Starting with the goblin extermination

"Papa, you take care of the sleeping one. Elsa, the rabbit-eater is yours. The other two with weapons will definitely run towards the woods. Logan, Barron, those are yours."

Thorin didn't assign him any tasks; this was a small test.

Although he had already begun to believe in Logan and his team's strength, as the captain, he needed to further assess them, and these goblins would be a good test.

After all, if you can't even handle this kind of situation, you might as well get out of here and avoid dying in the goblin camp.

Of course, he also wanted to train his nephew Baron.

Logan had no objections; goblins were old friends of his. He silently drew his longsword and walked towards the designated spot.

Elsa, on the other hand, was more direct. With a flash of her grey robe, she slid across the ground.

The battle has begun.

Elsa is incredibly fast.

Using the shadows of the bushes and rocks, she silently crept up behind the goblin crouching by the river.

Two black daggers at his waist pierced the goblin's throat in an instant.

puff--

Blood gushed out, silencing the screams that were about to escape.

The goblin clutched its neck and collapsed limply, the half-eaten rabbit meat in its mouth rolling to the ground and mingling with its master's corpse.

Almost simultaneously.

collapse!

The crisp sound of bowstrings vibrating echoed through the woods.

The goblin, who was sleeping on the large rock, suddenly twitched. An arrow pierced its eye socket, went straight through its brain, and pinned it firmly to the rock.

Dying in one's sleep is the happiest way to die.

"Wow! Bullseye!" Papa excitedly pumped his fist from behind the tree.

The remaining two goblins, who had been playing around, finally came to their senses.

The smell of blood irritated them, and the two green-skinned dwarves screamed and frantically grabbed their short swords and ran into the woods.

Unfortunately, Logan and Barron were lying in ambush, ready to fight.

"They're here!"

Thorin stood behind the tree, axe in hand, showing no intention of making a move. Instead, he kicked his nephew's buttocks with his toe.

"superior!"

Baron swallowed hard, raised his shield, and charged forward.

A goblin screeched and pounced on the young dwarf, its short sword slashing wildly like raindrops.

Baron was clearly flustered; his left-hand shield moved with his steps, while he hesitated to draw his short sword in his right hand.

The other goblin charged straight at Logan.

Logan remained calm as the ugly face drew closer.

After all, today he is not the prey, but the hunter.

The goblin was panicked; in reality, it only wanted to scare away the human in front of it so it could escape. This, however, exposed a major weakness.

Its short sword slashed clumsily at Logan, very slowly, and Logan could see the brown rust stains on the sword.

when--

With a flick of the longsword, the goblin's short sword flew out of his hand in an instant.

Immediately following was a fleeting afterimage.

[Thrust]

puff.

The sword tip pierced through the goblin's forehead without any resistance.

[Proficiency +1]

It's simple, too simple.

Logan flicked his wrist, drawing his longsword and sending a cloud of blood mist flying. The goblin twitched twice and collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Thorin nodded slightly upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Baron was still entangled with his opponent.

"You idiot! Stop fucking taking the beating!" Thorin roared in exasperation. "Use your shield against it! Fuck it! Then stab it!"

Amid his uncle's roar, Baron mustered his courage.

He no longer focused solely on defense.

Taking advantage of the moment when the short sword struck the shield and became momentarily stunned, he suddenly rammed the goblin's right hand holding the sword with the shield.

boom!

The goblin lost its balance and staggered backward. Baron thrust his short sword forward with a sudden burst.

Lucky me, it hit me right in the chest.

The goblin screamed and fell to the ground. Baron followed up with a few more sword strikes until the enemy was completely still, then he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"Not bad for the first time, no peeing," Thorin picked up his nephew's shield and tossed it over. "Next time, be bolder, strike when you need to, don't be a fucking coward."

Barron took a breath and nodded.

Papa walked over and reached out to help the exhausted young dwarf up.

The battle ended quickly.

"Get to work, stop standing there like an idiot."

