The father and son duo continued to laugh and eat their meal as they talked. Some of the Goblins joined them at the table as they socialized.
"Say, how come your town here only has goblins and Ms. Dahlia here as residents?" Garett asked in between bites.
"Naturally it's because goblins like us are super strong!" Gobble said, emphasizing his muscles.
Gabbie promptly ignored him as she said "It's because our master has taken us in, other residents are welcome but as of now only the few of us have moved over here"
"Oh? Your master? Who's that?" Garett asked
"Adrian! The leader of this town. Oh speak of the devil! Here he is!" Gabbie said as Adrian walked into the inn.
Garett turned to look and saw a young man of around twenty years old. He had longer black hair that drifted a little into his eyes and a slightly lazy smile. Sword like eyebrows and piercing red eyes.
He walked with a presence and his eyes drifted about the room before stopping on Garett. "Hello! Welcome to Verdant Town. You sure are brave enough coming here into the Shadowed Timberland to visit!"
Garett was surprised because the mayor of the town was a lot more welcoming than he had initially thought. "Of course! Adventurer's never fear! Also it's no big deal as we are not entering very far into the forest. Your town is right on the edge"
"Good! What do you think so far of our reception?" Adrian asked as he pulled a seat over.
"Well I must say the food is absolutely fantastic" he nodded to Dahlia who smiled "The trip over is a bit tough, lugging back all of our loot will be a struggle but other than that it's great!"
Adrian thought for a moment as he said "This is indeed an issue. I will make sure to fix it." They continued to small talk for a bit before Adrian stood up and said "I will let you enjoy your meal then, I won't disturb you any longer".
Garett watched as he left and said to one of the goblins "He is indeed a nice young man"
They finished up their meal as Garett said "Does anyone want to come explore the dungeon with us? The more the merrier after all"
The goblins looked at one another before Gabbie raised her hand along with two others.
"Great! Let's head on over then. We should try to enter and get out before the sun sets. It's good that we will have a few veterans on our team" Garett said "Yep Yep! Veterans, almost as good as my dad for sure" Kidd was quick to agree.
The group of five headed over to the dungeon and entered inside. Adrian told the goblins to hide the fact they were dungeon monsters, so they would enter the dungeon with them to play the part. And when they fought inside the dungeon it was as if they were just sparring with any monsters they came across as they wouldn't seriously hurt each other.
They entered into the first room as Gabbie began to take lead explaining to Garett and Kidd about the dungeon. "This first room here is completely safe, nothing in here at all, we need to be careful when we get to the next room."
"This is called Little Garden, the plants inside..." Gabbie started to show the duo around as they attacked and killed a few violet bees that were flying towards them.
Garett himself was stronger than any of the bandits that had died inside of the dungeon previously and these small monsters were not difficult for him.
"What quest did you take?" Gabbie asked as she needed to choose what direction they needed to walk.
"I need to collect Giant Herculean Beetle shells." Garett said
"Okay we will need to head to the Hedge Maze then, that's where they spawn" Gabbie led the way through Little Garden dodging the more dangerous plants.
"Look son, you see that! That's how a veteran adventurer moves through a dungeon. Say, what rank of adventurer are you?" Garett asked the group.
"I am only E rank, the rest of them are unranked." Gabbie said a little embarrassed as she was just being praised for being a veteran adventurer.
"Bah, rank doesn't mean everything. Son never underestimate someone based on their rank or looks. Always make a firm judgment based on all assets of someone" Garett explained.
Kidd nodded as he started jotting notes in a notebook he pulled from what seemed to be thin air. He mumbled as he wrote "Goblins are strong creatures"
Garett paused as that's not what he said in the slightest but decided to keep going forward with the group. They periodically stopped to take the stingers out from the violet bees they killed as they were also items they could sell for some money.
Eventually they walked through a tunnel and stopped in front of a giant bush.
"Alright, touching the hedges is safe, but whatever you do. Do not harm them. If you do, hundreds of needles will shoot and turn you into a pin cushion!" Gabbie explained.
Kidd nodded as he wrote down "Don't be a pin cushion!"
Seeing that they understood Gabbie said "Alright let's go, the beetles will be throughout the maze. We need to wander around until we find them. Remember the exit is to the south. It never changes even though the maze moves!"
Garett stopped and said "It moves?"
"Of course. Don't get caught in the bushes while it is moving either. I don't know what will happen and I don't want to find out!" Gabbie said
They continued through the dungeon as they began to hunt the Giant Herculean Beetles for Garett's quest.