How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 161

When I first heard that Octosia had disappeared right before our eyes, the emotion I felt was utter disbelief.Because something Yuria had casually mentioned had actually become reality.

I had thought that if a Master fled with everything they had, chasing them down wouldn't be easy, but I never imagined they would escape like that.

“My goodness, it actually existed? Seriously~”

Even Yuria herself, the one who had brought it up, reacted like this.

It was a variable I had never expected.

‘Sacred Relics like that aren't common, are they?’

-That's right. It's an incredibly precious item. I never thought one would still exist.

‘It's probably single-use.’

-Of course. It would be stranger if something like that weren't single-use.

‘But you're saying she endured even the Great Cataclysm without using it?’

It was absurd enough that Octosia just happened to possess such a precious Sacred Relic, but it was even more ridiculous that she had gone through the Great Cataclysm without ever using it.

No matter how I looked at it, this was an unbelievably unfair stroke of bad luck.

“Well, whatever. Even if she survives, what can she really do?”

As someone who had wanted to capture Octosia no matter what and eliminate any future trouble, it was certainly regrettable.

But I decided to accept it.

I'd already done everything I reasonably could.

I had even released a large number of Horse Tribe warriors in preparation for the possibility that she'd flee. If she escaped like this anyway, there was nothing more I could do.

Approximately fifteen hundred Imperial Knights had died in this war alone.

The power of an entire Great Lord had simply vanished.

With all of their military strength wiped out, it was only natural that the Empire would be driven out of the Levelium Region.

Even if Octosia were still alive, there wasn't much she could actually accomplish.

‘A few Knights and two Masters. At best, maybe an assassination?’

An assassination in Johnson Territory, where outsiders never came and went?

There was no way that would work.

Even Iron, who had practically abandoned all territorial affairs, had dealt with assassins without much difficulty.

If Octosia somehow managed to assassinate someone in our territory under these circumstances, I'd honestly applaud her.

That's just how impossible it was.

‘We've got mountains of work ourselves.’

Just sorting out everything on our side was already giving me enough of a headache.

The ones who suffered the greatest losses in this war were undoubtedly the Cow Tribe.

Many of the reserve warriors guarding the Second Horn had died, and many of the Cow Tribe warriors who had assaulted the Imperial main camp had also fallen.

Fortunately, thanks to potions and the Priests, most of the wounded Cow Tribe members recovered.

And those who survived had become even stronger.

Had the Cow Tribe faced the Imperial Army alone, they might have been crippled beyond recovery.

The Cow Tribe Chieftains understood that fact perfectly.

“I mean, still...”

“Didn't the Lion Tribe also entrust their Divine Relic to the human chieftain? This is the greatest expression of trust that Beastmen can show.”

“They did... Well, alright. We'll leave it in your care. If we ever need it, we'll let you know immediately.”

Having emerged victorious from this war, the Cow Tribe wanted to entrust their Divine Relic to me.

Through this war, they had realized that the Beastmen needed to unite, and they acknowledged that it was all thanks to Johnson Territory.

This was how the Cow Tribe expressed their trust.

Following the Lion Tribe and the Mouse Tribe, the Cow Tribe's Divine Relic would also be placed in our territory's Temple.

As long as the Cow Tribe's Divine Relic remained there, the alliance between Johnson Territory and the Cow Tribe would last forever.

-The cows actually used their heads.

‘Did they?’

-They're not exactly the type to enjoy thinking. They'll dump all the troublesome work on their master while they focus on stocking up on canned meat.

‘Well, that's about average for Beastmen.’

They probably had calculations of their own.

But I didn't think that was a bad thing.

If anything, it would've been more problematic if the Cow Tribe, who weren't exactly known for their brains, suddenly started trying to outthink everyone.

More importantly, the grain harvested by the Cow Tribe was far more useful to humans than to Beastmen.

Their cooperation would become a tremendous asset to us.

After all, the amount of grain produced in our territory was still nowhere near enough.

