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this guy!"

Waroka immediately grabbed the axe and swung it at Jiselle.

He too is a warrior of the North. No matter how much he values political judgment more than other barbarians, he cannot tolerate such an insult.

Kaaaaang!

Jiselle quickly drew her sword and blocked Woroka's axe, then laughed.

"Should we try it here first?"

"This guy… … . Are you saying you won't negotiate?"

"I don't care about that kind of thing. If I want to kill, I kill. If I can, I kill."

"this person...!"

The atmosphere became tense in an instant. As the two people exchanged weapons and glared at each other, the others did not stay still either.

Window! Chachachang!

Everyone around them drew their weapons and aimed at each other. The troops waiting in the rear also stood tense and prepared for battle.

Claude whispered to Wendy next to him.

"Pick me up quickly. Let's run away right now."

Wendy looked at Claude with contempt.

In the tense atmosphere, Zwalter shouted with a fake angry expression.

"Stop! Stop! This isn't the place to negotiate!"

At those words, Jiselle sneered at Woroka and put her sword back. Woroka also tried to calm his excitement and put his axe away.

But neither of them stopped glaring at each other.

Waroka was seething with anger and finding it hard to hold back. He thought the negotiations would end well, but then some brat got in the way and started making threats.

"You want five thousand horses? Are you going to take almost all the horses of the warriors gathered here?"

"Yes, you guys need to eat to live too, so I'll just accept that amount for now. How considerate of me."

"This cheeky… … ."

Waroka gritted his teeth.

Without horses, the mobility of warriors will inevitably be weakened. Given the nature of tribes that obtain most of their food through pillaging, if horses are taken away here, it will be difficult to obtain food.

Waroka continued, growling.

"Do you think we would accept such an offer? A silent warrior cannot survive here."

"Then before that, you can just kill me here. It's easier for me if I kill you and take everything away."

"This guy will… … until the end."

Waroka grabbed his axe again. It seemed that the negotiations would proceed more smoothly if he killed the one in front of him.

Negotiations among barbarians have always been like this: you kill a few and show your strength, and then you get favorable terms.

Even Waroka was unable to escape the savage mindset.

Just as he was about to swing his axe again, a thought suddenly crossed Waroka's mind.

'Wait a minute… … You blocked my axe so easily?'

It was clearly him who initiated the attack first. Considering the time it took to draw his sword, it was impossible for him to block his own attack so easily.

He tried to suppress the chills running down his spine as he asked about the other person's identity.

"You… are you a bloody demon?"

"I guess that's what you call me. I'm not the devil, though. I'm a non-violent pacifist."

People don't believe her, but Jiselle really likes to handle things peacefully. The situation just keeps turning into one where she has to use her fists.

Waroka glared and twitched his hand several times. He wanted to swing his axe at the arrogant brat right away.

'A young man like this… … A brat like this is really a bloody devil?'

But the opponent was the one who had captured and killed Kustu. The one who had cut down 5,000 warriors. The warrior's desire to fight and the fear that he would not be able to win simultaneously made him grow in size.

Ugh.

Waroka's mind became very complicated. The warrior's pride and his own ambition clashed in his mind several times.

Claude lowered his head and sighed as he saw the two people's fierce appearance.

'Oh, well then. With that temper, there's no way it'll end well.'

If he had asked for only 2,000 pieces, it would have been possible to get away with it somehow. But he asked for 5,000 pieces. Who would accept such a request?

Claude also has some idea about the barbarians. He has already swung his weapon once, so he will immediately get up and go back to prepare for battle.

'Wendy needs to pick me up quickly.'

Claude glanced around anxiously, preparing to run away.

however....

"This is… … ."

Waroka remained still. He continued to glare at Jiselle. It was not at all barbaric behavior.

'You just swung your weapon? Why are you suddenly like that? What did our crazy lord do again?'

Claude looked back and forth between Woroka and Giselle with gloomy eyes.

Looking at Waroka, who was trembling with his fists clenched, Jiselle said calmly.

"What are you doing? If you're going to fight, then fight. If you're going to bring horses, then bring them right now. Or should I just have a clean one-on-one fight?"

In fact, it would be rude for Giselle to step forward like this, since the representative for the negotiations was Zwalter.

'Etiquette and all, if I leave him in the care of my father, he'll just end up being a pushover again. He's actually a weak-willed person.'

