Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Ready, begin!" shouted the mage Baron.

Warrior Gar, Ranger Shas, and Dwarf Gulemang simultaneously raised their feet, and the three goblins with their legs severed wailed as they struggled forward.

"Come on, I chose you because you're strong enough, climb faster!" Shas waved his arms, encouraging the goblin.

Gar and Guleman watched the crawling goblin with amusement. This time, in the "who tries harder" contest, Shas was destined to lose.

The three goblins crawled forward desperately, trying to get as far away from the adventurers as possible and survive.

In the end, the goblin chosen by Gal was the first to reach the finish line. Shas, enraged, shot two arrows, pinning the two goblins to the ground.

"Useless, you made me lose money." He took out silver coins and prepared to hand them to Captain Gar.

"Have you ever seen a Deinonychus?" Gar leaned down slightly and asked the goblin with a smile.

The goblin lay on the ground howling and waving to scare away the adventurers.

"Thud!" A greatsword pierced through the goblin's waist.

"If you've seen it, say you've seen it; if you haven't, say you haven't," Garr said.

The goblin coughed up mouthfuls of blood, making indistinct, gurgling noises.

Gar sighed, then severed the goblin's neck with a single stroke of his sword. "It would be so nice to learn another language."

Next, he took out a knife and a waterproof bag, and cut off the left ears of the three goblins one by one, then strung them on a skewer.

"It's been so many days and we still haven't found the Deinonychus. Could it have been snatched by another team? I was thinking of gouging out its eyes to make some jewelry," Shas said.

"Come on, you big talker. If he were killed, the association would definitely issue a statement." The dwarf took a swig of ale and carefully tightened the cork in the sac.

"Something's wrong. This monster is cunning." Gar put away the waterproof bag and wiped his greatsword. "Bears are pretty cunning, after all. Let's search a bit more."

"Captain, where do we go next?" Shas asked.

"Let me see." Gal took out a map and traced several circles on it with his finger. These were marked goblin hunting grounds, which adventurers called goblin plantations.

"Here, I heard there were no goblins here before, but now it seems new goblins have taken over this place," Gal said, pointing to a circle.

"It's not too far yet. If we keep searching like this, the goblins at the edge of the forest will be wiped out." Shas stood behind Gar, craning his neck to look at the map.

"Don't worry, other goblins will populate these 'plantations'." Gulemang shook his wine flask, his beard trembling as he smacked his lips. "We'll have to be careful with our drinks today."

"Let's look around some more. Our team is strong enough to take down the Devilclaw Bear," Gar concluded.

"Okay, let's go! Shas asked, 'Let's play 'Who Trys Harder' again next time?'"

"Someone hasn't had enough of losing." The dwarf laughed heartily.

"I'm telling you, I was just fooled by that goblin. He's just chubby..." Shas argued loudly.

The three walked along chatting and laughing. The mage Baron didn't say a word the whole time. He kept covering his nose and carefully avoided the bloodstains on the ground. Then he glanced at the goblin corpse on the ground and threw three fire arrows.

"It stinks." He rolled his eyes in disgust.

…………

"Thank you for your hard work," Charles said.

"It's nothing, boss," John replied politely.

"Any news lately?" Charles walked over to the goods and examined the furs and other items.

"Those veteran adventurers are searching for the Deinonychus across a large area," Little John said, going over to help.

During this period, the Ear Cleaner's Tavern often saw some arrogant guys coming and going. As soon as they came in, they would chase away the customers in the most conspicuous seats, and then always order the most expensive set meal and a large glass of absinthe, mocking the ear cleaners who boasted that they could go in and out of the goblin caves all by themselves.

The other adventurers dared not speak out against their anger, and everyone swallowed their pride.

Furthermore, they arrogantly inquired about the identity of the person who successfully claimed the bounty. Fortunately, John was wearing a mask and pretending to be lame, so he remains safe to this day.

"Oh, I see." Charles nodded, and casually took out ten long black toenails from his bag.

"Could you please ask if it can be made into a dagger for me?" He handed it to Little John. "If it's made, keep two for yourself."

"Okay, but ordinary animal claws might get damaged, so be prepared." Little John took the toenail and examined it. He used to be a hunter and knew that the "parts" on ordinary wild animals weren't very useful.

He also suggested that the boss simply string a rope through it and make it into an ornament to wear around his neck, since many posters depict orcs wearing these.

"It's alright, it won't break. It's just a Deinonychus's toenail," Charles said casually.

"Oh, the claws of a Deinonychus must be very hard, huh?" Little John said, only realizing his mistake halfway through.

He stared in shock at the long toenail in his hand, unable to believe that its original owner was the "top performer" that everyone in the Ear Cleaner's Tavern was talking about.

Is this the claw of the Devilclaw Bear, the kind of claw that even adventurers who boast of being strong enough to run a horse or stand on their own two feet after just one glass of ale wouldn't want to face? Is this the claw of the Devilclaw Bear that people on the black market offer high bounties for, even claiming they can help sellers smooth over all subsequent troubles? Is this the claw of the Devilclaw Bear that seasoned adventure teams search for day and night under the scorching sun in the forest, only to find it in a frenzy?

"Boss, I'll take care of it," John said calmly with a smile.

He originally thought that the boss had only managed to escape from the claws of the Deinonychus, and at most lost a few goblins. Now it seems that the boss not only escaped from the claws, but also had the claws taken away. You call that a thief who leaves empty-handed?

In the future, whenever those seasoned adventurers come to the tavern, he will sit in a corner and happily watch their "performance." If they dare to arrogantly ask him who the bounty hunter is, Little John will tell them that there was a pair of dwarves and elves who were very skilled and fought to a draw for dozens of rounds. The bounty hunter must be one of them.

This feeling is so interesting.

"This is the purchase list for this trip." Charles handed the list to John. "By the way, remember when we first met, you mentioned your financial difficulties? How are you doing now?"

Charles took the initiative to inquire, as he needed to understand the other party's current situation in order to deal with possible future changes to this trade route.

"We're almost done saving, boss," John said with a beaming smile. "Once this is done, we'll have enough."

"Not bad, congratulations in advance." Charles said with a smile, while silently marking the Domain Star on Little John.

After their conversation ended, Charles watched the overjoyed young John disappear into the forest, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. "I wonder if he'll continue working with me once he's saved enough money. If he withdraws, I'll have no choice but to deepen my cooperation with Agatha."

"This would be detrimental to Agatha, potentially increasing the risk of her witch being exposed."

"This is a real headache." Charles sighed and instructed everyone to quickly assemble the outer shell of the "Grenade Fruit".

After Akame reported that everything was done, Charles led his men back the way they came.

More than twenty goblins rustled through the grass, heading straight for the earliest compact burrow in the Shire, and then continued north.

After walking for more than ten minutes, human voices could be heard in the distance.

Charles immediately ordered, "Everyone take cover and prepare for battle."