Chapter 77
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 077
Chapter Title: The Gnoll Tribe (1)
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After returning from vacation, the Church Alliance's delegation set off not long afterward.
The leader of the delegation was Saintess Cecilia. Ever since the second expedition, she had communicated frequently with the Gnoll tribe and possessed the finest sign language skills among all the clergy.
Purely in terms of contributions and communication ability, it would make sense for Woojin to serve as the delegation's leader...
But this alliance was between the Church Alliance and the Gnoll tribe. Since Woojin wasn't a clergyman affiliated with the Church Alliance, having him lead the delegation would be somewhat improper.
'Suits me just fine.'
Woojin's role was strictly that of an advisor. He had no desire to take on anything more. The higher his position, the more work would pile up.
'I need to take a page from Rolang's book.'
Just look at the man walking beside him.
Despite his high rank as a senior knight, he bulldozed ahead with whatever he wanted to do. The Church Alliance had long since given up trying to rein him in and simply let him roam free.
A being who combined the lofty status of a Holy Knight with the freedom of a mercenary. Woojin thought pursuing that path might be ideal.
...Tap tap.
Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder.
Woojin turned to see who it was. As always, it was the priestess draped in her pale green veil—the Saintess of Flora, Cecilia.
"What is it?"
Cecilia replied in sign language.
—Should we stop by the Third Pioneer City?
They had been heading steadily north, and before he knew it, they had reached the outskirts of the Third Pioneer City. Woojin pondered for a moment before answering.
"Supplies are still ample. Let's pass straight through."
He wanted to visit Elder Bow again after so long, but wasting time on personal sentiments would be unwise.
Cecilia nodded as if she understood, then returned to the front of the delegation.
A sense of incongruity suddenly struck him about the situation.
'...Advisor, my foot. At this rate, I'm basically running field command.'
He had just vowed seconds ago to emulate Rolang, only to mindlessly take on more work. Lately, he felt like he was sticking his nose in too many places.
Why had things turned out this way? Thinking back...
It seemed his mindset had shifted after all the hardships during the second expedition. He had come to truly realize that preventing problems was far easier than cleaning them up.
'...Let's just see this one through successfully.'
Once the alliance with the Gnolls was secured, the advisor role would become obsolete. He'd tough it out until then, declare a leave of absence, and head to the magic city.
With that resolve, Woojin quickened his pace.
There was nothing special to do near the pioneer city. This region had already been purified of its rift core, driving out the Demonic Realm.
Rolang, walking beside him, spoke up.
"Wow... Jin. Take a look at that."
Woojin looked where Rolang pointed. A few weeds and a single nameless wildflower bloomed there. Plants taking root in what had once been Demonic Realm soil. Their color was a deep green.
It was a monumental sight in its own way.
"Quite some time has passed since the rift core was purified... It looks like nature is starting to recover."
"Indeed."
Rolang muttered in amazement.
A commonplace scene inside the barriers, but anyone who knew what this place used to look like couldn't help but be impressed by those humble weeds.
In just a few more years, the land would fully recover. People would settle here and farm it.
"...If the Church Alliance's northern campaign succeeds and completely drives the Demonic Realm from this land... what will happen to the Gnoll tribe and your wolves?"
Rolang murmured suddenly.
Woojin couldn't predict the outcome with certainty either. No one could know the answer to that question right now—only guesses were possible.
"Who knows... They might lose all their karma and become ordinary creatures."
"If that happens, won't the Gnolls come to hate us? It's far in the future, but I hope it doesn't come to that."
That question, at least, he could answer definitively.
"The Gnolls want the Demonic Realm gone too."
"Why do you think that?"
"They're in a situation where survival now matters more than losing power."
The ancient ones.
The monsters dwelling deep in the Demonic Realm had grown more active. This had caused heavy casualties among the Gnoll tribe, forcing them to abandon their territory and retreat.
Yet one Old One refused to be satisfied with that victory and pressed its assault.
'For the Church Alliance to launch a third expedition, they must deal with the forces under that Old One's command.'
Or abandon this region altogether.
Either path was thorny. If the expedition gave up passing through Gnoll territory and took another route, they'd face the beasts entrenched there.
The delegation had been assigned two missions.
The first was to finalize a truce with the Gnoll tribe. The second was to investigate the entity the Church Alliance would eventually face: the Old One and the forces under its dominion.
"Honestly... this situation feels unrealistic. 'Old One' is a term from old fairy tales."
"Think of it like a fairy."
Reality sometimes surpasses fiction. Woojin tossed Rolang's recent words right back at him.
As they walked on chatting idly...
The Second Barrier came into view. Built to protect the pioneer cities from the Demonic Realm, it stood even taller than the last time he'd seen it.
"Open the gates!"
The knight commanding the barrier garrison shouted. Soon, the gates swung open, and the familiar musty odor assaulted his nostrils.
'...It's been a while.'
Woojin had returned to his hunting grounds.
The delegation pressed north together. The journey was far smoother than before.
The second expedition force had been a massive army of about eight thousand, but with uneven troop quality, it had plenty of vulnerabilities. From a beast's perspective, they were like a school of plump sardines.
