Savage Forest

Chapter 44

Enya covered her trembling mouth with both hands and curled herself as much as she could to keep the sobs from leaking out of her throat.

“Wait. May I add a word?”

Suddenly a woman’s voice came.

Avisak of Perugia, who was watching the scene closely, came out. Her red hair seemed even more inflamed by the torches being held by people clustering around her.

“It’s very embarrassing for me to get involved in internal matters, but I think everyone here is forgetting the fact that this doesn’t have to be dealt with right now. The night is very late, and everyone is weary and weary from the commotion in the stables that has just occurred.”

Avisak proposed, crossing her arms while glancing towards the elders and Servia.

“For now, why don’t we put today’s problems aside and discuss them again tomorrow? There’s nothing to help if the leaders are causing a commotion in the village where there are other soldiers of Allied Forces.”

Tarhan stared at Avisak with boiling anger in his eyes.

“If you admit that you are an outsider, get out of here, Avisak. I have clearly warned you.”

Then, one of the elders opened his mouth in trouble.

It was Haraibo, the head of the second village and the highest elder of Aquilea for decades. He opened his mouth slowly, unable to hide his embarrassment, looking back and forth between Tarhan and Servia.

“The words of the head of Perugia are not completely absurd. Deputy Chieftain Tarhan, I fully understand your anger, but how could you expect more punishment from Gernan, who had already reached that point? Besides, your woman didn’t get hurt, not even a single tip of her finger. It was just a threat, and no assault actually happened. Didn’t Avisak, who was present there, prove this? For now, it’s better to leave today and talk again tomorrow…”

Tarhan clenched his jaw again.

Anticipating that he would struggle again, the men tensed up and suppressed his body even more, but he did not move from there, only looking up at Haraibo from his seat.

“Harabo. Remember the pact you made when I decided to accept the deputy chieftain position? You promised me that at any time, you would treat that woman as the woman who gave birth to my child.”

As his eyes were so menacing that even though he wasn’t threatening and rampaging like before, the energy he radiated made the men around him sweat profusely on their necks and limbs.

“Now, I’m the man who witnessed the woman who gave birth to my child receive r**e threats from that unscrupulous man… Do you think I can rationally judge this situation now? Then you are just stupid.”

Tarhan growled, his eyes wide open.

Seeing him like that, the other elders, including Haraibo, also coughed and retreated hesitantly, probably feeling his anger.

One of the elders answered in a cold sweat.

“Of-of course, I remember what happened then. But at that time, it was an unusual situation where the chieftain was unconscious… because it was a decision made quickly to maintain the tribe in the midst of various adverse events…”

Tarhan’s eyes flashed.

He approached the elder on his knees, making the sound of a menacing beast. In the wind, several of the men clinging to his body staggered and collapsed.

“Are you explaining to me the futility of that pact? If so, I can’t afford to be treated like this all the more. As I promised at that time, I will not have to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as the Aquilea deputy chieftain now that the safety of my woman cannot be guaranteed. Of course, so does the role as the head of the allied forces.”

He spoke those thunderbolt-like facts in a voice that was extremely cool and composed.

“If you don’t cut off that b*stard’s limbs right now or give up a part of his body, I’m going to claim my rights. As of this time, I will step down from the position of deputy chieftain of the tribe and head of the allied forces.”

Hearing those words, everyone present stopped breathing. Enya also looked in disbelief at the man, who demanded certain punishment even while talking nonsense. She hesitated to approach him, flapping her mouth at what she was saying.

At the same time, Servia flashed her sharp eyes and yelled, pointing her finger at Enya, who crouched in the corner and flinched.

“Do it! Put him down! Considering all the uproar that this prostitute who seduced my son has caused in this tribe, even that is not enough! No matter how brilliantly Tarhan has done, how long on earth do we dare to let that cripple from the abandoned fields mess with the tribe?!”

The veins stood thick in the corners of her eyes as Servia glared at Enya with her voice intensified at the top of her throat.

The man on his knees lunged at her again, biting off one of the arms of the other man who held him, and screamed.

“Don’t insult her…! Enya did nothing wrong! It’s you guys who have been hostile and discriminating against her for decades!”

Servia then sneered at Tarhan’s words.

