Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

The Redbeard Tribe has over three thousand members?

That's indeed a large number of people, making it a powerful dwarf clan.

Unlike humans, dwarves have a relatively small population. A female dwarf usually only gives birth to one or two offspring in her lifetime.

Human settlements like the Black Forest Territory have just over two thousand people and are only just starting. They haven't even formed a small town yet.

But a dwarf fortress with three thousand people is a clan with a long history, and all their adult dwarves are qualified soldiers.

Imagine two thousand dwarves in heavy armor, wielding huge battle axes and shields, charging forward with roars and howls, covered by artillery and muskets. What a terrifying scene that would be.

Even trolls and ogres would collapse and flee before this mighty power.

Only the massive monster armies in the forest could confront them head-on.

Only a green dragon gathering a large number of followers could threaten the survival of this fortress.

But behind this strength lies a huge crisis. As the dwarves in the Grey Mountains lost their surface farms, most of their agriculture had to rely on underground farms relocated to the depths of the fortress.

The mountain terraces maintained by their outposts couldn't even meet the demand for the dwarves' beloved malt liquor and barley wine.

And right now, there is a huge crisis that they need to deal with together with their large human friend.

Although Dogrin was tipsy, he didn't forget the main business and said to Lin Rui, "Our Redbeard Fortress has a famous Jewelers' Guild branch. As you know, dwarven craftsmanship is famous throughout the continent."

Drunk people tend to talk more uncontrollably, and Dogrin was like that. He directly revealed all the secrets between the dwarves: "Within the guild, jewelers will choose which market to put their crafts in. But basically, they are only willing to take out slightly inferior crafts to trade with other races, while the best quality items in their hands are used to trade with their own people, or given to their own people as gifts, or simply placed inside the guild or clan treasury as works of art."

"And when trading with other races, such as human and halfling nobles, they will sell them at sky-high prices. The high-quality crafts of Master Jeweler Boris Goldfinger from our clan are famous in the Empire, even in Malleburg."

"But my friend, rest assured, you are our dwarves' noblest friend. Dwarves will not fool their friends. I will personally help you choose the best crafts and give you the most favorable price. I guarantee that even if you sell these jewels in the future, you will earn countless riches."

Sure enough, when people get drunk, they love to brag. This is the same regardless of race or region.

Su Li calmed down his bragging and then asked, "Does your fortress have other guilds? Such as the Blacksmiths' Guild, the Miners' Guild, the Engineers' Guild, and the mysterious Rune Guild?"

"The Blacksmiths' Guild is the symbol of Dragon Rock Fortress. Not only do they have the Blacksmiths' Guild, but they even have the headquarters of the Blacksmiths' Guild of our dwarf kingdom. Our King Kragg the Grim personally sits in the guild headquarters and is the Rune Smith Lord. Many blacksmiths from other kingdoms and fortresses come to him for advice. He is one of the oldest, greatest, and most respected living ancestors among dwarven blacksmiths."

Living ancestors refer to those legendary figures in the dwarf clans who are over 400 years old, just like the human terms 'sixty years', 'seventy years', and 'eighty or ninety years'.

It's just that dwarves generally live longer. One hundred and twenty years old is called a Longbeard, and over two hundred years old is called a Greatbeard.

Seeing Su Li frown, Dogrin immediately stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and shouted, "My friend, don't look down on our Jewelers' Guild! Our Redbeard Fortress is bordered by the Troll Kingdom to the east, the evil Greenskin tribes to the north, and the Bloodpine Forest to the south. We have been in a long and endless war with the Greenskins, beastmen, and monsters, but we still stand tall, precisely because we have abundant funds to support any army we need."

"Our Redbeard Fortress not only guards the pass but is also a prosperous trade hub. Tell me, what do you need? I can use wealth to recruit enough people for you."

Su Li immediately said, "I need a large number of people, including no less than 100 dwarf miners, 50 blacksmiths, 30 engineers, and at least 3 dwarf rune masters."

The number Su Li reported made Dogrin's drunken eyes widen, and his drunkenness sobered up a bit: "My friend, your castle and territory are just starting to rise, and you're hiring so many dwarves? You need to know that although dwarven work is very efficient, the employment costs are also very high. You're hiring so many people, have you discovered a super-large iron mine?"

Su Li had nothing to hide from his dwarf friend. Dwarves would never actively attack the territory of human allies. Moreover, this kind of thing couldn't be hidden as long as the dwarves went in to mine. Deceiving him now would only make Dogrin think that it insulted and defiled their friendship.

