Chapter 44 – Trade Bridge

Disappointing with their response, the Main Orc Tribe’s delivery team attacked the throne.

“I will skin you with my hands and feed your carcass to wild creatures!”

The leader of the team sped up, accompanied by threats. Butcher Haydo was right in front of him, about to deliver the finishing blow, but when he fell back with the rope around his neck and sat on his ass, he was surprised at what had happened. Looking around to find where the attack came from, this person would see that all his friends were in the same situation as him.

“What’s going on? How dare you?”

The orc, gasping for breath, had to shut up as the shadows, step by step, approaching from the dark corners, began to drag the captured prisoners out of the tent by the throat.

♫♫I took one look, I burned your heart, and I put the lasso of love around your neck.♫♫

As Nafız was leaving the tent, following the warriors, she sang a song that no one knew. While the orcs who were dragged away from the tribe were in for a shock, they were followed by a cheerfully singing freak.

“Kuyag, ask them! What are their duties in the Main Orc Tribe?”

The orcs, who were not immediately executed but interrogated, were too eager to talk.

“Sir, my father is of the tribe…!”

Before he could finish his word, the orc’s body, whose head was cut off by the armored leather warrior waiting behind him, hit the ground hard, and the other prisoner standing next to him fainted.

“Do I look like I’d hesitate to ask if I was wondering about his father’s name?”

Nafız, pointing at Kuyag to pass the orc next to the one who fainted, continued to speak.

“Now, will you tell me your job?”

They sang their ten orc missions in turn, and Nafız thought for a while. Why then, with his eyes on the fainting orc, he gave his command.

“Cut them all, except the one lying on the ground!”

The members of the Main Tribe team were screaming and begging, but they could not avoid being brutally murdered.

“Rogue bastard, how long are you planning to fake it?”

When Nafız saw no sign of movement from the orc she was calling out to, she made two hits with the whip that came out of her wrist.

“My Empress, pity me. I am a miserable quartermaster orc. Don’t get your hands dirty with my filthy blood, I beg you!”

Nafız’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she chirped like a child who found her lost toy. “Here is the type I am looking for; here is the unreliability I want.”

“Kuyag, tie this to a pole. Beat it lightly from time to time. It should be a little deformed.”

Returning to the tent with quick steps as she had arrived, Nafız saw that the weather had softened when she entered and that the last details of the negotiations were being discussed. As she calmly went to her corner, she winked at Alyon and said that the job was done and did not give the human delegation a warm smile.

Although the female orc, who had just come out singing, turned and smiled at them with the same joy, chilled the blood of the human delegation, the negotiation ended when Haydo the Butcher had the last word.

“Agreed! Nikonia will pay a tax of ten percent of the trade volume to the orc tribe per acre each month. An orc shop will be set up in the city by those chosen by the Lord Gulag.”

Standing up at the chief’s words, the Gulag humbly greeted him.

“Your kindness to the POWs and their release on such humble terms will be welcomed by all the people of Nikonia, Big Chief Butcher Haydo!”

Alyon was sitting silently from beginning to end, watching with delight what was going on. He had captured all three checkpoints and became the absolute ruler of the region.

The Nikonian delegation, which left the region’s borders as quickly as they arrived, took the human warriors of the tribe with them. A smaller group scattered through the crowd marched to their long-awaited rewards; as the soldiers’ hearts rejoiced at the redemption.

“Tomorrow, you are returning to Nikonia. Although we will be far from each other, I would like to remind you that you are still the brave warriors of my tribe. In a short time, you will be deployed to high positions in the army.”

The night before the prisoner-exchange delegation arrived, Alyon had called the long-dwelling human warriors of the tribe.

“When you go, you will realize that he is a part of our tribe in the city. Your task is to strengthen your presence in the city and report all the movements of the Gulag to the core tribe until further notice.”

“Yes, sir!”

The warriors, who learned that the promised day had come, were leaving the peace with their enthusiastic greetings and arguing about the correctness of the decision they made on the day they were captured.

In the message sent to the Gulag, Nafız provided information about the names and appearances of the soldiers and determined the password to be spoken before speaking among themselves. Seizing the opportunity to improve its previous image with recent developments, the Gulag was also ordered to keep human warriors under surveillance.

Nafız and Alyon prevented a possible betrayal by giving the two sides the duty of mutual surveillance without knowing each other. They were taking a big step in taking the city into their hands by seizing their foundations.

Meanwhile, an orc tied to a pole was wailing enough as his mouth and nose were displaced and groaning in pain.

“Kuyag, I said beat it lightly from time to time. You took out the man’s pulp.”

Seeing that the orc she had left alive in the morning had been beaten to the point where she nearly died, Nafız yelled at the dungeon conqueror warrior, slightly enraged.

“Ma’am, he hit when I said don’t do it; he got excited when I said ah! I beg you, save me!”

Nafız, who was observed to be upset about the situation in which the prisoner fell, spoke by showing the pill she was holding in her hand.

“This medicine is our tribe’s special healing pill. You will soon recover after you take it.”

The orc, who was almost unconscious from the beating he received, was not in a position to refuse this offer, although he was overly cautious in character.

The medicine Nafız gave could not be a product of the tribe. It was a medicine designed by Mora to kill her enemies. The secret recipe, which created blood clots in the person’s veins, led to an absolute death due to the clots moving to the brain when the antidote was not taken.

“Apply this ointment to your wounds and get them ready to go tomorrow morning.”

When the orcs who received the order started to use the medicine Nafız gave on the tortured orc, they were amazed at the rapid healing of the wounds.

“Butcher Haydo, leave us alone.”

Alyon commanded the new chief from the throne he was sitting on, with a stern look and a rich voice. Nafız’s brows furrowed as Butcherhaydo, who heard the words of the majestic being in front of him, came out of the tent like a soulless robot.

“Don’t get too caught up in this royal business Alyon. It’ll become a habit later!”

Although Nafız made fun of her friend when he first ascended to the throne, she did not like it when he repeated it to the degree of addiction.

“Wow, haven’t you recognized me all this time?

Nafız’s expression softened a bit as Alyon, speaking in a sad tone, explained the purpose of his movements to himself.

Explaining at length that he had assumed this role because of the orcs’ worship of power and that his ideas and aims had not changed, Alyon descended from the throne and curled up in the corner of the tent.

“By the way, did the prisoner drink the medicine? A spy from the main tribe is what we need most right now!”

Alyon burst into laughter when Nafız pictured how the prisoner hungrily swallowed the pill. The harmful air that had just formed was dissipating, and the two were catching the old frequency between them.

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What I am wondering is whether there is life after birth, not after death.

Woody Allen


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