How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 172

Gnolls were the monsters we feared the most.The monsters that had inflicted the greatest damage upon our territory so far were the Gnolls, and the battle in which Iron's parents had fallen was also against the Gnolls.

To begin with, wasn't the very reason we had started cooperating with the Lion Tribe to stand against our common enemy, the Gnolls?

Last year, the Gnolls had remained quiet, allowing us to get through the winter easily.

This time, however, it seemed they had no intention of letting us off so easily.

'Gnolls... Just thinking about them is irritating.'

The hyena-like bipedal monsters known as Gnolls were pack monsters with a certain degree of intelligence.

They knew how to use weapons and moved in an organized manner.

That was why fighting Gnolls felt very much like fighting a human army.

That was precisely what made them so troublesome.

Even when we fought them from behind our walls, we were always forced to suffer considerable casualties.

'But... were Gnolls the type of monsters that even operated reconnaissance units? I don't think they were.'

This was the first time the Gnolls had ever deployed scouts.

No matter how intelligent they were, monsters were still monsters.

Their primary strategy had always been to gather in overwhelming numbers and charge straight at a fortress.

The battles themselves had always been difficult, but they had never displayed any remarkable tactics before combat began.

Yet now...

Reconnaissance.

And the fact that the scouts had been discovered near Henil Territory made it even more ominous.

'It's almost as if they're trying to identify weak points.'

Most Gnoll invasions advanced southward from their habitat in the central region of the Monster Mountains.

The largest branch of the mountain range connected directly to our Northern Fortress, and almost every Gnoll force chose that route for their invasion.

Of course, since another branch extended toward Rotsy, part of the horde would sometimes head that way.

Even so, Johnson Territory had always been their primary target.

Strategically, it made sense.

If Johnson Territory fell, they could then advance into the Levelium Region or the Rubina Region.

Especially Levelium, which was practically left completely undefended.

'But Henil? They've hardly ever attacked there.'

Henil also bordered one of the smaller branches of the Monster Mountains.

However, the terrain there was extremely narrow, and large numbers of Gnolls had never invaded through that route.

At most, a few dozen Gnolls that had strayed from the main pack would trespass into the territory.

But if a Gnoll reconnaissance unit had come all the way there, then Henil also needed to prepare for an invasion.

If they became complacent simply because of past experience, the territory could very well be destroyed.

'The scouts... there's definitely something going on. Maybe the reason the Gnolls stayed quiet last year was...'

The larger a pack monster became, the more dangerous it was.

The biggest problem was the birth of higher-ranking individuals.

Once those appeared, the entire pack gained far stronger organization.

Take the Raptor pack led by the Raptor Queen, for example.

Ordinary Raptors were only Class 5 or Class 6 Monsters.

Yet a Raptor pack under the command of a Raptor Queen was an entirely different matter.

Back when Leisha and I had desperately tried to kill the Raptor Queen first while leading the Rabbit Tribe during our great escape, it was because higher-ranking monsters were just that dangerous.

'Back then... wasn't the leader of that Gnoll pack a Gnoll Champion?'

More than a decade ago, a massive Gnoll invasion had dealt our territory a devastating blow.

An enormous horde had suddenly appeared, destroyed the Northern Fortress, and advanced all the way to the territory itself.

Both of Iron's parents had died in that battle.

Many Knights had also sacrificed themselves for the territory.

The one leading the Gnoll horde back then had been a Gnoll Champion.

A Gnoll Champion.

Several Gnoll Shamans.

And roughly two thousand Gnolls.

Even then, however, the Gnolls had simply charged directly into the Northern Fortress.

They had never dispatched reconnaissance units.

Perhaps...

We even had to consider the possibility that an even higher-ranking individual than a Gnoll Champion had been born.

'Ah... We're screwed. Seriously.'

I had been wondering why this winter had been going so smoothly.

Now that the Gnolls were showing signs of invasion, we had to prepare thoroughly.

