If I were to list what I gained while staying with the Urut tribe, it would have to be connections.
They had their own way of forming bonds, utterly different from the nobles of the Empire.
Riding horses together. Shooting bows. Drinking the blood of game.
And on top of that, the most important thing was using their language.
“…How is it? My speech.”
“It was fine. You’ve grown quite used to it.”
What I had learned upon entering the Urut tribe, I was able to practice far more here.
Especially since the female warrior stayed by my side, constantly speaking and letting me listen, it was a great help.
Learning a new language was difficult, but this, too, was one of the ways to survive.
Here in the eastern grasslands, I absolutely had to raise my own value.
Those Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials who called themselves experts in diplomacy did not even properly know the etiquette.
Because extremely self-centered thinking was so widespread, this was an incredibly important time for me.
“More importantly, thanks to you, the warriors of the Runggir tribe are no longer in sight.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It will be one of two things. They’re either avoiding us, or they’re in the middle of a driven hunt.”
“…”
Wouldn’t the latter be far too serious a problem? A driven hunt?
Yet the female warrior, after saying that, merely toyed with her curved blade.
If you were surrounded, you broke through. If you couldn’t break through, you fought. And then you died.
Her expression made it perfectly clear she wondered why anyone would think so hard about something so simple.
“Let me ask you one thing. Did you truly not kill them because harming us grassland tribes weighed on your mind? We are all children of the Blue Wolf and the White Deer, but our bloodlines have split many times over.”
“Whatever the case, are you not family? One can tell from the fact that the Urut tribe may clash with the other tribes here, but does not wage war against them. A mere Imperial like me cannot recklessly sow the seed called death and cause a great war.”
“As a friend, I am rather grateful. But in exchange, troublesome matters will continue.”
Troublesome matters. At first, I did not quite understand what the female warrior meant.
But two days after I had a bout with the Runggir tribe’s warriors.
“Ethan of the Empire! Where is Ethan of the Empire! The warriors of the Lireugat tribe challenge you to a duel under the sacred law of the grasslands!!”
“I am Ruruga of the Yusun tribe! As a child of the Blue Wolf and the White Deer of the grasslands, I hereby rightfully challenge the strong warrior of the Empire to a duel!”
I came to understand exactly what the troublesome matters she had spoken of were.
The surrounding tribes, whom we had been avoiding as much as possible because meeting them meant battle, came looking for us on purpose.
And then, instead of calling out the warriors of the Urut tribe, they began shouting my name.
What was even funnier was that the Urut warriors no longer fought either, but quietly stepped aside.
I think I understood. The warriors of the surrounding tribes. And the warriors of the Urut tribe as well.
They were acknowledging the status I had gained as a strong one according to the sacred law of the grasslands.
Did a wolf grab just anyone and fight them? It fought only when replacing the leader.
The weak were eaten. They were not given a grand fight while talking of duels like this.
“Very well. Let’s do it.”
If I lost, I died. Facing them with that mindset, I felt as if even abilities I did not have were welling up.
I was not some man who sat only at a desk, with thin arms and thighs.
In these chaotic times, if I wanted to protect my body and my family, I needed martial skill above the basics.
—Thud!!
“Guh!”
I admit it. In fights on horseback or with blades, they had the advantage.
But when it came to bare hands, I was not inferior either. I could manage well enough.
Most of all, those who came from each tribe were by no means top-class strong warriors.
Why would those who were already strong bother facing me, someone from the Empire?
Those coming to me now were extras who wanted to make their names known.
They had the basics, but they could be shaken as much as needed, and once shaken, they could be thrown.
—Bang!
“Gah!”
“It’s over, warrior.”
“Grrr… As expected, you are strong. Ethan of the Empire! As expected, you are strong!”
“As the right of the strong, instead of taking your head, I would like to receive your tribe’s liquor and meat. What say you?”
“What could I possibly say as the loser! If you ever come to our tribe and give my name, we shall welcome you as a guest! This is an oath made before the Blue Wolf and the White Deer!”
“Good.”
There were times when it was not difficult at all, and times when it was a close call.
But I did not lose. No, I could not afford to lose in the first place.
At most, their desire ended at wanting to defeat an Imperial.
But for me, if I made even the slightest mistake, I would either die here or return home and be ruined.
When it came to desperation, they were no match for me. Therefore, I would win no matter what.
“We are… of the tribe…”
“With Ethan of the Empire… a sacred duel!!”
Fuck. Wasn’t this supposed to be over after just a few times? Why do they keep coming?
At some point, this had stopped being reconnaissance of the surrounding tribes and had turned into a challenge tour.
At first, the Urut warriors had been moving, but now they dismounted and sat down.
Since another tribe’s warriors would come soon anyway, they might as well wait.
You fight, and we watch. What a wonderful thing!
‘No, block them a little. Stop them!’
I had hoped that after I fought a few times, they would start restraining them.
What drove me even more insane was that there was no intention to screw me over there.
Because on the grasslands, duels were carried out according to sacred law.
It was similar to the duels held in the Empire, yet also a little different.
They would probably consider it an insult to me if they stopped them.
“I have come to meet Ethan of the Empire! Where is he! Show me your strength as well!!”
Fine. Let’s give up. If I gave up and became detached, at least my mind would be at ease.
The good thing, meanwhile, was that thanks to this I had grown used to the warriors’ way of fighting.
Their horsemanship was so outstanding, but once they dismounted, they were more manageable than expected.
If I somehow prepared well for the first attack, opportunities came several times.
Later, there would surely come a day when I could put this to good use elsewhere.
“They’ve decreased a great deal now.”
