Warhammer

Even dwarves often exaggerate in business and diplomatic occasions, and try to use words and emotions to cover up things that are disadvantageous to them, but there are very few dwarves who can speak as exaggeratedly and truthfully as he does about things that he is not sure of at all.

It seemed as if as long as Ai'er made the decision now, the army would set out, and gold, silver and technical support would be transferred to the alliance's treasury in a flash - but in reality...

Bronzebeard's team is just under the banner of the "Dwarf Mission". Please note that it is the "Dwarf Mission" but not the "Mountain Kingdom Diplomatic Mission". There is a difference between the two.

The latter are formal diplomatic missions sent by the Mountain Kingdom. For example, High King Gotrek (the one who fought in the Battle of Longbeard) sent envoys to the Phoenix King's court to inquire about the massacre of their own caravans and the murder of Rune Masters. They represent the face and honor of the entire Mountain Kingdom.

The former, represented by Bronzebeard, are the most active group of dwarves in the outside world since the Reconquista. They are the "recruiters" who are recruiting soldiers all over the world to find support for the great era of the dwarves. In order to facilitate their activities, the High Court has granted these teams, which are mostly formed by the manpower of various clans, a certain degree of "diplomatic power". As long as the transaction is beneficial to the recovery of lost territory and does not destroy the order of the old world, they are allowed the right of "empty seal". Anything other than military affairs must be reviewed by the Royal Court before it will be considered whether to approve it. If not, can this transaction be compensated in other ways?

Basically, all matters other than commission compensation have to go through this process.

So what Norn Bronzebeard said was essentially just a blank check and empty promises to Ai'er.

Whether it can be passed is not up to him, it needs to be discussed in the Supreme King's Court—or even at the Mountain Assembly!

The dwarves began to feel uneasy.

What if the human king in front of him believed Norn Bronzebeard's words and excitedly sent troops to support the dwarves? As a result, when he arrived at the place, he received a notice, "After review by the Mountain Assembly, there are obvious violations of relevant regulations in the previous transaction terms, so it will not be passed. If you are dissatisfied, please appeal to the High King's Court of Eternal Peak, blah blah..."

That would inevitably offend a great country of order that could have served as a helping hand.

And if the other party doesn't believe it and thinks Norn is fooling him...

They are still in someone else's palace!

When the time comes, he will be dragged off to jail and Eternal Peak will come to hold him accountable. El will take the check written by Norn and ask the messenger if the dwarf can do it. The messenger will probably turn around and go back to Eternal Peak first.

The Bronzebeard family will also be disgraced!

Not long ago, the dwarves in the envoy group were ecstatic that the deputy captain could really use words to get a country's regular army to serve as an expeditionary force to support the mountains, but now they are beginning to worry: what if the boast is too much and then exposed?

"Your Majesty, the above conditions..." Norn finally got tired of talking, swallowed his throat, and was about to continue speaking. He was already talking so much that he couldn't stop. Another dwarf with a majestic beard quickly interrupted, "For the above conditions, if Your Majesty is willing to sign the contract, we can make the final decision on most of them, but some of them still need to be considered by Eternal Peak first, and the delegation has no right to decide."

After saying this, he gave Norn an imperceptible wink.

To get a country to participate in the war of the dwarves is an unparalleled achievement!

But if they fail to handle it well and force a powerful nation to confront the dwarves, then the Bronzebeards will...

"anything else?"

But Ai'er ignored him and answered the other dwarf with the same words he had used to answer Norn.

"..."

The scene was a little awkward. The dwarves looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them were impatient and began to think:

So many conditions have been set, and His Majesty didn't care much about the terms. He just kept asking, "What's next? That's all? What else?"

Is this just pure greed... or does he not want to cooperate and is just teasing them?

Chapter 104: Friendship is its own reward

Seeing the atmosphere freeze, Al walked towards the stairs with his hands behind his back, his back to the crowd, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Ugh."

I just heard him sigh.

"Friends, friends, what have I done to make you look at me like this and disrespect me."

