This Lich is a Better Landlord

Chapter 131: The Desperate Hoffman Ironfist

Upon the ruins of the City of Alchemy, a brand-new palace was rising at an inconceivable speed.

The Desert Dwarves were simply too adept at construction. This palace appeared to be hewn entirely from solid rock, but in reality, it was created through magic. The control Desert Dwarf mages exerted over rock and sand was absolutely top-tier on the continent. In just two or three days, they had completed the overall structure of the palace, perfectly balancing durability with artistic flair.

Hoffman Ironfist stood nearby, watching the palace transform day by day. He spoke to Heggie Stone beside him, "It's a pity. The time is too short. If we had another half a year, this place would be perfect for a new royal palace."

Heggie Stone replied, "It's not necessarily impossible. The Elves' war this time doesn't look normal; it's not like they lack land. Maybe after this peace talk, the territory of the City of Alchemy will belong to the Dwarves."

Hoffman Ironfist complained, "You said before that there was something fishy about the Elves deploying their troops, mostly based on information from that friend of yours. But you refuse to say exactly why."

Heggie Stone hurriedly explained, "It's not that I'm intentionally hiding it; he didn't tell me either! Old friend, that kid knows I'm with you, so he keeps his lips sealed tight around me. But he did say he would try his best to ensure the Dwarves get what they want and end this war as soon as possible."

"He said it, and you believed it?" Hoffman Ironfist retorted.

Heggie Stone hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think he is trustworthy."

Hoffman Ironfist fell silent for a moment, then a relieved smile appeared on his face. He continued to Heggie, "Since you believe him, I won't doubt him. However, old friend, you still need to remind him: if he wants to be a good middleman, he must first eliminate the unstable factors. He needs to resolve the matter of the Hell faith quickly. Otherwise, if a second ambush occurs—whether the Elves suffer or we Dwarves suffer—who will take the blame?"

Hoffman Ironfist's words made Heggie Stone feel a bit ashamed. He had been careless before and forgot to remind Ambrose about this, otherwise, the Elves might not have been ambushed.

"Don't worry, I've already told him. And he has seen the trouble caused by the Hell faith; he will definitely handle it well."

Hoffman Ironfist patted Heggie Stone's shoulder and said, "Good, then I'll go back first. I need to report to His Majesty."

"Go ahead. When the new royal city is built, we'll have a drink."

After bidding farewell to his old friend, Hoffman Ironfist walked into the newly built palace.

A secret room had long been prepared here, suitable for long-distance communication.

Hoffman Ironfist entered, first activating a barrier to shield all external interference, and then activating the communication magic circle inside.

Before long, an aged and withered face appeared above the magic circle.

Hoffman Ironfist knelt respectfully before the Dwarf King, reporting, "Your Majesty, the date for the negotiations has been rescheduled. It will be in two days."

The Dwarf King seemed to struggle even to open his eyes, speaking weakly, "The Elves are completely fine? They resumed negotiations so quickly?"

Hoffman Ironfist replied, "Yes. Although the Elves were indeed ambushed, they were saved by that Lich. We underestimated the Lich's strength; he is not the weakest Legend as the rumors suggest."

"Useless trash," the Dwarf King cursed viciously. The agitation caused him to cough violently, and it took a long while for him to catch his breath.

"Hoffman, you can't even handle such a small matter. Did you become a cripple after losing an arm? You intend to negotiate with those Elves like this? What capital do we have left to negotiate with?! Once the Death Line fails to stop the Ryan Empire, if we haven't secured everything in the City of Alchemy, our kingdom will be destroyed! Trash! It is you who ruined the kingdom!"

The Dwarf King grew more and more agitated, his coughing becoming more severe until he finally coughed up blood.

Hoffman Ironfist dared not speak; he could only kneel respectfully, lowering his head.

After a long time, the Dwarf King seemed to have finally exhausted all his strength and could no longer curse. He could only wave his hand and say, "The future of the Dwarves... is in your hands... think clearly... yourself..."

The communication cut off, but Hoffman Ironfist did not stand up. He simply remained quietly in his kneeling, bowed posture.

By doing so, no one could see the expression on his face, twisted with rage.

Even inside this completely sealed room, he maintained the utmost caution. Only when his emotions had settled back down did Hoffman Ironfist stand up.

