Vance surveyed the scene before him as the people rolled out the cannon, namely the single lane leading into the main square. Already the militia had done as instructed, building barricades to funnel in the goblins down the single street. If all went well, Vance hoped the goblins would quickly break and scatter, making for an easier time of picking them off upon the Adventurers regrouping, or at the very least; until the actual Lord or Lady showed up with their troops to clear the woods. Either way, a lot was hinged on his plan's success, and many people were looking to him to win the day. It was an odd feeling to have so many people look to him for guidance and leadership when he had no such experience doing so... in either life.

Suppose Vance were to answer anyone concerning his experience in leading an army? In that case, it'd make one laugh and ask if he were serious, as his only experience was through RTS games back when he was a professor of history -not that anyone would know what those were here. It wasn't something to value or even view as a positive trait either, no matter how good he was at them. Which made this a learning experience for him.

"Cannon's in place, Sir." Reported one of the townspeople turned militiamen.

Glancing down at him, Vance nodded, "Good, can you get me Estrid then? I need her and Richard to start setting up the 'bait', as it were." Vance asked, hopping down from the stack of boxes he was using.

The man nodded, "Yup!" Before running off towards Estrid, who was already busy conducting her small troop of adventurers, each of whom were armed with a flintlock musket and whatever weapon they were adept at using in melee.

As she turned to answer the calling from Vance, Richard came to a stop in front of him first, looking a little annoyed. "Are you sure we can trust these people?" He asked, his disdain for the untrained militia clearly evident.

"I say we should." Interjected Estrid, who came to stand beside Richard.

Both glared at each other, clearly in disagreement on how to deal with the town's defence, but it wasn't their call to make, but rather, Vance's. As the impromptu leader of the hastily formed militia, Vance had the final say on what and how they conducted themselves in this battle and why? He didn't know why; they just followed his orders without a second thought, which bothered him a little.

Waving them both at ease, he spoke up finally, "Relax, both of you. The plan will work. The idea is to give the impression we're a last hope type thing made up of scared and hapless civilians." He noted, walking past both only to come rest against the wheel of the six-pound gun. "Goblins only have a certain degree of intelligence, which can quickly vanish once they let their emotions cloud their judgement. So they hunger for loot, women, and power." Vance continued, pausing only when Estrid raised her hand.

"Which is supposed to help us, how?"

Vance nodded towards the gun, "Once they see our band of poorly organized and fearful troops, they'll come charging through this street and right into our trap, which is where this lovely piece of hardware comes into play."

Both looked at him, still somewhat sceptical about the whole thing; seeing their worries, Vance elaborated further, "Again, the idea is to fire grapeshot into the bunched up mass of goblins; one shot should be enough to halt their mad dash to our centre and allow the remainder of our forces to fire down at them from the windows unabated."

The plan was a simple one and easily understood by the two, but it was the first time such a plan had been used in the history of Tavaria and the first time a cannon's grapeshot was to be used in taking down monsters as small as goblins. "Additionally, as chaos starts to take over, the Adventurers will form a line in front of the gun and fire a volley into the goblins, and that should be enough to break them." Vance continued, displaying his plan to them via a few rocks on the street. "Then, Richard here will cast a spell on a ball, which we'll then fire into the flee mass, and that's it," Vance stated, doing his best to sound as confident as he appeared.

Both looked rather impressed and finally relented, seeing no other alternative than this to win the day. "Alright then, if neither of you has any further questions, I'd ask you to take your places," Vance said, peeling off towards the forest; Vance's heightened hearing could make out the sound of hundreds of goblins rushing forward, hungry for revenge. "It seems the bastards are back, and this time, they brought more friends."

Out in the edge of the forest emerged a vast goblin horde, looking more confident in their apparent victory. A quick look could make out maybe eight hundred figures on foot, another hundred on warthogs, with a single figure central to the entire force.

"Oh... a goblin lord," Vance muttered, a little surprised to see such a large olive coloured skinned creature sitting atop a throne of bones carried by a small band of slaves.

The slaves themselves being made out of humans, elves, and dark elves. Vance clicked his tongue in disgust at the sight. It was disgusting to see people enslaved, no matter who or what the individual was, to be kept as property was awful. Thankfully, most nations within Tavaria outlawed slavery, as the practice had been banned by the First Emperor and maintained as such until seventy-five years ago. Only the Kingdom of Pruobia had broken that law, believing any race other than Human's to be inferior to any other, which was the primary reason for Kendirewen's hostility towards the rival kingdom.

"Living shields..." Richard muttered as he came up beside Vance.

"Mhm... But I doubt the goblin lord will leave the rear... so our plan should still work." Vance replied.

Richard glanced up, looking towards the enemy once again. "If you say so."

"Now then, Estrid." Vance shot Estrid a nod.

Almost immediately, Estrid turned and shouted for the militia to form ranks in front of the gun. "Quick! Form up in four lines here." She ordered, pointing out the spots.

While slow to form ranks, the townspeople managed to help create the illusion of an untrained rabble of people on their last legs, which seemed to spur the goblins on, despite the risks associated. To Vance, the goblin lord appeared a bit of a gambler, taking the chance to wipe out the last bit of resistance in an already bloodied town.

Vance, for his part, watched on with the same cool iron will as he'd come to get used to in the day and a half he'd had it. Standing alongside the first rank, Vance drew his sabre, giving it a simple practice swing as if to warm up both physically and mentally as the goblin horde advanced ever closer. The militia, meanwhile, was the opposite of the fearless leader they chose to put their trust in, as each could hardly stop themselves from shaking, many of the men and women that made up the ranks of the first two lines could scarcely hold back the desire to break and run for the mountains. It was only the presence of Vance and Estrid that kept them still.

