Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

After the goat beastkin tribe members left, Alaric smiled at the people inside the tent. ”It seems like there is a way for us to plant our banners in this Red Mountain Territory.”

Most of them revealed confused faces, except for a few astute ones.

”Can you elaborate, my lord?” Someone spoke, furrowing his eyebrows.

Alaric nodded. ”The Red Mountain Territory is governed by the Golden Lion Tribe. It has many vassal forces that are scattered throughout this land.”

He paused, his eyes observing everyone’s reaction.

”Let me ask you this. What makes a faction weaker?”

The various leaders frowned, wondering why he suddenly asked this question. They felt that it was out of context, but some of them answered it anyway.

”Weak leadership?”

”Lack of vital resources?”

”...”

Alaric nodded, but no answer satisfied him. ”All your answers are correct, but there is one more important factor that you missed...”

He raised a finger and said. ”Cohesion .”

Hearing this, understanding dawned on their faces.

”If a faction is disorganized and is fractured internally, their overall strength will slowly weaken.”

He smiled faintly and continued. ”We can make use of the goat beastkin tribe and the other tribes that are being bullied. We will gather these vassal tribes under the guise of protection and slowly chip away at the dominion of the Golden Lion Tribe.”

”My lord, that is a splendid idea, but it will take a long time to take control of those vassal tribes. The Golden Lion Tribe might even learn of our objective and use it as a reason to take up arms.” John Phillip Astania voiced his opinion.

He had been an emperor for decades so he could quickly discern the issues in his plans.

Some leaders nodded in agreement.

”Lord John Phillip is right. We can see that the Golden Lion Tribe is tyrannical. They might see this as a provocation and use it as an excuse to start a war against us.” Yskaela also expressed her concern.

Alaric nodded. ”True. However, the goal here is to let the vassal forces see that there is one faction willing to protect the oppressed even under the threat of their tyrannical rulers.”

If the seed of hope is planted in the minds of the oppressed tribes, they might choose to align themselves with the great allied army.

There was a long talk about this matter before he got everyone to agree.

”Select suitable teams that will be responsible for helping those oppressed vassal tribes. Once you have a list of personnel, send it to me immediately.” The right people must be chosen for this task.

”If there is nothing else, you are all dismissed.”

...

The next day, in the tent assigned to the goat beastkin tribe, Orlov and his subordinates were waiting anxiously.

They hadn’t slept a wink. A big breakfast was even prepared for their group, but no one was in the mood to eat. They were all worried that the human army would reject their request.

”Chief, it has been a day and we still have not gotten any word from their side.”

Orlov rubbed his temples. He was also anxious, but he couldn’t show it to his folks. If they failed here, their entire tribe was finished.

”Let us wait for another day. If there is still no word from them by then, we must leave this camp and return to our tribe.” Shaking his head, Orlov mumbled with a sigh.

There were only a few warriors left in the village. Most of the strong fighters had come with him so their village was currently exposed to danger.

”Chief, I know that we are only doing this for our tribe, but you should know that this would make us traitors to the Golden Lion Tribe. Whether the human faction agrees or not, our goat beastkin folks have already become an enemy of the entire Red Mountain Territory.” Ralof was still against defecting to the humans.

Orlov shook his head, his face looking grave. ”It is already too late to turn back now. The moment we stepped inside this camp, we are no longer vassals of the Golden Lion Tribe. By this time, some nearby tribes should have already heard news of this.”

Everyone’s faces paled in fright.

”This is because of those damnable grey wolves! If not for them, we wouldn’t be forced to defect to the humans!” Ralof gritted his teeth.

Suddenly, they heard someone approaching their tent.

Orlov sent a knowing look to his subordinates, signaling for them to cease their conversation.

A moment later, a human warrior’s cold voice drifted into their ears. ”Lord Alaric wants to speak with you privately.”

Hearing this, Orlov stepped out of the tent and saw a young warrior standing outside.

”My name is Darco. I am a Knight under Lord Alaric.”

The young human warrior introduced himself. Although he didn’t have any good feelings about this beastkin tribe, he still showed them some level of respect. After all, the other party was stronger than him.

Orlov nodded and briefly introduced himself to the young man. ”Darco, please lead the way.”

Darco was about to respond when Ralof and the other goat beastkin warriors suddenly spoke. ”Chief, please take us with you.”

Noticing the young warrior’s displeasure, Orlov sent his subordinates a stern look. ”You all stay here and wait for me. Don’t do anything reckless.”

”But...”

Orlov’s glare forced them to swallow back their words.

”Let’s go.” Darco stared deeply at the goat beastkin warriors, not bothering to hide his dissatisfaction.

”Please forgive them. They are just concerned about me.” Orlov didn’t want him to misunderstand.

Darco didn’t say a word and just nodded his head. He didn’t have a good impression of these beastkin warriors. To him, they were just defectors.

They might have their reasons, but he still felt that it was wrong to betray someone’s faction.

Orlov noticed the young man’s lack of interest so he no longer bothered to explain. He just sighed and hoped that the human experts would give them protection.