Chapter 43: Another Goblin!
"Are you really that happy?" Azalea’s voice dragged Lumien back to reality.
She had seen him fall into a trance, his face lit up with joy after her praise. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had gone excessive with her compliments that she ended up inflating his ego to the clouds.
"Yup, happy and satisfied! I can’t wait to slaughter more of them," Lumien said, his eyes gleaming with spirit. His mind was still preoccupied with the thrill of leveling up.
"Oh? What’s with the sudden enthusiasm?" Azalea raised an eyebrow, surprised.
She had no idea why he was suddenly so fired up, but she was glad that her brother was taking goblins seriously and was eager to exterminate them.
From her experience as an Adventurer, far too few people saw goblins as a real threat and actively hunted them. This included Liurnia’s military and the Adventurer’s Guild. As a result, the goblin population had always remained dangerously massive.
For an invasive species like goblins, a growing population was never good news for humans. However, this was merely her own viewpoint—the same couldn’t be said for many official organizations.
To them, goblins were no more than pests, barely worth acknowledging. Their focus was on what they considered greater threats, such as the Snow Devil Kingdom in the Lachia Plains.
"It’s just as you said—goblins might be low-ranked creatures, but they’re far more vicious than other monsters of the same rank or even higher. They kidnap female humans and use them as breeding stock. As a man, how could I turn a blind eye to such awful creatures? If I can bring down their numbers, then I believe I’m making the world slightly a better place," Lumien said.
While his words weren’t entirely truthful, there was no denying the genuine disgust and hatred in his voice. If nothing else, he truly despised the goblins’ inhumane methods of reproduction.
Though he had never seen the victims himself, merely hearing the stories from Azalea was enough to enrage him. He couldn’t wait to blast those wretched creatures with his Fireball.
If he could rid the world of such horrendous monsters while leveling up at the same time, then all the better.
Azalea nodded. "It’s good that you’re motivated, but never let your emotions cloud your mind. And just because you killed a goblin easily once doesn’t mean you’re invincible. Additionally, never forget this—goblins never hunt alone."
Lumien had barely registered her last words when she suddenly dashed through another set of bushes. In the blink of an eye, she had already covered more than a hundred meters.
A second later, a piercing shriek echoed from the direction Azalea had gone.
When she returned, Lumien noticed she was holding a dagger in her right hand, its blade dripping with fresh blood. Her expression looked completely calm and composed as if she had just taken a stroll through the park.
"What was that?" Lumien was taken aback.
"There was a goblin hiding there. It looked like it wanted to retreat after seeing how easily you killed its partner. So, I caught it off guard and took it down before it could put up a fight," Azalea said calmly.
Indeed, experience never lies. I was ecstatic after taking down a goblin in one shot, yet Azalea remained unfazed despite accomplishing the same feat. She had likely encountered similar situations countless times—so much so that, to her, killing a goblin was no different than stepping on an ant.
This thought lingered in his mind.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Lumien asked, "How did you know there was a goblin hiding there?"
Azalea wiped the blood off her dagger using a handful of leaves before replying, "I ran a simulation."
"Simulation?"
Azalea smiled and explained, "In my mind, I simulate a scenario where I’m a goblin. Taking into account their average height, skills, habits, limitations, and other traits, I envisioned where I would hide if I were planning an ambush. A place where I could strike my prey effectively without obstructing my allies. Once I analyzed the possibilities, that bush stood out as the perfect hiding spot. So, I attacked it without hesitation."
Lumien was dumbfounded as she went on nonchalantly.
"It’s only possible if you have a deep understanding of your target. In my case, since I know a lot about goblins and have studied their behaviors extensively, I was able to run the simulation smoothly. Ultimately, it depends on how familiar someone is with their target,"
Lumien nodded, but inwardly, he was shocked.
The "simulation" she talked about might sound simple, but he knew it was anything but. He doubted just anyone could pull off the same feat if they were in her shoes. Only someone as freak and experienced as his sister could develop such a method to pinpoint an enemy’s whereabouts so accurately.
