Afterward, the father and daughter continued to communicate regarding follow-up arrangements and the tribe's next development plan.
Eventually, Hera grew bored. Having had enough snuggle time with her Little Father for the day, she ran off to play in the wilds.
Alina remained mostly silent, only occasionally interjecting, watching the two of them interact with a gentle, unreadable smile.
Al was extremely supportive of Misha's idea to organize a grand "Triumphal Procession."
He believed that with the Greenskins defeated, even if Lileath slacked off or performed poorly in the worst-case scenario, the tribe would enter a period of safety.
The resource gap was no longer as dire; half the previous problems were genuine scarcity and the other half were man-made.
Now that things could be relaxed, a grand celebration was in order.
Open the warehouses and let everyone eat and drink their fill; celebrate the victory with no external worries.
Gaining both physical and spiritual satisfaction would surely deepen many people's sense of belonging to the tribe.
This was the part of the plan Al valued most.
Perhaps because Misha had managed military and government affairs for so long, she had developed a habit of being frugal and cautious.
Al's eldest daughter harbored slight reservations; if the situation suddenly deteriorated to an unspeakable degree, then...
However, Al insisted. He knew Misha was acting out of prudence and a refusal to take unnecessary risks.
He didn't see things as meticulously as Misha, but from a strategic standpoint, it was certain the tribe would have a period of stability—
and this wasn't because Al firmly believed Lileath's promised "Mist Protection" would allow the tribe to rest easy.
Regarding Lileath, the countless tragic stories from the last End Times had already proven one thing:
Can Lileath be trusted?
Absolutely not!
A goddess who deceives and utilizes even her own Chosen?
Vile!
In fact, if the mist truly proved useful, Al considered finding a way to remove it or take full control of it once he became powerful enough.
Necessary backup plans were a must; one couldn't be sure if a "rat" might pollute the hatching pools like they did to the Lizardmen.
Just as the front line is making a grand advance or holding on desperately, the home base gets back-capped, and the situation collapses instantly.
His confidence came from...
A Greenskin who sends envoys to persuade a human city to surrender before its blades even arrive, making it fight for him against its own kind;
Who coordinates a multi-pronged blitz against the Kingdom of Estalia and maintains a long-term siege just to force the capital to submit;
Who utilizes human resources and deals a heavy blow to Estalian morale;
And who, despite having a massive army and a huge advantage, doesn't just WAAAAAGH! blindly, but intends to clear the Piña Forest route first to launch a coordinated sweep of the North...
A Greenskin who performs such actions is definitely not a normal, brainless "I fink, therefore I hit" Orc who believes the most direct way is the best way.
Al knew more or less that the Greenskins had concentrated heavy forces at Magus.
After all, with Veling emptied and being near the inland Piña—offering both risk and no utility—only the coastal port city of Magus was suitable as a base for a northern advance.
Otherwise, feeding and supplying twenty thousand troops via land transport would be a massive logistical nightmare.
Only the sea route—which they now dominated, as only Tilea remained in the southern waters, and Tilea was currently being pounded and unable to threaten Greenskin naval supremacy—was efficient and safe.
Given that a vanguard of fifty thousand—nearly a quarter of their strength—had suffered a crushing defeat without even gaining deep intelligence on the enemy,
that Great Warlord would certainly not be like Emperor Yang of Sui, who would immediately raise another army in a fit of rage to fight again.
Instead, he could absorb and utilize Estalian power for his own use; he was clearly a rare, formidable enemy among humans.
Emperor Yang's three campaigns against Goryeo took three years in total.
With the Greenskin vanguard just defeated, it would take at least ten days to two weeks to remobilize, and that was a conservative estimate.
Based on his current understanding, the Greenskin Warlord was definitely not a brainless "Honey Badger" type who would just charge heedlessly upon meeting an enemy.
The fact that they stayed outside Piña for over a week before the full-scale invasion showed the opponent had a steady personality.
It was highly likely they wouldn't go "all-in" immediately after losing one hand.
Of course, considering this was a fantasy world and Gork and Mork's blessing might cause the army to move as fast as the wind in a fit of rage, Al still made arrangements:
Scouts were deployed widely, outposts were established to monitor the whole area, and people were sent to repair the Sacred Grove to enhance its defenses for the next potential battle.
That was the worst-case scenario.
Misha no longer objected. She agreed with the idea of using a grand celebration to boost morale and deepen the refugees' sense of belonging.
Since Al had considered it, she would simply execute it.
The affairs at the Sacred Grove were mostly settled, and military matters were largely arranged by Misha.
Al intended to leave the second child, Kael'thas, to garrison the place; the intelligent third scion was more than capable of handling these duties.
After two days of reorganization, with the situation stable, Al prepared to return.
He had arrived via a thousand-mile ley line teleportation, and he would return the same quick way to avoid the exhaustion of travel.
Of course, ley line teleportation couldn't be used without limit. Frequent use within a certain range had a "cooldown."
However, "cooldown" was just Al's simple way of understanding it; in reality, it was more like the "Winds of Magic" or "Earthly Power" of a location being over-depleted, requiring time or rituals to accelerate recovery.
Leaving behind a portion of the troops to garrison, Al led the main force just as they had come—crossing through the massive vortex of green radiance to instantly traverse a thousand miles back to the tribal heartland.
"Just get it done."
Al stood on his tiptoes and touched the eldest daughter's horns. Misha submissively lowered her head so her Little Father could reach better.
"Don't be in a rush, take it slow. Spend more time on the overall coordination so everyone can participate."
The boy's feet settled back on the ground. He patted his daughter's arm and said enthusiastically, "This brilliant victory is mine, and it belongs to you; it belongs to the tribe, and it belongs to all the soldiers and civilians of the Southern World united against the Greenskin invasion!"
Facing her suddenly excited Little Father, Misha was like the centaur girl.
She was already used to it.
Despite his ambitious plans to rise during the Greenskin war and annex the human kingdom...
Naturally, the cow-girl harbored no disrespectful thoughts. She silently took her orders and left.
And Al...
Al naturally went home!
He bolted back to the palace. The centaur girl, knowing her adopted son's thoughts, did not follow, instead taking her guards to patrol the tribe.