How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 163

As soon as Rudelrof entered Johnson Castle, he immediately rushed off to Rotsy.Apparently, something major had happened in the village.

Wondering what could possibly have happened, I looked into it, only to discover that the Horned Rabbit ranch in Rotsy had been attacked.

Not by monsters.

By the Lion Tribe.

‘At first, I thought I'd misheard. Why on earth would the Lion Tribe attack a Horned Rabbit ranch?’

While preparing supplies for this war, a large number of Horned Rabbits had also been slaughtered at the Rotsy ranch.

It wasn't because we were running out of rabbits.

The problem was that our slaughterhouse didn't have enough capacity.

It was simply too small to process so many Horned Rabbits at once.

Apparently, that had alarmed the Lion Tribe.

The villagers became anxious, and the moment Rudelrof left for the battlefield, they sprang into action.

They rushed over to the ranch, secretly slaughtered the Horned Rabbits, and carried them back to their own homes.

‘That's honestly incredible. I guess that's the Lion Tribe for you.’

The real problem was the sheer scale of it.

Just how many had they taken?

Enough that the number of Horned Rabbits at the ranch had noticeably decreased.

Honestly, how was that even possible?

Even slaughtering hundreds every single day barely made a dent in the population.

Yet somehow, they had reduced the numbers enough for it to be obvious.

The Lion Tribe had once again exceeded my imagination.

-It seems male lions don't go bald for no reason.

‘Yeah... Rudelrof's going to have a real headache.’

It was a little disappointing.

Rudelrof was one of the few Beastmen I could actually have a proper conversation with.

I'd planned to use this opportunity to discuss a few serious matters.

But with his village thrown into complete chaos, there wasn't much choice.

I'd have to postpone it until next time.

There was still plenty of the fantasy-version fruit wine the Ape Tribe had brought.

Once things settled down, I should pay Rotsy another visit.

At this point, Rotsy was practically our next-door neighbor anyway, so there wasn't any burden in visiting.

“So, Elline. You're not injured anywhere, are you?”

“No. Thanks to your concern.”

“That's good to hear.”

While Rudelrof had hurried back, Elline remained here.

There was still a great deal we needed to discuss.

Now that the Dog Tribe had decided to settle with us, there were countless matters that required discussion.

I had a few ideas of my own, but I also needed to hear what the person involved thought.

‘They were mobilized into a war immediately after immigrating here, yet they never complained once.’

-Isn't steadfastness practically synonymous with the Dog Tribe?

‘Exactly. Dogs are always right.’

The Dog Tribe had certainly been given an easy battle.

Most of the enemy forces had already withdrawn from the former Hawrun Region.

No enemies even approached the castle defended by the Dog Tribe and the Lion Tribe.

On top of that, infiltrating the castle through the Rabbit Tribe's tunnels had made an already easy battle even easier.

It was almost ridiculous that the enemy had fallen for the tunnel strategy we'd already used before.

Then again, if you don't know about it, you're bound to fall for it.

‘That doesn't diminish the Dog Tribe's contribution, though.’

Good friends like the Dog Tribe deserved good treatment.

And no, I'm absolutely not saying that because I'm a dog person.

“So, has everything in Hawrun been settled?”

“Yes. Sir Albio moved very proactively.”

“I figured as much.”

The moment Albio Hawrun reclaimed the former Hawrun Region, all the residents who had been living here immediately returned to their homeland.

Apparently, they had truly hated living in this place.

They packed up and left almost overnight.

Honestly, I hadn't expected them to move so quickly.

‘Just how miserable was life here for these people?’

Around ten thousand Hawrun residents had taken refuge here.

Now, even those who had fled to other regions were being contacted and called back to Hawrun.

It wouldn't recover to its former population immediately.

Still, a large number of residents would eventually return.

Especially those who had evacuated to Saint or the surrounding areas of Levelium.

‘Well, that's not a bad thing.’

From our perspective, it was actually beneficial.

Having Albio Hawrun, who was friendly toward us, firmly established in the Hawrun Region worked in our favor as well.

