The master smith's gloves were happily claimed, and then they continued exploring. After all, Lin Yun and the others hadn't forgotten why they'd come here: to rescue the girls kidnapped from a nearby village. Since there were none here, they had to be somewhere else.
They retraced their steps to the place with the totem, then this time took the path that should have led straight ahead. Before long—
"Ugh, what's that smell?" A foul stench began to waft over, and the Female Mage instinctively covered her nose. "Ugh, it smells like excrement and rotting food." Honestly, who knew why that young warrior knew so much about such things?
Lin Yun said nothing. As usual, he led the way inside. There they found piles of foul-smelling, suspicious substances, along with several human women who had nothing to cover themselves with. Their eyes were vacant, and they looked like toys that had been played with until they broke. Though, of course, it was improper to stare.
Still, their emaciated bodies, bruised and swollen faces, and even some chipped teeth made it clear they hadn't had an easy time of it.
The young warrior and the others had hurried over as fast as they could, but they weren't from that village. After it was attacked, the villagers had to count their losses, tend to the wounded, and take care of other matters. They also needed to prepare the reward.
So by the time the young warrior had learned what happened, the girls had already been kidnapped for nearly a day. The things that needed doing in that time had mostly been done. Goblins weren't exactly well-behaved little darlings. They had strong desires, but there were no female goblins among them.
And they had no sympathy for human women. They treated them entirely as outlets for their urges and breeding tools, so they used them until they were nearly dead. Just think about how many goblins Lin Yun had killed today, especially when one of them had been a Giant Goblin... Ahem, best not to dwell on it.
In any case, Lin Yun and the young warrior didn't linger. They asked the Female Fighter, Female Mage, and Goddess Priestess to comfort the women, then ran back to the cave to find cloth or hides for them. The material was filthy, and some pieces stank from being soaked in blood, but at least they could use it to cover themselves.
There probably wouldn't be any enemies appearing in the goblin cave for a while, but who knew whether the Dungeon Master on the other side had a sadistic streak? Lin Yun didn't consider himself particularly clever, but if he always assumed the worst, there'd always be a way to deal with it.
Though it was cumbersome, they didn't head straight for the village with the girls wrapped in cloth or hides. Instead, they made for the main road.
They'd rushed here through the forest to save time, but that wouldn't work with the girls in tow. The forest had plenty of dangerous animals and poisonous creatures.
The venomous ones were especially dangerous. One careless mistake could kill the girls. Though, to put it bluntly, they weren't all that different from dead already.
So the main road was the best choice. People, especially Adventurers, were always traveling along it. Apart from animals driven mad by hunger, most creatures wouldn't go near it—not to mention those lazy poisonous critters.
Lin Yun and the Female Fighter led the way. The Female Mage, Goddess Priestess, and Female Fighter stayed around the girls, while the young warrior brought up the rear. Lin Yun went ahead to clear the path. They couldn't find any shoes, and though he could have made crude substitutes as a leatherworker and weaver, they didn't have the right tools, and it would have taken too much time. So all he could do was lead the way and make the road easier to walk.
The main road had another advantage: it was relatively safe. Lin Yun could send the young warrior back to the village to get a cart, then bring it back to carry the girls.
But in a forest like this... Mm, better to play it safe. Lin Yun had already used up all his 1st-Circle Spell Slots, but he could still fight. By the way, unlike most games where leveling up restored you to full strength, in Dungeons & Dragons, leveling up only increased your maximums.
You had to wait for a long rest—that is, a good night's sleep—and then you could use your new abilities the next day. For example, Lin Yun had gained an extra 1st-Circle Spell Slot at level 2, but he couldn't use it until the next day. And even though Lin Yun had gotten extraordinarily lucky and rolled the maximum on his HP die when he leveled up, gaining a whopping 24 HP, he still wasn't at full health. He had only 11 HP, as usual.
Before leaving the cave, they had taken precautions. They healed the girls' injuries, at least the physical ones, and restored the others' condition as well. Still, the Female Mage and Goddess Priestess wouldn't be any use in a fight today.
In a way, they weren't much better off than the kidnapped girls. The only ones who still had a decent amount of fighting strength were Lin Yun, the Female Fighter, and the young warrior.
Mm, this was where the cannon-fodder warrior really came in handy. As long as my HP is full, I'm at full strength. JPG.
Lin Yun still had five uses of Channel Divinity left for the day, so to be safe, he used it twice: once to restore 3 HP and once to restore 6. That brought his HP back up to 20. The others were also restored to nearly full strength.
Lin Yun's senses were sharp, and he was a strong fighter, so he walked at the front. The warrior followed behind with his shield and longsword, ready to defend against enemies that might appear from the rear.
The Female Fighter, who was the fastest, stayed in the middle, ready to support either side.
In theory, they'd already cleared the dungeon, so the rest of the way should have been safe. But Lin Yun still advanced slowly and kept a sharp lookout. In some ways, things were even more dangerous now than they had been on the way in.
It was still afternoon. The trees cast shadows over the forest, but Lin Yun had slung the Lantern Staff over his back and carried a battle mace he'd found in the cave, which had probably been dropped by some Adventurer.
The sun was shining brightly, so there was no need to waste lamp oil. Without the oil, the Lantern Staff was just an iron staff that dealt D6 damage. A battle mace, on the other hand, dealt D8 damage.
Come to think of it, Lin Yun had originally wanted to take the Giant Goblin's oversized stone axe. But it was too hard for him to wield, and as a Priest of the Eye of Omniscience, he wasn't proficient with axes. At this rate, he wouldn't be playing with the axe—the axe would be playing with him.
So Lin Yun had no choice but to give up on it. By the way, he had a bundle on his back wrapped in a piece of hide, stuffed full of weapons... all of them looted from the cave.
His family was already struggling to make ends meet. If he didn't take a few things to sell, where was he supposed to get money? The money that little village had scraped together to pay for the goblin extermination was far too little.
So he had to take what he could. It definitely wasn't because Lin Yun had a compulsive need to strip everything bare. We won't take even a needle or thread from the people... Mm, except everything besides needles and thread. JPG.
How could you not loot a cleared dungeon? Impossible. No way.
Mm, perhaps it was only at times like this that the nobleman Lin Yun was playing, Silent, came across as a skinflint. Mm, Lin Yun had even written that into the character. He had a strong attachment to loot. Perfect.
At last, Lin Yun's vigilance paid off.
Perhaps it was because he kept moving with his guard up. They were going slowly, but at least their pace was steady.
In theory, Lin Yun was continually making active Perception checks, so...
"D20+3+2=14, failure."
Well, even though he'd failed and couldn't tell where the problem was, he at least knew something was wrong. He instinctively raised his battle mace.
The group, which had been trudging along quietly, immediately tightened formation. The girls huddled together while the Female Fighter and Goddess Priestess stood guard around them. Then, all of a sudden, the Goddess Priestess shouted, "Mr. Silent, to your right!"
At Lin Yun's right hand was a brightly colored venomous snake, at least a meter long but slender. The weeds on the ground served as camouflage. It had been lying still the whole time, so Lin Yun hadn't noticed it. Now it seemed to realize that someone had spotted it, and struck first, lunging straight at him.
"Mm." Lin Yun was a country boy, and a Guangdong Person who'd eaten snake before, but seeing one appear out of nowhere still startled him. Thankfully, his manly pride stopped him from screaming. He could only say... he was a man.
Startled, Lin Yun instinctively raised his battle mace. It was just a reflex, but who would have thought that this stupid giant venomous snake would happen to bite right into the mace...
Before you continue