Yet another expedition

As soon as Ren get spotted by the city guard they immediately contact him.

"are you Ren? the city hall is looking for you, could you come with me now?" a guard ask

"right now? I have to leave my friend in a place before, then I can go to the city hall" Ren answer

"okay sir, please head to the city hall as soon as you can" the guard said, and then he opens the way for Ren

Ren nods and quickly makes his way to the inn where he left Rita, making sure she was safe and well taken care of before heading towards the city hall. As he arrived, he was met by a group of officials and guards, all looking rather frantic.

When he arrived, he was met by a group of city officers who explained the situation to him.

"The orc army has been defeated and is in full retreat," said one of the officers. "But now we face a combined army of Kobolds and Goblins, and they are marching towards our city. We need your help to defeat them."

Ren was hesitant to join another expedition so soon after the last one, especially if it was not a concrete threat to the city. However, the officers were persistent and offered to pay him a substantial sum of money if he agreed to help.

Ren thought for a moment and then proposed his own terms. "I will only agree to help if you agree to allow me to open a temple and spread my religion in the city."

The officers were taken aback by this request, but they knew they had lost the support of the other platinum-ranked fighters and had little choice but to agree to Ren's terms.

As Ren made his demands, the faces of the city officers grew darker and more agitated. They whispered among themselves, clearly unhappy with the terms Ren was proposing. But before things could get too heated, Hans stepped in.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Hans said, trying to calm everyone down. "I understand that these terms may seem a bit steep, but we must remember the invaluable service that Ren has provided to our city. Without him, we would surely have been overrun by the orcish hordes. We owe him a great debt."

Hans' words seemed to have an effect, and the officers began to relax a bit. Ren, for his part, remained calm and firm in his demands. He knew that he held the upper hand in this negotiation.

"Very well, Ren," one of the officers said after a moment. "We will agree to your terms. We will give you the properties you have won, as well as the resources and labor necessary for the restoration of your villa and the construction of your temple."

Ren nodded, satisfied with the outcome. "Thank you," he said. "I appreciate your cooperation."

With that, the meeting was adjourned, and Ren left the city hall, feeling pleased with his successful negotiation. He knew that he had gained not only material possessions, but also a measure of respect and influence in the city.

Ren entered the inn and found Rita sitting at a table in the corner, anxiously waiting for him. He walked over to her and sat down, taking a deep breath before starting to speak.

"Rita, I have some news," he said, his voice serious.

"What is it?" she asked, worry etched on her face.

"The city hall has proposed another expedition against the combined army of Kobolds and Goblins, the city wants to take them down to become the sole owner of the region."

Rita's expression turned even more concerned, but Ren quickly continued, "I negotiated with them, and they agreed to give me the resources and labor to restore the villa and build the temple. It will be a safe place for you to work, and the monetary reward from the expedition will fund it all."

Relief washed over Rita's face as she heard this. "That's good news, Ren. But please be careful. I don't want to lose you," she said, her voice full of emotion.

"I will be careful, I promise. And I'll make sure to come back to you," Ren reassured her, placing a comforting hand on hers.

Rita smiled, and the two of them sat in comfortable silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. But despite the relief they both felt, they knew that danger still lay ahead, and they needed to prepare for it.

Ren reassured Rita that he will be careful and take all necessary precautions during the expedition. He promised her that he would return safely and continue to work towards building a better future for both of them.

Rita was relieved to hear that Ren had negotiated a deal that would benefit them both, and she thanked him for his efforts. She expressed her gratitude for all that he had done for her so far and wished him luck on his upcoming mission.

As they talked, Ren noticed that Rita was looking pale and weak. He asked her if she was feeling well, and she admitted that she had been feeling unwell for a few days. Ren immediately took action and called for a healer to come and examine her.

The healer arrived shortly and examined Rita, determining that she was suffering from a mild fever and needed rest. Ren made sure that she had everything she needed to be comfortable.

Two days later, the expedition set out to battle once again. The aim of this mission was twofold: to avenge their crushing defeat and to acquire more land for the humans. With the orcs gone and no platinum warriors among the kobolds and goblins, the battle was relatively easy for Ren. Additionally, he gained valuable experience in leading and commanding troops.

As the campaign continued, Ren and the human army continued to defeat the enemy army every time, but the enemy always retreated before they could be annihilated. It seemed like the kobolds and goblins were playing a game of attrition, retreating and regrouping every time they were defeated.

Despite this, Ren continued to gain valuable experience in commanding troops and fighting battles. He also gained the respect and admiration of his fellow soldiers, who saw him as a skilled and fearless fighter.

As the weeks passed, the human army made slow but steady progress, pushing the kobolds and goblins back and reclaiming more and more territory. However, the enemy was still formidable, and the human army suffered many casualties in each battle.

Ren knew that if they were going to win the war, they needed to find a way to break the enemy's will to fight. He spent long hours strategizing with the other officers, trying to come up with a plan he remembers that the goblins have a peak gold rank shaman, and the Kobold had a chieftain in the same level, they would most likely be the spiritual backbone of their respective army if he could take one down the other will surely retreat, and this would be easy with the help of Psyche and Thanatos

Ren shared his plan with his comrades and they all agreed that it was a sound strategy. With the help of Psyche and Thanatos, they began to gather intelligence on the enemy positions, looking for the shaman and chieftain.

After several days of scouting and gathering information, they finally located the goblin shaman in a cave near the front lines. Ren and his team moved in quickly and silently, using their skills to avoid detection. They surprised the shaman and his guards, quickly dispatching them before the shaman could mount a defense.

With the shaman gone, the goblin army lost their spiritual leader and began to retreat. Ren and his team pursued them, taking down stragglers and making sure they would not regroup.

True to Ren's prediction, the kobold chieftain retreated to their mining city, leaving the goblins to be slaughtered by the human army. Ren, however, made sure to spare any civilians that he came across during the battle.

With the goblin army decimated, and the kobold fiercely defend their walls the expedition was in a dead end.

The human army didn't have the means to siege any of the city.

It was true that the goblin army could be taken, but it will surely come to a heavy cost, in Ren mind the loses were too high and the reward would never pay for it.

But some human officer didn't think that way, to them, the majority of the soldier were people that come of other places and they were more than willing to sacrifice them, some of the troop were even willing to put they life at stake for some high rewards.

But Ren did not agree, and according to the contract he only had to lead the human army to defeat the combined army, besieging a city would put him in too many dangers, since Ren doubted that this was the only shaman of the goblins.

The officer was really angry by Ren attitude, and the spirits began to flare, the officers were determined that Ren besieged the city, and Ren in the opposite, after a few hours of discussions Ren abruptly decided to take the troops to the city and be relieved of command.