They chirped merrily one after the other. The beginning of the plan was simple. I would plant the five elves on the outskirts of the territory to act as sentinels, capturing any would-be escapees and notifying me in case of incoming reinforcements. As for Blossom and I? We would be sneaking our way in in secret. As for the rest… well, I was the proud owner of a dimensional portal spell. Why start from the outside when we can teleport them to the middle of the enemy territories?
“[Warp Gate] [Stealth]” I cast two spells, and we stepped through the swirling magical doorway. I couldn’t utilize my Assassin class and the mighty [Stealth] spell back in the past few fights, but with only Blossom and me being present, it would finally come in handy.
I teleported us to the village where I mercy-executed the twin maids’ father back when I traveled here at night with Beatrice piggy riding on my back. The sight that welcomed us was even sadder than the last time I was here. I felt that it had been completely abandoned, its occupants likely dead, but perhaps only relocated.
We made our way to the outskirts of the Wraithclaws’ stronghold location, delivered to us on a silver platter by Leia, Cedric’s mother. They made their home in a hidden valley, reminding me of how the Consortium would always make sure to build their outposts away from civilization. It was best if the two groups – that being the outlaws and the nobles – didn’t interact too much with each other.
I elected to start with the Wraithclaws and not with the Blackthorn baron family because the former would prove to be much more mighty, thus I believed it was best if my forces were fresh when we clashed.
The Blackthorns were a destitute bunch lording over a dozen terribly mismanaged villages, so their forces were negligible at best. I believed that we could outright storm their home and come out victorious.
The Wraithclaws meanwhile required more finesse and planning on our end. Leia didn’t know their exact numbers and the levels of their elites, but they’ve been growing rapidly in the past five years, going from a ragtag bunch of disgruntled peasants to an organization with over a thousand fighting members. Most of those would likely still be poorly trained farmers, but according to her, more and more vagrants have joined their ranks, creating a respectable elite among them – so much so that we might have to run away with our tails tucked between our legs.
As for how big of a blow it would be to the Consortium if I eliminated this organization, and how would the kingdom react if the Blackthorn family were to go extinct? According to our unwitting informant, the syndicate bigwigs couldn’t care less, meaning Black Fang wouldn’t send her forces after the perpetrator, but the Divine Nectar faction, which was basically the drug department’s Winterwood branch, might not react so tamely. To them, the Wraithclaws were a small but profitable side hustle.
As for the disappearance of the Blackthorn, that would cause even fewer problems. The Winterwood count was on his deathbed and the succession was about to enter its final stages. Eric, the noble I met after saving the goblin rape victims with Ayame, was the eldest son – by the way, I completely ignored his invitation for a visit, kinda rude of me… Luke, the dude who wanted to buy my Blossom thus I beheaded him was the second son, and Griffin, Braedon’s governor was the third son, meaning the race was now between the first and third sons.
With such a monumental shift in power about to go down in the county, no one would even realize if the small barony had been upturned, much less care about it.
I glanced down at the little town beneath me from atop the valley. I had to give it to the Wraithclaws. They created a neat little settlement, or perhaps calling it ‘little’ would be rude on my part. Based on the number of homes I could estimate a couple thousand people to live there, maybe three thousand. They’d clearly outgrown being simple bandits and now created a town with its own citizens, meaning non-combatants.
<Do you smell anything troublesome?> I asked while turning my neck toward the gorgeous blonde dog-kin waiting patiently a step behind me. She knew I was musing things over in my head, thus Blossom gave me the time I needed. Now, with a question thrown her way, she raised her nose toward the air.
*Sniff sniff* She shook her head, <no, Master. Nothing noteworthy. There are a few orcs a couple of miles from us, but they are moving in the other direction.> Blossom couldn’t smell ‘strong people’, they didn’t have some otherworldly aroma to them – I was more so asking if there were strong creatures around us, or perhaps even on their side. A Tamer-classed individual could bring his own beasts, for example.
With that out of the way, it was time to descend into the valley and see what this criminal town was all about. Maybe I could steal some ideas on how to set up my stronghold.
…
Scratch that, this was not how I imagined a criminal safe haven to look like at all. It quickly became evident that the citizens were just as undermined as they were under the nobles. This place was a warlord’s heaven, a dictator’s utopia, not one the masses dreamed of.
Distraught, under dressed, thin, and sickly people worked the fields outside the camp, surveilled by armed guards who all lorded over them with sadistic glee, enjoying their favorable position on the pecking order. I heard multiple whip cracks and wails sound as a result.
“Harvest! Harvest! Harvest faster! Lord Scepter said we need to stock up for the winter, it will be a long and miserable one if the army doesn’t clear the greens out in time!” One of them shouted.
Blossom and I left the farmers behind us and moved deeper into the enemy territories. We soon found a well-hidden little wall and I summoned my [Warp Gate] onto it, connecting it to my home. No, it was not yet time to bring my forces over. Instead, it was time to farm some footsoldiers.
<You take left and I go right?> I asked and received a fervent bobbing of her head. We were masked so she couldn’t lick me goodbye.
What do I exactly mean by farming footsoldiers?
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Let me give you a good idea…