Three moons shone down on the land, while heaps of bonfires blazed brightly throughout the camp. The cheers of nearly six hundred people rang across the earth, and amid the laughter and merriment, Albert struggled to hide his shock.
Whoever he is, he definitely isn't Landen Gallop. That was the only thought in Albert's mind. That's right. Landen must have been taken as a vessel by some Transcendent or Divine-Rank being.
No human noble could ever have come up with the idea of uniting all the barbarians on the Gallop Plains. The fourth son of the baron standing before him certainly couldn't have thought of it, either.
Albert had once heard in the Imperial Capital about the differences between humans, Beastmen, and barbarians. The first great human had chosen to use magic power to express "arts," thereby ascending to sainthood.
The Beastmen, meanwhile, had chosen to use magic power to strengthen their bodies, bringing themselves closer to the ancient Magic Beast God they worshipped. Nearly all Beastmen were Mana-Wielders, but eighty percent of them had only slightly strengthened their bodies. They were even less physically powerful than a level-zero human Mana-Wielder.
But once a Beastman awakened the bloodline of the Beast God, they became more and more like the god they worshipped. The least advanced might grow beast ears and hooves. Those further along still had human bodies, but were covered in fur, like beasts with human faces. The most powerful were born with nothing but beastly forms, without a trace of humanity. Yet their minds and physical abilities far surpassed those of High-Rank humans. The most powerful among them were known as the Beast God's Favored. When they fought, their bodies swelled several times over, taking on the full form of the Beast God, and their power rivaled that of a Legend.
If the Beastmen were people who used magic to strengthen their bodies and bring themselves closer to the Beast God, then the barbarians were the descendants of the most unusual union between humans and Beastmen. That most unusual branch of Beastmen worshipped the Human Gods.
In Alivia's world, a person's stature corresponded to their rank. It was normal for a Legendary powerhouse to stand over six or seven meters tall. Once someone reached Divine Rank, part of them existed in the realm of the gods, while the rest had already ascended to a higher dimension.
During the wars between human powerhouses and the Beastmen, a considerable number of Beastmen converted to the human gods. Their bodies remained ordinary human forms, but their bloodlines absorbed magic power to strengthen them, making their bodies sturdier.
No one knew which ancient human god the barbarians worshipped anymore. All they knew was that none of the deities in the official Temple Alliance of the Human Empire were worshipped by them.
Because of their shared blood and faith, the two human nations most familiar with the barbarians—Girislav and the Dragon Kingdom—regarded them as heretics and enemies. No noble dared to make peace with the barbarians.
This was something every noble family in the two nations had to keep emphasizing and teaching their children.
But tonight, Landen had not only disregarded the Dragon Kingdom's traditions, he had even proposed uniting the entire Gallop Plains. And when Landen spoke of uniting the plains, he surely didn't mean driving out the barbarians. He meant making room for them on the Gallop Plains.
His way of thinking was utterly unprecedented among humans. Could Landen have been made a vessel by the ancient, mighty being worshipped by the barbarians?
Did that mean his former nephew had disappeared? And that the Landen standing before him would soon become a Legend?
Albert was consumed by conflicting emotions. He didn't know whether Landen was still his nephew, or what plans Landen had now.
He didn't know whether he should stop or warn Landen, either. Divine-Rank and even Legendary beings were simply too powerful. Albert feared that centuries of effort by the Gallop Family might be cast aside like a blade of grass in the presence of such a being.
The chanting outside the main tent continued. Neil's mother, Makoto Frost-Wolf, had been invited into Landen's tent.
Just moments ago, Landen had discovered that Makoto was a clever woman. He didn't care why a Mana-Less person had inherited her family name; at that moment, he was very interested in her.
So after the singing, he brought Makoto and Neil into his tent. Albert said he was interested, too, and came along.
"First, I want to thank you for getting the cavalrymen to sing along just now." Landen was genuinely grateful.
Without Makoto's words, an awkward silence would have been manageable. But if anyone had laughed or made an inappropriate noise, Landen's prestige would have taken a serious hit.
"There's no need to thank me, my lord. I have no way to repay you for taking Neil under your wing." When Landen had first sent Neil out on patrol, Makoto had guessed that he was deliberately grooming him—letting Neil find a team of his own, go out on reconnaissance, and build up experience and merit.
