Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

She ran the numbers in her head. Officially, High Cliff Castle had just over three hundred active-duty warriors. Jackal Wolfman Cavalry, Feder Warriors, Beastman Barbarians—they were all powerful Races, their combat prowess beyond question. Their only weakness was their small numbers.

But even if they mobilized every combat-capable adult in High Cliff Castle, they could muster a thousand men at most.

With such a huge numerical disparity, they would be at a disadvantage even in a defensive siege, let alone the fact that the enemy had a Giant Dragon as backup.

Miriel had no idea where this Lord found the confidence to say something so incredibly arrogant—"the enemy only has a mere four thousand men"—while acting as if victory was already in his grasp.

"Sowing discord before the battle has even begun. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re a woman, I would have already given you ten lashes."

The Lord stood up and slammed a hand on the table, his expression grim.

He had thought Miriel might have some brilliant insight, but instead, she immediately started crushing morale and urging retreat.

"Is it that hard to admit you’re outmatched?" Facing Levi, who seemed oblivious to his error, Miriel felt a strange surge of anger. "Do you have any idea what a numerical disadvantage of over ten to one represents? Do you know what a Giant Dragon *means*?"

The more she spoke, the more agitated Miriel became. She slammed her hand hard on the conference table, also standing up and shouting, "You’ve probably never even seen a Giant Dragon! Let me tell you, a Giant Dragon’s body alone is enough to block out the sky. It’s like the apocalypse—it makes people lose all will to resist! A single blast of Dragon Breath can melt a hundred of your most elite soldiers alive!"

"I once witnessed a Giant Dragon, ridden by someone, take part in a war. In just half a day, it completely routed an army of four thousand soldiers!"

"This plan of yours is sending your soldiers to their deaths!"

Having roared out everything she had been holding inside, Miriel felt much better.

She had said so much only because she hoped this Lord wouldn’t cling to unrealistic fantasies. Right now, retreating to Bailiu City was the best option.

She didn’t possess the same virtue of loving all humanity as the Saintesses from the Church Court; she simply didn’t want to stand by and watch this group of people, whom she got along with well enough, go to their deaths for nothing and make a meaningless sacrifice.

"Half a day? I’d only need until sunset!"

Zat, who was always unsmiling and strove to maintain a stern expression, suddenly burst out laughing. The solemn Lord’s hall immediately erupted with laughter loud enough to tear the roof off.

Besides Miriel, Orak was the only one present who didn’t get the joke. But to fit in with the younger group, the Old Beastman, who was over fifty, just scratched his head, lowered it, and chuckled foolishly.

Miriel looked on in despair, her ample chest heaving with anger. ’She mentally cursed this group of incurable, stubborn fools.’

Only the old-timers of High Cliff Castle knew the Lord wasn’t lying. Back then, against the nearly four-thousand-strong Wilderness Alliance Army, the Lord had only his fifty-man Guard Team and a few hundred men to defend the castle.

In just one hour, he had forced the Wilderness Alliance Army to abandon over a thousand corpses and flee in disarray, leaving them to swallow the bitter pill of defeat.

Thus, Miriel’s speech had, contrary to her intent, only bolstered their confidence.

Four thousand men? It wasn’t like they hadn’t fought that many before.

As for the Giant Dragon? How many divisions could one damned Giant Dragon be worth?

"This emergency military council is over! So what if it’s a Giant Dragon? If it dares to provoke High Cliff Castle, we’ll strike it down all the same!" The Lord brought the meeting to a close.

"Dismissed!"

"Sir!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The leaders of High Cliff Castle’s Burning Corps shot to their feet, giving a one-handed salute. Their boots clicked together with a sharp CLACK, a single, crisp sound ringing out in unison.

This startled the sulking Miriel. She never expected that, faced with such a dire situation, this group of High Cliff Castle Warriors would still possess such terrifyingly high morale.

Orak followed the younger men’s lead, feeling the dormant fire in his blood slowly awaken. He grinned, revealing two bestial fangs.

’A Giant Dragon... I’ve never fought a battle this tough in my entire life!’

In his youth, Orak had earned the title "Storm Roar," signifying that he was as powerful and belligerent as a storm, with a temper just as explosive.

Back in the day, in search of an equally matched opponent, he had even traveled alone to the Far North Icefield to find an Earth Snow Bear, just for the sake of wrestling it.

As he grew older and shouldered more responsibilities, he was forced to rein in his temper, gradually becoming more mature and steady.

But this didn’t mean his explosive temper and belligerence had vanished. On the contrary, having been restrained, they had started to accumulate, waiting for the right moment to erupt like an unstoppable tidal wave.

"Tina, go write a letter to Mier. Tell him to hurry to High Cliff Castle," Levi ordered. ’Though his heart felt a slight weight of seriousness, it was overshadowed by excitement.’

’He had only ever been playing house with a bunch of country bumpkins from the Wilderness before. This was his first time clashing with a real powerhouse. If he could take care of this Giant Dragon, both his reputation and his fortune would see a massive boost.’

After all, Giant Dragons were rumored to possess treasures vast enough to rival a kingdom’s wealth.

"No problem." Baisitina nodded with a dignified smile.

She hadn’t learned much from Levi, but she had learned to trust him. ’This Lord of hers would never do something he wasn’t confident about!’

No one was a fool. The confidence behind such stubbornness could only be backed by true strength.

The leaders of the Burning Corps left with their arms around each other’s shoulders, talking and laughing. Miriel watched them go, truly unable to understand.

’It was one thing to maintain morale in the face of a powerful enemy like a Giant Dragon, but why wasn’t there the slightest bit of tension, even with war about to break out?’

"It’s one thing to maintain morale in this situation, but why aren’t they the least bit tense?" Miriel muttered.

The Lord happened to overhear this.

"That’s something you don’t understand," the Lord explained. "An infantry legion of over four thousand, even if it were a regular army, obviously couldn’t move very fast, let alone a motley crew from the Wilderness. Add in some miscellaneous delays, and considering we are more than a day’s journey from the Wind Surge Tribe, a conservative estimate gives us another four or five days before the enemy arrives."

"If we start getting tense now, then what’s the point of fighting at all!"

All of High Cliff Castle’s several thousand inhabitants sprang into action, preparing for the coming war.

Levi had Orak stay behind; he had something he wanted to ask the Old Beastman.

"Orak, do you have any way to deal with a Giant Dragon?" Levi asked directly.

This Old Beastman was a Dragon Vein Orc and also knew three schools of Witchcraft. Levi had sought him out on the off chance he might have an unexpected ace up his sleeve.

"Ah? Me?"

Orak was stunned for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh. "My Lord, I do possess the Bloodline of a Giant Dragon. To put it nicely, it’s a Dragon Vein. To put it bluntly, I’m just a Dragon Blood mongrel."

"What could I possibly use to fight a pure-blooded Giant Dragon?"

"My apologies, I was getting ahead of myself." Levi wasn’t too disappointed. He waved his hand, dismissing the Old Beastman.

However, Levi had a nagging feeling he was forgetting something. He wracked his brain for a moment, and when he finally remembered, he was dumbfounded.

"Wait, where’s that old rascal Sam? I swear I saw him just a moment ago."