Lord of the Oasis

They crawled forward slowly for about 200 meters. Just when everyone was about to be exhausted beyond belief, a fresh air current welcomed them.

"We're here." Abel said in surprise.

Abel jumped out of the tunnel and stepped on the ground again.

The soldiers followed him out of the tunnel one by one.

Claremont looked at the house built by the dwarves around him, and a strange feeling rose in his heart.

"It seems that since we came here last time, no one has come here again. Nothing has changed here." Abel said.

"I feel that there is something strange here." Claremont said hesitantly.

"What?" Devitt and Abel looked at him and asked.

"I have a feeling... these buildings aren't built for people to live in." Claremont said, pointing at the buildings in the volcano.

"I don't understand." Abel shook his head in confusion and said, "If they aren't built for people to live in, are they still built for people to see?"

"Yes!" After hearing Abel's words, Claremont slapped his head and shouted, "They are built for people to see."

Looking at the two people in front of him who still had an incomprehensible expression on their faces, Claremont slowly opened his mouth to explain, "These buildings, whether it's from the circulation of air or the layout of the rooms, are all very illogical. It can be said that they're even worse than the drawings that a beginner in architecture can draw."

"In other words, no one would live in such a house. Moreover, these houses were deliberately built to confuse the people who entered here." Devitt concluded.

"From the craftsmanship of the decoration, although there are many hasty traces, we can still see that it was built by the dwarf craftsmen." Claremont walked closer to a house and observed it carefully.

"If this is the work of the dwarf craftsmen, then who are they guarding against?" Abel asked.

"We have no way of knowing this, but we can be sure that we have found the wrong place." Claremont said. "Where is the evidence left by the gnomes that you mentioned before?"

Abel was reminded by Claremont and quickly led the group to the place where they found the gnomes' weapons.

However, there was nothing there.

"How?" Abel was puzzled.

"It seems that they have been taken away." Claremont said. "Let's not worry about this for now. We need to find the true residence of the dwarf craftsmen in these few hours. There isn't much time left."

"How do we search?" Devitt asked.

"Since the dwarf craftsmen built such a defensive line, they must be observing nearby. Otherwise, how could they have noticed an outsider's invasion at the first moment?" Claremont thought for a moment and stated.

"Alright. Then we'll search this area in the form of a small team. Don't miss a single inch." Devitt commanded.

"Yes!" the soldiers immediately followed the order, and the ten teams moved in different directions.

"I didn't expect the space inside the volcano to be so spacious. Fortunately, we brought enough people." Claremont rejoiced.

"Yes." Abel nodded and said, "Thanks to you this time, we didn't spend too much time in the maze set up by the dwarven craftsmen. I didn't expect you know a lot of architecture knowldedge."

"Of course." Claremont smiled. "How many times have I told you that the books I read are very useful?"

"Claremont's speculation has basically been proven to be correct." Devitt frowned and said, "But don't you think that the style of setting up such a maze is a little contrary to the personality of the dwarven craftsmen?"

"In that case... it is indeed a little strange." Abel nodded. When the dwarf race built the harbor for Cumberland, Abel had been there a few times. He had also met the dwarven craftsmen a few times.

What he felt from every dwarven craftsman he saw was passion for architecture, pride in their own talent, and the innocence of children.

They couldn't imagine that they would be able to design such a trap.

"Don't think about it. Let's hurry up and help look for them." Claremont said as he looked at the two of them who were unhappy.

The group of people had been busy in the volcano for half an hour, but they hadn't found any clues about the midgets.

Just as everyone was feeling dejected, a clear child's voice rang in their ears.

"Who are you?"

The voice echoed in the empty space.

"We are soldiers sent by the humans and elves. We only heard that the dwarfs had disappeared. We are here to find them." Abel replied loudly.

There were only chaotic shouts in response.

"Wait." After a while, the same voice sounded again.

Abel let the soldiers lean against each other, waiting for the owner of the voice to appear.

After a while, footsteps came from behind them. A little dwarf girl appeared out of nowhere and ran happily to the front of the reconnaissance team.

"Did you bring food?" the little girl asked with a smile.

"Food?" Devitt was stunned by the sudden question. He pointed in the direction of the tunnel and answered, "Our food is outside."

"You didn't bring it to us?" The little girl's smiling face fell. "Then why are you here?"

"We heard that the dwarfs are missing..." Abel walked up and answered.

"Missing? We've been here all this time. We're fine!" the little girl was puzzled. "Klidoff said he would bring us food. Why hasn't he come after three days?"

"Who's Klidoff?" Claremont asked.

"The person in charge of this island." the little girl answered, "Since you don't have any food, please go out. Don't disturb the rest of the dwarves."

"The dwarf craftsman was in charge of the port projects of the Caradia Empire and the Elf Kingdom." Devitt said, "The Elf Kingdom sent a letter to the Dwarf Kingdom before. Did you receive it?"

"A letter? Klidoff will bring all the letters sent to the island to us. None of them came from the Elf Kingdom." the little girl thought for a moment and said, "You must have remembered it wrong."

"How is that possible..." Abel was about to explain, but Claremont interrupted him. Claremont noticed the crux of the matter. "Why is Klidoff who does all the work for you guys, won't you guys walk out of here?"

"No." the little girl replied. "It's the time for the dwarves to rest. Other than receiving requests from other countries, we won't walk out of our own estate. Speaking of which, it's been a while since we received a request..."

Devitt and Claremont looked at each other, and they already knew what exactly happened.