Chapter 108: The Beginning
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: The Beginning
As we fleshed out the details of the operation, the Blood Dagger Clan slowly began to move. Given our considerable size, the Black Spear Clan naturally decided to move with us. Thanks to Black Spear, who accepted my proposal as if it were some amusing game, things seemed like they would be a little easier.
Of course, the children and the mother goblins would not be participating in this battle. The children, including the human kid, waved us off as we left the settlement. The image of Nicole shouting bravely and Kim Yoora's worried expression were still vivid in my mind.
“Hmm… So we’re to wait here?”
“That’s right, Black Spear.”
We had moved to the forward base that Lee Wanyong had told us about beforehand. It was cramped for all our clan members, but it wasn’t bad.
“Chieftain, how long are we going to wait here?”
Mev asked the question on everyone’s mind, and the other clan members, including Ragia and Jung Hayeon, turned to look at me. I opened my mouth to answer her.
“It probably won’t even take a week. The signal will be clear enough to see even from here… We’ll know even if we don’t get a direct message.”
“Okay!”
I slowly began to look around the inside of the forward base. As expected, it was nothing more than a shoddy wooden palisade. The walls and floor, which clearly hadn’t been used in a long time, were covered in dust. There was even rotten meat lying around. Since war could break out again, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to make repairs in advance. But whether it was because they were certain this era of peace would continue, or because they were too preoccupied with other matters to even think of this place, it was obvious at a glance that no one had set foot here in a very long time.
It was then that a message from Baek Ahyeon arrived, right when I was expecting it.
[My Savior… My Savior…]
[Speak, my disciple.]
[I have arrived. And it seems Yoon Jungsoo, the Guild Master of the Black Thorn, is showing signs of wanting to make contact.]
It seemed she had succeeded in meeting the Troll. I hadn’t actually expected her to make contact with Yoon Jungsoo, so this was quite a surprise. He must have approached her first, coveting Baek Ahyeon and her priests. Given Baek Ahyeon’s public persona, they must have thought she would accept their offer.
Of course, for me, this was a situation that made me want to shout for joy. Things might just get a whole lot easier.
[I see. What is the Troll’s condition?]
[He seems to have lost a lot of weight, but he looks healthier than I expected. He is clad in leather rags, his limbs are bound, and he is glaring this way.]
[It’s a relief that he looks healthy…]
The best-case scenario would be for me to meet him in person, but it would be nearly impossible for Baek Ahyeon to get him out of the small city. The fact that his health was good meant that the Black Thorn bastards were at least paying some attention to the less numerous captives.
Since it was too difficult to continue relaying the situation through Baek Ahyeon, I had no choice but to speak.
[Give the ring to the Troll, my disciple.]
[W-What? N-No… not that… my Savior. D-Did I do something wrong? P-Please, forgive me! Sob…]
I had expected her to panic, but her reaction was even more flustered than I’d thought. Her trembling voice came through in a rush. I spoke to her again.
[I am not abandoning you, my disciple. I wish to speak with him directly, but the situation does not allow it. I will not keep you apart for long. Give your ring to him, just for a moment.]
After a brief silence, Baek Ahyeon’s voice came through again.
[As… as… as you wish, my Savior…]
It was a command, but her voice was thick with reluctance. The story would have been different if Baek Ahyeon had learned the Green Skin language, but of course, she hadn’t.
Soon, I began to feel the user of the ring slowly change. It was no longer Baek Ahyeon’s voice, but a Troll’s that came through.
[What is this, human! What are you trying to do!]
His voice was filled with confusion. An unknown human looking down at him, muttering to the empty air, then suddenly forcing a ring on him—I figured even he would find the situation absurd. He continued to mutter.
[How dare a human woman…]
It was clear he hadn’t noticed me yet, so I spoke to him first.
[For Strength, Wisdom, and Honor…]
[…………W-What is this…]
It seemed he was grasping the situation. He sounded utterly bewildered by my voice, which had come out of nowhere. But after a moment, he began to speak to me.
[Is that voice coming from this ring?]
He was adapting to the situation faster than I’d expected. I didn’t know if he had read the item description, but he had realized that he and I were connected.
[For Strength, Wisdom, and Honor…]
I then heard him return my greeting.
[I am Blood Dagger, the honorable chieftain of the Blood Dagger Clan. The woman before you is not your enemy. She, too, is a member of our tribe.]
[…………I see… I have heard that yours is a peculiar clan…]
I thought he had been captive for quite some time, but strangely, he seemed to know of me. As if sensing my question, he added an explanation.
