"They what?"
~Chi!~
Rain's knees almost buckled. "They're preparing for war? Here?"
~Chi~
'Not just here. They plan to conquer all of the Barren Wasteland.'
"How ambitious!" Rain exclaimed, but then he shook his head. "This isn't the time to admire them. Chi, aren't they deterred by the fact that the seadwellers are on our side?"
Chi shook her head. 'Apparently, their King fears nothing. They number around fifty thousand strong and believe they have the upper hand on land.'
So they weren't deterred at all, Rain thought. The Hobgoblins had only sent one thousand the first time, so they wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This time, they would surely send their whole army.
'There's also talk of avenging their slain General or something along those lines.'
"Did you find out any weaknesses?"
Chi shook her head again. 'The Hobgoblin King has many children but no love for them. There isn't anything he desires other than total control over the Barren Wasteland.'
Rain paced back and forth inside his house, his mind racing. "Are they marching here?"
Chi shook her head. 'They're taking their time to prepare for an all-out war. I don't know the specifics, but I heard from their soldiers that they plan to divide their army. One here and the other will marsh north to begin their conquest.'
Rain was certain that, unlike before, this time the hobgoblins would definitely send more than 10,000 troops to deal with them.
~Chi . . .~
Rain forced a smile. "I'm fine, Chi. And thank you for your hard work. Continue to patrol up north."
Chi nodded and went outside, leaving Rain to his thoughts.
Unlike what he and Lord Izumi had expected, this Hobgoblin King was determined and driven. Apparently, he didn't care about sacrificing everything just to conquer the Barren Wasteland.
At this rate, no amount of negotiation would work with such a creature. Rain was sure the Hobgoblin King would kill him on sight if he went there to negotiate. This type of creature was unreasonable and would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
Rain had no choice but to fight back.
He immediately went to consult with Druger about the village's defenses. Though he had doubts, maybe his village could withstand the Hobgoblins' attacks.
Rain found Druger overseeing the construction on the east side of his territory. They were starting to build connections to the ocean as soon as possible.
"Hey, Druger! Can I have a moment of your time?" Rain asked.
"Ah, Rain. What is it? Do you want to change something about the layout?"
"No, everything is fine with the buildings and all. There's something else I need to ask you about."
That alone makes him tricky to defeat."
Rain remembered the domain of Lord Izumi and shivered. How was he going to break that?
"Lad, maybe you should call Lord Izumi right now?" Druger suggested.
Rain thought of it too. It was the safest route. But . . . "Lord Izumi and the rest are probably very busy right now, Druger.
They have their own urgent matters to attend to. Right now, they're probably fighting their own wars and defending their kingdoms.
"Think about it, if I called them here to fight, I believe they would hold a grudge against me because they would forego their important matters just to attend to me.
"I'm not their king, nor are they my troops. We established this alliance out of mutual trust and respect, and I will definitely lose both if I call them right now."
"You do have a point, still . . ." Druger mused.
Rain continued. "Besides, I'm thinking about the villagers. If Lord Izumi and the Seadwellers suddenly showed up and helped us out here, they would surely connect the dots, and our secret would get exposed. When they find out, I believe their confidence in themselves would plummet even more than before. We don't want that to happen."
Druger was silent, thinking.
Rain patted his shoulder and forced a reassuring smile. "This fight, we should do it ourselves. This is a fight we must win ourselves."
Druger stared into Rain's eyes. The young lad's voice was firm, but the fingers on his shoulder were shaking, the only betrayal of the boy's fear. Even so, Rain's eyes were determined.
For some reason, Druger felt at ease. Rain was young, very young in fact, compared to him, but his spirit was unbelievably resilient. He wasn't just a lord in name; he was truly becoming one.
'Rain, lad . . . you're growing remarkably each day . . .'
Druger took a deep breath and steeled himself. "Alright. If you're determined to defeat the Hobgoblins, I will help you. We will help you."
"Really?" Rain's face brightened.
Druger nodded. "The village and the townsfolk will help too, I'm sure of it. After all, your territory is the first line of defense we have before they reach our town. We can't have them breaching this place at all costs."
Rain nodded.
"And with the townsfolk having just recovered the port town, their morale is at an all-time high. This is a good time to announce the impending threat to them."
Rain didn't comment. He was going to announce it sooner or later, so it was best to announce it now than later.
"We have a lot to do, Rain, lad. I believe we have to halt construction for a time and concentrate all our efforts on defense and traps, as well as making weapons for the entire townfolks."
Rain nodded. "Yes. But is our number going to be alright?"
"Including the village here and the townfolks, ruling out those unable to fight, I believe we have about 500 soldiers."
Rain didn't like those numbers at all. "F-five hundred against ten thousand?"
"Aye. It might sound like a one-sided fight, but don't forget, Rain, lad . . . you have those."