Orcs could not lose Kun Lake.
Just as the Jackal Tribe could not lose the Goddess Lady, Aililan.
Whether one possessed great insight or extraordinary talent, if they offended Aililan, they had found their own path to death.
***
On the road to Bitgel.
Aililan’s group was not traveling particularly fast. As the first light of dawn broke, the signaling of wolf cavalry came from behind them.
Renata cursed, “Damn it, is the Jackal Tribe going to turn on us now?”
Many people entered a state of high alert, assuming the Jackals had changed their minds and were coming to attack. Lenice gripped her sword, ready to deliver a fatal blow to those Jackals at any moment.
The Jackal cavalry halted several hundred meters away. Hucli, accompanied by his three remaining sons, approached quickly on foot.
“Saintess… Saintess Aililan…” Hucli cried out anxiously.
Seeing the human side’s defensive posture, he immediately raised a head he was carrying and threw it from dozens of meters away.
“Goddess Lady, we were wrong!”
“Please, I beg you, give us another chance!”
In the middle of the group, many people watched the head of Hucli’s fourth son roll across the ground, their expressions turning strange. That was Hucli’s own son, and he had been decapitated just like that.
Aililan waved her hand, signaling her people not to act.
“Hucli.”
Hearing her call, the Jackal Tribe Chief, Hucli, hurried forward and knelt on the ground. “Saintess, please give your orders.”
Aililan asked with a hint of interest, “Patriarch Hucli, what exactly are you doing?”
“Saintess, I beg you to give me one more chance!”
“A chance? I thought your youngest son put it quite well. Orcs and humans are mortal enemies. Humans are not to be trusted, so you should just go to your Orc Royal Court.”
“No, no, no!” Hucli denied vehemently, shaking his head. “My youngest son was a fool! Even if our Jackal Tribe were at its last gasp, even if our clansmen were starving to death, the Royal Court never gave us a single grain of food.”
“But according to your son’s logic, aren’t we humans just using you?”
“Saintess Aililan, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. As long as the Jackal Tribe stops losing people to starvation, as long as the Jackal Tribe can become great again, it is only right even if we call you ‘Mother’.”
‘Mother of the Jackal Tribe?’
Aililan found the idea rather amusing. She finally dismounted, casually drew a longsword, and walked up to Hucli. She rested the blade on his shoulder; if she wished, she could slit his throat in an instant.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke.
“Listen well. I will only say this once. I do not want to hear any voices of doubt or hatred toward humans within the Jackal Tribe.”
She then looked at Hucli’s three sons and continued, “The survival and growth of the Jackals require human support. You must all be very clear: you are the ones asking for my help. I have no interest in interfering with your internal affairs, but hear my words clearly. Whenever you see the Saintess’s decree, you must execute it. You will attack whoever I tell you to attack.”
“And lastly…”
Aililan smiled faintly and added, “I don’t mind telling you that two overlords will emerge on the Southern Orc Plains. One of them is the War Pig Tribe. Do you think you are my only option? Without you Jackals, there would be other wolves. Surely you haven’t forgotten how the War Pig Tribe’s former friend, the Porcupine Patriarch, saw his entire tribe wiped out?”
Hucli and his sons shuddered, cold sweat instantly drenching their foreheads.
It was exactly as the saying went: if you don’t want to be the Goddess Lady’s dog, there are plenty of other orcs who do. Many orcs didn’t even have the opportunity to apply.
Aililan said, “The path is your own choice. As for how to choose… you and your sons should think about it carefully.”
Hucli finally discarded all his schemes and faced reality. He prostrated himself on the ground and said, “Saintess Aililan, from this day forward, our Jackal Tribe will only listen to you. We will do exactly as you command.”
Aililan exhaled and nodded. “Very well. I am glad you have finally recognized reality. Your Jackal Tribe can establish a secret trade route with us humans. Resources will flow to you through trade, and the prices will match the market rates.”
“Do not think it is expensive, and do not think I am not looking out for you. Everyone on the Orc Plains knows that human supplies are worth their weight in gold. If you flip them to more distant orc tribes, you will see several times the profit.”
Pausing for a moment, Aililan continued, “Of course, my personal suggestion is to use them to develop yourselves. The War Pigs are developing too fast; I fear you won’t be able to withstand them when the time comes.”
Hucli and his sons readily agreed.
Aililan would send someone to negotiate the specific details later. The variety of goods alone involved over 100 types to be discussed. It was not something that could be cleared up verbally in just a few days.
***
On the way back.
Renata and the others still didn’t quite understand. She asked, “Saintess, I think it would be better to send a few people to keep an eye on the Jackals. That would make them easier to control.”
Aililan chuckled and said softly, “Renata, you must realize there are many ways to control someone. What is the point of watching Hucli? If you kill one Hucli, ten or a hundred more will appear. The lowest form of control is using force to conquer them. The next level is economics. Just as the War Pigs can never go back to the days of hungry bellies, if they were to stop trading with humans because of a rebellion, their own people would kill their Patriarch, Buck, before we even had to lift a finger.”
“Renata, you don’t actually believe that the Gnoll-kin conquered by the War Pigs are truly submissive, do you? They may all be orcs, but their racial contradictions are massive. Do you think a Fox-man considers a pig to be his own kind? Or do you think a pig considers a rat to be his own kind?”
“Orcs are like chickens, ducks, and dogs raised in a yard. They may live under the same roof, but they are not the same kind. A chicken is a chicken, and a duck is a duck.”
The crowd fell into deep thought.
If there were only a single race on the Orc Plains, even if it were just the Fox-kin, their expressions would have changed instantly. That would be a terrifying prospect.
Fortunately, there were many types of orcs. Diversity meant competition. More importantly, it meant that a single tribe could never truly dominate and grow without limit; as soon as their population increased slightly, they would encroach on another tribe’s resources, inevitably leading to conflict and war.
Therefore, tribes on the Orc Plains ranged from a few thousand to 10,000, while larger ones might reach 40,000 or 50,000. 70,000 or 80,000 was usually the absolute limit. It was rare to see a single tribe with a population of several hundred thousand.
Renata bowed her head. “The Saintess is right. Your wisdom is truly awe-inspiring.”
Aililan merely smiled.
It wasn’t a matter of wisdom; it was simply a bit of experience from another world. Aililan viewed the orcs much like the nomadic tribes of her past world.
Scattered tribes were not scary. But when they gathered, or achieved unification, and headed south—that would be a catastrophe for any dynasty.
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