Goblin Kingdom

The main armies of the Merchant Nation of Pena were the Blue Knights and the mercs that were considered a mixed army. They didn’t really acknowledge being called a mixed army, however, as the mercs were affiliated with various clans and were paid according to their achievements in battle.

What was most important here was the Blue Knights, which was employed by Pena as the regular army.

“…Knight-commander. This is the 15th group,” a knight said with a faint voice.

Allen sighed. “I”m not asking for the Swallows or something on that level, but couldn’t you at least find someone decent?”

“That’s…”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to complain. Forget I said anything.”

The problem at hand was the maintenance of order among the mixed army which was made up of various clans.

The Blue Knights were half destroyed in the last battle, so they needed to make up their missing numbers with the strength of the mixed army and with conscription. Unfortunately, that meant diluting the number of troops.

When the Blue Knights took back the territory usurped by the goblins, the Blue Knights were always at the front. And while they did manage to take all the territories back in the blink of an eye, unfortunately, Allen had no idea how to govern them.

The Blue Knights were both prideful and a standing army. As such, they did not engage in pillaging or needless violence. When such cases did arise, they were rare.

Unfortunately, with the dilution of the troops, more and more of such cases were appearing.

The clans of the mixed army ranged from populations of 100 to 1000, and it was the bad apples from those clans that were causing them much trouble.

Or at the very least, that’s how Allen saw it.

But the elder council had decided to employ the decent part of the different clans.

The clans along the level of the Swallow clan that Allen was talking about were hard to use in battle without direct command. Not only was each clan member expensive, they were also few in number. Unfortunately, number was needed when maintaining the public order in a territory.

As such, the kind of power that Allen wanted from clans was the sort that would cost so much money it would tilt an entire nation.

Clans such as the Leon Heart Clan and the Red King Clan have discipline ingrained into their very bones.

Clans like the Elks Clan share a familial bond among themselves.

Clans like the Swallow Clan have many elites among their ranks.

Unfortunately, those sort of elite clans weren’t the only ones around.

In fact, they were rare, and it was because of that rarity that they were highly valued.

“Valkyuria doesn’t seem like she has any plans of moving from the east,” Allen’s aide said with a troubled voice.

Allen sighed deeply. “No point in insisting on the impossible.”

Allen no longer joked as much after becoming the knight-commander. He needed to become a suitable knight-commander, so he was always putting in the effort.

As such, the trust of the remaining members naturally gathered onto Allen, who has yet to abandon hope and continues to push forward yet.

But if one asked if that had any connection with the trust of the clan members, then the answer would be a resounding no.

The only thing the clans cared about was compensation and the assurance of survival.

Unfortunately, even though Allen was now the knight commander, the money was held by the elder council. Hence, there was nothing he could do in the face of such problems.

“Commander Allen!”

Suddenly, a messenger barged into the office, causing Allen to turn his sharp gaze toward him.

“Reporting!” Said the messenger. “The Kushain Believers and the Red King clashed at Cultidian. Germion Kingdom helped the Red King, and as a result, the Red King won!”

“…What happened to the Kushain Believers? Were they wiped out?” Allen asked.

“They are currently holding up in their castle!”

Allen cast his eyes down and inwardly grit his teeth.

The momentum of the Red King showed no signs of stopping. At this rate, the pressure on the elder council will become too great, and Allen’s respected Queen Raksha will be forced into a wedding she does not wish.

He could choose to fight the Red King, but they were currently in an alliance, as rocky as it may be, and his nature prevented him from stabbing his enemy in the back.

Regardless, at this rate, he won’t be able to stop Queen Raksha’s marriage with Archduke Brandika.

“The Red King has also begun to advance west. Also, it’s still unconfirmed, but it seems the goblins participated in the Kushain battle, so it is likely that the Red King is in pursuit of the goblins,” the messenger said.

Seeing Allen’s refuse to lift his head, the aide asked in concern, “Is something the matter?”

“Let me think for a bit,” Allen replied.

At that, the aide and the messenger excused themselves.

“Laugh, Aizas… As I thought, I can’t replace you,” Allen muttered with deep anxiety.

All he wanted to do was to save the woman he respected, and yet… Who would’ve thought that something so seemingly simple would be so difficult?

In the end, Allen couldn’t find an answer and he worried inside his office until the dead of the night.

When Ervi and Navi, the twin sister moons, appeared in the sky, Allen suddenly awoke from his slumber.

Apparently, he’d fallen asleep without his knowing.

The reason he woke up was because he sensed the presence of another person.

Immediately, he put his hands on the long sword by his waist, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

When that person entered the range of his sword, he drew his sword and pointed it at the neck.

“…!?”

His sword stopped just short of penetrating the neck, but at the same time, a sword had also been pointed as his.

Allen glared at the person before him.

“You’re the Red King’s—”

“—Messenger.”

The female gnome warrior that was dressed in black said that expressionlessly.

“Messenger?”

Allen was the greasiest swordsman in his country, and yet this woman before him wasn’t someone he could defeat easily. Someone like that was just a messenger?

