The Barbarian Kid, Neil Falcon

"My Lord, I am Neil Falcon. I am willing to pledge my loyalty to you until death, and I hope to become the sword and spear in your hand."

At noon on the day after the camps merged, Landen received a very interesting pledge of loyalty. The one offering it was Neil Falcon, a young magic-user from the Wandering Badger Tribe.

Neil's mother was a member of the Frost-Wolf Family of the Dragon Kingdom, and his father had once been one of the finest cavalrymen in the Wandering Badger Tribe. However, Neil's father fell in a tribal conflict two years ago, just as Neil, then twelve, had awakened his magic-user bloodline.

Neil's horsemanship was currently among the best of the young barbarian magic-users. Furthermore, having grown up with his mother, Neil understood both the internal dynamics of the barbarian tribes and the complex interests of the human nobility.

Landen was indeed in need of someone capable of helping him manage the 35 barbarian magic-users and their 200-plus non-magic-user dependents in the Right Camp. Neil seemed like a very suitable candidate.

However, Neil was not particularly prominent within the Right Camp, so Landen needed to do something to bolster his prestige.

"Rise, Neil. I accept your loyalty," Landen said, helping Neil up. "I want to know, how many people can you currently muster in the Right Camp?"

"Ah?" Neil was stunned.

"Er, what I mean is, if I were to give you a patrol mission right now, how many people could you gather to go with you?"

"Hmm..." Neil thought for a moment. "Big Stone, Yellow Ear, Blue Frog... about six people would follow me, My Lord."

"That would be your patrol squad, right?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"In that case, take your people and go on patrol. Scout the surrounding tribes. If a tribe is small, ask them if they are willing to join our tribe. If the tribe is quite large, just observe how many people they have."

Neil took notes very seriously. "Understood, My Lord."

"You can tell those tribes that I am willing to trade pack animals and long-haired sheep for the human magic-users in their tribes. Two pack animals for one person. If they don't need pack animals, they can trade for long-haired sheep, meat sausages, or Black-Scaled Horses. If their tribe is willing to merge, we can provide grain and gift them some Black-Scaled Horses."

"And if they are unwilling to join us?"

"I need to acquire more human magic-users now. If they have human magic-user slaves they are willing to sell to us, we are willing to treat them as friends. If a small tribe does not wish to be my enemy, I can also trade ironware and horses with them. If they have magic-users but are unwilling to sell them to me, I will obtain them through war," Landen said.

Nowadays, Landen no longer cared for the meager non-magic-users or livestock of small tribes; he needed to acquire as many human magic-users as possible to build his own knightly force.

Landen used to be terrified of encountering medium-sized or larger barbarian tribes, forcing him to pick on small ones. Now that he had become a medium-to-large tribe, he felt that picking on small tribes was too much of a drain on his energy.

"Yes, My Lord."

"Go pick a few smaller tribes that look like they lack grain first and get them to join us. Once you have results, I will have the experts in the camp focus on training you," Landen whispered a few words to him.

"Ah?" But it seemed Neil didn't understand at all.

"..." Landen realized something. "Tell me the truth—who taught you those lines just now?"

Neil replied directly, "My mom."

"Hmm, that's good. Go tell your mom what I just said to you and let her help you analyze what it means."

"Yes." Neil got up and left.

Barbarians really are straightforward people; he actually dared to go back and ask his mother.

After merging the camps, Landen's entire encampment had over 600 people, making it one of the most significant tribes in the southern Gallop Plains.

Landen now had 17 human magic-users under his direct command: one junior knight, three squire knights, and 13 magic-users, along with 300 non-magic-users. These people remained in the Left Camp in front of Landen's main tent.

To the left of the Left Camp were the old subjects of the former Gallop Barony.

To the right of the main tent was the camp for the 35 barbarian magic-users. Landen simply referred to the two camps as the Left Camp and the Right Camp to distinguish them.

Walking through the camp, Landen saw two very different scenes.

In the Left Camp, after merging with the Wandering Badger Tribe, the numbers in groups one, two, and three had expanded accordingly, but the tasks remained the same. There were women gathered to look after the children, and cooks gathered to set up large pots to boil mutton. There were also people washing clothes, repairing wooden furniture, smithing, tanning leather, and making meat sausages. Some had even begun spinning thread. If everyone was free, they would start singing along with the girls from the song-and-dance group, singing that "Gallop Folk Song" Landen had composed. From a distance, it looked even more prosperous than the small town that used to be beside Galloping Horse Castle.

