Chapter 192

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Chapter 192: A Way to Relieve Depression

The journey to the snowy mountains was surprisingly calm for Jesse, probably because Stromgarde Kingdom stationed a large number of troops here to stabilize its position, starting from Alterac City all the way to Durnholde Keep. Just as Greed mentioned before, there were guards and cavalry in red attire everywhere.

Looking down from the mountains during the day, red flashes at intervals in the snowy fields and valleys represented Stromgarde Kingdom’s barracks or stations.

Following the paths patrolled by the red-clothed cavalry down the mountain in the morning, arriving at the station on the Chillwind River bank in the evening, and then walking upstream along the Chillwind River for about three days, you would see the sign of Lordaeron’s eastern border – Durnholde Keep.

Durnholde Keep was so big that Jesse couldn’t believe it was just a castle. Most Lordaeron people thought Fenris Keep was the grandest castle in the whole Kingdom. Fenris Keep sat on top of the biggest lake on the continent, Lordamere Lake, surrounded by Silverpine on the west bank and the distant huge city of Lordaeron, making it look like a child wanting to run into the grasslands.

Unlike Fenris Keep, Durnholde stood alone on the endless plains. The mountains were just blurry outlines in the distance, making the castle seem like a lonely Mountain Giant dozing between the rivers.

The calm and wide Chillwind River was the largest river on the plains, connecting the second largest lake on the continent, Dalaran Lake, with the Palatine Bay. It was the central dividing line of the lowlands. This area was known as the lowlands long ago, contrasting with the famous Arathi Highlands to the east, which belonged to Stromgarde’s territory.

When the people of Lordaeron occupied Durnholde, they divided it into East Hillsbrad, but the people of the highlands insisted on calling it the lowlands, even going so far as to name it Arathi Lowlands or Arathi Hills. Until now, they hadn’t agreed on a common name.

But the soldiers of Durnholde simply called this plain "down there."

Jesse had always heard his father talk about "down there," thinking his dad meant Tirisfal outside the royal city.

So when his father mentioned the red riders of Arathi going "down there" again at one point, Jesse thought Stromgarde of that time was preparing to attack the capital of Lordaeron.

The village beneath Durnholde Keep seemed livelier than Alterac City. In the evening, Jesse and Greed walked into the inn and felt like they were back in Southshore.

Humans of all kinds with different accents sang winter songs in different tunes. Jesse and Greed, dressed oddly as travelers, felt completely at ease among them.

Jesse had no idea that there was a village under Durnholde that was almost as big as half of Southshore, let alone knowing how lively it was here.

As soon as he entered the inn, he curiously looked around and asked, "Why are there so many people here? Wasn’t it very intense during the war? Even if there are sports competitions…"

Greed leaned back in his chair and said, "With money, everything changes quickly. Even celebrities from Gurubashi come here for exhibitions, don’t you remember?"

"Oh, right." Jesse said, "I wonder if that leopard has died."

Greed licked his lips and said, "That leopard probably hasn’t fought with the Orcs, so its chances of survival are slim."

At that moment, a female server approached and asked, "What can I get for you both?"

Greed said, "We’ll each have a large glass of goat’s milk, specifically Alterac Mountain goat’s milk, I’ve always wanted to try it."

"What are you up to?" Jesse asked.

"What do you mean, ‘up to’?" Greed replied.

"Why are you drinking goat milk?"

"Because it tastes good."

"I mean, why aren’t you drinking alcohol?"

"Because I don’t feel like drinking right now."

"Well, you’ve been acting strange since we left Alterac City," Jesse said. "If you have any thoughts, you can just tell me instead of keeping it to yourself."

"I’m not like you," Greed said. "I don’t have any issues."

"You don’t have any issues," Jesse sighed. "Forget it."

"Then let’s switch to goat milk beer!" the dwarf shouted.

Jesse glanced at him, not wanting to say anything more, just spread out the notes of the Mage Armor spell and the casting instructions on the table, and continued memorizing.

Not long after, the people at the nearby table started talking about the arena.

Jesse heard in their conversation that there was a practice match to watch tonight, tickets cost seventeen silver coins. A group of people were debating whether to spend the money to watch for one night, or just wait until next week to watch the real match.

Listening to these people discuss the matches at Durnholde, Jesse felt excited inside.

Because he knew who was living in there right now, the Great Chief who would later rebuild the entire tribe.

But then he thought about how he must still be just a little kid, younger than Arthas by a few years, and it made him feel a bit disappointed.

After all, when he was in the royal city, Jesse did meet Arthas and Jaina successfully, but these two were really just kids around ten years old, so there wasn’t much satisfaction in meeting them.

Arthas looked very regal, but compared to the young prince who came later, or the Death Knight of The Scourge Legion, or even the Lich King, there was no comparison.

And Jaina was even more so, besides her light golden hair, she looked just like an elementary school student who hadn’t started growing yet.

Maybe he traveled back a bit too early. After coming to this world, the only hero he saw who gave him a gaming feeling was Alleria Windrunner, with Varian Wrynn and Kel’Thuzad being half counts. And considering the ticket price of seventeen silver coins just for a practice match, there was no guarantee he would even see the people he really wanted to see.

Jesse thought that the Great Chief of the tribe was probably still undergoing basic training and wouldn’t risk getting hurt in the arena at such a young age.

Greed in front of him was sipping a sour sheep milk wine without saying a word. Jesse was finding it hard to get used to the taste and just watched him drink.

Eventually, he asked, "Hey, do you think we should go watch the match in the arena tonight?"

"What match?" the dwarf raised his eyes.

"It’s the arena match, what else could it be? But it’s just a practice match, so it might not be that exciting."

"Great! I was feeling a bit bored anyway."

Seeing Greed so interested, Jesse thought it would help to lighten his mood, so he decided not to hesitate anymore.

"Let’s go then," he said.

"Do we need to pay?" the dwarf asked.

"I’ll treat you!"

"Haha, sure!"