Chapter 8: From Arrival To Hunt - Part 1

"Your saviors are here!" It was, without a doubt, the pinnacle of Lynn's audacity—or so everyone thought as they remained seated in the wagon, refusing to get off. How could they possibly show themselves now? With all eyes from the gathered bystanders at the Mead village gate fixed on them—thanks to Lynn's dramatic declaration as she stood proudly on the driver's seat, hands on her hips—it would be too embarrassing to appear as if they were claiming the title of saviors. For the first time, Arezu and the rest of the party wished they didn't know Lynn. But with her personality, pretending not to know her would surely put her in a foul mood. And no one wanted to find out what Lynn might do in that state. Left with no other choice, they swallowed their embarrassment and climbed out of the wagon. They expected to be met with cheers and gratitude—but the grand welcome never came. Instead, one of the village guards approached them. "You're adventurers, right? If you're here for the goblin-slaying quest, another adventurers' party already left for the forest to take care of it." "Eh?!" Arezu's party had resumed traveling at daybreak and arrived at Mead village just before the second bell—around nine in the morning. They might be a bit late, but considering they'd come all the way from the capital—a significant distance—it should've been acceptable. What's more, Lynn had accepted the goblin-slaying quest the day after it was posted on the Adventurers' Guild notice board, meaning not much time had passed since the request was made. For the village chief to assign the quest to a random group passing by was completely unacceptable. "Those adventurers have no professionalism," Lynn muttered, clearly annoyed as she exited the village gathering hall after speaking with the chief. Technically, there was no rule against taking quests directly from the requestor without first informing the guild. However, it was customary to report completed quests to the guild to avoid confusing other adventurers who might take on the same quest, not knowing it was already finished—leading to wasted time and money or even failed missions. But in this case, it had only been less than a day—a mere miss in timing between official and unofficial quest takers. "What do we do now, Lynn?" He was supposed to be the leader, but Alex had long since gotten used to letting Lynn decide their course of action. "For now, let's head back to Mr. Arezu and talk it through." Lynn, along with Alex, Liz, and Hannah—who had gone to speak with the village chief—returned to the gate where they had left Arezu keeping an eye on their wagon. They soon spotted him chatting with a guard and some curious villagers. "What kind of monsters have you defeated, mister?" a curious boy asked. "I used to wield a much larger halberd axe when I was younger," an old man recalled, reminiscing about his past. "Hey, hey, which one of those ladies are you dating?" a young lady asked, a gleam in her eyes. "You're as sociable as ever, Mr. Arezu," Lynn greeted, trying to pull his attention away from the crowd. As his companions returned, the villagers gave them space, allowing the party to regroup. "So, what did you learn, Ms. Lynn?" Arezu asked, looking straight at her. But Lynn didn't answer. She averted her gaze, ignoring him completely. What's with her? Arezu wondered, watching her silently hold her twin-arrow crossbow with an unhappy expression. Even Alex, Liz, and Hannah looked puzzled by her behavior. Worried that Lynn might actually shoot him, Arezu wracked his brain trying to figure out what she could be upset about. Eventually, he recalled their conversation during his night shift. With a sigh, Arezu gave in. "It's my fault, so please tell me what you found out, Lynn." That did the trick. Lynn beamed, strapped her crossbow back in place, and began to explain what they'd learned from the village chief. Apparently, a group of four copper-ranked adventurers from a neighboring town had volunteered for the goblin-slaying quest as they passed through. They departed for the northern forest at daybreak, guided by a village guard. "As for our options," Lynn continued, "here's what we can do." She outlined their choices. First: they could just abandon the quest and return to the capital. After all, they already had valuable loot from their encounter with orcs—asided from the orcs' balls, the greatsword and enchanted staff were worth more than the quest reward. While they wouldn't lose anything financially, it might count as a failed quest, which would hurt their guild evaluation. Second: they could wait for the other adventurers to return. If those adventurers failed, their party would step in. If they succeeded, the chief would notify the guild that the quest was completed, and their party wouldn't be penalized. "Third, we could just follow the other party and sabotage—" "Wait, you're not serious, are you?" Arezu interrupted, horrified. "Of course it was a joke," Lynn replied instantly. Doesn't sound like a joke coming from you. Arezu thought, still wary. "Jokes aside," Lynn went on, "if we follow them and they fail, we can finish the job right away. Even if they succeed, we might still find some extra income along the way." So it's about money, huh. Arezu frowned, trying to imagine what Lynn considered "extra income." Unfortunately, a dreadful image popped into his head. "Oi, I'm not dismantling that kind of thing again!" Alex, Liz, and Hannah looked at him in confusion, but Lynn—who clearly knew what he meant—just burst out laughing. Before they could get too sidetracked, the guard who had spoken with Arezu earlier came over again, having overheard their conversation. "Hey, if you're heading into the forest, mind if I come along?" The party looked at him, puzzled, so he explained. The guard who had gone with the first adventurers' party was supposed to return to the village after pointing out the goblins' likely location. It had already been three hours, and though the forest was less than a half-hour away, he hadn't come back. "We agreed he'd return after one hour no matter what. I'm worried something happened. Plus, some men were abducted by goblins during their last attack." At that, a gleam of curiosity sparked in Lynn's eccentric eyes. Seeing her expression, Arezu felt a chill of unease. Without even consulting the others, Lynn made her decision. "Let's go, everyone! We're continuing this goblin-slaying quest!"