Although no one knew whether the bard's Expeditious Retreat had worked, at least when Lin Yun and the others approached the forest, they spotted a four-woman adventuring party lying in wait in a fairly well-concealed spot. As soon as they saw Lin Yun's group, one of them stepped out: a human woman wearing a black-patterned Flexible Breastplate, with orange shoulder-length hair. She looked more like a noble young lady than an adventurer. If Lin Yun's guess was right, this young lady was the Paladin.
The Paladin walked out. She had clearly recognized Lin Yun. With a smile, she held out her hand and said, "So it's you, Silent. Long time no see."
"Mm." Lin Yun was a little bewildered by the female Paladin's attitude, but he still shook her hand and replied in a low voice.
"Honestly, you're still the same. When I saw you at the banquet in the City of Water, all you could manage was a single 'Mm.'" The female Paladin wore a helpless expression. Then she turned to her teammates and said, "Well, now that reinforcements are here, let's get ready to attack."
"Is something the matter? Is she an acquaintance of yours, Mr. Silent?" the Goddess Priestess asked curiously.
"I think their team is one of the best Steel Rank parties around here. I've heard their combined strength is comparable to that of a Silver Rank adventurer. Apparently, before becoming an adventurer, she was a noble young lady. She seems to worship the Supreme God of Law and Justice, and she was once a free knight who traveled through various countries. Mr. Silent seems to have been a noble as well, so perhaps they met before." The Female Mage adjusted her glasses and analyzed the situation.
"Wait, Mr. Silent is a noble?" The Goddess Priestess looked utterly baffled. She clearly couldn't imagine that the quiet but helpful Silent could be a noble.
"Don't rush in. That fortress belongs to the Elves. The Elf Magicians and protective barrier that should have been inside are probably gone, since the Elves retreated, and the tree at its heart has withered. But there must still be plenty of mechanisms in there, so charging in recklessly would be walking straight into a trap. You've heard from the villagers that there seem to be a lot of Goblins around here. It's better to be cautious," Lin Yun said gravely.
"Honestly, there you go again. Monsters like Goblins are easy. We should just charge in," the female Paladin said, unconcerned.
"Yeah, we're Steel Rank adventurers, after all. We can just charge in and deal with some Goblins," said the Halfling Ranger, who looked a head shorter than everyone else.
"Um, I think Mr. Silent has a point," said the Priest standing behind them. She looked somewhat delicate, and though she wasn't as strikingly beautiful as the Goddess Priestess, she had her own charm. She sounded a little hesitant.
"You really are popular with Priests, aren't you? Even though you worship different gods." The female Paladin glanced at Lin Yun with some displeasure.
The Elf Magician beside them wore revealing clothes that seemed to embody the full spirit of Elf art. She had a golden ponytail and held a wooden staff. She merely watched in silence. Still, she was clearly unhappy when she noticed that the bard's ears were longer than a human's but shorter than an Elf's.
"Anyway, listen to me," Lin Yun said in a deep voice.
"D20+2=14, success." Clearly, the other party wasn't too opposed to Lin Yun's request, so his words ultimately worked.
The female Paladin listened to Lin Yun's firm, stubborn words, as hard and unyielding as a stone in a toilet, and looked at him helplessly. Then she raised her gloved hands. "All right, all right. We'll do it your way."
The others naturally had no chance to voice their opinions.
After all, the Steel team's leader was clearly the female Paladin. As a Paladin, she was probably the strongest, so her teammates naturally followed her orders. On Lin Yun's side, after several days of fighting, the young warrior, the Goddess Priestess, and the Female Mage all trusted him completely. The bard might be less convinced. As for the centaur... he was too straightforward. His people respected the strong, so the strong called the shots. Lin Yun had already beaten him, which made Lin Yun the strong one in his eyes. Simple as that.
And so, Lin Yun's group crept into the forest.
It was noon, but for Goblins, that was practically the middle of the night. That gave Lin Yun's group an advantage. None of them were particularly skilled at delicate tasks like sneaking, but at least they could creep forward quietly.
Most importantly, even though Lin Yun was wearing a helmet...
"D20+4+2=14, failure." Well, Lin Yun didn't see a thing.
