novelraw Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Chapter 92
The Fox Tribe had a total of nine organizations.
From ‘One Tail’ to ‘Ninetale’.
Three organizations handled trade, five managed information, and one was for combat.
The only combat organization, the mercenary band Ninetale, would soon arrive at the territory.
The Fox Tribe’s original plan had been to settle in Haken, but the change of settlement to the Johnson Territory was a sudden decision, which was why they couldn’t return in time.
Even their escape from Levelium had been carried out in extreme haste.
They had barely managed to get away with their lives, so there had been no time to bring back the Ninetale mercenary band, who had been dispatched.
And since Yuria, the final authority, had collapsed, things had turned into a complete mess on this side as well.
‘At least the information organizations are still functioning.’
Although the Fox Tribe had all withdrawn from the Levelium region, the information network there hadn’t been completely destroyed.
Their human collaborators still remained in Levelium, and reports from the area were slowly trickling in.
Yuria, who was still a patient, stayed in my mansion and informed me of important news whenever information came through.
“Hawrun Territory has been occupied by those Empire bastards. The Level Merchant Group has been dissolved, they say.”
The very first news to reach us was that Hawrun Territory, where the main group of the Level Merchant Group was located, had been occupied by the Empire.
It had been like a bolt from the blue for Hawrun Territory, but Albert and the Level Merchant Group had actively assisted the Empire, so the occupation had been carried out with ridiculous ease.
And, true to the Empire’s usual methods, as soon as they had secured the ground, they disbanded the Level Merchant Group, their own collaborators.
What an admirable personality they had.
“That must be quite unfortunate news from your perspective.”
In fact, the Level Merchant Group had become a great merchant guild thanks to the active support of Yuria’s mother, the previous Silver Fox.
When I had visited the main group, Yuria’s confident attitude had stemmed from this very fact.
The Fox Tribe, who couldn’t be distinguished from humans, had been planted all throughout the merchant group, and since they were all Yuria’s people, her confidence had been well-founded.
If there hadn’t been any external variables like the Empire, then regardless of who became the guild master, Yuria’s position would not have changed.
Perhaps Albert had done this precisely because he knew that.
‘When I proposed to Yuria, he had been wary. He clearly didn’t want her leaving for somewhere else.’
I could somewhat understand Albert’s contradictory attitude, wanting to reduce Yuria’s influence but also not wanting her to leave for another place.
If someone else killed Yuria, then the Fox Tribe in the guild would be left adrift, but if she simply relocated, then the Fox Tribe would surely follow her.
Considering that his biological mother and younger sister were beastmen, his attitude of outright hating beastmen seemed contradictory.
If the merchant group had grown thanks to the Fox Tribe, shouldn’t he have been pleased?
There must have been a reason for his attitude.
In any case, if the guild she belonged to collapsed for such a ridiculous reason, it was natural for her to feel upset.
But Yuria’s reaction was different from what I had expected.
She didn’t seem to care at all.
“Not really. I was going to leave the guild anyway. It was only a matter of timing. If I had thought of it as truly mine, I would’ve been more active in running it. Without my mother’s will and the divine relic, I would have left long ago.”
“Is that so?”
It was said that Yuria’s late mother had entrusted her with the guild.
Until the former guild master—Yuria’s father—passed away, she was to support the guild with the Fox Tribe’s strength.
Her mother had entrusted the Fox Tribe’s divine relic to her father, who in turn had promised to return it if she supported the guild until his death.
Thus, Yuria had dutifully supported the guild until her father passed away.
“But that relationship ended with that single poisoned arrow.”
When her father finally died, he left her with a will revealing the location of the divine relic.
It was around that time that they learned the Empire and the Boar Tribe would soon swarm Hawrun.
Since she had already begun stepping back from guild affairs while her father had been bedridden, her plan had been to retrieve the divine relic and leave right away.
But what awaited her was not the relic, but a poisoned arrow.
Even she hadn’t expected such an attack, and she had fallen victim to it without resistance.
