The Lost People

With Guna leading the way, we quickly found a shortcut up the mountain, encountering many dwarfs along the way. 💔🐉 💔🍓

Frosthold is like an ancient castle, even more magnificent Ashe's palace, and its size is about the same as Tam's Colosseum.

I never expected to see such a building after venturing so far into the far north. I wonder who built the fortress.

Seeing the scale of the fortress, I suddenly regretted meddling in this mess. If there were many powerful individuals inside, Riven and I alone probably wouldn't be enough.

But since we're already here, we might as well bite the bullet and go in to take a look. It doesn't necessarily have to lead to conflict; if things get really bad, we can just run away.

After entering the fortress, I felt much more at ease, because these people who claimed to be gods were no different from ordinary people. Judging from their behavior, they couldn't even be called warriors; they just knew how to use some simple magic.

For example, controlling things remotely or starting a fire without tools is indeed a kind of "Divine Strength" for these dwarves.

There were many dwarves in the fortress, and they did all sorts of odd jobs, the vast majority of whom went out to find food and bring it back.

The people here were initially surprised to see us, but then warmly welcomed us. Because of what happened at the Watchpost of the Dead, I remained wary and did not eat any of the food here.

They didn't blame us; they just explained the local customs and traditions to us.

They were originally inhabitants of the far north, but they used to live in a fortress in the east. Later, when food became scarce there, they gradually migrated here and discovered this group of dwarves.

Because they have lived in the north for generations, their body temperature is very low, which allows them to adapt to the environment.

They did not call themselves gods, but rather "the Lost People," meaning those forgotten by the world. However, the Lost People sounded similar to the gods in the dwarf language, which is why the dwarfs misunderstood them.

They never threatened the dwarves to go out in search of food; Frosthold had plenty of livestock, so there was no need for them to go hunting.

As for the claim that they oppressed and beat them, that's completely unfounded. On the contrary, they even provided protection for these dwarves.

When they first moved here from the east, the dwarves were divided into several factions and did not get along. Later, a group of dwarves encountered a wild beast, and they helped drive it away. So the dwarves joined them.

They provided protection for the dwarves, and in return, the dwarves undertook most of the labor here.

Over time, all the dwarves in the vicinity came to Frosthold and became its labor force.

The man who told us this story was named Morman, the chieftain of the Lost People. He spoke very sincerely and didn't seem to be lying. I called Guna over to confront him, and the two sides ended up with conflicting accounts.

People tend to sympathize more with the weak, but I didn't believe Guna.

If they were truly terrified of Morman and his group, why are they showing no signs of backing down in this argument?

Morman was surprised by Guna's attitude; he didn't know why these usually timid dwarves had suddenly become so assertive.

I don't know what to do now. They're all trying to reason with me, and at this moment, I feel like an official judging a case.

Finally, Morman got angry. He summoned all the Lost People of Frosthold, about thirty of them, and they decided to drive out the dwarves.

Everyone returned to their former lives. From now on, the Lost People will no longer protect the Dwarves, and the Dwarves will no longer need to help with chores.

This is a good choice. To paraphrase Morman: You say I'm bullying you, now I'm giving you your freedom.

When the dwarves brought out their Queen, I felt a wave of nausea. What kind of monster was she?

It was about the size of a wild boar, with a dark brown body and a messy head; I couldn't even make out its facial features.

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Instinctively, I assumed this was a misdeed committed by the Lost People using magic, and was about to question them when I discovered they were questioning the dwarves:

"Who did this? Why did Stori become like this?"

"Our Queen has nothing to do with you. You just granted us our freedom in front of these two foreign dignitaries."

Just then, the monster named Stori opened her "mouth," which I thought was her face, but unexpectedly she spat out two dwarves from that part, and they were immediately carried away by the other dwarves.

Is their Queen merely a breeding tool? Like a termite? Can she still be called human?

Morman was also somewhat annoyed. "Fine, then you can leave. From now on, we'll keep to ourselves."

"Leave? Why should we leave? We raised the livestock here, we repaired the walls, everything here belongs to us. You are the outsiders!"

It turned out that Guna wasn't the only one who could speak; there were many others who spoke more clearly than him. At this moment, they banded together, preparing to drive away the Lost People.

Morman, of course, wouldn't agree, "You're right, but we brought the livestock in the first place, and this building was uninhabited at first. You earned your security through labor, and now you're going back on your word?"

"You're the ones who forced us to work, but now you're making it seem like we're exchanging labor for safety—you're turning the facts upside down!"

Okay, we're back to square one. I'm really annoyed, and Riven is just as helpless. "Forget it, shall we leave?"

"Let's go." I couldn't be bothered with the matter anymore, so I said goodbye to Morman.

"Gentlemen, are you really going to just stand by and watch the weak be bullied without doing anything to help?" Guna saw us as a lifeline and tried to morally blackmail us, which seemed very childish.

"You both have your own version of events, and I can't determine who's right, so I won't help either of you."

"Well, that's a real shame." Guna said with regret, but I had a feeling he was secretly pleased.

The Lost People and the Dwarves were locked in a dispute, and in the end, they could only resolve it by force. Although the Dwarves were numerous, they were very weak.

I couldn't be bothered watching this boring fight. Since there's nothing worth exploring in Frosthold, let's move on to the next place.

After they came out, Riven suddenly said, "Why are these dwarves fighting over this place? They're herbivores, why are they robbing livestock?"

"Who knows? I was initially a little sympathetic towards them, but seeing their Queen makes me feel a bit disgusted."

"Let's sneak back and take a look. Something doesn't seem right. If these dwarves initially dared to rebel because they relied on us, why aren't they coming with us now, and instead they're still rebelling to the end?"

"You mean they've been lying to us from the very beginning?"

I think so.

"And what is their purpose?"

"We fear we might arrive at Frosthold first and become friends with these Lost People."

I understood what Riven meant. "So when they rebelled, we became enemies, but now, even if we're not friends, we're not enemies either?"

"You're so smart."

I suspect you're mocking me.

"How could that be? Hehe."

Riven is getting worse and worse. Actually, it's not that I'm unaware of these things, but I'm just too lazy to think about them, since it has nothing to do with us.

Riven loves watching a spectacle, so let's go with her.