Chapter 461: Chapter 209: Return to the Army

For now, news of the Centaur King City’s fall was arriving almost exclusively via Griffins and various magical means.

This led to a strange situation. The forces in the rear already knew that the Centaur King City had fallen, but on the front lines, the Tiger Race soldiers—and the other races with them—had still not received the news.

At this moment, the combined elite force of the Tiger Race People and other Beastmen, twenty thousand strong, was still locked in a standoff with Robson’s army.

Just as Robson had predicted, the Tiger Race People understood the current situation and had absolutely no intention of fighting the humans to the death.

When the human forces advanced, neither side engaged, and the situation fell into a stalemate.

....

Meanwhile, just because the Tiger Race People were unaware of the news about the Centaur King City didn’t mean the human army was in the dark.

In fact, the very first thing Robson did after breaching the Centaur King City was inform Valentino.

Recently, numerous nobles had followed the trail of clues and discovered that the proposal to use Alien Race Warriors had originated with Valentino, leading to an untold number of vicious rumors spreading behind her back.

Although Valentino possessed considerable political talent, she was, after all, a young woman who had just turned twenty. While she said nothing outwardly about these rumors, she was undoubtedly bothered by them. And Robson had no intention of making her keep the good news a secret.

The moment she received the news, she had people spread the word.

If Robson himself hadn’t been the one leading the siege, Valentino would have had to get in a sarcastic jab or two.

When the battle report reached the human army’s camp, everyone who saw it was utterly astounded!

’The Centaur Royal Family, a foe they hadn’t been able to defeat for so long, had been so easily crushed by a group of other races?’

Previously, everyone had been furious about Robson’s decision to employ these other races.

Although Robson later produced a letter personally written by Louis III, he had ultimately still relied on his own prestige to forcibly suppress the majority’s objections.

Under the circumstances, no one dared to say anything openly, but the gossip behind his back grew even nastier than before.

This time, Robson had proven every single one of them wrong in the most brutal way.

Beyond that, Valentino, having let off some steam, immediately began to play her part.

Valentino knew Robson wasn’t the type to act on impulse. He didn’t need the cheap satisfaction of rubbing their noses in it.

They all had to work together in the future, and Robson’s power base was still beyond the border. His ultimate goal was to win everyone over and get them to accept his use of the Beastmen.

Valentino’s specific tactic was to strategically leak the report Robson had submitted to Louis III.

In the battle report—which was, after all, meant for the eyes of the entire Frank Kingdom—Robson made no mention of the Gnolls’ performance. He would have to be insane to announce to all Franks that he, Lord Robson, was using Beastmen.

Besides, the Gnolls weren’t part of the official Frankish military registry. At best, they were foreign contractors, so there was no need to report their military accomplishments.

Therefore, Robson used subtle and creative phrasing in the report, deliberately choosing suggestive words to attribute the military honors to himself and Valentino.

A smaller portion of the credit, of course, went to the nobles from beyond the border.

When the nobles from beyond the border saw this battle report, they all understood Robson’s intention. Instantly, their moods improved considerably.

At the same time, a rumor began to circulate through the army: any military honors won by the Beastmen would be credited to the humans. After all, was Robson really going to let Beastmen travel to the Frank Kingdom to receive commendations?

The moment this idea was floated, it was like a switch flipped for all the Frankish Nobles.

’They had a point!’

’Are those Beastmen? No, that’s a source of free labor! They wouldn’t have to provide a thing, yet they could reap all the benefits from this group of Beastmen.’

Using Beastmen might be disgraceful, but profit was a much better way to win hearts and minds.

Besides, Lord Robson was only using these Beastmen with the express approval of His Majesty Louis III.

Were they really going to question His Majesty Louis III?

It was unclear whether these rumors were started by Valentino or by Earl Uman. Regardless, within a few short days, Robson was once again the respected Lord Robson of old.

Just then, Robson arrived at the human camp with his army, a troop of Bear Race Warriors, and several Jackal Wolfman Chiefs.

Valentino, along with a group of nobles, was already waiting for him at the camp entrance.

Of course, the nobles she brought were mostly those with no real power, the ones whose personal troops were utterly pathetic.

With the two armies at a standoff, even she, with her limited military knowledge, understood a basic truth: you couldn’t let your officers stand idle at a time like this.

"Robson!"

"Sir Robson is back!"

"General Robson!"

The last time he came, Robson hadn’t even brought the Beastmen with him, and he had been ostracized by the crowd.

This time, Robson brought Beastman Soldiers as his personal escort, and everyone was all smiles.

Now that their interests were aligned, everyone was happy.

Seeing this, Robson dismounted and walked over to Valentino.

"Robson, you’re back."

The two shared a brief hug.

"All of you, come inside."

Robson looked over his shoulder at the Jackal Wolfman Chiefs and the Bear Race Warriors.

’We’ll have to fight alongside each other on the battlefield eventually. It won’t do for things to remain this tense.’

The Jackal Wolfman Chiefs glanced around nervously as they cautiously entered the camp.

Even though they had beaten the Centaurs until they were weeping, when it came to humans...

Whenever the Gnolls looked at these humans, they couldn’t help but think of Robson.

Before, if the noble lords had seen Gnolls, they would have drawn their swords without a second thought.

But now...

Everyone looked at the Jackal Wolfman Chiefs with amiable expressions. ’Such prime, free fighting power!’

Before long, Robson went to see Bo Yang.

"How are things? Any movement from the Beastmen over there recently?" Robson asked.

"Everything is under control," Bo Yang quipped.

"Huh?"

"Hahaha!"

Hearing this, Robson burst out laughing.

’I wonder who Bo Yang learned that tone from.’

"Sir, when do we march again to attack the Tigermen?"

"That’s right, Sir! After the great deeds you’ve accomplished, we don’t even have any bragging rights."

Soon, the noble lords who had come to welcome him began to banter good-naturedly.

Though they were joking, they were also half-serious. The glory Robson had won was truly enviable.

Just as Robson was about to answer, a Griffin appeared in the sky.

"Hm?"

Valentino looked toward the sky.

She had always been the one in charge of the Griffin Knights.

Robson looked at Valentino and saw that she was just as puzzled as he was.

Staring intently at the Griffin, Robson used his Extraordinary eyesight—a product of his Golden Ninth Tier power—to identify the person on its back.

’Why does that look like a Dwarf?’

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