Chapter 179: More battles (1)

Jinpok moved about the bodies, taking out any goods or money happily while Doral and Joonbum stared wordlessly.

“H-help…”

“Huh? You’re alive? Okay, let me help you. Here.”

One of the men that attacked moaned, asking for help with his wound. Jinpok frowned and walked over to him, striking the man’s head with his axe.

“There, I helped you go to hell faster.”

Jinpok smirked as he took out his axe from the broken skull and spat on the dead man.

“How can you ask for help when you just attacked to kill? They must be crazy.”

Joonbum laughed at Jinpok’s words.

“Hmm? So, you’ve been through a lot I see. Laughing at such a situation?” Jinpok asked as he noticed that Joonbum was not bothered by all the dead bodies in the vicinity.

“Yeah, not as much as you though.”

Jinpok smiled. He then turned to all the bodies again.

“I don’t think they have anymore. They are like bums! Well, I guess that’s why they tried robbing us.”

Jinpok checked one of the bodies again as he spoke. Doral, who just returned from scouting the area, shouted as he checked the skies.

“I see rain coming.”

Jinpok turned to the skies and frowned.

“Hmm, we might be able to reach the town before nightfall if we run.”

“Let’s do it. We shouldn’t camp around here.”

With increased monsters around the world, camping out in the forest was very dangerous. The horses were especially vulnerable. At the moment, the sound of an animal was heard.

“Already?”

“Let’s move.”

The smell of blood attracted the nearby animals. It was not the monsters, but the animals themselves were enough of a threat. Three of them hopped on their horses and began riding quickly through the forest.

“Hah, those crazy bastards are here again.”

“There’s a lot.”

“Look at them. They’re so skinny and weak! I can handle hundreds like that.”

“No, these are serious ones. They’re not going to fall back easily.”

Men looked out to the fields where soldiers were closing in. A horn blared within the walls and soldiers came up with a large flag. Then a knight on a horse came to front of the soldiers on the field.

“We are from Rendall’s…”

The knight began shouting, but another knight from the wall waved his hand to cut him off.

“Skip the formalities. How much do you need?”

The knight that got his words cut off became red with rage, but the other knight kept his cool.

“Don’t need anything? Then do you want a fight?”

“What? You insolent-”

“We don’t have much so… if you really want to fight…”

The knight on the field tried to shout something out with rage, but was stopped by his man next to him.

“N-no, sir! We just need some corn or grains!”

“And the amount?”

“About thirty full carts will do, sir.”

“If you order your troops to turn around and come to sign the contract, I will let you take it.”

“R-really?”

The man brightened up and the knight behind him seemed to be relieved.

“Open up the gate!”

The gate to the wall was opened and the man and knight came in. After a while, they signed a paper agreeing to the terms and conditions of borrowing food.

“Give it to them.”

The knight issued the order and their men began bringing out thirty carts filled with corn and various grains. It was already ready to be taken.

“Oh? Was it ready?”

“Yes.”

The man was astounded. The cart was also much bigger than what they used in Galia. It was tied to a large Duran as it was much larger than what a horse could pull.

‘I wonder who much they have? What if…’

The man and the knight speculated that the castle must have more than this. Yet their greedy thoughts dissipated quickly.

‘No, they are letting us have it out of mercy. They have won against the empire. We must not forget that.’

“Let’s go, Gerric.”

The knight, Solic Jenner, ordered to Gerric. Gerric turned to Solic and smiled.

“Oh, yes. And you did the right thing back there. This will help our land greatly, sir.”

“Y-yes. I just did it for my people.”

Solic blushed in humiliation. He knew Gerric was actually scolding him for his behavior.

‘It will be hard to return safely.’

It was great that they acquired what they needed, but the news of moving with a large amount of food was sure to spread quickly. There was the danger of being attacked.

“Sir, we will have a hard time going back. Please remember that is why we gathered all these troops.”

“Of course, don’t worry. I, Solic, will defend us with my might!”

“That is reassuring. Thank you, sir.”

Gerric answered Solic, but he was obviously unconvinced.

“Move out!”

Solic was now moving ahead, ordering soldiers to move.

*

“Sir.”

“Hm? Come in.”

Todd, who had been working for Jackson for a long time since his lieutenant days, came into the room.

“I just received a message from Torvil. As expected, it was the Rendall’s protest, requesting for some food.”

Jackson frowned. He was angry that it happened, but he had already expected it.

“So? What happened then?”

“They returned with the food without much complaint.”

“It’s good that they didn’t become greedy.”

“They’re not dumb. I’m sure they heard what happened with the empire.”

“Right.”

“Our army is strong. We have the infantry, knights, and elite archers from the Ainos and the Gerekstals from the Magnos. We also have those Guardians with us. No one will dare to attack us.”

Jackson nodded. If their soldiers weren’t enough, the addition of having enormous wolves running rampant through the battlefield meant they were invincible.

‘It’s always good to have power,’ Jackson thought. It was that power and might that was protecting this small land.

‘I guess he would have arrived by now.’

Jackson turned to look at the sky through the window.

“And anywhere else?”

“Other places are similar. They ask for food and start talking behind our backs. Even in the capital…”

Jackson nodded. What was fortunate was that the spreading of corn helped stabilize the kingdom. By summer, it was certain that the neighboring countries will quickly recover from starvation.

‘I just hope we won’t see any more famine,’ Jackson thought to himself.

“Oh, and there’s more people coming to visit Sir Joonbum.”

“Tell them he’s busy dating women.”

“But… they are asking for a fair chance. They blame Miss Jasmine for that.”

Jackson turned back to Todd and frowned.

“Hah! They search for fairness? There’s no ‘FAIR’ in this world. Tell them to shut up. We have lines of princesses trying to meet with him. Let them wait if they want a chance for themselves.”

“Hmm. Understood, sir.”