62 Chapter 62 The Barbarian Problem Solved (1/2)

”Do you believe they are telling the truth?” asked Joseph, sitting down next to Stella.

”I do,” she answered with no hesitation.

”Are they going to attack us?”

”I'm not sure. They are currently snowed into a valley.”

”In the middle of summer?” Joseph glanced outside, confused. The weather here was beautiful and sunny. There shouldn't be any snow where they were.

”Yes. They are hoping the snow will melt soon so they can move to a closer valley. They have at most a single months' worth of food left, even with eating their domestic animals.”

”How many of them are there?”

”Um…” Stella paused.

”All I need is a ballpark figure.”

Everyone else in the room looked confused by ”ballpark” but Stella understood him.

”Probably at least as many people as we have. It's certainly thousands. I don't think more than 10,000 though. But they did say that is hopefully only about a quarter of them. They are wanting to wait in that valley for the other tribes to come down, if they can escape the icy storm. What herds they hadn't killed, are probably frozen, which is the main reason they have overhunted so much.”

”Shaviste! That will take years to recover,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. He ignored the various mutters of '40,000?' and 'Preposterous!' from the king's men.

”What are their plans?”

”They will invade for food and go back north once they can survive there.”

”So, they don't intend to harm us.”

”No. I explained we were not people from the kingdom. They have no issue with us. They will only attack us, if we try to stop them. They would rather not have to fight but they can't stop the icy storm and refuse to let their children starve or be frozen instead of trying to break into the kingdom. They did mention trading with the kingdom in the past but said they hated doing so. They always get cheated. How many messengers have you sent to the king?”

”One a day, and all through different routes. Though, I'm worried some of the n.o.bles are interfering. Actually, I'm worried the n.o.bles are outright killing or kidnapping them. Only my dad would know for sure.

”Alright, gentlemen, I have some ideas, but what do you suggest first?” Joseph looked around the room at the various men who had shown up to hear what Stella had to report on the barbarians.

”If they attempt to invade, don't we just need to kill them?” asked one, looking around for confirmation.

”Given the contract you signed, to stop any barbarians from coming down, I don't know why you are asking about this,” said another, shaking his head in annoyance.