Rougenfortians Arrive at Gonad City

Kairuku City's castle is currently bustling. 

Subordinates running here and there with important tasks that couldn't be delayed.

Unfortunately, this hustle and bustle wasn't a positive one as one month ago, King Kairuku IX received a report that a massive Rougenfortian army marched out of Wujin City and was heading directly towards the borders of Kairuku Kingdom to try and conquer its cities one by one from the west.

Due to this, the Kairuku Kingdom was in a state of chaos and turmoil. 

Their forces were currently locked in fierce combat with a 60,000-strong Terravallean Army at the eastern front so they didn't have enough manpower to deal with the Rougenfortians who were attacking from the west.

However, King Kairuku wasn't an incompetent king. During the past nine months, he did his best to make necessary arrangements in an attempt to save his kingdom from falling.

He couldn't bear the thought that the kingdom would fall to ruins under his rule so in his desperation, he stopped caring about the kingdom's finances and went all out.

One of the arrangements he made was, that he struck a deal with the neighboring Paseah Region's biggest mercenary group, the Timberwolf Mercenary Group, to help them defend the western borders from the Rougenfortians.

The plan was to let the 30,000-strong mercenary group delay the 45,000-strong Rougenfortian Army while they invested their entire 80,000-strong army to try and defeat the Terravalleans before the Timberwolf Mercenary Group retreats.

The deal was for the Timberwolf Mercenary Group to delay the Rougenfortians for three days. If they manage to do so, then they could retreat with their money.

Naturally, the Timberwolf Mercenary Group got to where they are now due to their trustworthy nature. They either make sure to complete the task or not accept the commission at all.

They thought that although they were outnumbered by the Rougenfortian Army, their past experiences and excellence would allow them to easily complete their task.

Part of their thinking was that they could thrive in a more competitive region so a single tier 5 kingdom from a backwater Garragon Region shouldn't pose any problems to them.

After all, their task was only to delay them for three days and not defeat them. The chief of the mercenary group even thought that they could wipe out these Garragon rookies so they thought that this commission would be easy money.

Unbeknownst to them, for the first time in the history of their mercenary group, they would have to decide whether to ruin their reputation or die with honor.

…

On the borders of the Kairuku Kingdom, a huge army was marching in an imposing manner.

"Alex, order the men to stay vigilant, we are about to approach the first target city."

"Yes, Grand Marshal!"

The plan was to conquer the cities one by one, however, as per the deal with King Terravalle IX, the entire Kairuku Territory would belong to him but in exchange, he would pay the Rougenfort Kingdom a huge sum of money.

Naturally, Blanc agreed to King Terravalle IX's proposal. 

Not only did they need the huge sum of money but they also had to give the Terravalleans room to grow because if not, their alliance would not be able to defend against the upcoming storm from the central region's biggest fishes.

After a few more hours of marching, Gonad City, the city that they were planning to attack, appeared on the horizon.

The Rougenfortian Army stopped marching for around thirty seconds as Helena looked at the city with a serious expression on her face.

In theory, the Kairuku Kingdom shouldn't have been able to defend against their attack from the western borders since they were locked in a fierce battle against the Terravalleans on the eastern border.

However, Blanc repeatedly reminded them not to underestimate the Kairuku Kingdom since they wouldn't be able to grow into a tier 4 kingdom if they were incompetent.

'They should have something planned for us…' Helena thought to herself as she signaled her men to continue marching.

After another hour of marching, the Rougenfortian Army arrived in front of Gonad City. 

The city was huge, although a bit smaller compared to Wujin City, it would still be hard to take down– if the city was manned that is.

The walls were quite tall and it seems that the Kairuku Kingdom built a moat around the city to increase its defenses.

Leif, the one who had already been here before while gathering information on Count Leonardo Laurelei's whereabouts, furrowed his brows upon seeing the changes in the city.

He then left his station for a bit and walked closer to Helena.

"Grand Marshal, something's wrong here. The city didn't have a moat outside the walls before, if King Kairuku ordered his men to create this moat then perhaps…"