novelraw Chapter 148
Chapter 148
Chapter 148
The forces that would go out to this war.
Johnson Territory’s Johnson 1st Knight Order, Johnson 2nd Knight Order, and the Crimson Comet.
Johnson rangers and Rabbit Tribe rangers, the Priest-Warrior corps, and the Rabbit Tribe’s and Mouse Tribe’s transport units.
On top of that, the Black Lion warriors led by Limond and Leisha were all mobilized.
The territory’s core forces were all being dispatched to the war, and there was no avoiding leaving holes in the territory’s defenses.
“Please take care of things.”
“Yes, my lord. Please return safely.”
The emptied territory had to be guarded by its residents and soldiers.
The Lion Tribe warriors who had been watching over our territory while I was away — even Rudelrof — were planning to join this war.
The one saving grace was that, at this time, monster incursions into the territory were very rare.
And the residents, who were suspiciously accustomed to battle, were also very used to dealing with monster invasions themselves.
’If I joined forces with the soldiers, it wouldn’t really be a problem.‘
Sir Dominic, who had lost an arm in the war with the Boar Tribe and retired, agreed to take overall command of the territory’s defense.
It didn’t feel comfortable to entrust such a task to a knight who had already retired, but no one else came to mind who could sooth the residents and keep them from panicking besides Sir Dominic.
This time, Sir Dominic, Butler Harold, and even the elder craftsman Dikki had no choice but to serve as the territory’s elders.
“I’ll prepare plenty of rabbits, my lord.”
“All right. You’ll probably be busy moving around. This won’t be a very long war.”
“Ha ha, yes. I’ll trust you.”
— I’ll be back before the Pride Rabbit gets cold!
Butler Harold had said that when I took the territory’s core forces out to war.
He asked whether we shouldn’t hold a feast for the warriors who fought bravely and won.
So I asked for plenty of Pride Rabbits to be fried.
Since the emptied warehouses weren’t completely restocked yet, the territory would be quite busy if we slaughtered thousands more horned rabbits until we finished the war.
Would there even be time to pay attention to how the war was going?
When people suddenly left and things felt disconcerting, being busy was actually much better.
“No, what kind of people……”
It had already been common knowledge that war would break out soon.
We had been stockpiling military supplies for more than two months, so it couldn’t have been unknown.
Every resident had been devoting themselves to this effort.
The territory wasn’t exactly secretive, and I had no intention of hiding the fact that we were departing, so the news that we were leaving today had already been made known to the residents.
-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!
-Thud! Thud!
-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!
-Thud! Thud!
Just before the territory’s forces left the castle, the residents gathered in the central square and shouted Johnson.
An unplanned send-off.
I hadn’t thought to hold a send-off, but since the residents had gathered voluntarily, it felt new in its own way.
The original residents, the newcomers who had joined from outside.
And even the beastmen.
All of them were of one mind and one purpose.
Victory.
They wished, in whatever form, to drive the imperial bastards who threatened the territory’s peace and prosperity from this land.
‘It’s curious that the slogan happens to be Johnson.’
-The whole world is Johnson. Amazing.
As the residents wished, I intended to eliminate as many threats to the territory as possible.
If possible, with minimal casualties.
‘It’ll be fine.’
It absolutely would be.
“Then the Dog Tribe will move to the south gate.”
“All right, Elline. Don’t overdo it.”
“Yes, until orders come down we’ll wait. I’ll remember.”
“Sir Albio, don’t get too excited either.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind, my lord.”
The territory’s forces split for the first phase.
The Dog Tribe led by Elline, and the soldiers from Albio Hawrun’s Hawrun Territory moved to the old Hawrun area.
The Rabbit Tribe also joined to guide the route and supply, and a huge procession of wagons followed behind.
They were to wait near Hawrun Castle and strike as soon as the situation allowed.
The timing was roughly when the war had fully ripened.
This would probably be the safest battlefield in this war.
