After a long time since the beginning of the eastern expedition, the four goblin generals were once again under the command of the Goblin King.
They were gathered at the imperial capital of Elfa. The war had been fought outside of the castle, so the imperial capital was able to get out of the war mostly unscathed. The goblins were also already used to taking over imperial capitals abandoned by their citizens, so after taking over the main facilities, they immediately sent word to The City Where the King Sits (Revea Su).
With Prime Minister Pale also coming, all of the vital members of the army have essentially been gathered.
Gi Ga Rax, who faithfully followed his orders to stop the Iron Bull Knights and suffered no major damage.
Gi Gu Verbena, who defeated Elfa’s heavy knights head on, and was essentially the leading character of the eastern expedition.
Gi Gi Orudo, whose occupation of the neighboring nations and appropriate requests for reinforcements greatly reduced the damage to his allies.
Ra Gilmi Fishiga, who maintained the public order and revitalized the occupied areas.
Gi Jii Yubu and Gi Zu Ruo, who despite not being generals, managed to defeat many countries by working together with a tactician from an allied nation.
They had accomplished that much just with the conquest of Elfa, and now the only remaining major eastern power was Altigand.
During the two years of the Eastern Expedition, the results of the war were such that a book could be written about them.
They’ve gathered here today after defeating the minor nations to discuss how they would deal with the giant that was Altigand.
“With the northern sea to the north and the ocean in the south, Altigand is surrounded by islands.”
Prime Minister Pale was the one who spoke first.
Through her explanations, the geography, climate, military strength, and even the important people of Altigand was presented before the king thoroughly.
The mountainous region bordering Elfa extended southwards toward the coast, making it difficult to deploy a large force. There was also the Wyvern Valley in the northern roads, from which the wyvern knights most likely sourced their wyverns from. And the Altigands were also a proud people made up mostly of human supremacists. Because of that the church had a strong influence over them.
The army consisted of the private army of the nobility and the army directly under the king, and the recent annexation of Yama also equipped them with a navy. Their standing army might be small, and the main force might only be around 20,000 despite the size of their country, but they had the hero with them, a person whose existence spelled no good news for the goblins.
“We’ve reached out to the mermen in an attempt to seal their navy. Inciting them, should keep our backs clear of the enemy.”
Yarma’s navy had been active in the transport of supplies during the attack on Elfa. But nothing could prove more troublesome than if that were to be utilized to wreak havoc in the lands behind them, for such a move could prevent supplies from reaching the front lines, obstructing the movements of the army.
“What of the countermeasures against the wyvern knights?”
“Tunnels are being constructed as we speak.”
Pale replied matter-of-factly to Gi Gi Orudo’s question.
“Tunnels!?”
The new Antman (Killer Ant) Queen needed to build her nest, so they took advantage of that and had a tunnel constructed in the regions spanning Elfa and Altigand. It would be especially troublesome to be attacked in the borers of Elfa and Altigand, so Pale was hoping that the tunnel could be used to avoid that.
As for the strategy of using the king as bait, it was not something Pale enjoyed, and neither did the members gathered here.
“What about the strategy we used last time? Can’t that work anymore?”
Only the Goblin King frowned, but Pale met his gaze and smiled at him coldly.
“Should I explain why?”
“No, that’s fine.”
The air became a little awkward because of that, but after a little cough, the group was brought together again.
“Wyvern Valley likely has a lot of wyverns. We don’t know how they’re able to tame these critters, but there’s no reason to intentionally put ourselves in danger.”
The killer ant queen has already started the construction of her nest.
Some goblins were helping out too, so much progress has already been made.
“Enough about the tunnels. Where are the enemies positioned?”
“Our first objective will be Fort Bandigam in Alsas’ former region, then the key to the north, Yerkshire, and then the border land, Berkel.
“So, three objectives.”
