Chapter 97

After leaving the guild, the atmosphere among everyone was still not very good.

It was mainly because Ailuka and Kafurin were having a disagreement, which left Luolin feeling helpless.

At the same time, Luolin could see the helplessness in Aoge's eyes and his desire to do something about it, but like Luolin, he had the will but not the ability.

The most composed one was Xika, who seemed completely unconcerned about the situation and remained unmoved.

'Wait.'

Xika suddenly stopped and said, habitually extending one arm to signal those behind him not to continue forward. Luolin and the others naturally stopped as well.

'There's movement ahead.'

Xika said.

'Movement?'

Luolin hadn't sensed anything appearing ahead.

'There definitely is, it's just still quite far away right now.'

Xika said. Only then did Luolin nod, accepting Xika's assessment. Since he had stated it so definitively, there must be a special situation.

Xika gently pressed his body to the ground, listening to something through the earth with his ear.

'Three enemies in total, relatively small in size, walking upright on two legs, coming from that direction.'

Xika even pointed out a specific direction.

'Aoge, prepare to defend. Kafurin, use magic to deal with them directly, but don't use anything too large-scale, don't make too much noise.'

Xika commanded, and Aoge and Kafurin immediately nodded, beginning to act according to his arrangements.

Similarly, Xika didn't forget about Luolin and Ailuka.

'Captain Luolin, Miss Ailuka, please pay attention. If any unexpected situation occurs, act immediately.'

Xika said.

'Kafurin is very vulnerable to attacks while casting spells, and some goblins can use bows and arrows or throw stones. At critical moments, you must protect Kafurin.'

Xika explained everything clearly, word by word.

'Isn't she very capable? Why would she need protection...'

'Don't talk nonsense!'

Before Ailuka could finish speaking, Luolin covered her mouth. After glaring at her, Luolin agreed to Xika in a pleasant tone.

'Understood.'

After making these arrangements, there was still plenty of time. After waiting for about two full minutes, Luolin finally sensed something.

He heard footsteps. Something was indeed approaching, but Luolin couldn't determine the number and characteristics of the enemies like Xika could. He could only know the general direction.

This position was exactly as Xika had predicted.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the enemies appeared.

At the end of their line of sight, several goblins were slowly approaching. The number was exactly three as Xika had said. One of them, relatively fat, carried a basket of arrows on its back and held a bow in its hands.

At the same time, they were constantly watching their surroundings, as if searching for something.

They slowly approached, and when the distance reached a certain range, Kafurin raised her staff.

'Ice Blade!'

Several sharp blades made of solid ice shot out, silently cutting through the air, and finally severed a goblin's head in one strike.

When the first goblin was dealt with in this way, the other two reacted quickly. They immediately dodged, even hiding directly behind their decapitated companion, using it as a shield.

Their reaction was truly swift.

'Aoge!'

Xika also emerged from the side, shouting loudly, then charged out himself. Aoge popped his head out from the other side, and the two attacked from both flanks.

Aoge deliberately slowed his pace, allowing Xika to arrive first.

The goblin made an incomprehensible sound from its mouth. Xika immediately raised the shield in his hand and slammed it forward, silencing its cries.

Aoge followed close behind, raising his fist and directly smashing it toward the goblin's forehead.

"Charging Punch!"

The force was applied directly, and the goblin's head exploded like tofu pudding under the impact.

It had already been injured by the ice magic earlier and had no time to defend itself. To resolve the battle as quickly as possible, Xika and Aoge chose to immediately team up and eliminate one of them right from the start.

However, the last remaining goblin quickly grabbed onto a nearby tree stump with its hands and climbed up. Its speed was fast, and by the time everyone looked up, it had already steadied itself and drawn its bow to full capacity.

And its target was directly aimed at Kafurin's position.

Kafurin hadn't jumped out from the bushes, but through the previous attack, the goblin had learned Kafurin's location.

It muttered something incoherently, its bow fully drawn with accumulated force.

"Kafurin, dodge quickly!"

Because there was no time to block the goblin—it was standing at a high position—Xika could only shout a warning to Kafurin.

Kafurin's movements weren't slow either. She immediately tried to dodge, but the goblin's bow was locked firmly on her.

In a moment of carelessness, Kafurin was tripped by vines underfoot.

"Ah!"

She screamed and fell to the ground.

At this moment, the goblin seized the opportunity and shot the arrow fiercely. With Kafurin now not only fallen but also with her feet entangled in vines, it was naturally very difficult for her to evade.

