Chapter 57: Cursed

Rittank's eyes remained filled with vigilance.

"Are you from the Kingdom of Safro? How do you know these things? How do you even know more than we do?"

After speaking, Rittank looked toward Lurik and asked in a serious yet strange tone, "Yata, why... why would you trust a human so easily?"

To him, this was far too suspicious; everything this human displayed was highly questionable.

"Given this human's behavior, I might even suspect that this so-called plague curse is being manipulated by him from behind the scenes," Rittank said bluntly.

"Shut up. Gray Mountain does not treat friends this way."

But clearly, this dwarf named Rittank held a different status than dwarves like Getari.

Facing Lurik's words, he did not back down. Instead, he frowned and retorted stubbornly, "This matter is so grave! Why trust a human so readily? Everything you have experienced and seen along the way might just be actions he staged to gain your trust. It is all far too coincidental."

As he spoke, he pointed at Getari and said, "This idiot got captured by goblins while drunk, and just happened to be saved by this human. Then, he just happened to run into such a situation, and upon returning, just happened to encounter you in your helplessness and led you to this human. Furthermore, the human just happens to know so much. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? You have been deceived, Yata."

The argument between the two left Getari lost in thought beside them.

"It is indeed a coincidence, but I believe Karna is not an evil person."

"You believe him?" Rittank, looking for someone to vent his anger on, pointed at Getari and cursed, "You useless sack of meat! You were the one who got captured by goblins—what use is your belief?"

Getari's face turned red with rage, but for the moment, he could find no reason to argue back. The fact that he had been captured by goblins would be the most powerful weapon anyone could use against him.

"Those were no ordinary goblins. So many patients here have been afflicted by the curse used by that goblin horde. If it weren't for Getari, you wouldn't even know why you were cursed. There is no reason to use this to attack him," Karna said calmly from the side.

Hearing Karna chime in, Rittank shot him a hostile look. "Human, do not think you can deceive my eyes. I am a Warrior of the Mountains. All your schemes will be crushed into powder by the great boulders."

"Shut up, you short-tempered fool! How dare you be so disrespectful to His Highness the Prince!" Alireis exploded, drawing her sword and stepping in front of Karna.

Reddened veins had already begun to spread around her neck, and her eyes were beginning to glow with a bloody light.

The atmosphere instantly became tense. The group of diseased dwarves who had been surrounding them to listen to the argument began to search for weapons.

"Enough!"

*BOOM!*

A roar, carrying the thunderous weight of a storm, erupted.

Lightning crackled around Lurik as he slammed his polehammer—which was as tall as he was—into the ground. The sheer majesty of his lightning-clad presence caused all the dwarves to fall silent.

Karna also reached out to steady Alireis.

Bobot was clearly angry as well, glaring at the dwarf while muttering, "I must write about the Gray Mountain dwarves in my book. These dwarves actually treat someone who wants to help them like this."

As the scene quieted down, Lurik finally spoke: "I trust him. I will guarantee his friendship in the name of Gray Mountain."

Rittank shut his mouth, but his gaze remained hostile toward Karna, clearly still extremely wary of him.

But since Lurik had spoken, he could only nod. "The Will of the Mountains."

The other dwarves also bowed their heads and said, "The Will of the Mountains."

"Alright, get some rest. We are heading out first."

With that, Lurik led the group away, eventually arriving at the command room of the stone tower. This appeared to be Rittank's office.

In addition to Rittank, Lurik summoned several other dwarves. Picking up a mountain map, he said, "Aside from the Flattop Peak outpost, all four surrounding outposts have clansmen afflicted by the plague curse. And we climbed out of a pit only 100 meters away from this outpost last night—a tunnel leading directly from the goblin caves at the foot of the mountain to here. It is so close to the outpost, yet not a single person noticed!"

As he spoke, Lurik seemed to grow angry again; after all, 100 meters was practically right under their noses.

Rittank lowered his head and said, "It is my fault. The patrols I arranged all begin one league outside the watchtowers. I never imagined there would be a tunnel dug by enemies so close."

Karna watched him silently from the side, having likely deduced Rittank's general position. If nothing went wrong, he was in charge of all the dwarves in the northern part of the mountains.

He had just called himself a "Warrior of the Mountains," which was both a profession and a title of honor—the most valiant existence among warriors. His status was high, but the problem was that Karna did not know him.

For someone of such status, it was impossible for Karna not to know, be familiar with, or at least have heard of him in the game. It was normal for an ordinary dwarf like Getari not to have heard of him, given there were likely one or two thousand dwarves here. Even for a high-status dwarf like Lurik, although Karna didn't recognize him at first glance, he remembered his name after a few words.

But as for this Rittank, Karna had not recalled a single piece of information about him. This meant that at least after the start of the plot, this dwarf might no longer be around—there was a high probability he had been sacrificed.

The meeting continued.

"Now, I want you to thoroughly inspect the area around all the watchtowers and find every tunnel entrance leading down the mountain. I will go and summon more warriors. It is time to let these damned servants of the evil gods taste the Will of the Mountains."

All the dwarves nodded and took their orders before heading out.

Rittank gave Lurik one last look and said coldly, "May the mountains bless you. Beware of schemes and deceits."

Without waiting for an answer, he walked out. As he passed Karna, he shot him a glance and let out a huff.

They brushed past each other.

Lurik sighed and looked at Karna apologetically. "Forgive me, friend. Rittank is a Guardian, a Warrior of the Mountains. Please excuse his offense. He must remain sufficiently vigilant to protect Gray Mountain. I believe he will feel ashamed of his foolish words later."

Facing Lurik's apology, Karna did not mind. Instead, he said with a smile, "He might not feel ashamed of his words at all."

"What?"

Karna looked at his status bar.

[Status: Mark of Corruption]

[Mark of Corruption: You have been marked by a follower of the Corrupt Lord. When fighting followers of the Corrupt Lord, the mark may be triggered, resulting in the Plague Curse.]

This was interesting. No wonder this name was never heard of in the later stages of the story. No wonder this incident was hardly mentioned among the dwarven tribes.