The place was wide and long. Tall walls lined both sides and supported a circular arch-shaped roof. It was a large structure shaped like an aisle, and at the end of the opposite side of the entrance, there was the shaman. She wasn’t in a good state. Like the other imprisoned captives, she looked very haggard. Next to her sides, there were two elves who looked around intently while holding spears. Furthermore, there was another elf in front of her.
“Have you still not changed your mind, Lake Tribe shaman?” the person asked with a voice filled with deep charisma.
Zich was sure that at the very least, he wasn’t someone who would work under another person and had a formidable personality.
The shaman parted her lips to answer him. As expected of an elf, she possessed a youthful and beautiful appearance that made it difficult to believe that she was Leona’s grandmother. When she spoke, even the voice that flowed out of her mouth sounded extremely beautiful. “You fetus shit, what fucking nonsense are you saying? Rather than listening to your words, I would rather kiss the ass of an orc and call them mama and papa, you bald bastard.”
‘Hmph!’ Zich almost burst out in laughter but managed to suppress it. With her voice that made listeners think of a beautiful song, the shaman spat out curses and harsh words that insulted her captor.
Zich checked the owner of the voice again. It wasn’t a mistake. She looked exactly like the portrait Dronian had shown him. She really was the Lake Tribe’s shaman, Romanne Wensing Droud.
‘Um, I mean there’s no rule saying that a shaman must only speak kindly and politely.’
For all anyone knew, the spirits who communicated with her might all have nasty personalities and spit out curses as if they were breathing.
‘Whatever the case is, I’m sure that she is someone who is my type.’ Of course, Zich didn’t mean this in a romantic way.
The elf guarding the shaman shouted, “How dare you! In front of His Majesty!”
Hearing this, Zich realized the identity of the person in front of the shaman. ‘Ah, that guy must be the king of the Iron Tribe.’
“His Majesty? His Majeeeesty? Ah, oh right. You must be talking about that half-wit who approved of a stupid ass plan to capture all the kings and queens of the other tribes as captives. No, is the one who came up with this stupid ass plan His Majesty? Huh, then doesn’t that still make him a dim-wit bastard?”
“How dare you!” The elf lifted his upside-down spear. It looked like he planned to strike her with it.
However, Romanne didn’t even blink. “Like king, like underling. They cry and whine even if you tell them the truth.” Her words agitated the elf guard even more.
“Stop it!” Renu stopped the guard, and the guard placed his spear back down. But he heaved with his red, hot face like he hadn’t calmed down yet.
“…What is your reason for objecting?” Renu asked Romanne, “If we just have this power in our hands, we can dominate this world. We can even control those humans!”
“To be exact, it would be the Iron Tribe’s domination.” Romanne snorted, “Don’t say things like you would place the elves above humans. It will be shitty whether it’s the humans or you guys who are above us.”
“I will give the Lake Tribe the same equal rights as the Iron Tribe.”
“And you are going to take Leona as your queen? What an imbecile. Think about your age before you speak. Don’t you remember that your age is pretty much the same as Leona’s father? Did you forget your age or are you a pervert who likes kids? Ah, now that I think about it, you are not married, right? No wonder you couldn’t get married even if you are a king. Is it because you are a fucking pervert?”
Slap!
A loud sound rang through the area. Renu couldn’t endure her insults anymore and slapped her. Romanne’s cheeks swelled up while blood flowed down the edges of her mouth. However, she didn’t stop, “Using violence because you can’t retort. It shows your character.”
Renu grabbed Romanne by her collar. “Cooperate with us, granny.”
“No.”
“If you don’t, I will burn your country to the ground.”
“Why don’t you try? Do you think your sorry-ass blackmail will work on me?”
“I will chop up every elf in your clan!”
“You guys are all too wussy to do that.”
“Urghhhhh!” Renu pushed Romanne. She fell on her hip, but she was still calm.
“Seeing the situation outside, it seems like some humans have attacked. You should give up now. You are the type of guy who fails in everything he tries.”
Kick!
“Urgh!”
As Renu kicked Romanne’s stomach, she curled up. The strong kick made her cough and gag.
“No matter what you say, I am going to get my hands on that power and rule over this world!”
“Like how you guys were ruled over before?”
“!!!!” Renu stared at her in shock.
Romanne used her arms as crutches to lift her body back up. “Why? Do you think all the other tribes have forgotten about ‘that incident?’ Or did you guys think you were the only ones delivering ‘that?’”
“You…”
“Lake Tribe’s shaman isn’t someone who just communicates with spirits through the Lake’s Tear. The shaman is also someone who connects the truth with important events.”
For a moment, Renu glared at her like he wanted to kill her. “…Drag her away.”
The soldiers forcefully grabbed her arms and lifted her up.
“Let go!” She freed herself from their grasp. “I will go on my own.” Then, she turned around and began to walk. Soldiers quickly followed her from behind.
