"It will bring unwarranted media and press though. And it exposes our military strength to the public again. Not to mention, it can put some vulnerable spots from our more...assertive neighbours. The previous military expedition was due to the defence of the city, so volunteers bloated our numbers quite a fair bit. If we were to assemble, the numbers would be quite obvious." General Ost said with regards to the countries from the South who did not even have military pacts with Daimon previously and even prepared troops to invade when Daimon was under invasion by monsters.
"I understand that since most of the current adventurers' activity is in the south, they can be part of our surveillance if anything bad is going to happen. That I can guarantee you. As for numbers, I think Commander Eggshells can bolster it a little more with Combat Mechanoids" Jin asked and Commander Eggshells nodded his head.
"Aside from the remaining 110 Combat Mechanoids from Archduke Dyke, we should be able to compensate another 1000 Mechanoids if we were to rush production within the week. If you want reserves for tomorrow, I can only spare approximately 400 Mechanoids."
"It's not much but every bit counts." The rest decided to take Jin's word for it and they closed the meeting for the night for they had a long day once morning came.
For now, an alert had been sent to all the military people that Daimon had raised its alert to orange where they had to be on standby and ready to return for duty which left people curious about what happened again especially when it was given in the night. At the very least, the alert was given out so that they could make some peace with their families before they go for active duty and that was the whole point of putting the alert early.
When it was the start of the next day, the Grey Bears had no idea what needed to be done until they received summary reports of what was happening in Daimon. Troops had been ordered to assemble near Parry City without any reason given and they were to be on high alert. No orders were given to the Grey Bears as of the summary reports and they were told to sit still and not make any rash actions.
On the other hand, this undoubtedly made the Parry City Lord, Sir Peru Peru, anxious and immediately gave Jin an official call. "Daimon City's Interim Leader, Jin." Sir Peru Peru tried to greet Jin as cordial as he could but there was a sense of anxiety within his voice.
"Sir Peru Peru, it is nice of you to call. What's the matter?" Jin said as he too tried to act cordial and dumb at the same time.
"My intelligence services had informed me that Daimon City had been assembling troops in the North and not just the general Northern region but specifically close to my territory. May I ask why?" Sir Peru Peru got to the point so quickly that Jin wanted to pity the guy. There must be a thousand and one thoughts moving through Sir Peru Peru's mind on why Jin would pull such a strategy. Was it because he had made the investigation team to be too restricted that Jin suspects something? Or did they find out about something that Sir Peru Peru was not made aware of? Either way, the assembly of troops was rather concerning and the Lord of Parry City wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"He could have made some small talk first, now this is a little awkward." Jin thought to himself before clearing his throat and told his 'rationale'. "Sir Peru Peru, do not fear. We are just assembling troops there for we wish to cover for the Northern Dungeon Outpost."
"But isn't the number that my intelligence service had speculated to a little way more than what an escort force would be needed to create that Northern Dungeon Outpost?"
"We do not wish to take any risk. The Northern Dungeon is one of the strongest dungeon entrances that Daimon City ever had. We have evaluated the possible consequences and thus it was better we stay vigilant not to have a monster outbreak. Surely, you would not want another monster outbreak so quickly from the other time, right?" Jin tried to lie and see if Sir Peru Peru was able to catch it.
"Besides, Sir Peru Peru. I am not stopping trading with you when it's the most lucrative. In fact, the 400 Mechanoids that you had ordered from Diamondz would be delivered promptly to you with no delays. I apologise for the inconvenience and should you feel that this is a little too...uncomfortable, I have no qualms for you to bring your own defences if that eases your mind."
"If you can lower the quantity of troops that you bring in, I will not need to put up defences here, right? And everyone will be comfortable." Sir Peru Peru tried to bargain.
"I am sorry but I am afraid I cannot do that. Ever since the last attack and mind you, it's still fresh in their minds, I do not wish to take unnecessary risks that could endanger my Daimon City Citizens. What if a being of significant strength like a ...erm DRAGON suddenly comes out when we are establishing the outpost?" Jin purposely used that word to see if it would invoke any emotions or change in expression from the video call while he tried to downplay by imitating a dragon.
"Some expression of shock had been noted but Sir Peru Peru seemed to be unfazed by the example given. He is, however, extremely stressed by the whole situation instead" The System reported.
"Then it gives me no choice that I have to put up troops within the city. I would like to understand your plight but those numbers will terrify my people."
"Don't you worry, we will try to build the outpost within a week. If by a week it's not done, I will remove them as the risk of having a monster coming out by then would have lessened by 50% as we stabilise the entrance's security." Jin said and that was when Sir Peru Peru's advisor suddenly stopped him and whispered to his lord something. His eyes were wide open as he could not deduce Daimon's intention.
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