Clues to Leave

"Damn it! That guy actually brought people from the Rage Tribe? In such a short time?"

As the former chieftain of a goblin tribe, the Mind Flayer now knew quite a lot about the goblin forces in this dungeon.

So at the beginning, he had never imagined that people from the Rage Tribe would come near the woodland.

Although he had indeed sent his second-in-command to look for the Rage Tribe before he was captured and transformed by the Brain Eaters, he also knew that this plan would be difficult to carry out.

Goblins worshipped the Dark Six Gods.

Namely, Devouring, Rage, Keeping Watch, Mockery, Shadow, and Traveler.

The Dark Six Gods and the Divines were two sides of the same coin, incarnations of the gods' shadows.

Like the faith of the Divines, belief in the Dark Six Gods was largely left to fate.

They had no clearly defined sects either, but those who worshipped them tended to be more extreme groups, so their cohesion was somewhat greater than that of the Divines' followers.

The goblins in this dungeon had originally been united, but as time passed, they first split into six factions named after the Dark Six Gods, then continued to divide and splinter in the years that followed.

The goblin tribe near the mushroom woodland had split off from the Keeper Tribe.

They had originally been responsible for the wealth and weapons of the entire goblin force, so after the division, they inherited a relatively large amount of equipment.

"Tribes that worship Rage are undoubtedly the hardest people to deal with. What exactly did that idiot offer to get these people here? Could it have been the entire tribe?"

As he flew toward the woodland, a gleaming axe spun through the air and grazed the Mind Flayer's right arm.

Viscous purplish-red blood sprayed out. The cold light in the Mind Flayer's eyes grew even sharper, but he merely lowered his head and continued flying.

"Those few barbarians all walk the berserker path, and their levels have already reached six. Psychic hypnosis is completely ineffective against them..."

As he secretly calculated his options, the Mind Flayer suddenly grabbed a Brain Eater and threw it behind him.

When the pursuing barbarian goblins prepared to kill the Brain Eater, the seemingly defenseless Brain Eater suddenly unleashed an enormous burst of psychic power.

Afterward, however, the Brain Eater completely lost all signs of life.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Mind Flayer widened the distance between himself and the barbarian goblins. By the time they caught up again, he had already successfully returned to the woodland.

"Those barbarians will definitely come looking! I need to adapt to the power of psychic energy as quickly as possible—and preferably prepare more Brain Eaters..."

Glancing at the Brain Eater closely following beside him, the Mind Flayer blinked and began devising a countermeasure in his mind.

The few barbarian goblins watched helplessly as the Mind Flayer ran into the woodland, but they did not dare venture farther in.

Although they were a group of people eager for battle, that did not mean they would leap into an area where there might be traps right before their eyes.

What they wanted was a direct battle of fist against flesh and blade against blood, not a stifling fight in which they were killed by a sinister hunter's traps and mechanisms.

Although the Mind Flayer's performance earlier had been unimpressive, after witnessing the power unleashed by that Brain Eater, the barbarians still felt lingering fear toward the few Brain Eaters remaining beside the Mind Flayer.

"Let's go back and report to the chieftain first! It looks like there really is something good in this woodland."

After retrieving the axe they had thrown at the Mind Flayer, the few barbarian goblins returned to the canyon and had one of the dire goblins bring the news to the other goblins in the tribe.

Not long after the battle between the goblins and the Mind Flayer broke out, Carl, who had temporarily finished working, prepared to enjoy life a little.

She removed her clothes, soaked through with sweat, braced both hands against the sides of the wooden board, and gingerly lowered herself like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Her movement was extremely swift. Before she had fully felt anything, she pulled herself back out.

After taking two deep breaths and making thorough mental preparations, she slowly, slowly lowered herself, then immersed herself completely in the slightly scalding yet soothing water.

As she sank deeper, she let out a comfortable sound.

"Hiss~ haa—"

When her body was completely enveloped, Carl's body twitched twice, and she felt as though she was about to lose control.

But when she once again prepared to pull herself out, she forcibly held herself back.

Maintaining the posture she had started with, Carl continued taking deep breaths as her skin gradually turned crimson.

The scorching heat was somewhat difficult for her to adapt to, but for the sake of relaxing, she could only endure it.

This continued for several minutes, and only after Carl had fully adjusted did she slowly begin to move.

"Splash~"

Scooping up a handful of water, Carl slapped it against her face.

The warm bathwater fully opened the pores on her face. Carl shivered in comfort, then leaned against the back of the tub and sank into the water.

"What a wonderful thing a hot bath is!"

Feeling the pleasant relief as the soreness in her body gradually eased in the hot water, Carl could not help exclaiming.

Whether in her previous life or this one, Carl had been a northerner.

And because of geographical factors, most northerners liked taking baths.

After completing a stage of processing metal components, Carl did not intend to waste the tub of bathwater she had made to cool Hopp down. She simply put several Rune Stones into it and heated it.

With red wine and salt water, wasn't this essentially a red wine bath and a sea-salt bath from Carl's previous life?

Most public bathhouses did not offer such treatment. Only the high-end private baths on the second floor did.

Of course, the people who accepted this service might not have cared much about what had actually been added to the bathwater.

The small bed beside them, supposedly meant for resting, was what they truly focused on.

The Rune Stones in the tub steadily released heat, keeping the bathwater at a relatively stable temperature.

After adjusting to the temperature, Carl fished the Rune Stones out of the tub and placed them in the ceramic tray beside it.

Picking up a completely black ceramic pot, Carl set it over the Rune Stones, then lay back down in the tub.

Carl had made the ceramic pot and tray not long ago by mixing the ashes of a Giant Lizard with clay. They were exceptionally sturdy.

They were absolutely reliable for simmering soup or cooking rice.

Smelling the increasingly rich aroma of meat soup, Carl tilted her head up toward the ceiling and let out a long breath.

Today's exploration had given her a glimmer of hope. She felt that she had vaguely found a clue to leaving the dungeon.

The Mind Flayer in the woodland and that base were definitely connected to the Mind Flayer who had kidnapped her.

And that meant the other party might possess a way to leave this dungeon.

Carl stretched a hand toward the space above the tub, her gaze gradually shifting from lax to resolute.

At the same time, she slowly clenched her fist.

"Whether a way to leave this place exists or not, I have to strengthen myself as quickly as possible. Only then can I seize the opportunity firmly when it truly arrives."

"That Mind Flayer won't be easy to deal with, and those goblins are troublesome too!"

"But... it's not as if I have no allies!"