Chương 105: Chapter 103-110 : The Alliance’s First Blacksmiths

The Alliance's First Blacksmiths Karath secured enough heat through the magic circle and built an environment capable of melting and refining iron. However, demonstrating an untested creation before an audience would have been madness. He first ordered the warriors to mine several loads of iron ore and conducted repeated tests. Those trials allowed him to improve the refining facility further, adding channels that carried away impurities as they melted and flowed from the ore.

With the forge finally ready to open, only one task remained. He needed to select the people who would work as blacksmiths. Using adult male orcs would waste valuable manpower. The Greenskin Alliance still lacked people, particularly warriors. Its proportion of combatants might have been high compared with the population, but slightly more than one hundred warriors were nowhere near enough within the cursed Grimwood Mountains. Karath was not particularly worried.

"Hup!" Boom! At the construction site of Blacksmith Village, sturdy orc women carried boulders nearly as large as human torsos upon their shoulders. Calling them stones hardly seemed appropriate.

"Heh heh. Reina, did you overwork yourself with your husband last night? Why are you so weak today?"

"It only slipped. What do you mean, overworked?" They carried huge rocks and tree trunks while casually joking like women chatting during a trip to the market. It was a beautiful sight that shattered the prejudiced assumption that blacksmithing had to be men's work.

"Karath should choose women who understand how to work efficiently." Producing iron weapons was currently one of the most important matters facing the alliance. He could not select random workers and place them inside the forge. None of Root's women had ever refined iron, so they all possessed the same amount of direct experience. Even so, other differences would matter. Some might understand instructions more quickly. Others might have experience shaping weapons from stone or bone.

The problem was that Karath did not personally know the working abilities of every woman in the alliance. That did not concern him for long. When he did not know something, he only needed to ask someone who did.

"Call Gerina here." Gerina had supervised the village's work crews since the days of the Bloodclaw Tribe. After the formation of the alliance, she became the leader of the female orcs and managed nearly every major construction project. Karath summoned his aunt. He had briefly considered making Gerina a blacksmith herself, but assigning her to one forge would waste the abilities of the woman responsible for organising every other worker.

"Did you call for me, Grand Chief?"

"Please come inside." While Karath considered the matter, Gerina arrived in response to his summons.

"The truth is..." He explained that the forge required capable women with good judgement and experience producing weapons from stone or bone.

"Hm. You need women who work intelligently and have considerable experience crafting weapons?" Gerina repeated the requirements to confirm them. Karath nodded.

"Is skill at this blacksmithing work the only important matter? Nothing else concerns you?"

"That should be enough." Karath tilted his head. Why was she asking? It was not as though the alliance contained workers with criminal records or anything similar.

"Heh heh heh. The Grand Chief is so capable, yet sometimes searches far away for something already beside him. It remains difficult to understand." Karath stared at her in confusion.

"I will send the most dependable women I know. You should already know one of them extremely well."

"Karath will trust your judgement." Gerina left after offering that mysterious remark. Her words left him vaguely uneasy, but she had never failed him before. He decided to trust her. Two days later, Gerina sent the women she believed best suited for blacksmithing to the forge. Karath stared at one unexpected figure among the candidates.

"M-mother?" Delina stood before him. So that was why Gerina had asked those strange questions.

"You may speak comfortably, Grand Chief." Delina addressed him with extreme respect after seeing his astonished expression. She had behaved that way ever since Karath became Grand Chief. She tried to treat him as the leader of the alliance rather than merely her son. That did not mean Delina felt distant or intimidated by his position. Her words remained respectful, but the eyes looking upon him were filled with pride, affection, and satisfaction.

"Were you told what work will be done here?" Karath had lived as Arnold for thirty-four years. Perhaps the values buried deeply within his former self remained too strong. He could speak casually to almost anyone else, but treating his mother without respect created powerful discomfort.

"Yes, Grand Chief. You may speak comfortably with me."

"That can be discussed another time, Mother. Ahem. You could remain in Root, preparing food and assisting the other women. Do you truly intend to work here?"

"Yes, Grand Chief. Gerina told Delina that creating weapons from the new material called iron is currently the most important work within the Greenskin Alliance." Karath remained silent. She was correct, but did his mother need to perform that work personally? During Karath's infancy, Delina had struggled constantly to keep her sickly child alive. Watching her efforts had led him to make a promise. He would create a place where he and his family could live comfortably.

That goal had driven much of the tribe's development. He did not want to watch his mother suffer through exhausting labour again.

"The Grand Chief works tirelessly to feed and protect the Greenskin Alliance. Delina wishes to contribute her hands, even if only a little." Karath studied his mother for a moment before sighing silently. Convincing her would be impossible. Orcs rarely lied, and every emotion appeared clearly upon their faces. Delina's expression held pride in her son and a powerful determination. Most of all, it resembled the face Karath remembered from infancy. It was filled with maternal love.

She wanted to roll up her sleeves and assist her overworked son. How could Karath possibly stop her? He abandoned the attempt and turned toward the other candidates.

"Thank you all for gathering here. You have already heard why you were selected. Creating iron weapons is currently one of the most important responsibilities in the Greenskin Alliance. Karath expects every one of you to work with a sense of duty." Five adult female orcs stood before him, including Delina.

"This work will require melting and repeatedly striking iron, a material far stronger than stone. It will be physically demanding." Karath's gaze shifted toward the smaller figures standing among the orcs.

"Will your lack of strength become a problem?" Surprisingly, three female goblins had also joined the group.

"There is no need to worry, Grand Chief," Delina answered before any of them could speak.