[I was able to hear bits and pieces of news from the outside through the goblins that were occasionally captured and brought in. I don’t remember everything, of course, but I remembered your name. It is shameful to be speaking with you in this state.]
[Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Orbo, chieftain of a clan that is now gone.]
So he was indeed the chieftain who had led those who were captured. I was then able to speak with him at length. I had wondered if he might be one of those who had fled the Great Tribe Leader’s exam, like Hakajin and Ragia, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
[I don’t understand… How did you end up captured there?]
[It’s a long story, Blood Dagger. After the three-year wait ended, we met humans while on the road.]
[…………]
[There were only a few of them. They were strong, and we lost. There were other tribes besides ours. They were holding the young Green Skins hostage, so we had no choice but to obey them. Some of our tribe members and other clans were already here, but they could no longer be called Green Skins. They used our bodies to commit all sorts of acts. The humans called this process an ‘experiment’.]
I felt like I was getting a rough idea of what had happened. The experiment was likely designed to suppress their instincts. Even with the young Green Skins as hostages, their goal must have been to make them easier to control. If this life continued, even Green Skins would adapt. Their goal was likely to cultivate slaves who would perfectly adapt to human society—first using the children, then drugs, and finally, complete assimilation. Hearing his story, I swallowed dryly.
But two things bothered me. The first was that the humans who captured them were ‘few in number’.
It went without saying that Green Skins who had endured the three-year wait were quite strong. From a human perspective, they would be at least the size of a small to medium-sized clan, so I didn’t think they would have been defeated so ridiculously. A small number of humans who had succeeded not just in killing a monster clan, but in capturing them alive.
‘Spider.’
Of course, it might not be them, but for some reason, my instincts told me that the East and the Spider Clan were closely connected. Or perhaps there was a connection to Yoon Jungsoo personally. Since many clans were hunting the Spiders, they probably weren’t hiding within the city, but I thought things would get quite interesting if we were to destroy Somorah.
The second thing that bothered me was his condition. From our brief conversation, he seemed perfectly normal. If he was indeed the Troll shaman who had led the rebellion, I thought it was possible he had been able to overcome the effects of the experiment through some kind of self-purification process. Curious about the reason, I finally asked Orbo.
[Orbo… were you not affected by the experiment?]
[Of course I was. But for some reason, they didn’t give me that strange potion today… It feels like I’ve returned to my senses for the first time in a long while. If I had taken that drug today, I wouldn’t have been able to speak with you like this, Blood Dagger.]
[I see.]
It seemed he didn’t possess such a self-purifying ability. I thought I knew why he had been delivered to Baek Ahyeon’s room in his right mind. It seemed the guild had provided a little extra service for Baek Ahyeon after her rather shocking request.
Because she had repeatedly said she wanted a strong monster, he had been allowed to retain a faint glimmer of his sanity.
I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at this unexpected success. Those bastards, having perfectly grasped what their client wanted, went above and beyond what was asked and sent Orbo. They were probably trying to get on the good side of the West’s Saint, but I couldn’t have been more grateful. I continued to ask him the questions on my mind.
[Can you describe exactly what state you are in when you drink the potion? I’m curious if you are forced to obey human commands unconditionally.]
[It’s not like that. But I would describe it as a dazed state, as if my mind is clouded. In that state, the will to fight, the desire for battle—nothing comes to mind. It feels like everything is submerged deep underwater…]
[Have you not tried to use a tribe shaman to drive out the drug’s effects?]
[None of the shamans here have survived. Those bastards are wary of our shamans, so the tribe’s shaman couldn’t even come with us in the first place.]
[………………]
This was somewhat unexpected. Knowing that this city would be overturned by a Troll shaman in two years, I couldn’t help but gulp. When he said there were no shamans in the tribe, he was clearly including himself. If what he said was true, it meant that the Troll ‘shaman’ had not yet arrived in Somorah.
[I see…]
Since part of the plan was to join forces with that Troll shaman to attack the city, the absence of a shaman meant the entire operation could fall apart. For a brief moment, I had to consider abandoning the plan.
But there was no time. Delaying for two years to wait for him was a foolish choice. As I was briefly organizing my thoughts, I heard his voice once more.
[Are you coming here?]
His voice was laced with desperation.
[It doesn’t matter what happens to us. But I cannot bear to watch the future of the Green Skins grow up in this place.]
[You can curse me as a foolish chieftain, an ignorant leader who turned his tribe into slaves. I don’t care, Blood Dagger.]
It was the voice of a man who had cast aside his pride to beg. In the end, I had no choice but to answer him.
[You are no slave, Orbo. Those humans will learn exactly what it means to be a Green Skin.]