Thorin kicked the corpse on the ground. "Cut off the right ear; that's all the money."

Without hesitation, Logan awkwardly sliced ​​open the cartilage with his longsword, leaving his hands sticky with blood, and an ear fell to the ground.

I really should buy a dagger, or even a small knife, but they don't seem cheap. I'll just make do with what I have for now.

According to the guild's bounty, a regular goblin's ear is worth 2 silver coins.

This means that with that single, light strike, he earned the equivalent of killing seven slimes in the stinking sewers. However, considering that gregarious goblins are far more dangerous than slimes, the price is reasonable.

If I survive this trip, my wallet will finally be full.

Logan washed the still-warm ear with the stream water and threw it into the bag, then picked up the two short swords that had fallen to the ground.

"Do you want these two pieces of junk too?" Papa frowned as she looked at Logan. The short sword was covered in rust and looked more like junk than a weapon.

"Nonsense, even a mosquito bite is still meat. You think goblin hunting only brings bounties?" Thorin rolled his eyes at her. "If you don't like it, you can skip this part of the money."

"Tch, stingy." Papa made a face at Thorin, but didn't say anything more.

Elsa quietly finished processing her prey, washed the blood off the dagger in the stream, dried it with a cloth, and remained silent.

"We're very close to our hideout."

Thorin snatched the goblin ear from Baron's hand, scraped it with his fingernails over the thick grime, and then sniffed it.

"How did you figure that out?" Logan asked curiously.

"odor."

Elsa interrupted abruptly, and Thorin glanced at her in surprise, clearly not expecting this mute wanderer to speak up.

“Yes, that’s the smell.” Thorin tossed his ear back to his nephew. “They smell strongly of smoke, not the smell of an open campfire, but the smell of being in a poorly ventilated cave.”

"Like smoked meat?" Papa asked.

"......almost."

The old dwarf stood up and looked toward a hillside deep in the forest.

"Moreover, roaming goblins usually have a stronger muddy and grassy smell. But there are very few of them. This means their camp must be nearby, and quite large."

"Uncle, approximately how much is that?"

Baron gripped his sword tightly with tension.

"Look at their equipment, they have iron weapons..." Thorin squinted and estimated, "At least ten or so."

No wonder he's an expert; this kind of experience isn't recorded in any manual.

Only a dozen or so goblins...

Logan felt a slight tightening in his chest.

Once their numbers increase, low-level monsters like goblins will become a real problem.

The Adventurer's Handbook also mentions that goblins, these low-intelligence monsters, actually have a social structure. Ordinary goblins like those mentioned earlier are just cannon fodder; if the group is large enough, elite individuals like goblin warriors or great goblins may emerge from within.

Although these elite individuals did not reach level one in the challenge level, they were tough and thick-skinned, much stronger than ordinary goblins.

There might even be goblin shamans who can use magic; of course, such goblin camps are not places that Iron-level adventurers can venture into.

"What, scared?" Thorin seemed to see through Logan's thoughts and grinned. "What's there to be afraid of? I'm here. Besides, this line of work is about risking your life for money. If there really are elite goblins, then we'll be rich. A big goblin's head can sell for 2 gold coins at the herbalist's shop."

gold.

The word sounded quite comforting, and Logan wasn't so nervous anymore.

After packing up their equipment, the group continued on their way.

The deeper you go, the stronger the stench becomes. You can see gnawed bones and excrement on the ground, and swarms of flies hover around, buzzing.

"arrive."

Elsa, who was at the front, stopped and hid behind a large tree.

I followed her gaze.

At the bottom of the hillside below, amidst a pile of weeds and rocks, a dark hole suddenly appeared.

That was the goblin camp, a dark cave.

Several sharpened wooden stakes were stuck around the entrance of the cave, with dried animal carcasses hanging on them, and even half a rotten human skull could be seen.

Black smoke, visible to the naked eye, was slowly drifting out of the cave.