"Delina guarantees their ability." Karath looked at her.

"They possess less strength than orcs, but their work is precise and dependable. They will be extremely helpful."

"W-we might not be able to make the enormous weaponsh used by orcsh, but we can make poisoned dartsh and arrowheadsh!" Encouraged by Delina's support, the goblin women expressed their determination. Delina was not the only one who had come to the forge with resolve. Every candidate wanted to help the warriors risking their lives at the front.

"Good. Karath will now show you the work you must perform." After confirming the determination of all eight candidates, Karath turned toward the furnace.

The Iron Vanguard Karath approached the forge and inserted a drake-bone fragment that served as the key to the first magic circle. An enormous flame erupted from the furnace. He pushed another drake-bone fragment into a second formation. Wind immediately rushed toward the fire, feeding it with a steady stream of air. The flames roared higher and released tremendous heat. That heat reached the iron ore placed within the refining chamber. Karath added charcoal to the furnace.

After some time, the impurities with lower melting points liquefied and flowed away through the channels he had built during testing. He used iron tongs prepared in advance to remove the softened metal. Clang! Clang! Karath struck it repeatedly with an iron hammer. Boom! Boom! Boom! Hiss! After hammering the iron madly, he gripped the cooling lump with the tongs and plunged it into a container of water. He repeated the same process several times.

"Haa. This is how weapons are made here." Once the refining and shaping were complete, Karath presented the candidates with an object resembling a proper axe. His decision to practise beforehand had been wise. Between constructing the forge and gathering the candidates for this demonstration, he had completed dozens of tests. Repeatedly attempting to make axes during those trials had finally allowed him to produce something with a reasonably convincing shape.

"Now each of you will try." Karath handed the candidates keys made from drake-bone fragments. The forge contained three furnaces. The five orcs, including Delina, alternated between two of them. The three goblins shared the remaining furnace. Naturally, their first attempts were disastrous.

"You must distribute your strength evenly!"

"The weapon is bending to one side!"

"Ahem. Y-you did well, Mother. The result will become cleaner if the finishing strikes are slightly more even."

"An arrowhead with such a blunt point will never help the goblin warriors!" Karath instructed the aspiring blacksmiths sternly. There may have been one moment when his criticism became noticeably gentler, but that was surely an illusion. After teaching them for several days, Karath finally understood why Gerina had recommended his mother. Had Delina always been this competent? Parents often understood their children while children knew surprisingly little about their parents.

Karath had never realised that his mother possessed such ability. Perhaps he had simply never watched her work closely because he had no intention of assigning difficult labour to her. Once he considered it carefully, the truth was not surprising. Gerina had led the alliance's women for years, almost like the head of a vast village work association. Delina had worked beside her every day since Karath's infancy.

During the following days, Karath also discovered that the other seven candidates had worked beneath Delina even before coming to Blacksmith Village. Gerina supervised all the women's work crews. Delina had apparently served as something resembling a team leader. Perhaps the experience of leading workers, strengthened by her desire to support her son, produced the result. After several days of practising blacksmithing with her subordinates, Delina changed the entire system. She developed her own production process.

Instead of assigning two furnaces to orcs and one to goblins, she divided the work according to each race's strengths. Orcs performed the strength-intensive stages. They hammered the heated iron, compressed it, and spread it into an even shape. The goblins handled the finishing work. They refined axe blades, sharpened spear points, and completed other delicate details.

"This should be more than sufficient for a weapon, Mother!" Once the eight candidates became familiar with the work and their production process stabilised, everything progressed rapidly. The forge began producing more than ten iron axes and spears every day. Before long, every warrior in the Greenskin Alliance received an iron weapon. Inside the chief's earthen house at Blacksmith Village, Karath looked around at the assembled advisers.

"Have you finished identifying every location?"

"Yes, Grand Chief." Krog brought forward a piece of monster hide.

"This point in the centre is Blacksmith Village. Four orc settlements exist around it, one here, one here, one here, and another here." He indicated the drawings on the hide and explained the locations of the villages surrounding their new base. Karath had not suspended every other task while constructing the forge and training the blacksmiths. His efforts to teach the advisers to think independently were slowly producing results. He only needed to assign work now. They handled the details themselves.

While Karath focused upon blacksmithing, he gave them two responsibilities. They were to continue constructing the village wall and earthen houses. At the same time, they were to scout the surrounding terrain and locate nearby orc settlements.

"Berners and the goblins were extremely helpful once again, Grand Chief," Krog added.

"We only did what wash necessary!" Berners answered modestly, but he could not hide his happiness. He was clearly delighted that the alliance recognised the contributions made by him and the other goblins.

"Now that we possess iron weapons and know where the other settlements are located, it is time to visit them. Krahahaha!" Karath decided to act without delay. Warriors needed to remain behind to protect Root, the waystation, and Blacksmith Village, so he could not take too many. He selected twenty orc warriors, including the four promising fighters who had accompanied the original expedition. Ten goblin warriors would provide support.

Berners joined them as the communications officer, or more accurately, the chief of communications. With Karath himself included, the group numbered thirty-two. A party of more than thirty could not move through the forest without attracting monsters.

"Maintain formation!"

"The shield group will draw its attention!"

"Do not charge recklessly! Kill it calmly!" Karath, Krog, and Dagon directed the warriors. Parker, Kaden, and the other orcs blocked and slaughtered the monsters that attacked.

"Fire toward the rear while avoiding the orc warriors!" Berners had been brought primarily as a communications officer, but as the leader of the goblins, he also worked hard to command their attacks. The addition of goblins had diversified the alliance's formations. Iron weapons had strengthened them even further. No matter how many monsters appeared, the force continued advancing. Unless a creature comparable to a drake attacked them, Karath doubted anything could stop these thirty warriors.

