47 – Herbivore Corps
“I think I understand why the tradition was created.”
[Yeah. If they become warriors, the carnivore beastmen would have it too easy.]
Honestly, I didn’t understand the tradition of the Blue Moon until now.
They said it was to relieve the hunting instinct of the carnivore beastmen, but I didn’t see the need to restrict the herbivore beastmen.
But my mind changed after seeing the situation that unfolded before my eyes.
The herbivore beastmen were more powerful than I expected, and they couldn’t even control their own strength perfectly.
If those monstrous guys were mobilized for monster hunting, it would be obvious that the prey of the carnivorous beastmen would decrease. Also, there would not be no cases where the two sides clashed due to the excitement brought by the battle.
‘I guess I have to operate it in a reserve force format.’
After figuring out the reality, it seemed that it was too risky to completely abolish the tradition.
So it seemed better to aim for a small unit that was relatively easy to control and could be mobilized only when needed.
After finishing all my thoughts, I raised my head and looked around the beastmen.
A giant bovine man was breaking through the wall he had knocked down and rejoined the group.
“You did a good job. You’re very strong, huh?”
“Uh-huh!”
“You fix that house later.”
“Uh-uh?!”
Innocent eyes that did not match his size turned to me.
It was as if he was asking, ‘Why are you doing this when you told me to break it!’
But wasn’t it the other side that couldn’t control their own strength?
I thought it was not a problem to worry about, so I turned my head and looked at everyone in the square.
I must have confirmed the powerful strength of the herbivorous beastmen, and now it was time to recruit the warriors in earnest.
“Everyone, pay attention. I’m going to talk about something important now.”
I focused everyone’s attention with a thick and low voice.
The chick that was in my arms grumbled and giggled at my voice, but I ignored it and showed the dignity of a warrior leader.
Fortunately, the beastmen gathered in the square all focused on me with polite attitudes.
I took out the proof of the warrior leader that I had received from my mother-in-law and continued to speak.
“Most of you are meeting me for the first time. I am Gaul Crudd, the druid candidate who was appointed as the warlord this time. This tree spirit as big as a night owl is Pii. I look forward to working with you.”
[Hey! I’m bigger than a night owl?!]
“I assume you all know about the crisis that has hit the leyline lake. More monsters than expected have flocked in for the hunting season, and the warriors of Blue Moon are having a hard time right now. If this continues, it’s only a matter of time before the city’s defenses are breached. We need everyone’s help in this situation.”
The faces of the beastmen showed worry and doubt at my brief explanation.
They understood that Blue Moon was in danger, but they wondered what they could do about it.
Sure enough, a rabbit beastman stepped forward and asked a question.
He was a tough-looking old man of the rabbit tribe, with black rabbit ears tightly wrapped around his head.
“We herbivorous beastmen can’t even think of joining the fight because of the city’s tradition. What can we do to help save Blue Moon?”
Many beastmen nodded and agreed with his question.
Among them, some showed resentment and sorrow on their faces, while others lowered their heads and expressed regret.
They must have felt sorry for their powerless position in front of the tradition.
I raised my voice to ease their frustration.
“I’m going to create a new unit composed of only herbivorous beastmen, with the permission of the elders. This unit will be directly commanded by me, the druid candidate and the warlord, and will mainly be responsible for the scavenging work to support the front-line warriors.”
“Scavenging work, huh. Then you’re not going to participate in the battle, I guess.”
“That’s right. Thanks to that, we can avoid the long tradition. But we can’t guarantee safety. We may encounter demons or monsters, and face all kinds of dangerous situations.”
“What are you going to do if you meet a demon or a monster?”
“If we fail to run away, we’ll have to fight. But there’s no need to worry too much. Monsters are our prey before they are predators. We can handle them well enough even without the warriors.”
Of course, I didn’t intend to run away if I met a monster during the scavenging work.
I had to use such opportunities to give them some combat experience.
But that was just my intention.
Since there was still some tradition left, they couldn’t fight openly, so the training and practice of the ‘Herbivore Corps’ had to be done secretly.
