Chapter 45
“That’s right. At present, I’m the most valuable thing our tribe possesses.”
“Sacrifice yourself to revive your tribe?”
“Yes.”
Having long since made up his mind, the middle-aged man answered without the slightest hesitation.
It was nothing less than protecting the Elephant Tribe from the Wolf Tribe.
That was why the middle-aged man offered himself as the price.
He thought that, at the very least, this would be enough to pique Jade’s interest.
“Hmm.”
But Jade did not answer right away.
He had fallen into thought with a strange look on his face.
‘Elephant Beastkin, huh. What a coincidence.’
Unlike the anxious middle-aged man, Jade smiled inwardly.
He found the situation quite amusing.
His territory already had a major gap in its military strength because of its shortage of knights.
And now, with the Elephant Beastkin—known as the strongest beastkin race in terms of individual strength—offering to come under his command, Jade felt as if a whole pumpkin had rolled into his lap.
Of course, taking in the Elephant Beastkin meant that war with the werewolves was a foregone conclusion.
But, conversely, they were bound to clash eventually anyway.
The werewolves had unified the beastkin; there was no way they would live quietly in the Great Forest.
They surely had some sort of plan in mind.
“……Are you perhaps dissatisfied with the price?”
“That’s not it. There’s just something I need to think about for a moment. More importantly, are all the survivors here?”
“Yes. But several people scattered deliberately to divide the pursuit team while we were fleeing, so there may be more survivors if we search for them.”
“I see.”
Jade’s gaze slowly swept over the surviving members of the Elephant Tribe.
More than half were women and children, so the actual fighting force did not even make up half.
There were no elderly people either.
They had probably been the first to step forward and sacrifice themselves.
‘Even so, they’re a powerful race.’
-The chief is especially strong. If his injuries were treated, even Haines would have trouble taking him on.
-The Elephant Tribe is one of the strongest races among the beastkin. Even the Lion Tribe can’t match them one-on-one.
Awooooo!
“Looks like the main force is coming.”
The middle-aged man spoke as soon as the howling began.
The main force was clearly on a different level from the pursuit team, which had relied on nothing but speed.
“I heard them too. Let’s deal with the main force, then continue our conversation.”
“We’ll help too.”
“There’s no need.”
Jade said firmly.
There was no need for the injured to help him deal with a mere two hundred werewolves.
Kkyuuu!
Whid also cried out at the middle-aged man, as if to say his interference was unnecessary.
As if to say that even he did not need to step forward.
Of course, the two spirits had spoken up first.
Dudududu!
More than two hundred werewolves, already transformed into beast form, came charging forward with fierce snarls.
But their sizes varied.
Just as humans differed in height, the werewolves varied in stature as well.
Some, in particular, were so huge that it was hard to regard them as werewolves.
“Noes.”
Even though ten werewolves nearly four meters tall were charging at the front, Jade did not shrink back in the slightest.
He simply watched the werewolves charging toward him, exuding madness, and uttered a single name.
Kugugung!
At his call, the ground beneath the charging werewolves collapsed.
A gigantic pit had appeared in an instant, quite literally.
The hole, split wide like a mouth, swallowed the werewolves in one gulp.
“Gasp!”
At the unbelievable sight, the Elephant Tribe, watching with tense faces, let out cries of astonishment.
They could not believe what they were seeing.
But Noes, the advanced earth spirit who had created all this, merely raised its nose proudly and rubbed its horn against Jade’s arm.
It acted coyly, as if asking to be praised, just as Whid had earlier.
“T-this is the power of a spirit mage.”
-Ahem! Of course, not every advanced spirit mage can do what Jade does!
-Jade is an existence outside the norm. Judging by his affinity with spirits alone, it’s hard to consider him human.
-It’s hard to consider his body human now, either!
The two spirits chattered at the pale-faced middle-aged man.
They spewed out words he could not even hear, without pausing.
“Good work, Noes.”
Kwi-iing!
As Jade gently stroked its face and praised it, Noes wagged its tail like a windmill.
But the members of the Elephant Tribe could not see it.
They could definitely feel a dangerous presence, but they could not see Noes.
“Now, let’s continue our conversation. The main force has been dealt with.”
“Are they all dead?”
“No matter how fast and powerful werewolves are, there’s nothing they can do once they’re buried alive. No animal can live without air.”
Gulp!
Jade’s matter-of-fact words were all the more chilling for it, and several tribesmen swallowed dryly.
Yet at the same time, they felt relieved.
It seemed they could be certain of receiving protection if they entrusted themselves to Jade.
Perhaps that was why everyone stole glances at Jade with eyes different from before.
“I’ve never seen the power of a spirit before, but it seems truly incredible.”
“It is a frightening power if handled well. After all, it can control nature. More importantly, let’s get to the point. You want to place yourselves under my protection, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Then let’s do this. Let’s change the terms a little.”
“We’re listening.”
The middle-aged man answered readily.
Since Jade held the upper hand, he straightened his posture and adopted a deferential tone.
The tribesmen also stared at Jade with faces taut with tension.
“I originally lived alone, but somehow ended up becoming a noble of the Polshtein Kingdom. Ah, the Polshtein Kingdom is the human kingdom bordering this area. And I was recently granted a territory adjoining the Great Forest. But I’m a little short on troops.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll give your tribe land in the village closest to here where you can live. In return, I want you to take responsibility for part of the defensive line.”
