The Village of Dreihald

On our way to the village, which seemed to be close enough that one could reach it by walking, we began to talk to try and make the trip a little bit more bearable, but it wasn't until around the one hour mark that we saw the village to the distance. Just looking from the distance that we found ourselves looked like a ghost town compared to what we saw in Laftea. All the doors and windows were closed and there was no sign of any villagers in the streets of the town.

— We should first go to the chief's house —I said while looking at Kaeri

— I would imagine he's in that big house in top of that small cliff —she said while pointing at it

— I would imagine so... Come on, let's go —I said while heading to it

Upon reaching the house we went the front door and knocked on it.

— We have come from the guild of Laftea to exterminate the issue with the goblins —I said after knocking on the door

Upon doing so, after only five seconds the door opened to reveal an old man with a somewhat tired face having bags under his eyes. His eyes had a red tint to them, as if he was crying for a prolonged period of time.

— Welcome travelers... I'm the chief of this village, Flemel, and I give you my warmest welcome to Dreihald. I would invite you inside to a cup of tea, by we barely have any resources for ourselves... —said the chief while coughing

— We came exactly because of that. We would appreciate if you told us where to look for them —said Kaeri smiling

— ¡Ooooh! ¡Thank Lophis! May she bless both of your souls! —said the old guy happily — We don't know exactly where they come from, but we guess that from the south... it was thanks to my granddaughter that we discovered this... she went out without saying anything in attempt to save us but hasn't come back —said the chief almost crying  — I know it's much to ask as you're already helping us and it's selfish of myself, but, can you also bring her back...? Her name is Fujihara

As soon as Kaeri heard this, she immediately answered with a smile on her face.

— If we see her we will bring her back, don't worry about it!

After saying this, we quickly left to the south, we already wasted more than enough time talking, so we had to go quicker, especially when the life of someone was possibly in danger

— Kaeri... Kaeri, are you sure we can save his granddaughter? —I asked with doubt

She simply raised her thumb to then reply to me with a lot of positivism.

— Of course! We got this, don't you worry!

I simply gave up and continued to walk.  Which surprisingly didn't take that much and we reached the house

— I imagine this is the cave ¡Come on Hoshi, let's go! —she said motivated

Without time to lose, we head in to the cave. A quick thing that we noticed was the strong and pungent smell that one could feel coming deeper from the cave. Aside from that, the place was pretty humid with various puddles on the ground and droplets of water coming from the roof of the cave.

— So far nothing —I whispered while looking in all directions

We kept walking but the darkness was getting thicker. Luckily Kaeri simply created a small sphere of light that illuminated our path.

— Now that's helpful —I said after seeing the light

We kept walking, without any sign of our objective or at least that's what I thought. When we thought that the cave was empty, three goblins appeared from the darkness.

— Oh really... three at the same time!? It was only one and it was barely doable —I said annoyed — Okay... Kaeri, you prepare the attack while I distract them!

The goblins appeared to be mad that we invaded their territory. Preparing myself I unsheathed my iron dagger and kept my eyes on them.

"It should be alright, the blade is small enough so I can swing it without worrying of hitting the roof of the cave" I thought to myself while trying to be aware of my surroundings

The goblins began to run toward me at the same time. The first one seemed to be a little slow on his mind and jumped toward me without thinking much about it. He was slow enough that I managed to react in time and simply made a horizontal neck which luckily cut his throat which caused blood to splatter everywhere including my armor and part of my faces.

— Ugh! Gross! —I said in disgust while trying to not lose focus

Without losing time, the other goblin was already moving. Returning my sight to them, I noticed that from the three of them now only one remained.

"Did Kaeri take one out?" I thought to myself

Not having the time to think, the remaining goblin lunged toward me. I simply jabbed my dagger stabbing the goblin through the chest killing it instantly. I simply removed the dagger from his chest to then swing it to remove the blood from it

— Well, that was easier than what I expect-

— Hoshi, watch out! —screamed Kaeri warning me

it was then that I remembered that one goblin was missing. The goblin somehow was at the roof of the cave and now was dropping toward me.

— ¡Hoshi!

Luckily, Kaeri had already finished preparing her attack and with the swing from her staff, a bolt of light came rushing toward the goblin sending it flying to some sharp rocks on the wall letting it get impaled by them.

— Woah... Thanks Kaeri, that was a close one —I told her while trying to catch my breath — That was more intense than what I thought —I added while looking at her

— I'll always will have your back, the same way you have mine —she said smiling

Upon hearing this, I simply smiled while looking to the the part of the cave upfront.

— Come on, let's go, I imagine that they know we are here with all of that noise so be careful —I said while walking toward the deeper part of the cave

We kept walking for what seemed an eternity. Nonetheless we kept walking, being determined to save the granddaughter of the chief and the rest of the village.