"Please line up accordingly! We assure you we have vacant rooms for all of your families."
The rest of the remaining elves travel all the way here from their forest, abandoning their homeland and settling here in our village. They would temporarily stay in this town for the time being until the forest regrows its trees back to its original state.
There are beasts still lurking in the area, far worse than the fire that burnt their empire. The King and Queen of the Elven race accepted my offer for assembling their strength, constructing their wrecked Kingdom.
"Thank you for your patronage, Viscount Lake," Elanor reaches his hand out for me to shake, in which I gladly take him up for his offer. In this world, expressing one's gratitude has its different ways. Shaking hands is enough to acknowledge the help of the other party, accompanied by a contract.
"No. Don't worry about it, your majesty, We should help each other in times of need."
Elanor curls up his lips, thankful that he has a comrade that could succour him and his people during this quandary. Even though the Kingdom of Joker and its king, Markus, would provide them with aid and support, it would take them immeasurable time before they can arrive at the elves and give them their needs.
"How's Natalia?"
"She's still resting on the inn," Elanor replied while looking at the abode where his daughter is currently staying. Outside the wooden house are the elite guards that I saw from before, dressed in casual clothes to blend in with the crowd.
It has been a complete day since the forest fire happened, claiming the lives of a hundred family of elves in an instant. The Elven are unprepared for this scenario, which led to their downfall from the ignition of the woodlands.
However, the origin of the fire is still a mystery for us. The three of us goblins suspect Alk White for these wrongdoings, but it is unlikely that he had caused all of this by himself.
"There must be a third party involved in the matter," I guaranteed, clinging to that claim to avoid blaming our goblin friend.
As I had expected from my two friends, Grer and Izz, they collapse on the floor after saving the princess. They expended all of their arcane and stamina from fighting the monstrous goblin beyond our comprehension. It was a good thing that Izz could match his strength and fend him off.
I cannot blame them, as I also lost a lot of my magic during the battle. I only had enough arcane to cast my water jet for roughly ten seconds to get us away from the castle. If not for my high intelligence, we would have walked through the halls and risked our lives along the way.
After our last conversation with Elanor, I hurriedly went to my room and took a quick snooze on the futon. I replaced the king-sized bed with a simple mattress for the two Elven families that need them the most. It had been toilsome for them to have experienced that tragedy, so sympathise them by giving them a gift. It was the only thing that I could do for them after the death of their loved ones.
Thinking back, my family also got devoured by the orange and scarlet flame. The firefighters stated that the combustion started from a leaking gas tank, gnawed by a rat or an insect of some sort. After colliding with a lit match, the gas erupted, leading to a massive explosion and the spread of fire in our house.
"Mum and Dad, I hope you're looking from afar," I whisper to myself while curling my hands to form a fist, clutching all the tears back from my eyelids.
"Father told me not to cry, and yet," I can feel a warm liquid sliding over to my cheek, unable to contain my emotions leaking from my heart.
The more I tried to forget, their image of the three of us cooking together our meals passes through my mind. It was unbearable for my chest to accept their death. The news hit me like a truck, with no prior warnings that they would leave me from that life.
I can only trust the old man's words for a chance to see my parents again. It was my only wish upon returning here to this world.
"A new beginning awaits me," I said to myself before I completely slumber into my dreams.
___________________________________________________________
"If we plan on making it through the winter alive, then we better scheme what's going to happen from now on."
They lock all their eyes on me, listening to every word that I say during this meeting. Beside the fire and elves' situation, we also need to deal with the army approaching our way.
"After four weeks will be the first day that the Monster Horde start to attack us," Elanor points out the mountain found on the right side of the town. "And If I would be the neighbouring general and take an advantage for this situation, then the two sides would initiate their attacks from here."
"It makes more sense now that you had mentioned it," Bill's face shows a hint of enlightenment after recognising the routes that the enemies would take to reach our town.
"But what if they don't flank us with that attack?" Arion commented while scrutinising the ragged map laid on the round table.
Both the Leef and Worcestershire family are taking part in this assembly, trying to figure out a way to defend the village. The Elven race that is usually neutral about the war decided to provide us with their aid to the best of their abilities after I had saved their village and their daughter's life. Their only request is that their children will not participate in the war but be obliged to send the elite soldiers on the battlefield.
Elves specialise in their quivers and bows, taking a shot from miles away, unseen. They can enhance their bolts into a powerful projectile that can trample any foes along the way. Some of their servicemen know how to handle the blade, protecting themselves once they reach their melee range.
We also asked the villagers beforehand if they would fight for their freedom, along with the rest of the soldiers. The battle will be bloody and may take away their lives if we get overwhelmed by the enemy. Much to my surprise, half of the townspeople were eager to join the platoon, placing their lives on the line. Their children have a sour look on their faces, but they are well aware of our dire problems. Others may stay with their family until further notice of the war and pray for our survival.
Going back to the meeting, we will ploy a countermeasure and lay traps around our base using the burrow abilities that the villagers know. By creating a concealed pit, we can trap opponents and cast our spells to eliminate their forces slowly from the battlefront.
Once we set our traps into motion, the elves will position themselves in the igloo we intend to create. These forts dictate their wall for their survival, blocking the combatant's long-ranged attacks.
If we perceive their forces are close to the fences, I will activate my water jets and conjure a massive torrent to scatter their team. If they have any means to defend my spell, I can turn the soil into quicksand to slow their paces.
"But what if they managed to advance despite these snares that we set up?" I queried, looking for some holes out from our well-thought plot.
"Then we fight them head-on," Elanor confidently replied.
All the people present inside the chamber became silent, unable to concur or reject his proposal. The strategy revolves around an all-out war. The stakes in hand comprise the victory or fall of our village.
If we successfully repelled the Kingdoms, then we can prepare the next wave of the army to come. But once the tactic fails, then that would be the end of our lives.
Everyone was aware of that outcome, and we have so little time to prepare. We also need to train the villagers into shape before we can assign them to the field. Preparing our weapons will prove to be an arduous task because of the materials that we lack. According to Sidney, finding a blacksmith is crucial in times of war, but there is no smithy within our area. The only available weapons that we have are some wooden, pointy sticks and a pair of metals pipes that came from scraps.
"We can handle that issue soon. Right now, our priority is the traps, training grounds, and magic amplifications of us, individuals." I suggested and concluded the meeting.
Each of us went to our assigned post, immediately carrying out a plan we had devised. Aaron and Sidney will handle the blacksmith issue with the equipment we will use for the war. Bill and Beatrice will train both the elite Elven knights and the villagers into a battle. The last batch, us three goblins, will be under supervision by the King himself, Elanor, improving our capabilities.
I swear I can see the smirk in his eyes now that he has full jurisdiction over my powers. We are up against both the swarm of monsters and the twelve Kingdoms