Chapter 68

"Warriors of our tribe fight fiercely because of their confidence in their strength. Humans are weak and easily bullied because they cannot stand up to our strong warriors in battle, so they become afraid and lose all fighting spirit... Once in battle, they do not trust their comrades beside them and often scatter in panic. This is the most important reason why we have never suffered in border disputes."

"But once they start tasting victory, once they begin to lose their fear of us and no longer fear our warriors, you will gradually realize that we are not as strong as we imagine. Objectively speaking, our soldiers are indeed stronger and taller, but humans can make up for this deficiency with horses... They have better weapons and armor, a gap we cannot ignore."

"From the traces, their numbers are less than forty, yet so far, they have killed over three hundred of our soldiers."

Solon furrowed his brow and then asked in a low voice, "Teacher, so we came here to..."

Before he could finish, he noticed that Salota reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a piece of rough paper, gently handing it over. Surprised, Solon immediately took it with both hands and opened it, only to find that it was a map.

It must be said that the cultural level of the orc kingdom is far behind that of humans. Although they have their own cultural heritage, the illiteracy rate is almost ninety percent. Among the nearly one hundred wolf riders outside, only seven or eight can read, and only those with a shamanic lineage like Salota and Solon have the opportunity to study things like maps, which are considered ordinary by humans.

To put it mildly, orcs rarely use maps, let alone the precise and high-quality ones like the one in Solon's hand!

No matter how you look at it, Salota is a remarkable and unique talent among the orcs. He understands why humans were able to drive the orcs to the grasslands a hundred years ago, so he has never stopped exploring and learning. Now, this learning has shown its results.

The map drawn on the rough paper is almost identical to the one in Rody's hand, and in some details, it is even more precise.

The map already marks the locations of the villages destroyed by Rody and the two wolf rider units that were attacked. These locations are very regular, and Solon quickly discovered that the incident sites almost all follow the border between the "Hammer of Rohar" and the "Blood Spear" tribes...

"He—If he did this by intuition, then... he is really..."

"Very terrifying."

Salota nodded, his face showing a bit of seriousness and solemnity, "I even suspect that there might be a spy like that Earl Francis among the orcs, otherwise..."

He shook his head and added in a low voice, "No matter what, such a person..."

"Must be eliminated."

Solon turned his gaze to the map and gradually understood why Salota came to Gossak Village—because according to the pattern of Rody's previous attacks, this is almost the next best choice.

"They have successfully provoked the hatred between the two tribes. It's hard to imagine that a human who has never been to the orc kingdom knows the conflicts between the tribes so well and knows how to use such a simple and effective method to make us engage in internal strife." Salota sighed, his tone filled with helplessness, "Even if we tell Chief Rohar now, the battle with the Blood Spear is already inevitable. In fact, whether we can intercept these humans or not, we have already lost."

"This time I admit my failure, but these humans who have killed over three hundred of our kin must... be eliminated!"

Salota's eyes were cold and resolute, and Solon knew his teacher's determination. He now understood what needed to be done.

"I will go and have the soldiers set up an ambush and wait for them to... walk into the trap."

...

At dawn, the heavy rain gradually stopped.

In such conditions, it was almost impossible to sleep soundly at night, but the scouts were already accustomed to recovering their strength in harsh conditions. So when the order to get up was given, their spirits were still quite high. They emerged from their tents, began to organize their equipment, water their horses, and silently prepared for the final ambush of this operation.

Captain Sodlor returned to the camp on horseback when the team was ready. He had personally scouted Gossak Village before sunrise, but unfortunately, the heavy rain made it impossible to gather enough information. He could only look from a distance to confirm that everything was normal before returning to the camp.

"Captain Rody."

When he approached Rody, his armor was soaked, and his face was pale, clearly affected by the morning breeze.

"Probably didn't see much, right?"

Rody handed him a wineskin, while he himself continuously twisted his waist and legs to get his body ready for battle.

