How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 175

Despite the troublesome situation in the south, reconnaissance of the Monster Mountains continued without interruption.Realizing that the Gnolls' movements were anything but normal, the Ape Tribe and the Cat Tribe desperately continued sending out scouts.

In the end, they managed to uncover most of the enemy's strength.

Approximately ten thousand ordinary Gnolls.

Over several hundred Elite Gnolls.

Seven Gnoll Champions.

Numerous Gnoll Shamans.

And finally...

One massive individual that none of them had ever seen before.

For convenience, we named the superior individual above the Champions the "Gnoll Lord."

During the Great Cataclysm, the superior individual that had commanded thousands of Black Orcs had been called the "Orc Lord."

We simply applied the same naming convention to the Gnolls.

And this "Gnoll Lord" looked incredibly formidable.

It stood roughly three and a half meters tall.

At that point, it was no longer the size of an ordinary Gnoll.

Ultimately, the outcome of this war would depend on how efficiently we could eliminate the Gnoll Lord.

Of course...

The fact that there were over ten thousand Gnolls was already shocking enough.

"At this point... we don't really have a choice anymore."

When I first learned that thousands of Gnolls had gathered around the outskirts of their territory, I wondered whether we really had to do this.

Then suspicious news arrived from the south.

At that point, I realized we had no choice.

Dealing with the Gnolls was troublesome enough, but now there was also a time limit.

And now...

The situation had reached the point where we absolutely had to go through with it.

With this many Gnolls gathered together, even successfully defending the territory was no longer guaranteed.

"We're doing it."

"We have to, don't we?"

"Do you think it'll work?"

"It should."

"We'll have to accept enormous losses, though."

"Good. Let's prepare."

I abandoned my greed and focused solely on survival.

Oddly enough, after confirming the enemy's strength, I actually felt more at ease.

We could worry about everything else after surviving.

The territory entered a wartime state.

In truth, we'd already been under wartime conditions ever since the first Gnoll scout had been discovered.

"Now it finally feels like a real winter."

"True. This year has been unusually quiet."

The residents didn't react badly at all.

This winter had simply been unusually peaceful.

Normally, winters in this region were always this chaotic.

The people of Johnson Territory were already veterans when it came to wars against the Gnolls.

One of our territory's greatest strengths was that public morale never wavered, no matter what crisis appeared.

"So... are we finally deploying the militia this time?"

"Everyone, maintain your own weapons. We don't know when we'll be mobilized."

"Excellent. It's been a while since I've had some fun."

"Crack those Gnoll bastards' skulls while they climb the walls! Hah, that's the spirit."

If anything, morale was rising.

Everyone was maintaining their weapons whenever they had spare time because they could be called upon at any moment.

To be completely honest...

Even now, I was constantly surprised by the burning battle instincts of Johnson Territory's people.

"Everyone, get moving! We have to stockpile as much as possible!"

The busiest place preparing for battle was the slaughterhouse.

Even the workers who had been mining Mana Stones and processing monster byproducts gathered there.

There was no guarantee we'd be able to keep using the ranches normally once the battle began.

We needed to preserve as much meat as possible before the Gnolls started moving in earnest.

Naturally, the Mouse Tribe was busier than ever.

They weren't even sleeping.

They were making canned food around the clock.

Storing butchered meat as canned meat was far more practical than simply piling it up in warehouses.

Meanwhile, the Mouse Tribe children were dismantling their tents and evacuating inside the castle.

According to our plan, the basin north of Johnson Castle would become the most important battlefield.

For the Mouse Tribe, who had been living there in tents, it was practically a bolt from the blue.

As much as they loved tent life, even they seemed to realize this wasn't the time for complaints.

They simply moved inside the castle and pitched their tents again.

Even without adults around, the Mouse Tribe children handled tents with remarkable skill.

"...Wait."

"Why are there so many Horned Rabbits inside the tents...?"

However...

These little guys were unbelievable too.

The moment they took down the tents, Horned Rabbits came hopping out everywhere.

Not just one or two.

Dozens of them.

Curious, I asked the Mouse Tribe children about it.

