228: Fighting on a rainy night

Chapter 224: A Rainy Night Battle

Frogmen are primitive, savage, and filthy creatures.

They have low intelligence and no organizational structure whatsoever.

They usually gather under a leader who proclaims himself the “Lord of Slime.”

Because these amphibian humanoids with frog heads must keep their skin moist at all times, they mostly inhabit rainforests, Swamps, or damp caves.

And this torrential downpour happened to provide them with natural cover.

They just never expected that what awaited them were not panicked Townsfolk, but fully armed soldiers.

At this moment, the ordinary Townsfolk in the tavern had been moved to the cellar and safer rooms, while the remaining soldiers were on high alert under Grey's command.

Frogmen tactics are usually quite simple: they try to overwhelm the enemy with numbers, and their morale is generally low.

As soon as he received intelligence about the Frogmen attack, Arthur found Jessica to discuss it.

They both agreed that fighting the Frogmen in the rain was not a wise move.

So Jessica deployed all her armed personnel to three locations:

the tavern, the barracks, and the Row House.

Arthur ordered these three strongholds to cook food to attract the greedy monsters.

Once they broke in, the prepared soldiers would launch a counterattack.

Of course, to ensure the Frogmen would not attack other houses, Drax and Philip's patrol teams would do their best to intercept them.

Almost all military Commanders believed the Frogmen would attack from the direction of the canal.

They could easily approach the city wall along the canal and then climb over with their suction-cupped limbs.

Therefore, Jessica removed the lookouts from the city walls to prevent them from being attacked.

However, according to the news Philip brought back, the Frogmen not only chose to attack from the canal but also planned to infiltrate from the flooded West District.

The battle soon began.

The filthy beasts smashed windows and broke down doors.

Most of them were naked, with disgusting green and earthy-yellow skin, wielding crude weapons, most of which were stone.

Only a few were wrapped in fur clothing, presumably their leaders.

“Kill them all!” Grey gave the order.

The soldiers immediately charged the Frogmen, and a slaughter ensued.

Arthur had to admit, last night was truly a crazy night.

The Frogmen's attack ultimately failed, and they suffered heavy casualties.

As soon as dawn broke, workers began to clear the bodies.

At the druids' suggestion, these bodies would all be buried in the fields as fertilizer.

At this moment, Jessica was reporting the casualties to Arthur.

The soldiers' casualties were not significant, with only three injured and one dead.

This was entirely within an acceptable range.

The heavy rain began to subside in the early hours of the morning, and by this morning, the rain had become negligible.

But the streets were muddy.

Most of the people in town were puzzled by the Frogmen's invasion last night.

They thanked the soldiers for their efforts and also prayed to the Goddess, thanking her for her protection.

Of course, the Townsfolk also sang praises for the Baron's once again saving them.

After listening to Jessica's report, Arthur went to the kitchen for a meal and summoned Grey.

Their previous conversation had been interrupted by the Frogmen's attack.

The former Sheriff of Mist Town respectfully sat opposite Arthur.

His son, Doru, came with him.

Grey was the type of traditional, old-fashioned, and serious soldier.

This could be seen from his dressing style.

He was always meticulous, his beard neatly trimmed, and he spoke very precisely.

His son, Doru, was quite similar to him, with one difference.

Doru was more persistent than his father.

As a later member of the Fanatics, Doru had his own unique understanding of Arthur's teachings.

At the same time, he was also a very devout believer.

In his own words, he could only atone for his sins in this life by continuously spreading the Goddess's teachings.

He and three other believers who had killed Father Dragan jointly formed a group called the “Sin Eaters.”

This group would recruit those who felt deeply sinful, achieving self-salvation through faith and an ascetic life.

Therefore, even though his father held considerable power in town, Doru still lived a very simple life.

He wore only a thin set of coarse cloth clothes, but he kept himself clean and tidy.

Arthur asked Doru to be present, actually wanting to put pressure on Grey.

After a night of careful consideration, he decided to give up trying to find out the full story from Flora.

The young Baron keenly sensed that Flora seemed to be intentionally hiding something.

Furthermore, since ruling Mist Town, he had never properly sat down and talked with these old leaders.

“Sit, Doru,” Arthur said.

“No, Saint,” Doru respectfully replied, “I have already had breakfast, so standing is fine.”

Arthur did not insist and turned to ask the proprietress to prepare breakfast for Grey.

“I just saw Commander Jessica go out,” Grey broke the silence first, “I suppose he has already reported the situation to you?”

“That's right, the main casualties occurred at the Row House.”

Grey nodded, a hint of self-reproach in his tone: “We didn't arrange too many people there.

“This was a mistake; I didn't expect the number of Frogmen to be so large.”

“I think this was a premeditated attack,” Arthur concluded.

The reason he said this was because the intelligence system had been providing information related to the canal, Paw Claw River, and Frogmen these past few days.

After such a long time, Arthur had somewhat figured out the system's temperament.

It would prioritize imminent dangers, then valuable information, and finally, potential threats that needed further confirmation.

And the warning about the Frogmen attack had actually started when the intelligence about clearing the canal appeared.

Grey fell silent, evidently seriously considering this possibility.

At this moment, Doru suddenly spoke: “Saint, do you mean that we were targeted by these monsters the day we went fishing for crabs?”

“Possibly, or even earlier,” Arthur said, “I can't determine the exact time.

“But judging from both the timing of the attack and the number of participants, this would not be a rash raid.”

Grey agreed with Arthur's conjecture: “If that's the case, then these Frogmen must have a powerful Lord of Slime.”

At this point, Grey couldn't help but make a prayer gesture.

Ever since his son started believing in Mother Earth, Grey also chose to believe in Mother Earth to better understand his son.

His prayer just now was to thank the earth mother for her protection and Arthur's foresight.

Without Arthur's early warning, they would have paid a heavy price last night.

Doru also realized this and softly recited a prayer.

Arthur continued to ask: “You are a local, and you were once the Commander of Mist Town.

“In your estimation, how long will it be before they return?”

Grey thought for a while and replied: “According to the Frogmen's reproduction rate, they will make up for last night's losses in about three months.

“These monsters' reproductive capacity is truly exceptional, and because of this, they are so difficult to completely eradicate.”

Perhaps I should talk to Gedada, Arthur thought.

She is familiar with Mud Crab Swamp and understands these creatures, but I don't know if she is willing to help deal with these troubles.