Intermission: Just Another Normal Quest (Part 3)

"Now what should I do?"

I was standing in the forest a decent distance from the waterfall with my minions. I was unsure what to do next. It wasn't like I was some sort of veteran adventurer, nor did I have any experience in my past life that would help me in this kind of situation. Pretty much everything I had done up until now was very similar to the spray and pray approach. I tried to do everything that I could based on my limited knowledge and experience, but at the end of the day I was really just praying for the best.

Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Taleena dying was definitely an instance where my yolo mentality had failed me, and again it seemed lives were on the line. I definitely preferred quests where I just had to exterminate things. Thinking back...𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢��� 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘗𝘊𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐?

If it weren't for the fact that I needed money, I definitely would have heeded Brianna's advice and not taken this quest.

"Hah...too late for that now I guess. I've already been assigned the quest haven't I? Plus...I'm not sure I could just leave here knowing I left these people to the goblins."

With those final words I sent a large amount of my minions to surround the area to ensure nothing would escape, this included the giant reanimated demon. I would have liked to take it into the cave with me, but it was probably too large to do much good in there anyways. While this was a rescue quest, it was also an extermination quest, and I didn't want to let a goblin escape.

I ended up only taking Tarman, a Forest Tiger, a handful of Demonic Rabbits, and a Razorback Hog with me. The Monster Encyclopedia had said goblins were fairly weak, but I didn't want to take any chances. The goblins had been able to kill two guards and abduct the people in the carriage. Even if it was a surprise attack, it showed that they were a threat, and at the end of the day I was a coward and wanted some insurance.

Leaving the rest of my minions outside I sprinted forward quickly made my way to through the waterfall and found myself in a small cave opening. Immediately time slowed as I saw a familiar ugly surprised face looking at me. The cave was pitch black, but my job's night vision seemed to be enough to still see. It was the same goblin I had seen through the eyes of my minion. It was a small monster, the size of a child, with pointed ears and sharp teeth. It had two eyes and the pupils were slits like a cat. The small monster was thin, but muscular, giving off a boxer-like build in its small frame.

Even within the slowed down time I could tell the goblin was about to call for help. I couldn't let that happen. The creature was humanoid, and even after my experience at the Crimson Grotto I was still hesitant to kill anything that was too human. Most of the carnage I had unleashed there was under the effect of [𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫]. 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.

While I had a hard time taking decisive action personally still, I could now at least give commands fairly well. It seems the one layer of abstraction was enough to suppress the majority of my qualms about killing humans or things that resembled humans.

I blinked and the roaring sound of the waterfall came back as a large figure leaped by my right side, and a moment after a large set of sharp teeth sank into the goblins throat. I could hear the crunching of the goblins spine being pulverized as its jaws snapped shut. Shaking the body a few times, as if to make sure it was dead, the Forest Tiger then released it and the body made a dull thud as it hit the ground.

"Alright...so far so good. I really hope the rest of this quest will go as smoothly."

**********

"This.."

I was at a loss for words. The cave entrance led me to a single passage that opened to a medium sized area where I found a handful of goblins. Luckily due to the roar of the waterfall behind us, they did not notice our presence until it was too late. My minions tore into them and quickly killed them before they could make a noise.

This all sounds like good news I know, and I was happy at first myself...until I got a closer look at what the goblins had been eating before we interrupted them. They were human remains. Arms, legs, hands, I even think I see a half eaten eye.

"Urgh."

I felt the urge to vomit and I dry heaved a little. While the smell didn't bother me, I still seem to be weak to the sight of it. I tried to suppress the urge to vomit by shifting my thoughts to detective mode. 𝘔𝘮𝘮𝘮 𝘩��𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴...𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦? 𝘖𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘖𝘬, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦...𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵.

One of the victims was probably dead. While I felt terrible for saying this, I hoped it was the tutor. This was mainly due to the fact that his family was probably less likely to come down on me for not being able to save him. As I was mulling these thoughts over, I heard a horrifying scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!! ARGHHHH!!!! PLEASEEEEE JUUST KILL ME ALRE-- AAHHHHHH!!!!"

That was definitely a male voice I just heard. The room had 2 passages not including the one I came in from. It felt like the scream was coming from the passage on the left. I had wanted to take this a bit more cautiously, but if I was too slow this guy might be dead by the time I get there. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘵! 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯!

I took off at full speed to the left passage hoping I'd make it in time, and praying that whatever I found there wasn't too bad.

**********

I had known goblins were brutal...but I was unprepared to see it with my own eyes. My minions had swept the room already, but I was still standing there frozen in place. In front of me was a naked and crying man who was restrained by ropes, spread eagle on the floor. When I entered I had found them skinning him alive and feasting on what they removed bit by bit.

It seems they had been working on him for a while already as the majority of his skin up to waist had already been removed. I could see all the muscle and sinew that hid beneath the skin. Even the bones of his kneecaps were exposed. They were definitely...thorough. Once again a sour taste entered my mouth as I tried to keep down my stomach contents.

"...please...just kill me already...no more"

I had thought the man had passed out since he had stopped screaming, but it seems he was just too weak to say much. I could barely make out the words he whispered. It seems he thought they had just taken a break from their "meal".

I forced myself to move and knelt down beside the man. His body shivered and I could see him flinch as he tried to edge away from the sounds of movement.

"It's ok...I'm here to help."

"..."

"Are you Baucus? I need you to hold on a little longer while I try to find the rest. Can you do that?"

"...is...is this real?"

"Yes."

The man started crying, but I could tell the tears were different from earlier. Instead of tears of anguish they were tears of happiness. I cut the ropes binding him to the ground with my dagger.

"Urgh...hah...hah...thank...you. Yes, I am Baucus Emerldon...urgh...3rd son of...aghh...hah...Baron Emerldon."

The man had his hope restored, but it seems that did nothing to alleviate the pain their torment had inflicted on him. He was gritting his teeth, breathing heavily, and moaning in pain as he tried to speak.

"Ok, save your strength, you don't need to say anymore. Also, don't thank me. I am only here on a quest from the Adventurer's Guild. I know it hurts, but I need you to hold out a little longer for now."

I stood up and prepared to leave the room.

"Wait! A-are you leaving me alone?!?"

The man's voice became panicked as he realized I was going to leave him here.

"Yes. I need to find the rest, and you cannot travel the way you are."

"B-but but but--"

I understood his fear. The one person who could help him was leaving him in the dark (literally as the cave has no light sources) with the monsters that had tortured him still around.

"Don't worry, I have secured the entrance of this cave, and killed everything on my way here. You will be ok. I also plan on killing EVERYTHING I see on my way to the remaining part of this cave."

Before he could say another word I headed out of the small room.

"W-wait!...hah...c-can you at least tell me your...urgh...name?"

"...my name...is not important. Just know I will kill all these fucken monsters."

With those words I left Baucus and headed to the last part of the cave. My mind was racing, I was afraid to find the remaining victims. They could be like Baucus...or worse. I was so occupied by these thoughts that I didn't even notice how stable my conversation with Baucus was, nor did I notice the tinges of anger seeping into my words. If there had been light in the cave, Baucus might have recoiled in fear by the distorted look of anger I had on my face.