So Su Li said frankly, "That's right, I discovered a super-large iron mine in my territory that can extract a considerable amount of mithril. I need skilled dwarf miners and craftsmen to forge enough magic weapons for me."

"Oh! By the Ancestor Gods, this news will drive the dwarves crazy when it reaches the mountains. A large number of dwarves will definitely move down. If they can personally forge a set of mithril rune armor, many people are willing to work without pay."

Those dwarves who moved out of the mountains and lived in human territories were called Empire Dwarves. They had a closer relationship with the Empire, and their ideas were a bit different from those of the Mountain Dwarves. They were more inclined to abide by the laws of the Empire, but they still retained the traditional laws and concepts of the dwarves within the community.

So if Empire Dwarves really moved over, it would at least be a considerable large family and tribe. They would live in a community in Black Forest Town and would be the most perfect city citizens and craftsmen.

So Su Li immediately said, "That would be the best thing. If it can really be achieved, you will have done my territory a great favor. Also, tell me your requirements, and I will definitely help if I can."

Dogrin's spirits immediately lifted. He had been talking so enthusiastically and actively helping so much precisely to forge a friendship with the Black Forest Territory and reach some deals.

He quickly said, "The battles in the mountains are very frequent. Three of our surface terraces have been burned by Greenskins and goblins, and two outposts have been captured, which has caused problems with our food supply. Many clansmen are going hungry."

"Therefore, although we have a powerful mountain shield formation, we are also getting weaker and weaker. The Greenskins have cut off our trade route with Dragon Rock Fortress. If this continues, we may become weaker and weaker. Eventually, the ever-standing Redbeard Fortress may also fall in the endless attacks of the Greenskins."

"So we hope to establish trade relations with the humans under the mountains. We sell dwarven crafts to you in exchange for your grains, food, beef, venison, and most importantly, beer."

"Reaching a trade agreement is naturally no problem." Su Li raised an eyebrow and then asked, "But you are worried about the Greenskins in the north cutting off the trade route, aren't you worried about the west?"

You need to know that they encountered a large number of monsters when they came.

Although these dwarf rangers were experienced in combat and had extraordinary combat power, killing a large number of monsters without much loss, it seemed that caravan trade was not an easy task.

Dogrin immediately said, "This involves the distribution of power in the mountains. Generally, the closer you get to the outer periphery of the mountains near the plains, the fewer monsters there are."

"Here in the southwest direction of the Grey Mountains, although Greenskins, beastmen, bandits, and robbers are hiding everywhere, they are all small, scattered forces. They can't unite, so as long as we send out three hundred dwarf warriors to guard the caravan, they will be powerless."

"But there is also a problem. We saw a group of cultists in the underground tunnels. From the evil items they were carrying, I suspect they are excavating some dangerous ancient ruins."

"Ancient ruins?" Su Li asked curiously, what is this?

Dogrin replied, "The human empire has only existed for three thousand years, but this continent has existed for millions of years. In the last era, it was still the era of us dwarves and elves. Further back was the era of dragons."

"After a tragic Longbeard War, both the elves and dwarves weakly withdrew from the continent. So many places have ancient ruins, and humans and elves will have explorers to explore the ruins."

"Not only is there a lot of wealth inside, but there are also many powerful equipment and buried and sealed monsters from ancient times. And we suspect that these cultists are excavating evil monsters and sealed demons inside. So we hope to form a joint army with our big allies to eliminate these cultists as soon as possible."

In the three thousand years since the establishment of the Empire, humans have formed a joint army with dwarves every time they faced the threat of demons. It was so in the past, and it will continue to be so in the future.

Su Li immediately said, "This is our inescapable mission. The existence of these cultists threatens the safety of the entire Border Princes, and they must be eradicated."

"But this is not an easy task. Our territory's army has already fought with them many times. But their scale has not decreased, and we have never had a sure chance of winning."

Su Li was very clear about the existence of this cult.

But at the beginning, Su Li led a company of soldiers to besiege their scout troops before achieving victory. During the battle, their powerful combat power and fierce fighting style left a deep impression on Su Li.

Until the halfling clan joined, Su Li could only mobilize a little more than one company of troops.

He also had to fight against the green tide invasion of the Broken Toe Tribe, and he really didn't have the energy to spare a company to leave the territory for three or four days to cross the Greenleaf Hills, the Crimson Highlands, and enter the mountains to fight this cult. The round trip would take almost ten days. If the main force left for so long, the Broken Toe Tribe could burn the Black Forest Territory to ashes.

Now is the time to solve these ambitious elements plotting in the dark.