Hull Castle was located on the westernmost edge of the northern lands, bordering the Wilderness. Passing Hull Castle marked the border of the human territories.

Despite being on the edge of the northern lands, Hull Castle was a large fortress in its own right. Caravans stopped and rested here every day, for although the Wilderness was filled with danger, it also presented opportunities for profit.

Caravans brought inexpensive goods from the human world into the Wilderness and exchanged them for rare materials, earning merchants substantial profits with each trip.

But the Wilderness was also filled with peril. Whether it was from tribes of cannibals or the more widespread Kobold tribes, both posed a grave threat to caravans. Yet, as long as the potential for profit was sufficient, there were always merchants willing to take on the risk.

Hull Castle thrived off this unique trade with the Wilderness.

However, Hull Castle’s days had been difficult as of late. Due to the approach of a giant cannibal tribe, no caravan dared to venture into the Wilderness, and the entire fortress had become desolate.

Of course, what concerned the Heer family more than anything else was the approaching army of thousands of cannibals and their tens of thousands of Kobold allies. If these enemies wished to invade the human world, then Hull Castle would be the first fortress they attacked.

Although the House of Herring had grown through the Wilderness trade, they were still powerless to oppose such a horde of giants and Kobolds. Fortunately, news of Flooding Snow City’s troop dispatch had reached Herringburg early, and the Herring family had been able to relax slightly.

“Count, the Northern Expeditionary Army is almost here. It’s none other than Marquis Wade himself leading the troops.”

“Excellent. Excellent. Inform everyone, we’re going to greet His Grace the Marquis.”

“Yes, sir.”

Upon hearing that the Northern Expeditionary Army would soon arrive, Count Herring repeated his delight twice over. For days, he had been on tenterhooks, fearful that the army would arrive after the giants. Now, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Count Herring led a long line of people outside the castle to await Marquis Wade’s arrival.

Although the Herring family held a noble title, their status compared to that of the Lancelot family in Flooding Snow City was like one in the heavens and another in the earth.

The entirety of the Herring family’s forces numbered only five knights and two thousand professional soldiers. Without Flooding Snow City’s support, they would have been utterly incapable of defending their territory.

Soon, Marquis Wade arrived at Herringburg with his vanguard.

“Good day, Marquis Wade,” Count Herring greeted as he stood in the middle of the road, approaching Marquis Wade’s entourage.

Marquis Wade wasted no time, dismounting with a few senior members of the Lancelot family and high-ranking officers to greet Count Hull. Marquis Wade took the opportunity to study the fortress. Although there was no comparison between Flooding Snow City and Count Hull’s fortress, the latter was certainly a formidable military stronghold.

Because the Lancelot family had maintained a strong sense of vigilance on the border of the Wilderness, the five-hundred-foot-high fortress walls were densely packed with watchtowers, and numerous cauldrons of boiling oil hung from the city walls—any attacking force’s worst nightmare.

Marquis Wade seemed quite satisfied with the defensive capabilities of Count Hull’s fortress, and after exchanging pleasantries, he entered the castle with Count Hull alongside his vanguard troops. The main army set up camp outside, utilizing the entirety of Count Hull’s fortress as their base of operations. Though large, the fortress was only a military stronghold, not a city, and it could only accommodate a limited number of soldiers and horses.

“Has there been any unusual activity from the cannibals recently?” Marquis Wade asked upon entering the fortress, his first order of business. After all, aerial reconnaissance by sword eagle knights could not provide as much detail as close observation by spies.

“The main force of cannibals remains encamped thirty li away, but a small contingent has raided several villages. Many refugees have already fled.”

Marquis Wade frowned at this report. This was his worst-case scenario: the marauding orcs disrupted the villages, destroying their means of production and forcing many villagers into becoming refugees. If they could not keep the orcs out of Herburg, the northern lands would inevitably fall into chaos.

“There is something else, my lord. The behavior of these orcs is somewhat unusual.”

“Hm?” Marquis Wade glanced at Earl Herberg, signaling him to continue.

“This time, the orcs are different. They’ve been killing people with intent, not just plundering. One village was unable to flee in time, and not a soul survived.”

This was indeed quite abnormal. Though orcs were savage, they rarely engaged in superfluous slaughter. They took food and little more, usually provisions for their next meal. But this time, their actions bespoke extermination.

The odd behavior of the orcs once again reminded Marquis Wade of Lin Xuan’s final warning.

“How much stores remain within Herburg?”

“Enough for an army to subsist on for a month.”

The mere fact that such a quantity was on hand indicated the extent of the Heer family’s wealth. It must be remembered that previously, Herburg’s stores were sufficient only for the castle itself; the total number of soldiers and servants under the Heer family never exceeded ten thousand.

Yet now, with the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, a force eight times larger, Herburg’s stores could still last a month.

However, Marquis Wade was not satisfied with this level of provisions. “This is not enough. Stockpile more supplies at Flooding Snow City, and have Earl Herring send more people to procure food. We must have at least enough for three months’ worth of battles.”

Marquis Wade’s demands were delivered without the slightest hint of politeness to the Heer family. After all, though the relief army had come to save these people, it was not unreasonable to expect the Heer family to shoulder some of the burden of supplying the troops. The fact that they were being rescued justified this expectation.

“Yes, I will call for arrangements to be made at once.”

Despite his obvious discomfort, Count Herring acquiesced swiftly.

“The Northern Expeditionary Army will set up camp here and depart for the Wilderness in two days.”

“Yes, sir.”

The senior officers present responded one after another.

Marquis Wade only took heed of half of Lint’s suggestion—to use Flooding Snow City as a base and stockpile massive quantities of supplies. However, according to Lint’s advice, they should also use Flooding Snow City as their foothold and advance slowly, step by step, until victory was secured.

Yet Marquis Wade chose only to stockpile supplies without planning to advance slowly. This was not because he failed to understand the advantages of such a cautious approach; indeed, everyone knew that slow and steady won the race. However, if they proceeded as Lint suggested, the Northern Expeditionary Army might be delayed here for a year, and the expenditure of manpower and resources would balloon exponentially. The northern lands might not be able to withstand such a drain, but the Heer family would certainly collapse under its weight.

“All right, everyone, go prepare for the operation.”

After all the soldiers had left, Marquis Wade and the senior Lancelot family members accepted Count Hull’s invitation for a banquet.

Perhaps to show their hospitality or perhaps to curry favor with the Lancelot family, the Hulls spared no expense, offering fine wines and exquisite delicacies, and even providing many beautiful servant girls to serve them.

Yet Marquis Wade found himself unable to relax, and the more time passed, the more irritated he grew. After draining the last bit of wine from his cup, he stood up and raised his voice.

“Today is the first day of our stay here, so we’ve taken time to rest, but starting tomorrow, no more parties or feasting.”

If anyone else had said such a thing at the banquet, they would have been ignored, or worse, provoked disgust. But Marquis Wade’s words earned only subservient responses from the crowd.

Candles glowed brightly, and fine wines continued to flow, but the festivities died down. The banquet ended early, as everyone’s spirits had been dampened by Marquis Wade’s announcement.

Marquis Wade followed a servant girl to the luxurious room the Hulls had prepared for him, intending to turn in early, but he found himself unexpectedly suffering from insomnia.

Perhaps it really was necessary to follow Lint’s advice, no matter the cost?