"The rain was heavy, and the village had no lighting, but..."

Sodlor pursed his lips, seeming hesitant.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... It's just not very clear, and I can't make a judgment. No signs of anything unusual."

Sodlor shook his head. Gossak Village was no different from the other villages the team had attacked. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong with this village, but he had no concrete evidence. For him, Rody had long become an unattainable peak, and he was afraid that his "intuition" might lead Rody to make a wrong decision, affecting the entire operation.

Rody, who had just woken up, was thinking about the herbs and did not notice Sodlor's hesitation. He just nodded, took out the "thorn leaf grass" he had collected, and distributed it to all the soldiers to feed their horses. Although Ruger and the others did not fully understand its purpose, they strictly followed the orders.

Rody mounted his horse, looked into the distance, and said, "After this mission, we will head southeast to bypass the Death Swamp and return. Everyone, be careful and stay close to the team. Report any situation immediately."

"Yes!"

The soldiers' response was not as enthusiastic as when they left Noland Village, but it was filled with a calm and steady demeanor, indicating the difference between this team and the one that set out.

Rody nodded in satisfaction, then lightly squeezed his horse's sides, arranged the replacement horse, and immediately led the team toward Gossak Village...

Because their resting place was well hidden, they were not far from Gossak Village and soon saw the quiet village in their field of vision. The post-rain grassland was somewhat slippery, and the horses struggled a bit on the slope. Rody slowed down slightly, then used his hand to shield his eyes and looked at the distant target.

Dozens of tents were scattered like small mushrooms on the gentle slope.

"Prepare for battle."

Rody raised his hand to give tactical instructions. Sodlor and Ruger immediately relayed the orders to the soldiers. In an instant, the silence was broken by the crisp sound of swords being drawn. The tightly gathered team spread out to both sides, forming a standard two-layer charge formation in less than a minute.

The team continued to advance, gradually entering a range of one kilometer.

The wind in their ears was cold and fresh after the rain, and the air was filled with the scent of fresh grass. The scouts gripped their long swords tightly, crouched slightly, and prepared for the upcoming charge.

Everything seemed no different from the previous five villages they had attacked—they just needed to charge forward, swing their swords in the stunned gazes of the orcs, and the operation would be a perfect success...

But just as Rody was about to raise his curved sword and order the charge, Sodlor, who had been frowning more and more, finally couldn't hold back and shouted, "Captain Rody! Something seems off!"

An army with high morale is most忌讳 (taboo) to stop midway, and Sodlor's action was no different from a major offense. Carter and the other scouts just found it strange, but Ruger looked very displeased, clearly dissatisfied with Sodlor's behavior.

However, Rody, who was leading the charge, also seemed to have noticed something. He immediately slowed down, turned his head, and asked in a low voice, "What's the situation? Speak clearly."

His words did not carry any blame or dissatisfaction, as Rody himself also felt something was off. The feeling of being watched and targeted was always there, though not obvious, it kept his alertness at the highest level. Sodlor's sudden words seemed to confirm his premonition...

To others, Sodlor was just a squad leader, but Rody knew his capabilities.

"It's too quiet, something is wrong—Orcs should start moving around at this time, but so far, not a single orc has been seen in the village, and they haven't even started a fire. This is not normal."

"Captain, I don't see anything unusual, maybe it's just a coincidence?"

Ruger's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, but before he could finish, he saw Rody raise his hand and make a "silence" gesture...

Familiar hand signals appeared in Rody's hands, "silence," "stop advancing," and "stand by" instructions made the entire team stop silently. Then, Rody raised his hand to indicate that Sodlor should follow him and signaled Ruger and the remaining team members to circle around to the southeast side of the village. After a series of simple hand signals to outline the plan, Ruger nodded to accept the order, though somewhat puzzled, he immediately led the scouts around.

Rody and Sodlor, who remained, began to advance toward Gossak Village along a circuitous route.