Chapter 74

Dawn.

Crescent City.

It is still over two months until the Winter Curtain Festival, which marks the end of winter, and now it is almost the coldest time of the year.

【Ha~~~~】

Under Ailiya's personal shield, Luosen stood on the heightened and reinforced castle wall, gazing at the Crescent City district on Round Moon Hill.

Five days have passed since the Black-Iron Guard entered the city, and the number of humans coming to ally each day has stabilized at around 200.

After these people were settled, they all became the new manpower of Crescent City's construction team.

What does the construction team do?

Repairing the city's outer walls, fixing roads, clearing accumulated garbage in corners, building temples, constructing new houses for people to live in, and so on.

Wherever improvements are needed, the construction team is present, almost turning the entire Crescent City into a huge construction site.

The effort is also effective; now Crescent City has both stronger defenses and is cleaner and tidier.

It looks much more pleasing to the eye.

After taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, Luosen turned his head to look at the towering Dragon Sleep Snow Peak in the eastern sky, but he felt a hint of confusion.

「Who was spying on me at dawn? Is it you, Goddess Merelikelina? 」

His Levin puppet had been scouting in the forests for days, disguising himself as a Forest Spirit, interacting with the outer members of various tribes, and learned much about the Forest Spirits.

Among them, Goddess Merelikelina is a widespread faith of the Forest Spirit Tribe.

Speaking of faith, it's because the goddess holds a lofty reputation among the Forest Spirit Tribe; the addition of "pan" is because she doesn't intervene much, even less than the Mother of Nature, Qigerailana.

The only thing they do is, each year, respond to the requests of the tribal leaders, granting blessings to outstanding young people in their tribes, making them grow taller and stronger.

These Forest Spirits are called the "Children of the Forest".

Originally, Luosen didn't really think much of the goddess.

Because he had just dealt with the Children of the Forest.

The Feinikes of the Nalin Tribe is a Child of the Forest, though he doesn't seem particularly remarkable, just a bit stronger.

He originally thought the goddess was merely a fictional faith totem, with no real entity.

But the scouting from the direction of the snow peak at dawn made him feel an unfamiliar six-ring power.

Its scouting spell was extremely exquisite; he couldn't pinpoint its exact location with a counter-tracking spell, so he could only retaliate with a general interference spell.

To some extent, in this secret magical confrontation, he was actually at a disadvantage.

"Indeed, the deep secrets of the hidden world are countless, and the strong are far more numerous than they appear on the surface."

"Fortunately, I have always kept a low profile."

If one enters ostentatiously while others lurk in the dark to scout, by the time it happens, it may no longer be just a scouting technique, but a fatal strike after being caught exposing a weakness.

"I'm still too young; my time studying high-ring spellcraft is too short. In terms of achievements in high-ring spellcraft, I am far inferior to those high-ring mages who have lived longer."

This is Luosen's biggest weakness.

The reason is that there is nowhere to learn high-ring spells above the fifth ring; one can only figure them out bit by bit on one's own.

Then how should we respond? What kind of response will the other side make?

Luosen isn't very clear about it.

Moreover, he isn't particularly worried, because he doesn't sense any malice from the other party.

Moreover, while exploring the field of high-ring spellcraft, he also acquired several secret techniques.

In particular, while exploring the tenth ring, he fortunately obtained a very powerful defensive spell.

Luosen named it the "Law Interference Holy Shield".

He is confident that, in a one-on-one duel, even if he can't win, he should be able to successfully flee.

While he was lost in thought, Ailiya's voice suddenly came from beside him: "Master, look, a group of shirtless men in shorts has come outside the north city gate."

Luosen came to his senses, turned his head, and indeed saw a group of shirtless guys.

In the middle of winter, with temperatures of minus seven or eight degrees, wearing so little, aren't you afraid of freezing to death?

He immediately switched to the perspective of the Detect Guard spell, and instantly saw things more clearly.

There were 13 people in total, no, they should be called Forest Spirits.

Considering that the appearance of Forest Spirits is not different from humans, the subtle physical differences are similar to those between two human races on Earth, so calling them people is fine.