Zich, who stuck to the wall like he was part of it, watched her pass by.
“…Wait.” Although it seemed as if she was going to quietly follow the soldiers behind, Romanne suddenly stopped. Renu turned back to look at her.
“I’m also going to ask one question. Who is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know guys like you very well. You’re an opportunist who tries to not take responsibility for anything while reaping all the benefits. You’re a fucking coward.”
“Shut the hell up!” A soldier next to her put a spear next to her neck, but she didn’t even blink her eyes.
“If I think about that, it’s strange that you’re trying to start a war like this. A coward like you would never be able to ignore the possibility that the other tribes would give up their lives to start a war. And if that happens, you and the Iron Tribe would be thoroughly crushed by all the tribes.”
“…What is it that you want to say?”
“Who is it?” With full confidence, she continued to ask him, “Who was it that encouraged you to do this? A coward like you would never be able to make such a bold—”
“Shut up!”
Slam!
The soldier struck her down with a spearhead. Romanne collapsed to the floor, but Renu didn’t stop the soldier. With a cold gaze, he stared down at her.
Then he opened his mouth. “…Drag her.”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers dragged the now unconscious shaman out of the basement. Renu glared at her disappearing figure as if she was his sworn enemy who had killed his parents; then he walked towards a wall behind him. It looked like an ordinary wall. However, there was enormous power hiding behind the wall. Renu put his hand on the wall.
‘If I just possess this power, I would be able to change everything.’
He would no longer feel inferior to the Lake Tribe, the humans, or his tribe’s past. He could change everything with this. Renu bit his lips.
‘I won’t be able to maintain this condition for long. Even if we have the hostages, we lack in numbers and military force. Like the shaman said, the other tribes could give up on the lives of their queens and kings and just strike us.’
Then his eyes gave off a deadly spark.
‘If that woman doesn’t listen to me again tomorrow, then…’
It couldn’t be helped. He would have to use his last resort. He strengthened his resolve, and he hit the wall once. It was at that moment he heard a voice call out his name.
“Renu Ent Draus.”
There was someone who dared to call the Iron Tribe’s king by his full name. Renu turned around his body to immediately issue an order against the speaker, but he froze as soon as he saw who it was.
A robed figure was standing in front of him.
* * *
‘Let’s see, how is he gonna react?’
Zich, who was wearing a robe, stood in front of Renu; his heart was thumping in his chest. There was a possibility that Glen Zenard was involved in this war. Moreover, there was a possibility that Glen Zenard was involved with the assassin organization. If all this was true, there was a high possibility that the assassin organization was involved in this tribe war.
For that reason, Zich used a similar tactic as he did when dealing with Albus Windpool. He immediately covered himself with a robe and acted like one of the assassins in the assassin organization.
‘The shaman said that there might be someone supporting the Iron Tribe from behind.’
If the assassin organization was behind the Iron Tribe’s plan, there was a high possibility that all of Zich’s previous predictions might be right.
‘Also, his reaction was weird when the shaman asked about who was behind this plan.’
Renu’s reaction was different from someone who found out that there was a hidden collaborator behind his plan. It was more like he felt displeased and annoyed that someone even mentioned them. Zich knew why someone might react this way.
‘He betrayed them.’
Judging by Renu’s reaction, there was a high possibility that the Iron Tribe betrayed their collaborators. And from what Zich could sense, the Iron Tribe seemed also fearful of them. For that reason, Zich appeared in front of Renu as a robed figure. He just needed to check Renu’s reaction and find out if the Iron Tribe’s collaborators were the robed figures or not. Renu stared at the robed Zich with bloodshot eyes.
“Renu Ent Draus.” Zich called out his name once more.
Then Renu took a quick breath in and made a bright smile. “Ah, it’s you guys. I was wondering what happened to you guys since we haven’t been in contact for a while, but it is so good to se—"
“I know you betrayed us.”
While walking forward with a smile, Renu halted his steps. His lifeless eyes stared at Zich.
“I’ve come to give you one last chance.”
“…What do you mean by last chance?”
“Come back under us once more.”
“…You say some unpleasant things. I thought we were on equal footing in this cooperation.”
“It’s the price of your betrayal. Also, it’s the last chance we are going to give you.” Zich’s words were blatantly disrespectful and rude. As a king who was always giving orders, it even felt insulting.
Renu’s face grew more rotten as he talked. “If you continue to spout out nonsense and insult me, even I won’t forgive yo—"
“I’m just going to say one more thing, Renu Ent Draus.” Zich, who was speaking in monotone so far, now instilled emotion into his voice for the first time. “We don’t tolerate betrayals!”
It was a verdict. A verdict passed by someone with a powerful force on his back.
“But we recognize the importance of this plan. For that reason, we will look over this betrayal without saying anything, just this once. So Renu Ent Draus…”
Zich’s voice hit Renu’s chest hard. “What is your answer?”