30 Diversion
Even though the battle had been won, there were still many platoons that were ordered to repeatedly venture into Dragontail Valley, and thus the expedition army continued camping at the fortified exit.
The encampment remained over the next few days, with platoons being sent out on a daily basis to hunt down whatever straggling goblins they could find.
Over these few days, Roland did not join the search teams, choosing to remain in camp and to concentrate on the planning of the deployment of platoons instead.
They managed to hunt down hundreds of goblins who had tried to hide themselves in the valley, and this positive result drove the soldiers' spirits high despite having to operate in both bad weather and bad terrain.
Two days after the battle, a rider rushed to the entrance of the expedition army's camp, pushing his horse to the limit as though his life depended on it.
"Halt!" the guards on duty were as vigilant as ever.
"I have come following the orders of the princess, and seek an audience with His Majesty King Roland!" the rider stopped his horse before holding up a golden palm sized hexagonal token. "Here is the Authority Token of Princess Erin!"
The guards were astonished upon seeing the Authority Token of the eldest princess, and dared not delay in letting him in.
Within minutes, the rider already found himself entering the command tent where Roland was waiting patiently along with Alexander and a few other higher ranked officers.
They had been in the midst of their daily discussions regarding deployment, and Roland did not see the need to exclude them from this meeting.
"I heard that Erin sent you here?" Roland asked the rider who was standing before him. "Did something happen over at her side?"
"Her Highness sent me to inform Your Majesty regarding the redirecting of the flood from the Great Manta River. It had been completed successfully!" the rider announced with pride.
"She successfully diverted the floods? That is good news indeed!" Roland nodded in approval.
However, he still remained puzzled.
It was indeed good news that the floods from the Great Manta River had been diverted, reducing the casualties and damages caused, but was there really a need to specially send a messenger to inform him about it?
Could it be that Erin was actually the type who craved attention and compliments?
This poor rider… having to exhaust himself to the point of looking so fatigued just because of the selfish whims of his sister.
He must be properly rewarded for his effort!
"You do not have to push yourself this hard next time!" Roland sighed. "This is no urgent matter after all."
Hearing his words, the rider blanked out for a few moments, repeatedly blinking his eyes in bewilderment.
"But Her Highness mentioned that this is a vital part of Your Majesty's grand plan, and that I have to rush here to inform Your Majesty before it is too late! That was the reason why I dared not delay the slightest!" the rider explained.
There was a slight frown on the rider's face which he had tried to hide.
He had pushed his horse to the limit in order to get to the king as fast as he could, yet now the king was actually saying that it was nothing urgent?
Was the princess toying with him?
However at the moment, an even deeper frown was spreading across Roland's face.
A vital part of my grand plan? Have to inform me before it is too late?
What plan is this?
Why don't I know anything about it?
If she was going to send a message to me, would it hurt her to include some more details so that I can at least understand what she meant?
This Erin really is too inconsiderate!
Roland tried his best to search his memory for his conversations with Erin, but he simply could not think of anything relevant!
"I see…"
Roland's brain was drawing a blank, and that was the only reply that he could think of at the moment.
"If Her Highness made you rush all the way here, could it be that this plan involved the subjugation of the goblins?" Alexander asked from the side.
Hearing the question that Alexander had posed to the rider, Roland could not help but cheer in his heart!
Nicely done!
It would have seemed foolish if he had to ask the rider about a plan that Erin had attributed to him, but if it were Alexander who asked then such a problem would no longer exist.
"Sir Alexander! I am not too sure of the details, but Her Highness did arrange for the floodwaters to be redirected into Dragontail Valley!"
Alexander's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that!
He had entered Dragontail Valley along with Rose and King Roland three days ago in order to scout out the goblins' trails.
During this operation, they had noticed that apart from the dense vegetation and uneven grounds, one significant trait about the terrain in the valley was the stream that ran through the bottom of the valley.
The water level of the stream had already risen significantly due to the rainy season, reducing the area of foothold with the valley.
If the floodwaters from the Great Manta River were to be diverted into Dragontail Valley on top of that, then the habitable area within the valley would be reduced down to near nothing!
Not just that, but the raging waters would wash away the entire goblin settlement that had been constructed out of careful planning, completely robbing the goblins of their homes!
