A commotion stirred in the Kobold camp at the foot of the hill. They had heard the warning cries of the Beastman Barbarians, but their poor vantage point at the base of the hill prevented them from seeing where the threat was coming from.

One Kobold attempted to climb to the hilltop to scout. SWISH! A Fine Steel Javelin plunged into the grass right in front of it, its shaft still quivering from the immense force of the impact.

The Beastmen shot them a look sharper than a blade, instantly suppressing the Kobolds’ agitation.

It was a warning, but also an act of contempt. Hyenas are unfit to stand with lions, and these muscle-bound Barbarians had never given the Kobolds a second glance.

As time passed, the dark figures drew closer to High Cliff Castle, and more details became clear.

It was a party of twenty, all strangely clad in black hooded robes that concealed their faces.

Levi’s assumption that they were human was not unfounded.

Though he couldn’t see their faces, he could tell they had to be human from their builds and gait.

More importantly, the natives of the Wilderness were all coarse and destitute. Who would have the spare coin for such theatrics?

Typically, they would just roll up their sleeves and settle disputes with their fists, not play these sorts of mind games.

Levi narrowed his eyes, wondering about this group’s origins. Unable to figure it out, he finally beckoned with his hand.

"Javelin."

A Barbarian immediately brought a Javelin to his Lord. Levi hefted it a couple of times, then turned his gaze to the distant party.

Regardless of where this group came from or what they intended, it was necessary to let them know that High Cliff Castle was not to be trifled with.

Then, whether it came to a fight or negotiations, they would have to think twice, and High Cliff Castle would hold the advantage.

The two parties were now five hundred paces apart. This was beyond the range of a Hand Crossbow; only a large Bed Crossbow could shoot that far.

Let alone a carbon-based lifeform. But clearly, their Lord couldn’t be judged by the standards of an ordinary carbon-based lifeform.

Levi swung his arm back and threw with all his might. The Fine Steel Javelin shot out in a straight line, whistling through the air, and finally slammed into the ground about three hundred paces away, burying itself almost to the hilt.

This was a warning shot to draw a line, a show of military force. If they dared to cross the boundary he had just drawn, High Cliff Castle would have the right to take military action against them.

The group was startled by the incredibly powerful throw. They stopped, seemingly to discuss something. But, understanding the meaning behind the gesture, they continued to advance, albeit much more slowly.

Levi’s gaze grew sharp as a torch, following their figures intently.

When the party reached the Javelin’s location, a few of the hooded figures tried to pull it out, but they couldn’t budge it in the slightest and eventually gave up.

Just as Levi was trying to figure out what they were doing...

The diminutive figure at the head of the group took out a piece of white cloth, held it up over their head with a small branch, and—as if the cloth possessed some protective Magic that guaranteed their safety—crossed the line marked by the Javelin and continued their determined advance toward High Cliff Castle.

’Are they surrendering?’

Levi scratched his head, hesitant and unwilling to jump to conclusions.

Magic had existed in this world a thousand years ago. Although the Magic Tide had receded in recent times, turning Magic into little more than a street trick, there was no telling if some form of Witchcraft existed in the Wilderness that didn’t require Magic Power.

This group was of unknown origin, and their secretive, concealed appearance was very much like that of Wizards who controlled Witchcraft.

This inconspicuous white cloth might be some kind of illusion.

If he were to suffer an unexpected setback now, his reputation would be ruined.

’Maybe one day I’ll become a renowned Emperor, and people will say, "Don’t be fooled by how glorious he is now; back in the day, he was taken down by a few Wizards from the Wilderness."’

"It’s probably a surrender."

Zat hadn’t considered such baseless possibilities, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.

He was all brawn and no brain. To him, if they raised a white flag, they were definitely surrendering.

...

Baisitina Dan Yaxili was a Princess—or, to be precise, the Princess of a Tribe of a thousand people.

She and her Tribe were descendants of the former Royal Family’s nobility. Their ancestors had lived in luxury, and the entire land of Debei had once belonged to them.

But disaster always strikes when least expected. Civil war erupted in the Kingdom overnight. The Liuyuine family of the Eastern Territory launched a rebellion, catching the Kingdom completely off guard. The Royal Capital fell in a single night.

Overnight, the entire Dan Yasili Royal Family became wanted fugitives.

Her ancestors fled into the Kas Mountain Range in the Northern Wilderness to escape their pursuers, and she was the descendant of one of the princesses from the direct line of succession.

The Yulian Family subsequently succeeded in claiming the throne, changing the kingdom’s name to Debei, but they never gave up on hunting down the survivors.

This made their survival extremely difficult. The Wilderness was already impoverished, and all kinds of resources were scarce.

With no books to record their heritage, relying solely on oral tradition, they no longer possessed the knowledge and civilization of their ancestors. If they continued to reproduce generation after generation, the newborn children would become no different from the savages in the Kas Mountain Range.

This was no idle worry. Other branches of the Royal Family who had fled into the Kas Mountain Range—the siblings of her own ancestors—had interbred with the local savages. Now, their descendants were indistinguishable from the Northern Barbarians.

Her branch of the Tribe was the last remaining, pure-blooded line of the Royal Family.

She knew clearly that her people were different from the savages around the Kas mountains.

They understood etiquette, knew the calendar, performed rites for their ancestors, and knew how to cultivate the land, plant wheat, and wait for the next year’s harvest. During the season watched over by the Ice and Snow Goddess, they would sing together the poems passed down for hundreds of years.

They did not live like savages, eating raw meat and drinking blood.

If they continued to hide in the Kas Mountain Range like their forefathers, she could clearly predict the future that awaited her people.

For the future of her people, Baisitina made up her mind: she had to lead them out of the Kas Mountain Range and pledge allegiance to one of the nobles of the Debei Kingdom.

But she wasn’t sure if, after a hundred years, the Debei Kingdom was still hunting them. The nobles might not only refuse to take them in but could also report their whereabouts to the Debei Royal Family.

So, she had been observing and waiting.

Until a Pioneer Lord arrived in this Wilderness.

This Pioneer Lord’s subordinates were a group of Beastmen, and the Jackal Wolfman Tribe they defeated had also become his subjects. He didn’t even turn his nose up at Goblins and Kobolds, making use of what others considered trash.

One had to understand that Debei was a human kingdom; its nobles would not easily accept a group of Alien Races.

This gave Baisitina a glimmer of hope. If this Lord could accept even Alien Races, could he also accept her people, the Ancestors?

Furthermore, the other savage tribes in the Kas Mountain Range were already eyeing them covetously. Running out of time, she decided to take a risk and test the waters.

This was the opportunity Baisitina saw!