Durin's Diary

Outside the gate.

Durin stood close by and could hear Old Yishu sigh as he watched the manor before him, strewn with flesh and blood.

He lit a cigarette with the fire handed over by a Dwarf soldier and then walked through the manor gate that seemed on the verge of collapsing.

The elderly butler, holding a shotgun, rushed over, "Master, you're back. These damned bandits are really courting death, daring to charge in and attack us."

Durin looked away guiltily, while Old Yishu glanced at the bodies scattered all over the manor, then at the tall, thin butler with his big gun and spotless tailcoat, "Yes, indeed, they are courting death."

Indeed, if Durin were in their shoes, he would think the same—look, of the nineteen who climbed the wall and entered the courtyard, aside from the eight with intact corpses, the rest died in more abstract ways, either missing a head or split at the waist, or missing most of their torso.

In short, Old Yishu glanced at his gardener's large-caliber shotgun, then at the butler's weapon, and again at the somewhat fragmented wall under the hail of bullets, finally turning his gaze to Durin, still carrying a Durin Model 13 prototype gun.

Who, after all, were the real culprits, and who were the victims?

"Everyone's alright; that's good." After confirming that no one was injured, Old Yishu thought for a moment and ordered his men to drag over a few captives who had been taken alive.

Previously, during the ambush on this merchant convoy, there happened to be an eighth-ring Magician among them, which had brought a small surprise to Old Yishu. But now, this Magician with his tongue sticking out long was waiting to be hung on the gallows at the town entrance, just like his hundreds of men.

It was said the entire town had fallen into the embarrassing situation of not having enough gallows, and they had to bring some more from the city.

Those who had previously been very tough in their talk collapsed immediately after seeing how miserably their companions died—especially when Old Yishu indicated that if they didn't speak up, they would die even more horribly than those on the ground.

Surely a real death is more intimidating than mere verbal threats, right?

At that moment, Durin came over and, after listening for a while, frowned, "Are they captives from the Slaver Squad?"

"I love clever boys like you." Old Yishu nodded with an affectionate laugh, "Yes, the Slaver Squad. They should belong to our old neighbor to the west. This time, we really caught them alive. I will inform the Church once we find out the mastermind behind this, and then we'll confront the mastermind."

Durin narrowed his eyes; Old Yishu was really taking things for granted. Standing by, watching as the captives were stubbornly unwilling to divulge their mastermind, their reason being consistent: their families were under control.

Old Yishu was infuriated; he was about to kill one to warn a hundred when Durin walked over.

Old Yishu turned his head towards Durin, signaling him with his eyes to step away.

But Durin didn't want to step away; regardless, the Slaver Squad had already exceeded his maximum tolerance for scoundrels, "Let me do it."

"You? How old are you?" His grandfather's eyes widened.

"How old are the children hurt by human traffickers on this land; my grandfather, do you think the devouring devils on this land would have a shred of kindness towards a child just because he's young?" Durin retorted.

The conversation between grandfather and grandson came to this, and Old Yishu's aloof face melted. He reached out and patted Durin on the shoulder, "You're right. Then go ahead and show me what you can do."

So Durin stood in front of the five captives, first smiling warmly, "Hello everyone, I am Durin, the grandson of Old Yishu, the owner of this manor. Your arrival was not on my visitor list, so unfortunately, I can only have you kneel like this."

After saying this, Durin turned his head to his gardener, "Mrs. Margaret, drag that wounded out here."

Mrs. Margaret was a Leopard from the orc species, with beautiful, close-fitting spotted fur and a fluffy big tail. She smiled and nodded, entered the manor, and then dragged out a wounded man under everyone's gaze.

"It's Duote!" One of the captives recognized the wounded man.

The gardener lady placed the man next to Durin, who pulled out a gun from his holster and pointed it at the wounded man, opening a hole in his head with a bullet.

The whole process was smooth and without a hint of hesitation.

When Durin fired his gun, at least half the crowd turned their gazes toward him, their expressions changing notably. Most of them were officers and members of the town's vigilante squad. Moments before, they had been casually smoking and watching the commotion in small groups, standing in a disorderly fashion. Now they all stood up straight and attentive.

"You little brats, in my last life, I killed more people than the goblins you've seen hanging from the gallows in your entire life."

