If Nafız had been here, she wouldn't have been surprised at all by what Dona Gracia told. In the world she lived in before, she had seen many countries fall and many societies dragged into disaster with these and similar games. Fortunately, she was born as an orc this time; since they had undertaken the task of exalting their already thoroughly corrupted race, they wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
"Boss, everything is ready to advance! Are you ready to stand at the head of the army?"
When Wind of Death called out to him, the other orc warrior in the room didn't react at first. For a while, silence reigned inside the rebuilt two-story structure, but then the reaction of his deputy Rapunzel would bring him back to his senses.
"What? Boss is going to command the army?"
Boss, who was about to open his mouth, which his two large front teeth prevented from closing completely, stopped at his deputy's question; this was exactly what he was waiting for an answer to anyway.
"Of course he will command it! I didn't come here to take your authorities away from you; the army was formed by the Heart of the Sand, and managing the military power is up to you.
I guess I couldn't fully explain some things from the very beginning. My purpose of being here is to hand over the Central Region of the Mercenaries' Lodge to its new owners. Training will be under the command of Holzmeister, trade under Gracia, and armed forces under yours.
Just as you managed the Heart of the Sand for years, you will manage the Central Region in exactly the same way when we capture it. The only thing the Orc Empire wants from you is that you do not forget the help given in time and do not engage in an attempt against it!"
When the person they thought would take over the army and rain orders down on all of them said she would give support from the background and not put herself forward, the leaders of the Three Factions of the Heart of the Sand were surprised. Even though this decision seemed to give them comfort and more freedom, it actually increased the pressure on them several times over.
"I and the Elite Ten will be in a mechanical vehicle inside the army. Don't worry, you can be sure we won't hesitate to play our part when the time comes!"
The leaders of the Three Factions, taking a deep breath, were assured that the support given to them would continue. Next was to determine the time to set out. Eyes were on him, they were looking between the two large teeth of the orc who would command the army of fifteen thousand people.
"If this is how things will proceed, then let's do it the way the Hyenas always do. Tomorrow, when the noon sun is right at its peak, we set out. Everyone, make your final preparations!"
The conquest driving from three parts would continue under the leadership of the residents of the City of Sand. Tomorrow, the declaration of the future for the Emerald Leaf Guild regarding the problems in the two regions would be made. The unarmed war was ending, the Sand Army would march on its enemies in all its majesty.
Speaking of marching, a march had also begun in the northern region of the continent. Bookworm, waiting for news from other regions, was together with the small team he formed to fulfill the duty he received from his master before the advance of the Balsici Family Army led by Hammerstriker.
Alyon, Bookworm, and the Nameless Ten were advancing towards the determined target. In the original plan, they were to set out together with the army, but Bookworm, feeling the time for news to come from other regions was approaching, had decided to take action.
"Our priority is our own safety, nobody, absolutely nobody should chase after playing hero!"
The scrawny orc, covering his purple robe with an earth-colored rag to blend in with the environment, adopted his rarely seen stern attitude while calling out to his other compatriots advancing right one step behind him.
"No one is a child here, everyone is responsible for ensuring their own life safety. We don't know what we will face after we enter, we will fight with all our might and get out the way we came in!"
Heading towards the unknown made him tense; especially due to being next to his father, he felt the need to continue his warnings. Even if they covered up their pasts, this operation was the first struggle he embarked on with his father, and he wholeheartedly wanted it to reach success without any hitch.
"Nameless Ten, stay close to Chief Alyon! You might not have experienced his Lineage Power before, but don't hesitate to get his support in difficult times!"
Thanks to Alyon's lineage power empowering his allies, they had achieved victories before, and they wouldn't hesitate to use Warrior's Wrath, a reliable trump card in their hands. Even though Bookworm possessed a lineage power thanks to the serum prepared with Khan's blood, his trait was hidden in destruction.
Along the way, Bookworm wouldn't hesitate to continue his warnings at regular intervals; even if the Nameless Ten had the chance to prove themselves in front of the Balsici Castle, being behind the walls, behind the energy shield, and sneaking into the enemy's den were different things.
When they completed their first days appearing and disappearing in the rocky area on the northern coastline of the Mercenaries' Lodge bordering the sea, they looked for a safe shelter to spend the night. The orcs were strangers to these lands, but Master Leonardo's apprentice Michelangelo had managed to draw a detailed map of the area up to the target with his new inventions.
When the first day of the three-day journey ended, they entered a cave where a hundred people could comfortably fit, and after closing its entrance with the rocks the Nameless Ten brought from the vicinity, they could relax a bit. With the end of the dinner they made do with dried meat and wine because they couldn't take the risk of lighting a fire, the Nameless Ten, having determined the watch hours, went to their posts.
No one but father and son was left in the middle of the cave. After remaining silent for a while, Bookworm turned to the other orc, who was almost twice his size. He still wasn't speaking, but his two sensory organs with purple pupils had perhaps poured out lines of words.
"Bookworm, we haven't ever been alone together, have we?"
In the end, it was Alyon who opened his mouth, which his two front teeth didn't allow to close completely; paternal instincts taking priority had told him to start the conversation. His son, probably due to his usual cautious and anxious state, answered only after verifying there were no orcs around first.
"Yes, father!"
"Are you sleepy?"
"Not much, you know we aren't very good with sleep after the Two-Year Seclusion!"
Alyon entrusted his back to a rock large enough to be worthy of him leaning against and stretched his legs, which made thick tree trunks jealous, forward. Judging by him getting into a comfortable sitting position, he wasn't sleepy either.
"Did Nafız tell you why she is so strong or who I actually am?"
Bookworm, thinking his father would tell him things he didn't know, was surprised by the question at first, then realizing this was the necessary preamble for the beginning of the long conversation, he poured the words out of his tongue that would pave the way.
"Neither I nor any orc who has managed to stay alive since that time knows anything before the moment my master entered the tent together with you. There are lessons where your names are frequently mentioned, your statues are located at the entrance of the Orc Military Academy, and there is no one who doesn't know what you have done, but your past is like a curtain of mystery impossible to pull back."
There wasn't a single wrong point in Bookworm's words; everyone knew them, knew what they had done, and they represented the peak as unreachable figures on the Orc Steppes. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps because they didn't wonder, perhaps because they believed it was impossible to learn, no one scrutinized what kind of orcs they were when they were born in Bearstrangler's tribe.
"You are right, none of those born together with us or those alive when we were born are living."
This time Alyon scanned the surroundings by first turning his head, then spreading his energy unique to his Lineage Power, and realized the Nameless Ten didn't actually consist of very stupid orcs. When father and son were left alone, each of them had retreated to their corners and settled in a way not to disturb them; there was no obstacle before them to speak comfortably.
"Then it is time for us to meet again as two adult orcs. Hello, I am Nodder!"