(Add more for the "warm wine" brother [1/5])

"Hiccup~"

Lord Hogg, the Bloodclaw Chieftain, didn't know that there was an evil old gnoll in the swamp who was shedding crocodile tears for its "passing", but even if it did, it probably wouldn't care.

Because Chief Hogg is going to be in high spirits.

Ever since Lord Murphy officially started the "Swamp Shadows" event, Hogg has immediately sealed off his smuggler woodlands, demanding that his people no longer casually cross the borders of the woodlands to the swamps or Cato areas, and almost completely block their own forces, lest the brainless brutes run out and be caught by the Poison Warlock or the Plantagenet Vanguard.

Anyway, the food and food that its clan had hoarded during this time was enough for them to survive for a long time, not to mention that after the skeleton army in the woodland was absorbed and the swamp war began, the animals that had escaped returned here, and even the beasts of the swamp showed signs of migration, which allowed the hunters of the Bloodclaw Clan to bring back a lot of fresh meat every day.

In addition to this, the Bloodclaw Clan has also been given more important responsibilities.

The field hospital in Transncia was placed near the Smuggler's Woodland, where the gnolls needed help to guard and cover it, and Hogg knew the meaning of that place, and he took great care to arrange the defense of the field hospital.

It knew very well that if it or its clan cubs were unlucky, they would need these doctors to save their lives.

At this time, beside a hilly cliff above the Bloodclaw Clan's lair, a roaring fire was splashing sparks in the evening night, and a deer was being spun on the grill by two gnolls, and the clever Nash was sprinkling the roast deer with a jar of "secret spices" brought from the Crimson Keep.

I don't know where the chef of Scarlet Keep got this kind of thing, and when it was sprinkled on the barbecue, the already attractive aroma of fat brought a slightly spicy taste, so that the brute soldiers next to him couldn't help but sneeze but kept drooling and waited for the moment of sipping after the food was ready.

A group of little gnolls who had finished class today were also waiting beside them, they were very obedient to carry firewood and wagged their tails and waited for supper to start.

Chief Hogg, who was holding the "barbecue meeting", had already enjoyed the meal in advance, burping his belly as he ate, and then twisted open a bottle of barley wine and poured a large sip into his mouth.

Although they have "wolves" in their names, gnolls are intelligent creatures and omnivorous.

Although it is possible to live by eating fresh meat, jackals occasionally "improve" their diet, barbecue is their favorite snack, and eating cooked meat is also beneficial for the maintenance of teeth.

Of course, the barbecue in the past must not have such high-end things as spices, and from this point of view, Hogg also has to thank the warriors of Lord Murphy for bringing "otherworldly flavors".

Not only the chief himself, but even his two "guests" today have an indescribable sense of wonder about this hospitality.

On the stump opposite Hogg, Colonel Frazier, who had come to visit the Gnoll Clan, was holding a piece of roast meat in his hand, and stared at everything around him with a fan-shaped look of surprise and curiosity, as well as a fan of inquiry and discomfort.

On this cliff, there were only two humans, he and Professor Malcolm beside him, and the rest were all gnolls.

Colonel Fraser felt that he was probably the first "traveler" outside of Transencia to be so hospitably entertained by the Gnoll Clan, like the protagonist of one of those bizarre stories who strayed into an isolated place and was treated as a guest of honor by the local wildlings.

The scene before him did give the Colonel a sense of unreality, and he felt that if he were a naturalist who studied barbarians, he would have decided to be ecstatic.

However, due to a certain stereotype, he still did not dare to eat the roast venison that Hogg had cut for him himself, although he knew that it was cut from the deer, he always felt that he had a "mysterious piece of meat" in his hand.

After all, in all human legends, the Gnoll is the image of a bloodthirsty cannibal with a hairy hair.

After staring at the barbecue in his hand for a long time, the colonel still couldn't convince himself to taste it, he excused himself by saying that he was not hungry, and sang the praises of dieting, and then handed the meat to a few small-eyed gnolls next to him with a friendly smile.

The latter took it in surprise and turned to run, but the opposite Chief Hogg snorted, and the little gnoll immediately braked, turned around and thanked Colonel Fraser seriously with the meat, and then ran away in small steps.

Chief Hogg nodded in satisfaction, proving that he had educated the cubs in his clan quite well during this time.

This bizarre scene also surprised Colonel Fraser.

He had a hunch that in the next memoir he would see and hear in the swamp, the story of the Jackals of the Bloodclaw Clan would be the next chapter to be praised by King Louis and his ministers.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Professor Malcolm personally invited Colonel Fraser to be a guest of the Gnoll Clan?

"I never imagined that gnolls could sit and enjoy food so peacefully with humans."

Colonel Fraser took out his handkerchief and wiped the grease from his fingers, and while thinking in his mind how to describe his miraculous journey, he said to Professor Malcolm, who was sipping roast venison beside him:

"When Governor Murphy told me that he had a 'civilized' group of gnolls under his command, I thought he was doing some artistic processing, but I didn't expect him to be telling the truth."

