"Xu Yi, in fact, even if you don't have to compensate as much as five hundred gold coins, the clan leader can only agree to your conditions in the end." On the carriage on the way back, Master Lanu suddenly sighed and said to Xu Yi.
"Oh? How did you say this?" Xu Yi asked.
"Don't you see? The living conditions in the tribe are already quite difficult." Master Ranu smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Actually, I have suggested to the clan leader a long time ago that more of the clansmen should come to your human world. With the forging skills of our dwarves, it is very likely that the lives of the clansmen will be greatly improved."
"This suggestion is very good. Why didn't Chief Shluka agree?" Xu Yi asked curiously.
Master Lanu glanced at Xu Yi, hesitated for a moment, and replied: "Because we dwarves have been deceived by you humans too many times before, and the patriarch does not trust humans at all."
This time it was Xu Yi who smiled bitterly.
"Then why did the patriarch agree this time? Isn't he afraid that I am also lying to him?"
"Because there is no other way." Master Ranu said helplessly. "The continent of Sainz is now completely ruled by you humans. Almost all the resource-rich places are occupied by humans. Whether it is us dwarves, elves, or even the sturdy orcs, they can only stay away from you humans. Far away, find a place to live that has not yet been occupied by you humans. However, the resources in these places are not rich to begin with, and we are not as creative as you humans, so the living conditions of our people are getting worse and worse. , the number of people is getting smaller and smaller. Xu Yi, do you know? When I was young, our tribe could have more than a thousand dwarves, but now there are only more than 500."
"When you were a child?" Xu Yi looked at Ranu and thought that the lifespan of the dwarves is much longer than that of humans. The childhood that Master Ranu mentioned was probably hundreds of years ago.
Master Lanu paid no attention to what Xu Yi was thinking and continued: "Just last year, three more old people in the tribe died, but not even a baby was born. As a result, the entire tribe lost three more people. The tribe leader knew that again If this continues, our entire tribe may gradually disappear. But there is no way, we dwarves are simply unable to fight against humans on the continent of Sainz. We have long been unable to wage war with humans to regain the resources on the continent as we did thousands of years ago. . But it’s not easy to integrate into the human race. I’m afraid you don’t know how much I suffered in order to survive in Bangta City, and I even almost lost my life.”
Xu Yi looked at Master Ranu silently and nodded lightly.
Although I don't know what happened specifically, I can tell just by imagining how hard it will take for a foreign race like Master Lanu to fully integrate into the human city and survive smoothly.
"This time, the patriarch is actually not prepared to agree to you directly taking away so many prime-age laborers from the clan, but there is no way. The conditions you proposed are too generous. If nothing else, you just take out five hundred Gold coins can help the tribe solve many problems that must be solved. What's more, you also promised to pay the hired tribesmen a monthly reward of up to eight gold coins. There is no need to worry about your life. Tell me, how can the patriarch refuse such conditions?"
Xu Yi pondered for a moment and couldn't help but ask: "Has the life of the dwarves really reached such a difficult stage? Why should the patriarch believe in me? Isn't he afraid that I am also lying to him?"
"Don't you understand yet? Even if you are lying to him, the five hundred gold coins you took out are genuine." Master Ranu rolled his eyes. "Besides, you are the one I brought after all. Although I have not been in contact with you for a long time, I have lived among humans for so long, and I can see that you are not that kind of fake person. Liar, at least you are serious about what you said, so I think it’s worth trusting you.”
Xu Yi touched his head in embarrassment and said with a smile: "So I am such a trustworthy person."
Master Ranu glanced at Xu Yi angrily: "You kid, don't be too happy too soon. It depends on how you treat my people when the time comes. I tell you, if you lie to them then , I will give you a good look even if I risk my life!"
