Chapter 140: The Dalaran Mage.

Just like in the town, the tavern is also overcrowded. Jess and Gerred can't even find a place to sit at the bar. They can only lean against the wall by the window, holding their glasses and drinking. Forget about eating. They can just hold a baguette each and eat. Strictly speaking, this should be considered a "Loradin baguette".

"Earlier you mentioned Orgrim Doomhammer?" Gerred tore off a piece of bread and chewed it as he said, "Orgrim is the great chieftain of the orcs, right?"

"That's the Orgrim." Jess said.

The dwarf smacked his lips and said, "Orgrim is a major criminal of the Alliance. Whether it's Quel'Thalas, the dwarves, or Stormwind City... they all have a deep hatred for him, Jess. He has committed serious war crimes everywhere. Would the Kingdom of Lordaeron not know the importance of this criminal? I don't believe he could have a chance to escape from prison. Maybe it's just some orc chieftain who escaped from the detention center. I remember that even demons can't escape from that underground prison. This is not what I said."

"He said 'orc leader', so I just guessed. I don't know the details. He wouldn't explain it to me bit by bit." Jess said.

"Alright." Gerred rinsed his mouth with beer while glancing at the people sitting and standing in the tavern hall. After looking for a while, he said, "Have you noticed, Jess."

"Noticed what?" Jess asked perfunctorily.

"Don't you think there are a bit too many mages here?" the dwarf asked.

Jess had originally started to consider discussing with Gerred and asking him to watch him practice mage armor tonight. The words were on the tip of his tongue but were suddenly swallowed back by the dwarf's question. Listening to his words, he glanced over there roughly.

At this glance, it really felt like there were too many mages in the room.

At a table by the corner window opposite sat a group of mages. Although they were wearing warm wool cloaks on the outside, one person's cloak was from Dalaran. The other two could also see the purple of the mage robes from the cuffs and collars.

And at the bar, there were two mages in long robes. One was wearing a green robe and holding a staff in his arms. The other person was actually wearing the outer robe of the Kirin Tor. The Violet Eye emblem was embroidered on his chest.

The mages of the Kirin Tor are elites among the Dalaran mages, just like the one who rode the gryphon before.

Why are there so many Dalaran mages here?

Although Southshore is closer to Dalaran, this is still the territory of the Kingdom of Lordaeron after all. Dalaran is only a small city-state controlled by mages. Its territory is only limited to a plain area from the south shore of Lake Lordamere to the foot of the Alterac Mountains. It is sandwiched between the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the Kingdom of Alterac and has little control over farther places.

Once there are so many Dalaran mages in the territory of Lordaeron, there must be something wrong.

Is there something wrong in Southshore?

"Are they here to hunt down that orc leader?" Gerred asked again.

"Maybe." Jess said. "Maybe that orc leader has some warlock followers or something that need mages to deal with. However, it's better to just ask a mage directly."

The two carried their glasses and walked through the crowd to a mage who was standing alone by the wall and looking out the window not far away. Jess asked first, "Master, may I ask why there are so many mages here?"

The mage didn't answer immediately. He turned his head and looked at Jess and the dwarf beside him. Then he focused on the emblem on Jess's finger and asked, "Are you from Stormwind City?"

Jess felt a bit helpless. In Stormwind City, they all thought he was from Lordaeron. But when he came to Lordaeron, although he spoke with a pure northern accent, people here all thought he was from the south.

"Yes, I am a mage from the Wizard's Sanctum."

The mage asked, "Did you hear about the surprise attack by the remnants of the Horde on Alterac in Stormwind City? Just a few months ago."

"I heard about it."

Jess knew that what the mage was talking about was the incident where Teron Gorefiend raided Alterac in search of Medivh's Tome, one of the three artifacts, looking for the imprisoned members of the Perenolde royal family and searching for news about the whereabouts of the artifact.

"That raid was a disastrous defeat for the Alliance." The mage said. "This proves that although the Horde has been defeated overall in the war, the remnants who didn't have time to be driven back through the Dark Portal still have the ability to counterattack. So under the coordination of Master Antonidas and King Terenas II, the mages with combat capabilities need to cooperate with the Kingdom of Lordaeron to assist in defense in the surrounding areas. We were sent to Southshore to investigate the traces of orcs."

"Is Southshore in danger?" Gerred asked.

"Southshore is our gathering place south of Alterac Valley." The mage explained. "At present, the trouble is mainly concentrated in the north of Alterac Mountains. On the mountain road from Dalaran to Alterac City. As far as I know, there is nothing in the south for the time being. Now it's mainly to prevent unexpected situations."

