Leaving Barry from the west gate, the massive city walls gradually faded into the distance behind them.
Gauss sat atop his ostrich mount, gently bobbing with its running rhythm, the vast and magnificent scenery stretching before him.
He truly felt the benefits of traveling on a personal mount.
Compared to taking a caravan carriage, this was infinitely freer.
Go wherever you want, leave whenever you want.
If only I had known earlier… I should have bought one sooner.
Gauss blew into the wind blowing against his face, unable to help but think this way.
However, seeing Serlandul glide effortlessly and skillfully beside him, he was momentarily speechless.
While he was silently marveling at the convenience of his mount, this half-snake companion didn’t even need to think about such things.
His ability to travel like this was truly enviable.“Captain, why did you decide to specifically eliminate goblins?”
Serlandul used message magic to ask curiously.
His question wasn’t really about the task itself.
His thoughts drifted back to that morning at the Adventurers Guild’s South Branch Two, when Gauss was specifically picking from a bunch of goblin-related missions.
He was curious then but hadn’t asked.
Now, on the way to the mission, he couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Because there are enough of them?”
Hearing Gauss’s answer, Serlandul became even more confused.
From what he knew, some adventurers either went after tasks or monsters purely for money, or they chose challenging opponents to gain combat experience against different monsters, thereby enriching their adventure experience and leveling up.
But “because there are enough of them”? What kind of answer was that?
Could it be that goblins were so numerous that they posed the greatest threat to ordinary humans, so the captain preferred to eliminate them for the sake of common villagers?
Thinking this, Serlandul suddenly felt deep respect.
Though he usually took missions without much concern for profit, just randomly accepting tasks, he wouldn’t have specifically arranged assignments like Gauss did out of consideration for ordinary people.
Gauss didn’t know how much Serlandul had imagined about him in his mind.
Instead, he focused on the intelligence for this task.
Seeing over a hundred goblins appear at once was unusual,
because goblins were low-intelligence creatures, and a hundred gathering together would easily cause conflict unless a “strong one” capable of dominating all the ordinary goblins led the tribe.
This “strong one” could be an elite born from the goblin group or another elite monster.
Because goblins naturally despised the weak and would not submit to the rule of weak monsters, they often became cannon fodder recruited by elite monsters.
So although Gauss hoped that the “leader” of those hundreds of ordinary goblins was an elite goblin with a challenge rating, without seeing them firsthand, he could not conclude.
The two didn’t waste much time.
Besides occasionally stopping to feed the ostrich Golden Spike and resting a bit themselves, they made no other pauses.
The surrounding scenery gradually became desolate as they traveled farther.
The farther from the Forest Capital Barry, the faster human traces disappeared.
[Frostleaf Village]
This small village, mainly engaged in animal husbandry, was not close to Barry and was even faintly beyond Barry’s jurisdiction.
At this moment, the village was noisy with people.
An elderly man with gray-white hair and skin etched by years of wind and frost struggled to straighten his previously hunched back. His cloudy eyes stared at the destroyed livestock fence, filled with heavy worry.
“Have no adventurers arrived from Barry yet?”
“Not yet.” A young strong villager beside him said helplessly. He had just come after observing the village entrance toward Barry for a while. “Father, I heard that a maze appeared outside Barry City recently. Many adventurers have entered it. For such a remote small village like ours, it’s probably hard to get any adventurers.”
The old village chief was perhaps not very clear about the details.
But the young men responsible for going to Barry to buy supplies certainly knew well about the major recent events in the Forest Capital.
The biggest news recently was undoubtedly the appearance of the maze.
This early-stage maze was extremely attractive to adventurers, especially low-level ones.
So around Barry, there was this awkward situation where adventurers were all inside the maze for a short time. Even when they came out briefly for rest and resupply, it was mostly to relax, not to accept new tasks.
Even if funds were tight, they preferred nearby areas. For remote villages like theirs, it was likely there were no suitable targets for missions for a while.
Actually, a group of adventurers had passed through a couple of days ago, but since none of them were professionals, after hearing about the goblin scale, they turned back immediately.
Though the villagers felt somewhat helpless about this, they understood the adventurers’ choice.
Without professionals, ordinary adventurers facing those monsters were basically courting death.
If it were them, they would make the same choice.
Money can always be earned, but life is only one.
“So what do we do? Is there no word from the Adventurers Guild staff in Barry?” The old village chief gripped a rough walking stick tightly, his knuckles white from the force.
His gaze looked toward outside the village, as if he could see a group of monsters “building” something in the forest from afar.
