Chapter 192 – A Way to Relieve Depression

The trip to the snowy mountains was calm enough to surprise Jace a little, probably because the Kingdom of Stormgarde had stationed a large number of troops here to stabilize its position here, and from the city of Otterland up to Dunhold Castle, as Grid had said before, there were guards and cavalrymen in red coats everywhere.

Looking down from the hill in the daytime, at intervals you could see the snow, and a discordant red color between the river valleys that would represent the barracks or posting station of the Kingdom of Stormgarde.

Following the path of the red-clad cavalry patrolling down the mountain in the early morning, arriving at the post on the bank of the Icewind River in the evening, and then traveling up the Icewind River for another three days or so, one would be able to see Castle Dunhold, the symbol of Lordaeron’s eastern border.

Castle Dunhold was so big that Jace couldn’t quite believe that it was even just a castle, and of course, Fenris Castle was generally considered by the Lordaeronians to be the grandest castle in the entire Kingdom of Lordaeron, except that Fenris Castle sat on top of the largest lake on the continent, Lake Lordaeron Mere, and that the Silver Pine Forest that covered the entire western shore and the massive Lordaeron King further down the road Both set it off like a child who wanted to leave his father’s embrace and rush into the meadow to the west.

Dunhold, on the other hand, was the only thing that stood out as a towering thing on the unseen inter-river land, and the mountains were all far away at the end of the range of vision, just a few hazy shadows, so that the whole castle looked like a mountain giant sitting alone and dozing among the streams.

The calm and wide Icewind River is the largest of several rivers in these plains, and it connects the second largest lake on this continent, Lake Daronmere, with the Gulf of Baradin, the central dividing line of the Lowlands. This place was called the Lowlands long ago, and corresponds to the far more extensive Alashee Highlands to the east than Hillsbrad, and over there is the territory of Stormgarde.

After the Lordaeronians took possession of Dunhold, they set it aside as East Hillsbrad, but the Highlanders insisted on calling it the Lowlands, or even going so far as to call it the Arach Lowlands, or the Arach Hills, and in any case have not been able to decide on a designation agreed upon by all until now.

But Dunhold’s soldiers called this river plain simply – “the one down there.”

Jace had grown up hearing his father speak of “the place down there”, and he had always assumed that the “down there” in his father’s words was Tirisfal, beyond the King’s City.

So when he heard his father say that the Red Cavalry of Arash had gone “down there” again, he thought that the Stormgarde of this timeline were preparing a surprise attack on the capital of Lordaeron.

The village below Dunhold Castle looked more lively than the city of Outram, and in the evening Jace and Grider walked into the inn, and all at once it was as if they were back in Southsea Town.

Humans of all colors with accents from all over the world sang winter songs of all tunes, and oddly costumed travelers like Jace and Griddie didn’t feel out of place in any of it.

Jace had no idea that there was a village half the size of Southsea Town below Dunhold, let alone that it was so bustling.

As soon as he entered the inn he looked back and forth curiously while asking, “Why are there so many people here, wasn’t there a fierce fight here during the war? Even if there are athletic competitions ……”

Grider leaned back in his chair and said, “With money everything changes fast, even the stars of Gulabash come to the exhibitions here, have you forgotten?”

“Ah, yes.” Jace said, “I wonder if that leopard is dead.”

Grider said with a little lip, “I’m afraid that panther hasn’t fought an orc before, and should be in for a rough ride.”

At that moment a female bartender approached the side and asked, “Can I get you two anything?”

Grid said, “A large glass of goat’s milk for each of us, the milk of the Ottoman goats, I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“What do you want?” Jess asked.

“What for.” Grider asked rhetorically.

“Why do you drink goat’s milk?”

“Because it’s good.”

“I mean why don’t you drink.”

“Because I don’t want to drink it now.”

“Well, you’ve been a little strange since you left the city of Otterland.” Jace said, “You can just tell me if you have any thoughts, don’t keep them to yourself.”

“I’m not you.” Grider said, “I don’t have any problem with that.”

“You don’t have any problems.” Jess sighed and said, “Forget it.”

“Then change it all to goat’s milk wine!” The dwarf yelled.

Jace glanced at him and didn’t want to say anything more, just spread his memorized mage armor spells and casting essentials on the table and continued to memorize them.

It didn’t take long for the table next to them to start talking about the arena.

Jace had heard in their discussion that there was a practice game to watch tonight, with a seventeen silver dollar admission fee, and the group was debating whether to pay to get in for a night or just go straight to the main event next week.

Listening to the men discuss Dunhold’s gladiatorial matches certainly tickled Jace’s mind.

For he knew what man was residing in it at this time, the great chief who would later rebuild the whole tribe.

But it was a bit of a bummer to think that now he was supposed to be a real brat, the kind that was several years younger than Alsatia.

After all, while in the King’s City, Jace had managed to meet Alsatia and Gianna, but those two were really just little kids in their early teens, and there wasn’t a lot of star-crossed satisfaction to be found in seeing it.

Alsace, while looking regal, is not at all connected to either the later young prince, the Death Knight of the Celestial Legion, or the Witch Demon King.

And Gianna was even more so, except for that light blonde hair that still had a little bit of that flavor to it, she totally looked like a schoolboy who hadn’t even started to grow yet.

He had perhaps crossed over a little too early, and the only hero he had seen since arriving in this world that could give him the feeling of being in the game seemed to be Aurelia Windrunner, though of course, Varian Urien and Kelsugard could be counted as a half-dozen. Considering again that there was a seventeen silver coin ticket to pay to enter, and it was still only a practice match, it wasn’t always possible to get in and see the people you really wanted to see.

Jace figured that the tribal great chief would still be in the most basic of training by now, and there was no way he could have risked an injury walking into the arena at that young of an age to do so.

The Grid in front of him took a sip of the fishy, sour tasting goat’s milk wine without saying a word, and Jace, feeling a little uncomfortable with the taste, just looked at him as he drank as well.

Eventually, though, he took the initiative to bring it up, “Hey, what do you say, should we go watch the game at the wall tonight?”

“What match?” The dwarf raised his eyes.

“Of course it’s a jousting match, what else could it be, but it’s just a practice match, so it might not be as exciting.”

“Good! It’s just as well I’m quite bored.”

Jace saw how interested Grid was and thought he could help soothe him.

“Then this is the way to go.” He said.

“Does it cost anything?” The dwarf asked.

“My treat!”

“Ha, yes!”