VOLUME 3: THE AGE OF WARLORDS – CHAPTER 156: THE INVASION OF THE FLATLANDS
Year 213 of Germion Kingdom.
As the first month of the year, Mars, ended, the month of Bilf came. When Bilf was nearing its end,the soldiers assigned to patrol the forest in the night felt a change occur.
The forest was stirring.
They couldn’t tell exactly what was different, but there was something different. In the past, the forest felt harmless, but now, it was like a beast holding its breath.
The soldiers watched the forest for a while, but seeing that nothing was happening, they ended their patrols.
“We should probably report this just to be safe,” one of the soldiers said.
The patrols were being done in shift. After the soldiers on patrol informed the next patrol their finding, they went down the city walls and headed for a small shed where they would await new orders.
It has been roughly 2 months since the colonial city has been built. At first, no one could sleep in fear of the monsters attacking at any moment, but humans were never one to worry for long.
In time, their anxiety loosened, and they got used to living in a fortress right next to the forest.
Around the watch fires, atop the castle walls, the soldiers sternly did their rounds. The night was the hour of the monsters.
With the favor of the god of fire did the humans try to see though the depths of Verna’s (goddess of darkness) wings, but even the flames themselves weakened within the depths of the night god’s bosom.
“Finally, we can sleep,” a soldier said.
The soldier sprawled himself over his bed to sleep, but as soon as he did, the sound of alarms and people screaming reached his ears.
“Monsters! Hordes of them!”
The battering sound of alarm jolted the soldiers off their beds, prompting them to immediately head for the castle walls.
Their swift response was thanks to their daily drills.
Upon climbing the walls, what greeted them were hordes of monsters that extended as far as the eye could see.
Giant continental turtles that even adventurers would need several men to subjugate, monkeys that kidnapped people, foxes with thorn-like fur that hunted livestocks. Various beasts of all sorts filled their eyes, but what was worse was that there were hordes of them.
That scene unfolding before their eyes was enough to break their common sense.
Within that great horde of beasts were goblins, most conspicuous of which were those equipped with bows.
The soldiers yelled. “Goblins! There are goblins among them!”
Gowen’s subordinates have become extremely wary of goblins since the last battle. Part of that was because of Gowen’s orders, but an even bigger reason was the stories told by the survivors of the previous battle.
Despite the darkness the soldiers managed to see the archer goblins and beast tamers.
“There are archers and beast tamers!” One of the soldiers cried.
Such a sight instilled fear into the soldiers, causing them to be panicked, but someone yelled at them from behind.
“Calm down! Follow the orders of your platoon commander and prepare to fight back! Those monsters can’t cross the moat or climb the walls!” Yuan, who had been made responsible for the colonial city, said. “This is still within Master Gowen’s predictions! Reinforcements are coming from the capital! Our duty is to lure the enemy and exhaust them!”
Yuan’s voice reminded the soldiers of their roles. They looked at each other, and after realizing how foolish they were being, laughed, then they immediately carried out their jobs.
“This won’t be like last year. This time we’ll beat these monsters down!”
As the soldiers cheered, Yuan turned heel.
“Or, at least, I hope we do…” Yuan quietly muttered to himself before taking command.
◆◆◇
Ra Gilmi Fishiga, who was given the order to surround the colonial city, groaned.
“The humans truly are powerful,” he said.
The well lit moat was not a distance they could leap across. The depth was not something to scoff at either, being as deep as three goblins put atop each other with their arms stretched up.
“Doesn’t seem like we can dig our way in either,” Gilmi said.
He had considered having the killer ants and the Gi goblins dig a path, but with a moat this deep, it wasn’t feasible.
There was no other way to enter the colonial city other than the drawbridges, but there were only two of those. It was too dangerous an option while attacking.
In this operation, their current forces included the Ganra Tribe, Gi Gi Orudo’s Beast Army, the araneae, the minotaurs, the tarpidae, the papirsag, the rizalat, and the orcs.
The Goblin King ordered them to take it easy and just threaten the enemy, but he didn’t say not to attack either.
“The enemy will probably draw their bows…” The timid Bui said.
After the papirsag promised to make shields for them, Bui and his orcs took on the duty of carrying of the shield bearers.
“A fight between bows is exactly what I want,” Gilmi bravely said.
He did not believe that the Ganra Tribe would lose out to the human archers in archery.
