บท 54: Money-making Goblin Ritual

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Hex gritted his teeth as he raised up his sword.

Skill 'Thunderous Roar' activated.

With this, Hex managed to taunt all the nearby goblins who were circling their encampment. Erwin didn't waste any time equipping his spear as well.

"I won't let them reach you," Erwin Knighthood plastered a smile on his face. He balanced the spear on his hand, and it weightlessly flipped around before he charged forward.

Skill 'Spear of Judgment and Destruction' activated.

"Leader, I'll take the rear," Natalie Holster volunteered. Without waiting for their leader's approval, she jumped into a horde of goblins. She had a pair of daggers in her hand, and she swung them around with great dexterity.

Skill 'Dagger Rush' activated.

Simultaneously, the horde of goblins jumped at the group with no regard for their lives. They were cannon fodders, after all, and they make up their strength in numbers so attacking all at once is advantageous for them.

Green blood was splattered everywhere as the three people in the party did easy work with the goblins. It was a green bloodbath, and Albrecht couldn't help but shiver whenever the sticky substance splashed on her.

"You've never seen a goblin before?" Sylvia batted her eyelashes at him after seeing his awkward reaction.

To be fair, Albrecht never experienced going to an F-Rank Dungeon. That's why he'd never met the vile creatures.

He was an ex-member of the Heroes of Relics. The lowest dungeon they've ever cleared was a C-Rank Dungeon, and it only happened once because a certain adventurer party messed up.

"Ah- er, yes," Albrecht responded, scratching his head in awkwardness.

"I see..." Sylvia didn't press him with any more questions. However, she did find it weird that Albrecht never saw a goblin before. After all, he was a porter—

— Unless he's a high-leveled porter that only goes to higher-ranked dungeon raids, then it was possible.

Sylvia intently stared at Albrecht after having such a thought. It was plausible... but she couldn't believe that someone who looked as plain as Albrecht is a professional porter.

"Who are you exactly?" Sylvia narrowed her gaze as she eyed Albrecht.

"What?" Albrecht asked back, befuddled. He didn't hear what Sylvia said due to the screeching of the goblins.

Even though the goblins had the numbers on their side, they still didn't stand a chance against the Spiderweb Party. There were only three of them, but they managed to stand up to thousands of goblins as if that was normal. Slowly, the goblins' numbers whittled down, and it didn't take long before all of them were defeated... at least, for now, all of them seemed to be taken cared of.

The battlefield was littered to the brim with dead goblins, and some of them were even twitching. Albrecht wanted to puke, but there was a girl beside him so he didn't want to do something unsightly.

After taking in the scenery, Hex sat down. "Well, that was a great warmup." He commented.

"Don't say it as if it was just warm up, leader. There might be a second wave or something." Erwin Knighthood said. He grabbed a towel from his pocket and wiped the green blood on the blade of his spear.

"You shouldn't say that, Erwin, that's bad luck." Natalie lightly scolded him for raising a flag.

"Should we gather goblin ears?" Hex asked, as if that wasn't a given already.

"Goblin ears? What is that?" Albrecht asked.

To answer his question, Sylvia showed him a rusty dagger and a pair of scissors. "Choose your weapon." She said.

Confused, Albrecht picked both. He had no idea what they were going to use it for but he decided to follow Sylvia anyways.

Without saying anything, Sylvia knelt in front of a goblin. Albrecht gulped as he watched what Sylvia was about to do.

Without a shift in her expression nor a change in her aura, she grabbed the dead goblin's right ear and cut it off. "Do you have a sack with you?" She asked.

'Is that a totally normal thing to ask after doing something so disgusting?' Albrecht asked himself but he procured an empty sack from his spatial storage anyways.

The group then set to work, cutting off every goblin's right ear and telling Albrecht to do the same.

Albrecht felt a different shiver up and down his spine as he knelt down in front of a twitching goblin. "Really now?" He exclaimed.

"If we want to earn as much as we could, then we have to document every single kill." Sylvia responded after cutting her twentieth goblin ear.

Mustering his courage, Albrecht shakily reached for the goblin's right ear. The goblin twitched in response to his touch, and he let out an 'eek' of disgust.

For the second time, Albrecht reached for it without thinking too much and cut it off. He then threw it into the open sack and started breathing heavily.

Who would've thought that cutting off a goblin's right ear could be this thrilling?

Albrecht cut his second, third, and fourth ear. By the time he reached the twentieth, he was like a machine.

The green sticky blood didn't churn his stomach anymore, and he was desensitized by the twitching of the goblins.

Thump.

Their hard work was interrupted by a steady thump that resounded from afar. A couple of seconds later, multiple familiar screeches were heard from the pathway that led to the clearing. This was the same pathway where they came from.

"More goblins, huh," Hex wiped the sweat off his forehead as he stood up. Once again, he equipped his shield and sword so he'd be prepared for combat at a moment's notice.

"No... something else is coming," Natalie said.

By the sound of it, something massive was approaching them. It could either be a Goblin Commander or a Goblin General.

As the goblins flooded inside the clearing, the thumping grew louder. It didn't take long before the figure behind the thumping finally appeared.

"I told you, Erwin, you shouldn't have said something like that." Natalia clicked her tongue when they saw the looming figure of the giant.

It was neither a Goblin Commander nor a Goblin General.

It was a Goblin King.