Chapter 71: The Empty Outpost

Chapter 71: The Empty Outpost

Otem nodded after hearing that and said, “If possible, I naturally wish for such a good outcome.”

Airael smiled lightly and said no more.

Having said so much just now, she was merely speaking off the cuff.

Although she had certain biases against the Orcs, she wasn’t so blindly loyal to humans that she would sacrifice everything for them.

If it weren’t for Axi, she might not have intervened at all. Instead, she may have added fuel to the fire, causing human power to weaken even more.

Hundreds of years had passed; despite a civil war, humanity remained quite powerful.

But it was unavoidable.

Humans lacked neither population, resources, nor territory, and the civil war was merely a redistribution of internal interests among them.

Any other race that attempted to meddle would quickly be united against by humanity.

Moreover, wars had forged a large number of elite soldiers for humans, not just a bunch of all talk.

Though her involvement wouldn’t weaken human strength much, Airael still felt happy about even a little contribution.

Recalling the events from back then, Airael felt genuinely angry.

However, because of Axi’s presence, she now stood on the human side, lending a little help.

Airael said nothing, and Axi didn’t want to say much either.

The group fell into silence.

Time passed quickly as they hurried along.

Just as they were making their way to the Orc outpost, the Orcs were already taking action.

Upon learning that the outpost had been compromised, Sko immediately ordered an evacuation.

Humans had Scouts spread across the northern lands, and the Orcs had their own scouts keeping an eye on the human army advancing north.

When the outpost was compromised, Sko predicted that the human army would launch an attack.

With no means to respond effectively, he could only choose to flee.

The Orcs fled in a hurry, leaving many of their belongings behind.

When the human vanguard arrived, they found the outpost eerily empty, with not a single Orc in sight.

It was obvious.

The Orcs had already made their move.

Knowing the outpost was compromised, they had fled.

“Those cunning Orcs!”

Looking at the empty outpost, Otem gritted his teeth.

Airael had no opinions on this matter.

In fact, it was entirely normal.

While Orcs might be a bit slow on the uptake, they weren’t completely foolish, and there were quite a few clever Orcs among them.

Since their location had been discovered, would they just sit around waiting for humans to wipe them out?

Even though it was understood that this was an empty outpost, the Knights still decided to enter and investigate thoroughly.

They were extremely cautious.

Because Orcs could very well have set traps waiting for them inside.

Airael and Axi were equally careful.

However, all caution disappeared once they saw the detailed condition of the outpost.

The place was a mess.

Although the Orcs weren’t known for strict discipline, they wouldn’t let their own outpost get so chaotic.

Especially with food just thrown about haphazardly.

This was practically impossible for Orcs.

Unless they were in such a hurry to leave that they had no time to care about these details.

“The Orcs must have just left not long ago,” Axi noted.

“Should we pursue them?” Airael asked, looking at the surrounding Knights.

Without waiting for Axi to remind them, some Knights also began to notice something was amiss.

The Orcs had truly been in quite a rush.

When it came to whether to pursue the Orcs, however, the Knights held different opinions.

Some wanted to chase them down.

Otem was a prime example.

“Of course we should pursue! We can’t let those cunning Orcs get away just like that.”

Hearing Airael’s question, he spoke up.

“But Your Grace the Duke only ordered us to besiege the outpost; he didn’t instruct us to pursue the Orcs. Acting rashly to chase them could be dangerous. This might very well be an Orc trap for us to fall into.”

If Otem was the radical among the Knights, then the current speaker was the cautious voice.

Many Knights echoed their sentiments.

Each had their own reasoning, and it sounded quite reasonable too.

The radicals believed the Orcs were scared of them and fled in haste; they definitely hadn’t gotten far, especially since they were likely burdened with supplies that slowed them down. Chasing them would be easy!

The cautious ones naturally wanted to play it safe.

While they too coveted the impending honors and accolades, they had many reservations in their hearts.

Firstly, they were soldiers in the army, where orders were paramount.

The Duke had only ordered them to attack the outpost, not to take further action.

Moreover, it was highly likely that any seemingly insignificant insubordination might ruin the Duke’s undisclosed plans.

And there was no need to elaborate beyond that first point; it was enough for the cautious Knights to weigh their options carefully.

The differing opinions immediately sparked a quarrel among the Knights.

Everyone was expressing their views, but hardly anyone was really listening to the other.

In the end, it even devolved into personal attacks.

The radicals called the cautious ones cowards.

What battle didn’t involve risks?

Moreover, when one is outside, the commands of superiors might be disregarded.

The cautious members mocked the radicals for being too young and immature, seeing things too simplistically.

At the same time, they emphasized they were not cowards.

They too wanted to pursue the Orcs but needed a command from Duke Rayman first.

Watching the once-quiet outpost turn chaotic, Airael couldn’t help but twitch her mouth.

This was an all too familiar scene.

Then she leaned closer to Axi and asked, “Are we just going to keep watching?”

Axi, who had been deep in thought, turned to Airael and said, “I think they all have valid points, which is why I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is.”

“Do you want to hear my opinion?”

Airael continued her inquiry.

Axi looked at Airael, waiting for her perspective.

Airael smiled and said, “I think we should chase the Orcs.”

“This opportunity should not be missed. If this truly is a good chance and we let it slip by so easily, that would be a real shame.”

“And besides, even if Duke Rayman wants to hold us accountable later, he can’t pin it on us since we aren’t his soldiers.”

At that, Airael’s voice dipped low.