Professor Malcolm put the venison in his hand on his plate, lit himself a dwarven pipe, and glanced in the evening wind at the game of his children and a half-sized group of gnolls under the care of his wife, and then asked wittily:

"Don't you think it's Chief Hogg and his people feigning enthusiasm, but in fact it's just trying to paralyze you, and wait until you're asleep before tying you up and throwing it into the fire for supper?"

"Not really."

Colonel Fraser shook his head and said:

"I've been working in intelligence for ten years, and although I know all about the habits of jackals from books, I can tell the difference between good intentions and disguised good intentions.

Chief Hogg and his people were clearly not the first to come into contact with humans, and the gnolls in the dens looked at me with nothing special and did not treat me as prey.

They even use a strange tone to remind me to obey the rules in human language, and although there is an element of intimidation, the sophisticated posture looks like I have dealt with humans a lot.

There were even kobolds who grabbed me and enthusiastically peddled some strange things they had dug out of the ground

The timid rodents thought I was someone else, they thought I was no different from the humans who came to this tribe regularly, maybe they didn't recognize the faces of humans, but they must have done something similar before and had done it successfully. ”

Saying this, the colonel picked up a rusted dagger that was still stained with mud in his hand, and in a relaxed mood he used his fingers to clean the dirt from the dagger, and said:

"Like this! If I'm not mistaken, this is supposed to be the battle sword used by the commanders of Boris's vanguard army five hundred years ago during the first Black Plague, and there is a 1:1 restored fake in my family's collection.

My father loved collecting these antiquities.

He'd love the genuine thing I got by accident on my travels, and he would never have imagined that I could get it from the kobold with just two candles. ”

"If you like these, Colonel, the Golden Fang's warehouse is full of these strange things dug out of the ground."

Hogg sat down on his stump and picked his teeth with a freshly sharpened toothpick, and said to Fraser:

"Kobolds always find something similar when they dig trenches nearby, and when Governor Murphy asks our clan's kobolds to dig a defensive line outside the swamp, there are even more antiquities unearthed in that ancient battle site.

If your father is fond of these antiquities, I can personally gift him a complete set of cavalry non-commissioned officer armor from Boris's Vanguard! It was also authentic that Malcolm's mentor had personally certified. ”

"Oh? That couldn't have been better, because my dad was about to have his birthday. ”

Colonel Fraser laughed, but then he looked at Professor Malcolm with a strange look in his eyes, and said:

"Chief Hogg calls you 'Mentor'?"

"That's right, I taught it all history."

Professor Malcolm held his pipe, smiled and waved his hand proudly:

"Although it is difficult to comprehend the complex human politics due to the savage thinking of the jackals, I have made some deletions to the history of the continent, but in terms of learning attitude, Chief Hogg has worked much harder than some of my former students.

If you've read Chief Hogg's own essay on the Plague, you'll know that, apart from the typos and the occasional misuse of words and grammatical errors, he was one of my students.

But Hogg wasn't the only one who benefited from this unique teaching, I also learned from it the way the gnolls see the world.

Their unique worldview, though narrow, is not wrong, so I have become suspicious of the view of the gnolls as barbarians that prevails on the mainland.

If I could take a trip to Mossy Valley in the future, I might be able to come up with strong evidence that the Jackals don't have a shorter history than humans.

In those ancient times, they also developed their own civilization system in the Dark Mountains, and I think they are not inferior to us in terms of life races. ”

"What a shocking opinion, Professor."

The colonel whispered:

"You're going to get you in trouble for preaching such ideas elsewhere, especially at this point in time when a dark plague is looming."

"But this is Transnesia."

Professor Malcolm snorted and said:

"There is no stupid pedigree here, no arrogant 'human supremacy' here, and I have never been able to understand how some of us who claim to be civilized have the courage to mock elves, dwarves or other races, who are no different and who are not ashamed to learn from others.

What's more, Hogg was not a member of the Black Plague in the first place.

It is a native of Translasia and is one of the indigenous people of the land recognized by Governor Murphy. ”

"Yes, Colonel."

Hogg immediately answered:

"I still have an identity file in the archives of the Scarlet Keep's administration, each of my clansmen has a complete registration of information, and after the Plague is over, we can get a citizenship certificate from the administration.

We were born in Translasia, and we have nothing to do with the gnolls of the Dark Mountains that have caused the Black Plague.

If I have to say, our relationship with the Dark Mountain Jackals is probably the same as that of the Sealanders, the Kates and the Nords, although they are of the same origin, but they have formed different groups.

We also have internal strife, we are pitted against each other, and even in the same war, we will choose different sides.

For example, in this Black Plague, the Tranian Jackals chose to side with the humans, just as at the end of the Second Night War, the Zealanders chose to fight with the vampires against the Nord occupation of the Frozen Bay. ”

"You've learned a pretty good history, Chief Hogg."

Colonel Fraser shook his head and said:

"However, that won't change the reality of the opposition between humans and gnolls, and words alone won't be enough to convince the Plantagenet Kingdom to accept your existence. The fact that I can personally sit here and talk to you with an open mind does not mean that my fellow citizens will not raise their arms when they see you.

The relationship between the individual and the collective has always been complex.

What's more, in this war, you have not yet identified your camp, and you have not taken practical action for your choices.