The delegation, however, numbered only eighty—all seasoned elites. With three Gnolls accompanying them, the beasts hesitated to attack and slunk away.
...But there were always monsters boasting both formidable strength and confidence.
"Grrrrowl!"
A massive black bear blocked their path.
'A strong one.'
He had sensed its presence earlier. Fresh claw marks scarred the trees throughout the forest—markers claiming this as the bear's domain.
The delegation had noted them but plunged into the woods without hesitation. Now the bear beast emerged to drive out the intruders.
'Talk about lucky.'
He had been bored anyway; this promised some fun. As he reached for his machete...
"Subdue the enemy."
The Holy Knights sprang into action. Blades wreathed in red aura—this was the sacred power of senior knights from the Church of Struggle.
The knights charged in unison. The black bear roared in fury and swung its forepaw.
Boom!!
Its paw smashed the innocent earth. Reading the motion, the Holy Knights split left and right like a stream flowing around a boulder.
The bear slammed its paw into the gap they left. After evading, the knights encircled it. Red blades slashed wildly, carving up the bear from all sides.
'Yurgis's Linked Assault Technique.'
The same technique Rolang and his subordinates had used against the Bigfoot. A masterful art devised by Yurgis, the hero emblematic of the Church Alliance.
No single person could easily fell a powerful beast—not even Woojin was the norm. Thus, Yurgis created a technique for multiple knights to collaborate and bring down foes.
The black bear wailed pitifully under the relentless barrage. With no need to intervene, Woojin watched.
Thud!
Soon, the bear collapsed onto the dirt. Woojin approached the corpse and extracted its beast core.
'Who should get this core...'
After a moment's thought, he tossed it to wolf Yan. It seemed perfect to bolster the wolf's lacking strength. The other three watched enviously.
With four mouths to feed, these moments were always tricky.
'If only I could share karma evenly like with Claire's awakening.'
He had pondered that ability but achieved no breakthroughs. Frankly, he couldn't even fathom how to do it.
Only one method came to mind.
'Extract the core and peer into its memories.'
The dark cultist who had awakened Vikram's third eye.
Capturing and devouring him would grant that power, but even Vikram's memories offered no clue to his location.
'...Someday, maybe.'
With that thought, he moved on.
He hoped for more beast encounters afterward, but the black bear proved their first and last skirmish.
Several days later.
The delegation reached their destination without major incident. Between narrow canyons stood a wall of piled boulders. A familiar structure.
The Gnoll gateway.
Soon, the gates swung wide. Woojin and the delegation passed through, stepping into Gnoll territory.
"We will guide you to our city."
Rogar, Jaka, and Brotul led the way. After trekking northeast with them for some time...
A city came into view. Homes built by hardening dark blue mud into bricks, topped with beast bones and branches for roofs. Holes punctured the walls in place of windows.
A city of primitive structures. Jaka muttered upon seeing it.
"...It's a bit embarrassing... Honestly, it looks so primitive compared to human cities."
Rogar and Brotul didn't argue. Pride in their tribe aside, their living conditions were clearly inferior.
Woojin scanned the city... and spotted a massive building at its center.
"Is that your chieftain's dwelling?"
"Yes. We'll take you right there."
Jaka led the way. The human delegation followed, crossing the city as curious Gnolls watched the foreigners.
Soon, they arrived at the chieftain's dwelling. To announce the guests, Jaka and Brotul entered, then emerged shortly after, beckoning them.
"Come inside."
"Already reported?"
"Braknak must have tipped him off beforehand—no long explanations needed."
They entered without delay. Immediately, they faced a gigantic Gnoll.
A hyena seated on a rock-carved chair. His bulk dwarfed even Braknak's by a head. Overwhelmingly massive. A large lion pelt wrapped around his waist like a skirt.
Quite aged, his fur was white as an old man's hair. Yet his fangs and muscles were fiercer than any youth's.
'Knartash.'
The tribe's mightiest warrior and chieftain. The Gnoll's gaze swept over the delegation.
It lingered on Woojin's face.
"...Do I know you?"
Knartash asked, his tone uncertain. Woojin nodded readily.
"Chieftain. You've grown gaunt."
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... Guardian. Your appearance has changed so much. If Braknak and Jaka hadn't warned me, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Knartash bared his fangs in a broad grin. He rose and approached. His massive strides closed the distance in an instant.
Grab.
The Gnoll scooped Woojin up in one hand. Like inspecting a rare treasure, Knartash examined him closely.
...Not a pleasant sensation.
"Put me down. Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of others."
"Looks change, but your personality hasn't."
Knartash set him down hastily. He returned to his stone chair, the lion pelt fluttering briefly around his lower body.
Watching this, Rolang spoke up.
"...Didn't you say it was a queen?"
"We did."
"Then I must have seen wrong. Felt like I just glimpsed a monster."
Rolang muttered. After a moment's hesitation, Woojin gave him a hint.
"...You saw right."
"Wha... what?"
"Hyenas—even the females—have that."
Due to higher testosterone secretion in females. And even larger, more imposing ones.
"Rogar is female too, by the way."
"...Goddess preserve us."
Rolang felt dizzy.