NOVEL WEB Chapter 107
Chapter 107 – Survivors (7)
“The rumors about the Arin Tribe have been confirmed as true. Could there be other forces behind them?”
“Impossible. How could we possibly assist a group so isolated in the eastern fringes?”
Luke, having absorbed the crumbled Garhan’s Tribe and encountered continual clashes with the Arin Tribe in the process, summoned a mage to interrogate him.
“Could other settlement forces be supporting them under the guise of aiding us?”
The mage firmly asserted that such a thing was absolutely impossible. It wasn’t without basis. The location occupied by the Arin Tribe was considered a fringe area, and to reach them, one would have to cross the grasslands.
Considering the various tribes residing in that space, it would be nearly impossible to interact without being noticed.
‘So, are they building their own castles, forging iron tools, and cultivating abundant crops with their own hands? That’s absurd.’
Yet no answers were becoming apparent. Luke’s suspicions continued to grow, and he craved more information.
Barun had not even begun to consider a conversation based on equal standing. He thought it pointless to engage in dialogue with an opponent one could simply trample.
“They dare to reject us while accepting those who fled without hesitation. Ignoring how they plan to feed so many, this could be an opportunity to plant spies amongst them.”
“In that case…”
“Send one of Garhan’s soldiers who has surrendered to mingle among the refugees and infiltrate them. We need to know exactly who they are.”
He ordered the family members to be taken hostage and a soldier of Garhan to be disguised as a refugee and sent to the Arin Tribe. The soldier, with his family held hostage, had no choice but to follow the orders with a heavy heart.
Fortunately, this wasn’t such a difficult command; the soldier soon managed to blend in with the other refugees, posing as one who had just barely escaped, and met with the Arin scouts who had come to fetch them.
“We will accept you all as members of our tribe, so do not be afraid.”
“There is no shortage of food, so fill your bellies!”
As the Arin scouts comforted them, they led them to the field base where Barun was waiting. There, they would regroup and then hastily send them to the village that had been hastily established.
Barun reassured the refugees loyal to Garhan that he would take revenge for Garhan.
‘Ah, if only I had joined them from the beginning.’
The soldier-turned-spy watched in genuine despair as the bountiful offerings and kindness of the Arin Tribe began to influence the refugees, quickly showing results.
“Look at this!”
“Truly, the Guardian Deity is with us!”
As the genuinely moved residents crossed an unseen boundary on their way to the village, they were suddenly lifted with an irresistible force and whisked across the air into the village.
It was a scene that would astonish anyone who had never seen such a spectacle.
“…Huh?”
But the soldier trailing behind, anxiously awaiting his turn, was left alone, bewildered. Even the hammer that appeared midair didn’t help his situation.
Petrified, the soldier sank to the ground.
“The deity possesses the power to see through one’s intentions.”
“The fact that they not only did not take you directly to the village but also prepared such a judgment means they view you as untrustworthy!”
The atmosphere among those nearby began to change gradually.
Barun, already aware that untrustworthy individuals never get transported by the deity, saw the surrounding warriors and soldiers draw their weapons.
“P-please forgive me!”
Cornered against the cliff, he hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, trembling. Barun rushed to calm those ready to strike him and approached the soldier directly.
“Did Luke send you?”
“Y-yes. I was ordered to infiltrate by disguising as a refugee, with my family taken hostage.”
An ambiguous lie would not pass. Realizing this, he trembled in fear and confessed the entire truth.
Barun nodded as if he had anticipated this, while the surrounding warriors huffed in anger.
“Chieftain! That man never intended to engage in conversation with us from the beginning. He sent a spy, and if he thinks we look weaker than he expected, he plans to lead an army to invade us.”
“Indeed. Even if we were to converse, he would surely look down on us.”
“You’re right. Even if we desire peace, it’s futile if the other side doesn’t acknowledge it.”
Barun, while calming the agitated group, did not deny their words. The atmosphere for war was steadily being prepared.
‘If we must fight, we can choose where and how to engage.’
Barun pondered how to best utilize their capabilities to engage in war.
“I don’t know how sincere Chieftain Luke is, but as he shows animosity towards us, I believe we should settle this decisively.”
“A definitive conclusion?”
“Exactly. If we let things flow vaguely, we’ll only expose our information.”
Barun conveyed to Riena that if they were to fight, he wanted a definitive end. With bugs threatening at any moment, it was only fitting to think that way.
“So it seems we might need some deception to lure them into a clear confrontation.”
Barun called back the spy they had just captured. Since they had suspected and captured him, it was reasonable to plan to use him if possible.
