Chapter 20

The Red Excalibur Barony was one territory above ours, roughly about 60 miles away. One might question how they could be considered neighbors at such a distance, but this is typical for border territories. Without dragon or spiritual veins, it’s challenging to sustain even a village, let alone a territory, so places within 60 miles are indeed considered neighbors.

So, what’s the relationship with our neighbor?

It’s not good.

When I announced reducing the tax rate to 30%, the first family to vehemently protest were the Red Excaliburs. Like many border territories, the Red Excalibur family revered military strength; they had participated in numerous inter-state battles. It’s almost comical that despite boasting their own knight order, they only have three knights—talk about a farce!

‘Yet, the Red Excalibur family shouldn’t crumble so easily.’

Although Baron Red Excalibur was a particularly extreme case of being mentally handicapped, the Red Excalibur Clan itself shouldn’t be underestimated. They were capable enough to handle goblins even if not orcs.

“But what’s that?”

We spotted refugees streaming down along the dragon vein trail. At first glance, there appeared to be hundreds of them.

This suggests their territory has been devastated.

The size of the Red Excalibur Territory is comparable to ours, so having several hundred refugees wasn’t normal. It seemed even more unusual considering how few soldiers could be seen among them.

Even we managed to survive encountering orcs…

As I pondered this, the busy stream of refugees noticed our marching group heading south. They briefly hesitated but had no choice but to continue approaching us due to the narrow path.

The vein connecting Bronze Sword Territory and Red Excalibur Territory passed through Kilius Mountain Range. Since it was mountainous terrain, there was no way to avoid encounters along this vein. The winding path carved out on the mountainside was surprisingly wide, almost four lanes across, but venturing off-road meant navigating steep slopes or dense forests, making travel nearly impossible.

“Halt.”

“No, where do you think you’re going? There are green monsters everywhere up north! We need to flee south immediately!”

A group of six men leading the evacuation tried to push past us, agitated, but our armed soldiers blocked their path, forcing them to stop.

“Monsters have also emerged from the Bronze Sword Territory.”

“No! Even if monsters come from there…”

“There are tens of thousands of muscular creatures over two meters tall.”

The calm voice startled the men, causing them to stutter their words. It was understandable; they were fleeing from monsters only to find more at their destination. Moreover, it was clear to anyone who saw them that a creature over two meters tall would be stronger than one barely reaching a meter.

“N-no, I mean…that doesn’t make sense.”

“Are you accusing me of lying?” Hundred’s intense gaze compelled the burly men to lower their heads, unable to meet his eyes.

With his silver full-body armor, broad shoulders, and long limbs, Hundred exuded the aura of a valiant knight. His imposing appearance surpassed even mine as the feudal lord, making it impossible for these rough-looking men to defy him.

Even without the thousand subjects behind him, Hundred would still appear formidable.

“Are you evacuating?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right, Knight-nim.”

“Where are your families?”

“W-We got separated amidst the chaos. Hehe.”

The men smiled with friendly expressions. They seemed to believe that one shouldn’t spit on a smiling face, but Hundred was a knight from Medieval Land who could punch a smiling face.

Puk!

There was a heavy sound as they fell without even being able to scream. Hundred growled, “What is so funny about getting separated amidst the chaos? Do I look like a fool?”

At his fierce voice, the remaining men didn’t dare protest and just bowed their heads.

“What should we do, Lordship?” Hundred asked me.

“Take them into custody.”

“Arrest them!”

“Tak~~e them into custody!”

Upon hearing my words, the soldiers moved promptly, taking away not only the fallen man but also his entire group.

“W-What is this?! We are good refugees! No matter if you are a knight, we aren’t part of your territory…” Gasp!

“L-Let go… Ugh! Ahhh!” The men resisted, but they were instantly bloodied by a barrage of punches and dragged away. For a moment, I watched their sorry state without saying anything.

“Give food to refugee families and take down their details. Emphasize that they can’t go to Bronze Sword Territory and must stay in Muksung Village.”

“What should be done with those who don’t comply?”

“Detain them.”

“Yes, Lordship.”

Inevitably, wars produce refugees. Sometimes leaving their homeland is unavoidable if they wish to survive.

However, not all refugees are created equal. Abandoning one’s country or organization isn’t considered a grave offense unless you’re a soldier, as individuals have limited power against overwhelming forces beyond their control.

But what about abandoning your family? If a group of refugees consists solely of robust men aged twenty to thirty, it would naturally raise suspicions. No one comes into this world alone, so where are their parents and children?

If I met such guys, they should be arrested and interrogated. It was because there was a high possibility that they were abandoning their families to become traitors. A person who abandoned their family couldn’t properly function as members of society. Those who could abandon their family had nothing left to lose in this world, so releasing humans without any sense of responsibility was dangerous.

‘In front of strong knights, they will act weak but once among the vulnerable, they will show their true nature.’

We proceeded slowly north while providing food or taking people into custody. How many hours did we walk like this? The number of refugees gradually increased, and then a green group approached from beyond them.

“M-Move faster! They will catch up!”

