191: Contradictions breed

Chapter 188: Contradictions Arise

Even before Arthur woke up, various parts of Mist Town were already bustling with activity.

At the first hint of dawn, Iron Shovel brought the Shortfinger family to the town square to begin setting up a platform.

“Listen up, you two little ones,” Moglin Shortfinger instructed his two children. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Learn all you can from your old man. You know, he’s the best stonemason I know.”

“Back in the day, he even taught your grandfather.”

The two children Moglin spoke of, Torin and Delia, a boy and a girl, were not yet old enough for a dwarf to grow a beard.

Although they were already over thirty years old, by the long lifespan of dwarves, they were still just children.

Even Moglin and his wife, Aida, were only in their seventies.

Among dwarves, that age was considered barely past adulthood.

“Shortfinger family, come over here!” Iron Shovel called out to the family.

Once Moglin brought his wife and children closer, he continued, “Lord Arthur plans to set up a simple platform here.”

“He intends to preach the doctrine to everyone in town from here.”

“Here?” Moglin asked with a frown. “A person as noble as the Lord should be preaching in a better place.”

“A wooden platform? By a dwarf’s beard! I can hardly imagine what a noble person like him would look like standing on it.”

“This could be considered an insult to him!”

Iron Shovel waved his hand, his tone mixed with a hint of helplessness and admiration: “I heard that a few days ago, the Lord even preached from a garbage heap.”

“He doesn’t care about these superficial things at all.”

“Besides, choosing to set up the platform here was his own idea.”

After speaking, Iron Shovel pursed his lips and added a truthful remark, “But you’re not wrong, he sometimes doesn’t pay much attention to his image.”

“I still remember back in the Cloudmist Mountains, every tribe would specifically build magnificent halls dedicated to spreading the doctrines of the gods, never so casually.”

The Shortfinger family were “outsiders.”

This meant they were not born and raised in the mountains.

Dwarves like them were called “outsiders” by the native mountain dwarves.

“I really can’t imagine life in the mountains,” Torin muttered softly. “How suffocating it must be to stay in the lightless mountains all day.”

“It’s ‘I,’ not ‘me,’ kid!” Iron Shovel immediately corrected him. “Only those long-legged fellows say ‘me.’ ”

“When I first went outside the mountains, I also couldn’t imagine how people could live in such open spaces.”

“It wasn’t until later that I realized these people from outside the mountains weren’t so different from us; they all lived in small houses, at most their houses were a bit worse than ours.”

“Alright, stop chattering and get to work! The Lord said, the sooner this platform is finished, the better.”

Hearing Iron Shovel’s words, the dwarves got busy: some were measuring dimensions with rulers.

Some were squatting on the ground calculating timber, and others were carrying hoes to dig pits.

The square immediately filled with the sound of clanging.

Just then, Moglin’s wife, Aida, quietly approached Iron Shovel, her voice tinged with hesitation: “Old man, I—I have something I want to ask you.”

“Actually, it’s not just me; other dwarves in the Pioneer Group also want to talk to you.”

Iron Shovel immediately saw that Aida’s expression was off, so he stopped what he was doing and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“We just want to ask—can all of this last?” Aida’s voice dropped even lower.

Iron Shovel pinched his nose, a bit bewildered: “What ‘last’?”

“Child, you need to speak more clearly.”

“Otherwise, I’d think you were complaining about the alcohol.”

“I admit, rationing alcohol now is indeed a bit excessive,”

“But you also know, these are difficult times, we have to be understanding of the Lord’s difficulties.”

“No, it’s not about the alcohol!” Aida quickly waved her hands, secretly glancing at her husband nearby, then continued, “I mean, will this life suddenly disappear again, like before?”

“That kind of thing, I—no, we all don’t want to experience it again.”

“My man doesn’t let me bring these things up; he always says Lord Arthur is reliable, and I respect the Baron, but I just feel uneasy in my heart.”

Iron Shovel was silent for a moment, then nodded gently: “Alright, I’ll find some time tonight and have a good talk with you all. For now, just focus on work, don’t think too much.”

Iron Shovel knew very well that his compatriots were a stubborn, old-fashioned, and inflexible bunch.

But he couldn’t blame them; most dwarves in the world were like this. Once they decided on something, it was very difficult to change their minds.

Moreover, they had no religious foundation in Mist Town.

Mother Earth, whom Arthur believed in, was completely different from the dwarven gods they had believed in since childhood.

Because of this, it was difficult for them to truly integrate here.

This would sooner or later become a big problem.

Iron Shovel muttered to himself.

“Perhaps I should find an opportunity to have a good talk with Lord Arthur about this.”

“Hand over all the alcohol you’ve hidden, don’t make me do it!”

Ruby stood with her hands on her hips, ordering her three subordinates who had been secretly drinking.

The three men looked at each other, their faces full of difficulty.

One of them, a man with a full beard, hesitated for a long time before finally stepping forward with a grimace.

“Boss, you know, life without alcohol is really too hard to bear.”

“The Baron’s order to ration alcohol is really a bit unreasonable.”

“What did you say?” Ruby raised an eyebrow, her gaze instantly turning cold.

Faced with her questioning, the bearded man immediately deflated like a punctured ball, shrinking back and not daring to utter another word.

Ruby slowly walked towards him, her tone growing heavier with each step: “Unreasonable?”

“You three fools just won’t think properly.”

“If it weren’t for the Baron, you wouldn’t even have the chance to sit here and drink!”

“Sister, we understand all these principles,” another person quickly interjected. “But we also contributed to the town!”

“That night, all three of us fought desperately on the city wall; it’s a miracle we survived. We originally thought that after winning the war, we would live a good life, but in the end, we still have to live such a hard life.”

Ruby suddenly laughed, her laughter tinged with helplessness and disappointment.

After she finished laughing, she retorted, “We have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a certain amount of alcohol rationed to us every day.”

“Is such a life still not enough to satisfy you?”