"What if you were wrong?" he couldn’t help but ask.
"Well, not everything is certain. If I were wrong, I’d just run the simulation again. If I made another mistake, that would be a sign that the simulation method isn’t working. But it’s not a big deal—I know plenty of other methods to achieve the same result. Simulation just happens to be the easiest and least time-consuming, which is why I always use it first." Azalea shrugged.
He nodded, deciding not to press further, and changed the subject. "So, have we cleared out all the goblins in this area?"
They had only been here for a few minutes, yet they had already encountered two goblins.
If he had been traveling alone, he wasn’t sure if he would have survived the first ambush. Worse, when he thought there was only one goblin, another had been lurking nearby, waiting for the perfect moment to strike when he let his guard down.
Involuntarily, a sigh escaped his lips.
Indeed, venturing outside the Safe Zone wasn’t as easy or safe as I had thought. Danger lurked everywhere, even this close to its borders...
"Based on the wounds on that horse carcass, there shouldn’t have been more than two goblins hunting it. But there’s something I don’t understand."
"What is it that you don’t understand?"
"This horse clearly isn’t a wild one. Its neatly trimmed mane, well-developed muscles, and healthy fat distribution suggest it was domesticated. So, where’s its rider?"
"What? I thought this was just some unlucky stray that got hunted by goblins. But from what you’re saying, this was actually a tamed horse?"
"Yes. Come closer, and I’ll teach you how to distinguish between a stray and a domesticated horse. It’s a skill that will definitely come in handy in the future," Azalea beckoned him over.
They spent nearly fifteen minutes as she taught him the basics. Azalea didn’t go too deep into the details, as that would take too much time.
But even with just the fundamentals, Azalea believed this knowledge would greatly benefit Lumien in the future.
Once she finished, Lumien assumed they would resume their journey immediately. However, to his surprise, Azalea turned to him with a serious expression. The intensity of her gaze made him instinctively tense up.
"W-what’s wrong?" he stammered.
"I’m afraid our journey ahead won’t go as smoothly as we planned," she said, frowning.
"Is it because of the goblins?" he guessed.
"Yes. It’s normal to encounter monsters once we leave the Safe Zone, and I had already analyzed the map yesterday to anticipate what we’d run into. Among the expected monsters, goblins weren’t on the list. Do you know why?"
Seeing Lumien shake his head, Azalea continued, "Because, according to the map I received and the information I gathered from the butler, there are no caves in this area. Goblins live in caves. When you put those two facts together, something doesn’t add up, does it? Why would goblins, who rely on caves for shelter, suddenly appear near a border that has none?"
"Could it be that those two got lost?"
"Not a chance. The nearest cave recorded on the map is at least five hundred miles away, deep in the middle of Bangrave Land. Do you really think goblins—weak, low-ranked creatures—could lose their way and travel such a vast distance? Impossible. Goblins don’t have the strength or endurance to survive such a long journey.
"So what’s on your mind, sister?" Lumien asked.
"There are two possibilities. The first is that these two goblins might be survivors from the last Wipe."
"Wipe?" Lumien echoed, unfamiliar with the term.
"Wipe is a term used by the military for large-scale skirmishes meant to clear out monsters from areas outside the Safe Zone, making it safe for people to settle and develop their communities there. Wipe was mostly done once every ten to twenty years, but some relatively peaceful state might only get Wipe once in every thirty to fifty years."
"Our hometown falls into the latter category. The last Wipe conducted outside Milois City took place more than sixty years ago, and even now, we continue to enjoy its lasting peace. Because of that, no further Wipe has been deemed necessary, despite the decades that have passed."
"So that’s how our hometown found its peace," Lumien finally enlightened.
Azalea smiled and continued, "According to the records I read, the last Wipe outside Arsnova happened twenty years ago. At that time, there was no sign of goblins. However, records from fifty years ago do mention a goblin horde that once ruled over a vast territory, part of which later became known as Bantaro Farm."
