Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 389 - 15: Beastman’s War_1

Chapter 389: Chapter 15: Beastman’s War_1

"The Beastmen Prairie, with a total area of 3.3 million square kilometers, is located deep in the heart of the Yarran Continent. It lies south of the Neville Federation, the Sea Kingdom of Casa, and the Country of Sand Bartom. To the east, it borders the Mountain Country Kulan and the southern section of the Winged People Mountain Range. To the west lies the terrifying and desolate Sighing Desert. To the north are the lands of the elves, the Lost Forest, forming a land that connects in all directions. The beastmen, the creation of the War God and descendants of the Wolf King, who worship deities and ancestors, have lived here generation after generation. They also regard this place as the eternal return of their souls." On the edge of the prairie, a horse-drawn carriage with a canopy was galloping along the border of the Neville Federation and the Beastmen Prairie. The carriage’s cab was tightly secured, blocking the cold spring wind from the prairie. The sounds of Lina flipping through the pages of a book and reciting could be heard from the carriage. "The beastmen on this prairie live in tribes, and there are thousands of tribes across the entire prairie. The larger tribes are quite large, with fixed pasture lands covering tens of thousands of square kilometers, and a population of up to hundreds of thousands. Smaller tribes are quite small, possibly having only a hundred or so individuals, and some don’t even have their own fixed pasture lands, forcing them to live a nomadic life amidst the large tribes. The beastmen are not skilled farmers. In the Third Epoch, they relied on livestock and farming for survival, and during times of scarcity, they sustained their development by plundering other tribes or other races’ resources. In the Fourth Epoch, wars became increasingly less common, and thanks to the influences of racial integration, the beastmen began engaging in normal exchanges with other races. They no longer obtained resources through plundering, but through trading large volumes of resources including leather, meat, war beasts, wool, and so on."

"The beastmen are actually very warlike, but they aren’t bloodthirsty. They find joy in war, sensing the meaning of life through bloodshed and fire, but killing was never their intention. Therefore, in wars among the beastmen, although there are often many casualties, these casualties are mostly warriors on the battlefield. Elderly, women, and children in the rear rarely suffer harm. The tribes that lose the war either leave their pasture lands under the protection of the remaining warriors and move elsewhere, or are directly absorbed by the victors, becoming part of them." Pannis interjected after Lina finished reading and began to explain on behalf of the beastmen; "In the past thousand years, because more and more tribes came under the command of the Prairie Tribal Alliance, the beastmen rarely waged outward wars as individual tribes. If a war was to be waged, it would be a large-scale war involving the entire beastman race. Such wars of this scale have only occurred four times within a thousand years - three times against humans and once against elves."

"The beastmen had had a large battle with the elves in the past thousand years?" Catherine exclaimed in surprise. "But I didn’t find any records of this battle in the history we studied, including when I was furthering my education at the Knight Academy. It wasn’t mentioned in Comprehensive History of War either."

"Sissy, that’s quite normal." Vivian said, "This matter has nothing to do with humans, so of course it wouldn’t be recorded in great detail in human history. I’ve heard about this war, though there appear to be no detailed accounts of it."

"But it’s a war." Catherine frowned and asked with confusion, "Comprehensive History of War includes all the wars of all races, so why did they omit this one specifically?"

"Because this war was just too hilarious, ridiculously so. The beastmen and the elves are both too embarrassed to bring it up." Pannis said with a strange expression, "As for Comprehensive History of War, there is nothing from this war that can serve as reference. Considering it’s a shame shared by both races, it’s understandable that in consideration for the face of both parties, it’s not mentioned."

"Really hilarious?" The three young ladies all looked at Pannis as they asked in unison: "Do you know the inside story?"

"Yeah, I’ve heard about it from a friend of mine who’s an elf." Pannis could not help but smile while stroking the translucent hair of the sleeping little banshee resting on his thigh, "I must say, it’s really interesting."

"Tell us then." The curiosity in Lina’s eyes was undeniable as she said excitedly, "We find it hard to understand how a war could be described as hilarious and interesting."

"The beastmen and the elves are ancient enemies, as you should know. This hatred dates back to the Third Epoch. The War God, who sees the destruction of life as a measure of victory, and Gods of the Life Deity System, who are duty-bound to protect life, are natural enemies. They have been fighting against each other since the Mythical Age, with six or seven Divine Wars initiated in sequence. Under such circumstances, it would be incredible if peace and harmony could exist between them. Their mutual hatred is in fact very normal." Pannis, in imitation of the way Vivian lectured at the Magic Academy, spoke solemnly with a stern face, "Despite the hatred, small-scale frictions were all that occurred between them since the start of the Fourth Epoch. However, 900 years ago, due to an ancestral artifact of the beastmen accidentally destroyed by an elf, both sides decided to engage in a large-scale battle. The Beastmen Tribal Alliance assembled an elite force of three hundred thousand, which was estimated to be one third of the entire beastmen’s military strength, while the elves mobilized all available Gold Rank forest guards from the peripheral regions, numbering ten thousand. Both sides confronted each other on the edge of prairie and forest."

