Deren did not take the money, instead pushing it back to her. "It's not that I don't like money. It's just that this money is hard to earn. No one can tell whether Thrall's injury is real or not. You want to seize the moment and wipe out the Orcs in Ashenvale, and that does count as an opportunity. But in my opinion, it's hard to say."
"Eh?" Tyrande exclaimed in surprise. "Even you can't say for sure? Is something suspicious going on?"
Deren nodded. "Yes. Your main force is also your last remaining force, isn't it? Do you have the capital to try again after a failure? What if Thrall's injury is fake, or only a minor one? Then he lures you into launching an attack, and the Orcs use their advantages to force a decisive battle. Can you afford that gamble?"
Tyrande's face went pale, and Deren's speculation frightened her. She muttered, "You mean Thrall might be faking his injury?"
Deren waved his hand. "I can't guess how he is right now, but if I were him, I'd definitely be willing to put on an act. The cost is low, after all. If he manages to make you believe it and provoke you into attacking first, the payoff will be enormous."
Deren thought that he could find countless examples of this sort of thing just by flipping through a novel of Three Empires Chronicle. Thrall might not know about that book, but he should still warn the High Priestess. They could not afford to get the entire elven main force wiped out.
Tyrande said regretfully, "It would be nice if he really were injured, or dead. Then we wouldn't have to keep waiting so miserably for an opportunity to strike back."
The Black Dragon advised from the side,