Chapter 253: Act 20 – Expansion (Part 1) (Second Update, Today’s Burst, Please Subscribe)
Although the Bearman Forest is part of the dark forest extending into the civilized world, it is not large itself, especially the mountain woods where the four lumber mills are located, which can be crossed in just a day or half a day.
The lumber mill located in the far west, taken by Brendel, is called the Horseshoe Clover Lumber Mill. The news of its fall spread throughout the entire forest within hours, following the disbanding of the troglodytes.
For a moment, the troglodytes in the mountains began to stir restlessly—
Meanwhile, the news naturally reached the ears of the tribe’s leader. Tagib, from one of the noble bloodlines among the thirteen branches of troglodytes, became a natural choice for a shaman—its skin was darker than that of the elite warriors among the troglodytes, and it was adorned with long feathers—feathers of the terror vulture, trophies from battles against the dark elves of the underground world.
However, at this moment, it sat on a throne of bear fur, disinterested in managing these beautiful feathers. It ran its slender fingers over the skull on a wooden stick also adorned with feathers, visibly irritated.
Five years ago, it had become the leader of this tribe, breaking away from the paternal clan. However, it encountered difficulties in claiming its own territory and had to lead its people in habitual migration. This was not uncommon in the underground world, but surprisingly, they discovered one of the paths leading to the surface.
Although the surface world was far from a paradise for Tagib, it decided to take the risk. After briefly adapting to life on the surface, it found that the humans were not as terrifying as it had imagined, and consequently seized the four lumber mills situated within the forest.
However, this action provoked the ire of the local lord, Baron Grudin. The humans and troglodytes clashed twice in the forest, but the inconsistent army of Duke Toniger and the nobles’ private soldiers were no match for the troglodytes, who drove the humans away without gaining any advantages.
Ultimately, Grudin had no choice but to lower himself to personally negotiate with Tagib. The troglodytes had no need for the lumber produced in the forest, but Grudin did; Duke Toniger relied on Ampere Seale for timber supplies, and should problems arise, the first to trouble him would be his powerful father—Count Rendener.
Therefore, despite having a deficit, Grudin had to find a way to ensure that Toniger received the basic annual timber export. The output from the four lumber mills near Firburh was among the top ranks in all of Toniger, and he did not dare to give it up easily, yet could not rely on force to take it back—moreover, this matter must not reach Count Rendener’s ears—thus the only remaining option was to rely on trade.
Although it sounded absurd for a lord to spend money to purchase the products of his own territory, fortunately, Grudin had a silver mine, and silver was also an important circulating currency in the underground world. Tagib needed more money to strengthen its tribe, so both sides quickly reached an agreement, and this clandestine trade continued.
Tagib appreciated such a deal; although the troglodytes had achieved victories in previous battles against humans, even forcing Grudin to lower his face, this did not change the fact that its tribe was sparse in numbers. Thousands of black iron-level fighters sounded formidable, yet that was the total population of its tribe—
And Tagib was clever; through continuous interactions, it gradually came to understand the true state of the human world it found itself in. Although no army capable of easily driving them away could be found in Toniger, recklessly appearing in human territories would still lead to bad experiences.
It must be noted that the Baron of Firburh alone had a scattered population of close to seventy thousand, let alone all of Toniger. Moreover, as an alien race, if they rashly attacked human settlements, it could potentially provoke a wider range of attacks.
Tagib knew this place belonged to a nation, and the concept of a nation in its mind equated to the underground realm of Jotungrund, which made it somewhat fearsome.
Thus, even knowing that there was still a silver mine under Grudin’s control, it did not dare to seize it easily. In any case, it was quite satisfied with the current status. As long as it firmly controlled the three lumber mills, it could continuously receive silver from that human lord—using that silver, it could expand its tribe at will, until one day it could return underground.
In Tagib’s heart, returning underground remained its primary goal. Although Toniger was tempting, it was not territory belonging to the troglodytes.
However, good fortune seemed to be short-lived, as this day the tribe leader felt he encountered a thorny trouble.
After adapting to a stable life, it became less inclined to provoke humans, especially when the tribe’s development was just beginning to show a good trend. Engaging in combat with humans would inevitably attract the attention of surrounding forces. It was not keen on exposing its existence at this time, yet the more it thought this way, trouble seemed to come knocking—like that afternoon when news arrived informing it that humans had once again breached the forest—
And this time, not only had the humans taken a lumber mill, but they also killed over a hundred of its tribe members.