To do that, they needed aggressive and taciturn talents.
I looked at everyone and shouted.
“But it’s dangerous, so I won’t force you! Only the brave beastmen who want to protect the Lake of Veins and the Blue Moon, their families and neighbors, stay and everyone else disperse!”
It seemed to scare them a bit, but I wasn’t too worried.
Their strong will was evident from their ears and tails.
“You must know why we gathered you.”
“That’s right. All the people who are left have one thing in common: they have left home.”
As my short speech ended, some of the beastmen showed remorse and turned away.
But about twenty beastmen remained firmly in their seats, waiting for my words.
It seemed that there was no more person to leave as they started to buzz.
As I quietly stepped forward, Ebi, who was standing next to me, handed me the ‘talent list’ and said.
“All the remaining people are the talents recommended by Miss Lua. It seems that only the people who came to watch have left.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There are twenty-two people, and none of them are missing.”
“None of them are missing? That’s quite amazing.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Miss Lua is famous for having a keen eye. She is a mother who watches over the whole city, so you won’t lose anything by trusting her.”
Trust your mother-in-law’s keen eye.
At Ebi’s words, I lowered my head and looked at the talent list.
The paper was full of beastmen-style names, and my mother-in-law’s advice was written in a neat font.
“Among the Toins, ‘Gahso’ is quick-witted, and among the Woos, ‘Niyor’ is strong. They have upright personalities and no risk of being corrupted, so they should be kept close and made into subordinates.”
I lifted my head and looked at the twenty-two beastmen.
Judging by the fact that there were eleven Toins and eleven Woos, they were not talents that my mother-in-law had thought of on the spot.
She must have looked for talents beforehand, thinking that they would help her daughter.
I decided to trust my mother-in-law’s insight and opened my mouth.
“Then I will make the twenty-two people gathered here into members of the Herbivore Corps. The Toins’ Gahso and the Woos’ Niyor, come forward.”
The ones who stepped out at my call were two people who stood out.
The Toin who had asked me a question and the Woo who had broken the wooden wall earlier.
I faced the two people who came forward and spoke to everyone.
“I will entrust these two people with the roles of Toin leader and Woo leader. If anyone dislikes or opposes this, speak now.”
“It is an honor.”
“Hmm!”
Fortunately, Gahso and Niyor nodded their heads readily.
There was no one who objected either, so it seemed that I could finish the troop formation like this.
Then it was time to dive into the real thing rather than training.
I called Ibi, the exclusive secretary of the Druid and the deputy leader of the Herbivore Corps, and gave him an order.
“I’m going to do some pruning work as a training and a real thing. Take the members to the weapon warehouse and arm them. Let’s leave in an hour.”
“Excuse me? Right now, you mean?”
“Yes. There is no time to spare in Cheongcheongyeongwol. It won’t hurt to hurry.”
Thanks to the hard work I did last night, today was fairly peaceful, but the fact that Cheongcheongyeongwol was in a precarious situation did not change.
Did he think it was too much to jump into the real thing right away?
Ibi hesitated and showed his concern.
“Ha, Haona… Thanks to your hard work last night, there are no monster corpses left, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“There was no news of hunting monsters, so I guess we won’t have to go out. How about you focus on bonding with the members today….”
Ibi’s words were impeccable and had no room for rebuttal.
How could he do the harvesting work when there were no monster corpses?
“That’s not it.”
But that was what Ibi said because he didn’t know.
He hadn’t heard my real purpose yet.
I lowered my head and whispered in his brown rabbit ears.
“Ibi.”
“Yes?”
“If there are no corpses, you can make them.”
“……Yes?”
If he couldn’t do the harvesting work because there were no corpses, wouldn’t it be better to go out and make some corpses?
Ibi, who heard my answer, froze in place with a ‘is this right?’ expression.
Then, Pii lowered his head and sighed deeply.
[This kid was thinking of doing this from the beginning….]
It was the perfect answer.
Only Pii knows my heart, right?