Chapter 485: Chapter 226: Ranch General (2)

Something terrible has happened!

’Have those humans attacked?’

"General, when are we setting out?" Parker asked.

"What’s the hurry? Inform the entire army to rest as usual," General Karl said.

"But, the Royal City..."

"What the Royal City needs are Warriors who are well-rested and ready for battle. Are you the general, or am I?" General Karl said with a frown.

There was no way he, Karl, would lead his men to their deaths without first finding out exactly what had happened.

"This is bad! This is bad!"

Just as the two were talking, another shout came from the distance.

General Karl turned and saw a Tiger Race Cavalryman.

Slung over his back was an unconscious Gnoll.

’What now?’ General Karl wondered.

Before long, the Tiger Race Cavalryman was before General Karl.

"General, this is terrible!" the Cavalryman said anxiously.

"Useless trash, what are you panicking for? Am I not still here?" General Karl cursed habitually.

"Speak. What is it?" General Karl asked.

Upon hearing this, the Cavalryman lowered the Gnoll from his back. His mount collapsed at the same time, having been ridden to death.

The Gnoll wasn’t in much better shape than the mount; it was foaming at the mouth.

"General! I’m a defender from the Ed Outpost up ahead..."

"Then how do you know who I am?"

"I used to work in the Fourth Corps and served under you before. I was only transferred this year."

"Continue."

The Cavalryman continued.

"I’m a defender at the Ed Outpost. I was on a routine patrol today when an untold number of humans suddenly appeared up ahead, along with Gnolls!"

"This Gnoll is one I captured from them," the Tiger Race Cavalryman said.

General Karl looked at the Gnoll. It seemed a bit sturdier than a common Gnoll, but there wasn’t any other difference.

By the looks of it now, it was probably dead.

General Karl shook his head.

’Troubled times indeed. The Human Race is attacking.’

’Thinking about it this way, the Royal City’s Recruitment Order makes sense. Those old masters in the Royal City must have lost a battle and now they want us to go clean up their mess.’

But what did that have to do with him?

"General, shouldn’t we do something?" Parker asked.

General Karl shook his head.

"Do what? The Ed Outpost is a full seventy li from here. Do you think they can fly here overnight?" General Karl said.

"Besides, even if they could fly, they would definitely go for the Royal City first. Why would they come to my dilapidated ranch? Alright, tell the Warriors it’s time to rest.

We set out for the Royal City tomorrow at noon. Also, inform the chieftains of those lower-ranked races that I have important matters to discuss with them tomorrow."

"As for the rest..."

"We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow. I’m getting a little tired," General Karl said nonchalantly.

’Just as he said, how could the human army possibly fly here?’

’It’s a full seventy li.’

The Cavalryman at the side was momentarily dumbstruck to see General Karl disregard the fruits of his labor so completely.

He actually wanted to say that the whole reason he’d come was that the humans really did seem to be heading this way. He had come to give a warning, banking on their past relationship.

However, watching General Karl walk away, the Cavalryman opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

....

Inside his tent, General Karl was contemplating the situation at the Royal Court.

’Now that the Royal Court has suffered a defeat and the Human Race’s army is pressing in, if I play my cards right, I can definitely reap some substantial benefits from this.’

’But what kind of defeat did the Royal City suffer, exactly?’ General Karl still wasn’t clear on the details.

With these thoughts, General Karl began to drift into a deep sleep. His work at the ranch hadn’t given him much, but it had taught him the good habit of getting proper rest.

In the middle of his sleep, General Karl suddenly felt as if someone was shouting his name.

"General! General! This is bad!"

General Karl rolled over, his expression sour.

It was Parker.

"Parker, you had better give me a reasonable explanation!" General Karl said with a frown.

It wasn’t that General Karl was slow on the uptake; it was mainly that this wasn’t the first or second time this guy had cried wolf.

"General! Something really has happened! The humans, the humans are coming for us!" Parker shouted.

"The humans?"

At these words, General Karl frowned, walked out of his tent, and looked at the sky. It was just beginning to lighten, the moon not yet fully gone.

"Parker! Are you trying to fool me?"

"How long has it been? The humans are a good seventy li away from us. How can you be so sure they’re coming for us?" General Karl demanded, frowning.

Parker looked like he was about to cry.

"General, it’s true! It’s a horde of Gnolls, and they’re less than thirty li from the ranch now!" Parker said.

"Gnolls? Thirty li!"

General Karl was becoming more and more convinced that Parker was deceiving him.

Just as General Karl was about to investigate, another Tiger Race Cavalryman came running from the front.

"General! General! This is bad! A horde of Gnolls, too many to count, are only twenty li away from us now," the Tiger Race Cavalryman said.

"Twenty li!"

This time, General Karl was completely baffled.

’How many li is it, exactly?’ General Karl didn’t have professional scouts under him, so it was normal for his Soldiers to be bad at judging distances.

"General, what should we do now?" Parker asked.

"What’s there to panic about? A horde of Gnolls, rushing here all of a sudden—they must be exhausted by now.

Go inform the entire army to prepare for battle!" General Karl ordered.

The distance from the Ed Outpost was a full seventy li. Even elite human troops would be exhausted by the time they got here, so what fighting strength would they have left? Let alone a horde of Gnolls.

For the enemy to actually dare to charge right up to his face, as far as General Karl was concerned, was no different from a free handout of military honors.

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing this, Parker nodded and immediately went to summon the troops.

....

It took a considerable amount of time for General Karl’s thousand-plus men to assemble. They had been sound asleep and were suddenly roused.

Looking at the disheveled army before him, if it weren’t for their appearance, who would believe this was the Tiger Race army that had once dominated the grasslands?

General Karl looked at his Soldiers, feeling a distinct lack of confidence himself.

’Can an army like this really fight a war? It seems I’ve neglected military readiness a bit too much.’

’Still, it’s just a horde of Gnolls. It should be fine, right?’

General Karl mused. He had specifically asked multiple times before, and it was indeed a horde of Gnolls that was attacking.

The army was finally assembled. General Karl had originally wanted to bring the other few races along, but if his Tiger Race Warriors were in this state, it was better not to even mention the other races.

Even calling them a liability would be an overstatement.

Led by General Karl, a group of Beastmen charged out of the camp and began marching toward the distance.

Before they had gone far, General Karl was stunned.

He knew his army hadn’t been on a battlefield for a long time, and their scouting and such had probably gotten a bit rusty.

But he never imagined that the scouting could be this catastrophically wrong!

’Thirty li? Twenty li?’

General Karl hadn’t even gone two li before he saw a black mass in the distance, advancing toward him with the rising eastern sun.

’So fast!’

General Karl stared into the distance, his eyes wide.

He truly hadn’t expected it. The real distance was neither thirty li nor twenty li. It was five li!

At that moment, General Karl had half a mind to kill his scouts.

This gap in intelligence shouldn’t be underestimated; the enemy’s sudden appearance had completely thrown all of General Karl’s many plans into disarray.

"General, what do we do now?" Parker asked.

’Ask, ask, ask, that’s all you know how to do...’

General Karl was starting to feel some regret.

’Looking at the formation of that army in the distance... no matter how I look at it, they seem stronger than mine.’

’Was I too rash? Maybe I should have stayed and defended the ranch.’

However, the enemy force really did seem to be made up entirely of Gnolls.

General Karl focused his gaze. Besides the Gnolls, he also spotted the figures of some earth goblins.

Their numbers weren’t that large, either. The Cavalryman who brought the report had said upwards of five thousand, but General Karl estimated that there were three thousand at most.

’They must have gotten scattered on the way.’

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