After securing the safety on his gun and placing it back in its holster, Durin looked at the kneeling men and revealed a slight smile, "I kept him alive because I thought having a live one would let me know exactly who you are, so I saved him. But now that I have you, he's become unimportant. Do you know why? Because it would take at least half a month to heal lungs pierced by bullets using Divine Arts, costing a lot of money and requiring many treatments. In that half month, your boss might have already fled to the overseas colonies in the Human World, and hunting down his entire family then would be troublesome. So, none of us have the luxury of waiting, leaving me no choice but to make an example out of him for you."

After finishing his monologue, Durin turned his head toward Mrs. Margaret. This time, she had moved his small sofa over, so Durin sat down with a smile and then looked at the five captives, "I believe among the five of you, some would sacrifice for their families, but I also believe that some of you want to survive and stay with your families. The question now is, who wants to live and who wishes to die."

Some showed fear, some hesitated, and one even wet himself.

"You say your families are being controlled; can you see them?" Durin smiled—delivering a reality check to the five captives before offering a glimmer of hope.

At that moment, Hemo flew out from the house and landed on the armrest to the left of the chair, muttering. Durin raised his hand, and Hemo jumped onto his arm.

"Your Honor, the esteemed Caster, I can see my family," a middle-aged man identified Hemo as a magic pet and spoke eagerly.

"After each task, I'm blindfolded and ride in a carriage for about three hours to see my wife and children," a young man boldly yet cautiously shared his little secret.

"What else?" Durin prompted gently.

"Whenever I am with my family, I can smell the sea," an older man added. Looking at Durin with hope, he said, "My grandson tells me he eats fresh fish every day. The place must be near the sea."

"It must be north. I have a natural sensitivity. I can sense the direction we travel," another young man couldn't wait to demonstrate his unique ability.

Durin looked at Yishu, who then looked at the old butler. The butler and Mrs. Margaret then went inside the manor and brought out a decorative board with a map of the Western Lands on it.

"A three-hour carriage ride doesn't necessarily stick to main roads; they might take detours to create confusion, but within three hours, the area is much more restricted," Durin said, glancing at the map, "Anything else you would like to add? Think carefully, for instance, where you were when you boarded the carriage."

The five individuals named five different boarding locations, which made Yishu laugh, "No doubt about it, it's him. Our beloved Count Klein of Salik from the Northern Kingdom's Eastern Territory— all five towns are in his domain."

"Alright, I'm done with my questions," Durin said with a smile before slowly walking toward the five captives, examining the five humans, "You all did well, making your choice between life and death. You can survive. Now, please remember as much as you can about where your families are located. Think about the appearance of the villages or towns; if there were outsiders, consider their accents. If it's in the wilderness, try to remember if you could see mountains or the sea. The more details, the better, because we'll be sending people to find your families. In return, after we find your families, you will have to testify in court."

"The Salik family will hunt us down!" the first middle-aged man who spoke up said.

"We will provide you with a resettlement fee so you can move to another Human World country, or live incognito in our Eastern Territory. You'll start new lives. As for the Salik family, they won't be a problem for much longer," Yishu said, standing beside Durin, "You might not trust the words of a child, but you would trust mine, wouldn't you?"

The Duke's words left the five captives without further complaints.

Meanwhile, Durin took a couple of steps back and smiled, "Grandfather, I'm done."

"Good job, lad," Yishu said, patting Durin's shoulders with both hands in approval.

Perhaps just a moment ago, Yishu still saw his grandson as a somewhat naive young man, but now he viewed Durin as an outstanding grandson who could bring a joyful smile to his face.

A capable grandson is good, right, Yishu?

Thinking this, Durin responded with a cold undertone, "I just want to seek justice for those missing children. Every second of every day, someone dies. Why should it be children who die? Why should the innocent suffer? Why can't it be the villains and sinners, their families, their kin? Why can't it be their blood that stains the earth red?"

After speaking, Durin gestured for the soldiers to toss the man called Duote into the carriage used for carrying corpses.

Disappearance can sometimes be more cruel than death, for without life there is no sighting, and without death, no body. No one knows the horrors that each passing second might bring.

Surely everyone here understands this answer.

"Yes, child, to become the Duke of Lublin, you must protect all the innocents on this land. We hold blades just like they do, but we are ultimately different from them," Yishu said, then pointed to the five captives, "Arrange a clean cabin for them to stay, get paper and pen ready, and let them write down every detail they can recall. We will assist these five guests in finding their families."