"Alright. Oh, how are your relations with the fox tribe?"

Knarra says "Neutral. The fox tribe is rather weird!"

"Weird how?"

Knarra says "Well, for one thing they are one of only three tribes led by a woman. The weirdest thing about them is that their leader isn't a beastman!"

"If she isn't a beastman, what is she?"

Knarra says "A mana beast! She is a fox type mana beast, although she can appear as a humanoid. She has nine tails, no matter what form she is in, and her tribe absolutely worships her!"

"Interesting! I can't wait to meet her! Oh, you said three tribes? Fox and Bunny, who else has a female leader?"

Knarra says "The coyote tribe."

"That actually makes sense. Since I have to go to the fox tribe's lands, any advice for dealing with them?"

Knarra says "Don't try to sneak past them, it won't work. Go in openly and with your fox over there visible and they should at least talk to you."

"That was the plan."

Knarra says "Can I ask why you are going there?"

Since I don't see a reason to keep it secret, I explain about looking for a heart. Knarra seems impressed that I would go to such trouble for a companion. Of course, I don't tell him the nature of the experiment, I am not yet ready for news of it to spread.

At least not until I have verified that the procedure is stable and I am ready to convert more beastmen. Knarra can tell I am holding something back, but he doesn't seem to mind. In fact, Knarra seems generally very laid back, not quite what I was expecting.

While we are talking, Lizzy has cleared an area of snow and makes a bowl out of earth. Once it is done Lizzy climbs into it and curls up to go to sleep. Asuna looks over at me, talking with Knarra, then she climbs in with Lizzy and goes to sleep.

Knarra and I talk late into the night, he wants to know what my plans for the beastmen are. Unfortunately, my plans at this point still haven't developed all that much. There are still too many unknowns when it comes to the tribes and how they will react to me.

Knarra says "Honestly, I am surprised you haven't recruited any of the cat tribes yet. They are the ones most likely to submit to you without bloodshed."

"So I have been told, but I haven't had a chance to visit their territories."

Knarra says "There are five cat tribes. I would go from weakest to strongest. That would give you seven tribes behind you, a force no tribe can ignore."

"Which is the weakest cat tribe?"

Knarra says "The Lynx tribe."

"And where can I find them?"

Knarra says "In the mountains between here and the coast."

"Do you have any dealings with them?"

Knarra says "Only when they try to raid us."

"Do they raid you often?"

Knarra says "Not too often. We don't store meat, and we are not easily defeated. But since we stay in small groups we look like easy targets to some of them."

"If they do submit to me I will put an end to that. I plan to put an end to all conflicts between the tribes."

Knarra says "I don't think you should go that far. There are always going to be tensions between different tribes. It would cause problems if you try to ban fighting, it would be better to organize it somehow."

"You mean like arena fights?"

Knarra says "Yes, something like that. Young beastmen tend to be overly aggressive, even ours. They will need some form of outlet."

"How about if I set up a combat school and design it to beat the stupid out of them?"

Knarra laughs and says "If you can do that, I have several people I want to send!"

"It should be possible, but we will have to wait and see how things go."

After that we talk about possible ways to prevent tribes from fighting each other. It is only a few hours until dawn when we finally finish our conversation and Knarra heads to bed. Instead of trying to sleep for only a few hours, I enter my meditation and spend some time working on plans.

The beast lands cover an area as big as the empire, maybe a little bigger. The main problem I am going to face is the fact that the tribes are so spread out. I will have to spend a lot of time just visiting all of the tribes, let alone manage them.

One city is probably not going to be enough, but it is a start, I can always build more later. The problem with that is the tribes probably won't want to change to living in a city. After all, they have been nomads for the past thousand years or so.

Getting them to give up their way of life is not going to be a quick process. At least not without forcing them to do it and that wouldn't last past my death. All I can really do is lay the groundwork and hope that my successor can continue things.

I add several things to my mental list, including talking to Leonarr about building a fortress or two. If possible I want to keep the war away from populated areas, so the beast lands are the best bet. However, marching all the human armies down here will be something of a problem.

Although, if we start working on roads now they should be done before the war starts. As the Romans proved, roads are a very important factor in a war. Between the road from the quarry to the city and the road from the city to Illium, we should have some experienced teams.

When I am next in Illium I will talk to Pol about adding more people and getting them trained. With all the money I am making adding a road network shouldn't be a problem. In fact roads will help the merchants move around and probably end up making me more money.

The more I think about it the more I feel I should focus on infrastructure. If I build enough foundations then I can at least give whoever comes after me a head start. Considering my time limit, that is probably going to be my best bet.

With that decision made I start modifying the plans I have and making new ones. My main goal will be to unify the tribes and at least start breaking down the friction between them. Secondary goal will be to set up as strong a foundation for the nation as I possibly can.

If I try to do too many things at once I won't complete any of them, so two goals is good. If I get ahead of things I can always add more later, but for now I at least have a direction. As for the main goal, the army will be a big part of that, fighting together against a common enemy will go a long way.

The feelings that fighting side by side create are the kind that last a lifetime. While not everyone will serve in the army, those that do will have a major effect on the tribes. Other than that I should probably focus on dealing with the enmities between the tribes.