Farming For Danger

Gwen’s stomach twisted into knots at the gruesome sight before her. Body parts were scattered across the farm like discarded toys. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it; the metallic smell of blood mixed with the sting of burnt air assaulted her nose.

She looked down at Kira, whose small body was shaking. The girl’s skin had taken on a slight green hue before she bent over and vomited into the dirt. Gwen gently rubbed her back, doing her best to comfort the young girl while keeping herself composed.

This quest was only a day old, Gwen thought, confusion gnawing at her. No way there would’ve been this much damage done in such a short time.

Either the client had purposely hidden the information to secure a cheaper job rating- a common, if unethical, practice- or the guild had recorded the request incorrectly.

Gwen shook her head. Neither option felt right, especially since the request mentioned only five goblins.

Finally, Kira stood up, breathing heavily. She wiped her mouth with the bottom of her shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize… I am slightly disturbed by the sight myself.” Gwen replied, taking a small step back to avoid the smell. “If you’d like, we could head by to the capital.”

Kira immediately shook her head. “I refuse to be the reason we fail our first mission as a team! Besides, what if there are more goblins than the job stated? I don’t want them to continue growing in numbers and attacking other places as well.”

Gwen bit her lip, weighing her options.

If there were only a few monsters, she could handle them. But a horde…that would be difficult. Especially if hobgoblins or goblin lords were involved. She leaned towards returning to the guild to report the situation when she caught the determination in Kira’s eyes.

Before she could voice her decision, the bushes to their left rustled.

Five goblins stepped out, their crude weapons dripping with fresh blood.

Kira gasped, and the monsters immediately turned toward the sound.

Gwen reacted on instinct. She shoved Kira behind her and raised her staff, blocking an overhead slash just in time. The impact rattled her arms, but she pushed upward before driving her foot into the goblin’s chest, knocking it backward and creating some space.

She thrust her arm forward. A spear of flame shot from her staff, piercing the lead goblin and the two flanking it. They collapsed into a pile of ash.

The remaining two goblins snarled and charged.

Stupid!

She fired two more bolts of fire, burning them before they could close the distance. Small light purple stones rested atop the ash piles, sparkling in the sunlight.

Gwen glanced at the look, then quickly turned to Kira. “Are you okay?

Kira stood frozen, her eyes darting between Gwen and the smoking remains. H-how the hell did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You blocked that sword like it was nothing, then killed five goblins in seconds. You turned them into ash!”

Gwen tilted her head. “I don’t think it’s that impressive; I just used a normal fire spell.”

“No way!” Kira insisted, moving her hands around animatedly. “A fireball usually doesn’t turn monsters into ash! Who the hell are you really?”

“Demanding answers from your employer instead of doing your job?” Gwen growled, letting a fraction of her magic leak into the air. “ I suppose peasants are just so bold these days. Perhaps I should find a new porter, one that isn’t so rude.”

Kira shuddered and quickly bowed her head. “No! My apologies, Lady Vanderick. I’ll go collect the magic stones, and any weapons worth taking.”

Gwen watched Kira carefully sort through each ash pile. She let out a breath she didn't realize she’d been holding and turned, walking toward the destroyed farm.

I can’t believe that worked… Man, it is hard pretending to be a noble.

She approached the dead animals, examining them very closely. Aside from the bite marks, she found nothing notable on the bodies.

Shifting her attention to the ground, Gwen spotted tracks leading to the area where Kira had been standing. Presumably, those belonged to the goblins she had just killed; the number of footsteps matched the count.

The second trail she picked up had many different footsteps, seemingly all leading off to the east. I wonder if they were going to a base or something?

“G-err, Lady Vanderick,” Kira said behind her.

“Just call me Gwen.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Did you finish collecting everything?”

“Yes, we got a total of three mana cores, and two decent iron swords we can sell.”

Gwen turned toward her. That’s good, though I’ve been wondering. For your training, did it also include tracking footsteps?”

“Hmm, it did, though I wasn’t the best at tracking footsteps; I can identify most of them.” She admitted.

“Hmm, do you mind looking at the ground? I can tell these are goblin tracks, but the small ones are tripping me up.”

“Okay, one second, boss!” Kira dropped to the ground next to her, immediately getting to work.

She began studying the tracks closely, then pulled out a clipboard and began drawing the shape and size. Gwen found it odd when Kira then checked her own boots before comparing them to the drawing.

This went on for a few minutes, and Kira’s lips turned downward in a frown.

“Gwen… can you pull out the job request and double-check the information on it?”

Gwen raised an eyebrow but did as she asked, pulling out the request sheet. She quickly read through it but didn’t see anything different. The paper read:

Subjugation Requested

Farmer looking for adventurers to kill five goblins that have been harassing the farm, ripping up crops.

The farm is located outside the village of Raom, an hour away from the capital.

The reward is two silvers upon completion.

Nothing stuck out to her on the first read, but she went through it again, realizing the number of goblins was supposed to be only five. If there are only supposed to be five, then why are there tracks showing around twenty more?

Gwen's gaze snapped toward Kira. “Those five that we killed, I don’t think had to do with this farm being destroyed.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. I also noticed the smaller footsteps resembled a human foot, or at least a humanoid monster.” Kira replied, face serious.

“Could something be leading a horde of goblins then?”

“Possibly, but that’s very rare. Hobgoblins are uncommon, almost rare these days. Even then, the feet would be bigger than the ones shown.”

“I see…” Gwen trailed off, her head tilting in the direction the tracks led. “Do you know where the village is from here?”

“Roughly ten minutes walk west… in the same direction of the tracks!”

“That was my thinking too…I do hope I am wrong.”

Kira’s cat ears flopped downward. “We have to go help them!”

“Then let’s go; just make sure to be looking out for any danger, and stay behind me!” Gwen ordered before rushing off. Kira was hot on her heels.

They followed the tracks closely until the blood marks disappeared, but by then the village was easily seen in the distance. A few buildings were on fire; people were running around screaming as goblins systematically killed people.

“Arughu!” A goblin warrior shouted, dressed in iron, pumping its fist into the air. It launched itself at a screaming man, tearing the man’s throat.

Gwen’s stomach dropped at the sight of the creature’s attack, and she hurried up her pace. Entering the village through the gate, she raised her staff and fired off multiple arrows, striking the first three goblins.

Wiping the sweat off her brow, she glanced in front of her in determination, as the remaining goblins stopped chasing the villagers. They turned to her with anger in their eyes.

Behind the group was a goblin similar to the giant one she had killed in the dungeon. In its hand was a giant club with spikes on the end.