"Lord Hero..." Clan Chief Dielon spoke respectfully.
But he was only halfway through his sentence...
Clan Chief Dielon inexplicably shuddered, feeling as though the surrounding temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees.
"Clan Chief Dielon, the bonfire banquet just ended, right?" Lyle's indifferent voice drifted over.
Dielon cautiously raised his head and met a pair of eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation. It made his whole body tremble, and he was too frightened to respond.
A good while passed.
"Yaral... her grandfather was... was a powerhouse of the Hero Realm. She possesses the 'Hero' Bloodline..." Clan Chief Dielon's voice trembled.
"Enough, I am not interested in your thoughts."
Lyle raised his hand to interrupt Dielon, his tone still lacking any fluctuation:
"I have something for you to do."
...
The next day.
In the early morning, the scorching sunlight once again shone upon the Valley of Despair.
Human members stood at the edge of the Oasis, looking at Lyle, who had already walked out of the Oasis with the Goshawk perched on his shoulder. Their faces were filled with deep reluctance.
Clan Chief Dielon stood at the very front of the crowd. He had long expected Lyle to leave, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. He couldn't help but let out a low sigh.
"Gray Armor Knight!!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted. In the next moment, thunderous cheers echoed through the desert.
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"...!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
Clan Chief Dielon even knelt on both knees, prostrating his entire body on the ground in the tribe's highest form of ritualistic bowing.
Following Dielon's lead, the rest of the humans also prostrated themselves, burying their heads in the sand.
"Honestly." Seeing the actions of these humans, Lyle's face showed a helpless expression, and he shook his head.
Yellow sand swirled.
Lyle's figure had already vanished.
A long while passed before everyone raised their heads again to look in the direction where Lyle had disappeared. A somber atmosphere permeated the crowd.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a graceful figure rushed out from the Oasis behind them and arrived before Clan Chief Dielon.
"Father, has the Lord Hero left?" Yaral asked, her slender neck craned as she stared intently in the direction of Lyle's departure.
Seeing his daughter asking something she already knew the answer to...
Clan Chief Dielon's eyelids twitched. "Yaral, I recall you never sleeping in. You've always woken up early for training."
"What happened, did you oversleep this time?"
Facing her father's teasing, Yaral looked dejected and had no intention of responding.
Dielon's mouth twitched, and he gave Yaral a resentful glance before turning to face the clansmen behind him, who were equally downcast.
"Everyone, speed up the clearing of the Gray Dwarf Oasis. Once all supplies have been moved back from there, we will completely withdraw from the Gray Dwarf Oasis."
Clan Chief Dielon spoke loudly with a serious expression, then continued:
"Next, we must organize a team to head to the Orc Oasis. We are going to give the Gray Dwarf tribe's Oasis to the Orcs."
As soon as he finished speaking!
The crowd immediately boiled over, and noisy voices erupted from all directions.
"Father! What are you doing!" Yaral was the first to look at Clan Chief Dielon, her face turning ugly:
"Lord Hero won that for us! How can we just give it away to another race!"
Facing Yaral's questioning and the tumultuous noise of the clansmen, Clan Chief Dielon remained quite calm.
"This is the Lord Hero's arrangement!"
Clan Chief Dielon took a deep breath and roared again.
Everyone fell silent instantly.
"Our population is too small. Lord Hero explained that even if we took the Gray Dwarf Oasis, we wouldn't be able to hold it. Rather than that, it's better to give it to the Orc tribe."
"Furthermore, by doing this, we need to investigate and gather intelligence on the Orc tribe and the lands outside Shadow Valley for the Lord Hero." Dielon's voice rang out once more.
A look of realization appeared on everyone's faces.
Yaral's silver pupils lit up as she stared intently at Clan Chief Dielon. "Father, you mean... the Lord Hero will come back?"
"Of course."
Clan Chief Dielon curled his lip as he watched Yaral perk up in an instant.