In the early morning, as the sky began to brighten, old Abel yawned and got out of bed, heading to the pigsty outside the farmhouse to prepare today's feed for the animals.

This was one of his few chores during the winter.

However, at that moment, the commotion coming from the feed shed made his nerves tense up.

There were only two situations when this kind of thing happened: either it was a drunk adventurer, or a beggar from outside the village.

If it were the former, it would be easier to handle, just notify the adventurer's guild, but the latter was uncertain.

As for the most dangerous third possibility, that would be the little demons from the nearby forest.

But those cunning creatures would not stay until daylight, usually flying away after being full, so he hadn't considered it at all.

"Let me see what you are..." Old Abel muttered to himself, first calling for others nearby, then grabbing a pitchfork and charging in with the group.

What met their eyes next shocked them; they saw a dozen goblins feasting beside the feed barrel, devouring more than half of the slop meant for the pigs.

Seeing the villagers standing at the entrance, the goblins busy eating froze with their mouths open, terrified.

"Catch them!"

Furious, old Abel shouted as he charged forward, and in no time, he and the villagers had subdued these feed-stealing creatures.

Though regular goblin soldiers are hard to deal with, these guys were clearly not professional soldiers, whereas the humans had all received military training.

Under the pressure of physical strength, the goblins stealing pig feed were soon battered and bruised, pleading for mercy under the old farmer's fists.

Having been bullied twice by the Demon King Army yesterday, old Abel was holding a bellyful of anger, not knowing where to vent it. Now he finally got the chance, pinching the neck of one goblin, lifting the pitchfork to interrogate.

"Speak! You're with the Demon King!"

Seeing the glaring three prongs, the goblin with its neck pinched was scared out of its wits, stammering.

"I-I-I, if I'm a goblin from Catastrophe Castle..."

Old Abel glared, and his hand holding the pitchfork was about to thrust, scaring the goblin into quickly changing its tune, shrieking in panic.

"I'm a goblin of the Demon King! No, I'm with the Demon King!"

Old Abel's expression turned satisfied.

Seemingly noticing this, the goblins skilled at reading the situation quickly unified their story under the threat of death, shouting intermittently.

"That's right! We're warriors of Lord Demon King!"

"He sent us to attack you!"

"H-Hero, spare us! We won't dare again!"

Watching these goblins begging for mercy, old Abel felt very pleased.

So that's what being an adventurer is like, no wonder so many people enjoy it tirelessly.

While he was savoring that feeling of swagger, a commotion came from outside, the "Shield Dropper" Hephael's men carrying firearms walked in from outside.

"What happened? I heard there were Demon King Army people here?"

Scanning the crowd with a sharp gaze, Hephael quickly spotted the goblins held down by the villagers, his face showing surprise.

"Goblins? How did they get here?"

"They were stealing food from Lord Ges, sir," Abel walked up proudly, claiming credit, "but they didn't succeed, we just lost some slop before we caught them!"

Even a little meat is still meat, in any case, it's an accomplishment, Hephael waved his hand.

"Take them away."

The militiamen rushed in and tied up the sixteen goblins together with ropes.

At this moment, the sound of a clanging bell suddenly came from outside the town.

Old Abel and the surrounding villagers were startled by the sound, exchanging frightened glances.

"Is the Demon King Army attacking?!"

"No..."

Hephael looked bewilderedly in the direction outside the town, at the flags appearing on the horizon.

If it could be, he'd hope instead that the Demon King Army was attacking, after all, if they couldn't win, they could still run.

His Adam's apple moved, and with a trembling voice, he said.

"It's His Grace the Duke..."

...

A mighty army marched towards Silver Pine Town, with at least twenty thousand fully equipped troops.

In the rigorous feudal era, adding a zero to any number was basic, adding two zeros was conservative, and adding three was outrageous, so claiming two hundred thousand troops wasn't exaggerated at all.

Hearing the commotion outside the small town, the residents and the adventurers in the taverns all went out, casting curious gazes at the flag flaunting in the distance.

"That's the Campbell family's crest?!"

"I heard the Princess is coming soon..."

"No, that's not the Princess, her trusted aides aren't that many... might be His Majesty."

"Looks like something happened to Mr. Colin for real, even His Majesty got alerted!"

Whispered conversations spread at the town's entrance, everyone had long known about Baron Ges being captured, only uncertain about Mr. Colin's whereabouts.

But seeing this, the rumors seemed true.

As everyone was talking, a few fast horses galloped down the street beside them, rushing towards the direction of the army.

The dust raised by the hooves crossed the frozen fields, arriving at the front, the Sheriff Adela dismounted, kneeling on one knee with a fearful salute.

"Your Majesty! I am the Sheriff of Silver Pine Town, the Mayor is still on the way here, we didn't know you were coming, please forgive us for not welcoming you properly..."

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