Night had fallen over the humble village of Artaris. Every night since the attack that saw the passing of their lord had always carried a certain gloom.
But this time, it was worse.
The woman that had been attacked in the forest was a member of the forage group, those who gathered wild berries and nuts to augment their meals.
She had escaped death by the skin of her teeth. She was lucky.
As for the seven other girls with her, the same could not be said for them. Those seven were still missing as of this point.
A search party was quickly created to find them, and they ended up scouring the shallow parts of the forest, but still… nothing.
When darkness fully overtook the village, and it was clear that they would have to go deeper if they were to find her, all searches were pushed to the next day.
Eliron, Yennefer, and Ash were seated in his hut, going through everything they knew.
"Yen, how is she doing?" Eliron asked, glancing in her direction.
She sighed tiredly as she spoke. "She was in really bad shape, but now she's stable. I have healed all her injuries. Still, it will take a while before she wakes up."
She paused for a few seconds, remembering the state the woman had been in.
"It was almost as if the monster was having fun with her. The bite marks were shallow enough to not kill, but deep enough to cause serious pain."
"And it was not one monster either, this was the work of a group."
Eliron nodded.
If the monsters truly wanted her dead, then just like the other seven, she would have never escaped.
He turned to his right-hand man. "Ash, you saw the bite marks, didn't you? We all know what this means…"
There was only one monster in these forests vindictive enough to do such, and vile enough to enjoy it.
Goblins.
The goblins in this world were not the weak shitbags adventurers ate for lunch in fantasy novels. In this world, you would be wise to avoid them.
At least, that was the case if you were a regular elf…
They had a bite force strong enough to crush through bones, were physically stronger than the average elf, and very much faster…
Ash's gaze darkened as he slowly shook his head. "How did they get this close to the village?"
Artaris was in the midst of an enormous forest, so it was natural that there were many other species sharing the forest with them.
But most monsters avoided the village, except when they were particularly hungry.
"What do we do now, my lord?" Ash asked, his face twisted in concern.
They were at a critical juncture, with the hunting trip set for the next day and the confluence just around the corner.
Whatever way he handled this would no doubt affect how the elves would see him.
Eliron sighed and clasped his hands together. "The goblins probably let her go so that they could trace the location of our village."
There was a thick tension in the air as he spoke.
"Which means they will be coming back." He thrummed his fingers on the table as he contemplated.
"My lord… the hunting expedition, should we cancel it?" Ash asked.
"That isn't possible, unless we want the entire village to starve." Yennefer cut in.
There was a brief moment of silence, then Eliron spoke up.
"She's right, we can't cancel the hunting trip. After all, there is no real need to."
His gaze darkened as he stared at the flickering fire of the candle.
"In fact, we need the expedition even more than ever now. We will continue our original plan of hunting the magister, and then we'll add a new objective."
"Find the girls and eviscerate the goblin village."
Ash nodded, his eyes burning with determination, while Yennefer smirked.
Just then, a screen flashed before him.
Ding!
— — - 「Act One」 - — —
[Title: Goblin Slayer]
~> Objective: Confirm the location of the seven elven girls and destroy the goblin village.
「Rewards」
◆ Infinity pouch
◆ +12 Stat Points
•••
Eliron woke up the next morning before the birds had begun to sing, and before the first rays of sunlight had come.
He picked up some embers from the fireplace and used them to light a candle. Then, using the light, he moved to a certain room and stared at the door.
After staring at it for a few seconds, Eliron pushed the door open and stepped in.
Hanging in the room was a sleek dark green leather armor with pieces of metal forming a chest plate.
And below that armor was a sword, lying idly on the ground.
He stared at the clothes for a few seconds, then sighed as a wave of emotions rushed into his mind.
Even though he was a reincarnator, for eighteen years of his life before he gained back his memories, this man had been everything to him.
Through his weakness, strengths, and failures, Zanderth, the former lord, always had his back, right till the day he died.
"Today is the day, Zander." Eliron whispered, then he stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.
..
Very early in the morning, all the wood elves had left their houses, gathering at the front of the forest.
From the young elves to the older elves, and even the chiefs, everyone had come to see the hunting group off.
Drakili stood far away from the crowd as though they were contaminated with a disease, a smile permanently etched on his face.
Meanwhile, Lazarus was amongst the wood elves, looking grumpy for having been woken at such an early hour.
Amongst those who had gathered, there were mixed reactions.
Some people praised the young lord for venturing into the depths of the forest, while others labeled it as foolish and reckless.
The young lord was yet to arrive, but his closest companions, Ash, Artie, and Yennefer, as well as fifteen hunters he had trained, were present.
"Yen, what did you say Eliron was doing?" Artie asked, looking slightly concerned.
"Hmm?" Yennefer yawned. "Oh, there he is." She said, pointing at the crowd.
Behind them, Eliron was marching toward them, with a focused look in his eyes.
But what caught everyone's attention was what he was wearing… the armor of the former lord.
Drakili's eyes widened in shock, his face turning red from rage, while Lazarus chuckled, shaking his head as an amused smile tugged at his lips.
"This is quite bold…" Artie said.
"Hmmm, what do you mean?" Yen asked from beside her.
"Only Elven lords crowned after the confluence are allowed to wear that armor. What he has done, in human terms, is wear the crown before being made king."
'You never seem to amaze me.' Artie thought.
The whispers slowly quieted down as he made his way to where Artie and Yennefer stood.
Then he turned to face the crowd, his expression serious.
'They've all gathered to see us off…' Eliron mused as he watched them. Then he smiled.
"I know many of you are wondering, why go on a hunting trip now after all that has happened?" He began, completely ignoring the elephant in the room.
"Why venture into a forest as dangerous as this at the risk of losing your lives? Is it foolishness? Is it bravery?"
He cleared his throat.
"For years, we have limited our own selves by oppressing our minds."
The elves had not become this way simply because they were oppressed. Rather, oppression had been a catalyst for their change.
Those who were strong dictated what was true and what was false.
So over the years, the elves had slowly come to agree with these 'truths'. It was not a decision made of free will, but slow conditioning done over centuries.
"We have brought down our standards so low that we have become what the others call us." Eliron continued.
"Laggards."
"Wastrels."
As he called out all the slurs often used to refer to them, he finally got the reaction he was looking for from the crowd.
"But not anymore!"
"Today, we take a step forward by pushing beyond our self-limitations. Today, we take victory for the wood elves!"
The elves erupted in cheers, screaming out their support as they raised their fists into the air.
By his side, Artie smiled. "You're getting good at this."
Still staring at the crowd, he said, "Well… I do my best."
Then he turned to face her, his icy blue eyes questioning.
"By the way, you've been quite scarce these past few days, Artie."
"Don't mind me, I had to clear my head. Don't worry, I'm sure we can make up for lost time." She smiled.
"We are stuck with each other for the next week, after all."
And so, the twenty-four-man hunting expedition set out into the forest, carrying the hopes of the entire elven village on their shoulders.
Little did they know, the horrors that awaited them there.