“If you want to save your princess, then attack the goblins.”

“What?”

The Red King was aiming for a wedding with Queen Raksha. For that hateful person himself to give him advice, Allen couldn’t help but be baffled.

“The Red King isn’t completely unified either. There are those afraid of the clan leader’s influence growing too great.”

“And by ‘those’, I suppose you’re referring to yourselves?”

Cell ignored Allen’s question and continued.

“The borderlands are the entrance to the western region. If you could suppress this region before the Red King, then the Red King won’t be able to push its momentum further.”

“…”

Allen wordlessly stared at Cell, but the latter only snorted at him in response.

“It’s up to you. I only came here to deliver this message.”

“Wait!”

Allen called out to Cell, but she’d already vanished into the darkness.

The next day, Allen gathered his aide and the important persons of the Blue Knights to inform them of his plans.

“We will head north and attack the goblins.”

He would take enough to territory to equal the Red King and allow the country to survive by itself. If he could do that, then the marriage with the Red King wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

Moreover, if he could expand the country, then his influence would also increase. With that, the elder council wouldn’t be a problem anymore, and he would be able to save Queen Raksha.

The woman last night seemed to be scheming something, so he decided to immediately make his move and take teh initiative.

“The clans shall be the vanguard. We shall smite the goblins with haste and power!”

“Prepare to depart now!”

As Allen finished saying that, the messenger left.

◆◇◆

The Goblin King expected to take 6 days to reach the western region from the borderlands on goblin feet, and 10 days with the army, but with the weak females and children tagging along, it was a mystery how long they would need. After all, this was a new experience for him.

Goblin females were good walkers compared to humans. Even they could run through the night. Compared to that, humans were slow and needed rest.

In other words, whatever the king had initially expected with the goblins was too optimistic when the humans came into the equation.

“Are you displeased?” Zaurosh asked.

“Do I look that unhappy?” The Goblin King asked back as he watched the unmoving line of people.

“Yes, actually. In fact, the other goblins are so scared of incurring your anger that they refuse to approach.”

“I see… So, what did you come for?”

The Goblin King took a deep breath, then as he unfolded his arms he stretched his stiff neck.

“…Cultidian isn’t looking good.”

“I see…”

There’s a time difference, but Germion Kingdom was surrounding the city and transporting siege weapons, so the Goblin King’s problem would be the pursuing forces.

After the Red King pushed Cultidian onto the Kushain believers, they began pursuing the goblins. Although they wasted some time to prepare themselves, they were undoubtedly steadily approaching.

On top of that, a large army was dispatched from the merchant country of Pena to claim as much territory as they could; hence, the question now was actually who the Goblin King would end up fighting.

“We don’t know the exact location of the Red King and Pena, but judging by the distance, Pena is likely to reach us first.”

“If I recall correctly, they were called the Blue Knights.”

The Goblin King only remembered that they were a country that had the holy sword in their possession, but since they were capable of dispatching such a powerful cavalry, they were clearly a powerful foe.

To make things worse, they were currently burdened with the human non-combatants. Fighting that powerful cavalry now was just too reckless, so they were currently retreating while laying traps behind them, but that won’t last forever either.

“It’s only a prediction, but we are likely to engage in battle 5 days later.”

“Your basis?”

“A simple calculation. If you compare our average speed with theirs, it’s the obvious conclusion.”

Zaurosh had a wealth of experience behind him, so he could calculate the speed of the enemy. The Goblin King didn’t think he’d be able to outrun them either, but hearing that they were going to be coming much earlier than expected caused him to make a painful expression.

Even if they manage to fight them and escape once, they will surely clash with them a second and a third time too, and that will cause even the goblins to have a hard time.

The Goblin King once made the enemy feel the despair of being pursued back at the Forest of Darkness, but he never expected how painful it would be now that he was the one being pursued.

“What a painful situation…”

He couldn’t abandon the humans. If he did that, then why did he even bother bringing them here in the first place? Abandoning them would also affect his leadership in the future. And it was also a foolish move to plant a seed of rebellion himself.

But even if he sent the human noncombatants ahead and pulled the enemy with his goblins, the human noncombatants were still sure to suffer large casualties, as the monsters continued to wreak havoc on the lands yet. Not even Gi Gi was in control of all the monsters.

“There’s no other choice but to increase the pace. We will help out with the luggage as well,” Zaurosh said.

“Leave the fighting to us.”

Zaurosh ordered the adventurers to carry the luggage of the people and carry the women and children to help increase the pace.

Despite their efforts and the Goblin King’s worrying, however, they still failed to make much progress, and eventually, a cloud of dust could be seen beyond the southern horizon.

“We’re here already. It can’t be helped”, the Goblin King thought as he braced himself for the worst.

“We’re intercepting the enemy!”

At the behest of the Goblin King, the fast goblins gathered and the battle plan was explained to them.

Putting it simply, they are to make use of the darkness of the night and their faster speed to perform a hit and run strategy.

They would stop the enemy’s movement, and then immediately retreat.

If they could pull that off repeatedly, then they should be able to buy some time.