The Witcher: Darkness Falls

"I say, can we really sneak into Karna Manor like this?" Madison asked.

He, the dwarf Zival and the dwarf Ritak were holding torches and walking with difficulty in a dark passage.

The passage is five or six meters high and very magnificent. Under the light of the fire, one can still see the blurred reliefs on the hard stone walls on both sides.

It was like a palace, except that it stank and was suffocating.

"Of course, the sewers we built were not just built under the city, they also extended outwards.

From what I have seen, the Karna Manor is not far from the Imperial College branch, and there must be a sewer we built underneath it." Zival said confidently.

Now, they are in the sewers of Nilfgaard City.

Although it is called a sewer, the area below is like a corridor between palaces, and it is even higher and wider than those corridors.

This is simply an underground city, with connections in all directions.

Inside this sewer, there is a drainage ditch more than two meters wide, in which the filth discharged by the residents of the entire city of Nilfgaard floats, and is then washed into the swamp by the water.

It was this filth that gave off a strong stench, and they were walking on the sidewalks on both sides.

"You humans don't even clean these sewers. They stink!" Zival said with a look of disgust. "Is it only when they are blocked and the city is filled with the stench of your shit that you will send people to clean them?"

Madison frowned and said, "How should I know? I'm not responsible for this."

"I think so. The stairs we just came down are all rusted." said Retak.

The dwarves and gnomes are trying to rescue their companions, while Madison is trying to find the laboratory where the goblins were resurrected and obtain relevant evidence from it.

Their target was the Karna Manor, and the two parties hit it off and decided to cooperate.

Madison is trying to find detailed information about genetic engineering, and his good friend Falco is the best breakthrough.

Of course he did not explain his real purpose, and even if he did, Falco would not be able to help, and might even leak something.

However, to his relief, Falco was not involved in this genetic engineering. He was only responsible for the security work outside the Karna Manor.

The Carna Manor belonged to the Quehoon family, the head of which was a duke himself. It was permitted by law for him to call upon part of the city guards to guard his own house.

Although Falco is not involved in genetic engineering, as the sheriff in charge of this area, he has some understanding of these things.

According to him, the research was led by biologists from the Imperial College, with the participation of two missionaries and a large amount of investment from aristocrats.

The Carna Manor was sponsored by Duke Quehoun and used as a laboratory for them.

The information revealed by the other party was consistent with Madison's guess, which made him very excited.

Finally, there was some clue about the goblins. According to the information he had obtained before, the goblins that had been extinct long ago must have been resurrected in this laboratory.

During this time, the dwarves and gnomes were trying to figure out the sewer system of Nilfgaard.

The Carna Manor was heavily guarded. According to the information obtained from Madison, in addition to being guarded by the city guards, it was also guarded by private guards hired by Duke Quehoun.

Except for the scholars of the Imperial Academy and the nobles who invested in this experiment, no one else could enter Karna Manor.

Although Madison had a hunch that the appearance of the goblins was definitely related to Karna Manor.

But there was no way he could dress up as a soldier and sneak in with Falco.

Not to mention that Falco would never agree to this request, what’s more important is that the city guards are only responsible for the security outside the manor and cannot go inside.

Madison's investigation is conducted in secret and cannot be made public unless there is conclusive evidence that dangerous experiments are being conducted here.

You know, dozens of nobles have invested here. Even the Earl of Grampian cannot offend so many people at once without solid evidence.

Therefore, they had no choice but to sneak into the manor through the sewers.

Then find a way to investigate.

"I think this place has become a monster paradise, Madison, stay away from the gutter," Zival warned.

These sewers lead directly to the swamp, which was once controlled by the dwarves.

Madison glanced at it anxiously, frowned, and asked, "It's just a sewer, why did you build it like an underground kingdom? Do you still live here?"

Today was his first time to come under the city. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that there were drainage ditches in the sewers.

Aren't sewers used to drain water? Why do we need to build drainage ditches?

Moreover, he could see that there seemed to be other culverts on both sides of the sidewalk, like rooms for people to live in, but most of them were blocked by bricks and stones.

"Of course!" said Zivar.

"What?" Madison was surprised.

Zivar frowned and said, "Of course, this is also part of the city. It's where the dwarves live."

Madison was stunned. Living in a sewer?

"No, although in my impression dwarves are rather sloppy, but living in the sewers..." He couldn't believe his ears.

"Listen to me! This is not called a sewer for us dwarves, but a dungeon. It is the place for the valley dwarves to live." Zival explained.

"Valley dwarves? What kind of dwarves are those?" Madison asked in confusion.

Zivar looked impatient and seemed extremely annoyed with the valley dwarves.

But he still explained: "Subspecies and branches of dwarves. We dwarves are divided into several types, mountain dwarves, hill dwarves, plains dwarves, and valley dwarves. Although they are collectively called dwarves, they are different."

Madison was very surprised. He didn't expect that there were four types of dwarves.

"I always thought dwarves were just dwarves..." he said in surprise.

Zival glanced at him, snorted coldly and said, "Of course not, the elves are divided into different categories, and so are we dwarves.

Mountain dwarves like to live in the mountains, prefer sunny places, and are good at magic and architecture.

Hill dwarves like to live in caves and are good at forging and carving.

Plains dwarves are skilled in animal husbandry and finance.

Valley dwarves... Although I don't want to admit it, they are indeed dwarves, but they have low intelligence and like to live underground. They can barely be miners, but they are obedient.

They are responsible for all the dirty work in Mahakam. They don't like to contact other races, so they only live in the dwarf country.

Most of the ones you see are mountain dwarves and plains dwarves, and a few are hill dwarves."

Madison nodded, feeling that he had learned a lot today.

He asked curiously, "How can we tell you apart? You are all dwarves after all."

Zivar stopped, looked up at Madison and said, "Just look at what we are doing, and you will know."

Madison thought about it and it seemed to be true. The occupational divisions of dwarves were quite clear.

"Your plains dwarf, then?" he asked.

"No, I am a hill dwarf."

Madison: "(ー_ー)!!"

Zivar said somewhat depressedly: "Don't look at me dressed like a mercenary, but I have no choice!"

Ritak at the side chuckled and said, "Look at their noses and complexions. Those with big, flat noses and red faces are usually mountain dwarves, because it's cold in the mountains and there's a lack of oxygen.

Plains dwarves have small, pointed noses and paler skin, and usually work in dwarf banks.

Hill dwarves have more complex facial features, but you won't see them very often. However, if you see a dwarf craftsman, he is most likely a hill dwarf.

As for the valley dwarves, they are smaller than the above three types. Since they live underground, their intelligence is not very high.

The first three types are indeed difficult to distinguish in the eyes of others, but the valley dwarves are very obvious. If you have the opportunity to go to Mahakam, you can recognize them at a glance.

Okay, go this way, and be careful of your steps and the drainage ditch next to you."