Chapter 197

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Chapter 197: Thunderfist

"Greed!"

"Greed…"

Although Jesse couldn’t understand Dwarven Language, he could clearly make out Greed’s name.

Many dwarves recognized his appearance and came over to greet him, to which Greed reluctantly responded.

According to Greed’s description along the way, it seemed like he was being abandoned by his hometown and father, and upon returning, he might be met with cold eyes.

However, Jesse never expected that so many people here knew him and cared for him.

This returning dwarf became the focus in the mountain staircase, with many dwarves coming over to greet him, some saying hello, while others scolded him a bit, reminding Jesse of returning home to meet his mother.

Some small dwarfs came up excitedly, even shouting angrily, but Greed just awkwardly responded with a bit of embarrassment on his face.

Jesse guessed that they were asking why he hadn’t contacted his family more often, or why he had been away for so long without any news.

After greeting Greed, they naturally shifted their focus to Jesse. The dwarfs approached, some speaking in Dwarven language, others clumsily greeting in common language, saying things like "hello, where are you from."

Jesse tried his best to answer, but the others seemed to not understand, relying on Greed to explain one by one.

Surrounded by the warm welcome of the local dwarfs, the two unknowingly climbed halfway up the mountain on the stairs built by the dwarfs. From there, Jesse could see the cliff faces more clearly than from below.

Several huge cave palaces sat on the mountain, guarded by dwarf statues, with half-open, massive stone doors at the entrances.

Zigzagging stairs were built from the foot of the mountain all the way up to each palace. Jesse looked up and noticed some gryphons circling atop the tallest eagle-headed statue, as if they considered it their nest.

While the buildings here may not compare to the grand gates of Ironforge, the clusters of palaces of various sizes on the cliffs, along with the giant eagle statue, created another form of magnificence.

Halfway up, Jesse rested on the railing for a while, and then noticed the complex expression on Greed’s face.

"Are you famous here, Greed? It feels like the whole city knows you."

"Not that famous." Greed pointed to the cliff on the other side and said, "Do you see over there? Besides a few Gryphon Riders, no one knows me there. Lord Kurdran’s home is there, the hall of the Wildhammer clan. This is where us Thunderfist live, my cousins."

Jesse looked in the direction Greed was pointing and indeed saw a larger stone palace, hidden among various trees and cliffs, clearly larger than this place.

The Wildhammer clan is the largest branch of the Dwarf Wildhammer, named after their clan by outsiders.

"Don’t the dwarves here speak a common language?" Jesse asked helplessly.

"Most of them don’t," Greed said. "Those who have traveled outside understand a bit, or they are older, like Sages and lords."

"Where did you learn the common language?" Jesse asked.

"Stromgarde," Greed said.

"Why did you go to Stromgarde?" Jesse asked.

Greed said, "In the past, Stromgarde wanted us to send guards to patrol Thandol Span, to make sure the Dark Iron Tribe wouldn’t bother their farmers. It was about thirty to forty years ago. At that time, I wanted to ride a gryphon as soon as possible and gain some merits, so I volunteered to go. You know, back then in Aerie Peak… everyone thought humans were even less trustworthy than elves. If elves were seen as arrogant and selfish, humans were seen as cunning bandits. That’s how most people saw it in the beginning."

Jesse wasn’t surprised by these stereotypes and asked, "But why didn’t Stromgarde send their own troops to patrol there?"

"Because Thandol Span was built by us and the Bronzebeard dwarves," Greed explained. "Over a hundred years ago when the bridge wasn’t built yet, Stromgarde didn’t have to worry about the Dark Iron clan… back then, besides gryphons, nobody could cross the canyon that separated Khaz Modan and Arathi. So, Trollbane felt that we and the Bronzebeard should take responsibility for it."

Jesse suddenly realized, "No wonder you know so much about Stromgarde’s guards and their weapons."

"I didn’t stay there long, and all I did every day was stroll around the road from Strom City to Thandol Span, chatting with the soldiers and farmers there," Greed said. "At that time, my knowledge of the common language wasn’t as good as it is now. But after a few years of serving in defense there, our group of learners became messengers for communication with the outsiders below the mountain, especially during the Orc War."

At this point, Greed was surrounded by a group of dwarven guards wearing leather and chainmail armor, who seemed to have come from nowhere.

Jesse awkwardly stepped aside, watching as he got squeezed into the middle by the dwarves.

However, he noticed one dwarf grabbing Greed’s hand and asking him something. Greed shook him off unhappily and tried to walk away from them.

The dwarves seemed to not understand and kept asking, but Greed didn’t want to answer them anymore.

Jesse could probably tell that the other person was asking Greed about his illness.

After being pushed away by Greed, one of the dwarves saw Jesse and said, "Hello, Greed’s friend."

"Hello," Jesse quickly replied. He awkwardly greeted the dwarf in the Dwarven language, and the dwarf happily clapped his hands, saying, "For the Alliance of Lordaeron!"

Since they couldn’t understand each other, after a brief conversation, the dwarves let Jesse go. Jesse immediately caught up with Greed and ran into a hall carved out of a mountain cave.

"Your friends here seem a bit different from what you described earlier," Jesse said following him.

Greed walked quickly into the depths and asked, "How are they different?"

"They seem quite friendly towards you…" Jesse responded.

"Let’s not talk about it," Greed said with a stern face. "I need to go see the Sage and ask about the owner of this enchanted sword. To be honest, I don’t even want to attend tonight’s banquet, I just want to leave here as soon as possible."

"How about helping me practice the Mage Armor tonight? I feel like I still need more practice from last time…"

"Okay," Greed nodded and kept walking. Jesse rubbed his growling stomach, watching Greed’s back, and faintly sensed why he was unhappy.

The people here who know Greed all know about his injuries and pain.

So in a place full of Dwarf Wildhammers, his identity as a Dwarf Wildhammer naturally faded away, leaving only the label of "disabled veteran." Aerie Peak was like a "prison" built by a group of people who wanted to be kind and take care of him.

If outsiders mentioned his disability, he could curse back, hit back, make them pay the price. But here, he felt tied up, mouth sealed, unable to resist in any way.

Ultimately, Greed chose to escape, which was also a solution.