Chapter 6: The Intelligence Genius
Mahagumi was undoubtedly an intelligence genius discovered by Komer among these half-orcs. Although his half-orc heritage made him somewhat unpopular among mortals, he still had half mortal blood in him. After Komer ordered him to improve his image, Mahagumi’s sleek hairstyle, appropriate and elegant attire, polite manners, and refined speech all changed dramatically within a month or two, leaving Komer in awe.
“Mahagumi, very good. I hope you can maintain this state. Only then can you break free from your previous environment and become a true civilized person. Bloodline and origin mean nothing; what truly matters are your own abilities and performance.” It was hard to believe that the composed and graceful man before him had been a brutish half-orc hybrid just three months ago. Komer was curious about how he could change so much in such a short time. “Mahagumi, I heard you hired someone to train your manners and cultivate refined tastes?”
Seeing no mocking expression on the lord’s face, Mahagumi nodded. “My lord, as you instructed, I did think of ways to change my image. I know that in the future, my work will not be limited to half-orcs or barbarians but will mostly involve mortals, especially in kingdoms and other lords’ territories. So I must set an example for my subordinates.”
Komer was quite satisfied with Mahagumi’s words. This guy was highly intelligent; he understood Komer’s intentions almost without much guidance and could implement them well. His ability to learn and imitate in these areas was unmatched. Now, if you observed him, aside from his somewhat overly strong physique, there was no trace of a half-orc slave in him at all.
“It’s good that you understand. In the future, our lord’s household’s scope of work in this area will expand further. Intelligence is the foundation for our survival in Caucasus and Leon. You know that our strength in Caucasus and Leon is quite weak. To survive on the continent, we must anticipate our enemies, and timely and accurate intelligence is the basis for that.” Komer nodded and got to the point. “What’s the situation in the kingdom right now?”
“It’s terrible. The kingdom already intends to move its capital, but there’s still disagreement about where exactly. I’ve sent people to spread rumors widely in the regions of Jazair and Lemont about the four great lords colluding, especially the Ferdinand family and the orcs. The Ferdinand family is in trouble both internally and externally and is eager to clear its name. But the four great lords can no longer interfere with the orcs’ actions. The orcs have once again shattered the Blue Dove Army’s defenses, and now the Blue Dove Army has retreated to its second line of defense. The situation is quite severe; no one knows how much longer the Blue Dove Army can hold out. It seems that no one in the kingdom can save the situation now. Fortunately, it seems the orcs also have some reservations and haven’t advanced straight south. But most of the western and northern regions of the kingdom have become a haven for the orcs. The situation in Jazair is also chaotic. It is said that His Majesty the King is in a terrible mood and his health is unstable. Dukes Matthew and Teyz are still trying their best to hold things together, but I think the orcs won’t stop for long. It’s hard to say whether Jazair can withstand their advance.”
Mahagumi’s work is progressing fairly well. He has already identified some people to include in his intelligence network. These people include half-orcs, but mostly humans. There’s even a disgraced noble from Jazair. Faced with financial incentives, this disgraced noble quickly became Mahagumi’s loyal lackey, which gives Mahagumi an indescribable sense of pride and honor—having human nobles bow before him. This was something he couldn’t have imagined even half a year ago, even if it’s just a minor disgraced noble.
“Has General Matthew not requested military support from the four great lords?” Komer was puzzled. Under such circumstances, regardless of whether the four great lords have any ulterior motives, they certainly wouldn’t dare ignore the kingdom’s requests on the surface.
“General Matthew has indeed requested such support from the four great lords. But aside from the Ferdinand family giving a positive response, the other lords seem to have made an agreement among themselves, claiming that bandits are rampant in their territories and they can’t send troops to help. The Ferdinand family only verbally promised to fully support the kingdom in resisting the orc invasion and offered to provide some material assistance. Yet the Lemont army still remains in the border areas, showing no intention of launching an offensive against the orcs. I suspect the Ferdinand family is only doing this to ease public criticism and clear its own name. If they really had to send the Lemont army to attack the orcs, I doubt they could or would do so.”
