Survive in the parallel world, please!

223 Find the goblin, please! part After preparing our equipment carefully, we set off in an adventure that would most definitely change the course of our lives.

It was an important mission for different reasons.

I needed to find Bardun so I could give up on my role as leader. I can’t actually believe Lea would say goblin were mindless creatures, because it seems like Bardun played me like a fiddle, so what does it say about me? I bet he always knew this wasn’t a simple matter and he wanted me to keep the village safe.

Bob needed to get some food, he received an important internal injury that, when healed, consumed most of his energy. Sadly, because of his lack of energy, no amount of resting would replenish his stamina and all his stats had been halved already. They all say that adventurers are so strong and regular people are often envious of their endurance, but having more power also means a bigger upkeep. I don’t even want to think on how much food does Bob need to consume to recharge his lost energy, but I bet it’s not as simple as a regular meal.

Luke was hungry too, but more than that, he just wanted to vent out his frustrations. Risa was hurt and he could do nothing to help her, they long time in the woods and because of his incompetence and lack of skills he couldn’t lead them back to safety. But more than anything, he felt so betrayed by Helena that he could barely think straight. I know him, he’s always been hot headed, but this is something different. It feels similar to when he speaks about Ayumi or Hiraku, he seems angry on the outside, but what he feels is closer to sadness.

And then there’s Risa, who was the highest ranking adventurer on her team but was powerless against the enemy and was left maimed and powerless. Not only that, but she was also betrayed by someone she deemed as a close friend. All Risa needs now is a win, even if it’s a small one.

After setting foot outside the camp we immediately understood what did goblins mean by constantly fighting for their lives. There were several corpses of beasts and goblins alike, all scattered across the battlefield.

Even though goblins had become a lot stronger than they used to be, thanks to the use of better weapons and properly cooked food, it looked like magical beasts were a lot stronger than what I initially thought.

The scene in front of us was gruesome, to say the least, even those who not long ago considered goblins to be nothing but beasts felt compassion for those who fell fighting the magical beasts. For me, instead, it was looking at the faces of fellow townsmen. I spent a long time living among them and I knew some of their faces. I could feel a pinch on my heart everytime I looked at them, but I endured and kept myself from shedding tears, we are on a mission and I can’t afford my emotions to best me.

.....

As we walked through what seemed to be a wide open wasteland my hopes of finding Bardun alive diminished. There’s no good reason why he hasn’t returned yet, unless he’s dead of course.

Goblins were efficient hunters, mostly because they never cared to butcher creatures since they couldn’t feed on them before they learned how to cook and barely took whatever they thought could be helpful in the short run. This also meant they would go, kill the beast, and return to their village as soon as they could.

There’s only one thing that makes me think that he may still be alive, most goblins don’t have any weapons on them. Beasts never loot their prey, they eat them whole, why would there be so many goblin corpses and so few weapons laying around?

It can only mean that either the survivors picked them up or they were looted by enemies, most probably humans.

“Famine, you can feed on any beast corpse you find, but don’t dare eat the goblins, understood?”

Famine wagged his tail as drool started dripping from his open maw and he ran all over the place looking for something to feast on. This time I only brought Famine and the wurm hatchling with me, Mochi and Mia are both useless in combat and the wurm seems too attached to me to leave it behind.

“Hey Ryu, there’s something over there”

Luke pointed out north, towards the grassy grounds. I couldn’t see anything special and neither sense presence or mana sense alerted me of anything, but we headed over there anyway.

Much to my surprise, what Luke was signalling wasn’t a living being, but a human corpse. He was completely naked so we couldn’t really tell if he was from the empire or the kingdom, what we did notice was that he must have definitely been someone strong. He was covered in small wounds and there were several knives still jabbed into his body, after closer inspection we noticed the blood trail that came from a different direction from which we came from.

“Do you think goblins did this?”

Bob, who used to feel sick after seeing a human corpse, asked with a now stern face.

“I know they did, look at that small wounds. I’ve seen stuff like this many times, since goblins are so weak they need to land multiple hits to defeat a single opponent. Though there is something weird...”

Risa said crouching in front of the corpse as if trying to figure something out.

“The boots,” I say in a muffled voice. “Goblins have no use for human’s boots. They can tear apart a scale mail or even a breastplate and use it as armor themselves, they also take weapons with them even if they’re too big for them to wield, but boots and gloves have no use to them. Besides, there’s no reason for goblins to attack humans this far from their camp.”

“My gut is telling me this guy is from the sacred empire.”

“What makes you say that Luke?”

Risa was intrigued.

“Didn’t I just say it was my gut!”

As they engaged in their typical bickering, I noticed something. If, as I suspect, he was looted by humans, it would make sense why there aren’t any goblin corpses near this human. He must have been badly wounded and attempted to reunite with his comrades, only to fall due to blood loss. The long trail of blood suggest this might be the correct answer.

After signalling everyone to remain silent I take the lead and we walk north until all my suspicions became a reality. But just as always, things weren’t so simple as I initially thought them to be.

There was a human camp and, three carts on its outskirts, each one pulled by a couple of pseudo dragons. There were cages in the carts and within the camp, but as far as I could tell they were all empty.

“These people seem to be one of those beast hunters Helena told us about earlier.”