Ch.56Chapter 56

The warriors of the Leir tribe paid dearly for underestimating the forest.

The unfamiliar forest environment and warriors who were just as skilled as them were problematic enough, but the appearance of the bone-helmeted warrior and wolf riders was a variable they hadn’t anticipated at all.

“What kind of wolf grows that big?!”

“Treat it like a monster. Aim for the eyes or feet to restrict its movement… Guhk!?”

“Damn it. More arrows!”

“You cowardly bastards. Show yourselves and fight like true warriors!”

From the front, forest warriors advanced with a grotesque figure wearing a deer skull leading the charge, while wolf riders attacked from the sides, inflicting wounds, and arrows rained down from all directions.

The Leir tribe’s warriors fought bravely, true to their innate temperament, but bravery alone wasn’t enough to win battles.

Todel looked at a warrior who had died riddled with arrows and quickly made his assessment.

‘There’s no chance of winning this!’

A Summoner’s strength lies in being able to create powerful variables in battle, but that’s only useful when there’s a chance of victory.

Half the warriors had already perished—how much could a lone Summoner improve their odds by fighting desperately?

Todel tapped the hawk bone amulet hanging around his neck. The magic imbued in the charm made his body lighter.

With a grief-stricken expression, Todel encouraged the warriors.

“Descendants of great warriors! Proud warriors and raiders of Leir! Though we may perish to the enemy’s cowardly tactics, we shall die with honor!”

“Lord Todel!!!”

“Fight! We shall never show our backs, even in death. Rather, we shall die standing with our swords piercing the enemy’s heart, and I shall proudly tell our ancestors that we fought with honor!”

The ancestors of the northerners were raiders who had crossed the sea, worshippers of the god of warriors.

Though they had forgotten the names of their gods, they hadn’t lost their faith. They still believed that an honorable death would qualify them to enter the hall of gods.

To such people, Todel’s encouragement was a powerful catalyst. Their reason was swept away by rampaging bloodlust, and their survival instinct lost strength against their deadly determination.

The warriors charged toward the enemy with savage cries. The forest warriors were astonished by their ferocity, as they ignored arrows and minor wounds.

“These madmen. They can’t even remember their gods’ names, yet they’re determined to throw away their lives cheaply!”

“Stop them! There’s no death more meaningless than losing your life to such fools!”

But being prepared to die didn’t turn the tide of battle.

For forest people who lived through terrible hunger and flesh-tearing cold, and for nomads whose lives were defined by war, being prepared to die was nothing unusual.

Todel had anticipated this situation to some extent. He never expected the warriors to defeat the enemy in the first place.

Once all the warriors had thrown themselves into the fray, Todel turned his back without the slightest hesitation.

‘This isn’t running away. I’m retreating because I cannot let the enemy’s strength and the warriors’ sacrifice be in vain!’

The very fact that he needed such justification was an admission of his guilt, but Todel was truly desperate.

If the warriors’ deaths remained unknown, who would swear vengeance and minimize the threat of the alliance?

Todel swallowed his humiliation and retreated swiftly like a hawk…

“That’s supposed to be a Summoner? Compared to the Summoners who follow the Djin… how ugly.”

The forest warriors were amazed by his swift and shameful retreat. It was so shocking that even the wolf riders didn’t think to pursue Todel.

Of course, the forest warriors weren’t the only ones who witnessed this. Some warriors who still had their wits about them saw Todel’s behavior and roared in anger.

“Todel. TODEEEL!!! You coward! Come back and fight with honor!!!”

But despite the warriors’ cries, Todel never looked back once. He vanished as if carried away by the wind in an instant.

The Leir warriors breathed their last, bitterly calling out the name of Todel who had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

* * *

“It’s an emergency!”

“…I suppose it must be, if you’re interrupting my meal.”

Wendigo glumly put down the hot chicken he had been enjoying when Geron approached with an urgent expression.

Geron hastily called people to clear away the food. Wendigo watched the departing dishes with longing eyes.

“Djin, I apologize for interrupting your meal, but it truly is an emergency.”

“I know. You wouldn’t go this far if it weren’t truly important.”

Wendigo sighed and drummed his fingernails on the armrest of his throne. Though his head understood, his heart was pounding with hot anger.

What kind of fools had caused trouble and ruined one of his few pleasures!

“Tell me. What cursed fools are making a mess of my meal—I mean, causing trouble in the forest?”

“Reports say unknown intruders have set up a military camp at the forest’s edge. What appears to be their main force is slowly advancing, and numerous separate units have entered the forest.”

“What about casualties?”

“Well…”

When Geron hesitated with a troubled expression, Wendigo set aside his lingering attachment to food and took the situation more seriously.

How severe could the damage be for Geron to hesitate and withhold information?

“Is the damage worse than expected? I suppose if we were caught by surprise, significant casualties wouldn’t be unusual.”

