Chapter 37: Cold guest
The Eastern Front collapsed, but that didn’t everything is over. Because the Roman Kingdom did not lose their fighting spirit, although the defense line was largely pushed back.
The eastern region could not be easily abandoned. They wanted to regain it again even if they put in a lot more troops than before.
The most elite troops, which they had treasured until the very end, were finally mobilized. They moved the Kingdom Wizards, the Red Dragon Knights, and some of the western and southern armies to the east.
Greenskin mobilized a formidable force to occupy Eastern Gray Citadel, but it forced them to fight even more fiercely.
In addition, while occupying the eastern part of the Roman Kingdom, they faced the kingdom in the southern part of the continent, Marina. Since the front line has suddenly expanded, it will be difficult just to hold on for a while.
Because of this, the group that attacked the northern part of the Roman Kingdom was not as large as expected. So Ivan insisted strongly.
“Rather than holding out like this, it’s important to build a defensive line ahead of time so that they don’t fall over.”
Of course, it’s easier to said than done. Most of the farmland and living base were outside the city walls.
The damage could not be dealt with if they focused on looting and burning paddy fields and buildings while roaming outside. Rather, it was more correct to open the gates, go outside, and launch a preemptive attack to drive them out.
Ivan talked about it for a while, but the one who accepted it was completely passive.
“Hey, the Orcs are strong and they destroyed the East, can we even do it by ourselves? There are too few soldiers… Rather, if they dig in the gaps, they can even cross the castle.”
The northern part of the Roman Kingdom had long been tainted with peace. They had never experienced a battle like a battle properly. So the fact of fighting itself seemed burdensome. Rather than actively moving, they wanted to be passively defensive.
“The damage to citizens will be great. No matter how you save your life now, after everything burns outside, you will run out of food and eventually starve. You will not be able to collect taxes properly.”
Saying that, Ivan spit out a curse inside. It was because he could see the lord’s observer, who had been listening to the other words, flinched at the sound that he would not be able to properly collect the taxes.
The commander who was wary of the observers shook his head.
“It’s already winter. Since you’ve harvested everything you need to harvest, even if the field is burned, there will be no problem. Why not burn it on purpose in winter?”
He nodded quickly, saying that the others were right. There was no one to point out the fragility of that opinion. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
‘You bastards, don’t you even think that the crops you’ve already harvested will burn? What if the house disappears? What if the beam collapses? What if the mill is destroyed? Is it possible to accommodate the residents outside the castle?’
The fact that the Eastern Front, which they believed would always protect them, had collapsed and fell into the hands of Greenskins, terrorized them. It seemed unbearable for the soldiers to leave them and go out.
Ivan let out a long sigh with a frustrated expression and said.
“If you are not going to move the soldiers, please provide them with supplies. I’ll go into the forest and try to stop the orcs a little bit.”
“What? You? Why the hell?”
“My gods want this battle. Only a battle with honor will lead me to Valhalla. A warrior does not avoid fighting.”
“It would be impossible to do it alone.”
“The Priest of Arun and a part of the Knights Templar will move together. They say they can’t watch people get hurt.”
At those words, Delfino, who was sitting next to him, drew his name and nodded his head.
“The grace of the Lord of the radiant light is toward the lowest. The light is brighter in darkness.”
When the two of them said so, it seemed that the commander couldn’t just refuse. Although he cut down on the amount of support until the very end, he promised to hand them over anyway.
He smiled coldly when he confirmed that Ivan, who left the conference room with a dissatisfied expression, was not watching.
“We’ve lost a lot of time. We don’t have to leave empty-handed.”
“Is that so? They’re not in a good mood. How can they think only of their own comfort…”
“Originally, if there is a long peace, the incompetent will take over. I didn’t have high expectations in the first place, so this feels fortunate to me.”
No matter how they came out, it had to be done anyway. In the meantime, he got some compensation, so he should be satisfied with that.
“When you see that they only care for their own well-being in such a crisis situation, they are very greedy. Perhaps they reached out to the temptations of the demon worshipers. Don’t you think so?”
“What? That’s…”
“A reasonable suspicion. As a priest, you can report such opinions to the temple, right?” (TN: so Ivan insinuated that the lord is in league with the demon worshipper, and told Delfino to report him. Guess the lord is trouble now.)
At that, Delfino smiled bitterly.
“Can I do that?”
“In this situation? Opportunities like this aren’t common.”
Ivan muttered his words out loudly and pointed forward.
“Now, let’s go rob the warehouse.”
As the inventory was filled with various items, Ivan felt good for no reason. He had received even the portion of the Knights Templar, so the amount was quite a lot.
“Let’s leave this to the temple and hand it over to the Knights Templar, and we will go into the forest. There are some things the orcs must take care of before they can completely settled.”
