Together with the two adventurers that invited Christa to join them, they went to the marketplace to buy food and water as part of the quest they took. It didn't take long before they finished buying anything they could buy. Of course, Christa's money was used for the expenses.
"Whew, I almost forgot about this."
"Geez, what would happen to you if I'm not with you?"
The man and the girl spoke. Meanwhile, Christa's brows furrow at the pouch containing the gold Angelika gave her as it suffered a great loss.
'Aren't I supposed to be the one getting something from a quest rather than giving mine?'
"Sorry, we didn't have much money on us, but I'm sure the village will pay you back for everything."
'They better be.'
They then immediately went to the remote village that sent the request. It didn't take long before they arrived at the village. However...
"Is this the village?"
"It's too quiet, I don't see anyone. It's like a ghost town."
Christa quietly looks around the village, but all she could see were houses that seemed to be completely shut, rice farms and other planting lands in which seemed to be barricaded by bamboo woods and barbed wire all around but have nothing except for dirt and wild grass. There's also no sign of people talking or walking around at all. Not even animals could be seen in the vicinity. But what's more noticeable is that unlike the lands that surrounded the village, the land from the entire village have completely dried out. Even cracks can be seen from the dried dirt, especially the farmlands. It's as if the village are experiencing a drought. A drought that only the village is being affected.
"Hey, are you sure this is the village that sent this request?"
"It is. They're all just hiding."
Christa's keen eyes noticed a person peeking at the window at one of the houses. When she did and stared back, the person immediately closed the window. Then, she spoke in a loud voice.
"We are adventurers! We are here because of a quest we accepted from the Kingdom! We've also brought a lot of food and water, so come on out!"
A few moments after, one by one, people have begun peeking from the windows, doors, and from the corners of the houses.
"Adventurers?"
"Someone finally took the Chief's request once again!"
"We're saved!"
"Food! Yay!"
'It doesn't look like I'm getting paid in full here.'
Christa spoke inside her head as she saw some of the villagers with the same, horribly pale and skinny look - Their face is completely sunken as the whole part of their body almost looked like a skeleton, if not for their pale skin covering them. Right after that moment, an old man walking with a cane came closer to Christa and the others - It was the chief of the village.
"Chief, why did you come here? You should've just waited for us to take them to your house."
A man talked as he came closer to the Chief to help him walk.
"I'm fine. As a Village Chief, I should personally welcome them to our village."
The Village Chief stopped walking at an accepted distance to talk with Christa and others. There, just like what he said to the man helping him, the Chief personally welcomed them to their village.
"Welcome young adventurers to our Village, Karna. I am the Village Chief, Farlan. I thank you in advance for taking our request."
"We are adventurers, taking requests and completing it is our job. Also, please take this food and water that we've brought as part of the quest."
The man who invited Christa to join their party responded to the Chief in a calm manner.
"Thank you for buying everything for us, we will pay for everything and the quest once it is done."
The chief spoke before calling some men to distribute the food and water to the villagers.
"We'd like to get more information about the quest."
"Then, please follow me to my house and we'll discuss the issue there."
Following Farlan, soon, they arrived at the Chief's home. The Chief's home is just like any other ordinary houses - Dining and living room, pieces of furniture, and other things you could see in a normal house.
Farlan then invited them inside and have them a seat on the couch, After that, He ordered someone, probably one of his family members to make tea.
"Our home is not that much decent, but I hope you young adventurers feel at home."
"Of course we do, thank you, Mister Farlan. Also, I apologize for not introducing ourselves earlier. I am Itsuo, this girl is Selene. And this one is..."
"Christa."
Christa spoke for Itsuo.
"I see. Then, let's go straight to the point..."
Just like Farlan had said, He began to share more information about the goblins. He began with the story of everything that has happened since then.
"Our farm is abundant in rice plants, fruits, and other kinds of vegetables that we sell to the city. Every time that the month of harvesting comes, our people would always come back with pockets full of money after selling out our rice and such. As such, it is our source of income to buy everything we need in the village. However, one day..."
Farlan continued and told them how they first encountered the goblins.
It was another day before harvesting the farms that they have as the primary source of their income. As a usual routine, one of the men from the village is eagerly walking and watching the farmlands full of plants such as rice that are ready to be harvested tomorrow morning. It was then when he saw marks from the ground that seemed to be footprints. Because goblins have the same foot shape as humans, and their size is almost similar to a kid, the man thought it was just a group of kids playing around the farmlands on their feet and so he ignored it and continued on his way. Then, on the day of harvesting...
"What? The plants that are about to be harvested have completely disappeared?"
Selene spoke in a shocked tone as the tea finally arrived, distributing to the three adventurers and the chief.