These 13 Forest Spirits are aged between 18 and 30, with 9 males and 4 females; their upper bodies are bare, they wear shorts on the lower body, and are barefoot.

Looking at the shorts, they are not really shorts, but are woven from thin thorny strips, with sharp little spines growing on them.

Although it won't kill anyone or cause disability, walking in this is absolutely asking for trouble.

The unexpected appearance of these strange Forest Spirits also immediately drew the attention of the Crescent City guards.

Luosen heard a guard on the wall shout: "Forest Spirit—halt!"

After the Forest Spirit stopped, the guard shouted again: "What are you up to? Aren't you afraid of freezing to death?"

Luosen then saw a Forest Spirit ahead speak up.

"We are the Children of the Forest of the Igo Tribe."

"We have heard of Baron Luosen's deeds, acknowledge his position as Supreme Lord of White Sturgeon Island, and, due to past grudges, apologize to Baron Luosen and beg for his forgiveness of our sins!"

After hearing those two sentences, Luosen quickly checked the fragmented information gathered by the Detect Guard seal, and immediately understood what was going on.

This is him being tricked into coming here willingly!

He immediately waved at Ailiya: "Go quickly, make sure those Forest Spirits safely reach Crescent Castle; I want to give them a proper reception."

"Yes, my lord."

Ailiya immediately burst with battle qi, jumped directly down from the city wall several meters high, kicked off the wall midway for a little leverage, and landed safely on the ground.

Luosen again said to the city wall guards: "Lower the drawbridge, wait for them to come."

Yes, lord.

The guards began lowering the large drawbridge.

Luosen quickly returned to the lord's manor, found his wife Selena, briefly told her what he had seen, then smiled and said: "The Black-Iron Guard's intimidation really works!"

Selena was also very surprised: "In the dead of winter, someone actually wears no clothes and puts on thorn pants!"

How uncomfortable must that be?

For the men it's fine, but the women do this too—how will they ever get married? Luosen smiled slightly and explained: "As far as I know, among the Forest Spirits, men and women each have their own division of labor, indispensable, so their status is nearly equal, and because women are more skilled at the plant-related sorcery, their status is even slightly higher."

The Forest Spirits are equivalent to a primitive human society at the stage of gathering and hunting, with a tendency toward matriarchy.

Selena still felt very surprised.

The two sat on the lord's chair, patiently waiting; to show authority, ten stern and formidable Black-Iron Guard stood on each side.

Also to show formality, Luosen had the commander of the Flame Brigade, the three chief knights garrisoning the castle, and fourteen senior knights, as well as Klub, Alonso, Weige and other notables, come to witness the Forest Spirits' voluntary submission.

Speaking of which, this should be considered a milestone event in the island's history.

On White Sturgeon Island, humans and Forest Spirits are sworn enemies; since humans landed on the island 200 years ago, the two sides have been in constant conflict and friction, fighting for a full two hundred years.

It had always been a stalemate where neither side would yield; now the Forest Spirits actually came to the door in such a humble posture to show submission—outsiders might not feel much, but the native humans of the island all felt elated.

About half an hour later, thirteen Forest Spirits finally reached the castle.

As children of the forest, and because they constantly run and jump in the mountains for a living, their physiques are very well-proportioned and sturdy—men tall, women fit, looking very healthy.

But because they were naked, their white skin turned blue‑purple from the cold, and many scratches from the thorn shorts could be seen on their thighs.

Fortunately, the hearth in the hall burns twenty‑four hours a day, so the hall is very warm, relieving the Forest Spirits' suffering from the cold.

When they drew near, under the gaze of Luosen and Selena, and also under the gaze of all the human high‑rankers, Igonini led his people to kneel on the ground.

"Lord, lady, we are Forest Spirits from the Igon tribe."

"I am Igonini, the eldest grandson of the tribe chief."

"Our Igon tribe lives on the eastern side of the Crescent Mountain Range, and we have had little conflict with humans, nor have we ever participated in the assassination of Lord Ted."

"We admire the strength and civilization of Crescent City, and we beg the lord and lady to forgive the past mistakes of our Igon tribe and accept our allegiance."

Having said that, the thirteen Forest Spirits placed both hands on the ground, bowed their heads and knelt on the floor, performing the grand five‑prostration salute.

