The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 116 - 03: Setting Out (3)

Chapter 116: Chapter 03: Setting Out (3)

The night was dark, the wind was high, and one could not see their hand in front of their face.

Shadowy, spherical figures crept closer one by one.

Oh, it turned out to be the dwarves advancing in a wedge formation, ready to launch a sneak attack.

Shields taller than them, hammers larger than their heads, axes that humans absolutely couldn’t lift, long double-barreled muskets one couldn’t even imagine how they loaded, and oversized wolf fang clubs... In the occasional glimpses of moonlight, these bizarre weapons radiated an odd flair.

"Hold it!" The leader, Bonk, suddenly raised a hand. "Gap Tooth! Two o’clock direction! Go!"

"Yes!" Gap Tooth—who had, indeed, no front teeth—gripped a hammer larger than his own head and stealthily crawled onto a nearby rock. "Boss! The camp has no guards!"

"No guards?" Bonk narrowed his eyes into slits, realizing things weren’t so straightforward. "Cross-Eye! Eleven o’clock direction! Go!"

Cross-Eye, clutching a massive hammer, swallowed nervously and crept to a slope nearby. "Boss... There really aren’t any guards."

"Huh? Could it be we’ve hit the jackpot?" Bonk couldn’t believe his ears. "Stammer! Do a loop around the place and check!"

"O-okay... okay!" Stammer hoisted a shield and set off at lightning speed, climbing hills and crossing rivers like a tumbling rubber ball.

Stroking his beard, Bonk turned to his subordinates and solemnly declared, "With my thirty years of experience in highway robbery, I can tell you this: setting up camp in a dense forest without any guards is unheard of. Moreover, they’re all wearing armor—it’s probably a trap! We need to proceed with caution. After all, we dwarves are not like humans; we value strategy!"

"Exactly!"

"Wow, Boss, you’re so wise!"

The underlings nodded in agreement.

One pudgy dwarf pulled out an orange and asked, "Then should we peel an orange for them before the fight to enhance the emotional impact of getting robbed?"

"No! This is a sneak attack! Every moment before we strike is extremely valuable and cannot be wasted!" Bonk said decisively.

The pudgy dwarf, still clutching his orange, looked visibly disappointed. Hmm, he’d been eyeing that orange for quite a while.

Bonk patted him on the shoulder and gently reassured him, "It’s alright; we need to think creatively. We can always peel an orange for them after we rob them!"

"Great idea!" The pudgy dwarf lit up again.

"Then I’ll dance a belly dance for them after the robbery!"

"I’ll throw apples!"

The rest of the dwarves joined in with cheers, and Bonk felt immensely proud of his leadership skills.

Before long, Stammer came "rolling" back.

"Rep-rep-report, Boss! The-they really..."

"Really a trap?"

"Really... no guards!" Stammer finally managed to choke out the words.

All eyes turned to Bonk.

"Huh? Could we have run into a bunch of idiots?" Bonk furrowed his brow in disbelief.

"J-j-j-just..." Stammer started again.

"Just what?" All the dwarves stared at him intently, making him even more flustered.

After stammering for ages, he finally managed, "Horses."

"Horses? Like the ones you ride?"

As Stammer struggled to get his words out, Cross-Eye and Gap Tooth began demonstrating. Cross-Eye dropped to the ground, and Gap Tooth climbed onto his back, making whinnying sounds.

"Or the ones that produce milk?"

Oh, that part couldn’t be described, or it would get censored.

"Horses. Lots of them. The riding kind. No guards, just lots of horses!"

Above, the blue moon slowly peeked out from behind the clouds.

Still suspicious, Bonk climbed a small hill and squinted toward the camp under the moonlight. Sure enough, there were many horses, all wandering freely without being tied up like normal horses.

"Boss, what do we do? It really looks like a trap!" Bandage, whose nose was still bandaged, squeezed next to Bonk.

Turning around, Bonk retreated down the slope, sat with his back to it, and sorted through his thoughts. "My first reaction was that this must be a trap. After all, who’s dumb enough to set up camp in an unfamiliar place without anyone on night watch? With so many people, they can’t possibly lack someone to take shifts, right? But then I considered it again and realized I might have been wrong. Why? Because they’re humans, not dwarves. Humans often do inexplicable things. We need to think from their perspective. What doesn’t make sense to us may be perfectly normal to them! Especially since they haven’t tethered their horses! Hmm, that made me realize—we really have run into a group of idiots! If it weren’t for my brilliance, we could’ve missed out on a grand score!"

"Boss, you’re so smart!" the dwarves exclaimed in awe.

Seeing the admiration in his underlings’ eyes, Bonk grinned smugly.

"Gathering intelligence before battle is the most important step," Bonk declared righteously. "It’s even more critical than what happens during the fight. Accurate intel determines the success or failure of a battle! Now that we’ve confirmed they’re a group of fools, the rest is easy. We just rob them! Then it’s apple-throwing time, nail-trimming time—whatever you want!"

