I'm not a Witcher anymore.

"Very good!"

Kevin's eyes lit up instantly, and he was so excited he almost jumped for joy.

He squeezed Zieg's hand tightly, then eagerly pulled him toward their teammates:

"Let me introduce my teammates to you!"

Two other equally young girls sat at a round table in the corner of the hall.

"Eileen, the fighter. Don't underestimate her just because she fights with her bare hands—her fists are harder than my sword."

Eileen looked up, sized up Zieg for a few seconds, then stood up, grinned, revealing her neat white teeth:

"Looks promising. Welcome to join us!"

Her voice was cheerful and direct, carrying the bold and forthright temperament unique to fighters.

"Isabella, a magician! And a genius who just graduated from the Royal Academy of Sages! She can cast two fire arrows—twice! Isn't that amazing?"

The spellcasters in this world cast spells using spell slots, not magic.

Whether they are magicians, priests, or Taoists, they all have a fixed number of spells they can cast.

Once you've used up all your spell slots, you can only recover by getting plenty of sleep.

Isabella sat opposite Erin, her posture upright and elegant, her hands holding her wand on her knees, her back straight, just like in a class on aristocratic etiquette.

"Nice to meet you, I am Isabella."

Although her tone was polite, it also carried a coldness that kept strangers at bay.

"It's too late today."

Kevin looked out the window at the gradually darkening sky, where only the last rays of sunset remained on the horizon.

"How about we rest in town for the night, meet at the guild hall at six o'clock tomorrow morning, and then set off immediately?"

He looked at Zieg, seeking his opinion.

Zieg nodded: "Okay."

Indeed, it's too late to set off now.

Goblin lairs are usually located deep in the forest, and it takes a lot of time to travel back and forth, while it is too dangerous to venture out in the wild at night.

"It's settled then!" Kevin clapped his hands excitedly. "We'll meet here at six o'clock tomorrow morning!"

Just as the three were about to leave, Sieg suddenly spoke:

"etc."

The three of them turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Have you made any other preparations? Such as healing potions, antidotes, bandages, torches for lighting?"

Kevin paused for a moment, then scratched his head and smiled dismissively:

"Just goblins, we don't need all that, do we?" He patted the longsword at his waist. "Besides... to be honest, we don't have that much money."

Eileen shrugged: "Those potions and supplies are quite expensive; we spent all our money on equipment."

Isabella adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Not counting the bounty from the Goblin Left Ear, the total reward for this quest is only 3 gold and 5 silver. If we deduct the cost of potions and supplies, and then divide it among ourselves, there won't be much left..."

All three of them spoke with the impression that it was unnecessary to waste money.

Zieg was silent for a few seconds, then sighed.

"You... you've really underestimated goblins. Well then..."

The three of them looked up at him simultaneously.

"I will pay for the medicine, antidote, and other necessities in advance. After the commission is completed and I receive payment, this money will be deducted from the payment."

"Of course, if these supplies aren't used at all during the entire battle, then we'll get our share of the rewards as they are, and the cost of those supplies will be on me; you won't need to compensate me. How about that?"

The three of them were stunned.

This seems to have only advantages for them and no disadvantages.

The three of them exchanged glances, then huddled together and whispered their discussion.

Finally, Kevin stepped forward to speak.

"Mr. Zieg, you're a good man, and we can't let good people suffer. Whether we used those supplies or not, deduct it from our payment afterwards."

Zieg nodded: "Okay, it's settled then, see you tomorrow."

Outside the Adventurers' Guild, night had completely fallen.

On the streets of the town, one magical street lamp after another lit up, emitting a soft yet bright white light, illuminating the entire street as if it were daytime.

These magical lamps hang from exquisite wrought iron lampposts, one every ten meters. The light scatters the darkness of the night and makes the town's cobblestone streets, wooden houses, and roadside signs clearly visible.

Sieg stood outside the guild gate, parting ways with Kevin, Eileen, and Isabella.

……

The next morning.

When Sieg pushed open the guild's door, Kevin, Eileen, and Isabella were already waiting in the hall.

But to Sieg's surprise...

There was one more person with the three of them.

She was a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old.