Norn's face froze, not knowing what the emperor in front of him was up to.

"You promised a lot, commissions, pensions, trade... But I can only tell you: no amount of wealth can exchange for my warriors. My people have traveled across the oceans - because they never fought for these things when they followed me." Al took off his mask, put it on the cold stone steps, and turned to look at Norn.

See, there are three humans in the team, two of whom are from the south.

Without exception, they were all stunned and shocked for a moment when they saw the true appearance of the King of the Alliance [Charm of El, strong will failed]. However, dwarves are generally not easily affected by appearance and charm, and they generally think that "the little guy looks good."

Al shook his head and said:

"I have always called you friends, but you treat me as a mercenary and greedy businessman, as if as long as I give you enough benefits, I can send the warriors who follow me to a place thousands of miles away from home to fight, fight, bleed and die in a strange land."

Everyone in the delegation felt a chill in their hearts, especially Norn.

"It's ruined! It's ruined!" he thought sadly in his heart.

"When I ascended the throne," Aiel continued to sing, with a hint of sadness between his brows, as if he was sad about everything around him, "I sent solemn delegations to Eternal Peak and Altdorf. On my behalf, on behalf of the people of the south, they sent gifts to the Empire, the Dwarves, and all the major forces of order in the mortal world, as well as a promise of friendship."

The Bronzebeard dwarves looked at each other in bewilderment. They were becoming increasingly confused about what the human king was trying to do. Shouldn't negotiations be centered around arguments over interests?

But what Al said was true.

After Aiel ascended the throne, in addition to stabilizing the country, the first thing he did was to send out delegations. Under the banner of the new "United Kingdom", they sent out special delegations from the nearby nations of Batol to the distant court of Altdorf; from the Eternal Peak of the dwarves to Lothern of the elves, they visited and presented gifts, mainly to take the initiative to announce: our new master is here!

By the way, we must reiterate our firm belief in the united front of order and consolidate the unbreakable diversified international anti-chaos alliance, blah blah.

To people today, this is just a rehash of the old tune. After all, everyone knows that after the shocking self-explosion at the end of the 20th century, America's slogans of "opposing communism" and "curbing the red threat" are not essentially anti-red.

Scholars of the empire have begun to shout "Gods, chaos and demons are lies (or the end of history)!". Some people think that Ai'er sent an envoy to pay a visit and give gifts, and promised that he would "contribute to the survival and safety of all forces of order in the world, and provide military assistance when any alliance of order is threatened by evil and barbarism". This is just a high-sounding excuse for the tyrant in the south to seize power and seek recognition from the outside world, and it is too "pretentious".

This is what some people in the empire who know about this matter say about him.

The elves were too lazy to even care and simply threw the gifts into the inventory. As for the letter of credence, the envoy just glanced at it, re-transcribed it, submitted it, and then sealed it in the file. No one paid any attention to it.

The dwarf's attitude was acceptable. He accepted the formal reception and returned the gift, but he didn't take Al's words too seriously.

After all, the situation described in the letter, in which "a country does not seek rewards, is selfless, regards the threats faced by other countries and other races as threats to itself, and is willing to use its own swords to defend civilizations thousands and tens of thousands of miles away...", no longer existed after the end of the great war.

Come back to the present moment.

Elton paused and forgot the words.

Fortunately, he thought quickly and simply didn't follow the script and just spoke the truth.

He held out his hand to Norn Bronzebeard, palm turned sideways.

"If you come to the south as an ally of order, tell me, tell the people here: Friends, the mountains need the help of allies!"

"Then I can answer you on behalf of the Alliance: our swords will fight for our friends, and our warriors are willing to shed their last drop of blood for order and then sacrifice gloriously."

"Even if the mountains don't speak to the Alliance, my messenger will soon arrive at the Eternal Peak Assembly to tell you that the Alliance's legions will soon board warships and head to the Badlands to proactively reinforce the Mountain Kingdom's war. No matter when and where, the Alliance's warriors will always fight on the front line against evil and protect the mortal world."

