Chapter 158 An Emergency Meeting . . .

As the Hunters rode towards the goblin war camp in the dead of the night, using [Stealth] to hide their presence and other magical devices lent to them by the merchant guild, they saw only a few fires burning low, clearly indicating the soon-to-be raiders of Castle Rock Town were laying low in the dead of the night.

Within a kilometer of the camp, all predators had abandoned the area or had been slain by the goblins.

If the merchant guild information was correct, this was where they should find the Grendelkin.

June, one of the Rank-B hunters in the area, with nearing five hundred ATP, said, "I say we attack them and set fire to their huts. That way, we won't have to deal with as many at once and hopefully take a few out as their camp burns."

Matt, another rank-B hunter, seconded, "I can use my [Control Spell] to make sure that the fire spreads to wherever huts we miss. No goblin will escape this barbecue!"

Fin added, a Rank-C Hunter, "While they are all looking at you, I can use [Stealth] to look for that big one that the merchant guild requested. When it showed its face, we'll ambush it.

"No. The guild said to just investigate and find out what we're dealing with," protested Gina, a Rank-C Hunter who was only in Castle Rock town to watch the celebration and now was roped into this problem. "And now that we know that the merchant guild was indeed correct. We have to report back, warn the others, barge the gates, and prepare for war."

"Oh, come on." June rolled his eyes. "Sure that they outnumbered us to a hundred to one, but they're just goblins."

"If we cause a ruckus here, all of them would rouse and charge an attack all at once. Even if your ATP is nearing five hundred, against that many, I don't think you will last," argued Gina. "Let's go back and warn the others."

"We haven't found the big one yet," Matt said.

"Is that it?" Fin whispered and jabbed a finger over a shadow that loomed near the entrance of the woodlands.

It appeared like just a large rock because it was curled and unmoving like a boulder. But using their skills and a [Monocle], they had finally found their target.

A monster approximately the height of ten meters and bulging with muscles. Its color was in a mix of green and blue with powerful hands and feet. Its face was hideous with tiny red eyes, a big ogre nose, a brow that extended like a demon's horn up the way to its back, and a powerful jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

The four adventurers trembled at the sight, and the courage they showed before disappeared with the Grendelkin's stat.

Gina swallowed hard. "Let's go. The fact that thousands and thousands of goblins are camping outside of Castle Rock town is enough proof that we're all in danger."

"That Grendelkin is bad news."

"We should get out of here while we still can."

They could use [Stealth], and they were riding a horse. They could charge forward to escape, but they would lose their card as a Hunter if they did such a cowardly act.

And they weren't sure if they could push through that horde of Goblins before their [Stealth] would run out for the day and be caught at the center of thousands of goblins.

The best course of action was to report back and then escape when the battle was raging on. Gina thought. She would not about to lay her life for this town no matter how much money she was given.

The other Hunters thought the same as well. Only a few thought of fighting the war for gil and glory, if ever.

----

[Cross's POV]

Inside the town hall of Castle Rock, the officials in charge of the town had an emergency meeting. There was the mayor, the master of laws, the master of coins, the master of trades, the advisors, the captain of the guards, and so on.

The Hunters had already reported their finding and confirmed that Perry was telling the truth, which in turn that I was telling the truth.

I was standing by the side, presumably Perry's personal guard, so I could be a part of this discussion that would dictate the fate of this town.

"Grendelkin live to serve the beings who created them and regard them as parents. They serve their parent without question, lending their strength and ferocity to whatever tasks their creator sets for them."

"So we just have to kill this parent?"

"Even if a Grendelkin's parent dies, the Grendelkin spend the rest of their life attempting to carry out their parent's last set of commands."

"Great. So we don't have any choice but to kill this thing?"

"Is this another form of attack as well?"

"They're numerous lately."

"I think it's those bastard demons and devils in the Grado Empire! Who else would born a horrible creature such as a Grendelkin?"

"That nation is also powerful enough to teleport an entire army here without causing a disturbance in the flow of mana. That's why our mages weren't alerted of the threat."

"Is that why the major representatives escaped? They know of this attack, right?"

"They abandoned us!"

"Sir Edward left quietly, probably because he didn't want to cause a panic. I'm sure that he already amass soldiers to march in here."

"We've also sent words to the kingdom and neighboring towns. Help would be upon us soon."

"Help?! They abandoned us here to be cannon fodders! Castle Rock is situated remotely on this southern land. The nearest towns are Bluebell and Roselake. Roselake was just recently burned to the ground. No help came to them. Why do you think that help would come to us if even Roselake, a tourist destination and one of the highest taxpayers, was left to burn?"

"Between Bluebell, one of the kingdom's major sources of food, and this old fortress that doesn't contribute much, which do you think the crown and the church would save?

"That's not true."

"Not true? The fact that they didn't alert us so we could escape from this town is evidence enough! The king wanted us dead in time for Bluebell to evacuate. If we escape, then the next target would surely be Bluebell Town. They wanted us to remain here, trapped and butchered for the enemy, stalling for time, while they made sure that everyone in Bluebell was evacuated safely."

"Be careful at what you're saying. Your tongue might be cut for treason. You have no proof."

"Treason? Tongue? We're all dead here! What use is my tongue?"

"And what proof do you need than the proof you refuse to see? We're trapped here!"

". . ."

". . ."

I took a deep breath.

This meeting wasn't helping at all. They were just wasting precious time.

"By the way, Perry. Can you answer three questions of mine," I asked the head merchant by my side.

"Of course," Perry replied in glee, eager to please me despite the situation we're in. "Asked away, Sir Cross!"

"Why did Edward, Demeter, and Brighid leave? If they combined their powers, they could definitely save this town."

Perry laughed in a hearty manner. "If that's the case, then this world of Nordland should have been at peace long ago.

"Why would Lady Demeter and Lady Brighid defend a kingdom that they wish nothing but destroyed?"

I thought of that too. I just asked to confirm my guess. "Next question if let's say it was indeed the demon kingdom who teleported all these goblins here. Couldn't this kingdom do the same and teleport soldiers here?"

"Sadly, that kind of magic is ancient and lost in history. No one knows of this type of magic. No one in this kingdom knows how to do it. Rumors has it that only the oldest race, the Demon race knew of such ancient magic.

"That's why we only have the Teleportation Gates as our means of teleporting from town to town. Sadly, this town's Teleportation Gate is ruined and hasn't been fixed yet."

Like it was planned . . . Their timing to launch an attack couldn't be any more perfect.

"Then, isn't this Kingdom at a disadvantage if the Demons could just magically teleport armies here?"

"That's right. That's why major towns have magical arrays and barriers so no spies or armies could penetrate inside their territories."

"Major Towns? So this isn't a major town?"

Perry laughed. "Sadly, no. This is just a backwater town. If you see a major town, you'll be surprised how wide and advanced they are. The fief of the four major families is amongst them. They're the backbones of the kingdom."

"Could they extend these arrays to smaller towns then?"

Perry shook his head. "Sadly, no. First of all, these magical barriers or arrays are very expensive and time-consuming to create. They couldn't be bought. And secondly, you have to have dozens of Mages with at least 500 INT to constantly power up these arrays every once a day. So you have to pay them too for their services, and they aren't cheap."