That posture really lowered them to the dust.

The human powerhouses present had nothing to say, because what Igonini said was correct.

The Igon tribe and humans indeed have no major grudge; since the other side is willing to submit to the lord, there seems no reason to refuse.

Luosen naturally agreed in his heart.

First, to set an example, showing his broad‑mindedness that embraces all rivers.

Second, because the Igon tribe has over five thousand people, and they are not much different from humans; intermarrying and mixing blood for a few generations would erase the distinction.

But it must be sincere allegiance; merely coming over to make a claim while remaining essentially unchanged—you stay you, I stay I—would be meaningless.

So he asked: "Igonini, your attitude is sincere, but I don't just look at attitude; I look more at action."

"I will ask you three questions."

"Lord, please ask."

"Do you accept freely settling and moving in your own territories, to live mixed together?"

"Yes."

"Do you accept free intermarriage between the two tribes?"

"Yes."

"Do you accept a unified administrative system, and to establish a mixed army of warriors from both tribes as the garrison guard?"

"Yes."

Of the thirteen Forest Spirits present, nearly half actually wanted to object, but Igonini withstood the pressure, and they all agreed.

Luosen had been observing closely, knowing that Igonini was relatively progressive among the Forest Spirits, more inclined toward humans, and a key figure for promoting the two tribes' integration.

If Igonini could remain in that position, the integration would not run into problems.

Originally, Luosen could have decided outright, but his ability to achieve this so quickly and well is inseparable from the support of Princess Selena's status.

So Luosen turned his head and whispered to his wife: "Madam, what do you think?"

Selena wasn't very interested in state affairs.

Since being promoted to Arcane Master, she has become a bit obsessed, her mind full of arcane arts, wanting to advance further to become a Sage.

At this moment she thought this group of Forest Spirits was quite nice—good‑looking and well‑behaved—so she nodded: "I agree."

Since that's the case, Luosen loudly declared: "My lady, Dawn Princess, and I, Lord of White Sturgeon Island, are in unanimous agreement to accept the Igon tribe's allegiance."

"From this moment on, the Igon tribe shall be my subjects; as long as they obey Crescent City's laws, they will receive the protection of the Crescent warriors."

After the proclamation, he waved his hand and told the attendant nearby: "Bring the warm new winter clothes and dress my new subjects in them."

Following his words, the attendants stepped forward, bringing out human‑style clothes and pants sized to the Forest Spirits' bodies.

The Forest Spirits were not shy either; they publicly took off their thorn underpants and put on the new clothes.

Once dressed, thanks to their well‑proportioned builds, they actually looked quite good—much better than the majority of corpulent humans.

But one can also tell that, probably because the change came too fast, this batch of Forest Spirits still harbors much resistance.

So Luosen clapped his hands and said: "Igonini, and all you Forest Spirits present, for the next few days you will stay in Crescent City, get used to urban life, and also tell me stories of the mountains and forests."

"In three days, I will demonstrate a very powerful attack magic device; you can also take a good look at it."

Igonini's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that, and he couldn't help asking: "An attack magic device? Is it something the Black‑Iron Guard brought?"

"Yes, that's what they brought; it's so powerful it makes one's hair stand on end, worthy of being called a doomsday artifact!"

Luosen said this with a meaningful expression.

After he finished speaking, one could see behind Igonini those Forest Spirits whose expressions showed some resistance, each of them now quieting down.

Obviously, they were frightened by Luosen's words.

And this is exactly the effect Luosen wanted.

Besides the superweapon, he intends to frighten them by as many means as possible.

The more frightening it is now, the better to form an uncounterable mental seal in the opponent's mind, so that future resistance to integration will be smaller.

While he was pondering a method, his heart suddenly stirred—it was an unexpected message coming from the Detect Guard seal set up at the dock.

A sharp-pointed speedboat clearly meant for river navigation sailed into the dock.

The boat bore no flag to indicate identity, but after it came to a stop, a gentleman in a black tailcoat emerged.

Luosen glanced at him, his heart stirred: "Eh~~ It's actually an old acquaintance."

(End of chapter)