Plan

The corner of Leon's mouth rose ever so slightly into a smirk. He looked at Carlos, who fell into contemplation.

The air remained cool as Carlos gaze at Leon as he accepted the pouch, but skepticism lingered. "But, Your Lordship, aren't you afraid? What's to stop us from taking this gold and leaving you to the goblins?"

"Afraid? Afraid of what?" Leon asked as if he didn't understand. "Why should I be afraid?"

"Heh."

Carlos chuckled for a bit at the infuriating irony of it all. Leon was an exiled baron, albeit the least favorite son of the king.

Regardless of if Carlos thought the man was better off dead, a proper excuse was needed for the baron to end up dead. For example, it would have been completely fine to have Leon taken out by the goblins on his way to his own fief. However, there was no way he could die by the hands of a knight of the Kingdom of Cailux, especially one with no special status.

Leon was part of King Leopold's bloodline, as well as a baron representing the Kingdom of Cailux.

"The Ruins has been taken over by a bunch of goblins. We have absolutely no chance of taking out those humanoid beasts with the kind of numbers we have on our side." Carlos said then continued. "Your Lordship, we both understand what is going on here. Neither of us is a bloody fool."

Leon remained looking at the middle-aged man and said, "We need to take out the Goblin Tribe at the ruins one way or another. Afterward, you all will be free to go home."

"Haah... Any plans then?" Carlos sighed then asked.

Given how things turned out, there was no way he believed that Leon had no other plans in mind.

Leon, of course, had further plans to deal with the situation.

"We will ambush the goblins while they are unaware of what is going on. The goblins Tribe doesn't know that we're here. So, we will lay in the dark. After all, we're the ones with the element of surprise."

"Ambush?"

Carlos voice slightly raised as he said, "The knights will suffer heavy casualties."

Carlos took a deep breath before saying, "Please note that we only have 15 knights at our disposal, Your Lordship!"

"My people will be a part of this," Leon said with a calm expression. "If our ambush is a success, the goblins will be thrown into chaos. We'll take them all out before they can regroup and organize an effective retaliation."

"Do you mean those peasants of yours, Your Lordship?"

Carlos face was filled with unconcealed sarcasm and ridicule. "I have to admit, they are good at working as servants."

"They can fight as well," Leon replied.

"Your Lordship, you're playing with fire here." Carlos glared at Leon with anger in his eyes. "That is being irresponsible to my subordinates. This is a gamble with our lives on the line."

"That is how war works," Leon replied without shirking away.

"Also... I think you also know one of the reason why I, Leon Nightshade, became an exiled." Leon smirked as he raised his right hand were a swirl of cascade dark particles started to gather around his hand.

Carlos looked at the hand of Leon and fell silent. Carlos knew what he meant and maybe they can pull this off successfully with the help of Leons powers.

Leon then solemnly said, "You should be able to understand that if our ambush is a success, we may all come out alive."

The term "ambush" meant a surprise attack out of nowhere. It was as simple and straightforward as it could have been.

One could have called it "sneaking up on one's enemy" as well.

It was a tactic to deal an effective blow on one's enemy when one's forces were vastly outnumbered by said enemy.

The effect of an ambush was even more apparent when cavalry units were concerned since they had the advantage of high mobility. The effects of employing such a tactic would have been like no other. That was why Leon went all the way to pull what he pulled. It was to employ the knights to stay behind and fight for him.

The tent fell silent as Captain Carlos weighed the offer, his eyes fixed on the glimmering gold. After a prolonged pause, he nodded tersely. "You have yourself a deal, Your Lordship. We fight for the gold and promise to reclaim your fief"

Carlos then looked at Leon and said, "We need to wait for the right time when the goblins are the most relaxed. Perhaps dawn would be a good choice for doing so."

"No." Leon immediately shot down the suggestion.

While the goblins were at their most relaxed moments before dawn, Leon's entourage did not have too much time to wait.

"Why?" Carlos frowned. He was very confident about his experience on the battlefield.

Leon explained, "The slaughtered goblins at the side of the clearing will have alerted those at the Ruins. If none of them return during sunset, the goblin Tribe will be able to guess that there are enemies nearby."

Carlos breathing became ragged as he asked, "When should we do it?"

"Sundown."

After thinking for a while, Leon seriously said, "We shall launch the ambush when the sun is about to set."

"The evening glow," Carlos added.

"That's right. The sun will be our ally. The light shall conceal our presence."

Leon took a deep breath and said, "There is no way they can detect us quickly enough. At that time, all your people need to do is charge as quickly as you can, throwing the entire tribe of goblins into chaos."

Leon paused for a bit and slowly added, "After that, my men and I will charge as well."

It was silent in the tent. It took quite a while before Carlos looked up and said, "Alright."

"We won't fail," Leon said, smiling as he looked at Carlos. "Trust me. The battle today will be one of your proudest stories when your people are out having a good time drinking in the tavern."

Carlos chuckled and glanced at Leon. "I sure hope so."

He walked outside the tent and said to Carlos, "We'll get prepared."

"Sure." Leon nodded.

He was all alone in the tent again, but his expression had become incredibly severe.

A brutal battle was about to begin.

There were probably some among the knights escorting them that would end up dead. As for Leon's current Barbarians who were in charge of the construction of his estate from then on out, some maybe would be lost as well.

You can't go through life without making huge gambles once or twice.

Leon took a deep breath.

He chose to come to the Ruins of Solace Kingdom. That in itself was tantamount to gambling on its own.

He had next to nothing, yet he wanted to live. The only way to secure a good life was to give it his all.

Leon touched the sword by his side and chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. Well, it's not like we're going to lose for sure.

He had come all this way to win.

It was a victory he had to secure at all costs.