Chapter 46: Contact
Theo turned his head toward David with a sour look. Honestly, that was not the answer he expected at all. Meanwhile David just looked back at him with an easy grin, completely relaxed.
“I swear, I thought you were the nice one,” Theo muttered with a pout.
“To be fair, Solon got a point bein’ hard on you, boss,” David said. “That whole Necromancer act of yours did wonders gathering all these folks into one alliance. I saw it myself, and honestly? I approve of it.”
David stepped forward until he stood beside Theo, then looked toward the farmland.
The farmers were busy harvesting under the afternoon sun. Some of them were laughing while tasting the crops for the first time, still sweaty from work but grinning like children.
For many of them, this was the first time in their lives seeing food grown in this quantity by their own hands instead of scavenged from the wild.
“But building people… keeping people together…” David said quietly, still watching the farmers with a softer expression. “That kinda thing ain’t built on deception alone.”
Theo fell silent.
“That’s why the people don’t really need the Necromancer right now,” David continued.
He then turned his head to Theo.
“Tell me honestly, boss. Ever since the other villages joined us, have you even tried talking to ’em proper? Same way you used to talk with the Blackstone folks?”
“…No,” Theo admitted. “They already know me as the scary necromancer. I don’t wanna ruin the image.”
“Exactly,” David nodded. “You keep feeding the deception. But for what exactly?”
“….”
Theo couldn’t answer.
Because the truth was, this was simply how he always operated. Build an image. Maintain it. Keep the lie consistent so they keep listening to him.
“I’m not sayin’ deception itself is wrong,” David continued casually. “Shoot, deception’s a normal tool in politics. In war too. Folks use it all the time.”
He let out a small chuckle.
“But the problem now ain’t the deception itself,” David said. “The problem is you, the fella behind it.”
Theo frowned slightly.
“So what’re you actually tryin’ to build here, boss?” David asked. “Because if you don’t got a real goal of your own, sooner or later you’re gonna get swallowed by the same image you created.”
“Doing all this just because your system tells you to ain’t a real goal either,” David continued. “Especially when me and the others can’t even see those fancy numbers in your so-called status window.”
David turned his head back toward the farmers again.
They were still busy hauling baskets, laughing, arguing, and stealing bites from the harvest while working. Their clothes were drenched in sweat and dirt, yet their faces looked brighter than Theo had seen in weeks.
“But what me and the others can see now,” David said with a small smile, “is real folks.”
Silence fell between them.
“Goal? …I don’t know,” Theo finally admitted quietly.
Then silence again.
“Well boss, that’s the kinda question you gotta answer yourself if you wanna be a leader,” David said.
He turned around and started walking back toward his demon hound.
“Tara’s the leader, not me,” Theo muttered weakly.
“See?” David chuckled easily without even looking back. “The deception’s already eatin’ you.”
David climbed onto his hound and rode off, leaving Theo alone under the tree.
Theo stayed there quietly, staring toward the farmers David had been watching this whole time.
Then he let out a long sigh.
A goal…
Back in his old life, the answer would have been simple. Everything revolved around himself. His comfort. His convenience. His future.
Other people? They were just tools, connections, obstacles, stepping stones. Whatever helped him reach what he wanted.
But now…
After spending months living this close to these people… Eating with them. Running with them. Fighting beside them.
Theo suddenly realized he genuinely didn’t know what he wanted anymore.
---
Demon Hound Enclosure
Some time later, David arrived near the ravine where the demon hound enclosure had been built.
This was where the newly captured hounds were brought after finishing their isolation and pattern training before continuing into cavalry drills.
Capturing fresh demon hounds had turned out far easier than expected. Since the beasts could track prey from nearly fifty kilometers away, so David simply used blood bait trails leading straight toward prepared trap zones near the ravine.
Once trapped, the scavengers handled the rest. Thankfully, the scavenger tribes were frighteningly good at making sedative darts for hunting dangerous monsters.
Separate the pack. Drug them. Isolate them. Train them. Simple process. Well… “simple” by David’s standards at least.
And feeding them was easy enough. They simply brought the hounds into the forest for monster hunts. Feed the beasts while thinning the monsters around the forest villages at the same time. Two jobs done together.
Nowadays, whenever David saw dozens of demon hounds running drills with their handler around the enclosure grounds, he couldn’t help but grin to himself imagining the future.
A proper cavalry. Not cavalry made of horses, but giant war dogs with fangs big enough to rip a horse in half.
Tok Tok Tok Tok Tok
But suddenly, the slit drum alarm echoed through the ravine.