Norn's beard was trembling. The dwarf diplomat who was bold enough to write a blank check and try to trick a country's regular army into entering the battlefield was looking at the King of the Alliance in disbelief.

As Al finished speaking, his expression became more sad. "But you came here, promising money, technology, and so much wealth, but you are not even willing to mention our friendship."

"Friendship!" A suddenly high-pitched voice instantly diluted the atmosphere in the throne room, which seemed to become increasingly depressing and depressed as Al's narration continued.

A dwarf with white hair and beard, the oldest and most authoritative "Old Man with Long Beard" in the delegation, stood up. Before this, he had been very silent and did not seem to be a suitable person for communication.

This may be the reason why Norn Bronzebeard took the lead in this meeting. Otherwise, in a dwarf team, only the elders with long enough beards have the power to lead affairs.

The old dwarf came out and looked at Al with sharp eyes.

"King of the Alliance, are you serious about what you said? Are you willing to fight for the dwarves for the sake of friendship and order without asking for anything in return?!"

Al looked into the old dwarf's eyes without any hesitation or wavering, and said firmly:

"What I said is true!"

"Not only the dwarves, but even as far away as Kislev and Changyuan of the Celestial Empire, if the enemy comes back to invade brazenly in the future, I am willing to personally lead my warriors to launch a holy war expedition and go to support them!"

When the words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

There was a huge wave of emotion in Norn's heart.

The king in front of him is either a boastful liar or a...

He didn't know how to evaluate it.

madman?

saint?

The longbearded dwarf patted his breastplate, making a popping sound, which was one of their ways of expressing their excitement.

"In this case, I dare not deceive Your Majesty. We cannot make the final decision on the previous conditions on behalf of Eternal Peak. But if Your Majesty is willing to fulfill the obligations of an ally, maintain order and friendship, and lead the Alliance to join the dwarves in the great cause of reclaiming the mountains, we will certainly be grateful!"

"The battle in the mountains is really not favorable to the dwarves. The army wants to attack Black Rock Castle, but is blocked by the ogre reinforcements. They drive the giants to block the key roads and frequently attack our supply lines... The front line is in danger and urgently needs support!"

"For all the previous conditions, even if Eternal Peak is stingy and refuses to agree, the Bronzebeard Clan will sell all its properties and spend all its savings to return double the amount to the Alliance!"

"The ancestors will witness this oath!"

The long-bearded dwarf had an incredibly loud voice, which echoed throughout the throne room.

Al looked at him with a gentle gaze.

"I've already said it. I would have done it even if you didn't mention it."

"Before you came, my army had already prepared to assemble in Lusigny, and the messenger sent to Eternal Peak had already taken a boat to Blackwater Bay. If everything goes well, they should be able to reach Barak Sea Gate in the next few days."

"I may not be able to go there myself, but I will send my children to lead the legion to support the mountains."

"The Alliance does not need you to use wealth and large sums of money to win over and exchange for support. My dwarven friend, please remember that being loyal to your allies and fighting side by side is a reward in itself."

Looking at Ai'er's sincere expression, a bolt of lightning struck Norn Bronzebeard's heart.

The king before me...

it turns out?

it turns out!

In other words, the medieval world had not yet invented a word to describe that meaning.

Otherwise the Bronzebeard dwarf would have cried out in tears, "Internationalism?"

"Are you a communist?!"

The long-bearded dwarf was stunned by Al's answer and was speechless for a while.

He was originally suspicious of this king who was speaking in a pretentious tone and talking about "friendship" and "alliance", thinking that the other party might be talking in a high-sounding tone. In addition, he had such an expectation in his heart - the long-bearded dwarf was named Gradin Bronzebeard.

He just celebrated his 653rd birthday this year. He has worked as a mercenary and a ranger. He followed the High King to reinforce Tyrion. He was among the troops sent by the High King to support the Empire. In the end, he retreated into the Empire with the remnants of the dwarves and participated in the bloody Battle of Middenheim. He can be said to be a veteran who has fought many battles.

