Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

A village next to a forest.

"Father, this is for you." Little John handed over a brand new razor.

"It must cost a lot of money." Old John wiped his hands on his clothes, took the knife, touched the blade, and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"It's alright, Father. I've earned quite a few gold coins," Little John said with a smile.

Although a few gold coins weren't a lot, it was money he had saved up in just over half a month, and he was already very satisfied.

"Where's Wheeler?" Little John took out a few pieces of yellowed paper wrapped in his bag and looked inside the cabin.

"Running around outside like crazy." Old John laughed loudly. His second son was like a mischievous monkey. When he wasn't helping with chores, he was always running around the village, which Old John called "adventure."

"In that case, let's share these candies," Little John shouted.

"Coming, coming!" A childish voice rang out from outside the wooden house. A teenager burst into the house, shouting, "Brother, where's the candy?"

Little John smiled and placed the candy in front of his younger brother. Although there were only a few pieces, it was enough to make the "little rascal" happy for quite some time.

"Brother, isn't being an adventurer amazing?" Wheeler quickly unwrapped the paper, took out a yellowish candy, and handed it to old John first, "Father, candy."

Old John smiled, took it, and put it in his mouth; it was very sweet.

"No, it's not powerful at all, it's actually quite dangerous." Little John knew what his younger brother wanted to ask, so he calmly told him about the adventurer's actual situation.

"But I heard..." Wheeler said, putting a piece of candy into his mouth with a puzzled look.

"They say adventurers are amazing, defeating several monsters by themselves? Making a lot of money, eating fish and meat every day?" Little John walked over to his younger brother, squatted down, and looked directly into his eyes. "They won't tell you that defeating that monster resulted in the death of all his teammates, nor will they tell you that he only ate an expensive meal once a week, and the rest of the time it was smoked fish rice."

John put his arm around his younger brother's shoulder and said in a slightly serious tone, "Study hard, and learning a trade is much more impressive."

Wheeler looked at the bandage wrapped around his brother's forearm, thought for a moment, and silently put a piece of candy into his brother's mouth.

"That brat listens to you the most. Ever since you became an adventurer, he's been running around like crazy every day, shouting that he wants to travel all over the forest when he grows up," Old John chimed in from the side.

John recalled that if he hadn't met Shire, he probably would have been eaten by wild beasts long ago. Now that his younger brother was also clamoring to become an adventurer, he felt he should persuade him to give up the idea. He didn't want to see the half-eaten corpse of his loved one in the forest one day.

"Go to school diligently. Your father works very hard in the fields, and you can't let him down," Little John said earnestly.

In this family of three, the mother died in childbirth while giving birth to her younger brother. From then on, old John worked hard to raise his two sons. Perhaps due to the lack of a mother's discipline, Wheeler was very naughty as a child and only listened to little John.

"But my brother earned enough money to marry Sister Mary in such a short time," Wheeler said, pouting.

"That's because I was lucky enough to meet a very rare employer. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even have candy to eat now." Little John placed his palm on his younger brother's head and rubbed it vigorously. "Besides, if you don't study hard, you won't even know if your teammates cheat you when you're splitting the money with them in the future."

Wheeler broke free, jumped aside, tidied his messy hair, and muttered obediently, "Okay, I'll go to school, alright?"

Old John went into the inner room and soon took out a dozen or so gold coins and placed them on the table. "These are the remaining income after paying the autumn tax this year. You can keep them for later use."

Little John looked at the coins on the table and asked softly, "And what about you?"

"I'm fine with whatever I eat, and it's not a big deal if Wheeler starts school a few years later. You know Mary's father..."

"No, Father," John pushed the coins back. "Don't worry, I've really saved enough money."

He took out his slightly rusty pocket watch from his pocket, placed it on the table, and said with a smile, "I met a very special employer, and now I'm working for him. He's very generous, and as long as I complete his tasks diligently, money is not a problem."

Wheeler cried out and grabbed the pocket watch, turning it over and over in his hands. Old John had to scold him, telling him to be careful not to break the precious item.

"This pocket watch was given to me by the boss to tell time," John said.

Old John nodded, seemingly pleased with his eldest son's situation, but he still cautioned, "I've heard that the goblins in the forest are very vicious. You know, there have been incidents in our village where goblins have rushed out of the forest to steal things and injure people. When you're doing things in the forest, be very careful of those goblins."

John nodded silently. If he were to tell his father now that the employer he had approved of was a 1.3-meter-tall green goblin, his father would probably never believe it.

He looked down at his younger brother, who was grinning foolishly, and then said seriously to his father, "You don't need to worry about my affairs. This money should still be used for Wheeler's schooling. The primary grammar school run by the Church of Light isn't expensive. Let him learn to read and write, and learn basic arithmetic. It won't do him any harm in the future."

To spread their faith, the Church of the Four Gods established some primary grammar schools throughout the kingdom. The fees were low, and the courses lasted three to four years. The curriculum mainly consisted of literacy, scripture reading, and some basic arithmetic. Of course, the grammar schools for the children of nobles were more upscale, and the courses were more advanced.

Old John's wife used to be an employee of the Chamber of Commerce. She was robbed while transporting goods. Although she escaped with her life, she was disfigured. However, Old John didn't care about that and still married her. It was because of her insistence that the two brothers, John and John, were able to go to school.

Their family owned the farmland, and after paying taxes to the King and the Earl of Valentine, they still had some left over. In addition, during the off-season, old John would make some small things to sell for money, so their income was temporarily enough to support Wheeler's studies.

"Then I'll keep this money for you for now. After you marry Mary, you'll need to build your own house, which will cost a lot of money." Old John took the money from the table and carefully wrapped it up.

"Don't worry, Father, as long as my employer is here, my income will be guaranteed. I'll take you to live in Gieshorn when the time comes." Little John took the pocket watch, adjusted the time, and handed it to Wheeler again. He felt that as long as he continued to cooperate with Charles, buying a house in the future would not be a problem. He could even send his younger brother to a better school or pay to learn a trade.

Just as they were looking forward to a bright future, footsteps came from the yard outside the wooden house.

A shrill voice called out, "Is Old John here? Time to collect the taxes."