“Let me restate it all again before we begin. Our enemies are a horde of goblins. Among them, there are sightings of one Lord, two Champions, and eight Wolf Riders. Our force consists of the guards and the adventurers associate with the guild. Among the adventurers, we have two top adventurer parties that are our main force: ‘God Slaying Sword’ and ‘Lily and co.’ Our objective is to defend this city, Onyx, from the goblins’ invasion. We are all here to discuss the strategies we are going to use in the oncoming battle,” Richard formally began the meeting.

Everyone nodded.

“Before we begin talking about the main plan, anyone has any suggestions?” Richard asked.

“Me, me, guild master!” The old thief, Ruse of ‘God Slaying Sword,’ raised his hand.

“You are allowed to speak,” Richard nodded in acknowledgment.

“Since this is a defensive battle, I assume traps are a necessity! And there is no one better than me, this Trap Master, to set up traps around the border for the oncoming fight! What do you all think?” Ruse said arrogantly but logically.

“…I would have to agree on that,” Lily nodded as the representative of ‘Lily and co.’

“Hmm… That is all your bastards are good for, I guess,” Gin also accepted Ruse’s suggestion.

“…” Richard just solemnly nodded.

“…But as a precaution, let me help out too,” Rey offered.

“Hmm? A youngster like you think you are better than this Ruse, the Trap Master?” Ruse asked indignantly.

“…I would not say that. But don’t you think, as someone less skilled in solving traps, it could be easier for me to realize which level of traps the goblins would fall for and not make overcomplicated traps? We need quantity over quality, after all. If we spent too much time refining the traps, it would defeat the point of making it in the first place. It is something I am afraid a genius like yourself would do, in fact.” Rey made his point.

“Oh, how shameful! It seemed like my genius would bring harm to us all! Thank you, youngster, for reminding me!” Ruse said exaggeratedly

“What a bastard…” Raphael couldn’t help but silently murmur. He was the one who hated these types of egoistic bastards the most in ‘Lily and co.’

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“Alright, that was a good suggestion,” Richard began again to clear the terrible atmosphere. “I actually created an outline of a plan for us, as I assume you all would already know. We would center our force around ‘God Slaying Sword’ and ‘Lily and co” for the defensive battle ahead. Do you all have any objections or further suggestions for the plan?”

Rey raised his hand. He was sort of the brain of the party, after all.

“Alright, go ahead,” Richard allowed Rey to speak.

“…I am concerned about the two Champions. As you all know, the Goblin Lord, while terrifying, is only good at commanding and assembling his force. The Champions, on the other hand, have huge individual destructive power. Do you all agree with me so far?” Rey tried to make sure everyone could follow him.

Everyone nodded.

“Coincidently, we also have two top adventurer parties as our force too. Therefore, I think the best course of action is for both our parties to handle one Goblin Champion each.”

Everyone nodded again.

“However, to prevent exhaustion before the Champions appears, I think our parties should not participate too actively in the battle before that,” Rey continued.

Some eyebrows were raised because of that.

“Do you mean you would not help us deal with normal goblins?” Gin aggressively said, anger on his face.

“I would not go that far. It is just that our main focus will be on conserving our strength, so we could deal with the Champions when the time comes,” Rey replied.

“Cowards! Do you want our guards’ force to die for you!” Gin shouted angrily, no longer concealing his anger.

“Calm down, Gin. The plan is sensible. If we would have to deal with the Champions, it is best if we conserve our strength,” Gobo tried to mediate.

“I don’t want to hear that from a coward like you!” Gin still did not relent as he rotated his glare between Rey and Gobo.

“…What do you think, guild leader?” Not caring for the objection, Rey gazed at Richard.

Taking in the gaze, “While I feel it is a pity that our greatest powers could not help much with our initiated defense. With careful consideration, I agree with the plan,” Richard said so…

“Guild master Richard!” Gin roared.

“I understand where you are coming from, guard captain. If our main force doesn’t actively help out, it will cause a loss to our personnel. However, it is still better than failing to stop the rampaging Champions on the battlefield. That would cause us a greater loss. This is a decision makes out of necessity.”

Shifting his gaze from Gin to Rey, Richard continued, “Goblin Champion is a very terrifying monster. Without the greatest of force, it wouldn’t be defeated. And this thief here has realized that. Therefore, conserving strength to defeat it is a sensible decision to make. Especially if we consider the big picture. Good job noticing that, young man,” Richard gave Rey his signature old but kind smile.

“…Thank you for your kind words,” Rey silently bowed. He felt gratitude for Richard’s understanding.

In the end, Gin reluctantly agreed with the plan.

After that, they discussed miscellaneous details of the plan that were nothing too significant. Like where to position their force or how the guard and the adventurers will cooperate.

After all that, this meeting of mismatch ended without anything terrible happening. However, the crack that existed between the guard and the top adventurers at the time would come to harm them later on in the actual defense.