Killing the rest of the Goblins was an easy objective to cross off the list. Like the rest, the tip of the arrow was able to easily sink into their flesh and pierce their hearts. Waves of doubt came at me each time I ended the life of each and every Goblin individually. I wondered if the following event after killing one of them would be another waking up and sounding an alarm of some kind to alert the remaining Goblins. With my current setup of weapons and skills, I could kill all of them without much trouble, but the idea of a few getting to the cage to slaughter the prisoners was beaten into my consciousness that I couldn't help but be extra careful with how I handled everything.
A much larger tent was in the very back of the camp, one that was unlike the others.
It was big enough to easily fit a few humans inside. It probably acted as a makeshift sickbay for when the Goblins get injured or sick. After killing the last few Goblins, I did not immediately go back to the cage. I had to check if this was a sick bay. It had the look and feel of it, but the curiosity was getting to me.
Lifting the sheets away as I walked in, my assumption was immediately proved wrong. This was no sickbay. It was someone's living quarters. There was a bed with many layers of sheets on top of it in the far corner. A desk made out of boards was at the other corner. Back to those sheets, they were laid out to fit more than two people on top of it.
This was a Hobgoblin tent.
But, I didn't see one when I was observing the camp before coming in. This made me anxious.
What if there was a Hobgoblin? One that hadn't bothered to return after a while? I had to get the prisoners out and out of sight before it came back.
I doubted that it died while out of the camp. If it was anything like the last one that I saw, then it's probably alive and making its way back.
But, I had to see what else was inside of the tent.
The desk was only used to display monster parts that it took from the things that it killed. They were things like a Spider's Fang, Centipede Mandibles, Orc Horn, and even a Human Skull. These pieces seemed pretty valuable. When I held onto the Mandibles, the status screen appeared and told me the name and rank of the item. It was at rank C. The Spider's Fang was rank D. I was not going to touch the skull that belonged to the same species as me, so I picked up the horn. To my surprise, it was rank B+.
Wait, what's with the plus sign beside it? Could Ranks have better or worse versions of themselves?
If that's the case, then the quality of this particular horn is better than a standard B Rank horn, and obviously far better than a B- Ranked horn.
I decided to store all but the Human Skull into my bag. These materials could be put to good use. Also, it seemed that large monsters did exist since the mandibles and fang were probably ten times larger than normal.
Between both the bed and desk, there was a chest on the back wall of the tent.
Now this is new.
The chest was wooden, and held together with iron strips bolted onto it. There was no lock on it. The latch was already up, practically begging me to open the chest to see what was within.
I walked and slowly opened the chest. It must have been holding something large since the top of it met my waist.
Something must have been caught on the lid of the chest as I saw it move while I lifted the top of it.
As I completely opened the chest, I stared at the thing I've been wanting for so long.
[ ITEM: STEEL LONGSWORD ]
[ RARITY: C+ ]
↳ +90 ATK
↳ "Forged by an Expert Blacksmith, this sword has brought victory for skilled adventurers time and time again."
Hell yeah!
Finally, I got a new sword!
The attack value was definitely higher than what I expected. It must be because of the rank being C+ rather than C. The Hobgoblin must have found the weapon on some adventurer after killing them. It made me curious as to why it wasn't taken with him. Could he have something better than this at his disposal?
Hmm. . .
I had to think long and hard on my next move. I could take the time to make sure all the prisoners are out and safe before helping them leave the camp, or wait until the Hobgoblin comes back to attack.
I turned back over to the bed, and saw something in the corner.
A wooden barrel.
I made my way toward it and popped off the lid.
Immediately after opening it, I could see my own reflection. Could this be water!?
After not seeing it for so long, my body reacted by sticking my head into it and drinking it without hesitation. After so long I can hydrate myself.
Though, I had to stop myself right after. This shouldn't be for me to have. The elves definitely need it more than me by a long shot. They suffered more than I have and then some. I put the lid back on and picked up the barrel. My strength stat helped a whole lot with lifting it out of the tent and toward the elves.
With all the Goblins dead, I didn't need to sneak around.
I opened the cage. They slowly came out one by one and sat down on the ground in front of me. There were probably ten elves in that cage. All of them looked up at me with the Elder in front. He looked up at me and said, "Who are you, young man?" His voice was hoarse. He was clearly struggling to make the words come out.
"Soma Kai."
"My name is Ardren. Back in our village, I was their elder. I tried my best to help stop the Goblins from taking my people."
"How long has it been since you've arrived at this camp?"
"Three months, give or take."
"I see."
I lifted the lid to the barrel.
"You guys are free now. Take a drink from the water in this barrel. I'll be your protector for a little while. That is until you guys get your strength back and we can get out of this place to see the outside again."
One female elf stood up with her hands held together and she asked, "What about the Hobgoblin? He should be here any second."
I knew it.
If I want to see these people live any longer, I'll have to take care of the Hobgoblin.
"Easy. I'll kill it." I paused, seeing some of the younglings walk over to the barrel to take a drink from the water.
"When it comes back, you all need to hide in the large tent. I will be out here. Do not even try peeking to see what it is going on. I don't want to worry about you guys while I'm fighting. Once it is killed, I will come back to give you guys the signal to come out."
