With the approval of the Female Knight, Theodora, they'd quickly made haste to package everyone that was unable to move into the carriages. With the dead bodies of their fallen comrades, they wrapped them quickly and then created a pyre for them.
It seems they did this so that they wouldn't be eaten by animals or monsters. The mages quickly set it alight. The pyres burn in a dazzling purple flame as we head away from the sight of the battle.
Too bad, I wanted to eat some of the goblin's corpse, but I didn't want to do it in front of these humans. I'd have drained the dead humans of their blood if I could have too. Ah, it was done now.
I wanted to cry a little, I might have been able to get something pretty good from those goblins and the human corpses. But if I'm to ruthless, I'm sure I'd fall out of favor with everyone here.
"Lady Hollis, I'm pleased that you decided to come along with us," Theodora says as she takes a seat across from me in one of the caravan cars.
Looking towards her, I narrowed my eyes slightly. I found that if I looked close enough at the people, I could see a health bar and a level above their head. It looks like these guys are NPC's, non-player characters. I'd also notice that I can see their level as well. Theodora was a relatively high leveled NPC. Her level was forty-five.
"I should thank you for giving me a lift," I say with a smile.
She gives me a nod and places her helmet down beside her. The feeling in the caravan changed as she looked at me all of a sudden with a tense look. Ah, did she have something that she wanted to tell me?
"I don't mean to trouble you. However, earlier you said that you're simply traveling to help out people, right?"
"Yes."
She takes a deep breath and I inwardly smile it seems like I had another quest. Let hope this one would give me a reward, although, I still had to look at the reward that I'd gotten from earlier task completion.
"I'd like to hire you, as an adventurer!" She says bowing her head.
Oh. That was unexpected, I didn't think that she'd flat outcome and ask me to work for her. I thought that she might try and guilt me into helping her. Or at least plea for some help, but it seems that she still had her pride and was a straightforward woman.
[Task: Accept the Quest by Theodora]
Cheap!
It wasn't even going to give me the option to decline the offer. What a pain! It could at least allow me some free will to choose to accept or not accept couldn't it?
Thankfully, it didn't say I have to take it immediately all that it said was that I had to accept the quest. I could at least hear her out and figure out just what she wanted from me. Also, it would be a good way to squeeze some information out about the goblins.
"Before, I give you an answer can you tell me more about the Goblins? It seems that there is an abnormal number of variants and rare classes in their forces," I say raising a hand.
She raises her head and clears her throat.
"It began a few months ago, we noticed an increase in their activity. Soon it was becoming unusual village after village was being devoured by this hoard of goblins that was rapidly starting to amass.
We decided to send out a scout to try and scope out their numbers. Along with the cause of the sudden increase in their numbers, but it didn't go as we expected! Our scouts…they… never returned," she grits her teeth and clenches her hand.
It seemed to be already too late for them by the time they noticed the changes.
"Afterwards, we sent another round of scouts and another, but each time none of them returned. We sent out the remaining scout that we had left, and only one of them managed to come back alive. Only to tell us of a great terror that was about to befall us, after saying their peace they passed into the Goddess embrace.
However, we've been preparing and waiting for the calamity that they said would befall us and nothing happens, it was almost as if it had all been a bad nightmare. The attacks began to stop, and the goblin threat slowly receded from our lands.
Yet, in the past week, the number of goblin's has increased, along with as you noted the variants. Mages, healers, and we fear even champions might appear from the goblin's ranks. The attacks have also begun to resume, and we've been evacuating the remaining villagers all into the city. In accordance with the scout final parting warning we've been preparing for a siege."
It would appear that they had started to prepare, but I don't think they've realized the gravity of their struggle. A champion is the least of their worry, it would seem that the birth of a Goblin King was probably the cause for such unrest.
There was no way with the counter being at ten thousand that it was anything less than a Goblin King!
"We're currently bringing back military supplies just for that. If it wasn't for your interference, we'd be dead from that ambush," she says with a grateful smile.
She hadn't told me the most important thing.
"This scout's final warning…could you tell me what he said in detail of what he'd seen?" I ask her.
The air in the carriage got denser at my question and the other that were sitting in the carriage all turn to look towards me. A mixture of emotions swirling in the depts of their eyes. It was as I was being stared down by a bunch of dead men and women.
"Miss you shouldn't ask, some things are left better unsaid," an older looking man that was also wearing a full set of armor warns. His grey hair was tied back into a braid and he held his sword between his hands as he cleaned it.
"Thank you for your concern, but my question was directed towards Lady Theodora," I tell him simply.
A look of displeasure at my words surface on his face. It seems like this old geezer didn't like my curt tongue. Well, that was the least of my problems at the moment.
Looking towards her, I find that her violet eyes are conflicted as she holds her fist tightly. It seems like she also didn't want to tell me. She doesn't answer me and just keeps her fist clenched.
Oh, well… I was prepared for the worst. If I agreed to her pleas of being a hired adventurer, maybe, she'd tell me then…
We'll let see if we could get her to agree to that term at least. Plus, it would seem that the trial of this stage was pushing me towards this city that was about to ransacked by the goblins. It was possible that I would have to save this city or something.
"Lady Theodora," she lifts her head. "I'd be willing to work for you, but I have conditions to my employment, if you're willing to listen to them, I'll tell you," I say trying to sound as polite as possible.
Her violet eyes light up as she looks at me with a bright smile.
"Yes! Of course, I'll listen to them," she says quickly.
"Good. First, I want you to explain what that scout saw to me. I want every detail nothing to be left out. Because I believe that we're facing a threat stronger than you can imagine.
Second, you're the one that is hiring me. Therefore, I don't take orders from anyone else. I'll listen to your commands; however, I also reserve the right to act on my intuition," I explain holding up two fingers.
Those aren't the worst terms, but that allows me some breathing room to do what's necessary. I wouldn't have someone lead me to my death, and I wouldn't have another boss me around.
"The first one is easy enough to comply with. However, I'm underneath my father and take orders from him so the s-"
"You can fulfill the second one with ease, as well. Even though you take commands from your father. I will only listen to you if you want me to do something directly the order to me. The freedom to act on my own is just so that I can adapt to the situation that's at hand," I tell her simply.
"I see. That does make sense, even if I'm under my father you'll only follow my orders. But that doesn't mean you'll go against my father's as long as a command comes from me," she says talking to herself.
"That's correct," I say with a grin.
Looks like she'll accept.
"These aren't too unreasonable. Very well then, I'll hire you," she smiles.
[Task Completed: Accept the Quest by Theodora]
Too bad, it looks like there isn't any reward for completing it.