“This proves that you, Tarhan, are not worthy to assume the position of head of Aquilea.”

With a hateful grin on her lips, she hastened to the place where the elders stood bewildered, and knelt at their feet before beginning to appeal to them with tears.

“You will remember my sacrifice, the sacrifice of my eldest son Senu to Aquilea! One must also remember Kahanti’s words when he was still conscious. He always wanted Senu to succeed him as chieftain. If the child had been alive and well as planned, that filthy Cartantina blood would not have led Aquilea!”

Senu was her eldest son, who was now dead. His presence was almost the only reason Servia was able to hold onto and seize unbridled power even after Kahanti was bedridden and unconscious.

Servia was crying as if in a fit.

“During the Zeferuna War, Senu risked his life and used himself as a decoy to divert the troops alone, and he succeeded. Thanks to his contributions, Aquilea is alive today! Kahanti firmly promised to pass on the chieftain position to my remaining son, Gernan, after the child’s sacrifice. That promise still stands…!”

She howled as she rubbed her tear-soaked cheeks against the elders’ feet.

“But now, my other son, Gernan, is going to be taken away from me again! Oh, how Aquilea insulted this mother, who gave her eldest son to the tribe in this way for a mere poor girl?!”

The faces of the elders turned dark in front of Servia, who emphasized her and her son’s sacrifice. They couldn’t do this or that nor cope with the imminent situation that was about to explode and only looked at each other’s faces.

At that time, the sound of horses’ hooves was heard from afar.

Eventually, all the people present were surprised to see the faces of the uninvited guests who had suddenly burst into the temporary courtroom.

“Excuse me, for coming late at night. Haah. After hearing the news, that there was a commotion in Aquilea, I rushed… Haah.”

The person who jumped off the horse was none other than the chief of Nervana Forest, Kiyan. Another horse appeared, and Enya widened her eyes, seeing the rider’s face. Fiarca was slowly descending from the horse, accompanied by Lehizin, the head of the Nervana Forest men.

Soon after, Yaru and Nihitan jumped from another horse that followed them.

When Enya saw the people of Nervana Forest appearing at the tribunal, she felt her heart burst.

…Why did they come here?

At the same time, she could feel Kiyan’s sharp, eagle-like eyes narrowing as she glanced at her and Tarhan’s miserable appearance.

“Enya…!”

Fiarca, too, shouted at her, who had tears on her cheeks and was crouching in the corner. Enya immediately felt an intolerable sense of shame and a comfort incomparable to it. She was amazed at how long she had known them.

“Why are the people of Nervana Forest here…”

Aquilea’s elder Haraibo murmured, unable to hide his dismay.

Receiving everyone’s gaze, Kiyan approached Haraibo with a majestic attitude. Her eyes narrowed in exasperation to see Gernan, who had already been strangled to the brink of death by Tarhan.

“I heard that a trial was taking place over the deputy chieftain of Aquilea and the son of the elder who threatened his woman, so I rushed here.”

Haraibo looked even more incomprehensible. Another elder standing beside him shouted menacingly.

“This is Aquilea’s internal problem. It’s no business for outsiders to interfere, so go away!”

Kiyan pointed her chin at Avisak, who was standing close to them, and opened her mouth scornfully.

“So that red-haired fox over there is a member of Aquilea? As far as I know, Perugia and Aquilea have not been fully merged yet. Then, Aquilea, your standard for separating outsiders from insiders is really loose, from what I see.”

The Aquilea elders immediately shut their mouths at Kiyan’s rebuttal.

Avisak stepped forward, put her hand on her waist, and spoke confidently.

“I am present here as one of the eyewitnesses of this event. Please don’t compare me to a ruffian who suddenly jumps in like someone and forces themselves to attend.”

Fiarca, who had been silently listening, quickly stepped forward.

“Then, I must be more qualified than Avisak. I saw with my own two eyes this unscrupulous man trying to r**e Enya.

Avisak’s expression immediately darkened. It seemed to bother her that Fiarca, who was only a member of the tribe, openly pointed out her mistakes. Still, Fiarca, showing that she didn’t even care about her, quickly walked over to Enya and lifted her up.

“I’m sorry, Enya. I’m a little late bringing everyone.”

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