My Kingdom Building Done Right!-Chapter 30: The Spy In The Sky

Arion noticed a dust cloud rising in the distance—the kind only made by a herd of horses running across the plains.

It flew closer for a better view and realized it wasn’t just wild horses.

Understanding this was the threat its Master had been preparing for, Arion hurriedly flew back to Grimjaw Mountain to inform Leone that their enemies had arrived.

A few minutes later, the sound of the alarm bell echoed through the mountain and forest, announcing that the moment of truth had arrived.

Those who had been hunting and chopping wood until the last possible moment abandoned their tasks and rushed up the mountain. Daedalus swooped down to collect all the materials ready to be used.

Once all the warriors had been accounted for, Leone directed the construction of barricades and pitfalls along the paths leading to the mountain. He even added some wooden tiles to disguise the location of the pitfalls and asked the warriors to cover them with rocks and dirt they had prepared beforehand.

Daedalus could easily "destroy" these wooden tiles, allowing their enemies to fall to their doom. The grimoire had already set this to auto-mode, triggered as soon as someone stepped over them.

Swain, Darius, and the two women climbed the ladders to man the mounted repeating crossbows, serving as a deterrent.

They also had ample water and food supplies. If the battle dragged on, they wouldn’t need to abandon their posts.

Leone hurried inside the cave and warned everyone to stay put inside. He would be filling the tunnels with traps to prevent the enemies from reaching their location.

To prevent friendly fire, he told the ladies guarding the non-combatants that no warriors who belonged to the Alborin Tribe would enter the cave.

Daedalus would let them know if the war was over. Until then, they were free to shoot any monster or human that came their way.

After planting as many pitfall traps as he could, the young man returned to the entrance of the cave, where the warriors held their final war council.

"It will still take them an hour to arrive," Ulric said. "Knowing Arlo, he might convince us to surrender without a fight first. I also wouldn’t put it past him to simply charge at us, thinking he can end this battle right away.

"He is that arrogant, so we can use that to our advantage. Just remain calm and don’t be affected by his provocations. As long as we can defend the path leading to the cliff, we can get the upper hand."

""Yes!""

All of them had prepared hard for this day, so they would not go down without a fight.

*Squeak!*

Blitz then pointed at a hawk circling the mountain and told its Master it looked suspicious.

Daedalus checked the Status Page of the hawk and confirmed the squirrel suspicion.

———

[Red-Tail Hawk]

Race: Hawk

Grade: Common

Affiliation: Black Wolf Tribe

Strength: 24

Agility: 32

Dexterity: 31

Vitality: 21

Intelligence: 16

———

Seeing that the Red-Tail Hawk was indeed an enemy scout, Leone decided to let his familiar deal with it.

"Bring it down, Blitz," Leone ordered. "But don’t kill it if possible."

*Squeak!*

The warriors anxiously watched as the flying squirrel took off into the skies. Common sense dictated that a squirrel was easy prey for a hawk and would serve as its meal.

But Blitz was no ordinary squirrel.

It was a Stormwing Squirrel, and its stats were nothing to scoff at. Simply put, it beat the red-tail hawk in every stat parameter, making it the superior aerial fighter between the two.

———

[Blitz]

Race: Squirrel

Grade: Super Rare

Evolution Form: Stormwing Squirrel

Strength: 27

Agility: 70

Dexterity: 44

Vitality: 41

Intelligence: 45

———

Of course, the hawk couldn’t check Status Pages, so the moment it saw Blitz, it immediately dived down, thinking a flying snack had decided to come its way.

*Squeak!*

Blitz faced the approaching hawk valiantly and evaded its claws last second by moving its body to the side.

The flying squirrel then made a sharp turn, using its superior speed and mobility to land on the Hawk’s back.

A second later, it released electrical sparks. Electrocuted, the hawk lost its ability to fly.

Perhaps feeling competitive, Daedalus also flew over and smacked the hawk’s head with its book cover, knocking it unconscious.

Blitz and Daedalus then worked together to bring the pitiful hawk back to the cliff and dropped it on the ground like a sack of rice.

The two then exchanged a high five for a job well done.

One of the warriors tied the hawk with a rope and asked Leone what he wanted to do with it. Thinking the hawk could be useful later, the young man decided to ask Daedalus to bring the unconscious big bird to the non-combatants so they could watch over it.

With the threat of an aerial scout gone, the Alborin Tribe waited for their enemy to arrive at their doorstep.

———

"Chief, my hawk is not responding to my summons," Brakka reported.

Arlo frowned as he looked at the forest that they were about to reach. "Are you sure the Alborin Tribe is on that mountain?"

"Yes, Chief!" Brakka answered with confidence.

"Then they might have shot it down," Arlo replied. "It doesn’t matter. As long as we know their location, they can’t run away.

"Also, to compensate you for the loss of your pet, I’ll let you take the first pick of the women from the Alborin Tribe. Except for Yuni, everyone else is fair play."

Brakka wanted to say that his hawk was more precious than a woman from the Alborin Tribe, but he kept his lips shut.

Taming and training a new hawk to be a scout was far less troublesome than angering his Chieftain with his words.

When their group entered the forest, Arlo ordered everyone to rest for a while, as they had been traveling for a long time.

While he was very keen to subjugate the Alborin Tribe as soon as possible, he understood that being too hasty could backfire on them.

He planned to negotiate with Ulric and offer some benefits. Perhaps the other party would change his mind without a fight if he could assure their tribe wouldn’t suffer after merging with the Black Wolf Tribe.

Although Arlo was confident they could win if a battle were to take place, a peaceful compromise leading to no loss of warriors would be the better outcome.

If Ulric refused, Arlo would just wait until nighttime and fight when the full moon had illuminated the sky.

The Chieftain of the Black Wolf tribe didn’t know that the moment he and his men entered the forest, the battle had already begun.

Countless eyes observed them from the safety of the trees, waiting for an opportunity to inform Blitz and Leone about the movements of their enemies.