Mahagumi saw this issue very clearly. In his eyes, the kingdom had lost the power to restrain the four great lords; relying solely on morality and prestige to dictate to them was nothing but a joke. Judging from their relationship, it was already quite generous of the four great lords not to take advantage of the situation further.
“Mahagumi, although the Golden Oak and Iron Cross regiments were defeated, didn’t General Matthew immediately reorganize them?” Frowning, Komer didn’t want to see this happen. If the kingdom truly collapsed, Philip could then focus on him with ease. Although the Storm Legion had been defeated and his mage corps had vanished, with Homer’s financial strength and Philip’s reputation, it wasn’t impossible to recruit and form a new mage corps. He might even use the power of the Church of Light to achieve this, and the possibility was quite high.
Only by keeping the kingdom alive and keeping the four great lords’ attention focused on its heart could his pressure be reduced, allowing him to gain more time to recover. Komer always believed the kingdom couldn’t collapse so easily. How could the orcs defeat it so effortlessly? Even if the four great lords were involved, it shouldn’t be possible—they must realize that if the orcs truly destroyed the kingdom, they would be the next target. The four great lords should understand this, so why dare they take such risks? Who was supporting them? A name surfaced in Komer’s mind, and cold sweat soaked through his underwear, making him extremely uncomfortable.
“My lord, the kingdom’s finances are in extreme distress. Rebuilding two regiments would cost an astronomical amount. The kingdom borrowed everywhere when forming the Blue Dove Regiment and is already heavily in debt. Now, with this further blow and the orcs still lurking, the kingdom could collapse at any moment. Who would want to waste money? No merchants or financiers in Jazair are willing to lend to the kingdom, not even usurers. Everyone is focused on transferring their wealth out of Jazair. The kingdom’s finance minister is now seen as a beggar by those wealthy merchants and nobles. The gatekeepers even refuse to take his business cards.”
Mahagumi shook his head. The down-and-out noble had provided him with quite detailed information. Jazair was changing rapidly day by day, with constant rumors that the orcs had launched another attack and that the Blue Dove Regiment had been defeated again. The situation inside Jazair was terrible; many wealthy people had already moved their families and wealth to the south so they could evacuate Jazair at any time.
“If things continue like this, the kingdom might get even worse, and that won’t benefit us at all,” Komer mused. Logically, the mastermind behind this should have stepped forward by now. A completely collapsed kingdom situation wouldn’t benefit them either. They only wanted to weaken the central power of the kingdom and force it to rely more on them. This idea also resonated with the other lords, but it put them in a very dangerous position.
Seeing that the lord didn’t seem in a good mood, Mahagumi wisely stayed silent. For now, the situation in Caucasus and Leon seemed favorable, but that was just superficial. The Homers had suffered a heavy loss, but that was because their mage corps encountered an accident. If their mage corps were still intact, the Brus Fortress wouldn’t even have needed to be taken over by the defense forces—perhaps they would have had to retreat in shame. Although the Homers had suffered a great loss this time, recruiting mages was costly and troublesome for them, but compared to risking their own rule, Philip wouldn’t hesitate. Once the Homers’ mage corps was rebuilt, their side might face another crisis.
After pondering for a long time, Komer still couldn’t think of a better solution. Even the experience of Matthew and Taze seemed insufficient to cope, which proved just how well-coordinated those guys were with the orcs. No wonder they went to such extreme measures, pushing the four lords into a corner, forcing them to face execution one after another. Were they really going to wait for death? Of course, they would fight to the death. But these guys were too cruel. He had thought they would unite to put pressure on the kingdom, but instead, they seemed determined to completely eliminate the kingdom’s threat and bring it to its knees. With the mastermind sabotaging things from behind, it wasn’t surprising that the kingdom had fallen to such a state. It would now be quite difficult to turn things around.