“Pant…Pant…I-I can’t run anymore…”

“Dear. L-Leave me behind. I’ll try to hide somewhere along the road.”

“Don’t say such nonsense! Get on my back! Th-There are soldiers over there!”

“But what army is it?”

“The reinforcements from the southern territories!”

As he watched countless goblins and refugees, Stonestone groaned beside me, “There are so many.”

“The refugees are heading south, so the pursuing ones will also go south.”

In fact, according to common sense in Ardenia, leaving the territory and moving north was abnormal. The borderlands were just that—the borderlands. Regardless of what anyone said, the culmination of human civilization lay at the center of the continent.

The central region also boasted the highest population and abundant food supplies.

But all of that will soon crumble.

Both the seemingly invincible Empire and Alliance would be annihilated. Neither their million-strong armies nor the White Knights could stop what was coming.

Central Continent of Revenge was a high-level zone teeming with hero-rank monsters.

I’m not kidding—the average monster wandering around there is already at guild-master level.

With ogres like Brutal Brawler roaming free, neither the Empire nor any other force stood a chance against them. To merely explore this area, one needed to efficiently spend millions of won on microtransactions.

“Allow refugees through.”

“All units! Ten ranks!”

“One!”

“Two!”

“Nine!”

“Ten! Number end!”

“Spread out!”

The orders were conveyed to the entire army, and the soldiers standing in 20 ranks moved smoothly into 10 ranks. Naturally, the gap between the soldiers widened enough for people to pass through.

Suddenly, Stonestone, equipped with a large shield, shouted, “Let the refugees pass while crushing the goblins’ heads! Prepare for battle, all units!”

“Prepare for battle!” Nearly half of the 1,000 subjects prepared for combat. The front-line soldiers held shields made from wild boar hide, followed by infantrymen wielding bone swords, and behind them stood the pikemen armed with wooden poles attached with bone daggers at their ends.

“Hundred, Stonestone.”

“Yes, Lordship,” they responded simultaneously.

“I give you my orders.” I spoke to both knights.

“Focus on minimizing damage rather than aggressive attacks. If there are any wounded soldiers, evacuate them immediately. We have a long way to go and cannot lose our soldiers.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

After hearing their replies, I moved forward through the ranks of the soldiers. The refugees ahead had abandoned their belongings and were now running madly towards us. Their physical strength was already at its limit due to the prolonged journey. Unlike my newly created soldiers, they also had to care for sick elderly people and children, making it even more challenging for them. They approached rapidly, almost stumbling between walking and running, gasping for breath as if suffocating.

“Advance slowly! Capture the refugees and escort them to the rear!”

“Throw their luggage roughly to the side! If anyone doesn’t comply, give them a punch!”

The two knights continued walking as they heard the soldiers being commanded. Finally, we passed by the shieldmen at the very front line. It was a crazy situation with the supreme commander breaking formation and walking alone towards enemy lines, but none of the soldiers were alarmed. This had been the case when I was the chief of bandits, leader of mercenaries, knight, or feudal lord.

“Chase them! Chase them! Chase them!”

“Catch them! Catch them! Take them down, take them down!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Hihii! Rip off their limbs and stab them with spears!”

Green monsters angrily pursued us.

“Aaack! Spare me!”

“G-Get away! Aaaack!”

The refugees ran while bleeding profusely. Upon closer inspection, it seemed the monsters were playing with them. Whenever someone slowed down due to exhaustion, the monsters would prod them from behind with daggers to keep them moving. Once they lost too much blood and collapsed, the monsters would pounce on them.

When refugees ran out of stamina and gave up running, these monsters stabbed them with daggers from behind to make them run again. Then when they lost too much blood and collapsed, the monsters would swarm over them and start feasting on their flesh.

‘These guys are evil.’

As I passed by the last refugee, I pulled out my Orc Warrior’s Sword (Advanced) +6. Seeing its cool shining blade suddenly made me feel regretful.

‘Ah, I want to strengthen it to level 9.’

The effects of item strengthening increase significantly starting at level 7, and special effects are added at level 9. The problem was that there was a 50% chance of the weapon breaking from level 7 onwards. Moreover, the success rate decreases further as you aim for higher levels. Since this was currently my only decent high-level weapon, it wasn’t worth taking the risk yet.

“A human?”

“Human! Human, human!”

Finally, unlike the fleeing refugees, I am walking towards the goblins who start to scream when they see me:

“Human! Not running away. Human!”

“Let’s catch and kill him! Kill! Rip his arms off, rip them off!”

“Eat him and impale with spears!”

I advance despite hearing their malicious cries. The charge of the goblins is like a green wave, but I feel no fear at all. In the days when my subjects were bandits and I was their leader, we defeated regular soldiers numbering the same as our force of 200 people, including women and children.

How was this possible? Was it because the forest-dwelling bandits fought better than the regular soldiers? Did I possess strategies surpassing Zhuge Kongming? Were the regular troops sent to capture us actually inferior to the Tang Dynasty army?

No, none of that.

Simply put…

“Come on, you dwarf bastards.”

It was just because I fought well. That’s all it boiled down to.