The huge army of 25,000 that the Red King led advanced west right after withdrawing from Pena. At the same time, their allies from Germion Kingdom, a platoon led by the storm Knight, rendezvoused with them, bringing their numbers up to 26,000.
“Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of your fight,” Gulland said.
Gulland and his men were only permitted to join with the condition that they wouldn’t interfere.
Although there was a chance that the scope of their strength might be found out, with this, they had more than enough firepower to deal with the goblins. Or at the very least, that’s what Carlion believed.
He acknowledged the Goblin King’s skill in war, so he believed that the Goblin King wouldn’t fight a war with such a huge difference in numbers.
As such, they should instead return to the western region.
They still had a place to retreat to, and that place was currently being threatened by Germion Kingdom.
Forces from Pena were approaching from the south, while the Red King was approaching was approaching from the east. Given such circumstances, there was no way the Goblin King would choose to fight them.
“If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t have come. You should tend to your health instead just as the clan leader told you,” Cell said.
Brandika had to lead the army as the clan leader, so Cell had to watch over Carlion instead.
Unfortunately, Carlion continues to stubbornly disobey Brandika’s order to rest, and even requested that he be allowed to accompany them in their expedition to the borderlands.
“This is an opportunity. With this I’ll be able to pave the way toward the unification of the south. I’m the Genius Tactician, after all,” Carlion said.
Once the goblin exits the fray, they will be able to attack Pena and complete the unification of the south.
Cell sighed. “Suit yourself. Anyway, I’m your guard, not your doctor.”
“Sorry for troubling you and the doctor so much.”
The doctor that Cell had brought immediately gave up as soon as he saw Carlion’s condition.
Saldin was enraged when the doctor said that Carlion couldn’t be saved anymore and wanted to cut him down, but Cell desperately stopped him.
“Half a year… That’s more than enough,” Carlion muttered.
That was the remaining time that Carlion had according to the doctor. Carlion faintly smiled as he thought of it.
“Besides, the doctor gave me some painkillers too, so it’s not that bad anymore.”
“…Hmph.”
Carlion turned to Cell and smiled, but it was too painful to look at, so she turned away.
◆◇◆
The time had come for the Goblin King to make his decision.
Should they attack? Or should they retreat?
Did they have any chance of winning? No, in the first place, how were they supposed to win this?
“We shall retreat,” the Goblin King said.
When the goblins heard the king’s decision, they all looked down. At the same time, Zaurosh grimaced, while Felbi made a disappointed expression.
As soon as the Goblin King decided that they couldn’t win with their current army, the next issue was how to deal with the borderlands.
“Zaurosh, let them know of my decision.”
“As you will.”
“But is it really alright to just retreat without even fighting?” Felbi asked, to which the king shook his head. “Well, if you’ve decided, I’ll follow, but…”
Felbi has trusted the Goblin King until now, but he really hated losing to humans.
“We will abandon the borderlands by tomorrow and retreat to the western region,” the Goblin King said.
To the goblins, the decision of the Goblin King was absolute, so they pushed down whatever frustrations they felt and obeyed.
“But Your Majesty, what shall we do if the humans give chase?” Gi Za asked.
“In that case, we shall retreat all the way to the Forest of Darkness, and then repel them,” the Goblin king said.
As expected, even the goblins couldn’t help but open their eyes wide when they heard the king say that. After all, that was the same as saying that they were going to abandon the western region.
“But the humans probably won’t chase us that far,” the Goblin King continued.
It was a food issue. It would take even the goblins 6 days just to go from the borderlands to the western capital.
With human feet, that should take about 10 days. And with tens of thousands of soldiers, that number should greatly increase.
The humans would have to bring with them a great amount of food just to cover their travel. But what was more was that there didn’t seem to be much profit for them to take the Forest of Darkness after taking down the western capital.
After all, the southern lands were rich.
Although they lived in the desert, the economy was healthy and there were plenty of people and money to go around.
The wealth of the south was something that was brought about because of their large population.
Germion Kingdom was a large country too, but a greater part of their territory was made up of their borderlands. Their population of 300,000 put them on the same level of Cultidian, but their might had a great influence on their neighbors.
When the free cities were formed, Elrain Kingdom, the Merchant Country of Pena, the Labyrinth City of Tortoki, and the various small and big city-states grouped together, putting them on equal footing with Germion Kingdom. Because of that Germion Kingdom knew just how important their holy knight system was.
The Goblin King was thinking of abandoning the borderlands for the time being and forcing the Red King to bleed. In other words, guerilla tactics, only they will be lurking in the great lands inhabited by wild monsters.
If the Red King conquers the borderlands, then they will have to defend it, or else they won’t be able to usurp the authority from the feudal lords. And if they try to usurp the authority by force, then they will risk an insurrection.
Autonomy is deeply ingrained into the borderlands, such that there have been cases where they resisted the big feudal lords.
When the goblins heard the Goblin King’s explanation, the goblins finally understood that they weren’t retreating for good, and that this was just a temporary measure. At that, the goblins finally started looking spirited again.
