Bright and early in the morning, the group resumed their journey to the Kuji village.
Much to Charlotte's dismay, the little kid still selfishly hopped onto Tang Yue's back and leisurely enjoyed the cool and refreshing walk as if he is on a picnic trip.
"We are dropping him off at the village, right?" She gritted her teeth and muttered.
Tang Yue casually nodded and chuckled. She didn't know why the two hated each other so much in this short period of time.
She just assumed that Charlotte was not a very kid-loving and kid-friendly person.
Some people just didn't like small kids and their impulsive nature. There was nothing surprising about that.
Since they had covered quite a bit of distance the previous day itself, it didn't take too long for them to reach the Kuji village outskirts.
As soon as they neared the border, Tang Yue and the group could immediately see several carriages and tents set up in the forest grounds.
They also saw a bunch of dwarves, leisurely sitting around and chatting.
Their lunch, what looked like a huge forest bear, was being slowly grilled in the center.
"I guess this is it." Tang Yue subconsciously gripped her fingers and silently walked over to the group.
"Good luck," Charlotte whispered.
The jade slip that contained the details of Tang Yue's new identity had mentioned that her character was somewhat timid, shy, and not very outspoken.
So that helped her quite a bit to blend in without raising any doubts.
Tang Yue walked in quietly and sat down on the forest ground in a corner of the group.
Charlotte, little blue, and the kid as well, silently sat down behind her.
Nobody even paid any attention to them and continued minding their own business.
This was not good, because Tang Yue needed someone to come and talk to her.
She might have the most perfect flawless disguise on, but she had absolutely no idea about how anyone looked.
Her new name was Yana and she had a friend called Zinya.
If only she could meet with this friend and chat with her for a bit, then she could have a better idea about things in general.
Tang Yue calmed herself down and looked around.
The dwarves in general looked very intimidating or maybe she felt so because of her nervousness.
However, unlike the elves, this group of people was not that rich, for lack of a better word to describe.
The elves usually had the habit of wearing and showcasing their finest jewelry and their luxurious robes every chance they got, but these people seemed more down to earth.
Their outfits were rather rugged and practical and didn't have any unnecessary extravagance. Even the women wore simple robes and no jewelry whatsoever.
This coupled with the fact that these dwarves were uncomfortably camping outdoors like this instead of residing in the village inn, told Tang Yue volumes about their financial status.
But the weird part was… she was the chieftain's daughter.
And since they hadn't paid any attention to her, she was also pretty sure that these dwarves around her also had high social status.
So if their financial condition was this low, was the dwarven empire riddled with poverty? Tang Yue pondered.
She was all too familiar with sort of a situation in her own home, the land of the serpents. So Tang Yue could deduce their condition to a certain extent.
But then again, this might be the dwarven culture. They could simply be very modest and down to earth.
Tang Yue didn't want to rush to any conclusions. So she calmly observed.
She needed to observe every tiny bit of detail so as to not get caught in the next couple of months.
Apart from their clothing style and their dressing sense, Tang Yue also looked at their weapons, mounts and the servants walking around.
She couldn't get a comprehensive idea about the general state of their weaponry and their armors since most of them had packed these things inside.
But she could definitely identify at least a couple of swords as rare-grade quality.
Apart from the weapons, the mounts were also quite noteworthy.
There were several strong mid-grade mounts, though none of them had the ability to fly.
That made sense because if the mount could fly those dwarves wouldn't be traveling with this group to the dwarven empire by foot.
The slaves and servants were also only the typical spirit beast type or their hybrid type.
There were some orc servants manning the carriages, but other than that nothing was uncommon.
Tang Yue sighed in relief.
For the time being, she could at least confirm that Charlotte's identity wouldn't get both of them in trouble.
Tang Yue silently looked around for a few more minutes when a sharp-looking young dwarf walked over to her with a big grin on his face.
"I see that you are back, Yana?" He chuckled.
Tang Yue meekly nodded and didn't speak much.
"Oh, you bought some slaves?" The dwarf's eyes circled Charlotte and gazed at her with amusement.
"Weren't you just being high and mighty last month, lecturing someone about the slavery system and how unfair it was? What changed now?" The young man chuckled with a hint of ridicule in his tone.
"That's none of your business." Tang Yue answered curtly.
"He He." The young man chuckled. "You don't have to get so defensive."
"Come on, I am your fiance, aren't I? You should be freer with me!"
"In the future, I will buy a lot of slaves for you. You don't have to do any work at all. Ha Ha."
The dwarf smiled and reached his hand to pat her in the back.
Tang Yue reflexively avoided his hand and revealed an annoyed expression.
Just based on his boastful talk and arrogant behavior, she just instinctively knew that the real Yana also probably didn't like this guy.
Barton's face slightly changed, but he quickly resumed his previous smiling facade. "You are still as feisty as ever." He chuckled.
"Did you gain anything in the labyrinth?" He asked.