Uniting the Tribes (2)
As we began to revisit each other's wounds one by one—starting with Beit and moving on through the others—it was Kasar of the Irin tribe, Bars of the Iyan tribe, Nayan of the Ichen tribe, and Jebe of the Ikan tribe who finally spoke with me.
All of them stared at me with identical eyes and expressions, then spoke as one.
“So, young leader, what exactly should we do?”
“…The first thing we must do is see the traitors—specifically, the Irent tribe—removed cleanly and decisively.”
The Irent tribe claimed to be the largest and most powerful on the western plains, acting as the lackey for the Iteon Kingdom Alliance. They dried the blood of the tribes with a zeal unmatched by anyone else.
We would crush the Irent tribe.
Only then could we unite the remaining tribes with far greater ease.
“Using the tribute we pay, we’ll take advantage of the lull in the Kingdom Alliance’s attention and that of the surrounding lords while it’s still fresh. We’ll strike the traitorous Irent first with a blood-soaked hammer.”
“The Irent tribe… To gather tribes who truly share our will, we must deal with them first. But there’s a problem…”
Bars of the Iyan tribe fell silent again, his voice hesitating.
He glanced once at each of the other chiefs whose faces mirrored his own thoughts, then turned to me.
“Even if we give them something they want for a while, can we really defeat them with our own strength?”
“You speak truly.”
Having anticipated every objection, I immediately reached into my pouch and pulled out a single sealed letter, slightly scorched.
I tossed it onto the center of the cracked wooden table. Every chief’s gaze snapped to the paper.
“Have you heard of Divide and Rule?”
“Divide and Rule…?”
Bars frowned at the unfamiliar term that had just left my mouth. Kasar and Beit exchanged confused glances, unsure of the meaning.
After all, most of them couldn’t even read proper letters, so how could they know idioms?
“Let me explain it as simply as possible. Use the enemy to crush the other enemy. That’s the gist of it.”
“Use the enemy to crush the enemy? What does that have to do with this scrap of paper?”
Jebe, already growing impatient, asked with genuine bewilderment.
I unfolded the letter and turned it so they could read it clearly.
“It’s a secret message from one of the kingdoms within the Iteon Kingdom Alliance—Carbes. The western lords have secretly allied with them to sell the Alliance’s secrets and every big or small incident on the western plains to the Nertain Kingdom, which rules the southern continent, for a fortune. They’re laughing at the Alliance’s back while stuffing their own bellies.”
Original novel information was once again spot-on.
I didn’t know the exact details.
But one certainty was clear: the Empire had easily toppled the Kingdom Alliance thanks to Carbes’ betrayal.
And that meant this letter could be the most important key to the grand plan.
Good thing I risked it and rushed to Tedia Baronry.
I gave the chiefs two minutes to absorb the situation.
Beit was the first to shout.
“C-Carbes Kingdom sold information to Nertain? If that’s true, they’re insane!”
“Temur! Where in the world did you even get information like that?! And is this letter even real?!”
Kasar leaned forward, startled, asking urgently. It was an enormous scandal that could cost most western lords their heads, so his reaction was understandable.
Of course, that was beside the point. I had no intention of explaining the rest of the details here.
“The truth doesn’t matter.”
“…What?”
“Whether this is a real letter or whether I scribbled something fake on a letter I snatched from my bed last night is irrelevant.”
I rose slowly from my leather chair.
I circled once around the chiefs to set the mood.
Then I placed my left hand on Kasar’s shoulder, who wore an expression of pure shock.
“Temur…”
“What matters is this: any seed of doubt that takes root will eventually bloom.”
“A seed of doubt… will bloom…? No, no way!”
A collective gasp of horror escaped every chief.
They had finally pieced together what kind of scheme I was weaving.
I removed my hand from Kasar’s shoulder and continued.
“The minds of these western lords are filled to the brim with nothing but self-interest and the thirst for power. Carbes is no different. On the surface they shout about unity—whether as an alliance or a union—but underneath they’re always ready to stab each other in the back.”
“……”
“So, if this letter slips into the ranks of the other leaders of the Alliance or the western lords’ camps by pure chance, what do you think will happen?”
Bars answered half in a daze.
“They’ll tear each other apart… suspecting Carbes, digging into the lords’ backs. The Alliance’s unity will turn into a muddy brawl in an instant.”
“Precisely.”
I nodded sincerely, unable to hide my admiration.
I had assumed plains chiefs weren’t very bright, but these people clearly thought for themselves.
