"An army of goblins..."
A revelation of a possible threat not just for the village but also to other places where people reside if not given action. Christa then asked Farlan.
"Farlan, how many villagers and adventurers did you think have fallen victim to the goblins?"
"Roughly less than thirty-five people in our village and adventurers have become food for the goblins combined."
"Let's see... If we assume a single person is an equivalent of eight to ten goblins, right now, there should be roughly three hundred goblins living in their nest."
And so Christa had said. With those calculations, they have determined that the number of goblins is in three hundred or so. If one would say, they are lucky that the goblins are only that many, even so, they are not sure if their calculations are right. So no one could say how big the number of goblins actually is now.
"Even if what we're dealing with is just goblins, a huge number of them would be troublesome for us Silver ranked adventurers, there's no way we could handle a horde of goblins all at once."
With what Itsuo told everyone, Selene suggested to call other adventurers for help, however, Farlan immediately objected her idea. With the quest already been given to the adventurers guild, if one takes such quests and did not return for a required day, they will be recorded as someone who aborted the quest, a missing person, or they are considered dead and the quest will be available for people who are unfortunate enough to take it. For that reason, the goblins have no need to let the villagers and the adventurers they imprisoned inside the village go anymore.
"So goblins will be waiting for us if we ever try to get out of the village, huh?"
"Then, what do we do?"
Itsuo began to think, but all he could come up with is to bust through the goblins. But because he doesn't know how many of them are actually waiting outside, there's no telling if they can get past the goblins. Then...
"If I know we would be facing a huge number of goblins, I should've invited more people to join us."
Listening to this, Farlan humbly apologized and bowed his head to all three of them for dragging them in their situation right now. But, it's not his fault or the villagers to make the adventurers come to Karna, it's an adventurers' nature to take quests in the quest board that is allowed to their rank. Right now, what's inside Itsuo's mind is nothing but how to get out of the village with his party members, especially Selene.
"Buying that medicine for my mother is important, but I can't risk Selene's... My party members' life on a quest we can't accomplish with only three of us."
"Medicine for your mother?"
Christa spoke in a curious tone. It was then Selene told her that Itsuo's mother was suffering from an illness and needs some kind of medicine to drink immediately. But, the medicine was too expensive for them, and so they took the quest with the reward that is more than the price of the medicine itself. However, they didn't know that they'd be facing goblins that are huge in numbers and is possibly multiplying as they speak. It was then when Christa thought...
"I see. With this, I don't have to worry about going and burning all of them."
"Miss Christa...?"
An idea came up to Christa as she walked closer towards Selene and Itsuo. Then...
"Itsuo, Selene, I can give you two options. First, I can help you both get out of the village safely, but I'll take the quest myself and get all the reward and credit for it. Second, you both can come with me and destroy the nest and you'll get all the reward money you need to buy the medicine for your mother. However, I'll take all the credit for killing the goblins."
A sudden two options were given to Itsuo and Selene. If one would say, picking one of those would benefit them both. If they get out of the village, they can just get another quest and an easier one to get money, or they could come with Christa to destroy the nest and get all the reward money they need to buy for his mother's medicine. In reality, Christa can just go out of that village or she could just go and do the quest alone. However, there are a few reasons why Christa couldn't go alone if she wants to.
One is, she is invited from a party, she didn't create them, so unless they are disbanded or she quit from the quest, the party leader is the only one who has the right to make decisions for the party if they will continue the quest or not. Second is if one decided to go along with or without the leader's order, if one managed to complete the quest, she will still be forced to share the reward and credit for the party members and the leader. That is the rules for being in a party.
Christa is a Silver ranked Adventurer in her first division, if she takes the credit of destroying a nest of goblins and killing roughly three hundred of them, she will definitely go to Gold rank. And so when Selene told the situation Itsuo's in, Christa found herself an opportunity to make a negotiation, a negotiation in which will help her climb to the Gold rank. But it all depends on Itsuo's decision who is about to tell Christa his answer after thinking her offer through.
"That offer is really tempting considering that we might not survive this one, Christa. Let me just ask one thing."
"What is it?"
"If Selene and I join you, do you think we can do it? No, how are you certain that we can finish the quest."
"We can."
Christa answered without any trace of uncertainty with her words.
"We can, I can. I can do it alone, but since I'm in your party, and you seemed to have something important that you need to get, I'll let you come along with me and I'll be fine with just the credits and the money that I spent for the villagers' food."
"Itsuo, no matter what your choice is, I will still be beside you."
Itsuo continues to be quiet as he averts his gaze on Selene and he turns into Christa's eyes. He continues to look at her consciously, trying to see if she was bluffing her words or if really she has a plan on how to deal with goblins' numbers. However, Christa's look and her attitude did not change from when she answered his question a few moments ago. And so, he closed his eyes and sighed.
"I can't really tell if you're just bluffing your words or you just want to put your life in danger. You seemed to be confident about your abilities yourself, but sorry, I can't take your offer."
...
"Instead, I'll go with you and destroy the nest as the party leader. I chose to become an adventurer, it'd hurt me as a party leader if I don't risk my life while my members do."
While Selene seemed to look proud for what he said, Christa was not convinced to Itsuo's answer, if he decided to pick one of the two options Christa gave him, they would both benefit from his choice. But most importantly, Christa's promotion to Gold rank will be certain, and so she asked him once again.
"Are you sure? Don't you want to buy the medicine for your mother? Don't you want to reassure that you and Selene will get out of here safe?"
"Yeah, I'll make sure that both of us will get out of here and get another quest."
Despite being dissatisfied with Itsuo's answer, Christa did not persuade him any further. And thus, she will not be able to get to the Gold rank she anticipated to get really quick. After everything is settled, the three of them went out of Farlan's house as Farlan and the man who helped him earlier followed them.
'Ah... I was hoping I'd get to climb the ranks after this quest is over, but Itsuo declined my negotiation. What a waste, but it can't be helped, I'll just move on and get another quest right after this one.'
She muttered inside her head and sighed. Walking between her side, Itsuo and Selene talked and asked her.
"Christa, about your plan on how to deal with the goblins, can you tell us what you're going to do?"
"We will help you with everything that we can."
It was then when it hit Christa, she doesn't have any crazy plan like what a strategist would come up with if one needed it. However, she got an idea that one would probably think it was a simple and head-on idea.
"I don't have a plan..."
Christa had stopped walking.
"But I know one thing that I need to do..."
She closed her eyes as she spoke. Then suddenly, she opened her eye once again as if she sent some kind signal that echoed through the village and the surroundings, although Itsuo, as well as Selene and Farlan did not see it with their naked eyes. A few seconds after, a huge number of goblins could be heard running and screaming on top of their lungs towards Christa.
"Goblins?!"
Itsuo hurriedly ordered Farlan and the man to hide in his house. And right after that moment...
"Christa, look out...!"
When Selene and Itsuo turned their gaze towards Christa, the goblins that were supposed to attack her furiously, every single one of them has suddenly been set ablaze. One after another, the goblins fell on the ground as they burn to their death.
"Kill every single goblin... that's my idea."