Maybe we could take the castle without a major battle.
After sending Elline and Albio west, the remaining forces passed through the tunnel and crossed over toward Rotsy.
Rudelrof was waiting for us.
“I could hear the residents’ cries even here.”
“Really?”
“Very impressive.”
About four hundred Lion Tribe warriors. Rudelrof and Camilla as well.
The Lion Tribe had staked their lives on this war.
Rudelrof had judged that we should strengthen our forces a bit more and wait until the Empire’s strategy weakened, but since the war had already been decided, he wasn’t going to just stand by.
No matter how wise a chieftain was, his essence was still that of a Lion Tribe’s great warrior.
“If the imperial bastards keep stirring up the Cow Tribe, war will break out in some form. Then it’s to our advantage to fight them on our terms.”
Of course, he could act boldly because he was confident it was the best option.
It wouldn’t be in Rudelrof’s plan for the Empire — which should be conserving its strength — to provoke the Cow Tribe.
‘Well, he probably didn’t expect a “ttagapdde” to pop out at this timing.’
Actually, I hadn’t expected the Empire to provoke the Cow Tribe either.
This was a full-on “ttagapdde,” really.
They planned to raid the Cow Tribe’s warehouses to solve their supplies.
It was a brazen idea, really.
Perhaps this “ttagapdde” was a traditional custom unique to the kind called the Empire.
“We arrived on time.”
“How have you been, Gariman.”
We arrived with our forces at the “Third Horn,” located on the northeast among the Cow Tribe’s three castles.
It was a castle ruled by Gariman, who was smaller in build than other chieftains but looked very solid.
When a merchant first came to the Levelium area and tried to con people, Gariman was the only chieftain who insisted on waiting.
Indeed, Gariman’s color was a little different from the other two chieftains.
“We will defend together this time, human chieftain.”
“I see. I’ll leave it to you.”
Among the three chieftains, when one had to stay behind to defend the territory, it was Gariman who stepped forward first and volunteered to take charge of the defense.
Honestly, if the other two chieftains had been like Gariman, we wouldn’t even have needed to consider a preemptive war.
Simply reinforcing the Cow Tribe’s castle walls with protective magic and upgrading their equipment would have been more than enough to strengthen their defenses.
‘Gariman really is reliable. He’s also easy to deal with.’
Having Gariman take charge of the defense was fortunate for me as well.
If we were to fight a defensive battle together, it was far more convenient to have someone I could communicate with.
He was still a Cow Tribe member, and thus a bit rough by nature, but he never charged in without thought.
For an early-stage defensive battle where we needed to buy time, I could be certain Gariman was the best possible choice.
And he knew it too—that must’ve been why he volunteered to stay.
“You plan to move on to the Second Horn, right?”
“That’s right. Quietly, at night.”
“Quietly, at night. Good.”
“You’ll still have the enemy’s eyes watching that way, so it’s best to stay cautious for now.”
The three castles of the Cow Tribe were built in an inverted triangle pattern: the southernmost was the “Second Horn,” the northwestern was the “First Horn,” and the northeastern was this one—the “Third Horn.”
The Cow Tribe’s domain had formed around vast farmlands protected by these three castles.
The place destined to become the fiercest battlefield of this war was the “Second Horn.”
If the imperial bastards came for us, their target could only be the Second Horn.
The Cow Tribe, who had been trading with merchants, had built a massive granary near the Second Horn closest to Levelium, where they stored wheat—the Empire’s top priority target.
In other words, they had no reason to attack anywhere else.
‘Since their target is the Second Horn, there’s no way they won’t have scouts. They’ll want to confirm the troop movement with their own eyes.’
There would surely be scouts near the Second Horn to monitor whether troops had been dispatched.
We had stopped by the Third Horn before heading directly to the Second Horn precisely to avoid those watching eyes.
