27: Agreed to provide support

"The Kingdom's army agreed to help us hold off the Orcs a week ago, but in truth, they just wanted us to consolidate our forces. Otherwise, if we were annihilated by the Orcs all at once, it would only allow the Orcs to pick up a cheap victory."

"In essence, it's the same as when the Kingdom's army blocked the Orcs for the previous three months; they just want us to have a certain ability to resist the Orcs, so we don't lose too miserably."

"Giving us enough strength to resist, but not enough to actually succeed, is what's best for them!"

"So now, even if we produce enough gold coins again, there's a high probability the Kingdom's army won't agree to help us hold off the Gnolls again."

"If that's the case, then what are we to do!"

Upon hearing this news, those who were ill-informed—the scions of minor lords and merchants who had become pioneer lords—immediately looked even more distressed.

The atmosphere became heavy once again.

Suddenly, someone said:

"Doesn't Arthur from Initial City have two Mountain Giants? Two giants should be enough to hold off an army of fifty thousand Gnolls."

"After all, a Mountain Giant's defense is incredibly robust. Without a Sky Knight taking action, almost no one can break their defense."

"Coupled with that twenty-meter-tall physique, they are simply war machines."

"Why don't we invite him over to fight the Gnolls with us!"

Faced with this idea, someone quickly retorted:

"You're thinking too highly of the situation. Arthur possesses such strength, and his territory is only twenty li from the Kingdom's border; the Gnolls won't pay the price of heavy casualties for him."

"He is already in an invincible position, so why would he wade into these muddy waters?"

"For all we know, he might be waiting for us to fail so he can take over our territories!"

"This won't work, that won't work—what on earth should we do!"

A long time passed, and the group still hadn't negotiated any solution. Finally, the duke's scion made the final decision:

"We've just discussed two methods. Although neither holds much hope, at this point, we can only treat a dead horse as if it were alive!"

"Send people to talk to both the Empire's army and Arthur first. What if one of them works out?"

"Of course, we know the hope is slim, so those two hundred thousand recruits who have been training for less than ten days must all be moved to Northern Bulwark City!"

"As a reserve force!"

"It's our only choice!"

Regarding the opinion of their alliance leader, the duke's scion David Crook, everyone knew it was the only way left, and they all agreed... That same night, Arthur received messengers from Northern Bulwark City and the City Stabilizing the Wasteland. It seemed both factions had the same idea.

Regarding the requests for support from the two cities, Arthur did not refuse directly as they had expected; instead, he stated his conditions.

"Of your two factions, whichever is willing to give me two million gold coins first, that's where I will go to provide support!"

"You gave the Empire's army this price, so if you want my support, giving me this price shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"And it's first come, first served. Whichever city gives the money first, I'll go to that city."

Regarding Arthur's demand, the messengers from both cities stated they could only go back and discuss it first, as the amount was simply too large!

To this, Arthur could only tell them to hurry!

Watching the messengers of the two factions walk away, Arthur sighed. He hoped either Northern Bulwark City or the City Stabilizing the Wasteland would spend the money to hire him.

Because if the Gnolls truly breached the two cities and drove straight in, hundreds of thousands or even millions of humans would surely die, which Arthur did not want to see.

As for competing for territory, after driving back the Gnolls, there would be plenty of time to compete for it later.

That way, it wouldn't cause a massive loss of human life. After all, in wars between humans, the probability of soldiers surrendering is much higher.

Moreover, they wouldn't treat civilians like the Gnolls do—capturing or killing them all.

The next day arrived.

The Kingdom's army had already begun to withdraw, indicating that, as predicted, they had refused the Pioneer Lords' request.

The messengers who had gone to Arthur's place also brought his demands back to the two cities at dawn.

In Northern Bulwark City, everyone was initially furious at Arthur's demand, and some even cursed Arthur's greed.

Although both involved paying money, this felt different from paying the Kingdom's army.

Because ten days ago, Arthur had the same status as them. It was only through the good luck of subduing two Mountain Giants that his strength had increased tremendously.

Now, they had to pay money just to invite him to hold off the Gnolls.

It was like a friend or colleague suddenly winning the lottery and then looking down on you; a massive sense of jealousy caused everyone to lose their original judgment on the matter.

Furthermore, the price Arthur asked for was even higher.

The Kingdom's army had charged two million gold coins to hold off three hundred thousand Gnolls for a week. Now, Arthur was charging two million gold coins just to go to one city and help hold off half that many Gnolls, so the price was indeed higher.

However, there were still sensible people among them.

As the alliance leader, the duke's scion David Crook was very clear-headed and stopped everyone's arguing:

"Enough. It's already a stroke of luck that Arthur is willing to come support us. Besides, hiring the Kingdom's army is the same as hiring Arthur."

"Even if the money he wants is more than the Kingdom's army, we have no choice now."

"The most important thing is that it's already a great blessing that we can even hire someone to support us for money right now. Stop complaining blindly!"

And so, the people of Northern Bulwark City were finally persuaded by their leader, David.

Half a day later, the people of Northern Bulwark City pooled together two million gold coins. Taking advantage of the fact that the Gnolls had not yet surrounded the city, they sent someone with the money to find Arthur.

Only an hour later, one hundred and fifty thousand Gnolls arrived aggressively outside Northern Bulwark City and surrounded it.

Seeing this, the people in Northern Bulwark City lamented:

"That was close! If we had been any slower, no one would have been able to get out!"

On the other side, the people from the City Stabilizing the Wasteland were a bit slower and were blocked in by the Gnolls.

Without any flying Demonic Beasts, they could only sigh in helplessness.

Half a day later, which was that evening, Arthur received the two million gold coins from Northern Bulwark City.

Under the urgent gaze of the Northern Bulwark City messenger, Arthur began to summon his army and prepare the necessary supplies to set out the next morning.

In fact, the Northern Bulwark City messenger couldn't be blamed for his urgency, as bringing two million gold coins to hire Arthur was a matter of great importance.

To this end, Northern Bulwark City's leader, David, had given the messenger a rare magic communicator.

These magic communicators came in pairs; those holding a pair could communicate within a distance of one thousand li.

Their strategic significance was immense, so these items were held by the military and rarely circulated outside.

David had only managed to obtain a pair by chance due to his status as a duke's scion.

The messenger with the communicator knew that as soon as the Gnolls surrounded Northern Bulwark City that day, they quickly launched an attack.

In just one afternoon, Northern Bulwark City suffered as many as five thousand casualties.

Although the Gnolls were stronger, because they were the attacking side and thus at a disadvantage, they also suffered nearly three thousand casualties.

But everyone knew this was just child's play, because Gnolls possess night vision no inferior to wolves; the night was when their attack truly began.