The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

"Chief, they’re all crowded in the middle of the Teleportation Gate," Lame Leg shouted, covering his mouth and nose.

"Good," Shire nodded. He had tied two cloth strips across his face, trying to mitigate the smell of the Stinky Spore Balls wafting over. Shan Xi Ao, who had been on his shoulder, had flown off somewhere long ago.

"Teleportation Gate, activate."

Hearing his leader’s command, One-Eyed, who was hiding in a corner, immediately motioned for the nearby goblins to help him push the controller.

Soon, Lame Leg joyfully reported to the chief, "It’s working."

"Did they all fall for it?" Shire asked his subordinate, his voice tinged with a hint of urgency.

"Mhm."

"Excellent. Let’s go check on it immediately." Shire immediately stepped out from behind a stone pillar and led his subordinates straight toward the Bang Bang Forest.

According to his plan, when the Hand Grenade Fruits proved completely ineffective, Caocao was to throw the Stinky Spore Balls. This wasn’t a Magic Attack, and Physical Defense was useless against it. The stench upon impact would be enough to make the opponents break down. And these arrogant guards from the Count’s Mansion had never encountered such a battle tactic.

Once they couldn’t stand it and retreated into the passage, Broken Tooth, who was ambushing them from the shadows, would continuously throw Blazing Fire Glue to block their escape route. If they were ordinary Adventurers, they would have immediately tried to rush out of the burning Blazing Fire Glue to survive. But these highly trained guards were more likely to obey commands. And with the noble Philip in their ranks, the commander would, in all likelihood, choose to form a defensive formation first before attempting to break through the flames.

And when they formed that defensive formation, they would instinctively huddle together, weapons facing outward. Shire remembered seeing Uncle Musa train those guards; he knew exactly what their defensive formation looked like.

Finally, just as he’d wished, the twenty guards and Philip were all teleported away.

"Where did you set up the other end of the Teleportation Gate?" Agatha asked, walking briskly behind Shire. She was very curious about his plan. ’They all have to be killed. If even one gets away, it will surely bring down the wrath of the Count’s Mansion.’

"Come with me," Shire said, excitedly leading the way.

...

Philip stared at the blue object amidst the fluorescent mushrooms on the ceiling. He found it strange that he was in the mood to study the ceiling of this Relic. But the annoying stench was truly unbearable, and he had to think of something else to distract himself.

The blue object looked like a long, rectangular plate. Not only did it have a few mushroom-like protrusions, but it also had two small white circles. And those two circles would even blink a few times, just like eyes.

"Deputy Captain of the Guard, what is that thing?" Philip yelled.

But no one paid him any mind. The guards were all on high alert, and two were even holding up shields, wary of something charging through the burning Blazing Fire Glue.

Philip was slightly annoyed. He knew everyone probably thought he’d seen a rat or a bug again, but he could swear the thing on the ceiling was definitely not a rat.

Just as he was about to shout again, his vision suddenly went black. Light returned an instant later, but the floor beneath his feet was gone. He realized he was in a rapid descent.

’These are those trees as tall as the castle towers,’ a thought flashed through Philip’s mind. Then he saw Yun Xiya to his side, flapping her wings furiously. The birdcage was falling too, but thanks to the little goblin’s flying ability, its descent wasn’t as fast.

"Save me!" Philip shrieked, but it was no use. A fall to the ground from over thirty meters wouldn’t take more than three seconds.

SPLAT. He hit the ground, blood splattering everywhere. His limbs were twisted, and his face wore an expression of unwillingness, but he was already dead.

Before long, a group of goblins ran over.

"You actually tied the other end of the Teleportation Gate to the treetops?" Agatha tilted her head back, gazing up at the high canopy of the Bang-Bang Trees.

Shire had mounted the other half of the Stone Ring on a wooden frame and then used several ropes to secure it between a few tall Bang-Bang Trees. The guards from the Count’s Mansion had been teleported directly there, only to plummet from the heights to the ground below.

"I did," Shire said, holding a Short Blade as he began searching through the corpses on the ground. "Mary told me before that Philip was coming with guards. These guys are all Warriors, but they don’t have a Flying Skill. If I wanted to end this fight, I had to either capture or kill them all. But killing Philip is too difficult. Not only would the guards never allow it, but he also has a Soul Tracking Magic on him."

"So you devised this method?" Agatha glanced at the bodies littering the ground, the way she looked at Shire now different.

"Yep. Isn’t this method great? No one personally killed Philip; he fell to his death on his own. As far as I know, a death from a fall like this, where no one pushed him from a high place, won’t be tracked by the soul magic," Shire said with a shrug, spreading his hands.

