Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 138 The Tribe's Green Grass

Warm winds from the Gulf of Simoya swept across the Par Plateau, bringing moisture and giving new life to this barren, yellowish land. Light rain fell from the sky along with the approaching dark clouds.

"Mom! Look! It's raining! It's raining! We're saved! Our tribe is saved!"

A minotaur whose body hair had not yet completely shed looked up at the sky, his clear black and white pupils revealing bursts of joy. As the rain became more and more intense, the minotaur's originally withered and dull nose became moist again under the nourishment of the rain.

"Ah, yes, Mordor, this is wonderful! Thank you, Beast God. I hope this rain will be heavy so the grass on the ground can grow even more lushly."

A female minotaur with mottled hair looked up at the sky. She didn't flinch as the rain fell into her eyes, but under the rain, it was clear that her originally tired and hunched figure seemed to straighten up again.

The mother and son stood quietly in front of the yurt, savoring the tranquility of the moment. With the rain sheltering them, the mother was right beside them, and the drought that had been troubling them for so long was finally resolved. At that moment, the little minotaur felt as if he owned the whole world.

"Mordor, let's get moving. While it's still raining, let's clear the land. The rain might stop soon, so we need to make the most of it and let the land fully absorb the rainwater."

That way, on harvest day, we can have a larger harvest, and after handing over our fixed share to the tribe, my son and I won't go hungry.

Upon hearing his mother's words, Mordor, who was not yet an adult but whose body was already very strong, turned around and rushed into the felt hut, grabbed the bone tools leaning against the frame, and ran back in a flash.

With the rain in hand, the minotaur mother and son silently began hoeing the ground, wielding hoes made of animal bones. After an unknown amount of time, little Mordor, now soaked to the bone, looked up again at the gray sky where the rain was still falling.

'Mom~ Why do we have to give so much food to the tribe?'

"Because the tribe protects us, child. It is because of the tribe's protection that we can still live here safely even after your father passed away."

As the minotaur wielded her hoe, she explained to her son. Having lived her entire life in the tribe, she didn't quite understand why her son had so many questions, but she still used her limited knowledge to give him an answer that she considered perfectly reasonable.

'But...but...Didn't Father die fighting for the tribe?'

Faced with her son's question again, the female minotaur was clearly stunned for a moment. After her body stiffened for a few seconds in the rain, she stood the hoe upright on the ground, put her hands on the hoe, and rested her body on it for a while.

"Fighting for the tribe is the mission of every orc. As for your question, son, I don't know how to answer you. After a while, I'll send you to the tribe. You can ask your future teacher then."

Seeing that his mother couldn't answer, young Mordor wasn't particularly surprised. After all, he asked so many questions every day that his mother often couldn't answer them, and he was already used to it.

As a minotaur blessed by the power of his ancestors, Mordor automatically transformed from an ordinary young orc into a promising orc priest after completing his awakening ritual.

The tedious and monotonous priestly studies always made young Mordor miss the days when he worked on the ranch with his mother. However, when he thought about how his mother was happy to learn that he would become a great priest, Mordor, who had not seen his mother so happy in more than ten years, finally decided to persevere through this period.

'Mordor! Are you slacking off and daydreaming again?!'

With a loud shout, Mordor, whose thoughts had drifted far away, quickly snapped back to reality and looked over. He saw a menacing old fox-man walking towards him with a bone staff. The staff struck Mordor's head with a dull thud, not because the old fox-man hit him with great force.

"As the future of the Orcish Empire, you bear a heavy responsibility. You are the hope of millions of orcs, and also the most trusted subjects of the Beast God. Therefore, you must work even harder and be more diligent, so as not to let down the Empire's expectations of you."

Mordor looked at the old fox standing in front of him, rambling on and on, and his thoughts drifted away once again.

'Lord Abayami, why do we have to fight? Between tribes, between empires and humans, it seems like we always have endless wars.'

The old fox-man Abarayama looked down at the little minotaur sitting cross-legged in front of him. The minotaur's physical talent meant that Mordor was almost as tall as the old fox-man even when sitting down. Among the dozen or so people in this beast god's ritual, the minotaur was the most talented.

Abarayama had a love-hate relationship with this little guy. While he was exceptionally talented, the little minotaur always seemed to be lost in thought, and he never seemed to care much about cultivation. Rather than becoming an excellent orc priest, this little guy seemed more interested in becoming a scholar in the human world.

"Mordor, war and conflict have been ongoing since the emergence of humans and humanoids. Even the gods, in the astral planes we cannot reach, are constantly waging divine wars. And all of this, in the end, boils down to something very simple: survival! And surviving better."

Despite receiving an answer different from what his mother had given him before, Mordor, still the little minotaur, did not seem particularly happy. His large bull eyes remained filled with confusion. Clearly, the answer given by the old fox-man Abayami had not resolved Mordor's doubts.

"Why can't we sit down and talk? I've seen the maps drawn by the tribe. The world is so big, can't we coexist peacefully with other humans and humanoids?"

Faced with Mordor's question, the old fox did not answer immediately. Instead, he fell into deep thought under the little minotaur's gaze. After a long while, the old fox came back to his senses and gave Mordor a meaningful look. Then he reached out and touched Mordor's slightly curly head.

"Maybe it's possible, but more likely it's not. We'll never be able to sit down and have a proper talk."

'Why???'

Faced with Mordor's persistent questioning, this time the old fox-man Abarayama did not offer Mordor any further explanation, but instead reached out and patted the little minotaur on the shoulder.

"Child, some truths cannot be explained. Ultimately, you must experience the good and bad of this world for yourself, and the answers lie in the life you will lead."

