The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 81: "The Prime Minister's Office"

The door was a masterpiece crafted by four well-known craftsmen; it was extremely solid, expensive, stately, and Hiers ebony-made. There was a knock on said door, after which it immediately opened.

"I have an urgent report!!!"

For someone entering the office of a country's prime minister, there was a distinct lack of decorum. However, anyone who had enough authority to enter this area of the royal castle should have been well aware of the expected etiquette.

Said rude party claimed he had an urgent report to give. The prime minister of the Kingdom of Hiers, Marquess Douglas O'Connell, unconsciously stiffened at the prospect of dire news.

"P—Please forgive me, if you are preoccupied with more pressing matters—"

"It's fine. If it's so urgent, then out with it. What happened?"

The news would prove to be shocking for Prime Minister O'Connell, widely known for his sharp mind.

"Yes sir! Every region across the kingdom is reporting hordes of monsters flooding out of the monster territories and assaulting our cities!"

"What?!"

Monsters leaving the monster territories. That in and of itself wasn't a rare occurrence. Monsters were just another form of life that inhabited this world. If their populations grew too large for their habitats, then some would leave their territories for the outside world in order to sustain their livelihoods—to put it bluntly, they would invade other areas in order to expand their territory. This had happened many times before, and specialized organizations were established on the borders in order to watch for those signs. However, the prime minister had not received any recent reports about such activities from the border cities.

"Without any indication...monsters suddenly began to overflow... Impossible."

On hearing the more detailed report, he learned that the monsters abruptly descended on the cities near the border, engaging with the local garrisoned forces. The monsters had already breached the walls in a number of cities, causing damage to the town and killing residents. The castle had received pleas for help, but they were unable to send reinforcements; the kingdom's troops had been organized into a subjugation army in response to the new calamity that had appeared to the east, and that army had already departed. Which meant that every border city had to rely solely on their stationed troops to deal with the monster attacks.

"I would have liked to have absorbed all the armed forces in every region into the subjugation army, but... Organizing the expedition was so hectic that we were unable to get that done, but it seems that failure turned out for the better..."

Another person barged into the room out of nowhere, this time without knocking.

"I have a report!"

"Stand down! I am currently in the middle of—"

"My deepest apologies! I was ordered to deliver these last words from our guard squad!"

"'Last words'?! Where did you—"

"The citadel cities of Erfahren and Lourdes have fallen!"

"Im...possible..." Douglas gasped. He was glad he didn't ruin his dignity by crying out disgracefully, but in fact, that was only because the news was just so shocking that he had forgotten to breathe.

The patriarch had been the one to bring news about the aforementioned new calamity, and Erfahren was the city closest to where it could be found. The subjugation army was currently on their way there. Normally, there would have been a ceremony revealing the formation of this army, and they would have held a parade to raise the soldiers' morale and inform the citizens of what they were off to fight. However, since the calamity had just been born, they skipped those events and sortied right away before it could mature. With a preeminent focus on speed, logistics weren't considered at all, so they intended to supply themselves on the road by commandeering supplies from the cities they passed on the march. This was a drastic decision that could only be made because they were marching entirely within the kingdom.