Through my messages from Zeph, I was able to determine the best kingdom to start off with my expansion.

  There was a small kingdom past the forests up north. Unlike the Mivtic Kingdom, they’ve been established longer but are smaller in size. You might as well call it a town as Zeph puts it. Still, that just makes it the perfect candidate as a beginning run.

  With our chosen destination, me and my chosen army had set off. Many of them were excited, I wasn’t surprised by my orcs as they were a given and the wolves were usually loyal enough in my endeavors. What I was surprised about was hearing some of my fellow kobolds and goblins being interested too. They sure came a long way from the cowards at the beginning.

  I wish I could have included the Gnolls, or even any of the other fellow monsters that I had freed, but they still seemed to be in the fence serving me. The Gnolls themselves seemed more interested in their new farming and cooking ventures.

  Besides, I can wait a bit longer if need be. I can always recruit them later. Sooner or later, they all will be mine after all. There’s no need to rush it. ~

  After some time, we managed to travel through the forests with no incident. Probably because of the might of my followers. ~

  During that time, we had established a sort of routine. The smaller minions taking turns on riding the wolves’ back so that they can rest while the others walked on foot. I have also noticed they seemed more alert compared to our travels to the Mivtic Kingdom.

  My orcs had opted to spread out in formation so as to keep themselves close to the weaker minions with Mordred himself leading the charge surprisingly enough. Of course, I took the liberty of riding on his shoulders as usual.

  I would have rode on Paimoth’s shadowy throne but there was the combination of both the Shadow Moth’s fixation on his Pocket Gem as well as Mordred’s jealous expression when he saw me sit on it. At least he’s handling it better than how he handled Damian.

  To show my appreciation, I leaned and lightly tapped on his cheeks which left him with a big grin on his face.

  As for our food situation, Jordan was proving to take his role as my personal chef well. He managed to handle cooking with this many mouths to feed as well as cook some decent meals using the meat of some Horned Rabbits, onions, and garlic and roasting them with a makeshift oven I created on the spot with my skill.

  I was actually quite surprised that during the entire process, Jordan stopped showing any signs of his earlier nervousness and was fully focused on the food preparations. Guess it’s easier for him to focus that way.

  Everyone loved his meals and were even singing praises for him. That was more than enough to bring his shyness back up front.

  “A-ah thank you everyone…”

  It also helped that V was practically hyping everyone up and keeping our spirits high. All that combined made the trek through easy.

  It wasn’t long after we came out of the forests that we could see the kingdom Zeph had mentioned. It was indeed small. In comparison to the Mivtic Kingdom, I would say it was about two thirds the size.

  As we had made it to our destination, I gave a quick message to Zeph.

  {“We’re here Zeph, just outside the edge of the forest area”}

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  {“On it Bossman, be there soon.”}

  It wouldn’t take too long for Zeph to be here if he were to fly though seeing as this was a conquest operation, I had advised him to walk out instead, which he agreed.

  Seeing as it’d be some time before he returned to us, I decided for us to set up camp back in the forests, the idea being to hide my soldiers before the moment was ready. I rather our first interactions with my future kingdom be the most impactful after all.

  Of course, Mordred and the orcs were against the idea. Wanting us to just storm in right away.

  “Can’t we just do that boss? Seems easier and a lot more straightforward.” Mordred asked, his hands clenching in enthusiasm. The orcs themselves were already brandishing their weapons.

  I quickly interjected. “Now now patience. We don’t want to rush this. You all remember last time before we conquered the Mivtic Kingdom remember?”

  That got them to quiet down. Seems my capture was something they didn’t wish to repeat again. V themselves already looked ready to be in tears making my heart ache a bit. So I decided to switch subjects.

  “Best to wait for Zeph’s report once he comes back. I’m sure we will learn some useful information.” I informed them.

  They all nodded in acceptance to my judgement. Good to see they remember who was in charge in here.

  To help bring their mood back up I had instructed Jordan to make a hearty meal filled with meat.

  “Understood Chieftain, I was actually wanting to experiment a bit with this horned rabbit meat with something that could make it smell tasty. Is there something you would have in mind?”

  I took a moment to consider with what crops that we had brought and how any of them would be helpful in this.

  Then an idea struck. That’s right we could use that. “Bring me all the corn, wheat, and garlic here.”

  The ones I had to carry the food supplies brought what I requested. Jordan looked on with silent curiosity.

  Once they gathered what I needed I took one corn then used my [Material Forge] on it. Having remembered one of the many uses of corn I had tried to see if I could process the oil out of it. There were several simple tools I could use to do the work but as we didn’t have the time to do so, I thought my skill would have to suffice for now.

  I was glad to see that it was working as I saw the oils being made as the corn was being used. Of course, I made sure to make a wooden jar to pour the oil. It took some time, but I managed to make a decent amount of corn oil. Unfortunately, it took a lot more of our supply of corn that I would have liked. I had forgotten that corn would produce low amounts of oil. I would have to find an alternative crop to use later on. Some of my minions seemed disappointed as they were looking forward to them, but they would have to trust me that it would be worth it.

  Jordan was about to take a taste sample, but I stopped him. “This isn’t exactly something you eat directly. Think of it more as a tool for cooking.”

  My gnoll chef timidly nodded in understanding. I forged the tools we would need like the stove and pot large enough for all of my minions as well as reforging the wheat into powdered flour. I then coated the horned rabbit meats into the newly made flour while at the same time instructing Jordan to pour the oil into pot and let it heat up to a boil. Afterwards I had him crush some garlic and place it on the oil.

  It didn’t take long before the smell of the garlic started to spread across the forests, attracting my soldiers together.

  “What is that delicious smell?”

  “My mouth is watering, is that what we’re going to eat?!”

  Jordan’s mouth started to drool and for a moment I was worried to see a bit of that ravenous hunger bubble out. I sighed in relief when he managed to get control over himself.

  Once the garlic started to brown, I placed the horned rabbit meat into the oil as it started to bubble. I had made sure there was enough inside to feed everyone. All the while, Jordan looked on in amazement.

  When the meat finally browned, I took the fried rabbit meat into a wooden plate and let it cool before taking a piece off and having a taste.

  Hmmm, as I should have expected it was gamey. At least it tasted better than the meals I had before. I offered the rest to Jordan who shyly took a bite before he quickly started to scarf it down like it was his last.

  “Th-these tastes delicious! Ok, I have to get started right away!”

  Before I knew it Jordan has started to work at breakneck speed. Already he was in the process of making a whole new batch of food. It didn’t take long before the rest of my soldiers started to pile around Jordan, who despite the crowd was completely focused on making large order of meals.

  His eyes were filled with determination and taking a closer look, I could see a smile was plastered on his face. Even though it was a lot of work, my personal gnoll chef was really enjoying himself.

  “Next batch is ready! Please enjoy!!”