Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Yes," Mary replied hastily. She was still at the back of the workshop, having just seen off a craftsman. Hearing that a customer had arrived at the alchemy shop, she had no choice but to answer loudly before hurrying back to the counter.

As Charles's business expanded, Mary was as busy as a hamster on wheels every day. She had to manage the alchemy counter business, gather information from the adventurers, coordinate with the artisans in Goat's Horn, and supervise the coachmen transporting various goods. She barely had enough time to sleep peacefully each day.

But Mary enjoys this life. Compared to her previous life in the village, helping her blacksmith father and washing dirty clothes, it is now more fulfilling and challenging.

She knew she was just a country girl who had only attended school for a year and a half at most. Even though John often taught her a lot of book knowledge in private, it was still incomparable to receiving a systematic primary education in a church school.

So she would squeeze out time to read and study every day, and constantly improve her speech. As a result, in Gieshorn, whether they were craftsmen, adventurers or ordinary people, everyone knew that the "Undying" Alchemy Workshop had an elegant and knowledgeable "runaway" noble lady.

Mary would simply smile and ignore the compliments she received. At first, she would try to explain herself, but after the artisans kept praising her, she had no choice but to give up.

Now, she smoothed her slightly disheveled sideburns and asked with a smile, "What would you like to order?"

The newcomer was a man nearing thirty, dressed in silver chainmail, with a white robe trimmed with gold lace over it, embroidered with a longsword with three outstretched wings.

"I heard that you can buy healing potions here, and it's buy ten get one free. I wonder if there's a limit on the quantity?" The visitor asked calmly, looking around at the workshop counter.

"Yes, we really do offer a buy-ten-get-one-free deal," Mary said, spreading her palms slightly and pointing to the notice board by the door. "And there's no limit on the number of items you can buy."

The newcomer seemed somewhat surprised. He glanced back at the tall notice board standing by the entrance, and then said, "I'm sorry, please forgive my rudeness. I'm just a little surprised to find a shop like this here."

He glanced at the medicines displayed on the shelves behind the counter. The arrangement was ordinary, but it had everything he needed.

"I need a lot, but for now I can only pay you gold coins from the Kingdom of Argon," the man said apologetically, taking out a gold coin with a shimmering crown engraved on the front and placing it on the counter.

"Argonne's gold coins?" Mary was a little surprised. This was the first time she had received gold coins from another country since she started helping Charles run the alchemy workshop.

"Yes, that's possible," she said, picking up the gold coin and examining it several times. "But the quantity can't be too much. You might not know, but the police department will investigate large amounts of foreign currency."

"It's nothing," the man said with a smile, waving his hand. "I can provide you with a certificate from the church. You can take the certificate to the Chamber of Commerce bank to exchange it."

"So, you're a member of the Church of Battle and Glory?" Mary smiled as she looked at the customer in front of her.

"Oh, you noticed?"

"Yes, it's not hard to guess. They can provide gold coins from the Kingdom of Argon, church documents, and this robe you're wearing." Mary smiled and pointed to the embroidery on the robe.

That was the unique symbol of the Crusaders: three pairs of outstretched wings beside the upright longsword, one pair representing honor, one pair representing victory, and the other pair representing an oath to the God of War.

After experiencing Sophia's incident, Mary found herself several books about the Church of the Four Gods, including one about the exorcism department of the Church of the God of War—the Crusader.

The four major churches are generally divided into three parts: a secular department that deals with nobles and commoners, a logistics department that is responsible for storing and transporting the church's money and materials as well as training personnel, and an exorcism department that is responsible for handling various evil events, fighting against evil targets, and properly storing various dangerous magical items.

The exorcism departments of the four major churches are different. For example, the exorcism department of the Church of Earth and Life is mainly composed of druids who know various transformation spells, nature magic, and holy life magic. The exorcism department of the Church of Night and Fate is composed of nightwalkers who usually wear long black cloaks that cover their entire bodies and dark starry sky masks. It is rare to see nightwalkers in the church of Fate.

