Kapitel 74: showdown

"To respond to your question, the place was crawling with goblins. I fell upon it through my wandering here and dispatched the possible menace." Truthfully said Alex, only omitting a few details.

"Indeed! Such a youthful spirit! You have my thank kind sire!" Joyfully exclaim Liam.

-Is he serious?!- Asked Cs, dumbfounded at the man reaction.

'I'm starting to think he has a personality disorder.' Squinted Alex, his eye carefully observing the knight wannabe.

"We came days ago and had been able to witness aplenty of smoke during the entire last day; the people were starting to think a forest fire had started." Finally spoken another member of the party.

Turning to the second male, Alex could see that this one had none of the leader damaged brain cells and kept a close eye on him.

Taking out a stone ball, Alex lazily threw it at him. Caught the slow-moving ball, Driti observed it before a realisation look appears on his face and shoot a look of appreciation at Alex, sending it back.

"What is this contraption?" Asked the brow haired, blue eyes supporter.

"Rudimentary smoke bomb made with the surrounding wood and leaves. He must have smoked them and use the distraction." Said the man back in a surprisingly soft voice while turning his head toward the still large volume of smoke rising in the sky. "Even then, there must have been quite the number for the pyres to burn through the night."

"A couple of hundreds of goblins." Informed Alex passively, again not wrong but not entirely right either.

"Anyway, we must make haste; those miscreants had made suffer lady Athena most enough." She didn't lose sleepover. " And if they had been regretfully slain, then its befall on this noble company to avenge their tormented soul!" They were, and Alex already did. "Follow along, youngling, while we don't have the horse to share, your kind are still savage and quite the rambunctious kind; I have full confidence in your ability to follow!" Brightly smiled Liam at Alex.

-It's official; this fucker is a racist of the highest order; I wouldn't be surprised to learn his also a misogynist too.-

From the glare, he could see the three female sending; it was mostly assured he was.

"Yeah, right, that not going to happen." Immediatly responded, Alex. "I have no obligation to help you. The four morons before had been creeping around a nest of goblins and are dead because of it. Their horses are either dead of fleed, and they had been caught."

~~~

Alex refusal was expected and readily accepted among the four. While they had a different view on those reasons, they know that he had all the right to refuse; he was, after all, a free being. Liam, on the other hand, didn't seem to see things that way.

"Indeed?! You would refuse to help your bett-*coughs* brave peoples that risk their lives every day to allow your possible and simple existence?! Do you have no shame!" Yells him suddenly, his speech completely changing.

The sheer amount of aggression he showed blew the tension back to a hundred. In a motion caught by all but unable to react, Alex drew his bow and fired an arrow, drawing a bloody line on the knight helmet-free cheek.

"Careful buddy, your xenophobia' showing!" Growled Alex, another arrow already armed and ready to kill the man.

The barely diffused tension was back full force. All four others were rooted on their saddles, looking disbelievingly between Liam sheer antagonism against Alex; and the young therianthrope sheer speed with the bow.

As Level 2 adventurers, their eyesight had been enhanced beyond humanity, like the rest of their body, but that didn't mean they had the physical power to respond to it, not in this situation anyways. Add to that, all of this was Alex base power, greatly enhanced by his new Flana. While he had yet to hone it to its peak, Alex body possesses a natural strength, agility, and hand-eye coordination far superior to humans.

When artificial faced natural talent, the second would always win until those artificial enhancements were honed until they were engrained in the deepest of one instinct and muscules.

~~~

"Let be clear. Franckfully, I could care less about what happened to you or what happened to the previous group. They are adults and able to make their own decisions, but when their acts could have triggered a disaster for the surrounding, and they not bother to report it, its own faults.

I only stay here because of two things. First, the settlement needs me because none of your lazy asses would go out of your way actually to protect this land. You all came only after disaster struct, simply because hunting goblins in open ground isn't worth it.

Tiris people are simple folks in a small settlement, and other than their guards, they have no means to contact the guild or defend themselves. You should better remember that you are alive because peoples like them risk their lives every day to produce what you eat! Sure their not the 'brave hero' fighting the evil of the monster, but to me, they are real people, not fake, who prattle around and show off once the show' over.

