coobybook Chapter 590: Recruit more tribes.
Chapter 590: Recruit more tribes.
After the recording and a direct conversation with one of the enemy chiefs, there wasn’t much proof the Borealis Herd Leader needed.
Of course, if he wanted, he could be more suspicious, questions like how could he know for sure that this wasn’t all just a setup to fool him and that Zoraa hadn’t already betrayed the Stormcallers did appear in the Borealis Herd Leader’s mind but—
He could see that Kael was prepared to leave.
He was here to recruit them, yes, but this didn’t mean he was going to beg, he didn’t need to, not when he had that level of strength.
"Can I... get more time to think?"
In the end, the Borealis Leader asked one last hopeful question but Kael—
"No."
He shook his head.
"Time is not a luxury we currently have, you heard Zoraa. Although the Stormcallers could need time to recover, the outsiders, in general, don’t care about the Stormcaller people. They just need numbers, it wouldn’t be a shock if they used some artifacts to heal the injured warriors and force them to move—
Especially after they find out that we are trying to recruit more tribes to our side.
Me and my people need to prepare for what’s coming, we do not have time to wait for others to make up their minds and decide whether they are going to join us or not."
Kael explained the situation.
"I do wish to make one thing clear though.
Say you refuse our offer here, the war starts and we do win the war, do not think we will not be open for an alliance after that.
As long as you do not join the enemy, we will not consider you an enemy."
"Are you saying... you won’t attack us even if we do not help you...?"
The Borealis Leader frowned.
"I am not asking you to help, I only see us working together to survive the coming ordeal together, if you do not see it that way, if our visions do not match and you have your own way of getting out of this situation without colluding with the enemy—
Then that is simply a difference in opinion, it isn’t something worth raising your weapons for. Pointless wars are the last thing I wish to push my people into.
Do note that once the war is over and we win, we will prioritize our own people and the tribes who joined us during the war for trade before considering others."
"Trade...?"
The Borealis Leader frowned.
That was... a foreign word.
Usually the merchants from the outside worlds used it, not that he had many things he could ’trade’ with them.
Anyways, the concept of trade did not belong to the Heights, they were more of a... raiding people.
But Kael—
"I will not allow my people to keep killing just for the sake of bread that was supposed to be fed to innocent children.
The Heights may lack resources, but this land is also a treasure trove of materials and minerals that even the outside world would covet, I am positive about this."
Kael was confident, the Borealis Leader looked at him staring around with a curious and determined look on his face.
He wasn’t sure whether what Kael said was true or not, the outside world had completely abandoned them, but if there was one thing he knew about the outsiders, it was that they were incredibly greedy, if there was something valuable there, they wouldn’t have left it alone.
Heck, it wouldn’t be surprising if they sent one of those Demi Gods to collect whatever valuable thing there was in the Heights.
But the idea of just being able to trade and not having to raid for the smallest piece of grain, it did sound good, so good that it placed a smile on the Borealis Leader’s face.
Kael frowned at that smile, he had no idea what he was smiling for, the Borealis Leader realized it and quickly shook his head, returning from his whimsical dreams.
Then, he looked into Kael’s eyes and—
"Alright then."
He nodded.
"As long as you promise enough food for all our people, the Borealis tribe will join you."
The decision was made, Kael smiled at that.
Then, he turned around towards his people and—
"It’s done."
He spoke in his own tongue, the language Lavinia, Morvain and the other Velmourns understood, the Stonefang warriors didn’t understand the language, but Kael’s expression alone was more than enough for them to understand.
Kael’s group was surprised, they didn’t think it would go this smoothly, especially considering the sort of welcome they had received.
"I’ll now talk about the Borealis Herd moving inside the Velmourn Wall."
"I’ll talk to Korvath and tell him to make arrangements."
Morvain nodded, Kael nodded back. The Alliance Council had already had a discussion about it, the space would be prepared the moment Morvain gave the signal.
Lavinia, on the other hand, began translating everything that was being said to the Stonefangs, who nodded in understanding and slowly began to let their guard down.
Kael turned around and began talking to the Borealis Leader.
Moving was difficult.
That was obvious.
Moving an entire herd of people, from the lands they had been living in for generations, that too, on a whim, this was never going to be easy.
Even the Borealis Leader seemed uncomfortable when Kael brought it up, Kael realized it too, a more detailed discussion was needed.
So he, and his entire group, was taken to the Leader’s home, where most such decisions were taken, the warriors and other Borealis people that had gathered around eased as well and inside the Borealis Leader’s room, the discussion began.
Kael explained how living there wasn’t safe, that the Stormcallers might target them, the Borealis Leader and Borealis Elders had no choice but to agree.
Now that they had agreed to join Kael, the instant the Stormcallers knew about it, they would react and they most probably would raid and annihilate them.
And the Borealis people had no way to defend themselves, they were too weak, especially when compared to the Stormcallers who were being helped by the outsiders.
But...
To move from their land in such a manner...
"People won’t agree."
One of the elders spoke.
"We have no choice, we need to convince them."
Another spoke with a grim look on his face.
The rest nodded, Kael too, participated in the discussion, and after about an hour, it was decided that the Borealis would be leaving.
Imperia’s ants had already covered the area, so as long as there wasn’t an air raid, the people would be safe.
And while they were discussing everything, Kael also decided to bring up a sensitive topic.
The Borealis traitor.
Yes, the Stormcallers had an informant in Borealis, honestly, Kael wanted to bring it up later when they returned to the Wall, but according to the ants, the informant had already started moving, if they did not stop him now, the Stormcallers would know what was happening.
And Kael wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.
When Kael talked about the traitor, the Borealis Leader and Elders frowned, for a moment, they couldn’t believe it.
And honestly, Kael didn’t have time to convince them either, so he just told them to follow him, and that if he were wrong, he would give them a thousand gel rations like the ones he gave to the leader when he came there.
It was an offer the Leader accepted readily, everyone in that room stood up, rushed out and followed Kael.
And without a doubt, Kael wasn’t wrong.
The informant was caught with a communication crystal, the connection with the Stormcallers was already made but...
Before the informant could say anything, Kael rushed forward, grabbed his mouth, making sure he wouldn’t be able to speak and pushed his body into a wall, the impact made the informant pass out.
The crystal that was in his hand fell on the ground, this one was more durable than the other, so it didn’t break, Kael picked it up and ended the connection.
Was it suspicious?
It definitely was.
But there was nothing else that could be done there.
The Borealis Elders, the Leader and a few people who had gathered because of the commotion stared at everything that happened with surprised looks on their faces.
Lavinia and the others who had followed Kael there weren’t particularly surprised, this wasn’t a big deal, especially since Lavinia knew about the ants. As for the others, Kael had done similar things before, so they weren’t extremely shocked either.
At some level, it actually made sense.
There were traitors amongst the Velmourns and Stonefangs, it was only normal for there to be a few in Borealis, especially since Borealis people were easier to contact since they lived in the open and moved around a lot to find resources for their beasts to consume.
However, one good thing that did come with all this was that now, the Borealis Council’s trust in Kael had grown even stronger.
So without any further discussion, they did what Kael said and prepared to move the entire tribe.
Kael nodded at that, the last few arrangements were made, two Velmourn soldiers, one of whom understood Borealis language at some level, were left behind.
And Kael and the others left,
The goal?
To recruit more tribes.