Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"That old bastard Kayud sent me a letter with the pretense of condoling my grief," Count Valentine angrily tore the letter to shreds in a few strokes. "He meant well, but he used perfumed paper to write it. He's just trying to make a fool of me."

"My lord, the messenger is still waiting for your reply, you see..." the clerk reminded him cautiously.

"Throw him out!" Valentine roared, slamming the letter in his hand down to his subordinate. But a few seconds later, he added, "Find someone to reply to this letter for me."

"Don't use perfumed stationery," he said through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word. "Thank him for his concern."

After saying that, the count slammed his fist heavily on the desk, which made a dull thud.

He had previously been escorted by two knights to escape the Nightmare Forest, which made him lose face. He originally thought that with a knightly order of 40 men, he would be able to capture it easily, but he did not expect to encounter giant spiders and cave bees. When he saw them rubbing their teeth and making a "squeaking" sound as they rushed over, Valentine was completely terrified.

Having finally escaped back to Black Lion City, he has been waking up from nightmares every night for the past two nights. Sometimes spiders jump down from the curtains and press down on him, and sometimes giant bees carry Philip's head and ask him when he will take him home. Valentine has been tormented to the point of mental confusion.

"My lord, shall we send out troops now?" After relaying the count's orders at the door, the clerk returned to his desk.

"Send troops," Valentine nodded and said. "Draft a lord's decree immediately and summon the army to assemble."

"But deploying troops would consume a lot of money and supplies." After thinking for a moment, the scribe still advised, "Why not send another knightly order to the ruins?"

"No, the Knights are no longer of much use," Valentine sighed. The latest report said that only 12 of the 40-man Knights survived. Sending another Knights wouldn't be very effective, and those Knights aren't stupid; they must have already found out about the Black Lion Knights' fate. Hiring them would cost even more gold. "Sending an army at this time would be better."

He picked up a letter from the table and handed it to the clerk, gesturing for him to take a look.

"The Third Prince's reply." The clerk exclaimed in surprise, then quickly read the entire letter. "The letter doesn't contain any substantial content. It merely praises your family's long-standing achievements in protecting the Nightmare Forest, and also says that they admire you greatly and look forward to the opportunity to hear you talk about the forest in person."

The clerk respectfully placed the letter back on the desk and took two steps back. "This third prince is truly a typical nobleman. The entire letter is filled with bland diplomatic rhetoric, without any promises. He just wants to establish contact with you first."

"Just a little fox from the Plantagenet family," Valentine scoffed. "That's why we need to send troops now to prove my worth."

"Winning this battle will allow us to report our victory to the capital, which will also bring us prestige. My daughter will be able to accomplish many things in the capital then." After saying this, he clenched his fist. Originally, he had planned to send Philip, since he was his only male heir, but now he could only send his daughter to the capital.

"But regarding money..." the clerk said in a low voice.

"Let's impose another tax."

"We already levied taxes once before winter, Your Excellency," the clerk immediately reminded him, though he wanted to say that the common people were already complaining bitterly.

"Don't worry," Valentine stroked his goatee. "First, send out troops to make a big show of it, then bring a few dead giant spiders to the territory for the common people to see, and then collect taxes."

"After the expropriation is completed, show them the corpses of the cave bees a few days later. That way, the civilians won't have many complaints, since money is not as important as life."

After listening, the clerk thought for a moment and then said, "That's feasible. Moreover, the corpses of these two giants can be transported to Golden Flower City. The weather isn't that hot now, and hiring a mage apprentice can effectively preserve the corpses. This will further enhance your reputation."

"Has that Storm Brotherhood escapee still not been caught?" Valentine glanced out the window.

"I'm sorry, sir, not yet. I'm already urging the security team."

"I have a feeling we've been deceived by someone. I even think the Brotherhood of Storms might not be dead, but just hiding, and deliberately leading us to that ruin." Valentine squinted, his tone suspicious.

"Well, that's certainly a possibility, but the security team has already stepped up their search within the city, and they've increased manpower at all the city gates. I believe they'll catch the escaped prisoner soon."

"Hurry up, I suspect there's some conspiracy behind this. Those giant creatures don't just appear so easily; it might be a biological experiment conducted by some evil mage."

"Yes, sir, I'll urge the security team in a moment." The clerk nodded, then remembered something else, "There's one more thing. The one I reported to you last time about a group of goblins gathering in the forest. It's said that a tax collector was killed by them before."

