“Don't worry, I won't get in the way of your fight,” Gulland said.

Gulland and his men were only permitted to join with the condition that they wouldn't interfere.

Although there was a chance that the scope of their strength might be found out, with this, they had more than enough firepower to deal with the goblins. Or at the very least, that's what Carlion believed.

He acknowledged the Goblin King's skill in war, so he believed that the Goblin King wouldn't fight a war with such a huge difference in numbers.

As such, they should instead return to the western region.

They still had a place to retreat to, and that place was currently being threatened by Germion Kingdom.

Forces from Pena were approaching from the south, while the Red King was approaching was approaching from the east. Given such circ.u.mstances, there was no way the Goblin King would choose to fight them.

“If that's the case, then you shouldn't have come. You should tend to your health instead just as the clan leader told you,” Cell said.

Brandika had to lead the army as the clan leader, so Cell had to watch over Carlion instead.

Unfortunately, Carlion continues to stubbornly disobey Brandika's order to rest, and even requested that he be allowed to accompany them in their expedition to the borderlands.

“This is an opportunity. With this I'll be able to pave the way toward the unification of the south. I'm the Genius Tactician, after all,” Carlion said.

Once the goblin exits the fray, they will be able to attack Pena and complete the unification of the south.

Cell sighed. “Suit yourself. Anyway, I'm your guard, not your doctor.”

“Sorry for troubling you and the doctor so much.”

The doctor that Cell had brought immediately gave up as soon as he saw Carlion's condition.

Saldin was enraged when the doctor said that Carlion couldn't be saved anymore and wanted to cut him down, but Cell desperately stopped him.

“Half a year… That's more than enough,” Carlion muttered.

That was the remaining time that Carlion had according to the doctor. Carlion faintly smiled as he thought of it.

“Besides, the doctor gave me some painkillers too, so it's not that bad anymore.”

“…Hmph.”

Carlion turned to Cell and smiled, but it was too painful to look at, so she turned away.

◆◇◆

The time had come for the Goblin King to make his decision.

Should they attack? Or should they retreat?

Did they have any chance of winning? No, in the first place, how were they supposed to win this?

“We shall retreat,” the Goblin King said.

When the goblins heard the king's decision, they all looked down. At the same time, Zaurosh grimaced, while Felbi made a disappointed expression.

As soon as the Goblin King decided that they couldn't win with their current army, the next issue was how to deal with the borderlands.

“Zaurosh, let them know of my decision.”

“As you will.”

“But is it really alright to just retreat without even fighting?” Felbi asked, to which the king shook his head. “Well, if you've decided, I'll follow, but…”

Felbi has trusted the Goblin King until now, but he really hated losing to humans.

“We will abandon the borderlands by tomorrow and retreat to the western region,” the Goblin King said.

To the goblins, the decision of the Goblin King was absolute, so they pushed down whatever frustrations they felt and obeyed.

“But Your Majesty, what shall we do if the humans give chase?” Gi Za asked.

“In that case, we shall retreat all the way to the Forest of Darkness, and then repel them,” the Goblin king said.

As expected, even the goblins couldn't help but open their eyes wide when they heard the king say that. After all, that was the same as saying that they were going to abandon the western region.

“But the humans probably won't chase us that far,” the Goblin King continued.

It was a food issue. It would take even the goblins 6 days just to go from the borderlands to the western capital.

With human feet, that should take about 10 days. And with tens of thousands of soldiers, that number should greatly increase.

The humans would have to bring with them a great amount of food just to cover their travel. But what was more was that there didn't seem to be much profit for them to take the Forest of Darkness after taking down the western capital.

After all, the southern lands were rich.

Although they lived in the desert, the economy was healthy and there were plenty of people and money to go around.

The wealth of the south was something that was brought about because of their large population.

Germion Kingdom was a large country too, but a greater part of their territory was made up of their borderlands. Their population of 300,000 put them on the same level of Cultidian, but their might had a great influence on their neighbors.

When the free cities were formed, Elrain Kingdom, the Merchant Country of Pena, the Labyrinth City of Tortoki, and the various small and big city-states grouped together, putting them on equal footing with Germion Kingdom. Because of that Germion Kingdom knew just how important their holy knight system was.

