On the training grounds of the Gallop Plains, a group of knights rode over hills and across valleys. The day before, Fang had taken Redsand on his first independent scouting mission. Less than twenty kilometers to the east, he had found several camps clustered close together, none more than six kilometers apart,
between a tributary of the Gallop River and its northern main channel. The camp in the middle was the largest, and was estimated to have dozens of Barbarian Cavalrymen. With Landen's current strength, they could only avoid confronting it head-on. The neighboring camps were smaller, however, and might offer an opportunity.
Landen wasn't especially timid anymore. He dared to flatten a small camp outright, but when it came to a large one, he had to be cautious—especially when several camps were so close that their people could reach one another in a few steps.
No matter how bold Landen was, he wasn't reckless.
"Dinner was so entertaining today." Fang was still thinking about the performances by the two groups of Mana-Less people before the bonfire dinner. They had sung the same song, but the Baron's Territory was such a barren place when it came to entertainment.
At night, the Mana-Wielders had little to do besides sleep. Now Landen had given them two things to look forward to: listening to songs and raiding camps. It had greatly enriched the knights' evenings.
"Yes, the song you wrote was truly wonderful." Raul still had the simple melody playing in his head.
"That's great. I'm glad everyone likes it." Landen was happy, too. His first attempt at songwriting had been a great success. The Territory Residents who'd volunteered for the contest weren't the only ones singing it;
even the Baron's old residents and the knights' families were all singing the song. "I think we should find them something to do. They can't just wait for me to assign them work."
"You're right, my lord. We knights have to go on the attack as soon as night falls, while these Territory Residents get to sleep." Grey Dog sounded a little resentful, but Landen knew he was only complaining because they weren't strong enough to attack the Barbarians head-on.
"My lord, I think we're being too cautious this time. If several tribes have gathered together, that means their forces have been drawn away. The ones left behind are just huddling together for safety." Dennett was speaking. He understood the Barbarians better than anyone else there.
"You're quite right. If we were facing just one mid-sized tribe, I'd dare to fight them head-on by now. But there are several tribes this time. I'm afraid they'll run off, hahaha." Landen showed a certain confidence.
"Hahahaha, you're right. Those Barbarians are practically meat waiting to be served."
"Exactly. Let's take everything they've stolen over the years."
"That's right."
The knights chimed in with Landen's words, but he noticed that Albert had fallen silent.
Albert had seemed distracted since the day before. Landen didn't know what was on his mind, but hoped he wasn't worrying too much. "Albert? What are you thinking about?"
"Ah?... Oh... I was thinking... wondering why these tribes are camped so close together." Albert's answer clearly wasn't what he'd really been thinking, but Landen let it go.
Landen thought it was perfectly normal. He was always getting sidetracked, too. At dinner just now, for example, he'd already been thinking about his next song.
At last, they spotted the cluster of camps. They were to the west of it. From west to east and then north, five or six camps were scattered about. The central camp was a little larger than Dennett's, while the surrounding ones were all small.
Southeast of the camps stood a large mound, barely visible through the haze from the west.
In the end, Landen chose the small camp farthest from the central one. It was a tiny encampment with only six tents.
Once the knights were ready, they prepared to charge. Seeing his men eager and raring to go, Landen couldn't help thinking that just seven days earlier, he'd launched his first raid on a Barbarian tribe. That camp had been about the same size as the one before them, and back then, everyone had been extremely nervous.
They'd even feared that the raid might fail and bring retaliation, so they had packed up their main camp in advance, ready to move at a moment's notice.
The Black Horses lined up neatly. In the past, only the knights had gone out, but this time Landen had brought along all the Mana-Wielders who had recently joined them, adding five men to the knight company and giving it an imposing appearance.
The knights rode forward, their Black Horses shifting from a walk to a slow trot, then gradually picking up speed.
The dogs in the Barbarian camp began barking, but not very loudly. Not a single person came out of the tents. Landen hadn't even lowered the face guard of his helmet.
Wasn't this camp far too lax? Even at the smallest tribes they'd raided before, someone would have come out to greet them by now, wouldn't they? Landen wondered.