"I understand. Perfect, we can take care of it all at once this time. (And enjoy reading countless other great books like 'The Forest Doesn't Keep Idle Goblins'.)" Valentine's tone revealed a hint of disdain. "We can deal with those goblins in less than a day, then focus all our efforts on those giant monsters."

"You may leave now. Draft a conscription order as soon as possible." He waved his hand, dismissing his subordinate, then walked to the window and looked at the scenery outside.

"Bang!" He slammed his fist against the wall. "Don't let me find you, you bastard hiding in the gutter."

"My lord," a report sounded from outside the door, and Valentine told the person to "come in."

"Your letter is from Chief Guard Jules." The man who came was a thin, slightly disheveled guard in his early twenties.

"Put it on the table," Count Valentine said casually, then glanced at the guard. "Obodo, this letter is from Torch City. Would you like to go back to Torch City?"

"No, Your Excellency, I don't want to go back," the guard said.

"You may leave now." Valentine waved his hand and turned back to look out the window.

…………

"Have you heard?" An adventurer used his longsword to brush aside the grass in front of him while turning around to chat with his teammates behind him.

"What did you hear, Wolf Eye? You'd better watch your surroundings," his teammate shouted a warning.

"The Earl's young master died in the ruins, and Earl Valentine almost lost his life when he went there himself." The adventurer named Wolf Eyes stared at his teammate with a mocking look in his green eyes. "Many people say there is a very powerful dark sorcerer in those ruins."

"A dark sorcerer?" his teammate repeated. "I heard that people in the tavern are saying that those goblins are this dark sorcerer's subordinates."

"Is that the goblin group?" Wolf Eyes turned around and continued to poke through the bushes. "We're just going to gather some herbs, we shouldn't run into them."

"It's best not to meet."

Wolf Eyes continued to scout ahead. Although it was winter, they still needed to be careful, as animals might jump out of the bushes at any time and attack passing adventurers.

After walking a few steps, he came to the shade of a large tree and stood there for a few seconds.

"What did you find?" his teammate asked.

Then Wolf Eyes, carrying his longsword, waved behind him, and as his two teammates approached, he turned and thrust forward.

These two adventurers were somewhat experienced; they had heard before that there was a ghost in the forest that could possess people, so they had to be careful if their teammates showed any strange behavior.

They nimbly dodged the wolf's thrusting eyes, then charged forward, brandishing their weapons.

The adventurers were immediately alerted by the constant rustling of the grass around them, as they discovered that a number of goblins had already surrounded them.

They acted decisively, turning and running away without lingering in the fight. They had already heard many stories of encountering these goblins at the Ear Cleaner's Tavern.

Adventurers are constantly complaining in the tavern that they are being chased and attacked by goblins, but there's nothing they can do. A ghost that appears out of nowhere and leads more than 50 goblins is no match for an adventurer's party.

"Pfft," watching the two adventurers run further and further away, Wolf Eyes slit his own throat, and then Scarface appeared on his back.

"The adventurers are already afraid of me." Scarface smirked, then looked at his subordinates around him, who were holding various weapons. These goblins seemed excited, brandishing their weapons, whether because they had defeated the adventurers several times or for some other reason.

"Why can't I find my target yet?" Scarface frowned, looking at the corpse at his feet. "Could it have been killed by the adventurers?"

"That would be too easy on him."

"But now that I'm this strong, I need to find something else to do." Scarface chuckled sinisterly. Now that he was a ghost, he could no longer eat the food his subordinates cooked, which greatly diminished his enjoyment. So he could only find that pleasure in other things.

Scarface usually gets to experience what it's like to be a leader by torturing adventurers and his men, but now he has a new idea: he could raid villages outside the forest, which should be even more fun.

"Keep looking. If you can't find it, go out of the forest and have some fun." He chuckled, his voice sharp and grating.

"You two, come here." Scarface pointed at the two goblins, who trembled as they stepped forward. "You hit him with your stick."

Scarface watched as one of his men defeated another goblin, and without his orders, they could only continue to beat it up.

"Hehehe," he laughed loudly, "I am the leader, I am the leader."

No goblin dared to disobey him. Before, some goblins had tried to escape, but he had killed them all. Moreover, Scarface was now hiding in the shadows or underground, and didn't need to sleep all day. Now, these goblins could only obey him.

"Green Egg, where are you?" Scarface roared.