Chapter 220

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Chapter 220: The Night of Westbrook

After checking his potions, ink bottle, dried food, water pouch, bag, spell book, and a few sheets of paper, Jesse sat on the steps outside a small tavern near the gates of Stormwind. He wrapped himself in his cloak, held his magic wand, ate some dried fruit bought from the tavern, and played with the mare tied up by the stable, waiting for Greed to arrive.

Before long, a wobbly dwarf came around the corner. He was walking with a bag on his back, constantly tugging at his sleeves and belt, moving like a clumsy zombie.

Greed was wearing armor!

Although it wasn’t as heavy and sculpted as the armor worn by the dwarf warriors on the Draenor expedition, it could still be considered a kind of "plate armor," especially with layers of iron plates overlapping on the shoulders and arms.

When he reached Jesse, Greed grimaced and adjusted the padded jacket around his neck, saying, "What are you looking at? Haven’t seen someone in metal armor before? They say it’s easy to move in this armor, but why does it feel so cramped here? Are all Bronzebeard’s guys too small?"

Jesse replied, "Maybe you’re just not used to it yet?"

"That’s true, I haven’t worn such heavy armor many times." Greed shook his neck and said, "But it’s not too bad. I’ll probably get used to it as I walk."

"Did you buy this armor from the Dwarven District? How much did it cost?"

"I borrowed it," Greed said. "There’s no way I’d buy something expensive and not use it often. I thought I might face crossbows or something, and a small shield alone might not be appropriate."

After that, he picked up a hammer and tapped his shoulder twice, laughing, "Pretty fun."

"Besides this big item, what else did you bring?" Jesse asked.

"I brought two bottles of Healing Potion," Greed said. "Shield, food… nothing else really, no daggers or anything. Are you planning to go hunting or gathering herbs this time?"

Jesse said, "If we come across any herbs, we should definitely gather them. There are plenty of Peacebloom and Silverleaf in Elwynn Forest. We can’t just ignore them when we see them – as you said, every little bit helps."

Greed said, "But I didn’t bring that big bag."

"Taking down Hogger is still our top priority," Jesse said. "It’s possible that its hiding place might have supplies like food bags. That’s not a problem."

"Did you get the Shadow Protection Potion?" Greed asked. "Give me one bottle."

Jesse took out two bottles and handed one to Greed, saying, "Keep one as a backup."

Greed uncorked the bottle and sniffed it, saying, "This definitely isn’t made by you, Jesse Seso."

"Why?" Jesse asked.

"This platform is too high," he looked at Jesse and said, "Did you brew these potions from the Alchemy Room to compete with the Sages at Aerie Peak?"

Jesse said, "I have ways to get high-quality potions, so you don’t need to worry. I didn’t spend much money on them for sure."

Jesse was surprised. He knew Ursula was a skilled alchemist warlock, but he didn’t expect Greed to praise her so highly. He realized he should learn more from her in the future.

The two of them set off from the gates of Stormwind in a carriage. There was an issue with one of the horses along the way, which caused a delay. By the time they reached Westbrook Garrison, it was already dark.

As winter approached, Westbrook was quite cold. The nearby military camp appeared deserted and quiet.

By the flickering firelight, only a few soldiers in coats were sitting outside, lost in thought.

After dinner, Greed quickly fell asleep. Dwarves need plenty of rest to deal with the following day’s adventures, but Jesse couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

Walking up to the entrance of the Westbrook Watchtower, he noticed a bounty poster that looked similar to the ones in Stormwind.

In reality, he hadn’t carefully read what was written on that bounty poster yet.

The notice said that the leader of the Riverpaw Gnolls, who are causing trouble in the southern forest and Westfall area, poses a threat to the roads. It mentioned the size and height of this leader but did not reveal their name. A reward of 65 silver coins will be given to anyone who brings back a Gnoll head of a certain size.

The reward of 65 silver coins is now more than double what Ursula told him about Hogger three months ago. Greed mentioned that Varian did not raise the reward after the last team failed. He thought it was still just 30 silver coins.

This means the king had already raised the reward before, and by quite a large amount.

Jesse looked towards the dark forest in the south and wondered how many people had tried to kill Hogger.

At that moment, he noticed a man in leather pants and a thin coat sitting on the wall of the watchtower, staring at him.

"Interested, mage?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I’m the local sheriff. Do you need any help understanding something?"

Jesse asked, "I’m curious, how many mercenaries have tried to kill him in the past two months?"

"Three groups of people," the man said. "There have been many mercenary groups planning to enter these past few days. Two groups went in the day before yesterday, and maybe we can get more benefits. The news of the team that was heavily injured by Riverpaw clan has spread."

"Is Riverpaw clan very big now?" Jesse asked again.

The sheriff pointed to the river in the west, saying, "Compared to the part of Westfall, the size here is not very big. There are about thirty to forty in total, scattered in different parts of the southern forest. There may be fewer now, but what worries me is that they may be recruiting from other tribes."

He lowered his head and said, "You look different from the mercenaries yesterday. Let me tell you more."

"A month ago, our patrollers stopped a robbery targeting travelers, killed two Gnoll thugs, and found that one of them was a member of the Redridge tribe from the east. Its fur color is different from the other Riverpaw Gnolls. Gnolls may be foolish, but they are not beasts, sir. Do not underestimate the connections between their different tribes."

"If this continues, I am afraid we will experience another Gnoll war sooner or later, especially now that Stormwind has not fully recovered yet and can only rely on your mercenary groups. Our current forces are only enough to maintain the safety of the main road, and we cannot afford to fight a full-scale war with both sides of the Riverpaw clan in Redridge and Westfall. Imagine, with two to three hundred young men who have never seen an Orc before, fighting those beasts in the forest. It’s a nightmare! But if we ignore it, there will be deaths caused by Gnolls every few days, and the soldiers will have a breaking point one day."

Jesse said, "Killing that Hogger might just bring forth a new leader."

The sheriff smiled bitterly and said, "That’s indeed the case. But at least it will make the Riverpaw clan fight among themselves for a while, giving us a peaceful time, maybe a few months, or even years. After all these years since the Gnoll war, we encountered only one Hogger. You may not think it’s a solution, but for those soldiers, it’s already very difficult."

Jesse nodded, unsure of what to say.

The sheriff returned to the tavern and gave Jesse a simple map of the riverside forest with the Gnoll Campsite roughly marked on it. Jesse kept thinking about his earlier guess: is the mysterious Death Knight connected to these Gnolls? With that in mind, the simple bounty mission became a bit more complicated. But as long as he could defeat Hogger, things might become clearer.

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