Had this been the reason for the goblins' sudden exit from Dragontail Valley to launch an all-out offensive despite the strong fortifications that were erected?
So this was all part of King Roland's plans!
From the fortification of the main exits to the final battle, everything had been calculated!
To have informed Princess Erin of the plan so that she could act on it, King Roland must have done so before the expedition army even set foot out of the capital.
Which meant that even before any of them so much as laid their eyes on any single goblin, he had already formulated a plan to wipe them out once and for all?
Based on what?!
Simply from the minimal reports from the scouts, as well as the basic terrain assessment from maps?
Was that even humanly possible?
Through his years of serving in the Royal Army and the Royal Guards, Alexander had seen many capable commanders and strategists, both on his side or his enemies' side.
Many of them had been coined with the term genius.
However, Alexander had never seen anyone who was capable of accomplishing something as exaggerated as this!
And if Alexander could have thought of this, how could the other officers present in the command tent not have thought of it as well?
They might not have a record that was as stellar as Alexander's, but having climbed to become high-ranked officers, they were still capable enough in their own right!
All of their eyes sparkled with a bright light as their admiration for the king rose straight to the heavens!
At this moment, other than the rider who just arrived, there was only one person in the command tent who had not come to the same conclusion – King Roland himself.
This was not because Roland was not as smart as the others, but because he was the only one present who knew for a fact that he did not plan this out!
Instead, he was more concerned with investigating the current situation within Dragontail Valley now that the floodwaters had supposedly been redirected into it.
The search teams had not seen the terrain prior to the battle, and thus were not in a position to produce a report that detailed the changes in water level.
In order to know for sure, Roland would have to send either Alexander, Rose, or enter Dragontail Valley personally.
He chose all three options.
The meeting was adjourned early, and the trio prepared their gear for another trip into Dragontail Valley.
However, this time they would not be alone, instead accompanied by a platoon of soldiers who had been executing search and kill operations over the past two days.
It did not take long before they arrived at the stream.
Only…it was no longer logical to refer to it as just a stream.
It was now a raging river that had taken down small trees and loose vegetation in its wake.
Just as they imagined, the goblin settlement that they had spotted earlier was indeed completely taken over by the risen water level.
In fact, there was hardly any flat ground left within Dragontail Valley that was suitable for habitation.
This corroborated with their assumption that the goblins were forced out of the valley by the waters, ultimately meeting their doom by steel in the hands of the expedition army.
Watching the powerful devastation caused by the raging water, Roland let out a sigh full of emotions.
In the face of nature, an individual's power truly amounted to so little in comparison.
Just by redirecting a part of the floodwaters from the Great Manta River, they were actually able to flush out the entire goblin horde.
Roland always had a lingering thought that the battle before was too easy, and that the number of goblins did not match the numbers they saw in the settlement.
Initially, he had thought that the goblins only had their soldier types join the battle, leaving the young and old members back in the settlement.
But now, Roland realised that there might be another possible explanation for it.
When the raging water rushed into Dragontail Valley, who knew how many of the goblins had perished from not having evacuated in time?
If so, then he had truly obtained victory through dumb luck this time.
This kind of victory was not what he wanted!
But there was no longer anything he could do other than embrace the victory.
Glory eluded him today, but there would definitely be other opportunities for it in the future.
"What is wrong, Your Majesty?" Rose asked from behind upon hearing Roland sigh.
"Look at the river below us. To think that it is nothing but a stream during other times of the year. The power of nature is truly terrifying," Roland stood there and continued gazing at the raging river below.
"At the moment, I don't think there is anything more terrifying than Your Majesty," Rose answered matter-of-factly.
Those were her true feelings.
Rose was the person who had spent the most time with Roland and had watched him grow from young.
She had thought that she understood Roland inside-out, but ever since Roland took the throne, he had been repeatedly performing acts of unparalleled wisdom.
This extreme transformation had shocked Rose into believing that Roland possessed terrifying adaptation ability!
Roland pretended not to have heard her as he turned to walk away, leading the platoon back to their camp.
Their job here was done, and after another day, the expedition army would finally break camp and return to Waterfall City.