Perhaps the goblin was attacking precisely at this vulnerable point.

But regardless, this was the result. Kafurin watched as the arrow rapidly enlarged in her vision.

She could only close her eyes.

"Whirling Slash!"

With her eyes closed, Kafurin heard this voice. She opened her eyes just in time to see a red figure leap into mid-air, spin once, and strike the arrow with a sword.

Afterward, the girl threw the sword toward Kafurin while still in mid-air.

Kafurin was startled.

"You!"

But she had no time to react at all. However, the sword wasn't aimed at her—it directly severed the vines that had trapped Kafurin.

"Rua! Tua!"

The goblin stomped heavily on the floor several times on the tree, as if very dissatisfied and somewhat angry about this.

It drew its bow and shot several arrows in succession.

Now Ailuka had no weapons in her hands. She couldn't possibly catch arrows barehanded, could she?

Fortunately, that situation didn't occur. Another figure ran in front of Ailuka. The thick black object in his hands transformed into a shield, protecting Ailuka and blocking all the arrows shot by the goblin.

Then, the shield in his hands transformed again, becoming a longbow. He drew the bow, an arrow naturally appeared, and shot out at high speed.

This arrow precisely pierced through the goblin's throat, and it fell straight down from the tree.

The battle ended here...

Although that was the case, everyone inevitably still hadn't quite recovered. They all looked at the already-defeated goblins, panting, and only came back to their senses after quite a while.

"Kafurin, are you alright?"

As soon as Aoge came to his senses, he went to check on Kafurin's condition.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Kafurin stood up by herself, and indeed appeared to be unharmed.

Aoge picked up the longsword from the ground and tossed it directly to Ailuka, who reached out and caught it.

"Thank you for saving her."

Aoge thanked her on behalf of Kafurin, but Ailuka didn't seem appreciative.

"I didn't save her. That sword thrust just missed, that's all. Don't let me find another opportunity."

Ailuka said with a light snort.

Although she said this, the fact remained that she had saved Kafurin. Because of this, Kafurin said nothing and turned her face away, walking to the side.

However, it was ultimately a close call without real danger, which made Aoge breathe a huge sigh of relief. Wasn't this the best outcome?

Xika also walked over. It was clear he seemed to have many things he wanted to ask Luolin right now, but it wasn't the right time yet. He looked toward the three goblin corpses that had been dealt with.

"Aoge, handle this."

Xika said, and Aoge nodded.

"Alright! I'll go throw them to the other side to avoid having our tracks discovered."

Aoge was quite practiced at this.

Luolin had originally planned to help Aoge, but Aoge refused.

"Leave this dirty work to me. Besides, I've done this kind of thing many times already. I'm more practiced at it. Just wait for me to come back."

As Aoge spoke, he had already hoisted the goblin corpses onto his shoulders and walked away.

Luolin breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward Xika again. Xika was also looking at him.

"Captain Xika, you really are impressive. Everything happened exactly as you predicted."

Luolin said. He believed he couldn't do such things himself.

Xika shook his head modestly.

"It's nothing. As a captain, I naturally have to shoulder a bit more responsibility. That was a skill I acquired earlier—I can judge many things through sounds from underground. It should originally be a hunter's skill, but I learned it due to some special circumstances."

Xika explained his abilities in just a few sentences.

Luolin nodded lightly. Although this skill had no effect in combat, it was undoubtedly very useful for mercenary adventures.

"Look at their captain, then look at you."

Ailuka even glanced at Luolin and said this. Luolin was helpless.

"If you're so capable, you do it. Wasn't it you who didn't want to be captain because you found it tiring, which is why you made me do it?"

As the captain of a mercenary team, there were usually many busy affairs to handle, because the guild would directly contact the captain about matters. Ailuka detested such things, so she had refused the position from the start.

Ailuka was left speechless, but her gaze toward Luolin remained unfriendly.

"Hehe, I can see you two have a good relationship."

Xika said with a laugh.

"We do not!"

"We do not!"

Ailuka and Luolin answered almost simultaneously, then fell into silence.

This made Xika chuckle again, but next, he planned to discuss another serious matter.

"Captain Luolin, if it's convenient, could you tell me what that was just now? Are you a shield bearer? Or... a hunter who uses bow and arrows?"

Xika was also looking at the thing in Luolin's hand that had transformed into a long rod-like shape.

He had previously revealed his own skill, probably in order to ask Luolin this question.