Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 52: Tribal War
The next day, Lusha brought two elder tribe members to the edge of the forest, where they met with knights stationed nearby.
“I am Lusha, chief of the Sinking Sand Tribe. I request an audience with your lord, Lord Eisen.”
The knight nodded and replied:
“The Marquis has already informed us. Please, follow me.”
On the way to the lord’s castle, many townspeople cast curious glances at Lusha and his companions.
Since a knight was leading them, it was clear that these lizardmen were here to meet with the lord. As a result, the townsfolk weren’t particularly afraid—most guessed that the lizardmen must have submitted to the lord.
Being stared at like an oddity by humans didn’t feel good, but there was little Lusha could do. He did his best to ignore them.
Eventually, the group arrived at the main gates of the castle.
Looking up at the towering structure, Lusha couldn’t help but think,
“So this is where a human lord lives? What a massive building!”
Little did he know, Owen’s castle was modest, especially when compared to the estates of high-ranking nobles.
After explaining their purpose to the gate guards, one of them ran into the castle to report the lizardmen’s arrival. Shortly after, Lusha and his two companions were granted entry.
Inside, they were met by the personal guards, who escorted them to the reception room, where Owen was already waiting.
When Irwin saw Lusha enter, he stood up with a smile to welcome him:
“Welcome, Chief Lusha.”
“Thank you for the hospitality, Lord Eisen.”
But just as they sat down to talk, an awkward situation arose.
The chairs in the reception room all had backs, which made them poorly suited for lizardmen—especially since their tails took up part of the sitting space.
Lusha, in particular, had a thick, muscular tail, and when he sat down, barely half of his backside could actually rest on the seat.
Seeing Lusha’s tail awkwardly hanging off the side, Owen was momentarily at a loss and gave a sheepish laugh.
“My apologies, Chief Lusha. I didn’t consider that. Let me get you a more suitable seat.”
A few maids quickly replaced the chair with a simple wooden stool, which they cleaned thoroughly before offering it to Lusha.
Once both parties were seated again, one maid came forward to serve tea.
Though unsure whether lizardmen drank tea, Owen insisted on treating his guest with the utmost respect, following the protocols for receiving honored visitors.
Lusha glanced at the cup and understood it was a human gesture of hospitality. He found it a bit novel, but didn’t feel slighted.
With no further small talk, they got straight to the point.
Lusha was the first to speak:
“Lord Eisen, regarding the proposed trade—we are ready to give you our official answer.”
“And your decision is?”
Owen asked.
“Our Sinking Sand Tribe is willing to enter into a trade agreement with you.”
“Excellent. Then let us begin by drafting a short-term contract.”
Owen said.
He gave a look to his side, and Steward Ryan immediately brought over two draft contracts and the necessary tools for signing.
But just as things were about to proceed—
“Wait a moment, Lord Eisen.”
Lusha did not reach for the contract. Instead, he raised a new proposal:
“We are willing to provide our lizardmen warriors to help you fight the undead monsters—but we have a few additional conditions.”
“And what conditions would those be?”
Owen asked.
Upon hearing this, Owen was not surprised.
As the chief of a tribe, Lusha naturally had to ensure the safety of his people. Even though Owen had already earned their trust, that didn’t mean the tribe could hand over full control to the humans without caution. They needed to maintain some autonomy.
Seeing that Owen didn’t react negatively, Lusha felt a bit more at ease and began to state the additional conditions.
For example, in the temporary settlement provided by Owen, the Sinking Sand Tribe would manage their affairs independently, and humans were not allowed to interfere arbitrarily. Of course, Lusha promised to assign someone to report regularly to Owen about the tribe’s status. Another condition was that the lizardmen warriors must not be used as cannon fodder, and so on.
“These are all reasonable conditions. I have no objections.”
Owen responded calmly.
Rather than resisting, Owen used the opportunity to raise a new request of his own.
“Since you’re bringing in these conditions, I’d like to add one more item to the agreement.”
“What is it?”
Lusha looked a little nervous, uncertain what Owen was going to ask of them.
“During the winter, any lizardman in your tribe who are still capable of working must help me out.”
Owen paused, then added:
“Of course, I won’t ask them to do anything dangerous. I’ll inform you in advance what kind of work it is, and if you feel it’s unsafe, you have the right to refuse.”
Thinking it over, Owen felt that if the Sinking Sand Tribe only provided warriors, it would be too easy for them. He wanted to make good use of their surplus labor, especially since lizardmen were generally physically stronger than humans.
“That’s acceptable.”
Lusha nodded. He felt it was reasonable for his people to help out with some work.
Since both sides were now in agreement, Owen picked up a quill and began adding the new terms to the contract. Fortunately, he had anticipated potential negotiations the night before and left plenty of blank space in the draft.
Once the two updated contracts were written, Lusha handed them to the two elders behind him, who could read human writing, for review.
After confirming there were no issues, the two sides officially signed the agreement. As Lusha couldn’t write, he simply left a handprint on the document.
Next, they discussed how the agreement would be implemented.
Owen planned to allocate a northern area of Bianshu Town as a temporary winter settlement for the lizardmen.
This area had been damaged by undead monsters the previous winter, and many buildings had been abandoned. The local townspeople no longer dared to live there.
After a lengthy discussion, both sides finalized the implementation plan.
“By the way.”
Owen asked suddenly after taking a sip of tea,
“What exactly happened to your Sinking Sand Tribe that forced you to relocate like this?”
Since this involved the mysterious forest, which bordered Bianshu Town, Owen thought it best to understand the situation.
Lusha didn’t intend to hide anything and calmly began to explain:
“It was a tribal war started by the Black Wind Tribe.”
It turned out there were five lizardmen tribes in the mysterious Forest that had long maintained a delicate balance of power:
Sinking Sand, Blood Fang, Black Wind, Clawfang, and Wumuu.
Two years ago, the Black Wind Tribe got a new chief, one with great strength and ambition.
This new leader gathered nearly all of their young warriors and trained them into elite lizardman warriors.
Then, four months ago, the Black Wind Tribe began its military expansion, using force to conquer the other four tribes in an effort to unite all lizardmen.
The Wumuu, Blood Fang, and Clawfang Tribes were defeated one after another and chose to submit.
The Sinking Sand Tribe was the last to be defeated.
“Did you not surrender?”
Owen asked.
“Actually, my father, the former chief, was planning to surrender for the sake of the tribe’s survival.”
Lusha said, a look of sorrow crossing his face.
“Oh? Then why didn’t it work out?”
“Because the Black Wind chief refused our surrender.”
It turned out that the Black Wind chief had a personal grudge against Lusha’s father, and conquering the tribe wasn’t enough for him. He vowed to exterminate every last member of the Sinking Sand Tribe.
It was blatant genocide, and it triggered fierce resistance from the tribe.
But they were no match for the Black Wind Tribe’s power, so Lusha’s father was forced to order a mass relocation of the tribe.
Along with Lusha’s father, many lizard warriors stayed behind to cover the retreat and buy time for the rest.
Even then, the journey was far from smooth—they were relentlessly pursued by Black Wind warriors.
Many tribe members died along the way, and by the time they reached the outer edge of the mysterious forest, only a little over 300 lizardmen remained.
The losses were already devastating—and then came the vicious siege by the bloodthirsty wolves.