Knight: Becoming King of the World

Their eyes met in the command tent, and they could both see the excitement in each other’s gaze. The turning point of this war might be at hand.

"Passively defending against the Inferior Horned Beasts’ unpredictable attacks is too much of a drain on our forces."

Ratifa nodded. "Your idea is brilliant. If we can really find the Inferior Horned Beasts’ main force ahead of time, set up our positions, and engage them in a decisive battle to wipe them out, things will be much easier."

The sudden appearance of some Inferior Horned Beast armies had the imperial forces running themselves ragged. But if they could seize the initiative, they could fundamentally alter the course of the war.

As the Prince increased his efforts, dispatching scouting parties from the various Legions and noble houses to search in a tight-knit pattern, a flood of newly drawn, detailed maps and reconnaissance reports poured into the main border camp.

In his spare time, the Prince found himself repeatedly mulling over Henry’s words. Discovering the pattern behind the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearances was crucial to ending the war.

He longed to return to Lukaron, reminiscing about the life he had there... He wanted a more comfortable life.

This wasn’t to say he was some degenerate royal; in terms of competence, the Prince was a worthy successor.

The Prince couldn’t make heads or tails of this intelligence, so it eventually found its way into Henry’s hands through various channels.

It was a tough job for the couriers, who had to dash back and forth along the border, delivering vital intelligence.

Since Henry hadn’t been idle either, these couriers were often driven to the point of collapse trying to find him outside the border.

After a week of rest, Henry’s troops began to move out.

This time, Henry opted to hunt down small bands of Inferior Horned Beasts.

His "losses" were already substantial, and with his troop numbers severely depleted, it was perfectly reasonable for him to avoid large-scale engagements.

After all, his soldiers weren’t Greenskins; they didn’t get more excited the more they fought.

Henry was quite satisfied with the "Overlord Training points" he earned every few days from hunting small bands of Inferior Horned Beasts, and it put him in a good mood.

Of course, he was even more eagerly awaiting the final tally from the two previous large-scale battles. That would bring far greater rewards and make him even happier.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Henry noticed that ever since his last panel upgrade, the settlement time for large-scale battles had become abnormally long.

Henry suspected it was an error from the upgrade process, and he was not pleased.

’How is this an upgrade? They just pushed an update with more bugs! Hmph, I’m reporting this!’

These days, Ratifa had been observing Henry like a stalker. She told herself she was just curious about the patterns of the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearances, as well as things like the Chaos Force, spatial rifts, and Subspace.

Ratifa wanted to know the very instant Henry discovered anything new!

However, Ratifa noticed that Henry had a cheerful grin on his face every day, seemingly unburdened by the pressures of the tense war.

She couldn’t tell if it was because Henry had absolute confidence in his abilities, or if he’d grown complacent after achieving two overwhelming victories.

Henry kept up this lackadaisical, carefree attitude for several days straight, and Ratifa was starting to get antsy. She decided to confront him directly after dinner and ask if he had made any progress in his research on the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearance patterns.

After a simple dinner, the atmosphere inside the tent was relatively relaxed. Outside, soldiers bustled about, preparing for the night patrol.

Their friendship had grown rapidly over this period, and they had recently taken to having lunch and dinner together.

Ratifa found an opportunity to voice her concerns to Henry.

"Henry, you seem to be in high spirits lately. Have you had a breakthrough regarding the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearance patterns? Any progress at all?"

Henry lowered the map in his hands and looked up at Ratifa.

"I do... have a few ideas."

Ratifa frowned. "Hmm... so you mean you haven’t found a pattern yet? Not even a little bit of progress?"

Henry shook his head. "Not exactly. I have a few leads, but it’s not enough to determine their specific operational patterns."

"But we’ve already been waiting for so long. If we could just find the main Inferior Horned Beast force, we could end this war."

"I know. I’m just as eager to end this war as you are. I want to go back to my fief too, where there are soft beds and endless delicacies.

"But our actions must be based on accurate intelligence. Acting blindly could lead to even greater losses."

Ratifa sighed. "I understand what you mean, but..."

Henry cut her off. "I know your concerns. Please, trust me. I want to find the main Inferior Horned Beast force more than anyone."

Ratifa left, assuming she was in for another long wait. But as it turned out, Henry came looking for her the very next day.

He’d made a breakthrough!

In fact, after returning the previous day, he had organized and summarized the useful intelligence he’d gathered.

Overall, while the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearances still seemed random, he had discovered some minute patterns.

These patterns weren’t obvious, but they were enough for Henry to start building a theory.

Henry began to suspect that the Inferior Horned Beasts’ appearances might be linked to certain specific geographical features. And when he researched these features more deeply, he actually found some leads!

As his investigation deepened, he discovered that the areas where the Inferior Horned Beasts appeared were often connected to specific types of terrain.