*Tap tap tap*
The sound of a large number of footsteps approaching, awakened the village of Reztel.
Out of fear that the goblin turned their attention to their quiet fishing village, the men of each household rushed to retrieve their axes and pitchforks.
They shouted to relay the matter to those who remained asleep just as those who were armed scrambled as they rushed for the gates.
They met the village elder on the way, the men, and the elder, hurried, in fear that the garrison and the volunteers wouldn't be enough to fend off the goblins.
Just as they near the gates, they caught sight of the men standing atop the watch towers. In a daze a what they are looking at.
"Julio! What's going on? Is it the goblins?" The elderly man who provided the messenger from before a horse, accompanied by the men of the village, yelled at one of the watchmen.
"Uhhhh… No…" Shaking his head, Julio, one the watchmen, is unable to believe what he is seeing.
A long line of men are marching on to their village. A banner of with a black background and a golden winged snake in its center. House Ih Leviathan's banner.
In its vanguard, men wearing scaled armor and spangle helm.
The marching column marches as one. It's interconnected like a long snake slithering on Reztel's uneven road.
"Julio! Julio!" As the voices reach his ears. Julio were promptly awakened from his trance, turning to the village elder and the others, he cried out to explain to them what's transpiring.
"Elder! More than a thousand men bearing the baron's banner are marching. They're heading here, Elder!" The Elder and the villagers were shocked. More than a thousand men, since when was Zalsac capable of mobilizing such an army.
Lord Arguile's expeditionary troops to the Great Forest only mobilized around a thousand men, but those thousand men came from each of the settlements.
Even Reztel mobilized at least a hundred and fifty men to bolster their Lord's army.
There is only one settlement from the direction that the footsteps is coming from. Waldr, the port town of Zalsac, but even then, at most two to three hundred men can be pulled out from its garrison or else the town risks being plagued by internal problems.
Just as the men and the elder were in shock. The Black Halberds have reached the gate. Parting as they allow, a pudgy man riding a horse approach the settlement's gate.
Taking in a big breath, the pudgy man yelled to the watchmen of Reztel. Disclosing his identity and his purpose to the bewildered men.
"I'm Ivan, the deputy of Ser Wiegraf, the current administrator of Waldr under Lord Prewell's command." Gasping for air as he composed himself and raised his voice once more.
"I have been tasked to lead the volunteers and the selected garrison members to the crossroads! Ser Ecish, the Ogre slayer, and the defenders of Saint Gerald Castle, awaits us there."
Julio, more bewildered than before as heard the fat man's yell.
The elder which had been with the men of Reztel before, now stood beside Julio.
"Ahem, Sir Ivan, I'm the elder of Reztel. It's not that I doubt you, but the number of men you've brought with you. Surpassed those from the past.
Can you disclose the origin of the men with you?"
Ivan, taken aback, he didn't expect that he'll be asked such a question. After all, who would ask someone the origins of the men their leading.
Staring at the Black Halberd's then the mercenaries and the adventurers, Ivan's eye lit up.
"Ah, I can understand your worries, elder.
The men in Black scale armor belongs to the barony.
Ser Wiegraf only briefed me regarding them being under the baron. As for other information about them, I don't know.
As for those in the middle of the marching column, they were mercenaries and adventurers hired from Delberg under the baron's instructions. If you're worried, you can ask the baggage train following us. Ser Wiegraf asked one of his attendants to join us."
The elder nodded then shook his head. Not quite sure of how to take the information brought to them by Ivan.
He knew of Zalsac's change, from the establishment of Waldr to the current day.
Zalsac is gradually rising, from Lord Arguile's conservative rule to the current Lord Prewell's progressive one.
Lord Arguile's rule guaranteed a good starting point for Lord Prewell.
Zalsac has changed, although originally, it's not worried about the lack of food. It doesn't have the extra wealth to spend money hiring foreign troops to fight.
The earnings it makes from its trade barely sustains the people, but now…
Seeing the armor and equipment of the men outside the walls, the elderly man sigh once again.
'If only Zalsac of the past were as powerful as it is now. The number of men who died…' Thinking of his deceased son and brothers, the elderly man closed his eyes. Then, with a sigh, he opened his eyes once more.
