Chapter 65

Without lingering further in the chieftain's tent, the shaman Sarota left at the right moment. After riding his dire wolf for several kilometers, he returned to the village he governed.

The orcs' ruling structure was extremely simple. Below the chieftain, there were no specific titles, and power was divided based on the chieftain's trust. Trusted lieutenants, offspring, or shamans like Sarota might each govern one or several villages, somewhat similar to the feudal system of human lords.

Upon returning to his village, the fearful expression on Sarota's face had long vanished, and his hunched figure straightened. Entering his tent, he casually placed his wooden staff on a dedicated, ornate wooden stand and then changed into a fine linen robe and boots, which most orcs would not wear.

Sitting behind a somewhat crude wooden table, Sarota, dressed in a robe, looked no different from a human scholar from the back, except for his facial features that confirmed he was an orc.

The decoration style inside Sarota's tent was vastly different from Chief Rohar's—though both were circular spaces, the most prominent items here were books.

The orcish script was far less complex and had a shorter history compared to human writing, and very few orcs wrote books. Therefore, a large portion of the books here were written in the human language Brinjari. As for their source, it naturally had something to do with the son of the duke...

"Lord Sarota, your student seeks an audience."

Not long after sitting down, a servant's voice came from outside the tent. Sarota, who had just picked up a piece of parchment, looked up and gestured for the person to enter. The orc who entered was young but robust, but unlike other orcs, his eyes lacked the usual aggressiveness and instead had a cunning similar to Sarota's.

"Teacher."

The orc walked to Sarota's wooden table, bowed respectfully, and greeted him with a cautious demeanor, full of reverence.

"Heh, I've only been back for a few minutes... It seems you're very concerned about my next plan?"

Sarota absentmindedly rubbed the dice made from bone, clearly not treating the "student" in front of him as an outsider. His current state was entirely genuine.

The humble student lowered his head and whispered, "Every time I think about the plan you told me, I wonder... If such a plan succeeds, this chaotic kingdom... might really have a chance of unification! So I'm really looking forward to it..."

"Heh, it's too early to say that." Sarota casually threw the voodoo dice and, after a moment of thought, whispered, "For now, this is the best outcome. The chieftain has assigned me another seventy-man squad, and with Kosa, a hundred-man dire wolf cavalry is more than enough to withstand any human border attacks."

"Teacher, Kosa—"

"Kosa won't fail." Sarota shook his head. "Don't worry about him. Only those who have failed before can truly be cautious. His squad will be safe; those scouts will only run when they see him."

The young orc nodded in understanding and then thought for a moment before asking, "Teacher, I still can't understand why the squad sent to ambush that noble would... fail?"

Sarota's eyelids lifted slightly, but he showed no signs of anger. Although it was a failed operation, he did not defend himself in front of his student:

"Failure. Heh, there's no need for so many reasons. I didn't expect that a scout squad would disrupt all my plans. How could such a difficult-to-deal-with scout appear in Finks Village? I don't know, but I know that next time, I won't give them any room to maneuver."

The shaman's words were filled with strength and confidence, clearly showing that the dead orcs had not shaken his ironclad resolve and will.

"The Eifert territory will gradually fall into chaos under our attacks, and then we must seize this opportunity..."

"Teacher, didn't that human count say he would—"

"He's not as reliable as I thought." Sarota waved his hand, clearly dissatisfied with his cooperation with Francis. "We are ultimately different from humans. Cooperation with them is always temporary. That short-sighted fellow would betray his own family for power... It's truly sad for humans."

"After the rainy season ends, we will start building new outposts again. My student, next, we will deal with those humans and avenge our tribe's warriors. At that time, you will follow me."

Hearing this, the young orc, named Solon, looked up excitedly, clearly understanding that Sarota had recognized his abilities. In orcish tribes, such recognition meant that Sarota had decided to pass on the "shaman" profession to this young apprentice.

Envisioning a bright future, Sarota's most talented student bowed deeply and declared loudly:

"Student Solon... will always follow in your footsteps!"

...

After the heavy rain, the air always carried the unique freshness of the grasslands.

Under the mild and not too hot climate, Noland Village seemed to always maintain its peaceful appearance. Since August, trade caravans had been coming and going between these villages. Sometimes, they would have a team of eight or nine horses, with carts loaded with various goods, stopping in the village to sell items that farmers and commoners found rare.

Merchants also played a role in spreading news. Sometimes, troubadours would perform here, singing ballads to win applause and copper coins, or they would share recent gossip from the kingdom, such as a duke's wife having an affair or a lord challenging someone to a duel.

During this time, Rody exchanged a few copper coins for news about Sally. The news was neither good nor bad: Francis's ugly face had not been discovered by the common people, and he continued to attend various banquets. Sally remained safe in the convent. It seemed that both were still secretly planning and waiting for the next opportunity to act.

This temporary stalemate was good news for Rody.

Rody had a long list of things he wanted to do, but he prioritized them. With the rainy season not yet over, it was a good opportunity to eliminate the orc threat as much as possible. Rody would not focus on the internal affairs of the Luciferon family first; instead, he would make the orcs feel the pain and fear—using a team of fewer than thirty to plunge them into more intense internal strife, thereby weakening their strength.

The rest of his plans were already outlined on parchment, covering commerce, politics, and networking. He wrote down everything he could think of, waiting to implement them one by one.

The materials for making bows and forging were already prepared, but Rody did not immediately start manufacturing new weapons due to an issue with "skill levels."

The main reason was the item level: the equipment Rody could make could only be of a level lower than his own. For example, the "Hunter's Set," though powerful, was only level 4. If it were level 6 or 8, the bonuses would be much higher. After much consideration, he decided to postpone making a new bow until after he leveled up, as it would be more cost-effective to make a higher-level bow directly.

During the days he spent upgrading the leather armor for all the soldiers in his team using various high-quality materials, he noticed some differences from before—when the materials used were slightly more complex, the steps that could previously be completed with "system assistance" became extremely difficult.

The "Hunter's Set," which used a single material, was still manageable, but when he tried to make subtle adjustments and enhancements to the leather armor, he found that many steps were difficult to complete successfully, and some parts required seventeen or eighteen attempts to barely finish.

At this point, the status bar would display a message saying "Current leatherworking level is insufficient," which frustrated him greatly.