Chapter 902 (2/2)
Unlike the brilliant and wise former emperor, Junero, Ilo was a veteran soldier who slowly rose through the ranks of the army. He never had much dignity to boast of and had always appeared before everyone as a frank and straightforward person. And it was no exception this time.
An emperor like him, who would confess so candidly that there was no money in his national treasury, was probably unprecedented.
“Everyone knows that Old Ilo is a man who follows the rules and a man of his words. So, I came up with an idea,” Ilo said. “Although I can’t repudiate a debt, I can owe a debt! Anyway, there’s only so much money in the national treasury. Those who have already contributed earlier on, I shall reward them according to the rules. Those who make contributions later… I’m sorry but the emperor, His Majesty is not welshing on your rewards. It’s just that, for the time being, he has no money to give you. Please kindly wait for a while.”
“In other words, if you all want to get your rewards and benefits just like before, you better act fast right after the war commences. Don’t procrastinate. Otherwise, you all only hope that you live long enough, long enough for me to find enough money to pay you your bonuses.”
Amidst the laughter of the tribal chiefs, Emperor Ilo waved his hands as a sign for everyone to quiet down.
“Alright, done with the joke. Now, let’s get back to business—oh, that’s not really a joke, I’m serious.”
The tribal chiefs laughed again.
Ilo smiled, then suddenly he became serious and shouted, “My Orc brothers, are you all afraid of war?”
Subconsciously, all the tribal chiefs shouted in unison, “No fear!”
“Yes, we are not afraid!” Ilo roared. “We Orcs are never afraid of war. To us, war is as common as eating and sleeping. Fighting the humans, beheading them, getting our rewards, winning the favor of the ladies, carrying on the family line, and finally heading for the sanctuary of the gods—this is the Orcs way of life, from ancient times to the modern day, from generation to generation.
“We are not afraid of war. On the contrary, we relish in war. We’re passionate about war! We Orcs are warriors created by the gods as imitations of them. The significance of our lives is to fight for the gods. When we are alive, we fight for them. After we die, we still fight for them. Other than war, there’s nothing else that we need to be bothered with!”
“I will not promise you all anything, for I have to go to battle myself. I want to put on my armor, hold my weapon and lead my most courageous warriors as we charge onto the battlefield. I shall fight to my level best and slay as many enemies as I can. I will use their blood to stain my armor with a fresh, beautiful hue of red. I will use the heads of my enemies to add new glory to my throne. Though I’m old, I’m still a warrior! My heart that pursues honor and a vigorous battle will not lose to any young man!
“Those frail humans, those ants that we’ve crushed and cleaned up since the day they are born, those maggots that we’ve driven helter-skelter everywhere, who do not have the courage to swing their blades at us but only dare to bully those weaker than them. What on earth are they thinking of this time? To court death by coming to attack us!
“All this time, we can’t get rid of them because they have been running all over the place. And they run faster than anything. There are too many of them, we can’t catch them all, neither can we kill them all. They’re just like the mosquitoes in summer, buzzing about and annoying the hell out of everyone.
“But this time, these ants, maggots, mosquitoes… They are jumping out, jumping to be right in front of us, and jumping right to where our blades will slay!
“So, what are we still waiting for?”
The old Emperor of Orcs revealed a hideous smile and raised his tomahawk and roared, “Crush them!”
The roars and growls meshed together and shot high up into the sky, gradually forming clouds of war.