Chapter 390: Negotiation With The Centaur Race [Part 2]
“Welcome to the Chiron Tribe, Young William,” Vrol, the Centaur Chieftain of the Chiron Tribe, said as he extended his hand to shake William’s hand.
William extended his own hand and held Vrol’s hand firmly. The two smiled at each other as they finished their handshake.
“Bastian told me everything,” Vrol said in an apologetic tone. “Cernunnos… is prone to mood swings. I hope you don’t hold a grudge against him.”
William gave a sidelong glance towards the Myriad Beast that sat cross legged in the corner of the Great Hall. If possible, William wanted to have a private talk with Vrol, but Cernunnos seemed to be interested in the reason for William’s visit.
Knowing that he had no other choice but to negotiate with Vrol alongside Cernunnos, William steeled himself and replied with a smile.
“How can I possibly hold a grudge against His Excellency?” William replied. ‘I am someone that holds a grudge. But, if I say that out loud, this moody Myriad Beast will slap me into meat paste.’
The Centaur Chieftain nodded with a smile. However, before they could continue their discussion, Cernunnos opened his eyes and glanced at William.
“Ah. I forgot to tell you, I can read people’s minds as well,” Cernunnos commented. “So you like holding grudges? What a coincidence. I like holding grudges as well.”
William’s body stiffened as several beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He wanted to curse out loud and give the bastard beast the middle finger for not telling him that he could read minds!
“Ha.. hahaha.” William laughed. “So His Excellency also likes to hold grudges. They say that birds of the same feathers flock together. When I saw his Excellency for the first time, I knew that the two of us would get along well.”
Cernunnos laughed as well. “Hahaha. You’re just saying that so I won’t slap you and turn you into meat paste, right?”
“… Yes.”
“Honesty is a virtue. Make sure to remember that in the future, Little Will.”
Ian, who was watching from the side, covered his lips with his hand. This was the first time he had seen the narcissistic, and arrogant, William become timid. He found it funny enough that he could barely restrain his laughter.
Usually, it was the Half-Elf who always had the final say on things. Even when the two of them were inside his Spiritual World, William would always tease and bully her, and she was unable to fight back.
‘Seeing this is so refreshing,’ Ian thought as he glanced at the red-headed boy who was squirming in his seat like he was suffering from diarrhea.
Fortunately, Vrol was a good host and immediately threw an olive branch to save William from his current predicament.
“Young Friend, you visited us here to ask us to repay the favor we owed you, right?” Vrol asked. “Tell me, how can our Tribe be of service to you?”
William looked at the Centaur Chieftain that was at the peak of the Centennial Rank and gave him a thumbs up in his heart. He was finding it hard to take the initiative to open the discussion in regards to his reason for visiting the Chiron Tribe due to Cernunnos presence.
“Sir Vrol, I came here to ask for the Tribe’s aid in fighting against The Organization that was responsible for casting the Continental Spell that affected the entire continent. I don’t know if you are aware, but all the adults have turned into crystal statues. My goal is to find a way to break the curse and free the adults from their crystal prisons.”
Vrol rubbed his chin after he heard William’s explanation. Naturally, he had also seen the Continental Spell as it descended upon the land, but it didn’t affect them much because Cernunnos had shielded his Domain from the effects of the Aurora Borealis.
Vrol was also not aware that the adults in the Human lands had turned into Crystal Statues. As a creature of the forest, it didn’t really care about the affairs of men, but hearing such a story made him frown.
“Let me get this straight. You plan to fight against this Organization with the members of our Tribe, right?”
“Yes.”
“Also, aside from this Organization, you also want our help to resist the invasion of the Elves as well.”
“That is indeed the case, Sir Vrol.” William nodded.
The red-headed boy was currently at his wits end about how to fight against The Organization and resist the Elven invasion at the same time. The Half-Elf didn’t believe that the current Hellan Kingdom could withstand an Elven invasion even if all the survivors were to fight with their life on the line.
Vrol closed his eyes as he pondered how to deal with the current situation. Naturally, he was duty bound to send some of his warriors to assist William because this was the promise that their tribe had made.
The problem the Centaur Chieftain was facing at the moment was the number of warriors that he could assign to William’s cause.
After the Wyven incident, their tribes had suffered many casualties. Many of their warriors died in fighting against the Wyverns and Werehyenas and he couldn’t send a lot of men to aid William in his quest.
After careful consideration, the Centaur Chieftain opened his eyes and gave his answer.
“I will place Bastian’s Company under your command,” Vrol stated. “His subordinates only number one hundred, but all of them are seasoned fighters. I apologize, but I cannot send more warriors to assist you in your endeavors.”
William knew that the current Chiron Tribe was unable to give him many warriors. Frankly, he had already prepared himself to accept any reinforcements that they could give him, but the force that was assigned to him still exceeded his expectations.
Although a hundred centaurs was only a tenth of the Chiron’s Tribe current forces, it didn’t change the fact that all of them were Class C (Mid) Beasts.
Bastian, their leader, was a Class B (Low) Centaur and William had seen how proficient he was in commanding his subordinates. He was very happy with the Centaur Chifetain’s generosity and thanked him for the help that he had given him.
After the two finished their discussion, Cernunnos cleared his throat as he stared at the Half-Elf that was itching to leave his Domain.
“Although I don’t know how strong this Organization is, it is very clear that a hundred Centaurs are not enough to fight them,” Cernunnos said. “Also, the Elven race is superior to Humans. Even if you managed to beat The Organization you spoke of, you have no chance of beating the Elves. In my eyes, this endeavor of yours is fruitless. Your best alternative is to surrender and ask for favorable conditions.”
William could understand why Cernunnos thought like this. In the face of the Elven Prodigies, the Human survivors were like toddlers that were waiting to be bullied by adults. They just didn’t have the ability to resist their invasion.
Especially when they succeeded in finishing the teleport gates they were building. According to Takam, this gate is a one way gate that would allow Elves from the Silvermoon Continent to teleport to the Southern Continent.
This very notion made William very anxious. This was why he planned to sabotage the Elven Teleport Gates once he finished dealing with The Organization.
“It’s futile,” Cernunnos declared as he read the plan in William’s head. “But, I’m curious as well. How will you, the grandchild of that bastard James, be able to pull it off? This remains to be seen.”
The Lord of the Wilds stood up and took one of the bangles hanging on its antlers off and gave it to William.
“Wear this in your arm,” Cernunnos said in a tone that wouldn’t accept ‘No’ for an answer. “Treat this as a lucky charm. Who knows? This might save your life once.”
William gingerly took the golden bangle from the Myriad Beast’s hand and wore it on his arm like a bracelet. The bangle adjusted its size to match William’s arm size and stayed in place.
The Half-Elf didn’t feel anything special about the bangle, but he had no doubt that it was not an ordinary accessory.
“Thank you, Your Excellency, for your generous gift.” William bowed respectfully.
Ian, who was standing beside William also bowed his head to thank the Myriad Beast. Cernunnos didn’t say anything else and left the Great Hall without a second glance.
The Lord of the Wild had stayed inside his Domain for hundreds of years without interacting with the outside world. Although Cernunnos didn’t mind who got to rule the Human lands, he was very keen on witnessing the struggles that would take place during this chaotic time.
The Golden Bangle was a life saving item. It would save William’s life once before returning to Cernunnos hand.
However, until that time arrived, the Lord of the Wild would be able to see the world through William’s eyes. It was looking forward to seeing the battles that James’ grandson would be fighting in the future.
Perhaps, by doing so, it would learn more about Human emotions. Emotions that it still couldn’t understand after so many years of living in the Whimsical Forest.