Chapter 311
Chapter 311
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 311
"Kyaaaak!"
As if in defiance, another grating shriek burst forth, and the goblins swiftly scattered or ducked behind groaning soldiers sprawled on the ground. Some among them even raised crude plank shields over their heads.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
"Kieeek!"
"Kekk!"
Arrows hammered down, and the screams of goblins too slow to dodge—or who dodged but couldn't fully cover themselves—shook the air in every direction. Yet compared to the volley poured onto them, the goblins' casualties were minuscule.
"It seems a Hobgoblin is directing them!"
"What?"
The noble's brow furrowed at the Monster Hunter's belated report. The notion that one monster could command other monsters was unfamiliar to him. In truth, because Hobgoblins operated only within their villages, they were not widely known figures deeper in the continent. He had only ever heard them mentioned in passing.
"Then we'll have to kill that Hobgoblin, or whatever it is, first."
With the Monster Hunter's help, the Hobgoblin was located without much delay. Its size alone made it far larger than the other goblins, and its coloration was much darker, so finding it was not the problem.
"Knights, follow me!"
"Understood!"
As the commander charged out, the knights raised their weapons as one and ran after him. The goblins fought desperately to protect the Hobgoblin, hurling nets and the like, but knights were not common soldiers.
Aside from one knight who fell into a trap and was immobilized, claiming the frenzied Hobgoblin's head was accomplished in an instant.
"It's done! All forces, attack!"
The moment the Hobgoblin's head soared into the air, the goblins flew into an excited frenzy. They were like moths hurling themselves at a flame.
But the previous disciplined coordination had vanished entirely. As if they had forgotten how to use their traps, they simply threw themselves blindly onto the soldiers' blades. Apart from a few unlucky soldiers who took a Paralyzing Needle in an exposed throat or neck and were then hacked apart, the goblins' resistance did not last long.
Chapter 104 — Nameless Heroes
Kieeeeeek!
The Hobgoblins' cries rang out long and piercing.
What began as one cry swelled into two, then three—wails like howls of anguish that shook the barracks of Gaemun Mountain Fortress.
"Wh-what is that sound?!"
Naturally, the soldiers' rest was shattered by the clamor of the Hobgoblins. Startled soldiers stopped what they were doing and turned toward the source of the noise, while Nel, who normally looked after the Hobgoblins, rushed out in haste.
"Kieeeeh!"
The mournful cry seeping into Nel's ears as he arrived in a single bound was more than enough to tell him that something serious had happened.
"Samdori! What's wrong?!"
Among the shrieking Hobgoblins, Samdori's cries were the loudest. When Nel arrived and looked more closely, the other Hobgoblins surrounding Samdori and wailing looked as though they were mourning.
"For them to cry this loudly..."
It meant something had happened to that Hobgoblin village. In a single village, there were at most three Hobgoblins. Any more than that and they naturally formed a new village to branch off.
In the process of bringing Samdori back, they had confirmed the existence of other Hobgoblins and tamed them through a mix of dialogue and threat. Considering that, Samdori's behavior signified that either something had happened to the village or some harm had befallen the other Hobgoblins.
"What's the problem?"
Geom Muhyul, the defense commander of Gaemun Mountain Fortress, approached Nel as he was soothing Samdori and the other Hobgoblins and asked.
"Balwisaja, you've come."
Even while calming Samdori, Nel saluted Muhyul as he approached with his question, then answered with a pained expression.
"It appears the village has been raided, or some kind of trouble has befallen the other Hobgoblins."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Muhyul had no choice but to trust the words of Nel, who had been trained by a Monster Hunter. He reasoned that Nel's knowledge in this area would be superior to his own. But soon he tilted his head and posed a fresh question.
"Still, a goblin village shouldn't collapse that easily."
"That's true, but it's not an impregnable iron fortress either..."
"True enough."
A goblin village was indeed a place that could very well be destroyed if someone set their mind to it. If staying inside a village guaranteed safety, then these mountains ought to be absolutely teeming with goblins.
"Even so..."
Samdori's crying was far too mournful.
"Wouldn't it be better to ask?"
"You mean right now?"
At Muhyul's suggestion, Nel's eyes went round as he countered. By now, the wizards' ranks had been replenished to some degree, and aside from small-scale fortresses, they had mostly ceased using the Hobgoblins for communication.
The reason they still kept the Hobgoblins was concern that, in a worst-case scenario, even the communication wizard would be thrown into the battle. Using Communication Magic required at least the 3rd Circle—and at that level, a wizard was capable of casting basic offensive magic.
"Then bring a Translation Magic scroll..."
"Wait!"
For a comfortable conversation, using a 2nd Circle Translation Magic spell would be the most convenient. But before that could happen, Samdori began to scratch out crooked, uneven letters on the ground.
"Promise broken. Humans attacked?"
Nel had barely finished haltingly reading the words aloud when a shout burst from Muhyul's mouth.
"Bring a Translation Scroll immediately—no, summon a wizard! Deputy, put the fortress on full alert at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
Meeting the resentful eyes of Samdori as the Hobgoblin stared at the humans, Muhyul could only pray that his fears were nothing more than groundless worry.