As the sun began to set, they finally reached another orc settlement.

"Karath Bloodclaw stands before you as the Grand Chief who received a revelation from the ancestors!" He introduced himself beneath the protection of iron-armed orcs and goblins. Boom! Whoooosh! Rumble! Karath unleashed his mana freely. Fire rose around him. Wind swept through the settlement. Rain descended, and lightning split the darkening sky.

He stood before the neighbouring tribe as the ruler of a society where spiritual and political authority were united, accompanied by soldiers carrying iron weapons and commanding the storm itself. Karath felt like a legendary god-king descending with masters of wind, clouds, and rain to bring a neighbouring tribe beneath his rule. Those symbols were probably supposed to represent agriculture and a farming civilisation. That hardly mattered. He would create those things eventually as well.

Just as he had finally obtained iron.

The March of the Iron Warriors Karath visited three orc settlements around Blacksmith Village while presenting himself as a legendary god-king. Without encountering any serious resistance, he successfully brought all three into the Greenskin Alliance.

"Only one remains now."

"Yes, Grand Chief." Krog answered Karath's quiet remark as they returned after persuading the third settlement.

"How are the tribes that joined earlier? Do they appear to be adapting well?"

"The first group, the Warcry Tribe, has completed its relocation to Root and appears to have settled in reasonably well. We should probably ask the Great Mother to begin preparing their weapons soon." Krog, who had effectively become Karath's personal assistant, gave him a concise report. The Great Mother he mentioned was Delina, Karath's mother and the current leader of Blacksmith Village's forge. The orcs had not called her that immediately after Karath became Grand Chief.

At the time, Delina had continued helping Gerina with the ordinary work around the village. Karath would have preferred to stop her, but orcs were not suited to sitting idle. Their natural temperaments made inactivity almost unbearable. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Delina therefore continued working as one of the village women under Gerina, and no one knew how they should properly address the mother of the Grand Chief.

That did not mean the orcs possessed some enlightened modern belief that the Grand Chief's mother should remain an ordinary orc simply because she held no official position. They simply had no idea what title to use and avoided the issue. Once Delina took charge of the forge and became responsible for producing the warriors' weapons, they began calling her the Great Mother. The title referred both to her being the Grand Chief's mother and to her role as the mother who armed every warrior of the alliance.

"Karath will speak to Mother about that, so you need not concern yourself with it. What about the second tribe?"

"They have nearly completed their relocation, but they will need more time. Once the weapons for the Warcry warriors are finished, we should probably begin preparing theirs."

"Hm. Then it would be easier to ask Mother to make them in advance." This was not an official council meeting, so Karath spoke comfortably with Krog, as he had when they were merely childhood friends. The distinction between public and private conduct was closer to human thinking than orc customs, but it could not be helped. Karath had lived longer as a human than as an orc. More importantly, Krog's speech and thought patterns had grown increasingly similar to Karath's under his influence.

Conversation naturally became easier with someone who understood him. Krog, however, continued using the most respectful form of address regardless of the situation. The alliance was continuing to absorb new tribes. That did not mean Karath brought them in and immediately distributed iron weapons. Just as they had done while integrating Warriorhearts and Doubleaxes, alliance warriors escorted the new orcs in groups of twenty or thirty to Blacksmith Village.

From there, they travelled through the waystation and continued toward Root. The women who arrived at Root joined its workforce. The warriors remained with the alliance's veterans and learned how the Greenskin Alliance fought. Instead of surrendering to their blood and charging like maddened boars, they learned to use traps and fight together in organised groups. They were also taught numbers and how to read maps. Only after completing that training would they receive iron weapons.

Orcs were impatient but generally incapable of deception, so betrayal was unlikely. Even so, Karath's habits from his human life compelled him to prepare for the possibility. Power would be handed to newcomers only after they had begun integrating into the alliance. The alliance also lacked enough workers and instructors to absorb several tribes simultaneously. As a result, roughly fifteen days passed between accepting the first tribe and visiting the third.

After discussing the two tribes already moving into Root and the third that had just agreed to join, Karath turned to the remaining settlement.

"The final tribe presents a slight problem."

"Yes. It is farther away." According to the scouts sent out while Karath prepared the forge, the final settlement lay at a considerable distance from Blacksmith Village. Without a road, reaching it within a single day through the wild forest would be difficult. There was still a reason Karath wanted to absorb it immediately.

"The scouts reported that the settlement was quite large." Its population appeared to be much greater than those of the other tribes.

"Yes. Perhaps they reacted to the changes in the forest by merging with nearby settlements, just as we did."

"If we absorb them, the alliance's growth should accelerate even further."

"If several settlements have already united there, they may not submit easily," Karath said.

"The distance is also considerable, so we should bring more warriors this time."

"Yes, Grand Chief." Krog answered briefly and waited for Karath's conclusion.

"We should visit after the third tribe finishes relocating and the warriors of the second receive their iron weapons. About ten days from now should be enough." The combined warriors of Warcry and the second tribe numbered slightly more than fifty. Once those warriors became available, Karath could summon several original alliance warriors from Root without seriously weakening its defences. A little more than ten days later, the preparations were complete.

The Greenskin Alliance now possessed one hundred and eight original orc warriors, including those who had reached adulthood during the past six months. Another fifty-three orc warriors from the recently absorbed tribes had completed training and received iron weapons. The alliance therefore commanded one hundred and sixty-one armed orc warriors. Two more goblin clans had also joined during the construction of Blacksmith Village and the integration of the three orc tribes.

