Gaia's Helpless Sigh

"Payday! Payday!"

On the layer of earth closest to the surface of the Brass Fortress, the shout of Throne Hall guards rang out across the great camp, where the army had just fought a bloody battle. The Brass Dwarf soldiers, who had been resting with their weapons propped beside them, immediately got to their feet.

They stood on a battlefield littered with the charred corpses of kobolds. Turning away from the revolting stench, they saw a four-wheeled cart piled with chests being pushed toward them.

The Supreme Lord's guards, clad in glittering golden armor and carrying halberds and firearms, escorted the cart. It rattled over the uneven, bomb-cratered ground, clinking and clanking with every bump.

The sound was as beautiful as coins clinking together, filling every exhausted Brass Dwarf with a joy that rose from the depths of their hearts.

Because the cart was carrying the riches they longed for.

"Thud."

At the entrance to the camp's bunker, which the Dwarves and Gnolls had fought over again and again just an hour earlier, chest after chest was unloaded and dropped onto the ground.

The royal accountant, ledger in hand and wearing a luxurious monocle, bent down to unlock a chest. As the gathered warriors watched, he lifted its lid. A moment later, golden light reflected in the soldiers' eyes.

The chest was piled high with Dwarf gold coins, along with several gemstones that were clearly worth a fortune.

The stones' marvelous, uncut shapes intoxicated every Dwarf warrior.

A gemstone like that could buy a great many things in the Brass Fortress: a shop in the trade district, luxurious yet practical weapons, or a share in a highly profitable mining company that would bring a steady stream of dividends. Or, if you wanted something more immediate—

You could buy enough fine