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Chapter 30: The Real Objective of Kruft Kingdom’s Expeditionary Force Part 1

Ximengi Continent’s southern part, the border area of Steinbeck Fief, Lawrence River

While patrolling on a flying magic carpet, Clyde discovered Kruft Kingdom’s expeditionary force. From his reconnaissance, the target of this expeditionary force composed of over 5,000 troops was the core of Steinbeck Fief, Stanley City. Just after Clyde’s party had taken over this territory, they now suffered an invasion by hostile forces.

As a member of “Clark Alliance,” Kruft Kingdom was a nation that practiced slavery. Nevertheless, since Steinbeck Fief had just been reclaimed, there were no native residents, so it was very unlikely that they had come to capture slaves. Thinking quickly, Clyde realized they must have some other objective.

Now, Kruft Kingdom’s expeditionary force was repairing Lawrence River’s floating bridge, which the mercenary groups and adventurers had used to successfully enter Steinbeck Fief before. Obviously, Kruft Kingdom intended to cross this river after repairing this floating bridge. Since their number greatly exceeded the previous mercenaries and adventurers’ numbers, they had to completely repair the floating bridge for all of them to safely cross the river.

In Ximengsi Continent, every human nation, regardless of whether it were an empire, kingdom, or principality, more or less all of them had at least a single squad of distinctive armed forces. That armed force of Owles Kingdom that lacked any distinctive characteristics was considered to be barely above a miscellaneous mob. Meanwhile, Kruft Kingdom’s distinctive armed forces were elite berserkers. Burly warriors wearing a special armor and armed with great combat skills, their name had spread throughout much of Southern Ximengsi Continent. Among these over 5,000 soldiers, there were over 2,000 elite berserkers. The huge concentration of resources implied that they had spent a large sum of money on this expedition.

The distinctive armed forces were the elite troops of any nation. It was not worthwhile to dispatch so many elite troops to deal with a place without any residents. In its current state, Steinbeck Fief didn’t have much value. After thinking this, Clyde dispersed the black flames in his hand. He decided to simply confirm whether Kruft Kingdom’s troops had mistaken their attack target. Perhaps he could avoid a tiring battle by redirecting them!

In Ximengsi Continent, there were not many human magicians, and most of them were just miscellaneous wanderers who could only use the fireball magic spell. As for the magicians who had grasped flight magic, there numbered very few. Therefore, no one would usually go out of their way to prepare air defense. When Clyde flew over on a flying magic carpet, not a single soldier in Kruft Kingdom’s military camp looked up, entirely unaware of Clyde’s appearance.

Clyde found a suitable place, descended from the sky, and quickly stowed his flying magic carpet. He then quickly targeted a Kruft Kingdom’s solder who was patrolling farthest from the military camp. Before he even had time to understand what was going on, that unlucky soldier was strangled to death and pulled into a thick clump of grass.

Afterward, Clyde, wearing a suit of armor bearing Kruft Kingdom’s insignia, emerged from the shrubs and openly entered Kruft Kingdom’s military camp. This place’s military discipline was not very strict as no one even bothered to inspect him. Clyde didn’t encounter any obstacles and successfully snuck in. Because of the slavery system, the member nations of “Clark Alliance” had many slave mercenaries in the army, so no one remembered the lower soldiers’ names as it was too troublesome to interrogate and examine every passerby unless they were close to a battlefield.

As long as Clyde didn’t get too close to those elite berserker troops, he wouldn’t be discovered. Unfortunately, even after a lap around the military camp, he was unable to obtain any valuable intelligence. The soldiers in the military camp discussed irrelevant things that had nothing to do with the objective of this march.

Clyde was unable to distinguish the military ranks within Kruft Kingdom’s army, so he was unable to discern who the high-ranking military officers were. Since he couldn’t determine the other side’s high-ranking military officers, Clyde simply turned toward the supply area of the military camp. As long as their army provisions were all burnt, this Kruft Kingdom army would naturally withdraw without conducting a war. Since the current Steinbeck Fief was a complete wasteland, they wouldn’t be able to replenish the army’s provisions along the way.

Since he was unable to learn the opposite side’s objective, he could only persuade them to withdraw. If Clyde wanted to annihilate this Kruft Kingdom’s army, it would be as easy as lifting his finger. However, a move to kill several thousand people was too astounding. It was very likely that it would attract the attention of various empires, kingdoms and principalities. At that time, he would not be able to peacefully stay in this fief for a long time, so making a big commotion was not worth it.

The supply area of Kruft Kingdom’s military camp was comparatively better watched, and the guard was a bit more vigilant. The number of guards also sharply increased, but the distinctive armed forces were not stationed here. Those elite berserkers couldn’t be seen here. It seemed that the protection of granary was not taken seriously or that the berserkers couldn’t be bothered with such menial tasks. Only normal soldiers were stationed to guard here.

Steinbeck Fief was practically surrounded by the nations of “Clark Alliance.” All of them were allied to the Kruft Kingdom with a sole enemy, Andrew Empire, that belonged to “Victor Alliance,” but like Adrian Empire, it too was in an exhausted state. Therefore, Kruft Kingdom’s expeditionary army was not especially alert. In their view, there was no need to be too alert.

“Pay attention a bit. The granary must not be lost!”

“Natalie, you are too tense. It is still far away from Stanley City.”

“Royal Brother, there are many bandit groups here! You must not be careless.”

“Those bandits are not worth mentioning. They are unworthy of even sending a punitive force after.”

What made Clyde surprised was that when he reached the entrance gate to Kruft Kingdom’s supply area, he unexpectedly saw the supreme commanders of Kruft Kingdom’s army, Prince Gruz and Princess Natalie. Prince Gruz wore golden armor with gorgeous decorations, looking especially eye-catching. This kind of golden armor was more a method of flaunting wealth than for defending. On a real battlefield, not many people wore this kind of armor. With such an eye-catching armor, one would be targeted more and perhaps become the first person to die.

Prince Gruz was a handsome blonde with the appearance of a profligate son, and it seemed like his martial skill was also average. Just because he was the eldest prince, he was the first in line to the throne and was leading this distinctive armed force of over 2,000 elite berserkers. Clyde took a quick glance at the prince, then his line of sight move towards Princess Natalie on the other side

Natalie was a berserker swordswoman. She wore practical, solid heavy armor. On her back, she carried a heavy two-hand sword. Although her figure was on the slender side like Princess Saras, she was actually a berserk swordswoman. It was very hard to imagine such a weak-looking princess having such a violent profession. What most impressed Clyde was the fiery red long hair and crimson eyes of Princess Natalie. Her attractiveness index was not comparable to Princess Saras, but her wild atmosphere was not something a delicate beauty like Princess Saras could match.

“Royal Brother, I will set out to explore Needham Plain according to the plan. Can I borrow...”

“Natalia, my elite troops are to be used to capture Witch Ista. I cannot help you with that matter!”

“But...”

“No buts!”