< Episode 134. How the Confederacy was formed (4) >
When the battle was over and the cheers subsided, Yenrid took a deep breath and turned his head.
And I was watching it intently. I didn’t know if Yenrid had good eyesight, or maybe it was because he noticed the helmet that I deliberately wore to hide my dark blue hair.
He recognized me at a glance and started walking towards me.
“Great, harder than my chieftain.”
Said the southerner right next to me.
“Stronger than my chieftain.”
What he meant wasn’t hard, but strong, but to me it just sounded solid. It was because I didn’t learn the southern language properly.
“He’s coming.”
someone muttered
Yenrid walked without hesitation, and the southern warriors who saw him paved the way. No one stopped him.
Blood dripped from the two axes, and blood flowed from his body. It was not all the blood of the enemy.
“You were great too. Which tribe are you?”
An ignorant man came up to me and asked.
I was about to open my mouth, but stopped. I saw three warriors standing in front of Yenrid. The moment they blocked Yenrid’s way, a sense of tension filled the air. But unlike my fears, there was no fight.
“Varon of ‘Fangless Wolf’.”
“Borte from ‘Poisonless Toad’.”
“Kang from ‘Toothless Alligator’.”
With a strong southerner at the forefront, a line of people introduced themselves one after another. The three looked at Yenrid, put their weapons under their feet, and bowed their heads.
No matter how good the southerners were, they could not be said to have good manners. They did not bow their heads easily even to their own chieftain.
It was a very special occasion when they bowed their heads.
“I have a request.”
A warrior named Kang said with his head bowed.
When they have to protect something more precious than their life. Unless it’s that moment, you won’t be able to easily see a southerner bow his head.
I had the privilege of seeing a very unusual sight. The strange thing is that they are bowing their heads and no one expresses surprise or restrains them.
For this moment, it must mean that they are all of one mind.
From where I was standing, I could see the backs of the three warriors and Yenrid’s eyes.
Yenrid’s gaze did not depart from me.
I have a somewhat ominous feeling.
“What tribe are you? Your hair color is very tasty.”
Damn southern language.
I need to learn something. I mean, it always sounds weird.
He pushed the chest of the southern man who was bothering him next to him and said.
“Get lost.”
I was about to move my feet right away and run away.
“Hey, do you want to play a round?”
You’ve just saved the day and now you want to fight again.
More than half of them are dead from 1200. That would not have been even 300 if I had not crossed the front line.
Anyway, I missed the timing to pull myself out because he caught me.
“Let’s fight together.”
I could hear a warrior named Kang continuing his words in a crude tone.
“There’s your tribe, too.”
Kang continued.
It must be a very important moment for Yenrid. Still, his gaze did not depart from me.
“Come out.”
Yenrid pushed the three of them out and walked out of the gap.
“Oh, he’s coming.”
One fickle Southerner kid mumbled while Yenrid approached and stood in front of me.
All the southerners watched me and Yenrid. Three warriors representing them bowed their heads, a warrior who knocked down the warriors before the battle, and a hero who fought together and covered with blood at the forefront opened his mouth.
“Chris Fraunmunt.”
Yenrid called my full name and lowered the ax while standing in front of me.
To be honest, I didn’t know exactly what the chieftain and ‘putting roots’ meant for southerners.
“I followed the chief’s orders.”
What was most important to Yenrid now was not his original roots, his revenge, or his tribe.
I knew it the moment I saw his eyes.
Oh, what is root?
What is a chief?
If knights have a master, they have a chieftain.
It wasn’t the kind of relationship that was thin and shallow, and betrayed out of necessity. It was just the one who gave his life, more than that.
I couldn’t express myself clearly in the continental language, but I knew it the moment I looked into Yenrid’s eyes. His battles will be all for me now.
Lind and Digo, Yenrid, Alice, and Louis.
I thought all five would be my knights. Ironically, the most heterogeneous of them, the southern warrior, was the first to show an attitude as a knight.
Something beyond verbal oaths and allegiance, that pierced my heart.
I had to answer him.
“I saw it.”
“My ax is always by your side.”
I heard a rough word. At this moment, the surrounding southern warriors didn’t matter.
Neither Yenrid nor I cared about that. Instead, I looked into the eyes of Yenrid who said that.
There was a flame hidden within the rugged and steadfast warrior Yenrid.
To him, as much as I am important, the tribe and past must be important.
