“You can live for now.”
The voice sounded like that of a girl, and its owner indeed appeared to be a beautiful young woman.
But it was utterly calm, devoid of any emotion.
Upon hearing this, a surge of survival instinct welled up in Parker. He lifted his head and said in a hoarse voice, “What do I need to do? As long as I can stay alive…”
There was no immediate response, only silence.
For a moment, the quiet alley was filled only with the sound of Parker’s heartbeat and his uncontrollable gasping.
Just as sweat began to bead on Parker’s forehead, it finally gave an answer.
“Next week, on this same day, bring one of your companions to me.”
“Bring them to the location I specify, and make sure no one else is there.”
With a wave of its hand, a crimson light surged into Parker’s body. He immediately felt a wave of discomfort, as if his body had been disassembled and reconstructed.
Having completed this, it lowered its raised hand and vanished into thin air, leaving only a single sentence echoing in Parker’s ear.
“You will die in a week unless you complete the task.”
On the deserted street, Parker collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
—
Aino, having resolved her “craving” issue, happily returned to Carter’s home.
As soon as she entered, she saw Carter and Molly seemingly discussing something, their expressions somewhat grave.
“Oh, Aino’s back.”
Carter greeted her with a smile, while Molly warmly stood up and affectionately took Aino’s hand.
Leaning in close, Molly whispered with a smile, “So, did you teach those people a lesson?”
Carter looked helplessly at his wife’s actions and said with a wry smile, “Molly, I told you not to meddle. The city is what it is; many things are beyond our control…”
Though he spoke of reason, Carter was also straining his ears, eager to know what Aino had been up to during this time.
“Would it scare you? I plan to make them all disappear.”
Aino blinked, speaking in a somewhat detached manner, like a child who, unable to sleep after being bitten by mosquitoes, angrily declares they’ll exterminate all the mosquitoes.
Except she was talking about making people vanish, not mosquitoes.
“Those scumbags truly deserve to die; they’re despicable!” Aino’s ruthless words didn’t upset Molly; on the contrary, she agreed wholeheartedly.
Carter, meanwhile, looked earnestly into Aino’s eyes and said, “I trust that Aino has her own way of handling things. We won’t have any objections.”
“By the way, Aino, take a look at this.”
Carter handed Aino a piece of paper from the table, which was clearly what he and Molly had been discussing.
It was an adventurer’s commission notice, stating that the goblins in the Ward Great Forest had become extremely rampant lately. Not only had many adventurers entering the forest been attacked, but the goblins had also launched group assaults on the villages surrounding the forest.
It should be noted that around the Ward Great Forest, there were not only cities like Danting but also many villages. Unlike the cities, which were a mix of various forces, the villages were mostly inhabited by ordinary people with little combat ability and outdated weaponry.
Recently, there had been continuous sneak attacks on villages by goblins, which had already raised concerns. What truly caused a stir was that last night, a village had been overrun by a large-scale goblin assault, reducing the entire village to ruins. Out of over a hundred people, only a few survived.
Reportedly, the scene was littered with mutilated corpses; many had been disemboweled and their organs eaten. There were also bodies that clearly hadn’t been killed for food—they were headless, limbless, covered in claw marks, with their heads and limbs piled together in a gruesome display, as if to intimidate others.
In response to this, the major cities in the vicinity had taken action, issuing numerous commissions to hunt goblins. Each goblin head could be exchanged for a substantial amount of money, with even higher rewards for stronger variants like goblin leaders and goblin mages.
“I plan to join the effort and contribute. There’s money to be made, and… my sister was…” Carter said somberly, while Molly, looking equally grave, gently stroked her husband’s shoulder.
Goblins, huh…
In her previous life, Aino had watched an anime where the goblins were exceptionally vile, and now, the atrocities described in the commission notice were no different from those in that anime.
“I’ll go with you. Molly, stay home and be safe. The city doesn’t seem very peaceful,” Aino said without hesitation, expressing her stance clearly.
Carter smiled gratefully. “I don’t know how to thank you. Meeting you, Miss Aino, is truly my fortune!”
—
With one foot, he pinned down the already dead goblin’s body and used his sharp sword to sever its head, placing it into the collection bag.
Carter glanced at the goblin corpses scattered around, feeling the heavy weight of the bag on his back, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
All he needed to do was gather information and lead the girl to places where goblin nests might be, and then he could harvest the heads of these monsters.
It was that simple.
In truth, no matter how you looked at it, Aino was more like the monster here, with her overwhelming strength.
Whether it was the burly, ferocious giant goblins or the eerie, sinister goblin shamans, they were all instantly killed upon encounter. Just as the girl had said, this was a “hunt,” not an adventure or a battle.
The current nest was the largest they had raided in several days, teeming with goblins, as well as minotaurs, goblin shamans, and other variants.
This place was also a hell for humans. Along the way, Carter had seen numerous human skeletons, as well as mutilated corpses or body parts.
And now, they were at the deepest part of the cave, about to enter the “storage room.”
In the smaller storage rooms they had encountered before, they had found captured women. Most were missing arms or legs, filthy, and would just stare blankly when they saw people.
The luckiest was a female adventurer who had been captured less than a week ago. Due to her adventuring experience and the relatively short time she had been held, she was still in decent mental condition.
However, she too was sobbing, clutching Carter’s leg, repeatedly crying out why they had come so late. Behind her, several limbless torsos lay in the mud, emitting strange, animal-like noises along with the woman’s wails.
If even the smaller nests were like this, what would they find in the storage room of this massive goblin nest?
Carter had become an adventurer in his teens and had been wandering for over a decade. As a lone wolf, he had faced many terrifying scenes with composure.
But now, he found himself somewhat afraid to face what lay ahead, dreading what he might see inside.
These past few days, the efficiency of earning money had been astonishing. It could be said that their household wealth was increasing rapidly, and they might not need to work for a long time.
Yet, Carter’s heart grew heavier day by day. He felt that the task of hunting goblins was becoming more difficult each day, even harder than the dangerous missions he used to undertake alone.
It was a fear etched into his bones, the terror of seeing his own kind subjected to such horrific torture.
Carter could only continuously adjust his mindset. After all, the only thing he could do now was to follow the girl, eliminate more goblins, and save more humans.
Lost in thought, he unconsciously followed Aino into a dark space.
—
