Chapter 262: Act 29 – Expansion (10)
The more Tagib thought, the more it conformed to Brandel’s expectations.
In fact, the young man initially only wanted to intimidate it to prevent this cave dweller from becoming too arrogant. Since Leland and Dragon’s Tongue were nearby, he guessed that the cave dwellers must have come from those places.
Such things were secrets to humanity on the surface world of this era, but to him, they were not significant information.
Having struck a blow against the other’s arrogance, he spoke seriously: “As far as I know, subterranean creatures are not particularly welcomed in the human world!”
“I don’t… want to interfere with your world,” Tagib had to lower its tone.
It was not lying; although Tagib initially harbored ambitious plans, the frailty of humans had given it a sense of opportunity. At one point, this cave dweller sought to gain a foothold in this forest and expand its influence over all of Grudin’s territory, but news gradually seeping in from outside the forest had made it abandon that thought.
As it gradually learned about the unfamiliar world outside, it finally discovered that this ancient human kingdom called Erluin had a population in the millions, which was simply unimaginable to it.
Even the weak human noble outside—that person who should be called Grudin according to human nomenclature—managed to govern lands inhabited by hundreds of thousands of subjects. Yet, despite this, he was merely an obscure little lord upon this land.
In Tagib’s impression, only those formidable lords with significant military power could have so many subjects and slaves, such as Leland and Dragon’s Tongue mentioned by Brandel.
The terrifying number of humans made Tagib come to its senses, immediately quelling its earlier thoughts; otherwise, with its character, it would never have entertained a proposal for trade with Grudin.
“Is that so?” Brandel, however, did not appreciate this observation: “But it seems that your actions and words, Chief, are not consistent. The forest you occupy is indeed the sacred and inseparable territory of humanity since ancient times—”
He said this with a very habitual tone, but soon realized something was amiss and corrected himself: “No, let me rephrase. These four lumberyards are part of my entire property, and I don’t intend to lend them to you for even a minute.”
“Your property?” Tagib was taken aback. It had only seen Grudin a couple of times but it did not believe this young man was the legendary Count Rendener.
At this moment, the fighting outside had come to a halt. The cave dwellers were not fools; they could certainly sense the change in their leader’s attitude. Although Tagib had not commanded them to cease attacking, they understood that any rash movement might cost them their chieftain.
Not to mention, those two angels would be hard to deal with.
“Yes, at least for now,” Brandel nodded.
“So… what do you want to do now?” the cave dweller lowered its head, gesturing to the blade against its neck, and stammered.
“I will give you two choices,” Brandel replied, “First, go back from whence you came.”
Tagib shook its head, the feathers on its body shivering. As a tribe defeated in battle, returning underground equated to a dead end, unless it was willing to join its former enemies. But Tagib had denied that possibility from the start.
“And the second?” it asked.
“You and your tribe are also considered failed competitors in the underground world, and even if you succeeded, you would only serve other subterranean lords—” Brandel seemed distracted as he spoke, “In that case, why not think differently and become my vassals?”
He paused: “Just as I understand your customs: you pledge allegiance to me, and I guarantee the continuation of your tribe.”
Tagib was taken aback. It could say it had guessed the young man’s intentions, but it was also unexpected.
Brandel was asking it to establish a relationship of subordination analogous to that between underground tribes and lords, which meant selling the fate of its entire race to this young human—this not only demonstrated the other party’s understanding of the underground world but also made Tagib feel somewhat amused.
What right did he have to demand allegiance from an underground tribe?
Deep down, Tagib still looked down on humans, but it soon realized that if it did not agree, it would have to return to the underground to face another option that it was equally unwilling to accept—especially since it sensed the subtle movements of the young man’s fingers; perhaps he never intended to let them return. It wondered if saying no would result in the blade immediately falling upon it.
It hesitated, and Brandel allowed it to do so. Only Xi remained silent nearby, glancing between the oddly feathered cave dweller and the lord on horseback, feeling more worried than either of them. She was concerned about what the lord would do if this guy refused.
