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Chapter 242: Submit to Me. (2)

“You bastard!”

Woroka immediately grabbed his axe and swung it towards Ghislaine.

He too was a warrior from the North. No matter how much he valued political judgement over others, he could not tolerate such an insult.

Clang!

Ghislaine swiftly drew his sword to parry Woroka’s axe and laughed.

“Shall we start off with a little test?”

“You… are you saying you won’t negotiate?”

“I don’t care about that crap. If I want to kill, I will kill, and if I can kill, I’ll do it.”

“Y-you…!”

The atmosphere instantly turned menacing. With weapons drawn, the two glared at each other, and those around them did not remain idle.

Clang! Clang!

Everyone nearby drew their weapons and aimed them at each other. The soldiers waiting in the back also tensed up and prepared for combat.

Claude whispered to Wendy beside him.

“Quick, carry me. Let’s run away.”

Wendy looked at Claude with a disdainful gaze.

In this tense atmosphere, Zvalter shouted with a feigned angry expression.

“Stop! Stop! Isn’t this a place for negotiations?!”

At those words, Ghislaine scoffed at Woroka and sheathed his sword. Woroka too, made an effort to calm himself down and retracted his axe.

However, neither of them stopped glaring at the other.

Woroka was boiling inside, struggling to contain himself. He had hoped for a smooth negotiation, but a cocky brat had butted in and even dared to threaten him.

“Five thousand horses, you say? You want to take almost all the warriors’ mounts here?”

“Right, you gotta eat to live, so I’ll settle for that much for now. I’m quite considerate, you know.”

“You insolent…”

Woroka ground his teeth.

Without horses, the mobility of his warriors would inevitably weaken. Given the nature of tribes that mostly procure food through raiding, losing horses here would severely hinder their food supply.

Woroka growled as he continued.

“Do you think we would accept such an offer? A warrior without a horse cannot survive here.”

“Then die here before me. It’ll be easier for me to kill you and take everything.”

“You bastard….”

Woroka once again gripped his axe tightly. It seemed that killing the fellow in front of him was the only way the negotiation would go smoothly.

Negotiations among barbarians always went this way. To secure favorable conditions, you first had to kill a few and demonstrate your strength.

Woroka had ultimately not broken free from the barbarian mindset.

Just as he was about to swing the axe again, a thought suddenly crossed Woroka’s mind.

‘Wait… did he just block my axe that easily?’

Surely it was he who started the attack. Considering the time it took to draw a sword, it shouldn’t have been so simple to block his strike.

He pushed down the feeling of alarm bubbling up and asked the other’s identity.

“Are you… the crimson demon?”

“I believe that’s what you all call me. I’m not a demon, though. I’m a non-violent pacifist.”

People don’t believe him, but Ghislaine genuinely preferred to handle matters peacefully. It just so happened that situations kept leaning towards the need to use fists.

Woroka glared with wide eyes and twitched his hands repeatedly. He wanted to swing the axe at the arrogant brat right away.

‘This young punk… could he really be the crimson demon?’

But the opponent was someone who had killed Kushtu. Someone who had wiped out five thousand warriors. The warrior’s pride battling against the fear of an inevitable loss swelled within him.

Crunch.

Woroka found himself in a messy tangle of emotions. The pride of a warrior and his ambitions clashed repeatedly in his heart.

Claude, watching the two’s tense standoff, lowered his head and sighed.

“Ah, of course. With that temperament, it could never end peacefully.”

If only he had asked for two thousand horses, they might have been able to navigate this somehow. But to ask for five thousand? Who would grant such a request?

Claude had also gathered somewhat of an understanding of barbarians. Since weapons had already been swung once, they would soon leave for combat preparations.

“I really need Wendy to carry me quickly.”

Claude was preparing to flee, glancing anxiously around.

But…

“Grrrr…”

Woroka was still. He merely growled softly while glaring at Ghislaine. That was hardly a behavior befitting a barbarian.

‘Didn’t he just swing a weapon? Why the sudden change? Did our crazy lord do something again?’

Claude glanced back and forth at Woroka and Ghislaine with dull eyes.

Ghislaine smirked at Woroka, whose fists were clenched and trembling.

“What are you doing? If you’re going to fight, then fight already. If you’re here to bring horses, then bring them now. Or should we just have a clean one-on-one duel?”

In truth, Ghislaine stepping in like this was quite rude. Zvalter was the designated representative for negotiations.

‘If I leave it to my father, it’s certain to become a dog and pony show. He’s pretty soft-hearted.’