She had long, flowing golden hair and wore a pure white priest's robe—the standard attire for those who worshipped the Earth Mother Goddess.

Around her neck, she also wore a white porcelain nameplate.

Upon seeing Zieg approach, Kevin immediately waved excitedly:

"Mr. Zieg, you've arrived."

He strode forward, his face beaming with barely concealed excitement, his voice rising several octaves:

"I have some great news to tell you!"

Zieg raised an eyebrow: "What news?"

Kevin lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Before you arrived, we encountered a newly registered priest."

He turned around, pointed with his eyes at the young priestess, and solemnly introduced her:

"Her name is Petra, and she is a priestess of the Church of the Earth Mother. She also wants to become an adventurer, so I invited her to join us."

Kevin patted his chest and said smugly:

"I specifically asked, and the child possesses a miracle called 'Minor Healing,' which can be cast three times a day."

"With her, we won't need to buy the medicine anymore—that will save us a lot of money."

Zieg shook his head, his tone still calm but carrying an undeniable air of authority:

"No, we still need to buy the potions. You said yourself, Petra can only cast three miracles. If something unexpected happens and all four of us are poisoned or seriously injured at the same time, who will she save? After the miracles are used up, are you planning to use your bodies to withstand the monster's poisoned blades?"

"this……"

Kevin's excitement froze instantly. He gasped, and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zieg, I was too naive." He lowered his head in shame. "I'll do whatever you say."

Zig greeted everyone else, and then the group went to purchase the necessary supplies before heading out of the city.

……

On the way to the Goblin Cave, Kevin explained to Sieg the details of the commission they had received.

"This commission comes from Green Village. It's a remote rural village located on the other side of the forest outside the town, about two hours away from here."

"Green Village?" Sieg raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Kevin nodded. "It's a sparsely populated village with only thirty or forty households, less than two hundred people. The villagers have made a living by farming for generations, growing wheat, potatoes, and vegetables, barely making ends meet with their small plot of farmland."

He paused, his expression turning serious.

"Originally, the villagers there lived a peaceful and tranquil life—not wealthy, but stable. They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, and occasionally held small celebrations during harvest season."

"Until a group of goblins appeared."

"These green scum, under the cover of night, silently infiltrated the village."

"Their target is the granary on which the villagers depend for their livelihood."

Zieg walked at the front of the group, casually pushing aside the thorns blocking his path, his brows slightly furrowed.

This is precisely the most vicious nature of goblins—unlike wild beasts that kill merely to fill their stomachs, they know how to destroy, how to plunder, and even how to destroy human hope.

Kevin continued, "For an agricultural village, that's their only guarantee of survival—losing food and seeds means losing all hope of living."

"The goblins broke the locks on the granary and carried away large quantities of wheat, potatoes, and seed bags."

"Then, before the villagers could discover them, they withdrew from the village and disappeared into the depths of the forest."

Eileen gritted her teeth and said, "And those damned beasts are cunning; they didn't steal all the grain, they only took about a third of it."

"Although not all the grains and seeds were looted, the goblins' actions still plunged the entire village into panic."

"If the goblins come again and steal all the supplies, the village will face a real famine."

Kevin continued.

"So the able-bodied men in the village organized a patrol team."

"The patrol team consisted of about twenty people, almost all of the adult men in the village."

"However, to their surprise, this was exactly the goblins' scheme."

"Those goblins left obvious tracks in the forest, leading the patrol deep into the woods. They chased them for most of the day, but didn't even see a single goblin."

"Just when most of the men in the village had left, leaving only the elderly, women and children, that group of cunning green-skinned monsters swaggered out of the forest and brazenly broke into the poorly defended village."

"When the exhausted patrol returned empty-handed, they were met with an even crueler reality—"

"Several teenage girls were abducted, some of whom were under fifteen years old, and some had just gotten engaged and were preparing to get married."

"The young men were about to rush back into the forest to rescue the girls."

"But the elders, who had lost their daughter, stopped them."

"This wise elder sent someone to the Adventurers' Guild in the border town to post a request, seeking help from professionals."

"They have only one request—"

"Find the goblin's lair, destroy those green-skinned monsters, and rescue the kidnapped girls."