Jess asked again, "Forgive me for asking one more question, Master. Does this have anything to do with the four-day road blockade?"

The mage glanced at him and asked, "You sound like you're from Brill. Are you back from Stormwind City to visit your relatives or is there a mission from the Wizard's Sanctum?"

Jess listened to the mage's tone and knew that there might be some secrets or something about the four-day road blockade that couldn't be easily told to people other than mages. So he directly said, "I was sent to Dalaran by the Wizard's Sanctum."

The mage nodded and lowered his voice and said, "Although I haven't left Southshore recently, I heard that Teron Gorefiend's men are still trying to cause damage in this area. It seems that there are signs of shadow magic attacks in Ambermill in the west. The kingdom is worried that it will interfere with the commercial activities here in Southshore. So it hasn't been publicly explained in detail to this side. In short, if you plan to take that road to Dalaran, you need to be more careful."

After thanking the mage, the two returned to their original positions. Gerred said worriedly, "If there is trouble on the road between Alterac City and Dalaran, hey, I don't know how much time will be delayed."

Jess said, "Since Dalaran and Lordaeron have already sensed the danger, they will definitely heavily guard these places. Maybe that mountain road is now the safest place on the entire continent."

Gerred stretched and said, "The travel expenses in Lordaeron are much more expensive. I don't know if the gold coin we got on the ship is enough to spend."

Jess took out that Gurubashi gold coin and rubbed the wind serpent emblem on it and said, "I'm quite reluctant to exchange this coin."

Gerred glanced at the gold coin and said, "What's the big deal? Gurubashi gold coins are not rare. I even have Aman'i gold coins. When I get one for you to play with, it's much more beautiful than this one. At least it's round!"

"Really?" Jess gave him a sideways glance.

"Really." Gerred said. "Don't talk about this gold coin anymore. Why don't we ask the bar owner if there is any work to do in Southshore now."

Jess looked at the bar and said, "There are so many people coming and going from the south and north here. There must be a lot of mercenaries and warrior guilds. Can we get a chance?" Hesitantly, he came over. Although it was very busy here, there were also many people. Three bartenders were serving customers. Jess approached the nearest one and asked him to help call out the boss.

The bar owner was a thin man, which was quite strange. When he heard that Jess was looking for work, he asked, "Have you ever worked in a bar?"

"No, but I'm not talking about the bar!" Jess emphasized. "We are mercenaries and can deal with some small troubles and receive payment."

"Ah, just right. I want to know if you can deal with murlocs?" the boss said. "A few days ago, murlocs stole some wine from us. A group of people helped us find two boxes before, but there are still several boxes on the beach west of the dock. The guards of our hotel are only responsible for watching the store and are unwilling to help find things. If you can find them back, you will get a commission of 2 silver coins. How about it?"

As soon as he heard about dealing with murlocs, Jess felt a little uneasy again.

He had seen murlocs, but it could only be considered as "having seen them". As long as he stayed in Elwynn Forest long enough, he could always encounter murlocs. By the river, by the pond, by the lake, sometimes he could see their shadows in the distance.

But Jess had never actually fought murlocs before. He almost encountered them in Westfall, but a female naga completely disrupted his plan.

"Only 2 silver coins?" Jess asked. "This is dealing with murlocs."

The boss said, "Last time that group of people didn't encounter murlocs. They just moved those wines back from the beach. How about this? If you really encounter murlocs, one murloc head can be exchanged for 2 silver coins. How about it?"

"Really?" Gerred suddenly asked.

"Of course it's true. The dock is safer and our business is better, Mr. Dwarf." the boss said.

Gerred directly said, "We agree. How many boxes of wine are there in total?"

The boss stretched out three fingers and said, "It would be great if we could get back three complete boxes."

"Wait for us."

Gerred readily agreed and pulled Jess out of the tavern while saying, "The opportunity is here. One murloc head is 2 silver coins. Ten heads are 20 silver coins. Maybe this time the travel expenses to Aerie Peak will all be covered!"

"Are murlocs so easy to deal with?" Jess asked doubtfully.

"Sure!" Gerred said. "Murlocs are much easier to catch than fish. Unless the murlocs in your Southshore are also affected by some shadow magic and mutate into evil murlocs or something. After all, fish will run away when they see you. No matter how hard you chase in the water, you can't catch up. But murlocs will come up to you, young man!"