Zvalter also understood the barbarians’ situation well enough to show some leniency. Plus, he likely had ambitions of building up strength while securing stability.

Though he understood his father’s feelings, that wasn’t Ghislaine’s way.

Right now, he would take everything he could get.

And if they got in the way, he would kill them.

Having only those two principles was enough when dealing with barbarians.

Woroka turned his head to vent his frustration on poor Zvalter.

“North’s wolf! Aren’t you the designated negotiator? Is this really your will?”

Zvalter rubbed his forehead. Whenever his son got involved, nothing would go smoothly.

In the past, Zvalter’s followers would’ve scolded Ghislaine for being rude.

But now, no one stepped up. They all knew it was thanks to Ghislaine that the situation in Perdium had improved recently.

Somehow, he felt a sense of alienation.

‘My love… why did you leave so quickly…’

For a moment, Zvalter’s eyes reddened, but he shook his head and replied.

“Just now, I delegated it.”

Even if they said it wasn’t their will, it would only bring shame to them. Zvalter entrusted all the negotiations to Ghislaine and unnecessarily averted his gaze. The wind was cool.

“Oh, what lovely weather.”

“Grrrr…”

When Zvalter pretended not to notice, Woroka remained in a huff for a long time before plopping down.

“I… I don’t have the confidence to persuade them.”

It wouldn’t be a problem if it were just the Sunstone Tribe, but the other tribes would surely rebel. Better to fight to the death than to lose everything without gaining anything.

Yet he couldn’t just propose a fight either. Given the merits he had accumulated and the power he demonstrated now, he could not be sure of victory. Even if he won, the losses would be high.

Then his dreams would shatter. The extermination of the tribe would be imminent.

Woroka was caught in a bind between his desires, the responsibilities of leading his tribe, and the pride of a warrior.

“Hmm.”

Ghislaine gazed at the lined-up barbarian troops in the distance.

“Oh, you finally seem to be in a talking mood after acting so high and mighty. Let me lend you a bit of strength.”

“What?”

“I mean to offer you what you lack a little.”

At that, one of the warriors next to Woroka shouted loudly. The one who had just drawn his axe alongside Woroka to intimidate Ghislaine.

“What do you mean, taking away the most important horses and then offering us something?!”

“And you are?”

“I am the great warrior of the Sunstone Tribe! Monga Buzoke! We have nothing to lack, so there’s nothing we can give or receive! If you want to fight, I will fight with my life on the line!”

“…It seems you’re lacking quite a bit.”

At Ghislaine’s muttering, Woroka clamped his mouth shut.

While Monga displayed confidence and belligerence worthy of a great warrior, that wasn’t what Woroka wanted.

And Ghislaine’s words were strikingly true; they indeed lacked much. It was tough just to make ends meet.

The opponent had just opened up some negotiation channels, but Monga had needlessly ruined the atmosphere, so there was no wonder Woroka felt frustrated.

“The conversation isn’t over yet. Who invited you to butt in?”

Under Woroka’s fearsome glare, Monga fell silent and lowered his head.

As the atmosphere calmed a bit, Woroka looked to Ghislaine and asked.

“What help are you offering?”

“Food.”

“…?”

“I will provide enough food for you to survive for a while.”

“Y-you mean you’ll give us… food?”

“Yes. And I will also hand over all the prisoners we have captured until now.”

“Hmm…”

Woroka fell into deep thought. Food was the most essential resource for the barbarians. After all, they were raiding Ruthania primarily to secure food.

Accepting the prisoners was also nice. Most would be the old and young, but among them, there would be children. They would grow up to be excellent warriors for the tribe.

The problem was that until those children grew up, the existing warriors would have to feed them too. While receiving food would solve immediate needs, soon they would suffer from food shortages.

As Woroka pondered, Ghislaine grinned slyly.

“If you pay 200 horses in tribute every year, then I’ll grant you the food as a gift. Furthermore… I’ll also give you the authority to distribute that food. Do you understand what I mean?”

At those words, Woroka’s eyes lit up.

To comfort the tribes who would lose their horses, he would have to distribute it fairly right now, but afterward?

If he held tightly onto the food, he could become the most powerful tribe. That way, unification would become easier.

‘Sure, others will keep coming for it… but hadn’t I always intended to subdue them through strength anyway?’

The warriors would not bow to Woroka just because he held food. They would all likely be fired up, eager to take his food.

But no one could overpower well-fed warriors. The Sunstone Tribe was still vying for supremacy among tribes.

Woroka’s eyes gleamed with greed. Instead of losing horses, he felt he could more quickly suppress the other tribes.

