Hunt (3)

A unit of goblins was fighting a duo of Rhinoceros in the middle of the night.

The Rhinoceros was no animal; it is a magical beast that could only be found in the forest.

It has a larger body than the usual, yet clearly, it is a cub. The horn protruding from its head was sharper and longer.

The goblins, Hig and Dal, and some normal goblins were circling the area. Even though they do not know the magical beast, the instincts they honed through numerous battles were screaming at them.

Ngooo!

One of the Rhinoceros stepped up and bellowed out a roar, not in rage but fear. The beast unknowingly notified its attackers of its pale of heart, and soon, Hig ran up to the beast, with his fist clutched.

Bam! Bam!

The beast couldn't react in time; making him a punching bag of the fist of the goblin. As Hig was continuing to punch the beast, Dal showed up on its rear.

Even though he was close enough to hit, he wasn't attacking. His fingers that were better and longer than any goblins were dancing around, waiting for the chance to grip something, to grip the legs of the beast.

Nguuuh!

Distracted by Hig, the Rhinoceros couldn't help but show openings.

"Hig!"

"Got it!"

Dal quickly ran up to him when the hind legs were in the air and with his chest against the back part of the Rhinoceros, he bent his knees to...

"Guaaaah!"

Lift it up.

Concentrating his power on his grip and his legs, albeit only for a little bit of time, Dal was able to make the beast lose its balance.

Hig gave a glance at the rear and quickly readied a powerful punch. One big swing that if he missed, he'd be full of openings.

Crack.

The sound of bones breaking could be heard as the punch landed safely on the right side of the beast's face.

Thud!

Right after, the Rhinoceros fell over, and while it wriggled for a while, it eventually stopped.

The two goblins looked at each other and then turned their gazes to the other Rhinoceros only to find that the magical beast has fallen prey to the other members of the unit.

A goblin that had curves and a feminine body was waving her hand while walking out of the group to join up with the other two. It was Ika.

The female goblin spoke as she neared the group.

"Hig, there's something I found while we were battling the monster."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Hig, the Goblin Baron and Dal, the Goblin Baronet tilted their heads at the sudden statement of Ika, the Goblin Sorcerer.

"I also don't know, but it's shiny. It kept shining, and it bugged me, so I thought it best to tell it to you."

Hig put a hand to his chin as he started to think about it. Hig was put as the leader of this unit even though Dal and Ika were in the unit as well. He is the goblin who has the authority over them.

'We need to know everything about this place before going back.'

The place where they fought was far to the village, but it was part of their territory. A territory only ends where they want it to end.

And since the goblins were about everywhere, that meant only one thing. The place where they were hunting was their territory, Dawn's territory.

Making a slip-up because of being negligent was definitely not something that should happen.

Hig nodded his head before urging Ika to guide them with a 'where is it?' and gestured for Dal to follow too.

As they neared the corpse of the other Rhinoceros, he ordered the normal goblins to keep watch.

After walking for a while, the three of them soon got to the place where Ika told them to. As expected, the thing that was shining was lying flatly on the ground.

The three of them were wary, but after confirming that it wasn't moving, Hig took it up.

The object was long, and the surface of it was dazzlingly clear, enough to reflect the face of the goblin.

"What is this? Hmm?"

After casually looking over the item, Hig casually sustained a wound from it. It was a small cut that happened after he moved the object.

"It's a horn, isn't it?" (Ika)

"Yeah. But...I haven't found a monster that has something like this on their person." (Hig)

"Hig, I want to take a look." (Dal)

Dal asked to take a look at the item, and Hig readily gave it to him. As he already experienced getting cut, he wasn't injured this time, however.

"Hmm? It's strange..." (Dal)

"Strange? What is?" (Ika)

After receiving the item, strangely enough, Dal didn't get an injury. He held the object like a pro, and even though it was his first time seeing it, he felt 'used' to it.

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask the Elder about this?) (Dal)

The two goblins who listened to nodded their heads in agreement. If one wanted to know things, the Elder is the best option. Even Karkas cannot hold a candle to him.

The things that two goblins specialized on were different. The Elder had a lot of knowledge, and Karkas knew how to process that knowledge.

Of course, the other goblins knew that as they found battle strangely easy if Karkas told instructions during one. Though the fact that it is only a small scale battle helps, it doesn't change that it is easy.

Hig spoke after a while.

"Let's retreat while we're on it. We are on the very edge after all."

The three of them then went away with the object and their subordinates in tow, to search for the Elder.

****

After walking for a while, the group of Hig, Dal, and Ika arrived at the home base where the main unit rested. They immediately went looking for the Elder.

Although the goblins respect and admire the king, Dawn, to the point of madness, they didn't go in to pay their respects or something.

An act like that isn't needed to a goblin society. No, they think that they don't deserve to meet the king. Unless one can make a name and bring victory, they think that they shouldn't carelessly take the precious time of the king.

That was why they only looked over where the king was before continuing on.

At first, they received curious looks sent their way when they brought home a shiny object, but not one of the goblins turned a second glance at it.

They didn't know the object, and they don't have to know. That is their thoughts on things like that. Although some of them have curiosity, they judged that the object wouldn't help them on their current mission.

Dal was still carrying the object when they found Karkas. They asked where the Elder was, and he answered with an 'Over there.' while pointing to a direction.

Karkas took a sidelong glance at the object but soon, he turned away. It seems like he also didn't know the object's identity.

The Elder was sitting on a moderately-sized stone with his legs crossed, and his eyes closed.

The three goblins who were very curious about the object were walking very quiet. The grass, when they walked, didn't even make a sound. The movements they were showing right now was that proficient.

"Hmm?"

Though the Elder still noticed them when they went over a certain distance. A goblin is a goblin, no matter how old.

As the Elder took on the forms of his visitors, he stood up and asked them.

"You returned?"

"Yes, Elder. "

As expected, the Elder looked at the object being held by Dal. As if to help the Elder, Dal quickly held it up with an almost perfect movement.

Dal quickly asked, hoping to know what it is.

"Do you know this, Elder?"

However, no matter how much time passed, the Elder didn't show a tiny bit of reaction. No, his gaze turned sharp as he narrowed his eyes, and a strange pressure was oozing off of him.

Swish.

The three was surprised at this as they didn't expect that the old, withered goblin could make them feel threatened. They couldn't breathe, and chills were running down on their spines.

Wooo.

The wind blew, breaking the silence, and it only amplified the pressure.

The focused eyes of the Elder only looked at the object, and it seemed that he wasn't even looking at the goblins.

He asked the trio with a cold voice.

"Where did you find this?"

"..."

No answer came out. That's to be expected; Dal and Ika, even Hig was cowering in fear by the strange pressure and hostility coming out of the Elder.

Right now, the Elder...the goblin is a predator to them.

"Where did you find this?"

Only when the Elder spoke again did Hig recover his wits and answered the Elder right away.

"At the east!"

At that moment, the Elder disappeared right in front of them as he ran away. No, he ran to the direction where the goblins rested.

To be exact, he ran to inform Dawn. His face didn't relax one bit as he thought.

'A trace of the humans at this point in time!'