I’m not Goblin Slayer Chapter 009

“Clop-clop.”

Gauss sat in the merchant caravan, with large and small mailbags leaning behind him.

The distant hills slowly receded from view.

Sharing the carriage with him were Hailier and two others.

Bell and Mia rested inside the carriage.

Hailier, full of excitement, sat on the edge of the carriage, her legs dangling outside as they swayed with the bumps, enjoying the scenery of the wilderness.

The weather today was clear, the azure sky like a transparent blue sapphire. Sunlight pierced through thin, woven clouds, scattering into a golden, fine-spun halo, outlining the soft contours of the distant pale green, dark mountains. The wilderness breeze, carrying the fresh scent of grass and the dew of the forest, moistened the air, making one’s mood unconsciously joyful.

After registering at the Adventurer’s Guild, the four had a brief afternoon of adjustment before setting off for their destination, Birch Village, the next day.

Considering the long journey, walking might take two days.

Gauss suggested finding a merchant caravan with a similar itinerary to hitch a ride for part of the way, then walk the final stretch to their destination.

The other three naturally accepted his proposal with pleasure.

Finding a caravan didn’t take much time. Giving up half a carriage in exchange for a team of well-equipped adventurers to travel with them was by no means a losing deal.

Perhaps tired of the scenery, Hailier retracted her gaze and looked at Gauss, who was also sitting at the back of the carriage, and struck up a conversation.

Yesterday’s dinner and the afternoon’s adjustment not only allowed them to understand each other’s combat styles but also made them a little more familiar.

“By the way, it’s really surprising. Gauss, I never thought you were a preliminary mage.”

“Sorry if I ruined your aspirations for mages.”

“It’s not that exaggerated, it’s just that the mages I’ve known and interacted with are all wealthy individuals. You’re certainly a bit unique.”

“I really wanted to be a mage when I was a child, but unfortunately, I don’t seem to have a talent for magic.”

In their casual chat.

The caravan carried the four-person team across grasslands, through forests, around mountains, and over rivers, finally arriving at their designated drop-off point.

The journey was safe, with no monster raids or sudden accidents.

This made Gauss breathe a sigh of relief, yet also left him with a faint sense of regret.

“We’ll part ways here.”

“Birch Village is only about an hour’s walk from here. Follow this country road to the end, turn left at the fork, and the second village will be Birch Village.”

“Okay, thank you, sir.” Hailier thanked the caravan manager.

“Please be careful on your journey, everyone. Although goblins are insignificant monsters, never let your guard down,” the caravan manager waved his hand.

The four watched the caravan gradually recede, finally disappearing from sight.

Suddenly, they felt the surrounding environment instantly grow desolate.

“Then let’s reach Birch Village before dark.”

“Agreed.”

None of them intended to rest and immediately proceeded along the country road.

On both sides of the relatively flat dirt road were deep trees, and the cold wind of dusk occasionally swept by, always sending shivers down their spines.

As if influenced by the environment, Hailier, who had been excited about this commission task all along, now calmed down.

As the four cautiously advanced, when the sun set and the last ray of sunlight in the air dissipated, they finally arrived at the designated location.

“Birch Village”

At the fork leading to the village, the name was written on a crooked wooden sign.

Before even entering the village.

They could hear commotion from the village square from afar, faintly discerning crying.

Gauss’s heart sank, realizing something had happened in the village. Connecting it to his mission, he had a bad feeling.

“We must gather our forces now and rescue Jenny and Elsa!”

“It’s already dark! I think we should prepare our weapons tomorrow and then…”

“Tomorrow? By tomorrow, it will be too late! Those filthy green-skinned bastards won’t give us time to prepare.”

“My poor child!”

The village center was bustling with people. Around a dim bonfire, men were shouting with raised arms, some looked hesitant, and women sat on the ground wailing and crying, their faces filled with sorrow and pain.

“Excuse me, is this Birch Village? We are adventurers who accepted your commission. Is the village chief here? We’d like to understand the situation,” Hailier called out to the crowd, breaking the noisy chatter.

Her shout interrupted the villagers’ dispute. Under wary gazes, an old man leaning on a crutch emerged from the crowd.

“Greetings, everyone. I am the village chief of Birch Village.”

He nodded, stating his identity directly.

“Welcome, adventurers, to Birch Village. You’ve come a long way, and we should treat you lavishly, but as you can see the current state of our village, please forgive any neglect.”

“It’s alright, Village Chief. Please tell us the specific situation. We came here for the commission,” Hailier waved her hand, simultaneously showing the accepted commission document to prove their identities.

Hearing her response, the village chief immediately breathed a sigh of relief. While examining the document, he recounted the recent tragedy that had befallen the village.

The matter was not complicated: two women from the village had been abducted by a goblin tribe.

This was also due to the villagers letting their guard down. This goblin tribe had been active in the jungles around the village for several months, but had never attacked people, at most occasionally stealing a sheep, chicken, duck, or other livestock.

However, to reduce property losses, the villagers had each contributed money, pooling enough for the commission fee, and posted a bounty in Grayrock Town.

For the past two days, these goblins seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The villagers had relaxed a bit.

Thinking that soon, a team of adventurers would come to clear out the goblins hiding in the jungle, the villagers did not overly guard against those green-skinned little brats.

But who would have thought that at the transition from day to night today, the village would experience its first victim incident?

Two female villagers were seized at once.

Now it was completely dark, making movement inconvenient.

Aside from family members with close blood ties to the victims, other villagers did not want to venture into the dense forest in the dark and engage in combat with goblins; human nature was, after all, selfish.

So, a group of people began to argue in the square.

One side, out of rationality, felt that fighting at night was too dangerous, and there was no guarantee they would save the people, potentially sacrificing other adults’ lives as well.

The other side believed that if they waited until tomorrow, the tragedy would be irreversible. Since they had just been captured, there was still time.

They reasoned that it was just a few goblins, only child-sized. As long as everyone worked together, they could surely bring back the abducted female villagers.

Both sides made valid points, and for a moment, the village chief couldn’t make a decision.

Fortunately, at this moment, this unfamiliar team of adventurers appeared as if sent from heaven.

Although the village chief didn’t say it aloud, he had already placed his hopes on them.

In his eyes, apart from the black-haired male, the four were all equipped with fine gear, and their combat power was incomparable to that of ordinary villagers.

The village chief and other villagers’ gazes collectively turned to the four.

“Excuse me, we need to discuss this,” under their intense gazes, Hailier bowed slightly in apology, then pulled the others aside to deliberate.

For a moment, the once lively village fell into a strange silence, but upon closer inspection, beneath this quietness stirred a torrent of thoughts.

Everyone was waiting for them to make a decision.

A new adventurer team, unremarkable in town, now carried the hopes of the entire village.

Gauss, out of the corner of his eye, glimpsed the many silent villagers and began to feel a surge of pressure.

True adventure is always full of surprises.

Just as he initially thought this was merely a routine clear-out mission.

Arrive at the location, rest, scout the next day, gather intelligence, formulate a battle plan, kill goblins, complete the commission.

Who would have thought that the well-ordered plan seemed to encounter an unexpected turn at the very first stage.