*
“Looks like we can catch spies this way too.”
Allied forces were marked green, while enemy forces were red. One figure had maintained a steady red even when everything shifted to green, and that was the spy.
As they passed the screen, I picked up everyone except the last spy and transported them to the village.
Then I raised my hammer to smash this spy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the spy burst into tears and prostrated himself on the ground as the villagers pressured him, leading us to uncover Chieftain Luke’s intentions.
‘Ah, what a sight. So fighting is the solution.’
It had been bothersome, but my mindset had completely shifted. Rather than lingering and creating ongoing trouble, it made more sense to decisively eliminate them and focus on the bugs.
If Barun and the villagers were prepared for war, I intended to throw my support behind them.
– It doesn’t seem like someone else’s problem. As our scale grows, it feels like nobles and kings nearby are causing all sorts of trouble.
“Dealing with bugs is just as important, so we must pay attention. I think that’s only natural. We’re not producing people like in a game.”
Lee So-Yeon appeared to be undergoing similar experiences. It seemed that this was an inevitable event arising from the increasing scale of nurturing the residents.
Since we weren’t just spawning soldiers out of thin air like in a game, careful management was vital.
The relationships with surrounding forces would be a crucial task for us to expand our population and strengthen our influence.
‘Barun is ready to fight too.’
Despite being relatively moderate, Barun would fight decisively if necessary. The amount of troops he would mobilize and how to fight would be decided and executed by them, so I could only watch for now.
In the days past, Barun actively utilized the abilities acquired from their encounters with Luhan’s tribe.
Now, with a huge increase in both capabilities and manpower, I was curious about what methods they would employ.
Having completed the towering walls, it would be no problem to conduct a defensive battle in the village. But the refugees flooding in couldn’t enter the village, so they might devise another method.
“–. —!”
The next day, Barun was issuing commands to the people early on. And under his orders, countless individuals began to move busily.
‘What are they trying to do?’
It seemed the villagers didn’t intend to merely hold out within the castle walls. They appeared eager to create opportunities for a counterattack in case of emergencies.
“Dig, tunnel.”
The first task initiated was the mobilization of dozens of miners to dig tunnels. They began excavating the ground near the village, taking turns and rapidly digging away.
The tunnel, structured in 4×4 blocks of 1m, started extending significantly. Crossing one screen, then another, and again, they pressed westward.
With dozens working in shifts and using a pickaxe, they were digging faster than a modern-day construction site using heavy machinery.
‘It’s essentially like carving a highway.’
There were hills, forests, and muddy paths above the tunnel, but they disregarded them. This straight underground tunnel would allow them to transport large numbers of troops across at a tremendous speed.
With enemies present on the same screen, I couldn’t assist with my mouse, but I could still funnel troops into the rear without intervention.
“–! —!”
However, Barun’s directives did not end with merely creating attack tunnels.
Acting as if they had no intention to merely hold out, they began to develop the outpost constructed to accommodate refugees into a fortress.
‘There’s no reason for us to fight together.’
The opponent was a chieftain aiming to dominate the grasslands, leading a formidable cavalry to sweep their foes away. Did it make sense to engage them head-on on horseback?
I halted my cursor as I intended to support the defensive towers at that outpost. I had a hunch that Barun was creating that outpost to lure in enemies.
Once we decided to fight, we needed to ensure it was a definitive end.
They would build a deceptively easy fortress to encourage the opponent not to give up after seeing the massive walls established in the village, compelling them to throw themselves in.
Once we absorbed their turn, it would be our turn to do anything we wanted.
‘Double agent?’
While altering the landscape to prepare, Barun released the spy they had captured yesterday. He wouldn’t have just released him without a plan, meaning the spy had indeed shifted from enemy to neutral.
It felt more convenient to think he had received certain directives from Barun.
If the spy carried false information to Chieftain Luke, he would trust it and invade, falling right into our ambush.
“Even if there’s some travel time, sending him back in a day feels a bit much, doesn’t it?”
Scratching my head, I sipped the coffee I had made. That double agent would likely become the catalyst, so a war would erupt within a few days at most.
“Delivery has arrived.”
“Oh, great.”
That was when someone left a package at our doorstep.
The additional monitors I had ordered last time had finally arrived.
‘I’m not even someone who broadcasts.’
Chuckling to myself, I unwrapped the package and pulled out two new monitors. Speaking of which, installing these would require clearing off my desk completely.
As the residents on my desktop prepared for war in their respective spots, I tidied up my desk and rearranged everything.