Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After sending off the beastman from the Orc Kingdom, Benevolence looked at Mercy. “You have to be careful during the Ritual. Don’t let anyone ruin it.”
“Don’t worry, Commander. I’ll guarantee it with my life.”
“Is the sorcerer here now?” Benevolence asked. As his brother, Benevolence could put more trust in the work that Mercy did.
Mercy quickly brought Benevolence out of the tent and headed towards an uninhabited area in the tribe. A sorcerer was currently preparing the items needed for the ritual and had to cast spells in a quiet place. He had sent some beastmen to secretly protect the sorcerer, while a few other trusted beastmen were sent to help the sorcerer.
Upon reaching, they saw the sorcerer ordering the Orcs about. The Orcs were cleaning their offering whilst the sorcerer examined them. Some of them looked up and saw the commander of the Skalan Tribe arriving. The sorcerer, though impatient, said:
“Commander Benevolence, you are here.”
Benevolence smiled. “Sir Sorcerer, how are the offerings? I wonder if you have the confidence to awaken the Guardians of our Skalan Tribe and allow them to descend here again.”
The sorcerer glanced at him and shook his head. “Hardly. Your offerings are of poor quality, and there is nothing good. I’m afraid the chances are as unlikely as last year.”
Mercy remained silent. Benevolence did not say a word.
They had no choice. The Skalan Tribe was very poor, so these were the only things they could afford. The tribe beastmen had poured blood, sweat and tears into gathering these offerings.
They sent out beastmen to search for offerings every year, and these were all they had. Benevolence understood, too, that these were indeed not the best items. It was difficult, too difficult, to wake the guardian beasts.
It was also because of this that Benevolence was willing to cooperate with the Holy Land’s Holy Saint and attack the Skalan Empire. The Skalan Empire was wealthy. This was undoubtedly asking a tiger for its hide1. There was no other option. He knew that tigers resided in the mountain, but still insisted on going2.
Unfortunately, they did not succeed.
The Region Lord was more optimistic about the Skalan Empire. That blade was far more useful than the Skalan Tribe. One could tell even without comparison.
Now that they had to temporarily cooperate with the Skalan Empire, he could only wait for the next chance.
Suddenly, Mercy was struck with an idea. “Sorcerer, how about we use the Engraved Beast’s carcass as an offering?”
He did not know if it would work, but he blurted it out.
Instead, the sorcerer was surprised and hurried over. He watched Mercy closely and asked “Really? You found the body of the Engraved Beast? This being belongs to the bloodline of the vicious beasts. Perhaps it could stimulate the Guardian beasts. Give them a push to awaken from their slumber.”
“Where did the Engraved Beast come from?” Benevolence was busy all day and had not heard about the incident with Sous. He was still at a loss.
Mercy made a quick explanation.
Benevolence frowned. “He’s a good man. He’s got guts.”
Following that, the sorcerer asked Mercy to retrieve the carcass of the Engraved Beast and began to chase them away.
As soon as they left, the sorcerer returned to the house.
There was a person standing inside. That person did not speak. In the darkness, one could not see his face clearly.
The sorcerer knew what he was waiting for, so he quickly bowed and reported, “The ritual is successful. The Guardian Beast will appear again.”
In recent years, it seemed the Guardian Beast was more and more difficult to awaken. After all, it had slept for too long.
“It’s said that one of our beastmen has integrated into the tribe. He won’t reveal anything about us, will he?” the sorcerer asked.
“No, he doesn’t know. He’s just an adventurer.”
…
Meanwhile, back at the tribe…
“Grandpa, how long has it been since the Guardian Beast of the Orc Race woke up?”
Now that Sous was here, he had nothing to do. There was no need for him to attend morning court assembly here, much less run around with the empress. He was so free now, he could probably rot away with time.
As for the children who had pestered him previously, they had all gone to take a look at the Engraved Beast. The moment the Engraved Beast entered the kitchen, the children started to crave for its meat.
The adult beastmen also wanted to have a taste of the Engraved Beast’s meat. Having with it the bloodline of a vicious beast, they believed there would be great spiritual energy in its meat. It should be extremely delicious.
The old beastman sat in his usual spot, basking in the sun. Of course, he was also craving the meat of the Engraved Beast. Unfortunately, all of his teeth had fallen out. Eating meat was too difficult. It was simply a torture to him. He felt disgusted. He decided to stay put. Out of sight, out of mind. He started to chat with Sous about the guardians. After all, he felt that this was no big secret.
He said, “The guardian of the Skalan Forest and the Divine Dragon of the Skalan Empire back then were so powerful that no one dared to invade the Skalan Forest. However, at some point, the Divine Dragon fell into a deep sleep. From then on, the guardian of the Skalan Forest also disappeared for a long time. After many years of waiting, they discovered that the guardian of the Skalan Forest had also fallen asleep. Both guardians had fallen into a deep slumber. I was still a young man back then. I am now a toothless old man. The Divine Dragon still has not awakened.”
“I see.” Pondering, Sous nodded. “The Ritual must be very important to the Skalan Tribe, right?”
“Of course.” The old beastman liked this human quite a bit. If it were any of the Orcs from the tribe who had killed the Engraved Beast, he would definitely have been very arrogant. But Sous was not only not proud, he was no different than the person he was before. The praises of the Orcs had no effect on him at all. If it were anyone else, they would probably be so full of pride. How would they even bother to chat with this old beastman?
“The Ritual is the annual event of the Skalan Tribe. Everyone sincerely wishes for the Guardian to wake up from his sleep. The Guardian oversees the Skalan Tribe. When the tribe goes to war and conquer more territories, the men can be at ease. After the guardian fell asleep, the tribe members have all just been constantly nervous and afraid. When the men go out to work, the weak ones are left back at the tribe. How can they be at ease?”
If that were the case, once the Ritual was ruined, would the Skalan Tribe kill the one responsible? Sous secretly decided that it was once again, time for another performance.
If he really ruined the ritual, not only would the leader of the Orc Tribe not let him off. He himself would also feel deserving of death. Not to mention the Skalan Tribe; if it were the Skalan Empire’s ritual that he ruined today, the Empress would definitely have him killed.
The Skalan Empire had already cut off all contact with him. They had also cut off all support. He was now in the Skalan Tribe alone, and he was a human. Perhaps his reputation had been greatly boosted. Maybe there were many beastmen secretly in love with him. However, there must be some who still disliked him.
Very well, his relationship with Benevolence was definitely not great. In fact, the other party wanted to get rid of him, but it was only because of the Holy Saint that Benevolence did not kill him.
On the day of the ritual, he would go up and overthrow all the offerings and scatter them on the ground. At that time, it had to be instant death.
Sous felt the stone in his heart lift. In that case, he probably only had a few days left to live. The ritual will be held in the next few days.
This…
This was…
Isolation and helplessness!
Who could save him!
Hmm!
Sous wanted to give himself a thumbs-up. He was so damn smart.