To outsiders, Hoffman Ironfist was a Dwarven hero, the King's most trusted minister.

But only he knew that the current Dwarf King was a violent, irritable, and irresponsible tyrant.

The invasion by the Ryan Empire was at least half the King's fault.

Originally, the Ryan Empire had no interest in the Desert Kingdom. Everyone knew this place survived on grave robbing; the vast desert was a death zone. Conquering these lands offered no benefit to the Ryan Empire.

Many years ago, the two countries only had minor friction at the border.

After all, the Ryan Empire followed a policy of human supremacy. Dwarves didn't count as humans, and Desert Dwarves didn't exactly have good tempers—otherwise, people wouldn't say Dwarves popped out of stones, stubborn and smelly.

Contact between such parties was naturally unpleasant, but back then, it was limited to border trade disputes where one side cheated the other—nothing major.

That was until a Desert Dwarf went to the Dwarf King, complaining that his goods had been seized by the Ryan Empire. This merchant was a relative of the Dwarf King. Without conducting any investigation, the Dwarf King, in a fit of rage, ordered the army to attack.

In the surprise attack, a border outpost of the Ryan Empire was breached. Many humans were captured, and lives were lost.

Once the army invaded, the nature of the conflict changed completely.

From that day on, the Ryan Empire formally declared war on the Desert Dwarves.

Hoffman Ironfist had felt something was fishy from the start. Although the humans of the Ryan Empire were extremely proud and wouldn't look an outsider in the eye, they worshiped the Morning Lord. They might discriminate against outsiders, but they wouldn't violate their own established rules just for the sake of discrimination.

Goods innocently seized?

If this happened elsewhere, it might not be an issue, but occurring within the Ryan Empire, the situation was highly irrational.

Most Ryan citizens valued their religious doctrine more than their lives. A mere shipment of goods wasn't worth violating the teachings of the Morning Lord.

But at that time, Hoffman Ironfist was just a lowly soldier and lacked the ability to investigate.

Then came the formal war between the two nations. At first, the Dwarves relied on the terrain to teach the Ryan humans quite a few lessons, repelling their attacks multiple times. The Dwarf King was smug, feeling his decision was correct—after all, the Ryan humans couldn't beat the Dwarves. The so-called Paladin Legion was just a bunch of useless tin cans in the desert.

During that time, the entire Dwarf Kingdom was in high spirits. Even the Ryan Empire had lost; the Desert Dwarves were truly invincible.

But the good times didn't last long. The Ryan Empire abandoned its previous surprise attack plans and chose a slow and steady approach.

When a group of Paladins decided their goal was righteous, they seemed unstoppable.

Desert Dwarf cities began to fall one after another. The Dwarven Iron Guard couldn't stop the Paladin Legion; even the desert itself could not protect these children of the yellow sand.

It was also from that time that the Dwarf Kingdom changed its policy and began to absorb alien immigrants on a large scale. These other races were quite happy to hear they were fighting Ryan and eagerly joined, boosting the Dwarf Kingdom's combat power significantly—at least they weren't short on cannon fodder.

However, doing so was merely drinking poison to quench thirst.

The open policy lasted for a hundred years, and the Desert Dwarves merely went from losing a city every three years to losing one every ten. The trouble brought by the mixed habitation of various races didn't stop there. They provided cannon fodder for the Desert Dwarves, but also brought an extremely unstable situation.

Different races, different cultures, dietary habits, customs, and taboos—the appearance of these immigrants encroached upon the Dwarves' living space.

If not for the external enemy of Ryan constantly applying pressure, this kingdom would have collapsed into civil war long ago.

It was in this chaotic era that Hoffman Ironfist distinguished himself on the battlefield, slowly rising from a soldier to a general, and finally becoming the Hand of the King, equivalent to the Prime Minister of the nation.

It was a pity that by the time Hoffman Ironfist had the power to investigate the truth of the past, it was already too late.

The Dwarf Kingdom was already in a precarious position.

The Ryan Empire's border continued to expand until they could establish a new province within the desert region. New Paladin Legions trained in the desert; given another twenty or thirty years, these Paladins would be more adapted to the desert environment than the Dwarves.

Only at this point did the Dwarf King finally admit his mistake.