* * *
After the Hobgoblin was slain, the goblins' madness was merely pitiful. Despite the goblins rampaging this way and that, the Holy Empire's soldiers methodically dispatched them one by one. Moreover, with comrades lost in what had been dismissed as an easy goblin subjugation, the soldiers' hands grew crueler still.
Kieeeh.
With one final mournful sound, the goblins' cries rang out no more. Not a single one had been allowed to escape.
Just then, from afar, the roars of ogres and orcs echoed.
The scent of goblin blood had drifted to them on the wind.
"All units, withdraw from this area!"
"Yes, sir!"
Their objective was already achieved. The two other goblin colonies in the vicinity would have been subjugated as well. Likely branching off from this site, the surrounding goblin villages were smaller in scale, so the casualties there would have been lighter than here.
Although they had incurred unnecessary losses in personnel while subjugating the goblins, it had allowed them to evade the attention of larger monsters that could burst out at any moment—and, with Gaemun Mountain Fortress now so close, it let them reduce unnecessary noise.
"Hm?"
Amid the sporadic roars of large monsters, something faint but familiar reached their ears.
"It seems another goblin village exists somewhere nearby."
"Hmm."
Count Chiera Pelloman, the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order, approached Marquis Bello von Luchia as the latter turned his head toward the direction of the sound and spoke as if it were nothing.
"Shall we subjugate that one as well?"
"No. Judging by the sound, it seems a good distance away. And this much is sufficient. It would be better to move out of this area at maximum speed. We'll need to march harder to make up for the time we've lost."
"Understood. Goblin subjugation was never our objective, after all."
A short while after the exchange between Marquis Luchia and Earl Pelloman ended, voices announcing the movement rang out from all directions. And after they had departed, monsters drawn by the scent of blood on the wind began to hold a feast of their own.
The distance between the Holy Empire's raiding force and Gaemun Mountain Fortress now stood at a mere three days' march.
* * *
"Is the Daedaero present?!"
A messenger came sprinting urgently toward the office where Dae Mu-deok resided. Before he had even arrived, he shouted to ask if the Daedaero was there, and the soldier standing guard hastily snapped a salute and answered at once.
The matter appeared to be extremely urgent—the man who had come as a messenger was gasping for breath. Moreover, a deputy-level figure had personally come to deliver the message.
"He is in the rear garden of Yeolje Palace."
At the soldier's reply, the messenger wheeled around and dashed back outside, and the soldier found he could not shake an ominous feeling.
Dae Mu-deok had been enjoying a leisurely moment of tea with Eulji behind Yeolje Palace. That tranquil time was shattered into pieces by the message delivered by a soldier who came rushing in.
"Is this truly verified?!"
"Yes. Balwisaja Geom Muhyul found the behavior of the Hobgoblins handling communications suspicious and reported that the goblin village had definitely been attacked by a large force."
"Has it been accurately assessed?!"
"For now, this information came directly from the Hobgoblins. They said a blade of wind smashed their palisade, then a group of humans unaffected by Paralyzing Needles entered the village and massacred the goblins."
"What!"
Mu-deok was not the only one stunned. Eulji, who had been holding a teacup beside him, also stared wide-eyed at the messenger's words.
"Then how is the acting lord of Gaemun Fortress responding?!"
"While reinforcing the area where the goblin colonies are located, he has also dispatched swift soldiers and skilled swordsmen together to conduct reconnaissance."
Perhaps winded from his dash here, the messenger paused at this point to steady his breathing before rapidly continuing.
"Simultaneously, he has placed the entire garrison on a war footing and reinforced vigilance, while promptly summoning the surrounding populace inside the fortress walls. In preparation for the moment the enemy is confirmed, he is stationing soldiers in the villages around the fortress and making ready to set them alight."
"Understood. Messenger, return to the communication wizard immediately and keep me informed of any further developments— No. I will go myself."
"Yes, Daedaero."
With a rigid expression, Mu-deok bowed to Eulji.
"This humble servant believes he must go."
"Go at once. I will follow as well."
When Eulji likewise spoke with a grave face, Mu-deok gazed at her expression for a moment, then nodded as if he had no choice and, with steps that belied his age, followed the messenger at a run.
"Prepare my armor."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Eulji, having issued orders to the palace maids, hurriedly turned her own steps toward the Yeolhu Palace.
Moments later, an emergency was declared across the whole of Gauri, beginning with the capital at Jolbon. Horses charged ceaselessly out from the fortress gates, and even the Hobgoblins, who had been idle until now, were mobilized, spreading the emergency alert to the smallest hamlets.
* * *
Rrrrr-rumble.
The sounds of wagon wheels and human footsteps echoed through the forest. The sporadic clink of metal and the whinnies and breathing of horses. All the countless sounds that living, moving things cannot help but produce were vibrating through the silent woods.
"Quiet, there."
From time to time, the low voices of the knights guarding the flanks of the marching column rang out. Each time, the Holy Empire soldiers moving in silence stepped even more carefully and tried to muffle their noise. But the sound of sixty-five thousand troops was not something they could simply erase at will.
'Incredible.'
A small handful of people felt the reverberation and watched. Even without drawing close, they could make out the immense column. They were scouts urgently dispatched from Gaemun Mountain Fortress. After traveling without rest for a full day and night, they had finally located the enormous procession. They looked weary, but their bearing still showed the discipline of well-trained elite soldiers.
'I hoped it wouldn’t be true...'