After some conversation, both parties gained some understanding of each other.
Rody explained his and Jill's purpose of visit, though not holding much hope.
The dwarf chief, Horned Helmet, sighed, "So you were referred here by the wise tree herder Toka. Unfortunately, I cannot offer you any help. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"I know it's unreasonable to ask to borrow a magical airship, but if possible, I would like the chief to point us towards a way back to Felik or a human-inhabited town," Rody said. He knew it would be extremely difficult to borrow a unique treasure of the dwarves and never expected to ride a magical airship back safely. If they could find a safe city and send a magical message to the beautiful teacher and Dean Buck through the Thieves Guild, he believed they could arrange for Jill's return.
"If it's difficult for you, providing a map will suffice," Jill also softly requested.
"Noble guests, it's not that I don't want to lend you our magical airship, but the tribe's only airship was stolen by the jackal-men a hundred years ago, before I was born. Our magical airship was gone. The greatest dwarf sage left behind a magic notebook, recording his miraculous life and all his secrets, but fifteen years ago, on a night, the Lord of Flames from the demon race suddenly came and looted everything in our dwarf territory," Horned Helmet shook his head. "Back then, we had over three thousand dwarves, and most were killed by the Lord of Flames. Any dwarf with a bit of knowledge was murdered. Now, we have less than five hundred left, and our magic is limited to what we're born with."
"The Lord of Flames?" Rody frowned, then asked, "Where is the territory of the jackal-men?"
"Oh heavens, a reckless and ignorant knight, young man, let me tell you what terror is," the red-hatted dwarf couldn't hold back any longer, shouting loudly, "Jackal-men are fearsome beastmen, devouring everything that moves on earth, not even sparing dragon flesh. They are natural marauders, leaving only ruins in their wake. How could such cruel locusts have a fixed territory? Even if they did, if you go alone, it's no different from delivering dinner to the jackal-men!"
"I've never seen a creature as talkative as you!" Rody, annoyed, grabbed the red-hatted dwarf and threw it out the window.
"Good throw, my heart is finally at ease!" the dwarf guard applauded upon seeing this.
"Jackal-men can't settle in human-populated areas; they have no territory there, but in this Land of Evil, they have dozens of territories of varying sizes, mostly living underground," Horned Helmet said somberly. "Twenty kilometers from us, there is a territory of jackal-men, roughly the same number as us but with astonishing combat prowess. We dwarves can't fight them and must pay a hefty tribute annually for our survival."
"Five hundred jackal-men?" Rody pondered for a moment, then nodded, asking, "Chief, I want to visit this jackal-men territory. Can you draw me a map?"
"It's too dangerous, and it might not even be these jackal-men who stole the magical airship," Horned Helmet quickly dissuaded.
"I know, even if it was these jackal-men, after a hundred years, they would have sold it to the demon race or traded it with a powerful race. Why would the Lord of Flames come to your small dwarf territory to massacre? It must be because of this," Rody smiled slightly, "I'm not going to slaughter those jackal-men, but to observe and understand the lifestyle and combat methods of the beastmen."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"I'm coming too," Jill immediately stood up upon hearing Rody's decision, fearing being left behind.
"No, you stay," Rody waved his hand. "I can move more stealthily and conveniently alone. You have been a great help, but you are already tired from the journey. Rest here; I will be back soon."
"I want to go," Jill insisted firmly, usually easy-going but unyielding once she made up her mind.
Left with no choice, Rody agreed to let her rest for the night and took her to the jackal-men's den the next day. The red-hatted dwarf stood at a distance, mocked by many dwarves, but the coward, no matter what others said, refused to lead the way for Rody, despite its previous boasting.
Many dwarves volunteered to guide Rody, but he declined each offer.
Finally, he summoned the man-eating vine that the tree herder elder Toka had revived and unlocked its potential. He wrapped the vine around the red-hatted dwarf's feet, dragging it along the ground as they bid farewell to Chief Horned Helmet and the other dwarves.
