Unas hesitated, not immediately agreeing.
From Rendaen's perspective, the child was doomed to die. Unas was powerless to stop him and did not want to. But Moira's life had to be saved. Everyone knew that the Dwarf Princess was his prisoner. If she died at his hands, he would never be able to have anything to do with Ironforge again.
"I can hand her over to you, but I hope you will return her to me unharmed 'afterwards'." Judging from the degree of swelling in Moira's lower abdomen, the pregnancy is not long, and it should be easy to abort the child.
"Are you really going to let her go back?" Rendaen put down his glass in displeasure. "Think it through, young man. She must be filled with hatred for both of us. It's best to get rid of her as soon as possible."
One must kill, the other must release—this is a real dilemma. Releasing a tiger back into the mountains is always a hidden danger, but Unas doesn't want to antagonize the Bronzebeard Clan. So, he decides to take a middle ground. "How about we put her under house arrest? She might be useful in the future; we can use her as leverage in negotiations with Ironforge."
The Dwarf lord thought for a moment and said, "That's a good idea, but she must be under my care. Don't worry, I'll compensate you."
"I have something I'd like to ask of you, Lord..." Unas seized the opportunity to reveal his plan to attack the Spiders, then made an outrageous demand, "I'd like to borrow a few thousand elite soldiers from you, I wonder if that's possible..."
"No problem," Rendaen surprisingly agreed very readily. "There's no fighting here for the time being, and the soldiers are just sitting around doing nothing anyway, so this is a good opportunity to keep them in combat readiness. I'll select some elite soldiers to report to you later."
That's a very unprofessional statement. The saying goes, "It takes a thousand days to train an army for one day to use it." The soldiers' rest and training on weekdays are all part of "training the army," so there's no concept of them being idle.
The Dwarf lord agreed so readily because he wanted to weaken some of the surrendered troops.
Among the surrendered city garrison, there might still be some loyalists to Thaurissan. Keeping them around is not a safe bet. Using the pretext of reinforcing Unas to purge them is a good way to avoid giving anyone grounds for criticism.
Unas found it strange, but he was too lazy to guess Rendaen's true thoughts. As long as he was willing to lend him a man, he was fine with it. He quickly bowed and thanked him, "Thank you for your help, Lord."
"Haha, Knight Unas helped me ascend the throne, I won't treat you unfairly, this little thing is nothing!" Rendaen raised his wine and toasted Unas.
"There's one more thing," Unas hesitated, wondering if he'd asked for too much, "The puppets."
Rendaen seemed a little unhappy when this was mentioned. "What's wrong with the puppet?"
"With puppet designers around, has Your Excellency considered resuming the production of Iron Golem?"
"We're considering it. The Thorium Brotherhood very interested in taking over Thaurissan's secret puppet factory, but the puppets' weaknesses were exposed in the battle of the Council Hall. Even if we were to continue production, they would have to be redesigned," Rendaen paused. "Moreover, the puppets are too expensive. It's said that each one costs an average of 80,000 Gold Coins. Thaurissan has squandered the entire treasury. I haven't obtained the vast royal wealth that outsiders speculate."
Eighty thousand gold coins—far more than he had imagined. Unas was shocked by the price; his two million in cash was only enough to manufacture twenty-five units.
No wonder the Dwarf lord refused to relinquish ownership of the puppets, and the Dwarf officers were so hostile towards him. He obtained seventy-eight puppets, equivalent to more than six million gold, which would be a huge fortune anywhere.
"If only we could design a simple and inexpensive puppet, one that doesn't need to be as strong and sturdy as Iron Golem, but just stable, obedient, and mass-producible quickly, it would definitely be better than those flashy but impractical puppets of Thaurissan."
Rendaen nodded. "That makes a lot of sense. The simpler things are, the more practical they are. I'll consider your suggestion."
"You should know what Lordaeron is going through. Puppets are a powerful weapon against the Undead. If we can design high-quality, low-cost puppets in the future, I would like to ask the generous lord for the right to purchase them," Unas said, seizing the opportunity to make his request.
Rendaen laughed, "So it's just a small matter. If the Thorium Brotherhood can really develop a new type of puppet, you will naturally have the right to purchase it."
"Thank you, my lord!" Unas raised his cup to toast the Dwarf lord, "A toast to the new Dark Iron Kingdom!"
The three days of revelry and debauchery finally came to an end. During these three days, Dwarf armies that were originally stationed in the Searing Gorge kept coming to surrender. In the end, most of the Searing Gorge territory was automatically brought under the control of Rendaen. A small number of those who refused to surrender set up their own mountain strongholds, but they were not able to launch a counterattack.
The Dark Horde on Blackrock Spire had suffered many deaths from the previous drownings, and before they had figured out the Water Elementals ' tactics, they dared not launch an attack rashly. They even sent messengers to congratulate Rendaen on his victory, clearly indicating their willingness to negotiate.
With no war to worry about, the new king's coronation was set for today. Rendaen was in a hurry to establish his title, so there was no time to prepare a grand ceremony or celebration. Instead, a small Coronation Ceremony was held in the Council Hall.
Important figures were invited to attend the ceremony, and Unas was among them. In addition to him, an outsider, there was also an Orcs envoy and Water Elemental duke. Everyone arrived at the hall early in the morning and waited quietly for the arrival of the new king.
With a cannon shot, the band began playing a solemn and majestic melody, Rendaen rode his fiery dragon mount triumphantly through the hall entrance.
His attire remained largely unchanged in the rush, except that his armor was polished to a gleaming shine, and a wide, ornate black cloak draped over his back, making him appear noble and imposing.
He did not dismount, but instead rode the fiery dragon slowly toward the throne. The people in the hall had to make way for him as he swaggered to the throne.
"Great citizens of the Dark Iron, and distinguished guests, I, Rendaen-Mosmar, welcome you all..."
Like a newly appointed leader giving an inaugural address, Rendaen began by making some formalities, but his was not an inaugural speech; it was more like a swearing-in ceremony, a vow to protect the people of the Dark Iron, and so on.
These were all platitudes that had to be said, Unas was already tired of hearing and automatically filtered out. Fortunately, the new king didn't launch into a long speech and quickly finished his.
After a round of enthusiastic applause and cheers, Rendaen nimbly dismounted from his mount and walked step by step onto the throne.
Beside the throne stood a strong Dwarf Warrior, carefully holding an open wooden box inside, where the Dark Iron King's crown lay quietly.
No one was qualified to crown Rendaen, so he took out a crown studded with black diamonds from the wooden box and put it on his own head without hesitation.
Then he turned to face the crowd in the hall, at which point someone shouted, "Rendaen-Mosmar, the Dark Iron King!"
An aura of dominance swept over them, and all the Dwarves shouted in unison, "Dark Iron King Rendaen-Mosmar of the Dark Iron!"