CH 174

Kim Hyungjun (김형준)13-16 minutes 25.07.2022

The Bayman Orcs’ direct challenge quickly became a hot topic among the knights.

“Why don’t we go pay them a visit and put an end to their miserable lives? If we take the North, we will have united Brantia in name and reality,” Pranbow said.

Galfredik responded, “Ah! I’m all for it. My body’s itching after facing only weaklings for a while now. Swordmaster, I think we’ll get along nicely.”

“I agree as well. It’s only natural for honorable and valiant knights to recognize each other. I would have expected nothing less from you, Sir Galfredik,” Pranbow commented.

The elven swordmaster couldn’t be satisfied with the occasional bouts against Eugene, and Galfredik had returned unfulfilled after conquering weaker territories that even a dozen bandits could occupy. They gave each other a thumbs up with a smile.

Galfredik’s proficiency with the Brantian language grew to match Eugene’s level during the time he spent occupying the leftover territories. He had grown much more intelligent after becoming an Origin’s vassal, and he had spent quite a bit of time conversing with the locals as well. On the other hand, Eugene’s ability to interpret language had also improved massively. His proficiency in the Brantian language had become almost indistinguishable from the natives.

“Shouldn’t we declare the founding of our nation first? We will have to build a royal family to give us a proper reason to invade,” Lanslo said.

“From what I heard during my time as a captive, even experienced hunters will not recklessly venture into the North. And please keep in mind that winter is about to begin, Your Excellency,” Edmund chimed in.

The two knowledgeable knights provided useful insight into the possible invasion of the North.

“My brothers and sisters will do anything as long as we get meat.”

As usual, the beowulfs cared only for food.

“Hmm.” Eugene sank into thought while stroking his chin. Soon, he raised his head and asked, “Do orcs usually declare war like this? Or are the Bayman Orcs a little different from other orcs?”

Eugene had never seen honorable orcs during his time in the Caylor Kingdom. In addition, orcs were extremely simple and ignorant. Even mercenaries paled in comparison to them. The same was true of the Orc mercenaries Eugene had seen in Brantia.

Strength and battle meant honor for the orcs, and they always butted heads before attempting to communicate.

“They are warlike, but I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never fought against the Bayman Orcs either.”

“The same goes for me. I’ve never had to go to the North.”

Lanslo and Pranbow shook their heads.

Eugene turned his gaze to Pythamoras. “Do you know anything?” he asked.

Pythamoras responded, “Ehem. Well, as Sir Drak said, the Bayman Orcs are very belligerent. However, it is indeed very rare for them to send a messenger to officially declare war. Usually, they would declare war after bringing their army and making their stance in front of their enemy.”

“As I expected,” Eugene said.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” The knights expressed their curiosity.

Eugene continued while looking around. “I think the orcs are putting on a show. Perhaps a type of deception.”

“…?!”

“Think about it. These guys know that I’m the Duke of Batla, and they even think that I’m about to ascend the throne, right? Doesn’t that mean they have pretty good information about me and my army?” Eugene asked.

“Oh! Come to think of it, you’re right.”

“Right? Moreover, they are hot-headed orcs, and they are looking to unify Brantia. As Master Pythamoras said, it would be normal for them to bring their army before declaring war, instead of having a few of their warriors pass such a senseless declaration to Edmund before running away,” Eugene said.

“Aha!”

“Certainly…” The knights nodded with astonishment at Eugene’s plausible reasoning.

“Of course, I’m not sure if I’m right or wrong. So, why don’t we play a page from their book? What if we deceive them as well?” Eugene said.

“Deceive them?” The knights asked.

“We will declare the founding of our nation and find out what they are trying to do at the same time,” Eugene said.

“What?”

“This is the plan…” Eugene began to calmly lay out his thoughts, and the expressions of the knights underwent numerous changes. When Eugene finally finished his words, the knights couldn’t help but express their awe and wonder.

“Even the legendary demon king would have to give way after hearing your insidious plan, Your Excellency.”