Fortunately, someone in the group really was capable of scouting, which was a very good thing.
What puzzled Lin Yun was that they had crept all the way to the very front of the Elf castle, yet the Halfling Ranger scouting ahead hadn't given any sign. Surely the Goblins hadn't left the place completely unguarded and gone to sleep without a care?
While Lin Yun wondered whether the Goblins really were so careless, the petite Female Mage hurried over to him, tugged at his sleeve, and pointed toward a corner above them.
Only then did Lin Yun spot a Goblin perched on a tree branch. Its camouflage had made it difficult to see.
Lin Yun hurried over to the female Paladin, nudged her, and pointed upward.
The female Paladin's face instantly turned bright red, and she looked terribly embarrassed.
After all, the only scout in either party was the Halfling Ranger. She was supposed to be keeping watch, yet she had missed the sentry above them, while someone from the other party who wasn't even a scout had spotted it. Naturally, that was awkward.
Compared to most classes, Rangers gained an extra +2 to their checks when using Perception in terrain they knew well, on top of their usual Wisdom and proficiency bonuses. And yet... well, there was that.
As the saying went: If you're this useless, what do we even need you for?
Blushing, the Paladin stepped over to the Halfling Ranger, tugged at her, and pointed upward. The Halfling Ranger reflexively looked up. After staring for a while, she gave an embarrassed smile.
The female Paladin nodded at Lin Yun, who then nodded to the others.
While the rest of the group looked bewildered, the young warrior held a heavy crossbow, while the Female Mage and the Goddess Priestess each held a Light Crossbow. They looked like they had an overwhelming amount of firepower.
Someone's inherited, blood-deep fear of insufficient firepower was finally making its debut.
Lin Yun raised his right hand, held up three fingers, and slowly counted down.
All three pulled their triggers almost at once.
The strings twanged softly, and three bolts flew toward the poor Goblin. The young warrior's gloved fingers weren't very nimble, so his heavy crossbow fired a moment late. By the time the Light Crossbows held by the Goddess Priestess and the Female Mage had pinned the Goblin to the tree behind it, his bolt had been dodged by a hair and stuck in the nearby trunk instead.
The poor Goblin was pinned to the tree without even getting the chance to cry out. The women of the Steel team wore odd expressions.
Lin Yun nodded, then continued looking for other sentries.
Lin Yun's actions had just intimidated the Steel team, and they followed his orders without thinking. They began searching the area around the Elf castle, while also checking its layout. At the very least, they needed to find out how many exits it had, in case the Goblins tried to attack from behind. Most importantly, they needed to disarm the traps.
They did find several more guard posts and a large number of traps, but each post held only a few Goblins—no more than three. As for the traps, Lin Yun suggested avoiding all but the particularly troublesome ones. They weren't inside the fortress yet, after all. For the most part, Lin Yun, the other two members of his group, and the Halfling Ranger managed to quietly deal with all the Goblins.
Now it was time for the main event.
After taking care of those enemies and reaching the Elf castle, Lin Yun began casting his spells for the day: his usual Shield spell, the second-level Shared Protection from Evil, and the second-level Tree Skin Technique.
Shared Protection from Evil was basically the group version of Protection from Evil. Everyone within a certain area gained the effect of Protection from Evil. Compared to Protection from Alignment, though, it was more limited: Protection from Alignment could affect more kinds of alignments, while Protection from Evil only protected against evil.
Tree Skin Technique made one's skin dry and hard, like bark, and added +2 natural armor to AC. According to the description, an attack that would normally leave a bloody scratch or even wound Lin Yun would now be stopped by his bark-like skin.
In other words... after all that, Lin Yun's AC would reach the monstrous level of 24. If only his Dexterity weren't so low, it could have been even higher—especially since he had a Flexible Breastplate.
With an AC as high as 24, an ordinary Goblin couldn't hit him—ah, no, couldn't hurt him—unless it scored a Critical Hit.
Lin Yun was almost ready to plant his hands on his hips, laugh uproariously in the enemy camp, and declare that he was invincible.
Unfortunately, he kicked that thought out of his mind before it could even fully form. He had to stay cautious; people could die. So he'd take it slowly. Yes, that was right. Caution.
Before you continue