Path of Light.

Chapter 970, Section 965: The End of the Road
At a time when most of the Grey Dwarves were about to abandon the Knee of Drag and head to Garo Island in the Seven Realms, a young half-elf, accompanied by a mixed-blood elf and allied with the Aries orcs of the Mensa Plains, arrived in Villaria and addressed the Grey Dwarves who were preparing to leave Boles City by ship:

'I came here to build a bold city. We elves and orcs will form an allied army and defend Pristis, at the western end of Victoria Valley.'

For the group of grey dwarf officials in the city hall, it was nothing short of a great irony.

What will the half-elfs use to defend the homeland abandoned by the grey dwarves?
A group of clueless Aries orcs also came to join the fun...

But when they arrived, the grey dwarves had to give them a warm welcome and even discuss with these guys how to hand over the city of Boles to ensure that these half-elves could obtain the complete city of Boles and the shipyards along the coastline.

In fact, apart from storing large amounts of timber, those shipyards took away almost everything else they could.

The fleet was already short of ships for this great migration, and the Northern Fleet fought two naval battles with the Half-Elf Mine Guards in the Mensa Strait, losing a large number of ships.

In addition, the ships of the grey dwarf bandits in the waters off Quel'Sai are also unreliable, which is the main reason why the grey dwarves lack ships for long voyages.

It was this group of half-elf who tightly controlled the grey dwarves' southward route...

Now they were sitting across the table, ready to take over the last two cities the Grey Dwarves held on the west coast of Dulagg, Boles and Precitus. A group of Grey Dwarf officials from Boles had their eyes bloodshot.

They longed to pick up an axe, hold it to the necks of these half-elfs, and hurl a vicious question at them:

'Why? Why should we give you Bores? Why should we surrender the city of Presidius?'

But they dared not. A week earlier, Marshal Kane had already issued a notice instructing the officials of Boles City to be responsible for receiving the half-elf envoys. If anyone made a mistake in this matter, they would not be allowed to travel to Garo Island by ship this time, and would have to stay in Durag to fend for themselves!
So everyone sat facing each other at the table, the gray dwarf officials suppressing their anger.

The grey dwarf officials were grateful when Roy said that he would prepare some food for the southward-migrating grey dwarf fleet at the island transit points along the way.

But upon hearing from the young half-elf that they were preparing to defend the city of Pristis, the grey dwarf officials' feelings became extremely complicated...

How come we Grey Dwarves lost millions of warriors and still couldn't stop the Nakhmar Black Riders from advancing westward? What gives you half-elves the right to boast that you will guard Precitus in the Valley of Veralia?
High Chief Grop, meanwhile, was with a group of orc chieftains, heads bowed, munching on fragrant, coarse wheat cakes.

Everything was great on the elf ship, except we had to eat breadfruit and green apples all day long; the elves didn't even have wheat cakes on their ship...

"Our southward migration will be divided into five batches. The second fleet will set sail in a few days, and the remaining three fleets will leave port one after another within a month. The garrison of Prisites City can only hold out until the end of this month at most. At that time, regardless of whether you come to take over the defense of Prisites City, our gray dwarf warriors will withdraw from Prisites City."

Commander Klein raised his silver goblet and whispered to Roy, who was sitting opposite him.

Roy also raised his glass and said to Commander Klein:

"We'll explore the Villaria Valley first. The half-elf guards will then take a magic airship directly to the city of Pristis. Rest assured, we will take over Pristis as scheduled."

The ale brewed by the grey dwarves had a slightly bitter taste, which Roy found somewhat unpalatable.

Legion Commander Kleis nodded. His mission was to satisfy Boss Roy in every way possible, only then could the half-elf open the sea route between the Mensa Strait and the waters off Quel'Sai...

Who would have thought!
A few years ago, these elves were being chased and beaten by the gray dwarf pirates at sea. They would capture elven slaves on the coastline of the elven kingdom. But now, the hybrid elves have their own fleet and have suddenly occupied the waters of Quel'Thalas, choking the gray dwarves' southward advance.

If they had known things would turn out this way, those grey dwarves who fled from Durrag shouldn't have gone to the elven kingdom to cause trouble.

