Chương 65: The Mysterious Thief

"Uh, David, why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm looking forward to your performance."

Levin:??

Seeing Levin's puzzled look, Richard cleared his throat, put on his acting skills, and said sincerely:

"Have you forgotten that my profession is that of a bard?"

"Your dashing gesture of slaying goblins with this crossbow just now inspired me, so I want to see more similar scenes, and then in my next poem, I'll use you as the model to create an elven hero~"

"So, Levin, what are you waiting for? The goblins are right there, hurry up and shoot!"

Levin blinked.

Yeah, lately I've been seeing Richard hitting people all the time, and I subconsciously thought of him as a mage or warrior. I almost forgot he's also a poet.

Are you going to use me as a model for your creation? That sounds really good.

The elves have always loved music and poetry, and Levin is no exception.

Upon hearing Richard's plan, he immediately perked up, picked up his crossbow, summoned his hounds, and charged towards the surrounding goblins.

Richard, meanwhile, donned a protective shield for himself, played an encouraging tune for Levin, and followed behind with a grin.

Standing there, Iron Hammer blew on his beard: "Why doesn't anyone create stories featuring us dwarves as the main characters?"

Mendel raised an eyebrow: "Haven't you read a joke book?"

Iron Hammer: "..."

Mendel: "Wait, what are you doing? Stop! It's immoral to assault a scholar! If something happens to me, it will be a loss to the entire field of magical botany!"

Fight! Fight! Fight! I just want to see those teeth!

Grace glanced in Richard's direction, and after confirming that the number of goblins there was not enough to pose a threat, she watched with great interest as the dwarves chased down the druids...

A few minutes later.

After Hammer and Mendel finished their antics, they started using the scrolls the church had given them to weed.

Levin's side also drove away the nearby goblins and wanted to return.

At that moment, Richard stopped him, saying with a look of utter despair, "Is this your limit?"

Levin:?

"No, but... why should I push myself to the limit here?"

He's just here to clear the weeds, not specifically to kill goblins. Besides, the goblins around here are all the weakest kind, there aren't any bear-like variants or spellcasters, so there's no need to push him to such an extreme.

Seeing Levin's "laziness," Richard said in a deep voice:

"Sigh, Levin, you can't be the elven hero in the story like this."

"To become a hero, you must constantly challenge yourself and always hate evil!"

"There are clearly still many goblins nearby. How can you stop now and let them escape? This will prevent you from growing stronger, and it will also increase the risk of a large goblin army coming after everyone else..."

As Richard spoke, he played the lute, providing background music to his words and further amplifying the emotions within.

Levin's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

The poet's words seem to make some sense.

With his skill level so high, he wouldn't easily fool himself...

Then, shall we kill a few more goblins?

With that thought in mind, Levin raised his crossbow again.

Three minutes later.

"Is that about right?"

"No, no, you can do even better!"

Five minutes later.

"I'm a little tired, David, and so is Big Cat."

"Meow..."

"You can't rest yet! Now is the time to push your limits!"

Ten minutes later.

"I'm done for, I'm out of arrows, and if we keep chasing them, I'll have to take some medicine..."

"Alright, let's kill three more... four, five, six, or seven more, then we'll rest."

"?"

"I was just kidding."

Richard said this, but his eyes were filled with deep regret.

We're only seven pieces away from meeting the requirements for a hand crossbow!

However, Levin was indeed running out of steam, and there were no goblins around anymore—they weren't stupid; they'd all run far away after hearing about the goblin killer in the area.

To find them again, we would have to leave our teammates and venture deep into the dense forest.

That would be too risky; if we're not careful, we might actually end up in the Goblin Slayer universe.

Well, let's leave it at that for now.

Richard sighed softly and turned to walk back.

Levin was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes.

Great, it's finally over!

I never imagined the story of the bard would be so difficult...

That said, is David usually this strict with himself and others?

No wonder he has such strength.

It's a pity he can't cooperate now... Huh?

Levin noticed that the hound suddenly lowered its head and began sniffing around.

A few seconds later, it raised its head and rubbed against Levin's leg, seemingly because the goblin's scent was too strong, preventing it from confirming what it had found.

Levin squinted and carefully observed his surroundings.

After finding nothing suspicious, he didn't pay much attention to it.

There are many strange creatures in the forest; it was probably just a wild animal that passed by not long ago.

With this in mind, he and Richard successfully reunited with their teammates and devoted themselves to the weeding work...

"This stuff is really useful!"

Just then, as Iron Hammer unfurled a scroll, he saw a flash of white light, and the large patch of purple leaves in front of him withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, prompting him to exclaim in amazement.

Mendel stroked his chin and commented, "Although I dislike this behavior, I must admit that this magic is quite good and can be used to clear the weeds from my experimental field."

Richard, standing nearby, didn't think that much about it.

He was simply delighted that the scroll was so useful, allowing everyone to quickly clear this area and move on to the next place... to find more goblins or other monsters!

Hopefully, Levin will have recovered his strength by then.

Richard glanced at Levin's back, sending a chill down his spine, before walking over to the makeshift tent to retrieve a new reel.

Then he discovered that the scroll that should have been placed inside the tent was missing.

Did anyone take them all at once?

"No……"

He gathered everyone together, but they all said they hadn't touched anything.

That's strange. No one touched it, so how could the reel have disappeared?

Richard and Levin exchanged a glance, both sensing something amiss, and became alert.

"I suspect someone stole the reel."

"That's the only possibility, but... this tent has been in everyone's sight the whole time, we haven't seen anyone, and the big cat is guarding it nearby..."

"What if the other person's scent is very faint, their footsteps are very light, and they can't be seen with the naked eye?"

"You mean a professional thief who uses invisibility magic?"

Both of them thought of this second-tier spell without prior agreement.

Grace, who was listening in, raised an eyebrow and immediately cast a spell to detect invisibility, looking around the tent...