Carried Away

The recognition and support of the people came so simple and fervent;

It stood in stark contrast to the admiration of clever Trolls like the Witch Doctor—admiration that always seemed veiled by a layer of gauze, held back in some way.

The feeling made Blade Tusk spread his arms without thinking, greedily bathing in the cheers of the surrounding warriors and hunters, accompanied by their burning gazes.

Only after a long while did he barely suppress the stirring in his heart and bend down to look at the Moose leader, which had been unable to rise for some time.

He stared straight into its eyes, lightly placing a hand on its neck as he slowly said in a gentle yet pressing voice, "Submit, or die."

The Moose leader's gaze was clearly complicated at that moment—resentment, fear, and hesitation all mingled within it.

Receiving no answer, Blade Tusk's hand slowly moved along its not particularly long dark-red mane to its throat;

His fingers exerted slight pressure at either end, sinking into the gap between its neck muscles and windpipe.

"One last time. Submit or die."

This time, the Moose leader responded. It opened its mouth, extended its tongue, and lightly licked Blade Tusk's knee planted on the ground.

Without question, it had chosen submission.

Having received its answer, Blade Tusk relaxed his fingers and softly began chanting a spell;

A moment later, accompanied by a faint green glow, Lesser Healing and Awakening were cast upon the Moose leader's head.

Very quickly, under the effects of the spells, the Moose leader regained its ability to move. It slowly pushed itself up on all four hooves and stood once more.

Throughout this, their gazes remained locked. Blade Tusk could clearly sense the struggle and hesitation in its eyes.

It seemed that recovering its physical condition had given the big fellow some other ideas.

Blade Tusk simply watched it quietly, waiting for its final choice.

If the Moose leader displayed hostility again, he would abandon the thought of subduing it;

The quality of "cunning" was clearly ill-suited to a mount companion—someone you might have to depend on each other with upon the battlefield.

Fortunately, the Moose leader did not go back on its word in the end. It lowered its head and gently rubbed against Blade Tusk's shoulder, seeming to express closeness.

Thus, Blade Tusk did not hesitate further. With a push of both hands, he swung himself onto its back.

The Moose leader only gave two startled hops at first. Once it calmed down, it no longer struggled.

Blade Tusk went a step further. He created two soft yet tough vines and, amid the leader's somewhat nervous reactions, soothed it with gentle strokes while controlling the vines to form a bridle, fitting it perfectly around its muzzle.

Two extended lengths trailed from the bridle as reins. Blade Tusk tried gently tugging them left and right, gradually setting the whole thing into shape at a point that would not cause the target pain.

Then, with a light tap of his heels, he guided the Moose leader into a slow walk according to the direction of the reins.

As they moved, Blade Tusk seemed to rediscover the feeling of riding a horse in his previous life. The mount's intelligence spared him many training steps. At times he sped up, at times he slowed down, and at times he pulled the reins, making it rear onto its hind legs.

With each of his movements, the Trolls' cheers rose to still greater heights.

Delighted at the sight of a fine mount, Blade Tusk controlled his new companion into a run, circling the inside of the shield wall again and again.

At last, he stopped before the shield wall and raised a hand to signal the Trolls to quiet down.

A mount standing four and a half meters at the shoulder, carrying a mighty Troll nearly three meters tall, created an intimidating presence where one plus one was greater than two. The Trolls immediately fell silent.

Within the sense of majesty brought by the uproar turning to silence in an instant, Blade Tusk declared loudly, "From this day onward, your herd shall be called 'Moose.' You will become the tribe's closest companions! And your bloodline shall endure for thousands upon thousands of years, scattered across every land my feet have trod!"

His words seemed to be spoken to the Moose, yet also to every Troll present.

Afterward, Blade Tusk urged his mount into motion once more, turning the scene back into an ocean of cheers.

When he rode to Meiya's side, he swept his wife into his arms. Amid the good-natured laughter of the warriors and hunters, they headed for the tribe through the shield wall that had consciously parted for them.

Thus, amid the people's fervor and the complicated or thoughtful gazes of a small number of clever Trolls, the string of events brought about by the "new beast of burden" finally came to an end.

The raucous revelry was left behind. The cool night wind slapped against Blade Tusk's face as they raced onward.

His heart, which had been lifted to dizzying heights by the people's cheers, gradually cooled during the ride.

Now that he had calmed down, Blade Tusk recalled his series of utterly abnormal words and actions from earlier and furrowed his brow slightly.

Seeing this, his wife, whose gaze was burning with admiration, raised a hand amid the jolting ride and smoothed away the crease between his brows.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you happy?"

"Nothing. I just figured some things out."

Yes. From his own conduct, he had finally understood why so many people, even knowing the risks, still charged forward without hesitation toward the throne of the "Emperor."

Can I really withstand that kind of temptation? And... is it truly wrong?

All manner of questions rose uncontrollably in his mind.

"Blade Tusk! Husband Blade Tusk!" The voice from outside shattered his tangled thoughts.

He lowered his head and saw the confusion and anticipation in his wife's eyes. He chose to cast everything that had happened aside for now, scooped her up, and leaped from the galloping Moose.

To hell with it. All I can do is keep my conscience clear. Whatever comes in the future, I'll deal with it then.

With that in mind, after giving the moose the instruction to "move freely," he hurried back to the treehouse that stood especially majestic amid the generally low, crude dwellings.

Then he tossed his wife onto the bed and climbed up after her.

"Fuck!"

An hour later, looking at the sky outside, he finally realized just how carried away he had become. He had nearly missed the routine meeting scheduled for the first half of the night.

After reflecting on his mistakes, Blade Tusk hurriedly broke free from the still-unsatisfied woman's entanglement and urged her to hurry up and put on her "clothes."

Only then did they head to the meeting hall together.

Though they had come to their senses in time, the two had already prepared themselves mentally for being "late." Yet when they reached the meeting hall, they discovered that the attendees had only just all arrived as well.

After asking around, they finally understood what they had overlooked.

Those thirty or forty moose were not simply dealt with once they had been caught. Calming them, giving them water and food, building an enclosure, and a whole series of follow-up matters all had to be arranged by the Witch Doctors.

Especially the last matter—coordinating a site and using magic to create a "deer pen" large enough to contain them at the very least.

This was no simple task that a single Witch Doctor could complete in a short time. They, too, had only managed it after pooling their wisdom and efforts and spending quite a while at it.

Thus, by the time all these matters had been arranged, the time had dragged on until now.

Upon learning this, Blade Tusk felt somewhat ashamed and expressed his sincere apologies.

The Witch Doctors smiled and said it was nothing. They even said that seeing Blade Tusk and Meiya so happy every day had made them somewhat want to get married too.

And so, amid the same harmonious atmosphere as always, this regular meeting began as usual.

During the meeting, they analyzed the differences in the overall performance of the warriors and hunters today and discussed the direction of future training;

In addition, they spoke of the use of the wind-wave group, arrangements for several newly formed fixed couples, and adding "armament trees" for producing weapons such as greatshields.

Once all these matters had been concluded, the Witch Doctors reported the progress each had made in magical research.

It was not until near midnight, when everything had finally come to an end, that the Witch Doctors returned to their respective dwellings beneath the night sky.

The second update barely made it in. Phew.

As usual, please vote. Though I have no idea what votes are for—do more votes bring more exposure?