“We can’t just let those monsters build their tribal village beside us and keep attacking, right?”
“There should be some result soon.” The young man had no certainty but wanted to comfort the old chief. “I heard explorers entering the maze should be finishing their first expedition and gradually coming out.”
“If not, I’ll run to Barry again today and see if I can bribe with some money…”
At their anxious moment, the rhythmic sound of horse hooves came from outside the village.
A young villager just over twenty flipped off his horse.
“Bad news! Those goblins have started building watchtowers at the forest edge.” The mounted villager reported quickly.
Hearing this, the other villagers present all felt a chill.
Building watchtowers was bad news.
It meant that the goblins’ temporary camp was probably almost done.
Only then could they spare forces to build external watchtowers.
And the watchtower’s location pointed clearly toward their village.
This meant they had been targeted and were likely about to become an attack objective.
“Bob, notify the women and children to start packing. See if they can relocate to another village soon.”
It was unrealistic to move a village where they had lived for decades in a short time. Now that adventurers hadn’t arrived and the monster threat was growing nearer,
they couldn’t just sit and wait to be slaughtered.
The best solution was to move the most vulnerable elders, women, and children to safer places.
This was the best plan many villages took when facing unmanageable crises.
Move the weak, move the assets, and return once the dust settled.
Though this inevitably caused economic losses, at least it preserved the lives of their people.
“Those damn green-skin rats!” A young man there gritted his teeth in rage.
His family had lost a sheep to them recently.
One sheep was no small loss to be ignored.
“Chief, why don’t we organize a raid?”
From a distance, nearly ten impetuous young men suddenly gathered, most covered in mud, dressed in rough cloth clothes with pants tucked into worn leather boots or straw shoes, clearly having rushed out.
As for their weapons, they were mostly iron forks, hoes, and wood-cutting axes, with only two or three holding decent iron weapons.
The old village chief’s chest heaved violently as he looked at the suddenly gathered crowd.
“Have you all eaten too much? Go back and rest!”
Seeing the village’s young men so eager, he felt not relief but a surge of sadness.
The young in his village truly knew nothing about fighting a hundred goblins.
Perhaps a single goblin was no match for a young adult with a weapon, but a hundred?
Not to mention that behind these monsters, even more terrifying elite monsters were hidden.
This was why the village never dared send skilled riders to scout deep inside.
They feared encountering those elite monsters behind the goblins.
These ten wanting to launch an attack were basically rushing to their deaths.
“We can use fire attacks, shoot arrows from afar, as long as—”
Theo, the leader among the gathered youth, spoke up, showing the chief his longbow with flammable cloth wrapped around the arrow tips.
He believed that selecting a few agile experts and combining longbows with fire arrows could definitely inflict significant damage on the goblins.
As one of the few village guards, Theo had indeed tasted goblin blood.
In fact, he thought goblins were not strong at all.
“Go back!” The chief coldly interrupted, ignoring his suggestion. “Theo, if you respect me as the chief, then disband with the others! Don’t cause trouble.”
Theo put down his bow and looked at the cold gaze of the old chief. Suddenly, he felt disappointed.
The once kindly elder now seemed so weak in his heart.
He couldn’t even summon a bit of resistance against the invaders.
And this was their leader.
But bound by the chief’s long-established authority, Theo didn’t dare openly oppose him.
He just snorted and turned away with a sour face, leading his people off.
“Theo seems unhappy.” Bob, the chief’s son and the current village head, withdrew his gaze.
“Ignore him. He’s still young and doesn’t understand how terrifying those monsters are. If we let him act recklessly, he’ll drag the villagers into the abyss.” The old chief sighed.
Who wasn’t passionate and reckless in youth? But reality was cruel. Without special powers, ordinary humans were weak against monsters.
Retreat and escape, though shameful-sounding, were the best options for most.
“Bob, notify others to pack supplies and prepare to evacuate. Things hard to carry should be hidden or discarded.”
“Understood.”
Meanwhile, Theo grew more and more depressed after being scolded by the old chief.
He thought he was only trying to help but was rejected and even reprimanded. It was really unfair.
“The old chief has grown weak with age.”
“We’re not attacking their main camp, just destroying that watchtower.” Some young men nearby muttered.
“Goblins aren’t strong at all. I’ve probably killed ten with my own hands.” One big guy said bluntly. “I think we don’t need those adventurers. We can kill those green skins just like squashing rats.”
“So, do we continue with our plan?”
“I think so.” Theo nodded. “When we return victorious, the chief will realize how foolish his weakness is.”
