The Wandering Badger Tribe was bustling with activity. Outside its main camp were two subsidiary camps, where Barbarian Cavalry and male Mana-Less from several nearby small tribes were looked after.
Every day, the tribe's cavalry patrolled the surrounding area, inviting newly arrived tribesmen to join the Wandering Badger Tribe. Here, they were provided with food, water, and slaves.
The six neighboring tribes had all brought their Mana-Wielders and men.
The Wandering Badger Tribe's main camp was enormous, larger than any Landen had seen before. It was less a tent camp than a noble's field headquarters.
The central part of the main camp was enclosed by a separate ring of fences. The main tent stood on a specially prepared foundation of earth and stone. Its design was unlike any tent Landen had seen before.
There were two kinds of ordinary Barbarian tents. One was a small, pointed tent. Though its peak stood higher than a Mana-Wielder, it had little room inside. Its cross-section was circular, and its longitudinal section was triangular.
A Mana-Wielder could barely stand upright anywhere except in the center of the tent.
Its advantage was that it was easy to pack up and move in a hurry.
The second kind was the Bedouin tent from Landen's hometown. He had brought one along when he left his territory, and the Barbarian camp he first attacked had been made up of tents like these.
These tents were supported by several poles and were very spacious inside. They could accommodate Barbarians around 2.3 meters tall, but took up a lot of ground.
A tribe with tents like these could already be considered a medium-sized or small tribe. Such tribes would have equipment like Magic-Sealing Boxes.
There was another kind of tent Landen had seen only in the medium-sized camp he raided last time: a round tent resembling a dome. It had a great deal of space, but required a lot of wooden framing and animal hides. Only a medium-sized or small tribe could afford one.
But the most important tent in this tribe had a foundation beneath it, and the part above ground stood eight or nine meters tall. Its lower half resembled a dome, forming a circle, while its upper half rose into a huge point. From a distance, it looked as though the tent could hold at least thirty Barbarians. It was the most luxurious tent Landen had ever seen.
Five dome-shaped tents stood around the main tent, with the fence around the central area beyond them. Outside that fence were seven or eight Bedouin tents and more than ten pointed tents. These belonged to the other Barbarians in the camp.
The tents, along with a great many horses, pack animals, sheep, and poultry, were enclosed by a second ring of fences, forming the main body of the Wandering Badger Tribe's camp.
Beyond the camp lay an open stretch of flat ground. The subsidiary camps where the Mana-Wielders and men of the various small tribes lived stood on either side.
At that moment, Black-Eyed Wandering Badger, the tribe's leader, was inside the main tent, gazing toward the enormous mound to the south.
Landen had no idea what it was, but Black-Eyed Wandering Badger knew. It was the ruins of Night-Kirin City, once the center of the Gallop Plains—a vast city whose reconstruction had once been overseen by the God Emperor of the Human Empire himself.
The Wandering Badger Leader's mother was of the Human Race, and his father had been the previous leader of the tribe.
A few years ago, Black-Eyed had met a human Mana-Wielder: an Ascetic Monk on the Gallop Plains. Ascetic Monks were a type of Cleric, but they gladly spread their faith in the harshest places and were content to live in poverty as they traveled from place to place, healing others.
The Barbarians respected this Ascetic Monk because he was willing to treat anyone, including Barbarians, Mana-Less, and human slaves.
Black-Eyed had once met the monk in his tribe. He had told Black-Eyed that this land had once been a human kingdom, and that the distant ruins were the remains of its capital.
After that, Black-Eyed took every opportunity to explore the ruins whenever his tribe camped nearby. He went alone several times but found nothing.
Then, by chance, Black-Eyed Wandering Badger entered the ruins with another warrior from the tribe. He became fascinated with the place.
It was enormous and beautiful. On the tallest mound stood the remains of a massive building. The floor inside was still paved with tiles made by some unknown method, and faintly glowing lines were etched into the huge columns.
From then on, Black-Eyed knew that his destiny was to lead his tribe into the city.
Eight years ago, several members of the tribe had followed the Grey Goose south. Everyone returned except his father, who died down there.
Black-Eyed Wandering Badger knew his time had come. Taller than the others since childhood, he defeated every rival and became the tribe's leader.
Before that, his tribe had been no different from other medium-sized tribes. It had one dome-shaped tent, four or five human Mana-Wielder slaves in the camp, and two small tribes as vassals.