“Lord Gi Gi, please send the quicker ones of your horde to surround the fortress. Once we’ve put them on guard, send the beasts to the plains,” Gilmi said.
“Very well. I wonder if there are any prey in the plains,” Gi Gi said.
“Can the rizalat search for a water source nearby? We might be able to fill that dry moat with water,” Gilmi said.
Tanita of the rizalat nodded. “So long as there’s water, we can send my brethren.”
“Exactly. I’ll leave it in your hands,” Gilmi said.
There’s a lake inhabited by lizardmen not too far, so Gilmi figured he might be able to attack the fortress via water. The fact that Tanita was able to quickly deduce his thoughts showed that he too was an excellent commander.
“Understood,” Tanita said.
“Lord Fanfan of the Tarpidae,” Gilmi said.
“Fanfan is currently talking with someone,” Fanfan said.
She was currently talking via an unknown tongue with an ant.
Gilmi gave her a job.
“Tell the ants to fill up that moat,” Gilmi said.
Fanfan was currently the only one who could talk with the killer ants.
“Sure, as long as they get food. Oh, Fanfan too,” Fanfan said.
Gilmi nodded with a wry smile.
It was a mystery how well the killer ants who lived in the desert could live here, but their numbers and working force was certainly something to be prized. And while it wasn’t possible to dig their way into the fortress, it was certainly possible to fill that moat with dirt.
Gilmi had the minotaurs and the other slow beasts wait at a designated location, then he decided to wait and see how things developed.
“This isn’t like me. My heart is beating so fast,” Gilmi muttered.
Even he couldn’t help his excitement.
He looked up at the night sky.
Gowen Ranid was in his manor when he received the report.
He has been in his office since coming back from training to ensure that all the plans tomorrow were good to go. It was then that some soldiers appeared before him, panicked.
“The signal fire from the colonial city has been lit! It’s red! The monsters are attacking!”
Gowen was in the middle of his lunch when they entered. He cut the bread on his plate, dipped it in his soup, and then he took a bite out of it.
“Details?” Gowen asked as he pushed away the thoughts of panic from the monsters coming too early.
“W-We don’t have any information as of the moment! But…” One of the soldiers said.
“Then send some scouts and prepare to send a messenger to the capital,” Gowen said. “The north and the south too.”
“Yes, sir!” The soldier said.
“Oh, and the guild too. We’ll be paying handsomely, so tell them to send their best,” Gowen said.
“The Adventurers Guild, sir?” The soldier confirmed.
“Yes. Anything else?” Gowen asked.
Seeing the soldier dumbfounded, Gowen said. “Don’t worry. Even if a horde of monster attacks, the colonial city won’t fall so easily. We have more than enough time to have our lunch.”
“Yes, sir!”
Satisfied that the soldier had finally calmed down, Gowen finished the bread in his hands and hurriedly concluded his lunch, then he gathered the soldiers of the west.
“To think on top of the southern heretic revolt we would have to deal with the monsters. I don’t think they intentionally aimed for this timing, but…”
The reinforcements from the south will be lessened.
The south was too unstable for the capital to easily send reinforcements. He would ask Gulland for help, but the barbarians have started moving in the north again.
“So the time of tribulation has come, has it?” Gowen muttered.
Currently, his forces had 800 footmen, 200 cavalry, and 100 archers. On top of that, he also had the new weapons, the chariots, from the east beyond the Eastern Holy Shushunu Kingdom.
The engineers mentioned they had to test the chariots in live combat. The chariot unit’s training hasn’t been completed yet, however, so Gowen wasn’t sure how effective they would be, but as far as mobility went, they were unequaled.
They had less cavalry as a result, but since Corseo’s passing, no one has really managed to win the cavalry over anyway.
Gowen lifted his head and pushed away the needless worries.
“We have to win,” Gowen said.
Since they’re coming out to the flatlands, they have some advantages. This time they’ll be the ones to trample them as they try to surround the colonial city.
As Gowen resolved himself, he began his preparations.
◆◆◇
As Gilmi led the detached force under his command to surround the colonial city, the main force led by the Goblin King took a large detour through the north before going to the flatlands.
As the sun set, the harpies, who traversed the skies, and Gi Ji Arsil’s unit, who traveled on ground, moved to scout the enemy.
In the position of the vanguard was the Goblin King’s subordinate with the biggest army, Gi Gu Verbena.
His duty was to gather information on the surrounding area, search a safe route, and move his army accordingly.
