Goblin Footprints

A moment later, Kate backed out of the cave and waved to the others.

"Come in. There's no danger inside this cave."

Mel Carlo dragged his weary body into the cave. A faint firelight swayed amid the wind and snow.

The carriage was dismantled at the cave entrance, and Freli led the Earth Dragon inside.

The cave was neither too large nor too small, and it did not look very deep. They could basically rule out the possibility of goblins living inside. There were remnants of a campfire on the ground, as well as unused firewood nearby. It seemed someone had rested here before, though it had been a long time ago.

"Mr. Freli, do you have an axe? I'll go chop some firewood. If the snow keeps getting heavier, at least we'll have enough dry wood," Kate said as she took the torch from Freli.

By then, Mr. Freli had already lit a campfire on the ground, using the dry firewood that had been stored in the cave.

If the snow stopped the next day, they could continue on their journey. But they were not gods and could not predict how the weather would develop. In the worst-case scenario, heavy snow would block all the roads, making it even harder to gather firewood.

"Alright, I'll go with you. It's far too dangerous to go alone."

"Mr. Freli, are we really leaving two children here?" Kate was somewhat worried about leaving the two children behind.

"Don't worry. Boss Mel is much more capable than I am. You should have seen it before—he's far more decisive than a child ought to be."

With those words, Kate felt reassured, and the two quickly unloaded everything from the carriage.

Before the heavy snow completely blocked the road, they could chop some wood and have the Earth Dragon pull it back.

They were light goods to begin with.

Claire was feeding the Earth Dragon. It was not merely part of the family's property; it was also her friend.

She took out a waterskin and some beans, feeding them into the Earth Dragon's mouth. "After walking so long, you must be exhausted."

After a brief rest, Freli used the Earth Dragon to pull the empty carriage compartment and left the cave with Kate.

Mel and Claire sat beside the campfire. A little cold wind still blew in through the entrance, but the stone walls kept it from blowing directly into their faces.

"Mel, why are you always so quiet?" Claire hugged her knees and curled up by the fire, staring blankly at Mel Carlo.

"Because there's no need to talk much. But why do you keep your hair short like a boy's when you're clearly a girl?" Mel casually added a piece of firewood to the flames.

"My father said that when you're traveling outside, dressing too prettily makes it impossible to protect yourself properly."

"That's true. If you don't have the ability to protect yourself, beauty only becomes a burden. But even with short hair, you're still very pretty." Mel Carlo carefully studied Claire's features. Though she was still only a child, her rosy, healthy skin looked delicate in the firelight.

A person's features were determined from birth. People said girls changed dramatically as they grew up, but fundamentally, their facial features would not change without surgery. It was simply that girls learned more about dressing up and applying makeup after becoming adults.

But Mel was not some pervert. He had no thoughts about a little girl like her; he simply thought Claire had very nice features.

"Mel is handsome too." Claire buried her face in her knees. At their age, neither of them had such complicated thoughts.

"Of course." Mel did not bother being modest. After being transported to another world, who would want to be ugly?

After saying that, drowsiness washed over him again. Mel Carlo began using the [Assassin's Breathing Technique] to keep himself awake. This was not the time to fall asleep. If danger suddenly appeared, Claire would have no ability to resist.

If he had not been traveling to Oak City with the merchants this time, he might very well have died on the road.

"Mel..." Claire rubbed her eyes. She was becoming groggy too, but since her father had not returned yet, she did not dare fall asleep just like that.

"Hmm?" Mel answered softly.

"I want to sleep for a while first..."

"Alright."

After Mel nodded, Claire quickly fell asleep.

In the cold winter night, a pair of small footprints approached. They stopped outside the cave.

Mel heard a faint sound, and his drowsiness vanished instantly. If it were Mr. Freli and the others returning, there would not be so little noise.

The footsteps were very light. Was it some kind of animal?

A wolf, a fox, or some other magical beast he did not know about?

At that thought, Mel Carlo reached for the dagger at his waist. If danger really approached, he had to seize the chance and kill it in one strike.

There was also a knife in the System space, taken from the bandits. If he lost hold of the dagger, he could still use it to defend himself. It could trigger the skill [Mighty Slash].

After a brief pause, the footsteps seemed to leave the cave entrance again. Though Mel Carlo kept staring at the entrance, he did not see anything come inside.

I'm not freezing so badly that I'm hallucinating, am I? Mel could not help but think.

This was not a good time to get sick.

After a long wait, Freli and Kate finally returned with a whole cartload of wood. Once they unloaded it again, the Earth Dragon lay down directly beside the campfire.

"This thing can lie down?" Mel had always thought Earth Dragons slept standing like horses.

He had heard that horses only lay down to sleep when they felt completely safe, but Earth Dragons in games were mounts. He had basically never seen one lie down.

"Yes, Earth Dragons lie down to rest. You should get some proper rest too." Freli sat down beside Mel.

But Mel did not intend to sleep immediately. He told the two of them about what had happened earlier.

Kate immediately went to inspect the cave entrance. There was another creature that fit that description: goblins. Goblins were like cockroaches on this continent, everywhere and nowhere at once.

Unfortunately, goblins were not intelligent enough. If they were smarter and able to communicate with humans, then goblins would be a Demi-human race rather than magical beasts.

Kate's pupils contracted. The small footprints on the ground did not belong to them. They had not examined the ground carefully when they returned, but now that she looked closely, there was indeed another set of small footprints. Their front ends bore marks like claws, as though small human hands had been spread open against the ground.

"This is... a goblin!"

Goblins were magical beasts between Level 5 and level 30, but these demon creatures possessed a certain level of intelligence. That was a threat other kinds of demon creatures did not possess. Cunning and treachery were synonymous with goblins.

Judging by the small footprints, this should have been a Level 5 goblin. But once one goblin appeared somewhere, it meant a group of goblins was nearby. Goblins were herd-type magical beasts.

The safest course was naturally to leave this place quickly, but now was absolutely not the time to retreat. If they forced their way out of the cave, they would likely be swallowed by the wind and snow and eventually die of hypothermia.

"We can only be more careful."

Kate walked back into the cave. They could not leave now. If the snow became even heavier, not only would they be unable to move, but the goblins would be unable to move as well. Relatively speaking, that would still be safer.