Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 435: Tribal meeting(2)

As Torghan's final words hung in the air, the square erupted into a storm of voices. Warriors turned to one another, their faces a mix of disbelief, curiosity, and outright suspicion. The tension was high and in the ear of every men, like the crackle of lightning before a storm.

"Two hundred heads of livestock?" one man muttered, his brow furrowed as he scratched at his beard. "That's no small gift and the fact that they want nothing is even more strange...."

A burly warrior, his arms crossed over a chest riddled with scars, let out a derisive snort. "Loyalty? To outsiders? I've lived on our ancestral land since I could walk. My father and his father before him bled for the soil we were deprived of. And now we're to pack up and leave? For what? Pretty words and promises?"

A younger warrior, his face still unmarked by the harshness of life, stepped forward, his voice sharp with frustration. "Did you not hear him? The Leader's son saw it. The land is rich—richer than anything we've ever known. My cousin was among the group, and he told me the same. Fields that stretch forever, soil that yields without struggle. Are we so proud that we'd rather starve here than thrive there?"

The older warrior spat on the ground, his eyes blazing. "Thrive? At what cost? Our freedom? Our honor? Better to die free than live as a slaves. What happens when they demand our sons for their wars? Or decide they no longer need us? They'll cast us aside like broken tools as soon as they are done with us!"

Another voice cut through, sharp and mocking. "And what's your plan, old man? Stay here and watch our children wither ?If the boy speaks true, we'd be fools to turn our backs on this."

A low, rumbling chuckle came from a man who had been silent until now. He leaned against a post, his arms folded, his gaze steady. "The real question," he said, his voice slow and deliberate, "isn't whether the land is fertile. It's whether the outsiders' word is worth the dirt they're offering. Promises are easy. Trust is hard."