David’s smile faded.
That rhythm wasn’t the signal for monsters. Its intruders from the outer ravine entrance.
“Hm?” David muttered while pulling the reins slightly. “What’s going on over there?”
His hound immediately changed direction, claws scraping against the grassy path as they headed toward the ravine entrance instead of the enclosure.
---
Ravine Fortress Construction Site
The outer ravine looked completely different now compared to a month ago.
Stacks of cut stone blocks littered the area. Timber piles lay everywhere. Wooden cranes towered above the workers like giant skeletons made of logs and rope. Half-built walls already started taking shape around the narrow entrance.
Its the future eastern gate of the Grassland alliance.
When David arrived, he saw soldiers rushing past him toward the outer side of the ravine while laborers hurried deeper inside carrying tools and supplies away from the entrance.
David hopped down from his hound.
“What’s happening?” he asked one of the workers running past.
“The barbarian tribes are coming!” the laborer shouted before continuing to run.
“Neighbors, huh…” David muttered.
Then he continued walking forward.
---
A few moments later, David reached the outer edge of the ravine.
The atmosphere was already tense there. About twenty Alliance soldiers stood in formation with shields and spears ready. Across from them stood eleven enormous men.
And they were massive. Not tall, but massive.
Each one looked almost twice the size of a normal human. Thick arms. Thick necks. Thick everything. They wore little more than animal fur wrapped around their waists and shoulders, proudly showing muscles packed like carved stone across their chest, arms, and thighs.
Their weapons looked just as ridiculous. Oversized axes. Broadswords. Clubs thick enough to break a horse spine in one swing.
The barbarians. David recognized them instantly despite never seeing one before. There was simply no way these mountain-sized lunatics could be anything else.
“No beastmen ever came through here,” the Alliance lieutenant repeated through gritted teeth while standing in front of his men. “We already told you that.”
“Oh look, boys,” one of the barbarians mocked loudly.
He was the biggest among them, wearing a giant antler skull strapped on top of his head like a crown.
“The soft-skin says no fur-skin came here.” He grinned wide. “Soft-skin lied. Traces never lie.”
He’s definitely the leader.
“Trace never lie!” another barbarian shouted immediately, “Barbarian hates liars!”
“We have no reason to lie!” the lieutenant snapped back. “Now leave!”
“Oh look!” the barbarian leader laughed while spreading his arms dramatically toward his men. “Now soft-skin tells barbarians to leave!”
“Hahahahaha!” The others burst into laughter.
Then the barbarian leader stepped forward.
“Soft-skin,” he said while pointing lazily at the soldiers, “we leave after getting food and slaves.”
Then his grin widened.
“Fur-skin missing. So soft-skin pays instead.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The barbarians lowered their stance and gripped their weapons tighter, smiling like men about to enjoy themselves.
Meanwhile, the Alliance soldiers raised shields and leveled spears forward. Its becoming a proper standoff now.
The barbarian leader sighed dramatically.
“Soft-skin should not fight,” he said. “Keeping slaves alive during battle is annoying. Dead slaves useless for the Agros.”
“Then how about dead barbarians?” A new voice suddenly came from above.
Everyone looked upward.
David stood atop a rocky cliff overlooking the ravine entrance several meters above the confrontation, casually resting one hand on his sling pouch.
The barbarian leader’s face immediately brightened.
“BOYS!” he shouted excitedly while pointing upward like a child discovering a new puppy. “They have tiny soft-skin!”
The other barbarians looked up.
“Nobody kill tiny soft-skin!” the barbarian leader continued excitedly. “Tiny soft-skin will become our toy!”
“Sigh…” David muttered under his breath. “Me and this body.”
Then he looked down calmly.
“Well unfortunately, sir,” David said politely, “today I’m not planning to become anyone’s toy.”
Right on cue, four mounted riders suddenly emerged beside him from both sides of the cliff. The response team from the enclosure, mounted on demon hounds.
Even the barbarians visibly stiffened now as the massive black beasts growled lowly while baring rows of oversized fangs.
“But,” David continued with a cold smile, “I’m not too sure about you folks.”
The barbarian leader’s eyes widened. “S-Soft-skins tame demon hounds?! Impossible!”
Then David’s own demon hound climbed up beside him, towering over even the mounted beasts nearby.
The hound stared directly at the barbarians and let out a deep growl that echoed through the ravine.
"Grrrrrrr..."
David gently patted its neck.
Then he smiled.
“Go play.”