“The internal checks and power struggles between them, the fierce rivalry between the lords and the Kingdom Alliance, will reach their breaking point. Before they can turn on each other, they’ll be snarling so fiercely they’ll have no time or energy left for a nomadic tribe on the fringes like us.”
“……”
“……”
The heavy atmosphere of distrust that had filled the tent gradually thinned.
The deep exhaustion in the chiefs’ eyes began to fade, replaced by something that might be the first and last flicker of genuine hope.
I tucked the letter back into my pouch.
“We strike while they’re in this state of chaos. While their eyes are focused elsewhere, we’ll wipe out the first target—the worthless Irent tribe—and erase them completely from the plains.”
“First target… Which means we’re not done once we finish the Irent tribe?”
“Correct. After we remove the biggest thorn in the plains, the Irent, we’ll gather the remaining tribes as tightly as possible to create a single nation.”
The precedent of the Mongol Empire was there. We would follow its blueprint, but we would avoid its mistakes and missteps.
After all, we now had to think with our brains until they exploded.
And we had to invest everything because we needed to use every precious moment efficiently.
***
Back in the days when we were laying the foundations of the Mongol Empire.
To Genghis Khan, the greatest thorn in his side was without a doubt the Tatar tribe.
They had poisoned his father and were also the largest and most powerful force on the steppe.
The single most decisive blow that brought the Tatars down was the two-front war.
At the time, the Tatars had grown so powerful that they had alienated their backers, the Jin dynasty.
The Jin raised an army to crush the Tatars, and Genghis Khan didn’t miss his chance.
He allied with Ong Khan of the Kerait tribe and struck at the Tatars from the rear.
Before them marched the regular army of the great empire. Behind them came the steppe’s vengeful allied forces.
A perfect pincer.
The result was catastrophic. The Tatars, who had styled themselves the lords of the steppe, were ground beneath wagon wheels—every last man butchered.
The Irent tribe today is exactly in that same state.
The Irent tribe has the most people and the strongest military force on the western plains.
But that power is nothing but the dregs they gained by clinging like a fat leech to the tail of the Iteon Kingdom Alliance.
When the fake letter I planted creates cracks between the lords and the Kingdom Alliance, when they start showing their fangs at each other, what happens?
Of course, the Irent tribe that had played the dog for them will be abandoned, left with nothing.
Even if we don’t know which Kingdom gave them the most support.
Most Kingdoms will either cut them off or try to take back what they gave.
And the moment their backers disappear or are too busy with chaos to send support is the perfect time to hunt them down.
But here’s the catch: this isn’t the Mongol steppe from the history books. This is a world that abandoned romance fantasy.
Matching cavalry numbers and forming a pincer isn’t enough to end this. Variables—those who wield aura or cast magic—can appear from anywhere at any moment.
Originally, the Irent tribe’s leader must have placed a large number of elite mercenaries around himself.
As my thoughts trailed off, a knot began to form between my shoulder blades.
I pressed my thumb and forefinger hard against my forehead.
My eyes swam from forcing all the information I’d crammed into my head to come out too quickly.
Thinking about it, we couldn’t wipe out the Irent tribe in a single day anyway. First, we needed to cool our heads.
“Haah…”
With that simple stretch, I was about to lie down on the leather bedding to loosen the knot of my outer robe.
Flick—!
The heavy leather flap that had guarded the tent entrance was roughly thrown aside, and someone burst in.
The cold night air from outside rushed in with a gust, sending the fire in the brazier flickering wildly.
“Who goes there?”
I reflexively reached for the sword at my waist and turned.
But upon seeing the visitor’s face in the firelight, I slowly released the tension in my hand.
Another old ally we had been exchanging with for quite some time—our Ibin tribe.
The person before me wore a leather armor stamped with the Ir-en tribe seal.
But instead of the shaggy beard I had been expecting from Ir-en chief Baatar, I saw soft but neatly braided brown hair.
“Sarnai.”
The eldest daughter of the Ir-en tribe chief and a maiden famous for riding horses more recklessly than most men.
She wrapped the old leather whip in her hand around her waist, then roughly combed back the strands of hair that had fallen over her forehead.
Her cheeks were caked with dirt from how hard she had ridden, and mud flaked from the soles of her boots as she walked.
Sarnai stared at my face without speaking for a long time.
Then she slowly approached me, crossed her arms, and tilted her head slightly to the side.
“I rode straight here as a courier with the mobilization orders Father sent. When I saw it with my own eyes, I understood.”
“Understood what?”
“That you’re serious, Temur. In just a few days, your eyes look completely different. Not like the pampered face you used to wear while watching the lords.”
“Take it as a compliment.”
“It is a compliment. Anyway, so what do we Ir-en do?”