After leaving the village, the three of them quickened their pace.
The goblin settlement in this request wasn't very close to Stone Creek Village. It was located roughly between several villages.
That was why the villagers from several villages had pooled their money to hire the Adventurer's Guild to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately, they hadn't managed to raise much, so no adventurers had taken the request for several days—until Gauss saw it.
They followed the stream near the village upstream.
The water rippled and flowed.
Gauss knew this route well from memory.
He used to make fish traps by hand here and catch small fish to eat.
Since he worried that other villagers might take the trap along with the fish, he would usually walk farther and place it somewhere along the bank, hidden among the water plants.
A clear breeze blew against him, and Gauss's face was filled with nostalgia.
Life really was incredibly mysterious.
Two years had passed in a flash. He had returned to a familiar place, yet his state of mind and circumstances had changed completely.
Before they reached the location described in the request, Gauss and the others encountered a villager who had come here on his own to scout and gather information.
He wasn't from Stone Creek Village, but was probably a young man from one of the nearby villages.
He rode a short-legged horse and held a homemade spear.
He wore no armor, but had several layers of clothing on, with what looked like other materials sewn in as padding for protection. A woven straw hat sat on his head, and he held a shield made from a wooden pot lid.
It looked a little comical, but for an ordinary villager, the equipment was already quite good.
When he saw Gauss and