Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 22

“Edar-nim.”

I opened my eyes, registering the soft, warm sensation on my hand.

The sights and sounds of the tavern rushed back as the senses I shared with Solgae returned.

I looked down at the hand resting on my knee.

Calliope was sitting close, her hand placed over mine.

Her face, which rarely showed emotion, was etched with worry.

“I’m fine.”

My emotions had been stirred by the conversation with Pinto, relayed through Gerhard.

Pinto was a rival I had often encountered in previous iterations.

However, I had never spoken to him face to face until now.

He was a low-level merchant, so he rarely showed his face directly.

In the first place, he had always been an enemy whenever I encountered him.

So, the only time we ever spoke face to face was right before I was about to cut his throat.

Talking more deeply through Gerhard, I could understand his personality.

‘Even a brazen person would have more shame than that bastard.’

The conversation left me with nothing but unpleasantness.

An unpleasantness that I knew from experience but couldn’t easily get used to.

And this unpleasantness wasn’t just felt from Pinto.

‘This world is very wrong from the start. How can selling one’s own kind be something to be proud of?’

Similar things had happened in my previous life’s history.

During the Age of Exploration, some Africans sold their own people to Westerners.

In return for selling their kin, they received guns and gunpowder, which they used to conquer their neighbors.

And they enslaved the conquered neighbors and exchanged them again for guns and gunpowder.

Needless to say, the exchanged guns and gunpowder led to further conquests.

‘The humans of this world are no different from then.’

What happened after that in my previous life’s history?

Frequent wars and slave trades accelerated the loss of manpower.

The irreparable loss soon led to the weakening of power, reducing the supply of slaves.

As the number of slaves supplied decreased, Westerners decided to supply them directly.

The supply was hunting, and that was the slave hunting we commonly know.

‘At this rate, they’ll suffer the same fate.’

No, it would be better if it were the same.

At least it’s a relationship between humans.

The human race wouldn’t disappear.

The targets Pinto sells are races like Orcs or Goblins.

The reason why they prefer human slaves is mostly to increase their species.

They were looking for humans as objects of reproduction.

‘Because humans are similar to Elves.’

The appearance that was hated by them as monkeys because they resembled Elves in an awkward way became the reason why races like Goblins or Orcs preferred them, saying they resembled Elves.

‘For now, there is Mishu’s covenant [a formal agreement or treaty]. If the covenant is maintained, it will be difficult for other races to invade human territory. They will have no choice but to be satisfied with the slave supply from merchants like Pinto. But will they be satisfied even after the covenant ends?’

Of course not.

Even now, they were a race where internal strife between kingdoms and tribes never ceased due to a shortage of numbers.

They even plundered stronger races than themselves, such as High Elves or Dwarves.

There was no way such a race would leave humans, who were weaker and more numerous than themselves, alone.

‘If they rush in while we are divided like now, the human race will disappear.’

The scariest thing about Orcs and Goblins was that there were no mixed-bloods.

An Orc’s child is an Orc no matter who the parents are, and the same goes for Goblins.

On top of that, they have cockroach-like reproductive power that multiplies several times in just a few months, no matter what species they mate with.

That was the power that allowed them to belong to the Great Assembly despite their barbaric habits.

‘Since I rejected Pinto’s offer, Ugdhash will intervene soon.’

Ugdhash, the chief of the Steel Mist Tribe.

An Orc based near the Gray Mountains and Pinto’s patron.

He loved hunting humans as much as the human butcher Laegon.

The difference was that Laegon enjoyed the hunt itself and killed his prey after the hunt, while Ugdhash’s purpose of hunting was to enslave humans.

‘His base is adjacent to my territory. To maintain the slave trade, he must negotiate with me. If not, and I block the way, he will be helpless.’

Pinto saw Gerhard and the lord of Ollimores as different people.

Pinto will soon visit Ollimores and offer Gerhard the same deal he did before.

But I had no intention of filling my belly by selling humans.

Of course, I was going to repeat the same answer I gave as Gerhard.

Then Ugdhash and Pinto would have to choose one of two options.

‘Fight me and subdue me, or submit without fighting.’

I’ve never heard or seen an Orc avoid a fight.

Moreover, it was about the human slaves he loved so much.

‘I was planning to develop the territory as quietly as possible. But things are not going as planned.’

I also suspected Pinto’s words that he was waiting after finishing preparations.

Because of the Great Assembly’s covenant, Ugdhash should not interfere with my territory.

But if what Pinto said was true, wasn’t he projecting influence in some way?

‘I need to go back and check right away.’

I had to start the territory tour that had been postponed due to Count Dorin’s declaration of war.

“Um… Lord?”

I turned my head to the hesitant voice.

They were the apprentices who had offered proposals along with gold coins while wandering around the castle.

Since they had visited not only the smithy but also other workshops such as the tannery, there were quite a few of them.

They all looked timid, but their eyes were filled with firm determination.

‘The best gain from this visit is them.’

One of the things my territory needed most was skilled technicians.

There was nothing but carpenters, such as blacksmiths, tanners, and stonemasons.

If the apprentices from each workshop moved in, it would be a breath of fresh air.

‘Even if they are apprentices, not masters, they are worth their weight in gold.’

An apprentice is, in other words, a disciple.

However, there was no insurmountable technical difference between them and their master, the artisan.

As the saying goes, even a dog at a village school can recite poetry after three years [a Korean proverb meaning that even the least intelligent can learn with enough time and exposure].

Apprentices were those who entered the artisan’s service around the age of ten.

The apprentices in front of me looked at least twenty years old.

At this age, they were experienced journeymen and, at the earliest, ready to become independent artisans.

The fact that such people chose to migrate, lured by a single gold coin and sweet talk, showed how poor their treatment was.

‘I heard the situation in the inland was bad, but is it so bad that they are treated like this?’

Apart from my complicated feelings, this was an opportunity.

Even those with skills abandoned their hometowns and came to become pioneers.

Would those who live worse lives than them hesitate?

‘I can be more proactive.’

With a benevolent smile on my face, I reached out my hand to the apprentices.

The apprentices took turns placing their foreheads on the back of my hand as a sign of respect.

“Welcome. It will soon be proven that your choice was the right one. I will not abandon those who are capable and hardworking.”

God of Craftsmanship