Zwalter also knew the situation of the barbarians well, so he would have been tolerant to some extent. He would also have wanted to increase his power while seeking stability.

It's not that I don't understand my father's feelings, but that wasn't Giselle's way.

Right now, I'm taking all I can get.

If you get in my way, you'll be killed.

These two were sufficient for dealing with barbarians.

Waroka turned his head and took out his anger on the poor Zwalter.

"Wolf of the North! Are you not the representative of the negotiations? Is this proposal truly your will?"

Zwalter put his hand to his forehead. Nothing goes smoothly when his son is involved.

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If it were the old days, Zwalter's men would have been the first to criticize Giselle for being rude.

But now no one is stepping forward. They know that the recent improvement in Ferdium's situation is all thanks to Giselle.

Somehow I felt left out again.

'Honey… …Why are you going so quickly… … .'

Zwalter, whose eyes briefly turned red, shook his head and answered.

"I just delegated it."

Even if we say it's not our intention, it will only cause us to lose face. Zwalter left the negotiations to Giselle and just looked off to the side. The wind was cool.

"Oh, the weather is really nice."

"Hey, profit!"

As if he didn't know Zwalter, Woroca grumbled for a while and then sat down on his seat.

"I… … don't have the confidence to convince them."

If it were only the Sunstone Tribe, it would be fine, but the other tribes would certainly rebel. They would rather fight to the death than lose all their horses without gaining anything.

But I couldn't say let's fight. The skills my opponent had accumulated over the years and the skills he had shown just now were incredible. I didn't have the confidence to win, and even if I did win, the damage would be huge.

Then your dreams will be shattered and the destruction of your tribe will be imminent.

Woroka was caught between his greed, his sense of responsibility as a leader of his tribe, and his competitive spirit as a warrior.

"hmm."

Jiselle said as she looked at the army of barbarians lined up in the distance.

"You were acting so cocky, but now you're ready to talk. Let me give you a little push."

"what?"

"It means that I will fill in a little of what you lack."

Then one of the warriors next to Woroka shouted loudly. He was the one who had just drawn his axe and threatened Woroka.

"What do you expect me to give you when you're taking away all the most important words!"

"What are you?"

"I am the great warrior of the Sunstone Tribe! Monga Bujoke! We have no lack, so we have nothing to give you or take from you! If I want to fight, I will fight with my life on the line!"

"… … It seems like there are a lot of things lacking."

Woroka shut his mouth at Jiselle's muttering.

Although Monga displayed the confidence and belligerence of a great warrior, that was not what Woroka wanted.

And just as the bloody devil said, they were actually lacking in many things. It was hard for them to even make a living right away.

The other party had just opened the door to negotiations, but Monga had come out and ruined the mood for no reason, so Woroka couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"The conversation isn't over yet. Who asked you to intervene?"

Monga lowered her head and shut her mouth at the terrifying gaze of Waroka.

As the mood began to calm down, Waroka looked at Jiselle and asked.

"What can I help you with?"

"food."

"… … ?"

"I will give you enough food to survive for a while."

"Are you saying you'll give me food?"

"Yes. And I will hand over to you all the prisoners I have captured so far."

"Umm… … ."

Waroka was troubled. Food was the most essential resource for the barbarians. Wasn't the purpose of raiding Rutania in the first place to obtain food?

It would be good to take prisoners. Most of them would be old, but there would be children among them. When they grow up, they will become great warriors for the tribe.

The problem was that until the children grew up, they had to feed the prisoners with only the soldiers they had. If they received food, it would be okay for the time being, but it was obvious that they would soon starve and become even more difficult.

Jiselle smiled and said to the troubled Waroka.

"If you pay me 200 horses as tribute every year, I will give you food as a gift. And… … I will also give you the authority to distribute that food. Do you understand what I mean?"

At those words, Waroka's eyes lit up.

For now, we should divide it fairly to appease the tribes who lost their horses, but what about after that?

If you can hold on to the food, you can become the most powerful tribe. If you can do that, unification will be easier.

'Other guys will keep attacking, but… …. Didn't they originally try to subdue us by force?'

The warriors will not bow down to Woroka even if he holds the food because of his pride. They will probably all rush in with their eyes burning to steal the food.

But they won't be able to defeat the warriors who have eaten their fill. Even now, isn't the Sunstone Tribe competing for the title of strongest among the tribes?

