269 Another Strange Village

BAM! Arad landed in the forest, “I can see the village from here,” He said, lowering his wing.

Jack, Aella, and Lydia jumped down, and Arad shifted back to his human form. “We should be able to get there on foot.”

“I also wanted to stretch my legs a bit,” Jack stretched, cracking his back. “We sat for a long time,” He looked at Arad, “But I don’t mind riding a dragon,”

“I do. It’s exhausting while wearing heavy armor,” Lydia sighed, doing tiny jumps, “We should get moving,”

“That is a human village. Are they the ones who sent the request?” Aella looked at Arad, “I thought this was an elf problem,”

“It is. The villagers here aren’t minding the goblins since they aren’t attacked.” Arad replied, “It just happened that they are close and perfect for a base as we do the quest,”

“We get a room there and slowly work on taking the goblins down.” Jack smiled, “Do you think they will be happy to see us clear the goblins,”

“They should be. They might not be attacked, but the threat is still there.” Arad smiled, “Let’s get rid of the goblins before they could harm more people,”

They started walking and soon reached the village. “Stop right there. Who are you?”

The village guard, a tall man with leather armor and a bow strapped to his back shouted, aiming at Arad. “This is the riverside village. Identify yourselves, or I will shoot,”

“His aim is unsteady,” Aella whispered to Arad, “He’s untrained and lacks the stamina to keep the bow drawn for long,”

“Arad Orion, an adventurer, and this is my party. I came here on a quest to clear a nearby goblin nest.” Arad replied with a smile.

“A goblin nest?” The guard lowered his bow and nodded, “Open the gate, but keep an eye on them.”

The large wooden gate groaned as the unoiled hinges cried, dragging on the dirt and leaving a trail. It opened for everyone to enter.

Arad walked through the gate and saw seven other guards glaring at them, “We will guide you to the village head house. We’re only doing our job, so we ask you to behave,”

“We’re here for the goblins, not to harm you,” Arad replied, walking behind them with everyone.

A large wooden house painted white stood in front of them. It was almost double the size of the rest of the houses and had two horses in the front yard. Two children sat playing in the back, throwing a leather ball around.

CLICK! The front door opened, and an old man stared at them, scratching his beard with a smile. “What do we have here, adventurers.”

“We came here for the goblins. Can we talk?” Arad walked forward, and the man nodded, “But we have nothing to speak off. Go kill the goblins if you want, but aren’t responsible for anything as we didn’t put the quest up.”

“I know,” Arad looked back at Jack, “There should be an inn here for us to stay in. A blacksmith to sharpen our weapons and maybe a herbalist,” Jack approached.

“Those three are available, have the guards take you to them.” The village chief approached Arad, “But, there is something I must say,”

“What is it?” Arad tilted his head.

“The goblins never attacked us. If you agitated them and we got attacked, you’ll have big troubles at your hands.” He glared behind Arad, his eyes stopping by Aella.

“The goblins are only interested in the elves, and they better stay that way.” He growled, “If their existence prevents the long ears bastards from marching through here to invade, then let them be.”

Lydia glared at the village chief and stood between him and Aella, “The elves aren’t seeking war,”

“A cleric, no, a paladin.” The village chief snorted, “You better be right. I only care about the safety of the village. It doesn’t matter if it is short or tall goblins. They are both monsters to be slayed.”

Thud! Arad grabbed the village chief by the head, and the guards screamed.

“Did you just call Aella a tall goblin?” Arad growled, tightening his grip, almost breaking the chief’s skull.

“I was talking about hobgoblins, not the elves. Let me go,” The chief cried, and Arad dropped him.

“Next time, I will crush your head to the ground,” Arad growled.

Jack approached Arad, “Come on, let’s head to the inn. We better finish this quest quickly and leave,” He looked back at the guards.𝓫𝓭𝓸𝓋𝓁．𝓬𝓸𝓂

On their way to the inn, Jack whispered to Arad, “I don’t feel welcome here. It’s giving me the same creepy vibes of that village we were at after the red dragon fight.” He looked around, “Like we’re watched all the time,”

“Why do you think that?” Arad asked back, whispering as he looked around for anyone watching or listening.

“Goblins are dangerous. They eat cattle, kill people, and don’t get me started with what they do to women. People are terrified of them and would rather kill them at sight.”

“So it’s strange the chief would rather leave them be since they aren’t attacking.” Arad scratched his chin.

“A normal reaction would be like this. Ahem,” Jack cleared his throat, “Ooh! You’re killing those bastards, thank the gods. We barely could sleep thinking they might attack at any night. Please burn every last one of them. We will support you as much as possible and more.”

Aella and Lydia looked at Jack, “That would be a normal reaction.” Lydia smiled.

After a few steps, they reached the greenwheel inn. A small building with a crooked door that is rarely used by travelers walking past the village. It seems to have seen better days in the age of peace between the elves and humans.

Arad walked inside, seeing only a single man inside standing behind a counter. “A customer?” The man glared at the door.

Arad approached him with everyone behind, he looked around and then at the man, “This place is awfully empty,”

“I have one resident now. Alex, our hunter, who’s building his house.” The owner replied.