Chương 46: New Friends

Inside the ruined church, Owen suddenly clapped his hands and put on his familiar smile once more.

"All right. Enough about that for now." He led Rayne and the others toward the small meeting room they had used the day before.

"I've already placed everything you can choose from inside. That way, you can take your time looking through it all." Owen pushed open the door and stepped aside to let them pass.

"There's no need to rush. Take as long as you like." When the door opened, the group was greeted by a table almost completely covered in goods of every kind. There were potions sealed inside glass bottles, rolls of bandages, sheets of waterproof cloth bound tightly with twine, and several small items whose purposes were not immediately obvious. Rayne approached the table and cautiously reached for one of the glass bottles. The instant his fingertips touched it, a pale-blue light screen appeared before him.

[Item Name: Fast-Acting Antidote] [Effect: Drinking one tablespoon rapidly relieves symptoms of poisoning. Drinking three tablespoons at once quickly purges toxins from the body.] The item's name and purpose were clearly listed on the light screen. The others began touching the goods on the table as well, and similar information panels appeared before each of them. Rayne instinctively glanced toward Owen, who stood beside the door, still watching them with a cheerful smile.

His gaze moved only between the group and the goods on the table, without reacting at all to the pale-blue light screens floating in midair. It truly seemed that he could not see them. Rayne swept his gaze over the goods again. After confirming that none of them had prices listed, he turned and asked,"How much do they cost?" Owen blinked, then raised a hand and slapped his forehead.

"Would you look at that? I forgot the most important part." He hurried over to the table and began introducing the items one by one.

"A bottle of Fast-Acting Antidote costs fifty silver coins. I already told you the price of the Healing Bandages yesterday. A piece of flint costs five silver coins, and a bottle of Fast-Acting Clotting Agent costs one hundred and fifty…" There were far too many items on the table. Merely listening to Owen rattle through them at an astonishing speed was enough to make Rayne's head spin. Just as he began wondering how Serin could possibly record everything, he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye.

She held a pen in one hand and was writing furiously on a writing board. Her right hand moved so quickly that it almost left afterimages behind. Somehow, she managed to record every price Owen announced, along with every item effect displayed on the panels, without missing a single word. Rayne stared in amazement.

"… With skills like that, it's almost a shame you didn't become a rogue." The moment the words left his mouth, he felt an icy gaze fall upon him. Rayne's body stiffened slightly. He turned his head and found himself staring directly into Serin's murderous eyes. Rayne quietly closed his mouth and calmly returned his attention to the goods on the table as though nothing had happened.

After carefully making their selections, they ultimately chose three rolls of Healing Bandages, two bottles of Fast-Acting Antidote, and four bottles of Fast-Acting Clotting Agent. In addition, Rayne selected a piece of flint and a reinforced pouch made from dark-brown leather. The explanation on the light screen differed little from Owen's description. The pouch's inner lining could absorb most impacts.

As long as fragile items such as bottled potions were stored inside, their containers were unlikely to collide and shatter even if the carrier fell during battle. Naturally, its price was just as daunting. The pouch alone cost six hundred silver coins. Once the prices of everything were added together, the total exceeded their original reward by exactly thirty silver coins. Owen merely smiled and waved a hand.

"Forget the extra thirty." He casually picked up several inexpensive odds and ends and stuffed those into the pouch as well.

"Consider these a small thank-you for bringing the medicine back to us." The extras included several candles, a small coil of thin cord, and a few packets of moisture-resistant tinder wrapped in oiled paper. None of them were especially valuable, but each could prove useful out in the field. After placing all the supplies inside the reinforced pouch, Rayne carefully tightened its drawstring and gave Owen a nod.

"Thank you. These will be extremely useful to us."

"You're welcome." Owen smiled and waved a hand.

"You brought us medicine we desperately needed. This is the reward you earned." At that, the smile on his face faded slightly.

"By the way, did you find Basque and the others in Graywood Town yesterday?" Rayne gently shook his head.

"No." He briefly described the signs they had found inside the old apothecary, along with the large number of shadows that had suddenly appeared after the bells began ringing. Owen listened quietly, his brow gradually furrowing.

"There was no one inside the old apothecary…" He murmured under his breath.

"Then perhaps they've already moved somewhere else." Rayne immediately asked,"Do you know where they might have gone?"

"Well…" Owen rubbed his chin, looking somewhat troubled.

"Basque only said that he would search for surviving townspeople along the way. As for where he might ultimately take them, I'm not sure." He thought for a moment, then raised one finger.

"There's an almshouse near the old apothecary. It used to shelter people who had nowhere else to go. After the disaster began, some survivors may have taken refuge there." Then he raised a second finger.

"If there's no one at the almshouse either, you could try heading farther into town."

"There's a town meeting hall there. It's spacious and sturdier than an ordinary house. If a large group of survivors is still gathered together, the town meeting hall should be one of the most likely places." Rayne made sure to remember both locations.

"Are there any other possibilities?" Owen shook his head helplessly.

"Graywood Town is enormous. Even before the disaster, I never walked every street."

"Other than the almshouse and the town meeting hall, I'm afraid I don't know much about anywhere else." He paused, his expression gradually turning serious.

"If you still plan to explore deeper into Graywood Town today, could you check those two places for me?"

"Whether or not you find Basque, any news about the survivors would be enough." Rayne did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned toward his companions. Serin was the first to nod. Barton and Asar raised no objections either, while Tyren merely shrugged.

"We were planning to keep looking anyway." Only then did Rayne turn back toward Owen.

"We'll check the almshouse and the town meeting hall."

"If we find Basque, or anyone else still alive, we'll bring the news back." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The tension in Owen's expression immediately eased.

"Then I'll leave it to you." After thinking for a moment, he hurriedly added,"Of course, I won't ask you to work for nothing."

"As long as you bring back useful information, I'll prepare an additional reward based on its value." Tyren's eyes immediately lit up.

"You should've led with that." Serin silently reached toward his waist. Tyren hurriedly stepped to the side and pretended he had not said anything. Owen could not help laughing at their interaction.

"In any case, be careful out there."

"Things change quickly in Graywood Town. Even places you passed through yesterday may not look the way you remember them today." Rayne secured the reinforced pouch beside Barton's pack, then nodded to Owen.

"We'll keep that in mind." With that, he led the others out of the small meeting room. Owen remained in the doorway, watching until the five figures disappeared around the far end of the corridor. ◆ ◆ ◆ At the same time, the real Owen watched Rayne and the others depart on the light screen inside the Core Chamber. He drifted back and forth above the stone platform, caught somewhere between anticipation and concern.

"It's a lot more dangerous now than it was yesterday." Owen swayed his core and could not resist warning them again.

"You'd better keep your eyes open. Don't let your new friends catch you off guard." Unfortunately, his warning had no way of reaching Rayne and the others. All he could do was talk to himself inside the Core Chamber. Owen switched the view on the light screen to the forest path. On the screen, two small figures rode hounds at high speed between the trees.

They patrolled back and forth along the routes Owen had set in advance, and once Rayne's party left the church, it would not be long before they entered the same area. Owen looked at Rayne and the others, who remained completely unaware, then at the Goblin Riders racing through the forest.

"…Rayne's party isn't going to wipe the moment they run into them, right?" ◆ ◆ ◆ When Rayne and the others set foot on the forest path again, the mist around them looked no different from the day before. Neither its density nor the dampness hanging in the forest air seemed to have changed in any noticeable way. After they had walked for a while, Asar suddenly remembered something and turned toward Serin.

"Right. Serin, did the Guild finish analyzing that dagger we brought back last time?"

"I only handed it over yesterday. How could they possibly have results already?" Serin shook her head. At that, Rayne glanced at the brown leather pouch secured beside Barton's pack.

"At least we have antidotes now." He looked toward the hazy silhouettes of the surrounding trees.

"As long as we don't encounter too many at once, we should be able to manage." Sure enough, after they continued for some distance, several goblin figures appeared faintly among the trees ahead. They could see roughly seven of them out in the open. Rayne knew perfectly well that those could not possibly be all of them. More purple-skinned goblins might be hiding inside the nearby brush, behind the thick tree trunks, or even among the tangled branches overhead.

One of them had even hidden inside a burrow last time and burst from the ground beside their feet, startling every one of them. This time, Rayne did not rush closer. He planned to have Tyren shoot down several of them before they engaged the rest in close combat. Barton removed the massive shield from his back and silently moved to the front of the group. Serin stayed close behind him, keeping most of her body within the shield's protection.

Rayne and Asar guarded either side, remaining alert for any hidden enemies that might appear nearby. Tyren took position diagonally behind Barton, leaning halfway out from beside the shield as he slowly drew his bowstring to its limit. His gaze passed over the goblins visible ahead and locked onto a figure hiding in the branches of a tree. Whoosh— The arrow struck the goblin squarely in the neck. It did not even have time to scream before plunging headfirst from the branch. Thud!

The sound of its body striking the ground quickly drew the attention of the nearby goblins. They turned their heads and gathered around their fallen companion. Tyren drew a deep breath and swiftly pulled three arrows from his quiver. The moment several goblins clustered around the corpse, he nocked and loosed the three arrows in rapid succession. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The repeated sounds of arrows tearing through the air finally alerted the goblins to the danger. But it was already too late.

The first two arrows struck two separate goblins. The final shot flew slightly too high and passed over the head of another.

"Sharpshooter!" Pleased with his results, Tyren could not resist cheering quietly. Since Tyren's boast was backed by results this time, Rayne decided to let it slide.

"Barton, advance slowly as usual. Serin, keep the protective blessings active. Tyren, use your judgment."

"Got it!" Rayne had barely finished giving his orders when the five remaining goblins shrieked and charged toward them. Sure enough, the goblins in plain sight had not made it far before several more figures burst from the bushes and behind the trees on either side. In the blink of an eye, their numbers doubled again.

"Why does it feel like there are even more than last time?" Tyren complained while repeatedly drawing his bow. Arrow after arrow flew out, quickly bringing down another two goblins. At the front of the group, Barton met two charging goblins head-on. He lowered his stance slightly and drove the massive shield forward. Bang! The two goblins did not even have time to stop before the heavy shield sent them stumbling to the ground. Rayne immediately cut in from Barton's side.

His swordsmanship was more agile and unpredictable than before. Most of the goblins could not even follow his movements before the blade had already swept across their vital points. The ornately decorated longsword in Asar's hands proved astonishingly sharp. One goblin raised its short dagger in an attempt to block. A crisp snapping sound rang out. The dagger and the goblin's body were both cleaved apart by the same stroke.

Just as everyone began to think this would be little different from an ordinary encounter, the rapid barking of hounds suddenly came from deeper in the forest. Woof! Woof, woof! Rayne's expression changed. He quickly fell back beside Serin.

"Careful! Something's coming!"

"From the left—" The words had barely left his mouth when Rayne whipped his head toward the trees on the right.

"Watch out! They're coming from both sides!" The frantic barking rapidly drew closer. The next instant, two small figures burst almost simultaneously from the trees to their left and right. Only then did everyone finally see what had been making the noise.

"…Goblins riding dogs?" The bizarre sight left all of them momentarily stunned. The purple-skinned goblins straddled the backs of large hounds. Each held leather reins in one hand while rapidly swinging something overhead with the other. Tyren was the first to notice that something was wrong.

"Wait. What are they holding?" The next moment, one of the goblins abruptly released one of the sling's cords. The spinning black blur flew free with a sharp whistle and shot straight toward the group.

"Move!" A stone the size of a fist tore past them and slammed into a nearby tree trunk. Bang! Splinters of bark exploded from the impact, and the solid trunk was smashed inward, leaving a deep dent.

"What the hell kind of power is that?!" Tyren hurriedly drew his bow and returned fire. However, the hounds moved far too quickly between the trees. By the time he took aim at a Goblin Rider and released an arrow, it had usually moved on, sending the arrow harmlessly past the spot it had just occupied.

"Don't aim directly at them!" Rayne shouted while keeping watch on both sides.

"Judge their direction and speed! Shoot where they're going to be!" The corner of Tyren's eye twitched. He had never fought an enemy this fast before. How was he supposed to know where it would be in the next instant? Even so, he gritted his teeth and followed Rayne's advice, attempting several more shots. Whoosh! Whoosh! The arrows repeatedly cut through the forest, but none managed to strike the speeding figures.

Meanwhile, the two Goblin Riders had split up and circled around to new positions before launching several more stones. Bang! Bang! Heavy impacts rang out one after another. Serin did not dare leave Barton's protection. She remained pressed close behind the massive shield, keeping an eye on the incoming stones while carefully casting protective blessings on the others. Just then, a stone suddenly shot toward Asar. By the time he noticed it, there was no longer enough time to dodge. Bang!

The stone slammed heavily into the barrier before him. The pale-white barrier did not even last a full second before shattering beneath the violent impact. However, it had bought Asar enough time. He swung his longsword with all his strength. The sharp blade met the stone head-on and split it cleanly in half, sending the two pieces flying past either side of his body.

"Tyren! Don't rush!" Asar turned and shouted toward him.

"Take your time! I believe in you!" The shout gave Tyren a much-needed jolt of confidence. He drew a deep breath and forced down his mounting impatience, fixing his gaze firmly on one of the Goblin Riders. Gradually, the chaotic sounds around him seemed to fade into the distance. The figure that had been moving too quickly for him to follow began to grow clearer within his vision. The direction of the hound's charge. The rhythm of its stride. And where it would be in the next instant. Tyren released the bowstring.

The first arrow left the string and struck the ground directly in front of the hound, forcing it to change direction abruptly. The second arrow was already flying along the route he had predicted. Thud! The arrow struck the Goblin Rider squarely in the chest. The force of the impact hurled it from the hound's back. Tyren did not even have time to celebrate before Rayne's urgent shout reached his ears.

"Tyren! Behind you!" His heart lurched. Before he could turn around, a powerful tug suddenly seized his ankles. Without his noticing, a cord weighted with stones at both ends had wound around his legs. The next second, the cord snapped tight. Tyren immediately lost his balance and crashed heavily to the ground. The riderless hound saw him fall and instantly changed direction, leaping straight toward him. Asar hurried forward to intercept it.

However, he had barely taken a step when another stone whistled down in front of him, forcing him to stop short.

"Tyren!" Serin raised her staff in alarm and quickly cast a protective blessing over him. The pale-white barrier had only just appeared when the hound crashed straight into it. Bang! The first impact sent the barrier shaking violently. The hound lunged again, its sharp claws striking the barrier with tremendous force. Crack! The already fragile barrier shattered at once. The hound opened its jaws wide and sank its sharp teeth into Tyren's lower leg.

"Ah!" The sudden agony tore a scream from Tyren's throat. But he did not simply wait to die. Clenching his teeth against the pain in his leg, Tyren swiftly drew the slender dagger from the back of his waist. While the hound still had its jaws locked around his leg, he raised his hand and drove the dagger straight into its eye socket. Squelch! The slender blade drove through the eye socket and deep into its brain. The hound's body convulsed violently several times.

Its jaws gradually loosened their grip on Tyren's leg before the hound finally went completely still. By the time Asar finally reached his side, the fight was over. However, Tyren's lower leg was drenched in blood, and the cord remained wrapped around both his legs. For the moment, he could not get back to his feet. Elsewhere, Rayne bent down, snatched up a fallen goblin dagger, and hurled it toward the remaining Goblin Rider.

The dagger spun past the rider, frightening it into ducking low against the hound's back and steering its mount sharply aside. For the moment, it no longer dared to launch another stone.

"Tyren, lend me your bow." Asar hurried to Tyren's side, picked up the shortbow lying nearby, and pulled several arrows from the quiver. He did not fire immediately. Instead, he drew the string and focused on the Goblin Rider racing back and forth between the trees. When the creature finally attempted to approach again, Asar released the bowstring. The arrow left the bowstring, but instead of flying toward the rider, it climbed into the air along a steep arc and disappeared above the treetops.

Seeing this, the goblin on the hound's back immediately straightened and pointed at Asar, letting out a shrill burst of laughter. One second later, its laughter came to an abrupt end. The arrow that had vanished above the canopy plunged back down, entered its open mouth with perfect accuracy, and burst out through the back of its neck. The Goblin Rider's body went rigid before tumbling from the hound's back. Tyren stared at Asar from where he lay on the ground, so stunned that he nearly forgot the pain in his leg.

"Asar, you never told me you knew how to shoot." Asar nodded and handed the shortbow back to him.

"I haven't used one in a long time. I'm a little rusty."

"…" Tyren opened his mouth, but no words came out. The renewed pain in his leg soon made him cry out again. The final riderless hound attempted to charge them, only for Rayne, who was ready for it, to cut it down with a single strike. As for the remaining goblins, once they lost the riders' support, Barton and Asar quickly finished them off together. After confirming that there were no other sounds or signs of movement nearby, Serin immediately crouched beside Tyren and untangled the cord around his legs.

"Bear with it." She took a bottle of Fast-Acting Clotting Agent and a Healing Bandage from the reinforced pouch and quickly began treating his wound. Tyren's face scrunched up with pain, but he still remembered to look up at Asar.

"Next time… you'd better tell me what else you can do." Asar thought about it.

"I can do quite a few things."

"…Just shut up." Serin glared at Tyren.

"Stop talking." Tyren immediately closed his eyes and lay quietly on the ground, twitching faintly. Rayne stepped closer and checked the wound. Once he confirmed that it was deep but had not reached the bone, he relaxed a little and looked deeper into the forest path. There was no telling how many more new monsters like these were waiting ahead. Rayne remained silent for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

"Can't this place let us relax for even one day?"