Supplies are extremely scarce in the Villaria Valley. The Grey Dwarves cannot afford to linger there. The sooner they depart from Port Boles, the less they will suffer...

Legion Commander Kleis knew that these officials of Boles City were somewhat indignant. They looked down on the half-elves from the bottom of their hearts, and the only reason they were able to suppress their tempers was because of Marshal Kane's warning.

"It's fine for you to wander around the Villaria Valley, but you still need to be careful."

Commander Klein wiped the wine foam off his beard and chuckled twice.

"You'll also need to send someone to stay in Boles City to conduct an initial handover with our officials. The city's architecture is quite complex, so our officials responsible for the city's daily maintenance will need to show your people around. There are many more basements than above-ground buildings here..."

"Here, the building above ground is the first floor. We are currently on the first basement level. Most of the dwarves in the city live on the second basement level, and there are also third and fourth basement levels..."

Knowing that Roy was unfamiliar with the architectural layout of the Grey Dwarves, Commander Kleis took the initiative to explain it to him.

Roy was also dumbfounded after hearing this, thinking that the buildings above ground in such a large city constituted the entirety of Borles City.

Surprisingly, most of the buildings are still underground...

This reminded Roy of the underground castle on the Isle of Que, and he felt that the gray dwarves were like moles that loved to dig holes...

At this moment, a white-bearded gray dwarf sitting to the right of Legion Commander Kleis slammed his heavy silver goblet onto the thick wooden table. He frowned and stared coldly at Roy, asking:
"Young man, have you ever seen the Nakma demon?"

The hoarse voice silenced the previously noisy hall.

All the gray dwarves turned their gaze to Roy, while the orc leaders, holding their flatbreads, looked up at everyone with blank expressions and some confusion.

“No,” Roy replied.

The white-bearded gray dwarf wanted to sneer, but was subtly nudged by Legion Commander Kleis's elbow, causing him to suppress his contemptuous smile. He then downed another glass of ale before saying:

“Since you haven’t seen the Black Riders of the Nakma Demons, I think you should go to the high walls of Pristis City and take a look outside. If you still intend to stay in Pristis City, then we can sit down and talk.”

"Otherwise, all our hard work introducing you to this place will be for nothing if you give up on Villaria without even fighting after you meet the Nakhma Demon."

Roy held his wine glass without speaking. He could sense the hostility emanating from these grey dwarves and knew how dangerous the situation was.

“I once followed a group of elven mages into the Dark Lands. We captured six liches and sealed them in a teleportation array. I think I have accumulated some experience in fighting dark creatures.”

Roy finished speaking in a flat tone, then took another sip of the bitter ale.

The gray dwarves at the table gasped in amazement, and their eyes no longer held Roy in such contempt...

A grey dwarf scribe carrying a large bundle of parchment scrolls strode into the dining room, followed by five grey dwarves, also carrying large bundles of parchment scrolls.

The gray dwarf scribe ran up to Legion Commander Kleis, panting, and said, "Commander, I've brought you the shipbuilding blueprints you requested."

Legion Commander Clay pointed at Roy and said to the gray dwarf scribe:

"Give these valuable blueprints to Mr. Roy; he needs them."

Without a word, the grey dwarf scribe turned and went to Roy's side. Roy told Captain Rodhart to put away the shipbuilding blueprints. The parchment blueprints were yellowed and must have been from a long time ago.

The half-elf themselves do not know how to build three-masted sailing ships; they need to use these shipbuilding blueprints and then slowly figure out how to build some new three-masted sailing ships.

The three-masted sailing ships currently used by the half-elf mine guards are almost all captured from gray dwarf bandits. Every ship that is damaged is one less available, as the elves do not yet have the ability to build ships.

Of course, perhaps these grey dwarves weren't even aware of this...

Otherwise, the naval battle between the grey dwarves and half-elves would likely have turned out very differently.

The grey dwarf officials weren't sure if Roy was exaggerating or if he truly possessed such strength, but since the half-elf mine guards had managed to force the northern fleet to propose peace talks, the grey dwarves knew that these half-elfs were not to be trifled with.

The sausages, bread, and ale on the table were very much to the liking of the beastmen.