She knew better than anyone present that if Tagib said no, Brandel would be unable to prevent the cave dwellers outside the lumberyard from continuing their assault on Antinna and the others. Even killing it would be futile; she did not believe Antinna and those mercenaries could hold out until dawn considering Brandel had clearly stated they could last until midnight at best—
The red-haired maiden could not help but take a gentle breath, growing somewhat anxious.
Brandel’s hand remained motionless on the hilt of his sword, never having loosened its grip. In fact, Tagib had not guessed wrong; if it said no, what awaited it would be a fate beyond its imagination.
He was not as troubled as Xi because he had devised this plan from the beginning. A hundred points of wealth had long been prepared in his treasury; if Tagib refused, its fate would be to be sealed as a card.
Though the nature was different, in the end, this tribe would still submit to him. Brandel knew he needed this power; with these cave dwellers as a trump card, neither Sir Minate nor Sir Parsons would become significant anymore.
Three thousand black iron-level combatants would reduce Toniger to nothing more than a voice, creating a story that Count Rendener would likely never foresee from start to finish.
But before that, the only variable remained the response Tagib was to give, and Brandel waited with great patience for the other party to speak, though the young man himself felt equally anxious.
It was as if on this night, in this battlefield, at this moment, Brandel seemed to see a road extending forward in the darkness before him. The thorn-laden path became inexplicably clear to him for the first time, making him feel that since arriving in this world, he had finally sensed his ability to change the future and fate.
Just a little longer.
The cave dweller finally trembled and lifted its head; its fearsome eagle feathers quivered as if it had made a significant decision. Tagib spoke—
At that moment, the cool night wind swept across the entire battlefield, and the pines rustled, drowning out those words that might change all of Toniger—and even all of Erluin.
The expression on the young man’s face softened as he nodded, “As long as you are sure—”
Then he said a second sentence: “Because in fact, you will find that what you gain is far more than what you lose.”
…
As days passed, Firburh gradually became peaceful again after losing its original lord amidst the turmoil, and the market gradually resumed its former tranquility.
However, in reality, more events occurred beneath the calm surface. For those mercenaries who had taken part in the lumberyard conflict, no one could accurately say how they achieved victory that night.
Especially since the battle, which was initially expected to last a week or even longer, took a dramatic turn just after dawn.
Under circumstances where they held absolute advantages in numbers and terrain, the cave dwellers not only retreated, but they also vacated the lumberyard they had occupied, handing over their territory as if it were a miracle. This astonishing outcome altered the impressions that all mercenaries had of this event.
After this battle, Brandel had become mysterious and omnipotent in the minds of most people. Although the leaders of several factions each harbored doubts, they ultimately expressed unconditional submission.
However, Brandel did not immediately disband their respective teams; instead, he had more pressing matters to attend to. The first task was that the lumberyard in the forest, with the arrival of residents from Viridien Village, began to provide a steady supply of timber for Firburh, and repairing the city walls was on the agenda.
Another task was about rejuvenating the barren land of Firburh; for example, upon returning to Firburh, Brandel began to exempt Antinna from all taxes within the territory for three years.
This news initially seemed unbelievable, after all, for a lord, relying on taxes to support his army was a common understanding, but Brandel frankly did not care about that little profit.
What he intended to do was something only he would understand; being a leisurely wealthy landlord posed no issue, but for a larger strategy, it was like a drop in the bucket—rather than that, it was better to use it to soothe the people’s hearts.
Brandel was aware of the potential undercurrents within his territory; before the battle with the two Grudin vassals, every resident here likely doubted how long their somewhat illegitimate lord could remain.
Thinking of this, he could not help but smile slightly, lifting his head from his desk—this desk had originally belonged to Grudin’s estate, yet how much time did the former lord spend here dealing with affairs concerning Toniger?
Only the heavens would know.
Just at that moment, Brandel heard a commotion from outside the window.
…(To be continued. To know the follow-up, please log on for more chapters and support the author and official reading!)
