Chapter 703: Capturing Beastkin Warriors
"But chief... we all know the grey wolf tribe has been lurking near our village lately. I fear that they are thinking of attacking us. How can we go hunting knowing that they could attack our folks?" One of the warriors spoke up, his face revealing a touch of worry and fear.
Hearing this, the other warriors frowned.
The chieftain patted the worried warrior’s face and responded. "We will leave half of our warriors here to defend the village and I will take the other half to go hunting."
"Chief, if you only bring half of our men, it could be..." Someone wanted to dissuade him, but the chieftain raised his hand.
"There is no other way. If we don’t go out to hunt, we wouldn’t have enough food for winter. Don’t forget that we still need to pay tribute to the Lion King."
Everyone fell silent at his words.
Their village, and even the Grey Wolf tribe, are just two of the many scattered villages of the beastkins. They are only vassal forces of the golden lion tribe which is the true overlord of the Red Mountain Territory.
As vassal forces, they had to pay a yearly tribute to the golden lion tribe. If they couldn’t pay in time, their lands would be confiscated, or worse, their folks would be mercilessly slaughtered.
Looking at his silent subordinates, the chieftain sighed helplessly. "Make preparations. We will go hunting today."
"Yes, chief..."
...
"Should we go in and ask for information?"
Alaric and Yskaela hid within the tall bushes as they observed the village up ahead.
Based on their preliminary observations, the village had only several hundred households and an estimated population of a few thousand to five thousand. They also sensed that the strongest in the village was only a Heroic which wasn’t much of a threat to both of them.
Alaric clicked his tongue.
Talk about bad timing. We really found a settlement.
"I don’t think that is a good idea. Can’t you see? I don’t think they are humans." He pointed at the beastkin warriors stationed at the entrance of the village.
In the desolate region, the humans and the beastkins might have formed a truce, but they had once been at war for centuries. He believed that the situation in Cangnan was not any different.
"Then we can capture one of them for interrogation." Yskaela was eager to give it a try.
Alaric nodded. "Alright, but don’t kill anyone for now."
Hearing this, Yskaela grinned. "Fine, but I can beat them up, right?"
Alaric smiled helplessly and shrugged. "Do whatever you want."
With a chuckle, Yskaela dashed toward the village, her figure turning into a blur.
Like a silent predator, she pounced at the warriors at the village entrance. She knocked out one of them with a strike to the back of the head.
The other warrior was stunned by the sudden attack. He grabbed the horn tied to his belt and was about to alert the village, but then...
Pak!
Yskaela slapped away the horn and grabbed the warrior by the neck. She then used her mana to force the man to lose consciousness.
After subduing both warriors, she grabbed the two of them and went back to the hiding spot where Alaric was waiting.
Alaric was speechless. The plan was to capture just one man, but she went ahead and openly captured two.
"I didn’t know that you were such a troublemaker."
Smiling, Yskaela threw the unconscious warriors to the ground. "Did you regret marrying me?"
"Not at all." Alaric quickly shook his head.
"Good. Now let us leave this place. The village would soon discover that their gatekeepers are missing."
The two carried the unconscious beastkin warriors and left in haste.
...
Dolfi felt a searing headache as soon as he regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself tightly bound to a tree.
Two humans stood in front of him, looking at him with deep curiosity.
"Humans?! What are you doing in the territory of the golden lion tribe?! Are you disobeying the treaty?!"
He looked to his left and right, trying to find a possible way out.
"Ralof..." He was relieved to see his comrade bound next to him.
Ralof opened his eyes in confusion. When he realized that he was tied to a tree, he tried to cut the ropes.
"Oh, I thought there would be a language barrier between us, but it seems you guys can speak the common language too." A nonchalant voice drifted into their ears.
The one who spoke was a young human warrior wearing exquisite battle armor. He had a red cloak strapped around his shoulder, shielding his skin from the bright sun.
Dolfi glared at them and let out a snarl. "You! What do you want from us?!"
Alaric raised his hands and responded with an innocent smile. "Relax, my friend. We mean you no harm. We only want some information."
Ralof spat a mouthful of saliva beneath Alaric’s feet and growled at him. "You have trespassed the territory of the golden lion tribe! Once they get wind of this, you two will face their wrath!"
Alaric somewhat expected this strong resistance from them. From the looks of it, his initial guess was right. The humans and the beastkin in Cangnan were also not on good terms.
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Based on their words, he gleaned some crucial details. The place they were in was a territory of the so-called golden lion tribe. Moreover, there was some kind of treaty between them and the humans that inhabited this land.
Alaric squatted in front of them and leaned his head closer. "How strong is this golden lion tribe that you speak of?"
The beastkin warriors felt intimidated by his aura. They subconsciously lowered their heads, their faces filled with fear.
Dolfi resisted his fear and looked at the human warrior. "You... you are not from our Red Mountain Territory."
Alaric looked at the rebellious beastkin with surprise. "You are quite smart. You are right. We are not from here..."
He placed his hand on the trembling Dolfi and asked with a faint smile. "So now, tell us how strong this golden lion tribe is."