"Ugh… ouch, hey, you're doing it on purpose!" the goblin witch yelled, looking at Finn.
Finn and Darwin were walking back to the guild. Finn was dragging the goblin witch's tied-up body, not caring if they were walking over rocks or animal dung.
"Shut up, dude, or I'll shove the slime in your mouth again" Finn said, tightening the goblin's grip.
"Ugh… I'm just saying, maybe it would be easier if you freed my legs and let me walk on my own" the goblin said, trying to persuade them.
"Just like you said yesterday, and you tried to escape?" Darwin asked.
"But this time I won't escape, I swear…" the goblin pleaded.
"No…" Finn replied, but paused for a moment to think. "You know what? I'm going to, but if you escape again, then I'm going to use the slime again…" Finn said, causing the goblin to nod quickly. "But on your ass," Finn finished.
"What?" the goblin asked incredulously.
"I said I'm going to let you walk on your own, but if you try to escape, then I'll use this bad boy on you" Finn said with an evil smile.
"Your companions already tried it, and it seemed to work very well." Darwin played along.
Suddenly, the goblin's feet were freed, allowing the goblin to walk on his own.
"Well, you've been warned. The decision is up to you" said Finn, continuing on his way.
'Nonsense, they'd never do that...' the goblin thought cautiously.
The hours passed, and the sun finally began to set, causing Finn and Darwin to start looking for a place to sleep. After two more hours, Finn and Darwin were already lying on some tree branches, leaving the goblin sitting next to a tree.
Seeing Finn and Darwin slowly falling asleep, the goblin struggled with the slime until he was finally able to free himself from his bonds.
'Hihihi, stupid humans' the goblin thought, believing he could finally escape.
The goblin ran away as fast as he could, so fast that he couldn't notice the slight smiles on Finn and Darwin's faces.
—
"Sob.. sob.. sob… WAAAAA" cried the goblin, being dragged by Finn again.
"We warned you… still you did it" said Darwin, laughing at the goblin.
"Come on, crybaby, we still have a long journey ahead of us" said Finn, smiling and pulling the goblin tighter.
"By the way, it's a great fortune we didn't run into the horse-woman" said Darwin.
"Yeah, for some reason that one scared me more than the others" affirmed Finn, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"Once we get to the guild, we have to report on her… which reminds me, did you send the video to the receptionists?" asked Darwin.
"Yeah, I sent it the day we left Monster City" confirmed Finn.
"Monster City?" Darwin asked.
"Well, you said it yourself, that thing was as big as a city under a duke's rule" Finn said. "That's why I named it like that."
"It's a good name... although it can't be called that anymore, they're all dead" Darwin said.
The two continued traveling, ignoring the goblin witch's cries until the fourth day of their journey. Just before reaching the great bridge over the cliff, Finn decided to silence him by putting the slime in his mouth. Then they continued on their way as normal.
"This was a pretty quick mission, it only took us two weeks to complete" Finn said, looking at the capital's gates.
"And that's good. I didn't want to keep shitting in the forest. I ran out of toilet paper and had to wipe myself with the ivy that was there," Darwin said, rubbing his butt. "And I think it was poisonous..."
The goblin looked up in disbelief, remembering the strangely colored and flavored ivy he had eaten a few days ago, only to cry again.
As soon as they entered the capital's gates, Finn and Darwin turned left, heading towards the guild. They both saw the elevator that took them to the guild entrance, then they saw the long stairs that also led to the guild entrance, and finally, they saw the goblin tied up on the floor. Finally, they had to make the best decision possible: take the stairs because the goblin can get dizzy in the elevator.
Upon entering the guild, the first thing they saw was the adventurers resting at their respective tables. They were much calmer than usual, and Finn speculated it was because of the massive hunting mission that had taken place a few days ago. The two walked leisurely toward the reception desk until they reached a receptionist and placed the gagged goblin witch on the table in front of her.
The receptionist looked at the battered, slime-gagged goblin in surprise, then looked at Finn and Darwin, who for some reason had big, proud smiles on their faces. The receptionist didn't know what to do or say in this situation and looked around for another receptionist to help her. Fortunately, Damian saw the situation and recognized Finn and Darwin quickly approaching.
"Finn, Darwin, I see you're back from your mission... I imagine this is the goblin witch from the video, right?" Damian asked.
"Damian! That's right, we've completed the mission, and we even have a prize for the Master" Darwin greeted happily, slapping the goblin on the head.
"I see. I have to say you surprised us again with your mission. Without a doubt, the Master made a good choice by choosing you as explorers," Damian affirmed, approaching the goblin and touching the slime holding it. "So if it was a slime in the video…" Damian said, examining it.
"Yep, this guy has been a great help to us on this mission," Finn affirmed.
"Speaking of the video…" Damian mentioned, wiping his hands. "I thought you would send the full video. Why did you only send parts of it? Besides, you sent them in the wrong order, and we had to figure out the correct order on our own," Damian said.
"Sure… we just thought it would be easier if we sent you the most important information first, just to keep you informed of what we discovered, and then, once we finished the mission, give you the full video so you could examine it more calmly and at your leisure," Darwin said.
"I see, that sounds logical" Damian nodded. "Well, Free this boy's mouth. We need to ask him a few simple questions before we take him to the master."
Finn nodded, wiggling his fingers. Then the slime slowly began to recede from the goblin's mouth, revealing its peculiar shape to the managers. Damian stared in amazement at the large blue penis emerging from the goblin's mouth, while the girl covered her mouth in amazement and astonishment.
"He doesn't even choke on the size anymore. He's such a naughty boy," Darwin mocked the goblin.
"I see you know methods of psychological torture..." Damian said, also noticing the goblin's severed arms.
"Damn humans... you've humiliated me like no other" the goblin said, crying.
"Come on, don't be a crybaby" Finn said. "Or do you want the slime to enter you from behind again?" he threatened.
The goblin quickly shook his head, causing Finn to nod in satisfaction. Damian sighed at their interaction and began to pull a small rope out of his pocket.
"I'm going to tie it with this rope above the slime. Once it's securely fastened, you can remove your slime" Damian said, beginning to tie up the goblin.
After a few seconds, Finn removed the slime, placing it in a small fountain in front of the reception desk. He quickly cleaned it and then put it in his backpack. Damian began asking him a few questions for safety, asking about some events he had seen in the video. This way, he knew if the goblin was lying or not. After about 15 minutes, Damian wrote it on a piece of paper, then handed it to the girl along with the rope holding the goblin and asked her to take him to Master Rohan.
"Please take it to Master Rohan. I have to stay to record the mission completion and report on the video" Damian said. The girl nodded quickly, but before she could leave, Darwin interrupted them.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot…" Darwin said, drawing the receptionists' attention.
Reaching into his bag, Darwin pulled out several empty flasks until he finally found the stone arrow he had snatched from the goblin witch. Darwin handed it to the girl, telling her it was very important and not to lose it. The girl nodded and left for the Master's office.
"Was that the arrow they used for the ritual?" Damian asked, remembering the information he had seen in the videos.
"That's right, we don't know exactly how it works, but that's the Master's problem" Finn said.
"Actually, you're right," Damian said, entering the receptionist's room and starting to search for something under the bar. "Today you officially finished the mission to investigate the goblins. You did a very good job, and the Master congratulates you. Now that you've finished your part, you can leave everything in our hands, and the archaeologists and historians will take over starting today. Although, if we discover anything, it's very likely we'll need your services again." Damian stated, placing two cards on the bar. "This is your payment, 15,000 gold each."
'Wow, they have bank cards' Finn thought, surprised.
"15,000 gold!!?" Darwin asked incredulously. "I've never had so much money in my entire life!"
"Well, this is a special situation since you were tasked with discovering and solving a growing problem that the Masters had overlooked. However, normal missions are paid for in copper coins, and hunting missions are paid for in silver coins" Damian stated, causing the two to nod in understanding.
'Gold, silver, and copper, those are the currencies used here. If I'm not mistaken, a copper coin is worth the same as 5 dollars in my other world; a silver coin is worth 7 and a half dollars; And the gold one is worth 10… in that case, we'll get $150,000 if I'm not mistaken,' Finn thought, surprised, since he hadn't had that much money before either.
"Now why don't you go rest? The Master will want to interrogate the goblin in person and examine the video information, so you'll have a few days to rest," Damian said.
"That's what I plan to do. There's nothing like sleeping in a bed..." Finn said, stretching. "In that case, I'll leave first" Finn said goodbye.
"I'm leaving too. I want to sleep so badly..." Darwin said, leaving.
—
Three hours after Finn and Darwin left, a receptionist arrived with Damian, informing him that the Master requested to see him in the guild's interrogation rooms. Damian nodded, making sure to first attend to some adventurers who were making a racket. Then he went down the stairs at the back of the receptionist's office, arriving at a passageway that led him to a wide room with several rooms inside. Moans and cries could be heard coming from one of the rooms. Damian entered without hesitation.
In the room, there was a large screen where the video of Finn and Darwin was paused, and in the center of the room was the goblin witch tied to a chair. Two other receptionists were sitting on a small sofa that barely fit them, and Master Rohan was standing right in front of the goblin, waiting for Damian to return.
"Sorry for the delay, Master. Some adventurers were being capricious as always" Damian explained, sitting at a small desk and taking out a pen and paper.
"No problem, son. I know adventurers can be very stubborn" Master Rohan admitted, taking off his jacket and placing it on the table.