Waroka's eyes sparkled with greed. It seemed that he could suppress the other tribes faster at the cost of losing the horses.

Jiselle, who had been quietly watching the scene, snickered.

'I knew you would accept it.'

Unusually for a savage, Woroka, who had a lot of thoughts, ended up uniting the tribes in his previous life. There was no way that the ignorant savages could defeat someone who was somewhat intelligent.

However, with so many people, Waroka continues to struggle with food problems.

After the destruction of Ferdium, he received food support from the Duke of Delphine. The condition was that he not interfere with the development of the Forest of Demons.

But that wasn't enough. The opportunity he seized while he was worrying was the one-year war between the Mercenary King and Rutania.

When the kingdom was engulfed in war, he took advantage of the gap and pushed his way in. Of course, he did not forget to bow down to Giselle and offer her many gifts.

– I will take only a few suitable pieces of land. There will be absolutely no harm to the king's army.

– Do as you wish. But if you interfere with my work, I will sweep you away first.

– Don't worry. I will help you.

Woroka caused chaos by taking over the land that Jisel had swept away. Jisel also wanted to reduce Rutania's power, so for the time being, he left him alone.

Because his top priority was to decapitate the Duke of Delphine.

Of course, after that, he tried to capture and exterminate all the barbarians. In the end, he died without achieving his goal.

That's why I suggested it to Waroka. He was the only one among the barbarians who didn't care whether they had horses or not. His ambition and desire to unite the North were far more important to him.

After thinking for a while, Waroka nodded vigorously as if he had made a decision.

"Good! I'll give you the horses. Persuade the other tribes and come. But you must give me the food. I'll distribute and coordinate it myself."

"Let's do that. Go and convince the rest of the tribes."

"Okay, if you give them food, they will follow."

Waroka spoke confidently and turned back. Food was what they needed most right now.

'Haha, if you get food and unite the tribes, I won't leave you alone. If you raise the captive children well, our number will increase significantly.'

Waroka smiled, hiding his true thoughts. A great kingdom in the north was pictured in his mind.

Claude, who had been watching the entire conversation, stuck out his tongue and shook his head.

'He's not a devil. He's a total devil, a devil.'

It is obvious at first glance. The barbarians who lose their horses will lose their mobility and fighting power.

What was even more serious was the fight between tribes over food. Now it was obvious that they would fight endlessly over the food that Jiselle had thrown.

One side will try to keep it and rule over the tribes, while the other side will try to take it away somehow.

If they were to distribute it fairly and unite the power of the tribes, it would actually put Ferdium in danger, but no matter how I looked at it, Woroka didn't seem like the kind of person who would do that.

Even if the tribes were unified, that would be a problem. As the number of tribesmen increased, feeding them also became a problem.

'A 5-year ceasefire? Are you planning on unifying the tribes in the meantime? Even if you unify all the tribes, there will still be a food shortage. You'll just bow and say you'll accept the food we throw at you and live in servility. Tsk tsk. You seem ambitious, but your greed is too great to think that far ahead.'

The author has now abandoned the future of his tribe because of his own greed.

The barbarians could no longer invade northern Rutania, as the lord would properly tame them with food during the five-year truce.

'This is suspicious again. If you don't know the author, you wouldn't think such a trick would work.'

It was exactly as the lord had thought. From Claude's perspective, it was full of things he couldn't understand.

'I'm really curious, I'm going to search for it!'

Knowledge cannot be acquired from books. It requires experience. However, Youngju does not have such experience. Claude felt so frustrated that he thought he was going crazy.

Without even knowing what Claude was thinking, Giselle smiled with satisfaction.

'I've got a lot of horses and I'm ready to put leashes on them. Now I don't have to worry about getting hit in the back of the head.'

Jiselle also had to conserve her power as much as possible. Waroka just didn't know that.

Of course, if I had pushed through to the end, I would have just taken a loss and wiped them out here. Securing the safety of the rear was also an important goal.

'This side won't be able to attack for several years, so Ferdium can withdraw his troops with peace of mind.'

I heard that Amelia and Baron Valois have started a civil war. It would have been more urgent for her to deal with Daven than with Giselle.

Even if Amelia wins quickly, it will be difficult for her to reach the Fenris territory for a while. She needs time to regroup and reorganize her forces.

'Just wait a minute, Harold Desmond.'

Jiselle smiled cruelly.

One by one, they were slowly getting ready to cut off his neck.