Musashi furrowed his brows and stroked his long beard, "very well, I will personally escort you to where most of our farmers currently reside, that is, after the meeting of course"
Caesar nodded his head in consent and shifted his attention to the kobold elder, "I also want to suggest creating another hunting group, which would naturally be lead by the kobold leader… He and his clan will work independently, in this case, the kobolds will have a monthly quota of food they need to fill, granted in repayment, we offer protection and respect" Caesar spoke while a.n.a.lyzing the kobold"s change of expression, and to his surprise, the kobold remained calm the entire time.
The kobold leader suddenly took a step forward with a confident smile, "The kobolds are an inherently weak race, to combat our subpar physical prowess, we have mastered archery, hunting, stealth, traps, and other similar things, all of which are perfect for hunting" he stated.
Leo, who was sitting relatively close to the kobold stood up and frowned deeply, "the trolls always seem to manage to ambush us when we go hunting, are you certain it will be effective to just employ more hunters?" he asked curiously
Caesar stroked his chin in contemplation and spoke after a few seconds of thought, "a.s.suming that there is a spy amongst us, if both hunting groups work independently, it would be much more troublesome for the trolls to gain information about your hunting locations, patterns, and other important information"
Leo nodded his head in comprehension and sat down thoughtfully, after hearing Caesar"s words, the rest of the clan heads sitting around the table all had looks of displeasure, none of them had wanted to admit that there was a spy amongst them, as they were all good friends who had known each other for a long time.
Faust at the side folded his arms and couldn"t help but speak up, "are you certain there is a spy amongst us, Caesar? I have known the others for practically my entire life, and never have I doubted them"
"It is because you have never doubted them that they are taking advantage of your trust, I am not one hundred percent sure, however, there is a good chance that one of you is leaking information to the trolls… Whether you like it or not is none of my concern, I am simply your strategist. I am not the one that is going to hold your hand at night, I am the one that is going to help you win" Caesar replied coldly,
The clan heads sucked in a breath of cold air and focused their attention on Musashi, they were all curious as to how the clan head would respond to such a bold statement.
Musashi pushed aside the slim piece of cloth that was hiding his face and stepped out, he was wearing a pitch black kimono with a dark green sash, the kimono was split by his chest and perfectly showcased his strong muscles that even his old age couldn"t hide.
"I had long suspected that there was a traitor in our presence, alas, I am getting old and my influence in the clan is being thinned down by the day… The new generation is rising and the old customs are slowly dying. Because of this, I have decided upon a solution" Musashi"s deep voice echoed in everyone"s ears.
Musashi swept his gaze past everyone in the room, he his eyes rested on Caesar for the longest and the corner of his lips curled.
"It has come to my attention that the leaders of our clan are, in fact, incompetent, because of this, I will personally host a tournament to replace the current clan heads that don"t deserve their position, all fox-kin elites will be able to partic.i.p.ate, that includes all of you, which means you will be able to retain your position if you do well in the tournament… I am tired of our hereditary system and it is time that competency and strength are what make a leader instead of their past generations" his words caused all of those current to open their eyes wide in shock.
The clan leader with long flowing green hair launched up from his chair and slammed the table, "this is far too abrupt, clan head… All decisions must be pa.s.sed by the clan heads, you don"t have the authority to make such a decision by yourself" he said anxiously.
A few clan heads nodded their heads in agreement and joined him in protest, none of them wanted to lose their position as clan head, in fact, some of the clan heads weren"t incredibly strong, instead, they rose to prominence due to their parents.
Faust suddenly stood up and silenced all of the other clan heads with a wave of his hand, he walked up to Musashi and looked him straight in the eye, fully releasing his aura in an attempt to pressure him.
"
"Since you want to replace the top, I a.s.sume that means yourself as well?" Faust asked chillingly.
*crack*
"Haha, I have sat on the sidelines for far too long, it would appear you youngsters have forgotten who raised you, I created this clan with my own hands and have stood at the top since the beginning, and you think you can challenge my authority?" Musashi spoke coldly and released a colossal amount of pressure, cracks appeared on the floor he was standing on and table located in the middle of the room.
The clan heads gulped audibly and sweat profusely, even Caesar was no exception… the amount of pressure this old man released was immense.
"Do you really think the reason that the trolls haven"t already destroyed this clan is because of you?" Musashi asked while scanning the room.
He paused for a second and continued…
"Don"t make me laugh, I have lived for over a thousand years, my body is deteriorating, senile, crippled and rusty, however, I am still confident that I can kick that troll kings a.s.s, while also manhandling his son at the same time… That is the reason why trolls still haven"t attacked us" Musashi practically roared with absolute confidence.
Faust took a step back with an astonished expression, "I had thought your power had been greatly reduced?" he asked, confused.
Musashi didn"t reply immediately, he sat back down on his chair and rested his face on the palm of his hand, "It did" he responded curtly.
Caesar who was watching this entire scene was shivering with excitement, his blood boiled and an uncontrolled smile formed on his lips, "he"s stronger than me" he thought inwardly while closely examining Musashi.
Ahri had a wide smile plastered on her face as she looked at Musashi proudly, she loved her grandfather dearly and had always hated it when he let the other clan heads take advantage of him.
The entire room was enveloped in silence and surprisingly the first person to move was the old kobold leader, he trotted to the table and looked a Musashi solemnly… "in this tournament… can anyone join?" he asked.
"Of course, in fact, whoever wins will get a GRAND award…" Musashi replied while carrying a sly smile.
Everyone in the room paid close attention to Musashi"s next words…
"Whoever wins will get the choice of either challenging me for the position of clan head or, taking Ahri"s hand in marriage"
At his words, everyone sucked in yet another breath of cold air, which of them, excluding Faust, didn"t want to marry his beautiful granddaughter with the legendary nine-tailed fox bloodline…
Caesar looked at Musashi deeply, "a tournament of this magnitude is surely going to make the troll"s eyes shine with greed, is it a trap?" he quietly thought to himself.
"G-grandfather, you didn"t tell me something like this would happen? I thought you told me I could marry whoever I wanted" Ahri asked in protest, her face flushed with anger.
Musashi didn"t answer her straight away and walked towards Caesar, "I permit anyone to enter the tournament, that includes you" he announced towards Caesar, making sure everyone around them could hear.
Caesar slightly leaned down and whispered into Musashi"s ear, "what are you trying to do old man? If by some chance, my powers are revealed to the other dark races, would it not cause troubles for you? We need to weed out the spies before we do something of this magnitude"
Musashi"s smile disappeared as he patted Caesar on the shoulders, "I"m not doing this for my clan or for you, I am doing this in preparation for the future… members of your race need pressure to grow, I"m willing to bet you have never even lost before, haha, besides, I"m sure you can win the tournament without showing your bloodline" Musashi spoke quietly into Caesar"s ear.
Caesar wasn"t surprised in the slightest that Musashi had known about his lineage, he had a.s.sumed this old man knew from the very start… Especially since he was the same person who specifically sent Ahri to Rahvin kingdom.
Caesar frowned deeply, "why are you rushing this? Can"t it wait until after we solve the problem with the trolls?"
Musashi just slowly shook his head and a barely discernible hint of sadness was reflected in his eyes, " I"m afraid that I need to find my successor much earlier than I had initially thought"
This quiet exchange wasn"t heard by anyone else in the room, however, they were all dying to know what the strange strategist and the clan head were conversing about that was so important.
If the young maid was here, she would surely be having a nosebleed with a "knowing" expression.