Compared to the short-lived humans, who have three or four generations in more than 150 years, dwarves have a better memory of history and are better able to remember those unforgettable, tragic, or glorious experiences.

The decisive battle of Middenheim and the unity of all the mortal races have become a lofty banner and an illusory symbol in the hearts of mankind. However, to the dwarves in the tribe who have chopped down ratmen, slashed Yankees, and beaten demons countless times, it still seems like an epic of yesterday that happened not long ago, full of sacrifice, tragedy, and glory!

So when Ai'er started to speak loudly, the old dwarf's emotions came up, but he doubted Ai'er more than he believed in him, so he didn't burst into tears and clenched his hands on the spot, "Friends of the Alliance!"

Instead, he lowered his posture and deliberately provoked Al to see how he would respond to this "great and glorious" request.

But he didn't expect that Al's answer would not only make his wish come true, it would be absolutely...

This was almost beyond Graden’s experience and knowledge of more than six hundred years!

Chapter 105: Medieval Volunteer Army

Ai'er is really a king who is probably even rarer among today's mortal rulers than the ultimate humanoid king who possesses qualities such as "madness, incompetence and cruelty" and appears only once every few hundred years. He considers issues from the overall perspective of the entire mortal world, goes against the trend of the entire world, and does not adhere to the absolute supremacy of his own country and race. I don't know whether he should be described as a madman or a lunatic, or even a mortal saint?

How is it possible that he only has such a short sage time!

Rather than being a moral role model, it is better to say that his way of looking at problems is different from that of the rulers of the "old" order.

His starting point and the benefits he can obtain are also different from the old perception.

What Al holds in his hand is a nuclear weapon that can destroy the old four gods' control of all living beings and treat the world as a "great game", which can also be said to be a kind of "ideology".

The next war is destined to be extremely dangerous. The raging waves that surge out from the chaos rift will sweep across the entire mortal world, and no one will be able to avoid it.

For others, like Sigmar and Tyrion, there is still a chance to go to the next world and continue the struggle between light and darkness; or they know that the end is inevitable and give up resistance to preserve their strength for the next reincarnation, like Lilith.

But Al really didn't.

He is the number one super villain, the source of all evil, he is sleeping soundly with someone else's wife in his arms, he kicks the gates of the Four Gods and digs up the devil's ancestral graves, he is absolutely an irreconcilable enemy.

Half of the Emperor's eighteen Primarchs rebelled, and the Thirteenth Prince Guilliman rose up, which was able to cause a collective climax on the Chaos side and launch a large-scale "Hunting Primarchs" operation. The old Emperor was watched every day, with all kinds of possessed mechanical deities and various apparitions of the Emperor, for fear that the Thirteenth Prince would die.

And he is the only one on the four mothers' side.

At least he must be the only one in the mortal world, unless the Four Mothers had completely concealed it from him and even deceived him about his chaotic origin.

That will definitely be seen as a thorn in the eye.

After losing the battle against the End, the Four Mothers were acquired, and Al had mentioned before his own demise that there was a high probability that he would be immortal—and then his fate would be a thousand times worse than that of Never Choose Bilak, with eternal pain and torture.

Therefore, Al's enthusiasm for winning this battle, which means he will make a huge profit but will fall into the abyss, is definitely the highest among all the leaders, and his thinking from another world also prevents him from being restricted by many things.

If the dwarves were left alone and allowed to slowly invest a large amount of manpower and resources to fight the War of Lost Land, the army of destruction might have broken through the south before they had even taken Dragon Cliff Castle and touched the Lost Plateau Castle, which was said to house a large number of ancient runes and dwarven artifacts.

In addition, as the end approaches, there will inevitably be a lot of troubles. The elves are probably fighting each other, the empire will have a large-scale rebellion, and the dwarves will suffer heavy losses in recovering lost territory. As for Zhendan, there is too little information to see for the time being, but it looks quite stable. Maybe only the Order Changyuan will stand there, and Ai'er will have to pack up and cross the Hairun to establish an exile government...