If we wanted to trade our goods with the other Great Lords, we'd have to go through either the Levelium Region or the Rubina Region.

Compared to Rubina, which was a subordinate territory of Haken, Hawrun—being effectively neutral—was a much easier place to conduct trade.

Many territories connected to Vines and New Level surrounded the Levelium Region.

Trading through those routes would soften some of the awkwardness.

It would certainly feel less burdensome than dealing directly with the other two Great Lords.

‘And it wouldn't be a bad proposal for Albio either.’

Albio needed to rebuild his territory.

If trade flourished there, it would benefit both of us.

“By the way, what are they planning to do about the Imperials?”

“The Imperial people in the Hawrun Region? They plan to expel every last one of them.”

“Oh, really? Well... that's just like Albio.”

Although the Imperial Army had been completely annihilated, the Imperial citizens still remained throughout the Levelium Region.

There were over fifty thousand of them, if I remembered correctly.

Even the Hawrun Region alone still housed more than ten thousand Imperials.

Albio intended to expel every one of them.

It suited someone who had lost his entire family to the Empire.

There were simply some things he would never compromise on.

Considering the possibility of future trouble, I didn't think it was a bad decision.

Numbers certainly mattered.

But having people you couldn't trust was worse than not having them at all.

“Well, that's their business. What about the Dog Tribe?”

After hearing enough about Hawrun's situation, I moved on to the real topic.

The future of the Dog Tribe.

The moment I asked what they intended to do, Elline answered immediately.

It seemed she'd already spent a great deal of time thinking about it.

“I think it's best for us to move into the place where Sir Albio and the Hawrun residents used to live.”

“Really?”

“I absolutely love Johnson Castle as well. But it's too small for the entire Dog Tribe to live here. Our numbers are still increasing.”

“That makes sense.”

Her answer was that they intended to move into the newly built Hawrun Castle.

Exactly as I had envisioned.

‘Well, it's a little late for them to move all the way north now. The Dog Tribe doesn't really have many alternatives.’

We had built the new Hawrun Castle for the Hawrun residents.

Planning for the future, we had constructed it large enough to house twenty thousand people.

The houses had been carefully built, and even the Life Magic Circles had all been properly installed.

Now that the Hawrun residents had returned home, the castle stood empty.

It was the perfect place for the Dog Tribe to settle.

“But are you really alright with that? It was originally a human castle. Doesn't the Dog Tribe have its own housing traditions or something?”

“Oh, we're perfectly fine with it. Honestly, a castle humans lived in is even better. It already has all the Life Magic Circles installed, doesn't it?”

“That's true.”

“We actually prefer that.”

“I suppose you would.”

I wondered whether they had unique customs like the Rabbit Tribe, who insisted on living underground, or the Mouse Tribe, who continued living in tents even inside castle walls.

Apparently not.

Unlike other Beastmen unfamiliar with human culture, the Dog Tribe had maintained close ties with Vines for many years.

They were already accustomed to living like humans.

In fact, they seemed delighted that it had once been inhabited by humans.

Which wasn't surprising.

Once someone experienced convenience, it was incredibly difficult to live without it.

To put it simply, the Dog Tribe had reached the point where they couldn't live without human Life Magic.

There was no reason for them to head into the remote northern wilderness anymore.

Not when such an ideal place was already available.

“Though... there are a few things I'd like to ask.”

“Oh? Of course. Go ahead.”

The Dog Tribe moving into Hawrun Castle had already been decided.

However, Elline had a few personal requests.

“Hm? Wait... you're saying you're staying in Johnson Castle?”

“Yes. A few members of the Dog Tribe and I plan to remain here.”

“Is that really alright? The Priestess of the Dog Tribe seems to hold a position equivalent to a tribal chieftain.”

“But the Divine Relic is staying here.”

“The Divine Relic? Why?”

“The Holy Spirit told me to.”

“The Dog Tribe's Holy Spirit?”

Elline intended to remain in Johnson Castle.