That afternoon, Landen had Neil sing and eat Magic Beast Meat. His intentions were even clearer. Whatever he ultimately wanted Neil to do, there was no doubt he was finding ways to make him stronger.
Deep down, Makoto had always thought of herself as a human of the Dragon Kingdom. Although she couldn't inherit her family name, after she and her brother were captured and brought to the Gallop Plains, she had constantly insisted on the name of her Frost-Wolf Family.
She had always hoped her family would rescue her. But after being passed from one owner to another for a year, she was sold to the Wandering Badger Tribe. Makoto had just turned fourteen when a tribesman took a liking to her. Before long, she had Neil.
Throughout Neil's childhood, his father had treated Makoto well. That was partly because barbarians were kind to women who could give birth to Mana-Wielders, but also because Neil's barbarian father admired Makoto's foresight and judgment. As a result, Makoto had lived with a reasonable degree of dignity in the Wandering Badger Tribe for more than a decade.
Even so, she had never considered the Wandering Badger Tribe her home. She knew that this tribe would eventually be swallowed up by a larger one, which would then split into several smaller tribes before swallowing up others in turn.
That was how things went for the barbarian tribes on the Gallop Plains. Every spring and autumn, Makoto worried that she and Neil might die in a tribal conflict.
It wasn't until Landen absorbed the Wandering Badger Tribe that she began to suspect the so-called Gallop chieftain was human. That was when Landen divided the camp into the Left Camp and Right Camp.
When Landen organized everyone to eat together that evening, Makoto became even more certain that he was no ordinary barbarian chief.
Although barbarian tribes were small, they had a strict hierarchy. The chieftain considered himself a retainer of the gods and didn't usually eat with the rest of the tribe.
But Makoto still couldn't believe a human noble could truly command a barbarian force.
As a member of a prominent family in the Dragon Kingdom, Makoto had heard more than once as a child about kindhearted nobles who took in barbarians, only to be betrayed by their subordinates and left with their families torn apart or even their heads cut off.
"My lord, do you really intend to tolerate a barbarian tribe in the camp?" Makoto couldn't help asking.
"Not tolerate. Develop," Landen said, explaining his thinking. "The barbarians live on the Gallop Plains. That's a fact. I can't ignore it and claim the throne, nor can I drive them out or slaughter every last one of them.
"Isn't that right, Neil's mother?"
"Of course. But no human noble who has taken in barbarians has ever come to a good end."
"Well, I happen to be the chief of a barbarian tribe, don't I? Don't you remember? I'm the chief of the Gallop Tribe."
"Are you not a human noble?"
"I'm the acting Baron of the Gallop Territory in the Dragon Kingdom. One day, I'll be the human lord of all the Territory Residents in the Left Camp. But that doesn't stop me from being the chief of the Gallop Tribe at the same time.
"I'll protect my human Territory Residents like any other human lord, and I'll lead the barbarian cavalry like any other barbarian chieftain. I intend to bring order to these plains."
"How is that possible? Do you want the barbarians to live in a castle, or the humans to live in a tribe?"
"Why can't the barbarians keep their nomadic way of life while the humans live in castles?"
"What?" Albert was the one who asked.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem? That hill to the south is where Night-Kirin City stands. The Gallop Plains are vast, but there are only a few places truly suited for cities. Even after cities are built in those places, there'll still be huge stretches of grassland.
"The tribes can keep grazing their livestock on that grassland. Every winter, the nomads can drive their animals to pens near the cities. The humans in the cities can turn livestock that's hard to overwinter or ready for slaughter into meat products, and the tribes can trade their animals for wealth."
"But, my lord, will all these people—the people in the cities and the people in the tribes—eat meat?" Makoto asked.
"No, they'll eat grain. They can trade for it in the south. The Gallop Plains have salt mines, iron mines, meat, and Black-Scaled Horses. Surely such ex—expensive goods are worth enough to buy grain?" Landen had nearly said "high-value products" in exchange for lower-value grain, but changed his phrasing at the last moment.
Of course, Landen wasn't just fantasizing. Before the fall of Gallop, the plains had followed a policy of mining resources and trading them for grain, exchanging salt, iron, and other goods for food from the Southern Kingdom every year.
The tent fell silent again. Makoto couldn't think of a way to argue against him. Albert, meanwhile, was thinking about the future Landen had described and the true purpose of the being "behind" him.
"By bringing the barbarians and humans together, we can make better use of the plains' grasslands and mineral resources. Human cities can become centers for processing minerals. The barbarian cavalry can protect the cities while continuing to raise livestock and supply meat." After painting this rosy vision, Landen looked at Makoto again.
"Makoto, I need you to serve as the Territory's secretary."
"Me?"
"Yes. You can read, right?"
"Of course, but how did you know?"
"It's simple. You know more than you could have learned from experience alone. The rest must have come from books."
"Thank you for the compliment. I do enjoy reading."
"I need a secretary who understands the way barbarians think to help me handle their affairs. I also intend to make good use of Neil in the future, so you're the best person for the job!"
"Thank you for your trust. I won't let you down."
Neil didn't disappoint Landen's expectations. First, he went through several days of intensive training and supplemented his diet with Magic Beast Meat.
The swordsmanship instructor, Raul, thought Neil could now handle an Intermediate Knight's attacks and reliably overpower an ordinary low-level Knight.
Then Landen took Neil, Greyhound, and Fang north and west to hunt. Working together, they killed several low-level mud crocodiles and quite a few Water Arrow Fish. There were especially many waterways near the main channel of the Gallop River, where Water School magical beasts were relatively common. Their meat could improve Landen's, Fang's, and Neil's physiques and magic reserves.
Neil was a barbarian, but Landen had tried several times to make his Battle Qi flow through Neil's body.
Neil's sense of Battle Qi was much like Landen's. This led Landen to wonder whether Neil, as a barbarian, had also been in some kind of malleable state when he was young, and whether proper nutrition and training could improve him.
If so, Landen might be able to develop more human-class Mana-Wielders among the barbarians.
As Neil grew stronger and the barbarians passed Landen's songs around, more and more barbarian cavalrymen were willing to join Neil's ranks. On one patrol, Neil even led as many as twenty-five cavalrymen.
Before long, Neil brought in the first small tribe to swear allegiance. It had only six barbarian cavalrymen. They saw Neil leading more than twenty cavalrymen and heard him sing about "their ancestors." Then they sent a barbarian warrior to fight Neil. In the end, they decided to join the Gallop Tribe.
Another small tribe soon followed. They were willing not only to trade their human Mana-Wielder slaves for three Long-Haired Sheep, but also to swear allegiance to the Gallop Tribe.
After just a few days, Neil had undoubtedly become the brightest rising star in the Right Camp.
At a group dinner, Landen announced that Neil would serve as the vanguard. He appointed the twelve barbarian youths closest to Neil as his subordinates and ordered Neil to lead his cavalry in scouting and guarding the camp.
He also announced that, in the future, he would provide nearby small tribes with public services such as blacksmithing, buying Long-Haired Sheep, providing breeding stallions, and trading for grain.
The next day, October 10, 996, Landen set out again. Neil led the vanguard of twelve cavalrymen. Behind him came Landen with fourteen Knights, Reserve Knights, and human Mana-Wielders. Albert brought up the rear with the other Mana-Wielders, escorting the Left and Right Camps as they headed east.
Landen's main force now had one Intermediate Knight, five low-level Knights, five Reserve Knights, and four Mana-Wielders. Everyone wore armor. Even among the Dragon Kingdom's various Viscount's Territories, it was a well-equipped force.
Landen was full of confidence. When he had first emerged from Korniko Pass, he had worried about how to keep the Territory alive, disguising it as a medium-sized barbarian camp. After capturing the first two camps, he had thought about stopping there and returning south to live as a wealthy baron. Now he had a force of Knights in his left hand and a force of cavalry in his right.
He was even wondering if he could sweep up another wave of tribes and eventually rely on his own power to launch a direct assault on Gray Goose's camp, becoming the strongest force south of the Gallop River.
Neil was incredibly excited. The troops kept singing about "ancestors and fathers," and Neil knew his chieftain could definitely take the surrounding small and medium-sized tribes. They might even reach the edge of the Salt Mine.
His only regret was that his mother, Frost-Wolf, couldn't see him often. He couldn't ask her for advice whenever he wanted, nor could he let her see how impressive he looked leading his troops.