Chapter 24

When Zugg entered the room called the Council Chamber, the main figures of the clan were already gathered.

He walked calmly past the heads of his fellow clan members, who bowed in unison, and took a seat among the elders at the back.

"Then, let's hear the report!"

In response to Zugg's words, one of the warriors stepped forward to the center of the room.

"I report. Four days ago, a force that humans call a battalion invaded the territory of the Fang Clan."

Everyone in the room already knew that the Fang Clan had been approached to take in those who could not fight in exchange for fighting the human army. Furthermore, a large-scale fire had occurred in the mountains where the Fang Clan lived four days ago, which could be seen from here.

Combining these facts, it was easy for everyone to imagine that the Fang Clan had fought the humans. Nevertheless, the elders grumbled, as the invading force was larger than they had anticipated.

"A battalion means a considerable number, doesn't it?"

"Those humans. They seem to want to destroy us completely."

"Wasn't the Fang Clan supposed to have divided their members to various places for the winter?"

The Claw Clan had not just been passive observers. Not only the warrior who reported here, but many skilled warriors had been sent out to scout and report on the Fang Clan's movements. As a result, they knew the Fang Clan's situation in great detail.

"Yes. From what I can see, there were only a few more warriors than the number of fingers on both hands and feet. However, the result was..."

There, the warrior hesitated.

Zugg and the others thought it was understandable. He must have witnessed the Fang Clan being massacred and the mountains set on fire. Even if they were from different clans, they were still Zoan. Seeing such a massacre would surely shake even a warrior.

"Enough, you don't have to say it!"

Zugg stopped the warrior who was about to continue.

"Everyone. Though we are of different clans, we share the same blood. Let us pray for their souls."

All the Zoan present observed a moment of silence.

Among them, Zugg was the only one who was irritated.

That fool Garam! He was so stubborn! If he had just humbly asked for my help, I would have come to his aid at any time!

If Garam had heard this, he would have been furious, Zugg thought seriously.

Zugg himself did not dislike Garam. On the contrary, he highly regarded his abilities as a warrior. However, the feeling that arose from this was not respect or affection, but a sense of competition. He had secretly wanted to face Garam one-on-one and decide the winner, but now that opportunity was lost forever, and he felt a selfish anger.

"Maybe I was a bit too greedy."

When he was asked to take in those who could not fight, he had demanded a prince as compensation, but perhaps he had been a bit too greedy, he thought with self-mockery.

"Did the prince die?"

"No, he is alive."

This was interesting, Zugg thought.

If the prince was alive, protecting him and gathering the surviving members of the Fang Clan scattered across the region would make the Claw Clan a major clan. With the prince as a leader and the power of the clan, it would be easy to unite all the clans under the Claw Clan.

"Do you know where the prince is?"

"Um, I think he is either at the Fang Clan's hideout or in the village."

The warrior, asked, answered with a puzzled look.

"Hmm. Those humans. If they left the prince alive and on the spot, they must be trying to lure us there as bait..."

The warrior realized that Zugg was mistaken by this monologue.

"No, Chief, that's not it!"

"What is it?"

"The Fang Clan has not been destroyed. They have defeated the human army!"

The unexpected words caused a stir among the Zoan present. The Fang Clan, already short on warriors due to the winter, had no chance against a battalion-sized force. They had assumed that the Fang Clan had been wiped out by the humans or had fled with heavy casualties, so the shock was great.

"That's impossible!"

"Ridiculous! How could they drive away such a large force?!"

"Did the Mane Clan or the Eye Clan come to their aid?"

Zugg stopped the elders who were starting to argue and first had the warrior explain everything.

However, the battle, later called the Battle of Hogunare Hills, was far from the Zoan's usual way of fighting. The warrior himself did not fully understand what he had seen, and he stumbled over his words several times.

But this made the story even more believable to the listeners.

"Unbelievable..."

"Who would have thought such a way of fighting?!"

The elders said this in unison.

