章 32: New Target

Aeryon put down the map and he raise his chin and he look toward Garron and he ask

'Are you not angry?' then he look around the camp. He looks at Garron warriors. All of them have a cold expression

They wanted to be angry but they couldn't. So, the only thing they could do is try not to show an angry expression. But that led them to have a stiff expression

Aeryon could tell that none of them could accept this

And Aeryon is not afraid to point this out

'I could see that your warriors could not accept this' Aeryon look at that someone beside Garron.

Waqu…. Garron sworn brother. He is not happy either. Looking at this, Aeryon smiles and the smile seems to be mocking Garron

He added 'Neither is your sworn brother'

Garron hearing this laughed

'Is it useful for them to be angry? I decided this. And I decide to give you what you want'

There is silence between them. Aeryon look at Garron like he wanted to make sure that Garron means what he said

The silence between them lingered but Garron said nothing.

Aeryon could see everyone expression. None of them could accept but Garron could accept.

The more Garron is like this, the more Aeryon is wary of him. And Garron also seems to know this.

But, he himself knows he could not win in this situation. If he acted the way that Aeryon wanted him to do, he would lose.

If he did not act the way Aeryon wanted him to, then Aeryon would become warier against him. Whichever way he chooses to act, there is disadvantage. Garron could only choose the way that is less damaging to him.

The silence continued. Belarion was never a man who could stand silence. But he knows the importance of this meeting. And the more those warriors look at his brother with such cold eyes, the more Belarion became even more fierce.

His hand is now on the grip of his short sword, ready to pull it out in case of an attack.

It almost seems like a battle would erupt at any moment.

Aeryon close his eyes. He sems to be weighing things in his mind. Then he opens his eyes

Aeryon sighed and then ask.

'Why?'

Garron chuckles

'You have proven your mettle and it is true that I could not have done what I have done today without your help. The best-case scenario for me was to free my tribe from under the Xewa tribe. I never expected to win a battle against them, to wipe them out so thoroughly like this and to even gain so many things. Even if you take all, how could I complain?'

Aeryon only snorted.

He would be a fool to take what Garron said at face value.

He said that even if Aeryon take everything he would not complain?

Hmph, any other leader might take that offer.

But Aeryon is not stupid.

Even if Garron did not raise any complaint, when the tribes of the Great Steppe find out that he had done such a thing to his allies in such a way, there is nothing good waiting for him.

In Yan, in anywhere, reputation is very important.

If he is known as someone who is petty and stingy, which war chief would want to ally with him in the future?

Which of them could trust him?

The Viper has his bad reputation but he could leverage it because what he did is still acceptable to some and so even such a bad reputation have certain sway over people

In some places, one even attribute Viper cunningness as ingenious.

But the reputation of greedy is not something that is good nor would it have positive effect. Maybe, for an individual it is fine.

But for a tribe to be known as greedy, that is a reputation to heavy to bear in the Great Steppe.

If he had invincibility buff all the time, of course he did not have think too much or resort to schemes and plots but he did not have such an ability

Three days is the only time he could have this kind of ability.

And he also knows that he needed allies for the coming days.

That is why he still accept Garron help even when he could have solved the Xewa and Ghar tribe by himself.

He wanted to create a reputation for himself, strengthen himself and forge alliances with other tribes

All of this would be his shield to protect him after his invincibility buff ended. Aeryon sacrificed the invincibility card to create a sturdy foundation for his tribe.

The stronger his tribe, the stronger he would become

After all, after three days, even if he destroyed two tribes by his lonesome and he has no allies, then what will waist hi is the suppression of the other tribes

And Aeryon wanted to break that suppression.

He looks at Garron again and he could tell that he is a schemer.

And so, for a second there his killing intent rises. Even though he did not show any desire to unsheathe his sword, his killing intent rises

And Garron notices it but he pretended not to.

The warrior under Garron also notices but seeing their lord not doing anything also prevent them from overreacting

The silence once again filled the tent.

'Hah!' Aeryon suddenly shouted, releasing his breath. At the same time, he release his killing intent from his heart

He extinguishes his desire to kill

Some of the warriors nearly unsheathe his sword but fortunately the warrior beside him stop him by pushing back his hand that holds the grip of the sword

Even Garron was startled but he manage to pretend like nothing happened. Aeryon then finally break silence

'I am not someone that will let my ally to eat nothing'

Garron only smiles at this and nodded

Aeryon then discuss again with Garron.

In the end they finally decided the distribution of the reward

He still takes much of the resources and people and horses and even the livestock but he also allows the Utgard tribe to also gain some resources.

Even though the Xewa and Ghar tribe are small, after all they are dividing the resources of these two tribes.

So even a little means a lot especially to small tribes like Brolgadhr and Utgard

The matter of the bounties have settled but Aeryon did not want to end this meeting just yet

He simply opens the map again. This action made Garron and Waqu curious.

'is there something else, Son of Rakarys?'

'There is two small tribes near this place' Aeryon said while pointing a point on the map

And there is a smile on his face and dangerous glint in his eyes.

Hearing this even though Aeryon did not yet say what he wanted to do, Garron face paled. But he quickly controls his facial expression.

And Aeryon also did not caught that. That for a moment, there was a second where Garron leaked his killing intent and his eyes become very sharp but his skin becomes very pale

There is a mix of fear but also a mix of shock that could not be hidden

Could this young man be this brave and reckless? He thought to himself.

The two tribes is near the Brolgadhr tribe. He wanted to clean up the threats around his tribe. And if this succeeds, his area of control would become very large.

They need more warriors and with the people that he got from the Xewa tribe and Ghar tribe…. he would expand his warrior pool

In other words, this young chief would probably follow Xewa and Ghar tribe example. Slowly becoming a large tribe in this area. And the more he thinks about it, the more warier Garron become of Aeryon

"This is a very ambitious young man"

"Lend me two hundred men. And I will give your one third of the bounty" he declares.

"You intend to attack these two tribes?" Aeryon nodded.

For a moment there is silence in the tent. He did note expect that Aeryon instead of celebrating his victory is now about to try to seize two tribes.

These two tribes that Aeryon wanted to subjugate is not like Xewa tribe and Ghar tribe. It is a small tribe that is newly established.

And such, the ending of these tribe is already decided. And these two tribes were also the target of the Xewa tribe and Ghar tribe before.

Garron knows this because Xeqani once said that after he conso0lidtae the area of the Brolgadhr tribe, he wanted to subjugate the smaller tribes.

Who would have thought that Aeryon would also propose the same kind of plan?

But, this plan benefits the tribe of Brolgadhr more than it benefits his tribe. Even though he could also get some resources, in the end, he strengthen the Brolgadhr tribe.

He could see the map. And he could see if this young chief managed to do this, what he would achieve would be the stabilization of his borders.

However, right now, could he refuse? This young chief…..would probably not take rejection well.

He did not answer.

Instead, there is silence.

And this silence felt pressuring to the people in the tent. Waqu did not dare to question his sworn brother right now.

And so, are the veteran warriors in the tent.

They look at Aeryon, and they did not know what this young man think about. Instead of resting and enjoying the victory, he did not want to stop and even wanted to subjugate other people tribe.

If other people said this, they might think that person is bragging or saying nonsensical stuff.

But they have seen Aeryon prowess in battle.

This is a person who treats the warriors of Xewa tribe like they are sheep.

And there is also that Belarion.

When you give him a squad of warriors, he is like a lion that tears into the enemy formation.

With ruthless and powerful strength, he would break the defence of the enemies as easily breaking a thin branch of a tree.

"Why?" the question echoes around the tent.