"A Goblin Cave? Like the one with the Halflings?"

"You really should have read the bounty notice more carefully, Kase."

"Isn’t that what I have you for?"

Colin sighed in resignation. "This Goblin Cave is a complete main nest, only recently discovered. The bounty is one hundred and twenty Gold Coins. It seems some people were captured and dragged inside. We have to rescue them."

"A hundred and twenty Gold Coins for a Goblin Cave? This is practically free money. Perfect," Kase said. "But we’ll need to watch out for their Warg Riders. How far are we from the cave now?"

"About five kilometers. We’re still a little ways from their outer perimeter," Colin said.

Kase slapped his cheeks. "Time to stay sharp, then."

"What do you mean by ’outer perimeter’?" Orelia asked curiously.

Ale spoke up to explain, "To use a kingdom as an analogy, the outer perimeter is like the goblins’ national border. They can control an area of up to four kilometers around their nest."

"It’s not really ’complete control,’ either. The goblins set up hidden lookouts and small resource-gathering outposts in this area. Their tamed Wargs will patrol the region, disguised as Wild Wolves."

"These intelligent creatures can speak the Goblin Language and execute simple commands. Based on the intel from their patrols, the goblins decide whether to be active or to stay hidden. It’s one of the reasons these Goblin Caves are so hard to find," Colin added.

Kase, now fully focused, took the lead at the front of the group, and they continued onward.

As they neared the Goblin Cave, Kase spotted many small, triangular stacks of stones. Atop these stacks lay the desiccated corpses of rats. Following Ale’s kingdom analogy, these were the goblins’ so-called "border markers."

Aside from a veteran like Kase, probably only the goblins themselves would notice such little things.

Upon seeing the markers, the party proceeded with increasing caution.

But their journey was surprisingly quiet; they didn’t encounter a thing.

The party continued until they reached a small hill about a kilometer from the Goblin Cave.

Colin stood beside a ridge, using the hillside for cover as he peered down below.

In the valley ahead lay an abandoned mine.

The mine’s entrance, constructed from wooden planks, was in a state of disrepair. Rusted tracks extended out from the opening.

Some low, gray-green walls were clearly visible at the mine’s entrance.

Within the walls was a low awning, under which sat an anvil and a crude, stone-built forge. The ground was littered with unfinished, rough Small Scimitars and a large pile of bones, gnawed clean.

"That’s the goblin entrance," Kase said. "We didn’t see any Wargs on the way, and their little walls are unmanned. The little runts must have realized someone found their hidey-hole, so they’re all cowering inside!"

"I’d call that good news. We can just hold the entrance and fight them there, like last time," Colin said.

Ale suggested, "Why don’t we try lighting a fire at the entrance to smoke them out?"

"Absolutely not," Kase hurriedly interjected. "If this cave has another exit, all our effort will be for nothing!"

"True," Colin agreed.

The group quickly stashed their gear.

Kase took the lead, creeping toward the abandoned mine, while the others remained hidden on the ridge, silently awaiting his report.

The Half-Orc moved with far more agility than before.

He circled the mine entrance, scouting it out. A moment later, he came hurrying back toward the ridge.

"What’s the situation?" Colin asked.

Kase shouted breathlessly, "The goblin lookouts are all empty! Someone must’ve gotten here ahead of us! And they’re not far ahead, either!"

What rotten luck.

"Let’s head in and see," Colin said. "If someone has already cleared it, there’s nothing we can do."

The group grabbed their weapons and hurried into the abandoned mine.

The mine tunnel was pitch-black. For goblins, who possessed Darkvision, the darkness was a natural ally.

Orelia raised her hand and cast [Light] on Colin’s Giant Sword. The party ventured deeper, guided by this magical illumination—of the entire group, Colin was the only one who couldn’t see in the dark.

As they delved deeper, they found numerous goblin-made traps and heard the faint, piercing sounds of battle up ahead.

Avoiding the goblins’ spiked pit traps and rockfalls, the group rounded several bends and came to a long, narrow passageway.

There was a cavern off to the side of the passageway. An orange-yellow firelight spilled from it, casting flickering shadows on the rock walls.

The sounds of battle they had heard moments ago had completely vanished. Now, all they could hear were waves of shrill cackling, unmistakably goblin, coming from within the cavern.

’Did the Adventurer party that went in before us fail?’

Colin gestured to Orelia, who immediately extinguished the [Light] spell.

He crept cautiously to the edge of the cavern’s entrance and peered inside.

Inside was a massive cavern. Judging by the pickaxe marks on the walls, the goblins must have expanded it themselves.

Several bonfires burned within the cavern, providing warmth.

Near the fires were several tents made from Beast Hides and some fenced-in pens. These structures were built from the same gray-green substance as the walls outside. At a glance, it looked like some kind of strange wood.

At that moment, a crowd of goblins was gathered in the center of the cavern, kicking and punching several humans lying on the ground.

Though he couldn’t make out their features, he was sure they were the Adventurers who had arrived earlier.

The surrounding goblins erupted in shrill peals of laughter. Meanwhile, the bodies of other goblins lay scattered on the ground, clearly dead.

Six Wargs were caged in the goblins’ pens.

The creatures were pacing restlessly within their enclosures. The stench of blood in the cavern was overpowering, and with the recent Adventurer raid, the Wargs likely wouldn’t be able to pick up Colin’s party’s scent for a while.

Colin glanced toward a corner of the cavern.

Over there was a stack of cages woven from that strange wood, and inside them were several humans with their hands bound. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The goblins of this world didn’t reproduce by relying on the females of other races, as they did in some tales. Instead, these creatures were fundamentally lazy, preferring to capture others and force them into slavery rather than do any work themselves.

A quick count revealed just over forty goblins in the entire cavern.

Over thirty of them were low-caste drudges, with only a dozen or so high-caste goblins.

Among the high-caste goblins, a dozen or so belonged to the Hunter caste and carried Short Bows. The rest were from the even higher Whipper caste. The Whippers wore crude Armor pieced together from scraps of iron plate and wielded Shields and Small Scimitars.

The most prominent among them was one wearing a Chain Armor Shirt.

That goblin stood half a head taller than its kin, likewise armed with a Shield and a Small Scimitar. He had to be the goblin leader.

’Just over forty goblins?’

The instant that thought flashed through his mind, Colin forced himself to calm down.

’To be honest, after facing ancient Skeletons and Frost Giant Skeletons, these goblins feel like nothing at all.’

’But that kind of thinking was dangerous. Underestimating an opponent was never a wise decision.’