novelraw Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Yuria was extremely proactive.
“We have to accept the deal. We must retrieve the Divine Relic no matter what.”
“And that’s why you’re coming with me.”
“Of course.”
And her reasoning was quite convincing.
“To begin with, that so-called Regent came all the way here himself. Do you think he came without any plan?”
“You mean he has a way out?”
“What do you think? If you were the Regent.”
“In that situation, dying in a final stand would be the honorable death, but…”
“Do you really think ‘honor’ means anything to the Empire?”
She pointed out that my expectations had been overly optimistic.
The Imperial Army was already surrounded.
I believed that if we wiped them out, the Divine Relic would naturally fall into our hands—but after hearing Yuria, that wasn’t necessarily the case.
‘If a Master is determined to escape, that would be a problem.’
It seemed unlikely, but if they were cornered, there’d be no reason not to.
If Octosia escaped with the Divine Relic, recovering it would become nearly impossible for us.
“Oh, and I heard this from someone—the War God’s Sacred Relics apparently include an emergency escape talisman.”
“Emergency escape? How?”
“Something like a talisman that lets you escape instantly, like teleportation? Though it’s a one-time use, so who knows if anything like that still exists. More importantly, we don’t know what they might try.”
“That sounds like pure fantasy.”
“But then again, your greatsword has a retrieval function, doesn’t it?”
“…That’s true.”
The Level Merchant Group, which had secretly dealt with Imperial remnants, possessed a fair amount of information about the Empire.
They had informed me that the Empire possessed escape-type Sacred Relics.
They were relics from before the Great Cataclysm, so they couldn’t be reproduced—but if they still had one, escaping this place wouldn’t be difficult.
‘In the end, the Divine Relic comes first.’
No matter what, the best option was to retrieve the Divine Relic through the deal.
The problem was what Octosia was really planning by proposing this deal.
He was definitely plotting something.
And I had no intention whatsoever of letting the Imperial Army head south again, regardless of the deal.
“We’re making the deal, right? I’ll get ready immediately.”
I decided to head to the Cow Tribe camp together with Yuria.
Her claim that only she could identify the Fox Tribe’s Divine Relic made sense, and now that she knew, I couldn’t exclude her.
If I left her behind, there was no telling what reckless stunt she’d pull.
With plenty of Cow Tribe warriors present, her safety should be guaranteed.
‘Still… they wouldn’t actually try something like that, right?’
Using a fake Divine Relic to deceive the Cow Tribe.
It sounded petty—but not impossible.
The Empire’s reputation spoke for itself.
Thinking that I should first confirm the existence of the real Divine Relic if they proposed the deal, I mounted a Mountain Goat and rode toward the Cow Tribe camp.
“Hold on tight. I’m going to pick up the speed.”
Getting to the Cow Tribe camp wasn’t difficult.
The Imperial bastards were holed up in their fortress, and by taking a detour, we could reach the Cow Tribe without being detected.
Convincing the forces remaining here took more time.
Especially Leisha—she insisted on coming with me, which nearly gave me a headache.
‘If the Imperial bastards stab us in the back, Leisha absolutely has to stay.’
Since I was also considering a surprise strike on the Second Horn while pretending to negotiate with the Cow Tribe, I couldn’t bring her along.
If I wasn’t here, the Castle would have to be defended by Leisha and Gariman.
“You’ve arrived, human chieftain.”
“Yeah, Rioxen. How’s your body? I heard you were badly injured.”
“I nearly died. Thanks to you, I lived. I heard you sent a good potion?”
Rioxen, who had been severely injured after being ambushed during his duel with Octosia, didn’t look too bad.
His complexion wasn’t great, so he probably couldn’t fight, but surviving a Master’s strike like that was impressive.
Rudick must’ve given him one of our territory’s special potions.
If nothing else, Johnson Territory’s potion quality was on par with the Empire.
For Beastmen unfamiliar with potions, it must’ve been a whole new world.
“Morale doesn’t look bad.”
“We slaughtered a lot of Imperial bastards in the first battle. Things got a bit tangled after that, but it was still our great victory.”
“True. Their casualties were much higher.”
Even though Rioxen was forced to withdraw after his injury, the battle itself had been a victory for the Cow Tribe.
That’s why the warriors’ morale wasn’t bad.
“To think we smashed the backs of the Imperial bastards. This might be the greatest achievement of my life.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“If it weren’t for you, human chieftain, we wouldn’t have had this honor. You provided weapons, defended the Castle, and handled supplies. We’ll never forget this.”
The Cow Tribe might be simple, but they weren’t foolish.
They remembered who had supported them behind the scenes.
Without our supply of quality weapons and our support, even they wouldn’t have won this war.
‘Their expressions really have brightened.’
-For Beastmen who were always beaten down to kick the Empire’s rear like this—it’s deeply meaningful.
At this rate, the Beastmen might start uniting more.
Having experienced victory together, it would be easier next time.
And like Leon said, I’d probably gain significant influence among them.
‘A Beastman alliance… not bad.’
