"Buzz~ Buzz~"
"So annoying!"
Lind waved his hand to shoo away the annoying little bees around him; these pesky insects had been circling him since early morning.
He gets angry just thinking about the bees. Yesterday, for some reason, the honey that he always used for his sweets was stolen by someone.
The camp was a mixed bag of people, so Linde didn't pay much attention. What was really strange was that only the honey was missing, while the other ingredients were still there. It seemed like the prisoners had come specifically for the honey.
Since the jam was all gone, he had to eat dry bread this morning.
"Buzz~ Buzz~"
Linde, having been bothered all the way, finally couldn't take it anymore and channeled his magic, casting Mage's Hand on the bees.
The poor bee couldn't sense the presence of the Mage's Hand and was instantly captured by Lind's Mage's Hand and crushed into powder.
"Phew, that's much better."
After crushing the bees, Linde breathed a sigh of relief, took his water bottle from his horse, and drank the sweet spring water in one gulp, which swept away the annoyance caused by the bees.
Linde opened the map and began to examine the surrounding terrain.
Starting from the fortified city, they had already traveled more than a hundred miles. After passing through a mountain pass, they would be able to cross the long Gur Mountains.
This mountain pass is the thinnest part of the entire Gur Mountains, and through the wonders of nature, a natural passage has been formed here.
If this place were closed off, the only way to reach the other side of the mountain range would be to either cross this massive mountain range towering over the sea of clouds or travel a long distance to get in from another place.
Linde looked at the terrain here. The mountains on both sides of the pass were towering and extremely steep, while the pass itself was flat and the soil was firm. He couldn't help but sigh:
"Hahaha, I laugh at Zhuge Liang's lack of wisdom. If an ambush were set up here..."
Looking at the bewildered Astaire beside him, Lind laughed. Well, it seems only he himself could understand this joke.
But jokes aside, the terrain here is exceptional. If conditions permit in the future, building a pass here would surely make it an impregnable fortress.
According to the map of the territories that Linde obtained from the old count, the vast grasslands beyond this pass, including the pass itself, belonged to him.
Of course, if the land is outside his territory and is unclaimed, he can claim legal possession of it and make it part of his territory.
It sounds domineering, but it was actually a strategy devised by the ruler to encourage frontier nobles like him to open up more new lands for the country.
After the group crossed the mountain pass, everything beyond the Gur Mountains was revealed to them.
On the vast grassland, the grass seemed unaffected by the cold winter, growing incredibly lush. Several unnamed rivers, like silver ribbons, bound the grassland into haystacks.
Looking at the bountiful land before them, not only Linde but also the migrant serfs were overjoyed. The more fertile the land they cultivated, the better they could eat.
On the shallows where the two rivers meet, there stands a small, dark stone fortress, presumably the unfinished fortress left behind by that unfortunate viscount.
As Linde was observing the fortress, he suddenly noticed a strange phenomenon.
There were several villages around the castle, but they looked lifeless and showed no signs of human activity.
On the contrary, there seemed to be a lot of biological activity around the castle.
Observing this, Linde roughly guessed what had happened. It was highly likely that when the viscount left, he had also taken his people with him, leaving him with only this empty shell of territory.
The castles that couldn't be taken away eventually became a paradise for some neutral creatures.
After announcing that they would rest in place, Lind summoned Astaire and Alice and explained the situation to them.
"...That's the situation. I estimate that the territory has now been occupied by some neutral creatures, maybe goblins, or maybe trolls or something like that."
"We'll leave a small number of men to protect the serf camps, and the rest of the soldiers will rest and then go straight there to check the situation. We'll wipe out any goblins or trolls we encounter, and clean up the entire village and fortress. This is the best way to ensure the safety of our territory."
After hearing Astaire's idea, Alice agreed, while Lind wondered if he was being too cautious by having so many troops at his disposal.
“Alright, let’s do it this way. Send the word down. Let them rest and regroup. Leave a guard of 150 men behind, and the rest of the soldiers will come with me.”
"Yes, sir."
…………
Soon, it was past noon, and the soldiers had finished resting and eating their fill.
Led by Lind, they set off towards the fortress.
Around two or three o'clock in the afternoon, Lind and his party arrived at the village across the river from the castle.
"Order the guards to begin searching the village, making sure no potential dangers are left behind."
Although Linde's active vision had already told him that there were no large living creatures in the village, the search still had to be conducted.
Astaire accepted the order and soon led his soldiers to turn the entire village upside down.
"Reporting to you, sir, we found nothing, just some junk left over from before."
"But when we reached the river, we discovered creatures occupying the fortress on the other side: several trolls and some goblins."
"I have ordered men to guard the stone bridge to prevent these monsters from launching a sneak attack."
After listening to Astaire's report, Lind thought for a moment and said:
"Well done. Let's go check out the quality of these monsters."
Following the soldiers' directions, Lind quickly arrived at the riverbank.
A sturdy stone bridge stood on the river, presumably built during the construction of the fortress, and it looked to be of good quality.
Looking further into the distance, one could see many strange huts built near the fortress, some very small and others enormous.
Strange paint was smeared everywhere, emitting a pungent smell that Lind could smell from a great distance.
"Hiss... If this fortress smells like this, I don't think I can live here."
Linde shook his head at the disgusting smell, thinking that if all else failed, he could just tear it down. After all, the stones were readily available, and he could use them to build another bridge.
As the soldiers assembled, the foolish creatures on the other side realized that the newcomers were hostile and began to gather noisily. Soon, dozens of goblins and several trolls ran out of the castle.
According to the information provided by the activated vision, these trolls and goblins are at most bronze level, and the leading great troll has just reached silver level.
Looking at the opposing lineup, Linde smiled knowingly. These monsters were nothing to him. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers were in formation.
"Charge! Kill these filthy beasts!"
At a command, the soldiers, having formed ranks, charged across the stone bridge in groups, heading straight for the monsters.
The battle between humans and monsters is about to begin.
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