The group had made up their minds and had already prepared “weapons” and “armor” beforehand. After packing simply, they were ready to set out toward the goblin tribe’s location.
Meanwhile, the rest of the village busied themselves packing at home, initially paying no attention to the rapidly departing group.
After a while, someone noticed.
“Bad news! Theo and the others are missing!”
“When did they disappear?”
“After meeting the chief, no one has seen them.”
“Damn, they must have gone to the goblin watchtower.” Bob thought about the conversation his father had just had and felt helpless.
“Chief, what should we do now?”
Parents of the missing young men and elders were too anxious to pack, their eyes anxiously fixed on the chief.
Bob was also extremely conflicted.
Ignoring the situation was impossible. Not only would the families of the missing be angry, but even he couldn’t bear it in his heart.
But organizing a rescue would put more people in danger. Once fighting broke out, it would probably be a one-way trip.
“Chief, please decide quickly! Theo and the others have been gone for some time.”
Just as Bob took a deep breath, the clear sound of hooves seemed to approach again.
Along with it came a rolling cloud of dust.
The villagers looked on curiously.
Gauss and Serlandul slowed down as they approached farmland outside the village.
Until they saw a serpent person gliding into the village.
A panic-stricken scream instantly rang out!
“A snake!”
“Monsters are attacking!”
“Ah!”
The already tense villagers panicked the moment they saw Serlandul.
Some fled quickly, while others trembled, grabbing nearby pitchforks.
Serlandul’s tall figure and thick snake tail looked far scarier than the goblins’ small bodies.
Seeing this, Gauss jumped down from the ostrich and took two steps forward, standing in front of Serlandul.
“Villagers, please don’t panic. Put down your weapons. We come from Barry as adventurers assigned this mission.”
As Gauss spoke, a mission scroll suddenly appeared in his hand, unfurling openly to show its content.
Serlandul glanced at Gauss standing in front of him; a warm light flashed in his pointed snake pupils.
Although villagers’ actions didn’t harm him and he was used to being treated as a monster by uneducated country folk, Gauss’s instinctive protective behavior still moved him.
However, many villagers still tightly gripped their farming tools and weapons without letting go.
Words were far less direct than what their eyes saw.
For many who had never left the village, this serpent was just a man-eating monster.
No matter how much was said, that snake tail, snake eyes, and scales wouldn’t turn into human limbs.
“Put down your weapons!” Village chief Bob quickly stepped out of the crowd, shouting at the villagers.
Then he hurried over to Gauss and Serlandul.
“Two honored adventurers, please forgive our ignorant villagers. They’ve never seen the world.”
His face showed uncontrollable panic, his heart pounding rapidly. He came before Serlandul, trembling in his legs, but still forced down his unease to bow deeply in their direction.
He had clearly seen it.
The handsome young man wore a two-star adventurer’s bronze badge on his chest, while the serpent person’s badge was even higher, reaching three stars!
For ordinary villagers, if these two got angry, they could easily slaughter the village, being far stronger than the goblins outside.
“It’s fine, chief.” Gauss stepped forward, helped the trembling chief up, patted his shoulder, and smiled.
His smile seemed to carry a strong affinity.
The once timid villagers gradually calmed down unconsciously upon seeing his hearty smile.
“I am Gauss, the adventurer assigned this mission, and this is my partner, Serlandul. Please, chief, introduce the current situation to us.”
The now calm village chief Bob, after confirming the two showed no anger, stared at their badges again, then broke into ecstatic joy.
The village was saved! No need to relocate!
He hurriedly explained the situation outside the village and the status of the missing young men in detail.
At the southern edge of Frostleaf Village, near the sparse forest.
The air was thick with the stench of goblin filth, burning grass, and charred wood.
Theo leaned against a dead tree, gasping heavily.
His pupils continuously contracted.
A wound under his ribs leaked fresh blood.
His longbow lay broken nearby, stained with sticky dark red blood, indistinguishable as his or goblin’s.
His once spirited companions had scattered and fled, whereabouts unknown.
“How could goblins be this strong?”
His heart filled with immense unease.
“Thump! Thump!”
Behind the tree he leaned on came heavy footsteps approaching—
That big guy! The monster was chasing him!
His heart almost leapt from his chest, his mind completely blank.
The next moment,
A huge shadow loomed over him.
“Smash!!!”
The tree he leaned on, not very thick, was pushed down by the monster’s slap, exposing his body.
Now he was truly done for!
PS: A second update will be released at 23:59 tonight, possibly 4-5K words.