In the second year after Black-Eyed became leader, the Grey Goose Tribe invited him to a gathering. It was held outside Night-Kirin City, the only place with a large expanse of level ground.
At the gathering, the Grey Goose Leader told the leaders of several medium-sized tribes that he could trade with the Human Race.
That was when Black-Eyed learned that the Grey Goose Leader planned to buy Black-Scaled Horses in large quantities.
Afterward, the Wandering Badger Tribe traveled from east to west across the Gallop Plains each year, gathering Black-Scaled Horses.
In the year immediately after the gathering, the small tribes had not yet bred many Black-Scaled Horses. So, in the first year, Black-Eyed helped them breed their horses and taught them how to raise them. He even found human Mana-Wielders to shoe their horses.
At first glance, it seemed that Black-Eyed had spent the whole year trudging from tribe to tribe, trading favors without gaining anything. But it was all worthwhile. Every effort he made was an investment.
Over the next three years, the Wandering Badger Tribe built good relations with numerous small tribes and became the Grey Goose Tribe's largest supplier of Black-Scaled Horses.
The Wandering Badger Tribe's reliable supply of horses greatly reduced the Grey Goose Tribe's purchasing costs. In return, the Grey Goose Tribe gave the Wandering Badger Tribe huge discounts on human goods such as Rune Boards and lumber. The Wandering Badger Tribe then traded those goods for iron ingots from the Brown Bear Tribe in the Western Region.
The Grey Goose Tribe obtained the iron ingots and used human Mana-Wielder Knights at the Salt Mine to forge them into Iron Armor.
Some of the Grey Goose Tribe's Iron Armor was sold to Viscount Rothe, while the rest was sold to the Wandering Badger Tribe at a discount. The Wandering Badger Tribe then traded the armor to small tribes for Black-Scaled Horses.
In just a few years, the Grey Goose Tribe, which dominated the southern Gallop Plains, and the Wandering Badger Tribe, a secondary supplier, had established a stable division of labor and upgraded their industries. The strength of both tribes increased year after year.
The Grey Goose and Wandering Badger Tribes became the biggest beneficiaries of the Gallop Plains' exports to the Dragon Kingdom. The Grey Goose Tribe gained decisive influence over the entire region south of the Gallop River.
Over seven years, the Wandering Badger Tribe's population tripled. By tradition, the surplus population formed subsidiary tribes. Its main camp now had a luxurious tent and more than ten human Mana-Wielders.
At this autumn's gathering, the Grey Goose Leader told Black-Eyed that he planned to head south in the winter and invited him to join the expedition. Black-Eyed sensed his opportunity had come. By various means, he sent the main fighting forces of all the surrounding small tribes to the Grey Goose Tribe.
He should have gone with them, but he had "accidentally" fallen into the Gallop River and caught a cold.
Black-Eyed and the Grey Goose Leader were much alike. Both were extremely ambitious. The Grey Goose Leader's Salt Mine held many human Mana-Wielders, and having these human slaves around often made him believe that he, too, could become a great human lord.
Black-Eyed's ambitions were different from the Grey Goose Leader's. He believed that excavating the ruins of Night-Kirin City was what mattered most. While building up his strength by serving the Grey Goose Tribe over the years, he had also kept a close eye on its actions.
When he heard that the Grey Goose Tribe was heading south, Black-Eyed was overjoyed. He was convinced that, against powerful humans, the Grey Goose Tribe would be crushed.
Once the Grey Goose Tribe was gone, it would be the Wandering Badger Tribe's time to rise. With the Grey Goose Tribe having taken away the main fighting forces of so many small tribes, his first task was to increase his strength quickly. Then he would lead the small tribes to seize the Salt Mine. His third step would be to take the human Mana-Wielders there to explore the ruins of Night-Kirin City.
Black-Eyed had already surveyed the Grey Goose Tribe's forces near the Salt Mine. He had worked out exactly how many Barbarian Cavalry he needed to ensure victory.
That was why he had prepared food and Long-Haired Sheep in advance. The first step in the Wandering Badger Tribe's rise would be to absorb the surrounding small tribes. Whether they were tribes that had branched off or ones merely passing through, he would tie them all to the camp. Black-Eyed had decided to use force to merge them with his own tribe.
Once he had a cavalry force of more than forty men, the Wandering Badger Tribe could easily absorb every medium-sized tribe and charge straight for the Salt Mine.