The reason was to place the Divine Relic inside the Temple.

According to her, the Dog Tribe's Holy Spirit had instructed her to leave the Dog Tribe's Divine Relic here.

‘If the Holy Spirit really said that...’

-It could very well be Lord Bestia's will.

‘Didn't you hear anything yourself?’

-The Rabbit Tribe's Divine Relic is already inside the Temple. There would be little reason for Lord Bestia to speak to me directly. Leaving a message through a Holy Spirit requires an immense amount of power.

‘Is that so?’

Out of all the tribes, I had been certain the Dog Tribe would never hand over their Divine Relic.

They already had their own Guide.

There shouldn't have been any reason to entrust it elsewhere.

Yet the Holy Spirit had personally instructed them to do so.

That felt strangely significant.

Did they truly want every Divine Relic gathered in one place?

Of course, from the perspective of strengthening the Beastman Alliance, that wasn't a bad outcome.

‘It's impossible to understand. Even if all the Divine Relics gathered together, I can't imagine anything actually happening.’

Still, the decision had already been made.

If it was the Holy Spirit's command, there wasn't much room to refuse.

Keeping the Dog Tribe's Divine Relic here wouldn't create any problems.

Elline remaining here, however, made me feel slightly uneasy.

She had successfully led the Dog Tribe for all these years.

Now she was stepping aside while the rest of the tribe relocated?

“Do you happen to know how many years I've been taking care of the Dog Tribe?”

“Hm? I heard it's been quite a while.”

“Twenty years.”

“Twenty years? Seriously? Wait...”

Just how old was she if she'd been serving as the Dog Tribe's Priestess for twenty years?

She looked like she was still in her twenties.

Beastmen were considered adults around fifteen years old.

Could she actually be in her late thirties with an unbelievably youthful appearance?

“The look in your eyes is incredibly offensive. I'm still in my twenties. Though admittedly near the end of them.”

“Ah... right. Sorry.”

Apparently, my thoughts had been written all over my face.

I got scolded for nothing.

Still, what surprised me even more was that Elline had apparently begun leading the tribe before she was even ten years old.

Even if she was a Guide...

A child leading an entire tribe?

That was difficult for me to understand.

-Isn't she a Guide? That's entirely possible. Just think of it as her leading the tribe according to the Holy Spirit's guidance.

‘So she's more like a messenger. A link between the Holy Spirit and the tribe. Looking at it that way, it does make sense.’

“Well, setting that aside, what are you planning to do if you stay here? You're not just going to sit around staring at the Divine Relic all day.”

“I'll have to do something, of course. Since there's already a Fox Tribe shaman in the territory, I thought I might learn more Shamanism. Or perhaps help with the merchant caravans.”

“Oh? Like that?”

It wasn't as though she intended to remain here doing nothing.

She wanted to learn Shamanism from Yuria, who was also a shaman, or assist with trade.

Elline had personally led merchant caravans for the benefit of her tribe before.

Having her help would certainly make things much easier.

Especially now that we needed to establish trade with the other Great Lords.

‘But... she wants to learn Shamanism from Yuria? Does that mean Yuria's actually the more skilled shaman?’

Seeing Elline had made me question Yuria's Shamanism.

Yet Elline herself wanted to study under Yuria.

That was interesting in its own way.

Either way, it seemed certain that Elline would remain in the territory.

“But is there someone who can lead the tribe in your place?”

“Of course. We have a Chieftain.”

“Really?”

I was still a little concerned.

Could the Dog Tribe really function properly after losing its leader?

But according to Elline, the Dog Tribe had always had a Chieftain.

Although she had guided the tribe as its Priestess, she said it was now time to return to her own role.

She had already discussed everything with the Chieftain beforehand.

There was no reason for me to object.

As long as the Divine Relic remained here, it wasn't strange for Elline to stay as well.

“Then I suppose I should have a talk with your Chieftain.”

Discussions regarding the territory's future would have to be held with the Chieftain who would actually be leading the Dog Tribe.