Shouting Slogans

"It's settled."

Stepping out of Lupe's house, Yuan Chen flashed Mordas and the others an OJBK hand sign from a distance.

Seeing how carefree Yuan Chen looked, Mordas and the others, who had been somewhat tense, finally relaxed.

Yuan Chen had been staying in Lupe's house, but the Carnivore Beasts had only just migrated here and were unfamiliar with the area. On top of that, their different customs could cause friction with the villagers, so Yuan Chen had given the beasts a tent and set up camp nearby.

"Stay back, brats. This isn't a game. Those big cats with knives might eat you when they're done~"

Yuan Chen put on a scary face, but the children nearby weren't frightened at all. If anything, they watched the busy Carnivore Beasts with even greater curiosity.

Mordas was a little exasperated. "What are you talking about? We Carnivore Beasts aren't savages who live off raw meat and blood...

"Never mind. We do have a habit of eating raw food, but that's because of our physiology. Keep making stuff up and I'll sue you for slander!"

"Don't worry. Once the hunt is over, we'll be heroes. Dragon Slayers... That achievement will earn us the respect of every nation in Runeterra!"

At that, a look of longing appeared in Mordas's eyes...

Although Mordas detested the elders of his tribe, there was no denying that, having been born among the Carnivore Beasts, he'd developed an extraordinary yearning for the hunt, even if it was only through his upbringing.

And for any hunter, killing a dragon was undoubtedly one of the most boast-worthy achievements of a lifetime!

"How did you convince that woman?" Mordas couldn't help asking. "Weren't you afraid you might fail? Hunting a dragon... Even if we succeed, the village will suffer heavy losses, won't it?"

Yuan Chen gave Mordas a strange look, then asked, baffled, "Why do you think she cares about the village?"

"Huh?"

"Let me put it another way... Why do you think she'd put the village first?"

After sending the children away, Yuan Chen spoke frankly:

"She belongs to Ixialia's ruling class. She's a noble Yuentar, a noble Elemental Master, and a master who advanced Ixialia's understanding of the Earth Axiom.

"If it weren't for her younger sister, she'd still be sitting in the Elemental Pedestal right now, revered and worshipped by tens of thousands of Element Apprentices."

"She was exiled to this backwater for barely a dozen years—not even a whole generation—and you expect her to accept that she's become a commoner?

"No... Calling her a commoner would be generous. With this village's conditions and lack of roads, it's more like a bunch of savages."

"What she wants and longs for isn't for this damn village to become part of a county. She wants her family restored to its former standing. All that talk about standing alongside the villagers is bullshit.

"She only accepted it because she can't leave this place, and none of her family members have any remarkable Magic Talent."

"Do you think the most important thing I did was convince her?"

"Wasn't it?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's explanation, Mordas looked surprised.

Though he had learned about human society and even studied human books, Mordas was ultimately not human.

Yuan Chen explained, "The whole point of my convincing them was just to make the villagers hesitate."

"Anyone would be afraid when facing a dragon. Fear makes people refuse and run away.

"So you have to stir up their desires, their hopes, even their greed. You have to make them burn with excitement about the future.

"Like gamblers who are caught up in the moment: they know there's a huge risk, but they can't resist the longing deep in their souls."

"But they're afraid. They're afraid of having to bear the consequences. So when they're hesitating, they'll instinctively look for an 'authority' to make the choice for them. They don't realize that Lupe isn't one of them.

"All I had to do was make their hopes for a better life swell until they could barely sense the danger... And when they went to ask Lupe, I knew I'd succeeded."

Mordas opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say. After a long silence, he let out a somewhat helpless sigh. "It's clear... The Carnivore Beasts still have a long way to go."

Mordas had once thought Lupe was like him. He believed Mordas was working for the future of the Carnivore Beast Tribe, while Lupe was working for the future of the village... That was what he had believed.

"It doesn't have to be that long." Yuan Chen shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"Ultimately, this is all just a dirty game among nobles. It only works on these simple mountain folk, whose knowledge has been kept from them and who think the Outside World is full of war. I wouldn't try this in a city like Demacia or Noxus."

"Why not?" Mordas looked surprised. "It works well, doesn't it? I don't see the problem..."

"That's because these villagers know nothing about the Outside World. They haven't even left these mountains."

Yuan Chen grumbled:

"Those Great Nobles in Demacia and Noxus have spent centuries perfecting these dirty tricks. And I know nothing about this stuff in Ionia, that paradise beyond the world where they haven't even formed the concept of a 'nation.' You think I know much about this sort of thing?

"If I ever make it to Noxus or Demacia, I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to use their own tricks against them."

Hearing Yuan Chen's rambling, Mordas scratched his head and asked, "If you don't do that, what will you do?"

"Play to my strengths, of course."

Yuan Chen gave a thumbs-up, utterly unconcerned. "I'll use dirty tricks on mountain folk. But against Great Nobles who are experts at dirty tricks, I'll use a method they're not good at."

"What method?"

"I'd recommend just hitting them."

"Huh?"

Mordas was taken aback. He hadn't expected Yuan Chen's solution to be violence...

But when he thought it over, Yuan Chen had drifted all the way from Ionia to Ixialia. He was a loner, with no one to hold him back and plenty of strength. It did seem like a pretty good approach.

Hearing Yuan Chen and Mordas talk, Nedeli, who had been dozing nearby, couldn't help sneering. "A pampered house cat..."

"Cut it out. You still need me to bring you water."

Yuan Chen rolled his eyes.

Because she had once been attacked, Nedeli deeply distrusted the Carnivore Beasts. She didn't particularly dislike the village, but her upbringing had left her hating this sort of "civilization."