One of the harpies flying in the sky cried a high-pitched sound as she descended to where Gi Gu was. As a duke class goblin, Gi Gu’s muscular body was a size bigger than everyone else’s.
“Reporting,” the harpy said.
As Gi Gu raised his head, the harpy flying at a low altitude behind him casually reported.
“There is a human village northwest half a day’s distance away. Size: slightly big,” the harpy reported.
“Slightly? That’s not very specific. Enemy number?” Gi Gu asked.
“Don’t know~” The harpy laughed, then she flew back to the sky.
Nuu, Gi Gu groaned, then he turned to his subordinates and gave an order.
“Contact Gi Ji and have him confirm the harpies’ intel,” Gi Gu said.
After ordering one rare class goblin, he sent another rare class goblin.
“Inform the king that we’ve spotted a human village. We’re currently investigating it. Direction: Northwest. Distance: Half a day. Go!” Gi Gu said.
The rare class goblin mumbled to himself Gi Gu’s orders, then he bolted off for the king.
Gi Gu had a lot of goblins under him, so he could afford to use the precious rare goblins as messengers.
The battle with the killer ants made Gi Gu realize just how difficult it was to communicate during wartime. Normal class goblins can’t deal with unexpected situations and are too dumb to memorize long messages, so the minimum class for messengers had to be rare class. The lack of a more satisfactory solution made Gi Gu groan.
Using the rare class for such tasks meant that their battle prowess would dwindle.
“I know it’s the king’s orders, but this is really going to be difficult,” Gi Gu complained to himself.
The king had ordered them to capture the human villages without killing any humans. That was a tall order for the goblins who knew nothing but war.
Gi Gu had to ensure that his subordinates understood their mission.
The Goblin King gave that order after considering the post-war issues, but Gi Gu did not understand that. As far as he was concerned, the king asked them to occupy the villages to execute surprise attacks.
“It would be faster if we just killed them all,” Gi Gu muttered.
In that case, wiping out all the humans to seal their lips would be ideal. But despite worrying endlessly, Gi Gu convinced himself that he had to obey the king’s orders. Gi Gu hurried on with his army.
His objective was the western city. He would take the humans by surprise and take the head of their boss.
Until then he had to move carefully.
“Hurry!”
Gi Gu ran to the village with 40 rare goblins, while the main force ran to the east. Even as the twin moons, Ervi and Navi, dyed the flatlands in their light, the demon children of chaos (goblins) army showed no signs of stopping.
◆◆◇
Gi Gu’s messenger arrived at the rear guard the Goblin King led. It was already night by the time he arrived.
“A village, huh. We should drop by,” the king said.
The Goblin King immediately made up his mind and left the task to Gi Ga Rax, who then bolted off with his black tiger.
The Goblin King had borrowed 10 iron legs from the Paradua reserve forces, so he decided to have Shumea and Fei ride with them.
“Shumea, Fei, you’re coming with us,” the king said.
The spearwoman blessed by the god of flames and the elven officer and warrior looked at each other, puzzled.
“I’m going to declare an edict in the occupied village. You are to ensure that the villagers fully understand what I’ve said,” the Goblin King said.
“W-Wait a moment, Boss! That’s impossible for me!” Shumea complained.
“I’m not taking no for an answer. You’ve rested plenty, and now, I’m going to work you sick,” the Goblin King said.
“But Boss…” Shumea complained.
She looked pitiful, almost like she was about to cry at any moment, but the king ignored her and asked the messenger the directions of the village.
“Hurry,” the king implored with a cool face.
Fei immediately got up one of the black tigers and sat behind a Paradua goblin.
“Uu~, damn it! If a girl has guts! She can do anything!” Shumea said as she thrust her spear into the innocent land before jumping onto one of the black tigers.
“Ready? Let’s go!” The Goblin King said.
The Goblin King ran alongside the 10 black tigers. It was a pity but there weren’t many beasts who could carry someone of a king class’s stature.
Of the black tigers, the only one who could would be the old chief, Aluhaliha’s, jirouou. But even if jirouou could, he wouldn’t live long if he had to carry the king for a long time.
Fortunately, with the king’s superior body, he could move quickly even without a mount.
After a while, the human village came to view. There were several goblins outside. They were probably Gi Gu’s people.
The king was relieved to see that they were able to safely occupy the village. He heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the village.
Gi Gu’s subordinate goblins were from the south. They had long arms and specialized in climbing trees. When they saw the king, they prostrated themselves before him almost as if they were facing a god.