Originally, he was only aiming for the golden boar, but there was something more important in that mountain range. By now, they must have been clashing with the orcs, so if he took a step forward, he would not be beaten. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
Ivan and Delfino headed towards the mountains. It’s a bit near the East, so it’s a little more dangerous.
Ivan, who had been walking for about two days and headed deeper, suddenly looked up at the sky.
“I don’t know if this is good or bad.”
“Why?”
“The sky isn’t too bad. It looks like it will rain soon. It’s going to rain pretty hard for a winter rain.”
The words of the experienced mercenary were not wrong. Before long, dark clouds began to gather in the sky and raindrops began to pour down.
When it rained like this, the orcs wouldn’t be able to find them easily, but it will be difficult for them to move too. It was quite inconvenient to move in the mountains, more so when it rains.
Ivan looked up at the sky with a displeased expression. It was an instant when the raindrops thickened. Now, his underwear was getting wet.
“Still, it rained, so it bought the time. Let’s hurry.”
The two continued walking for a while despite the rain. It was only when it got dark enough to obscure their vision, they found a cave and stopped.
It seems that the cave was originally used by a bear, but the guy who should have been the owner was lying in front of the cave and with no breathe.
When Delfino saw the corpse of the bear, he looked around with great caution.
“…It hasn’t been long since he died. Did the orcs hunted it?”
“I don’t think so. If they were, they wouldn’t have neglected their prey like this.”
Ivan looked at the bear’s corpse with sharp eyes. He wondered if there would be any traces left.
‘They didn’t bring all the meat, only the chest was torn. They just took his heart.’
Occasionally, there were cases where animals that were full would only eat the intestines of their prey, but this was not the work of a beast. Obviously, the bear was killed with a tool.
Ivan nodded his head.
“Maybe we’ll meet them sooner than we expected. We’re not ready yet…” (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
Ivan, who was talking, suddenly hardened his expression and looked outside. Someone was coming close.
“Is it the enemy?”
Delfino, who quickly noticed the change in his expression, asked, but Ivan did not give a definite answer.
“I don’t know. But they’re holding a weapon.”
“Weapon? Are you saying they’re not ordinary monsters? Orcs?”
“No. It’s very different from the Orcs’ standard.”
Ivan pulled out his weapon with a nervous expression on his face, but someone appeared from afar.
Cold, smooth, scaly skin, longitudinally torn pupils, and flimsy tongues.
Delfino, who saw it, exclaimed like a moan.
“..Lizardman!”
Because of their lizard-like appearance and strong territorial consciousness, the Lizardmen were not very friendly with humans.
Dozens of such Lizardmen suddenly appeared, so it was natural for them to be nervous.
‘They are difficult to deal with…’
Lizardmen were basically bigger than humans, and their scales were hard enough to block small attacks.
Once upon a time, in a wetland, he had seen a mercenary being brutally dismantled by a Lizardman. Delfino’s mouth was dry as he remembered that time.
He glanced gently. If there was a fight, it was more advantageous to attack first. But Ivan, who had the right to decide, was just standing there.
At that time, a lizardman who appeared to be the captain stepped forward and opened his mouth.
“Shweak, sweek, ssyuak, sak!”
The lizard man wiggled his tongue and spit out a sound he didn’t know if it was rough breathing or something.
“Uh, is that the thing they do when they want to eat?”
Delfino muttered like that, but a similar sound came out of Ivan’s mouth, who had a firm expression.
“Sushik, shuuuk, ssuk! Sushi shok!”
For a while, the two exchanged breaths and hissing. It was only then that Delfino was able to realize that the strange breathing sound was the language of the Lizardman.
‘Then he knows the Lizardman language? What kind of person is he?”
Ivan had a lot to hide. He was indeed a man worthy of the attention of Arun, the Brilliant Lord of Light.
While Delfino was thinking about that, the Lizardman spit out a common language and sat down, perhaps the conversation was over.
“We don’t have to fight unless you’re an enemy.”
“Okay. We want to have a meal, but what about you?”
“We don’t have to eat something as often as you do. We’ll wait.”
Ivan glanced at it and led Delfino into the cave.
“For now, don’t worry about them, and eat.”
“what happened?”
“Unexpected guest. Maybe for a moment, the existence who can hold hands.”
Ivan didn’t give details. The meeting with the Lizardman was also unexpected, so he hadn’t been able to sort it out in his head yet.
“After seeing the bear, I kind of want to eat gomtang. I wish I could make a bowl of hot soup with rice. But it’s not a good thing to smell it here, so let’s just chew on a sandwich and finish it off.”
Ivan then glanced at the Lizardman side.
‘This seems to be more complicated than I thought.’
Is it an opportunity? Or a crisis? Ivan’s eyes as he chewed the sandwich subsided coldly.