The Ruin Raiding Goblins
After flying for a while, Kathe said,
“I can see it now . ”
“It’s very quick when you fly . ”
“Of course it is!”
It really felt like we had barely been flying at all .
But it would have been over an hour on foot .
Dragons were very fast .
Kathe landed lightly on the ground .
And so we got off of the dragon’s back and onto the ground as well .
“It is over there . ”
“Where?”
Kathe stood behind me but our faces were now aligned .
They were aligned, but the dragon’s head was about as tall as I was .
So Kathe’s jaw was touching the ground .
I suppose it was so our eyes would be level .
“Can you see it, Locke? There is a cave over there . ”
“Hmm . I can see it . So that’s the ruin that is overrun by goblins?”
“That is right . These goblins are so bold!”
Kathe was breathing hoarsely .
And since we were very close, it was very loud .
When I inspected the entrance to the ruins, I could see that there were two goblins .
“Yes, there are goblins . ”
“See? I thought they were goblins as well . But I wanted to make sure that they weren’t actually humans . ”
Kathe was not confident on this issue of telling us apart .
After all, Kathe had mistaken us for goblins the last time .
“So that’s why you called me?”
“Yes, that is why . ”
Kathe said smugly .
“I came here because the intruder detection spell was triggered . And then I saw these goblin-like creatures and was about to burn them away…”
“But then you remembered our promise?”
“Exactly! Exactly right . ”
“Thank you for keeping it . ”
“Gahahahaha! I happen to have a strong sense of duty!”
I called over Nia and Grulf .
Grulf had calmed down considerably . But he was still shaking .
“Grulf, are you alright?”
“Grr . ”
Still, there was little cheerfulness in his voice .
But he was still a pup, after all .
“Nia . Can you see it?”
“Yes . I can see . There are two goblins . ”
Nia was calm now .
She wasn’t shaking or clamping her tail between her legs .
Perhaps riding the dragon had helped her become accustomed to it .
It was only a moment ago that she had been on top of the gigantic Kathe while also being up high and moving at a great speed .
So being on the ground again was nothing .
“Nia . How many goblins do you think are in that ruin?”
“Let me see…”
Nia began to think hard .
I decided to quietly wait until she was finished .
Kathe looked on as if this was most amusing .
“It’s too far to say for sure…but I can see two watchers . ”
“And?”
“The fact that there are watchers suggests there might be a leader, such as a hob goblin or goblin magician…”
“Hmmm . ”
I told her to continue .
“I think there might be ten or twenty inside . ”
“Wonderful . ”
“Th-thank you . ”
Nia’s tail wagged slowly .
“Of course, it’s possible that there are less than five in all or that the two guards are the only ones . ”
“Yes . ”
“However, that is just an optimistic guess . As an Adventurer, its best to expect the worst . ”
I said admiringly and patted her on the head .
Kathe watched this exchange with a curious expression .
“You humans do think about a lot of things . ”
“Humans are much weaker than dragons . We have to think or we will die easily . ”
“Gahahahaha! But you are stronger than me, Locke . ”
Kathe was in a good mood . A sharp contrast to Grulf, who was still hiding behind me .
“Well, now that we know they are goblins, let us burn them out . ”
“Wait a second . ”
“Hm? Is there something else?”
“There is still a possibility of humans being inside . ”
“Hm? You mean humans who are in league with the goblins?”
“No, I mean humans that were captured by the goblins . ”
“I did not know that such things happened . ”
Goblins ate people .
And so the chance of there being living captives was quite low .
“I’ll go and explore the ruins with Nia and Grulf…”
“Huh?”
Nia looked surprised .
“Oh? If you don’t want to, you could stay outside with Kathe?”
“No, I was just surprised . I will definitely go with you . ”
“I see . ”
“I would like to go too . ”
“Hmm . You’re too big, Kathe . ”
“But it is a dragon ruin, so it is big inside, you know?”
“That’s true… But I want you to wait by the entrance and kill any goblins that try to escape . ”
“I see . That is an important job, yes . ”
Kathe was satisfied by this .
“What about you, Grulf? Do you want to wait outside?”
“Grr-grrr . ”
Grulf growled weakly . Then he lifted both paws towards my hand .
He would rather hunt goblins then stay with Kathe .
“Alright . Let’s go then . ”
And so I told Nia and Grulf what we would do .
We wouldn’t be able to talk once we got close, so we needed to prepare in advance .
After that, we approached the ruins . Nia and I would kill a goblin each .
It was important that we did not let them scream while we did it .
When that was finished, we would go inside of the ruins, and Nia and Grulf would follow after me .
This would be good stealth training for Nia .
Even for a Warrior, stealth training was important in becoming a first-rate Adventurer .
It would be completely ridiculous if you couldn’t even hide from mere goblins .
I had told her that before we began .
And so she quietly approached and jumped at the goblin at the perfect distance . And then she thrust her sword into its neck .
I killed my own goblin at the same time .
I nodded approvingly to her and then we stepped foot into the ruins .