Kalanda led Luo Ling and Xiao Chen through half of the market and came to a tavern on the edge of the market. The tavern was quite large, but a bit shabby. It was a wooden house with a big tree behind it. Half of the yard was open to the sky, under the shade of the tree. There were some tables and chairs in the yard. A middle-aged man who looked like a shop owner was lazily lying on the counter in the back room. It was daytime now, and there were not many people sitting in the tavern. Most of them looked like merchants and mercenaries from far away.
Karanda found a table under the shade of a tree and asked them to sit down. The table and chairs were greasy and stained. If you got a little closer, you could smell the greasy smell. Xiao Chen sat down without thinking, but Luo Ling felt very uncomfortable.
Kalanda smiled and said, "It seems that you are really not ordinary people. This is already the cleanest tavern in the city, but it still doesn't catch the lady's eye."
Hearing what the other party said, Luo Ling calmed down. She put her hands on the table and said with a smile, "You'll get used to it. Miss Kalanda wasn't born to be a mercenary, was she?"
Kalanda was silent for a while and said, "Some people like to live on the edge of a knife, while some people don't like it but have to do it. Who knows?"
She walked to the bar and slammed the table with a "bang", shocking the dozing boss to jump up. Karanda shouted, "Lazy Robin, didn't you see the guests coming? Bring me three servings of the best ale, and some white bread and bacon."
“God of Nature, Kalanda, why are you here again? I won’t sell wine to you. Last time you got drunk and almost demolished my shop. Look, the tables and chairs you smashed are still piled in the corner.” The shop owner looked like he had a headache, as if he saw a mad bull rushing into his shop.
"It was an accident. You don't know... You don't know that Bastian died that day, and Edo also died, killed by those horse thieves who should all be hanged..." Kalanda exhaled heavily, took out a gold coin and threw it to Robin who was walking over. "I was drunk that day. This is for you. It should be enough to compensate for those tables and chairs."
The boss Robin looked at Karanda, shook his head and said, "It's the money for the wine you deposited here."
Kalanda found that the surroundings were suddenly very quiet. The merchants and mercenaries empathized with Kalanda's experience and stopped talking. Who among these people who traveled outside had not experienced the sadness of losing a companion? Memories suddenly flooded everyone's mind, and a sad atmosphere enveloped the shop. Kalanda saw that some mercenaries had already wiped their eyes. She involuntarily took out a wine bag from her waist and said loudly: "I'll buy everyone a drink! Cheers to our brothers who left first. Maybe they just left one step ahead. May they return to the embrace of the God of Nature."
The guests around raised their glasses and responded: "May the god of nature guide their souls."
Karanda drank the wine in the wine bag in one gulp, threw the wine bag to Robin and said, "Okay, fill it up for me. Let's not talk about the past. There are new friends coming today, so you have to take out the best things."
Xiao Chen and Luo Ling watched this scene with emotion. They had never thought that they would encounter such a scene in the tavern. Mercenary sounds like an exciting and passionate profession. Karanda also seemed very cheerful before, but in this tavern, because of the words of the hotel owner, everyone was reminded of such memories.
The food in the tavern was a bit rough, but the portions were huge. The beer cup was as big as half a thermos, and the bread was as big as half a person's head.
Holding the wine glass, Kalanda said to Luo Ling: "This is what mercenaries are like. Everyone is an alcoholic. Otherwise, they can't survive the days of living today and dying tomorrow. They will die on the road and be buried here by their companions after a few drunken meals." She hit her chest with her fist, and her breastplate made a clanging sound. "Tell me, beautiful female mage. What can make you condescend to drink with someone like me?"
"I understand you much more than you think." Luo Ling rolled up her sleeves, picked up a large cup of beer in front of her, bumped it against Karanda's cup, then tilted her head back to take a big sip, and slammed the cup heavily on the table. The beer here is a bit like beer, but the taste is strong and heavy, with bitterness in the aroma of malt, and it goes all the way to the heart along the tongue. Luo Ling's cheeks flushed a little: "This is a homeless person toasting to a wandering person."
Kalanda also took a sip and said, "It seems you have a lot of stories too."
"Everything in the world is nothing more than joy and sorrow," Luo Ling said. "I will experience what I have to experience. This is my life. If I think about it, I may feel better."
Xiao Chen looked at Luo Ling, and when he said these words, he seemed to feel the real sadness in her heart. This was the first time that he felt that Luo Ling's heart seemed to be touchable and visible. But at this time, he did not say a word to comfort her, perhaps, it was because he could not comfort himself. It seemed that only by being busy all the time could he temporarily forget the past.
