Starting with the goblin extermination

Chapter 17, 8 hexagrams

Cleaning up the battlefield is no easy task.

"Cut along the base! Hard! Do you think you're cutting bread your mom baked?!"

Thorin's voice echoed along the lakeshore. He held a long, still gently twitching tongue in his hand, and with a twist and a slash at the base of the dagger, the tongue was shaved off intact.

Baron and Papa, fighting off their nausea, awkwardly imitated Thorin's movements.

Logan was, of course, doing the same dirty work.

The giant frog's tongue was not only thick, but also covered with barbs. When Logan touched it, it felt like a layer of coarse sandpaper coated with slime.

He gripped the dagger and sliced through the muscle, a dull thud like leather tearing, accompanied by a spray of green liquid. The smell was so strong that Logan shed a few tears.

Logan couldn't help but think of his past life. The only bloody thing he had ever done back then was probably severing the neck of a free-range chicken in the countryside.

All you need to do is pinch the wings, slit the throat, and nothing will be left except for the slowly flowing chicken blood and your hands full of chicken feathers.

But now, he was kneeling in the mud, half of his body almost submerged in the giant frog's corpse, expressionlessly pulling out a slippery tongue and stuffing it into a sack.

Humans are indeed highly adaptable creatures; after all, all those corpses on the ground represent real money.

The thought of the sound of gold coins falling into his pocket made Logan feel that being a little dirty and tired wasn't so bad.

In the end, the team followed the same method and spent most of the afternoon clearing out all the giant frogs along the entire shore of Mirror Lake.

Apart from the half-severed tongue that Papa had shot off with an arrow, they had collected a total of sixteen complete giant frog tongues.

At a purchase price of 5 silver coins per skewer, that's a total of 80 silver coins, which is equivalent to 8 gold coins.

Thorin, as the captain, had no intention of taking the money. According to him, he hadn't even swung his axe that day; he was just watching from the sidelines.

But Logan and his two companions firmly disagreed. After all, having a reliable adventurer by their side as a babysitter was something many newcomers would envy.

The money was divided into four parts.

Two gold coins per person.

For a Black Iron-level quest, this reward is quite substantial.

Of course, in Logan's eyes, there was something even more important about this mission.

The condition of the "Sunset Rose" is quite dire.

Logan had hoped to collect a few more during the subsequent raids. However, the giant frog's enormous size and the extent of its destruction were simply too astonishing.

The entire lakeshore originally had only seven or eight roses, but with the leaping of more than a dozen giant frogs, the muddy ground looked as if it had been hit by a meteorite. Although Logan had deliberately lured the monsters away, in the chaos of battle, he still couldn't watch his step.

In the end, only one "Sunset Rose" survived intact.

Logan sighed and walked up to the delicate plant.

As dusk approached, the rose petals, like yellow crystals, shimmered in the afterglow of the setting sun, as if the sunset itself were encapsulated within crystal.

Logan knelt down on one knee and carefully used his dagger to draw a circle around the soil around the flower, digging it out along with the moist soil underneath.

"Wow...it actually survived."

A crisp sound came from beside my ear.

Papa came over at some point.

Although this clean-loving girl was very careful during the battle and cleaning up the battlefield, she still inevitably got covered in dark brown mud and the giant frog's slime.

Her once fluffy and beautiful long brown hair was now soaked with sweat and mud, with a few strands clinging tightly to her wheat-colored cheeks, which made her look less wild and more like a pitiful puppy that had fallen into the water.

Papa's gaze was completely captivated by the translucent citrine petals, and she couldn't look away.

"it's beautiful......"

Then she looked up and stared at Logan with the eager look of a puppy begging for food from its owner...

Logan forced himself to ignore Papa's extremely piercing gaze, placed the roses into the prepared wooden box, and stood up.

Although it's not very valuable, Logan knew that selling this rose to a wealthy man who wanted to please his mistress would fetch at least 6 silver coins, so it was considered a share of the team's revenue.

Logan can't just take it all for himself.

He turned to face everyone and cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I want this flower."

Logan met Thorin's puzzled gaze and continued:

"The market price of the Sunset Rose is about 6 to 8 silver coins. As compensation for taking it, when we settle the bounty for the Giant Frog Tongue later, I will deduct 1 gold coin from my account and split it equally among you."

Relationships are relationships, and interests are interests.

Even close brothers need to keep clear accounts. If someone takes advantage of their friendship with the team members to get roses for free, then the team relationship cannot be maintained in the long run.

"Boy," the old dwarf's beard twitched, "you're right, but you can keep the flower."

"Thorin, this is more fair..."

"Fairness my foot!"

Thorin interrupted him without any politeness.

"Do you think we're some stingy grocery store owners? We're not going to deduct money from our teammates' pay for a worthless flower meant for a woman."

Thorin waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.

"Take it, take it!"

Papa was also envious of the beautiful rose. But when she heard Thorin's words and saw his miserable state, which was ten times more wretched than her own, her heart softened.

"Exactly!" Papa sniffed and gave in. "You stink like that. If this flower makes you feel better, take it. We don't want your money."

Barron, standing nearby, nodded憨厚ly, but then asked curiously, "But Brother Logan, what do you need these flowers for? Uncle said they're for women, who are you going to give them to?"

silence.

The next second, Thorin and Papa exchanged a glance, and then their eyes were fixed on Logan.

"Oh ho—!"

Thorin let out a long, eerie laugh. "So, you were rushing into the giant frog's mouth like a madman earlier, just waiting here to curry favor, huh?"

Papa nudged Logan's waist with her elbow in a suggestive gesture, her big eyes sparkling: "Tell me the truth! How long have you been here from the North? And you've already taken a liking to one of our local girls? Tell me, tell me, which family's beauty is she? It's not Adele, the owner of the herbal medicine shop, is it?"

"I think so!" Thorin chimed in, eager to stir up trouble. "Last time we went over there, this kid's eyes never left him!"

Logan's lips twitched slightly.

They were right.

We can't exactly tell them this is just a deal.

Logan felt that no matter what he said, things would only get worse.

Let's just brush it off.

Who knows?

Logan smiled and shook his head, brushing aside Papa's gossipy little head.

"Maybe I just want to use it to kidnap a rich woman in town? After all, I'm not bad-looking, am I?"

"Tch, shameless!" Papa made a face, but didn't pursue the matter further.

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense and get ready!"

Thorin laughed and slapped Baron on the back.