Way of Overlord
Chapter 83: A Pawn in a Chess Game

Chapter 83: A Pawn in a Chess Game

While he may not possess the youthful vigor of Aeryon, he is revered by his tribesmen for his ability to navigate treacherous terrains and make calculated decisions.

As the chief of the Korun tribe, he carries the responsibility of ensuring the survival and well-being of his people, a duty he has fulfilled with unwavering determination and foresight.

He is around his forties almost reaching fifty years of age.

To reach his age is a rarity in the Steppe. He has seven sons, all of them warriors. He has a few wives and concubines.

But most of them had died when he was young. Now, he only has around three wives. He also has a few dozen grandchildren.

And he is in his tent, thinking.

Thinking of the peculiarities. Kyazan when he heard the news, he quickly accepted the new reality. And he could see that Aeryon posed a threat

But he also understood that this is a chance and opportunity. He did it once before and he could do it once again

He bowed his head to the Xewa tribe for the safety of his tribe and the dela work out pretty well for him

He did not bring much to the table when he was being under the Xewa tribe.

But both him and the chief of the Xewa tribe knows this.

The only reason that Xeqani, the chief of the Xewa tribe accepted his surrender is simply because he wanted the prestige. And it is better to have an ally that could help them when they go to the north. It also helps that the Korun tribe is a new tribe and have no past enmity and grudges with the Xewa tribe so they could be trusted

Because of that, when he heard that Aeryon had defeated the Xewa tribe and Ghar tribe, while he was shocked, he was not afraid.

He decided to follow the same method. In other words, he wanted to surrender to Aeryon. And in these three weeks, he also heard that the Utgard on his north has also begun to expand and a few small clans around the Utgard tribe had also joined him.

So, his desire to ally with Aeryon intensified.

The fate of the Korun tribe hung in the balance and he knew that he need to make the right choice

Stand on the right line

Unlike some other chief, he cares not that much about honour and pride which is a rarity among the chief of the Great Steppe.

He is very practical like the culture of the Great Steppe never affected him

Some of the Chief in the Great Steppe is also very practical but also they could not release themselves form what the people expect them to be

Every grudge needs to be avenged, and one should not surrender before fighting. Even those four tribes that Aeryon had conquered fight his men before they surrender.

But Kyazan is a very different man. And maybe because of that his small tribe keep surviving.

He had sent his men to carefully assess the intentions and capabilities of the Brolgadhr tribe and when the report came to him, he knows that between the Brolgadhr tribe and the Utgard tribe, the stronger one is Brolgadhr tribe.

"Then why?" he mutters to himself, alone in his tent

He sighed.

Kyazan sat alone in his desolate tent

Kyazan did not have a capable advisor like Aeryon who will have Mayeux to advise him on certain matters.

Unlike Garron of the Utgard tribe, he did not have a loyal sworn brother who he could confide to.

His advisors, though loyal, lacked the expertise and strategic insight that he desired.

And the loss of his sworn brother, a trusted companion in battles of the past, added to his sense of isolation.

As he thought about his sons, Kyazan sighed again

He of course recognized their individual talents and prowess as warriors.

His second son, Kyordai, possessed unrivalled skill as an archer, surpassing even the finest horse archers Kyazan had encountered in his lifetime.

While proud of his sons’ abilities, he couldn’t help but feel that none of them possessed the leadership qualities and keen political acumen required to become a chief.

In the midst of his solitude, Kyazan found himself questioning his own thoughts and strategy.

He had anticipated that Aeryon, driven by his ambition, would launch an attack on the Korun tribe.

He had also anticipated aggression from the Utgard tribe under Garron’s leadership. Yet, each expectation proved to be wrong.

The uncertainty gnawed at Kyazan mind as he pondered the reasons behind Aeryon seemingly indifferent stance towards the Korun tribe.

Was it a strategic move?

Was he underestimating the Korun tribe’s strength? Or perhaps there were other factors at play that he had yet to grasp.