The alliance now included thirty-one ordinary goblin warriors and four hobgoblins. Karath stationed sixty orc warriors at Root and fifty at Blacksmith Village. Each settlement also received ten goblin warriors. In addition to protecting the villages, those forces would patrol the waystation and the roads. Those numbers should allow both villages to remain secure even while patrol groups were absent. Each possessed walls and prepared traps.

Root attracted more monsters because it stood near the river, but its walls were more advanced and its surrounding traps more numerous. The warriors of the third tribe had not yet received iron weapons and were therefore not included in Karath's count. They were still present within Root, however, providing another layer of defence.

"Move out!" Karath departed with fifty orc warriors and eleven goblin warriors. With Berners and Karath himself included, the expedition numbered sixty-three.

"This reminds Krog of last year, Grand Chief." Krog spoke while walking beside him.

"Ah. When we built Root?"

"That is correct, Grand Chief." They had also moved in a large group at that time. Because women accompanied them for construction, the expedition had included nearly one hundred people. However, Root had been less than half a day from the original settlement. This time, they would need to travel for more than a full day. Karath was not particularly worried. They now possessed iron weapons.

There was no longer any need for poorly equipped orcs to do nothing but draw a monster's attention while warriors with superior weapons delivered the killing blows. Krog, Dagon, and Berners handled the commands without Karath needing to interfere. He could almost remain in the rear and do nothing. This was the reward for developing competent subordinates. Only a year earlier, or even six months ago when the Five-Tribe Alliance was first created, Karath had needed to run everywhere until his feet ached.

"Kill it!"

"Crush its head!" Boom! Crack! Watching orcs and goblins smash monsters apart with iron weapons brought a strange sense of peace to Karath's heart. They marched until evening, fighting monsters whenever necessary. After establishing a camp and assigning night watches, the expedition rested. Early the next morning, they resumed their journey. Around noon, the settlement finally appeared ahead.

The Heirs of the Last Grand Chief"It certainly is large." The first thing Karath saw was a stone wall enclosing a space far larger than the old Bloodclaw settlement. It was not one of the nearly useless wooden fences most orc villages used. They had built an actual stone wall. The sight reminded Karath of Orga. It was nowhere near as advanced as the fortifications around Root. The stones had merely been stacked together rather than shaped into a carefully engineered structure.

Even so, seeing another orc settlement display that degree of development produced a strange feeling. The scouts had already reported the wall, but witnessing it directly was different. Regardless of that feeling, Karath had work to do.

"Greetings! Karath Bloodclaw stands before you as the saviour who follows the spirits and prophecy of the ancestors! He is the Grand Chief who leads eight orc tribes and four goblin clans!" Karath had travelled comfortably beneath the protection of his warriors, leaving him in perfect condition. He released his magic without restraint and created a mysterious spectacle around himself. Yet the orcs inside the settlement merely stared at him with dull expressions. Karath stared back.

There was actually a place where this method did not work. He had expected an alliance of several settlements to resist more strongly than isolated tribes. Even so, their complete lack of reaction caught him by surprise.

"Ahem. You claim to be the Grand Chief who will save the orcs?" An orc who appeared to represent the settlement stepped forward, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"That is correct."

"Then bring proof."

"Karath believes he has already shown it." He indicated the flames floating around him and the droplets of water gathering in the air before being scattered by the wind.

"Those are merely shamanic arts. They may prove you are a Grand Shaman, but they do not prove you are the Grand Chief." Karath stiffened. What kind of nonsense was this?

"How dare you insult the Grand Chief!" While Karath controlled his expression and concealed his bewilderment, the alliance warriors drew their weapons with metallic scrapes. The opposing orcs immediately gripped their stone and bone weapons in response.

"Stop!" Karath shouted to calm his excited warriors. The size of the settlement had already suggested a large population. A quick estimate showed more than two hundred orcs within the walls. Most of their warriors appeared to be away hunting or scouting during the day. Even if every fighter had been present, the difference in weapons and tactics would have been difficult for them to overcome. The Greenskin Alliance would probably win a battle. Karath still had no reason to slaughter them.

They had inflicted no harm upon his people. Absorbing them intact would bring tremendous benefits to the alliance.

"Lower your weapons!" When Karath calmed his warriors, the representative of the settlement also ordered his people to stand down. Tension remained thick between the two groups.

"What proof of the Grand Chief do you seek?" Karath asked.

"You call yourself the Grand Chief without even knowing?"

"The ancestors taught Karath countless forms of knowledge, but they never mentioned such a thing."

"Krahahaha! How ridiculous." The orc laughed loudly, then claimed it was not amusing. Karath found that more ridiculous than anything else.

"According to a legend passed down within our tribe, mighty Grand Chiefs once ruled countless tribes throughout the ancient past. The final Grand Chief left behind a weapon symbolising his authority within the ruins of the ancestors."

"You are saying that weapon is the symbol of the Grand Chief?"

"That is correct! The final Grand Chief declared that whoever recovered the weapon would become the new Grand Chief destined to save the orcs of this forest."

"Where did this legend originate?"

"Krahahaha! Naturally, it was passed down within our tribe. We are the Lionheart Tribe, descendants of the final Grand Chief!" Karath fell silent. In other words, they were challenging him with a legend known only to their own tribe. He silently cursed the inflexibility of primitive society. Karath had invoked the ancestors many times for his own purposes. He had never expected that trick to return and obstruct him in precisely this manner. Then he noticed something unusual.