A rare class goblin platoon commander greeted the king.
“Your Majesty, to think you would come here personally,” he said.
The Goblin King nodded and had the village chief summoned.
There was a plaza at the center of the village, where a stump just big enough for the king to seat on was. The king sat himself comfly on that stump and struck zweihander into the ground.
The pressure emanating from him was heavy enough to make even the stern officials of the capital run away barefooted, so it was only natural that Shumea would feel pity for the chief.
“I kind of feel bad for them,” Shumea remarked.
“We’re not killing them, though. If anything I’d say we’re being kind?” Fei said, causing Shumea’s face to turn bitter.
“Your Majesty, I present to you the village chief,” the rare class goblin said as he presented the pale and shivering old chief to the king.
“Thank you,” the king said.
The Goblin King stared at the old village chief.
He wondered to himself how he could convince these people he meant no harm. After all, even old adventurers would want to run away upon seeing him. The pressure he emanated was simply that great.
True enough the old village chief couldn’t stop shivering just standing before him.
To the old village chief, the Goblin King looked like the sort who could speak only two words: ‘kill everyone’.
The old village chief desperately held on to his flickering consciousness. If he let his guard down for even a moment, he knew he would faint. He had little grandchildren left in the village. At the very least, he had to find a way to save them.
It was only a moment, but it felt like an eternity before the king finally opened his mouth.
He went straight to the point as usual.
“We will be taking control of this village,” the Goblin King said.
When Shumea heard the king’s low-pitched voice, she looked up to the sky.
“That had the opposite effect, Boss,” she quietly remarked.
Only Fei reacted to her. He raised up one of his brows as he quietly watched the Goblin King and the human converse.
“Y-Yes…” The chief weakly said.
The Goblin King continued. “So long as you don’t rebel against us, we won’t hurt you, so just shut up and live.”
As far as the Goblin King was concerned, there was no problem so long as this village had no ways of communicating with the west.
Though he would have to wait until the true leader of this place, the enemy commander Gowen Ranid, was gone before he could assume full control.
“W-We won’t s-say any-anything! I-I swear!” The village chief said.
“You keep that promise, it’s the one thing keeping lives. I’ll leave you some people to ensure things go smoothly. Dismissed,” the king said.
As the Goblin King stood, he took zweihander back from the ground and sheathed it by his waist.
The village chief fell on his buttocks when the Goblin King did that, but he ignored him and passed by Shumea and Fei.
“There’s no reason for needless battles. If anyone gets in the way, remove them. We can demand taxes later,” the Goblin King said.
“As you command,” Fei said.
“Well, we’ll manage somehow,” Shumea said.
“I’ll be going ahead. Make sure the villagers understand my policies perfectly, then 2 days later come after me,” the Goblin King said.
Fei quietly nodded and Shumea heaved a sigh of relief. Before the king left he asked the rare class goblin platoon commander to work with Shumea and Fei.
“What will we be doing?” The goblin asked.
Shumea heaved a sigh of relief as she looked at the chief, who was still sitting on his buttocks, dazed.
“I think we can start by bringing an old man’s soul back,” she said.
This is going to be a long 2 days, she thought.
Author’s Note:
From here on out, the story is going to feel much like an historical battle story, so I’ve decided to shift to a third-person perspective. I’ve also decided to stop showing the status unless necessary. They’ll be shown again when we switch back to a 1st person perspective.
Tl’s Note:This will be the last chapter of the week as I need to post TMPG tomorrow. We will resume our usual schedule next week. There is also an extra chapter in queue, so do look forward to that next week.
Also, before I forget, I’ve added the patron donations to the queue. I added it before New Years actually, I just didn’t mention it. I was kind of in a hurry.
Oh, and one more thing, I’ve added the map below. That’s the map provided at the end of Volume 2. I have difficulty reading handwritten kanji and the image is really blurry, so just let me know if you find anything amiss.
Legend:
(Note: If you see anything amiss, please let me know. I couldn’t read some kanji because of the image quality and the handwriting.)
1. Unexplored Forest of Darkness land.
2. Sylph HQ
3. Unexplored Forest of Darkness Land
4. Demihuman HQ
5. Gi Zu’s Territory
6. Fortress of the Abyss
7. Gi Gu Verbena’s Territory
8. Gi Gi’s Territory
9. Orc HQ
10. New Orc HQ
Red text. Gi Go’s Travel Route