Chapter 61: Even If You’re Late to the Punch, There’s a Limit (1)
Pramo looked up at the mountain-like pile of monster corpses.
Iron approached him from the side.
“Are you planning to sell the monster byproducts as they are, without any processing?”
“That is correct.”
“They are far too valuable to hand over just like this.”
“I know, but Ragnar currently lacks both the manpower and the technology to process them.”
“In that case, I would like you to give the Dwarf Tribe the opportunity to process the monster byproducts. I made a promise to Yul.”
“What promise are you referring to?”
“If the Dwarf Tribe could escape from the Ice Dragon, we pledged that we would fully support Ragnar.”
At those words, Pramo let out a short exclamation.
In the anti, Iron turned his head slightly, lifted one corner of his mouth, and quietly looked at Yul.
“Yul is the lord of the Ork Tribe, a being with strong pride who hates asking for help more than death itself. Yet that fellow asked for Ragnar’s help, not for his own tribe.”
The fact that Kyle had saved the Eternal Fla and contributed to the removal of the Ice Dragon alone was more than enough reason for the dwarves to help Ragnar.
Still, Iron was curious.
Why would Yul, who hated asking for help more than dying, ask Ragnar for assistance?
And before long, he understood.
It was because he had been deeply impressed by Ragnar’s decision to break through the monsters and co to support the Ork Tribe.
Kyle Ragnar was an outstanding human, but Iron thought that Pramo, standing before him now, was no less impressive.
“Repaying the grace that Lord Kyle bestowed upon the Dwarf Tribe is one reason, but more than that, we have confird Ragnar’s hidden strength, and we sincerely wish to offer our full support. However, since we fought fiercely against each other two hundred years ago, I must speak carefully.”
It was all in the past.
If one remained bound by the past, one could not live in the present, nor even hope for the future.
That was why Pramo did not oppose an alliance with the orcs either.
Ragnar was currently quite stable, but that was nothing more than a fleeting peace.
Internally, the dynastic struggle with the Daon Family remained, and externally, no one knew when clashes with the Lords might erupt.
In such a situation, if he could form a reliable ally, Pramo had no intention of clinging to old grudges.
“This is how I see it.”
“Please, go ahead. I am listening.”
“I believe the present is important. And there is sothing even more important than that. The future.”
“The future, you say…….”
“A family where descendants can live in peace. If, in my generation, I can sever the ill-fated bond that the Ragnar Family has carried on, I would consider it an honor. And I am prepared to do my utmost to break this vicious cycle.”
Seeing the firmness in Pramo’s eyes, Iron looked up at the sky with a bitter smile.
Perhaps it was the Lords who had been floundering in fixed notions.
The Ragnar Family already possessed the awareness necessary to pursue change.
If only they had been given the chance, they might have forgiven the Lords.
But the Lords were stubborn, imprisoning themselves in the belief that there could be no compromise with humans.
Now that Iron had finally co to understand reality, he nodded his head.
“Processing the monster byproducts will be the first sign of good faith that the Dwarf Tribe shows to the Ragnar Family.”
“……Chieftain.”
“Will you accept it, without refusing?”
At Iron’s courteous request, Pramo showed a faint smile.
He was simply grateful.
It must not have been an easy decision to help the Ragnar Family, with whom they had once fought fiercely as enemies.
Pramo could not bring himself to reject Iron’s resolve, having made up his mind and reached such a difficult decision.
“Thank you, Chieftain.”
“No, I am the one who is grateful. Thanks to Ragnar, I was able to escape my narrow-minded perspective.”
As Pramo and Iron were conversing amicably, Yul approached with a grave expression.
“Head of the Family.”
“Lord, what is the matter?”
“From a human’s perspective, the orks are likely perceived as monsters as well.”
“…….”
Pramo could not deny Yul’s words.
However, he wondered why Yul suddenly brought this up.
He tilted his head in confusion, and seeing that Pramo could not deny it, Yul hardened his expression.
“I would like to entrust the bodies of the fallen ork warriors to the dwarves as well.”
Pramo’s eyes widened in shock.
Yul’s words were effectively saying that the bodies of the ork warriors should be used like monster byproducts.
“Those who fell would have wanted it that way as well.”
“That is absolutely unacceptable!”
At Pramo’s firm refusal, Yul shook his head.
“I ask you.”
“Lord, you are the leader and ruler of the Ork Tribe. How can you make such a decision for warriors who fought to the very end, risking their lives to protect their honor, pride, and tribe?”
“That is precisely why I say this. Humans and orks do not share the sa culture.”
“……Lord.”
“For Ragnar to grow strong is the only way our tribe can survive. The warriors who returned to the wind would have wanted that too.”
Pramo sensed the deep despair embedded in Yul’s calm words.
It was a resolve and determination to entrust the future of his tribe to Ragnar, even if it ant going that far.
But Pramo pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head.
“……Ragnar will never abandon the honor and pride of family.”
“Head of the Family…….”
“This is also an insult to Ragnar. We broke through monsters, prepared to die, and crossed the jaws of death for the sake of the Ork Tribe.”
“For that, I am truly grateful.”
“Then why do you think Ragnar recklessly broke through the monsters and ca to the ork settlent?”
Pramo clenched his fists, his body trembling.
He acknowledged the differences between orcs and humans.
“……Head of the Family, I understand what you are trying to say, but making Ragnar strong is for the sake of our tribe.”
However, Yul’s statent just now was sothing Pramo could not accept.
“What aning would there be in growing strong by using the deaths of family? A death that should be honorable must not be rendered aningless.”
Unable to withstand Pramo’s gaze, Yul lowered his head.
