After the Battle

After Leiluo and Garona's day-and-night efforts to save him, the Behemoth, whose entire body had practically been cooked, finally pulled through. Though no one knew how long it would take for him to wake up, at least he was still alive.

Although the Pebble Clan's warriors had been nearly wiped out in this battle and the city walls had all been destroyed, the integration Leiluo had always wanted had finally begun to take root.

More than a hundred Ogres were assigned by Leiluo to quarrying and mining, freeing up a great deal of labor.

All the freed-up laborers were sent to plant wheat. The seeds had been won by Leiluo in a lottery draw, but he had never had a chance to use them until now.

Speaking of lottery draws, Leiluo finally remembered the bottles of red potion in his storage space. Without another word, he fed them all to the Behemoth. Though he still did not wake up, his breathing became much steadier.

When Leolox woke up, he nearly made Leiluo die laughing. Looking as though his days were numbered, he entrusted his clan to Leiluo, saying that he knew his injuries this time were beyond saving and hoping Leiluo would treat the Moknasa Clan's people as his own.

When Leiluo told him he was fine, Leolox wore a face full of disbelief and said Leiluo was merely comforting him. But when he lifted his clothes and looked, the wound on his chest had already scarred over.

Yet what Leiluo never expected was that, even after learning he was fine, Leolox still firmly wanted the Moknasa Clan to merge into the Pebble Clan. When Leiluo asked why, Leolox simply brushed him off with a cheeky grin.

As for Saiyba, that guy had ridiculously good luck. While cleaning up the battlefield, Leiluo discovered that he still had a breath left in him, so he casually gave him a Holy Light Spell to make sure he would not die, then threw him into a cell.

The Pebble Clan's school, which Leiluo called the War College, stood in the center of Bandar City.

After seeing how deeply affected Saxi had been by the great battle, Leiluo decided to speed up the integration and had it established.

All the clan's children, aside from infants still unable to walk, attended school here—regardless of gender, and regardless of whether they belonged to the original clan or were children of newly joined clansmen.

Those of suitable age also received combat training and instruction in the Holy Light.

The material these children studied had all been compiled and recorded by Leiluo together with the clan elders. There were heroic tales from other clans, as well as basic knowledge about Draenor's beasts.

The most important part was Leiluo's instilling of the ideals of "Strength and Glory, Equality and Justice."

Leiluo had truly gone to great lengths to make the Pebble Clan's orcs accept the concept that everyone was equal.

Of course, this equality referred to the distinction between high and low, noble and base among people. Even Leiluo's former world had not achieved equality between classes, and he had no intention of applying that here.

He had drawn upon all the teachings of Confucius and Mencius about patriotism and proper conduct that he could remember, mixed them with the way of the knight, and created a unique culture centered on the words "Strength and Glory, Equality and Justice."

Ordinarily, such a change of banners would have met with resistance from the original orc culture.

Fortunately, the Pebble Clan had originally been a small clan without shamans, so the forces of resistance were weak.

Those who joined later had all entered as peons. Deeply grateful to Leiluo, they naturally had no reason to question his policies.

Moreover, Leiluo was not making sweeping changes with great fanfare. He started with the children, reducing resistance even further.

Combined with the terrifying assimilative power of Confucian teachings, Leiluo believed that once this generation of orc children grew up, he would achieve the feat of Sinicizing the orcs.

And so, while taking a break from his busy schedule, Leiluo was teaching the children.

"You are orcs, but you are also members of the Pebble Clan. Members of the Pebble Clan must be kind to their fellow clansmen, filial to their parents, respectful toward the elderly, and loyal to the clan."

"When facing enemies, defeat them with strength and use them to win glory for the clan."

"All Pebble Clan members are equal. There is no distinction between peons and clansmen. As long as someone belongs to our Pebble Clan, they are our clansmen."

"The Pebble Clan believes in its ancestors, and it also believes in justice. Justice belongs to every clansman, and no one may trample upon it."

"So, children, read more books and newspapers, eat fewer snacks and sleep more. Only then can you become a Pebble Clan member with Strength and Glory, and treat your fellow clansmen with Equality and Justice."

Watching Leiluo "teach" the children, Garona did not interrupt him. Instead, she walked to a corner of the classroom and quietly watched him.

Leiluo naturally noticed Garona entering, but these were rules he had set himself. A class lasted forty-five minutes, so he certainly could not dismiss it early.

At last, Leiluo's lesson on Pebble ideology was over. He waited until the children ran out of the classroom before slowly walking over to Garona.

"Garona! Garona! Why are you here? Weren't you at the wounded camp?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! My lord, I came from the wounded camp." Only after Leiluo called her several times did Garona respond, blushing.

"Well, the orc who assassinated Saiyba has woken up. He says he wants to see you."

"Oh, is that so? Then let's go."

"Yes! All right, my lord."

Garona walked beside Leiluo. Though she had listened to only one lesson, she still admired from the bottom of her heart that her lord could come up with such things. She did not understand them, but she had a premonition that these ideas, along with the Holy Light, would become the foundation upon which the Pebble Clan stood.

Entering the wounded camp, Leiluo looked around.

The infirmary, which had already been somewhat small, now seemed especially empty. After one great battle, barely any of the Pebble Clan's warriors had survived.

At that moment, only Leolox and Lantresuo remained in the wounded camp.

The one who wished to see Leiluo was Lantresuo, who had only recently awakened.

After glancing at Leolox and nodding to him, Leiluo walked over to Lantresuo.

"Strange orc, you wanted to see me?"

"You are the Chieftain of the Pebble Clan?" Garona had told him so.

Hearing Lantresuo ask such a question, Leiluo turned to leave. He was already annoyed that Lantresuo had brought the Doom Guard here, and now the man was still rambling on.

"Wait, Pebble Chieftain. Please forgive my foolish question, but this is a matter of great importance, and I wanted to confirm it once more. My name is Lantresuo Fireblade, a Sword Saint of the Fireblade Clan."

Seeing Leiluo's movement, Lantresuo hurriedly explained.

Hearing Lantresuo's explanation and introduction, Leiluo turned back around. He very much wanted to know what this grave matter the Sword Saint spoke of was.

"Speak."

"Pebble Chieftain, the current chieftain of the Fireblade Clan is Gul'dan's man. That monster you fought in the battle—"

"A demon!" Leiluo interrupted, naming the creature.

Lantresuo gave Leiluo a strange look. He was somewhat puzzled as to why Leiluo knew the monster's name.

But he also knew that since the Pebble Clan had fought both that demon and Saiyba, they certainly could not be friends. The enemy of an enemy was a friend, so he continued.

"That monster was summoned by Gul'dan's subordinates through an evil method, and that summoning method requires human bodies and souls."