"Yeah!" The dwarves cheered in unison.

...

Gray sat in his tent, listening from afar.

"I think I hear cheering outside. Might be those dwarves."

"Focus! No distractions during study time, got it?"

"But I really hear them."

Vivian slammed the table and said sternly, "When studying, you must focus! You can’t let your mind wander! No matter what’s happening outside, ignore it! How can I expect you to become a knight renowned across the continent if you’re so easily distracted? How can you uphold your faith? Do you want succubi like me to exploit your weaknesses? How will you stand for justice? How will you bring hope to the world?"

Catherine, holding a Bible, stared blankly at Vivian.

The Black Cat also looked dumbfounded.

"Charge!"

A commotion erupted outside, and Jones burst into the tent. "Not good! The camp is under attack!"

"Can you handle it yourself?" Vivian asked without turning her head.

"I... I can."

"Then handle it yourself. We’ll address it tomorrow. The Holy Knight is diligently studying. Nothing is more important than study and faith!"

"Oh... okay." Defeated, Jones left sulkingly.

"Now, where were we?" Vivian turned to Catherine. "Continue. Don’t stop!"

Catherine, holding her Bible, looked utterly lost.

...

"What the hell is with these horses? They’re so strong!" That was Bonk’s voice.

"Their armor’s so tough! I’m so pumped!" That was Cross-Eye’s voice.

...

"Why are there so many dwarves? What do you want?" That was Carl’s voice.

"Robbery! (Rob-robb-robbery!)" the dwarves shouted in unison.

"These guys’ hides are so tough! It’s hard not to kill them!" That was Jones’s voice.

...

"We’re gaining the upper hand! We’re gaining the upper hand!" That was Gap Tooth’s voice.

"Upper hand, my ass! The boss is already tied up!" That came from an unidentified dwarf.

...

Dora, wobbling in armor, stumbled through Gray’s tent with a pudgy dwarf on her back, exiting out the other side.

Vivian earnestly told the restless Gray, "Stay focused. Remember, only your faith matters most!"

Gray nodded blankly and continued reading.

...

"Can you all pipe down? Some of us are trying to sleep!" That was Shelley’s voice.

"Oh, right! Miss Shelley!" That was Carl’s voice. "Quiet down, everyone!"

"Can’t you kill them cleanly?" That was Andrew’s voice.

"D-d-d-dwarves never surrender—Charge!" Stammer’s voice echoed through the mountain forest night.

"You’re disrupting the Holy Knight’s study session! Do you understand?" Vivian shouted angrily. "Whoever keeps yelling—deal with them first!"

"Yes!" the Silver Moon Knights responded in unison.

"Bang!" That was the sound of a musket.

"Stay back! That was an accidental discharge, I swear! Don’t come near me!" Who that was, no one knew.

...

"Whoa! The boss escaped!"

...

"Whoa! Boss, are you here to rescue us?"

"He just got caught again!"

...

"Whoa! The boss escaped again!"

...

"Whoa! The boss got caught again!"

...

The entire night—yes, the entire night—was filled with chaos. The Undead Army and the infamous, tough-skinned Dwarf Bandits clashed in relentless, furious combat till dawn.

Despite the peril, the heroic Holy Knight Gray kept his nose buried in the Bible, diligently studying under the Succubus’s supervision. His unwavering devotion to holy faith and thirst for knowledge were truly emblematic of a Holy Knight’s ideals... though something about how this was phrased felt off. Oh well, you get the idea.

At dawn, under a pale, misty light, Gray finally finished his study session, set down the Bible, and stepped out of the tent. The first thing he saw was Tenidas pinning down Bonk, biting down on the rope to tighten the knots binding the dwarf leader.

Nearby, a group of dwarves huddled together, tightly bound and gagged, their beady eyes blinking pitifully at Gray like a cluster of helpless refugees.

Scattered around, the Silver Moon Knights stood swaying on their feet, utterly exhausted.

One had to admit, compared to humans, dwarves were astonishingly resilient. They were tough, could take a beating, and seemed impervious to pain. One moment, you’d knock them unconscious; the next, they’d spring back up for another round. How many cycles like this they went through that night was anyone’s guess. Chasing down dozens of dwarves across the mountains was grueling work.

Carl’s left shoulder had been smashed in, and aside from Gray and Shelley’s tents, every tent in the camp had been overturned. The entire campsite was a disaster zone.

Seeing Gray emerge, Carl thumped his chest plate heavily and shouted, "Holy Knight, sir! We’ve handled everything. We await your orders!"

Gray walked up to Bonk, crouching down to meet his gaze.

The disheveled and battered Bonk stared back at Gray, his face flushed as if weighing his options.

After a long moment, he finally spoke the first thing that came to mind: "How about... I peel you an orange?"