Chapter 277: To Become Stronger
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 277: To Become Stronger
“Broken Bow?”
“It’s been a while, brother.”
It was truly a face I hadn’t seen in a long time. He was the chieftain of another tribe I had considered recruiting back when I brought in Ragia’s and Hakajin’s groups to bolster the Blood Dagger Clan’s strength. In my past life, he was a formidable Orc who roamed the North, slaying humans with a single bow, always clad in the hide of a Giant Wolf. Though he was eventually struck down by the sword of the Queen of the North, the infamy I had heard of in the past naturally made me covet his strength.
Seeing him now, after so much time had passed, I could tell he had grown quite well. Back then, he was a young chieftain who had not yet come of age, but now he cut a rather imposing figure.
His tusks had grown long, and his arms and legs had thickened. He looked more like a massive, powerful warrior than an archer, but considering I hadn’t even noticed his presence inside the tent until just now, his stealth skills must have reached a considerable level.
His face was filled with joy. It was only natural, seeing each other again after so many years had passed since we parted.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t tried to find him. After he’d said he was leaving to restore the honor of his clan, which had fled the Warrior’s Exam, I had tried to pick up news of him here and there. But it was as if he had vanished into thin air, and with no word at all, I had half given up.
The fact that we were now together in the Great Tribe Leader’s tent was likely proof that Broken Bow had achieved what he set out to do, and the thought pleased me. Seeing that Broken Bow and I were acquainted, Storm Shadow murmured.
“So you already knew each other. The Green Skin chieftain Broken Bow mentioned knowing was you, Blood Dagger. The one he said helped him greatly…”
“I helped him once before. But it was only a small gesture. I’m glad to see how much you’ve grown. I heard no news of you after you left to fight for your clan’s honor. I honestly thought you were dead…”
At my words, Broken Bow let out a small laugh.
“To die without repaying a debt is also dishonorable.”
He hadn’t forgotten the weapons I had given him, a gesture of goodwill that was also an investment. It felt like a seed I had planted long ago had returned as a great tree. If you asked me if I was pleased, I would of course nod.
Goff and Black Spear were also looking at Broken Bow with curiosity.
A brother’s brother is a brother.
From their perspective, they had suddenly gained another brother. His appearance might not suggest it, but I felt they could accept him as a sort of youngest brother. Soon, Goff and Black Spear shook hands with Broken Bow. After their greetings were finished, I took a deep breath and spoke.
“Welcome, brother.”
“I’ve heard the stories. Impressive.”
“I am glad to meet you as well.”
It felt like they would get along quickly.
“How have you been all this time?”
“The story I am about to tell will be the answer to that question, Blood Dagger.”
He paused for a moment, likely thinking about where to begin.
“It would be best to start from the very beginning. After leaving the West, where I was with you, Blood Dagger, I wandered without a destination. I traveled to many places, but I decided the North was the most suitable, and I was able to settle at its very edge.”
I nodded. He had been active in the North before. Of course, back then he was an enemy of the humans, but this time, I had heard no such news. He must have been up to something else entirely.
“At first, I roamed the East, South, and West, hunting humans, but I always harbored doubts about whether this would truly atone for my father’s mistake. In the end, the path I chose was the Warrior’s Exam.”
“So it was in the North, not the South,” Black Spear remarked, and Broken Bow nodded.
It wasn’t the Land of Glory, but a journey to find a new continent. There must have been an immense amount of trial and error. Expeditions had happened before. Humans, too, had recklessly ventured into the blizzards and fog, and none had ever returned. I’d heard that the fog and blizzards were even more severe in the distant past, making such attempts unthinkable, but the same was true for the time when Broken Bow’s clan was just beginning its activities.
When the demonic beast of the East was still alive, the fog was still thick, and there was no gate to another continent.
What Broken Bow was saying now was no different from saying he had led his clan members into the jaws of death.
The original North already had a harsh environment, but entering the blizzard-swept regions was another story entirely. It would be a miracle to survive. He must have only been able to begin his exploration in earnest after the Queen of the North hunted the demonic beast that slumbered there.
“Our clan endured the northern blizzards and continued to survive. From a certain day, the blizzards began to weaken, and around the time our Broken Bow Clan started to slowly adapt to the environment, we were able to begin our activities in earnest.”
I could see why he had grown so strong. It was only natural if he had tempered himself within the blizzards.
“It was around that time that we discovered the horde of the dead. I had no idea if they had been in the blizzard with us or if they had come seeking another continent, but we clashed. At first, I thought they were humans, or perhaps Green Skins. But the dead spoke the language of the dead, and in a single battle, we lost no small number of our clan members.”