The Goblin King was thinking of abandoning the borderlands for the time being and forcing the Red King to bleed. In other words, guerilla tactics, only they will be lurking in the great lands inhabited by wild monsters.

If the Red King conquers the borderlands, then they will have to defend it, or else they won't be able to usurp the authority from the feudal lords. And if they try to usurp the authority by force, then they will risk an insurrection.

Autonomy is deeply ingrained into the borderlands, such that there have been cases where they resisted the big feudal lords.

When the goblins heard the Goblin King's explanation, the goblins finally understood that they weren't retreating for good, and that this was just a temporary measure. At that, the goblins finally started looking spirited again.

(2/2)

At the Goblin King's behest, the goblins stood up and went to work.

Although they had already decided to retreat, it wasn't possible to leave immediately. They had to prepare food for the trip, prepare to carry the wounded, and complete other necessary preparations.

“Your Majesty… If we may have an audience with you…” Zaurosh said.

After the Goblin King had given his orders, Zaurosh appeared before him with the small feudal lords.

When the Goblin King saw the small feudal lords behind Zaurosh, he suddenly had an ill foreboding.

After hearing them out, he closed his eyes and groaned.

The wrinkles in the middle of the his eyebrows were as deep as his worries.

“We hope to start a new life at the western capital, Your Majesty,” the feudal lord of Razuel said with a desperate look on his face.

Apparently, these feudal lords wanted to flee the borderlands and travel to the western capital with the entire population of their fiefs.

Frankly, the Goblin King hadn't even considered the possibility that the feudal lords might want to go with him.

After all, humans hated goblins, so he'd a.s.sumed that the humans could only be elated to be rid of them.

“Why? I don't understand. You could live again with fellow humans. Is this not much better than being ruled by us?”

Although the Goblin King said that, deep inside, he was actually hopeful. After all, when he thought about it, the way he ruled was simply too honest. They could produce their weapons and armor back at the Forest of Darkness and procure their food from hunting monsters, so there was barely any need for taxes.

In other words, a goblin army was inexpensive and yet powerful.

To statesmen, there was no treasure better than this.

On top of the insane cost-quality ratio, the goblins were also absolutely loyal to the Goblin King.

The Goblin King also chose not to take any taxes from the feudal lord for one year, so as to make them more amiable toward goblin rule.

The Goblin King has already been ruling the borderlands for half a year, and as such, the people of the borderlands have already gotten used to him.

“We've since changed our position on that. In the past, we believed that coexistence with monsters was impossible, but under Your Majesty's leaders.h.i.+p, we realize that isn't so.”

It was one thing if they only wanted to be protected because there was powerful enemy, but that wasn't the case. Now, the Goblin King was really perplexed.

It was good that the Goblin King's leaders.h.i.+p has succeeded enough to make the humans wish to follow him, but unfortunately, they were about to retreat. Having all these humans tagging along was quite frankly a nuisance.

Goblins ran much faster than humans, but now, not only would they have to take a lot of humans along, they would also have to bring women and children.

“You won't change your mind? If you come with us, there's a chance the enemy might attack you too.”

“If you can't take us along, then we shall abandon the borderlands and head for the western capital by ourselves.”

If they did that, they were sure to either fall prey to the monsters roaming the plains or be captured by the Red King. And even if they did succeed in reaching the western capital, only a small part of them would be left.

If they were only going to die upon being left behind, then the Goblin King would surely feel bad.

They may be humans, but they have already become his subjects, as such, he could not simply watch them throw their lives away.

Besides, if he could bring them back with him, they were sure to bring him much profit.

The small feudal lords alone would surely be useful when raising government officials.

They would also be useful in the future battles. Just having the 2,000 from Leon Heart Clan was enough to open up all sorts of possibilities with the tactics they could employ.

If they had as much people as the entire borderlands under them, then one could only imagine the scope of tactics they could utilize.

“2 days. Be ready within 2 days. Anyone late will be left behind. Is that clear?” The Goblin King said.

“Thank you,” the s.h.i.+rak feudal lord said with a bow.

“…They got me,” the Goblin King said.