The huge army of 25,000 that the Red King led advanced west right after withdrawing from Pena. At the same time, their allies from Germion Kingdom, a platoon led by the storm Knight, rendezvoused with them, bringing their numbers up to 26,000.
“Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of your fight,” Gulland said.
Gulland and his men were only permitted to join with the condition that they wouldn’t interfere.
Although there was a chance that the scope of their strength might be found out, with this, they had more than enough firepower to deal with the goblins. Or at the very least, that’s what Carlion believed.
He acknowledged the Goblin King’s skill in war, so he believed that the Goblin King wouldn’t fight a war with such a huge difference in numbers.
As such, they should instead return to the western region.
They still had a place to retreat to, and that place was currently being threatened by Germion Kingdom.
Forces from Pena were approaching from the south, while the Red King was approaching was approaching from the east. Given such circumstances, there was no way the Goblin King would choose to fight them.
“If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t have come. You should tend to your health instead just as the clan leader told you,” Cell said.
Brandika had to lead the army as the clan leader, so Cell had to watch over Carlion instead.
Unfortunately, Carlion continues to stubbornly disobey Brandika’s order to rest, and even requested that he be allowed to accompany them in their expedition to the borderlands.
“This is an opportunity. With this I’ll be able to pave the way toward the unification of the south. I’m the Genius Tactician, after all,” Carlion said.
Once the goblin exits the fray, they will be able to attack Pena and complete the unification of the south.
Cell sighed. “Suit yourself. Anyway, I’m your guard, not your doctor.”
“Sorry for troubling you and the doctor so much.”
The doctor that Cell had brought immediately gave up as soon as he saw Carlion’s condition.
Saldin was enraged when the doctor said that Carlion couldn’t be saved anymore and wanted to cut him down, but Cell desperately stopped him.
“Half a year… That’s more than enough,” Carlion muttered.
That was the remaining time that Carlion had according to the doctor. Carlion faintly smiled as he thought of it.
“Besides, the doctor gave me some painkillers too, so it’s not that bad anymore.”
“…Hmph.”
Carlion turned to Cell and smiled, but it was too painful to look at, so she turned away.
◆◇◆
The time had come for the Goblin King to make his decision.
Should they attack? Or should they retreat?
Did they have any chance of winning? No, in the first place, how were they supposed to win this?
“We shall retreat,” the Goblin King said.
When the goblins heard the king’s decision, they all looked down. At the same time, Zaurosh grimaced, while Felbi made a disappointed expression.
As soon as the Goblin King decided that they couldn’t win with their current army, the next issue was how to deal with the borderlands.
“Zaurosh, let them know of my decision.”
“As you will.”
“But is it really alright to just retreat without even fighting?” Felbi asked, to which the king shook his head. “Well, if you’ve decided, I’ll follow, but…”
Felbi has trusted the Goblin King until now, but he really hated losing to humans.
“We will abandon the borderlands by tomorrow and retreat to the western region,” the Goblin King said.
To the goblins, the decision of the Goblin King was absolute, so they pushed down whatever frustrations they felt and obeyed.
“But Your Majesty, what shall we do if the humans give chase?” Gi Za asked.
“In that case, we shall retreat all the way to the Forest of Darkness, and then repel them,” the Goblin king said.
As expected, even the goblins couldn’t help but open their eyes wide when they heard the king say that. After all, that was the same as saying that they were going to abandon the western region.
“But the humans probably won’t chase us that far,” the Goblin King continued.
It was a food issue. It would take even the goblins 6 days just to go from the borderlands to the western capital.
With human feet, that should take about 10 days. And with tens of thousands of soldiers, that number should greatly increase.
The humans would have to bring with them a great amount of food just to cover their travel. But what was more was that there didn’t seem to be much profit for them to take the Forest of Darkness after taking down the western capital.
After all, the southern lands were rich.
Although they lived in the desert, the economy was healthy and there were plenty of people and money to go around.
The wealth of the south was something that was brought about because of their large population.
Germion Kingdom was a large country too, but a greater part of their territory was made up of their borderlands. Their population of 300,000 put them on the same level of Cultidian, but their might had a great influence on their neighbors.
When the free cities were formed, Elrain Kingdom, the Merchant Country of Pena, the Labyrinth City of Tortoki, and the various small and big city-states grouped together, putting them on equal footing with Germion Kingdom. Because of that Germion Kingdom knew just how important their holy knight system was.
The Goblin King was thinking of abandoning the borderlands for the time being and forcing the Red King to bleed. In other words, guerilla tactics, only they will be lurking in the great lands inhabited by wild monsters.
If the Red King conquers the borderlands, then they will have to defend it, or else they won’t be able to usurp the authority from the feudal lords. And if they try to usurp the authority by force, then they will risk an insurrection.
Autonomy is deeply ingrained into the borderlands, such that there have been cases where they resisted the big feudal lords.
When the goblins heard the Goblin King’s explanation, the goblins finally understood that they weren’t retreating for good, and that this was just a temporary measure. At that, the goblins finally started looking spirited again.