Struck by the poisoned arrow, she realized the situation was dire, immediately summoned the Fox Tribe, and fled.
The urgency of the situation was probably one of the main reasons why they had chosen Johnson instead of Haken.
Johnson was much closer than Haken.
Had they headed for Haken, they would have been caught along the way and annihilated. Choosing Johnson had been the best option.
“Well, he was always like that. My mother was only ever used in the end. I should’ve never let my guard down.”
“Really?”
“It was foolish to be deceived. My mother had been pathetic too. She was deceived and used, yet she kept looking only at him until the end.”
Beastmen were, by nature, very cautious when choosing a spouse.
And once they chose, they were extremely devoted.
The Fox Tribe in particular placed great importance on marital relationships, and they even admired the fiery romances of humans.
They said that while beastmen’s love was calm and enduring, it couldn’t burn as brightly as human passion.
That was why many Fox Tribe members ended up being deceived by humans.
“Maybe this is the Fox Tribe’s limit?”
Clicking her tongue, Yuria said the fact that so many Fox Tribe members still sought out humans despite being deceived made them utterly hopeless.
Her mother was the living proof of why humans couldn’t be trusted.
The man who had whispered love to her mother and used her as much as he wanted had later repeatedly committed adultery, tormenting her until the end.
It seemed like that side had been just as rotten.
‘So that subtle human-hatred she showed before was because of this.’
-Hmph, but she’s a fox after all. The more fox-like they are, the more pathetic they tend to be.
‘You’re seriously…’
-The happiness of a fox lies in overflowing love. A single moment can be crucial. Remember that, it may well be a key strategy point.
Her mother had suffered greatly, deceived by her husband.
And now, facing Yuria herself—who had become the embodiment of mistrust after being struck by a poisoned arrow—the rabbit could still say such things.
I couldn’t help but admire that rabbit’s astonishing character once again.
The fact that he kept pursuing Yuria, who clearly seemed like a hopeless case, was also a key point.
Maybe this rabbit was even sharper than Rudick, who never stopped talking about his sister-in-law.
True to the Rabbit Tribe’s nature, they were very serious when it came to reproduction.
‘I guess I understand the general picture now.’
And perhaps I could also understand why Yuria had half-jokingly thrown out the idea of becoming the lord’s wife.
If she had no expectations for a spouse, then leveraging marriage to secure a better position wasn’t a bad deal.
It was essentially a political marriage.
If the Fox Tribe truly settled here, then her becoming the lord’s wife would be the ideal scenario.
It was also the most efficient way to “sell” her marriage.
In this, she was unmistakably a merchant.
‘Well, it’s not the most important thing right now though.’
“What about the other territories in the Levelium region? This was supposed to be an alliance, wasn’t it?”
“They still seem to be in disarray. Running around like headless chickens.”
“So, it’s the same on that side too.”
The lord of Haken had mentioned a lord’s council, but it seemed that would still take some time before it was held.
As for this side… what should I say?
Was it like watching a fire across the river?
Nothing was certain yet, so the atmosphere was more about waiting and watching.
At the very least, until the Levelium region fell, no one seemed ready to move.
“It looks like they want to resolve it within Levelium itself, but there’s no real sign of that happening.”
Perhaps the one pulling the strings was exerting influence here as well.
I didn’t know why he had dragged the Empire bastards into this, but since they were the ones he had brought in, he must have had some sort of plan.
At the very least, he wouldn’t want them to be wiped out the moment they appeared.
“It’d be good if we could move too, but we have to defend against the Boar Tribe first.”
Maybe the Boar Tribe had been unleashed to prevent us from interfering in Levelium.
If the Boar Tribe ruled here, that was fine. If not, at the very least, it would stop us from interfering in Levelium.
On our own, we couldn’t do much, but if we allied with the territories of Levelium, we could make life very difficult for the Empire.
‘But that’s impossible right now.’
No matter how I looked at it, the situation was a headache.