The Crusaders of the Church of War are holy warriors who use various combat techniques and swordsmanship. Unlike high-ranking adventurers and knights, these Crusader warriors also use some holy magic. Their most well-known skill is the Holy Slash—a giant magical sword that falls from the sky.

Seeing that Mary recognized him, the Crusader smiled and nodded. "Indeed, as you said, I am a Crusader. I just heard that there are some good quality and inexpensive healing potions, so I came to inquire about them."

"So, are you using it yourself, or are you planning to use it with the team?"

"I am merely the vanguard of the Crusade. If you have enough men, I intend to purchase for the entire squad. They will arrive here soon."

Hearing what the other person said, Mary nodded calmly and said, "If that's the case, we'll need to wait two days. The current inventory is indeed a bit low, but it will be fine after two days."

"Is that so?" The Crusader soldier thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. Anyway, it will take them about ten days to get here, so we'll definitely have enough time."

"Are you planning to go into Nightmare Forest?" Mary turned around, picked up a few potions from the shelf, and said casually, "Although it's winter now and there are fewer insects in the forest, there are still some troublesome animals. I have some insect repellent and sedative potions here."

"I heard those adventurers mention it at the Ear Cleaner's Bar, but I don't need it for now," the Crusader waved his hand, declining Mary's offer. "We can use holy magic ourselves; we don't need these potions."

"I see." Mary sighed softly, looking like she hadn't made a sale. "How long are you going to stay here? If it's a long time, you can come here to replenish your potions."

"Hmm, it will indeed take some time." The Crusader warrior thought for a few seconds and asked, "Those adventurers speak highly of you, saying that you can not only provide good potions, but also tell them some useful information."

“Yes,” Mary nodded with a smile, “Every adventurer comes to me to buy something, and I’m very interested in their experiences. You see, I’m just a weak female shop assistant. The novel ‘The Forest Doesn’t Keep Idle Goblins’ is currently being serialized and is not to be missed! They simply cannot survive in the Nightmare Forest. So I ask them about their experiences, and one person’s experience might be of some use to others.”

"You are a truly intelligent lady. I would say you far surpass the shop assistants in those big cities," the Crusader soldier said sincerely.

"It's nothing, just a hobby." As she spoke, Mary deliberately brushed her hand over the book next to her, the title of which was "Ranking of the Ferocious Monsters in the Nightmare Forest".

"What might be a hobby for others is intelligence for adventurers. I've heard from many adventurers that it was you who told them there were undead monsters roaming Torch City and that they could go and make some money." The Crusader warrior looked at the books on the counter and said with a smile, "Women can also possess powerful combat abilities. Our Crusader's leader is a woman."

"Is that so?" Mary asked curiously. "She must be very powerful. Such a strong warrior, I wonder how strong her combat power is. She must be much stronger than those adventurers."

"Uh," the Crusader soldier paused, then said, "The President is very powerful, much more powerful than those adventurers. Even if many of us in the Crusader teamed up together, we still couldn't defeat her."

"It's so appealing!" Mary's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Will she come this time? Will I get to meet this amazing woman?"

"She won't be coming this time," the Crusader soldier smiled apologetically. "This time, our deputy commander is leading the team."

"Oh, that's a real shame." Mary sighed, then turned and took a bottle of magic potion from the shelf. "Thank you for telling me these interesting things. This is a token of my appreciation."

"No, it was just a casual remark, there's no need for that." The Crusader warrior quickly waved his hand in refusal.

"It's alright, please accept it. Of course, I also have a small request," Mary smiled slyly, "If I ever have the opportunity to meet your female president, please be sure to introduce me to her."

Then she lowered her head a little shyly, "This is just a small wish of mine. I'm just a little curious about that female commander."

The Crusader glanced at the "Ranking of the Most Ferocious Monsters in the Nightmare Forest" on the counter, smiled, and nodded. "No problem, if there's an opportunity."

