Work Prophet

Solomon didn't know what was happening in the Fertile Corner, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't care much.

From his personal perspective, he actually hoped Lannita would survive, so it would be easier to explain things to Sibulun and the Wizard Association.

But he believed he had already done everything he could. Lannita was captured due to her own mistake, which had nothing to do with him.

Yet as a commander, he had risked his life to personally exchange the captured Wing Tribe girl back.

Having done so much, even if Lannita ended up dead, it would be hard for Sibulun to use this issue to challenge his position as the commander of the expeditionary army.

As for the Wizard Association, it might be a bit more troublesome, but those wizards were a bunch of very practical and ruthless people. If Lannita were still alive, they might come to trouble him.

But with her dead, there was no longer any need for conflict between the two sides.

Solomon no longer wanted to think about this matter and instead focused all his attention on the current battle.

As soon as they entered the western territory, they encountered enemies.

The attackers hid in the woods and marshes and launched attacks on the army as they passed by.

However, once the attacked reacted, the assailants would quickly withdraw, using the complex surrounding environment to evade pursuit and reconnaissance.

Of course, their hiding places were not flawless. Solomon sent Wing Clan Warriors into the sky to cooperate with the dwarves and imperial nobility allies, meticulously searching and eventually finding all twenty-five attackers in that forest.

They were driven out to an open space and knelt in a row.

The Wing Clan Warriors used them for an archery competition. With the twang of bowstrings, the captives fell to the ground one by one.

Most of them were shot fatally on the spot, and those who were still gasping for breath had their heads cut off by those who came to inspect.

The Wing Tribespeople carried out this task with zeal; they even stripped the knight who led them, gave him a wooden sword, and forced him to choose an opponent for a duel according to knightly tradition.

Undoubtedly, the Wing Clan Warriors had the upper hand in this ridiculous duel.

However, they were not in a hurry to kill their opponent, who eventually died in agony with more than a dozen arrows in his body.

Solomon was not very satisfied with this, not because he thought his warriors were too cruel, but because he felt too much time was wasted in capturing and executing these mere twenty-five people.

It wasn't until dusk that the army moved on, and they hadn't gone far when they were attacked again.

So, the same tactics were employed on the spot to search the area. However, this time they had to stop mid-search as nightfall approached, encircling the marsh in preparation to continue the search the next day.

But at this moment, Solomon frowned.

These enemies came in small groups. Their actions were mainly harassment, appearing suddenly with the help of terrain. No matter whether they succeeded or not, they would disappear quickly, and each time, the actual damage they could inflict was very limited.

Yet, to capture them, the army had to use a great deal of energy and time.

The Wing Clan Commander vaguely realized that perhaps the purpose of these people's appearances was merely to slow down their march speed.

So, the next morning, Solomon changed his strategy. He ordered the noble lords to send out cavalry to patrol near the army. Upon encountering attackers, they didn't need to annihilate them, just chasing them away would suffice.

This tactic quickly proved to be effective, and the army's marching speed increased.

By the next morning, they had reached the first town, where the Lord of the town personally opened the gates and, together with his two sons, came out to meet them as a sign of submission.

They had prepared six chests of gold, two chests of jewelry, and three hundred young virgins.

However, they were unable to meet Solomon, and only a Dwarf named Willie accepted their gifts.

Then, unapologetically, he led his people to loot their town.

The Lord and his two sons just stood outside the city awkwardly, watching the Dwarfs carry various riches from the city and listening to the cries and wails coming from the other side of the city walls.

It was not until the riches were piled up like a small mountain that the Dwarf named Willie came back, found the Lord, and asked him to supply men and carts to transport these riches to Fertile Corner first.

Upon hearing Willie's words, the Lord's face turned green.

What was this all about? His territory had been completely looted, and now he had to supply labor to help the robbers transport their loot.

Perhaps the only consolation was that the Dwarf named Willie also said they had only taken half of the riches, leaving him somewhat of a nest egg.

However, before the Lord could feel relieved, the Wing Tribe came to him, demanding that he guard the remaining half of the riches, waiting for Solomon to conquer the Western lands before sending someone to inventory and collect them.

Having heard this, the Lord felt like dying; he regretted not listening to Ireya's advice to resist initially.

Yet, after seeing the great army before him, he felt that resistance would have had no better outcome. Surrender was shameful, but at least it could save his life.

In any case, Solomon effortlessly captured the first town in the Western Territories, and he also sent people to gather most of the food from the city, effectively alleviating the army's food shortage.

Afterward, without much rest, Solomon chose to continue moving forward.

This time, however, they finally encountered some trouble. The attackers were still emerging from the forests, but this time in much greater numbers, totaling three hundred.

The patrolling cavalry was quickly overwhelmed by them, and afterward, they set fire to part of the supplies.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to be aggravating.

That was primarily because previous attackers were few in number, leading everyone to lower their guard, only for the enemy to suddenly launch a major assault.

This time Solomon didn't just let it go; even though this number of people couldn't cause much harm intellectually, if the goal was to swiftly conquer the Western Territories, ignoring them would have been more appropriate.

However, not everyone thinks about problems rationally; undoubtedly, ignoring them would have affected the army's morale.

Therefore, Solomon had to spend half a day, but this time they found only less than a hundred people.

Since the army had scattered, the remaining two hundred had run off and the captives didn't know where.

Solomon only learned from their mouths that most of them were from Red Tower City, members of the Treles Family, and the rest were warriors from other minor Noble Families.

Solomon had someone take note of their families in the background, planning to annihilate them all at a later time.

He left a thousand Dwarfs to continue searching for people, while the rest moved on.

In the following two days, they passed three towns without encountering any significant resistance; the Lords there either surrendered coming out of the city or had fled early on.

The ten thousand Wing Clan Warriors Solomon brought had exerted themselves a bit in searching previously but hadn't been in action until now and were even feeling somewhat bored.

The only losses they had suffered were due to illness.