Makoto Frost-Wolf

Under the three bright moons illuminating the land, the camp was ablaze with brilliant bonfires. The cheers of nearly six hundred people echoed across the plains, and amidst the laughter and joy of the crowd, Albert struggled to conceal the turmoil in his heart.

No matter who he is, he is certainly not Landen Gallop, this was Albert's only thought. That's right, Landen must have been taken as a vessel by some transcendent or god-tier entity.

Unifying the barbarians across the entire Gallop Plains was an idea no human noble could ever conceive, let alone the fourth son of a baron standing before him.

Albert had once heard in the Imperial Capital about the differences between humans, orcs, and barbarians. The first human powerhouse chose to use magic to express "Arts," thereby sanctifying himself.

Orcs, however, chose to use magic to strengthen their bodies, bringing themselves closer to the ancient Magic Beast God they worshipped. Almost all orcs were magic-wielders, but eighty percent of them only possessed slightly reinforced physiques, often weaker than a Level 0 human magic-wielder.

Yet, once an orc awakened the bloodline of the Beast God, they would increasingly resemble the deity they worshipped. The lowest level might manifest as animal ears or hooves; those closer might retain a human shape but be covered in fur, like a beast with a human face; the most powerful, born with only a beastly form and no human traits, possessed intellect and physical prowess far exceeding high-level humans. These strongest beings were known among the orcs as the Beast God's Favored. When they fought, their bodies would swell several times over, fully assuming the appearance of the Beast God, with power rivaling that of a Legend.

If orcs were those who used magic to make their bodies resemble the Beast God, then barbarians were the descendants of a unique union between humans and orcs—a special breed of orc that worshipped the Human God.

In the world of Alivia, the size of a powerhouse corresponded to their rank. It was normal for a Legendary powerhouse to stand over six or seven meters tall. Once they stepped into the god-tier, a portion of their domain existed in the mortal realm, while the rest ascended to a higher dimension.

During the wars between human powerhouses and orcs, a significant number of orcs converted to the human gods. Their bodies remained in a standard human shape, yet their bloodlines continued to absorb magic to strengthen their bodies.

It was now impossible to know which ancient human god the barbarians worshipped; it was only known that within the official Temple Alliance of the human empire, no god was worshipped by these barbarians.

Due to factors of bloodline and faith, the two nations that understood the barbarians best—Kislev and the Dragon Kingdom—viewed them as heretics and enemies. No noble dared to collude with them.

This was something every noble family in both kingdoms had to constantly emphasize and teach their heirs.

But tonight, Landen not only ignored the traditions of the Dragon Kingdom, he even proposed unifying the entire Gallop Plains. Landen's vision of unification certainly wasn't about expelling the barbarians, but rather creating a Gallop Plains that could accommodate them.

His line of thinking was unique among humans. Could it be that Landen had been taken as a vessel by that ancient, great being worshipped by the barbarians?

If so, did that mean his former nephew had already vanished? And would the Landen before him soon become a Legend?

At this moment, Albert was deeply conflicted. He did not know if Landen was still his nephew, nor did he know what other plans this Landen might have.

He was even more uncertain whether he should stop or warn Landen, for the existence of a god-tier or even a Legendary-tier being was too powerful. Albert feared that the centuries of effort by the Gallop Family would be discarded like grass before such an entity.

Outside the main tent, the chanting continued. Makoto Frost-Wolf, Neil's mother, was invited into Landen's tent.

Just moments ago, Landen had discovered that she was a remarkably intelligent woman. Landen didn't care why a non-magic-wielder could inherit a family name, but he was very interested in Zhenqin.

Thus, after the singing session, he brought both Zhenqin and Neil into his tent. Albert, expressing interest, followed them inside.

"First, I want to thank you for leading those cavalrymen in singing earlier," Landen said with genuine gratitude.

Without Zhenqin's intervention, a lull in the atmosphere would have been manageable, but if anyone had laughed or made inappropriate noises, Landen's prestige would have suffered a significant blow.

"My Lord, you are too kind. I have no way to repay you for your willingness to cultivate Neil." When Landen first sent Neil out on patrol, Zhenqin had guessed that Landen was intentionally grooming him, letting Neil find his own team and gain experience and merit through reconnaissance.

This afternoon, when Landen had Neil sing and eat magic beast meat, the intention became even clearer. Regardless of what Landen ultimately wanted Neil to do, he was undoubtedly finding ways to make the boy stronger.