Xu Yi waved his hands repeatedly: "How could that be possible? Master Ranu, you and your tribe are my treasures. It's too late for me to take good care of you, so how could I lie to you. Let me tell you the truth, Ranu Master, the work you and your tribe are about to carry out will become the most important work that will change the entire continent of Sainz. In the future, you dwarves are likely to write a strong chapter in the history of the entire continent of Sainz. Pen. By then, you will be experts that the entire continent needs to respect. Do you still need to worry about the most basic issues of life? "
Master Ranu's eyes widened: "You kid, don't say nice things! I don't care about anything that changes the entire continent and is written into history. What I care about most now is the house you promised to build for my people. Where?"
Xu Yi laughed, thinking that it would be unrealistic for Master Ranu to believe this now.
But he can be sure that as long as everything goes smoothly, Master Lanu and his people will become the most important driving force in changing the history of Sainz Continent.
###
When he returned to Bangta City after three days of absence, it was already the time when the night lights were on. Entering the city, Master Lanu confessed a few words to Xu Yi, jumped off the carriage and left.
Xu Yi asked the coachman to take him back to his rented house. As soon as he jumped out of the carriage, he found a shadowy figure sitting in front of his door. Judging from his figure, he looked familiar.
Taking a closer look, Xu Yi couldn't help but be stunned.
"Steele? Why are you sitting in front of my house so late?"
Steele was hugging his legs and burying his head between his legs. After hearing Xu Yi's voice, he slowly raised his head.
After seeing her face clearly, Xu Yi was startled.
Under the reflection of the light, Steele's face was very pale, and his face was much thinner. His face had completely lost the youthful beauty before, his big eyes and almost no figure, and he seemed to have collapsed.
"Hey, Steele, what happened?" Xu Yi knelt down worriedly, looked directly into Steele's eyes, and asked in a deep voice.
Steele opened his mouth, but not a word came out. After a while, he slowly shook his head.
Xu Yi frowned and didn't care so much. He helped Steele up, opened the door and entered the house.
As soon as he entered the house, the lights immediately came on in Vivian's bedroom, and then Vivian's timid voice sounded.
"It's...who is it?"
"It's me! You go on sleeping, there's no need to get up." Xu Yi responded, helped Steele sit down on the stool, turned around and poured her a glass of boiling water, then sat opposite her, paused, and asked softly : "Steele, tell me, what happened? Were you... bullied by... someone?"
Steele suddenly showed a wry smile, glanced at Xu Yi, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.
Because I drank so quickly, I choked and coughed violently.
Xu Yi frowned deeply.
Although he didn't know much about girls, judging from Steele's current performance, she must have been hit hard, otherwise she would never have become such a lively and playful young girl easily. so.
"Steele, is it... that the gift was not sent out?" Xu Yi asked guessingly.
The last time I saw Steele was when Steele came to him at night and said he wanted to thank him, but then Xu Yi got angry and ran away with "You are still a child."
However, in the previous conversation, Steele once said that the piano model she asked Xu Yi to help make has been completed, and the birthday of the person she likes is coming, and she will go there in the next period of time. He went to Anvilmar City, the royal capital of the Lampali Kingdom, and personally gave the gift to that person.
Now that a few days have passed, Steele has come back looking so lost, then it is very likely that the problem lies in this.
Hearing Xu Yi's question, Steele put down his teacup, looked at Xu Yi blankly for a while, and suddenly asked: "Xu Yi, tell me, am I a child?"
Xu Yi was stunned. Did Steele still mind what he said last time
But she doesn't look like her.
Xu Yi thought about it seriously, but didn't know how to answer.
Now Steele's mental state is obviously not very stable. If he answers wrongly, it may have unpredictable consequences.
"It... depends on which aspect you look at. From my point of view, you... "
"Okay, needless to say, you're right, I'm just a kid! And a surprisingly stupid kid!" Steele suddenly raised his voice and said loudly.
"Why do you say that?" Xu Yi asked with a frown.
"If I wasn't a naive kid who didn't understand anything, how could I have fallen in love with that kind of scum!" Steele suddenly cursed viciously.