Chapter 183: The Guardians, Part 2

Chapter 183: The Guardians, Part 2

The atmosphere in the room became noticeably tenser.

"Dragons?! And it's right at the mine? Is that why the Empire tried to take over? Do they know something we don't?!" another of the generals, Ewan Holt, leaned forward aggressively.

Crag shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, but the remains are too old to be of any use, they crumbled apart when we tried to move them. We did find a few spies sneaking around though"

After he was finished with his report, the next one came Ulrich Aust, the general of the north.

"I'm sure you have all heard of the Goblin horde that swept through Unfortunately, even till now, we didn't find any substantial clues We focused our efforts to stabilize the region during the last week and have recruit more soldiers to do so."

"I see Still no leads, huh?" The King nodded slowly and then turned to the last man. "Ewart, what about you? Anything unusual in the east?"

Ewart Hold took a sip of his wine and then placed the cup down. "I'm afraid there isn't much to say," he sighed and squeezed his fist hatefully. "Those filthy beasts ruined many of our coastal towns and our fishermen were slaughtered! If we can't rebuild quickly, many people will starve in a few months!"

"It's not that we lack the manpower, but the people are scared for the safety of their families It is difficult to convince them to leave and go back to work."

After giving a short explanation and letting their grievances be heard, the generals quieted down and respectfully waited for the King to speak.

Placing his elbows on the table, the King crossed his fingers in contemplation.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before eventually speaking, "This kingdom knows you as my generals, but you carry a much heavier weight"

"Guardian of the North, Ulrich Aust!" He pointed at the guy. "Your lands were overrun by monsters and your people, slaughtered!"

"Guardian of the West, Crag Carre!" He pointed at another, "You discovered the wild beasts threatening your lands, and enemy spies sneaking around uninvited!"

"Guardian of the South, Razor Northendark!" He turned to look at the man, "The attempt at your daughter's life could be considered to be extremely well-timed! Should it succeed, you would be mentally impacted and we could possibly lose a strong Guardian"

"And lastly, Guardian of the East, Ewart Holt! The place that feeds a third of our Kingdom is under your protection" nove(l)bi(n.)com

The room turned silent after the king finished his speech. The Guardians were slowly trying to process what they just heard.

"Your Majesty, if I may" Ewart Holt spoke after some time.

"Speak!" the King answered.

"Yes," the man nodded. "It's like this I have also detected something a few months ago. It was quite close to my residence, so I felt a powerful disturbance that lasted a few short seconds. I sent my people to investigate, but they weren't able to find anything so I left the matter at that."

"Could it have something to do with the Goblin horde we experienced lately? They seem to be able to disappear into thin air!" Razor Northendark wondered out loud.

Sighing loudly, the King said, "It matters not. Until we get more information we can only try to keep the situation under control. Instead of speculating about monsters, we should instead prepare for a possible invasion from the Empire"

***

It was time!

His weapons were finally ready and Gerald went to the blacksmith to collect them.

Both his sword and spear were much thicker than normal and appeared brutal, more like meat cleavers, than elegant blades.

"I like it! Good job!" he praised the blacksmith.

"An imposing weapon like this should have a suitable name!" He held the metal handle of the spear in his hand as he was thinking of a good name.

"I need something cool, something imposing like Hmm, like... Like Toothpick! Yes, yes It's a good name! Just imagine losing your life to a Toothpick, ahaha!"

Laughing at his own jokes, Gerald borrowed a chisel and put the name on the handle. Satisfied he then stored the Toothpick into his Space Pouch and went home.

And as to why he didn't name his sword, he decided to name this dangerous-looking one-edged blade after the first thing he killed with it. It seemed only appropriate.