Apparently, sleeping while hugging a Horned Rabbit kept them incredibly warm throughout the winter.

In other words...

They'd been using Horned Rabbits as living heaters.

They even bathed the rabbits before sleeping with them.

To be fair, Horned Rabbits were naturally gentle, and their fur was incredibly soft.

Still...

Actually using them as heaters while sleeping...

The more I looked at them, the more convinced I became that they weren't exactly normal either.

"Hehehe."

"Hehehehe."

"Kekeke."

And here were another group of strange people.

Our Rabbit Tribe friends, who had once again been entrusted with an important role in this war.

The moment they heard the outline of the operation we'd painstakingly planned, they began grinning mischievously while making preparations.

They seemed to love this operation.

Considering they'd be risking their lives just like everyone else...

Their reaction was something else.

'Just look at them.'

'I wonder if there's even such a thing as a Beastman who deserves to be called normal.'

-Hmph. That's racial discrimination, Master.

Wasn't it simply stating a fact rather than racial discrimination?

The Beastmen really were strange.

'Actually... Johnson Territory is even stranger.'

'The residents are gradually becoming just as crazy.'

No matter how much I thought about it, I always reached the same conclusion.

They were all equally bizarre.

Even as their Lord...

I couldn't deny that my residents were strange.

And so...

Those strange Beastmen and those strange residents worked side by side, enthusiastically preparing for battle.

It wasn't just Johnson Territory.

The entire Beastman Alliance was preparing for war.

The Cow Tribe dispatched two thousand warriors throughout the various territories.

Five hundred each to the Ape Tribe, the Cat Tribe, the Lion Tribe, and Johnson Territory.

Originally, the Cow Tribe had wanted to send half of their warriors to Johnson Territory, the most dangerous front.

I refused.

The other tribes weren't safe either.

"Don't forget."

"If a large number of Gnolls come, retreat immediately."

-We know.

-We know, meow.

"Retreat all the way to the Cow Tribe's territory."

The comparatively weaker Ape Tribe and Cat Tribe planned to retreat the moment the situation turned unfavorable.

The reason both tribes continued risking themselves with reconnaissance until the very end was to determine exactly where the largest Gnoll forces were headed.

It was admittedly an unlikely possibility.

But we still had to prepare for the chance that most of the Gnolls might target one particular Beastman territory.

Preparation, in this case, meant retreating.

Running away was still far wiser than charging headlong into the enemy and being annihilated.

Without a retreat plan...

The Beastmen would gladly fight until every last one of them died.

Considering how the Bear Tribe had driven themselves to extinction after launching an offensive of their own...

No matter how many times I emphasized it, it wasn't enough.

"And..."

"You remember, right?"

-Of course.

-We remember.

-We can't let them torment us forever.

-I'll decide after assessing the situation, meow.

After even discussing postwar matters, we ended the communication.

Now...

They had to defend their own territories.

If my prediction was correct, not many Gnolls would head their way.

Whether west or northwest...

Those weren't directions the Gnolls particularly cared about.

Judging by geography alone, Henil Territory was actually in greater danger than they were.

"This time, we're depending entirely on the Dog Tribe."

-Rest assured.

-All two thousand Dog Tribe warriors are already stationed in Henil.

-We will stop them.

I entrusted Henil's defense entirely to the Dog Tribe.

Right now, all two thousand Dog Tribe warriors were preparing defensive positions there.

Two thousand warriors out of a population of only ten thousand.

As expected of the Dog Tribe, whose entire way of life revolved around constant training.

Their number of warriors was extraordinary.

Individually, the Lion Tribe produced the strongest fighters.

But the Dog Tribe grew stronger the larger their numbers became.

Since every Dog Tribe warrior was gathered in one place...

That front should be secure.

Of course, the route leading from northern Henil into the Monster Mountains was extremely narrow.

It wasn't a suitable path for a massive Gnoll invasion.

Still...

Given the circumstances, there was no telling what unexpected variables might appear.

At least the Dog Tribe had taken responsibility for defending Henil.

That alone lifted a huge burden from my shoulders.

-You're really going through with it?

"Yeah."