"When you say your tribe, do you mean every orc living inside this settlement belongs to the same tribe?"

"That is correct!" That was unexpected. A single tribe contained more than two hundred orcs. If Karath could obtain the supposed weapon of the Grand Chief, these people might submit without further difficulty. In a rigid primitive society, everyone within the tribe had probably been raised with the same belief. The only problem was finding the weapon. Karath briefly considered deceiving them again. His gaze dropped toward the bone axe in his hand.

Perhaps he could pour mana into it, surround it with flames, and claim it was the legendary weapon. No one could know what an ancient object looked like, or whether it had ever existed. He quickly abandoned the idea. The Lionheart orcs had already watched him create flames through magic. The deception would be painfully obvious.

"Ahem. If your people know this legend, why have you never searched for the Grand Chief's weapon? Do you not even know where these legendary ruins are located?" Karath redirected the conversation. He hoped to uncover another method of persuading them. If discussion produced nothing useful, he could still consider using force as a final option.

"Of course we know! Our tribe remains here precisely because we intend to reclaim those ruins!" Against all expectations, the Lionheart Tribe knew exactly where the ruins were.

The Trial of the Grand Chief For a moment, Karath nearly asked why the Lionheart orcs had not retrieved the legendary weapon when they already knew where the ruins were. He was not foolish enough to voice that question.

"If you intend to reclaim the ruins, then there must be some problem preventing you."

"That is correct. Absurdly powerful monsters occupy the place." Karath fell silent for a moment before speaking with solemn respect.

"Karath offers his condolences to the warriors who fell."

"They merely performed their duty as descendants of the Grand Chief. We were too weak. That is all. We are ashamed to face our ancestor." The Lionheart representative shook his head with a grave expression. They knew the location of an object supposedly left behind by their legendary ancestor. There was no possibility that orcs would simply leave it untouched. Considering their natural temperaments, what had happened was obvious. They had attempted to reclaim the ruins and failed. Several of them had probably died.

Orcs would never abandon such a goal after losing only one or two warriors. Karath considered the situation carefully. The location itself was not the problem. Humans would probably refuse to reveal where a legendary weapon left by their ancestors was hidden. These were orcs. They had only claimed that whoever recovered the weapon would become Grand Chief. They had never declared that the weapon belonged exclusively to the Lionheart Tribe.

The fact that they initially asked whether Karath possessed it suggested they believed anyone with the proper qualifications could claim it. More importantly, orcs loved trials, challenges, and contests of strength. They did not resort to secret schemes or dishonourable tricks during such competitions. Kaden and Parker had fought one another and become sworn brothers afterward. If Karath declared that he would kill the monsters and prove himself, the Lionheart orcs would probably guide him to the ruins willingly.

What troubled him was their description of the creatures as absurdly powerful monsters. The Lionheart Tribe had challenged those monsters repeatedly, lost many warriors, and still maintained a settlement of more than two hundred orcs. That suggested their enemies were far from ordinary. The Greenskin Alliance had become incomparably stronger since acquiring iron weapons, but Karath possessed almost no information about the monsters. More importantly, there was no way to know whether the legend was true.

No one present had ever seen what lay inside the ruins. What if alliance warriors died in a brutal battle, only for them to discover nothing there? The Lionheart Tribe might still accept Karath after he reclaimed their ancestral ruins. In the worst case, however, they could refuse because he had failed to recover the weapon and therefore lacked the qualifications of the Grand Chief. One might argue that reclaiming the ruins alone should prove his worth.

Such reasoning would not persuade a primitive society built around shamanic beliefs. They would simply conclude that the weapon had not appeared because Karath was unworthy. Karath's thoughts raced through every possibility. Could they capture the ruins? How many casualties might they suffer? How great would the benefits be? If the plan failed, was there another way to integrate the Lionheart Tribe? Karath was now responsible for nearly nine hundred tribespeople.

As Grand Chief, he could no longer make careless decisions without considering every possible outcome.

"Krahahaha! Then the solution is simple!" Kaden suddenly stepped forward before Karath could reach a conclusion.

"Our Grand Chief only needs to enter those ruins and retrieve the weapon you speak of!"

"Brother Kaden is correct," Parker declared as he advanced beside him.

"Our magnificent Grand Chief can slaughter such monsters with ease."

"Our Grand Chief is the mighty warrior who used shamanic arts to explode the head of an enormous drake!" Boom! Boom! At Kaden's shout, the warriors lined up behind them struck the ground with their weapons.

"Grand Chief!"

"Show those ignorant fools your strength!" Boom! Boom! The fanatics, or rather the berserkers, shouted Karath's title with bloodshot eyes. Damn it. There was no withdrawing now. As the Grand Chief of the orcs, certainly not the leader of some fraudulent cult, Karath could not display weakness. The absolute faith his people placed in him would begin to fracture the moment he hesitated.

"Listen!" Karath turned toward the warriors. The maniacs who had been roaring only a moment earlier immediately fell silent and focused upon him.

"We will drive the monsters from the ancestral ruins and reclaim what belongs to the ancestors!" The warriors erupted. Boom! Boom!

"We will recover the legendary weapon symbolising the Grand Chief and use it to save every orc within this forest!"

"Woooooaaaah!"

"We believe in you, Grand Chief!" Boom! Boom! Boom! The warriors shouted with red eyes and foam gathering around their mouths, as though possessed by spirits. Kaden and Parker, who had created this entire situation, watched Karath while laughing heartily. Their expressions resembled children asking whether they had done well. Karath wanted to strike each of them with all his strength. He knew the atmosphere made that impossible, but his right hand still twitched around the handle of his bone axe.

