clothes and that shrine maiden robe, ya that explosive lass of a princess, ey?” he asked as he strung the strings of his guitar, causing it to light up blue as it reproduced closed-to electric guitar sounds.
“… And who are you?” I kept my distance from this guy.
“Ha, cold shoulder from a fire dragon! Ya pal Grimnir didn’t describe you like that!” The moment I heard Grimnir’s name, I reacted, causing the dwarf before me to smirk and perform a guitar solo. “Wraaahaaaaahaa!”
I took a step back as he screamed from the top of his voice, reaching some notes most men shouldn’t be able to reach. It was falsetto, a term to describe people singing higher than their normal vocal range. And this dwarf did just that without cracking, sounding almost like a woman for a moment.
“Names Rosserto. I’m the band lead of the punk rock band ‘Punker Paradise.’ Follower of Chihiro, and ONLY the Revolution Queen!” he stated as he ended his solo. “Also, a friend of Broggi, Grimnir’s cousin.. I’ve been sheltering two of the kids from ya group, and the ol’ twat told me to wait for ya to come. Wraaaaahaaaaaaha!”