“Kekeuk! Ran all the way here? No, you flew here. Kuhahaha! Anyways, good luck! Do your best at fishing! You can befriend the seagulls! Who knows, maybe they will teach you how to fly? Then you can fly to the South and join us! Kuhahaha!”

“…..”

The lead knight of the Pendragon family could not find any words to retort to Karuta’s ridiculous orcish jokes. But soon, Killian’s sad, angry eyes turned towards a certain place.

Shiver.

The former pirates and the Pendragon Duchy’s soldiers trembled at the gaze of the wounded one-egged devil.

“Until now, I had it easy with you punks. It was all just a warm up. Today, we will begin preparing for real battles.”

Killian enunciated in a quiet, but firm voice. The soldiers’ minds went blank.

***

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well… We do need to take the Ocean King’s intentions into account as well…”

“Hmph! Why are you trusting someone who has been holing up on an island for months? They have done nothing so far!”

“Lord Rolta, I think you are being too harsh with your words.”

“What do you mean harsh? The forest south of my estate is crawling with monsters. Crawling! They are daring to come out in the broad daylight to kill several farmers everyday. When do I have to wait until?”

“Exactly! You are only acting this way because the monsters have not arrived in your territory!”

Dozens of well-dressed men raised their voices.

“Are you planning on stabbing the Arangis Duchy in the back? You all seemed content receiving the Arangis family’s grace in terms of gold, equipment, and whatnot. How could you?”

“Huh! Did we receive it for free? I sent over everything from my territory, from wheat to pigs. What nonsense are you sprouting?”

“What did you say? Nonsense?”

The atmosphere heated up rapidly, and the men seemed like they would pull out their swords any minute. It was truly typical of southerners, as they were easily agitated.

All those gathered were nobles and landlords of the south. In particular, they owned land at the southern end of the region.

Due to the remoteness of the region, they had lived in their own land for hundreds of years without a proper lord.

“Ah, be quiet! Quiet!”

A middle aged man at the head of the table declared. A silver crown decorated his head. The nobles and the landlords returned to their respective seats, although they were still fuming with anger.

The middle-aged man continued in a solemn voice.

“It is not the time for us to bicker amongst ourselves. The roundtables of Gapusa and Agadir have declared their support for the Duke of Pendragon and El Pasa.”

“Huh?”

“That might be the case for Gapusa… but you mean Agadir joined in as well?”

Gapusa was a city that had maintained good relations with El Pasa for a long time. Count Cedric, the current governor of El Pasa, was also a blood relative of the Gapusa royal family from many generations back.

Agadir, however, always pursued their own, practical interests. It was a historical city-state that had survived for so long by playing tug-of-war between the Aragon Empire and the other kingdoms around the inland sea.

It was significant that Agadir’s roundtable had publicly announced their support for El Pasa’s coalition against the monster armies.

“That is right. And just yesterday, three lords of Valvas and the nobles of Romdir have announced their intentions to join the coalition.”

“W, what…!”

Everyone displayed shock at the man’s words.

Due to the long war, the southern nobles and lords did not easily trust each other. They possessed a rather hostile relationship with each other.

However, everyone could agree without disagreement on one thing, that the Cavaliers of Valvas were true warriors among warriors.

Valvas was a name widely used, but it actually referred to the three separate regions of Valvas.

In Valvas, dozens of forces had been at odds with each other for hundreds of years, and the boys born in Valvas were rumored to be experts with weapons even before their hair started growing.

Of course, the rumors were a little exaggerated.

Even though it had been in a long period of turmoil, Valvas wasn’t a hell where fighting continued nonstop every day, every minute. Not all men in Valvas fought on the battlefield either.

Nevertheless, three great lords had united Valvas in the end. The three lords and their subordinate knight families were prominent not only in the south, but also in the empire and other kingdoms.

They were those called “Cavaliers of Valvas” by the rest of the world.

Their status was not granted because they were Valvas born. Rather, they were true warriors who developed and refined swordsmanship and spearmanship through the constant battles spanning nearly 100 years.

The three great lords of Valvas and their knights had not succumbed to the conciliations and intimidations of the Arangis Duchy. But now, they had announced their intent to join the coalition led by Duke Pendragon and the governor-general of El Pasa.

It represented a huge shift of momentum in the south.

“…Shall we go?”

Someone broke the long-lasting silence.

“Shouldn’t we go?”

“We should go!”

“Good! Okay! Let’s go! Go!”

Everyone exclaimed approval in unison.

The growing voices represented a small crack in the influence of the Arangis family, the undisputed monarch of the South for the past hundreds of years.

***

“Y, your Excellency Duke Pendragon! Governor!”

The guard captain of El Pasa’s walls sprinted towards the two with a shout.

“Hmm?”

“What is going on?”

Raven and Count Cedric were busy writing letters asking for cooperation with the monster coalition force. The letters were to be sent to small towns near Gapusa and Agadir.

They frowned at the man’s shouts.

However, the guard captain was unable to hide his excitement despite the disapproving gazes of his superior and the duke.

“S, southern lords have arrived outside the gates!”

“Oh, is that so?”

Count Cedric was the first to stand up, delighted by the good news.

But Raven had expected them to show up around this time, so he continued calmly.