I began to guess what came next.
“I considered this a trial sent to me by the god of war and slowly established a settlement at the edge of the North. It wasn’t large, but it was situated on high ground, and our Broken Bow Clan began to shoot down the undead that approached our village with arrows.”
“Hmm…”
“The undead kept crossing over from beyond the blizzard, not in large numbers, but as if they were lost, or perhaps scouting. Our daily routine began and ended with guarding the edge of the North.”
In other words, they had built a settlement on high ground and shot down any undead they saw. Since he said they were intelligent undead, it was highly likely they were scouts or an advance party. It made sense to assess what kind of races lived there, what kind of continent it was, and how strong they were.
I thought that if Broken Bow hadn’t discovered them, this continent might have been invaded by the northern undead before the barrier was even formed. It might not seem like much, but in his own way, he had accomplished something huge.
The next to speak was White Silverfang.
“The number of the dead crossing into the North gradually increased, and eventually, the strength of the Broken Bow Clan alone was not enough, so our White Silverfang Clan joined forces. While we reported the appearance of a new race to the Great Tribe Leader, we never stopped our continuous exploration and investigation. The White Silverfang Clan took up positions in the settlement where Broken Bow had been, and Broken Bow, armed with a single bow, forged a path into the North alone.”
A remarkable achievement. Given his traits, moving alone was probably more convenient, but there must have been many threats.
He could have clashed with the undead, or he might have been unable to find a proper place to sleep in the blizzard. As I looked at Broken Bow with an expression of awe, an answer came immediately.
“I tracked the dead. I followed the path they used, discovering how they crossed over and how they were able to do so, and reached the northern continent.”
It was a rather interesting story.
White Silverfang probably thought Broken Bow was some madman when he first asked for help. It was an understandable reaction, hearing some unrecognized clan suddenly claim that undead were appearing out of nowhere.
Even I might not have believed him or would have thought there was some other explanation. After all, the moment a clan flees the Warrior’s Exam, it can no longer be recognized as an official Green Skin tribe.
In any case, I had heard that I was the first to discover another continent, so it was highly likely that Broken Bow entered the northern continent a little later than I entered the eastern one.
“It was a horde of over a million of the dead. That is what I confirmed with my own two eyes.”
“…”
“Every single one of them was a powerful warrior, like an elite soldier. There were colossal beasts made of bone, creatures with frames even larger than an Ogre’s. But what was even more striking was the land itself—it was completely dead. No forests, no trees, no rivers. The only thing there was death.”
Broken Bow slightly lifted his shirt, revealing a massive scar on his abdomen, as if a hole had been punched through him. It seemed even healing magic couldn’t fully mend it, leaving a scar behind. It was too large to be an arrow wound, and too small to be from magic.
“It’s shameful, but I turned back. It was to inform Silverfang of what I had seen. You probably know what happened after that, Blood Dagger.”
He finished his story. A million is an easy number to say, but just as on Earth, an army of millions is beyond imagination. We were working hard to bear offspring, but it was incomparable to the number of humans or Green Skins born or summoned once a year.
He probably hadn’t seen the entire continent. In other words, I had to assume they had even more forces in reserve.
Like Green Skins, every member of their race was an undying warrior. What was even more serious was that they contaminated the land.
“The land ruled by the dead gradually loses its vitality. If they enter our continent, we may no longer be able to see the deserts, the snow-capped mountains, or the green lands.”
At Broken Bow’s words, I subtly shifted my gaze to Storm Shadow, who immediately spoke up.
“What came next is as you expect, Blood Dagger. At the time, your war with the humans served as a good example for us. We sent the southern Orc, Sand Glave, White Silverfang, and the Minotaurs of the plains to the North to wait for them to gather more detailed information. All except Sand Glave—Silverfang and the Minotaurs—agreed to pursue an alliance with the humans.”
“I see.”
Sand Glave’s refusal was likely due to his pride. But he must have agonized over it a great deal. For things to have escalated to this point, the three chieftains must have seen the threat with their own eyes. What was a little surprising was the Werewolf of the North. I hadn’t expected him to agree to join hands with humans.
As if sensing my gaze, the Werewolf also spoke.
“The humans of the North are honorable warriors. I respect them and await the day we fight together as comrades-in-arms. They likely feel the same.”
They might not feel the same way. No, to be precise, their reaction was one of hatred. I could tell that much from the North Knight’s attitude. As a brief silence fell over the tent, the Great Tribe Leader looked at us and spoke.
“There is only one thing to be done. We become stronger and we prepare. There is nothing else.”
Everyone nodded.