Chapter 21: The Royal Family

Komer stared blankly at the map before him. The once-mighty Kingdom of Nicomia was now reduced to a fragmented landscape depicted by thin lines: orc-controlled areas in the northwest, Silesia in the north, Galay in the center, and Katyn and Gothenburg under control in the south. Add to this his own territories in the east, and the result was a rather strange pattern.

The orcs seemed exhausted as well. Although Komer had always suspected they could easily take control of Katyn, Gothenburg, and even Silesia, they seemed content with the status quo. It seemed they were satisfied with capturing the royal capital of Jazair. Of course, for the orcs, the glory of Jazair far surpassed any other place. But Komer didn’t believe their leader came solely for glory—they weren’t knights.

Yet that was the reality now. The orc armies had ceased their campaigns, while their vassal races flocked in to seize the rich legacy left behind by the humans who had fled their homelands. Adapting to life in the human civilization as quickly as possible became the orcs’ most urgent task. The humans remaining in orc-controlled areas also seemed to be gradually adapting to this change. Faced with the orcs’ restraint, they realized they could coexist peacefully with those orc races and even gain their respect by leveraging their own advantages.

The world had gone mad!

This was Komer’s conclusion after receiving Mahagumi’s report on the actual situation in the orc-controlled northern regions. It was unbelievable that invaders and conquered could get along so quickly, and their relationship was even improving further. If there weren’t geniuses among the orcs with extraordinary wisdom, it could only mean that the humans in the occupied areas had degenerated far too rapidly.

Komer shook his head. He didn’t need to worry about the north for now. Looking at the strange shape of his own territories on the map—spanning from the northern border of Poz to the Catania River route in the east—his entire eastern Nicomia was under his control. In terms of both territory size and population, no other lord in the Kingdom of Nicomia could compare to him. Yet his influence in the center and west remained weak. The mere District Valley was far from satisfying his ambitions, and even all of Livonia could barely suffice. Now, Kakiya wouldn’t even hand Livonia over to him.

Livonia was far too distant from its territories in the east, with primitive forests covering the route in between. This was the main reason why it and Puber spared no effort to set up this trap for the Gisa people. If they couldn’t turn this passage into a smooth route, any attempt to exert influence in the west would be nothing but empty talk.

Komer had set his goal on the entire Nicosia, but there were two main obstacles ahead: one was the resistance from the remaining forces, including the Gallics, and the other was the hostility that might arise from a union of secular and religious forces—with the latter being the most troublesome.

The remaining resistance could be crushed by military force, but the hostility and obstruction from secular and religious forces might force him to pay a huge price for every step forward, possibly even costing him two steps back. Neither the Romanov family nor secular forces like Zelin and Ferdinand would tolerate him easily taking back what once belonged to them, not to mention the Light Church, which would dream of overthrowing him and ensuring he could never rise again.

The only advantage on his side was that these opposing forces were not united. The conflicts among secular forces and within the Light Church were his opportunities.

But having opportunities didn’t mean he could seize them right away. The current situation was in a delicate balance—the Light Church and the Order of Salvation were locked in a fierce struggle, while Katyn and Gothenburg maintained a strange state of peace. As for Silesia and Gallic, their ambiguous relationship with him due to the orcs behind them left him unsure and forced into silence. This bizarre situation created a peculiar balance in Nicosia at present.

Perhaps an external factor was needed to break this balance. Only by disrupting it and creating chaos could he seize an opportunity from the turmoil.

Komer tapped lightly on the map with his finger, his gaze scanning it. Gallic? Silesia? Or Katyn? Where was the best entry point? For now, none of them seemed suitable.

Komer glanced northward. Damn those orcs—when would they ever become sensible? If they had accepted his invitation to raid Silesia or Calais last time, perhaps all these problems wouldn’t exist. Komer regretted it somewhat. Playing it coy was the best strategy, as it allowed him to avoid public criticism to the greatest extent possible, with all blame falling on the orcs. Unfortunately, the orcs were too rational and calm, falling for the trick.

It seemed he would ultimately have to manipulate the orcs. If they didn’t get involved, all factions within the kingdom would focus their attention on him, and any of his actions would draw their scrutiny. Only when the orcs got involved and stirred up chaos, drawing all attention to them, would he have a chance.

Mahagumi returned to Komer’s study. He was puzzled—his report on the Jazair region, which he had thought was quite detailed, still didn’t seem to satisfy the lord.

“Mahagumi, I’ve read your report on the Jazair region. It’s quite thorough. It seems you’ve put a lot of effort into it. Yet, I’m still not satisfied. I want you to use everything you’ve learned, along with your own analysis and judgment, to help me gain a more direct and accurate understanding,” Komer said without any courtesy, getting straight to the point.

Hearing Komer’s words, Mahagumi felt a chill. It seemed the lord had some new idea in mind. Every time the lord planned a major move, he would say something similar. Mahagumi already had experience with this.

“My lord, please order whatever you need. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“Hmm. You’ve spent some time in Jazair, and there must be a fairly extensive network of spies there. I want to know the actual situation of the orcs in Jazair and throughout the kingdom’s northern regions. Besides their relations with the humans in this area, what’s the relationship between the various orc tribes? Are their relationships as close as we imagine? And those servant tribes—do they have any conflicts with the five major races? Do they have conflicts among themselves?”

Komer’s series of questions were clearly the result of careful consideration. He firmly believed that no seemingly unified whole could be as perfect as it appeared on the surface. Orcs, too, were composed of various tribes of different sizes—could their interests really be completely aligned? Or could their leaders have no differences in opinion? That was clearly impossible. If he could find some opportunities to exploit, then his ideas might not be unattainable.

Mahagumi gasped. It seemed his lord would never settle down. Just from these few words, he could tell his lord was likely planning to take action against the orcs again. Though the fierce and brutal orcs were dangerous, in Mahagumi’s eyes, any target chosen by the lord was doomed to failure.

“Lord, Jazair has now become the so-called capital of the Bemon Kingdom. Although many mortals still live there, the six major orc clans have begun to regard it as their center. Among these six clans, the Tiger Clan is currently the leader, supported by the Bear Clan and the Ox Clan. The other two major clans—the Wolf Clan and the Fox Clan—are closely allied, while the Snake Clan remains neutral.”

“Among the six major orc clans, the Tiger Clan’s military force consists mainly of heavily armored shock infantry, while the Bear Clan relies on heavily armored defensive infantry. The Ox Clan naturally forms light infantry. The Wolf Clan consists of light cavalry, another important force in the orc military. The Fox Clan’s archers are no less skilled than our human elves. The Snake Clan’s forces mainly consist of scouts and assassins, rarely appearing in direct battles. As for the other vassal tribes—the Leopard Clan, vassals of the Tiger Clan; the Deer Clan, vassals of the Wolf Clan; and the relatively independent and neutral Eagle Knights—they all possess considerable combat strength.”

“Hmm, so you mean the Tiger Clan, Bear Clan, Ox Clan, and Leopard Clan belong to one group, while the Wolf Clan, Fox Clan, and Deer Clan belong to another, with the Snake Clan and Eagle Knights remaining neutral?” Komer asked after thinking for a moment.

“More or less, that’s correct. But they also have many vassal tribes, though those tribes are much weaker militarily and unable to play a leading role in wars, thus lacking influence within the orc tribes. It’s mainly the six major clans that can attend the tribal council meetings,” Mahagumi nodded.

“Then it seems there should be conflicts and differences between the Tiger Clan and the Wolf Clan. Mahagumi, having been lurking in Jazair for so long, have you noticed any signs of this?” Komer seemed to have picked up on something, his eyes gleaming.