It had been a peaceful journey for Feihren's party, and they were already near the dwarves village within 2 weeks time. And by peaceful, it meant that they had only met beasts of levels that could only be considered as an 'addition to their rations' as they were basically taken down easily by any member of this party. Even the four mages could casually take one down with a single spell. 

Feihren hadn't wasted a bullet so far during this journey. This was pretty good for him as it would be awful if he ran out of them without even beginning the assault in Wolfenstein kingdom.

Speaking of which, Feihren was still building up the entire plan on how he could neatly seize the entirety of the Wolfenstein Kingdom.

Suddenly slaughtering the civilians and residents of the kingdom was definitely out of question. That would just be plain stupid. The Ranustin Kingdom was planning to conquer the kingdom, not rule a ghost town.

Cutting down the nobles first seemed to be somewhat plausible, but it would be time-consuming, and would definitely cause a commotion that was likely to be uncontrollable. It is good to create a chaotic situation when seizing a kingdom, but it would definitely slow things down when you're concerned about how long the entire operation would take.

Assassinating the royalty of the kingdom would be another option, but it doesn't really apply to the current situation in the Wolfenstein Kingdom. The fact that they have managed to function with two "kings" means that the people below them in the chain of command would definitely be of the scheming sort as well. They would most likely have a plan for if one or both of these "kings" die. They're just royalty figureheads after all. Nobody would care even if they perish.

Openly barging in was a tempting idea. But tanking an entire kingdom's army, even if they do minuscule damage against Feihren, would definitely hurt him as the attacks will stack up sooner or later. The Wolfenstein Kingdom definitely has more than 9,000 good soldiers to defend with, so it would end up being a death by a thousand cuts. But hmm… tanking... A sudden flash of inspiration appeared on Feihren's' face as he continued finalizing the 'plan'.

...

"Sir, will this really work?" 

A hint of doubt was evident from the expressions of the 6 non-Ranustin kingdom soldiers and mages as they were looking at Feihren's 'Grand Assault Plan'.

In contrast to the comments of the six, the four people from Ranustin kingdom did not doubt Feihren's plans... or at least they didn't openly question it. They already knew how formidable this person is, so they dismissed the tiny thought that Feihren might just be toying with them. After all, this was a serious matter on a scale of kingdoms! Feihren would definitely put some serious thought into this, right?

"Although it may sound ludicrous, I am in agreement with Sir Feihren's plan. The king would not assign him in leading if he was not guaranteed an absolute victory, right?"

The other three nodded in agreement, quenching the doubts left in their minds.

"I have heard that Sir Feihren is strong, he is even labeled as a descendant of the powerful Titans. I have not witnessed any proof, and I do not doubt his capacity to lead… It's just... We have families to return home to… I would not regret dying if I was to give it my all, but I just don't want to die because of a poorly executed plan which could have been avoided ahead of time!"

The six people had solemn expressions on their faces. They had been with Sir Feihren for two weeks now. Even though they have not personally witnessed his strength, his aura marked him as someone who has been hardened through time by multiple experiences. This by itself was proof that he was eligible to lead them in this, even though they were outrageously outnumbering themselves. But the plan laid out for them is just…

"I'm disappointed that you'd think that I was planning on sending you all to your deaths. In all honesty, I had already promised myself that all of you here would return home, safe and sound." Feihren replied

'Ah, what's with this choking atmosphere, why does this feel so awkward!? This is the best plan I could come up with you know? This is a hundred percent foolproof plan!' 

Feihren sighed internally as he could not voice out this opinion, but their expressions started to brighten up after that short speech. 'It worked? I guess I still have my charisma as a leader'. Feihren felt proud as he lightly patted his chest.

"We apologize for doubting you without clarifying your intentions sir, but I just wanted to ask something regarding this plan." One of the knights spoke up and cut down the awkward silence. "What does this part (Throw the rock to the King) mean?"

"Ah! Not just any rock, this rock!" Feihren jumped up in excitement, as this was the main part of his grandiose plan. Feihren then handed over a thumb-sized ruby to one of the knights. "As for taking the initiative in asking such an important question, I hereby assign you to be the one doing it."

"Ah…" The knight did not have the time to say anything else as Feihren started walking away from them. They all then followed suit.

...

Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of the dwarven village. Feihren's party had scouted it out ahead of time. They are roughly a kilometer or two away from the village as they hurried forth. 'Not this again…' Feihren's expression was a mix of worry and coldness as he keenly gazed towards the village.

Feihren had arrived in the village, but contrary to what he had expected, the dwarven village was not under attack like last time! Most of the villagers were just casually strolling about, occasionally staring in the direction of the smoke and flames. Looking over at the smoke, Feihren saw that there were lots of soldiers with siege equipment attacking a group of large reinforced turrets at the edge of the village, which were happily burning humans and siege engines alike.

'Turrets?' Feihren immediately recognized the familiar looking object. 'But the dwarven village isn't even walled? Why would they erect turrets in the first place?'

It was true that of the dwarves village isn't walled, but the mountains that remain on either side of the village became the dwarves' natural protection. If you add in the thick forest that the people could not easily travel through, one could basically say that the dwarves' village is 'in the middle of a road'. But as for the idea of using turrets, it was definitely creative, but highly illogical. Especially when they made the turrets that huge. 

'An armored bunker with offensive capabilities maybe?' Feihren inwardly added, as he saw a familiar face passing by casually watching the scene of destruction from afar.

"Old man Mendi!" Feihren excitedly approached the stumpy dwarf.

"You're back lad! That was fast, it has only been what? 3 months?" The old chief warmly welcomed Feihren as he glanced towards the people behind him.

"And I can see you have made new friends? Ah, I never doubted you being friendly. Why don't you introduce them?" The old chief added.

"Ah these are the people from the Ranustin Kingdom and the other kingdoms of the Blaz Continent, they're traveling with me. We're planning to take over the Wolfenstein Kingdom." Feihren proudly said.

"Kid, did you hit your head somewhere? That last sentence of yours sounded way off. What are you talking about?" The old chief replied with a single brow raised.

"No, I'm dead serious old man. Ah, it's a long story, but for the record, I don't hold a personal grudge against the Wolfenstein kingdom or anything. I just don't want to get bothered in the future, and I have something I have to acquire from them."

"But aren't you a little over your head little brat? Ten people in attacking and defeating the entire Wolfenstein Kingdom... You're strong alright, but don't bite off more than you can chew either." The old chief replied in a pretty loud voice that could be heard by Feihren's group. Slight nods could be seen from a few among their number.

"Oh, and speaking of the Wolfenstein Kingdom, these bastards have been attacking us repeatedly. Luckily we had taken the initiative to put up our own defenses against them." 

Old Mendi mentioned as he pointed out in the direction of the turrets and the smoke. There had been three consecutive attacks since they had established their new village here, according to the old chief. Luckily, this place is basically like a utopia for the dwarves! They are definitely unbeatable here as long as they have the resources to create weapons and objects that can defend them.

'Continuous sieges and attacks without them gaining anything?' Feihren thought to himself, as disappointment appeared on his face.

"They're just thinning themselves out…"