As the weeks passed, an unusual series of events unfolded in the Great Steppe.

The Utgard tribe launched an attack on Rudya, taking advantage of the succession battle that was occurring within Rudya.

With the assistance of the Kazan tribe, Utgard emerged victorious in the first battle, causing the influence of Rudya to shrink.

Although Utgard eventually retreated, it became apparent that the war was far from over, and the Utgard tribe had only revealed a fraction of their true strength.

And Rudya tribe is now in a bind.

Meanwhile, the Brolgadhr tribe, led by Aeryon, seemed to be biding their time.

Despite not launching any direct attacks on neighbouring tribes, the active recruitment of warriors and the visible presence of Brolgadhr horse riders patrolling the newly acquired territories indicated that expansion was on the horizon.

The abundance within the tribe, with hundreds of reared sheep, further hinted at their preparations for future endeavours.

It became increasingly clear to those observing that Aeryon tribe was poised for expansion; it was not a matter of if, but rather when.

In the midst of these unfolding events, Kyazan of the Korun tribe felt an unease and confusion.

Both Utgard and Brolgadhr, his neighbouring tribes, seemed to disregard his presence entirely.

Despite the vulnerability of his tribe compared to Rudya or the tribes surrounding Brolgadhr, no hostile actions were directed towards him.

This peculiar treatment left Kyazan perplexed and anxious, as he struggled to comprehend the underlying motivations behind their behaviour.

After contemplating the situation for several days, Kyazan arrived at a conclusion.

"They are treating me like a buffer between their two areas"

This is his conclusion.

He realized that he was being treated as a buffer between the territories of Utgard and Brolgadhr.

It became evident to him that the two powerful tribes saw his presence as a strategic advantage, a means to maintain a delicate balance between their respective areas of influence.

"I am but a pawn in their game" he thought to himself.

Kyazan believe that the reason why both of those tribes leaves him alone is simply because he stands in between two of them.

"Because I maintain the balance" he believe he has reached the right conclusion.

And once any of these two tribes takes his tribe, then they would be neighbours with each other.

And judging by both how Garron and Aeryon operates, if these two tribes neighbours with each other....there is no doubt that there would be a clash

There are allies and so it is understandable that they could agree on this. A few weeks ago, Garron did pass his territory with fifty men. And Kyazan heard that he had met with his son in law, the chief of the Brolgadhr.

They might have agreed on something during that time. They might have even decided to split the area of where they would operate.

They did not want his tribe, at least not now. Because if they bordered each other right now, they inevitably would clash.

While Kyazan did not know much about the young chief of the Brolgadhr he very much well understand his other neighbour the Utgard tribe.

Garron is an ambitious man.

And even if he did not yet meet the young chief of the Brolgadhr, judging from his action since he returned to the Great Steppe, this young man is also a very ambitious person

What would happen if these two ambitious men bordered each other? They surely would clash.

And so, the best solution so that their alliance could be maintained without being suspicious of each other, is to leave a little space between them

And that space is his tribe territory. As long as they did not directly border each other, they would not think to clash with each other.

"Just like the Xewa and Ghar tribes before" he thought to himself. Those two tribes are also very ambitious. And because of that, they both have frequent clashes.

Kyazan is sure that his thoughts was correct. Those two men have decided not to attack his tribe so that they could maintain their alliance without feeling suspicious of the other.

But this did not make him happy at all.

It means that those two tribes did not even look at him and his tribe as something to worry about

And the more he thinks about it, the more he understood why. He could not ally with anyone now that he is sandwiched between these two tribes.

Kyazan sat on his tent, until evening, thinking of a way of how to escape from this predicament

And then he thought of something. He had an idea.

"Could it work?" he ask himself. And then there is a smile forming. He nodded, like he had found the plans he thought of as feasible.

"But the time is not right. If I want to do this, I need to time this perfectly"

And he laughed inside his tent.

...