“No wonder the spirit always called him the demon king. I never thought it would be real, hahahahaha!”

“Notify the nobles to prepare for the announcement of our country.” Eugene turned a deaf ear to their comments. He couldn’t tell if they were complimenting or cursing him.

***

The specific plans regarding the founding of their new country were drawn up by the elders of the Batla Duchy. They were unrivaled when it came to the matter of traditions and customs. Eugene considered such things trivial and useless, but the elders quickly plowed through their work.

There were also fierce debates between the nobles of Crawlmarine, who were thrilled that their lord would become king and the elders of the Batla Duchy. However, with Eugene holding the fort, neither side ever crossed the line.

“Ehem. Your Excellency,” Pythamoras called out after sneaking up to Eugene. He had been watching the discussions of the nobles with bored eyes. He continued. “Who are you planning to send up North?”

“Why? Does the druid want to go there?” Eugene asked.

“It goes without saying. Moreover, if you want to deal with the orc sorcerers, even you will need my knowledge, Your Excellency,” Pythamoras answered.

“Maybe so. But wouldn’t you agree that your presence is paramount to a royal family that’s just starting to lay down its foundation? Rather than spending hours waiting for incompetent, stubborn people to make decisions, shouldn’t the wise druid lend his wisdom and lead them down the right path? For the sake of the king,” Eugene countered. He was basically shoving all of the difficult, troublesome work to the druid.

“Were you really a demon king in your past life?” Pythamoras asked with a serious face.

Eugene responded while turning his gaze and gesturing with his chin, “I don’t know about that. First, teach him everything you know about the Bayman Orcs and the orc sorcerers.”

“Huh? To your wizard? You’re going to take her?” Pythamoras frowned as he turned his gaze to Romari. The wizard was currently interrogating the greedy spirit, who appeared quite annoyed, with countless questions in a shady corner.

The wizard and the druid had greeted each other, due to their conflicting identities, they were quite awkward and cold toward each other.

Eugene whispered, “No matter what anyone says, she is my wizard. And you are the druid of the Brantian King.”

He was certain that Romari would have been touched to hear his words.

“And I have heard that druids are not stingy in bestowing their knowledge upon others. If you do me the favor, I will tell my aide; no, the king to actively support your research,” Eugene suggested.

“Hmm.”

Pythamoras narrowed his brows with a serious expression. It was a promise made by the king’s guardian. It wasn’t necessarily a dilemma to lose sleep on, and as such, he came to a decision.

“Well, let’s do that. However, you must keep your promise,” Pythamoras said.

“Naturally,” Eugene responded.

Pythamoras swaggered over to Romari after receiving a definitive answer. The two figures conversed for a brief moment, then Romari rushed over to Eugene with a pale expression. “Sir Eugene, Sir Eugene. You’re taking me up North?” she asked.

“Yes...”

“What? Why me?” Romari asked.

“Would you rather return to Mungard and resume purifying mana stones?” Eugene said.

Romari immediately had a change in attitude. “Come to think of it, I really love snow and ice. Moreover, seeing and experiencing the ecology of the orc tribes there will be a great help to my research. A good wizard must experience many things.”

Eugene nodded with satisfaction after hearing her answer.

***

A few days later, many nobles of the Crawlmarine County and the Batla Duchy left with dozens of envoys as messengers to various parts of Brantia. They were escorted by mercenaries, and their goal was to inform and threaten the nobles of Brantia of the coronation and founding ceremony that would take place in a month.

Batla, Eland, Brodia, Crawlmarine, and Fransil.

No one would be daring enough to ignore messengers carrying the flag with the crests of these five families. Hundreds of nobles would surely flock to attend the ceremony.

Eugene and Pythamoras decided that Brighton would become the royal capital of the new country. Banneret Randolph was set to become the new mayor of Brighton, and the city wasn’t too far from Mungard, which was the only port city connected to the continent. In addition, there were various other factors that made the city suitable as the royal capital.

In any case, the envoys roamed almost the entirety of Brantia while only spreading stories about Eugene. After all, they had been ordered to do so by Eugene.

“Speak only of the date and time of the ceremonies and about me. There’s no need to mention who is going to become king. In any case, if you continue talking about me, no one will ask such a thing,” Eugene told them so.

The nobles were fearful and in awe of the vampire duke, and as such, they faithfully carried out his orders. They recounted their personal experiences with Eugene to all the nobles they encountered and invited them to the coronation ceremony. Naturally, they spoke of the enormous group of mercenaries from the continent and the two incredibly skilled knights leading them, Lanslo and Galfredik.

Eventually, all of the invited nobles came to realize how vicious and cruel Duke Batla was, and how powerful his army was. All too naturally, they also came to a conclusion regarding the person who would take the crown in a month.

- He’s strong enough to kill two swordmasters, so insidious as to take the daughters of two honorable families at the same time, and so greedy as to screw over all of the merchants of Mungard, Brighton, and Brodin. The vampire duke is taking the crown of Brantia!

The terrible introduction seemed to refer to the supreme ruler of hell rather than anyone else, and the rumors reached the far north in only fifteen days.

***

Boom!

“That arrogant, small fang is calling himself king?!”

“That’s not it anymore. He’s going to establish a country. And there are less than fifteen days left.”

The orcs could not hide their anger. They wore clothes made of animal fur and had dyed their long molars in various colors.

They were the Bayman Orcs—seven orc tribes gathered under the name of Bayman, the greatest orc warrior, and the first Orc King.

“We must gather the warriors right now and attack that arrogant duke!”

“Tolo is for it! That little fang killed the final blood relative of Tolo’s last king. If it weren’t for him, we would have already united Brantia under our true kin…”

“Stop your rambling. All I hear is the sound of kobolds crawling out of a goblin’s ass.”

“What did you say?!”

“He was just one of many candidates imitating a swordmaster. Moreover, he was a halfie, right? Even if he had entered the race, he would have been the first one to fail.”

“You’re just an old man with mold growing on your dick! Are you done with your yammering?”

“You were born thanks to this moldy dick.”

“What did you say?!”

A fierce fistfight broke out between the two giant creatures. But they did not use weapons, and they quickly calmed down as the other orcs rushed in to stop them.

“This isn’t the time for us to be doing this. If you have enough strength to fight among yourselves, save it for when we meet the little fang’s army.” The speaker was an orc who had decorated his molars with the most colorful colors.

He continued while looking around at the tribe leaders. “The problem is that the Duke of Batla ignored our warning. Even worse, we haven’t established our king just yet. We can’t bring our warriors together like this.”

The Bayman Orcs was a union of several tribes. As a result, they were quite slow and inefficient in handling various issues. This continued for a long time, and it had become almost a tradition. As such, the orcs weren’t complaining anymore.

However, their perception of war was quite different.

Every orc was a warrior, and a warrior wouldn’t listen to anyone weaker than them. In addition, in an army where numerous warriors gathered, the commander had to be unconditionally acknowledged by all orcs as the ‘strongest.’

In other words, the king was a being who led and represented the warriors in the Bayman Orc society. However, they had been without a king for nearly a year now. Although it wouldn’t have posed a problem in regular times, the tribal leaders were starting to be in a rush since a vampire was about to become the king of Brantia.

However…

“If we cannot bring the warriors together, couldn’t we simply attack separately? Us Tolo will take the lead, so everyone else can just follow behind.”

“It’s tradition for the king’s tribe to stand at the vanguard, you stupid orc. The last king was a member of the Caman family, so we should stand at the front.”

“Oh, the guy who got squashed by a troll?”

“What did you say, punk?!”

The sense of crisis was one thing, but the pride of each tribe was another matter. Therefore, the Bayman Orcs thought of giving themselves more time to make a decision by sending a declaration of war over to the vampire duke.

However, they failed to make any progress afterward. They had never imagined in their wildest dreams that the vampire duke had already entered the northern lands.