In her heart, Zhenqin had always considered herself a human of the Dragon Kingdom. Although she could not inherit the family name within her clan, ever since she and her brother were plundered and brought to the Gallop Plains, Zhenqin had always emphasized her Frost-Wolf Family name.

She had always hoped her family would rescue her, yet after a year of being passed around, she was sold to the Wandering Badger Tribe. At that time, Zhenqin was only fourteen. She caught the eye of a burly man in the tribe, and not long after, Neil was born.

During the dozen years Neil grew up, his father treated Zhenqin well. This was not only because women who could give birth to magic-wielders earned the goodwill of the barbarians, but also because Neil's barbarian father admired Zhenqin's foresight and judgment. Consequently, Zhenqin had lived with a measure of dignity in the Wandering Badger Tribe for the past decade.

Even so, Zhenqin never considered the Wandering Badger Tribe her home, for she knew this tribe would eventually be swallowed by a larger one, only to split into smaller groups and be swallowed again.

This was the norm for barbarian tribes on the Gallop Plains. With every change of the seasons, Zhenqin had to worry about whether she and Neil would lose their lives in tribal conflicts.

It wasn't until Landen consumed the Wandering Badger Tribe, and began dividing the camp into a Left Camp and a Right Camp, that Zhenqin began to suspect this so-called Galloping Horse Chieftain was a human.

When Landen organized everyone to eat together that night, Zhenqin became even more certain: Landen was definitely not an ordinary barbarian leader.

Although barbarian tribes were small in population, their hierarchy was strict. Barbarian leaders considered themselves the Favored of the Gods and would not normally eat with the rest of the tribe.

Yet, Zhenqin could not believe that a human noble could truly possess a barbarian force.

As a member of a prominent family in the Dragon Kingdom, Zhenqin had heard more than once in her childhood about nobles who kindly took in barbarian subordinates, only to be betrayed, leading to the destruction of their families and their own gruesome deaths.

"My Lord? Do you really intend to tolerate a barbarian tribe within your camp?" Zhenqin could not help but ask her question.

"It is not tolerance, but development," Landen explained his thoughts. "The fact that barbarians live on the Gallop Plains is a reality. I cannot ignore this fact to claim kingship, nor can I expel or slaughter every barbarian."

"Isn't that right, Neil's mother?"

"Of course, but no human noble who has accommodated barbarians has ever met a good end."

"Well, but I am a barbarian tribal chieftain, am I not? You forgot, I am the leader of the Gallop Tribe."

"You are not a human noble?"

"I am the acting baron of the Galloping Horse Territory in the Dragon Kingdom, and in the future, I will be the human lord of all the subjects in the Left Camp. But this does not prevent me from also being the chieftain of the Gallop Tribe."

"I will protect my human subjects just as other human lords do, and I will lead the barbarian cavalry just as a barbarian chieftain does. I intend to bring order to these plains."

"How is this possible? Do you want the barbarians to live in castles? Or the humans to live in tribes?"

"Why can't the barbarians continue to be nomadic while the humans live in castles?"

"What?" The one who asked was Albert.

"What is it? Is there something wrong with that? That hillside to the south is Night-Kirin City. Although the Gallop Plains are vast, there are only a few places truly suitable for cities. Once these places become cities, there will still be vast grasslands."

"These grasslands can continue to be used for grazing. Every winter, nomadic tribes can drive their livestock to the animal pens near the cities. The humans in the cities can process the livestock that are difficult to overwinter or are ready for market into meat products, exchanging the tribe's livestock for wealth."

"But my Lord, with so many people—those in the city and those in the tribe—will they all eat meat?" Zhenqin asked.

"No, we eat grain. Wouldn't it be simple enough to trade for grain from the south? The Gallop Plains have salt mines, iron mines, meat, and Black-Scaled Horses. Surely such... expensive products can buy us grain?" Landen had originally intended to say "high-value-added minerals," but he caught himself and changed his wording just as the words reached his lips.

Of course, Landen wasn't just daydreaming. Before the fall of the Galloping Horse kingdom, the policy had been to mine minerals in exchange for grain, trading salt and iron every year for the southern kingdoms' harvests.

The tent fell silent once more. Makoto could not think of a way to refute him, while Albert was lost in thought, contemplating the future Landen had painted and the true intentions of the entity "behind" Landen.

