"So, is this agreeable?"
Aggel and Nehlka could still be overheard in the other room, finishing the negotiations in favor of the pair of princes. Although the difference in age was considerable — with Aggel being far older than she looked by Bai's accounts — the relationship between Baik and Bailaka was irrefutable in preserving some semblance of fair bargaining. The results of the negotiation so far had been simple: the tower would be designated as Baikan and it would become a furrier and meat trading spot for Bailaka. In exchange, Bailaka's sparsely grown foods and experts could be borrowed or hired. In a time of crisis for either of the two locations, the princes had sworn to assist one another. The similarities to a feudal alliance were palpable, even if the truth was that in the future it would spawn competition.
Baik didn't feel worried about that in the slightest, though; he stood beside Bai far more relieved now than he was when the idea was initially pitched. Their view from the large kobold's window let them look over the town, granting him the chance to see Bailaka almost in its entirety for the first time in his life.
"To imagine I grew up here..."
Bai patted his shoulder, not looking away from the city whilst drawing the attention of the prince. "Then don't imagine it. You are a smart kobold, Baik; there is no shame saying we are responsible for you, even were you to become our enemy. Upholding the kobold laws makes you just in the eyes of any true kobold."
"Right," Baik sighed. Although hearing that should have been somewhat comforting, the blue kobold knew the reason Bai was acknowledging the situation. "So you know, too?"
"You aren't the first prince to have been born in Bailaka. And, most likely, you won't be the last."
Baik frowned and averted his gaze toward the city. The only other kobold village he knew was their enemy... and it was younger than Bailaka, by the accounts of Aggel and others.
"Totaina," he finally replied to the questionless implication.
Bai nodded his head. "When I was much younger, there was a Prince born around the same time as me. That same bastard broke off and left Bailaka, whilst I killed the previous tyrant leading the tribe and took power. Later on, he migrated back to try and kill me, but when it failed I killed him. After that, I exiled his tribe to that place."
"... So are they without a Prince?"
A lack of an immediate answer gave him somewhat of a reply, both remaining silent whilst the druidesses continued chatting. Things made a lot of sense now why he got along with the trio; although descended from those who probably followed that Prince, Totaina was founded by someone raised and shaped by the same things that created Bai. Although they clashed, their ideals must have been similar enough to enforce the same respect in the Key Laws into them. By now, there had likely been a new Prince raised and trained to hate Bai. Kobolds bore such grudges that Aggel's advice from back then made a lot more sense now. Baik showing up on their doorstep when he was younger would have been obvious where he came from; it may be possible to approach and communicate with them if they didn't have a chance to associate him.
More importantly, all three of his closest friends in this new life came from Totaina. When he really broke it down, the reality was that Bai saw it all as a chance to finally mend relations and bring the kobold descendants back into the fold with Bailaka.
To do that, I need to grow a lot more. The correct course... this is what Bai really wants, right?
Baik turned toward the end of the inner sanctum the others were in, sighing and crossing his arms at Nehlka standing on her tip-toes to point at the slates they were drawing and etching into.
"I get it," Baik admitted. "If that's what you're after, then I need to increase our numbers. Which means-"
Bai patted his back, turning around and smirking. "You need to find yourself a woman and get to making more kobolds!"
... Bai, you're hopeless.
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Everything finished without issue not long after that. The Princes agreed and made copies of the original slate; both would hold a slate at their villages whilst a third was sealed under a magical ritual to ensure it wasn't removed from the sanctum. The only way to even access it meant that both Princes had to smear their blood across it.
As far as the deal itself, it was exactly as promised. Nehlka had even negotiated the right to any spoils of war that Baikan obtained; although small in initial premise, it meant that if they started fights that grew larger then Baik could obtain a larger degree of the spoils. Starting battles all the time, of course, was far from smart, however. They were going to need to keep their supply of furs and meat steady, lest they shirk their end of the deal and get punished for it. Either side failing to offer their goods would suffer the ritual influencing their land. Dead animals or plants were not uncommon incidents when it came to that sort of magic.
At least, that was what he had learned. The truth was that only Aggel and Bai fully understood this sort of stuff. If it weren't for the official process of it all, it would be hard to take it fully seriously. Compared to his prior world's treaties and contracts, it wasn't terribly too different; it was strangely out of place for kobolds, however, which meant it likely came from the other races or someone that may have been like him.
