“ I see. ”
If it was Hayeon, whose desire to live was unmatched, to say that, then it was true. I began to slowly reminisce on the Hobgoblin’s face in my mind. I could definitely sense a familiar feeling to what I had seen from Hayeon at the time.
‘ The desire to live ’
To survive on this continent, it was a sure weapon. I personally thought that it was more important than the desire to fight and other useless greeds. However, soon, I stopped thinking about him.
Just because one has a desire to live doesn’t mean that one he can survive. Without action and determination, the weapon Hakajin wields could be his greatest weakness. Since our tribe was in such a desperate situation that almost anyone would be allowed to join, but I wanted to give them some time.
“ Mev, let’s go to the next one. ”
“ Okay. ”
“ What’s next? ”
“ It is a tribe consisting almost entirely of females. Their numbers are larger than the guys we just saw. ”
As such, we began to walk towards a different direction. As if the tribe that had marched so defiantly at the start was disappointed by Hakajin and his group, it seemed as if the energy in the group had died down a bit. I thought that it for the best. Since it could give off a much denser and serious atmosphere compared to our appearances from before.
After riding Ibar for quite some time, a village entered my sight. Maybe due to the fact that this village consisted of nearly all women, it was much tidier than what we saw previously.
This group even came out and welcomed us.
“ Welcome, oh honorable warrior, Blood Dagger. ”
The person that welcomed us was a female chief. With a large fang, she had the appearance of a troll. What was interesting was that she was pretty.
She had a similar appearance to that of humans, just like the Three Goblin Sisters that wanted to win my interest.
“ You must have known that we were coming your way. ”
It wasn’t just the female chief that had come out. It felt as if they had been here for a few hours, no for a long time as if they were expecting our arrival.
“ Yes, That is so. We were able to find traces of someone visiting our village. Lately, there were rumors of Blood Dagger lingering around the vicinity, and amongst that clan, that there was a Fairy with a bow that Blood Dagger trusted the most, and so I had deduced that she would be the one to have visited us. ”
“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ”
I couldn’t help but look back at her in shock. She was much more intelligent than her outward appearance had assumed her to be. Looking towards Mev, it seemed that she was in an enraged state. Since there was no possibility of her leaving footprints behind, there was a high possibility that powder from her fairy wings had dropped at that time.
“ Impressive . . . ”
“ You praise me too much.”
“ Then you must have also known that we were going to visit this place? ”
From my words, the female troll replied with a slight smile. ”
“ Of course. For now, come inside and let us talk. ”
“ Alright. ”
I slowly walked into the village and looked around. It was a small village of about 40 or so, similar in size with us. If you were to ask if the members of the group were strong, I couldn’t answer that precisely, but they seemed to be up on the rise. The reason was that I was able to see a few orcs, and even a few trolls here and there.
The strange part was that in this village, there were many that looked like humans.
That kind of vibe I got from the Three Goblin Sisters and Hayeon. The members of the village greeted us with their hands on their chests as we entered, accounting to the uplifting of the shoulders of my tribesmen. Soon, we entered the large tent. It seems that it was the tent of the chief.
Because everyone could fit inside the tent, Hayeon, Mev, the Loyal Five Siblings and I entered, while the rest stood outside for standby. They even allowed Ibar to enter in thought of me, allowing myself to be in quite a comfortable position as I leaned back against Ibar’s stomach.
“Kereeeeung.”
Inside the tent was the women of that group. The female troll that looked to be the leader had quite a dignified presence as the others looked upon her.
Soon, after finishing the food, we slowly walked out, and surprisingly found humans.
“ You hunt? ”
“ Yes… not much to boast about but . . . ”
From seeing the evolved people in the group, I had expected this to a certain degree, but I hadn’t imagined that they hunted. It seems that this group was fairly independent. Even now, I did not want to touch human meat, so I resorted to having fruits with wine on my hand. With the atmosphere being nice, we were able to have a conversation naturally.
“ Surely . . . you asked if I knew the reason as to why your Blood Dagger Clan visited us? ”
“ That is so. ”
“ Isn’t it to reinvigorating your clan that is short on bodies? With the countless brave and honorable battles that you continue to engage in, the numbers of your tribesmen are decreasing gradually, and with the high proportions, you cannot recuperate the numbers from just breeding. Is that the reason as to why you have come to see us? ”
“ That is exactly so. ”
I was frankly surprised. The Hakajin from earlier looked a bit smart, but this woman was extremely intelligent. Considering how the Green Skins normally have low intelligence, just the eloquence in her speech was enough for her to look intelligent. For her to even grasp our intention and say it like that, she might be intelligent enough to be one of the smartest among the whole Green Skin species.
