Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 363 Mutation
“This Moen… seems to have quite a reputation in Gieshorn.”

As the two walked side by side on the road back to the hotel, Margaret spoke meaningfully to Xia Nan beside her.

It was already evening.

The afterglow of the setting sun gently fell, spreading a layer of golden light on the rough bluestone slabs of the ground.

After leaving the orange grove, the two went to various planned locations, including the post station and the trading street, to conduct investigations.

While there weren't many groundbreaking discoveries, we gained a more comprehensive understanding of Girthhorn itself and the old priest "Moon" who worshipped the "Goddess of Grain".

First and foremost, the most crucial point.

Xia Nan's conjecture this morning has been further confirmed.

The aversion shown by the hotel owner, blacksmith, and peasant woman when discussing information related to pastel gemstones is not an isolated case.

While investigating information in the town, the two also conducted tests of varying degrees.

The result... was as expected.

From the town's sheriff to the homeless beggars on the street, everyone, without exception, showed varying degrees of resistance to discussing information related to gemstones.

Even the slightest brush with them would cause their initially amiable reaction to suddenly turn into agitation, revealing a certain degree of aggression towards Xia Nan and Margaret in their words and actions.

Sure enough, all the residents of Giethoorn have been controlled by the pastel gems, which have affected their perception.

No wonder that even after so much time has passed, only the gem in Horak's possession has been leaked out.

This kind of invisible way of bringing the entire town together and collectively concealing a certain thing is something that even professionals like them might not be able to discover unless they had already sensed it beforehand and were looking for answers with the questions in mind.

Secondly, regarding Pastor Moen, the two also gained more information about each other.

I know that this white-haired old man, who has great prestige in Giethoorn, is not a native of the town. He was assigned here by the church headquarters about forty years ago and is now estimated to be seventy or eighty years old.

Over the course of forty years, the other party has almost perfectly demonstrated the qualities expected of a pastor under the "Shentia" woman.

Treating wounded hunters, teaching farmers more efficient farming techniques, and helping fruit growers increase yields...

As time went by, Moen's prestige in the town, especially as the younger generation he helped grew up and became the backbone of various parts of Giraffe Horn, reached an almost exaggerated level.

Even the so-called town mayor and sheriff, in terms of prestige alone, are far inferior to that white-haired old man.

To put it extremely, if any outsider dared to make extremely disrespectful or insulting remarks about this pastor in public, it wouldn't be impossible for them to be tied up and hung from an orange tree by the angry townspeople the next day.

"This makes the whole thing even stranger."

Margaret's eyes were thoughtful, as if she were recalling the reactions of the townspeople earlier.

"Being able to become a pastor under the [Goddess of Agriculture] sect and be sent out to preside over the church in such a small town means that his style of conduct and character qualities meet the church's standards."

"At least forty years ago, when Moen first came to Girthhorn, he should have been a qualified pastor, and the stories that have circulated among the townspeople over the years prove that."

"Horraco previously revealed that the rumors about pastel gemstones first came about half a year ago, which is only a few months ago now."

"For forty years prior, Moen had been seen by the townspeople as a friendly, selfless, and respectable pastor."

"There's no reason why someone's personality would change so drastically in just a few months, allowing or even secretly helping the gem to circulate in the town and control the minds of its residents."

After carefully listening to the female swordsman's complete analysis, Xia Nan pondered for a moment before slowly saying:

"You mean... Pastor Morn has also been bewitched by the gems and had his perceptions altered?"

Margaret's head.

"Otherwise, there's no reason at all."

“Even if he is a ‘bad person’ in the conventional sense, I don’t think anyone has the patience to pretend for forty years, only to reveal their true nature when they are almost in the grave.”

“Besides, to tell you the truth…” Margaret paused, turned her head slightly, and glanced at the somewhat dilapidated and desolate buildings on both sides of the street, her expression somewhat strange.

"Even if he was faking it, he was still a respectable pastor blessed by God. Forty years, all for this remote town that probably even the residents of the nearby villages don't know the name of..."

"That's just too much of a waste."

Xia Nan did not reply.

Margaret's considerations were very comprehensive, and the details were convincing.

Considering the current situation in Girth, it seems that her guess that "Pastor Morn's cognition was rewritten by the gem" is indeed the most likely one.

But for some reason, Xia Nan always felt that the truth of the matter was not so simple.

After all, the adventurer party that took the gems from Giraffe Horn and sold them to Horak in Newme had already proven that pastel gems had limited influence on professionals.

