Agreed Plan

Chapter 220 Agreed Plan

Another week passed after the timber from the Marloren resting place arrived.

Kane stood on the watchtower of the outpost, scanning the edge of the swamp.

The morning mist was thick, and the reed beds looked like a gray-green ocean, with occasional ripples that were indistinguishable from the dorsal fins of water birds or reptiles.

"Sir, shall we set up an ambush today?" the deputy shouted from below the tower.

Kane did not answer.

He recalled the news he had received that morning—another kobold gathering team had been attacked, seven kobolds were killed on the spot, and when the rest escaped back, half of them had been hit by lizardmen's poisoned arrows and were lying in the hut groaning in agony.

Both of the ambush teams he sent out returned empty-handed.

"No." He climbed down the watchtower, his voice hoarse. "Let the brothers rest. If this drags on, we'll be worn down before the lizardmen even die."

He descended the tower, went straight into the barracks, and picked up his pen to write a letter to the lord.

The ink spread across the rough parchment, like an unyielding haze.

When Ye Wei'an received Kane's letter requesting help, he was inspecting the irrigation canal construction site outside the town.

Under the bright autumn sun, amidst the dust and smoke from the rammed earth, dozens of laborers chanted as they built a cofferdam.

Specifically, two rows of wooden piles are driven into the outer bank of the river at the junction of the canal and the river, and compacted clay is filled in between to achieve a waterproof effect. Then, the water stored in the cofferdam is drained to create a dry construction area.

This allows for the installation of a one-way gate and the clearing of the water channel.

"My lord," a messenger trotted over, presenting a wax-sealed letter tube with both hands, "Urgent message from Sword Valley."

Ye Wei'an opened the letter and quickly glanced at it.

His expression remained unchanged, but the knuckles of his fingers gripping the letter turned slightly white.

Lina keenly sensed her master's emotions and quietly leaned closer: "Master, could it be about Kane—"

"The situation in Sword Valley is not good." Ye Wei'an handed the letter to Lina beside him.

The head maid quickly scanned the document, her gray eyes darkening. "Two whole weeks, zero results. To supply Sword Valley, we're losing at least thirty gold coins every day, plus the compensation for the wounded—if this drags on any longer, our losses will be enormous."

Ye Wei'an remained silent.

He walked to the window and looked at the busy construction site in front of him, as well as the lush wheat fields around him.

During the busy farming season, manpower is needed everywhere, but he is throwing his precious troops into the swamp.

"Return to the castle," he suddenly said. "Call a military council."

Inside the lord's hall, a rectangular oak table was polished to a shine, on which lay a parchment map of the Thun Swamp, its corners held down by brass paperweights.

The beeswax candles on the candlesticks crackled, casting long shadows of the people sitting around.

Ye Wei'an sat at the end of the long table. To his left was Kane, a military officer led by Grand Knight Morey, who was not present. Volodya was present as a representative of the knights, as were Hunting Captain Turamir and the captains of various squads.

On the right were the government officials: agricultural official Garland, water conservancy expert Elsa, business manager Silas, and legal advisor Orin. In addition, clergy from the three major churches and magic apprentices were also present to listen.

After the letters were circulated, Morey was the first to stand up.

"My lord, forgive my bluntness," the great knight's grey beard trembled slightly with anger, "we can't let a bunch of reptiles ride on our necks and shit on us in the swamp! Give me a hundred soldiers, plus fifty kobolds, and I'll lead the charge myself. Even if we can't raze the Blackscale Tribe's lair, we'll at least wipe out a few hunting parties! Let them know that our Thun Territory is not to be trifled with!"

"Agreed!" Volodya followed closely behind, the young knight's hand on his sword hilt, shouting, "The soldiers' fighting spirit cannot be wasted like this. Please allow me to lead the vanguard!"

"Well said!" scout captain Clayb chimed in. "Sir, the brothers have been itching for a fight! Those lizardmen are only arrogant because of the swampy terrain. In a real battle, they're nothing!"

The other officers chimed in with agreement.

But the political officials on the right had grim faces.

"Absurd." Agricultural official Garland sneered, his bluish fingers picking up a stalk of grain. "Sir Morey, do you know what season it is? It's the busy farming season! Everyone is searching for buckwheat and winter wheat. If you send out a hundred soldiers, how many laborers will you need to support them? If too many people are conscripted, we'll be eating dirt this winter!"