This ambiguous answer had haunted Mordor for many years. The minotaur, who naturally disliked conflict, even felt a growing desire to leave this barbaric and ignorant place after witnessing the bloodshed, savagery, and violence within his tribe. Driven by an intense inner longing, Mordor embarked on a journey south. During this journey, he coincidentally encountered imperial merchants who had smuggled themselves into the country, and after several conversations, they quickly reached a consensus.

Mordor provides protection to merchants who trade within the Orcish Empire, while the Imperial merchants explain various aspects of the human world to Mordor in the process.

Through the descriptions of the imperial merchants, Mordor learned a great deal about the human world, such as humans' views on orcs, the history of the major empires in the human world, and various trivial matters from the perspective of a merchant.

After spending nearly a month together, Mordor had even mastered the languages ​​and writing systems of the human world. After reading the basic history and chivalrous biographies carried by the imperial merchants, Mordor felt that he no longer had such longing for the human empire.

Although the words in the book were embellished, Mordot still saw through the surface of the text to the bloodshed, war, and killing hidden deep within. This made Mordot, who disliked killing, feel confused and wondered why the world was like this.

After parting ways with the Imperial merchant, Mordor, finding no answers and growing increasingly confused, chose to travel to the southernmost part of the Orc Empire, since humans were the only inhabitants there.

As a witch doctor, Mordor saved countless orcs on the verge of death along the way, seeing orc children with dry, dull skin and orc women with numb eyes who worked tirelessly.

At this moment, Mordor seemed to understand the meaning of the old fox priest's words about living and living better. From this moment on, Mordor changed from initially going to see the human empire to seeing various places in the orc empire.

"Mordor!!! Mordor!!! Come quick~ Come quick~ Barney is dying, please save him, please save him, he has five children!"

This was Mordor's seventh year traveling in the Orc Empire. The various things he had experienced during this time had made Mordor's once innocent face weathered with age. Over the years, he had seen too many Orcs die, from weeping and wailing at the beginning to his current silence.

Mordor finally arrived at the Armarian defense line that was blocking the orcs' southward advance. Here, life was the cheapest thing. A wolf rider scout squad that was just talking and greeting him might be killed by human construct riders who were also on scouting missions.

At first, Mordor would ask some of the orc leaders, captains, and soldiers on the front lines why they were waging this war against humans that had caused so many deaths on both sides. The answers he received were varied and bizarre.

For this, he even received a scholar's name from the human world. But later, as the orcs he spent every day with died, Mordor, who had always been full of questions, gradually fell silent, silently saving the orcs carried off the battlefield one by one. Looking south, he had lost all his former aspirations.

"Isn't it supposed to be a ceasefire period? Why are you all near the Amar Line again? Those human knights in bright white armor are not to be trifled with."

As they were talking, a burly, blood-soaked lion-man carried in a red-maned werewolf who had fallen unconscious. He glanced around the tent, casually found an empty spot, threw the werewolf down, then plopped down next to Mordor and started drinking the healing liqueur prepared by the minotaurs.

'Damn it, those human knights, if it weren't for the iron canisters protecting them, I would have beaten the shit out of them.'

Mordor waved his hand, signaling the guards at the door to carry away the orc whose wounds had been treated in front of him. He then turned around, stood up, and knelt down in front of the werewolf Johnny to examine him.

"But the truth is, you guys were almost beaten to a pulp by the construct knights from the human empire."

'Hey~ I, Kuniangie, am afraid of them! I killed five today, a full five White Lion Knights. If another group hadn't suddenly appeared, Johnny and I could have wiped them all out!'

As one of the few remaining friends on the front lines, Mordor naturally cherished this friendship. Although he kept arguing with Kunianji, his hands never stopped, carefully treating the wounds of the werewolf Johnny.

"So why are you heading to the defense zone of the Ama Line at this time? The higher-ups have already announced the intention for both sides to cease hostilities and negotiate peace. Once the agreement is signed, there will be at least a few more years of peace."

"Huh? This wound... were you dealing with that group from Hailan Territory today?"

After finishing the medicinal wine in the earthenware jar, feeling less thirsty, the lion-man Kunianji began rummaging through drawers and cupboards for food. He then stuffed a large piece of dried meat into his mouth and muttered:
"From Hyland Territory? I don't know, but there was indeed a human knight who was quite powerful. He swiftly cut Johnny's greatsword in two strokes. If I hadn't blocked it in time, that guy's head would probably have been chopped off."

As for that bullshit armistice agreement you mentioned, damn it, it's not even worth a piece of toilet paper.

Listening to the lion-man's rambling, Mordor shook his head helplessly. He still couldn't figure out what was wrong with this world. Maybe the world was sick, but more likely it was him. Thinking of this, the minotaur raised his head and looked at the sky outside the tent.

'My Lord Beast God, what lies ahead for our tribe? I want my people to live, to live well, to live with dignity.'

"Elder Mordo~ Elder Mordo~ Are you alright? Elder Mordo! Elder Mordo! Wake up!!!"

The old minotaur, who had fallen into a coma, felt a voice calling him from afar, but his heavy eyelids wouldn't open. Just as the old minotaur was wondering what to do, a deep but very authoritative voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

'Wake up, Mordor, my child. You cannot sleep here. You have much to do. Lead the orcs onward, lead the orcs onward...'

As the voice in his mind grew fainter and fainter, the old minotaur, shrouded in black smoke and kneeling at the edge of the massive crevice, slowly opened his eyes.

"Elder, Elder, you're awake? Are you alright?"

Hearing the sound, the old minotaur slowly turned his head and saw the half-dragon prince, Gakudebala, holding a two-handed storm greatsword and looking at him with a joyful expression.

"Hehehe~ I'm fine, little Gagudebala, you did a great job. Alright, notify all the representatives to come over, I have something to say, and then we'll be returning to the Empire. There are still many things waiting for us to handle."

(End of this chapter)