Given our geographical and emotional proximity, it wouldn’t be strange for Johnson Territory to form an alliance with the Beastmen.
‘Well, first let’s clean up those Imperial bastards.’
The Cow Tribe camp was located slightly south of the Imperial stronghold.
Even from here, their fortress was visible.
For something built hastily, it was remarkably solid.
The Cow Tribe was currently waiting.
Breaking through by force would result in too many casualties, so they were observing for now.
Their heated blood from the first battle seemed to have cooled somewhat.
“I heard about the Divine Relic.”
After grasping the situation, I got to the point.
I came here specifically for that deal.
And before that, I needed to confirm the Cow Tribe’s stance.
After all, the Empire had proposed the deal to them.
“We can’t leave the Divine Relic in the Empire’s hands. That’s why I intended to accept the deal.”
“And the Imperial Army?”
“A deal is a promise. If they hand over the Divine Relic safely, we’ll open the southern path.”
“Is that so?”
Rioxen spoke in principles.
Receive the Divine Relic, and open their retreat.
Even in war, there are rules.
Normally, such an agreement would be honored.
‘The problem is… the opponent isn’t that simple.’
If the Empire kept promises, they wouldn’t have such a terrible reputation.
Naturally, it was right to assume they were plotting something.
Even if they weren’t, it didn’t matter.
We would retrieve the Divine Relic and then attack them anyway.
-You sound more like a thug than the Empire.
‘To beat thugs, you have to be worse than them.’
-…Maybe you’re just like that.
I ignored the rabbit’s jab.
Better to be cursed than leave future trouble.
The real issue was how to eliminate the Imperial bastards cleanly.
-Are you really going to do it?
‘If they keep holding out like that, we don’t have many options. And dragging this out won’t benefit us either. It’s just fortunate they built their fortress there.’
Luckily, I had something prepared.
A deadly hidden blade.
So depending on the situation, I just needed to retrieve the Divine Relic first.
The Cow Tribe also agreed on recovering it, so there was nothing stopping us.
“Alright. We’ll make the deal.”
Even after I asked for a delay, the Empire kept sending envoys daily.
Today as well, they proposed the deal again—and this time, Rioxen accepted.
“If you hand over the Divine Relic first, we’ll open the path. Let’s set the exchange for five days from now.”
I made two requests to Rioxen.
Secure the Divine Relic before opening the path.
And delay the timing of the exchange.
Rioxen also didn’t trust the Empire, so he accepted.
We conveyed my proposal to the Imperial Knight envoy.
“Understood.”
Surprisingly, the Empire accepted our terms immediately.
“They’re really handing over the Divine Relic first?”
Even I was surprised.
In deals like this, once you hand over what the other party wants, you’re at their mercy.
So I thought they’d use the Divine Relic as leverage to secure their escape—but unexpectedly, they were acting like gentlemen.
‘…This means something’s off.’
Which made it even more suspicious.
“They said three Imperial soldiers will bring the Divine Relic. They’ll deliver it here directly.”
“They’ll deliver it themselves?”
Normally, since we couldn’t go to them, it made sense for them to come.
But there was no reason to blindly follow their terms.
We needed to press them and find a weakness.
“The exchange will be at a midpoint. Two people from each side.”
After several rounds of negotiation, the final agreement was set.
They would send two people, and we would send two to receive the Divine Relic.
“I thought it’d be Octosia and that squirrel-like guy, but apparently not.”
Hearing “two people,” I immediately thought of the Empire’s two Masters.
So I added a rule that neither Octosia nor Rioxen could participate.
They showed no objection.
I had no idea what they were thinking.
“You and I will go.”
“…What? You’re going?”
“Who else would? It’s the Fox Tribe’s Divine Relic.”
“…Well…”
She wasn’t wrong.
This wasn’t someone else’s matter.
From a Beastman perspective, no one would object to a Fox Tribe member retrieving their own Divine Relic.
Still, there was a concern.
‘If that guy targets Yuria…’
If that speed-focused Master attacked, I might not be able to protect her.
But that concern was resolved easily.
The Empire had already stated they would only send two soldiers.
I truly couldn’t understand what they were planning.
---
At that same time, in the Imperial camp—
The day before the exchange, Octosia was reviewing the operation one last time.
Specifically, checking the condition of the most important “sacrifice.”
“If this fails, not only you—but your entire family will be brutally killed.”
The two soldiers tasked with delivering the Divine Relic were from Lucas.
Lucas had already fallen to Vines, but the soldiers didn’t know that.
Thus, Octosia’s threats worked perfectly.
“Follow them into the enemy camp, no matter what.”
“…Yes.”
The goal was to infiltrate the enemy camp using those two soldiers.
Since they were handing over a genuine Divine Relic, trust would be established.
And as long as the soldiers from Lucas acted well, the plan would succeed.
Their opponents were the Cow Tribe.
Simple-minded Cow Tribe warriors would fall for it without fail.
At worst, they could at least eliminate one Cow Tribe Chieftain who came to receive the Divine Relic.
That moment would be their chance to turn the tide.