Chương 71: Welcome Back

"I hadn't seen goblins in quite a while," Kyle muttered, almost nostalgically, as he walked towards them. The goblins were still hiding in the dark, unaware that they had already been exposed. As Kyle approached, the goblins quickly noticed him. Their faces twisted, yellow eyes widening in excitement. They quickly squatted, trying to hide themselves in the bushes, and looked at him with sinister grins through the gap in the leaves. They slowly spread in the darkness, confident that Kyle wouldn't notice them.

After all, unlike them, humans didn't possess darkvision.

"Gah!" At the 1-meter range, the goblins suddenly burst from the shadows, jumping at Kyle from all directions, their faces contorted with greed, their mouths wide open in a grin, drool dripping from them. Kyle observed incoming goblins calmly, his eyes shining a faint blue. From his point of view, the five goblins seemed to be in slow motion. He could see their loincloths fluttering in the wind, their tongues flapping out from their mouths, and the drool droplets flying around. It was not a pretty sight.

Kyle's brows furrowed. He unsheathed his sword, took a step forward, and completed a horizontal slash, all in a fraction of a second. He slowly walked between the goblins' bodies, swinging his sword to shake off any residue before sheathing it. It was only after he walked away that the goblins fell to the ground, their bodies bisected, that twisted expression of greed and excitement still on their faces. Kyle soothed the startled horse before cutting off the goblin ears and disposing of their bodies.

He jumped back onto the branch with a calm expression and closed his eyes. He wasn't interested in looking to see whether there was a nearby goblin hideout. There would be plenty of goblins for him to hunt in Mirevale. … The next morning, not long after dawn, Kyle was already on the road. Just an hour later, a familiar village appeared in his sight. It was the Khan village, the one where he met Doyle's party in the past. Kyle looked at the wooden wall in the distance with a complicated expression.

'It's hard to believe that not even three weeks have passed.' Kyle thought absentmindedly.

"Wait…" He quickly snapped out of his daze as he noticed something odd. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. There were no livestock sounds, no smoke from chimneys, and no movement in the fields.

'Are they on vacation or something?' Kyle carefully looked at the distant village, noticing more and more unusual traces. The farmland looked dilapidated, as if it hadn't been tended to in days. The wooden wall was broken in many places. Even hundreds of meters away, he could see traces of tearing.

'The wooden wall was in rough shape the last time I visited, but nothing like this.' Kyle turned alert. He cautiously approached the village, his hand over the hilt of his sword. Beyond the crumbling walls was a ruined village. Torn houses, ruined farmland, and not a single living creature in sight. Kyle jumped off his horse and walked to a dark stain in front of a house with a torn door. He crouched and ran his finger along the dark stain.

"Blood," Kyle muttered. It was dried blood, at least a few days old. He stood up and continued moving forward. The village was filled with messy traces, including human and goblin footprints and dried blood on doors, furniture, and the street. Kyle even spotted an unusually large footprint. It was neither human nor livestock, and it was too large to be a goblin's.

"A giant goblin." Kyle's expression was grim as he looked at the footsteps. The Khan village might be able to resist a small goblin invasion, but if it were led by a giant goblin, then it would be a whole different matter. Kyle took another glance at the abandoned village before hopping on his horse and hurrying to Mirevale. It took less than half an hour before the town appeared in the distance.

"This…" Kyle gripped the reins tightly. Hundreds of goblin corpses were scattered not far from the town's walls. As he approached, the stench of rotting corpses assaulted his nose, causing him to gag. Kyle quickly covered his nose with the hem of his shirt and looked at the corpses spread around the official path with a look of disgust.

'The blood is still a bit fresh. It hadn't been a day.' Kyle assessed as he looked at the red-stained grass and the soil caked with blood. No farmers or merchants were waiting at the town's gate, only adventurers occasionally coming and going.

'The number of guards is much higher than usual.' Kyle glanced at the guards guarding the town's gate and the archers patrolling from the town's walls.

'This should have been just a probe,' Kyle judged. Before his journey to Velkaris, the number of goblins had grown to such an extent that it had affected several towns and dozens of villages. A few hundred goblins were nothing compared to what was hidden in Silverbark. He drove his horse forward, stopping at the town's gate for inspection. The guards didn't make it difficult for him once they saw the copper tag hanging on his neck, allowing him to enter after a short inspection.

'Strange, I didn't see John or Mark.' Kyle glanced at the dozens of guards near the gate. All of these guards were unfamiliar. Moreover, their demeanor was a bit off. Shaking his head, he looked back at the town. It was far less bustling than in the past. Although there were still many civilians walking inside the town, they had anxious or worried expressions on their faces. Even the number of stalls in the commercial street had decreased. Kyle slowly drove his horse forward.

The streets of Mirevale were much narrower than Velkaris, nor did they have a section of the road specifically dedicated to horses and carriages. A few minutes later, Kyle stopped in front of an inn. The Hearth & Horn Inn. He strapped his horse at the entrance and walked in. A familiar red-haired beauty was leaning on the counter, watching the guests eating and chatting. Noticing that someone had walked in, she turned her head and looked at him.

Her red eyes widened for a moment before a slight smile crossed her face"It's been a while; welcome back, Kyle," Marielle said.