‘Besides, if the Empire is in Levelium, it’s going to become a real nuisance for us as well.’
If the Empire completely took over the Levelium region, then Johnson Territory might not be so safe either.
Johnson was closer than the other southern territories.
Would they really bother coming this far out? Maybe not, but in human affairs, there was no such thing as certainty.
That was probably why the great territories in the south were still at ease.
“So, how are the preparations for stopping the pigs going?”
“Well, decent enough. If luck is on our side, we might be able to stop them more easily than expected.”
Following Leisha’s suggestion, I went to meet Leon.
To be honest, I hadn’t expected much.
It was just a chance meeting, just in case.
But this kid turned out to be more of a find than I thought.
He explained a strategy, saying that if the opponent was the Boar Tribe, there was a good method. It was simple but convincing, and thanks to it, I decided on interception instead of defense.
‘Even if it only works partially, it’ll cause less damage than defending the walls.’
It wasn’t that I was greedy about not wanting to give up farmland.
I just had the conviction that if the situation supported us, we could block them with far fewer losses than if we defended.
As expected of a devious little kid, his strategy cleverly exploited psychological weaknesses, and it was so sound that even I would’ve fallen for it if I were the opponent. So, I decided to trust him.
‘Somehow, I think this will work. The Rabbit Tribe’s participation is very proactive too.’
The key to this strategy was the Rabbit Tribe’s role.
They were more used to labor than combat, so I had been hesitant to involve them in battle. But unexpectedly, they were the ones most eager.
As soon as it was revealed the opponent was the Boar Tribe, their fury had ignited.
“If we can kill even one more pig, we’ll gladly burn our bodies away,” they said.
The Lion Tribe, the Rabbit Tribe—everyone ground their teeth when it came to the Boar Tribe. Their atrocities must have been truly vile.
-They’re infamous as the public enemy of beastmen for a reason. Lord Bestia has already withdrawn his blessing from the pigs.
‘Is that so?’
-If they don’t repent deeply, they will never regain Lord Bestia’s blessing.
Apparently, the blessing that Bestia had granted the Boar Tribe was ‘brilliance and wisdom.’ But as soon as they enslaved the Rabbit Tribe, that blessing was withdrawn.
They had been too clever for their own good, clever enough to think of enslaving other beastmen. In that sense, it was self-inflicted punishment.
Perhaps their pursuit of the divine relic had also been because of the lost blessing.
Though I doubted merely retrieving the relic would be enough for forgiveness. But who knew how they thought?
In any case, preparations for dealing with the Boar Tribe were progressing steadily.
“Half of the six territories in Levelium are fighting tooth and nail against the Empire.”
“Impressive. Taking on three territories at once?”
A few days after Hawrun Territory fell to the Empire’s remnants,
half of Levelium had been dragged into war.
The southern lords still showed no movement.
It seemed they would only lift their heavy behinds once all of Levelium had fallen.
At the same time, news came that the Boar Tribe, who had gathered in Hawrun, had set out toward Johnson Territory.
Another war was about to begin.
“A shame. If not for my body, I could’ve fought alongside you.”
On my way to the battlefield, Yuria personally saw me off.
She said she too wanted to join the war and help me.
“I’ll just take your feelings. Shouldn’t you be preparing to leave instead?”
“Leave? As if. Now that I’ve joined Johnson Territory, if I die, I die here.”
A major battle had erupted the moment she joined the territory.
It wasn’t a situation where I could expect great loyalty from the Fox Tribe.
I had tossed the words half-jokingly, but her reply—that she would leave her bones here—had been unexpected.
She was calculating by nature, yet… was it because she was still a beastman?
It seemed she already considered this place her tribe.
“Well, if you come back victorious, maybe a fine gift will be waiting for you.”
“A gift?”
“For example~ a fiery kiss from a beautiful fox?”
“Wow… now that’s something to look forward to.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
If only she could cut out the zero-percent-sincerity flirting.
But even that felt so very like her, I thought, as I mounted my mountain goat.