Chapter 361 - 111: Chaos in Sri County
Chapter 361: Chapter 111: Chaos in Sri County
Upon hearing the griffin’s cry, Robson led a group of soldiers and officers, who were still testing weapons, out onto the street.
After this period of construction, the roads in the Affleck Domain were already taking shape.
The main reason was that Robson had also mobilized the mages.
After their recent experiences, the mages of the Affleck Domain had long since lost their former arrogance, becoming as docile as lambs for Robson to command.
Robson had, in a sense, finally realized his long-held fantasy of creating an Earth and Wood Mage Corps.
A griffin. He didn’t even have to think about it. In the entire five northeastern provinces, only one family still possessed griffins—creatures that were useful, but not decisively so.
The Fengman Clan.
Robson hadn’t been paying attention to the developing situation in the south lately, precisely because he had Valentino keeping an eye on it. When the right moment came, Valentino would naturally alert him.
Now, it seemed that moment had arrived.
...
The Fengman Clan’s griffins were on the smaller side. This one was preparing to descend onto a sizable plain beside Dong’er Man Lake.
The griffin’s arrival also attracted another creature: the recently subjugated Everton.
Everton was no dragon of Frank’s era. In his time, the Third Empire was already in a state of irreversible decline, with uprisings breaking out all over the Empire.
Everton had previously lived among humans in the south. In his eyes, this griffin didn’t bear the Robson family crest, which meant it wasn’t one of their own. Going up to scout it out would be a good way to show his loyalty.
This scared the Griffin Knight in the sky half to death. In the end, Robson had to pull Everton back using the restraining power of their Magic Contract.
However, while the Griffin Knight was terrified, the people of the Affleck Domain were ecstatic.
They had long heard that their Lord had tamed a dragon. Previously, whenever Robson rode Everton, he had always departed at dawn to circle the Demon Beast Mountain Range and scout the terrain.
This was the first time Everton had appeared before all the people of the domain.
Instantly, the people’s belief in the fantastical rumors surrounding Lord Robson grew that much stronger.
After all, if even a legendary creature like a dragon had submitted to their Lord, what was impossible?
...
The incident with Everton was just a brief interlude. The Griffin Knight from the Fengman Clan soon arrived before Robson.
To Robson’s surprise, the one who had come to deliver the letter was an old acquaintance.
Knight Commander Deman of the Fengman Griffin Knight Order. When Robson had been fighting beyond the border, it was Knight Deman who had helped him with reconnaissance.
"Knight Commander Deman! It’s been a while!" Robson said, happily stepping forward to greet him.
"Lord Viscount, it’s been a while...
Is this the Affleck Domain? How has it become so... vast?
"My lord, this is truly incredible..."
Knight Commander Deman looked around, the shock in his heart beyond measure.
When Knight Commander Elon had visited, he had been shocked by the developmental speed of Robson’s territory. Knight Commander Deman’s shock now surpassed even Knight Elon’s.
After all, he had flown all the way from the Griffin Cages in Fengman City. The view from the sky surely made a deeper impression.
Along his route, he’d seen that for many noble territories, simply completing the land reclamation process was considered fast.
For a territory to take shape within a single month, as Robson’s had, was something Knight Commander Deman had never even heard of.
"It’s all thanks to the support from the Marquis and the Count," Robson said with a smile.
"Let’s head inside and talk."
...
"So, what brings you here this time?" Robson asked, looking at Knight Commander Deman.
"This... the Earl asked me to deliver it to you. Please, see for yourself."
Hearing Robson finally get down to business, Knight Commander Deman produced two letters from within his coat.
Robson took them.
The first contained the usual pleasantries; the real substance was in the second.
It contained nothing unexpected, dealing with what Robson had already anticipated: the situation in Sri County.
At least, according to the letter, the situation in Sri County had become quite serious. The Sri County nobles’ calls for reinforcements were already on their way to Affleck.
The nobles of Sri County had managed to delay for so long for a couple of reasons. First, they had probably figured out why Robson had made concessions regarding the Military Commission.
Second, they were genuinely embarrassed. After all, Robson was the one closest to the Beastman Empire, and he had already essentially defeated the Beastmen in Sri County once before.
Now that this routed Beastman army had regrouped, their inability to hold them off was, frankly, shameful.
Robson read it through, placed the letter on the table, and then looked toward Knight Commander Deman.
"I’m already aware of this situation.
"Knight Commander Deman, as you flew here, what did you see of the routed Beastman forces? How serious has the situation become?" Robson asked.
It wasn’t that Robson distrusted Valentino, but Knight Commander Deman was an eyewitness; his information was certain to have value.
Knight Commander Deman didn’t know the contents of the letter and was somewhat surprised to hear Robson mention the routed Beastman forces.
He knew about the routed Beastmen, but he had assumed the Fengman Clan would dispatch troops to clean them up, since it was happening right on their border.
"The situation is not ideal. I saw many Beastman armies beginning to regroup—Beastman Infantry, Dwarf Jackal Wolfmen, you name it.
"Of course, the most numerous are still the goblins and kobolds.
"For some reason, there is an unusually large number of kobolds and goblins in Sri County. My initial estimate is that there could be over ten thousand, and their numbers are still growing," Knight Commander Deman said.
Robson raised an eyebrow. This news was also somewhat surprising to him.
Logically, it was normal for Sri County to have more elite Beastman Infantry, since Robson hadn’t completely wiped out the routed Beastman forces there before.
But the kobolds and goblins were a different matter.
After all, Sri County was south of the Laguchis River, and the majority of goblins and kobolds were distributed in the lands to the north.
Sri County was situated along a turbulent stretch of the Laguchis River; apart from Bai Ma Ferry, there was no place to transport soldiers on a large scale.
The only routed goblin and kobold force in Sri County that Robson knew of was from the former Ancient Dumu Town. Even if Ancient Dumu Town had been left completely untouched, it wouldn’t have had ten thousand goblins and kobolds, let alone after Robson had given the place a bloodbath.
’When something seems too strange to be true, it usually is. It looks like some people are getting restless.’
’Sri County may not have goblins and kobolds, but that doesn’t mean its neighbors don’t.’
’The main Beastman army is indeed in Ehrlich Province, but the Beastmen boast an army of a hundred thousand strong. The remaining goblins and kobolds are mostly distributed throughout Auric and Ador.’
’This is a classic human tactic. The only question is whether Sriphine is backing it. If so, it just proves how useless the military merit faction truly is.’
’Sriphine probably hasn’t even gotten a handle on Auric Province yet. Running around everywhere without even practicing their Inner Strength properly.’
"I understand all this. Please tell Count Valentino that I will dispatch troops soon, and that he has no need to worry."