Chapter 441: Head North!

Intelligence Four: You have severely damaged the orc forces, killing nearly fourteen hundred orcs; the orc clan clearly cannot swallow this humiliation.

Therefore, this morning, the orcs will deploy a force of twenty thousand to hunt you down.

This orc force includes five orc shamans, ten thousand orc warriors, ten thousand conscript troops, and ten Blood Bat Knights!

Intelligence Five: Princess Sukama, the orc king’s most favored concubine, is nine months pregnant and about to give birth.

Out of affection for her, the orc king also deeply cares for this impending offspring.

To balance war efforts with his affection for his beloved, the orc king has brought Princess Sukama along to the frontier.

She is currently located in an area called the Golden Pasture, where a temporary imperial palace has been erected.

It is not specifically built for Princess Sukama’s residence or childbirth.

Intelligence Six: Today will be a fine day!

Ding! The daily intelligence briefing has concluded...

Wow! Gavis exclaimed, “Wow!”

What had he just heard?

It had been a long time since he received so many substantial pieces of intelligence.

First, Wilard and Solit had indeed been tricked by him.

Although they clarified that they had not orchestrated the orc attack,

they were now imprisoned and coerced by the orcs into burning the army’s supply wagons.

If they actually carried it out, that would be far worse than merely betraying him earlier.

Even selling intelligence to the orcs was a grave crime,

but if they used their connections and spent their fortunes, they might still save their lives.

After all, noble behavior—those who understand, understand.

But if they burned even ten wagons of supplies, it would be an undeniable capital offense.

If the kingdom found out, ten of their heads wouldn’t be enough to pay for it.

So, had he accidentally done the right thing after all?

Still, this has badly harmed the army stationed in Winter’s End.

But given the army’s current situation, even without royal reinforcements, their fate wouldn’t improve much.

Therefore, beyond the above information, what he should focus on most is the orcs’ imminent second attack.

Tens of thousands of orc warriors and conscript troops—this force is absolutely not to be underestimated.

Plus five shamans and ten Blood Bat Knights.

The latter need no elaboration.

The former, however, are equivalent to human mages or wizards.

They can boost troop morale and cast spells in battle.

They probably mistook his cannons for magic and are deploying shamans to counter him.

“Looks like direct confrontation is out of the question!”

Even with his cannons and homemade grenades, a direct clash with this orc force would result in devastating losses.

So he must flee.

As for where to run, Gavis already had a daring idea in mind.

Having planned everything, Gavis wasted no time—he got up, washed up, and immediately summoned Raymond, Migen, and the others.

He informed them of the orcs’ impending second attack.

“My lord, how many orcs are coming this time? Surely more than last time? I’d guess five thousand!”

“Still, even if it’s five thousand, we shouldn’t fear—we can just treat them as if they’re two thousand five hundred again!”

After their previous battle, Migen was clearly getting a bit cocky.

Upon hearing the orcs were returning, he showed not a trace of worry.

Instead, he was eager, hoping to seize a great opportunity for glory.

Gavis, understanding his subordinate’s spirit, revealed the true numbers.

“This time, the attacking orc force totals over twenty thousand: ten thousand orc warriors, ten thousand conscript troops, and ten Blood Bat Knights!”

“W-What? Ten thousand orc warriors? Are these orcs insane? We’re only seven hundred—how could they send over twenty thousand against us?” Migen was stunned.

“Migen, last time we killed over fourteen hundred of them—such casualties are unprecedented since the war began!”

“So they’re probably filled with hatred and have come with the sole intent of annihilating us,” Knight Commander Raymond explained clearly to Migen.

“Then… what should we do? We can’t possibly fight that many!”

“Not ‘possibly’—we absolutely can’t fight them. Even if we did, it would be ten thousand dead orcs and seven hundred dead us!”

“My lord, does that mean we’re doomed?!” Migen’s face twisted in despair.

“I said we can’t fight them—I didn’t say we’ll die! If we can’t fight, we run!” Gavis said.

“My lord, didn’t you say before that the west is also occupied by orcs, and all the cities and checkpoints along the way are in their hands? Escape that way would be difficult!”

“Correct—the west is filled with raiding orcs. So this time, we head north. The orcs have all pushed deep into our kingdom’s territory, leaving their own wastelands sparsely populated!”

“North? But… my lord, then what?” Migen’s eyes widened.

“Then? We’ll figure it out when we get there—I haven’t decided yet!”

Wow! Migen exclaimed, “Wow!”

He had just assumed his lord had a brilliant plan, only to find out he hadn’t thought it through yet.

“What? Are you scared, Migen?” Gavis teased.

Migen instantly straightened his posture. “No, my lord, I’m not afraid—I’m just worried about you!”

“Still, I fully support your decision, my lord—so when do we leave?!”

“Leave immediately! Alright, let’s embark on a grand adventure!”

Thus, within half an hour, Gavis led his entire force out of Baron Kalle’s castle and headed north.

Around dusk, a massive army arrived at Baron Kalle’s castle from the eastern road.

“Lord Moral, the castle is empty—the humans are gone!”

“Gone? How is that possible!” Moral’s face turned ashen.

He had marched his army here, eager to erase the shame of his recent defeat.

Instead, he arrived with his forces—only to find the enemy vanished.

“Search! Scour the surrounding area—find out where these bastards went!” Moral, unwilling to accept defeat, ordered his men to search.

The search quickly yielded results.

“Lord Moral, there are no traces on the southern road—all is normal!”

“Lord Moral, we’ve found numerous tracks on the northern road—the horse droppings are fresh—they’ve headed north!”

“North? Is this human idiot or insane?”

When he learned Gavis’s force had headed north, Moral looked utterly incredulous.

Normally, anyone would choose the west.

Even though the west also had orc forces, breaking through would lead back to the safety of the kingdom’s interior.

But heading north meant entering orc territory.

Unless these humans were suicidal, there was absolutely no logical reason for them to go there!