Chapter Thirteen: Changing Circumstances

The climate in Livonia in early summer was quite pleasant. The pale light in the east signaled the approaching of summer. Nikkotsburg, as the capital of Livonia, had seen its population double since three months earlier, and an atmosphere of restlessness and unease could be felt everywhere.

Komer gently spurred his horse, and the chestnut-colored steed dashed forward, leaving him somewhat unaccustomed after not riding for so long. Seven or eight hound dogs had already rushed out, forming a semi-circular formation as they climbed up the gentle slopes. The bushes here were lush green, and the small trees basked in the sunlight, making them ideal hiding places for small animals and birds. It was truly worth looking forward to such a sunny morning.

The arrow struck the pigeon mid-flight with ease, and Komer was fairly satisfied. Although this hunt yielded only a few pigeons, pheasants, and rabbits, it was still better than nothing. He had never been a skilled hunter and didn’t expect to hunt leopards or bears—such things would hardly happen to him. Besides, this area was too close to towns; even if such large beasts existed, they would likely have already been hunted by the nobles in the vicinity.

Komer had been in Nikkotsburg for almost three months. During that time, the situation in the kingdom had changed dramatically, as expected. Without the support of the court’s mage corps, the Golden Oak Regiment failed to live up to everyone’s expectations. Jazair fell after just three days, and the Golden Oak Regiment, like the Iron Cross Regiment, was defeated. The Blue Dove Regiment, which was relatively intact, could only retreat from its northern defenses toward the southeast under siege.

Surprisingly, this time the orcs did not loot everything indiscriminately as they usually did. Instead, they acted quite restrained. Apart from seizing the kingdom’s few remaining gold reserves, they only targeted the nobles for plunder, leaving the ordinary civilians largely untouched. This helped stabilize the situation in Jazair. With the fall of Jazair, the entire north, except for the northeast, had fallen. Meanwhile, the Bimon Kingdom was officially established in Jazair, though it still hadn’t received recognition from any mortal country—and likely would never get it.

The fall of the northern regions of the Kingdom of Nicomia connected this area with the duchy of Melen, Sosor, and the Main region, which were previously under orc control. Although the orcs adopted a relatively moderate policy, refugees from the northern regions of Nicomia continued to flood south and east in large numbers. Anyone with any means tried to leave the orc-occupied areas, as no one wanted to become a second-class citizen in the so-called Kingdom of Bimon.

Although the establishment of the Kingdom of Bimon was not recognized by any human nation, it had in fact extended its influence deep into the heart of the Northern Alliance. With Jazair as its capital, it directly challenged the legitimacy of the Kingdom of Nicomia. Throughout the spring, the nations of the Northern Alliance were enveloped in a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere.

What worried the people of Nicomia even more was a scene entirely different from before: the orcs no longer destroyed human castles and fortresses; instead, they made efforts to protect these structures. At first, everyone thought the orcs had changed their ways, but soon they realized what was happening.

Orc immigrants led by the tiger, bear, fox, and wolf clans began to move southward and quickly took control of the cities and towns that had once been inhabited by humans. Following them were large numbers of orc tribes from the boar, sheep, deer, and rat clans. They began to take over the abandoned farmlands and homes left behind by the humans and tried to learn farming from them. This sight left human scouts stunned—were these orcs really going to abandon the Mogan Wasteland, where they had lived for generations, and migrate to human settlements?

The establishment of the Kingdom of Bimon and their massive migration shocked the entire Continent of Azure. All nations watched and discussed what these orcs, so different from humans, would do next—whether they would expand further or simply seize a human civilization base to evolve themselves. The military spending of the nations in the Northern Alliance soared rapidly. With the orcs turning their aggressive tactics into actual victories, no one believed they were merely simple plunderers. It seemed they had changed their usual methods of plundering—from taking food and wealth to seizing land and resources, becoming raiders who targeted the foundations of human civilization. These were the most terrifying plunderers!

