I’ve recovered after a good night’s rest, and my head is clear.
“Master, it’s the meat.”
Hikari is right, our dinner full of meat last night was tasty. And I’m sure the insipid food I ate in that cell made it even tastier.
If I saw the emergency rations adventurers eat, I might’ve gone crazy.
“So, about today…”
“I want to move around.”
I look at everyone, and Rurika mumbles.
Yes, being locked in a small space hits Hikari, Sera, and Rurika the hardest.
They’re full of energy… Well, I want to walk a little too.
“But we can’t go out of town, we’d attract attention if we went to the guild’s training area, and the dungeon..”
I could use Transfer to go somewhere else, but someone from the guild might come here.
I have my own feelings about the village being destroyed, but we hunted the goblins and used skills to confirm that there weren’t any more around.
And we asked them to investigate again too.
What bothers me the most is that they appeared and disappeared suddenly. The villagers said they were attacked by goblins, so does that mean there are some goblins with skills?
I saw monster reactions outside the cave, but I couldn’t get a hold of them in the time between getting out of the cave and returning to the village.
I went back to the cave, and went north to where they said there were sightings, but I didn’t find any tracks.
“Well, you should lay low for now. Me, Guilford, and Clift are going out to gather information. Rick and Harold will drive anyone weird that comes here away.”
Says Argo, and Rick and Harold nod, as the other three leave.
“Monsters even your party can’t find… I have a bad feeling about that.”
Whispers Harold, and Rick nods.
“Would Guil know?”
Asks Rurika.
“I don’t think Guil would know more than you or Hikari. Maybe by going on-site and inspecting footprints, but that’s hard when they said there aren’t any.
We would have to use numbers to search a wide area at once. And I think if we’re talking about a wide area, Guil would fall short compared to Sora.”
Says Harold. I think he’s being harsh because they’re partners.
Well, I can see a wide area because of Map, so I can definitely learn a lot, but that’s not working this time.
Do I have to learn a new skill to find these monsters?
I listen while thinking about that, and they’re talking about how the army should mobilize to search a big area, not adventurers, and how low rank adventurers who aren’t used to battle shouldn’t go up against opponents when we don’t even know how strong they are… And that most adventurers here mainly mine, and would have trouble exploring outside.
“And what will the guild and the people who rule this place do… I haven’t heard good things.”
Harold says they’re very unpopular with the adventurers who live here. The biggest reason is the high taxes.
This is levied on people who lived here for a long time, and it’s especially severe for the ones who make a lot of money. But the biggest issue is that no one knows where that money goes.
This isn’t rare in the empire, but that doesn’t mean people like it. And some don’t accept it.
“Hn?”
“What is it young lady?”
“They’re back… But it’s strange.”
Hikari tilts her head, and I quickly understand why, when Argo enters with a ragged breath.
“What happened?”
“Ahh… A transport unit was attacked. The ones taking goods to the capital.”
Argo answers Rick, and plops down on an empty chair.
I take a drink out of the Item Box, and he drinks it while letting out a deep breath.
“So the empire’s goods were taken?”
Asks Harold with a frown.
“The army’s goods.”
Says Guilford, who is now entering too.
Not everything was taken. Ore was left behind, but part of the weapons and equipment are gone.
“Who did it?”
Asks Harold. If they were the army’s stuff, is someone starting a war with the country?
If they were thieves… I wouldn’t really know, but I assume they’d go after merchants instead.
“…The survivors said it was goblins. But apparently they’re not sure because of the confusion.”
According to Argo, they said the monsters were suddenly all around them, and people went down without a chance to even counterattack.
It’s too similar…
“Don’t fret too much, it’s not like this is your fault. You found that goblin nest and destroyed it. If anyone’s responsible, it’s the guild. The village didn’t offer much money, so they put out the quest without listening to it properly.”
Says Argo, trying to sound cheerful, probably because I have a grave look on my face.
“This town will be rowdy for a while, so let’s see how the guild… And the nobles in charge handle it. You might have to forget the dungeon and leave for a while.”
Says Argo with a sigh, and the rest of his party silently nod.
Thanks for the treat.
Thanks for this weeks updates, & hope everybody has a good weekend. 😎👍