The roar of Elder Quinn's wrath was deafening, shaking even the skin tent. The old wizard seemed strangely composed at this moment, as though he had grown accustomed to such scenes.
Klaus and Rand dared not utter a word, knowing that defending themselves at such a time would only incite Elder Quinn further, begging for mercy would be seen as an act of weakness, and silence might be their safest bet.
The old wizard waited for Elder Quinn's roar to subside before he spoke. "They should indeed be punished for their blunder, but if you sentence them to death, we'll be even fewer in number."
Elder Quinn held the hammer up beside him, glaring fiercely at Klaus and Rand. "You two have disappointed me."
"They're too young," the old wizard whispered. "Let them practice more."
"You want to give them another chance?" Elder Quinn glared at the old wizard with dissatisfaction. "They have brought shame upon the trolls, and according to the rules, even if you don't kill them, you must expel them from the tribe."
"Maybe we can make up for it," Lyme whispered from the corner, and his words immediately provoked the old wizard's displeasure.
"There is no place for you to intervene here," the old wizard scowled at his apprentice.
"But Lyme is right," the old wizard told Elder Quinn. "Klaus and Rand are exceptional warriors among the younger generation of trolls, and it would be a shame to execute them. Perhaps we can give them a chance to redeem themselves."
"Tell me what you propose," Elder Quinn said, lowering the hammer to his feet, his anger visibly diminishing.
"Revenge," Rand said cleverly. "Let's gather a few more warriors, and this time, I'll ensure to break Yuna's bitch's wings."
"You want to attack the Succubus tribe?" Elder Quinn frowned. "Do you think Yuna would be foolish enough to be undefended?"
"The Succubus have cast ice over the river downstream," the old wizard said. "And the Succubus are adept at setting traps. Attacking them would be costly for us. Our priority now is to find new allies."
Elder Quinn sighed heavily. "The Snake Man and the Bear Man have formed an alliance, and we have lost the support of the Succubus. With whom else can we form an alliance?"
"It's all because of you two idiots," Elder Quinn glared at Rand and Klaus. "If we had enough magic crystals, we wouldn't have to worry about alliances at all."
"It's useless to scold them," the old wizard said gravely. "Now we must find a new ally as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be difficult to fight against the Snake Man and Bear Man with our strength alone."
"How about the Sheep Man?" Rand interjected. "We could ally with the Sheep Man."
"The Sheep Man are cowardly," Elder Quinn said dismissively. "An alliance with them would only waste our resources."
"We need alliance partners of equal power," the old wizard murmured. "But who wants to ally with us?"
Just then, a troll warrior entered with a message. He informed Elder Quinn that enemies had been spotted near the Horde.
"Who is it?" Elder Quinn picked up the hammer again, "Who would dare to break into our territory?"
"It's a charm troll," the warrior said. "Elder Finn and Elder Lauber have dealt with the enemy."
"Let Finn and Lauber come and see me," Elder Quinn commanded.
Presently, Elder Finn and Elder Lauber came to the tent and laid their blood-stained weapons in the corner. When they saw Klaus and Rand tied to a stone bench, disappointment and shame filled their eyes.
Klaus studiously avoided the eyes of the two elders, and at this moment, he felt extreme shame.
"What happened?" Elder Quinn asked.
"Our men were patrolling around the tribe and found two Shire Giants. They killed one of our soldiers and ate him, and one soldier returned to the tribe alive to report the incident to me," Elder Finn said with a solemn face. "So Lauber and I rushed to the scene with a few warriors, and one of the Shire Giants was killed by us, and another was captured alive."
"How did the Shire Giant end up here? Don't they all dwell in caves?" Elder Quinn wondered.
"They must be hungry," Elder Finn said. "The Shire Giant usually doesn't leave the cave. They only go out to forage for food when they're hungry, and everything that moves is food in their eyes."
"Those imbeciles, the devil knows where they came from," Elder Lauber said angrily. "The next time they dare to offend our territory, I'll cut off their heads."
Rand pondered for a few seconds, then he proposed, "Maybe we can ally with the Shire Giant."
"Is your brain broken?" Elder Quinn lashed out at Rand. "At least Sheep man still has an IQ, and the Shire Giant is dumber than a pig."
"No, that's not what I meant," Rand explained. "The Shire Giant has a low IQ and is a glutton. But they're very destructive. If we can form an alliance with the Shire Giant, we'll have a strong partner."
"It's not an alliance, it's an invasion," the old wizard sneered sincerely. "If the Shire Giant becomes our slaves, we can use them against Snake man and Bear man."
"That sounds like a good idea," Elder Quinn thought for a moment and said. "But it's not easy to conquer those imbeciles."
"I can do this," Rand volunteered. "Please give me a chance to make amends."
Elder Quinn and the other elders looked at each other, and after making sure that no one objected, he said to Rand, "Then I'll leave this matter to you. And if you mess up again, I'll tie you to a rock and dry you out."
"Trust me, I'll get the job done this time," Rand said confidently.
"Based on the fact that you screwed up your marriage with the Succubus, I'm going to disqualify you from receiving food," Elder Quinn said sternly. "And if you want to survive this winter, you'll have to go hunting yourself."
Rand grimaced, not expecting Elder Quinn to punish him so harshly. When he tried to open his mouth to plead, he was met with a glare from Elder Quinn, so he had to accept the fact.
"Can I go with Rand to attack the Shire Giant?" Klaus asked in a low voice, trying to make amends.
"No, you two idiots can't stay together," Elder Quinn said, looking at Klaus with those gloomy eyes. "I have other plans for you."