It was a rare sight to see the Goblin King say something so weak, so Zaurosh couldn't help but laugh.

“It's because of Your Majesty's personality,” Zaurosh said.

“This retreat won't be easy. Are you ready?” the Goblin King asked.

“Would we be called adventures if we abandoned the weak?” Zaurosh replied.

As the Goblin King nodded, he started revising his plans.

◆◇◆

Because of the revisions the Goblin King made, the work of the goblins changed on the very next day.

They set traps while preparing for the retreat. They especially dug more pitfalls along the road extending directly for the western capital and cut trees from the nearby forest to build fences.

But even then, they only had about a day.

After the Goblin King decided the important parts they had to cover when the humans attacked, the Goblin King himself went to to dig out pitfalls and build fences.

No matter how strong the goblins were, having to protect the humans while retreating was not an easy task.

When it came to retreats, speed was the most important aspect.

That's why the Goblin King put as much of the humans as possible on the carts while Gi Gi's powerful monsters pulled them.

He specifically picked out the ones with weak legs and loins to ride the carriage, while he had the men dress as light as possible.

The Goblin King then had the humans position themselves in between the rear guard and the advance guard, and then they began their retreat.

At the vanguard was the a.s.sa.s.sin, Gi Ji Arsil, Gi Gi Orudo who led the monster army, and Ra Gilmi Fis.h.i.+ga.

At the rear guard was the Goblin King, Rashka, Gi Zu Ruo, Gi Go Amatsuki – the goblins skilled at breaking through enemy ranks – and Gi Za Zakuend and his druids.

If the enemy took them from behind as the Goblin King expected, then they would form a thick wall.

At the very back was Gi Gu Verbena. His job was to set traps as he followed the main force.

And then there were the Paradua goblins whose job was to watch for enemies in the surrounding area and attack them. And lastly, there was Zaurosh's Leon Heart Clan, Gi Ba Hagar, and Felbi's elves whose job was to protect the humans at th center of the formation.

After the Goblin King positioned everyone, they started their retreat by moving north.

As the long line of people began moving with a tinge of anxiety, the Goblin King turned back to the southern lands, where much blood was shed.

“…We're barely moving,” Rashka whispered unhappily.

“But the king's decision is right. At the very least, I agree,” Gi GO said indifferently.

“Can't abandon the weak? You're soft as usual,” Gi Za said as he watched that large back up ahead.

“Weren't you the sort to say that the weak should be cut down?” Rashka asked Gi Go.

After seeing how strong Gi Go's sword was, Rashka naturally started liking him.

Rashka was a simple goblin who liked the strong. That simplicity was very goblin-like.

Rashka – as strong as he was – could feel chills just from seeing Gi Go's sword. Gi Go was literally in a different dimension.

The only ones Rashka wasn't sure he could beat were Gi Go and the Goblin King.

“Me and my horde was once hunted by a gray wolf. It was the king who saved us,” Gi Go said as he firmly touched the hilt of his curved sword. “I follow because he is the king. If it were someone else, I wouldn't follow.”

As Gi Go said that, he watched the back of the king.

Rashka and Gi Za both had their own thoughts, but they too naturally watched the king's back.

“But even the king won't live forever. What are you going to do after he pa.s.ses?” Gi Za asked.

Gi Go smiled. “Maybe I'll go on a trip to wherever my sword G.o.d directs me.”

“In my case, I would aim to be king myself. What about you?” Rashka said with confidence as he turned to Gi Za.

In response, Gi Za laughed. “There's no point thinking about it. I will die before the king dies. Simple as that.”

“I see. I guess there really is no point thinking about it,” Gi Go nodded in agreement.

Seeing Gi Go nod like that, Rashka couldn't help but knit his brows.

There was a difference between the goblins from the Gi Village and the tribal goblins.

The goblins from the Gi Village basically wors.h.i.+pped their king, but Rashka didn't. He revered the king, yes, but not to the extent that he wors.h.i.+pped him. To Rashka, the king was a wall to overcome, a goal, so to speak.

As Rashka pondered to himself the difference between the Gi goblins and the tribal goblins, he watched the long and the barely moving line of humans.