He sent Hoffman Ironfist to sue for peace with the Ryan Empire. Paying reparations was acceptable; even ceding the lost territories to Ryan was on the table. But the Ryan Empire only produced a list. On it were the casualties caused during the Dwarves' first invasion.

Hoffman Ironfist remembered it clearly. After the Ryan Empire's envoy finished reading the names, he introduced himself, "My grandfather was a survivor of that time. His family and one of his arms were left at that outpost."

Hearing this, Hoffman Ironfist understood that the Ryan Empire would never accept peace talks. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent a young man bearing a grudge etched in bone to be the envoy.

Hoffman Ironfist felt the Ryan Empire was too extreme. In the years of war, the Dwarf Kingdom had paid with ten times, a hundred times the number of lives. Yet in Ryan's eyes, this didn't seem enough to make up for the initial harm.

Anyone who dared to invade Ryan and kill Ryan citizens would likely face the annihilation of their nation. This was the extreme humanism of the Ryan Empire.

But precisely because of this extremism, the Ryan Empire was incredibly united internally. The war was hugely expensive, yet the Ryan people only applauded this national war, wishing they could donate everything in their homes to the cause.

After visiting the Ryan Empire, Hoffman Ironfist realized this war was unwinnable. How could you fight against hundreds of millions of Ryan people? Their united power was enough to make even gods retreat.

Returning with this news, Hoffman Ironfist received only humiliation from the Dwarf King.

*Trash!*

This was the Dwarf King's favorite phrase. At the slightest displeasure, he would roar and angrily blame everything around him.

Fortunately, years of defeat had left the Dwarf King physically and mentally exhausted. Recently, he barely had the strength to curse.

But the old man showed no sign of restraint. The attack on the Elves was actually the Dwarf King's idea.

The City of Alchemy was the Desert Dwarves' last chance. The Dwarf King, red-eyed with greed, wanted the entire territory of the City of Alchemy. Hoffman Ironfist had analyzed from various signs that the Elves must have internal problems to launch such an abnormal war.

The Dwarf King began to fantasize about the total defeat of the Elf race. He not only wanted to swallow the City of Alchemy but also make the Silvermoon High Court pay the price to cover the losses of the great Dwarven retreat.

Hoffman Ironfist thought the Dwarf King had gone mad. Just splitting the City of Alchemy peacefully would have been fine. Although not quite enough for the Dwarf Kingdom, it would at least give them room to breathe. Did he really have to offend the Elves too? That would be cutting off their own retreat.

However, he was only the Hand of the King, not the King himself. Of the Dwarven Iron Guard around Hoffman Ironfist, only one-third were completely loyal to him; the others obeyed only the King's orders.

Hoffman Ironfist had to act according to the King's commands.

Because Ambrose treated the Dwarves as partners while considering the Elves his hypothetical enemy, he naturally leaked more information to his allies. Thus, Hoffman Ironfist easily learned the Elves' route.

Then, Hoffman Ironfist passed the Elves' intelligence to the Hell cultists.

The Cerberus Family didn't want the peace talks to go smoothly; chaos was their stage. So they hit it off with Hoffman Ironfist, leading to that precise ambush. They just hadn't expected Ambrose to intervene or for him to display such terrifying power. The Hell army was routed before they could even use the measures prepared against Catherine.

As for Hoffman Ironfist trying to incite Ambrose against the Hell cultists through Heggie Stone, it was actually to clear his name in advance. That way, he could claim Ambrose attacked the Hell cultists first, triggering their backlash, which led to the ambush on the Elves.

Who could have guessed that Heggie Stone would completely forget about it, nearly causing Hoffman Ironfist to expose his flaw?

Now the Dwarf King was forcing Hoffman Ironfist to continue targeting the Elves. Although unwilling, Hoffman Ironfist had no choice but to contact the Cerberus Family again.

The light of the magic circle lit up once more; this was the communication beacon used previously with the Cerberus Family.

But this time, the person appearing in the magic circle wasn't from the Cerberus Family, but a hideous Half-Dragon.

*What kind of monster is this? Did the Cerberus Family create a Hell creature?*

Before Hoffman Ironfist could ask, the Half-Dragon spoke first, "You are the Desert Dwarf? You're here to find someone to deal with the Elves again, right?"