After making his declaration, Karath asked the Lionheart chief to guide them to the ruins.

"Krahahaha! If you intend to prove your qualifications as Grand Chief, we will gladly lead you there." As Karath expected, the Lionheart orcs accepted the request without hesitation.

"Karath is grateful. What kind of monsters occupy the ruins?" Now that the route was settled, he asked the most important question. He could no longer withdraw, but information would at least help reduce casualties.

"We had never seen creatures like them before. They resembled birds."

"Do they fly?" Flying creatures would be troublesome. The Lionheart chief shook his head.

"They do not." Karath stared at him. What kind of bird could not fly?

"They merely possess the body shape of birds. Their feet resemble those of birds, they have beaks, and wings grow where their arms should be. However, the wings are too small for their bodies, so they cannot fly."

"How large are they?"

"They stand as tall as two orcs stacked upon one another. Their bodies are equally massive. They are probably comparable to minotaurs." If they were only as strong as minotaurs, Karath saw little reason to worry.

"Their size is not what makes them truly terrifying."

"Then what is?"

"They release an enormous shriek. Warriors who heard it from nearby immediately became rigid. They died without ever moving again." Karath's expression changed. Massive flightless birds that could stiffen an orc's body through their cries. It reminded him of a strange race from a famous fantasy novel in his former world.

"Karath understands. There is one final request."

"Speak."

"The ruins appear to be some distance away. May our warriors rest inside your settlement tonight and depart tomorrow morning? We only require a place to sleep. We will handle our own hunting and cleaning."

"As fellow orcs, we can provide that much." After receiving the Lionheart chief's permission, Karath led his warriors to an empty area near the edge of the settlement. They rested for the remainder of the day. The following morning, the expedition departed with a Lionheart warrior serving as their guide.

Cockatrices Among the Ruins"A territory belonging to Black Cobras lies ahead," the Lionheart guide warned.

"It would be wiser to go around if you intend to preserve your strength for the monsters within the ruins."

"Krahahaha! Creatures like that are not worth a single punch!"

"Grand Chief, let us continue straight through!" As always, Kaden and Parker stepped forward before anyone else could answer.

"We should definitely hunt them, Grand Chief!" Berners added.

"Black Cobra venom ish extremely useful!" Apparently, even the goblins had begun absorbing the orcs' habits.

"As you can see, everyone prefers to advance directly."

"Do not regret your decision." The Lionheart warrior guided them into the territory of the Black Cobras. Soon afterward, he stood with his mouth hanging open as he watched the Greenskin warriors fight.

"Krahahaha! Perfect exercise for the morning!"

"Grand Chief! We need time to extract the venom from the Black Cobrash!" Unlike their astonished guide, the warriors spoke as though they were enjoying a pleasant excursion.

"We will eat here while the goblins extract the venom. Prepare the fangs first, then cook the meat!" Karath ordered them to prepare the first meal they had skipped by departing before sunrise. He had expected something like this to happen during the journey, which was why he had chosen to leave without breakfast. The warriors immediately turned the area into a temporary campsite and began cleaning and cooking the snakes.

"You should eat with us." Karath addressed the Lionheart guide, who still had not closed his mouth. Feeding him well might encourage him to guide them more quickly. Perhaps the snake meat restored his stamina, because the Lionheart warrior led them forward with renewed enthusiasm.

"If we continue straight ahead, there will be manti... Never mind. Simply continue forward." He appeared ready to warn them about something else, then changed his mind and told them to keep walking. Thanks to his increasingly straightforward guidance, they reached the area surrounding their destination after slightly more than half a day.

"The monsters' territory begins a little farther ahead."

"Understood." The guide who had repeatedly ordered them to continue straight ahead now spoke cautiously. The creatures within the ruins clearly concerned him. Scouting ahead to gather more information would have been ideal. When Karath looked around, however, every warrior's eyes shone with expectation. They had already convinced themselves that Karath would recover the legendary weapon and prove himself the true Grand Chief.

"Reduce your speed! Approach carefully and do not allow the monsters to discover us first!"

"Understood!" Karath settled for a compromise and ordered the group to advance slowly. With their current strength, they could probably kill four or five ogres without suffering meaningful casualties. Surely there would be no serious problem. They moved cautiously through the dense vegetation. After some time, Karath finally saw the monsters between the tall plants. So they were not legendary birdfolk after all. They were cockatrices.

Chickens had been among the most familiar cooking ingredients of Karath's former world. The creatures before him looked as though someone had enlarged ordinary chickens dozens or hundreds of times. Six cockatrices occupied the area, each standing at a slight distance from the others. After identifying the monsters, Karath's attention shifted toward the terrain surrounding them. Those must be the ruins. The place resembled photographs of ancient Greek or Roman remains.

Cracked and weathered floors stretched between shattered pillars, giving the entire area the appearance of a collapsed temple. A temple? Something hovered at the edge of Karath's thoughts, hidden behind a mental fog. He continued examining the ruined columns and stone flooring. Wait. Those looked as though they were made from limestone. The fog inside his mind vanished.

The Cockatrice's Cry Limestone. With that material, removing impurities from iron ore would become far easier. Karath had not studied chemical engineering, so he did not understand every detail of the oxidation and reduction process. Still, limestone was used to remove impurities, which meant it should produce some benefit. The iron weapons currently used by the alliance were far from perfect. They were stronger than ordinary stone, but still weaker than ogre bone.