Two weeks after I had been joyfully punching, grappling, and fighting with warriors from each tribe.
The female warrior approached and held out a leather waterskin.
“They really have. Wow. When it was at its worst, I seriously thought I was going to die.”
“For someone who says he was going to die, you were very composed.”
“They must have thought that because I was an Imperial noble, I would tremble before a blade.”
Question. How many times had blades been drawn while Condor collapsed and the Empire was founded?
How many of those times had I been present, how many had I witnessed, and how many had I been caught up in?
Scenes of people dying and people killing others. I had seen many. Now I had grown numb to them.
“Then are you returning now?”
“Huh? No. Returning?”
“The time Beoilleo spoke of is nearly up.”
“Wasn’t that the time to look around the surrounding tribes? Right now, I’ve been dueling, so that’s completely different. Now I intend to make proper use of that time.”
I had suffered like a dog accepting the duels that flew at me every single day.
So now it was time to go collect the price for those duels.
“…You truly intend to go?”
“I understand that all the grassland tribes have their own rule that guests must be properly welcomed. Even when they are enemies, if they meet by chance outside of battle, they receive one another as guests. Would they really drive out someone like me, who even dueled with them and rolled across these grasslands together?”
The female warrior shook her head as if to say that would not happen, then stared intently at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You truly do not seem like an Imperial. The Imperials before looked at us and called us lowly, foul-smelling people. They said we were unfit to associate with.”
“By the standards of the warriors of the grasslands, Imperials are people who coat their entire bodies in perfumes with a dreadful smell and happily eat things they cannot understand why anyone would eat. The places we live and the ways we live are all different. Isn’t it important that each side understands and accepts the other?”
“Are you saying the Empire has truly changed that way?”
At the female warrior’s question, I thought for a moment, then answered, “No.”
And then I revealed, just a little, the reason I had come all this way.
“I am saying that I am that way.”
Among the eastern grassland tribes, the Empire’s reputation only needed to be at an adequate level.
More than that, I had to make myself. My name. Who I was. Move beyond goodwill and into trust.
So that if some problem occurred in the east, they would come looking for me first.
So that no matter what incident happened, they would think touching our family would only bring them loss.
There was only one way for a founding contributor family to survive in chaotic times.
They had to be needed. They had to be so needed that people would continue using them.
“For some reason, I’ve grown rather fond of this east.”
“…You are a strange man.”
“I will take that as praise.”
After finishing our conversation, the first place we visited was the Runggir tribe.
At first, they showed wariness when the Urut warriors appeared.
But when they saw my face there, several warriors brightened.
“Ethan of the Empire!”
“You invited me, so I truly came. Have I perhaps arrived too soon?”
“I do not know about the Urut bastards, but you are certainly a guest! Come!”
“These Urut warriors came with me. Would it be possible to treat them as guests as well?”
“I will be honest! I hate it! But if it is the request of one who triumphed under the sacred law, it is not something we cannot do! Dismount, warriors of Urut! At least for today, Runggir will receive you as guests!!”
In the Empire, one heard talk of assassination and poisoning whenever things grew dull.
But on the grasslands, without fail, no matter what, matters were settled in a frontal fight.
Perhaps because on these damnably vast grasslands, there were fewer people than one might think.
Perhaps in order to give each tribe a valid tribal reason for receiving guests.
Perhaps they emphasized that such cowardly acts were not the way of wolves.
“Drink! Ethan of the Empire!”
“Thank you.”
“Hahaha! Imperials usually hate it, saying the smell is strange! But you’re downing it well!”
“A man who dislikes this airag on the grasslands is no warrior.”
At my words, not only the Runggir warriors but even the Urut warriors burst into laughter.
They said those words were indeed true. That I was worthy of being called the Imperial wolf who had brought down the wolves of the grasslands.
“I heard the news! They say you are defeating the warriors of other tribes as well!”
“I merely did not avoid them.”
“Indeed! That is right! One does not avoid a fight that is offered! You are different from those Imperial bastards who only cower in the back! Ethan! As expected, the wolf of the grasslands suits you!”
“Regrettably, the Blue Wolf and the White Deer sent me to the Empire.”
Among these bold and openhearted people, I remained as humble as possible. But I did not lower myself too much.
I sat comfortably, tearing into meat and drinking liquor. I watched the warriors’ grassland wrestling.
At times, I went out myself and mingled with them, sometimes winning, sometimes letting myself lose.
“Ugh.”
“Wahahaha! Ethan of the Empire! Are you drunk?! You lost too quickly!”
“I’m not drunk. It’s because there isn’t enough liquor.”
“He says so! Hurry and bring our guest more liquor!”
Starting with that pleasant meeting with the Runggir tribe.
I went so far as to make a pilgrimage to all the surrounding tribes I had fought.
Some places were cold, and some showed hostility.
But when I matched myself to them as much as possible, they too relaxed their hearts.
There was nothing difficult about befriending the warriors of the grasslands.
Not empty formalities, but liquor and meat. And wrestling and duels.
The wolves of the grasslands rolled together as they grew and became friends.
“Are all the others of the Empire like you?”
“Does it seem that way?”
“No! If they were, we would not have plundered the Empire!”
“I would appreciate it if you reduced that a little. You may not like it if I fight you in a way different from yours.”
“Then are you saying you wish to avoid a fight?”
“Of course not. If it truly must be that way, every one of you will die by my hand.”
“Wahahahahaha!!”
“Hahahaha! Good! Die, or kill! If it truly must be that way, then let us do it, Ethan of the Empire! Now, drink!”
For over a month, I met the surrounding tribes.
It was a useful time, and I gained quite a lot from it.