“We will.”
The middle-aged man did not hesitate.
They needed somewhere to live anyway.
They would have to build everything anew, but what mattered was that they had land to settle on.
Besides, if it was near a human village, they would naturally be able to interact with the humans as well.
‘Now that our circumstances have changed, the way we live must change too.’
The Elephant Beastkin were undoubtedly strong.
But they were not invincible.
The middle-aged man had learned that lesson painfully from this incident and realized that he had to change his way of thinking.
He had realized that they could not rely solely on physical ability.
Above all, the most important thing was the tribe’s size.
They did not need to start fights, but the middle-aged man believed they needed to build enough strength that no one from outside could recklessly attack them.
‘If a human can become that strong, it means we have that possibility too. No, if a monster of that caliber emerged from the Wolf Tribe, one could emerge from the Elephant Tribe as well.’
Their pride in being the strongest beastkin may, in a sense, have created their current situation.
That was why the middle-aged man absolutely needed time.
Time to grow the tribe.
“It won’t be easy. For one thing, there are the werewolves. Other beastkin tribes may even join the Wolf Tribe.”
“The opposite could happen as well. I’ll look into that possibility. The enemy of my enemy can become an ally.”
“It’s worth a try. In any case, the agreement has been reached.”
“We look forward to working with you.”
The middle-aged man bowed deeply.
The other tribesmen bowed their heads as well.
“I look forward to working with you all.”
“We’ll do our best.”
“Then I’ll give you your first assignment.”
Kugugung.
The ground suddenly churned, and the eyes of the Elephant Tribe members, including the middle-aged man, widened like saucers.
The sudden trembling of the earth frightened them.
Having directly witnessed more than two hundred werewolves being annihilated in one fell swoop, the Elephant Beastkin looked at Jade with bewildered expressions.
But Jade said nothing in response to their gazes.
Srrrk.
After a while, the bodies of the werewolves emerged one by one from the churning ground.
Each one was spat out of the ground, covered in dirt.
“W-what is this?”
“I hear werewolf pelts sell for a high price. You’ll need quite a bit of money to settle in a new place, so wouldn’t it be better to have your pockets nice and full?”
“Ah!”
“If you’re going to do it, make sure you process them properly without making mistakes. That way, you can get a higher price. Surely you don’t feel awkward because they’re fellow beastkin? If you do, I’ll do it myself.”
“No! We can do it!”
They came from the Great Forest, but they knew very well how important money was in human society.
That was why the middle-aged man answered hurriedly.
“Then hurry. Treat the injured too. Fortunately, I have some medicinal herbs I cultivated, so they should do the trick.”
“Understood.”
“Do you need tools?”
“It’s fine. We have claws.”
Jade nodded.
Seeing them skin the werewolves, he felt that he had offered an unnecessary suggestion.
A new village sprang up in front of Baden Village.
It was the village of the Elephant Beastkin.
Of course, they were awkward around each other at first, but after a few days, they had at least reached the point of exchanging stiff greetings.
After fighting several joint battles, they had developed something like comradeship.
“It seems you’re adapting fairly well.”
“It seems so to me as well.”
“Is it uncomfortable here? Compared to the lord’s castle, this place is lacking in many ways.”
“It’s fine.”
Alfredo stood there in an immaculate outfit as he answered.
He was holding a tray in one hand as he spoke.
“What about the others?”
“They came prepared for this from the outset, so there are no complaints.”
“If they’re having a hard time, send them to the lord’s castle. Otherwise, have them take turns standing guard regularly.”
“Understood.”
Seeing Jade subtly care for and look after his subordinates while pretending otherwise, Alfredo wore a faint smile.
But Jade did not see that smile because he was looking out the window.
“And the children?”
“They’re training hard. It seems they’ve gotten the hang of the mana cultivation method for now.”
“Then they can start making spirit contracts soon.”
“Also, we received word from the royal family. They would like to invite Your Lordship to the newly established Department of Spirit Studies.”
“Already?”
Jade, who had been sitting leisurely and drinking tea, looked slightly surprised.
He had expected the Crown Prince to hurry, but it was still much faster than he had anticipated.
“Yes. They say the number of students has already surpassed one hundred.”
“He really has been sharpening his blade.”
Lloyd had slaughtered all the Royal Knights who had switched their allegiance to the Second Prince.
As a result, the Royal Knights’ ranks were now severely depleted, and it seemed they intended to fill that gap with spirit mages.
Of course, that was impossible for the time being; they were merely laying the groundwork.
“They’re replenishing the depleted Royal Knights with graduates of the Department of Knight Studies.”
“Is it all right for you to tell me something like that?”
“Of course. I’m the steward of House Kang, after all.”
“Well, I suppose that much doesn’t matter.”
Jade spoke that way, but he knew what Alfredo was thinking.
However, he was not offended by it.
After all, social life was all about using one another to a reasonable extent.
“How should I respond?”
“Explain the situation here in detail. Tell them I can’t leave. It’s a situation where it wouldn’t be strange for war to break out at any moment.”
“Understood. Lastly, invitations have arrived from the lords of the surrounding territories.”
“Tell them about the current situation as well. It’s the perfect excuse, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”