Chapter 381: Chapter 130: An Absurd War

"It looks like we still don’t have enough food..."

Mendes frowned as he looked at the list his subordinate handed him.

The Beastmen’s military operation in Vidom County had been going incredibly smoothly. The only problem was their inability to gather enough food.

When Mendes first raided a town or two, he found precious little food but assumed it was an isolated case.

To his surprise, all the human nobles in Vidom County were the same: unimaginably poor!

That’s right, poor. In all his plundering, Mendes had found that forget valuables, any lord with even a little fine grain was considered wealthy!

Of course, Mendes had no way of knowing just what kind of people he was plundering. The military-merit nobility’s shallow roots were evident in all aspects. If Robson hadn’t sold a large amount of grain to Count Sriphine, the Beastmen would have conquered the Human Territory only to find they had gained nothing for their troubles.

"The difference between these humans is huge. The ones we fought back east had plenty of food," Orc said, scratching his head.

"With the amount of food we have now, never mind the goblin troops behind us, we only have enough for our own forces to last four or five days..."

"It seems we have no choice but to go for that central city of theirs..." Mendes sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

To be honest, Mendes didn’t want to get involved in this mess unless it was absolutely necessary.

It wasn’t that Mendes was afraid of these human nobles; the recent fighting had given him a good grasp of the local humans’ capabilities.

They were formidable, yes, but only just. They were on a completely different level from the human army they’d faced before, and it was impossible for them to make Mendes feel fear.

The only thing that worried Mendes was the human army at their backs.

After all, sieges were long affairs. The human army ahead of him wasn’t exceptionally strong, but they weren’t weak, either. If he got bogged down at the human city and the army from behind caught up, it would be a catastrophe.

But if they didn’t attack the city, their current rations would only be enough to supply a small portion of the Beastmen, and that small force definitely wouldn’t be enough to break the human encirclement.

"Dammit! How can these people be so poor!" even Orc couldn’t help but complain from the side.

Just as the two of them were wrestling with their indecision, a Beastman Soldier burst into the tent, panting heavily. The moment he was inside, he looked straight at them.

"Lord Mendes, we have a situation!

Humans! A large force of human Soldiers!" the Beastman Soldier gasped, reporting to Mendes.

"Human Soldiers?" Mendes frowned, a sudden wave of panic rising in his heart.

"It couldn’t be that human army again, could it?" Orc asked, looking at Mendes.

Their worst fears were coming true.

If that human army caught up to them now, their only option would be to flee. With the meager amount of food they had, there was no telling how far they could run.

"That can’t be right. According to our last report, those human Soldiers were still at the border. How could they have suddenly charged over here?"

"Do you know where this group of humans came from?" Mendes asked the Beastman Soldier before him.

"Well, you two may have misunderstood. That group of humans is from the northeast.

Based on my assessment, they’re likely from the human city to the northeast," the Beastman Soldier reported, looking at Mendes.

"The human city to the northeast!"

Mendes looked at Orc, his eyes full of disbelief. Orc, in turn, was gazing back at him with pleasant surprise.

As far as Mendes knew, the human army they feared was to their southeast.

And to the northeast was Vidom City—the very place they wanted to attack but had not yet dared to!

’Can it be? A blessing from the Beast God?!’

They had just been worrying about how to take the human city, and without them having to do a thing, the humans had come running out on their own?

"Are you certain it’s the northeast? It’s not the same human army we encountered before, is it?" Mendes turned his head, needing to confirm one last time.

"No, sir! This human force is about a thousand strong, and I’ve never seen the banner they’re flying," the Beastman Soldier said, shaking his head.

"Excellent! Excellent! A blessing from the Beast God! A blessing from the Beast God!" Mendes repeated. He felt his breathing ease considerably.

Heaven knows what he had been through ever since encountering Robson’s army.

They had been constantly suppressed, forced to flee on sight, and beaten down until almost no will to resist remained.

Was he finally going to get a lucky break today?

"Quickly assemble the army! We will defeat them, and then ride the momentum of our victory straight into the human city!"

...

Gazing at the distant Red Leaf Town, now teeming with bustling Beastmen, Viscount Elton figured his position must have been exposed.

A bitter look crossed Viscount Elton’s face.

Honestly, he wouldn’t have come here if he’d had a choice. Although Viscount Elton wasn’t sure of the Beastmen’s true strength, he knew that leading his forces out would inevitably mean taking losses.

But ever since Robson had left, the nobles under his command had been raising hell.

As the situation developed, the destruction the Beastmen brought to Vidom County grew ever greater, until it could be said the entire domain was in crisis.

On top of that, Viscount Elton had previously refused Robson’s request, which made the noble lords even more furious. They spent all day verbally attacking him at his very doorstep.

Viscount Elton had only recently been promoted from the rank of Baron, and men of the military-merit faction generally placed great importance on honor. How could he possibly stomach such humiliation?

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