Chapter 10

Ariel moved immediately upon hearing Susan’s scream from outside the prison.

According to Roo’s explanation, it seemed the kids from Harrington Village had tried to kidnap her, but she didn’t want to leave them to die at the hands of goblins.

So, she decided to escape first and then save Susan.

The goblin prison looked quite sturdy, but for some reason, the door wasn’t locked.

The goblins had forgotten to bolt it when they dragged Susan in.

Thanks to that, Ariel simply opened the door and headed in the direction of the scream.

A few goblins nearby were sound asleep.

They were goblins who had fallen asleep after being hit by Roo’s sleeping powder.

Ignoring them, she continued walking until a large door blocked her path.

Listening closely, there was commotion inside the door.

Unfortunately, this door wasn’t open.

“We’ll have to break it, sis.”

At Roo’s words, Ariel nodded and threw a punch.

*Boom!*

With an explosive sound, the door flew off.

Once the door disappeared, the space inside was revealed.

A fairly large space for a cave.

Dozens of goblins were gathered, and a red goblin was sitting on a chair.

And on the floor, Susan lay unconscious.

Susan had lost consciousness after being thrown along with the barrier gate, but Ariel assumed the goblins had done it.

*Tap tap tap!*

Footsteps were heard from behind.

It was Jack and Tom who had followed.

Thanks to Roo’s healing powder, Jack had regained consciousness and gotten up, but his body wasn’t fully recovered yet.

Still, he couldn’t just lie there.

He had heard from Tom that a fairy had healed him and an elf had gone to save Susan.

Even though he had kidnapped the elf and the fairy, given the situation, he wanted to help a little.

But…

‘What was that just now?’

With a *boom*, the massive door flew off.

A phenomenon caused by Ariel’s punch.

Jack was puzzled but couldn’t continue his thoughts.

Because Susan was lying on the floor.

“Susan!”

Jack and Tom rushed to Susan.

Susan’s face had festering wounds, and blood was seeping from her waist.

She was alive but unconscious.

*Cough.*

Meanwhile, the goblins looked dazed at their king.

When with the Goblin King, the goblins’ actions were determined by the king.

But even the Goblin King didn’t know what to do in this situation.

He had ordered them to catch the fleeing human woman, but suddenly the barrier gate exploded and shattered.

And then a young elf and a human man entered without hesitation.

Was this dangerous?

The Goblin King quickly racked his brain.

It seemed dangerous.

The barrier gate was quite sturdy; even a troll’s body slam wouldn’t easily break it.

The fact that the barrier gate flew off like that meant there was something powerful enough to make it happen.

The Goblin King’s gaze turned to Ariel.

And Ariel also saw the Goblin King.

“!”

The moment their eyes met, the Goblin King felt a chill run down his spine.

Ariel’s appearance was clearly young.

Was she even ten years old?

But despite that, there was no sense of vitality or liveliness in her expression.

It was strange.

Perhaps she wasn’t as young as she looked.

No, maybe she wasn’t even an elf.

A dragon? The Demon King? The Goblin King couldn’t tell.

What was certain was that he was in danger and needed to flee immediately.

The Goblin King gave an order.

―Attack the elf!

The reason for the attack order was to buy time to escape.

Whatever the young elf’s true nature was, there were dozens of goblins here.

It would take some time to deal with dozens of goblins.

He could escape in that time.

After giving the order, the Goblin King jumped up from his throne.

He planned to escape through the secret passage behind him.

But at that moment, the cave lit up brightly.

“?”

Turning his head, he saw a blue sphere floating above Ariel’s head.

Whatever it was, it was really dangerous.

The moment the Goblin King felt that, Ariel lightly waved her hand.

*Whoosh!*

The blue sphere split into dozens of strands and shot out.

And that was it.

Every goblin in the room had a hole in their head.

Dozens of goblins collapsed, including the Goblin King.

Somehow, today was just lucky.

With a hole in his forehead, the Goblin King breathed his last with that thought.

*

Kanna, trapped in the inn’s kitchen storage, was found hours later.

After the village festival ended, Kanna’s parents returned to the inn and found her locked in the kitchen storage.

Kanna urgently explained to her parents.

It seemed Jack’s gang had conspired.

Kanna’s parents informed the village chief, and soon it was revealed that the village’s communal carriage was missing and Nelson had opened the palisade to let Jack’s gang through.

Moreover, considering that Tom’s mother’s sleeping pills were entirely missing and Jack had tried to deliver the cream bread Kanna had intended for Ariel…

It seemed Jack’s gang had kidnapped Ariel and Roo and headed to the city.

Given Jack’s usual behavior, it was easy to believe.

The village atmosphere darkened like a storm cloud.

Even in their drunken state, people gathered at the chief’s house to discuss the future.

“We can’t let this slide. That young elf saved Daisy’s life, and to repay kindness with malice is a crime deserving punishment!”

“Moreover, the carriage Jack took is village property. This is outright theft. We must catch them.”

“Let’s catch them and teach them a lesson. So they never do this again.”

