Chapter 55: Intermission: Just Another Normal Quest (Part 2)
"So I'll be away for a little longer than usual this time..."
Silence. Just dead silence. My hope was that if I kept talking to her, Fiona would get used to it, and talk to me more often. This time it was another swing and a miss. All she did was look at me and nod her head to acknowledge what I had said before going back to interacting with Taleena. It would have been a cute action given how pretty she was, but knowing it was driven by her hate of me...it hurt...a lot.
I was used to pretty girls ignoring me, but for some reason Fiona's actions were particularly painful. Maybe I was especially weak against loli anger? However, let me be clear, I am not a lolicon. Definitely not. Probably. Viva big breasts! I can't be a lolicon if I like big breasts...wait aren't their things called "loli big tits"? 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵.
"Ummm...ok then. Taleena keep her safe even if I don't return."
Taleena stared at me with her inky black eyes and said nothing, but I could feel through our connection that she had accepted the order. Those black eyes...they used to be such a wonderful shade of brown. While I was lamenting over my past actions again, I was surprised to hear another voice in the room, a quiet and angry one.
"...Mother will protect me even if you don't tell her..."
Fiona's voice was quiet, but in a dead silent room I could make out the words. I could also make out the anger in every word as well. I didn't know what to say, so to spare both of us I just pretended like I didn't hear it and pushed the incoming wave of guilt I felt back down again.
I turned and headed for the door. I opened it and was about to leave, but came to a halt. I turned my head back to look at Fiona.
"Be sure to eat something and take care of yourself. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Instead of waiting for a response I knew wouldn't come, I headed out and closed the door. Even if I had waited, I doubt I would have heard the words that were so low I'd have to be right next to Fiona's mouth to hear them.
"Don't die."
**********
Tonight the moon was slightly covered behind some clouds, but due to my job I could still see as clear as day. I had arrived at the carriage earlier with my minions in tow, but I had hid in the nearby forest until now to avoid any unwanted attention.
Looking around and seeing no one, I walked toward the carriage that had fallen over on the side of the road alone. I was hoping this quest would go by quickly. While Fiona probably hated me...no she definitely did. While Fiona hated me, I had still promised to protect her, and being away for too long made me nervous. I had left Taleena and a few minions with her, but you never know. I had been forced to take most of my minions with me, since I needed their numbers to scour the area.
I was told that the people who investigated before me had cast the spell [𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬] layered with multiple buffs and synergistic spells to try and maintain the scene. It was costly and would only last a few days, but luckily for me it looked like it was still working as I could see what looked like fresh blood in the area. On further inspection I could see small child-like footprints all over the place, and then they headed in many different directions.
Apparently the two guards they had with them were found dead at the scene. Even though goblins were weak comparatively to many other monsters, they traveled in large numbers and used ambush tactics to take down their prey. The guards and the people in the carriage were probably blindsided and eventually overwhelmed, much like how my smaller minions could overwhelm a much stronger target.
I continued looking around, identifying the different directions the footprints went. While goblins weren't that smart, they were smart enough to know how to make it difficult to track them. As I kept looking an idea popped into my head.
"If I get a cowl and a cape...couldn't I be the greatest detective of this world? I kind of already thrive in the darkness..."
Stopping myself short of saying "I am the night!" and shaking my head, I refocused on the matter at hand. The longer I took, the higher the chance that the victims will be dead when I get there. I commanded each minion to take a different direction and fan out to 5 miles. If they hadn't found anything that far out I probably wouldn't be finding these people.
**********
After what seemed to be about 30 minutes, I felt a tug on my conscience. I had gotten used to this by now, and concentrated which allowed me to see through the eyes of the minion. What I saw was...𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭?
While I was wondering if I had messed up my commands, I saw a small figure appear from behind the waterfall. To many people in this darkness it would seem like a small child, but to me eyes it was clear as day that it was a goblin. I had seen pictures that matched this thing in the Monster Encyclopedia at the guild.
The goblin sniffed the air in multiple directions, as if it was trying to detect something. The encyclopedia said that goblins have a nose slightly stronger than humans, but weaker than beasts. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘖𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺?
Whatever the case was, after a few more moments it stopped, and headed back through the waterfall. If it weren't for the fact that I had seen it enter and exit that waterfall with my own eyes, there was no way I would have known anything was amiss here. 𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳.
With that I exited the eyes of my minion and recalled all of them back to me as I made my way toward the waterfall. One thought raced through my head as I made my way over. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone