Chapter 347: Subjugating Barbarians - Part 2!
Standing beside the cover of the largest tent inside the Barbarian camp, Alex could see a tall wooden frame with a campfire burning with raging blazes in the center of the barbarian camp.
Around the campfire, there were some young barbarians slaughtering cows and goats to make grilled meat.
At the same time, a few of them were fighting each other barehanded in a wide circle created right at the camp entrance.
Alex was currently invisible. He used Nora's bloodline power to hide himself as he found the conversation of the seven most prominent Barbarian, sitting a few meters away from his position, intriguing. As for how he understood their language. It was because he had bought the language from the Heavenly Book when he entered the camp. There was no need to read the Barbarian language teaching book since the content was directly transferred to his brain with a meager extra cost of currency.
He pricked his ears since the old Barbarian talk became more interesting.
...
Norakh shook his head and said, "No, this time, Basho(Chieftain) did not let me or any of the other elders know what his specific plan was. In fact, one of the other five elders asked him if we are attacking human settlements for their food, women, weapons, slaves to sell on the other side of the forest or are we attacking them in order to occupy their lands as that would really make us the enemy of all the other tribes."
"Of course, it has to be the first one. Basho isn't someone who would even think of going against Ullesis."
"He's right. No one would have the guts to do it, even our own Basho."
"He wouldn't do that right, Norakh?"
"Damn right, he wouldn't do that. No one in their right mind in this tribe would still follow chieftains orders if he did that."
The rest of the four Barbarians said one after another.
"What did he say then? Our Basho, what did he say?" Karakh asked his mentor, the person who had taught him all his fighting skills and made him competent enough to become one of the top ten strongest barbarian warriors in the whole Anthral Tribe.
"As I said before, he revealed nothing, as far as his plans are concerned, but he did say one thing which let me and others have an inkling to his plans. He said that this campaign will be a life-changing event for our tribe and for all the Barbarian warriors across the Belmont's land." Norakh revealed after which he emptied a wooden jug as big as a barbarians head, filled with ale in one go. This was his tent jug, and his tongue was becoming looser.
"What does that mean?" One of the Barbarian asked, looking very confused.
"It means that our Chieftain is really planning something big and that something may go against Ullessis decree and the pact our ancestors had with humans. So get ready and try your best to gain as much merit as you can in this campaign because the rewards are going to be truly mouth-watering. Yes, he did tell us what we would gain from this campaign."
Norakh's words made others visibly shaken.
Especially Karakh, he understood the gravity of the situation.
"Why? I mean, how can you be so sure that Chieftain is planning to break the accord between the Ullesis and the Humans? And the rewards, just what are you talking about?" Karakh asked, still confused why his teacher would be so calm after learning that their tribe might be facing all the Barbarians in this continent in the future if they went against the Ullesis, and no rewards would be worth it if that happened.
And like him, the other four barbarians were thinking the same thing except for Bergorakh, the one with the smallest build.
Karakh saw an emotion of greed flash in his teacher's eyes that he had never seen in him before.
Norakh had definitely been greedy about the reward after the Chieftain had told them about what it was.
Every Barbarian dreamt of regaining the lands that their ancestor had lived previously. They wanted to gain it back, but that became next to impossible after the seventh generation Ullesis signed an accord with the human Kings and so-called Sect leaders never to attack each other's territories. A kind of an impasse in which a balance had been created between the two forces. Norakh knew that the so-called accord would be nothing but garbage once any of the two forces overpower the other on a large scale.
Norakh wanted to do something about it, but their meager population and the lack of enough powerhouses at the level of their current Ullesis has made it next to impossible for them to go against the ever-increasing population of the Humans.
But last night, Chieftain Romethra introduced someone to him and the elders. That, someone, showed them a glimpse of what kind of a reward they would be getting at the end of the campaign and how life-changing it would be for all their tribe and all the Barbarians.
Norakh was about to tell his pupils, but his mouth shut by itself by a strange force before he could speak out.
"Mmmhmmmm-!!!" Norakh clutched his throat in pain.
It was then that he remembered how all the elders were told not to reveal anything that they had known last night to outsiders or anyone from the tribe. They were also made to drop blood on a piece of paper by that mysterious shaman, and the explanation they got was that it would restrict them from going against the oath.
Norakh's eyes constricted in horror when he remembered what would happen if they really did try to reveal the secret to the others.
He had completely forgotten about that matter since he did not believe that a simple piece of paper could have such an effect on him. Not to mention, he had drunk quite a lot of ale since morning; his mouth slipped when his pupils asked about the rewards.
Karakh and other Barbarians stood up in alarm. But until the time one of them could ask, Norakh regained his ability to speak, and the burning sensation in his throat also subsided little by little.
"It's... cough cough... It's alright. The ale, it's the ale. It caused a burning sensation in my throat. Don't worry, sit down, all of you." Norakh said as he rubbed his uncomfortable neck.