"Leonardo, what is the meaning of this?"
"Will we be humiliated by two barbarian orcs in the lands under our dominion?"
The three engineers in the delegation, led by Heinrich, would object with anger; in one breath, they had been defined as invaders, and as if that wasn't enough, they had been threatened while being looked straight in the eye.
"You don't know any other words anyway; barbarian orc, savage orc. When it comes to talk, you are the civilized ones; is making the druids, whom you call your guests, live in isolation civilization, or is coming to lands at the other end of the world, with which you have no connection, and trying to pillage them?"
Compared to the old men who were hopping mad with rage, Nafız hadn't even raised an eyebrow; she was listing her words without even raising her voice.
"I expected this to be a reconciliation meeting, but it looks like things will get out of hand if we continue a bit longer!"
Another engineer, who had contented himself with observing the situation, spoke up; except for the duo wearing simple woolen robes standing on either side of Master Leonardo, the entire delegation had spoken.
"An agreement becomes meaningful if it is realized between two parties with equal rights; I do not see such a scene here!"
On the other side, only Nafız was speaking on behalf of the Druid Liberation Army; although it was five against one as of that moment, the female orc had no intention of backing down.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! You really spoke the truth this time; I was just about to ask by virtue of which qualities you attained the honor of sitting opposite us!"
The engineer named Heinrich didn't seem intended to stop despite the Master's warning; he continued his insolent attitude without changing the expression of indifference he placed on his angular face, framed by short golden blonde hair, for even a second.
"I am just a barbarian orc who cannot possess any extraordinary qualities; I cannot answer your question. You need to ask this to your friends who fled from Karsak city kicking their own asses!"
Heinrich, inside his robe decorated with gold embroidery the color of his hair at the edges, had turned crimson; the man launched as the second-best weapon designer in scientific circles looked as if he would explode from anger.
"I see we won't get anywhere like this; it's best if we gather again in two days and conclude this business!"
Sensing that the path taken was a dark tunnel with no visible end, the Master announced his decision to end today's short session. Seeing that the orcs had no objection either, the short and chubby man would leave the village along with the engineers beside him.
"Leonardo, I don't understand at all why you take those two orcs and the scrawny druid with them so seriously; let me ensure they take their last breaths tonight!"
Heinrich, burning with the ambition of the humiliation he experienced, didn't seem likely to stay still; the inferiority of being second, which had collapsed inside him and was growing madly there, had found new fuel today.
"We are scientists, my dear colleague, not warriors; let us please not lose our faith that we will eventually find a middle ground."
Although the answer he received wasn't sufficient, the yellow-haired engineer fell silent; he knew it wasn't possible to change the mind of Leonardo, who was a hopeless romantic, and the biggest proof of this was the Druid Village he had to visit today.
Unable to persuade the man—whom he couldn't influence no matter what he said in the past—this time either, Heinrich had to slow his steps, fall behind the Master and the two woolen-robed engineers beside him, and bottle up his rage.
Even though the facts threw him behind Leonardo in every condition, the man with angular facial features had no intention of giving up. Even if others said he fell short of his greatest rival, even if his achievements were constantly overshadowed because they were students of the same era, he had no intention of fleeing from the struggle.
Only, he was tired of being the defeated side every time, no matter how much they clashed head-to-head; today proved that he couldn't stay behind this man who possessed a weak leader stance.
When they arrived in front of the Master's residence, he would separate from the group along with the two engineers beside him; a short while later at another fork in the road, the other person who had spoken to find a middle ground during the meeting also bid farewell to his friends.
"Master Heinrich, what are we waiting for!"
The two people remaining from the seven-person delegation were the yellow-haired man's faction; although they hesitated to use the title belonging only to the city administrator in the presence of others, they addressed Heinrich as "Master" among themselves.
"Today is the day; the opportunity we've been waiting for has come to our feet!"
While his other sidekick spoke with the effect of ambition shining in his eyes, there was a sly smile on the milk-white face of their leader shining in the moonlight.
"You are right; instruct your men inside the city to be ready as if they will take action at any moment. I want you to send a mechanical hawk to the reverends urgently; writing that the prey has entered the cage is sufficient!"
Before the dust raised by the delegation leaving the village after the unsuccessful session settled on the ground, the small hut would have other guests.
A few of the first-generation druids, who had attained standards good enough to sustain their lives with Leonardo's arrival, wanted to meet with the suddenly appearing orcs.
"Orc warriors, we have come to ask you to leave our village!"
After four people living the autumn of their lives entered with limping steps, one among them would step forward and speak. Looking at the condition of her body and the exhaustion in the tone of her voice, a person could understand that this woman might die at any moment.
The remaining trio also had the same condition as her; evidently, the druids, intimidated after the event in the morning, had chosen their members prepared for death as spokespersons.
"Leave we will, but you need to give me a valid reason for this!"
Upon seeing the spokespersons coming to her feet, Nafız wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry; she was treating the old people, who would fall apart if she blew on them, gently.
"More than a hundred years ago, Orc Lord Braveheart failed in the duty of protecting the druids; we do not want his grandchildren to bring disaster to our village either."
The attitude assumed and the energy radiated by Leonardo's delegation while leaving had evidently caused the druids' greatest fears to resurface; they didn't want their benefactor protecting them to change his mind at all.
"So you blame us orcs for your own weakness; so be it!"
Ending her words with a laughter ruthless enough to freeze human blood, Nafız slowly stood up and walked toward the door of the hut-like house.
When she went outside, the entire village population had already surrounded her; after waiting for Alyon to appear behind her, the female orc would wander her eyes over the crowd and begin to speak.
"I will ask this question only once; you have until morning to think!"
"Would you like to join the Druid Liberation Army fighting for the independence of your people?"
The female orc's voice echoed, ringing inside the village surrounded by dense trees; her words, entering the ears of every druid—who was surprised to death—and rising to the sky, had stabbed into the bosom of the quiet night like a knife.
"Those saying yes, be ready to leave with us in the morning!"
Following the hard slamming of the hut's wooden door, a sound would come from every head; whispers combining ensured the village turned into almost a giant beehive.
"Disperse, dammit!"
When the door of the structure they surrounded opened once more, this time a massive figure appeared before them; Alyon, cursing with foam scattering from his mouth, seemed disturbed by the noise.
"What do you say, Ainle? Will anyone among them answer my call positively?"
When Nafız asked for the opinion of the scrawny druid, who completed the day by remaining a spectator to events, she encountered a face looking at her with disbelief. Ainle, who hadn't been treated like a man even once by the female orc before, didn't know how to react to this situation.
"Nothing will come of these; maybe even this one might want to stay in the village!"
Alyon, relieved even if a small bit by the scolding he gave, intended to take out his remaining grudge on the scrawny druid.