novelraw Chapter 147
Chapter 147
Chapter 147
At the moment Iron had decided to go to war.
On the southern side of the Cow Tribe’s territory, at the “Second Horn,” Delmason, the chieftain of the Cow Tribe, was meeting a merchant who had come from Lucas, the northernmost lordship of Levelium.
“Have you come?”
“Yes, Chieftain.”
These days it was not so rare for merchants to come here.
That week alone the merchant had requested help for Lucas twice.
Each time Delmason had responded indifferently, and the merchant had left after scouting the castle with no real gain.
But today felt different.
Delmason, who had been scowling the whole time, was smiling brightly for once.
“All right, I lost.”
“What do you mean……”
“Lucas. I will save it.”
“…Is that for real?”
The merchant, rather than Delmason, was the one surprised by the sudden declaration.
The chieftain’s attitude, which had always been cold, had suddenly changed.
The merchant, who could not hide his joy at the unexpected luck, did not forget his purpose.
He tried to curry favor with Delmason to learn even one more thing about the Cow Tribe’s military strength.
“Don’t worry. Three thousand Cow Tribe warriors will be deployed to Lucas this time.”
“Three thousand, you say?”
Three-thousand beastmen warriors equaled the strength of human knights.
To hear that so many warriors would be sent was impressive — the Cow Tribe’s forces must be formidable.
But what truly astonished the merchant was what came next.
“And that’s not all. We even prepared iron armor for this war. They were enchanted, or so I was told. They are qualitatively different from the gear we used.”
“Enchanted armor? Iron armor, too? Where on earth did you get—”
They even had enchanted iron armor, the story went.
For a merchant, that was crucial information.
“Ah, we traded with humans. Well, I’ll have to hand over all the grain we harvested this time, but if it’s for the warriors’ lives, isn’t that practically free?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. The stronger the warriors, the better the equipment they should wear.”
“Exactly. Ha ha ha.”
The merchant forced a laugh and echoed him, but his expression began to twist oddly.
It was information he had not expected at all.
Where could they have obtained such equipment?
And the price was their recent harvest of grain.
Handing over most of their harvested grain was a troublesome situation.
“So the grain is……”
“Oh, that. I think they’ll come to pick it up soon. We agreed to trade before winter.”
“You haven’t handed over the grain yet?”
“Well, there’s a great deal of it. Seems they need some time to prepare.”
Fortunately, the grain had not yet changed hands.
The merchant’s face returned to calm.
“When will the advance be…?”
“It’ll take about fifteen days for the Cow Tribe’s forces to gather and to march on Lucas. Once we reach Lucas Castle……”
“Yes, we will open the gates immediately.”
“Right, that’s it. All you need to do is hold to that. We’ll beat up the Imperial bastards……”
“We will reclaim Lucas Castle……”
“That’s the promise.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
After confirming the promise several times, the merchant left the chieftain’s house.
At that moment, a small shadow that had been hiding in the wardrobe quietly revealed itself.
It was Leon, the brains of the Johnson lordship — the sly Black Lion kid.
“Is it done now, kid?”
“Yes, you did it well. You did it so well I was more surprised than I expected.”
“Well, I wasn’t lying.”
“Indeed?”
Delmason, the chieftain of the Second Horn, was the most violent and straightforward warrior among the Cow Tribe’s chieftains.
He had no talent for acting, and Leon had no intention of asking him to act.
It was true that the Cow Tribe would send three thousand warriors to attack Lucas.
It was also true that they had purchased large quantities of enchanted iron armor.
And it was true they intended to beat up the Imperial bastards.
The plan was simple: Leon only had to honestly tell the merchant what he knew.
“Of course, I did leave out some facts and exaggerated others.”
“Pah. Exaggerated? The Cow Tribe’s reserve warriors are as strong as other beastmen warriors.”
“Let’s say that’s true.”
If all the Cow Tribe’s warriors were counted together, there would be roughly five hundred.
Compared to humans, that would be about five hundred knights — a force comparable to a Great Lord.
Iron’s assessment that when beastmen united they could match the force of a Great Lord was not far off.
Of course, war was not decided purely by numbers, but the numerical strength meant something.
So the claim that three thousand warriors would be dispatched was certainly an exaggeration, but Delmason sincerely believed it.
He genuinely thought the Cow Tribe’s reserve warriors were stronger than most knights.
It was the beastmen’s pride.
Except in very special cases, beastmen always believed they were the strongest.
“Well, the information that will make the Imperials panic will actually come from the other side.”
“The other side? The grain?”
“Right. They’ll feel like their tails are on fire.”
Revealing that the grain had been passed to another lordship was also a key part of the plan.
That would make the Imperials more desperate.
The Imperials now had to make a decision.
If they delayed until winter, the Cow Tribe’s grain would all be given to someone else.
“But are you sure it’s okay to expose all of the Cow Tribe’s strength? If our forces are overwhelming, they might choose to stand firm.”
“If our strength is overwhelming, they’ll want to avoid fighting even more.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Chieftain, you only need to prepare for the expedition. The lord will be here soon.”
“True. The human chieftain is coming, after all.”
Iron had promised.
He would let them fight the Imperials to their heart’s content.
And, as a bonus for taking the grain, he would give them meat in return.
Acting on the Black Lion kid’s request was also something Iron, the human chieftain, wanted.
Iron was a chieftain who could be trusted.
“As long as we can beat the Imperials properly, I don’t care.”
“I can guarantee that. The Cow Tribe will face the Imperials on the bloodiest battlefield.”