Looking down at the point indicated on the map, Bandigam was at the end of the tunnel. Between Wyvern Valley and the imperial capital was Yerkshire. And then to the southwest was the borderland territory of Berkel.
The goblin king and other high-ranking goblins nodded their heads in agreement to this steady plan to gradually attack from the west.
“After passing through the tunnel, we will lay a siege around Bandigam, then we will march for Yerkshire and Berkel.”
As Pale’s fingertips moved the pieces, all eyes gathered.
“I propose using Bandigam as a bridgehead to capture Altigand.”
“Can’t we just do everything in one go like we’ve been doing until now?”
Gi Gi Orudo tilted his head and asked.
“But then the people won’t be able to accept that.”
“We could wipe them out.”
Gi Gu said thoughtfully as he caressed his thick chin.
“Won’t that take too much time?”
As the person in charge of the difficult task of restoring the public order, Gi Gu had to ask that question.
Altigand’s pride in being the nation from which the humans rose to power would hinder the goblins from governing. The goblins may have been able to swallow up the minor nations easily, but Altigand wasn’t anything like Attibel, which was still but an emerging state, and the people were just vaguely aware of its existence.
A better comparison would be Germion Kingdom.
But even then, in Germion Kingdom, the development of the western region was just beginning. In fact, they had to make drastic cuts just to restore public order to the lands east of the imperial capital.
In order to protect the public order of the lands behind them, Pale believed that they needed to have a secure base of operations before proceeding with their attack.
Pale’s strategy was indeed firm and steady. The Goblin King nodded.
“Very well. After taking down Bandigam, we will go to Yerkshire and Berkel.”
As the generals bowed, the Goblin King turned to the map below him.
But then a roaring sound suddenly erupted, and everyone reflexively turned to look outside.
A ryuu was descending from the heavens. It was a ryuu the Goblin King knew well, and for a moment, he doubted his eyes.
“Douhet!”
While all the goblins were looking on in wonder, Douhet the Flame Ryuu landed, and two people got off from his back.
As Pale averted her eyes, she put away the map and the documents while the goblins had their attention on Douhet.
“What a shaky ride!”
“…I’m, sick…”
The goblin king goggled when he saw Reshia, looking like she was about to die, and Gi Za Zakuend, who was grumbling matter-of-factly.
“Why are they here?”
All eyes naturally gathered on Pale, but she just curtly responded while putting away the documents.
“Why not ask the person herself?”
“T-That’s true, but…”
Though unsatisfied with Pale’s explanation, she hastily left the room, and the Goblin King had no choice but to rush to where Douhet was.
There, Reshia could be seen nailed to the ground, while Gi Za had his chest arrogantly puffed up as he spoke with Douhet about something. He turned around when the Goblin King arrived.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“We are reinforcements.”
Gi Za Zakuend’s response was too concise, so the Goblin King turned to Reshia, but she just groaned at him in a voice unbefitting a maiden.
He turned to Gi Za again, but apparently, he had no intention of explaining any more than that and just folded his arms.
“…My lord, the one who asked for reinforcements is most likely… Me.”
Gi Gi Orudo shrugged his shoulders as he confessed that.
“A trump card against the wyvern knights, huh.”
As the Goblin King muttered to himself, he approached Douhet the Flame Ryuu.
“Is that fine, Douhet?”
“This life was saved by that adherent. As frustrating as it may be, to fail to return this debt of gratitude would be to go against this one’s principles.”
The Goblin King turned to Reshia, but it did not seem she would be able to speak for awhile.
“Just my presence alone should be enough to strike fear into the wyverns. Just that won’t be considered participating in the war.”
“I see… Thank you.”
Douhet snorted and stretched himself out.
“Uu… It feels like my stomach is dancing.”
The Goblin King looked down at Reshia with dismay, then after telling the others to prepare the victory banquet, he called out to her.
“Well… When you recover, I’ll have someone prepare a room for you in the castel.”
She nodded, but she still couldn’t talk.