So yes, I don't care a shit, fuck off!" Snarled Alex the more he spoke, until yelling. The facing group were left speechless of the vitriol he spewed at them until Isis lowered her head in shame, his words ringing deep in her as it depicted her situation, without Alex knowing.

~~~

Isis had always dreamed of a better life, far from the hard labour of the hearth her father and mother were ruining their health on. As a young girl, she hadn't wanted this life. When she became fifteen, she flees her home, selfishly taking away part of the meagre harvest her parents were putting all their heart to gather.

Unlike many, she had been quite lucky to rapidly enter the guild's service, particularly the Athena Familia. From there, she moved from class to class, becoming what she fancied the most at the time.

Ten years later, and here she was, without truly any real feather to her hat, good for nothing but rescue mission in the land she fleed.

It had been during this very mission that she was back to her homeland, Tiris. Proud of what she became, she had wanted to show off to her parents, only to learn that both were dead. Her impulsive depart had to render both heartbroken, and without the means to continue to tills the field, they died shortly due to the lack of proper food that could have saved them.

Hearing Alex word immediatly brought back the deep sorrow she had been barely able to burry in her chest, making her burst into tears.

~~~

Hearing one of them weeps, Liam turned his head. When he saw that it was his sweetheart, he couldn't hold himself anymore. Seeing the signs, Driti tried to interfere, but it was too far.

"Liam, wait..!" Shouted him while dismounting, but no avail, already too late.

"Your impudent swine! How could you made weep this fair maiden! I always know that your animal.." Shouted Liam ever higher, covering his teammate's voice. In anger, he reached for his blade, but the second he moved, the whistling sound of arrow and twang of bowstring resound.

Alex hears the Level 2 Adventurer treating him as nothing other than an animal was the breaking point for Alex. Any goodwill he had immediatly die, and he didn't hesitate to fire.

~~~

Time seems to dilate for the four others as they looked as the arrow travel its deadly path. As placed behind their leader, all momently lost its sight for a second, but then suddenly and violently recoiling the head of Liam was all they needed.

Frozen for a second, the now-dead adventurer body slowly falls from the saddle, the muscles in its legs, maintaining its posture relaxing.

Looking at the crumpled form of their past leader, all jerked back at the sound of wood sliding on wood. They see with abject horror that another arrow was already nocked and aimed at Haufora, ready to bring death on her.

"I didn't want to thing turning that way, but he was the one to throws the first offence and threaten my life." Said Alex, making them wince at the harsh glare and cold voice. "If any of you give me a reason to think you are a threat, I will not hesitate to kill you all.

We all know that the only threat among you, to me, is the archer. By the time she draws her bow, an arrow would transpierce her head through the eye." Alex warned them.

Keeping putting them in play, Alex heard pricked, a sight caught by Driti. Realising what must happen, his head swivels to his companions, looking at their youngest. He only had the time to open his mouth, that the arrows embedded themselves in Syona. As her warm corpse fell to the ground, all could see the already half-drawed blade.

This made the remaining three understand that she was already planning to assassinate him even with the warning. They all knew of the youngest infatuation with Liam, leading the not-so-chivalrous man to take advantage of the young lady body.

The grief of losing her lover and her overconfidence in her skills led her to ignore the threat of the thoughts of un-blessed therianthrope. Only Alex inhuman hearing warned him of the impending danger.

The action had been lightning fast, and by the time the body's fallen, Alex had a third arrow aimed back at Haufora.

~~~

"Don't make me repeat myself; you're not numerous enough to be a threat now. I could kill you here and there, and nobody would know what happened to you." Alex said in a chilling voice. "Trust me or don't, but those you seek are already dead. A group of three hobgoblins had eaten marron, and each of the girls raped and impregnated. They were bearing their offspring for at least ten days. If I hadn't killed them, this would have left at least six hob-goblins roaming this forest, ready to strike any settlements nearby."

Alex words made the three inhale sharply, and both females turn green and heavily shaking. Driti, now the leader by default, wanted to trust the young therianthrope but needed proof.

Slowly raising his hand above his head, he asked.

"I need proof; the guild would never caution your action today without proof of your words." Say him, hoping that the young man did have them, or this would spell their end.

With both females still covering their mouth to not puke, leaving it evident that they wouldn't reach for their weapon without Alex caught them, he lowered his bow.

-I was able to put all the skinned hides and the cores in the backpack- Immediatly said CS, wishing for the situation to end already.

'Thank, buddy.' Thankful to know that CS had his back.

-Anytime.- Responded to him immediatly.

Keeping his gaze on them all, he wiggled his shoulders, making the backpack slide the length of his arm before lightly send it at Driti with his foot.

Driti caught the offered backpack he opened it. Founding three pouches and leather wrapping something, he took them out. What he found in the purse made him within, before lightly perspire and finally shake uncontrollably.

On the side, both women caught the sight of what was a pouch full of goblins, variant and even hobgoblin cores. The gasped when Driti unfolded what eight skinned hob-goblins hides were. Their presence was clear; those monster had been roaming around long enough to bring their number to what he shows them.

Shakily wrapping them back and sending over the backpack to its owner, Driti gaze darted to the rock formation then back to Alex before asking fearfully.

"How much?"

"Enough for a raid on their own."