Chapter 153 - 126: Clever Valentine
"Kaiyude, that old bastard, sends a letter feigning condolences," Count Valentine furiously tore the letter to shreds. "If he really wanted to comfort me, why the hell would he use perfumed paper? He’s obviously just laughing at me."
"My Lord, the messenger is still waiting for your reply. What are your instructions...?" the Clerk reminded him cautiously.
"Throw him out!" Valentine roared, flinging the shredded paper at his subordinate. A few seconds later, however, he added, "Find someone to write a reply for me."
"Don’t use perfumed paper," he said, grinding out each word through clenched teeth. "Help me thank him for his concern."
After speaking, the Count slammed his fist down hard on the desk. The carved, solid wood desk let out a dull THUD.
He had been escorted out of the Nightmare Forest by two members of the Knight Order, a humiliating retreat. He had thought taking a forty-man Knight Order would make it an easy victory, but then he’d encountered the giant spiders and Burrow Bees. When he saw them charging, their teeth making a high-pitched CHITTERING sound, Valentine had frozen in terror.
He had barely managed to escape back to Black Lion City. For the past two nights, nightmares had jolted him awake. Either a spider would leap from the canopy of his bed and land on him, or a Giant Bee would appear with Philip’s head in its mandibles, asking when he would be brought home. Valentine was already on the verge of a breakdown from the torment.
"My Lord, are we to dispatch the troops now?" the Clerk asked, returning to the desk after relaying the Count’s orders at the door.
"Dispatch them," Valentine said with a nod. "Draft a Lord’s Order immediately. Have the army assemble at once."
"But mobilizing the army will consume a vast amount of money and provisions," the Clerk said after a moment’s thought, offering his counsel. "Wouldn’t it be better to dispatch another Knight Order to the Relic?"
"No, a Knight Order won’t be of much use anymore," Valentine sighed. The latest report stated that only twelve of the forty Knights had survived. ’There’s no guarantee another Knight Order would fare any better. Besides, those Knights aren’t fools. They’ve surely heard what happened to the Black Lion Knight Order, and hiring them now would cost even more Gold Coins. At this point, sending the army is actually the better option.’
He picked up a letter from the desk and handed it to the Clerk, gesturing for him to read it.
"A reply from the Third Prince," the Clerk exclaimed in surprise before quickly reading the entire letter. "There’s nothing of substance in it. He just praises your Lordship’s family for their long years of service guarding the Nightmare Forest. He also says he greatly admires you and looks forward to the opportunity to hear you speak of matters in the forest firsthand."
The Clerk respectfully placed the letter back on the desk and took two steps back. "This Third Prince is truly a model nobleman. The entire letter is filled with hollow diplomatic pleasantries, with no commitments whatsoever. He merely wants to establish contact with you."
"Just a little fox from the Plantagenet Clan," Valentine scoffed. "That’s why we need to send in the troops now—to prove my worth."
"If we win this, I can report a meritorious service to the Royal Capital, which will earn me some prestige. When the time comes, my daughter will be able to get a lot done there." As he spoke, he clenched his fist. ’The original plan was for Philip to go, since he was my only male heir, but now I can only send my daughter to the Royal Capital.’
"But regarding the finances..." the Clerk said in a low voice.
"We’ll levy another tax."
"We already levied one before winter, my Lord," the Clerk immediately reminded him. He desperately wanted to add that the commoners were already groaning with resentment.
"Don’t worry," Valentine said, stroking his goatee. "First, we send the troops out. Make a big show of it. Then, we’ll haul a few dead giant spiders into the territory for the commoners to see. We’ll levy the tax after that."
"A few days after collecting the tax, we’ll show them the corpses of the Burrow Bees. That way, the commoners won’t have much to complain about. After all, money isn’t as important as their lives."
After listening, the Clerk thought for a moment, then added, "That’s feasible. The corpses of these two monster types could also be transported to Plantagenet City. The weather isn’t so hot now, so hiring a single Mage Apprentice would be enough to preserve the bodies. This would further enhance your prestige."
"Has that escaped prisoner from the Storm Brotherhood been caught yet?" Valentine asked, glancing out the window.
"I apologize, my Lord, not yet. I have already urged the city watch."
"I can’t shake the feeling that someone has deceived us. I’m even starting to think the Storm Brotherhood might not be dead. They’re just in hiding and deliberately led us to that Relic." Valentine narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with suspicion.
"Er, that is a possibility. However, the city watch is already intensifying its search within the city, and we’ve added more men to all the city gates. I’m confident the fugitive will be captured soon."
"Speed things up. I suspect there’s a conspiracy afoot. Those giant creatures didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Perhaps it’s some biological experiment conducted by an Evil Mage."