The weapons carried by the warriors around him had already begun bending and chipping after repeated battles. In practice, they were crushing monster skulls mostly through absurd thickness and weight backed by an orc's strength. If Karath could obtain limestone, however, their iron weapons might advance another stage. Sixteen years had passed since he fell into this savage primitive society.

He finally understood why the blacksmith in an old historical drama from his former world had boasted so proudly about steel swords. Of course, that drama had been set around the founding of an ancient kingdom, so its weapons might have been less advanced than those used by the Greenskin Alliance. Karath's current refining methods were probably closer to those of the medieval period. His excitement over limestone was not limited to weapons. They could make concrete.

Concrete could be produced by mixing limestone with sand and other materials. Karath did not know the precise proportions because it was not his field, but possessing limestone instead of having none at all made an enormous difference. He could simply order his subordinates to experiment. Without the necessary material, they could not attempt anything. Once they possessed it, repeated trials might eventually reveal the correct mixture.

If they succeeded in creating concrete while improving their iron, they would obtain both reinforced metal and concrete. Steel reinforcement and concrete were supposedly gifts from the gods of structural engineering. Karath only remembered fragments picked up from the internet, but the two materials compensated for one another's weaknesses and possessed almost identical rates of thermal expansion, making them ideal partners. Limestone was therefore one of the materials he had desperately wanted.

Now it stood directly before him. The legendary weapon left by the ancestors vanished entirely from his thoughts. He stared at the ruins like a player seeing an epic weapon dropped by a newly released raid boss. He had to obtain it. This was the monster-infested Grimwood Mountains. It was unlikely that whoever built the stone structure had transported limestone from some distant region through such dangerous territory. There might be a limestone deposit somewhere near the ancestral ruins.

Karath's imagination raced so wildly that his thoughts nearly melted from overheating.

"Hm?" While he stared obsessively at the ruins, the cockatrice positioned farthest from the others slowly rose and began moving toward the forest. It was probably leaving to hunt. An opportunity. The creature would not succeed in hunting today. It was about to become the prey. Move. Karath signalled to the warriors waiting behind him. Suppressing their presence, they circled through the undergrowth toward the cockatrice that had separated from the ruins.

They had never personally confirmed how dangerous the creatures were. Facing all six simultaneously might become a reckless gamble. Karath had already intended to wait until they dispersed, and one had conveniently moved away on its own. The group made a wide detour to avoid being surrounded by the remaining cockatrices. Found it. They discovered the lone monster hunting some distance from the ruins. Goblins attack first. Karath issued another silent signal.

The goblins immediately loaded their blowpipes and bows, aiming at the cockatrice. He lowered his hand. Arrows and poisoned darts poured toward the monster. The projectiles struck its feathers and skin, then scattered in every direction.

"Attack!" The cockatrice had already turned toward them. There was no reason to delay. Karath ordered the main force of orc warriors to charge. Despite witnessing the arrows bounce away, the orcs rushed forward without hesitation. Spears and axes slammed into the creature's body. Boom! The impacts sounded like stones colliding. Blood seeped from the torn flesh and stained the cockatrice's feathers red. However, after only several collisions, the edges of the iron weapons began dulling and bending. Crack!

"Grah!" An orc released a rare groan after blocking the cockatrice's beak with his shield. The thick iron plate crumpled instantly. A human would have struggled merely to lift that shield, yet the creature folded it as though it were thin metal. Only its size resembled a minotaur. Its strength was on an entirely different level. The Greenskin Alliance still possessed more than sixty fighters. Several also carried drake-bone weapons that surpassed iron. Crack! Slice!

The warriors rotated in and out, attacking the creature without pause and steadily accumulating wounds. Flap! Flap! Flap! Perhaps the swarm of irritating attacks enraged it. The cockatrice thrashed its two short wings violently, forcing the warriors away. It immediately raised its head. Karath felt mana gathering around its beak. When the creature screamed, the nearby warriors became rigid. They died without ever moving again. The Lionheart chief's warning from the previous day flashed through Karath's mind.

He had never expected the creature to manipulate mana like the drake, but there was no time to dwell on the discovery. The chief had described it as a shriek. Karath shaped his mana using that clue.

"Aero Shield." He formed a barrier of air around the cockatrice's beak. More precisely, he modified the spell to hold the surrounding air layer perfectly still for several moments. Sound travelled through vibrations passing across a medium. If Karath prevented the medium from vibrating, he could create a soundproof barrier. The cockatrice opened its beak. A mana-filled wave struck the immobilised layer of air. Bzzzzzzzz. The collision produced a strange vibration like dozens of bees flying together.

The sound continued for only a brief moment. An illusion resembling shattering glass appeared before Karath's eyes.

"SKREEEEEE!" The cockatrice's cry burst through his soundproof barrier.

"Damn it. That is unbearably loud." Even after the barrier weakened it, the shriek struck his ears with painful force. Fortunately, the magical wave had scattered while breaking through the air wall. Otherwise, the attack would have caused far more than simple discomfort. Blocking the cockatrice's strongest attack did not completely resolve the danger.

"Finish it quickly!" No warrior had died from the scream, but the remaining cockatrices near the ruins might have heard it.

"Hraaaagh!" Karath poured mana into his bone axe and charged. Crack! The flaming drake-bone weapon smashed into the creature's head.

"Skreee..." This time, the cockatrice released an ordinary cry of pain rather than a mana-filled attack. The other warriors followed Karath's strike. At last, the creature collapsed with its entire body soaked in blood.

"Damn it." The fight had still taken too long. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Crash! The remaining five cockatrices were charging through the forest, destroying trees and vegetation as they approached. Countless thoughts crossed Karath's mind in an instant. Only one conclusion remained.