I could see a burning fire in the eyes looking at me. I couldn’t ignore it.
I wouldn’t have turned away even if I wasn’t his master.
“A chieftain?”
“He is not a Southerner.”
“Are you crazy, Yenrid?”
The three warriors approached and said, Yenrid looked at me.
If I don’t allow it, the southerner’s bowed request is also an expression of no importance.
You foolish bastard.
I thought so sometimes. I wondered if Digo and Yenrid could be good friends, as Lind and I are.
And now I realized Yanreid is not my friend, but he wants to thoroughly defend his position.
He did not use honorifics or respectful language, but what he showed by his actions was one thing.
“What you want is what I want.”
So, I also couldn’t ignore Yenrid’s wishes. How can I turn away from someone who vows to fight for me thoroughly?
At least, that was not to be the case for someone in such a position that I desired and that I dreamed of.
“What nonsense!”
An angry warrior approached, shouting. Yenreed asked me with his eyes if I wanted to strike him down, and I reached out my hand.
Smack!
“Gasp!”
A single fist swinging outward struck the guy in the head, and he fell. I knelt down with a thump and said, ignoring the stunned warrior.
“If you wish.”
I opened my mouth. Yenrid stood quietly next to me.
Actually, I didn’t mean to do this.
After leaving it to Yenrid, I was thinking of approaching him slowly.
It’s a little quick and early, but it can’t be helped. Yenrid moved it to come this way.
“You can come at me.”
If you want to test your skills, do it. Seeing this, Kang asked Yenrid.
“Who is he?”
“My chieftain.”
No other explanation was necessary. To the Southerners, a chieftain was a master and a warrior superior to himself.
“I can’t even have three.”
Yenrid added.
That’s what the proud Southerner said, even the warrior who beat him down.
It was natural that he couldn’t dare to come at me. Feeling the chilly air, I suppressed my fast beating heart and calmed down my excitement.
I had no intention of maintaining a rigid atmosphere.
“Let’s eat, drink, and rest.”
I say this in a chilled atmosphere.
A warrior named Kang snorted. I had no intention of showing my superiority to them.
“Let’s eat, drink, and rest. Honor the souls of the warriors.”
For them, a funeral is to reflect on their past and talk about their heroic deeds.
So as soon as I said that, I felt the atmosphere loosen up.
“Good.”
said Kang. Varon and Borte looked at him. From my point of view, that guy named Kang was the smart guy in them.
They have work to do until they bow their heads. I didn’t force them to be loyal, I just told them to eat, drink and rest.
I asked the Viscount Dutch, who was frozen, and he gladly accepted it.
“Did you think I was going to take over your lands? Do I look like a bandit to you?”
When I asked Jabrien, who was approaching me without knowing, she frowned and said:
“If the three of us changed the terms of the deal without a single military force and entered the living room of his mansion with the military, it would be natural to feel uneasy.”
…… Jabrien, when did you become so smart? No, she was always smart and clever. She has an eye for knowing what’s going on and grasp the situation.
Soon several dishes were placed at Viscount Dutch’s encampment.
“Don’t fight.”
At my secret order, Yenrid spoke to the Southern warriors. It means not to touch the central continent.
“Don’t take anything.”
There was some grumbling, but the crazy southerners obeyed him well.
So the banquet took place. They ate, drank, danced and sang.
“That day, Lambda farted with a knife in the mouth!”
I am sure they are talking about heroic moves, but that is what it sounds like to my ears.
Over half of the 1200 died. Some slightly wounded, but none seriously.
They fought until they died. Because that is what battles are for Southerners.
“Drink!”
“Drink!”
Where the tension from a few days ago had gone, they were busy pouring bottles into their throats.
It was the same with me.
“Hey, if you are the chieftain of Yenrid, are you the chieftain of the wingless hawk?”
“No, the chieftain of the wingless hawk is dead. He is not.”
I managed to combine a few words to interpret the words of a southerner drinking in front of me and said.
“I was not born in the South. There is no shortage.”
“Then why are you chief?”
Oh, I don’t know.
“You know how to explain? Have a drink.”
I said.
The two Southerners chuckled at my words. Even if they were right, they were breathing well and drank right away.
Everyone looked like this. There was no one with a serious look. This is the way they honor the dead warriors, so I couldn’t get in the way.
