âHaaa, I did some reflection last night,â Old Ronnie sighed to hide his fear before saying, âThat group clearly doesnât want us to tag along. As such, we shouldnât insist. Weâll just wait for the next escort group that passes by.â
âT-the next escort group that passes by? We donât know when that would be. It could take days or even a whole week! If we stay in Sunpeak Town for that long, we might as well stay here for life!â the person said with shock.
After all, three days was enough to catch the Curse of the Purple Umbala. They wouldnât be allowed to leave Sunpeak Town once that happens.
âW-weâll wait one day. If we canât find an escort group to tag along, weâll go through Goblinâs Road by ourselves,â Old Ronnie compromised.
He valued his life, but he didnât want to stay in Sunpeak Town for life either.
Nevertheless, the person couldnât understand what Old Ronnie was afraid ofâso much that Old Ronnie would rather put the merchant group in danger by traveling alone than travel with the escort group they encountered.
âIs there something youâre not telling me, Sir?â the person inquired.
âItâsâ¦. better if you donât know,â Old Ronnie said carefully after looking around nervously. He was uncertain if the person that threatened his life last night was still around somewhere or not.
âI seeâ¦â
The person eventually grasped the situation based on Old Ronnieâs odd behavior and didnât pry any further.
â¦
â¦
â¦
Meanwhile, Vaan left Sunpeak Town with the escort group and the two witch sisters.
While Captain Rhysâs men pulled the wagon, Vaan enjoyed the leisure ride on the back of Linettaâs Earth Salamander with her and Lillias.
Nevertheless, Captain Rhys suddenly paused his steps, having second thoughts about their route to Redpine City.
âConsidering there might be assassins waiting for us ahead, wouldnât it safer to tread more carefully? Weâll be at a disadvantage if we exhaust our stamina and encounter enemies on the road,â Captain Rhys mentioned.
âYou donât have to worry about that,â Linetta calmly said after glancing at Vaan.
Captain Rhys was immediately baffled by Linettaâs confidence.
If the escort groupâs stamina was exhausted from their hasty trip, they would be too tired to fight goblins, let alone trained assassins.
Nevertheless, Captain Rhys chose not to overthink. It was clear to him that Lady Linette was acting according to Brother Vaanâs plan.
Unfortunately, the young warriors didnât share the same thoughts as their captain. They werenât in the best conditions for traveling, let alone traveling at a quick pace while pushing and pulling a wagon.
An hour into their trip, everyone in the Steelguard Escort Group beside Captain Rhys was already puffing with exhaustion even though they hadnât even broken a sweat.
Some had even vomited along the way.
âCaptain, we canât keep up with this kind of pacing. We need a break,â one of the young warriors complained.
Captain Rhys immediately frowned while Linetta revealed her displeasure.
âIf you didnât drink so much last night, do you think you would all be in this state after an hour into our trip? I told you that it wasnât too late to celebrate after we complete our mission!â Captain Rhys berated his men.
However, a few moments later, Captain Rhysâs ears twitched at a sudden noise coming from the woods on their left, which was in the direction of Red Goblin Mountain.
âQuiet! We have company,â Captain Rhys alerted as he unsheathed his sword. He was prepared to take on the entire wave of goblins by himself.
After all, the new recruits were useless in their current states.
Swish!
The grass in the woods rustled.
Half a breath later, several green goblins quickly jumped out with their wooden clubs and stone axes., wearing nothing but a simple yet terribly dirty loincloth to cover their nether region.
But before Captain Rhys could act, Linetta shot them all down with metal spikes that were the size of threading needles.
They didnât have a lot of attack power, but their lethality was more than enough for the likes of green goblins from Red Goblin Mountain.
Linetta didnât need to bother pulling out the big metal spikes she prepared to deal with Rank 2 and Rank 3 monsters.
âDonât bother with the small fries. Let us continue the journey after a small break,â Linetta said.
âUnderstood, Lady Linette,â Captain Rhys nodded.
The green goblins had nothing of value. As such, Captain Rhys and the young warriors didnât bother salvaging them.
After the young warriors recovered some of their stamina, the group resumed their trip to Redpine City at a quick pace.
They continued to encounter more green goblins in small groups, but they were all swiftly dealt with by Linetta.
Due to the size of Linettaâs metal needles, her mana consumption had been minimal. Furthermore, she received Vaanâs massage to stimulate her pores and recover mana along the way.
As such, Linettaâs mana reserve remained high.
Sometime later, the sky darkened at the arrival of nighttime, but they were only three-quarters towards reaching their destination.
They didnât make it to Redpine City by nightfall due to the repeated breaks they were forced to take in between.
âThis is strange⦠The assassins were definitely ahead of us,â Captain Rhys mentioned.
When they went to sell their beast carcasses to the butcher stores, they learned another group had sold their stolen beast carcasses and wagon ahead of time.
âIf the assassins wanted to make their move, they had plenty of chances to do so already,â Captain Rhys added with doubt.
Linetta and Lillias also revealed their confusion.
Although they followed Vaanâs plan, they didnât know the full details. They only knew they were trying to mislead their enemies by feeding Old Ronnie false information.
However, there was no point if they would take the same route they told outsiders.
âYou donât have to worry about the assassins. They are probably still waiting to ambush us on Hobgoblinâs Road like idiots,â Vaan casually said with a slight smile.
âOh? They knew we were going to use Hobgoblinâs Road initially?â Captain Rhys uttered with surprise.
âYeah, you can thank one of your guys for that. He did a good job selling our information to the enemy.â
âWhat!â