"What, are you still unwilling? If not for saving you, Lord Nalant would never have ventured deep into the grassland!"
"Our lord's integrity and kindness once moved even the gods. That is why the gods left the divine maiden by our lord's side!"
"And do you think we few are traitors among the barbarians? We too received the Goddess of Life's calling. Only then did we understand our lord's kindness and become willing to protect this noble lord!"
Seeing the barbarians beginning to waver, Big Stone immediately turned up the heat.
Nalant had not taught him those last few lines. As a barbarian himself, he understood better than Nalant what these barbarians were thinking.
"Then... then will we really be free to leave in the future?"
"Of course. Our lord is willing to swear in the name of the Goddess of Life that if any of you wish to leave in the future, he will never stop you!" Big Stone immediately relayed Nalant's instructions.
"Thank this noble for his kindness. He truly is a noble unlike any other. We are willing to work for this noble through the winter in exchange for food!"
"Thank this noble for his kindness!" A noble acknowledged by the gods truly did seem rather different in the barbarians' eyes.
Having now felt some of Nalant's goodwill, they immediately voiced their gratitude and agreed.
"My lord, they agreed!" Big Stone happily reported to Nalant.
"Very good. Have them rest where they are. Oh, and ask where their chieftains went."
Nalant remained impassive, but inwardly he was delighted.
He knew that if he asked these barbarians to immediately join Storm Territory, they certainly would not agree.
But exchanging labor for food while allowing them to leave whenever they wished made them feel that the arrangement was equal.