Mysteries pushed aside, Baik returned to the pair of kobolds and found Ango wrestling with Toif. Many of the other warriors had returned to watch, yet none of them nor Hanaya were surprised to see the now-armorless Toif dominating Ango. The speed of the armored kobold had increased considerably with the armor no longer hindering his frame; it wasn't so much that it was heavy but that it blocked full ranges of movement.
Compared to before, Toif masterfully dodged retaliatory strikes and kept locking Ango's arms and tail in scissor-vices or tail-assisted grapples. From there it took little time at all to trip and fell the thick-skulled brother, giving everyone including his sister a front-row seat to him falling on his face and Toif stepping on the back of his neck.
"You whelp," the veteran grunted. "You think you can guard a prince when all you do is hide behind a shield?"
Toif stepped back and unwrapped his tail from Ango's leaving the exhausted and huffing kobold to clamber up to his hands and knees. He rolled his eyes and looked over at Baik, crossing his arms without faltering.
"Prince Baik, did you truly survive this long with someone so incapable?"
Nehlka clacked her staff on the ground, stomping over to her brother and offering him her tail. Whilst he shakily rose, she pointed her staff at Toif and caused every kobold watching to panic-dive. Thankfully, rather than cast a spell, she shouted. "You pick on him? You've been to battle! We've only fought other creatures! Were Ango to face others, he could grow stronger than you with ease!"
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Toif scoffed, but Baik didn't blame him for his attitude.
"You're right."
Nehlka and Ango looked at him, whilst Hanaya sighed. She approached the side of her Prince, setting both her hands on her hips. The strong female kobold didn't pay much attention to Ango or Baik, instead choosing the path of staring Toif down.
"Prince Baik is strong enough to best you, as is Nehlka. We don't need to beat you... yet. I bet the next time we meet, Ango can take you down at least once."
Toif raised his brow. "Oh? That boy who can't even tell his toes from his tail?"
All the rivalry brewing was good to a point, yet it finally went too far. Baik set his hand on his club whilst the towering figure of Bai stomped out alongside Aggel. "Toif, that's enough. If you keep rubbing it in his face, I'll give you another loss to remind you that I used to be so small you could carry me. Going all out... I could take on the entirety of your veteran guards."
Bai boomed with laughter, but the energy of it didn't make Baik worry. Instead, it made all the Bailaka kobolds avert their gazes or bow their heads in shame, forcing their leader to look back and scoff. Toif's time since he was gone had been successful, but he knew the truth; rather than argue, he turned and waved all the warriors back to their positions with the quick barks of kobold warrior language. Hearing it again brought memories of his quick rescue and carriage to Bailaka so many years ago... but it also made him realize that his own training with Ango and Hanaya hadn't been enough. Training them to face him together meant that their teamwork had grown and made survival easy... but in battle, when divided, that strength would falter and their team-reliant strategy would break down.
I need a real battle to train them.
Baik waited for Ango to get up and sulk his way back over, patting his smaller friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ango. We have faith in you. To get stronger, you need to experience battle as Nehlka said. That's all there is to it."
His shieldbearer didn't meet his gaze but raised his arm in the warrior's salute they commonly used for field-hunting. Ango's pride had been nothing but hurt... and it was time to finally fix that. Aggel approached the young kobolds and prince, slipping behind him and up to the spirit-wounded warrior. Rather than wait for him to quit sulking, she tapped her staff on the top of his head and shoved a cloth-bound bundle into his arm.
"Huh?" Ango nearly fell backward from the force, yet he teetered with its weight for a moment before securing it with both hands. "W-Wait, what is all this?"
Aggel's smile met his gaze, unwavering and sincere as always. "Equipment; specifically, a few torch-gems and supplies."
"Torch gems? Supplies?"
The confusion on him was hastily matched by a head-turning Hanaya, her tail twisting in curiosity. "Why are you giving us this kind of stuff, exactly? Are we going mining?"
"No," Baik answered.
The pair turned to face him only for Nehlka to walk into their midst, raising her staff to draw their eyes onto her smiling face. It was an imitation of Aggel that was betrayed by her nervous sweating, instantly exposing just how shaken she was at the moment trying to match up to the image of the older druidess.
