Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 114: After the Battle
The battle ended, and the village of the Black Wind Tribe was taken over by the coalition forces of the four tribes, rescuing many clansmen who had previously been abducted.
At the center of the village stood the ancestral hall, directly facing the central square.
It was the place dedicated to honoring successive tribal chiefs, and also the finest building in the village, usually managed by the priests.
It was there that Wuna, the chief of the Witchwood Tribe, finally reunited with her daughter, and the two embraced in tears.
During their conversation, Wuna learned a shocking truth—her daughter was pregnant, and the child’s father was none other than Zar.
It turned out that Zar, seeing her daughter’s beauty, had coerced her by threatening the Witchwood Tribe, and forced himself on her.
Now that things had come to this, Wuna could only accept the fact and resolved to raise this unborn grandchild properly.
Before long, the four chiefs gathered in the ancestral hall for a meeting.
Inside one of the rooms, the decorations were very simple: a carpet made of magical beast fur was spread in the middle, with five chairs and small tables arranged around it.
The four chiefs sat on four of the chairs, each accompanied by two trusted aides.
Looking at the three other chiefs present, Lusha spoke:
“Fellow chiefs, you may now bring in the elders of the Black Wind Tribe.”
The main purpose was to question Zaar’s so-called “resurrection,” since the matter was far too strange.
Chief Togo of the Bloodfang Tribe responded:
“Chief of the Sinking Sand Tribe, the elders of the Black Wind Tribe will not be coming.”
Lusha asked, “What happened?”
With a grave expression, Togo explained:
“Because they all committed suicide. Not a single one survived.”
“What?! All dead?”
Lusha’s face was full of disbelief. He questioned:
“Are you sure it wasn’t your tribesmen who secretly killed them?”
With a loud bang, Togo slammed his palm onto the small table, his expression darkening with anger.
“Impossible! Even if my tribesmen hated the Black Wind Tribe to the bone, they wouldn’t have killed all their elders. I gave strict orders that they were to be interrogated—no one would dare knowingly defy me.”
The reasoning was sound. Lusha turned his head toward the other two chiefs to confirm.
“Yes.”
Chief Kes of the Claw Tribe nodded and said:
“Those Black Wind elders shouted that they would follow the chosen chief, and then killed themselves.”
“I heard from my subordinates that they also said, ‘Those who defy the will of the heavens will only invite destruction.’” Wuna added.
“The will of the heavens… the heavens…”
Lusha murmured.
For the demi-human tribes of the Mysterious Forest, “heaven” referred to the Black Dragon King.
The Black Dragon King was the overlord of the forest, with unparalleled strength.
It was said that in ancient times, it often flew across the skies, watching all beings below, and the demi-humans of the forest all regarded it as a godlike existence, impossible to resist.
“Could it be that the Black Dragon King wanted the Black Wind Tribe to conquer all the tribes?”
Kes cautiously voiced his thought.
“So according to you, Zar must have seen the Black Dragon King, and even received its help.”
Building on Kes’ words, Wuna continued the reasoning.
“Otherwise, how did their Bone warriors come to be? The moment they appeared, they swept through the other tribes without opposition.”
Kes added.
With his right hand supporting his chin, Togo spoke:
“But isn’t the Black Dragon King still in slumber? I’ve heard no rumors of its awakening recently.”
The last time the Black Dragon King had awoken was when humans developed the Mysterious Forest and clashed with the demi-human tribes.
After punishing the arrogant humans, it had once again fallen into a new cycle of deep sleep.
The Dragon Kings of this world loved to sleep; each time could last from decades to centuries.
“Enough. Let’s leave the matter of the Black Dragon King for now. Speculating blindly is meaningless. We’ll send people to investigate later.”
Lusha timely cut off that discussion and shifted to the topic of postwar matters.
“Now that Zar is dead, and the Black Wind elders have followed him in suicide, how should we deal with the surrendered Black Wind tribesmen?”
“In this battle, it was obvious that the forces of the Sinking Sand Tribe contributed the most. As for what should be done, I suggest leaving the decision to the Sinking Sand Tribe.”
Wuna proposed transferring the authority to Lusha. Togo and Kes nodded in agreement.
“We only wish to bring back our clansmen whom Zar abducted.”
Togo said.
“In that case, very well.”
Lusha already had a plan in mind, and stated it unreservedly:
“I have decided. From this day forward, there will no longer be a Black Wind Tribe in the Mysterious Forest. All of their people will be absorbed into the Sinking Sand Tribe, and this village will become the new home of the Sinking Sand Tribe.”
