Merlin decided it was about time for him to take a break. Instead, he decided to study the technology of the dwarves while he was waiting for his reinforcements to cause chaos in the enemy.
After such a long time of killing the enemies, he had naturally formed a nearly complete model of their biology, and with a few spells, he modified his appearance. This was not a simply illusion spell, but an actual modification of his own self, and therefore, it hurt. It hurt a lot.
But he bared through it, and within a few hours, he had transformed himself into a moderate looking old dwarf, which belonged to the Shi clan. Naturally, this was a similar face to one of the soldiers he had killed on the way here from one of the smaller patrols he had come across.
With this face, he began walking in a random direction, wearing the typical clothes of the normal citizens, instead of soldiers and the like.
Soon, he arrived at a road, which had been clearly frequented by dwarves. And based on the fact that they were barefoot, this was a path used by common citizens.
Therefore, Merlin moved himself to the edge of the road, then, rolled a little in the mud, and tore off some of the clothes. Then, he sat up and waited patiently.
Soon, he heard a carriage travelling on the road in the distance.
[My liege, this does not seem like a normal citizen of the Shi clan.]
'Yeah.' Merlin nodded. This was clearly someone of some wealth, but that was even better. Someone like that would most definitely have a sense of guilt, and that was exactly what he planned on using.
He quickly ran into the forest at an incredibly speed, then dragged himself through the bushed and trees and finally onto the road, all within 20 seconds. Then, he used a few more spells to reduce his fat content to the minimum, and then also increase his muscle density while reducing the volume, giving the impression of malnutrition, or starvation.
Then he lowered his breathing and heartrate to a state that someone unconscious of the Dwarven race would have, before closing his eyes. Naturally, he could sense everything going on around him, and he was fully prepared to use his spells within an instant.
*Click**Clack**Rattle*
This carriage, based on what Merlin could sense, had a single Tier 2 beast that would draw the carriage.
Although Dwarves were living in rather uncivilised method, with most people living in caves with doors, it was undeniable that there was plenty of technology that was not created normally.
An example was this carriage. Normally, for something like this to exist, the civilisation would at least have to reach the Industrial revolution era, with steel.
However, such technology was only used by the rich, and not one else. Even himself and the soldiers who were being deployed to the frontlines from the Du clan, had to walk all the way. Thankfully, he was able to split himself of that group, especially since although the clan leader Du said it was an all-out war, neither of the sides were actually fighting with full force, only the Du clan was slowly retreating while the Shi clan was slowly encroaching.
With that freedom, he was able to move much faster using spells, and after a few days, he finally reached here.
But the very fact that this carriage was clearly fitted with suspension springs and rubber tires shows signs of technology that should not belong to this backward race of overpowered earth-diggers. Something was definitely off about this, and therefore, Merlin would get to the bottom of it, by first integrating into Shi society, since he anyways would have to wait for about a month or two until the Du clan can fully mobilise all of its forces to sow chaos to the enemy's frontlines.
The carriage passed by him, but did not stop… disappointing Merlin greatly. A new plan of entry was quickly forming in his mind as he waited for the carriage to leave the area, while remaining motionless.
However, at this moment, the carriage stopped, and the dwarf in shiny metal armour walked up to Merlin and poked him a little with his foot. Seizing this chance, Merlin slowly opened his eyes, and simulated tears while contorting his face to that of an incredibly pitiful person.
The soldier was shocked at first, but seeing the expression on the face of a fellow Shi clan member, he quickly lowered his guard against Merlin and went ahead to pick him up from the floor.
'Haha! I am a master of deception.'
[Naturally, my lord, you are the God of Deception and Lying]
'Huh… Now that sounds like a certain someone don't you think?'
[Who?]
'Never mind' Merlin closed the conversation.