Was Moen, like the townspeople, truly possessed by the allure of the gems?

At this moment, what came to mind was the holy emblem of the goddess that swayed on Moen's chest when they first met that morning, the dazzling light emanating from the pastel gemstones when Horac first took them out to show everyone, and this morning...

That lush, verdant branch, forcibly grafted onto the trunk of an orange tree, now bears twisted scars.

As he took a step, Xia Nan lowered his head slightly, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

……

……

With Soldin, a level 4 professional, protecting him closely, the caravan owner Horak naturally wouldn't encounter any problems.

When Xia Nan and his companion returned to the hotel at the time agreed upon before their departure, Horak had already prepared a large and sumptuous meal and was sitting at the table waiting for them.

Not in a hurry to eat, Xia Nan took out a mandarin orange from his waist bag—the girl in the orchard that morning had been exceptionally enthusiastic, insisting on giving them a large basket, saying that since there would be many left over every year anyway, it was better to give them away as gifts than to let them rot on the ground.

Unable to refuse, Xia Nan casually pocketed a few and put them into his waist pouch.

While peeling the fruit, he asked Soldin:
"How is it? Anything unusual?"

Upon hearing this, the dwarf shook his head: "What could have happened? We haven't seen many outsiders all day, we've just been sitting there, nothing unexpected has happened."

"but……"

He hesitated for a moment, as if considering whether the matter was worth reporting.

“If you’re unsure, just say so.” Margaret knew her teammate’s personality very well. She sat down at the table and glanced at her.

“That’s right.” The dwarf Soldin, as expected, spoke without hesitation.

"This morning, after you left, the hotel owner came over on his own initiative."

"We didn't exchange more than a few words, but Horak said the other party's attitude was a bit strange."

Beside him, the wealthy businessman nodded repeatedly, his expression serious.

"I arrived in Giethoorn yesterday, before I had broken free from that thing's mind control with Mr. Xia Nan's help. I asked the innkeeper to help me find out information about pink gemstones."

"But the other party seemed very disgusted at the time, almost kicking me out, and didn't say a word more."

"At that time, I was in a hurry to find gem mines, so I didn't think much about it."

“But this morning, after you left, he came over and said that he might have found out about what I had asked him before, and asked me to stay a few more days. His attitude was also very different from before, which I found strange.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Nan immediately became alert.

"So you rejected him?"

"Of course! The caravan's urgent handling of goods and replenishment of supplies can't be hidden. They must already know we intend to leave. If we deliberately pretended to deceive them, it might arouse suspicion, right?"

“The key to the problem… isn’t here.” Margaret, sitting at the table, seemed to realize the reason for Xia Nan’s vigilance, her brows furrowed and her expression extremely serious.

"You have to consider one possibility."

"If the so-called 'information gathered has been obtained' is just a pretext, could his real purpose be to use the information about the pink gemstone to test whether you have truly broken free from the gemstone's mental control?"

After all, if they were still under the spell of the gemstone, they would never be able to refuse after hearing the relevant news.

Horac's sudden change of plans to stay in Giethoorn and his intention to leave as soon as possible had already aroused suspicion. The daytime probing was probably enough to confirm with the innkeeper that the caravan leader had truly and completely shaken off the influence of the pastel gemstones.

It must be said that Margaret and Shanan's conjectures were a bit too conspiratorial, elevating the hotel owner from a fellow victim of the gems to someone on the same side as the culprit who secretly spread the gems.

But after hearing her say that, Horak also realized this most extreme possibility.

He was momentarily stunned, and his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the counter.

She seemed to notice his gaze.

Standing behind the counter, the plump boss with a ruddy complexion turned around and gave him a friendly smile.

……

……

In the dead of night, the pitch-black darkness had long since swallowed up the last glimmer of light in the sky.

It plunged the entire world into boundless silence and darkness.

This is especially true for Giethoorn.

Holako's room on the second floor of the hotel.

The lights had long been extinguished, leaving only the cold moonlight filtering through the window lattice and casting a layer of silver frost on the floor.

The caravan owner lay on his side on the bed, his back to the door. His already plump body appeared even more bulky under the blankets covering his entire body. His breathing was calm and regular, as if he were truly fast asleep.

However, upon closer inspection, one can see that he has not changed his side-lying sleeping position for a long time, and that the muscles in his arms appear somewhat stiff and tense.

"Click..."

