Chương 90: Chapter 89 The Founding of Root

With Orga directing the work, construction progressed even faster. In only three days, they completed a reasonably sturdy stone wall enclosing enough space for roughly one hundred people. One side had deliberately been built more weakly than the others. The cleared area could currently accommodate only about one hundred residents, so the settlement would continue expanding in that direction. Everything became simpler after that. The women who had joined the expedition began constructing earthen houses.

Messengers returned to the old settlement, and more warriors escorted additional women to the riverside. The warriors carried some of the abundant prey back to the original village, while the women remained and added their labour to the project. The enclosed area expanded steadily, and more earthen houses rose within it. They repeated that exhausting process for an entire month.

"Finally!" One and a half months after the relocation project began, a broad stone wall stood beside the Huge River. The new settlement could accommodate all four hundred and fifty tribespeople with room to spare.

"You worked hard, Orga!"

"It was nothing, Grand Chief! This wall remains terribly inadequate. Orga will make it even stronger!"

"Yes, yes! Karath will rely upon you. Krahahaha!" Karath laughed and struck Orga's shoulder several times, unable to hide how dependable the warrior had become. Orga had proven his ability throughout the past month. More than one hundred people participated in the enormous project, and the workforce continued increasing as the wall expanded. If Karath had attempted to direct everyone personally, progress would inevitably have slowed as the number of workers rose.

Someone would always cause an accident in a place he could not see. Orga filled every gap. In fact, he went far beyond merely supporting Karath. He inspected every part of the construction site more carefully than Karath and reported even minor problems. There was no way Karath could avoid favouring such a capable subordinate.

"Orga is not the only one who worked hard! Everyone here deserves praise. Krahahaha!" Orga had directed the construction, but every tribesperson present had endured the same exhausting work. As Karath surveyed the gathered workers, two orcs immediately caught his attention. Their bodies made them impossible to overlook. Kaden and Chief Parker.

"Kaden and Chief Parker also worked hard." The pair had not contributed much to construction itself, but they had been invaluable when defending the site and hunting monsters.

"Krahahaha! We only performed our duty, Grand Chief!"

"More importantly, you created a settlement of this size! As expected of the Grand Chief!" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The two responded to his praise with their usual booming laughter. However, Karath had not approached them only to offer compliments.

"There is something Karath wishes to know. Construction ends today, which means the contest you agreed upon has also ended. A winner must now be chosen. During the past month and a half, which of you killed more monsters?" They had hunted like lunatics throughout the entire construction period. Karath originally invented the contest merely to exploit their enthusiasm, but now he had become genuinely curious. How many monsters had they killed? Which of them had won?

"Ahem. The truth is that Parker continued fighting so often that he eventually forgot how many monsters he killed, Grand Chief." Chief Parker spoke with rare embarrassment.

"Ahem. The same happened to Kaden, Grand Chief." Kaden followed with his own confession.

"Krahahaha! So Brother Kaden forgot as well!"

"That is correct, Chief Parker! Besides, what importance does the result hold? A warrior's contest exists only to feel through one's body how courageous the opponent truly is!"

"Krahahaha! Those words are completely correct! Brother Kaden always says exactly what Parker is thinking!" The two, embarrassed only moments earlier, stared at each other warmly after discovering that their minds had aligned yet again.

"Kaden was deeply moved by Chief Parker's fighting ability."

"Parker feels the same! He never imagined meeting a brother who fought with such boldness!"

"Kaden has something important to ask Chief Parker!"

"Krahahaha! Parker also has something he wishes to say!" They exchanged fervent gazes.

"Kaden wishes to honour Chief Parker as his elder brother!"

"Will Brother Kaden become Parker's younger brother?" They shouted at the same time.

"Krahahaha! Kaden will honour Chief Parker as his elder brother for the rest of his life!" Kaden pounded his chest and roared.

"Krahahaha! Parker will regard Brother Kaden as his younger brother and remain beside him for life!" Parker also struck his chest and swore.

"Let us go, Elder Brother!"

"Come, Younger Brother!" They placed their arms around each other's shoulders and walked toward the newly constructed settlement with satisfied expressions. Karath watched them leave in silence. Giving up on understanding those two would probably make life easier. At the centre of the new settlement stood a temporary platform approximately one metre high, assembled from cut stone, boulders, and packed earth. Karath climbed onto it and silently looked around.

"Oh!"

"Grand Chief!"

"Grand Shaman!" The platform was only one metre high, yet from its surface he could see tribespeople throughout the village looking upward and chanting his titles. He could also see the entire settlement. It was still painfully inadequate. Their population numbered only about four hundred and fifty. Because construction had focused upon the wall, there were not yet enough earthen houses for every family. Work on drainage channels had not even begun. The wall itself remained unsatisfactory.

Thanks to Orga's efforts, it was higher and stronger than the defences of the old settlement, but it still measured only about three metres in height and one metre in thickness. It could withstand creatures such as trolls, Horn Boars, or Giant Wolves. A monster comparable to a minotaur would probably smash through it like soft bean curd. Even so, they had finally reached this point. The progress was extraordinary compared with where they began.

A tribe of barely one hundred had grown into a union of four hundred and fifty. A nearly useless wooden fence had become a high stone wall, and Orga would continue reinforcing it. Every aspect of their lives had advanced beyond the past. That progress would continue as long as Karath remained here.

"Grand Chief!"

"Grand Shaman!" The tribespeople continued shouting toward him as he stood silently upon the platform. Karath abandoned one name he had considered. As a former game developer and devoted gamer, he had jokingly thought about naming the settlement Orgrimmar before climbing the platform. Once he stood before hundreds of people who had entrusted their futures to him, the joke disappeared from his mind.

As he continued developing this place, their number might rise into the thousands, tens of thousands, or perhaps even more. The weight of that responsibility became painfully clear from the platform. This was the true beginning. Instead of a joke, Karath searched Arnold's memories for a word that suited this place.

"This settlement is the beginning of our Five-Tribe Alliance and the root from which we will spread across and conquer this forest! From this day onward, this village shall be called Root!" The word referred to the roots of a tree. It was also familiar from the field of programming Karath had once studied. A tree extended from its roots into a trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. Karath hoped this settlement would become the beginning from which the Five-Tribe Alliance continued growing and spreading.

He hoped it would become an enormous tree that covered the hellish Grimwood Mountains and sheltered every member of his people beneath it. The name carried his sincere wishes, even if it also reflected the miserable naming sense of an engineer.

"Krahahaha!"

"It is an excellent name, Grand Chief!"

"Waaaah! This is Root Village!" Fortunately, the generous tribespeople accepted the name, from the oldest adults to the youngest children.

"Today marks the day our Five-Tribe Alliance begins spreading from this root throughout the entire forest! Every year, we shall celebrate this day with a festival!"

"Waaaaah!"

"Grand Chief!"

"A festival! Prepare the festival!"

"Today is the day we finally reached our starting point and the root first began to sprout! From now onward, this celebration shall be called the Sprouting Festival!" Thus, fifteen years and eight months after Karath was reborn as an orc, the alliance took its first true step forward.