"Yes, my Lord. I will go and press the city watch right away." The Clerk nodded, then seemed to recall something else. "There is one more thing. I previously reported to you about a group of goblins gathering in the forest. It’s said that a tax collector was killed by them."
"I’m aware. We’ll take care of them at the same time." A hint of disdain crept into Valentine’s voice. "It won’t even take a day to deal with those goblins. Then we can focus all our efforts on the giant monsters."
"You may go. Draft the conscription order as quickly as possible." He waved his hand, dismissing his subordinate. Then he walked to the window and gazed at the scenery outside.
BANG! He slammed his fist fiercely against the wall. ’Don’t let me find you, you gutter-dwelling rat.’
"My Lord," a voice announced from outside the door. "Come in," Valentine ordered.
"A letter for you, from Captain Yu Le." The person who entered was a guard in his early twenties with a thin face and somewhat messy hair.
"Leave it on the desk," Count Valentine said casually. He then glanced at the guard. "Auberto, this letter is from Torch City. Do you have any desire to go back?"
"No, my Lord, I do not," the guard said.
"You are dismissed." Valentine waved his hand and turned back to the window.
...
"Did you hear?" an Adventurer asked, parting the tall grass in front of him with his Longsword as he glanced back at his teammate.
"Hear what, Wolf Eye? You’d better watch your surroundings," his teammate warned loudly.
"The Count’s son actually died in the Relic. And Count Valentine himself almost died when he went there." The Adventurer named Wolf Eye stared at his teammate mockingly with his green eyes. "A lot of people are saying there’s a powerful Dark Warlock in that Relic."
"A Dark Warlock?" his teammate repeated. "I heard that too. Everyone at the tavern is saying those goblins are his minions."
"That bunch of goblins?" Wolf Eye turned back and continued parting the grass. "We’re just here to gather some herbs. We probably won’t run into them."
"Best if we don’t."
Wolf Eye continued to scout ahead. Even though winter had set in, they still had to be careful of animals that might leap out of the grass at any moment to attack passing Adventurers.
After a few more steps, he reached the shadow of a large tree and stood still for several seconds.
"Did you find something?" his teammate asked.
Then, Wolf Eye, Longsword in hand, beckoned to his companions behind him. When his two teammates walked over, he spun around and lunged with a sudden thrust.
These two Adventurers had some experience. They had heard before that a Ghost in the forest could possess people, and that they had to be careful if a teammate started acting strangely.
They nimbly dodged Wolf Eye’s thrust and charged forward, swinging their own weapons.
The continuous RUSTLE RUSTLE of grass sounded all around them. The Adventurers were instantly on alert, realizing that a large number of goblins had surrounded them.
They made a split-second decision and turned to flee without a moment’s hesitation. They had already heard many stories at the Ear-Cleaning Master Tavern about encounters with this band of goblins.
Lately, Adventurers in the tavern had been constantly complaining about being chased and attacked by goblins. But there was nothing to be done. A phantom-like Ghost leading over fifty goblins was more than a small party of Adventurers could handle.
SQUELCH. As the two Adventurers fled further and further away, Wolf Eye slit his own throat. Then, Scarface emerged from his back.
"The Adventurers are already afraid of me." A corner of Scarface’s mouth lifted into a smirk. He looked at his minions around him, who were holding various weapons. He wasn’t sure if it was because they had won several fights against Adventurers or for some other reason, but the goblins all looked extremely agitated, brandishing their weapons.
’Why can’t I find my target?’ Scarface frowned, looking at the corpse at his feet. ’Could he have been killed by Adventurers already?’
’That would be letting him off too easily.’
’But since I’m this strong now, I should find something else to do.’ Scarface let out a sinister laugh. As a Ghost, he could no longer eat the food his minions cooked, which deprived him of a great deal of pleasure. So, he could only find that joy through other means.
Scarface now usually got his sense of being a leader by torturing Adventurers and his own minions. But now he had a new idea: he could raid villages outside the forest. That would surely be even more fun.
"We’ll search a little longer. If I still can’t find him, we’ll go out of the forest to have some fun," he cackled, his voice sharp and grating.
"You two, come here." Scarface pointed at two goblins. They shuffled forward, trembling. "You, hit him with your club."
Scarface watched as one of his minions beat the other goblin to the ground. Without his command to stop, the first goblin could only continue to strike with all its might.
"Heheheh," he laughed loudly. "I’m the leader! I’m the leader!"
Not a single goblin dared to disobey him. It wasn’t that none had tried to escape before; he had killed them all. Besides, Scarface could now hide in shadows or underground and didn’t need to sleep at all. The goblins had no choice but to obey him.
"Green Egg, where the hell are you?!" Scarface roared.