Kapitel 179: Incompetent Mercenaries!
"Retreat!! Retreat!!" A voice that would be familiar to Helena reverberated across the battlefield.
It has been around seven days since Geraint, the grand marshal of the Terravalle Kingdom, led his men and began their attack on the eastern borders of the Kairuku Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the fairly huge soldier-count disparity did not allow them to break through easily.
Today, they failed again.
Geraint had no choice but to call the retreat and temporarily strategize, otherwise, he would simply lose more men for naught.
Witnessing the Terravalleans' retreat, a middle-aged man wearing distinctive high-tier armor chuckled as he followed the enemies, who were desperately falling back, with a cold gaze.
"Heh, Geraint, we've been at each other's throats for decades. You won't get through me that easily." the man mumbled, turning his head and staring in the direction of the western border. "If the mercenary group will not disappoint, then victory shall be ours."
Unfortunately for him, as soon as he said that, a panting messenger emerged out of nowhere and kneeled in front of him.
Judging from his subordinate's facial expression, things might not be going well at the western border.
"G-Grand Marshal Solaz, I have something urgent to report!" the man said, his voice shaking in distress.
Solaz knew that this subordinate of his was no beginner, hence, something huge must have happened in the western border.
Preparing his heart for a piece of grim news, Solaz spoke:
"Speak."
"R-Reporting to the grand marshal. T-T-The Rougenfortians have wiped out the entire mercenary group. They are most likely already conquering Firebird City as we speak!"
Hearing his subordinate's report, Solaz's heart fell. He expected the news to be bad but not this bad.
They underestimated the damn Rougenfortians!
'Those damn incompetent mercenaries!!' Solaz inwardly raged, however, he couldn't show panic and anger, else, the morale of his men would only collapse faster.
Feeling nervous about the grand marshal's silence, the reporting subordinate continued kneeling, breathing heavily in anxiety as he waited for Solaz's orders.
Taking one deep breath to calm his panicking heart, Solaz looked at his subordinate.
"Gardo, send word to the king, we're falling back to defend the capital."
Gardo understood Solaz's aversion to relinquishing any territory, leading him to suspect that the situation might not be as well-managed as the grand marshal made it seem.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva as he sensed the kingdom's impending doom, Gardo responded, "Understood, Grand Marshal," before sprinting off to carry out his new task.
He was tired, however, he knew that this was not the time to rest.
Upon hearing the somber update from Gardo, Solaz no longer found amusement in observing the Terravalleans' retreat.
Hence, he ordered his men to stop chasing.
As for Geraint, he was confused. Solaz was his sworn enemy and was no slouch so he truly couldn't fathom Solaz's decision to let his men retreat easily.
Still, such developments were advantageous for them so he wouldn't complain.
Shortly after all of the remaining Terravalleans had escaped, the darkness of the night once again shrouded the entire world as the tired sun relinquished its heavenly throne.
Geraint knew that his men were tired and weary of yet another defeat, hence, he ordered the army chefs to cook more than usual.
What better way to restore their energy than to provide delectable food?
He doubted that the dastardly turtles of the Kairuku Kingdom would dare attack anyway.
Ordering his men to temporarily rest while the army chefs prepare the meals, Geraint summoned his generals to his tent to strategize, not knowing that it wouldn't be necessary to do so as Solaz was already on the retreat.
They defended the fort fairly easily today so his men weren't as tired and weary as Geraint's.
Still, it was necessary for them to delay the Terravalleans' pursuit as much as possible, hence, Solaz devised a sly plan: create a few hundred armored dummies.
He then instructed his men to position the dummies along the fort walls and place torches on them, creating the illusion of a heavily manned fort when in reality, he and his men had already departed Fort Baracuas under the cover of night.
It proved to be effective as Geraint and his men extensively prepared for yet another day of harsh combat, making sure that his men were well-fed and well-rested before ordering them to assume siege formation.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Meowder
Meowder For those still supporting this book, I appreciate your undying support. I apologize for the slow updates, however, worry not as I plan to finish this book and keep it completely free for everyone to read.
Special thanks to gubuss and Weslan99 for the consistent power stones even though I'm not updating as frequently.
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