Chapter 52 - Night Hunter
The dwarven city stretched before Rygar and his group like a living stone wall, the sound of forges and hammers striking metal echoing through the mountain. As the cart approached the city's entrance, one of the guards at the gate couldn't hold back his laughter and began laughing loudly. The other, wearing a sour expression, side-eyed his colleague and muttered something incomprehensible.
Rygar jumped down from the cart and approached the guards, curious about their reaction. The first guard, still struggling to stop laughing, finally spoke: "Thanks, Rygar! I earned myself a vacation because of you!"
Rygar frowned, completely confused. "Vacation? How?"
The grumpier guard crossed his arms and explained with a sigh: "We bet whether you'd come back alive or dead. Whoever lost had to cover the other's shifts for two months. Guess who lost?"
Rygar was initially shocked but then found it amusing. The grumpy guard glanced at Ghislaine and Eris sitting in the cart and asked, raising an eyebrow: "Hoh, who are the ladies? Friends of yours?"
"You could put it that way," Rygar replied with a crooked smile. "The swordswoman there is a Sword King."
The guard's eyes widened, and he practically choked. "WHAT?!"
"Yeah, she's a Sword King. But don't worry; she won't do anything suspicious. She ended up here by accident. They're coming with me. Oh, and hope you're not on duty tonight... there's a well-preserved dragon corpse in this cart, and I'm planning a grand feast. Whoever's on duty will miss out," Rygar added with a semi-serious tone, though a mischievous smile danced on his lips.
The laughing guard burst into even louder laughter. "I'm on duty tonight! But lucky for me, a good friend of mine will be covering for me! Hahaha!"
The grumpy guard huffed, clearly unamused by the situation.
Rygar laughed and, paying little attention to the sour guard, led the cart into the dwarven city.