At the height of noon Esdras ordered the team to prepare for departure, and soon after they returned to fort Kuzdin.

After getting in the fort Esdras realized that the atmosphere was good, even celebratory. The soldiers were talking among themselves so he was able to get some information.

It seems like the Belkazak and his army were defeated at Gnarhelm and could not breach the Crawling grove either.

“Did you hear the news?” David came over when he saw Esdras at the lunch table. “It’s only a matter of time before we can go back don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I’m tired of this annoying forest already,” Esdras picked up a sausage roll and enjoyed some quality food at last.

“Definitely, did you know how many people died this time? It’s insane, this task is simply too brutal.” David shook his head and lamented.

“Hm? How many? What happened?” Esdras quickly asked, he was very interested in this subject.

“I just found out when we returned but it seems like three teams were all killed off, among the dead is Dina. It’s unbelievable.” David whispered.

Dina was a level 4 mage apprentice, she was very important to the tower. The casualties were too high, it was abnormal.

“What happened? How could so many people die this time?” Esdras asked bitting his lower lip, it was a dark premonition coming true.

“Did your group not lose anyone this time? Stronger monsters keep appearing, it was the same for Dina’s group, they killed off a nest of Killer mantises but the next day a group of three Owlbears ambushed them and swept the two weaker teams in close by areas.”

Esdras’s guess was confirmed somewhat, for some reason, stronger monsters keep replacing whatever monsters they clear out.

It was strange that goblins would immediately take the place of the kobolds so fast. It was not natural, it was as if they got an order.

This is why Esdras made sure not to go overboard, just culling them every once in a while. That way stronger monsters wouldn’t come to his turf.

It’s not like he knew exactly what was going on but he was only acting cautiously out of suspicion. If he was right then great, if not then it’s fine he was just doing as he was ordered.

The apprentice mages actions can be understood, they were trying to prove themselves to the True mages and received recognition and praise. This could elevate their status in the tower later.

The apprentice mages were not stupid nor foolhardy, it was just what they were used to doing. The most important thing to a mage is to pursue benefits.

Mages were not concerned with the morality of mortals, so long as it would benefit them then there were no lines they were not willing to cross. Of course this did not apply to all mages.

Unfortunately, this time things weren’t that easy. Even if you wanted to outshine the others you should analyze the situation logically and take a step back.

When he was almost done with lunch he noticed Lieutenant Donnis Mauler, he was a Vigor knight, he was in charge of the march to fort Kuzdin. He looked especially happy and was drinking beer alone.

But, somehow he didn’t see him much when they arrived to the fort. In fact not even the soldiers who were his subordinates seemed close to him or even know him.

He really did not do much, it was like he disappeared completely after getting here. He handed the command of his soldiers to the fort’s commander and then never showed up.

Esdras wasn’t suspicious of him and didn’t really think about him until now. But with the situation being so dire he decided to take a look at him with his [Third eye] just in passing.

Name: Gilderoy Elbrim

Class: Vigor knight

He already knew that he was a Vigor knight, but it was his name that shocked Esdras. This could not be a coincidence, Gilderoy was the name of the crown prince of Elbrim.

It seems that he hid his identity and came here, but why? Wondering alone probably won’t solve his doubts, so he went over and sat besides the crown prince.

“Can I have some of that beer?” Esdras asked with a smile.

The crown prince was drunk and slow to react, “ah, yeah, yeah! A drink, here have a drink! Today’s a good day! My friend.”

Esdras poured himself some cold beer and clank his tankard with the prince’s own, “cheers! Long live the king! Long live the great Elbrim!”

“Yeah! Long live Elbrim! Long live! Hek! Damn orcs, they dare to invade us? Just because we didn’t masacre all of them back then?”

The prince started rambling about the war on his own, there couldn’t have been a better time to get some information out of him.

“Yeah, fuck the orcs and their pretender king! But I wonder how they kept advancing so far even after their defeat in Menhir?” Esdras asked.

“Ah, they do lose many of their numbers, three Great mages destroyed over three thousand of them in Menhir but even more wild orcs keep joining their army from everywhere!”

So that’s what’s been happening, although the orcs did lose many but they also keep getting more and more orcs to join their campaign as time goes on.

The public did not know that, they thought that the orcs lost too many and yet they still didn’t retreat.

“Even if by some miracle the orcs do breach Gnarhelm and attack the capital, they will just force his Eminence to act personally.”

Yes, this kingdom was the home of a Master mage, Ashran Avantes, one of the five pillars of the Octarine tower.

This is actually why everyone knew that the orcs would eventually fail, although the Master mages would rarely show their faces, if the situation called for it the problem would be solved in a flash.

Something similar happened when the coalition of the coast invaded Elbrim a hundred years ago. Their army of ten thousand men was destroyed and ever since they became vassals of Elbrim.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep