Chương 78: Cooperation

Andevar paused.

"What? Why?" he asked, a note of suspicion in his voice. Levi just shrugged.

"Why not? I think it'd be fun to go on a mission together."

"Aren't you and Liliya apprenticed to Professor Heimler's old teammate, Mythmaker Ravenbane?" Huh. So Andevar hadn't heard about what happened at Montague Castle. That made sense. It appeared that only the guildmasters and nobles were aware of Qorbin being blamed for the murders. The information hadn't trickled down to the general adventuring population yet.

"Yeah, but Qorbin's preoccupied with something else right now, so our party is down a member. You'd be doing us a favor by filling in." Andevar hesitated.

"Sorry, but I already told you. I can't afford to split the mission rewards–" His gaze shifted to something over Levi's shoulder, and he paled.

"What in the…" Levi turned around to see Liliya walking straight toward them, death written on her face. Her eyes blazed with cold fury, and her fingers twitched slightly every so often, as though she very much wanted to summon her blade and do some no-good terrible things. Several adventurers glanced over and immediately gave her a wide berth. Andevar yelped, stepping back.

"I'm sorry!" he automatically apologized. Levi didn't know what he was apologizing for, but in fairness, Liliya was heading directly for them with a terrifying look on her face. Levi didn't blame him for covering his bases, just in case he'd somehow pissed her off. Fortunately for him, Liliya ignored his presence entirely.

"I am going to eviscerate my father," she said to Levi in a low, murderous tone.

"The talk with your brother didn't go very well?" Levi asked, his tone sympathetic. Liliya's responding hiss was answer enough. She didn't seem to care that Andevar was there.

"He told me that my father decided to… No, I don't even want to think about it right now." She turned to Andevar, who was watching her with wide eyes. He must've never seen her so expressive before.

"Andevar." She scanned him briefly.

"You look awful," she said bluntly.

"Is everything alright?"

"I…"

"He's been running a bunch of solo missions lately. He's in dire need of funds, for some reason," Levi said. Liliya's eyes flickered at that.

"I invited him to go on a mission with us."

"Oh? Perfect timing. I just got reinstated as an adventurer," Liliya said. She whirled to the mission board next to them.

"A distraction would be nice."

"Wait!" Andevar spluttered.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet–" Liliya's head snapped back to him. Andevar's mouth closed. He swallowed.

"I look forward to working with you guys?" Liliya nodded.

"Excellent." She turned back to the board before frowning.

"These missions are too easy. I'll be right back." She headed off to the other end of the mission board where the most difficult missions were posted. Andevar and Levi remained where they stood for several moments.

"What happened to her?" Andevar finally asked, a mixture of awe, fear, and bewilderment in his voice.

"Is that really Liliya Volkov? She's so…" He struggled to find a word.

"Different." Levi snorted.

"She's changed a bit, yeah." Before, Liliya would've been too concerned about decorum and keeping up appearances in public to really express her emotions like that. Now, it seemed she didn't care anymore. The Concept of Defiance, indeed. The Council was lucky that Levi had been the one to speak up during the Trial. If Levi hadn't intervened… He didn't even want to know what Liliya would've done to them. Liliya returned to them with a slip of paper in her hands.

"I found a monster extermination mission for us." Andevar took one look at the mission details and blanched.

"This is a platinum-tier mission."

"I know," Liliya said, sounding dejected.

"I couldn't find an iridium-tier mission available, at least to the public."

"Huh? That's not what I meant. I'm not high enough level for a platinum-tier mission yet. I'll be killed!"

"Not if you don't die."

"What?" Andevar tried to process those words. He decided to move past it.

"I appreciate your offer of assistance, but I don't think this is a good idea."

"Yeah?" Liliya raised an eyebrow.

"Is it any worse than running consecutive solo missions when exhausted and injured?" Andevar winced at her cutting remark.

"Okay, you have a point…"

"You'll be fine," Liliya said.

"This will be a good chance to learn. Besides, you're pushing yourself so hard for a purpose, right?" At the reminder, Andevar's gaze hardened.

"Ah," he said, his tone much more sober than before.

"You're right." He gave a firm nod, his eyes becoming steely.

"Okay, let's do it." Liliya smiled.

"Glad to hear it."

"Just… Why?" Andevar asked quietly, looking between the two.

"Why push so hard when I don't even want to go on this mission? We weren't friends, we were barely even acquaintances. You don't even know what I need the money for. I don't understand." His voice was filled with a hapless confusion.

"Why are you two doing this?" This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Liliya and Levi exchanged a glance before looking back at him.

"Because you looked like you needed help," said Liliya.

"What more reason do we need?" Levi nodded in agreement. Andevar stared at them, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

"Oh," he said, his voice soft.

"Fair enough." It took them a day of traveling by horseback to reach the city of Canum. Located in the western region of Luminarche, Canum was a medium-sized city that rested at the base of a valley between two mountains. Acres of crops surrounded the city: food, medicinal herbs, and alchemic plants. It was one of the many agricultural production cities scattered all around Luminarche, sustained by the massive river that wound through the entire valley. Two weeks ago, Canum had been attacked by a band of goblins.

This was a pretty common occurrence; goblins were a constant nuisance across all of Luminarche. They had an extremely high breeding rate, which made them one of the most common monsters endemic to the land. The adventurers stationed at Canum were able to repel the attack easily enough. Then, they were attacked again. And again. And again. In a week, the city had been besieged nearly a dozen times, each assault fiercer than the last. It was strange.

Normally, goblins attacked as one swarm, lacking the intelligence to organize incremental coordinated assaults. Some older tribes were smarter, but not by this much. The guild surveyors decided the simplest explanation was likely the correct one: that for some reason, the local goblin reproduction rates had risen dramatically, leading to the rapid consecutive attacks. As such, they requested a team of adventurers to find and exterminate all the goblins in the surrounding region.

Which was where Andevar, Levi, and Liliya came in. After reaching the city and getting debriefed by the mayor, they immediately set out to search the nearby area for goblins.

"It's odd," Andevar said, a frown on his face.

"If the goblin population really had exploded, then we should have encountered some on our way here."

"Perhaps they're all up in the mountains?" Liliya said.

"We can start looking there."

"What are the odds that the attacks aren't coincidental?" Levi asked as they trekked up the adjacent mountain. It was massive, extending up for several thousand meters.

"Maybe they're being commanded by some goblin king?" Liliya shook her head.

"No, I doubt it. Goblins are too wild to consolidate under a ruling structure like that. Even if there were a goblin king, it wouldn't have the intelligence to command the other goblins to act like this. I'm assuming that's the conclusion that the guild surveyors arrived at as well." Levi hummed.

"I see, that makes sense." When they were halfway up the mountain, they were finally attacked. Not by goblins – several giant centipedes burst from the rocky ground and launched themselves at the three. Liliya and Andevar exploded into action. Liliya's sword was a blur as she danced through the enemies, severing dozens of skittering legs with every strike while avoiding the venomous bites. Andevar tanked for her. He was a Warrior, wielding a massive double-headed axe much like Professor Merriweather's own.

While he lagged behind at times, he still tried his best to keep up, drawing the attention of the centipedes from the front while Liliya cut through them from behind. Levi observed them from the sidelines, like he had every time they'd been attacked by monsters on the way to the city. He had effectively taken on Qorbin's role. This wasn't his fight, and the two needed the experience to improve. If they were ever in danger, then he would step in, but until then, he let them take care of things.

Every so often during the fight, Andevar would toss a glance at Levi when he thought Levi wouldn't notice. He seemed to be slightly wary of Levi. He was one of the only people to know that Levi had solved the Subaru Paradox, and clearly he suspected that Levi was stronger than he let on. Admittedly, that was another reason why Levi remained watching on the sidelines. Watching Andevar grow more and more paranoid was fairly amusing. Once all of the giant centipedes were dispatched, they continued upward.

After thirty minutes, they finally found the first goblin. Liliya and Andevar froze, ducking behind a tree.

"This is impossible," Andevar whispered, his body tense.

"Are you seeing this?"

"I'm seeing this," Liliya said slowly, her voice low.

"What in the world?" Levi frowned. They had come across a cave entrance guarded by five goblins. That, he gathered, was normal. What wasn't normal, however, was the coiled centipede that they were sitting on.

"Are they working together?" Andevar asked in disbelief.

"It appears so…" Liliya and Andevar didn't waste any further time, leaping into action. The moment the goblins saw them, they growled and drew out rusty daggers. The giant centipede uncoiled as well, its legs skittering to life as it bore down on them. As they fought, Levi pondered on this new development. Monsters of different species tended to not work well together. Or to not work together at all. Too mindless, too selfish, too violent.

They often competed for the same natural resources – primarily ambient mana from the leylines – and even feasted on each other for nutrients and growth. Ordinarily, the centipede should've eaten the goblins. So for the goblins to have sat atop it like it was a couch… The implications were worrisome. Had the goblins and centipedes formed a truce of some kind? Was that even possible?

According to Liliya and Qorbin, one of the main reasons why humanity was able to flourish and thrive over the centuries was because they didn't have to worry about monsters forming an army and launching a coordinated invasion. So to see these two completely different species working together… Levi understood why Liliya and Andevar were worried. Well. Hopefully it was just a coincidence, or a one-off occurrence. The last of the goblins fell with a dying screech.

Liliya wrenched her blade out from its chest, not giving it a second look. She turned to the mouth of the cave.

"There are probably more goblins inside," she said.

"We should investigate." Levi wanted to groan. He hated caves. The other two didn't seem to share his reservations, though, because they quickly entered. Levi followed them, making sure to stay on high alert. Many a time had something gone catastrophically wrong in a cave. Not this time, though. Levi frowned as they made their way further inside. They didn't come across any additional goblins. They found plenty of traces of them being there: piles of waste, dried leaves that acted as bedding, remnants of campfires.

However, there was not a goblin to be seen.

"Where are all the goblins?" Andevar asked.

"Did they hear us fighting earlier and escape?"

"Perhaps," Liliya said with a frown.

"But where would they have escaped to?" She turned to Levi.

"Do you sense them waiting in an ambush somewhere?" Andevar's eyes flickered uncertainly. Levi sent out a pulse of magic. It returned all clear. He shook his head.

"No, there don't seem to be any left in the cave."

"They must have all run away then," Andevar said.

"But that doesn't make any sense. There's no way they were able to evacuate that quickly."

"Unless they weren't running away," Liliya said suddenly.

"If the goblins and centipedes are capable of working together then... What if the previous attacks weren't coincidental? What if they were to test the village's defenses–?" She cut off as the path in front of them suddenly opened up. Their eyes widened. Inside the mountain was a massive hollowed-out cavern, easily the size of a small town. It was filthy and cluttered with loot, waste, and bones. Judging by the sheer quantity, it must have been home to thousands of goblins. Not a single one was there.

Then, a thunderous boom echoed from afar. A moment later, the entire mountain shuddered, rubble raining down from the ceiling above them. Levi's eyes narrowed. The sound had come from the direction of Canum.