Two days later, Lux and his friends arrived at the Wolfpine Barony, where they were tasked to help with the investigation of the cause of the drought, which Nevreal believed was an unnatural one.
On their journey, Lux and Keane received suspicious stares from the Dwarves they met on the way.
Since Lux was wearing the Mask of Thousand Faces, he looked like a chubby Human teenager. As for Keane, he was simply Human, which was quite rare within the Dwarven Kingdom of Gweliven.
In the Dwarves' eyes, Lux and Keane were like rare creatures that they were seeing for the first time. This was also why, on their way to the Wolfpine Barony, the patrolling guards of villages and towns they had to pass through would stop them almost every time.
Fortunately, Thoram and Keelan had given them letters of identification, similar to passports, allowing them to pass through the territories along the way.
To the Half-Elf's surprise, none of the Dwarves thought that the talking Boar that was traveling with them was strange. It seemed that for the Dwarves, a talking Boar was more normal than two Humans on a sight-seeing tour within the Kingdom of Gweliven.
"We finally arrived," Cai said as it looked at a city from atop a cliff. "That's the Wolfpine Barony, right?"
Lux nodded. "Yes."
"It's a lot worse than I expected," Keane commented.
Cai and Lux both agreed with Keane's statement. When they neared the Barony, the ground was so dry that cracks could be seen everywhere.
It was as if they were looking at a vast expanse of wasteland. Clearly, none of them believed that anybody would be able to live in such conditions.
According to Nevreal, the Wolfpine Barony used to be a very beautiful place. It was a city that had many rivers, ponds, and lush greenery. But now, all of those had dried up.
"Let's go," Lux said as he urged Jed to run towards their destination. "Let's get to the bottom of this."
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the entrance of the walled city. Just as they expected, all of them were stopped at the entrance by the City Guards, who found them suspicious.
However, after seeing the recommendation letter and knowing that they, the Humans, had come to investigate the source of the drought, the Dwarves reluctantly allowed them to pass through the gate to meet with their Baron.
"What can these Humans do?" one of the Dwarf Guards asked as they looked at Lux from atop the city ramparts. "The Mages from the Capital have already come here and conducted an investigation, yet none of them found anything suspicious and declared this drought to be a natural phenomenon."
"Just let them do what they came here to do," another Guard commented. "We won't lose anything by having people investigate. Who knows? These Humans might be able to do something that our Mages weren't able to accomplish."
"Do you really think that's possible? Those are royal court Magicians. If they can't do anything about this drought, no one can."
"Well, the moment those Mages weren't able to do anything about this drought, I stopped thinking of them as a big deal."
"Shhh... did you forget that they left four of those Mages here to constantly replenish our water supply with Water Magic? Be more cautious about what you say."
"You have a point. It will not happen again."
Lux, who had a good sense of hearing, was able to hear the conversation of the guards on the ramparts.
'I see, that is smart,' Lux thought. 'Replenishing the water supply with the help of four magicians is good. Now I understand why they have been able to survive this long.'
Due to the current lack of water, each family was given a quota of water that they could use everyday. They would line up every morning carrying wooden buckets, while the Royal Mages filled the fountain in the plaza with water, allowing the Dwarves to take a few buckets back home.
This was not a long-term solution for the problem, but it was enough to allow those who chose to stay in the Barony to survive until the Mages returned to the capital city to resume their duties.
After entering the city, the three didn't go straight to the Baron's residence, but instead, went to the Adventurer Guild first.
Keelan had asked Lux to pass a letter to his acquaintance in the Wolfpine Barony. The Dwarf told the Half-Elf that it would make things easier for the latter's group to gain the support of the Adventurer's Guild since they knew more about the surrounding territories than they did.
"So, your names are Lucien, Keane, and Cai. Well then, since Keelan sent you guys, I guess you're capable enough to not die here, right?"
Lux, Keane, and Cai, looked up at the Bearkin that towered above them.
"I'm sure that Keelan had already mentioned my name to you guys, but allow me to introduce myself formally," the Bearkin said with a smile. "My name is Pan De Monium. Since it is a mouthful, just call me Boss."
"Okay, Boss," Cai replied. "Boss, can you tell us what happened here? Even rumors are fine too."
"Hah! Feeling chummy with me from the get go?" Boss gave Cai a thumbs up. "I like! Okay everyone, please sit. This will be a long story."
Perhaps due to the fact that he barely had anything to do, especially since most of the adventurers had left the Barony to go to more prosperous locations, the Bearkin happily engaged Lux and his friends in conversation.
"Actually, before this drought started, there was an incident in the city that I think is related to the current dilemma we are facing," Boss said with a serious expression on his face. "It was said that a pregnant Dwarf came to the city to look for the Baron's second son to ask him to take responsibility for getting her pregnant. The Baron's son denied it and even accused the lady that she was just spouting nonsense.
"When the pregnant lady was forcefully dragged away from the property, she had a miscarriage which caused quite a stir in the city back then. The next day, the lady went to the plaza to make a declaration. She said that since the Baron's son killed her child, she would make sure that this Barony would cease to exist.
"After that, no one saw her again. Some say that the Baron's son hired mercenaries to kill her, while others said that she was last seen in the Dark Plains, directly North from here. That place is said to be a cursed land, and everyone who had gone there never returned again. I don't know whether these rumors were true, but the lady losing her child was a fact, and her cursing this Barony was real as well."
Cai, who was listening to the story, ground its teeth in irritation.
"What a scum," Cai scoffed. "I don't feel like helping this Barony anymore. Come, Let's go back to Leaf Village."
Lux was tempted to say yes to Cai's declaration, but he had a job to do, so he coaxed the angry Boar to wait until the Bearkin finished his story.
Clearly, this story was still not finished, so he wanted to know everything before he made a decision.