Turning to the pudgy Ivan, he told the deputy of Wiegraf to wait as he addressed the men beside him and asked them to summon the rest of the garrison and the volunteers who wished to join the goblin incursion. "Please wait, Sir Ivan. I'll have the men open the gates and call for the volunteers and the rest of the garrison."
Ivan, breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the village was more willing to cooperate than he imagined. "Thank you, elder?"
"Hugh, call me Hugh, sir Ivan." The elder named Hugh, addressed Ivan's inquiry of his name.
*Creeeeek*
As the gates of Reztel opened, the marching men entered the peaceful fishing village.
Marching as they head for the empty field just over the gates, pointed south, the direction of the crossroads.
As they reached their location, the men began setting up camps and cooking their food. Resting in place, waiting for the signal for the men to begin marching to Ecish's current location.
_____________________
After entering, Reztel, the pudgy Ivan, came to Hugh's side as he briefed him of the orders given to him. "Elder Hugh, after gathering the men of Reztel. We wait for the baron's signal, once the baron sends a rider, only then can we leave for the cross roads."
Hugh nodded in acknowledgment, he understands the logic behind such action.
In the past, when the men of Reztel marched to answer the call of their Lord. They were always vulnerable to rout or collapse before they reached Saint Gerald Castle.
Reztel is safe because of its far enough distance from the Great Forest, but as the men of Reztel head south to the cross roads.
They always fell into an ambush, or are overwhelmed by the creatures of the Great Forest, who took fancy of the vicinity of the cross roads as its hunting grounds.
That's why waiting for the numerically superior Waldr, then combining force with them to March south, is ideally the best situation for the volunteers and garrison of Reztel. "I believe soon a rider from the baron will be upon us."
Seeing Hugh's gesture of approval. Ivan, came closer to Hugh as he whispered about one of the segments of the troops that Hugh was worried about earlier.
"I hear the 'Black Halberds' are his Lordship's elite troops, they are accompanying him to Lawnberg as we speak. With the way, they march and their long endurance, I feel the baron is already on his way back to the crossroads."
Hugh's eyebrows rose, he expected that much. Seeing those troops' inhumane coordination and their eerie silence, he already expected that they were a hidden unit of Prewell or rather the House Ih Leviathan.
After all, noble houses, especially those with a long history, are not something to be messed with. Nodding at Ivan's guess, Hugh's face soon turned complicated as he turned to Ivan and asked if Ivan could allow to a request of his. "I guess so… say sir Ivan, would it be fine if I accompany the men to the crossroads?
Perhaps surprised by such a request, Ivan responded by asking Hugh what sort of purpose does he had for joining the men on the battlefield. "Why?"
Expecting Ivan's question. Hugh, told Ivan of his identity and his justification for joining the men on their journey south.
He had been on the battlefield before, and he knew how the men from his village will act the moment they faced a life and death situation. Something that they'll soon face in Hatr.
"I'm a veteran soldier who once served under Lord Arguile. I know those young men accompanying you, they're tough because they're ignorant, but the moment they came into contact with the goblins. They'll crumble faster than a sand castle.
Reztel is unlike Hatr and Lawnberg, monsters don't often wander to these part of the barony, so it made the young populace, ignorant of the danger of the wilderness." Pausing for a moment, Hugh's eyes soon turned complicated as he spoke.
His eyes were full of complicated thoughts as he explained the rest of his reasoning. "Without anyone paying attention to them. They'll probably run faster than the members of the civilian baggage train.
As their elder, I hope they will survive, but I also hope they'll not be branded as deserters. So please agree to my request, sir Ivan."
Ivan, hesitated, then finally he nodded. He understood the elder Hugh's worry.
Anyway, it's just an extra man, and who knows, maybe elder Hugh will be able to work some magic and make the young men less likely to break when they came into contact with the goblins.
It's only a single mouth to feed, and the baron needs as many men as he can on the cross roads anyway. So him agreeing with elder Hugh can be considered a win-win scenario for the two of them.
After the two came to a compromise, they continued to wait for their Baron's signal. A signal which will lead them on step closer to danger.