Three days have passed since Alaric's group had started searching for traces of goblins. The four teams had already searched half of the Evergreen Forest, but they still hadn't found anything.
They should be around here somewhere. Did I miss something?
Alaric sorted his memories.
He didn't have concrete information about the goblin tribe's location. He only knew that it was his father's elite force led by Commander Warrick who had found their exact location.
Do I really need to invite Sir Warrick to join the search?
Warrick Mason was an Elite Knight and the commander of House Silversword's armed forces. He was also Lucas's right-hand man and his most trusted confidant.
Without Lucas's approval, even Alaric wouldn't be able to command Warrick to move. That was how special his position was in the household.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the forest, Henry discovered some unusual tracks on the ground.
Henry crouched and inspected the tracks closely.
"These aren't traces of wild animals." His eyes narrowed into slits.
It must be them!
Henry stood up and made a whistling sound to call his scattered subordinates.
A moment later, four Knight Apprentices dressed in leather armor appeared and gathered before him.
Looking at them, Henry pointed at the tracks he found and said. "I think we found our target."
The four Knight Apprentices raised their eyebrows in surprise. They lowered their gazes and observed the traces on the ground.
They weren't professional hunters, but even they could tell that these weren't animal tracks.
"What should we do, sir?" One of the Knight Apprentices asked in a low voice.
Henry's expression turned serious as he responded. "From this moment, we need to move as a group. Follow me closely and make sure not to make a sound."
"We have to ascertain the location of the goblin tribe before we report back to Lord Alaric."
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's go!"
Henry led his team to follow the traces. They moved carefully and silently, ensuring that no creatures would be alerted.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at a more secluded part of the Evergreen Forest. The trees here were taller and their leaves were denser, making it hard for sunlight to pass through.
The lack of sunlight made it difficult for smaller plants to thrive. Only the stubborn weeds and parasitic mushrooms managed to survive.
The strange vegetation made the group feel uneasy.
At this moment, Henry waved his hand, signaling his group to get down.
The old Knight hid behind a big tree and carefully took a peek.
A few hundred meters from them, he noticed some crudely made treehouses as well as a flickering light which probably came from a bonfire.
Henry made another hand gesture to his team, informing them about what he saw.
The Knight Apprentices cautiously stuck their head out to confirm this.
"I'm positive. This is the goblin tribe that we are looking for." Henry whispered with certainty.
"Should we do more investigations, sir?"
Hearing this, Henry shook his head. "No."
"If we go further, they might discover us. We don't want to alert those guys."
Doing more observations would only endanger the team, especially considering that there were only five of them with four being Knight Apprentices.
Once they were discovered, they would have to fight the entire goblin tribe which was no different than death sentence.
The four Knight Apprentices became silent.
"Let's go back and report what we saw here to Lord Alaric." Henry decisively instructed the team.
"Yes, sir!"
***
Alaric returned to the estate with a gloomy look on his face.
His team scoured their designated areas, but they found no evidence of goblin activity.
It's already the third day, but we still haven't found any clue.
While he was grumbling at their terrible luck, he suddenly noticed another team entering the estate.
"My lord, we found the goblin's camp!" Henry reported after greeting him with a salute.
Hearing this, Alaric was pleasantly surprised. "Really? Where is it?"
Henry took out a map of the Evergreen Forest and pointed at a certain location. "We found their camp here. We didn't make detailed observations since there is a high chance that they would be alerted."
Alaric stared closely at the map and furrowed his eyebrows. It was in the northeastern part of the forest where the evergreens were overgrown and the number of parasitic plants was aplenty.
No wonder we weren't able to find them. It turns out that they are hidden in that place.
"Great job, Sir Henry. I will make sure that this is reported to the baron. You will receive your rewards, but we must deal with the important matters first."
Henry smiled as he nodded. "Yes, my lord!"
Getting Alaric's guarantee was enough.
He knew that this young heir was in possession of a large number of Dragon Tail Ferns. If he was given some, he might advance to the Elite Knight earlier than he had anticipated.
"You guys should rest first. We will depart tomorrow before sunrise." Alaric dismissed them.
He then quickly headed to his father's study room to report this discovery.
It was thirty minutes before seven and Lucas was still busy dealing with the administrative affairs. Bastian was there to help him, but the number of documents on the table didn't seem to have lessened even after a day of work.
"I'm tired. Let's call it a day." Lucas muttered as he put down the document he was reading.
Bastian didn't say anything and just quietly bowed to him.
Suddenly…
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Hearing the urgent knocking on the door, Lucas raised his eyebrows and said. "Come in."
Alaric pushed the door open and nodded to his father and Bastian.
"Father, I mean… my lord. Henry's team discovered the goblin settlement!" Alaric didn't make the baron wait when he saw the latter's tired look.
Hearing this, the baron frowned. The goblin issue was one of the things that was always in his mind.
"So what are your plans?" Lucas muttered while staring intently at his son.
"Goblins have sharp eyesight and they can see clearly in the dark so I decided to push the investigation tomorrow. Once we have gathered enough information about the goblin settlement, I will make a detailed plan on how to attack them."
He has already thought it through.
Lucas was satisfied with Alaric's decision. He wasn't hasty for success and was even patient enough to wait for the opportune moment.
"Just tell me if you need anything." Lucas didn't mind giving him some help. After all, dealing with a goblin tribe wouldn't be easy.
Alaric didn't reject his offer. "I'll let you know when I need your help."