“ How intelligent. You are a wise Green Skin. ”
“ You praise me too much. ”
“ Precisely, it hasn’t been decided whether to have this clan join us yet, but your decision and intent will be the most important factor regarding this decision. ”
“ . . . . . . . . . . . ”
To be honest, for these Green Skins without a flag, it would be extremely lucky for them to be able to join a new group. Different from humans, Green Skins are social animals that want comrades to fight with to raise one’s honor. No matter how much a group would grow, they were just hunting on their own. I’m am pretty sure that they would want to come in and join us. As expected, she slowly began to open her mouth.
“ If you want Blood Dagger, we hope to be able to add strength to the Blood Dagger Clan. If we can redeem our lost honor, we will endure whatever comes our way. ”
“ Hmm… ”
I stared at the female troll, and soon she resumed.
“ Even if I was simply an object for breeding with… ”
That was a bit of a shocking remark. Green Skins are more liberal in mating, but they definitely do not concern themselves with rape or compulsive relationships. Basically, she’s saying that if we let them in, she will listen to whatever we want.
“ I have heard that you like hu-human women. ”
I do not know when such rumors had spread, but it was true.
“ Which is probably why that Alraune is besides you, as well as the affectionate fairy, all of which have appearances similar to that of a human. I’m sorry to say this but the fact that both of them had not have children yet must be due to . . . fertility . . . ”
After briefly looking at Mev, she continued.
“ I . . . I can give birth to Blood Dagger’s child. ”
Before the troll could finish her sentence, Mev jumped up from the seat, as her eyes were teary. It seems that she was a bit heartbroken. As for the Three Goblin Sisters, they were full of anger. Before Mev could speak, the Three Goblin Sisters began raising their voices.
“ No! ”
“ Our chief clearly said he did not want children! ”
“ You impertinent troll ! How impudent ! You can’t say that to Mev! ”
“ How dare you ! ”
They were truly agitated, it seems. I raised my hand and the tent became quiet once again. I don’t recall ever saying it out loud that I did not want children, but despite that, I wondered how they knew my intentions. For now though, I thought it was best to rescue Mev from this situation. For them to be agitated like this, it seems that pregnancy was a significant matter amongst the women of the Green Skins.
“ As they have said, I have no intention of having children yet. ”
“ I see. I apologize if I was discourteous. ”
“ It would be right to apologize to Mev, not to me. ”
The female troll apologized to Mev, causing her to sit back down onto her seat, but despite that, the atmosphere was still tense. In the situation that they would become comrades, it seems that their relationship wouldn’t be so good between each other, especially with how their first interaction with one another had transpired. I sighed once more before speaking.
“ Apart from that, your determination is quite interesting. ”
“ Yes. We are still regretting the fact that we ran away from the Warrior Exam. If we could turn back time, we would fix our wrongs, but it is miserable that we cannot. We cannot express just how thankful we are for this kind of opportunity to be granted to us. ”
“ Mmm… ”
Other than this, the troll and I talked on various topics, and allowed me to grasp their group to some extent. The more I conversed with the female troll, the more worried Mev and Hayeon became. It seems that with our remaining tasks at hand, it would be best to gradually leave. While trying to get up, the female troll quickly spoke.
“ It’s late, so how about sleeping here for the night before you leave? ”
It wasn’t a bad offer, but with that uneasy expression from Mev, I could not do so.
“ Thank you, but we must go. We will come back again. ”
“ Yes. I will be waiting for you. ”
As such, we were able to leave their village. Along our way, I felt something strange seeing Mev so quiet.
“ Um… Captain. ”
“ Huh? ”
“ Are you going to let that female troll in? ”
“ I am thinking about it. It would be best to gradually have members join than to have too many incorporate with us at once. That is the right way to make our tribe grow. After we visit the last village, it would be best to make a decision then. ”
“ Is that so? Is that really so? ”
“ Yeah. ”
Although she lightened up a lot from my words, in contrast to her opinion, I really wanted to incorporate that group into our tribe. Especially that woman as she was extremely intelligent and her group was strong. Surely enough, I was looking for a smart one to provide me support, and she met that condition.
With how they were hunting already, the group of the female troll would probably be the most ideal choice to increase our combat power. Not only was she much wiser than the Hobgoblin Hakajin, but she was also well aware of my intentions.
As if Mev had known about the reality, she withdrew her expectations as we arrived at the last village late into the night.