Chapter 224.1

Just when you thought you’d finally found solid land, it turns it was actually a patch of mud.

If Pale Symphoria’s thoughts were to be put into words, that sentence would be perfect for it.

After the Goblin King received word of Gi Gu Verbena’s bitter struggle and decided to mobilize his forces for Pena, the elven tactician, Pale Symphoria, asked him.

“The Merchant Country of Pena? Is it necessary for the king himself to make an appearance?”

Sending goblin generals to every direction to suppress the enemy was an attempt to change the chaotic situation in one fell swoop. At the same time, it was also to urge the goblins to grow.

They would need to be able to take command of bigger armies in the battles to come. That was true regardless of if the Goblin King was around or not. An even more apt way to put it is that they needed to gain the power to lead armies even without the king.

The next country they would be challenging is Germion Kingdom.

Pale had drawn in her mind the necessary arrangements for the Goblin King to rule the world.

In order to conquer the country of holy knights, the Goblin King’s strength alone wasn’t sufficient. His generals had to grow stronger as well.

If a general were to have problems with a half-dead country like Pena, they could consider replacing the general instead.

That was what Pale thought, but the Goblin King thought different.

“Someone on Gi Gu’s level is having a problem. The enemy must have something behind them. After all, theirs is a country that possesses a holy sword.”

“A holy sword? Ahh, the Holy Sword Guradion. I hear it’s a God Class weapon.”

“Yes. I’ve once crossed swords with it on the battlefield, and it felt strange fighting it. It was almost as if it was able to weaken me.”

Pale became thoughtful.

This wasn’t a case of the weapon being especially suited against the Goblin King. Rather, there were weapons that were effective against monsters in general. It could be a weapon that interferes with ether, but even then, it should be one of the better types.

But in that case, it should be difficult to procure such weapons in large numbers.

Before a great army, swinging a weapon around like that shouldn’t be able to decide the battle, Pale thought. All the goblin generals were able to get good results except Gi Gu. On top of that, Claudia the War Princess of Holy Shushunu Kingdom has just passed. Because of these Pale couldn’t help but grow a little impatient.

With Claudia’s successor still undecided, chaos was sure to befall the Holy Shushunu Kingdom. As such, they should use this opportunity to conquer Germion Kingdom.

To her, who was always sensitive to opportunities, there was no doubting this was an opportune moment. If they could attack Germion Kingdom before the Holy Shushunu Kingdom is able to pick itself back up, Germion Kingdom will have no reinforcements to rely on due to their location.

She believed it would be possible to crush them in a single swoop.

“What about ordering Gi Gu-dono to retreat?”

“How can I aim for what’s above while ignoring what’s by my feet?”

Pale became thoughtful once more.

Although the Goblin King was as close to reckless as one could on the battlefield, when it came to strategies, he was very cautious. He would even solidfy the land beneath and wait for his enemy to crumble.

“I understand this goes contrary your intentions, but I believe that the reinforcements we send should be kept as small as possible while we send the main force to the north.”

“Hmm…”

Of course, the main force that Pale was talking about included the Goblin King.

The dispatchment of reinforcements was up to the king. But now that they were discussing how many reinforcements to send. On this point, there was a difference in opinion. A difference born from wanting to do different things. The Goblin King wanted to solidify his position, while Pale wanted to use this opportunity to attack the neighboring countries.

To convince the king, Pale spoke about the situation of the neighboring countries and their future prospects.

From her perspective, Germion Kingdom was more dangerous than Pena. They might not appear to be a threat because the old king, King Ashtal, still held the throne, and as such, were not active in attacking, but in truth, even after losing two Holy Knights, Germion Kingdom was still a threat above Pena.

If it were to attack the Western Region in full force, no matter how clever Ra Gilmi Fishiga might be, he will not be able to stop them. And should the Western Region fall, their reinforcements from the Forest of Darkness will be cut.

From there, a single holy knight could suppress the Forest of Darkness. At the same time, they could declare their intentions to fight the monsters to urge other forces and reduce the numbers of the Goblin King’s army. This chain of events would be the same as rendering all their results in war until now meaningless.

Compared to that, what was Pena?

The trade route to the Holy Shushunu Kingdom was already under goblin rule and was no longer passable. They were surrounded from every direction with goblin forces. And the elite army of Pena, the Order of the Blue Knights, only had half of their strength.

Unless they could do what the Kushain Believers did and conscript all of their citizens, Pena shouldn’t be able to do much to retaliate right now.

Gi Gu Verbena failed.

If so, then he should make up for that in a different way. There should be plenty of opportunities from here on to wipe that stain off his name.

“But isn’t Pena gathering forces against us right now?”

When the Goblin King said that, Pale felt like she could finally see what her master was so concerned about.

In order to quell the chaotic situation in the south, it was not possible for the rapidly expanding goblin forces to make everyone submit. As such, leaving Pena alone meant that all those that did not acknowledge the rule of the goblins would gather to it, and on the day they marched for the north, a dagger would be waiting for them from behind.

Until now, their backs have been protected by the Forest of Darkness and the Hot Sands of the Great Desert, so Pale felt that the Goblin King was overly conscious of his back.

“Aren’t you thinking about it too much? If they attack us, then Gi Gu Verbena-dono can simply strike back against them.”

“Oh Pale. Have you heard of this tale? A long long time ago a girl called Pandora received a box from a god. She was told to never open that box, but she lost to the temptation and opened it.”

This was not a tale from this world. This was an old story from another world.

“The moment she opened it, all the evil in the world she lived in were unleashed, and only one thing remained in the box full of evil, hope.”

Pale became silent and digested his words. The Goblin King continued.

“Humans will never give up. So long as there is hope, they will not falter. All the more so when the enemy is an enemy that was able to drive them to a corner. They will only see me as their nemesis.”

“So, because the humans see us as evil, the stronger we are the stronger they will fight back?”

“When the world is covered in evil and a hero appears with a holy sword, the people will gather. It could be said that nothing could be more stimulating for their support than this. The conditions are perfect for Pena.”

As the Goblin King nodded, Pale looked toward the west.

“So long as I am a monster, a hero will one day appear before me.”

The Goblin King was saying this partly out of conviction.

“If you’re that worried about them, then let’s take them down in a single blow.”

With that, the tactician resolved herself to conquer Pena.