Come to think of it, after merging two medium-sized camps, the number of non-magic-users with management skills had actually decreased, because in these medium-sized tribes, the human magic-users were the ones actually in charge, leaving no room for the non-magic-users to shine.

The barbarian-populated Right Camp was very monotonous. Each family cooked and ate on their own, everyone stayed inside their own tents, and while some would stand by the fence watching the people in the Left Camp sing, others would get into fights simply because they were too bored.

Landen decided to find something for the barbarians to do. He found hand drums and some kind of clapper instrument among the various barbarian spoils and wanted to have these big guys practice their voices.

Neil's patrol squad returned in the afternoon. Landen watched as Neil went straight back to his own tent, feeling that the kid had gone to ask his mother again.

Later, Neil came to report to Landen. It was true that some small tribes wished to join them, and he had also seen three medium-sized tribes in the east and north, though he hadn't had the chance to question them.

Landen wasn't in a rush regarding new military operations. Instead, he found a non-magic-user who knew how to sing and had Neil take the cavalrymen who patrolled with him to learn the songs.

Landen held another bonfire dinner, requiring everyone to attend, whether they were barbarians or subjects of the Gallop Barony.

Before the meal, there was the usual choral performance. The first to take the stage was the choir from Group 2 of the Left Camp; after two singing competitions, this was the group Landen was most satisfied with.

Even the barbarians were mesmerized by the choir's singing, though perhaps because the barbarians had too much muscle, they found it difficult to master such melodic tunes.

"My fellow subjects, my brothers," Landen said loudly after the choir finished, "tell me, did Group 2 sing well?"

"Yes!" the crowd jeered, though they knew Group 2 only knew this one song.

"I have composed a new song today, and it will be performed by Neil and his patrol!"

"Wow!" Everyone was astonished, as no one had known that Landen was working on a new song.

The crowd saw several non-magic users holding hand drums, castanets, and a type of eagle whistle. Then came Neil and his six-man patrol.

The whistles and drums began, and after three simple, rhythmic notes, the barbarians started:

"Ancestors, forefathers, royal lineage, late fathers, Ancestors, forefathers, royal lineage, late fathers, Eternal heroes, masters of the Galloping Horse, Black-Scaled Iron Cavalry, in every era, roaming the plains, Black-Scaled Iron Cavalry, in every era, roaming the plains, Galloping Horse banner, Night-Kirin city walls, Galloping Horse banner, Night-Kirin city walls, I sing of your prestige with deep affection, Guarding your city-state, letting your people roam the grasslands, Guarding your city-state, letting your people roam the grasslands."

Landen had drawn musical inspiration from an Emerald Two-Headed Eagle Kingdom in his homeland. The melody was very simple, relying primarily on drum accompaniment. What was even better was that Landen's lyrics didn't specify whether it was the Galloping Horse Kingdom or the barbarians; everyone rode Black-Scaled Horses anyway.

You think it's singing about your ancestors, I think it's singing about mine. As for what relationship our ancestors had, at most, they had fought each other to a pulp back in the day.

Regardless, it had been so many years; neither of them was going to crawl out of the dirt to complain.

The lyrics repeated twice before ending with a final drum flourish. When everything fell silent, the barbarians hadn't yet reacted. Two seconds later, the first barbarian roared, and then all the barbarians—everyone in the Right Camp—began to roar.

Landen felt as if he had returned to the gorilla enclosure at the zoo back home.

A group of two-meter-tall upright apes roared, their voices gradually unifying into that single phrase: "Ancestors, forefathers."

Neil was currently looking at his mother, Makoto Frost-Wolf. After finishing the song, he had recalled his conversation with this leader—who wasn't much older than himself—following his report to Landen that afternoon.

"You have three tasks. First, tonight, take your patrol and sing a song; I will teach it to you in a moment."

"Sing? I am a barbarian; I don't know how to sing."

"Who said barbarians can't sing? You must sing it, and it will be tonight. There is no room for negotiation," Landen had said, appearing incredibly majestic at that moment.

