Chapter 19: Battle (8)

"Is this really alright? I guess that it is a reasonable move but in this situation..."

"You think this is not going to work, Karkas?"

"...We have lesser numbers in the first place. If we got caught up in something, our numbers will be dulled even further."

The one talking with a worried tone was Karkas and the one who asked was Didi. They were overseeing the plan of the king that came up to him at an instant. It wasn't a bad plan but it wasn't good either. Even Karkas was worried that it will lead to deaths.

In the distance far away from those two, the king was conducting a ceremony though it's not that grand of a ceremony.

The king was just sitting in a log and he would reward the goblins who had done good work.

Not all goblins shared the same origins. About half of them joined the groups of Didi and Karkas while trying to escape from their chief. The goblins were very excited for the only ceremony that they had when placed with the 'usual' ruler was a punishment. For them, having a ceremony for rewards could only be seen as joyful thing.

The one who will receive the most awe-striking reward for this ceremony is, as expected, the three who was part of the five who received the teachings of the king.

Though the king perceived this as his duty, he knew that he doesn't have what it takes when it comes to naming people. And so, he gave them, whatever came up to him at that moment when he looked at the particular goblins, names.

"You shall be called Ika."

The one who received the name Ika was a female goblin with a body slightly different when compared to her mid-rank companions. Her body was more comparable as if she was a normal goblin that had not received the blessings of the battlefield. In other words, she was smaller but that doesn't mean she was weaker. If one had to describe her fighting style, she was the type to fight enemies at a distance.

"You shall be called Una."

The one who received the name Una was a goblin with a large body. As reference, he was as large as the Goblin High, Didi. One could expect the strength coming from his thick-sized arms.

"You shall be called Dal."

The one who received the name Dal was the last but not the least of the five. He was a goblin that was excellent with his hands and feet. It may look simple to others but to goblins, that was a rare trait that could lead to various forms of fighting.

The three of them bowed their heads and spoke at the same time.

"We accept our names, my lord!"

The king nodded his head with a satisfied look and stood up. He then declared.

"The three named goblins will lead 20 men each! Organize your group by yourselves!"

The king let his prized goblins to lead 20 goblins each. That was of itself a representation of his trust to them but the more important fact here is that the numbers combined from their three groups is over a half of the total population! In human terms, the three groups can be described as the main army.

After announcing his intentions, he ended the ceremony and he walked towards the Elder to discuss something, something that the king did not have.

He thought to himself.

'I want to have a name too...'

He was longing for a name but unfortunately for the king, no one could give a name to him.

As he walked towards the Elder, he was interrupted by Didi. Apparently, Didi's group had seen something that cannot be judged with their own capabilities and so he requested for the king to come.

Trusting his subordinate, he rushed towards the location together with Didi.

****

Crunch.

A figure eating meat could be seen from afar. He took the meat near its mouth and bit right into it. The meat didn't even resist as it was easily eaten by the figure. Another one also took a meat and ate it. It was like a festival where one eats in the street bare-handed.

That is, if you take out the fact that the one eating is a goblin and the meat was the meat of a goblin.

As they looked on at the goblins, the onlookers talked to themselves.

"Are they from our village?"

"No one eats goblin meat in our village."

"That's true, are they enemies?"

As the onlookers murmured to themselves, a shadow descended from above. They quickly looked back and what they saw was Didi and the king.

"King."

Karkas spoke in a low voice.

"I've been told while I was on my way. What's the situation?"

"Yes, we've confirmed that they are not from our village but...If my memories are correct, there should be no other goblin villages near here. At the very least, they should be near the boundary."

The king tilted his head at the words of Karkas.

"Boundary?"

"Ah yes. Boundary is what we call the wolf's place that used to serve as a way to protect us from Raen."

"Wolf? Do you mean the magical beast in the north?"

"Yes...Do you know of it?"

The king put on an angry face and he was releasing a pressure so intense that the normal goblins couldn't breathe under it. The others flinched from seeing their king angry.

'T-this is my first time seeing him angry...'

'He didn't react this way even when the goblins failed.'

'Does he have bad relationship with that wolf?'

Many of them thought that it was strange to see the king angry. They thought of the reason of why he could be acting like this but of course, not one of those was correct.

---This means...this is a problem that I created.

The king's face got even more twisted at the realization of his mistake. Even though it wasn't his fault entirely, he still counts it as his own. After all, the reason why Raen could be a threat is because the wolf is gone.

The king forced himself to calm down. He couldn't show his pathetic side to his subordinates anymore. He sighed.

"I killed that wolf."

The others were dumbfounded at the declaration of the king. Who wouldn't? A being that Raen, a superior race, couldn't even kill after months was killed by a stray. There's no way they could keep their heads cool.

The king looked up to make eye contact with them.

"I have no plans of apologizing. Instead, I'll make this place even safer than the time the wolf was here."

Karkas and Didi immediately understood his words. Before they could speak, the king asked them a question.

"How come Raen didn't kill the wolf?"

"A-ah. Yes king, most likely Raen needs to fight the wolf with his life on the line but he doesn't take risks."

"Couldn't he just swarm the wolf with his goblins?"

"He couldn't. The wolf was smart. The wolf 'hunted' them when they were alone and never fought directly when the numbers was against him."

The king nodded his head and made a conclusion within his head.

---So the reason why I won is because the situation was too favorable for me.

"I see, so where are they?"

Karkas pointed towards his back and the king walked towards it. He went near a tree and took a peek from it. The goblins were still eating the goblin meat and enjoying themselves.

"What should we do?"

One of Karkas' men from his time as a village chief asked.

"What do you think? Is it a wandering goblin or a member of Raen's?

"There is a high chance of them being a subordinate of Raen."

"Then follow them. There's no reason to refuse this chance. Our plan is to bring the battle to their base."

The king looked at Karkas and then continued his words.

"Karkas, you lead the men and immediately report back if you found it. Didi, you go back and hurry the preparations. The rest will stay with me here."

"Yes, my lord."

The goblins went on their way to fulfill the tasks given by their king. They wanted to finish this as soon as possible. After all, the moment of truth will soon come upon them.

Their nervousness and their anticipation of the battle were making their blood boil. They wanted to test their limits after receiving the blessings of the battlefield. This was more apparent with the previous chief Karkas who had become stronger after storming many battlefields.

The king who was staying in the place where they spotted the strange goblins talked to the remaining goblins here.

"How many goblins are staying here?"

One of the goblins immediately responded to the king's question.

"We only number up to 6, counting the guy who's taking care of messages for us."

"Good. I want you to tell Hig that you guys will be the men that I told him of. He already knows what to do."

The goblins were confused at this sudden order but of course, they didn't refute it. King's orders are absolute.

"Yes king!"

The goblins suddenly disappeared as if they were not there at the first place. The king, left alone at this place, looked at the sky.

"Should I just name myself?"

It looks like he's still in a dilemma about his name.