Chapter 39： The Duke’s Inspection

　　Banta watched Leur’s retreating figure, tears streaming down his face—though whether they were born of gratitude, admiration, guilt, or sheer terror remains unknown. Under Leur’s reign, the cause and prestige of his tribe reached their absolute zenith. He intended to extend his renown across even vaster territories; in this regard, he was no different from most barbarian conquerors, driven less by noble aspiration than by a raw ambition to bend all people to his singular will.　　His envoys appeared in the courts of southern rulers and visited the estates of the Piratel nobility. Based on the intelligence gathered by these messengers, Leur told his council that the warm climate and luxurious lifestyles of the south would eventually corrode the bodies and souls of their men. In truth, compared to the iron-willed unity of Worksmile, Piratel seemed a far easier target—he viewed them as nothing more than a loose, fractured confederation of aristocrats.　　Faced with the overbearing posture of these steppe envoys, the gathered nobles neither accepted the parchment of the "white messenger" nor picked up the dagger of the "black messenger." Instead, they maintained a cautious neutrality, expressing a willingness to engage with the steppe chieftain only on terms of fair and equal exchange.　　Once the envoys had departed, the members of the Coalition Council spoke with palpable anxiety:　　"If the fruits of our labor could purchase a lasting peace, perhaps there would be no harm in it," one remarked.　　"I fear their ambition extends far beyond a single scroll of parchment, my esteemed Hammock," another countered. "You and your family have always been the guardians of this assembly's order, always arrayed in magnificent regalia in the most prominent seats. Surely, then, you did not fail to notice their arrogance and utter lack of respect."　　"We could, of course, meet their demands,"