He had rehearsed every detail of his plans countless times. Today was the first day of the Wandering Badger Tribe's rise.
The Wandering Badger Tribe was hospitable, slaughtering sheep every day for the neighboring tribes. That was one of Black-Eyed's tactics. After breakfast that day, the Mana-Wielders from every tribe were to gather on the open ground in front of the camp. Black-Eyed Wandering Badger would propose a merger to them all.
Facing dozens of Barbarian Mana-Wielders, Black-Eyed Wandering Badger addressed them loudly. "Tribal leaders, I received a letter from the Grey Goose Leader. He wants me to take you all south with him, to spend the winter in human territory."
The Barbarians looked at one another. Every tribe had cavalrymen who had gone to the gathering.
But when those men had left, no one had said anything about going to human territory. Everyone was confused. The most important fighters in their tribes were gone, and now they were stuck here. Even with food, drink, and entertainment provided, they couldn't put up with it for too long.
"Lord Wandering Badger, we've already sent our men south. Those of us who stayed behind are older or younger than the lads who went. We can't even lift a blade anymore.
"Let's stay out of it."
"Exactly."
"We're not young anymore. We can't fight."
"That's right. We can't go."
Black-Eyed knew perfectly well what these Barbarians were thinking. He deliberately raised his voice. "How can that be? Aren't you all the elite fighters of your tribes? How could you be too weak to fight?"
"Lord Wandering Badger, you don't understand. We haven't had a major war in years, but our populations have grown, and feeding all those mouths and horses takes a lot. We old folks can't even eat our fill. We have to leave the food for the young ones."
"Exactly!"
"We can't afford to eat much."
"That's true. If the Wandering Badger Tribe hadn't invited us to eat, we wouldn't dare fill our bellies."
The Barbarians all chimed in, chattering over one another. None of them wanted to go to human territory. They hoped to live peacefully as herders on the Gallop Plains.
"It sounds like all your tribes are in a tough spot," Black-Eyed said with feigned concern. "How about this? Let me give you a hand."
"Wonderful! Lord Wandering Badger, are you planning to lend us food?" A few old men from the tribes began to speculate.
"Oh, that's no way to help. I say we should all move our camps here. Then we can look out for each other."
"Huh?" Everyone erupted in an uproar. They all understood what Black-Eyed meant: he wanted to swallow up the other tribes.
"That's exactly what we should do," said one of the men Black-Eyed had planted in the crowd, stiffly supporting the proposal. "We're all small tribes, and we can't compare to the Grey Goose Tribe. If we want to make it through the winter, we have to unite!"
No one was willing to respond, but a planted supporter still had to play his part.
"Everyone, if we really do unite, we'll need a leader. I propose that the Wandering Badger Tribe's leader become our leader. What do you say?"
The strong deserved special respect. That was the rule throughout Alivia, and to the Barbarians, strength was everything.
When Barbarians disagreed, they preferred to settle things with a duel. For instance, two elders from tribes opposed to the merger were lying on the ground now.
Black-Eyed wore Rune Iron Armor, while the two elders had worn only ordinary clothes, but no one doubted the outcome of the duel. Since no one else challenged him, that meant everyone agreed to the merger.
As Black-Eyed looked around, he saw his Patrol Squad bringing back a group of riders.
They were people he had never seen before. They wore the same clothes as him, the same hats, and rode the same horses.
And yet they seemed utterly unfamiliar. Black-Eyed had never seen them at any of the many gatherings he had attended. These strangers wouldn't stop his plan.
"Welcome to the Wandering Badger Tribe's camp. We've just decided to form a new alliance. The Wandering Badger Tribe will provide food for everyone. Each tribe should move its camp here now."
"A new alliance? Move our camps?" The newcomers were clearly surprised too.
"That's right. You're new members, but you've entered the gathering, so you should abide by the alliance's decision," Black-Eyed said smugly.
"Who's the leader?" one of the newcomers asked.
"Everyone decided that I would be the leader!"
"You're not very modest, are you?"
"If the new members object, they can challenge me to a duel, like those two." As he spoke, Black-Eyed opened his hands and gestured toward the two corpses on the ground.
"Fine," said the newcomer, riding forward.
"You—" Black-Eyed had been armored during his duel, while the elders had been unarmored. But now he was on foot and his opponent was on horseback, so he still protested.
The newcomer didn't respond. He simply rode straight at him, raised his blade, and struck.