Volodya frowned and tentatively suggested, "Could we draw some laborers from the workers repairing the irrigation canals? Just to tide us over—"

"No," Elsa said firmly. "The irrigation canal project is at a critical stage. The fish season on the Thun River is just around the corner. If we can't branch off the canals before then, irrigation and the fishing will both be affected. To conscript laborers now would be to waste all our previous efforts."

Volodya opened his mouth, but eventually sat back down in his chair, looking at Ye Weian with a disgruntled expression.

Ye Wei'an did not immediately express his opinion, but simply tapped the table lightly with his knuckles.

"There's also the equipment problem," Lina said at the right moment. "The leatherworkers sent by Bosku have only been here for two weeks. Even with their full efforts, they've only managed to produce fifty-seven sets of swamp armor made from monitor lizard and crocodile skins. The waterproofing isn't even finished yet. Without proper equipment, sending troops would just be suicide."

"Fifty-seven officers?" A captain's eyes widened. "We have forty cavalrymen alone!"

"That's why I said we can't act rashly." Garland glanced at Morey smugly.

"So we're just going to watch the lizardmen wipe out our kobolds, and then you go and mine iron ore for us?" Morey glared angrily.

"I didn't say that." "Then what do you mean? Are you going to cower behind the city walls like a turtle?"

"You're the turtle—"

"That's enough!"

boom!

Ye Wei'an slammed his hand on the table.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone instantly shut their mouths. Jialan swallowed the rest of her swear word, and dozens of eyes turned to the young lord at the other end of the long table.

Ye Wei'an withdrew his hand, looked around the room, and no one dared to meet his gaze.

This is the prestige he has built up over the months he has served as lord.

"The irrigation canal project cannot be stopped, nor can the busy farming season be delayed. This is the foundation of our territory."

The political officers looked relieved, and Garland's lips even curled into a slight smile. The military officers, on the other hand, were all tense, and Morey's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

"But," Ye Wei'an changed the subject, "Morey is right. We really need to give the Blackscale Lizardmen a hard time."

If we show weakness now, they will only become bolder. Then, what we lose won't just be a few dozen gold coins, but the entire Sword Valley mine and the loyalty of the kobolds.

The officers were stunned, then burst into laughter.

But Jialan's smile froze on her face: "My lord! What about the manpower and supplies?"

"I'm only bringing a third of my men." Ye Wei'an held up one finger, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Twenty cavalry, twenty infantry, ten scouts, plus thirty laborers to handle logistics and fortifications. No more, no less, that's all."

The hall erupted in uproar.

"My lord, this is far too little!" Volodya was the first to stand up. "The lizardmen's hunting parties each have over a dozen members, and their tribal strongholds have at least two hundred warriors! This number isn't even enough to fill a gap in their teeth!"

"Moreover, the swamp terrain is complex, and without enough manpower, we can't even clear all the pitfalls," Kleb couldn't help but add.

"Yes, my lord," Garland said anxiously. Although he did not advocate fighting, sending such a small number of people to their deaths would still result in the territory paying for the lost equipment and compensation. "Why don't we just not fight at all? If we're going to fight, we need at least a hundred people."

"More than a hundred people?" Ye Wei'an sneered. "You yourself said how many laborers a hundred soldiers would require. Who would build the irrigation canals? Who would plant the crops?"

Jialan was speechless.

Lina's face turned pale.

She knows her master too well.

"—You're not going to personally lead the army again, are you?"

Ye Wei'an glanced at her and said matter-of-factly, "Besides me, who else could lead such a small group to complete this mission?"

Lina was speechless for a moment.

She knew Ye Wei'an was telling the truth—his command ability, his battlefield intuition, his magic—combined to make him the best commander, as his past achievements proved.

But this frightened her even more.

"You know we don't have enough people!" Her voice rose unusually, a rare occurrence for her, and this was the first time she'd lost her composure in public, a stark contrast to her usual perfect female-centric persona. "This is too dangerous! Thun Swamp isn't Firefall Town, nor is it beneath the walls of Maloren's Resting Place! That's the Blackscale Lizardmen's territory!"

"When fighting the kobolds, I also won against overwhelming odds," Ye Wei'an calmly reminded him.

"That's different!" Lina almost grabbed his sleeve. "Kobolds aren't as good at fighting as lizardmen, and back then you lured them out of their lair and fought them in open ground, giving us the advantage! But this time—"

She pointed sharply at the map, "This time you're going deep into the Thun Swamp! You're going to fight on their home turf, where every inch of soil could be a trap!"

