Winters in the fortified city of Kelvast facing the prairie are harsh.
The temperature was not harsh because it was close to the prairie, the territory of the fire dragon. Rather, it would be the warmest among the 5 western kingdoms. The reason Kelvast’s winters were evaluated as harsh was purely because of the Orcs who went crazy when it came to winter.
The way Orcs spend the year is extremely simple. They fight bloodily among themselves, and when the forces unite, they aim for the human city. The reason why the offensive began in winter, when humans would be reluctant to even engage in activities, was for an extremely orc-like reason.
Because food spoils slowly. A truly absurd reason to fight more and longer.
The kingdoms, which have been plagued by generations for hundreds of years due to their behavior that adversely affects the health of everyone in the Western Kingdoms, eventually build a great wall and gather supplies from all kingdoms to build a city to maintain a border against monsters. reached
The neutral fortified city of Kelvast. A sacred and inviolable realm where all the kingdoms not only never touched each other even if they stabbed each other with swords, but actively supported it. And while giving him a position no different from that of a Marquis, he was guaranteed to act autonomously.
In other words, he found someone to shave his head instead.
“Why are all these things so quiet…?”
And the ‘honorable’ Margrave of Kelvast, who had to fulfill his lord’s duties in a place that boasted of its long tradition, was tearing out his hair today as he couldn’t sleep at night. His tone and behavior did not show the dignity or manners of a nobleman, but The butler who silently stood by his side did not impose any restrictions, and the Margrave of Kelvast himself did not care.
It was useless to maintain Kelvast in front of the prairie, which could be called a devil’s den. What he needed was the prairie. It was the adventurers who went out to hunt and return to the profitable monsters, the troops to protect the city, and the funds and food to support them.
It may have enjoyed wealth and prosperity from generation to generation, but its only drawback offsets all the advantages: the wall had to be repaired like an annual event, the cost of casualties had to be paid, and yet again, the treadmill and wheel to prepare for the next year In the same daily life, the only blessing he received was strong hair.
Honestly, there were many times when I prayed to God that the orcs would be quiet for a year. Even then, the number of new attempts with Kelvast’s funds would increase exponentially. .But since that was actually happening, I couldn’t sleep because I was anxious.
Originally, I thought there would be a terrible offensive that is unprecedented in history this year. The crazy orcs, who merged most of the orcs in decades Because it appeared.
Warchief Kakula.
It was already spilled water when he properly recognized the threat posed by the existence of the offspring that the meadow gave birth to. Even after a short reconnaissance, the outposts of the orcs were sparsely visible, and the adventurers looked more at the heads of the orcs than the beasts. They returned with more. While they were neglected like that, they ran rampant at the same time as winter began, and it didn’t take long for everyone to become very nervous saying that the invasion was not far away. But then it suddenly calmed down. Exactly 2 weeks
ago .
At first, I wondered if Hwaryong had woken up and set fire to the meadow to pass the time, but even the regular reconnaissance team couldn’t figure out the cause. In the end, the Margrave of Kelvast attempted a more full-scale reconnaissance, and the only information he heard was heartbreaking.
First reports of fewer orcs, a week later reports of sightings of orcs fleeing in terror, and this week we’ve heard grotesque reports from smugglers that orcs are ducking out of fear of demons in the steppe. .
Yeah damn smugglers. I didn’t know that the traitors to humanity, who personally proved that they would sell weapons to monsters if they could make money, were actually doing smuggling with the nearby orcs.
Orcs accumulated a lot of unnecessary items obtained through hunting and traded with them to get quality weapons and food, which was an advantage, and smugglers benefited from being able to earn huge profits by obtaining far more by-products than they provided, but of course To the Margrave of Kelvast, they are all criminals worthy of being hanged. In fact, the Marshal was well aware that even the leaking of this information by those parasites was an attempt to find out the cause and give the orcs a chance to breathe.
Even so, I was angry at the reality that I couldn’t ignore the story. Are you a demon of the meadow? It was originally a term used by Western Kingdoms to refer to Orcs.
It’s called the green demon orc of the meadow.
But those guys run away screaming demons? Even though there is a warchief, Kakula, who can be called a hero from the point of view of the orcs, and thousands of great armies under him?
Even if something went wrong, it was clear that it was definitely wrong, so even though the reconnaissance team was operating in three shifts to get more certain information, it was not cool to get it. At least recently, there was a report that captured the circumstances of a massacre in an orc village that was a bit more central. And that information was more horrifying than useful.
The place they marked on the map was where Kakula’s tribe had recently settled. That it was devastated meant that something was going on in the meadow.
It was a situation where nothing could be known at all, but a knock rang in the office of the Margrave Kelvast, who was organizing and examining countless parchments in case there was still a clue.
“Come in.”
At the same time as the short acceptance, what was seen through the quickly opened door was not a servant, but a guard who was breathing heavily. At the same time, his heart sank. Could it be that the orcs finally started attacking? Even the always calm butler took a deep breath while breathing heavily. The guard said,
“Meet the Marquis of Rice! An adventurer claiming to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Itthel has appeared at the current gateway and I want to report it urgently!”
However, at the unexpected report, Margrave Kelvast could only tilt his head.
“Why are you reporting that… in such a hurry?”
The reason why even a mediocre adventurer didn’t threaten his subordinates that he should care now was because he was a person of character and at the same time lived as a member of the family that maintained and protected Kelvast, trusting his servants and subordinates
. No, I came from the west…”
West. prairie.
In a place where dozens of adventurers come and go every day, there was no reason for a new report like this to come up. Sure enough, the guards rushed in and reported important information on their own without the Margrave of Kelvast prompting them.
“…he didn’t have a pass.”
Even that was disappointing.
“…How could an adventurer without a pass come from the west?”
Are you voluntarily revealing to me that you neglected immigration control? If that was the case, I wouldn’t have shown such an embarrassing attitude.
“Confirmed, he wasn’t an adventurer residing in the city! According to Bo himself, he was caught up in the gate opened by the orcs…” The Marquess of Kelvas was angry at the guards reporting so seriously and rigidly
. He seriously considered whether he should pay it or take his words seriously, but instead of asking back, he went over the story he had just heard and finally asked, “The orc opened the gate?” “Yes,
yep
!
” Did you just believe that word and report it? Rather, it feels more credible to say that there was a hole in border security.”
“I’m sorry! Not only was it too detailed to be dismissed as a madman, but the weapon he was holding…”
What about the weapon? Why, the more we talked, the more the questions started to grow instead of being resolved.
“Is there something wrong with the weapon? Are you a magic sword holder by any chance?”
“Oh, no.”
“Then, it’s a magical sword with an enchantment so great that it cuts through anything, so is it a threat just by possessing it
?
” ..”
Why did he react so protractedly? The moment he was about to get angry, the butler, who had been silent until now, cleared his throat lowly
. Realizing that I was on the verge of being relieved by the diligent guard, I regretted it belatedly and let out a short sigh.
i was a bit sensitive I had no intention of interrogating you. Okay, then what was the problem?”
When I asked the question with a relaxed expression as much as possible, the guard took a quick look at the butler before finally answering properly.
“That… he was holding the ax of Warchief Kakula.
” Baek had to doubt his ears again this time.