Chương 72: Escalation

"I'm back," Kyle said, glancing at the half-empty inn.

"Looks like I picked a good time." Marielle chuckled but didn't respond; she waved for him to sit.

"I know you have many questions to ask, but leave them for later. Now eat something, then rest. Your room is still clean and empty." She said before entering the door behind the counter. He nodded and sat at an empty table. Although he didn't show it on the surface, it was only now that he truly relaxed. Under the eyes of a rank 2 powerhouse, neither goblins nor the Bloody Hand would be able to raise any wave. Kyle leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes, resting them for a bit.

This three-day journey had exhausted him.

'I have much to prepare if I want to travel the continent solo in the future.' It was only after this journey that he realized his shortcomings. The most glaring issue of all was the night vigil.

'I need a technique that would enhance my danger perception.' Kyle resolved. Such a technique would be useful not just for night vigil, but he would need to find a template skill first.

'I'll look in the adventurers' guild later.' Kyle opened his eyes. Marielle was standing before him. She placed a tray with a steak, mashed potatoes, and a glass of orange juice in front of him.

"Enjoy," she said with a smile before walking away. Kyle thanked her and dug into the meal. He quickly devoured the meat and the purée before downing the orange juice. A nearby merchant looked at him with disgust, but Kyle didn't care at all. He was not only starving; he was also sick of the dry jerky and black bread that he had to eat over the past three days. Naturally, he didn't care about eating manners now.

"That was good," Kyle muttered blissfully. He walked to the counter and took his room key. Pondering for a moment, he looked at Marielle with an embarrassed expression.

"Miss Hearth, can I ask you to take care of my horse? It's the one at the entrance of the inn." Marielle raised an eyebrow.

"So that was your horse? Sure, I'll ask Bert to take care of it."

"Thanks." Kyle nodded and walked upstairs. Bert was the person in charge of taking care of the guests' horses and carriages. It was just that he had no horse in the past; thus, he didn't interact with him. Kyle pushed the door open and glanced around the room. It felt like longer than three weeks. He took a shower and changed his clothes before lying down on the bed.

"Ah… Sure enough, this is my most comfortable place." Kyle muttered, squinting in comfort. As the exhaustion from the journey set in, he struggled to keep his eyelids open. They slowly closed, and he fell into a deep sleep. A few hours later, as the sun set on the horizon and darkness enveloped the earth, his eyelids slowly parted. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Hmm! That was some good sleep." Kyle stretched, now completely invigorated. He rose and quickly changed into his adventure clothes. He put on his armor and leather belt, then hung his sword on it. He walked down the stairs and to the counter, sitting on one of the stools facing it. Marielle leaned on the other side of the counter, watching him with a faint smile, but she didn't say anything.

"Good evening, Miss Hearth. How's the situation in Mirevale?" Kyle asked with a serious expression.

"Hmm… Not too bad, I guess? The goblins are still launching probing attacks; there's still no trace of a full-scale invasion," Marielle said, tapping her chin with her finger. Kyle nodded, but before he could open his mouth to ask again, she raised her hand to stop him.

"I don't know much more than that. You have to know that I retired a long time ago; if you want to ask more questions, go to the adventure guild." Marielle said with a faint smile on her face.

"I see, thank you," Kyle said awkwardly. He got up and thanked her before walking out of the inn. The last vestiges of the sun still shone from the horizon, but most civilians had already disappeared from the street. Only the patrolling guards, adventurers, and occasional food stalls could be seen. Kyle walked to the adventurers' guild, stopping by a stall on the side for some roasted kebab.

'Nice job, predecessor,' thought Kyle as he dug into the skewers of kebab. They were scrumptious. By the time he reached the adventurers' guild, night had completely fallen. Yet, the guild was livelier than ever. The number of adventurers, local and foreign, had exceeded any metric Kyle had ever seen.

'It's a bit overcrowded.' Kyle frowned as he looked at the interior of the guild. There wasn't a single empty seat in the dining hall. Many adventurers stood or crouched next to their companions. Even the counters had long lines as the time coincided with adventurers coming back after completing their quests. He looked around for a moment before deciding to walk to the second floor. As he approached the second floor, adventurers sitting in the hall noticed him and looked on with surprise at his young age.

Kyle didn't pay them any mind, nodding at the clerk sitting at the counter next to the stairs before going up. The second floor was also more crowded than usual, but at least there were a few empty seats. Kyle changed to indoor shoes, then walked to and sat on one of the sofas. He picked up the arcane slate on the table, or as he liked to call it, the magic tablet, and started browsing the latest quests.

[E-Rank Quest: Goblin Patrol Sweep] [Quest Info: Goblin scouts have been spotted near the eastern farmlands, 2-4 km from the town walls. Eliminate the scouts and report any signs of a nearby encampment.] [Quest Item: Goblin ears] [Reward: 70 copper coins per goblin ear. Bonus of 20 silver coins for confirming a goblin encampment.] [D-Rank Quest: Rescue the Silverdust Village] [Quest Info: Traces of a large number of goblins were discovered near the Silverdust Village. Preliminary investigation has determined that a goblin invasion is likely on the way. Intercept the goblin attack and kill the mutants behind the attack.] [Quest Item: Goblin ears, and ears of mutant goblins] [Reward: 70 copper coins per goblin ear. Bonus of 5 gold coins] [Note: This quest can only be taken by a copper-class party.] [D-Rank Quest: Large Goblin Camp Annihilation] [Quest Info: Destroy the goblin camp near the inner reach of the Ber River in Silverbark. The camp has hundreds of goblins and multiple rank 1 mutated individuals.] [Quest Item: Goblin ears and the mutant goblins' head] [Reward: 20 gold coins. Additional 3 gold coins for the head of each mutant goblin.] [Warning: This quest is very risky. Only parties approved by the guild can accept it.]"There are mostly goblin-related quests; hardly any other type of quest is there." Kyle noted, swiping through the quests on the arcane slate.

'The situation has deteriorated so much in less than two weeks, huh.' Even he could tell that a full-scale goblin invasion was close.

'I wonder if the guild is prepared, though.' He shook his head and placed the arcane slate down. He stretched and ordered an orange-Milo mix.

'Quite a few copper and silver adventurers, but no gold, huh?' Kyle casually looked around, noting dozens of unfamiliar faces. He guessed that many of the adventurers on the second floor were foreign. Mirevale didn't have so many professional-class adventurers after all. Kyle drank his orange-Milo mix while idly looking around. He spotted a familiar honey-haired figure walking into the private personnel lounge and waved at her.

"Celia! Long time no see." Celia quickly turned around, her eyes widening after seeing him.

"Kyle!"