"Sorrow, joy, separation, and reunion." Kalanda chewed on these words slowly, and finally exhaled: "When I was a little girl, I might be moved to tears by these words. But now, this kind of emotion is too luxurious. All I have to do is lead my team to survive. Some people have died, and some are about to die, maybe others, maybe me. But the rest will continue. This is our life. If you don't learn to be numb, you can't survive."
Xiao Chen wanted to find out about the old dwarf, but he found that he couldn't speak, so he just drank wine. The three of them drank for a while and talked about some mercenary experiences and interesting things. The atmosphere gradually became better. Xiao Chen found that Kalanda was essentially a relatively optimistic person, and she was very vivid and infectious when telling stories. What's more interesting is that when she narrated things, she used exquisite words and smooth sentences, which is definitely not something that ordinary mercenaries can do. This woman must have a simple background, no wonder she can lead a team of mercenaries.
After three rounds of drinks, Kalanda took the initiative to speak: "I have met some magicians before, but few are like you. Let me be frank. I think... you came to me to inquire about Father Farrell, right?"
Xiao Chen did not hide it and admitted: "Indeed, we value his ability very much and sincerely hope to cooperate with him."
Luo Ling said, "Actually, after talking to you for so long, our original purpose is not that important anymore."
Kalanda raised his glass to Luo Ling and said, "Father Farrell really should have a suitable partner. He is not living a happy life in this city full of humans. Not only do some big merchants and city owners bully him, but some petty thieves also often target him. I also used your weapons, which are definitely extraordinary. But I don't know if you are really capable of protecting your own technology and protecting him."
"Won't the title of magician stop these people?"
"If there is no great benefit, no one would want to offend a magician. But if your weapons are combined with Farrell's weapons, it's hard to say. Maybe the bigwigs of the kingdom will also take a fancy to these things. In the years I have been a mercenary, I have seen too many cases of robbery."
Xiao Chen and Luo Ling looked at each other and realized that they were too reckless to take out their weapons casually. However, because of this, they needed to bring Farrell in to prevent these things from being leaked.
Xiao Chen thought for a moment and said, "We have our own castle and warriors, and I have a good relationship with the city's guardian mage, Master Ikasa."
"Master Ikasa?" Kalanda nodded and said, "He is indeed a remarkable man, and should be able to add some weight to your situation. However, Father Farrell is an exiled dwarf, and he has had a rough life. It is not easy for him to trust others."
"Exiled?"
"I've vaguely heard about it," Kalanda said. "Dwarves have a long lifespan, most of them live for more than 500 years. Farrell is less than 150 years old. Although I call him Dad, he can be considered a young man among dwarves."
Xiao Chen and Luo Ling were both a little surprised. They had never thought that there was such a long-lived race.
"Although dwarves have few children and grow slowly, their long lifespan means that each family has many ancestors. Therefore, tradition is what dwarves value most."
"The old-fashioned person he mentioned is someone from his family, right?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Yes, Farrell has always been a genius in forging. He has many strange, dangerous but innovative ideas. This made some of the elders in his family very dissatisfied, and they thought he was not doing his job properly and blaspheming tradition."
"Did he get kicked out just because he had some new ideas?"
Kalandar took a sip of beer and said, "That's not the case. The family members are not so ruthless. But their patience is limited. One time, he insisted on doing an experiment and blew up half of the family forge... Then he, his wife, and several young children were exiled."
The name "Nobel" suddenly appeared in Xiao Chen's mind. It seems that this dwarf is really a rare talent.
"After leaving the Dwarf Kingdom, he wandered to many places with his wife and children. At first, he believed in a certain lord, but soon he found that he was just a tool kept in captivity. He could only forge weapons all day long and lost his basic freedom. He tried to escape. But his later situation was not much better than before. Every employer or master only wanted him to use his powerful forging skills to continue to produce. So, he sought refuge again and again, and left again and again. His wife died on the way to cover his escape, and his youngest son's whereabouts were unknown. In the end, he and his remaining three sons settled in this city. There are many itinerant vendors here, and there are more opportunities. He used the money he saved in the previous years to open his own shop."
Xiao Chen could imagine how a dwarf with no relatives but excellent forging skills would be a popular choice in a human world full of feudal lords. No wonder the dwarf turned hostile when he saw that he wanted to recruit him.
"Doesn't he hate the dwarves who drove him away?" Luo Ling suddenly asked.
"Of course I hate him. Once when he was drunk, he yelled to me that he would lead an armed team back to his hometown to teach those old antiques a lesson." Kalanda laughed, "But in the end we all cried with laughter. Everyone knows that this is just a joke!"
"Maybe... not necessarily?" Luo Ling glanced at Xiao Chen, who smiled knowingly.