Stance has never been lip service, we only look at action! ”

"You'll see."

Hogg bared his teeth and said:

"You'll see my soldiers when you step into Plaguetown, and you'll see the gnolls fighting for Governor Murphy in the army of Governor Murphy when they attack Transasia.

In fact, to put it mildly, my people and I have done more for this land than you can imagine, Colonel, and I have contributed to your battles even during the events in Marlowe.

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean I haven't done it.

Your short-man marshal probably knows this better than you do, or you wouldn't have accepted Professor Malcolm's invitation to be my guest, would you? ”

"Uh, are you really a gnoll? Your mind is sharper than many humans I've ever met. ”

Seeing that Hogg opened the skylight and said something bright, Colonel Fraser stopped pretending, and he sat down and said:

"Indeed, Marshal Loren has received information from the office of the Governor of Translasia, who acknowledges the positive role you have played in the battle at the town of Marlo and has entrusted me to come and inspect your clan.

But Chief Hogg, you have to understand that this is just a face-saving gesture from the marshal to Governor Murphy, and it doesn't mean that he really values you, and besides, the title 'short man' is too rude!

Governor Murphy's slip of the tongue would have had serious consequences.

Especially in the future, when you have more contact with the dwarves, this kind of unscrupulous speech will seriously affect Translasia's place in their hearts. ”

"Then it's called 'Half-Man'!"

Hogg Quack laughed and said:

"We're not afraid of dwarves, and all we need now is your soldiers, don't come to the smuggler's woodlands to 'borrow' our heads.

This time, I invite you to come and talk about this issue!

In the witness of Professor Malcolm, I will make a pact with you, Commander of the Sealanders.

My clan will be your safest rear during the Swamp War, and the field hospital in Transencia will be temporarily housed here, and we will provide the necessary security for the hospital, but your wounded soldiers will also have to follow our rules.

Now this mountain forest is in the hands of our Bloodclaw Clan!

This authority has been recognized by Governor Murphy, who personally promised that the Smuggler's Woodlands would become the autonomous region of the Bloodclaw Clan, just as Governor Murphy and the Centaur had agreed upon.

I'm going to make the same deal with you.

I want you to acknowledge the Bloodclaw Clan's rule over the woodlands until the end of the Scourge, lest we be somehow caught up in a shameless backstab from our allies. ”

At this point, Hogg listened, and then said in a long voice:

"Of course, the Smuggler's woodlands need some sales, and it's still a bit far from the Crimson Keep, so Governor Murphy has allowed us to export some of the furs and herbs we don't need to the Capetian family to get back the food we need from the Cato region.

If you want, we can even set up a special trade market for the Capetian family near the woodlands, where you can smuggle supplies from your home base of Cato to Transcia for a lot of money!

In this way, the official monopoly commercial contract between Trancia and Mrs. Nordetto could be circumvented.

We, the Bloodclaw Clan, only need to collect a small amount of tolls from it, and that's it. ”

"Enough!"

Major Fraser was very unhappy and scolded:

"I'm talking to you as a soldier of the Plantagenet Kingdom, Chief Hogg, and this doesn't involve my family business."

"Hehe, humans are hypocrisy."

Hogg grinned, bared his canine teeth and sarcastically stated:

"You have that last name, but you're always trying to get rid of its influence, you're not even as good as Kenpott, and that idiot knows how to use his status as a Bonebite Clan Overseer to get more benefits for it.

Anyway, I can do anything for the Capet family at any time, and my people have already befriended several of your chamber leaders at the casino, and a few of them are eager to reclaim the money they owe me, and they promise to help me, the barbarian chieftain, connect with the honorable Count of Lyon.

You don't want that to be your business, but your father is the best merchant in the Plantagenet Kingdom, and you can't change the shortest route from Cato to Transnesia is across Lake Schorpus and through the Smuggler's Woods.

Even a gnoll like me knows that this is a really good business for the Capetian family, so you say you want this trade route, right? The promises you make will show your father what his son is capable of doing in this area.

You see, it doesn't hurt you well. ”

"Hmm..."

Colonel Fraser glanced at Professor Malcolm, who was smiling and silent, and after a few seconds of thought, he said:

"A Chamber of Commerce leader will come over in a few days to talk to you about this, it's beyond our scope... Well? What's moving? ”

His words were interrupted by a sudden, violent vibration.

Everyone, including Hogg, jumped up from the stump, and the Gnoll Chief roared for the panicked guards to hurry to the dens to see if any caves had collapsed, while Professor Malcolm and Fraser looked in the direction from which the shaking had come.

"In the depths of the swamp..."

Professor Malcolm put down his binoculars, touched his beard, and said:

"Is it the direction of the swamp forbidden land, and the plague clan has begun to march towards the forbidden land? Why would they make this choice in this situation? ”

"It's not clear now, but I can't stay here."

The Colonel whistled and let his horse gallop in this direction, and he felt a sense of relief that he no longer had to deal with these things that had nothing to do with the war, and he took the whip and said to his mentor and Chief Hogg:

"I must go to my position at once, both of you, and we'll talk about the rest until the battle is over."

(End of chapter)