I Try To Enjoy My Life But This Woman Keep Calling Me Villain-Chapter 88: Fight Against the Tide

"I don’t like this."

I nod at Jullian’s words because something is not right in this place.

As we get closer to the fortress we once lost in the past, there is only silence: no monster, no movement, nothing. There must be something wrong in this place. On our way here, we are fighting for our life, and now there is nothing.

We fight against the horde of who knows many monsters to reach this place, and after reaching this area, there is none? My instinct quickly told me to get out of this place or don’t stop. I already told my father about it, and he agreed with me.

However, we cannot keep going because of the people from the North. I look back and sigh in disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong, their technique and formation are good, great even. However, their stamina is shit. I have a feeling they are trained for a flatland march, not a mountainous place like the South.

There is also a problem with horses. Just like them, they are a breed of horse that cannot go long in a mountainous place like the South. Our horses are shorter but have more stamina than theirs. Also, our horse did not have a problem galloping on an inclined road, unlike the Southerner horses, which are quick on flat land but have a hard time on an inclined road.

I shake my head and continue to walk. After another hour of walking, we can see a fortress sitting on a small hill. I have two walls and fourteen towers, ten on the outside and four on the inner walls.

However, even from here, I cannot see anyone on the wall. I look at Jullian and say.

"Take off and scout from the sky. Check how many people are there while we are making a camp, and prepare to make a siege in case there are many people in that place."

"Yes, young master!"

After saying that, Jullian starts to fly and scout the fortress from a distance. I nod and continue to march with the others. After ten more minutes, we found a perfect place to make a camp, and my father started to give us an order.

"We will camp here. Unit one and two! You guys need to clear the tree. Take the tools and cut them one by one. We need those for the siege weapon. Unit three and four! Take the logs the first and second units chop to make a quick wall. We did not encounter monsters so far, but we did not need to take risks. Unit five! Make a camp. Unit six and seven! Scout the area and hunt if you encounter some animals. Unit eight! Make a healing tent for the healer. Go!"

Hearing their orders, the soldiers start to move and get to work. I am about to help them set up the camp, but I stop when I see my father telling me to follow him. I follow him to a small clearing where my father, Lord Verqur, and I stand while looking at the fortress.

"The two of you might have noticed it."

"The fortress? Yes. A war horn should be blown when we get out of the forest."

I only nod at my father’s words and look in the distance.

"Gwyndolin, you already sent Jullian to investigate, right?"

"Yes, Father. I already sent Jullian; he should return in a minute or two."

We waited for four and a half minutes before I suddenly said.

"There he is."

My father and Lord Verqur look at the sky and see Jullian slowly land next to me.

"Young master. My lord. Lord Verqur."

The three of us nod at his greeting, and I say.

"What do you find, Jullian?"

"Something’s not right, young master."

"What do you mean? Can you tell us what you see?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What do you mean? Some kind of barrier that prevents you from looking inside the fortress?"

He shakes his head and says.

"No, young master. I can look inside the fortress just fine and even manage to get inside it to look around."

"Then why?"

"Because there is nothing inside of the fortress. Not a single human or even living being in this place."

"What?"

Lord Verqur asks in surprise.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Lord Verqur. There is nothing inside of the fortress."

He frowns for a few seconds and looks at me.

"Can you make me fly and help me investigate this situation? I’m not saying that I don’t trust your direct subordinate, but this situation is too unbelievable for me."

I nod and look at my father. Before I can even ask, he says.

"Take me too."

"Of course, father."

I take out my Star Globe and see it spin. A second later, I cast a spell.

"[Mass Fly]"

The four of us shine a little and start to float a few seconds later. We fly at the fortress, and after a minute of flying, we are above the fortress. True to Jullian’s word, there is nothing inside. There is not a single living thing inside the fortress.

I frown a little and start to spread my mana around me. I spread them to cover the entire fortress to search if there was something like a trap inside. Seeing there is no trap whatsoever, my frown gets even deeper. My instinct started to scream at me not to stay in this place. However, I know that we cannot do that.

The soldiers are tired from a long-distance march, and we need to rest. Dammit. I don’t like it, but we did not have too many choices. Resting in a camp or resting inside a fortress... the choices are obvious.

The four of us land inside the fortress and start to explore it.

We first explore the castle at the back of the fortress. We explore the castle from one corner to another, and to my surprise, there is truly nothing in this place. I keep using my mana scan and even item to help search if there is something wrong, but there is none.

After almost half an hour of searching, we decided to search the other buildings. We spend almost three hours exploring the fortress, and by the end of it, I can see the sun start to set. I can see my father look at me and say.

"How is it, Gwyndolin? Do you find anything?"

I shake my head and say.

"No. I have checked every corner of the fortress, but there is nothing that catches my attention."

I even check the underground by creating a hole and spreading my mana around the fortress underground. I even find the hidden escape tunnel when I’m doing that. Lucky or unfortunately, depending on the situation, I did not find anything.

"I see. That is troubling or a blessing. That would be good if the enemy did not have an army to defend this place. However, if this fortress has some kind of trap, we are sitting inside a cage."

My father thinks for a few seconds before saying.

"Tell the others we will use this fortress. Tell them the enemy retreat at the sight of our army and leave the fortress for us."

Ah, keeping the morale high after a tired fight on the way here, huh? Good idea.

I nod and say.

"Of course, father."

Jullian and I fly out of the fortress to tell the other the news. While flying out, I still had this bad feeling inside my chest, but I decided to shove it away for now. Later this evening, I will make a plan in case something bad happens.

For now, the lads need to rest and get ready for another long march.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|3rd POV|

Andreas smiles a little at the sight of the army from the North getting inside the fortress. While he is still doing the plan his lord orders him to do, he has his own plan. Making all the people fall asleep inside this fortress and moving them into his lab without anyone noticing is a hassle, but he manages to do that.

He decides to use the king’s plan and sacrifice the four hundred soldiers in this fortress that were used as a meat shield by the king to prolong the enemy as a more noble duty, as a sacrifice for the Monster Summoning crystal.

It will not be the biggest one, but it should be big enough to reduce its number and hold them down for the bigger crystal to do its job.

He walks toward a cave a couple of kilometers away from the fortress and sees the crystal floating on top of a pile of soon-to-be corpses of humans with a smile on his face. He takes out seven jewels from his pocket and starts to chant.

After a minute of chanting, the jewels on his hand fly away from him and spread across the forest.

"With this, the monster will only attack the fortress. I hope you guys enjoy my little gift."