Walking slowly toward the goblin, the Master rolled up his shirtsleeves as Damian resumed the video on the big screen.
"Well, goblin witch, you better be more cooperative than the last goblin witch I encountered" said the Master, raising his hand and tapping one of his fingers on the goblin's forehead.
The light blow, completely contrary to what one would expect, caused a small shock wave that sent the goblin flying, still in the chair, into the wall.
"Be careful, Master, you might accidentally kill the goblin" Damian reminded him.
"Of course… Tell me, goblin, how the hell did you discover that ceremonial site?" asked the Master, watching on the big screen the place where the goblins performed the ritual to acquire magic and knowledge. "And how did you get this arrow?"
The goblin could barely stay conscious after the blow the Master had given him; his eyes were wandering from side to side and drool was falling from his mouth. The Master sighed tiredly, turning to look at one of the receptionists sitting on the sofa and giving her a slight nod.
"Becca, wake him up" said the Master.
The black-haired woman stood up with a big smile, walking happily until she reached the goblin and placed her fingers on the goblin's nipples.
"Wakey, wakey" Becca said, releasing a large burst of blue lightning along with a green light.
The goblin screamed and writhed in the chair for a few seconds until Becca stopped touching him. The goblin, now fully conscious, was breathing heavily, his desperate gaze begging for mercy.
"Answer me, goblin, how did you get there?!" Master Rohan demanded.
"The stone!" the goblin cried, scared and crying. "The stone guided us there… sob… sob."
"How, where, and when did you find the arrow?" The Master asked, approaching and lifting the goblin from the same ropes that bound him.
"It was a year ago!" the goblin confessed again.
The Master looked at the other receptionist sitting on the sofa, who nodded, confirming that he was telling the truth.
"Continue..." the Master ordered.
"I found her a year ago, in the dungeon. We were looking for humans to breed with when we found the arrow lying at the back of a destroyed room!" the goblin cried. "Then the arrow shone, showing us the way to the two murals."
"What dungeon?" asked the master.
"The one near the non-human realm, in the mountains behind the realm. The third highest has moss-covered doors… Please, that's all I know" said the goblin.
"What else is in that dungeon?" asked the master.
"I don't know. We didn't investigate the dungeon. There were a lot of strong monsters. We had to run for our lives just before finding the room destroyed. We didn't see anything about what was inside or how many more monsters there were" confessed the goblin. "We only saw a tarantula woman. She ate half of my party…"
The master grabbed the goblin by the head, smashing it in an instant, knowing he wouldn't get any more out of him than he could from the video.
"Octostalkers" the Master mentioned, knowing what creature the goblin was referring to.
"If there are octostalkers there, it means it's not a normal dungeon" Damian stated seriously.
"You're not thinking of sending our little explorers there, right Master?" Becca asked curiously. "We just got them, so let's don't lose them."
"Don't be an idiot. Finn and Darwin just became explorers. It's obvious the Master isn't sending them to explore a possible Class A dungeon" said Abel, the other receptionist. "Besides, that dungeon is outside our jurisdiction."
"Abel is right. There's no way I'm sending Finn and Darwin there, not yet. Besides, we have to report this to the other Masters and the archaeologists. Once everyone is informed, we'll discuss our next steps toward the dungeon" the Master stated, wiping the blood off with a handkerchief. "For now, we'll work with what we have as best we can."
The Master straightened his clothes and put on his jacket, making sure it looked formal before ordering Becca and Abel to clean everything up and leaving the room with Damian. The two walked toward a hallway that led to an elevator, which took them to the Master's office. The Master sat in his large chair and began filling out some letters while Damian waited patiently in front of him.
"Did you give Darwin and Finn their payments?" the Master asked.
"That's right, Master. They were both very grateful" Damian nodded. "I sent them to rest since they looked quite tired."
"That's good. I understand Rodrick wants to send them east, to the dead lands" the Master said, and Damian nodded.
"I remember hearing something about those lands... Wasn't there a large city of the undead?" Damian asked, and the Master nodded. "If I remember correctly, those lands are two weeks away. Are you planning on sending them alone?"
"No, Rodrick will be traveling with them. He wants to make sure they're good explorers, so he'll examine them in addition to helping them train. You know how he is when it comes to explorers…" the Master said, and Damian nodded in understanding. "Besides, it's a class C+ mission, so I can't send them alone; they're still too weak."
"I understand. I just hope he doesn't go too hard on the training. His last companions came back crying" Damian sighed. "Even Miss Cristel had a hard time back then."
"Yes, he can be a little rough, but he's very effective. Anyway, I need you to take this to the other Masters immediately, son" the Master said, handing some letters to Damian.
'I'm looking forward to the next update on the bracers chat' Damian thought wearily. "Of course, Master, I'll hand them over right away."
Damian nodded and left, leaving the Master to examine the video showing the ritual room.