A very faint sound, like wood naturally shrinking under the influence of ambient temperature, suddenly came from the door bolt.

The sound was so soft that even Horako, who was right next to him on the bed, didn't notice it.

But in the next second, the bolt was silently pried open from the outside by some thin but hard tool.

squeak-

The door was pushed open a crack very slowly and very gently.

Through the darkness, a bulky, familiar shadow could be vaguely seen peeking through the crack in the door.

Bloodshot eyes, clear black and white, quietly peered through the crack in the door, scanning the room from left to right before finally settling on the figure on the bed with his back to him.

Under the cover of night, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

squeak--

The door frame hinges rubbed together gently as they turned, producing an even more subtle sound.

The door was opened a little wider, completely exposing the bulky figure behind it to the moonlight.

The innkeeper was the one who had tested everyone during the day!

But at this moment, compared to his previous friendliness and affability, his face only showed an empty fanaticism and a cold, resolute attitude.

The once gentle and warm smile has vanished.

He held a sharp little knife that gleamed coldly in his hand.

With careful steps, his obese body displayed a balance and agility that seemed disproportionate to its size.

Each step involves landing on the heel, firmly planting the foot before lowering it to the ball of the foot, minimizing the sound of footsteps.

He walked right up to the bed without making a sound.

He held the sharp dagger high in front of the sleeping figure on the bed, his eyes flashing with a strange light that was a mixture of fanaticism and ferocity.

The arm muscles suddenly swelled, and he exerted force with all his might!
He was about to plunge the knife in his hand down.

At that very moment, a figure, like a winter wolf lurking in the darkness of the room, suddenly burst forth from the shadows, where the moonlight could not reach, accompanied by a whistling sound that tore through the air.

"Ugh!"

The powerful impact from his chest caused the hotel owner to cry out in pain as he was sent flying backward.

Amidst flying dust and shattered planks, he crashed through the door and landed against the corridor wall.

It was only then that Horak, who had been pretending to be asleep on the bed, belatedly jumped up, his face pale.

Feeling the hard sensation coming from his calf, Xia Nan, who was hiding in a blind spot in the room, stepped out of the shadows, using his not-so-skilled stealth techniques.

As he drew his sword, his mental focus landed on the innkeeper's body—the gravity increased!

This deprived the other party of any possibility of escape.

At the very moment the commotion began, the dwarf Soldin, who had been lying in ambush in the next room, and Margaret, who had been hiding alone in a room near the stairwell just in case, rushed out of their rooms fully armed.

Two wary gazes instantly fell on the hotel owner.

Unexpectedly, the obese middle-aged man, whose murderous intent was caught red-handed, did not show any sign of panic. Instead, he suddenly unleashed a strength far beyond that of ordinary people and raised his right hand, which was holding a short dagger.

"Pfft!"

Muscle strength and gravity pulled and squeezed each other, and a large cloud of blood mist burst out from the surface of his right hand, and even the bones seemed to be slightly twisted.

But just a second later, under the watchful eyes of the people on the field, the dagger suddenly fell again.

It landed on his own chest.

Ding--

It wasn't the dull sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh; instead, the sound echoing in the corridor was the crisp sound of some hard object colliding.

The thin linen clothing was easily pierced.

Beneath the shirt, beneath the tip of the knife, lay a unique, peculiar luster characteristic of pastel gemstones.

"Om."

A wave-like pink energy spread outwards from the tip of the innkeeper's knife.

The spread, though seemingly slow, far exceeded the speed at which sound travels.

As soon as the crowd heard the sound of sharp objects colliding, the pink light had already swept across their bodies.

It was clear that Margaret, Soldin, and Horacco's eyes momentarily glazed over as the pink light swept over their bodies.

Only when the pink energy flowed onto Xia Nan did the silver ring on his right ring finger tremble slightly, to a degree that only he could feel.

【Dream Corridor】While the charging progress increased by one millionth again, it also helped him isolate himself from the influence of the pastel gems once more.

The hotel owner's eyes widened to their maximum size as the dagger plunged in, his eyeballs almost popping out, but he also took in everyone's reactions.

Naturally, he noticed Xia Nan's behavior, which was different from others.

"Hey……"

A strange smile appeared on his lips.

The pink gemstones on her chest shimmered with light.

And almost in the next second.

Looking out the window, towards the church.

A dazzling, sudden burst of brilliant light turned the sky a pink hue.

(End of this chapter)