Upon hearing this news, Tagib erupted in anger. On one hand, it ordered the fighting members of the tribe to assemble; on the other hand, it calmed down to begin gathering intelligence on their opponents.
The recent defeat made this cautious and clever troglodyte shaman careful. It summoned its most trusted advisors to hear more opinions.
The first to speak was an older troglodyte cloaked in bear fur. Of course, from a human perspective, the troglodyte’s so-called elder was merely more hunched, with weaker, frail limbs, and a body covered in white stripes.
This old troglodyte was called “Hornclaw.” Most troglodytes did not have names, and this name was bestowed upon it by Tagib; Hornclaw is the name of an underground bipedal reptile in Jotungrund, one of the most famous hunters in the underground world, renowned for their careful and effective movements—as well as being cunning.
Tagib bestowed this name upon the old troglodyte to praise its wisdom and experience. In reality, the old troglodyte was a defector from a rival tribe; troglodytes did not share humans’ concept of loyalty—beings of the underground respected strength, and switching allegiance from one tribe to another was quite common.
Furthermore, Hornclaw was experienced and shrewd, thus its words carried weight among Tagib’s tribe.
“I heard from the retreated tribesmen that there should be a wizard among the humans,” the old troglodyte said. “It’s a silence spell; the dark elves often use this tactic against us in underground battles. Unfortunately, we did not have more shamans on the front line, otherwise, we would have not lost so many tribe members.”
“How many of them are there?” Tagib asked.
“Two or three hundred.”
“Just two or three hundred,” the troglodyte leader grimly said. “That human called Grudin is truly tired of living. Does he think that sending mercenaries to trouble us means I won’t dare to move against him?” it spat. “We’ll deal with those oblivious mercenaries first, then we’ll go and finish off that damned lord; I don’t intend to be polite to him—let’s seize the silver mine in the south as well.”
“If you do that,” Hornclaw replied, “you’ll provoke a backlash from the humans.”
“No matter,” Tagib dismissed. “They will take time to mobilize. Once we grab a haul from the silver mine, we’ll retreat underground; I’ll see if they dare to pursue us.”
The elders in the room exchanged thoughts using their unique sound waves. “So how do we handle those human mercenaries?” another troglodyte asked.
“I’ll handle it myself,” Tagib responded. “It’s just magic.”
It stood up and declared: “Tonight, I want those humans to pay the bloody price for our fallen tribe members, none left alive!” Tagib’s sharp voice echoed in the room, and several elder troglodytes lowered their heads, not opposing it.
In their view, those humans were indeed a bit oblivious to danger.
Because contrary to the news that Tagib had deliberately leaked, at this moment, there resided over three thousand troglodytes in Bearman Forest, and in front of this massive force, even the entire army of Toniger gathering together would not be sufficient. Of course, perhaps behind Toniger was Count Rendener, along with Erluin.
However, Tagib understood very well that Grudin could not possibly mobilize outside forces without leaking any information in such a short time.
Currently, within Firburh, there were only the mercenaries that had gathered earlier. This aligned perfectly with the information they had received previously, indicating that Grudin had indeed incited mercenaries against them.
Yet, if that fellow thought this could shake their foundations here, he would certainly pay the price.
However, Tagib could never guess that Grudin had already paid a price—not for the troglodytes, but the enemies standing in front of them were equally familiar with them, Brendel.
The direction of this battle had changed from the very start.
…
The battle at the Horseshoe Clover Lumber Mill had long since ended, with the troglodytes that rushed out leaving behind only the weak and infirm in the camp, incapable of resistance.
Even so, the mercenaries still paid the heaviest price in the final struggle for the lumber mill. Over thirty were injured, and ten were dead.
Juliette, Vurn, and Crenshia felt a sense of relief once victory was confirmed. They were accustomed to the parting of life and death, and this level of casualties was actually somewhat unexpected. No, it should be said it was a miracle; had it not been for Brendel’s familiarity with these underground inhabitants, they wouldn’t have only incurred this minor loss, and even victory would have been a luxury.
Although this battle with the troglodytes had not been part of their initial expectations—
Therefore, the mindset of the three major leaders was somewhat complex at this moment; they were not so willing to fight for that young lord. All matters concerning the Baron of Firburh should have had nothing to do with them, yet for some inexplicable reason, they were now tied together.
Juliette, Vurn, and Crenshia couldn’t help but exchange glances, but in their eyes, all they saw was a bitter smile.
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