âYes,â David answered. âAside from Palgrost, the guild members of the State of Galhana were most active in Liguritudum. From our investigation, they were also very active in joining the war summon quest on Liguritudumâs rebel princeâs side. So, I dare to presume that guild and World Maker were longtime partners.â
âI assume that guild is like yours? One that is filled with soldiers?â Kill Order asked David.
âMostly,â David replied. âMost of the ones in that guild were his soldiers in the past world and mercenaries he used to associate with. But unlike the Dogs of War or Jackal Crews, Sizhad doesnât truly place high requirements in terms of discipline. He accepts any ruffian and scumbag as long as they are experienced in killing and are willing to listen to his commands.â
âAt any rate, we have to assume that the Vice President Boron would be working together with Liguritudum,â John said. âWhich placed Thelgrunâs force at a serious disadvantage in number.â
âLiguritudum has 3,500,000 troops in total, aided with Boronâs 1,200,000 troops against Thelgrunâs 2,600,000 troops. Itâs a no-brainer,â Nomodem remarked.
âIf Thelgrun plays defense in his capital, there is still a chance for him to resist the enemies for some time,â Armstrong said.
âWhat do you think?â Jack asked John.
âI say Thelgrun best chance is to play defense until our reinforcement arrives,â John answered. âThat, or his brother changes his mind. Do you want to try that miracle?â
âNo, I know nothing of this Boron fellow, and someone who pictures himself as the mad dictator was influencing him by the side. I doubt Iâm allowed anywhere near.â
âGood. It will be suicide if you say you want to try that,â John said.
âI canât believe Liguritudum schemed so many attacks even before their army crossed the border,â Jeanny remarked. âThe incident in Themisphere and Verremorâs border, Boronâs rebellion, even the previous serial murders in Hydrurond. They are weakening the enemies as much as possible before they bare their fangs.â
âWell, as much as I donât want to admit it. In terms of political strategy, Iâm not my mo⊠the enemyâs chief strategistâs equal,â John said. âBut in field tactic, I beat her three out of four war simulations. That, of course, if our two forces were equal enough.â
âWell, considering your field expertise, if you think defense is Palgrostâs best chance at the moment, Iâll believe you,â Jack said. âIâll send a message informing Thelgrun about it while telling him our reinforcement is coming. How many troops can we muster to go into Palgrost?â
âWe currently have 3,170,000 troops in total,â Arther answered. âBut more than ten percent are recruits who are still low levels, while around twenty-five percent of the army have never been to war before. Sending these rookies for an overseas war is rather pushing it. So, we have around 2,300,000 veteran troops that are good to be mobilized.â
âHowever, we canât send all of them on a campaign to Palgrost,â Thaergood said. âVerremor might be friendly now, but I understand not all its tribes agree to the current peace. Not to mention we still border Sangrod and Hydrurond where Aureborâs army is on standby. We canât leave our country to be defended just by rookies.â
âWhat do you think?â Jack asked John.đ«đđœđđ đ”đąxt.đđđ
âI say if our army is to make a difference in Palgrost, we need to mobilize all those veteran troops,â John said. âBut I think I can do something with at least 1,500,000 troops.â
âOkay, then thatâs how many we are to rally for this campaign,â Jack said. âArther, I appoint you as the main general for this campaign. Meryl will join as your second-in-command. Emris will stay back and protect Themisphere.â
âIâm honored, Your Majesty,â Arther responded.
âI will send your orders to the other Lord Marshalls,â Armstrong said.
âHow long do you think this rally will take?â Jack asked Armstrong.
âI will have them rally near our border facing Sangrod. It might take four to five days until they all gather.â
Jack wished it didnât need to take so long, but there was nothing he could do. He couldnât pay the teleportation fees for all the soldiers.
âIn the meantime, we and our guild members will go to Palgrost and join the war summon quest there and help with the defense,â Jeanny said.
âWe will go but half of my guild members will be focusing on another task,â Steelhand uttered.
âWhat task?â Jeanny asked.
âThis kingdom faction quest David mentioned, we have members who are kingdom faction members in Palgrost. Some of them had a kingdom faction quest named Preventing a Rebellion. I didnât pay much attention to this before but after hearing about what is happening in Palgrost, Iâve sent a message to these members. They just replied. They said after the rebellion happened, the questâs name changed to Weakening the Rebellion. I think this quest might help us deal with Boronâs force.â
âThatâs good,â John said. âGo there and ask about this quest in detail. If you need help completing it, we can arrange for our guild members to help.â
âIf you work on that quest, Iâm pretty sure it will put you on a collision course with the State of Galhana,â David said. âMy guildmates and I will go with you to help in case they give you trouble.â
âThat will be appreciated,â Steelhand said.
âAs for the others, you will teleport to Palgrostâs capital, Balgadur,â John said. âSend me reports on the real situation there. In the meantime, I will study Palgrostâs map and work out a strategy once our army arrives. Peniel, you stay with me tonight.â
âHuh? Why?â Peniel asked.
âThe map our kingdom has doesnât have many details. I have Hopeâs knowledge, but the images from his knowledge are somewhat hazy, I need you to help me clarify the actual terrain. Plus, I want to confirm the monster distribution in the Jagara region. I want to make sure my knowledge matches yours so I can map the safest path for our army to pass the Jagara region, just in case Sangrod doesnât allow our army to enter their territory. The Jagara region is home to draconic monsters. It will be a waste of time and manpower if we get harassed by these monsters while on the move.â
âOkay,â Peniel said.
âI will send a message to President Thelgrun about you,â Jack said to Jeanny. âI will ask him to grant you an audience so we can better coordinate.â
âOkay, everyone has their assignment,â John said. âDo not disappoint me, folks. This is the time for you all to prove your worth to me.â
Everyone gave him a side-eye.
âThat shouldâve been my line,â Jack said.
âAre you going to say something like that?â John asked.
âNo.â
âThatâs why I said it on your behalf.â
Jack didnât have the energy to debate with John. He hadnât slept for almost two days. He needed to use the throne to send diplomatic messages before resting. After they spoke for a little more bit, everyone dispersed. Jack, John, and Thaergood went to the throne room where Jack used the Diplomacy function to send a message to President Thelgrun and Emperor Marcus.
He also used the Monarch system to create a military campaign. He spent 300,000 gold coins to mobilize the 1,500,000 troops for the campaign to Palgrost. He also paid 150,000 gold coins for the materials to build a supply line as the army marched. Each week, 50,000 gold coins would be deducted from the kingdom coffer to maintain the supplies going through this supply line.
Jack also requested permission to establish an embassy in Verremor, which was later approved. He spent another 100,000 gold coins on this matter. With the embassy, he could have quick communication with Grand Chief Kabaka.
If they hadnât built the World Commerce Center, Jack wouldnât have had the coins to do all this.
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