A Continuing Bad Connection (1)

‘What is this?’

Her guess that someone was fighting was correct. Isilia rushed over and was surprised by the scene before her eyes.

Strictly speaking, it was closer to one side being unilaterally attacked rather than a fight.

“Goblins!”

Patrick, who had run up behind Isilia, was shocked.

The identity of the attackers assaulting a group of five people was a group of at least ten or so short-statured monsters.

“—!”

The already excited creatures wielding weapons became even more frenzied upon discovering Isilia’s group. These green-skinned monsters, treated as something between magical beasts and demon tribes by the people of this world, immediately rushed at them without question.

‘Where do you think you’re going, you pests.’

With a flick of Isilia’s hand, her eyes flashing, the charging goblins all collapsed at once.

With just a single rock fragment suddenly popping out of the ground, the recklessly charging goblins could only trip, lose their balance, and stumble or fall.

Moreover, when they tried to get up again, one of their hands or feet would be sucked into the ground and buried. Confused by the land seemingly turning against them, the goblins let out shrill screams.

“Tch, these idiots.”

Seeing this, Patrick gritted his teeth and, along with Lina, only needed to cut the throats of the incapacitated goblins with their swords before they could rise again.

In effect, Isilia had dealt with all the attacking enemies with just a twitch of her finger.

“I-Ian. Look over there. They’re adventurers!”

Thanks to the goblins’ attention being drawn there, those who were being attacked first got a chance to breathe.

Amidst groans from injuries here and there, the boy called Ian’s eyes widened at the sight of them.

From their chaotic battle perspective, it looked as if Patrick and Lina, wielding swords, had swiftly dispatched numerous goblins.

“By the looks of it, these don’t seem to be people officially trying to become adventurers. Villagers?”

Patrick, still holding his sword, approached these reckless teenagers.

Unable to even feel relief at having barely survived, they hesitated at the approach of the stranger.

“I understand the situation, but don’t be too wary. We’re people directly commissioned by the city’s mayor. It’s about the continuous disappearances happening in this area. Looks like we just found the culprits.”

Patrick nodded to Lina and Isilia, then sheathed his sword to reassure them. It clearly had an effect, as Ian’s eyes widened at the mention of people sent by the mayor.

“If we had been a little later, there might have been 5 more victims. Why on earth are you wandering around such a dangerous place by yourselves in times like these?”

“We, we were just trying to find Mr. Dune…”

“Dune. That’s a name I’ve heard.”

One of them opened their mouth in a small voice, unable to withstand Patrick’s gaze. Lina recalled the name that came from those lips.

“One of the missing persons.”

“And my father.”

Ian bit his lip at Patrick’s murmur. While the circumstances were roughly revealed this way, Ian’s knee buckled from the pain in one of his throbbing legs.

“The injuries are not minor. You may not know, but even one such small wound getting infected can take a person’s life. I understand your feelings, but it was a reckless act. You, and all your friends, could have died.”

“But we couldn’t just do nothing and stay still…”

“Do you need to lose everything you have left around you to come to your senses!”

When Ian grumbled as if unable to agree despite Patrick’s admonishment, Patrick burst out in anger. Not only Ian and his friends, but even Lina standing nearby flinched.

“Oh, damn it.”

Realizing the atmosphere, his eyes widened, and then he shook his head and sighed.

“It seems they might know something more. Let’s treat them first and then hear them out.”

The one who broke the awkward silence that had briefly fallen was the clear, bright voice of a girl. Ian, who had been watching Patrick’s reaction, turned his gaze to her.

She was a silver-haired girl much smaller than himself, wearing a hood attached to a cape.

* * *

“The villagers didn’t seem to know about the goblins. There was no mention of goblins even when reports came to the city hall.”

“We, we just found out…”

“For that, you seemed to know very well how to deal with goblins. As if you had learned and prepared in advance. Hmm, a coincidence?”

Patrick tilted his head. There’s a way to deal with goblins, who are relatively small compared to humans. It’s to prevent them from approaching by using long-range attacks in open spaces. The effect is even better if you use weapons like spears to create more distance.

However, this was too common sense and obvious to be called a brilliant solution.

‘Indeed, against real adventurers…’

Ian swallowed dry saliva watching Patrick’s behavior. He felt that their ‘lie’ might be exposed to him at any moment, no matter how they tried to cover it up.

“Ah, just apply and wrap it yourself.”

Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem.

Isilia, who had taken out medical supplies from the large bag she was carrying, got tired of trying to tend to their wounds and just threw bandages and medicine at them, ending it there.

Ian and his friends were taken aback by the changed attitude of the maid girl who had been acting so demure until just before.

‘Why is she barefoot?’

Ian only then noticed that she was barefoot and flinched.

The maid outfit she wore was made of luxurious material with cute decorations, but those small white feet touching the ground were not only barefoot but also not dirty or scratched at all.

“Is there really a root cause of this situation deeper inside?”

“Yes. It’s also related to those goblins we just saw.”

While Ian and his friends were tending to their own wounds with the bandages and medicine thrown to them, Isilia pointed deeper into the forest to Patrick and Lina.

The ground touching her bare feet was even now warning her and asking for help.

‘It seems to be related to the curse after all. But there’s no way those goblins are all there is to it.’

Isilia noticed that the goblins that had rushed at her were also contaminated, just like the werewolf from before.

However, they were cursed from birth, so their curse was more deeply rooted than the corrupted werewolf. The depth was greater, but the fluidity was weaker.

What was tormenting this land, sending her warnings, was not such a trivial matter.

“We have no choice but to go and check it out ourselves. Hey, you guys go back to the village now. You’ve done enough.”

Patrick sent Ian and his friends back to the village. They seemed unwilling to comply, but Ian grabbed his friends’ arms first and pulled them away.

‘Not now.’

Ian had already made his decision. Realizing this, they had no choice but to return to the village in a dejected state.

“Then let’s go.”

When their figures had completely disappeared, Isilia grinned and moved the earth again. The board carrying them slid across the ground, advancing towards their destination, and they soon arrived at the place Isilia had designated.

It was a large cave near a valley in the forest, and a clearing nearby.

“This can’t be.”

Seeing it, not only Patrick who lost his composure, but the other two were also at a loss for words.

The place was full of armed goblins. Countless numbers of goblins were coming and going inside the cave, like ants in an anthill.

‘This is impossible. There’s no way such a large number of goblins could move in this area without being noticed!’

Patrick couldn’t come to his senses in the face of this situation that defied common sense. It was unthinkable for such a large number of goblins to gather in a group.

“That one over there. Its skin color is different from the others?”

At that moment, Isilia, who was kneeling on one knee to lower her body like Patrick and Lina who were lying down, pointed somewhere with her finger.

There, a bearded goblin was shouting orders at other goblins, but not only was it wearing proper clothes and holding a staff in its hand, its appearance was different from the other goblins from the start.

“That goblin seems to be from a lineage that hasn’t been cursed. It’s rare, but there are goblins with reason and intelligence. Of course, the demon tribes don’t consider such goblins as their own kind.”

Patrick muttered upon seeing this. Clearly, it wasn’t an impossible existence.

‘It doesn’t seem that way.’

However, Isilia’s eyes sparkled. She detected the intense curse that she had felt from the werewolf before in that goblin with skin different from the green-skinned ones.

‘Something is with that one and inside that cave.’

She narrowed her target further.

Feeling the sticky power of negativity that could never coexist with herself, the inevitable sole survivor of the Tower, she unconsciously frowned, creasing her brow.