Chapter 158: Heirs? What heirs?

The nobles knew full well that these savages were not intimidated by their aura.

After all, they hadn't even begun fighting—only shouted twice!

"Look over there! The tribal chieftains are coming toward us!"

At that moment, a sharp-eyed noble suddenly noticed that the tribal leaders, who had been watching and directing from behind the army, had crossed the ranks and were approaching them!

In the end, the tribal chieftains halted less than a hundred meters in front of the noble army.

The situation left the nobles staring at one another in shock.

"What do they want?"

"Could they be here to negotiate surrender?"

Thinking of this possibility, Commander Narsi's face darkened. "Gentlemen, you all know the fate of these tribal captives. I urge you to remain rational!"

The nobles naturally understood and nodded in agreement.

"Since all of you are clear on this, let us go meet these tribal chieftains. We cannot let them think we fear them!"

With that, Narsi led the nobles past his remaining nine thousand battered troops and stepped forward to face the tribal chieftains.

To preserve their dignity, the nobles wiped all signs of despair from their faces, feigning calm composure.

They waited for the tribal chieftains to speak first—hoping to laugh mockingly in reply and glorify their knightly spirit.

But the next words from the tribal chieftains left them utterly bewildered.

"I never expected this. I thought you foolish nobles, trapped in our ambush, would have no chance to resist—but I underestimated you. Speak: what terms will you offer to return our tribal heirs?"

"Huh? Heirs? What heirs?"

The nobles froze, then exchanged glances—they had no idea what these tribal chieftains were talking about!

"Stop pretending! You shameless nobles—your three hundred elite warriors succeeded. They struck at the weakest moment of our camps and kidnapped our heirs!"

"Hand over our heirs now, and we'll agree to withdraw!" Black Tiger Chieftain, a massive tribal warrior, glared with fury, as if he wanted to crush every noble on the spot.

Only then did Narsi and the others realize: someone had launched a surprise raid on the tribal army's camp and abducted their heirs.

And these tribal chieftains assumed the nobles were responsible—hence their arrival, offering to withdraw in exchange.

Narsi stole a glance at the other nobles and saw their expressions matched his own.

He understood: it wasn't any of them.

But now that a glimmer of hope had appeared, he would not let it slip away.

"Great Silver Moon Chieftain, may I confer briefly with these nobles?"

The Great Silver Moon Chieftain was the supreme leader of all the tribes.

Through his influence, he had united them, sparking this war that cost the Griffin Kingdom dozens of nobles.

Even the powerful Black Tiger Tribe obeyed his command.

"No problem," Silver Moon replied coolly.

Seeing this, Narsi's spirits lifted instantly—he signaled the other nobles.

The nobles, all shrewd men, quietly stepped back more than ten meters.

"Commander Narsi, did you secretly dispatch an elite squad to rescue the tribal heirs?" the nobles demanded eagerly, for only Narsi had the means to have planned such an operation.

They stared at him, full of anticipation.

Narsi inwardly sighed—it was exactly as he thought. "Not me. Actually, I was wondering if one of you did it."

Among the nobles, only two counts were present, but several heirs came from count families.

So if anyone among them had done it, it must have been one of these noble houses.

But now it was certain: none of them had done it.

"Not you? Then who?" The nobles exchanged glances—their earlier excitement plummeted.

If neither Narsi nor any of them had done it, then their chance of survival was gone.

"Gentlemen, this is precisely why I asked to confer with you!"

"These tribal chieftains clearly don't know we're innocent—so we still have a chance to escape!"

"And though we didn't capture the tribal heirs, they were surely taken by our kingdom's own troops!"

"After all, who else would be on this deadly battlefield besides nobles?"

"So our priority now is to stall them while we find the unit that seized the heirs!"

"And even if we can't find them, we'll buy more time to plan an escape!"

The nobles immediately saw the logic in Narsi's words.

All agreed to his proposal.

Narsi took a deep breath, composed his thoughts, then returned with the others to face the tribal chieftains.

"Great Silver Moon Chieftain, we've decided. To release your heirs, the condition is simple: withdraw immediately from our kingdom's territory!"

"You bastards! You're surrounded by us, yet you dare speak to us like this!" Black Tiger Chieftain erupted in rage.

But Narsi didn't even glance at him—he kept his eyes fixed on the Great Silver Moon Chieftain.

He continued: "If we die, our men will take your tribal heirs to the capital. Our king may then demand even more."

"Of course, you may refuse—but then you'll lose the heirs you've spent over a decade training."

Black Tiger and the other chieftains were instantly silenced.

After all, Narsi's confidence was convincing—they had no better option.

Silver Moon Chieftain's eyes flickered for a moment; he glanced at the other chieftains, then smiled. "Commander Narsi, fine. I agree to your terms. Hand over the heirs, and I'll withdraw."

In truth, none of the heirs were his own son or heir.

But these tribes had only recently united under him—he could not risk fracturing the alliance.

Silver Moon had no choice but to accept this outrageous demand.

Narsi's heart pounded—he feared misunderstanding, and reiterated: "Great Silver Moon Chieftain, you must fully withdraw beyond our kingdom's border—beyond Pakka City!"

"Beyond Pakka City," Silver Moon nodded. "Then when will you return the heirs?"

Narsi suppressed his excitement, feigning deliberation. "Great Silver Moon Chieftain, to prevent you from forcibly rescuing them, I ordered my men to vanish immediately after securing the heirs."

"So I must send men out to locate them before I can recall them for the exchange—it will take some time."