Chapter 67

The castle dungeon was gone, so the Forest Spirit warriors were locked in a mud hut beside the castle barracks.

Their escape was not allowed; Kaodelin kept them in wooden cages and assigned heavy troops to guard them.

After Luosen arrived, Kaodelin hurriedly brought him a reclining chair and personally stood at his front side holding a heavy shield.

Luosen activated the Leadership Technique, sat on the chair with a hint of laziness, and stared indifferently at the Forest Spirit warriors in the wooden cages.

Having taken Dragon's Blessing last night, these Forest Spirits were vigorous, but now the effect has faded and they are all wounded, leaving them listless like dogs that have fallen into water.

Looking at the most badly injured, drowsy Feinikesi, Luosen said to the guard beside him: "Pour a bucket of ice water on him, wake him up."

The guard complied.

The ice water was poured over his head, and Feinikesi's spirit slightly revived.

He strained to lift his upper body and stared at Luosen with a hateful gaze.

"Ted's son, no matter how you torture me, I will not say any of the information you want, not a single word!"

He spoke in the Common Tongue of the Natural Alliance, not very fluently, but understandable.

Luosen surveyed Feinikesi's agile body, reminiscent of a former basketball player, and smiled lightly: "I know you, the hero of the Na Lin tribe, the Skull‑crusher Feinikesi."

"I also know you can easily endure physical torment, but we mages prefer to bypass the flesh and torment the soul directly."

He said these words with a mental spell, bypassing language barriers so that all Forest Spirit warriors could understand.

Feinikesi was startled; deep within his amber‑gold eyes a hidden fear surfaced. The other Forest Spirit warriors fared even worse, some unable to stop trembling.

Even the bravest warrior cannot resist an unknown fear.

Luosen continued: "But personally I detest torture, because it not only torments the victim but also contaminates the torturer's soul."

"Since you do not intend to betray your tribe, I will not force you."

"Then, let's make a deal."

Feinikesi breathed a silent sigh of relief; he sensed the pressure from the young man opposite, who was far more terrifying than his father. "How do you propose to trade?"

"You are warriors, and I respect warriors."

"I believe that defeating a warrior head‑on on the battlefield is a warrior's honor, but torturing his body and soul after victory bears no honor at all."

Feinikesi was taken aback, looked at Luosen seriously, and thought that this human lord was not entirely wicked.

The other Forest Spirit warriors shared similar views.

Luosen continued: "My terms are simple."

"You are captives of Crescent City; among us humans, ransom can be used to exchange captives. Now I intend to do the same with you."

"I will select one of you, of course not you, Feinikesi."

"We will send him back to the forest to inform your tribal chief, or any Forest Spirit who can make decisions."

"Tell them they may exchange gold, gems, animal furs, or anything valuable to Crescent City for your lives."

"Of course, my patience is limited. If within half a month your chief does not respond, I will execute you."

"What do you think?"

Feinikesi listened carefully, then nodded in agreement.

"Your terms are fair."

The Forest Spirit tribe often has disputes; after a defeat and capture, the tribal chief uses various precious resources to ransom the warriors.

Luosen's gaze swept over the Forest Spirit warriors and settled on the youngest one: "Let him go deliver the message."

The warrior immediately turned his head toward Feinikesi.

Feinikesi nodded: "Go, tell the chief to use gold to ransom them."

Hearing gold as ransom, Luosen said: "If it's gold, you need 2000 Ogre, about 20 kilograms of gold. The others each require 1000 Ogre, about 10 kilograms of gold."

Feinikesi instantly showed difficulty, because there are 21 warriors here, requiring several hundred kilograms of gold in total.

The tribe does not possess that much gold; half of them have none.

Luosen immediately added: "Gems work too, as do beast furs, medicinal herbs, and so on."

Feinikesi breathed a sigh of relief; the tribe has plenty of those items, enough to exchange for their return.

He turned to the Forest Spirit warriors, gave a few orders, then said: "Send him back."

Luosen glanced at that Forest Spirit, waved to Kaodelin: "Give him a ration of dry food, a flask of clean water, and a clean coarse cloth to bandage his wounds, return his weapons, and send him back to the forest edge."

As soon as that was said, the hatred in the Forest Spirit warriors' eyes noticeably lessened, while their dejection increased.

Obviously, their fighting spirit had greatly waned.

While Luosen was handling the prisoners, a Forest Spirit squad clad in beast‑skin garments was nesting in a thicket near Crescent City, quietly spying on the distant human city.

After a while, they heard a rustling sound coming from the distant bushes.