The Ork Tribe also did not use the bodies of their kin to make armor or treat them as byproducts.
Yet he wanted to give sothing—anything—to the Ragnar Family, who had rushed to help his tribe, prepared to die.
Above all, the warriors who leapt into the battlefield had done so with death in mind.
“Lord, allow
to ask you just one thing.”
“Speak.”
“If Ragnar were to face a great crisis, would the Ork Tribe simply stand by and watch?”
“……How can you say such a thing? Orks are a people who know honor. We are not foolish enough to watch a friend’s crisis and do nothing.”
“Ragnar was the sa. They rushed here because they could not stand by and watch, knowing a friend was facing a family’s crisis. We did not co expecting any compensation.”
Pramo corrected the glare he had been directing and stepped toward Yul.
Then he placed both of his hands atop Yul’s massive hand.
“The despair of failing to protect those you were ant to protect—how could I not know it? I was the sa. As I watched territory inhabitants dying amid the monsters’ invasion, I was in such agony that I wanted to die.”
“……Head of the Family.”
“But we must endure. We must change.”
Yul felt the warmth conveyed through Pramo’s hands and looked down.
“Change, you say…….”
“No matter how painful and difficult it is, if you endure, you will eventually see the light. Using that as a stepping stone, we must change and transform so that sothing like this never happens again. Ragnar will always stand by the Ork Tribe.”
At Pramo’s gentle yet powerful voice, Yul let out a faint chuckle.
When had it been?
There had never been anyone who first reached out a hand to the Ork Tribe, who had always lived like loners.
The Lords were exceedingly selfish, and even when they joined forces, they constantly engaged in restraint and suspicion.
Hating that, Yul had declared neutrality.
“……Thank you. For being the first to reach out to our tribe.”
“It is only natural.”
“I nearly rendered aningless the pride of the warriors who did their utmost for Ragnar’s honor and for their tribe. I sincerely apologize.”
As the three of them steeled their resolve together.
Kyle was receiving a report from Akun.
The classification work, which had taken over a day, was nearing completion.
Not only the corpses of over ten thousand monsters, but also the bodies of orc and dwarf warriors were being discovered one by one.
The bodies of warriors who had struggled to protect their tribes, even as their entire bodies were torn apart in agony, were laid out neatly.
“The classification work is finished, Grand General.”
“Good work.”
“……Too many have been sacrificed.”
Akun lowered his head deeply and, with great difficulty, let out the words he had been hesitating to say for so ti.
Though it had been only a mont, even amid the fierce battle, Ragnar’s soldiers had suffered a succession of injuries and deaths.
Even so, the ones who had suffered the greatest losses were undoubtedly the Ork Tribe.
Overwheld by the sheer scale of the sacrifice, Akun found himself at a loss for words.
“This is the fate of those who live in the mountain range.”
“Grand General.”
“It is fine to grieve. It is fine to feel sorrow. But do not forget.”
Kyle, unusually, revealed sorrowful eyes as he looked upon the fallen.
“If we do not grow stronger, there will be even greater sacrifices than this.”
At Kyle’s quietly added words, Akun nodded and clenched his fist tightly.
At that ti, Duke Zaira ca rushing urgently to the Royal Castle of the Daon Kingdom.
“Your Majesty, an opportunity has co!”
At Duke Zaira’s words, King Clover tilted his head in confusion.
He could not tell what opportunity had supposedly arrived.
At present, Ragnar was giving him a headache, and he was struggling due to the 1st Legion deployed at the border.
If it were up to his feelings, he wanted to pull the troops stationed at the border imdiately and strike the north.
But the mont he did so, he knew the Tylers Empire’s 1st Legion would co marching toward the Royal Capital with terrifying speed.
“What opportunity is this supposed to be? Are you saying you cannot see the Empire’s troops with your own eyes!”
“That is not it. I have heard that Ragnar is currently under a monster invasion!”
“……What?”
“It is an opportunity. It is the perfect ti to send royal troops to the north!”
As Duke Zaira vented his pent-up anger, his face flushing red, King Clover sprang up from his seat.
“Other than the troops deployed at the border, how many soldiers can be mobilized?”
“About ten thousand.”
“If they are facing a large-scale monster invasion, then Kyle Ragnar will be unable to leave the mountain range area, will he not?”
“That is correct.”
“Imdiately send an official notice to the Rak Territory! State that the Royal Family will not overlook this monster invasion and is prepared to dispatch troops for the sake of the Ragnar Family!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And the mont the troops enter Ragnar’s Lord’s Castle…….”
As King Clover deliberately trailed off, Duke Zaira swallowed dryly without realizing it.
Soon, a sinister smile spread across King Clover’s lips.
“Seize the castle. If you take the territory inhabitants hostage and threaten them, Kyle Ragnar will surely kneel. After that, we can even secure Pramo Ragnar himself.”
Feeling his plan falling perfectly into place, King Clover laughed heartily.
“Ha ha ha! At last, I will be able to force that insolent Kyle Ragnar to his knees!”
He did not care how much damage Ragnar had suffered.
At that mont, the only thought occupying King Clover’s mind was making Kyle kneel.
But he was still late with his information.
He did not know that Ragnar had already finished its war against the monsters.
Nor did he understand what kind of aftermath this decision would bring, or what he would lose going forward.
All he did was lift his quill with an excited heart.
‘Before a civil war breaks out, I will finish Ragnar. Well, as for the invading monsters, Ragnar can simply be used as a shield.’
As he wrote the letter to be delivered to Viscount Rak, the corners of King Clover’s mouth never fell.
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