Lord: Starting with Contract Half-Elf Twins

Chapter 38 The Exile of Morash the Gnoll

Sapphire Bay, a mountaintop in the northern mountains.

Once you cross this mountain, the moist sea breeze from Sapphire Bay will no longer reach you.

Further north lies an endless wilderness.

A gnoll crouched in the shadows between the rocks, almost blending into the darkness.

The gnoll had some burn marks on its body, but they seemed to have healed very quickly and were no longer visible.

Its name is Morash, and it was originally the leader of the gnoll tribe in the eastern mountains of Sapphire Bay.

Together with its brother Kag, it led the gnoll people to live and multiply in the mountains.

The two brothers shared the leader's position and females, which was the only thing that went against the rules of the wilderness.

But Morash felt he was different from those scumbags.

The weak follow the rules; the strong make their own.

When he was very young, when he needed to be protected by his older brother.

It learned from the slow movements and weak strength of its peers that it was different from them and that it would be a true strongman.

The process of growing up proved this point; Morash's strength quickly caught up with his brother's.

Not only did he learn all of his brother's fighting skills, he also comprehended a powerful ability on his own—to temporarily enhance himself by activating his bloodline.

When they had just come of age, the two brothers bit off the head of the former leader and became the new leader.

But in the end... they lost to some outsiders.

They took the name from that stone house and, with their lowly kobolds and incredibly strong treants, defeated the gnoll race.

According to the rules of the wilderness, it will follow its brother to the new overlord.

This is quite common for lower-level monsters.

It's not about loyalty; it's just the survival instinct of a lower-level monster.

But this is only temporary, like a period of dormant growth under the former leader.

Sooner or later it will rise again and bite off the head of the new leader.

However, the new leader did not seem to want its followers, and instead sent a lowly kobold who spoke jackal language to humiliate it.

It even seems to be destined to die.

This was the first time in Morash's life that he had felt fear... and intense resentment.

It was unwilling to accept that its talents had not yet been realized, unwilling to simply become a skeleton in the wilderness.

This ending is just like the worthless people it looks down on.

However, things took a turn for the better last night.

Just as it was feeling anxious and fearful in its cell, a domineering voice entered its mind.

The voice seemed to see right through its thoughts, and each time it spoke, it felt more humiliated, more fearful, and more powerless.

That was the voice of the Stone Castle's owner.

The owner of the stone fortress told it that he had agreed because its brother, Kag, was willing to trade his life for Morash's survival.

Not only that, he will also bestow upon it new power.

But the price is that it must leave Sapphire Bay forever and, every so often, fulfill an order from the master of Stone Castle.

Otherwise, the owner of the stone fortress will take Kag's life.

Morash agreed almost immediately.

Even if it's just to avoid ending up like those good-for-nothings;

Even if it's just so that one day I can avenge this humiliation;

Even if it's just so that one day I can take back what belongs to me...

……

……

Even if it's for the sake of that older brother who will eventually be left behind.

One day, my older brother will be far behind me in terms of growth.

So the older brother could only accept his protection, just as he had when he was a child, cowering behind him...

Morash accepted the orders of the Stone Castle's master and was granted magical powers.

That was a magical power that allowed it to merge into nothingness and even enter the realm of shadows.

It was then released from its cell.

The owner of the stone fortress told it that it could wait in this spot today, and perhaps if he was in a good mood, he would allow Kag to come and see him.

So it has been waiting since last night until now.

Suddenly, its ears twitched slightly, and it peeked out from the shadows.

A familiar gnoll, covered in burn scars, is climbing to the top of the mountain.

……

Solina watched from a distance as the two gnolls huddled together, sniffing each other, and felt a pang of emotion.

Although she understood Allen's explanation, seeing this scene still inevitably reminded her of her inseparable bond with Viola.

"Allen, even though you explained it once yesterday, is it really necessary to do it this way?"

Although Allen was in the Stone Castle at this time, the Lord could communicate with the Followers at any time and could also sense some emotions, so he knew what Solina was feeling.

"If I hadn't stopped you during the earlier siege, you would have burned that little one to death."

"Oh, let's keep things separate. It wasn't that it hurt you that made me so angry... You know, instead of this life-and-death separation, it would have been better if they had just died together."

"..."

Allen was speechless.

He knew that although Solina was looking at the gnoll brothers, she was thinking about him and Viola, so he didn't intend to continue discussing the topic of psychological projection with her.

"In short, the larger one is willing to pledge allegiance, while the smaller one is clearly unwilling to submit."

"The gnoll tribe will be under your leadership from now on. I can't plant a landmine next to you; that would be too dangerous."

"Okay, okay."

Solina shrugged, because the communication with the gnoll brothers had ended.

They didn't have much complicated feelings for each other; they barely sniffed each other and didn't exchange more than a few words.

Then the little gnoll disappeared into the shadows of the woods and headed further north into the wilderness, without any of the lingering reluctance or turning back every few steps that Solina had expected.

Solina then took Kag back to Stone Castle; they still had a lot to do after taking over the entire gnoll tribe.

Leaving Solina's situation aside for now, Allen, inside the stone fortress, was currently opening the [Territory] map, watching the gnoll Morash's movement route.

After being taken in as a [follower] by Allen, its actions will continuously expand the area covered by Allen's map.

Even if it may never return to Sapphire Bay, its very existence serves as a scout outwards.

Of course, Allen spent two crystals last night to recruit and train it, not just to make it a scout.

It's because its potential is truly remarkable.

Morash was much younger than Kag, yet he was stronger.

The [Blood Frenzy Hunter] class, which Viola also possesses, is an advanced class, just like her [Ancient Tree Priest]!

Without any guidance whatsoever, he mastered the power of an advanced profession.

Allen speculated that this gnoll might even have the potential to advance to the hero template on its own!

It is precisely because of Morash's great potential that Allen cannot keep him in the territory as he would with ordinary subjects.

Although its growth rate will not exceed that of Allen, it will certainly be positioned on the front lines.

With the emperor far away and the central government far away, Allen couldn't focus all his energy on guarding against the generals on the front lines.

So either kill it or let it leave.

Allen opted for the latter, using a simple act to enhance the gnoll Kag's loyalty to Solina as much as possible, achieving two goals at once.

Even if it disobeys, Allen's losses won't be too great, since the power it grows will continue to be supplied to Allen.

As for Morash's feelings for Kag...

To be honest, before recruiting it as a "follower" and feeling a part of the emotions in its mind.

Allen never imagined that gnolls, who are naturally bloodthirsty and not very intelligent, could have such rich emotions.

After recruiting Kag, it was confirmed that Kag's emotions were not so complicated.

This suggests that this may also be part of Morash's mutation... and his intelligence is far superior to that of ordinary gnolls.

In short, this was an unexpected bonus.