"You..." Agatha was speechless.

"The ground is what killed him. If his father wants to find the culprit, he’ll have to go to the Earth and Life Church."

"There’s another way," Agatha said, biting her lip. "Summoning the dead to question them."

"Now that’s a problem," Shire said, looking down at Philip’s corpse and pondering his next move. "Does that magic have any requirements?"

"As far as I know, the magic requires the deceased’s bones," Agatha said, walking to Shire’s side. "He’s definitely had a corpse-tracking spell cast on him, too. If you don’t want his father to find you, you’d better destroy his remains immediately."

"Feed him to a Slime?" Shire chuckled. "No, Philip still has a great use. I’m waiting for his father to come here in person."

"Shire," Agatha said his name, trying to warn him.

"Don’t worry. By the time that old fool Valentine figures this out, he’ll already be tearing his hair out over other problems."

RUSTLE RUSTLE. A sound came from the bushes, interrupting their conversation. Shire immediately gripped his Short Blade and cautiously approached.

In the grass, a metal birdcage was being slowly dragged along the ground. He followed the thin iron chain leading from the cage and saw a little goblin trying to crawl into the bushes to hide.

Shire snatched up the birdcage, lifting the little goblin with it. She looked timidly at the goblin before her, even trying to flap her wings to escape.

"A little goblin," Shire said with a wide grin. However, his smile clearly frightened her, and she struggled even harder to get away from him.

"Sister?" a cry of surprise rang out. Shan Xi Ao immediately flew over and tightly hugged Yun Xiya, who was bound by the birdcage.

"Hm? This is your sister?" Shire asked, placing the birdcage on the ground.

Shan Xi Ao was speechless at this point, simply nodding frantically through his tears.

"You two, stand back," Shire said, waving the little goblins away. Then, he swung his blade down fiercely, severing the thin iron chain.

Yun Xiya stared at the remaining half of the chain on her ankle, completely stunned. Then, she began to tremble all over. She abruptly pulled the Fine Wood Sword from her younger brother’s waist, spread her wings, and lunged straight for Philip’s corpse.

She stabbed with the sword, hacked with the sword, and finally even threw herself onto Philip’s face, pummelling and biting him as heart-wrenching cries echoed through the forest.

Shire blocked Shan Xi Ao with his hand and calmly shook his head at him. "Let her vent."

...

"So you were captured by three Adventurers?" Shire asked, placing a cup of honey water in front of Yun Xiya.

"Yes." Yun Xiya had recovered from her grief by now. She had just met with her parents and friends, and they all had a tearful reunion. Afterward, the little goblin Clan Leader brought all the little goblins before Shire to collectively thank him for rescuing his daughter and fulfilling his promise. Shire just calmly comforted them.

"I’ll find a tool to get that chain off your ankle in a bit," Shire said, pointing to the thin iron chain on her leg. It was clearly still hindering her.

"Thank you, chief of the goblins," Yun Xiya said with a deep bow.

"It’s nothing. Helping you is helping myself," Shire laughed heartily. He truly hadn’t expected things to develop this way, but this was even better. The little goblin clan would be even more devoted to him now. "Do you remember what the Adventurers who caught you looked like?"

"I remember. I’ll never forget their faces for the rest of my life." Yun Xiya gritted her teeth, her eyes welling up with tears again. "There were three of them, all human. One was a tall guy who was always eating snacks, and another was a jumpy, fat man."

"Oh," Shire nodded.

"There was also a leader. They all called him Coulson. I’ll find them and kill them," Yun Xiya said hatefully.

"Well," Shire scratched his cheek, "you might not be able to kill them."

He took out a small metal seal from beside him and placed it in front of Yun Xiya. "I’ve already killed them all. This is their seal."

Yun Xiya looked at the goblin sitting in the chair and took a shocked step back. "They’re already dead?"

"Mhm." Shire pushed the seal toward her. He finally understood now why those three had managed to save up so much money. They probably made a lot from selling Yun Xiya.

"I had flown out to play when I ran into them. The leader, Coulson, said they were going to kill goblins. I never should have agreed to help them back then." Yun Xiya covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"It’s all in the past now," Shire sighed, comforting her gently. He looked around, trying to find a tool to deal with the chain on her ankle right away.

Before long, Yun Xiya’s emotions calmed. She wiped the tears from her face and looked up at Shire. "Only now do I know what true good and true evil are."

Then she glanced at the iron chain on her ankle. "There’s Magic cast on this chain. It restricts my Natural Magic. It needs to be removed so I can better help you."

"Don’t worry, that’s easily solved," Shire said, holding up a pair of pliers.