Ghislaine, quietly observing, smirked.

‘He’d accept, I knew it.’

Unlike the typical barbarian, Woroka was surprisingly thoughtful. In his previous life, he would eventually unify the tribes. Illiterate barbarians couldn’t possibly defeat someone who thought more than they.

But even while leading many people, Woroka would continue to be tormented by food issues.

After the fall of Perdium, he had received food support from Duke Delphine, on the condition that he wouldn’t interfere while developing the Forest of Monsters.

But that wasn’t enough. Woroka grasped an opportunity during the one-year war between the Mercenary King and Ruthania.

With the kingdom engulfed in chaos, he pushed in, of course never forgetting to shower Ghislaine with various gifts to curry favor.

— I’ll just take a few suitable lands. I won’t let any damage come to the king’s army.

— Do as you please. But if you interfere with my work, I’ll sweep you out first.

— Don’t worry. I will be of help.

Woroka created chaos, seizing the lands that Ghislaine had swept through. Ghislaine also intended to cut down the power of Ruthania, so for now, he let him do as he pleased.

His top priority was to behead Duke Delphine.

Of course, afterward, he had intended to capture and eliminate all the barbarians as well. In the end, he succumbed without achieving his goals.

That’s why he proposed the idea to Woroka. Only he was someone who didn’t care whether the barbarians had horses or not. His ambitions and greed for uniting the North were far more important.

After much deliberation, Woroka nodded resolutely.

“Fine! I will take the horses. Convince the other tribes and come back. But food must definitely come to me. I’ll handle distribution and adjustments myself.”

“Let’s do that. Go persuade the remaining tribes.”

“Understood. If I say we will provide food, they will follow.”

Woroka proclaimed confidently as he turned to leave. Food was what they needed most right now.

‘Heh, if I get food and unify the tribe, I won’t let you guys off easy. Just raising the captured children correctly will increase our numbers significantly.’

Woroka smiled while hiding his ulterior motives. In his mind, a grand northern kingdom was taking shape.

Claude, who had witnessed the entire conversation, shook his head in disbelief.

‘Not a demon, huh? He’s totally a demon, a real demon.’

It was all too clear. The horse-less barbarians would lose mobility and combat power.

More critically, there would be a constant scramble among tribes over food. It was obvious now they would endlessly fight over the food Ghislaine had tossed to them.

One side would try to hoard it to maintain dominance over the tribes, while the others would seek to snatch it any way they could.

Even if it was distributed fairly and the tribes unified their strength, it might actually pose a danger to Perdium, but it was hard to see Woroka acting like that.

Even if the tribes unified, that would be an issue. The more tribe members there were, the harder it would become to feed them.

‘Five years of peace? Are they planning to unify the tribes during that time? Even if they unified all the tribes, the food shortage would still be the same. They’ll just end up living in a way that begs and grovels, relying on the food thrown their way. Tsk tsk. He seems ambitious, but with that excessive greed, he’s likely missed the bigger picture.’

The author was sacrificing the future of the tribes for his greed.

Now the barbarians could no longer invade the north of Ruthania. During the five years of the truce, the lord would ensure they were properly tamed with food.

‘This feels fishy again. If one didn’t know about that guy, then they wouldn’t think such a scheme would fly.’

Everything fell precisely as the lord had envisioned. From Claude’s perspective, it was filled with nothing but confusion.

‘I’m so curious I could die!’

This was knowledge that couldn’t be gained from books. It needed experience. But the lord lacked that kind of experience. Claude was becoming increasingly frustrated.

Unbeknownst to Claude’s turmoil, Ghislaine wore a satisfied smile.

‘We’ve obtained horses in bulk, and the leashes are ready. No need to worry about being backstabbed now.’

Ghislaine also needed to conserve power as much as possible. Woroka just didn’t realize that.

Of course, if he had pressed on to the end, he would have dealt with them in a sweeping motion, even if it meant incurring losses. Securing safety in the rear was an important goal as well.

‘With this, they won’t be able to act for years, so Perdium can retreat their forces without worry.’

He heard news that Amelia and Baron Valua’s civil war had begun. For her, eliminating Davin would’ve been more pressing than Ghislaine.

Even if Amelia emerged victorious quickly, it would be hard for her to extend her reach to the Territory of Penris for a while. Regaining and reorganizing her strength would require time.

‘Just wait a bit longer. Harold Desmond.’

Ghislaine wore a cruel smile.

One by one, step by step, he was preparing to take that guy’s head.

 

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