In a small clearing within a forest, a familiar party of four were gathered around a fire. A young warrior was busy anizing an array of debuff potions and attaables he had acquired for bat.

  An archer diligently carved and tapered the wooden shafts of arrows, affixing stoips to eae. A redheaded mage—the sole member of the group who was simply lounging around—cast impatient g the healer who was busy stirring a pot of stew.

  Using a rge dle, and beira careful not to stain her white garment, the girl gingerly portiohe hearty meal into a boassed it to her panion.

  “Be careful,” she cautioned, her smile shy and sincere. “It’s still very hot.”

  The mage extended both hands to accept, but a mispced finger ended up making tact with the piping hot gravy. “Ouch!” she excimed, fumbling with the bowl. She mao save it from falling, but not without spilling several droplets onto the girl’s clothes. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

  The healer raised both her hands dismissively, pretending that she didn’t notice the girl’s sly smile. “I-It’s fine,” she said. “It was just an act. More importantly, how’s your finger? Do you require healing?”

  For but a fleeting moment, the mage’s expression torted in disgust at the mere thought of receiving treatment from the girl. “I’m fine,” she reassured, exerting the bare minimum of effort to ceal her pt. “I was just surprised, is all.”

  As the healer portiohe stew for the others, the mage tentatively took a bite and immediately recoiled at the foul taste. Despite her initial annoyance, a mischievous smile soo onto her lips at the thought of how the warrior would react—

  CRASH!

  The youth furiously hurled the bowl to the ground, sending a sptter of meat, vegetables, and hot gravy coating the green grass. “What the hell did you just try to make me eat?” he snapped, spitting out the offending morsel from his mouth.

  “I-I’m sorry,” the healer let out a frightened peep.

  The youth’s hand struck out, sending her crashing to the ground with a reddened cheek. “Sorry? Is that all you say? Do you think your worthless apology’s going to salvage all this wasted food?”

  The archer observed without a word.

  The journey of an adventurer was a treacherous path, fraught with the shadows of death and the specter of uainty. In a world as ruthless and indifferent as the ohey traversed, Price—a cowardly warrior—sought refuge in asserting dominance over those he deemed weaker. This illusion of absolute trol became his sanctuary, a seductive elixir that made him feel invincible and alive in an otherwise overwhelming world.

  Likewise, the mage Lilith found herself entangled in the same cycle of abusive behavior, driven by the fear of being the victim herself.

  “Why exactly does the food taste like cardboard?” Price demanded, looming over the quivering healer like an enraged minotaur.

  Amara kept her gaze down in fear of being struck again. “…Y-You used all our funds to buy the debuff potions,” she admitted sheepishly, “so we didn’t have enough to buy any seasonings for cooking.”

  Price’s tenance remaieadfast, devoid of even a hint of shame ret. In his own perceptioood as a god among them; he hadn’t the capacity to make mistakes.

  Before he could deliver another baded blow to the sniveling girl for an error he himself had made, a distant rustling caught his attention, diverting his focus to more pressing s.

  “Monsters,” the archer was able to deduce with a keen sense of sight and smell.

  Everyone ducked down and clutched their ons in response.

  TTTCHHH~

  Swiftly, Price overturhe remnants of the stew onto the fire, extinguishing the fmes in a sizzle of steam. For a fleeting moment, he found a grim satisfa in repurposing the bnd meal. However, his heart sank as the pu aroma began to permeate the air, threatening to betray their cealed location.

  While the rest of the party cealed themselves in the brush, the archer, Mana, skillfully asded a nearby tree to gain a vantage point.

  From her lofty perch amidst the thick foliage, she observed a procession of goblins moving through the forest below. Oblivious to their surroundings, they appeared singurly focused on their mission: transp a haul of game and rger prey back to their ir.

  Upon desding the tree, Lilith inquired eagerly, “What did you see?”

  “A group of goblins. They’re… transp the mohey hunted.”

  “Transp?” Priterjected, his brow furrowing in fusion. “That’s peculiar.”

  “How so?” Lilith inquired.

  “Goblins typically refrain from transp food back to their ir, fearing that they may attract predators,” Mana took the initiative to expin.

  Amara pursed her lips, careful not to speak out of turn.