‘It feels like Divine Relics just keep gathering here.’

The Cow Tribe's active cooperation was certainly welcome, but it felt strange seeing more and more Divine Relics piling up.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

“I'm just going to keep the Divine Relic in the Temple.”

“What, you too? Why?”

“We built the Temple, didn't we? Wouldn't Lord Bestia want that too?”

“Hmm.”

“Rather than wrapping it up and keeping it hidden by myself, I think it's better to display it somewhere all the Beastman tribes can see. And more importantly...”

“More importantly?”

“The Temple is incredibly safe.”

“Safe... Well, that's true. It really is.”

Even Yuria said she wanted to keep the Fox Tribe's Divine Relic in the Temple.

The idea was to safeguard the Divine Relic while allowing every Beastman tribe to see it.

‘She's not wrong.’

The Temple of Lord Bestia stood in the very center of Rabbit Tribe territory.

At first glance, it looked surprisingly vulnerable.

After all, it was just a single Temple standing alone in the middle of a vast vegetable field.

Rather than a grand sanctuary, it resembled a modest shrine.

Anyone determined enough might think they could simply steal the Divine Relic.

‘But it's actually the perfect death trap.’

The Temple stood right in the middle of the Rabbit Tribe settlement.

Thousands of Rabbit Tribe members lived all around it.

And Rabbit Tribe members were incredibly sensitive.

The moment anyone approached the Temple, they'd notice immediately.

On top of that, the Priest-Warriors and Priest trainees practically lived inside the Temple.

Stealing a Divine Relic from there was an extremely difficult task.

‘The only shred of mercy I showed was not planting bombs around it.’

The Rabbit Tribe took protecting the Divine Relics incredibly seriously.

‘That makes seven Divine Relics already?’

The Rabbit Tribe.

The Bear Tribe.

The Boar Tribe.

The Mouse Tribe.

The Lion Tribe.

And now the Cow Tribe and the Fox Tribe.

Before I knew it, seven Divine Relics had gathered here.

At this rate, every single Divine Relic might eventually end up in our territory.

-The Divine Relics are gathering. That's a good sign. It means the Beastmen are sincerely uniting.

Looking at the rabbit happily wiggling his backside, I guessed this really was something worth celebrating.

Personally, though, it felt like a burden.

After all, weren't Divine Relics the kind of treasures people would release even the Imperial bastards to recover?

Of course, as the Guide of the Rabbit Tribe, I was practically the foremost authority regarding Divine Relics.

Still, having them continuously pile up like this didn't sit well with me.

It felt like an enormous amount of work was about to land on my shoulders.

The Horse Tribe suffered no casualties whatsoever during this war.

Their fighting style was incredibly efficient.

It forced one-sided losses upon the enemy.

Even now, I could vividly picture fleeing Horse Tribe warriors turning around and firing arrows behind them.

It was such shamelessly dirty fighting that curses naturally came to mind.

‘And I heard these guys looted a ridiculous amount too?’

The Horse Tribe had crossed Lucas Castle and completely emptied the Imperial Army's warehouses.

If anything, perhaps the true victors of this war were actually the Horse Tribe.

“The spoils?”

“The Lion Tribe Chieftain also agreed that would be best.”

“In that case... sure. Let's take a look.”

As soon as the war ended, the Horse Tribe, having looted the Imperial warehouses, came to divide the spoils.

Before the war, we'd already agreed that all spoils would belong to the Horse Tribe.

However, since the Lion Tribe had joined the raid on Lucas Castle, their share would be handed over to us.

Rudelrof hadn't returned to the territory yet, so I'd be receiving the Lion Tribe's share on his behalf.

Rudelrof himself had agreed that was the best arrangement.

“Let's divide it like this.”

“Are you truly alright with that?”

“Of course. It was the Horse Tribe that suggested raiding Lucas Castle, wasn't it? Most of the goods were taken by the Horse Tribe, so it's only fair that they receive the larger share.”