It looked like winter vacation at the Northern Fortress was officially over.

"Understood. Return and inform the Lord of Henil about the situation. As for the Dog Tribe, continue searching around Henil."

"Yes, my Lord."

I sent the Dog Tribe back to Henil Territory.

I instructed them to patrol the area and search for any further traces of Gnolls.

Since the Gnolls had begun behaving strangely, Henil also needed to prepare.

"What do you think? The Gnolls have started sending scouts. Have you ever experienced anything like this?"

-No. This is my first time as well.

The first person I informed was Rudelrof.

As a veteran who had frequently fought against the Gnolls, his opinion carried weight.

Yet even he said it was his first time seeing the Gnolls deploy reconnaissance units.

That alone proved this wasn't an ordinary situation.

-We need to heighten our vigilance.

"Agreed."

-I'll send warriors north. We can't go all the way into the Gnolls' habitat, but we should at least be able to determine their movements.

"I'd appreciate that."

-No need to thank me. It's something we have to do.

There was no way the sharp-minded Rudelrof failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

He immediately understood how dangerous things were and decided to dispatch warriors to monitor the Gnolls.

At this time of year, the only ones capable of quietly scouting the Monster Mountains were the Lion Tribe warriors.

Even Johnson Territory's Rangers couldn't conduct reconnaissance there during winter.

Searching the Monster Mountains in this season was incredibly dangerous.

But this was no longer the time to worry about such things.

Even if sacrifices became necessary, learning the Gnolls' movements took priority.

I could only be grateful for his decision.

-Gnolls, you say? Hoho... Surely those damned bastards aren't... Understood. I'll thoroughly search the surrounding area as well.

-Gnolls, meow? And in large numbers? This winter's completely ruined, meow.

I also warned the Ape Tribe and the Cat Tribe, both of whom were connected to different branches of the Monster Mountains, about the unusual Gnoll activity.

To every Beastman living near the Monster Mountains, Gnolls were creatures they absolutely dreaded.

Both tribes reacted with obvious alarm.

However, neither tribe had ever experienced a large-scale Gnoll invasion.

That was because such invasions had always moved southward from the central region.

The Ape Tribe's territory lay northwest of the Gnolls' habitat.

The Cat Tribe's settlement lay directly west.

They had only ever fought small groups of Gnolls.

Yet even then, their reactions were this severe.

That alone showed just how troublesome the Gnolls truly were.

"I think we need to prepare for a Gnoll invasion."

I informed the people of the territory as well.

This wasn't an ordinary incident.

Everyone needed to work together to prepare.

"Gnolls... They didn't attack us last year, did they? Their numbers may have grown tremendously."

Haken was another region frequently threatened by pack monsters, namely the Black Orcs.

Having grown up in Haken, Irene understood the habits of pack monsters to some extent.

Since the Gnolls hadn't invaded us last winter, their numbers might have exploded.

I agreed.

The reason I had immediately suspected a large-scale invasion the moment I heard about the reconnaissance party was precisely because of last winter's unusual silence.

Honestly, perhaps it was simply time.

Perhaps this was inevitable.

"There'll definitely be Gnoll Shamans among them. Yuria, can you dispel Gnoll Shamanism?"

"What kind of Shamanism?"

"Something like... a berserk enhancement?"

"Dispelling enhancement Shamanism isn't possible. To forcibly remove something like that requires a special method."

"And we don't know that method."

"Hmph. That's pretty useless."

"Are you picking a fight?"

Even though we joked like this, Yuria's role was still incredibly important.

If she could simply sing at the right moment, it would make an enormous difference.

I still had no idea why Shamanism that supposedly only affected Beastmen also worked on the territory's Knights.

But if it was useful, we'd use every advantage available.

Especially if my prediction was correct...

If a higher-ranking Gnoll had truly appeared, an incredibly difficult battle awaited us.

"Higher-ranking individual or not, once we kill the leader, the rest become nothing more than a disorganized mob. Trust me, Bear."