"I can," Ye Wei'an said calmly.

"You can't always be 'Lina.'" Ye Wei'an's voice suddenly softened, but his eyes, which shimmered with a bluish-white light, grew even deeper. Believe me.

Just two words, yet they left Lina speechless.

She looked into those eyes and remembered how proudly he returned to Firefall Keep, how he led them to conquer Zantarim camps time and time again, and the victories he brought with him.

She wanted to continue arguing, but involuntarily bit her lip.

"Young Master—" Eileen's eyes were red. She didn't care about etiquette and grabbed Ye Wei'an's sleeve. "Sister Lina is right, you can't go! Let Uncle Kane go, let Uncle Morey go, anyone will do, please stay in the castle."

"I—I can go in your place!"

"My lord," Amarun rarely spoke, "everyone's concerns are not without merit; your reconnaissance magic is indeed highly advanced."

"Yes, but—the Blackscale Lizardmen serve a Black Dragon. If anything unexpected happens—given your status, personally taking such a risk would be a great loss."

All eyes were on Ye Wei'an.

The trickster recruited by Firefall Town is skilled in illusion and deception, and is a good member of the team.

Ye Wei'an looked around at everyone and suddenly smiled.

"Who told you that this is the only number of us fighting?"

The hall fell silent.

Where else did the people come from?

They knew exactly what troops were available in the territory. Apart from the nearly two hundred regular troops and militiamen, as well as the kobolds that Kane had temporarily mobilized, where was there a third armed force?

"My lord, do you intend to—arm more kobolds?" Volodya hesitated before speaking. "But most of the kobolds capable of fighting in Sword Valley perished in the previous battles, and the remaining old, weak, women, and children can't even wield a machete properly—"

"They're not kobolds," Ye Wei'an denied again. "You've forgotten that there have never been only Blackscale Lizardmen in this swamp."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

"The Swiftspear Clan!" Morey slapped his thigh, his gray beard bristling. "How could I forget about them! The kobolds mentioned it before; there are other lizardman tribes in the swamp who don't serve the black dragon and are sworn enemies of the Blackscale scum. The Swiftspear Lizardmen are one of them!"

"They're also more friendly to outsiders," Lina quickly added. "Unlike the brutal Blackscale Lizardmen, they're said to even trade with passing travelers—"

Eileen's eyes lit up: "When we rescued Druid Lucia from the Blackscale Lizardmen, we encountered several young Swiftspear Lizardmen at the edge of the swamp! They were observing us then, but didn't attack!"

“Yes, we’ve seen them.” Ellen suddenly raised her hand, her large brown eyes shining. “Master, do you remember? Before that, when we rescued Miss Lucia from the Blackscale Lizardmen, we encountered a few young Swiftspear Lizardmen in a river! They didn’t attack us, they just glanced at us from a distance and ran away.”

"Of course, it left a deep impression." Ye Wei'an nodded.

He straightened up, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the long table: "I plan to personally visit the Swiftspear Lizardmen and arrange for them to join forces in attacking the Blackscale Tribe. The Blackscale Tribe occupies the center of the swamp, the richest hunting ground in the entire Thun Swamp, and I don't believe the Swiftspear Tribe won't covet it. Once we agree on the spoils, they will be our most familiar allies in the swamp."

The hall was silent for a few moments before erupting into a heated discussion.

"Brilliant!" someone grinned. "Let the lizardmen fight the lizardmen! We just need to send some men to cover their retreat and then reap the benefits!"

One government official exclaimed excitedly, "If we attack from both sides, the Blackscale Lizardmen will surely be defeated!"

Some people wonder, "But will they trust us?"

"That's not all." Volodya's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Swiftspears know every secret passage and mud island in the swamp. With them leading the way, Blackscale's traps and ambushes are completely useless!"

"It's worth a try." Morey nodded emphatically, his gaze towards Ye Weian filled with more admiration. "My lord, this is a wise move. Using lizardmen against lizardmen is far better than letting our own people bleed."

Although Olin, Garland, and other government officials still had some concerns, they had to admit: "If we can really bring in allies—it would indeed be much more worthwhile than fighting alone."

"Then it's settled." Ye Weian made the final decision. "We'll adopt this plan. I'll personally go to the Swiftspear Clan's camp."