We found ourselves walking back the same way we came. The helpful guard told us that there had been many goblin sightings to the west of the town.
The greenskin hunt quest had a higher difficulty than the caravan escort quest, the latter being very easy, while the quest at hand was rated as easy. I don't know how the system rates quest, but if "very easy" is equals to no incidents, then "easy" must be very manageable.
Nevertheless, I made preparations.
My only cheat was gaining stat points every time my reputation increases which I was starting to feel was not as bad as I had previously thought. Without leveling up, I had garnered eight stat points, from completing the escort quest and from random good deeds.
I allocated five of them to my agility, to counter the nimbleness of the goblins. Then I added a point each on the remaining attributes, just so they wouldn't go too far behind. I just didn't think the other three attributes would be much of a factor in fighting something that without their speed, would only be dumb and fragile.
"It's not as easy as you think, newbie. They are reputed to be weak, but they could be unpredictable. A lot of decent fighters had lost their head, being too confident." Charlie had unleashed a relentless campaign of discouraging me since we left the vicinity of the wooden board.
"It is good then, that both of us are not 'too' confident." I replied, "In fact, I'll admit I am a bit nervous, though not as much as you, Charlie Chicken."
"Wha-... stop calling me that." Charlie was getting more irritated "We're simply walking into a nightmare."
I stopped. We have reached the western portion of the town. Right across the street was the merchant hall. "You don't have to go with me if you are so scared. I will do this alone."
"The captain will kill me if you get yourself killed." Charlie looked genuinely perplexed and for the first time, I was doubting that maybe his warning have merit.
"Think this through, newbie. Besides, they could be very elusive if they want to. They only come out if there's something to steal. They're not stupid enough to engage anyone that just wanders into the road."
There was that. I did not think about that part yet. In RPG games, there are dedicated regions for mobs, which you could just stroll into if you want to. That might not be the case, in this world.
I sighed. Charlie's face lightened. I was starting to change my mind, which must have shown in my facial expression.
"Charlie!" we heard someone shout from across the street. It was the merchant of the merchant hall. Behind him were what looked like newly arrived peddlers, carrying their carts. "I have a job for you."
We looked at each other. Maybe there was a more manageable job that awaited us. We let a horseman pass, and then we ran across.
"Some of our fishermen are finally arriving. Tomorrow, I might have a job for Osman back to Pinecreek." he announced.
It was good news. Another paid leisurely walk. But the merchant did not call for us just for the announcement.
I got an idea of the job he was about to offer when I saw the paleness of the fishermen's faces. Each of them looked like they had seen me naked.
"These are villagers from Oakrot, a village west of here. And recently, goblins have been harassing their villages and their routes" the merchant said grimly "On their way here today, they barely got away with their lives. A small rubble attacked them, and all they had with them were long wooden staves."
"It's a risky offer but I think two armed men could manage this. I'm willing to pay five silver for each of you to escort them back to Oakrot. It's just an hour's walk from here. I'll give you two scales each in advance, and the rest when you finish the job."
[Quest: Fishermen Escort
Difficulty: Easy
Description: The fishermen of Oakrot, request an armed escort on their passage home. Keep them safe until they arrived at their destination
Reward: 20xp, 2 Scales in Advance, 3 Scales upon Completion]
The pieces came together. It was not what I expected but it was the quest I needed. If things go well, then I could kill two birds with one stone.
"That's generous... but... " Charlie was first to reply.
"We accept." I interrupted, taking the coin purse from the caretaker, startling him, and surprising Charlie.
Then I moved quickly, approaching the fisherfolk, so Charlie Chicken would have no chance to refuse.
"You don't look like much of a mercenary." a tall and thin thirty-something dude commented when I introduced myself. "But then again, if I had a sword earlier, I would have been able to slaughter the entire rabble."
A bluff, of course, judging by how weak he looked, and how pale his face was. But no need to comment on that, he keeps his pride, and I keep my silver.
"Then safe travels." the merchant bade us off.
The mini caravan moved out of the front of the merchant hall into the poorly maintained cobblestone street. It consisted of three small carts and six villagers.
Charlie, expectedly, droned near my ear like a fly. He was reprimanding me for how reckless I was, while at the same time, keeping his voice as low.
But I knew, he had no choice but to follow.
Both of us took position on either side of the middle cart, to cover as much of the caravan as we could. I did not want to be on edge, but Charlie was acting very nervously, and he got to me.
As soon as we emerged out of the town, we kept our hands on our swords and our eyes on the fields for every movement.
I grew more nervous when I began to notice the terrain. The road to Oakrot was fringed by thick cogon grass. Good for hiding ambushers and perfect for ones that were short and green-colored.
After a while, I was seeing green heads and bodies, where there was only the tall grass, and hear the clinking of weapons, when it was only the creaking of the old wheels of the cart.
I was regretting my decision, and all too late. And I was all too used to it.
Like that one time, I crossed a fence, into what seemed like a quiet house, only to be greeted by two angry and eager German shepherds. I both tore and crap my pants with that one.
There was also this one time, I set out to steal something from what I thought was an abandoned house. There was no fence, so I was able to approach the porch. Then the door opened, and out came an old man with a shotgun. Luckily he didn't see me or I would not be alive to make another stupid decision.
Remembering those times, somewhat calmed me a bit. Bad weed do not die easily. The lone perk of being a bad weed.
"So the goblins, what were they armed with when they attacked you?" I asked the nearest villager. The caravan had been quiet except for hushed murmurs, and just hearing the rustling of the grass and the creaking of the wheels was sickening.
He was a young man. Maybe a couple of years younger than me. His lips quivered when he answered, "The greenskins were carrying crude swords and I saw one even carrying an axe."
"How did you even defend yourself?" I asked.
"They attacked from our left, there were about seven or eight of them. As soon as we saw them, we hid behind our carts. We only had a couple long staves, with us, and we poked at them, so they won't get near."
"They were at us, for I don't think how long. And I thought we were gonna die there. But Erwin, that guy in front of us." he pointed at the lanky guy I had the misfortune of talking with earlier. "managed to wound one of them with the staff by a strong hit to the head. And that was when they started to leave us one by one."
Interesting. It was as exactly as the guard by the wooden board had told me. They thrive by intimidation while ironically being easily intimidated themselves.
Much of the nervousness left my system, only to quickly return, when I heard someone shout.
"They're here again." the Erwin guy warned, managing to sound angry and scared at the same time "Sellswords do your job!"
I looked around me and saw nothing until I raised my gaze. Just ten yards ahead, were the greenskins, looking as I had imagined them to be.
I gulped. I realize how psychologically unready I was.
It could be my time to shine... or it could easily be my time to die.