"Let me go, I don't want to die. Going to the jackal-men's den is a fool's errand!" the red-hatted dwarf struggled and shouted, "This is murder! Knight Rody, I have no grudge against you, you can't do this. Ah, I remember, I have treasures, my sage grandfather left me mountains of treasure. Do you want it? Mighty Knight Rody, are you really going to refuse my redemption offering protected by the will of the gods? Listen, I, as a dwarf noble, offer you a number as ransom for my release!"
"Hang it up and beat it!" Rody saw a slightly taller tree by the road and commanded the vine to hang the red-hatted dwarf upside down.
The vine, previously without sentience and controlled by Rody's mind, seemed to have become lively after Elder Toka's potential awakening. When Rody commanded it to whip the red-hatted dwarf, it even grew spikes on the vine, whipping the dwarf until it wailed miserably.
Not just the vine, but Rody's bone pet, a fusion of the dark man-eating vine and a rabbit, also seemed revitalized.
However, Rody couldn't sense any thoughts in it, feeling it was more like a rabbit now, without any trace of the undead. If it had regained its initiative, the contract should have been dissolved, or at least not as solid as before.
Rody didn't understand why, but he trusted Elder Toka, believing it must be for the best.
Elder Toka, like those old men in the ruins of the divine realm, silently did something significant for him, but wouldn't say what exactly it was, forcing him to painstakingly figure it out himself.
"I'll pay 500 gold coins, just let me go!" the red-hatted dwarf couldn't take it anymore and shrieked, but Rody was like listening to beautiful music.
"If you keep yelling, you'll attract the jackal-men. Be louder! I want to see how jackal-men eat dwarves!" As soon as Rody said this, the red-hatted dwarf immediately shut up, not uttering another word, making Jill secretly chuckle.
Seven or eight kilometers from the jackal-men's den, they saw patrols of jackal-men moving through the jungle, emitting strange howls.
Rody had seen images of the jackal-men but found some discrepancies compared to the real ones. In the temple's texts, these beastmen shared common traits of ugliness and evilness. The jackal-men, as lower-level beastmen, were depicted as sleazy, large wolf-dogs, with long tongues, bared teeth, and claws, resembling primitive wild beasts.
However, Rody discovered that these jackal-men walked fully upright, not hunched over, nor did they have blood-red long tongues. What surprised Rody was that these jackal-men were wearing leather armor and wielding various weapons, evidently not just monsters living for blood and rotten flesh as described in the temple's texts, but a race with a simple civilization.
These jackal-men had their own language and moved in formations, with the squad leader in front, archers at the back, two shield-bearing soldiers on the sides, and a brawny soldier with a spiked club in the middle. It seemed unintentional, but Rody realized this was a combat awareness formed from living on the edge of life and death.
The jackal-men, living in the Land of Evil, seemed very accustomed to battle and were vigilant against enemies.
"Jill, I'll sneak across to the other side and signal you. When I indicate to attack, use a fireball to ambush the last jackal-man archer," Rody whispered. "I'll use a bow to kill the brawny soldier, then sneak attack the two shield-bearers. When the squad leader charges at me, use an ice ball to attack its back."
"Knight Rody, your method lacks honor; ambushes are not a knight's conduct," the red-hatted dwarf asserted righteously.
"If you say one more word, I'll knock out all your teeth, ensuring knightly honor," Rody smiled warmly at the red-hatted dwarf. "Go on, I'm listening."
"..." The red-hatted dwarf clamped its mouth shut, fearing it couldn’t help but speak.
After Rody stealthily followed the jackal-men squad for a while, the red-hatted dwarf dared to speak, wiping sweat from its brow, and said to Jill, "Beautiful princess, honestly, your knight is not that great! How could you want such a violent person as your guardian knight? Compared to him, those raw meat-eating, blood-thirsty barbarians are practically polite gentlemen!"
"I think he's quite good," Jill covered her mouth, giggling. Her eyes, wide open, were fixed on Rody, her heart completely devoted to him.