“No, instead of that, let’s just banish them from the village. Tom is somewhat better, but Jack and Susan were never any help to the village anyway.”

“Right, they were only good at causing trouble.”

The villagers’ opinions were unanimous.

Catch Jack’s gang and save the elf. Then either punish them or banish them from the village.

Even Jack’s gang’s parents agreed. Even if they were their children, this was a serious offense.

This incident was too serious for even parents to cover up.

The village chief, of course, agreed.

“Then let’s chase them as soon as the sun rises.”

It was deep night now. Going outside the palisade in this state was dangerous.

They could get lost in the forest or encounter monsters. Casualties would be unavoidable.

Though anxious, the chief decided to wait quietly until morning.

No one objected. The villagers knew how dangerous the forest was at night.

Fortunately, they could roughly guess where Jack’s gang had gone.

“They must have gone to the city. They always bragged about wanting to live lavishly in the city.”

*

With the goblin horde and Goblin King defeated, Ariel stored all the corpses in her inventory.

Unlike troll corpses, goblin corpses wouldn’t fetch much money, but it didn’t matter. There was plenty of space, so she could stuff them in without worry.

“At least the Goblin King should fetch a decent price. He’s quite rare.”

At Roo’s words, Ariel nodded.

Indeed, the Goblin King was different from the others. His skin was red, and he was slightly larger.

Why that made him a king was unclear, but he was certainly unusual. Someone might want to buy him.

Once everything was roughly sorted, Ariel approached Jack’s gang.

Susan was still unconscious, but thanks to Roo gathering her soul and sprinkling healing powder, the wounds on her face and waist were healing.

The facial wound would leave a scar, but there was nothing Roo could do about that. For now, preventing infection and ensuring proper healing was the best they could do.

Jack and Tom hung their heads in shame.

If not for Ariel and Roo, they would have surely died at the hands of the goblins.

To owe their lives to those they had kidnapped, there was no face to show.

At least in the past, Jack might have been more brazen. But this incident had completely broken his spirit.

He had faced reality. He was nothing, and outside the village palisade was dangerous.

Above all, the might Ariel had displayed.

Sending a massive door flying with a single punch, wiping out dozens of goblins with a single spell—how foolish had he been to think he could kidnap her?

Even without the goblin horde’s attack, Jack wouldn’t have achieved his goal.

The moment Ariel woke up upon reaching the city, it would have been over.

Ariel was that strong, beyond his reach.

Jack fell to his knees.

“I’m sorry. I did something I shouldn’t have. Even with ten mouths, I have no words….”

Ariel and Roo were the village’s benefactors. They had saved the chief’s daughter, Daisy.

And he had kidnapped those two benefactors.

Even Jack knew that was a despicable act. He had just turned a blind eye out of greed.

And then, attacked by goblins and facing death, he had been saved again.

Without Roo’s healing powder, Jack and Susan wouldn’t have survived, and if Ariel hadn’t dealt with the goblins, Tom would have died too.

So, Jack couldn’t even lift his head now.

All he could do was sincerely apologize.

“I… I’m sorry too….”

Tom also knelt beside Jack.

Seeing them like this was awkward for Ariel. Their actions were too burdensome.

She didn’t even really know what they had done.

They said they had kidnapped her, but from Ariel’s perspective, she had just woken up in a goblin prison.

So she had escaped, defeated the goblins, and stored their corpses in her inventory.

They had indeed done wrong, but honestly, it didn’t really affect Ariel. Maybe because she hadn’t suffered any real harm.

*Ahem.*

Roo, standing beside her, cleared her throat and asked Ariel.

“Sis, what should we do?”

Roo also felt a bit burdened.

Although she didn’t like humans and found these guys detestable, they seemed genuinely remorseful.

If Ariel and she had suffered harm, it might be different, but at this point, it might look better to generously forgive them.

“Shall we forgive them?”

At Roo’s question, Ariel nodded as if she had been waiting for it.

“!”

At that, Jack and Tom’s heads shot up.

Ariel felt relieved, and so did Roo. This situation was also a bit uncomfortable for them.

“Th-thank you…!”

Unaware of Ariel and Roo’s thoughts, Jack and Tom, moved by being forgiven, shed tears.

*

Ariel and Roo headed back to Harrington Village. Behind them, at a slight distance, Jack’s gang followed.

While Ariel and Roo were fine, Jack’s gang was extremely tired. They had walked all night the distance they had traveled by carriage.

The dream of selling the elf and fairy as slaves and living lavishly in the city had been dashed in a single day.

Yet, Jack’s face was somewhat bright. He felt oddly relieved. Susan and Tom had similar expressions.

The morning sun was rising. A warm breeze blew, carrying the fresh scent of grass.

Compared to the nightmare of last night, everything now seemed simply beautiful.

It was truly a relief to be alive. Thinking that, Jack silently thanked Ariel again.

From now on, he would have to straighten up.

Losing the village’s communal carriage and two horses would earn him a severe scolding, but he would sincerely reflect and work hard to repay it.

He would also have to apologize to Kanna when they returned to the village.

As Jack pondered these thoughts, the palisade of Harrington Village came into view.

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