Chapter 5 5 – It's Not A Kindness

For the umpteenth time, Ritor snorted. Just a few miles from him, there was a village, but he had no orders to attack. He was asked to hide behind this big tree instead.

"Relax, Ritor." Szur gnawed at the corpse of a rabbit. "We'll be doing something in a moment. Szur is sure of that."

The minotaur kicked the tree until it swayed a bit. "We should have done some damage, but why were we told to stay quiet like this!?"

Szur stopped eating. With a bloodstained mouth, he chuckled. "You question Lord Vorn's orders?"

"Don't twist my words like that!" Ritor was getting irritated. "I will not dare to go against our leader. We are nothing in front of him."

"So, wait then." Szur shook his head. "Take Szur, for example. Szur will continue to wait at any time until the next order."

Ritor clenched his fists like he was about to hit his partner. The veins on his face are also getting tense. "Why are you so patient?"

"Well, waiting is one of Szur's jobs." The Mare chuckled, biting his rabbit again. "Szur can only give nightmares when Szur's target is asleep. Szur will have to wait during the day."

"Don't compare me to you, idiot." The minotaur snorted again. "All I want to do now is slash people's heads!"

***

I walked down the dirt road, looking at the houses far from each other. It seems that this village focuses on livestock and agriculture. I saw some sheep behind the fences and found a grain plantation before entering this place.

And I noticed some of the buildings and fences were damaged.

​ I stopped when I found a man with a mustache fixing a wooden fence. "Excuse me, sir."

That man with the wrinkled face did the last knot to the fence, then looked at me. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

He wasn't at all surprised by my appearance. My wings are out of sight, the patterns on my body are gone, and now I'm wearing normal human clothes with a hood. It's all thanks to my disguise skills.

"I just wanted to ask, sir. If you don't mind." I gave a warm smile. "Does this village need help?"

The man's brow furrowed. "Well, this village certainly needs help. About a week ago, the goblins attacked this village, killed several of us, and kidnapped the girls. One of them is my own daughter."

I could see that this man's eyes were puffy, maybe because he had been crying for too long. It was obvious he was worried about his daughter.

"I see." I widen my smile. "Do you know where they are hiding?"

"We don't know for sure, but some say they used the former castle on the north, half a day's walk from here. Well, no one dared check it out in person." The man replied in a sad tone. "So, who exactly are you? Are you an adventurer who reads our announcement? You want to exterminate those goblins?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I'm just a passerby."

"I see." The man returned to his work. "Sometimes I think the government is useless. They didn't send their men to exterminate the goblins. So, we have to raise money, then put up the quest announcement at the guild headquarters."

"And no adventurer wants to do it?" I made a conclusion.

"A party of adventurers came here. However, they look like rookies and boast about defeating those goblins." He took a deep breath. "Since they left two days ago, they haven't come back."

I leaned against the fence, gazing out at a stretch of the meadow. "Since goblins are low-level monsters, high-level adventurers don't want to deal with them. Meanwhile, the rookies aren't very skilled against them yet."

This is just an assumption that I've only encountered low-level monsters in this area. So, most likely, those goblins' levels were also not too high. These villagers simply weren't trained enough to fight them.

"Yeah." The man makes another tie on the fence. "Some villagers have fled for fear of another attack from the goblins, even though they didn't have enough money to survive elsewhere."

"How about you?" I asked again. "Don't you want to go?"

The man flashed a bitter smile. "Honestly, I've given up. I am a coward that can't help my own daughter. However, I also can't bear to leave here because it means I have to leave my daughter…. Maybe she's still alive, you know…. Ah, sorry, I spoke nonsense."

He wiped a tear from his eye.

"Help will come soon, sir." My mouth is also smiling, but with a different meaning. This is an expression of my enthusiasm. "Trust me."

"Huh?"

"I only have two more questions." I advanced away from the fence. "Where is the village chief's house? And where is the city that has the guild headquarters?"

The man frowned a second time. "The chief's house is in the middle of the village, with a cypress tree in its yard. Then, the nearest city was in the east…. Hey, why do you ask like that? What is your real goal?"

"I'm just looking for a friend to chat with." I shrugged, still smiling. "Thank you, sir. Goodbye."

He had opened his mouth to speak again, but I quickly turned around and started walking away. This man had already provided enough information. Maybe he just needed a friend to express his feelings, so he had a long talk with me after I asked him earlier.

Well, I don't care about his or the villagers' feelings. I'm not really going to help them. I'm not a hero.

All I want is to build my demon empire. Utilizing this village is the beginning of my journey to achieve that goal. This place will be a testing ground for me, and I won't have to destroy it.

I've already made some plans in my head.

When I was far from the settlement, I spread my wings, returning to my demon form again. I then flew into the air at high speed. I just need to brief Szur and Ritor to carry out my plans.

I opened the UI screen, then chose the fast forward feature. My speed increased many times. The scenery around me became blurry.

This is getting more exciting.