"Baikan is undertaking its first task. Starting today, we are to get stronger... and to get stronger, we need greater numbers. The torches are so we can illuminate our tower without issue — I can merely refill them with mana if they dim — and the other supplies are so the two of you can... erm... get busy bolstering our numbers."
Ango and Hanaya blinked; neither of them understood at first but that wasn't any concern for Baik. Whilst Nehlka dealt with the mental image, the blue-scaled prince raised one of his clawed hands and looked to his elder prince inquisitively.
"I know you said I should do things with Nehlka as well, but the other option... is it really possible?"
All of the shorter kobolds didn't pay any attention between the pair; Aggel and Nehlka were merely smiling and dealing with the explosion of mumbling and excuses rolling from Hanaya and Ango. It was expected since they had grown close but never really talked about settling down. That matter and discussion wasn't for him to care for right now, though; after all, they had been given all their supplies to handle things back home at the tower.
"Yes," Bai started. The gigantic kobold pulled out the mask from before, then raising it between them so that it partially hid his large snout. "As I said, I obtained this mask back then... but, based on how they do things? They'll be back soon. The new Trials are going to be held-off for a while because of it."
"If that's the case, then I'll do it."
Baik let his hand drop to his side, turning and letting his tail apologetically brush with Nehlka's as he pulled away from the group. She spared a quick look in his direction, seeing nothing but the prince's back. For all of Baik's attempts to earn her trust, it felt terrible to now earn her worry. The prince was trusting the three to make it back and keep things civilly prepared, perhaps even starting to work toward some rewards. By the time Ango and Hanaya got pushy with Nehlka, it'd be too late for them to stop him.
Baik grasped his trusty club's grip and shifted it within its strappings, wriggling the weapon loose as he finally approached the gateway leading out of Bailaka. Guards cast concerned looks only for a few seconds before hastily abandoning their gazes the instant they saw the feathers behind Baik's ears standing on end. The sail-fin along his tail was fully extended, swaying with every step as his eyes slowly shifted red.
As promised, Bai... I'll do it.
Baik lurched forward and kicked off faster than he had run in the last few months; the walk here had taken as long as it had due to the pace of his comrades, yet now the prince's sprint carried him toward the distant treeline much faster than either Hanaya or Ango. Although the bonewood club wasn't optimal for his size anymore, the short weapon swung free at last into his grip; its weight didn't throw his balance off even as he burst into the forest without missing a beat. Trunks and bodies of the large trees didn't hinder his stride; compared to kobolds that had to worry about tripping, his feet were large enough that his steps seldom landed without purchase. Whenever they did, his toe-claws merely clasped at the dirt or root and held just enough grip to keep surging forward.
After you died, Leik, I was worried I wouldn't be able to face anyone with the same commitment. But now, with the other three dependent on me more than ever... I understand why you were willing to follow me even if it meant death.
He'd passed hundreds of meters at least by now; the sheer speed of his sprint was unlike anything in his prior life. Compared to humans, he was sprinting almost fifty miles per hour and his stamina wasn't dropping at all. Baik could compare it to a light jog but even that might be stepping it up as to just how adept his body's physique was. Memories of the map that Aggel and Bai showed him rang true. Nehlka had likely assumed he may have been going to visit Totaina from how the conversations had gone and where they were pointing... but she had been standing farther back. At that time when they were alone, the trio's bodies had hidden Bai and Baik pointing at something to the northeast.
Baik leaped toward the canopy and sailed, reaching out with his empty hand to clasp one of the thickest and lowest branches available. His muscles tensed and locked just enough to grip, swinging and crossing his weapon arm before releasing to send him crashing through the branches and leaves. Light burst into view and he sailed higher into the air, almost a foot above the treetops... before crashing onto one of the trees and catching himself. The whole forest was like a hunting ground... but only alone did he truly feel like an apex predator.
And right now, as he looked out, he saw the trails of campfires polluting the forest sky. In all the years he'd lived in Daesal, Bai and Aggel only told him of rumors. In the Trials, he had met someone of his old race.
If I'm going to lead, then I have to crush my people's enemies. Demon, kobold, or even human... I don't care.
His eyes hazed darker crimson before the prince shoved off, sailing across the treetops to the next tree. And then the next. More like a monkey than a wolfish-reptilian, Baik shortened the distance with the camp without any further hesitation.
If it threatens this new life of mine, it dies!