Chapter 3: Bad News and Good News

Chapter 3: Bad News and Good News

The battle at the mountain pass has concluded.

It was a brief skirmish, with the outcome resulting in a victory for the dwarves.

Moreover, the dwarven losses were virtually negligible.

In contrast, while the human casualties were not overwhelming, some were critical.

This was mainly due to the deaths of cavalrymen.

On top of that, there were losses among the warhorses.

For the Georgia Kingdom, this was a devastating blow.

You must understand that the southern regions aren’t exactly prime horse-breeding territory.

Most of the quality warhorses in the army are often purchased from other countries.

Because of its distance from quality horse-breeding areas, Georgia Kingdom has always dealt with less-than-ideal horse prices.

In addition, this battle had a far-reaching impact.

That is, the dwarves have risen!

Humans, or rather, the Georgia Kingdom alone, are unlikely to defeat the dwarves.

Taking advantage of the situation, the dwarves wasted no time, marching north after leaving the mountains to plunder human territories and seize wealth.

They intended to unleash centuries of pent-up fury.

Though it was a significant event, it currently had no impact on Airael and Arthur’s side.

After resting, they meticulously discussed with Komit to determine how to proceed.

Unfortunately, the execution of their plans was far from what they hoped.

They secretly contacted Mork, but he showed little interest in their proposed terms, seemingly dead set on aligning with the orcs.

When bribery failed, they resorted to threats.

Using the human situation as leverage.

However, Mork remained unfazed, throwing back a retort: “You tried that trick on that blonde girl hundreds of years ago—do you really think I’d fall for it? I’m not some gullible blonde girl you can easily mislead.”

Upon hearing this, Airael nearly lost her cool.

Even though Mork didn’t name names, Airael could clearly sense he was referring to her.

Particularly with the term “blonde girl,” which described her perfectly at that time!

After all, she really was a “little girl” and also “blonde”.

In any case, Airael felt a cloud of malice coming from Mork.

Determined, Airael resolved that if Mork ever fell into her hands, she would settle the score with him.

As listeners, both Arthur and Komit remained silent.

They weren’t overly concerned with Mork’s words.

Even though the matter directly affected them, they didn’t want to delve too deeply into the history involving the Elven Queen.

Komit had long moved beyond such youthful grievances, as he now had a family.

As for Arthur, he felt that since he had Airael, he shouldn’t dwell on it any further.

Their only concern was that the mission had failed.

This meant they would have to face Mork on the battlefield next.

Just thinking about Mork’s formidable and absurd combat strength gave them headaches.

Even though Arthur hadn’t witnessed Mork’s prowess firsthand, he had gained some understanding of Mork’s strength through the accounts of Airael and Komit.

Moreover, according to Airael, Mork might not have revealed all of his capabilities.

Of course, Airael hadn’t told Arthur everything.

For instance, the hidden power Mork possessed was likely tied to that sword of his.

Perhaps due to past experiences, Airael had strong reservations about Arthur using that sword.

Arthur complied and never used the sword, merely keeping it beside him.

However, amidst all this, they had received some good news.

First, there was confirmed news from the Porcia Kingdom.

The Porcia Kingdom would fully cooperate with the Machia Republic against the orcs, and at the same time, Andrew, the head of the Tower of the Archmage, was on his way.

This was absolutely fantastic news.

The Porcia Kingdom’s cooperation would help them hold back the orc forces from the east, making it difficult for them to support their allies here.

To be honest, the Machia Republic was quite wary of the orc forces in the west.

After all, they had the Wild Boar Cavalry and some of the Wolf Cavalry units there.

Even just a portion of the Wolf Cavalry would be enough to give them headaches.

Additionally, Andrew’s arrival would significantly boost their high-ranking combat capabilities.

Nobody knew exactly what strength Andrew had attained; rumors suggested he had broken through to the twelfth tier.

But this rumor hadn’t been verified, as Andrew hadn’t taken action over the years.

Now, he was finally ready to intervene.

The second piece of good news came from their own Machia Kingdom.

Reinforcements from within the Machia Kingdom would arrive soon, thus increasing their troop numbers.

Combined, they would amount to a whopping fifty thousand soldiers.

As for the third piece of news, it came from Nick Kingdom.

Nick Kingdom also provided a clear message.

They promised to reclaim their footing shortly.

However, it would take some time to organize their forces.

Before that, they would help to hold the orc forces in the west, making it difficult for them to support elsewhere.

With all these collaborations, the situation appeared to turn in favor of the humans.

As for the orcs, only Mork and the Dark Elves posed significant concerns.

And what about the orcs?

After receiving Mork’s counsel, the Beast King began gathering troops at Malong Fortress.

However, this mobilization wasn’t going smoothly.

Aside from the ragtag units left to guard the rear, the Beast King wanted to concentrate the elite forces from the eastern and western fronts.

These were the main combatants on the battlefield, and if deployed effectively, they could turn the tide of the battle.

Yet, the commanders on those fronts insisted they couldn’t spare troops; otherwise, their positions would be in jeopardy.

Humans were still watching them like hawks.

In his heart, the Beast King felt like cursing!

Humans are eyeing you uneasily—does that mean the Beast King isn’t facing watchful eyes from the humans as well?

Ultimately, the Beast King did not pull troops from either front.

Given the circumstances, the practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul was indeed unwise.

If this led to a gruesome defeat on both the eastern and western fronts, preserving the central front would be meaningless.

Thus, the Beast King ended up mobilizing only the second-rate defenses stationed at Malong.

Though they were of little use, being cannon fodder wasn’t a bad deal; dying on the battlefield was, in their eyes, dying for a cause.

This was the Beast King’s attempt to console himself.