He suppressed his shock.
"It seems things are even more complicated than I expected."
"In that case... I'll have to find Baron Ul and confirm a few things."
Two guards stood watch at the manor's entrance.
When He Xi approached, one of them immediately straightened up, his face showing undisguised respect.
After the battle two days ago, everyone in Plint Town knew he was the legendary genius mage.
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Especially the guards who had fought alongside him—they had witnessed that awe-inspiring power with their own eyes.
"Esteemed Mage He Xi!" the guard said, bowing respectfully. "Are you here to see Lord?"
The unexpected honorific caught He Xi off guard. He gave a helpless smile. "Yes. Sorry for the trouble, but could you announce me?"
"Please wait! I'll report it right away!" The guard turned and hurried into the manor.
A short while later, Baron Ul appeared at the manor's entrance, with the guard following behind him.
His face showed unmistakable exhaustion, but he seemed to be in good spirits.
He looked at He Xi with a complicated expression—gratitude, admiration, and a trace of the caution a noble felt in the presence of supernatural power.
"He Xi..." Baron Ul paused, but in the end changed how he addressed him. "Esteemed Mage, may the morning light shine upon you. What can I do for you?"
He Xi hurriedly waved his hands. "Lord, you're too polite. Cyril and I are friends, so please just call me He Xi. Besides..." He paused, speaking frankly. "By the standards of mages, I don't even qualify as an apprentice yet."
Baron Ul looked at He Xi's youthful but composed face, a wave of emotion passing through him.
The Atmesia Family... had somehow produced a mage's talent in a child who hadn't even awakened his bloodline. His future was limitless.
"All right... He Xi. Still, I think getting your mage certification is only a matter of time. Judging by your gear..." His gaze swept over the pack on He Xi's back. "Have you decided to leave?"
"Yes, Lord. Before I go, there's something I'd like to ask you."
Baron Ul looked puzzled. "What is it?"
"Have you finished assessing the town's losses, Lord?"
"It's a heartbreaking number." The baron's expression darkened. "Twenty townspeople are confirmed dead or missing." He looked at He Xi in confusion. "Why are you asking?"
"I'm trying to figure out where this goblin army came from." He Xi got straight to the point. "Even the Gray Mist Forest, the closest one, is half a month's journey away. The outposts and villages along the way couldn't have failed to notice a force like that."
He paused, fixing the baron with a sharp gaze. "So I suspect... they came from somewhere closer. Somewhere like Blackstone Mine, east of town."
"Blackstone Mine?" Baron Ul was taken aback, then gave a dismissive laugh and shook his head. "He Xi, you have quite an imagination, but that's impossible."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because there are only a little over thirty goblin laborers there, and they're watched by overseers day and night." The baron explained as if correcting a young man's mistaken theory. "They're stupid and weak, and don't even have decent weapons. How could they turn into an army?"
He Xi thought of that mass of black hair and asked, "Did anyone go missing in town before the goblin invasion?"
"Go missing?" Baron Ul frowned. "I only returned from Hord a few days ago... My steward never reported anything like that."
Then, as if remembering something, he turned to one of the guards beside him. "Karl, you live fairly close to Matt's family. Have they been back recently?"
Karl thought carefully, then shook his head. "No, Lord. Matt and his two brothers... I haven't seen them come back from the mine in a long time."
"What about Matt's mother and sister?"
"I haven't seen them in a long time either," Karl recalled. "The last time I saw them was probably over two months ago. Matt brought back some venison, and his mother and sister seemed to be smoking it outside their door... After that, I never saw them leave the house again."
Baron Ul exclaimed, "What?! They've been gone that long, and no one reported it?!"
Karl lowered his head, looking uneasy. "Matt's whole family works at the mine, and they're distantly related to Viscount Rick of Oak Town. I thought they might have moved to Oak Town."
"Idiot! Oak Town is even farther from the mine! Why would they move there?" Baron Ul snapped, his expression turning grim.
He Xi caught the shift in his mood and pressed him in a low voice. "Lord, what exactly is going on?"
Baron Ul said, "The Matt family in town has three brothers, all working at Blackstone Mine to the east. The mine is closer to Plint, but it belongs to Viscount Rick of Oak Town."
"I suspect Matt's mother and sister may have gone to the mine without permission. But the rules forbid family members from entering the miners' camp..."
He Xi furrowed his brow. "How many human miners are there?"
"Over a hundred."
Anger welled up inside He Xi, and his voice turned cold. "Why leave more than thirty goblins alive in the mine? To save a few miners' wages? Goblins are stupid and inefficient. How could they be better than human miners?"
Baron Ul sighed. "Perhaps it was to keep human miners' wages down. And with those tireless goblins working day and night beside them, the miners wouldn't dare slack off... They'd be afraid... afraid of losing their jobs..."
He Xi hadn't expected the answer to be so absurd.
So much for "If you won't do it, there are plenty of goblins who will!"
His eyes turned cold. "So they let these dangerous creatures live in the mine instead of killing them, all to save a few copper coins?"
Baron Ul defended himself. "We'd never heard of goblins attacking miners before. They were always kept under close watch..."
He Xi suppressed his anger and continued questioning him. "Then why couldn't Matt's mother and sister go to the mine? Do you think they went to bring him smoked venison?"
Baron Ul nodded with difficulty. "Yes, I suspect... they went there without permission to bring Matt some food. Viscount Rick... he... he made that rule because..."
He paused, seeming to weigh his words, and lowered his voice further. "Viscount Rick forbade family members from approaching the mine to prevent accidents... There were rumors that goblins abducted creatures like kobolds.
But they shouldn't have. Besides, when Viscount Rick drove those goblins into the mine, he'd already made sure there weren't many female goblins, and that they'd all been killed. They shouldn't have been able to reproduce and grow their numbers."
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