"I think this is our best option for now."

I discussed the operation seriously with the Lion Tribe.

Since only a single tunnel separated us from their territory, they were naturally our best partners for cooperation.

"We'll have to seal the tunnel."

-The tunnel...

-I suppose so.

"We don't have a choice."

"The location is simply too dangerous."

-That's true.

Just before the battle began, we decided to block the tunnel.

The tunnel leading to Rotsy was located right beside the Northern Fortress.

Its position was simply too dangerous.

If the Northern Fortress fell...

The tunnel would be exposed.

And considering that the Horned Rabbit Ranch lay on the other side...

Blocking it was unquestionably the safest decision.

"We're only sealing it with rocks."

"If necessary, we can clear it at any time."

-I understand exactly what you mean.

Of course...

That didn't mean we had no intention of using the tunnel during the battle.

We'd simply disguise it by blocking it with rocks so the Gnolls wouldn't notice.

When the time came, we could reopen it and move through.

Depending on how the battle developed, we could immediately reinforce either side through the tunnel.

This tunnel might end up playing a crucial role in the coming war.

"As expected of the human chieftain."

"That's an interesting plan."

"Really?"

"The Horse Tribe's role is extremely important."

"They need to execute the opening move perfectly."

"Leave it to us."

"This sort of thing is our specialty."

Johnson Territory was the only place receiving support from the Horse Tribe.

Their entire specialty was hit-and-run tactics.

Because of that, they weren't particularly useful in defensive battles—especially those centered around mountains and fortified passes.

Since they specialized in one-sided hit-and-run attacks, they were actually weaker than other tribes in close combat.

They didn't even possess a Great Warrior.

Even their chieftain was merely a top-tier warrior rather than a Great Warrior.

That was also why, unlike the Cow Tribe, the Horse Tribe hadn't sent reinforcements elsewhere.

'But... we need their mobility.'

Our side needed the Horse Tribe.

When they were free to charge across open plains, no one matched their combat power.

We'd already witnessed that ourselves.

Without them...

Nobody else could accomplish what I had in mind.

-They're moving!!

-They're moving, meow! They're heading this way... One thousand of them, meow!

-A report says one group split off toward the southeast from the junction deep within the Monster Mountains.

Two days later...

Intelligence finally arrived that the Gnolls had begun moving in earnest.

The moment the Ape Tribe and Cat Tribe scouts, who had been monitoring them deep inside the Monster Mountains, spotted the movement, they immediately informed everyone.

Toward the northwest of Gnoll territory, heading for the Ape Tribe—

One Gnoll Champion.

Roughly five hundred Gnolls.

Toward the west, heading for the Cat Tribe—

One Gnoll Champion.

Roughly one thousand Gnolls.

Toward the southeast, heading for Henil Territory—

One Gnoll Champion.

Roughly one thousand Gnolls.

The remaining forces...

Would divide between Johnson Territory and Rotsy.

"So... at most seven thousand?"

"Since a fair number are heading toward Rotsy, we should probably expect around five thousand."

"At least they aren't all coming together."

"Exactly."

"Even I was getting nervous about facing all ten thousand."

Five thousand was still an enormous number.

Yet compared to the worst-case scenario of ten thousand...

It somehow didn't seem nearly as bad.

After all, we'd designed our entire operation assuming all ten thousand would attack us.

'We're not going through all this just to kill two or three thousand Gnolls.'

More importantly...

If this many came...

At least all our efforts would feel worthwhile.

"Good!"

"Finish everything!"

"Move! I can see your feet!"

"Everyone, get to your assigned positions!"

"Let's go!"

"The greatest achievements in the last battle belonged to the Cow Tribe—and they'll belong to us again!"

"Hmph!"

"We're not losing to those oversized cows."

"It'll be the Horse Tribe who wrings more Fried Rabbit out of the human chieftain!"

Everyone strengthened their resolve as they headed toward their assigned positions.

-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!

-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!

Once again...

The residents of the territory cheered us on.

The only difference this time...

Was that every single resident was already fully armed.

The people of Johnson Territory had absolutely no intention of quietly staying inside their homes.