"The first rank will kneel!" Barked Estrid, her bubbly, friendly persona seemingly faded away into that of a veteran soldier by how she spoke and carried herself.

The first rank knelt, each individual readying their weapon for the coming volley. "First and Second ranks, Make... READY!" She ordered, this time, the fear was replaced with the confidence in their commanders.

"Aim!"

The goblins were closer; everyone could hear their cackles and screams for blood. Foul curses and crude gestures echoed across the goblin ranks as they came to the entrance.

"Hold..."

A slight pause, did the goblins know? Vance squinted, eyes focusing on the goblin lord whose scarred face twisted into a sick grin before he swung his blade downward, ordering his army to charge in his native tongue.

"Hold..."

Vance looked to Estrid, who focused on the goblins, gauging the distance for an effective volley. He smiled; it seemed she was a born leader and officer by how she acted here.

"FIRE!" She bellowed, swinging her blade down in one fluid motion.

The first two ranks erupted in a chorus of gunfire, with palls of powder smoke floating above. The goblins were undeterred or instead sounded more annoyed now. They looked insulted, almost angered at how their potential victims and slaves would dare fire at them, and now they rushed into a headlong charge.

Vance smirked; his plan was working. "Estrid, now!" Vance shouted as he turned to give the signal.

The militia wasted no time in dissolving away behind the six-pounder, many of whom were letting out sighs of relief as they rushed past Vance and Estrid. All the while, the four men operating the gun stood ready, with the closest one holding the lighter, which hovered over the fuse.

"Fire!" Vance bellowed this time, pointing his blade towards the goblin filth.

Like thunder, the gun spewed a shower of grapeshot, tearing through hundreds of goblins with ease, sundering and ripping through flesh and bone as though they were sticks of butter under the sun.

The carnage unleashed upon the goblins was enough to give them pause. Howls and cries of pain filled the narrow street as the goblins tried to understand what had happened, many of those who survived all but destroyed mentally as they slumped forward into a quivering mess. At this point, Richard, who had command of the hidden troops, swung open the window on the second floor of a building overlooking the main street and pointed his hand downward.

More cracks of muskets rang out with palls of smoke rising. Finally, chaos ensued as the goblins looked around and watched helplessly as they were cut to ribbons by unforgiving potshots from nearby houses.

"Go, go! Finish them off! Fire at will!" Estrid yelled, waving her troops forward.

Having had enough time to reload their muskets, the militia joined in the attack, unleashing more torrents of ball and shot. Within a matter of minutes, the whole host of goblins were dead or fleeing, with even their leader laying in a pile of bloodied corpses of goblins and his slaves. Vance grimaced at how they had to die, but such was how it had to be if the battle was to be won, and there was little he would likely be able to do for them either as they looked broken in both mind and body. They'd indeed have killed themselves long after being freed, only this time their fellow townspeople made the first move to put them at peace.

Surveying the bloodied scene before him, Vance took account of the carnage. His plan had worked far better than he had initially thought possible, as virtually the entire goblin army had been wiped out, with only a handful of stragglers running away to the safety of the forest. It was those survivors that the town would need to contend with later, but for now, a great victory was won here this day. Vengeance had been achieved, and pride restored in the hearts and minds of the town of Luna.

As Vance peered over at Estrid and Richard, both of whom were surrounded by joyous townsfolk, he cracked a small smile. "Hopefully, I can get some sleep now." Vance thought.

As the people came rushing towards him, each showering him in praise and admiration for his daring plan, Vance just waved them down, "Relax! Everyone, relax! We're all responsible for this victory, and we all played an important role today. So instead of showering praise onto people, how about we start cleaning the town up, eh?" Vance stated warmly.

Everyone paused, looking a tad bit upset at how they couldn't bask in their victory a while longer, which prompted Vance to sigh, "But, there's nothing saying we have to get to that right now, so how about a pint or two first?"

The crowd erupted in cheers as they began to chat amongst themselves and seek out something to toast their victory. As the people were off celebrating, Richard, Estrid, and William approached; the latter two practically beaming with pride.

"I can't believe we won!" Exclaimed William, who came and shook Vance's hand. "I... I have to be honest with you, Vance; I didn't think your plan would work, but... it did!"

"And some," Estrid interjected with a playful smile across her lips.

"There's a lot of work to do yet still, so I don't know why you're all partying?" Richard added with a scowl as he looked away, trying to hide his pride.

Vance chuckled as he couldn't help but view Richard as a bit of a tsundere. "Honestly, I'm surprised how well that plan worked as well," Vance admitted as he shook hands with both Estrid and William.

Richard spoke up this time, pointing towards the goblins, "Well, I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised given how weak goblins tend to be. Their only real strength is in numbers." He said.

Vance shrugged, "True, but for now, let's let the people celebrate their victory, though we should still put together a few squads to set up a watch at each entrance and have a runner grab the people hiding in the mountains. Now that it's partially safe, they should be able to return and help us clean up what's left."

The trio nodded in agreement, "I'll go gather up the squads," Estrid said as she ran towards a nearby group of people.

"And I'll get the people; they'll be breathing a lot easier once they hear the news." Added William, who himself rushed towards the mountain slope, leaving just Richard and Vance.

"Well... after that's all done, we can go see about the lord or lady; I'm a little curious now why the weapons in the armoury were still there..." Vance mused, recalling how well-stocked the garrison was, despite what he'd been told earlier about the guard leaving to join the Royal Army.

"Agreed." Richard Answered.

"For now, though, let's get a drink."