"I can't believe it even though I saw it with my own eyes. It was a scene that made me feel fear, as if the city of sin, which was burned to the ground in one night due to the wrath of the fire god in the myths, had come to life again."

The warrior shuddered, as if recalling the scene.

Zugg, who had been listening with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, as if not to miss a single word, sighed and opened his eyes.

"What happened to Garam?"

He had only met Garam a few times and did not know him well. Nevertheless, he had heard several times that Garam was called the strongest warrior of the Fang Clan from a young age.

There was a huge gap between the image of Garam he had inferred and the way this battle was fought.

This battle seemed more like something orchestrated by someone else and carried out by Garam and the Fang Clan warriors, Zugg analyzed.

However, the question was who had given Garam the strategy.

As far as Zugg knew, there was no one among the Zoan in the plains, including the Fang Clan, who could come up with such an unconventional idea.

"...It's not a Zoan."

The way of fighting, using fire to confuse and defeat a large army, did not seem like something a Zoan would do.

Someone other than a Zoan must have commanded Garam and the Fang Clan.

This was what Zugg's intuition told him.

"Was there anything unusual about the Fang Clan?"

"Ah! Now that you mention it, there was one thing that caught my attention..."

"What is it? Speak up!"

It might be a clue to the mysterious person who commanded the Fang Clan, and Zugg leaned forward.

"I only saw it from a distance, so I'm not sure, but I saw the prince walking with a suspicious person several times."

"What do you mean by suspicious? Be more precise!"

"Ah! It seemed to be... a human child."

This was far from the person Zugg had imagined.

Zugg had imagined a dwarf well-versed in handling fire, or a human skilled in cunning warfare, with countless battles under his belt, as a seasoned warrior or general.

Such a person would not be young. Moreover, a proud Zoan would never follow a young member of another species, no matter how desperate the situation.

"Nonsense! It's probably that eccentric prince. She probably saved a human child who was mixed in with the human army on a whim."

Zugg dismissed the warrior's report with a laugh.

Shemul's unconventional behavior was well-known. Zugg thought it was not surprising that she would be seen with a human child, but he did not realize that this human child was the very person who had brought victory to the Fang Clan.

"Chief!"

A warrior rushed in. He came to Zugg, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head.

"What is it?! What happened?!"

"Ah! A messenger from the Fang Clan has arrived!"

This was like a ship coming when you need it. Whether to cooperate with or oppose the Fang Clan in the future, Zugg needed to know the identity of the mysterious person who had given them the strategy. If he could get a clue from the messenger, it would be a bonus, and Zugg quickly thought about it.

"Good. Bring him here immediately!"

"No, he left a message for the chief and has already gone."

Leaving a message and going without even greeting the chief was an outrageous act of rudeness. The fellow Zoan present were angry, but Zugg did not get angry and chuckled.

"This is quite a dislike."

He had earned considerable anger from the Fang Clan by taking advantage of their weakness and demanding the prince. However, if he were blamed for it, Zugg would have laughed it off, saying, "So what?"

Zoan warriors often talk about pride, but it is just self-satisfaction. If you don't win, you get nothing. The defeated have no right to speak.

If you don't want to be taken advantage of, don't show your weakness.

This is what Zugg thought.

Among the proud Zoan warriors, Zugg could be considered a heretic in his thinking.

"So, what did the Fang Clan say?"

"Ah! It's hard to believe, but they said, 'If you want to reclaim the plains, lend us your strength.'"

Reclaiming the plains was the wish of all the Zoan in the area, not just the Claw Clan.

It was easy to say, but not easy to achieve.

To announce that they would do it was to declare that the mysterious person who had joined the Fang Clan was either a fool or a great person, and Zugg felt a thrilling excitement.

"Interesting, Garam! You want to reclaim the plains!"

After a good laugh, Zugg stood up straight.

"I will go and hear the story myself! Prepare a gift! It's a victory celebration! Prepare enough food to surprise the hungry stomachs of the Fang Clan! Gather the main warriors. Let's show them that we, the Claw Clan, are the strongest clan now."