"Hmm... That's true."

Moments like these really showed how dependable Leisha was.

If we carried out a decapitation operation, she would naturally lead the charge.

Breaking through the enemy lines with Leisha and eliminating the Gnoll leader first...

That was a strategy worth considering.

After all, we'd dismantled the massive Raptor pack the same way.

If it worked again, we might stop the invasion more easily than expected.

"We may have to give up quite a lot."

"That's true."

"My Lord... how much are you prepared to sacrifice?"

"Give up, huh... Well..."

Leon raised a rather meaningful question.

How much was I willing to sacrifice?

It would be wonderful if we could protect everything while stopping the Gnolls.

But if countless Gnolls attacked the territory, we might have no choice but to abandon many things.

'Survive somehow.'

If I could protect the lives of the residents...

Everything else was secondary.

Nothing mattered more than survival.

For the sake of ensuring the territory survived, I was prepared to sacrifice anything.

A shabby warehouse hidden away in one corner of the neutral city of Saint.

Inside this abandoned place where no one came, two men were holding a conversation.

One was Octosia, the former Regent of the Empire.

The other was an unidentified man wearing a black half-mask.

The atmosphere between them was incredibly tense.

It certainly didn't look like they were discussing anything pleasant.

More accurately, only Octosia's mood was hostile.

"So in the end, you're just planning to use me."

"You could call it that. But it's also a good opportunity. You can't remain hidden here forever, can you?"

"Hah. And whose fault is it that I'm hiding here in the first place...?"

"So... are you refusing?"

The masked man had made a proposal to Octosia.

Or rather, something disguised as a proposal.

In reality, it was little different from an order.

Octosia had no real choice.

Besides, just as the man intended to use Octosia...

Octosia could also use him.

Still, accepting it without complaint wounded her pride.

So she decided to provoke him a little.

"Don't think everything will go according to your plans. Haven't things already gone wrong for you several times?"

"Which is exactly why I chose this timing. Losing Levelium hurt me quite a bit as well."

The man's grand design had been simple.

Bring the Empire into the conflict.

Seize Levelium.

Then use the Imperial forces to occupy the southern part of the Levela Peninsula.

Afterward, drive the Empire away as well and claim the Levelium Region for himself.

As an added bonus, he would become the rightful ruler of New Level.

But everything had collapsed before it had even begun.

The root of the problem was that every supply stored in the former Hawrun Castle had been burned to ashes, ruining the Imperial Army's logistics.

As a result, they failed to secure complete control over Levelium.

In the end, they had no choice but to seek help from Vines.

But the decisive blow had come when the Imperial Army was utterly defeated by the Cow Tribe.

No one could have predicted events unfolding this way.

Ironically...

Both the beginning and the end of his failure were deeply connected to Johnson Territory.

That was an especially painful mistake for the masked man.

It was absurd enough that Iron Johnson, who should have died, was still alive.

Yet that same Iron had repeatedly ruined his plans.

Even the man manipulating everything from the shadows had never imagined that every Beastman would unite together.

And the fact that Iron Johnson stood at the center of it all had been an even greater shock.

"During winter, they won't be able to move. Even if they do, it'll only be in small numbers. That'll make them much easier to devour."

That was precisely why he had chosen winter.

The season when no sane person would dare mobilize a large army.

While the troublesome Johnson Territory remained unable to act...

He intended to take everything he could.

"Fortunately, our collaborator has agreed to lend us his strength."

"And you will as well."

"I find that hard to believe. Did he really agree to cooperate?"

"Of course. I wouldn't lie about something like this."

"...Fine. Then it's worth trying."

"Excellent. I'll be counting on you."

"...Very well. I'll trust you... one last time."

Despite their words...

Neither of them trusted the other.

Octosia had her own intentions.

The masked man had his.

As each silently contemplated how best to exploit the other, they shook hands.

It was the hour of the serpent.