Chapter 122: The Return Journey

"Excellent teamwork, Aive!" Liya cheered on her daughter, then turned to explain to the assembled ladies. "Do you see? They’ve clearly been through many adventures and battles. Otherwise, they could never have seized such a perfect opportunity!"

As the best fighter among all the ladies of Rose City, and the Elf warrior most beloved by the noblewomen, Liya’s words carried a great deal of credibility.

"That barbarian is incredible too! Even in the army, I’ve never seen anyone wield a greatsword like that!"

"Heavens!" As Sera’s sword severed the tendon in an Ogre’s left leg, one guest was so frightened he dropped his wine glass. "Blood! So much blood! I think I’m going to—"

CLATTER. The man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell stiffly backward onto the ground.

"Interesting. I never knew one of the people who despises you the most faints at the sight of blood," Hendrix said, popping a hard candy into his mouth. "The Carolina slaves his family purchased are the most wretched lot in all of Rose City."

"I am utterly shocked, sir." Silvia’s eyes went wide, but they held not a shred of genuine surprise.

"Maybe he only faints at the blood of *other* man-eaters," Constance quipped, before her adoptive father shooed her into a corner.

"These things have incredibly thick hides!" Sera left another half-meter-long gash on an Ogre. But even though the Grip of the Vast Wave stopped the Ogre from self-healing, the massive creature’s sheer constitution was enough to keep it fighting to the death for a short time before it would fall.

After a few more exchanges, the three of them looked as if they’d been dredged up from a pool of blood.

"Can we just cut their heads off? It’s taking too long for them to bleed out!" Sera spat a mouthful of bloody foam. The Ogres were paying little mind to Victoria; all they could think about was prying Sera from her armor and eating her.

The constant, high-impact blows made it difficult for her to hold on much longer.

"Not so easy!" Sera replied, reversing her grip on the Grip of the Vast Wave. As an Ogre charged, she seized the opening to slice open its belly, finally bringing one down. "Not unless I can jump down from somewhere higher and run them through!"

"Good thing I switched to a short spear," Victoria said, rolling to evade an Ogre’s massive club. As she rose, she seized the chance to drive her spear into its ankle. "If I were still using the Hard Head Hammer, I’m not sure I could’ve even broken the skin!"

After all, without the aid of Magic, fighting such hulking beasts with pure physical strength was an overwhelming task.

But regardless, through their coordinated efforts, two Ogres soon fell into pools of their own blood. The final one had its lower leg severed by Sera, and it was clear it wouldn’t last much longer.

"It seems even Ogres are no obstacle for them," Hendrix said with a smile. "Many of my friends here previously harbored doubts about their strength. How about now? Does anyone still have questions?"

After the muffled thud of the last Ogre hitting the ground, all doubts vanished. Applause and cheers erupted as the guests lavished their praise upon Aive and her companions. The Half-Elf herself was quickly surrounded by a throng of reporters and editors; it looked like her name was guaranteed to be in tomorrow’s papers.

"Although the Fernandez family still won’t be on your side, you’ve at least won over the majority," Hendrix said to Ron with a smile after the feast. "You can now move against Carolina with peace of mind. Rose City will absolutely not interfere."

"And as for the other city-states, when they see Rose City doing nothing, none of them will want to be the first to stick their neck out. Our deal is done."

"Thank you for your generous assistance," Ron said, shaking Hendrix’s hand. "I’m sure we’ll have more opportunities to work together in the future."

"Of course. I look forward to that day."

「A few days later」

With the assurance they needed, Ron and his companions departed Rose City and rushed back to Delusional Land.

During their journey, which took over a month round-trip, they often heard the name "Klade" from the mouths of passersby. It was proof that keeping the earth goblin cooped up in Delusional Land would have been a true waste of his talents. In their absence, his reputation had grown from captain to general, and then to warlord. Those sympathetic to Carolina feared his rapidly expanding army, while those who opposed Carolina lauded the discipline and glory of his legion.

"It’s hard to believe he can manage goblins so well. I don’t think I’ve heard a single story about his goblins burning, killing, or pillaging this entire trip," Aive mumbled through a mouthful of breakfast in some nameless town. "I was fully prepared for our reputation to be dragged through the mud."

"Klade keeps his subordinates on a tight leash. I also heard he’s recently recruited a lot of bear goblins and earth goblins," Victoria said, taking a sip of milk. "Apparently, quite a few Adventurers have joined his ranks as well."

"I heard Warg Mounts and Beastmen, too!" Delaford added. "His forces are becoming a real hodgepodge."

"How on earth does he keep his men in line?" Silvia asked, curious. "I just don’t get it."

"Find a common enemy," Delaford said, beckoning a rat onto the table. As everyone else recoiled, he untied a small slip of paper from its leg. "I’ve been in touch with the Scouts. They massacred a pack of Gnolls a while ago because they refused to submit to Klade."

"So Aive was right, our reputation really is in the gutter. We just don’t notice it from within the city-states."

One could imagine that whenever Klade couldn’t find an opening to exploit against Carolina, the nearby monsters were the ones to suffer. Though, Delaford was probably the only one who cared about their reputation among the Gnolls.

"If he keeps expanding like this, I’m worried we won’t be able to stop him," Ron said with concern. "If this snowball turns into an avalanche, we’ll have a major disaster on our hands."

"Then just let Klade run his army into a stone wall," Sera said, not letting breakfast interrupt her meal of meat. "The snowball, I mean."

’To an earth goblin like him, subordinates are just consumables. He wouldn’t bat an eye even if they were all wiped out.’ Ron made up his mind. ’When the time is right, I’ll have him launch an all-out assault on Carolina. It doesn’t matter if he wins or loses.’

"Hm... they also say that while we were gone, a group of bandits entered Delusional Land and have started... crowning themselves kings?" Delaford was still reading the message sent by his kin. "That’s strange. I can’t believe Seymour and the others couldn’t handle them."

"What?!" Ron nearly spat out his water. "Are you telling me we went out for a bit and someone took over our home base?!"