บท 173: Smell

End's eyes flashed and he shifted his armored bulk in the chair, his finger on the desk gliding across to a particular spot on the map.

"We suspect the goblins' next move to be a full-frontal assault, hitting multiple villages at once," he said. "Our numbers are stretched thin as it is, and the goblins know this.

"They may be cruel, vicious monsters, but whoever is leading them has a strategic cunning matched only by their lust for our demise. No doubt they plan to capitalize on our weakened state to sweep as many villages as possible off the map.

"This village here," he tapped the point his finger rested on the map, "is where I'm sending the two of you. We've already started evacuating this and the surrounding villages in anticipation of this attack. You and a battalion of elves will greet whatever dark forces the goblins send your way."

"How can you be sure that this is one of the villages they will attack?" Essenla asked him.