"Yes. Not even a single trace of our crops can be seen from the farmlands. At first, we thought it was just thieves stealing our planted rice and vegetables so we made a barricade."
"I see. So that's why those farmlands are full of barb wires and bamboo woods."
Christa responded to Farlan.
Another Harvesting had come, however, just like what happened back then, the plants cannot be seen anywhere yet again. But, there's no sign of the barricade being broken or torn apart from all point. That's where they become determined to find the cause of the abnormal phenomenon. A group of men has scattered and scouted the whole area as their first move for solving the problem, it was then they found the footprints all around the area as if someone who left it was circling around for whatever reasons.
After finding these many footprints on the ground, they decided to follow the tracks. The group of men continued to track down the source of these footprints that extend to the river near a mountain, which is not far from the village. As they reached the end of the trail, they find themselves standing in front of a cave. But what took their attention was the skull totem standing right on the left side of the cave. The moment they saw it, they knew they were standing on someone's territory, a territory that is obviously not from a human but from a monster. To be precise, a goblin territory.
"It was then we decided to make a request for adventurers to destroy the nest. But, the first adventurer that took our request, the person who went inside the cave to destroy it was never seen again."
"So that means that the person died in that cave."
Christa replied as she sips the tea on her cup.
'It's good.'
"Most likely. Ever since then, something worse has started happening."
"Something worse?"
Ever since the adventurer who accepted the request to destroy the nest and entered the cave alone, things have become worse than just stealing their livelihood - Crops that were just recently planted have died the day after they were planted, The lands that are in the village's territory have begun to dry out, the usual number of rains that occur in the rainy season have decreased. It was more accurate to say that there isn't a single rain occurred for the rest of the season, not even a drop of water. Even the river channeling near the village did not escape the drought.
"Then, have you guys thought of leaving the village?"
"We did, some tried, but the goblins knew a lot of people would do that."
As Farlan said, the goblins knew that some would decide to leave the village instead of trying to save it. And so, the ones who tried for an escape, the ones who thought to leave the village was a wise choice have ended up losing their lives. It's like the goblins were angered by sending an adventurer to kill them. And so, like a curse, the farmlands have dried out, the crops couldn't survive the entire day after planting, the rain that gives them water for the plants have disappeared. What's more, ever since the first time that a family tried to escape and ended up getting killed, every night, anyone who would ignorantly wander around would either be kidnapped or killed. It's like a village that has farms as their livelihood had become crops themselves for the new farmers to harvest, the goblins. For that reason, the villagers have locked themselves inside their homes for the past couple weeks.
"I see. So it all started after stealing all the vegetables and the rice plants, then they began to curse the lands and began kidnapping and killing the people who tried to escape and the ones who ignorantly walking around the village."
"Yes."
"You said that the goblins would kill the ones who tried to escape the village. Then, how did you manage to send a request to the Adventurers' Guild in the city?"
Selene asked the question that Christa also wanted to be answered. Of course, Farlan answered and said that for whatever reason, the goblins that would always wait for the villagers, packed with their things as they tried to go away from the village, have suddenly decided to just not show up, giving the villagers the chance to go to the nearest kingdom, Reilaea to deliver a request to the Adventurers' Guild.
"They let the people who are trying to make a request from the Adventurers' Guild in the Capital go? Isn't that strange?"
Itsuo spoke as the goblins' sudden disappearance made him feel intrigued.
"Yes, if you think about it, goblins aren't that smart even if their being led by a shaman. The goblins mostly fed on humans, but a small group of goblins will not be able to attack a city, however, a village is the complete opposite."
"You're right, if they ever try to attack a city full of guards and adventurers, they'd end up being slaughtered on the spot. But to think that a mere goblin would think about it..."
Farlan replied to Christa as all of them inside his house continued to listen to her.
"Knowing that a village inhabits only a small portion of what a city can have, they know that soon, a village would run out of people, a source of food for the goblins. That's why they let the villagers make a request to the guild so that adventurers would come one after another. Food from the city that will continue to come to the village to feed the goblins."
A brief of silence occurred as everyone seemed to be surprised about what Christa is trying to say. Christa was right, goblins aren't really that smart. Goblins only know but to kill, eat, and play the things they took from humans. However, for a goblin to make a plan in such a way to have food that is almost not going to run out, it only means that a goblin had developed a keen intellect to make such plans. But what's more terrible than a smart goblin is what Christa told to everyone.
"Knowing that goblins are becoming smarter is not the real problem. Goblins breed just by feeding on human flesh, and when they do, they give birth to a lot of goblins. And with enough humans to eat, they can multiply in such a rate that they can outnumber the village's populace in only a few days. With everything that Mister Farlan had said, there's only one thing I could think of."
"Don't tell me..."
"Yes. They are trying to multiply as an army and plan an invasion."