“Which lords have come?”

“W, well... I think it might be best to see for yourselves, Your Excellency the Governor and Duke.”

“Hmm?”

The two people shared a frown at the captain’s confusing words.

***

“W, what in the world…”

“Huh!”

Count Cedric and Viscount Moraine looked down from the wall with a bewildered look on their faces. They burst into exclamations at the unbelievable sight.

Raven was also quite surprised as he looked down El Pasa’s outer wall, which was about 50 feet high.

Fwoooosh!

Dozens of flags fluttered like waves as the sea breeze skimmed down from the walls of El Pasa. Numerous patterns could be seen on the flags. All of them represented the southern lords and the knights.

“His Excellency Duke Pendragon and Governor-General of El Pasa, His Excellency Cedric!”

The guard captain shouted in a loud voice, and all those standing under the flags looked up simultaneously.

“We greet Your Excellency Duke Pendragon and Governor-General of El Pasa!”

Around 2000, 3000 people could be seen at first glance. When such a large number of people shouted at once, a loud echo reverberated through the gate.

“A, all these people are here to join the coalition…”

Count Cedric could not continue his words at the sight. His wildest imagination was coming true before his eyes.

Naturally, not all the families in the south had gathered, but it seemed to be around half at a glance.

“Y, your Excellency…”

Count Cedric called out with a tearful expression, forgetting his age and dignity, and Raven smiled and patted him on the back.

“This is just the beginning, you should save it for later. Come on, it’s not like they brought their families’ entire forces here anyways.”

“Haha! Your excellency is right.”

Count Cedric stole a tear from his heated eyes and laughed.

Raven moved his gaze back down and spoke.

“I am the lord of the Pendragon Duchy, Alan Pendragon. I would like to extend my heartfelt welcome to everyone gathered here!”

“Oooohhh!”

“Liberator of the inner sea!”

Shouts erupted at Raven’s declaration.

***

“I am Langji Derna from Derna. We can provide 300 infantry and 50 archers.”

“Traon from Brega. I can join with 30 Gapusa warriors at any time.”

“I am Shamark, knight of Pess. All 20 knights from the Pess Knights will join in the monster coalition force.”

All sorts of people stepped up in front of Raven and Count Cedric to introduce themselves.

There was a knight with a rapier, the traditional weapon of the south, a hunter with a furry hat and a longbow slung on his back, even knights covered in metal from head to toe…

They were all gathered in the palace of the residence of El Pasa’s governor. There were lords and lords, and even knights and mercenaries who trained in the mountains.

Most of them were from the south of Kepasa River, not far from the Great Forest of Assia.

Count Cedric looked over the palace with a satisfied expression, then slightly raised his hand.

“Once again, I sincerely welcome everyone that has come here to join.”

The murmurings subsided, and he continued.

“As I have already stated in the letter, we are organizing an army to defeat the armies of monsters that are threatening the south.”

Many people nodded at Count Cedric's words.

“As some of you may know, the irregulars of the imperial army are fighting the monsters along with some of the lords near the forest. But this is unlike anything we have seen before. They are struggling against the organized movements of the monsters.”

Dark expressions appeared on those who had experienced it first-hand.

“Most importantly, the monsters have organized themselves into several forces. Those in the battle are struggling to even defend themselves, let alone push the monsters back. In fact, Pess and Elac are already suffering devastating damage from the hundreds of monsters.”

Count Cedric’s eyes turned towards the knight who had declared that he came from Pess.

The knight gave a knight’s bow after placing a hand on his sheath. Then, he continued.

“It is as you say, Your Excellency. Goblins and ghouls stay deep in the forest during the day and attack villages and farmland at night. However, there is a problem. Ghouls are originally hostile towards humans, but goblins tend to shun away from humans. However, it is not the case with those that attacked our land.”

“In every village that was attacked by the ghouls, all the men were killed and all the children and women were taken!”

A nobleman carried on the words of the knight. His voice was full of anguish and desperation.

“Oh my…”

“Hmm!”

Everyone’s expressions quickly became overshadowed. Hearing the stories from direct witnesses was more frightening than hearing just rumors.

“Now…!”

Count Cedric raised his voice to clear the mood. Everyone’s gaze naturally headed towards him once more. Count Cedric stretched his arms and continued.

“I, the governor of El Pasa, and this man here, His Excellency Duke Alan Pendragon, have decided to destroy the monsters from the Great Forest of Assia with the 7th regiment in accordance with His Majesty the Emperor’s wishes!”

Raven and Moraine took a step forward.

“Oooh…!”

Their appearance was proud. Raven was equipped with the White Dragon Armor and the Widow’s Scream, and Viscount Moraine adorned the dark red armor of an imperial knight. The worried expressions of the southerners loosened at the sight.

But not everyone seemed relieved.

Some looked at Raven with an expression of doubt.

They already knew of the 7th regiment commander, Viscount Moraine. The man was a renowned warrior of the battlefield. However, they could not help but be doubtful of the young duke. Even though he had gained some fame in the mainland, he was young, and undoubtedly inexperienced.

They even thought that the annihilation of the pirates would have been difficult without the aid of the 7th regiment.

However, a faint smile appeared around Raven’s mouth. He had already anticipated such a response.