"Form ranks!" None of the warriors had died or suffered injuries severe enough to threaten their lives. Fleeing now would not suit orcs. More importantly, the enormous cockatrices were charging with speed appropriate to their size. Attempting a disorganised retreat with orcs who had never trained to flee would probably cause more casualties than standing their ground.

"Krog! Take command of the entire force!" As the warriors formed their ranks, Karath issued another order.

"What do you intend to do, Grand Chief?" Krog answered urgently. He seemed to fear Karath would charge alone again, as he had against the ogre and drake. Karath had no intention of doing that this time.

"Karath will use magic to stop their cries!" The creatures' skin and bones were stronger than ordinary iron. Their beaks possessed even greater hardness, and their enormous bodies produced terrifying strength. Even so, the warriors who had trained repeatedly should be able to endure those physical attacks. The one threat they could not handle was the shriek. The orcs possessed no way to block or evade an attack made from sound.

Karath would need to focus entirely upon stopping the cries of five cockatrices, leaving him unable to fight or command.

"Rampage as much as you wish! Karath will protect you!" This time, he would trust the force he had spent so long developing.

"GRAAAAAH!"

"Offer their heads to the Grand Chief!" The orc warriors answered his trust by charging directly toward the cockatrices.

Krog's Command"Groups One and Two, stop the first creature! Groups Three and Four, take the next! Two groups will engage each cockatrice!"

"Do not attempt to kill them yet! Use light attacks and hold their attention!" Krog shouted until his throat felt ready to tear apart as he exercised the authority Karath had entrusted to him. Excluding Karath, the Grand Chief, and Berners, who handled communications, their total force consisted of fifty orc warriors and eleven goblins. Karath had divided them into five-person units consisting of four orcs and one goblin. The arrangement considered scouting, night watches, and a variety of combat situations.

That created eleven complete groups. The remaining five orc warriors served as Karath's escort and advisers, including Krog himself. To reduce confusion, Krog assigned the warriors according to those established units. Tall plants and trees surrounded the area, but they were fighting in open ground rather than a narrow passage. They could not rely upon a simple formation with shield bearers in front and ranged attackers positioned behind them.

The earlier battle had also shown that a cockatrice's beak and charge could destroy even their thick iron shields like scraps of paper. Gathering too closely would only obstruct their movements. Separating into groups gave them more space to evade the creatures' attacks. Could they truly succeed? The doubt crossed Krog's mind for only a moment. He possessed no time to indulge such concerns.

"Group Eleven, separate! Send one warrior to reinforce each group!" They had no choice but to succeed.

"The escort group will support Groups One and Two! We will eliminate the monsters one at a time!"

"Every other group only needs to endure until the escort group reaches you! Do not take unnecessary risks!" Despite the brief doubt within him, Krog quickly organised the battlefield and continued issuing commands. His performance hardly resembled that of a savage warrior from a primitive society who had once lived without any concept of strategy. Even Karath, watching from behind, judged that he would have issued almost identical orders. Perhaps that was only natural.

Karath had designed the mixed formations of orcs and goblins and imagined how they would function across different situations. Krog had stood beside him throughout that entire process and listened to every explanation. More importantly, while Karath created the formations, Krog had commanded them most often in actual battles. Even when Karath focused upon expanding villages or constructing facilities like the forge, Krog remained outside the walls, leading and training the warriors in the Grand Chief's place.

Those accumulated experiences allowed him to respond appropriately even against monsters far more dangerous than usual.

"Goblins, aim at the cockatrices' faces! They are taller than the orc warriors! Fire high and you will not strike our allies!" The orcs and goblins had also spent long periods serving beneath Krog. They moved like his hands and feet, obeying every command without delay. Thanks to Krog's clean direction and the warriors' ability to execute it, the Greenskin Alliance steadily wounded the cockatrices without suffering serious losses.

The warriors took turns inflicting small injuries before retreating and drawing the creatures' attention.

"Hraaaagh!" Meanwhile, the adviser-class warriors who had served as Karath's escorts concentrated upon the first cockatrice and accumulated far more dangerous wounds. Frustrated by the prolonged battle, the cockatrices repeatedly raised their heads and drew breath. They attempted to unleash their horrifying sonic attacks.

"Aero Shield." Bzzzzzzzz. Every time, Karath watched the battlefield and blocked the shrieks with magic.

"SKREEEEEE!" The immense cries eventually shattered each soundproof barrier, but their power had already diminished sharply. The warriors' ears hurt, yet their lives were no longer threatened. Even so, relying upon gradual attrition remained extremely dangerous. Each cockatrice possessed a body comparable to a minotaur. Its beak could crumple a thick iron shield with one strike. A single mistake could kill an orc warrior. Krog was not afraid. Someone among them could end the exhausting struggle.

"Go, Kaden!" Krog pointed toward the first cockatrice, which was already drenched in blood from the concentrated assault.

"Karath's brother is older than you, you brat!" Kaden leapt into the air. He gripped the absurdly enormous battleaxe Karath had made for him. Its blade was forged from drake bone and possessed overwhelming strength. A year earlier, Kaden had used an axe made from ogre bone to cut through a drake's flesh and muscle deeply enough to reach its bones. Since then, he had continued fighting upon the front lines like the battle-obsessed orc he was. His axe technique had sharpened another stage.

Combined with the monstrous strength that placed him among the mightiest warriors in the alliance, the enormous battleaxe descended toward the cockatrice's neck. Crack! Like a woodcutter splitting a tree, Kaden's battleaxe tore through the creature's neck. No. It crushed the neck apart.