“Actually, there’s hardly any damage. The separate units didn’t cooperate with each other, so our forces defeated them one by one…”

“……”

Wendigo prided himself on having seen plenty of greedy and foolish creatures in this world, but he was dumbfounded whenever new idiots like these appeared.

Normally one would rejoice when facing incompetent enemies, but… wasn’t this a bit too much?

“If there were multiple separate units, not just one, doesn’t that mean they have quite a few warriors?”

“It seems so. Reports indicate numerous smoke columns rising from their camp.”

“But with that many warriors, they must have commanders. What on earth did they do to perform so poorly?”

“Hmm… this is just my personal opinion, but perhaps they aren’t a single force.”

Wendigo found Geron’s conjecture quite plausible. Even incompetent fools would at least pretend to cooperate if ordered to do so from above.

But if they were a ragtag army composed of multiple forces, their lack of cooperation wouldn’t be strange.

The commanders the warriors followed, as well as their objectives, could differ.

“Then it seems Summoners or tribes have formed an alliance… I think I understand why.”

“The exiled Summoners must be behind this, right?”

“It seems so. Unable to accomplish anything individually, they promised spoils of war to unite forces.”

If that was the case, the separate units were likely following orders from their own Summoners or chieftains rather than from the alliance’s commander.

It wasn’t that they didn’t cooperate because they didn’t trust each other—they probably couldn’t even attempt to cooperate because they were unaware of each other’s existence.

‘Simply going out myself to kill them as usual… wouldn’t solve the fundamental problem.’

Chieftains could move tribes, and Summoners could move chieftains.

At minimum, he would need to deal with the chieftains and Summoners to prevent such incidents.

“Tell the warriors not to attack the enemies but to drive them deeper into the forest.”

“Is that wise? When we fought the Blue Mane tribe, we were dealing with a single tribe, but now we’re facing an alliance of multiple tribes.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve thought of a way to sow discord among them that should work quite well.”

“Discord?”

In response to Geron’s question, Wendigo created an ice crystal and placed it on his palm.

“I have what they want. I’ll use this to make them fight each other.”

* * *

Todel, who had led a separate unit and returned with only his life intact.

However, the tragedy Todel experienced wasn’t his alone.

As similar people tend to gather together, at least five others besides Todel had secretly taken action to earn some merit.

Gelmir seized this opportunity to criticize the tribes that had acted independently.

“I didn’t realize so many would disregard my command from the start. Didn’t you all agree to follow my leadership!”

“Ahem. It was merely a reconnaissance party to scout the surroundings. Gelmir, even as the alliance’s commander, you don’t have the authority to question such matters.”

“Ha! A reconnaissance party? Who in the world sends a third of their warriors for mere reconnaissance!”

Gelmir mocked them with a look of disdain, but those who had secretly moved their separate units could only swallow their anger without rebuttal.

If the separate units had accomplished something, it might have been different, but most had suffered near-total losses.

Gelmir glared at the chieftains and imposed punishment on them.

“I have no choice. Move your camps to the rear.”

“Gelmir!”

“Be quiet. I’m giving you a light punishment out of respect for the chieftains and Summoners. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let this slide so easily.”

As Gelmir’s cold gaze swept over the chieftains, they bit their lips and lowered their heads.

Watching this, Todel organized his thoughts. Something seemed off.

Could a Summoner of Gelmir’s caliber really have failed to anticipate that other tribes would act independently?

‘…No way. He must have known about all this and deliberately allowed it.’

Looking at the results, Gelmir had benefited the most.

He now had justification to control the previously unruly alliance, and he had weakened other factions without suffering any losses himself or inflicting damage on the enemy.

If Gelmir had a good reputation, Todel might have dismissed these thoughts as paranoia, but Gelmir’s infamy was second to none in the north.

“This concludes today’s meeting. I hope we can proceed tomorrow morning without such unfortunate incidents.”

“Don’t worry. What unfortunate incidents could occur unless these fools cause trouble?”

“Tsk, tsk. If you lack ability, you should at least know to act humbly.”

Some tribes had apparently already allied with Gelmir, as a group centered around him left the tent together.

Realizing he had been played by Gelmir’s schemes, Todel trembled with anger and shame. He wanted to unleash his fury on Gelmir, but…

“Sigh… Don’t act rashly for now.”

“Chieftain, but in this situation, how can we achieve any merit!”

“That’s enough. Rest now. I’m tired and will rest today as well.”

Even the chieftain who had revered him like a sage now cast suspicious glances and ordered him to withdraw. Todel trembled with a humiliation he had never felt before.

Perhaps because of this?

Todel couldn’t sleep even when night fell. He wandered around the camp with the moon as his companion.

He left the camp and walked into the forest, venting his anger.

“If only I had power like Gelmir’s… if only I had a chieftain’s authority!”

In the forest where no watching eyes could be found, Todel ground his teeth and poured out his innermost thoughts, and…

[Do you desire power?]

“!”

From beyond the deep darkness of the forest… someone was addressing him.