The Players who rushed across thousands of miles to join the special quest were absolutely upset when they realized that the Boss of the special quest had been killed by another Wild Boss.
Even so, they couldn’t even take down the Wild Boss to compensate for their loss—as the Roaring Blaze Tiger Warrior’s emotions overflowed, his heart melted down, killing him right after he punched Vlad, Father of Nightstalkers to death.
Worse, there were no item drops since neither of those Bosses were killed by the Players. Hence, the Players who participated in the quest could only receive suitable rewards…
But setting aside the dissatisfaction of the Players, the ones who were most astonished by the small-scale battle was unquestionably the Long Ears, who had come to aid the Players albeit ending up becoming bystanders and witnessing the entire course of events.
After all, the Mountain Tigers whose strength were only next to the Grayclaws had been wiped out right in front of them!
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In the first place, Rangka was merely following orders from his brother the Long Ears’ chief, leading Laybit and a group of their tribesmen to indicate their stance-wrongly assuming that the Hyena-men had been targeting their tribe instead of the Players.
From their perspective, the Players’ unrestrained pursuit of the Hyena-men after chasing them back to the Mountain Tigers’ stronghold was like hosting a not-too-familiar guest, only to have said guest take a bullet for the host before clubbing that shooter into a cripple, after of which the guest interrogated them and uncovered the true mastermind, hence running off to stab said mastermind to death…
Still, despite how unusual everything that felt, it was generally a selfless, emotion-stirring move.
Deciding that since their guests were so hardworking, the Long Ears’ chief decided that his tribe shouldn’t be eating their seafood while enjoying the show.
Hence, he ordered Rangka and what few youths of the tribe to aid them-it was probably like the host deciding that it was devastating enough for their guests to take a mop and rush the enemy, and so picked up a butcher knife to follow suit.
But in the end, the guest had somehow stabbed the powerful, durable masterminds to death in no time at all, even adding ‘whoever said that you can’t kill without a spear tip?’
Rangka was at a loss of words to describe these humans calling themselves ‘Players’, but in the end had one thought.
They’re just too awesome.
He had been a little unhappy with his brother arranging a team to help the Players and convinced that he was sending them on a suicide mission. Still, he immediately adopted a sincere stance, knowing now that his brother is truly the chief of their tribe and could see much further than he did.
In fact, much, much further!
When he returned to the Long Ears’ village and debriefed his brother about what he saw, the chief kept an impassive, ‘I-expected-that’ look even though his tail was straightened behind him in astonishment.
The Long Ears’ chief was friendly enough towards the Players from the very start because of Laybit and Zonyan for saving his life, but he didn’t imagine that the Players would command such great power.
Truly intimidatingly powerful.
“By the way, brother, the humans are hoping to build a holy statue of their God of Games in the village.” Rangka suddenly remembered a request when he met the youth whom the Players called liege (Angora).
Even if the nonhumans didn’t maintain a feudal system, Rangka was aware from his dealings with Western Continent nobles that lieges were respectable amongst humans, and so held the request in importance.
“Holy statue? That’s not easily decided…” The Long Ears chief frowned in return.
Although most nonhumans worshipped their ancestors, having a statue of another god placed in the village was still inappropriate.
Rangka saw the chief’s reaction too, and softly coaxed. “Actually, I think agreeing wouldn’t
hurt.”
“What, are you planning to swear fealty to the humans?” The Long Ears chief couldn’t help teasing.
“Of course not! But everything that had happened to the Hyena-men and the Mountain Tigers after them wouldn’t be kept secret for the other tribes-we’ll definitely be labeled as traitors serving humans.” Rangka was neither embarrassed nor irritated when his past blemish was mentioned, but actually more enthusiastic. “There’s now no going back for the Long Ears, so why shouldn’t we side with the humans now that things have come to this?!
“…” The Long Ears chief leaned into his seat, holding his chin with both hands thoughtfully but didn’t immediately react.
And from what Rangka knew of his brother, he was seriously thinking about defecting to the humans since he didn’t immediately refuse, and therefore decided to strike the iron when it’s hot.
“Think about it, brother. Those humans had been adrift at sea before they reached these unfamiliar lands, and therefore must be feeling uncomfortable and fearful. Therefore, they are weak and helpless, which is why they want to build their holy statue here for spiritual countenance. Aren’t we heartless if we can’t agree with such a small request?’”
“… If they are weak and helpless, what are we before they arrived?” The Long Ears’ chief put on a miserable look.
To pummel the Hyena-men directly, wipe out the Mountain Tigers and—according to what the tribesmen who returned had claimedthey had also slain a self-proclaimed Nightstalker as well, which could well have been an ancient demon or a devil…
“Moreover, it doesn’t affect us even if we let the humans build their holy statue.” Rangka continued, acting as if he didn’t hear his brother’s retort. “They are not forcing us to convert to their religion, and are only building a statue for their own worship. As such, our tribesmen could continue worshipping our forebears at the ancestral hall like before,
yes?”
Even if Rangka’s face had ‘I’m defecting to the Players’ written all over it and was therefore trying so hard to have the chief to allow the Players build their statue, the chief himself decided that Rangka was right after thinking about it for a while.
It was nothing but a holy statue. While its appearance would indicate a change in awareness amongst the tribe, it doesn’t actually affect them.
One might even put it this way: if the group of tribesmen led by Rangka would convert to the Church of Games or whatnot and successfully become a part of those humans, the Long Ears tribe would benefit greatly.
Others aside, even daily supplies and support would grant the Long Ears new life and rapid growth, and a boom in their next generation could be expected as long as no serious calamity occurred.
After all, the prosperity of a nonhuman tribe was determined by their population.
“Alright.”
At that very thought, the Long Ears’ chief sighed, unable to resist the charm of a Long Ears revival. “You may tell those humans that I’ve given my permission.”