She'd rather sleep in the bushes in the nearby wilderness than go into a relatively comfortable house.

"Tch."

Nedeli said nothing. Her experiences lately had taught her that she couldn't beat Yuan Chen when it came to running his mouth.

Just like that bastard had said, she shouldn't challenge him with the one thing he was good at.

"Get some rest. We have work to do tomorrow."

Yuan Chen yawned lazily. He glanced at the tent, then at Nedeli, and after a moment shifted his tent so it faced the bushes.

That way, some careless brat wouldn't run over while playing and tear open the boards she'd just had tied around her injured hand.

Nedeli only glanced at him before closing her eyes and falling asleep, surrounded by a group of cougars.

The night passed without incident. The next morning...

Yuan Chen came out of the tent, rolling his shoulders and stretching. After washing up, he waved a ball of water in front of Nedeli. Though she was annoyed, she could only suck on it in silence.

The villagers had risen even earlier than Yuan Chen. Now that they had decided to join the dragon hunt, most of them wore an indescribable excitement on their faces.

After a night of discussion, the Carnivore Beasts had drawn up a list of the supplies they needed to prepare.

Wood, steel, stone...

Looking over the plans for the large hunting devices, the villagers gained more confidence in the Carnivore Beasts' ability to hunt a dragon. Before long, they had split into groups and headed for the rocky hills and forests to gather wood and other materials.

Even the blacksmith, who had questioned Yuan Chen the day before, was now swinging his hammer nonstop in the forge. The rough steel quickly glowed red under the heat of the Flame Axiom.

His hammer rose and fell without pause. The rough, uneven ore was forged at an astonishing pace, its impurities visibly diminishing.

The armorers began carefully enchanting the equipment as soon as the Carnivore Beasts finished reassembling the hunting devices they'd previously taken apart.

For convenience, the hunting devices, such as the ballistae, were being set up near the Beast Den where Nedeli had lived.

Spells drove away the surrounding beasts and concealed the devices' presence. The enchanters held spatula-like tools and kept scratching and drawing on the ballistae, occasionally inserting crystals that looked quite expensive.

The enchantments weren't anything particularly advanced. They were just simple carvings of Axiom lines. The real enchanter was Lupe, who was shaping the terrain near the Beast Den.

As a mage of the Earth Axiom, Lupe planned to set up several large, powerful magic arrays here—powerful enough to affect an Elemental Dragon.

It was clear that this would take a long time, but for the sake of safety and a greater chance of success, Lupe had resumed carving as soon as she'd recovered her strength.

She left the minor details to the other enchanters. For the sake of her family's honor, she was making pretty good progress.

The Carnivore Beast hunters were busy, too. Once the hunting devices had been reassembled, more than thirty Carnivore Beasts split up in groups. Some went hunting for beasts to gather enough supplies.

The others concealed their presence and headed toward the Elemental Dragon's lair to determine its condition, strength, length, and other physical details, as well as its favored element. This would allow Lupe and the other enchanters to tailor their enchantments.

It was then that Ixialia's civilizational potential became abundantly clear. Even the children could handle minor spellwork by making simple use of the Elemental Axiom.

The village had only a few hundred people, but when it came to magic, their efficiency was even greater than that of a Noxian thousand-man unit.

If they underwent military reform, Runeterra would immediately gain a powerful magic nation...

Well, first on the chopping block would be Piltover... They'd always been very interested in Ixialia's mineral deposits.

"Then I'd better get to work, too."

Hearing Yuan Chen, Mordas raised an eyebrow. "What are you planning to do now?"

Perhaps because they'd spent so much time together, Mordas had gone from treating Yuan Chen with respect and some wariness to relaxing around him like a friend... Mainly because Yuan Chen was so different from the way people imagined a prophet.

Mordas had stayed in the village to make it easier to communicate with Lupe and the villagers, and to prevent unnecessary friction and conflict between the Carnivore Beasts and Ixialians due to their different customs.

"What kind of person do you take me for? Why do you always assume I'm up to something bad?"

Yuan Chen was a little exasperated, then explained:

"I just want to keep the villagers from cooling off and going back on their word. We need to keep the mood up until all the hunting equipment has been enchanted... How's your handwriting?"

"..." Mordas said nothing. He just stretched out his thick-jointed beast claws.

Yuan Chen pursed his lips, quickly realizing how stupid his question had been—even a well-read Carnivore Beast was still a big, clumsy guy.

"Do you have a pen?"

"...Would a quill work?"

Mordas pointed toward a nearby tent—he'd brought along a few souvenirs from human society.

"Not really... I'll see if I can find something else."

Yuan Chen soon found what he needed.

He went over to Nedeli, who was resting, and jerked his chin at the wary wild girl. "Lend me a cougar."

"In your dreams."

"I only need its tail. Don't be so tense."

"Heh. I have a tail, too," Nedeli sneered. "You dare come near me?"

"Then turn into a leopard first."

"I'm a cougar!"

Nedeli annoyedly corrected Yuan Chen, then eyed him suspiciously. "What are you trying to do?"

"Turn into one first."

Though she was still annoyed, Nedeli transformed into a cougar. A moment later...

With cougar-form Nedeli tucked under his left arm, Yuan Chen went to the village wall and dipped her tail into a bucket full of White Paint.

Perhaps because the paint was cold, Nedeli's fur bristled. "What are you doing?!"

"Don't move. You'll mess up my work!"

As he spoke, Yuan Chen held Nedeli under his left arm and used her tail in his right hand to write several neat Square Characters on the village wall—

Work three days' labor in one, run until you reach a great city.

The bolder you are, the worse the dragon's fate.

The fat pig is the Saiyan Dragon, though its body is small. Together, we'll kill the dragon like a pig.