"Second, here is ten jin of Magic Beast meat. Starting today, you will come here every day to eat half a jin. Once you're done, go find Raul for training. But today, you must practice singing."

"Third, tomorrow or the day after, take your patrol and bring me a small tribe. Whether you use your tongue or your blade is up to you."

"That is no problem; there are already small tribes willing to join." The Gallop Plains were not easy to survive in during the winter, and many small tribes gathered together, so many were willing to respond to Neil's proposal.

"Good. If there are many choices, pick one with many people, one that looks impressive. If it's a medium-sized tribe, don't be impulsive; wait for me to take action." Landen glanced at Neil, guessing his thoughts. "If you want to go back to your tent, go ahead, but come back later to learn the song."

"Yes." Neil had actually run back to his tent to consult his mother.

"He really said that?" Neil's mother, Zhenqin, asked after hearing Neil recount the words. "Did he ask you for anything?"

"No. He didn't ask for gold coins, horses, or my sister."

"Hmm, that means what he wants, you cannot give him."

"Ah? Then what should I do?"

"He needs you to become strong and then bring it to him." Zhenqin looked at her dim-witted son, guessing Landen's true intentions.

Landen watched Neil with satisfaction; this was the effect he wanted. For an entire afternoon, Neil had been roaring in his tent with six big barbarians. It was only four lines, yet it took four tries to match the drumbeat, followed by practice after practice.

Landen wanted to turn this kid into a charismatic barbarian leader. He needed Neil to be recognized by all the barbarians, and he also needed his so-called Galloping Horse orthodoxy to be recognized by the barbarians—at least those in his own camp.

Therefore, Landen had adapted the song to make every barbarian inadvertently sing of the relationship between Night-Kirin City and the Galloping Horse. Night-Kirin City was the pearl of the Gallop Plains, and the spirit of his Gallop Tribe was the Night-Kirin banner. He wanted to strengthen his connection to the Galloping Horse and the Night-Kirin.

"Everyone!" Landen stood up and shouted. Everyone went quiet; this was their leader and lord about to speak. "Galloping Horse is our name, and Night-Kirin is our banner." Landen pointed to his flag.

"My ancestors were once the kings of these thousand-mile plains. Today, I will lead you to unify all the tribes, great and small!"

The camp fell into a deathly silence. The human subjects couldn't believe Landen would declare the unification of the Gallop Plains in front of so many barbarians, while the barbarians simply felt that Landen couldn't possibly provide enough money and grain.

"I know that on the Gallop Plains today, there are more tribes than tributaries in the river, and more riders than stars in the sky. Unification is difficult, but it is imperative." Landen's tone was firm as he looked at Neil.

"Neil!"

"Yes."

"I want you to spread this song among every tribe, carrying my orders and the goodwill of the Galloping Horse, letting them know that the great Gallop Tribe is not like the Grey Goose Tribe.

We do not intend to lead our riders into a slaughter against the dragon-wielding humans; I want to lead the warriors of the grasslands toward a brand-new life!

You will no longer have to worry about the bitter winter, nor fear ice disasters or plagues. I will gather all the human magic-wielders from every tribe, and I will bring order, stability, and victory to these plains!"

At this moment, Neil was filled with immense shock, for even the leaders of the Grey Goose and the Wandering Badger had never possessed such a grand vision. He did not know what to say, and the scene fell into absolute silence.

"What are you waiting for? Sing of our ancestors and our fathers, let the banner of the Galloping Horse fly between heaven and earth!" a woman suddenly shouted, and at that moment, all the barbarian magic-wielders began to roar.

"Ancestors, fathers, royal house, forebears.

Ancestors, fathers, royal house, forebears.

..."

The drumbeats and whistles sounded once more, and everyone in the Right Camp was immersed in their leader's grand vision.

It was not just the Right Camp; many of the subjects and veteran residents of the Left Camp also joined in the singing.

To them, the ancestors and fathers of the Gallop Plains were the ancestors of Landen's Galloping Horse royal house.

Landen noticed the woman who had just spoken, and he also noticed that Neil was currently looking at her.

Landen was very satisfied with this evening. When he looked back at Albert, however, he saw a face filled with a hint of terror, and Landen, not understanding why, responded with a smile.