“Good.”
Delmason didn’t care about anything else as long as he could fight against the Imperial bastards.
A message came from Leon.
The plan had already been discussed, and it was agreed that as soon as the informant (the merchant) sent by the Empire arrived after the Dog Tribe’s arrival, the operation would immediately begin.
Today, the merchant finally showed up, and the operation commenced.
‘It’s been three days since the Dog Tribe arrived.’
The Dog Tribe had rested for three days, recovering much of their strength.
Elline was also said to be ready to fight, so this part would have to be entrusted to the Dog Tribe.
Since a lord’s commander couldn’t participate in the Dog Tribe’s battlefield, we had no choice but to rely heavily on Elline.
“We’ve arrived, Lord Iron.”
“Is that so? Well done.”
Right on schedule, the forces from Hawrun Territory had arrived.
Fifty knights and roughly three hundred soldiers.
They had managed to gather troops despite the difficult circumstances.
The soldiers from Hawrun would reclaim their old homeland alongside the Dog Tribe.
While establishing the operation with Leon, we had also asked Albio Hawrun for his opinion, and he too had expressed the desire to return.
Apparently, they didn’t fit in well here.
From now on, Levelium was bound to become the battlefield of the Great Lords’ rivalry.
Vines and even New Level would undoubtedly try to extend their influence over this land.
In such a situation, their role was just as important.
Although the main force here was the Dog Tribe, Hawrun also needed to play its part for legitimacy’s sake.
After all, the old lands of Hawrun rightfully belonged to Albio Hawrun.
—Trying to take the credit, huh.
‘Can’t be helped. I’d rather a friendly lord take that region than someone else.’
Since they were brimming with fighting spirit anyway, I could only hope for their success.
“So, you’re saying the Rabbit Tribe wants to join the Hawrun operation?”
“Yes, since we’re quite familiar with the geography there…”
“That’s true, but still.”
While organizing the troops, members of the Rabbit Tribe who had decided to stay in the territory came to see me.
They wanted to join the Dog Tribe at the Hawrun battlefield.
The Rabbit Tribe had already planned to participate in the Cow Tribe’s front as rangers, supply units, and priest-warriors, but the ones who came to me this time were non-combatants.
To be exact, they were the workers who had helped Leisha and Limond collapse Hawrun Castle while evacuating its residents.
They’d been attached back then for supply and navigation purposes, and now they wanted to join again for the same reason—what a bunch.
Don’t tell me they were planning to bring down the new Hawrun Fortress too?
“The new fortress will be used by the people of Hawrun, you know.”
“Oh, no, not at all! We just want to help guide the way…”
“I see.”
They were only going to guide the way, right?
According to our plan, the Hawrun front wouldn’t be too fierce.
So even if they weren’t combat personnel, the Rabbit Tribe’s participation wouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, those so-called non-combatants were often more experienced than actual fighters.
‘We do need workers to handle supplies anyway.’
Though I felt a bit uneasy, I decided to send the Rabbit Tribe with them.
Even if the “guiding the way” excuse was a bit flimsy—since the battlefield already included people from Hawrun—they seemed genuinely eager to go.
‘Since the Dog Tribe is also joining our territory, it’s not a bad idea for the Beastmen to get to know each other.’
Given the current atmosphere, the Rabbit Tribe would likely follow Elline, the Guide of the Dog Tribe, quite well.
Ever since the priest-warrior Brito appeared, their faith had grown stronger than ever.
“All preparations for departure are complete, Lord Iron.”
“Good, Sir Irene. We’ll move out soon, so stand by.”
“Yes, Lord Iron!”
Both Irene and the Crimson Comet were joining this war.
Irene would head to the Horse Tribe’s territory, while the Crimson Comet would go with me to the Cow Tribe’s front.
The Horse Tribe was particularly important—dozens of wagons had already been sent into their territory, and the moment Irene arrived there, the operation would begin.
I had informed the Horse Tribe’s chieftain that the plan would be delivered through Irene, and since they agreed, there shouldn’t be any problems.
‘Thanks to that, we sent nearly ten thousand cans of meat to the Horse Tribe.’
Beastmen—just mention meat supplies, and they’d hand over the entire operation to us.
Convenient, in a way.
They must trust me, the Guide of the Rabbit Tribe, quite a lot—but honestly, that attitude could get them easily taken advantage of.
Once this war ended, some ideological education might be in order.
“All Beastmen are suckers by nature.”
“Are they, now.”
Yuria McBane—the cunning merchant who had once exploited her own kind—was joining me at the Cow Tribe’s front.
To give precise tactical orders from the Second Horn, which would serve as the control tower for this war, we needed someone who could monitor movements across other territories, and Yuria was the only one fit for that.
‘Though I can’t say I’m entirely without worries.’
She was a shaman like Elline, but the two were fundamentally different.
Unlike Elline, who had joined numerous battles, Yuria was a classic white-collar—more suited for office work.
I had planned to leave her in the territory while I crossed into the Cow Tribe’s land, but she was so determined that I eventually agreed to take her.
“Our Sacred Relic is in the hands of the Imperial bastards, remember?”
It was hard to stop a Beastman from retrieving her tribe’s Sacred Relic under the pretext of safety.
Honestly, the inside of the Second Horn didn’t seem that dangerous, so I felt somewhat at ease taking her along.
—If we follow the master’s… no, the kid’s plan, it should be fine.
If the Second Horn ever reached the point of being in danger of falling, that would mean the entire war plan had gone wrong.