"So annoying, stop imitating me." Vivian didn’t bother to get up, instead using her magic staff to poke Pannis’ toe as punishment, "What an unfavourable ratio."

"With this difference in numbers, the elves had about a seventy percent probability of victory." Catherine, who had some knowledge in martial studies, quietly estimated the strength of both sides, "But that’s assuming there are no other factors interfering. Besides, even a brutal victory for the elves would be the same as defeat, given the long growth period of the elves. Each soldier is precious, so winning is equivalent to losing unless the Elven Royal Court is prepared to deploy the main force of the forest guards. However, that would constitute a full-scale war of the races."

"You’re not wrong, that’s exactly why the war eventually turned into a joke and a farce." Pannis nodded, smiling, "Although the beastmen’s troops are strong, they have a low rank and dare not enter the forest to fight the elves. Additionally, the inherent characteristics of the forest make the idea of destroying it unrealistic. So they can only provoke and curse the elves outside the forest. When it comes to the elven side, even though the forest guards are Gold Rank and have chances of winning against the beastmen, the long growth period of the elves means that the loss of any soldier would pain their commanders. So, they can’t venture onto the prairie either, and are left with no choice but to provoke and curse the beastmen from within the forest. As a result, a large-scale war that was supposed to occur between two races turned into a three-month-long war of words with lots of commotion."

"So it turns out..." Catherine groaned, "If I were an elf or a beastman, I would regard whoever put these records in a book as an enemy, it’s so embarrassing."

"Not over yet." Pannis sighed as if sympathizing, "In the three months of war, the total casualties on both sides were less than a hundred, more than half of which was due to suffering mental damage from understanding the other side’s language. Yes, you are not mistaken, both sides were cussing each other out in their own racial language, with the majority not knowing what the other side was saying at all."

"What are they even arguing about?" Vivian weakly asked, "If it was to provoke the other side to come to a place advantageous to them for a fight, I can understand, but neither side understanding the other? Is it just to gather over four hundred thousand to do some calling-out?"

"Who knows? Maybe they are addicted to cursing." Pannis nonchalantly speculated. He then continued, "The elf queen of the Elven Royal Court and the Supreme Shaman of the Beastman temple could not stand to watch the farce anymore. They agreed to a magical duel on the battlefield. However, the duel took place in the Inherent Psychic Domain, so no one knows what happened. All they knew was they disappeared for half an hour and reappeared unscathed, without even a tear in their outfits. The bored demigods from other races who came to spectate all left covering their faces, looking quite strange. After the fight, it seemed that the elves were at a slight disadvantage, so they apologized for the thoughtless acts and promised to heavily penalize the responsible parties by confining them to the Lost Forest for a hundred years. The Beastmen, on the other hand, showed understanding and welcomed the elves to continue frequenting the Beastmen Prairie, stating the war would not change their normal interactions and trade. So the farce was finally over."

"Heh, heh, heh." Lina laughed dryly, pulled on her long silver hair, and said through gritted teeth, "Damn it, return my curiosity! I can’t believe I’m curious about such a stupid thing, I’m so embarrassed."

"If you felt embarrassed just listening," Pannis said, reveling in her discomfort, "Imagine how embarrassed the Elf Queen and the Supreme Shaman must have been, especially with several onlookers coming for entertainment."

"Uh, did the two of them actually start fighting inside?" Lina insisted, unable to give up: "Or did they just chat for half an hour and then went home?"

"Who knows?" Pannis shrugged indifferently. "Maybe the Supreme Shaman was smitten with the Elf Queen’s beauty and proposed to her. After all, no one knows. They could make up anything."

"Stop it," Catherine said with a mixture of laughter and tears, "That’s impossible."

"However, while the war with the elves was a farce, the three major battles between the beastmen and human-like creatures over four hundred years were brutal and deadly." Pannis stopped making up stories and continued his report. "Due to some unsavory habits of humans at the time, all other races were against them, including the beastmen. When the war broke out, the other races were merely observers, standing with no side. In the three wars, each involved armies of over a million. The human armies were large, the beastman armies each were powerful fighters, so the power gap was not significant between the two sides. The result was a river of blood, hundreds of thousands died, with no significant change in the territories of both sides. This senseless war of attrition left the Demigods of both sides feeling a deep sense of helplessness, yet they didn’t dare participate in the war lest their races face extinction. Hmm, so, in the end, the dozen or so demigods on both sides pretended not to see, tossed the war behind their minds, and sat together for a drink."

"Hahaha, Pannis, your story is so funny," Vivian laughed happily. "Such bloody war turned into something as hilarious as a kid fight by your words."

"Isn’t it just a kid fight, then?" Pannis whispered in a voice that no one else could hear. "At least to the demigods."

"Professional lords," the voice of a middle-aged coachman came from outside the carriage, "We have arrived at the prairie." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to starting point (qidian.com) to vote, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users can read on m.qidian.com.)