Rise from the coffin and rebuild the vampire empire

Chapter 25 Karen's Urgency

"Hey, dwarf, looking for a job?"

Karen came to the dwarf with two glasses of beer and handed him one. The guy had just sent away a human because he thought the price offered was too low.

"Yes, I'm looking for a job."

The dwarf took the wine from Karen and took a big gulp. A lot of wine flowed onto his beard, which showed that he drank a lot.

"Thank you for the wine, half-elf, but let me be frank. I will not lower my salary demands for this glass of wine."

The dwarf drank a glass of wine, burped, and then thanked Karen, while bluntly emphasizing his principles.

"."

Karen was a little speechless. He finished the wine in one gulp before you said "ugly words". What was the reason for you to say such ugly words?

"Don't look at me like that, half-elf. Oakwood's craftsmanship is legendary. The money you pay me is definitely worth every bronze lion."

As if he realized the problem, the dwarf put down the wine glass with an embarrassed expression on his face, but because of his big beard, his expression was hard to tell.

"You are so talented, why are you looking for a job here?"

Karen sat down at a table with the dwarf and started chatting with him. Karen did not believe what the dwarf said. The dwarf was used to bragging and thought his craftsmanship was invincible.

If you pick out ten dwarves and ask them who has the best skills, who can drink the most, who fights harder and who has the greatest strength, all ten dwarves will say it is themselves without hesitation.

"Don't mention it. I was doing well in a human settlement when suddenly a bunch of beastmen came out of the woods. If I hadn't run fast, I would have become their food. But maybe they don't like eating smelly and hard dwarves?"

The dwarf sighed and said to himself that he didn't want to come here to find a job because his original job was actually quite good. It was a pity that the generous employer might have been eaten by the beastmen. Good people really don't live long.

"Has this happened a lot lately?"

Karen felt a little strange. It turned out that their camp was not the only one attacked by beastmen. This did not seem to be a coincidence.

"Of course there are. There are quite a few refugees staying at this hotel. I heard from them that even the purchase prices of timber and furs have gone up. You can fool people with other things, but how can you fool people with the reactions of these merchants?"

The dwarf was quite depressed. It was not easy to find such a good job again.

Karen suddenly realized that Uther had said today that the purchase price of the goods was much higher than he expected. It turned out that it was because the various settlements were severely damaged and the supply of goods was insufficient.

Thinking about it, they did see several seemingly abandoned settlements on the way here, but because they did not stop, they did not know what had happened to those camps. Maybe they were destroyed by the beastmen.

Karen felt a long-lost sense of urgency in his heart, which was a rare thing for him. After all, as an immortal, the thing he had the most was time, so he could develop slowly.

However, these destroyed fragile colonies were all the targets of plunder that Karen had already chosen. In other words, these beastmen killed the labor force that built Karen's castle!
The beastmen had not been able to break through the powerful camp, and Karen had no intention of provoking them, as he was afraid of exposing his identity.

But if the weak camps were destroyed by the beastmen, who would Karen plunder?
Karen once again raised the priority of the "Dark Forest Project" and it must be launched as soon as possible without any further delay.

Moreover, this time the reason can be a little more noble. What's the point of looting or not? We are actually going to protect them. Weakness is the original sin. If you don't want to be destroyed by the beastmen, just surrender honestly. The waters in the New World are very deep.

"What kind of work are you good at?"

Karen asked the dwarf, earning a roll of his eyes. "What kind of work do you think a dwarf would be good at? Blacksmithing, brewing, chiseling stone, digging caves, building fortresses—as a dwarf raised in the mountain kingdom of the Godspine Mountains, I'm good at everything a proper dwarf should be!"

The dwarf patted his chest, making a loud clapping sound, and boasted that he was an almighty dwarf. He was quite proud of it, but it was unclear how much of his pride was true or false.

"What's your price?"

Karen asked about the price. This dwarf is a blacksmith, a stonemason, and a winemaker. He brags about it very well, but is he really so versatile?
Nothing else matters. Karen just hopes that he is really good at chiseling stones and building fortresses, so that the castle can be built. Dwarves from the Kingdom of Mountains must be good at building mountain castles, right?

"Three gold royals, one month."

The dwarf held up three fingers.

"."

Karen was silent. What does it mean to have three gold dragons a month?
According to Uther, the common people of the empire could only save forty or fifty silver eagles at most from farming for a year. The common people here refer to free people who own land, and do not include tenants, serfs, and slaves. The ordinary working class of the empire could only save two gold royals at most in a year.

The moment this dwarf opened his mouth, he asked for more than the annual income of others. It was outrageous. No wonder he hadn't found a job yet.

Of course, if this dwarf is really good at so many things as he said, and can do the work of a blacksmith, a brewer, and a stonemason all by himself, then the price is not particularly outrageous. At most, it is a premium of about 30%. After all, these are special technical talents in themselves.

"It's already lower than what I asked for at my last job."

The dwarf reminded Karen, which made Karen gasp in surprise.

Karen seriously suspected that this guy's previous employer must have been fooled by him. Not only did he pay him the salary of three jobs, but he also gave him a premium of at least 50%.

"Put work aside for now and let's be friends. I have some treasures I'd like you to help me identify. Are you interested?"

Karen gave up the idea of paying. He had plenty of ways to deal with the dwarves.

"What baby?"

The dwarf asked curiously. People often say that dragons love treasures and shiny things, but dwarves also have similar problems. They cherish gold, gems, jewelry, and works of art made from these precious raw materials. Moreover, they sometimes succumb to this greed.

"There are so many people around, just follow me."

Karen motioned for the other person to follow her upstairs to the room.

But the dwarf did not move. They were not a race that would easily trust strangers.

Karen shook his head helplessly. He took out a gem from his backpack. The light flashed for a moment, and then Karen put it back.

But this was enough. The dwarf's eyes brightened when he caught a glimpse of the gem.

"I forgot to mention that I'm actually a pretty good jeweler. You should know that the Mountain Kingdom is rich in all kinds of gemstone crafts."

The dwarf jumped off the chair and went upstairs with Karen while talking. He felt that he had definitely met another important customer!

(End of this chapter)