The camp ahead remained utterly still. The knights slowed from a gallop, then from a trot, and finally came to a gradual stop. Even after they reached the entrance, no one emerged from the tents. The strange sight even made Landen suspect a trap.
"An ambush?" Landen said with a laugh. Surely not. Were they waiting inside their tents? Even if they had spears, they'd have no chance against cavalry charging in with sabers.
The group had ridden three hundred meters for nothing and stopped at the entrance. Now even the dogs in the camp had gone quiet.
Landen looked at Raul and Greyhound. Neither of them had encountered anything like this before, so they had no idea what to do. Fang spoke up. "I'll go first!" He pushed open the camp gate and rode inside.
The others followed one after another. The situation was strange, and they were puzzled, but not particularly afraid. At worst, the camp was empty.
The lower-ranked knights each went to a tent, taking a Reserve Knight and a Mana-Wielder as assistants. The Mana-Wielders used their sabers to lift the tent flaps, while the knights prepared to rush inside.
Fang led the way, naturally stopping at the largest peaked tent. The Mana-Wielder lifting the flap for him was one of the men they had rescued a few days earlier.
The Mana-Wielder slowly lifted the tent flap with his saber while Fang held his own saber ready to thrust.
As the flap opened a crack, Fang saw a pair of frightened eyes. They belonged to a woman. The tent was so low that even though it could barely fit a three-meter-tall person, there was very little room inside the peaked tent.
Still on horseback, Fang lowered his head and peered through the gap in the flap. He didn't see any large figures inside. To search thoroughly, he'd have to dismount and go in, but the tent was so small that if he couldn't see anyone at a glance, there were no Mana-Wielders inside.
"Everyone inside, come out!" Fang called. The other knights found much the same thing in their tents. There were no Barbarians, only women, children, and the elderly.
"So we've just picked up a camp for free?" Landen was sitting inside the camp's largest tent. It wasn't very big. Unlike the round, bag-shaped tents they'd captured before, this one was triangular and only four meters high at most. The interior was tiny; it was already cramped with a single Mana-Wielder inside.
"Yes. According to the Mana-Less people, the four Barbarian Cavalrymen left in their tribe were summoned by the central Wandering Badger Tribe during the day."
"So they've gathered together." Landen felt a headache coming on. If they were picking them off one by one, he still had a chance. But now that the Barbarian Cavalrymen had gathered, there had to be forty or fifty of them in the Wandering Badger Tribe. There was no way he could beat them.
But now they had just taken over this camp. If they packed up and left by force, some Mana-Less people might escape and inform the enemy. The four cavalrymen who had left could also return at any time. Landen was caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Uncle Albert, it looks like we can't take on this Wandering Badger Tribe. I think we should move this camp tomorrow and head west to meet up with the main camp. Then we can move the whole territory south to avoid the tribe." Landen was somewhat flustered.
Their previous attacks had gone smoothly, but they had only faced weak enemies. Before each battle, Landen had calculated the risks and acted only when the potential gains far outweighed them. Now that they were facing a powerful tribe, there were too many unknowns, and he had little confidence.
"You're worried they have too many men?"
"Yes. If it's no coincidence that the men from this tribe were taken away, then it means the Barbarian Cavalrymen from the surrounding area have all gathered in that Wandering Badger Tribe." Landen voiced his suspicion.
"Every victory we've had so far came from outnumbering the enemy and catching them off guard."
"Yes, but we have too few men now. Even if we sent out every Mana-Wielder, we couldn't take on forty or fifty Barbarians."
"Right." Albert agreed with Landen. He knew that their favorable situation could be overturned in a single battle. Compared to Landen, Albert felt a stronger sense of duty toward the Gallop Family.
"Then it's settled. I'll tell the others today. We'll move this camp first thing tomorrow morning, before the Wandering Badger Tribe realizes what's happened."
Landen looked at Albert and even considered suggesting that they leave the Mana-Less people behind and flee, but he thought it would damage his image as their lord. He had earned great respect among the Territory Residents and now had a reputation to live up to.
At dawn, Landen was troubled. Their previous attacks had gone too smoothly, and he had misjudged the situation.