Yenrid is also busy drinking alcohol to see where the seriousness of the past has gone. Drinking heats up his body, so he gets up to get some wind for a while, and then the Viscount Dutch approaches and asks.
“What are you going to do with them?”
I looked into his eyes. I could feel the fluttering eyes and the subtle tension.
Is that really what you want to ask? viscount?
I was drunk, and I didn’t want to show off my political flair on a moonlit night, a night of remembrance of a dead warrior.
I just said one line.
“I like talented people.”
If you want to get in line, I won’t stop you, that’s what I meant.
When I got back to the drinking party, Kang came over to me. It’s something that Yenrid pushed me to do.
I told him to do it on his own, but he eventually tripped over me. What’s the point of saying that you’re the chief there?
Thanks to this, there was a strange light in the eyes of these southern children looking at me.
I could see a sense of respect as well as approval.
What, a warrior that even three of you couldn’t defeat? I guess it’s true, coming from a guy who can’t even flatter himself.
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Yes. I will listen.”
“…… What do you think I’m going to say?”
The moonlight was beautiful, and the warriors who mourned the dead were wonderful. Besides, it’s the day my knight paid me respect.
I don’t want to talk long.
And it’s funny to think that I don’t know about obvious things.
“You will not bow your heads. Tell me the location of the surviving tribesmen and I’ll get you a place to live away from these preying elephants.”
“Are you a fortune teller?”
“I am not a fortune teller, but the master of Yenrid. Bastard.”
Kang laughed at the harsh words and handed me a glass of wine. I drank quite a bit, but quitting alcohol is out of my control.
“You drink too.”
They exchanged and inhaled again.
I admit. I was a little drunk that night. Kang did not say much afterwards.
We ate, drank, rested, and woke up. In the morning, I left Viscount Dutch behind and left leisurely.
We walked for two days straight. I joined them, but the southerners thought I was no big deal.
I didn’t want to climb up, so they didn’t care about me. Yanrid was still treated as a hero by them.
That was how we arrived at the place. There were at least two thousand Southerners gathered in a wide open space.
“We are hiding from the elephant tribe here, but soon they will discover it.”
said Kang.
I groaned. Are you going to get caught soon? Did you think you wouldn’t have noticed that we were all together like this?
“Get ready for the battle.”
I spoke to Yenrid and turned my head back. I may not have as good eyesight as Lind, but there is a way to feel it without looking at it using a vise.
I rolled up my hands and put them to my ears.
Dudududu.
A small sound was heard. It will arrive in a little while.
The enemy was already just around the corner.
The chief of the elephant tribe who slaughtered the culled southerners and the warriors who saw it revolted.
This time it’s just a little different. Originally, only some of the warriors should have survived or escaped, but thanks to Yenrid, the elephant tribe was repelled.
So that’s what happened. The intention of the chief of the roaring elephant is noticeable.
He intends to exterminate the warriors and the rest at once.
Greedy bastard.
Crack, crack.
I loosened my neck. I didn’t want to fight as much as possible, so I sent Pumpky to the rear.
Unfortunately, I don’t know the way here very well. If only I knew the way, I could keep save them.
The warriors, including Yenrid, did not dare go down. They could not even eat properly, so I could see the southerners with their bones damaged.
“Elephant cubs!”
A scout warrior with good eyes came and said I heard it, looked at Kang and Yen Reed and spoke.
“You don’t have to fight, you have to persevere.”
“The Southerners don’t know such a fight.”
said Kang.
I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Hmm.”
When I put some effort into it, he furrowed his brow.
“If you don’t know, learn. Or hold hands with your family and die together.”
If you want to live, you have to do the best you can.
Does it sound sour?
“… … I get it.”
He said. Yenrid stood by my side and I told him.
“It is a fight to endure. Do not go forward.”
There are no barriers, and the terrain is not advantageous either.
It’s going to be a pretty tough fight.
If we are not careful, we may have to abandon them. But I really don’t want to do that.
“I get it.”
I looked into the eyes of the talking Yenrid. A blazing flame was seen.
Even if he became my knight and swore allegiance to me, his past did not disappear.
Behind him was his tribe, whom he had abandoned as a child, and before him was the enemy who drove him out of the South.
“Let’s do it.”
I said.
Let’s save the 2,000 tribesmen, and we will find a way to keep them alive, too.
Mistakes are expected so if something doesn’t make sense then just try to understand the situation and make something up by yourself.
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