Chapter 13: The Arrival of Misfortune

  The reasoheril Empire was able to grow and expae being squeezed between barbarians and orcs was due to its strong development and cultivation of are masters.

  Of course, what brought them success with are masters also became their downfall!

  When an empire's armed forces begin to take extreme measures, signifit hidden dangers and fws iably arise.

  Suppressing his excitement, Steward Ralph raised his void shouted:

  "You should be grateful to have the lord here. These aberrant creatures are nothing more than mbs to the sughter."

  "But at the same time, don't let yuard down. Don't rely on the lord to handle everything."

  "You must py your part, earn your rewards, and prove your worth..."

  Ange, who had just returned with a rge piece of flesh essence, bit her lip and lowered her head slightly. Beh her silver mask, there was a trace of unease on her face.

  However, Matthew gently patted her shoulder and said softly, with a warm tone of reassurance:

  "Don't worry. With me as your support, you freely dispy your talents."

  The young knight had never experienced such treatment before, and she was filled with a sudden surge of loyalty aermination.

  She nodded solemnly, saluted, and began anding the soldiers to up the battlefield and prepare to tiheir journey as quickly as possible.

  Gng at his empty mana reserves, Matthew reminisced about the real-time feedback he received from killing the aberrant crocodile. Looking at the 800 experience points and 4 skill points he'd accumuted, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

  "Indeed, recruiting a bunch of hen is absolutely necessary..."

  "Stepping in at crucial moments not oablishes authority but also allows me thtfully cim the kills."

  After dealing with that rge wave of aberrant creatures, their numbers once again dwindled.

  The soldiers were able to rex a little.

  Ange had the soldiers rotate a.

  She also made sure that those who hadn’t yet fought worked together to kill some aberrant creatures, building up their battle experiend honing their skills.

  Ange did this to prevent any mishaps ter, in case inexperienced soldiers faltered or panicked in a crisis.

  How are veteran soldiers made?

  By training rookies into them!

  Matthew, however, saw things more clearly. inally, out of the 20 soldiers, only half were warrior-css fighters, with only Old John and Captain Sean reag level 3.

  After several hours of fighting, four more soldiers had stepped onto the warrior's path, being level 1 professionals.

  The other soldiers had also improved their skills t degrees.

  Matthew was most impressed by Leon's rapid progress.

  In just over an hour, Leon had learned Basic Bde Teiques LV1 from Old John and had made signifit progress in White Wolf Swordsmanship, approag LV2.

  His extraordinary rate of growth left Matthew astonished.

  As expected, in times of chaos, the ces of heroes emerging increase dramatically.

  Is this because the old order has been broken, giving more people opportunities?

  Or is the world itself sensing the impending danger, struggling to resist and adapt?

  Without intervening further, Matthew was happy to quietly enjoy the rewards of everyone else's battles.

  30 experience points weren’t much, but 10 wasn’t too little either!

  Unknowingly, Matthew's accumuted experience roag 900.

  At that moment, Ralph g the ented chest full of flesh essence, did some quick calcutions, and nervously whispered in Matthew's ear:

  "Of the 3,000 gold s provided by the family, 2,500 were spent on various supplies. Of the remaining 500, we've already handed out 230 gold s..."

  The smile beh Matthew's mask froze instantly, and he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, like his first time pying a game.

  As expected, no matter the world, money is something you ever have enough of!

  However, even though spending was fast, it hadn’t been without gains.

  The soldiers were now highly motivated and more or less won over by Matthew.

  Judging by the reverent ghey occasionally shot his way, they were clearly within his trol.

  Matthew found the cost quite reasonable: spending a few hundred gold s to establish the image of a powerful, reliable, and fair lord.

  A very worthwhile iment!

  Of course, Steward Ralph would o be "reassured" as well.

  His bat ability might not be the stro, but his ma skills were outstanding, making him someothew could fidently rely on. Matthew said gently:

  "It's alright. Keep spending without worry. If we run out of gold s, we barter for better-quality ons."

  "Once we return to the territory, I will immediately process these flesh essences into life potions and ented ons."

  "As long as we find buyers, we should be able to exge them for a signifit amount of gold and resources."

  "Based oerials we've collected so far, earning 1,000 gold s is entirely possible, with at least triple the profit."

  Relieved once again, Ralph nodded in agreement, tinuing to distribute gold to the soldiers, keeping track of their merits and maintaining morale.

  In his heart, Ralph couldn’t help but refleatthew's astonishing spellcasting abilities.

  Thinking of Matthew's decisive as today, Ralph realized that his lord likely had cards up his sleeve that even he didn’t know about.

  This only made Ralph more reassured!

  In the sky, the blood-red moon had turned pletely crimson, leaving no trace of white.

  Uhe eerie red light, the entire world appeared distorted and terrifying.

  The voy had covered about two-thirds of the journey and was nearing the edge of the Misty S.

  A dense, chaotioise gradually began to rise from afar.

  At first, it was just some faint, crag sounds, which everyohought were the calls of is or birds, or perhaps the howls of aberrant creatures.

  But soon, when a horde of dark figures began to swarm forward, Old John, who was scouting ahead, shouted sharply:

  "Enemy horde up ahead!"

  Leon, seeing the approag blood-red figures, felt a wave of ay. His breathing became heavier beh his mask.

  Old John patted him on the shoulder, speaking in a calm, steady voice:

  "Don’t panic. Stay calm, and you’ll deal with the danger and kill the enemy."

  "The more reckless you are, the greater the ce of death..."

  F himself to calm down, Leohed steadily, fog ily on the ining enemies, grateful for Old John's guidance.

  "Stop the advance!"

  Aook out a monocur and peered through the fading mist to see hundreds of aberrant murlocs.

  Her face ged, but then she remembered Matthew’s reassurand quickly suppressed her emotions, calmly issuing orders:

  "Pull all the wagons together, f a ring with the rears fag out, leaving the draft horses inside."

  "Each group of three soldiers, retrieve long wooden shields from Cart 7 ahem up to block gaps."

  "Trained militiamen, step fet spears from Cart 10 and assist the shield-bearers in sealing off any openings."

  "John and Sean, you’ll each lead the first and sed rows of spearmen. Make sure they know their positions and teach them how to strike effectively..."

  "Archers, step up. Climb onto the wagons and shoot down at the rger aberrant murlocs from above."

  "Remember, aim carefully before shooting. Target their heads to be effective; otherwise, you’re just wasting energy and arrows."

  "Cart drivers from Cart 9, take out the oil jars and distribute them evenly around the perimeter."

  "More shields—quickly dig a trench around the voy, thehe shields to block it."

  "Anyone else, grab a spear and be ready to stab at any aberrant murlocs trying to squeeze through gaps uhe wagons."

  "..."

  Ange's ands came faster and faster, with Ralph stepping in to help with the anization.

  Matthew silently rubbed his nose, watg the swarm of aberrant murlocs approag, feeling a strange mix of apprehension and relief.

  "I knew misfortune wouldn’t be dispelled so easily..."

  "If we hadn’t killed those two aberrant crocodiles earlier and had abandoned all the supplies to flee, we’d probably be caught between the aberrant murlod the aberrant crocodiles by now!"

  "Ihe more you try to avoid dahe greater it bees, until there’s nowhere left to run, o hide!"

  Gng at his attribute panel, Matthew stood up amidst the soldiers’ watchful eyes, calmly gripping his staff and looking into the distance. His tranquil demeanor captivated the soldiers.

  Don’t mind me—I only offer this much support for now!