“Hey, hey, Chief of the Sinking Sand Tribe, what you’re doing isn’t right—”
Hearing this, Kes quickly interrupted:
“Weren’t we discussing how to deal with those Black Wind tribesmen? How did you just decide on your own to claim this village?”
After conquering all the tribes, the Black Wind Tribe had gathered a huge amount of supplies into this village.
These supplies were the most important spoils of this battle.
“That’s right!”
Togo agreed.
“Don’t put it like that.”
Wuna, however, wasn’t that eager to divide up the Black Wind Tribe’s village and profit from it.
“If not for the help of the Sinking Sand Tribe, we might not have been able to unite and defeat the Black Wind Tribe. Besides, the Sinking Sand Tribe’s village had already been destroyed. They need this place as their new home.”
“Hmm… though defeating the Black Wind Tribe was also thanks to the efforts of the armies led by the three of you chiefs.”
After thinking a moment, Lusha proposed:
“How about this then? The supplies Zar plundered from you all will be divided equally among the four tribes. What do you say?”
“That sounds fair.”
Kes wasn’t unaware that the Sinking Sand Tribe had clearly contributed the most in this campaign. Handing the village over to Lusha wasn’t a problem.
However, he had to bring back spoils of war; otherwise, he couldn’t explain it to his people.
Togo and Wuna had no objections either.
“Then the matter of the Black Wind Tribe’s fate is settled for now.”
Lusha then raised a new topic:
“This time, the four of our tribes acted together and defeated the Black Wind Tribe. While we still have this atmosphere of goodwill, I’d like to propose that the four tribes form a Lizardman Alliance. What do you think?”
“An alliance?”
Togo gave a strange smile.
“I recall that long ago, in order to resist the terrible monsters that only appear in winter, the tribes of the Mysterious Forest once formed a great alliance. We all know how that ended.”
“If an alliance is formed, it might work in the short term…”
Wuna analyzed.
“Because we’ve just gone through tribal wars, our population has been reduced, so there won’t be food shortages or conflicts of interest for now. But once the population grows again, the alliance will likely collapse quickly.”
“I also don’t think it’s necessary.”
Kes added.
Lusha had already guessed that none of them were very interested in an alliance—unless there was enormous benefit.
So he prepared to tempt them and slowly revealed the benefits of forming one.
“As for food, I already have a solution. If we form an alliance and work together, the four tribes will be able to obtain an abundant supply of fish every year, no longer having to depend on the heavens for survival.”
No longer needing to fish in the Wen River just to get by?
Hearing this, the three chiefs suddenly became interested.
“Oh? Chief of the Sinking Sand Tribe, why don’t you tell us—what exactly do you plan to do after forming this alliance?”
Wuna couldn’t help but ask.
Good, hooked.
Lusha began explaining:
“Once the alliance is formed, we can better divide and use this lizardman territory. We can plan zones, dig fish ponds, and carry out large-scale farming of edible fish.”
“Farming?”
Togo frowned. “But we don’t have any experience with fish farming. Do your Sinking Sand Tribe people know how?”
“No.”
“Then what the hell is the point of saying all this?!”
Kes felt Lusha was mocking them and grew angry.
“Calm down.”
Lusha soothed him before continuing:
“It’s true we don’t know. But humans do. We can have them come teach us.”
“Humans?!”
Togo suddenly grew wary.
“You mean to cooperate with them?”
Wuna looked hesitant as well:
“The ancestors’ teachings say humans cannot be trusted.”
“Hmph. If you want to work with humans, that’s your Sinking Sand Tribe’s business. Don’t drag us into it.”
Kes said.
“You can rest assured—the humans we cooperate with are trustworthy.”
Lusha declared firmly.
“We only confirmed their character after a long period of contact.”
Seeing the three chiefs still looking distrustful, Rusa had no choice but to tell them about all the experiences the Sinking Sand Tribe had gone through in Bianshu Town.
“After Zar decided to destroy the Sinking Sand Tribe, we were forced to migrate. On the outskirts of the Mysterious Forest, we encountered humans…”
After hearing the whole story, the three chiefs’ expressions had clearly shifted somewhat.
To be honest, they had never interacted with humans themselves—everything they knew came from ancestral teachings. But the Sinking Sand Tribe had actually lived with humans in the flesh.
“You’re saying the humans outside are still resisting those undead monsters that only appear in winter?”
Togo asked.
“Yes.”
Togo fell into deep thought.
“Chief of the Sinking Sand Tribe, forgive us. We cannot make a decision right away.”
Wuna requested.
“Please give us more time—the three of us need to discuss this further before we can give you an answer.”
“No problem.”
Lusha nodded.
Setting aside the alliance matter for now, Lusha and the others then moved on to discuss other affairs.