Lord: Starting with Contract Half-Elf Twins

Over the course of two months, Allen led his kobold squad on a gradual exploration of the five mountain ranges surrounding Sapphire Bay.

Many more monster groups inhabiting this area have been discovered.

First, there was a group of small wood sprites hiding in the forest. Alan and the kobolds had never discovered them when they went out to scout.

In fact, the forests where they live are not far from the stone fortress.

However, they are very weak spirit creatures, only the size of a thumb, so they fear the aura emanating from Allen and the kobolds.

Whenever Allen, Solina, or Flintclaw led an expedition, they would all hide among the trees and flowers.

They have no fighting ability and their magic is very weak, but once they hide, no one can find them.

It was by chance that Viola decided to lead a team out to search for them on her own, and that's how she discovered them.

The little ones were drawn to Viola's life magic and, while curiously peeking, gave themselves away, which Viola discovered.

Although this group of little wood sprites combined couldn't defeat a single kobold, they were an excellent symbiotic group for the plants and trees.

The forests with them will be denser and the fruits will be more plentiful.

When the ancient tree elders heard about this, they were very eager to invite them to settle in the Tree People Forest.

Allen also incorporated them into his future agricultural building plans.

However, the little wood sprites are very timid, and Viola has been dealing with them for the past two months, hoping to get them to join the Stone Fortress's forces.

Having learned from the two cases involving the Tree People and the Wood Elves, Allen understood the value of Viola's natural affinity.

Many races that are close to nature may be difficult to conquer by force, and those need to be left to Viola to handle.

These races may lack combat prowess, but they often possess a greater talent for production and manufacturing.

Then there was a group of jackal-men, numbering about three or four hundred, who lived in the mountains to the east.

In terms of combat power alone, they are a superior alternative to the kobolds, with each having a level 4 warrior class.

Bloodthirsty, cruel, attracted to strength, and skilled in group hunting.

Unfortunately, among this group of gnolls, there was no "talent" like Flintclaw who could speak the Common Tongue.

Therefore, for a considerable period of time, the interactions between the Stone Fortress forces and them were fraught with friction and conflict.

Especially after discovering that the stone fortress had ample food reserves, the gnoll tribe, which was entering the dry season, even sent out small raiding parties.

However, the gnolls do not have spellcasters with mutated bloodlines, only warriors, making it difficult for them to achieve any results against the treants with excellent physical defense.

After several conflicts, they paid a heavy price and stopped attacking the stone fortress.

Solina seemed to have been provoked by Viola's successive subjugation of two tribal leaders.

Upon encountering the gnoll tribe, which required military conquest, they wholeheartedly joined the counterattack against them.

With her elite template and ability to cast fire magic, Solina can take on an entire gnoll squad by herself.

With the Treant army providing cover, her counterattack inflicted heavy losses on the Gnolls.

Allen knew that even though they were just two small forces, logistics were extremely important since they were in a state of "war".

With ample food supplies, Stonecastle was naturally not afraid and directly used kobolds to extend the supply line to the edge of the gnoll territory.

During this time, Allen and Solina lived directly outside the gnoll territory, using the tireless treant army as a mobile fortress.

Whenever they discover a group of gnolls out hunting, they will attack them without hesitation.

Of the defeated gnoll squad, the weak were killed, and the strong were tied up and sent back to the stone fortress to be guarded by the kobolds.

Allen and Solina can afford to be fearless in the face of attrition, something the gnolls cannot do.

They have no way to store food, and during the dry season they need to hunt more frequently, otherwise their tribe will starve to death.

The gnoll leaders are a pair of elite template brothers around level 11 who are trying to kill Solina by disguising themselves as a hunting party.

Their claws were almost able to break through the tree-man's defenses, and they even left a deep wound on Allen's waist.

But that's it.

As long as the treant is not countered by magic such as fire, it can slowly heal even if a large hole is dug in it.

In other words, they were facing a living shield that would not retreat.

With sufficient protection, the spellcaster becomes the strongest damage dealer.

In the end, if Allen hadn't stopped her, Solina would have almost burned them both to a crisp.

So they were captured and transported back to Stone Castle, becoming the first inhabitants of the Stone Castle dungeon.

After losing their leader, the gnolls quickly expressed their intention to submit by ceasing to resist.

However, Allen has not yet officially recruited followers, so he has not yet incorporated them into his ranks.

Finally, deep in the mountains south of Sapphire Bay, in a thorny, swampy valley, live hundreds of boar people.

The boar-men are thick-skinned, incredibly strong, and far more powerful individually than the kobold-men.

Allen's observations confirmed that their average individual strength was around level 6 to 8.

Given that the boar people clearly engaged in sacrificial practices during their hunts, Allen could easily deduce that there were likely several bloodline sorcerers and priest leaders among them who were capable of casting spells.

Similar to how flintlocks were to kobolds.

Furthermore, the main activity area of ​​the Boar People is not in Sapphire Bay; they belong to the outer part of the Southern Mountains, and their main activity area is actually in the wilderness outside the mountains.

Allen believed that Stone Fortress was not strong enough to conquer them, so he put the matter aside for the time being.

Although he successfully crippled the gnolls' will, Allen still had one problem to solve after returning to Stone Castle.

Because the Lord's Handbook does not directly grant the Lord the loyalty of the followers.

The half-elf twins were recruited by Allen first due to special circumstances, and then communication was necessary.

With their shared stance, they eventually became a community of shared interests.

Even though Flint was attracted by the dragon's blood and possessed innate loyalty due to his bloodline, Allen still took him under his wing after a period of observation.

Although the two gnoll brothers have been defeated, whether they have truly submitted to their power remains to be seen.

In addition, due to the language barrier, even if Allen wanted to test the waters, he wouldn't be able to.

If you recruit first, you will indeed gain the ability to communicate with your mind, but then you will be unable to return.

Even if you discover that they have ulterior motives, the lost crystals cannot be recovered.

"Phew... I never thought I'd have to pin my hopes on Flint Claw."

Allen rubbed his forehead, now he could only pin his hopes on Flintclaw's little brain.

So, Allen used his mind to transmit the command to Flint Claw.

Allen sent it to the dungeon of the stone fortress.