While everyone was terrified and shocked by the orcs’ greed, Komer noticed some unusual signs.

The tens of thousands of ordinary human residents remaining in the city of Jazair suffered little harassment or abuse. On the very first day the Orc kingdom was established, they passed special laws to protect these humans and other races who had become a minority, abolishing the old laws that allowed other humans to be captured as slaves and prohibiting the enslavement of humans and other races through any means other than law. Although these laws were rather crude, the subsequent actions surprised and worried Komer even more. The Orcs invited representatives from among humans to help revise and improve these laws concerning the interests of humans within the Orc kingdom’s territory, and they even invited a retired human judge to participate in formulating the laws of the entire Orc kingdom!

Similarly, the Orc elite no longer preferred living in tents as before. The mansions left behind by the fleeing nobles in Jazair became their residences, and they began to emulate the lifestyle of human nobles, learning from and imitating it as the simplest way to quickly become familiar with civilized ways.

These actions may not have drawn much attention, and some who noticed them thought it was merely a trick by the Orcs to conceal their crude and brutal nature. But Komer sensed something entirely different— the Orcs were no longer satisfied with continuing their primitive lives in the Mogan Wasteland. They too longed for the light of civilization to shine upon them and for a better life. To achieve this dream, learning and integration were undoubtedly the most efficient strategies.

Survival of the fittest— as some of the barbarians realized that isolation and self-indulgence would only lead to the decline or even extinction of their race and began to change, the Orcs had already taken the lead. They were no longer limited to minor actions; stepping northward toward Nicomedia was their first step.

Yet these changes did not catch the attention of the people of Nicomedia. Even Kajia and Hoffman were more focused on competing for legitimate succession. The people of Nicomedia seemed to expect the Orcs to soon realize they could not adapt to life in human cities and to leave after a hot summer. But Komer had a premonition that this time the Orcs would not easily leave this capital city, hailed as the jewel of Nicomedia.

Although he had the nominal support of the high nobles and the four great lords, Hoffman missed out on the throne that seemed within his reach due to a mistake in a decision by the Star Chamber. He lost Jazair, his most important stronghold, and Göteborg could only serve as a temporary political center. Though the high nobles there still supported Hoffman, his lack of funds to build a strong military force remained a persistent problem. Although the Blue Dove Regiment had retreated to the front lines west of Göteborg, it was the main force defending against possible orcian attacks, and Hoffman never dared to consider using it.

Kakya’s situation wasn’t much better than Hoffman’s. Though she had the support of merchants and financiers, giving her greater financial stability, her lack of noble backing made her seem less confident, and her voice carried less weight. Although the smaller nobles strongly supported her, facing the fierce pressure from the orcs, they focused more on ensuring the southwestern regions remained free from orcian threats. Lacking their own private armies, they couldn’t form a decent military force for the time being. Though the orcs hadn’t moved south for some reason, they weighed heavily on these smaller nobles, making them feel suffocated.

For Komer, however, this situation might have been ideal. The loss of Jazair did ruin his initial plans, but it wasn’t entirely without benefits. The power of the Light Church in the north of Nicosia was also greatly weakened, with large numbers of refugees fleeing south. The Light Church’s attention shifted to the orcs’ movements, which inevitably reduced the Inquisition’s efforts to track and monitor him. He could take advantage of the chaos to calmly plan his next steps.

The Court Mage Corps withdrew from Homer immediately, with Göteborg becoming their temporary base. Without the strong support of the Court Mage Corps, Philip’s plans to march south had to be postponed indefinitely. Especially with the threat of potential orcian attacks, insisting on conquering the Caucasus seemed imprudent.

Although Komer still couldn’t freely appear in the kingdom’s territories, hiding in Livonia in the south, particularly in the Zuck Valley that had been officially granted to him, he wasn’t worried that the Inquisition would deliver another harsh lesson to him there.