Obstruction

"Enough, Garithos!"

At the head of the troop, a warrior with short blond hair turned around. His brows twitched, and impatience showed on his lean face. He shouted at the young man who was about to draw his sword, "Light above, strength isn't something to show off!"

"Bishop Faol and Prince Alvin will be here soon. Do you really want them to see you entangled with a gnoll?"

The seasoned warrior clearly held considerable authority, and his words made the hotheaded youth realize something: he had given up the comfortable life of a baron's heir, left his hometown of Blackwood Town, and enlisted in response to the kingdom's call for the sake of his family's honor and his own future—not to pick a fight with this beast!

"Forgive me, Baron Taelan Fordring. I apologize for my recklessness."

The impetuous young man restrained his urge and bowed to the captain who had admonished him. But once the other man turned away, he shot the gnoll Shaman a vicious sidelong glare, as if threatening that he would make her pay for humiliating him.

Surrounded by a large company of knights, the old carriage made a circuit through the small fortress, passing behind the waiting soldiers before stopping beneath the tower. Through the open window, the perceptive Archbishop and Alvin had witnessed the whole confrontation.

"It seems that gnoll Shaman isn't having an easy time."

The old man turned to the boy, who wore an innocent expression. "Have you figured out how to win over those newcomers? The regular soldiers don't seem very friendly toward them."

The boy shook his head, admitting that he had no foolproof plan. There was no shame in honestly asking an elder for help. The world was always changing, but the experience of the older generation could still prove useful.

"Survival is everyone's most basic need. I believe the Trolls can help us make those gnolls into genuine vassals. But how to ensure they remain loyal afterward—that's what you need to think about."

The Archbishop wasn't angered by the boy's answer. He simply chuckled as he spoke. Then, without giving the boy time to respond, he stood and stepped straight out of the carriage, approaching the group led by the young blond warrior.

Without lingering, the old man merely waved over the warrior standing at the front. He took Alvin, Kel'Thuzad, and Abberton with him into the tower, leaving the gnoll Shaman alone outside the watchtower.

Unlike the watchtower in the game, where a wooden staircase ran along the inner wall all the way to the top, the first two floors of this tower were built entirely of stone. Since construction had been rushed, Alvin could clearly feel the uneven stones beneath his feet. The hall and corridors were also bare of the decorations commonly hung by nobles and knights.

The stones on the ground floor fit tightly together, and there were no windows. With so little light, the entire hall felt crude and gloomy. The second floor was divided into several rooms of different sizes. Led by Maxwell Tyrosus, they entered a small conference room.

Alvin vaguely recognized the name Maxwell Tyrosus. But all he knew was that this man would eventually become a member of the Order of the Silver Hand and, when the Scourge ravaged the land, would found the Argent Dawn and recruit brave warriors from other races to fight the Scourge alongside humanity.

So when the acting commander of Northland Fortress introduced himself, Alvin's first thought was: This is a man who doesn't care much about race. Perhaps recruiting the gnolls will go smoothly.

But reality delivered a harsh left hook. When Archbishop Faol discussed with Maxwell how to use the Blackpaw Gnolls who had already surrendered, the experienced warrior voiced his objections.

"Compared to ordinary people, gnolls are strong and agile. But they lack proper training and even basic tactical discipline. In a large-scale battle, they wouldn't be able to provide effective support to our allies. Their confusion might even disrupt our tactics or damage our troops' morale."

Maxwell, who had personally commanded battles involving thousands of soldiers, was unlike everyone else present. He bluntly pointed out that the plan was wishful thinking and explained why it would be difficult to carry out: "I'm sure you saw what happened just now. Most of our ordinary soldiers are hostile toward those gnolls. It will be difficult to make them into allies we can trust."

At that, Maxwell stopped. He wasn't in a position to outright reject the Archbishop's proposal. He could only do his best to prevent anything that might harm the kingdom.

The conference room fell into awkward silence. Kel'Thuzad sat back with an air of detachment, Abberton kept his face set in an unchanging scowl, and the Archbishop offered no comment. Instead, he turned to the boy, who sat with his head bowed in thought.

After thinking for a moment, the boy finally looked up at the stern-faced man and spoke clearly. "Baron Maxwell, I have a few questions for you."

"In the battle against the Blackpaw Gnolls, did Logul make a significant contribution? Were Lordaeron's losses lower than expected?"

Alvin's eyes were clear, and his voice still carried a boyish quality, yet the young commander felt an inexplicable pressure. Under the boy's unwavering gaze, Maxwell nodded and answered with difficulty.

"It's true. The information provided by that gnoll Shaman was a great help to our preparations. Thanks to our choice of battlefield and sound tactics, we lost far fewer soldiers than we had initially expected."

"So we must admit that they can serve as scouts in the forest?"

The prince pressed him relentlessly, leaving the commander no chance to catch his breath.

"I'm afraid..." The man's face darkened. He wanted to argue, but couldn't find a way to do so. In the end, he had no choice but to agree with the boy. "That's right."

"So they're still useful. At the very least, they can do a good job as scouts."

Seeing that the other man was about to speak, Alvin quickened his pace. "If the problem is coordination, we can organize the gnolls into a separate unit. And until we've built trust, we can keep them off the battlefield as much as possible, so their numbers don't exceed the deterrent strength of our Lordaeron soldiers."