  “Do you think they’re the same goblins we’re after?” asked Lilith.

  “The vilge is pretty nearby,” said Mana, “so there’s a high possibility that’s the case.”

  “Does it really matter?” Price tered, his expression clouded with bitterness. “All monsters deserve to die.”

  It does matter, Amara argued mentally with a train of thought she dared not voice aloud. We’re only equipped with limited resources for this assig, and our funds are low. If we act recklessly and fail to plete this job…

  Price cast an unfriendly gn her dire, as if he could dis her thoughts. However, iy, he was simply reag for the map protruding from the rge pack she was burdened with carrying.

  “To avoid raising any arms, we’ll give the goblins a head start before we begin trag them,” Prinounced, his gaze shifting from the map tana with a meaningful look. “At the same time, we’ll navigate to the vilge and see if the destination aligns.”

  Everyone nodded in firmation.

  ***

  Despite her limited experience as a tracker, Mana found it retively easy to dis the telltale sig behind by the goblins. The undergrowth was disturbed, footprints and broken branches littered the path, and the unmistakable trail of fresh blood from the hunted monsters further firmed their dire.

  As Mana withdrew her hand from the small footprint embedded in the forest floor, she s size ah. The impression suggested that its owner was burdened by the weight of the heavy bounty it carried.

  “There’s no doubt about it,” she firmed while maintaining her crouched position. “They’ve definitely made their way into the vilge.”

  A few feet ahead, Lilith and Prielt behind the cover of thick bushes. They diverted their gazes from the vinced archer and toward the vilge gates looming just beyond the edge of the forest.

  “Do you see anything?” Mana inquired, her voice hushed.

  Price peered from the cealing embrace of the brush and into the vilge through its open gates. “Nothing. There are no signs of people or the goblins.”

  “They could be hiding inside of the houses,” Lilith suggested. “That tryhard at the guild did mention how crafty goblins be.”

  Price’s frown deepened. “True, but I doubt they’re that ing. Mana, e take a look. Your senses are sharper; you might pick up on something.”

  “Stay put,” Mana directed Amara with a slurred voice.

  The girl nodded meekly.

  Mana gingerly made her way between the warrior and mage, her sharp eyes sing the vilge from their strained vantage point. “The immediate rooftops and the wall beyond the gate are clear. It’s eerily silent, too. Maybe the goblins simply made their way through the vilge?”

  “A-Acc to the map,” Amara interjected nervously, “there’s a mountain just beyond the vilge. And, um, goblins are known for their ability to see in the dark. Maybe they’re living ihat cave.”

  Lilith leered at the girl, irritated that her analogy made any kind of sense. She was even more annoyed when Price readily shoved aside his abusive and chauvinistidencies and embraced the notion. Without dey, he sprang into a.

  “I think a minurity is making us overly cautious about the goblins,” he remarked as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Let’s proceed into the vilge with the usual battle formation.”

  Everyone exged nervous gnces before nodding in agreement.

  It was only upoering the vilge that everyone grasped the ulient of the eerie silence Mana had mentioned earlier. The doors and windows of the houses stood wide open, revealing an uliiness within. In one home, a table remained set with food for four, untouched and abandoned.

  The typical signs of a monster raid were ent. There was no trace of blood, corpses, or destru ao be found. It was as if all the residents had been spirited away without a trace.

  Price cautiously ventured deeper into the settlement, his sword stance awkward and uening. The mage followed closely behind, trailed by the healer and archer, all equally uled by the ominous atmosphere that enveloped the deserted vilge.

  “Hey, guys,” Mana called out, the urgen her tone anding immediate attention.

  The party swiftly verged on her location, where they observed Mana crouched over a patch of ground. With a light touch, she began brushing away the surface yer of dirt, gradually revealing streaks and splotches of blood.

  A collective gasp escaped their lips as everyone’s faces torted in horror. Something sinister had unfolded in this vilge. As their gazes flitted around, it became painfully clear that there were subtle but unmistakable signs of an invasion and a sughter, followed by a meticulous cover-up.

  But why?

  Before the party could voice their s or even attempt to flee, they were suddenly ambushed by a rge group of goblins emerging from the most unventional of hiding pces.