One of the other elves stood up. It was a young man with a stern face.
"You'd fight it alone? Do you want to die?" He asked.
"Do you have anyone who can fight or at least give me some support?"
The elder spoke up. "We have a few elves gifted in healing magic."
"Would they be able to help in their current condition?"
I looked at them all, some turned their heads away from me. I sighed. None of them seemed to be in the proper state to try casting spells with how they were being treated. That was when another female stood up.
She seemed younger than the rest, maybe a year or two than me. As soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew it was the same girl that I first locked eyes with from earlier. She had bright blonde hair, practically on the verge of being golden and her eyes were light blue. Those eyes were filled with determination, something I haven't seen in the others since I first looked into theirs. What makes her so different from the rest, I wonder?
"I'll fight with you. Give me a weapon and I will do anything to get rid of the bastard that took away my family."
"The Hobgoblin killed them, I'm guessing?" I had no business of asking, but I wanted to see if she had the will to tell me.
She looked down at the ground, her eyes told me that she'd rather not say. But, she immediately stared back at me. "My mom was raped and killed by the Hobgoblin and his group of Goblins he brought with him. My father was then tortured before killing him."
Quite the tragic backstory.
"Once you're at full strength, then stand with me when it's time to kill the Hobgoblin. You can have my bow and my arrows if you're okay with that."
She nodded with a smirk that slowly tugged on her lips.
"That's the exact kind of weapon I'm used to."
I couldn't help but smile. I took my wooden sword and dropped it to the ground, then tossed her my bow. She caught it and the arrows.
"Good. Make sure you keep that memory in your heart while fighting. Think of it as your reason for fighting. But don't let the anger that's behind it get in your way." Heh, I sound like some tutor, don't I? I just went with what needed to be said. If I didn't, then I'd just be worried about her the whole fight.
She nodded after what I said. Then, she walked over to me and took a drink from the barrel.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's Alyssia. Alyssia Ardren." She responded. After that swig of water, her back became more straight with her face being filled with life. It seemed that just a little bit of water brought a bit of their strength back when they drank it.
So, she must be the elder's granddaughter. I spoke with him after she walked away to sit down to see if he was fine with her fighting the Hobgoblin. Despite all the odds he knew would be stacked against us, he allowed it. Alyssia seemed to be a very hot-headed type of person back in their village, even when she was young. So, he learned to not try and stop her from doing what she felt was right. He understood her pain since it meant that he lost his daughter and son-in-law. He wasn't as young as he once was, so he couldn't carry out the wish of avenging them. Alyssia took that burden for him.
I led them to the tent, and the adults sat on the floor and allowed the children to lay down on the bed. I brought the barrel back into the tent so that the elves could still drink from it. Alyssia and I stood at the entrance and waited until we heard the gates open.
The two of us discussed our future plans after killing the Hobgoblin.
I told her that my only plan was to bring everyone at full strength before setting out to leave the prison. No one was in the right condition. They were barely able to walk more than ten feet. After getting everyone outside, I wanted to stay with them to make sure they had someone to help them out. I had to make sure that they had some place to live as well. I admitted that I didn't know how long I'll be with them, actually. Though I assured her that I'd be with them for as long as I needed to.
Coincidently, she had the same idea as me. This took me by surprise. But she had something else in mind after that.
"I want to see the world. More than just a forest and some rundown prison. If you're going to leave and set out for everything the world throws at you, then. . ." She paused. Her cheeks turned a little pink before continuing to say, "I want to go with you."
. . . What? Did I hear that right? She wanted to go adventuring with me when I was done helping everyone here? That made my freeze a little bit before I brought myself back to reality.
"You really want to see the world with me of all people?" I asked and, without a moment to hesitate, she nodded.
"Yes." She responded.
I really had nothing else to say. It was so sudden. We've known each other for only a few minutes at most and we don't even know if the both of us will survive the fight. But, despite all that she wanted to go on a big adventure to see the world with me.
I couldn't stop myself from smiling. I looked over to her and she did the same.
My fist was brought up and she jumped a bit after seeing it. "Uh, what are you doing?"
"It's something me and the humans call 'fist bumping'. It's not that hard. Here, give me your hand and make it a fist."
I took her wrist and brought her hand to mine, leaving a few inches of space between. She then made a fist, her face washed with confusion. "Now what?" The elf asked as I let go of her wrist.
"Well, now you and I bump fists. Not hard, but not too soft either."
As I said that, the two of us bumped our fists together in unison. After that, we brought our hands down to our sides and Alyssia had a big smile on her face when I looked over to her.
"It sounds stupid but. . . I like it." She said, looking over at me once again.
"Yeah. We know that. But it's a way of telling two people that they trust each other and they have a sort of companionship."
"What do you mean by 'companionship'?"
"Oh. I mean. . . if we're gonna be going and traveling the world, we gotta establish ourselves as companions, right?"
She got incredibly flustered. But, she shook it off after her eyes widened. "W-wait?" Did you just say. . ."
"Yep. Let's go see the world. It'll be fun, right?" I said with a smile.
The elf was unable to contain her excitement as she miled happily. Her arms went to wrap around me for a hug, but Alyssia stopped herself in her tracks and backed off. However, that smile on her face didn't seem to show any signs of going away anytime soon.