The elves only ate some of the fruit and fish they had brought with them.

The dinner ended in a somber atmosphere.

……

After the banquet, Legion Commander Kleis took his leave, while Roy and his party were arranged by a gray dwarf administrator to stay at the Steel Core Hotel across from the city hall.

The hotel rooms are all built underground, and none of them have windows. The walls are decorated with oil paintings and sword and shield decorations. The rooms are full of dwarven style, the most obvious being the super comfortable big bed with a thick white mattress.

There was an antique wine cabinet in the corner of the room, but unfortunately most of the bottles inside were empty; there were only two bottles of wine actually displayed.

It's clear that the gray dwarves are really short of supplies; this inn doesn't even offer late-night snacks.

Roy lay on the soft bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

When I woke up this morning, I had dark circles under my eyes.

Breakfast consisted of dry bread with a layer of butter on it, and a glass of bland pomegranate wine. I don't know how much water it was diluted with; it tasted almost like wine.

Moira was not in the same room as Roy; she and Sabrina were assigned to another room by the grey dwarf officials.

We met up at the restaurant in the morning, but there wasn't much to eat.

Only Roy tried a slice of dry bread with butter, while the other elves only drank some lemon tea.

The most famous thing in the fairy world is actually fairy cookies. Once you eat a full meal of these cookies, you won't be hungry for at least five or six days...

Graemus and Opeia went upstairs to the dining room, where Roy was speaking to Rodhart and several other half-elf officers:
"The rest of you will stay in Boles City and be responsible for communicating with those gray dwarf officials. You must understand the structure of the entire city of Boles City and also figure out what resources these gray dwarfs may leave us... resources that we can still utilize."

"Woods, Moira, Sabrina, Tiffany, Graemes, Opeia, and the orc chieftains will go into the Villaria Valley to try and reach the city of Presidius to check on the situation there."

Captain Rodhart responded:
"Boss, leave this to us!"

"How are those blueprints the gray dwarves brought over last night? Are they useful?" Roy asked Captain Rodhart, holding a cup of lemon tea.

Captain Rodhart had participated in the modification of the magic airship on Partington Island and had a good understanding of the structure of three-masted sailing ships.

That's why Roy arranged for him to inspect the shipbuilding blueprints.

"These blueprints differ slightly from the three-masted sailing ships we use now in some details, but there aren't many changes, so they are usable."

“However, according to the blueprints, there should be a lot of shipbuilding-specific supports in the shipyard. We went to the shipyard yesterday and the entire dock was empty, there was nothing there. I guess the gray dwarves dismantled them…” Rodhart said with resentment.

"Don't worry about that... We've just fought several battles with them, and hundreds of thousands of grey dwarf prisoners of war are being held in Partington. Don't expect all grey dwarves to be able to face us calmly."

Roy patted Rodhart on the shoulder.

When Chief Grop arrived at the restaurant with a group of orc chieftains, the orc chieftains didn't stand on ceremony and ate all the dry bread provided by the restaurant.

Then everyone arrived at the inn and boarded the carriage that had been waiting there.

The carriage drove directly out of Boles City along the main road. The gray dwarves living in the city seemed quite orderly at the moment, but once the carriage left the city, the scene outside became rather bleak.

The port and docks are located on the west side of the city of Boles, while the main road leading from the city gate on the east side leads directly into the depths of the Villaria Valley.

As the carriage drove out of the city, it saw a large number of gray dwarves carrying packages of all sizes, forming a long line that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see on the main road.

The roadsides outside the city were also crowded with all sorts of tattered tents, and many gray dwarves were converging on the city of Boles.

The road was a bit muddy, and the sea breeze blowing from the northeast was damp and cold, the damp and cold wind seemed to seep into your bones.

The Villaria Valley is a funnel-shaped valley that stretches for hundreds of kilometers. It is relatively wide near the city of Boles, but it becomes narrower and narrower as you go further in.

The carriage traveled all morning on the muddy road, and looking back, one could still see the city of Boles standing by the sea.

The grey dwarves, converging on the city of Boles, moved slowly along the continent, their line stretching as far as the eye could see...

(End of this chapter)