22 – The Continuing Bad Blood (2)
“First, we must inform the mayor of this. A hunting party will definitely be formed.”
“Then let’s do that.”
I didn’t argue with Patrick’s suggestion to report first. Even if we wiped out those goblins ourselves, there wouldn’t be much to gain.
‘Let’s be a little more certain first.’
Above all, this was related to the spirits of this world. I didn’t want to act recklessly with a light heart.
After returning to the village to inform them of the situation, the villagers, including the chief, were all astonished and whispered among themselves.
“How on earth did so many goblins get here?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, they’ll probably send out a hunting party from the city soon, so it would be good to prepare defenses in the meantime.”
Patrick sighed at the chief’s mumbling and offered a few suggestions, telling them to hold on until reinforcements arrived.
In fact, a message to the city had already been dispatched that very day, so there would likely be a response as soon as tomorrow. It was a serious issue that the mayor would prioritize over everything else.
“Let’s stay here until things are certain.”
Then, when we were alone, I suggested to my companions that we remain in the village. The investigation mission was over, but my tasks were not finished yet.
If a hunting party was indeed organized and dispatched from the city, I had to cleverly insert myself into it to learn what I needed.
“If that’s the case, there’s no helping it.”
Patrick and Rina were effectively moving around me. Glancing around, he sighed and said he would go try to find a room.
“That goblin really has something going on, doesn’t it?”
“It probably relates to the curse. Like that werewolf. Don’t worry too much. If we summon the others, you won’t be in danger.”
Rina asked with a worried expression. It was evident that even she could grasp what the real culprit was, enough to know something was off.
Of course, what the actual truth was, I had to verify myself.
“Get a good night’s sleep. I won’t hug you too much or tease you tonight.”
I smiled at Rina. Somehow, it seemed like a lot was going to happen while she slept tonight.
“You’re certainly in the know.”
That night, under the pale moonlight, I quietly threw myself through the inn window dressed in the pure white nightgown Rina had chosen for me. There, as if waiting, I spotted Patrick and chuckled.
“Just speak comfortably. Switching between formalities has been confusing.”
“Could it be those brats causing trouble? The one called Ian led them, right?”
He dropped the formalities as soon as I suggested it. Given my appearance, it seemed easier for him this way.
“It was clear they were hiding something, which is why I was keeping an eye on them. And sure enough, they just sneaked out of the village.”
Since they had already caught on, I didn’t see the need to hide it from him. In fact, it was during the time when Patrick was interrogating them about their wounds that I had sensed their suspiciousness.
They denied knowing anything about the goblins, but at that moment, I had my hunch. It was the kind of intuition one might call instinct—sensitive enough to commune with spirits, common among high elves.
As soon as we mentioned the goblin group, they had sneaked out of the village that night.
“I plan to capture them before they go deeper and get needlessly injured or killed. After I catch them, I’ll hear what they know. I’ll leave Rina in your care. Since she’s asleep, just keep an eye on her.”
“Sure. I don’t know if I should be saying this, but just be careful. And… although it’s unlikely, please don’t harm them. Hot-headed teenagers can sometimes cause trouble, and then grow from that experience.”
Patrick clicked his tongue softly and nodded.
At the same time, he made one request of me. Since he was being so cautious, it seemed there was a connection between the way they acted and his own past.
“I’m not a murderer. What do you think I am?”
I scoffed. I wasn’t the uncontrollable, great being that Ethan seemed to misunderstand. However, I certainly had come into power without abusing it like some fools.
‘Let’s go.’
I turned my body and melded into the darkness, tracking the targets through the earth spirits. I was far faster moving through the earth than they would be stumbling around the shadowy forest.
I would probably catch up to them in no time.
*
“I-Ian. Go a little slower!”
“But we don’t have time. We must meet with Uncle!”
The uncharted forest was exceptionally dark, so much so that not even the moon and stars could be seen. In such a place, those with only a single torch were struggling to find their way.
‘There’s no way Uncle Kai would be the culprit. He can’t be the one who summoned the goblins…!’
Especially Ian, at the forefront, bore bandaged injuries and appeared extremely pale, looking almost deranged. This signified just how desperate and dangerous their situation was.
“But what if he really did something like that!? What Dune said…”
“Shut up, Thompson! You shouldn’t be suspicious if you’re a person!”
As one friend muttered in fear, Ian shouted back sharply. The friend, startled, nodded quickly.
“We all owe that man our lives and the kindness he’s bestowed upon us. Even if the villagers or others want to kill him, we…”
“Wait! What was that?!”
As Ian, with gritted teeth, spoke to Thompson, one of them suddenly looked around in alarm.
It was only then that they stopped talking and desperately shone their torches around, trying to discern the source of the chilling presence approaching them.
‘Is it goblins?!’
Ian, clutching a club in his other hand, swallowed hard. Since hundreds of goblins had set up a lair nearby, this area must have become part of their territory.
Though they seemed to be prey, the likelihood of them being able to see clearly in the dark against humans was high.
“Y-yeah…”
Yet the figure that emerged was not a goblin. A massive wild boar, revealing its sharp tusks like blades, rushed toward them, its red eyes gleaming as it snorted in their direction.
It wasn’t just any wild boar. This was a razor boar, one of the monstrous beasts that, while prized for its sumptuous meat, would leave a trail of injuries among adventurers who attempted to hunt it.
“Ahhh!”
As it charged at them, they fell apart in panic and couldn’t muster a proper defense.
They had learned how to fight goblins, but they hadn’t learned how to face a beast that overwhelmed them with its sheer force and mass.
“—!”
In that instant, the boar, filled with the thrill of its imminent slaughter of these feeble prey, charged in even more fiercely.
‘I’m dead.’
As they scattered in reflex, Ian, becoming the target, froze, watching the oncoming foe that made the ground tremble beneath it.
He had a club, but there was no way it would inflict even a scratch on that truck-like creature.
“…?!”
“—!!”
But in that moment, the ground they stood on shook harder. It was a tremor incomparable to that of the boar’s charge.
‘W-who is it?!’
Ian gasped in horror as he saw a massive figure rush past him, riding atop a boulder larger than any person, which crashed into the boar at that same speed.
With a loud crash, the boar’s head shattered and it stumbled, bleeding.
As the person who had descended from the boulder pointed to the ground, the earth beneath the boar suddenly cracked wide open, swallowing the beast whole.
The trembling earth finally ceased, only once the boar’s roar was completely muffled underground.
‘A girl?’
Now, instead of the boar, what stood before them was a girl, her white garment and silver hair fluttering in the gust of wind that she had stirred up.
The pure mana emanating from her only amplified the gleam of her already bright silver hair.
Ian’s eyes widened as he saw her long, pointed ears sticking out from the top of her head—a symbol of elves, something a village boy like him would naturally know.
“There must be a reason you came to such a dangerous place.”
She stood barefoot on the ground, still turned away from them, breaking the silence first. Ian and his friends, who had been staring at her dumbfounded, flinched simultaneously.
“Since you’ve come this far and already consider yourself dead once, speak freely now. Tell me what circumstances brought you here. Unless you wish to be buried in the ground again and meet that boar once more.”
Glancing sideways, her eyes glimmered. Ian felt his breath catch in his throat as he gazed into her intense, blood-red eyes that shone in the darkness.
