Chapter 100 What Kingdom Are You?
"Eeh! Ugh!"

"Harpy, down, down, down!"

"Aminoas!"

Between the puddles and dirt roads, there were long and mournful cries like those of monkeys.

In the gray evening sky, the cry seemed so strange, three times stranger than the cry of Horn when he was performing a shaman dance.

Horn stood up in his stirrups and looked in that direction.

The shadow with animal ears and a long tail hung on a long pole, swinging back and forth between puddles and ditches.

These dark shadows are so familiar with the swamp that their daily movements are to jump back and forth between solid ground and mud using these long poles.

They know where to plant the long pole and where to place their thick pads.

Because they have an extra tail than humans, they have a stronger balance, and those long poles are like their third arms.

"What's going on?" The elders began to shout in panic.

Jeshka climbed onto the carriage. "Everyone stay close to the carriage. The Black Hats and the Guards go to the shore and raise their spears at an angle, aiming at the beastmen."

"Me too?"

"Same."

After all, this was Das’ first time as a legion commander, so he still had to learn everything from Jeshka.

Horn drew his sword, and Carrie rode on a horse beside him. She gently swung the long-handled war hammer in her hand, and it actually made a heavy sound of breaking through the air.

"Alas--"

One-legged giants were jumping, the grass and bushes were shaking, and strange calls and laughter filled the long road.

Suddenly, the bushes shook unnaturally, and the leaves were like water. A beastman emerged from the water and jumped into the crowd holding a long pole.

Amid screams, she strangled a scout's neck with her strong arms, held a long pole in one hand, and jumped away from the puddle on the other side.

Although it was just a quick glimpse, Horn still saw her appearance clearly. It was the common Norn square face, black hair and thick nose.

The difference is that she has a pair of brown-gray pointed upright ears on her head, and her long and thin tail keeps shaking when she jumps.

Horn couldn't tell what kind of animal the beastman was.

He turned his head and continued to look at the puddles. There were shadows among the leaves, as if there were many ghosts.

The red sun between the grey clouds and green hills seemed somewhat strange.

The villagers gathered together, trembling, which made the beastmen's howling seem even more triumphant and weird.

It's simply a provocation.

I'm really looked down upon. If you don't show some strength, do you think I'm your saintly grandson?

Horn's face suddenly became solemn. He took a deep breath and his eyes widened: "Jeanne!!!"

A bolt of lightning instantly cut through the air and hit a jumping beastman. The beastman let out a miserable howl and fell into the water with a splash.

The shouts from all over the place paused for half a second, but this still failed to stop the beastmen's determination to attack.

After a moment of confusion, they used poles to vault between puddles and ran towards the convoy again.

"Jeanna, help me! Lightning!" Horn pointed the Snow in the Cloud in his hand diagonally at the beastmen, and another seven or eight lightning bolts shattered the darkness.

The sound of people falling into the water was endless.

For those soldiers wearing armor, they might be able to provide considerable protection against Jeanne's lightning, but for these unarmored beastmen, that is another matter.

Seeing their companions injured, they became even more angry.

Then, they let out even more mournful cries than before, turned their backs to Horn, launched a desperate charge, and disappeared into the sunset.

Horn didn't even react.

The leaves fell and the water returned to calm, as if it was just an abnormal hallucination and nothing happened.

"Your Majesty, I went to ask, and four of our villagers were captured by those beastmen." Jieshka trotted all the way to Horn's side, "Two of them are black hat soldiers, one is an ordinary old villager, and one is a child soldier, all of them are men."

"All male?"

"Yes." Das added, "Whenever they caught a woman, they would just throw her into the puddle and not take her away."

"I know, those beastmen must be trying to beat them to their knees and turn them into Star Furies." Someone among the villagers shouted.

Looking at the beastmen who suddenly came and left, Horn began to understand what happened to the casualties of Homer's mercenary group.

They did this twice a day, scavenging three to five people each time. It was impossible to beat them or chase them.

It’s really a headache.

Fortunately, Horn still has electricity. Oh no, Jeanna, at least their arrogance will not be so arrogant. "What about those beastmen who fell into the water? Most of them are still alive."

Jeanna came over panting: "I was afraid of shocking the people they were holding, so I reduced the voltage."

After Horn's tutoring, Jeanne began to understand the concepts of current and voltage.

But she still couldn't master multiplication and division within twenty.