"By integrating the barbarians and the humans, we can better utilize the grasslands and mineral deposits of the plains. The human cities can become centers for mineral processing, while the barbarian cavalry can defend the cities and continue to raise livestock to provide meat." After painting this beautiful vision, Landen looked at Makoto once again.

"Makoto, I need you to serve as the territory's scribe."

"Me?"

"Yes, you are literate, aren't you?"

"Of course, but how did you know?"

"It's simple. Your insight exceeds what your experiences could have provided; the excess must have come from the books you've read."

"Thank you for the compliment; I do indeed enjoy reading."

"I need a scribe who can understand the barbarian mindset to assist me in handling barbarian affairs. I intend to rely heavily on Neil in the future, so you are the most suitable candidate!"

"Thank you for your high regard. I shall not fail this mission."

Neil certainly did not disappoint Landen's high expectations, starting with several days of intensive training and supplementation with Magic Beast meat.

The swordsmanship instructor, Raul, felt that Neil was now capable of handling attacks from intermediate knights and could steadily suppress an average low-level knight.

Landen then took Neil, Greyhound, and Fang to hunt in the north and west. With their coordinated efforts, they killed several low-level Mud Swamp Crocodiles and a fair number of Water Arrow Fish. The area near the main stream of the Gallop River was particularly dense with waterways and relatively rich in aquatic Magic Beasts. The Magic Beast meat could be used to improve the physique and mana reserves of himself, Fang, and Neil.

Neil was indeed a barbarian, but Landen had tried several times to let his own battle qi circulate through Neil's body.

Neil's perception of battle qi was not much different from Landen's, which led Landen to a hypothesis: perhaps these barbarians, when young, were in a state of potential change that could be improved through nutrition and training.

If this were true, it would mean Landen could develop more human-class magic-wielding individuals among the barbarians.

As Neil grew stronger and Landen's songs were sung by the barbarians, more and more barbarian cavalry were willing to join Neil's banner. At his peak, Neil had led as many as 25 cavalrymen on a single patrol.

Soon, Neil brought back the first small tribe to submit. This tribe had only six barbarian cavalrymen. Upon seeing Neil leading over 20 riders, hearing him sing of "their own ancestors," and having one of their warriors fight Neil and lose, they decided to join the Gallop Tribe.

Following that, another small tribe was not only willing to trade their human magic-wielding slaves for three Long-Haired Sheep but was also willing to submit to the Gallop Tribe.

After several days of performance, Neil was undoubtedly the brightest new star in the Right Camp.

During a group dinner, Landen announced Neil as the vanguard, appointed the 12 best barbarian youths under Neil as his subordinates, and ordered Neil to lead his cavalry to conduct reconnaissance and provide security for the camp.

At the same time, he announced that in the future, they would provide public services to the surrounding small tribes, such as blacksmithing, purchasing Long-Haired Sheep, providing stud horses, and exchanging grain.

The next day, October 10th, 996, Landen set out once again. Neil led the vanguard battalion of 12 cavalrymen in the front, Landen led 14 knights, reserve knights, and human magic-wielders in the middle, and Albert led the remaining magic-wielders to escort the left and right camps at the rear, heading east.

At this moment, Landen's main force consisted of one intermediate knight, five low-level knights, five reserve knights, and four magic-wielders, all of whom were armored. Even among the various viscount territories of the Dragon, this was considered a well-equipped force.

Landen was full of confidence. When he had first passed through the Korniko Pass, he had been thinking about how to make the territory survive by disguising it as a small-to-medium barbarian camp. When he had just conquered the first two camps, he had thought about stopping there and returning to the south to be a wealthy baron. Now, he had a team of knights in his left hand and a team of cavalry in his right.

He was even wondering if he could sweep through the area once more and eventually rely on his own strength to launch a frontal assault on the Gray Goose camp, truly becoming the strongest force south of the Gallop River.

Neil was incredibly excited, and the team kept singing "Ancestors and Forefathers." Neil knew that his leader would certainly be able to take down the surrounding small and medium tribes and might even reach the edge of the salt mines.

Currently, Neil's only regret was that it was inconvenient for his mother, Frost Wolf, to see him at all times; he could neither ask for her opinion whenever he wished, nor could he let her see how majestic he looked leading troops on the march.