“As expected of the human chieftain. You have a generous heart.”

None of the goods the Horse Tribe had looted from Lucas Castle particularly interested me.

A quick glance showed that most of it consisted of food, cloth, weapons, armor, and other daily necessities.

Those were all things the Horse Tribe needed far more than we did.

We'll continue trading with them in the future.

There was no reason for us to get greedy over supplies like these.

When I asked Rudelrof, he gave a similar answer.

He said simply raiding Lucas Castle had already been satisfying enough, so most of the supplies should go to the Horse Tribe.

So I kept only a handful of items and yielded the rest.

The Horse Tribe Chieftain looked thoroughly pleased.

‘Well, it's not like we came away empty-handed.’

-Indeed. I never expected that to be mixed in there.

Still, we hadn't lost out.

Among the items the Horse Tribe looted was something particularly remarkable.

The Imperial-made Fire Bomb that had completely caught me off guard.

Naturally, it hadn't been assembled yet and remained in material form.

But both the strangely bonded Mana Crystal and the Red Ore were there.

That meant it could be used somehow.

Even as a Master, I found it astonishing enough to spark my curiosity.

‘The Rabbit Tribe is going to love this.’

They'd probably analyze it with fanatical enthusiasm.

After all, the Rabbit Tribe had witnessed that massive explosion firsthand.

There was no way they wouldn't be interested.

‘No idea what the other stuff is, though.’

I also took a few other items.

Most of them were things the Horse Tribe didn't seem interested in.

The only reason I kept them was because I could sense mana from them.

Otherwise, they probably would've been thrown away.

I didn't know what they were either.

For now, I'd hand them over to the Alchemy Workshop and the Builders.

If they turned out to be useful, they'd let me know.

“And then... this.”

“Huh? Isn't that... a Divine Relic?”

“It is. A Divine Relic.”

Before the Horse Tribe left with the remaining supplies, their Chieftain handed me a red horse statue.

It was the Horse Tribe's Divine Relic.

When I asked why he was giving it to me, it turned out they had their own reasons.

“The human female told us that several Divine Relics were already gathered in Johnson Territory.”

“Well, that's true.”

“We're not particularly meticulous. Since we move our settlements so often, we occasionally leave things behind. Especially small valuables like Divine Relics—they're troublesome to keep track of.”

“I see.”

“So I figured it'd be better to leave it somewhere safe.”

“I suppose that's true.”

Because the Horse Tribe frequently relocated their settlements, carrying such a precious Divine Relic around was a constant nuisance.

So they had decided to entrust it to us entirely.

“And since it came from that female, I believed it was trustworthy.”

“Ah... Sir Irene.”

“She is an impressive female. Enough to captivate even Horse Tribe warriors.”

“Is that so?”

Apparently, Irene had played a huge role in this decision as well.

She'd always been the type to earn people's goodwill thanks to her upright personality.

After the Flame Horse incident, she'd already become quite popular among the Horse Tribe.

Then, during this war, she fought alongside them through thick and thin, earning even more of their respect.

In fact, one Horse Tribe warrior had even proposed to her.

“Of course, every single one of them got punched into the ground. That punch was truly astonishing.”

Her preference for only acknowledging men stronger than I was had sunk them all without exception.

Still, it seemed there were many Horse Tribe members who admired her.

-Oho. Looks like even you should be getting nervous, Master.

‘Not really. Irene's just too strong.’

In our entire territory, I was the only man capable of defeating Irene.

Compared to their ranged combat ability, the Horse Tribe were much weaker in close combat.

There was no way they'd be able to do anything against Irene.

So I wasn't worried about that in the slightest.

‘The real issue is the Divine Relics, isn't it? Even the Horse Tribe's Divine Relic is ending up here.’

It meant they trusted us that much.

But... was this really alright?

At this rate, I couldn't shake the feeling that every Divine Relic in existence might eventually gather in our territory.