Soon, a middle‑aged male Forest Spirit with dark‑green hair and a scar on his left cheek emerged from the bushes.

He hurried forward and whispered to a twenty‑five‑or‑six‑year‑old young male Forest Spirit: "Yigoni, I've got the details."

"The elder son of Baron Ted, Luosen, really returned; he defeated Ales, reclaimed the castle, and last night annihilated the Na Lin tribe's Dragon‑blood Warrior Corps."

"Moreover, everyone says he married Weilan's Dawn Princess. The princess came with a massive dowry and a very powerful guard unit!"

The young man called 'Yigoni' had sprout‑green hair, a pair of beautiful amber‑gold eyes, and a strikingly handsome face.

His weapon was a hard‑wood longbow entwined with vines.

He showed a deep look of shock: "Luosen, Ted's eldest son, actually married the princess and wiped out the Dragon‑blood Warrior Corps. Doesn't everyone call him a failure?"

"If he's a failure, is there any talent left in this world?" the other Forest Spirits present gasped, each showing terror.

After a long silence, Yigoni asked: "What is the attitude of the human Knights?"

"I heard that all four Knights refuse to recognize the new Baron's legitimacy, doubt the princess's authenticity, and even set aside their grievances to secretly collude."

Yigoni was taken aback: "So the humans are still internally conflicted, are those Knights that foolish? Can't they see the new Baron's great power?"

Middle-aged scout gave a grim chuckle: "Igoni ni, probably not stupid, but forced."

"What does that mean?"

The young Forest Spirit captain frowned, somewhat puzzled.

The middle-aged scout said in a low voice: "Now it seems that rumor is likely true; they joined forces with the Nalin tribe and the Heg tribe, together killing the Old Baron, leaving them no way out."

Upon hearing this, Igoni ni's face immediately showed worry.

"Mbabahat is absolutely not a prophet; he's a complete lunatic. Following him only leads to destruction!"

The middle-aged scout, however, seemed to have a different opinion: "I think Mubahate may not necessarily lose."

Igoni ni frowned: "How so?"

The middle-aged scout immediately began to analyze.

"Look, the Nalin and Heg tribes currently following Mubahate together number over ten thousand."

"The humans controlled by the four Knights also number over ten thousand."

"When combined, their total exceeds twenty thousand."

"Furthermore, Mubahate is a very powerful sorcerer-master; under his leadership, the allied forces can both withstand the frontal assault of human warriors on the plains and conduct mountain guerrilla harassment of the new Baron's territory, gradually wearing down the enemy's strength, possibly even winning."

Hearing this, the Forest Spirits' faces showed delight.

"What De Lin said makes sense."

"Ahaha~ that bunch of dirty, smelly fools have started chaos on their own."

"Best if they beat each other's brains out; we can just watch the show from the sidelines."

"No, no, no—I think we shouldn't just watch; we should fan the flames, make them fight even fiercer, preferably killing them all."

The Forest Spirits were heatedly discussing when suddenly they heard Igoni ni give a low shout.

"Stop dreaming; things aren't that simple!!"

He glanced around at everyone.

"Haven't you heard? That's the Dawn Princess of Weilan Island!"

"Could the Princess have only one guard detachment? No, far from it!"

"I've heard that on Weilan Giant Island at least thirty million people live; that's thirty million! A princess of thirty million people—how many troops must she have?"

"Once the Princess feels pressure, wouldn't Weilan Island send even stronger reinforcements?"

"So the two tribes will surely lose, the Knights will definitely be slaughtered to the last man, the Baron will surely win, and our Igoni tribe will suffer along with them!"

"It's only a matter of time!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a blade cutting the throat, silencing all the Forest Spirits' words; each Forest Spirit's face showed despair.

Thirty million—such a huge number beyond comprehension; just hearing it leaves one weak all over, let alone opposing it.

Scout De Lin struggled to rebut: "But the Knights say the Princess is an impostor."

Igoni ni sneered: "Are you stupid? You can't even see this obvious lie!"

Human lords always spout lies, just to trick their subordinates into working for them.

Igoni ni sneered even more: "Don't you think for yourself? Luosen, a mere Baron, dares to misuse the Princess's name—does he have a death wish?"

If you disagree, ask yourself: would you dare go around claiming you married a goddess?

Upon hearing that, the Forest Spirits had nothing left to say.

Igoni ni sighed: "Just wait; in the near future, our lives will surely undergo enormous, unpredictable changes, even destructive ones."

Having said that, his face showed deep worry: "Come on, let's hurry back and report this to the great-grandmother."

(End of chapter)