The one thing he could be grateful for was that they hadn't attacked the Wandering Badger Tribe the day before. Otherwise, it would have been like throwing an egg against a rock.
Diyang had just risen when Landen ordered everyone to prepare to break camp. He gazed south at the large mound. It was dozens of kilometers away, but it stood out starkly against the landscape.
Instinct told Landen that they should move the camp onto the mound. It was over a hundred meters tall, and its rugged terrain looked like it could hide a great many people.
Everyone was busy packing, and they were nearly finished when a group of Barbarian Cavalrymen rode over from the Wandering Badger Tribe's main camp.
Raul spotted the cavalrymen and thought the previous night's raid must have been exposed. He and the other knights prepared to draw their swords.
"Don't move. Let's hear what they have to say." Landen didn't think the Wandering Badger Tribe would send so few men if they really meant to attack.
"Which tribe are you from?" the Barbarian Cavalryman at the head of the group asked as he rode over.
"The Gallop Tribe." Raul gave the name Landen had come up with earlier.
Landen had feared encountering a large force of cavalry, so he had prepared some information and responses in advance. He had made Raul and Albert, the two men who could imitate the Barbarians' accents, learn all of it.
"Did you just arrive here?" The Barbarian pointed at the camp.
"Yes. We just got here this morning." Raul caught on. It seemed they hadn't been found out yet.
Landen's order to break camp had saved them. All the belongings in the camp were packed away, so the Barbarians couldn't tell whether they were about to leave or had just arrived.
"Did you see the camp that used to be here?"
"Huh?" Raul glanced at the Mana-Less people nearby. None of them seemed inclined to expose them. "No. When we arrived, the camp looked nice and flat, so we settled right in."
"I see. We're messengers from the Wandering Badger Tribe over there." The messenger pointed toward their camp. "Our chief says every Barbarian man from the nearby tribes has to come to the camp. Come with us."
Everyone kept glancing at Landen, waiting for his orders. If he gave the word, they would immediately kill the cavalrymen before them and leave together.
"May I ask what the chief wants everyone there for?" Landen spoke up, imitating the Barbarian accent.
"What else? To share a meal and have a good time." The cavalryman sounded casual, but neither Landen nor the others believed him.
The group of more than twenty riders made their way slowly toward the Wandering Badger Tribe's main camp. From a distance, it looked like the largest camp Landen had ever seen.
Several large tents stood at its center, each as big as the main tent of the mid-sized tribes Landen had conquered. Another ring of tents surrounded them. Even among other tribes, those would have counted as large tents. Dozens of peaked tents stood farther out.
Outside the camp's main gate was another cluster of tents. Bonfires burned between them, and crowds of people milled around the fires, eating.
"Don't worry. We'll have breakfast as soon as we arrive," the lead cavalryman explained. "Our chief, Black-Eye, said that things are tough for you small tribes. You're low on grain and Long-Haired Sheep, and probably won't last until the Grey Goose Tribe returns. As the Grey Goose Tribe's brothers, we of the Wandering Badger Tribe should help you out."
"Oh, that's wonderful," Raul replied. "I guess a lot of people have already arrived, then? The area outside your camp looks so lively!"
"Exactly." The cavalrymen rode up a small hill. The Barbarian at the head pointed toward several small tribes in the distance. "See them? All the riders from those camps are already here, eating and drinking their fill. Our chief, Black-Eye, said he'd slaughter a sheep every day to feed everyone!"
"That's great!" Landen said, then began calculating whether the Wandering Badger Tribe really had enough food to supply so many Barbarian Cavalrymen from other tribes.
Those cavalrymen ate a lot and needed plenty of meat. A mid-sized tribe could hardly keep that up for long.
If such generous hospitality wasn't sustainable, that meant Black-Eye was thinking much like Grey Goose: gathering resources from the surrounding Barbarian tribes to attack a bigger tribe.
But now that he thought about it, wasn't that his own strategy, too? Landen mused. He shouldn't laugh at them, then. He might as well take this chance to look around and learn from them. He just had to figure out how to get away in one piece.