176: Chapter: The Tragic Orc

Unfortunately, all plans vanished into smoke with Gajulas's suicide. After all, he was dead, so copying him was useless.

However, Arthur only felt a slight regret and quickly understood: Gajulas was an Orc hero!

Arthur decided against using his appearance to do things that would harm the Orcs. It was better this way.

As for the plans concerning the Orcs, he could just find another Orc Legendary to copy later!

As for how to deal with the Orcs next, they should proceed as discussed just now!

Collecting the body was better suited for a man, so Arthur couldn't help but turn his gaze toward Elwin.

"Elwin!"

"What are Your Majesty's commands?"

"Take Gajulas's body and store it.

When we conquer the Orc Royal Court, hand his remains over to the Tigerhead Orc tribe and explain the situation to them. A hero cannot die nameless!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Following the command, Elwin removed the space ring from Gajulas's hand before storing the body.

Thankfully, Gajulas had come to meet Arthur, and to show sincerity, he was only wearing civilian clothes, not armor.

Otherwise, stripping off his armor would have been rather undignified.

"Your Majesty, this is Gajulas's space ring. His wealth should all be inside."

"Mm."

Since the matter was settled, Arthur didn't waste any more time on Gajulas and quickly resumed discussing the plans to conquer the Orc Royal Court with everyone.

Originally, they were going to prepare for two more days, but since Gajulas was already dead!

The Orc Royal Court was now effectively theirs for the taking, so they could act tomorrow.

During the discussion, Chancellor France first raised a question, as she was the one arranging everything.

"Your Majesty, since Gajulas is dead, our original plan can no longer be used!

Do you have new arrangements?"

"Let's proceed according to what I promised Gajulas just now. Leave them half of the grain, and as for the wealth... let's leave them one hundred million gold coins."

Originally, Arthur hadn't planned on leaving the Orcs even a single gold coin, but thinking of Gajulas's heroic sacrifice, he finally softened.

With that money, the Orcs should be able to survive longer on the continent. Could this be considered fulfilling Gajulas's wish?

Of course, the main reason was that Arthur estimated the profits from this war would be at least several billion, so giving away one hundred million didn't hurt.

Just like that, Arthur finalized the strategy for dealing with the Orcs.

The rest was left for France to arrange herself!

Arthur thought this was the case, but just as he was preparing to adjourn the meeting, France spoke again:

"Your Majesty, I have one more question that requires your decision!

There is a special group within the Orc Royal Court, the Half-Orcs, numbering around one million. Should they be handled the same way as the Orcs?"

"Half-Orcs!"

Hearing this, Arthur began to ponder.

Arthur had seen Half-Orcs in reality; as the product of unions between Orcs and humans, their status was extremely low in both major kingdoms.

They were often born from human women who had been captured and taken to the Orc Royal Court, where they were violated by the Orcs.

On the Doreen Peninsula, Orcs and humans had been fighting for hundreds of years, and against this backdrop, the Half-Orcs were naturally ostracized everywhere.

However, Half-Orcs were not entirely unwelcome. Some Half-Orc women were very popular among human nobles.

The appearance of these Half-Orc women greatly matched Arthur's impressions of Catgirls and Foxgirls from his previous life.

Aside from their ears and tails, they were almost indistinguishable from humans, but due to their Orc Bloodline, their figures were flawless.

They could be said to perfectly satisfy certain human fetishes... After reviewing the information in his mind, Arthur finally decided to keep the Half-Orcs, because they were closer to humans than the Orcs were.

Of course, it absolutely wasn't because those Half-Orc women suited Arthur's aesthetic; Arthur decided to rescue them.

Furthermore, Arthur decided to keep them, but not use them as slaves.

"France, do you remember the matter of abolishing slavery that I brought up before!

After unifying the Doreen Peninsula, this decree can be implemented!

As for the Half-Orcs, let them stay. Anyway, after the Orcs leave, that large stretch of land in the north will need a population, and this will reduce the number of people we need to relocate there!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

As a modern person, Arthur had no problem acknowledging the feudal system, but he did not want to see slavery—at least not within his nation, given he had the ability to change it.

Moreover, abolishing slavery wasn't changing the fundamental system of the state, so it wouldn't attract too much attention.

The group discussed for a while longer... Time quickly moved to the next day.

First, Elwin followed Arthur's instructions and sent Gajulas's body back to the Tigerhead Orc tribe, explaining the transaction between Gajulas and Arthur.

Upon seeing Gajulas's body, the Tigerhead Orcs were greatly shocked and saddened. This meant that the powerful figure who had protected them for hundreds of years was gone!

Although they wanted to fight to the death, they considered the disparity in combat power between the two sides and the life Gajulas had sacrificed for them to survive!

The Tigerhead Orc tribe ultimately did not take action!

Seeing this, Elwin continued giving them instructions.

"You have one week to prepare. During this week, your Tigerhead Orc tribe must notify all Orcs to pack up all their belongings and gather at the Orc Royal Court's Northern Dock.

The Kingdom's Navy will be waiting there, and they will transport you to the mainland!"

The reason for giving them a week was due to the large size of the Barren Plains where the Orc Royal Court was located, meaning ordinary Orcs would take a long time to travel.

As he spoke, Elwin's tone changed:

"Of course, you may choose not to heed this advice and remain on the Doreen Peninsula, but you will face the Kingdom's ruthless execution. I hope you do not waste Gajulas's good intentions!"

After speaking, Elwin did not linger and returned directly to the Lionheart Kingdom.

Next up was the comprehensive battle to reclaim the Barren Plains seven days later!

To ensure the reclamation operation proceeded perfectly, Arthur dispatched not only the two Legendaries, Dragon Joao and Elwin, but also Victor and the other eleven Sky Knights.

This was to extinguish the Orcs' last shred of delusion!

Seven days later, two million troops departed from the Northern Territory of the Lionheart Kingdom, heading into the depths of the Barren Plains.

There were no major battles during this period, only occasional skirmishes.

After all, not everyone wished to cling to life; some could not accept being forced to leave their homes and preferred to die fighting in their native land.

Such people were, ultimately, a small minority.

For those people, the soldiers of the Lionheart Kingdom granted them dignity, allowing them to merge with the Barren Plains.

Of course, there were also some who hid in remote areas, hoping to slip through unnoticed!

But they were mostly searched out by the army, and the only fate awaiting them was death.