The southern region of the Cow Tribe’s territory was vast open plains—no optical device or telescope could see into the castle interior from there.
If that had been possible, they wouldn’t have bothered sending merchants to spy inside in the first place.
And if we quietly moved behind the castle under cover of night, our movements wouldn’t be visible from the south.
—They wouldn’t have sent scouts all the way here, would they?
‘Would they? Well, if they’ve gone that far, we’ll just have to accept it.’
But I doubted it.
It was certain that the Cow Tribe’s forces would be deploying south from the Second Horn, and since the Empire was dealing with beastmen, they wouldn’t be thinking that deeply.
Because the Cow Tribe were among the simplest of all beastmen.
From the Empire’s perspective, the idea of beastmen using strategy or tactics at all was completely foreign.
‘They’d never imagine that a little beastman like me came out of the Black Lion Tribe.’
Just imagining the looks on the imperial bastards’ faces after this war ended was enough to make dopamine surge through my brain.
“Lord Iron, then I’ll be departing.”
“All right, Lady Irene. Follow the plan exactly. If anything happens, report immediately.”
“Of course.”
The forces split once again.
Irene was to move with the Demon Tribe.
Transporting the military supplies the demons would use was also Irene’s responsibility.
Although a great deal of supplies had already been delivered, additional shipments were still needed.
Since the Demon Tribe had staked much on this war, we had to treat them with proper respect as well.
Mouse Tribe workers familiar with the northern terrain took on the logistics duty.
It was a simple transport mission—just hauling supplies—so entrusting it to the Mouse Tribe posed no problem.
‘That side is a truly dangerous battlefield. I wonder if she’ll be all right.’
—The master still doesn’t trust the demons, I see.
‘Well, that’s...’
Since I hadn’t witnessed anything firsthand, it wasn’t really a matter of belief or disbelief.
Some of the Demon Tribe would also participate in the Second Horn defense, so I could see their capabilities with my own eyes then.
—Even if it’s dangerous, that mount-crazed female will be perfectly safe. Didn’t she arrive riding a Flame Horse?
‘True, that beast is insanely fast, isn’t it?’
For this mission, Irene departed on her latest sports mount—the Flame Horse, Krreung.
It was an all-around vehicle boasting endurance, acceleration, and explosive power; even if the entire Demon Tribe were wiped out, Irene would likely make it out unscathed.
Of course, whether she would actually choose to retreat in such a situation was uncertain, but the fact that she could escape at all was reassuring.
“Oh, you’ve finally arrived.”
“How have you been?”
“Ha ha, we’ve been well.”
After sending Irene and the Crimson Comet northward, I slipped into the Second Horn.
There, Cow Tribe warriors from both the First and Second Horns had already gathered, awaiting orders to move out.
The two chieftains who, along with Lucas, would take the field this time—Rioksen and Delmason—were organizing their troops, anxiously waiting for our arrival.
“By the way, what about the food for the warriors?”
“We’ve brought plenty. The Cow Tribe from the Third Horn will carry everything over as they evacuate to the Second Horn.”
“Meat?”
“Of course, meat. I’ve prepared something special. The Cow Tribe will be fighting on the toughest battlefield, so they deserve proper treatment.”
“Excellent.”
The reason they’d been eagerly awaiting us was for the supply provisions.
Although they’d harvested plenty of wheat here, they didn’t seem interested in eating anything made from it.
To be fair, that was typical for beastmen.
Why eat tasteless wheat when you could eat meat?
These folks couldn’t even bake decent bread—hopeless cooks.
When I mentioned we’d brought plenty of meat, their faces brightened immediately.
‘But are those guys really going to be okay? They look like they’ll be hard to control.’
Well, it should be fine.
Just in case, I planned to assign Ludic to accompany them directly.
Since the Cow Tribe still listened to Ludic’s words for now, he’d manage them well.
If there was one thing I could count on Ludic for, it was that he never argued or objected during operations—he was reliable in that sense.