After thinking for a moment, Horn said to Madeline, "Find a few people, let's forget about the ones who are trapped, and pull out the ones that can be rescued, hang them, and surround them to attack the reinforcements."

This little episode did not affect Horn's march. Time passed slowly, the red sun set, and the group finally arrived at the campsite.

There is a hill on one side where you can camp.

Otherwise, if we set up camp on the long road, those beastmen would come and make noises in the middle of the night, which would really disrupt our journey.

The weather has turned cold, and there are seventeen or eighteen more patients with colds and fevers in the convoy.

The carts were connected end to end to form an arc-shaped defense line, and behind the line was a newly made canvas tent.

After dinner, Horn asked someone to fetch some clean water so that the villagers could rub their feet and pick out the blisters on their feet.

Back in the tent, Horn yawned and took out books from the box. He was still reading the geographical atlas and articles on politics and law that he had brought from the church.

Next to him, Carrie was playing with a clockwork mouse. It was a small toy made by Horn, specially used to divert Carrie's attention.

Jeanne sat opposite him, practicing calligraphy and math exercises diligently.

After watching for a few minutes, a loud noise came from outside the tent.

"Who? What's going on?"

"Your Majesty, we have captured a beastman spy."

The beastman who was pressed into the tent was about thirty years old. His face was no different from that of a normal human, except that he had animal ears on his head, a long tail behind his back, and pads under his feet. It was still impossible to tell what kind of animal he was.

What was strange was that he was wearing a simple toga robe made of coarse linen, which was a product of the Aiur Empire.

Although it is simple, there is nothing wrong with its shape.

“Let me go.” The beastman yelled, “I demand the proper treatment of a special envoy of the kingdom.”

His words were mixed with Norn, Leia, and even some Old Aiel.

Horn had to ask Carlin the meaning of Norn words, and it took a lot of effort to figure out what the beastman was saying.

Horn closed the book and stared silently at the beastman in front of him.

"I am the beastman Mudisaus, the special envoy of the Kingdom of Hiden. I have come here on the orders of King Amazon to agree to an exchange of prisoners."

"Envoy from a kingdom? What kingdom are you from?" Horn frowned. Where could there be a kingdom in such a small basin?

He had never heard of beastmen establishing a country. Could it be that the Blackbone Swamp had quietly united all the tribes, completed the integration, and formed a small kingdom?
Horn's brows couldn't help but become solemn.

"Speaking of my country, I'll scare you!" The beastman in the toga raised his head and said, "We have fifty-three citizens in the Kingdom of Hiden, and the allies of the Kingdom of Hiden, as well as our brothers the Kingdom of Yala and the Kingdom of Basha, have a total of twenty citizens and fifteen divisions of the army!
Those who attacked today are only a part of it. Our three major alliances of the Allied Powers, the Entente, and the Axis Powers, the nine-nation coalition has 55 divisions.

If you still have some sense, I advise you to surrender as soon as possible and hand over the prisoners, otherwise don't blame us for being rude."

"Ah?" Horn stuck his head out and stretched his ears, almost thinking that he had heard it wrong or understood it wrongly.

He turned to look at Carrie, but Carrie also nodded to him, confirming his thoughts.

Horn couldn't hold it anymore.

How on earth do you, a small village of thirty to fifty people, want to establish a country?

He was forced to establish the Papal States out of helplessness. It was a scam to rally people's hearts, just like the Holy Father's descent to earth, a lie that was left unanswered.

Beastmen, what on earth are you doing, beastmen?
Horn was speechless and didn't know how to answer, so the old minister of this dynasty, Busak, jumped out.

"Oh?" Busak walked out leisurely with his hands behind his back, "How many people are there in your division?"

Mudisaus snorted coldly, stretched out a fist and shook it.

"Ten?"

"one!"

“Ha!” Busak snorted coldly, “We in the Papal State have 120 citizens and 411 companies of troops, which is only about 6 or 7 divisions.

The total number of your people is only 200, and there is only one person in each division. Don't you think it's ridiculous?
That's enough. Our nation, led by just one senator, is worth as much as your kingdom."

"Ten, twenty, ten. Don't brag. Ten, twenty, ten... wait, wait, you have elders? You are the empire?" The beastman envoy widened his eyes.

"That's right." Busak strode to Horn's side, "This is our Third Empire of El, the Great Papal State, the true grandson of the Holy Father, the Eye of God, the incarnation of the Holy Father, the inheritor of the El Empire, the true pope of ten thousand votes, His Majesty Horn!"

(End of this chapter)