When Laine led the army and bid farewell to Francois, returning to the Count Glamorgan’s domain, it was already winter.

The snow began to fall again, and Laine suddenly realized that he was almost thirty-two. He chuckled at himself, time indeed flies. When he set out from Nord, he was just twenty-four, a knight, and now he was nearly thirty-two, a count.

After returning to his territory, he disbanded the army, distributed pay and pensions, and everyone returned home to celebrate the Winter Festival. The casualty rate in Laine’s army this time was about 25%, which was barely acceptable, though it required some time to replenish and recover.

On a winter day, Laine invited Belgar to the winery as a guest. The two sat in the dining room drinking and chatting idly. Belgar held a beer mug and a plate of roasted lamb leg lay on the table, which he ate heartily.

"Oh-ho~ It’s snowing, I love snowy weather, so I can hide in my home and drink hot beer." Belgar stroked his white beard: "Laine, my brother, your territory is great in every way, except for one small thing."

"What’s not so good?" Laine thought, when do you ever stop drinking beer?

Dwarves have always drunk beer like it was water, a trait they share with the Free People in the city. The emerging Free People are no longer content with consuming the inferior Brittania Ale and black bread like peasants. Their daily fare is beer (Imperial produced) + whole wheat bread + vegetables + fruits.

Once some people rise to become Free People, their desire and ambition for further advancement grow. Now that Green Arrow Bertrand has been granted the title of lord, having the title of a knight will fan the fervor among these Free People for a long time. Laine also needs to think about how to properly guide this enthusiasm.

"It would be perfect if there were mountains in your territory, Laine, my brother. You must understand, many dwarves still can’t get used to living under the open sky; the sky is too high and too distant, and we all worry about falling into it," Belgar muttered. "You should be grateful that our Angland Clan is used to wandering, so living on the plains is somewhat acceptable, but many Long-bearded Ones from Karak Iron Peak Castle and Karaz-A-Karak are still not used to leaving the mountains."

"I see," Laine nodded, smiling as he said, "I hear dwarves here in the Gray Mountain Range are better adapted."

"Indeed, Rorrek the Granite Hand and the dwarves of Breeze Castle have long been in contact with humans, so they are quite used to going out to trade every day. Generally speaking, there are many Dwarf Clans with many differences, such as the Engineer Association in Rapids Castle being the most radical among all the Dwarf Engineers, or how Iron Peak Castle and Horn Castle still refuse to adopt firearms," Belgar continued: "And then there’s Supreme King Solgreen the Vengeful, that old stubborn."

"But I remember you said that old stubborn once helped you wholeheartedly during your second attack on the Eight Peaks Mountain." Laine said with a smile.

"...I admit, I did wrong in that matter," Belgar suddenly blushed, a bit sheepish as he said: "At the time, I sought help from Solgreen to reclaim the Eight Peaks Mountain. Solgreen initially agreed to my request, and he sent ten thousand Dwarf Army to help me."

"Ten thousand..." Laine swallowed.

Don’t underestimate ten thousand dwarves; for them, it is already a substantial army.

Back when he was serving as the White Wolf Knight in White Wolf City, he heard the dwarves there say that the entire Dwarf Clan’s current population was less than six hundred thousand, with the Dwarf Capital at Eternal Peak, Karaz-A-Karak, having about eleven or twelve thousand under Supreme King Solgreen’s reign.

After the Great Holy War ended, the previous Dwarf Supreme King abdicated, and the new Supreme King Solgreen, encouraged population growth vigorously and established very good relations with humans, leading to prosperous trade and recuperation at Eternal Peak.

A hundred and sixty years have passed, and in this lengthy period, humans could multiply their population six or sevenfold, if not more, and as for the dwarves? 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Eternal Peak now has about fifteen or sixteen thousand dwarves.

"Ah, ten thousand. We formed the Alliance Army and launched the second attack on the Eight Peaks Mountain. Originally, Solgreen arranged to lure the enemy, and I would attack the main castle of the Eight Peaks Mountain... In truth, that was what happened, but the problem was... Solgreen encountered Scasnik’s main army, while I was facing some of Scasnik’s subordinate tribes." Belgar recalled this with a rare blush on his old face: "I quickly received Solgreen’s signal for help... but I thought I could conquer the main castle..."

Whoa, whoa, whoa! So you borrowed a massive reinforcement from the Supreme King, who even acted as the bait for you, yet when Belgar saw hope in capturing the main castle, he actually sold out the Supreme King and his army?!

Laine’s facial muscles twitched a little.

"After a day and night of fierce fighting, I finally captured the main castle of the Eight Peaks Mountain, destroyed the green skins’ attacks and statues, but Solgreen could no longer hold on and had to retreat. I immediately realized that neither I nor my army had the ability to withstand Scasnik’s return, so I could only hastily bury the corpses of the clansmen and warriors and retreat before the whole army was wiped out." Belgar’s face was full of shame: "This was the closest I came to reclaiming the Eight Peaks Mountain. After the retreat, the furious Solgreen cut off the food supply to our clan and cursed me for being faithless and treacherous, and he wouldn’t support me with a single soldier again, it was I who messed things up."