"By the way," he changed the subject, pausing for two seconds before asking, "Since you seem to know so much about Nightmare Forest, have you heard that there are fewer goblins in the forest?"

"Fewer?" Mary blinked a few times. "I have heard that, otherwise those adventurers wouldn't be cursing Earl Valentine in private."

"Oh?"

"It was that massive purge before winter. Earl Valentine led his army and knights to search almost the entire area. I heard many goblins were killed." Mary sighed, patting the book. "After that, adventurers found fewer goblins on the edge of the forest. They used to be able to collect some herbs, hunt, and kill some goblins to make some money, but then winter came and the herbs were gone, and the animals and goblins were scared away by the army."

"Is that so?" The Crusader frowned. This statement was indeed the same as some news he had heard at the Ear Cleaner's Tavern. However, before he left the Kingdom of Argon, the deputy commander had mentioned that there were evil gods and goblins who were subordinate to evil gods in the Nightmare Forest.

"I understand," he said, picking up the magic potion from the counter and bowing politely. "Thank you for your message."

"No, it's nothing, just some adventurers' complaints," Mary said with a smile and a wave of her hand.

Then, seeing that the other person was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and said, "Please wait a moment."

After saying that, she picked up a list from the side and handed it to the other person. "This is the potion price list of our workshop. It is winter now, and there are many monsters in Nightmare Forest. If you want to enter Nightmare Forest, those monsters will be very troublesome. You can take this back with you, so that you will know what potions you need if you need anything."

"Oh, thank you." The Crusader soldier took the price list, glanced at the items, folded it a few times, and put it in his bag. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness. You are a kind lady. However, we may not need any other potions, as we will be taking a boat into the forest later."

"By boat?" Mary was taken aback. Although this was not the first time she had heard of someone taking a boat into the forest, it was a very rare occurrence, something she would only hear about twice a year at most.

"Well, as expected of the Holy Army of the Four Great Churches." She shrugged and shook her head slightly.

The Crusader warrior gave a polite smile and then left the "Undying" alchemy workshop.

…………

"The Crusaders?" Charles frowned as he looked at the intelligence report in his hand. "Are these guys planning to come into the forest too?"

Mary's intelligence report was very detailed. It stated that the Holy Crusaders of the Church of War were preparing to enter the Nightmare Forest by ship, and it also specified the future time. Furthermore, it indicated that she would report immediately if there were any new developments at the dock.

Previously, through the Chamber of Commerce Bank branch in Giethoorn, Mary had successfully secured a permanent berth at the Giethoorn docks. She also hired some dockworkers to keep an eye on passing ships, so that she would know immediately if any ships hired by the Crusaders were heading north.

"Is it going to be like what happened with Sophia?" Sharl stared at the handwriting on the intelligence report, pursing his lips a few times. "So, they gave the tribe a blessing from the god of battle and glory, and now they've attracted another bunch of guys coming to check things out?"

Thinking of what Sophia had said before, Charles couldn't help but shake his head. Compared to the druid girl, these Crusader soldiers were not so easy to talk to.

When they fight, they wear full-body silver-white armor with gold trim, and charge with longswords or sword and shield, looking like gleaming iron lumps in the sunlight.

Moreover, these guys always have oaths and honors on their lips, and they often shout "God of War is supreme," making it difficult to reason with them most of the time.

Thinking back to my time as a government assistant in Golden Flower City, those officials disliked dealing with the Crusaders the most, because these guys sometimes didn't know what flexibility was.

"This is a bit tricky. Hopefully, they won't go too deep. As long as they don't reach Lake Lun, it'll be fine." Charles folded the intelligence letter and put it into his pouch.

Not far away, One-Eyed ran over quickly, "Chief, the collapsed stone tower has been dug up."

"Oh, when will we be able to dig into the hole?" Charles raised an eyebrow and asked.

"It will probably take two or three days."

High-energy chapter 331: News about the Holy Army updated! Read now: