Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 75 Sorry, I have a lisp

In the midst of a chaotic camp, a tall man and a short man are arguing fiercely.

"Dear Daofen, I don't owe you anything. My money was all with the caravan... You saw it yourself, it was all stolen. Without money, how can I pay your commission, right?"

The dwarf waved his hands exaggeratedly, his expressions incredibly varied. A persistent smile graced his face, and even in his argument, there wasn't a trace of hostility.

"I don't care where you keep your money. If you lose it, that's your own problem. Our contract was: five gold coins a day, food and lodging included, I'd travel with you, and I'd protect your safety. Now, you've lured me to this desolate, godforsaken place, and then tell me you're out of money? The nearest town is two days' journey away, and I'll have to pay for my own food and drink during that time—tell me, who's going to compensate me for my loss?"

The mercenary was aggressive, and her appearance contrasted sharply with the dwarf.

The dwarf was making a lot of noise, his belly peeking out from the gaps in his clothes like a marshmallow, which looked very festive.

The female human was tall and thin, with not an ounce of excess fat on her body, elegant and sharp, like a black umbrella.

The umbrella looked down at the dwarf and said:

"Besides, I'm not called Knife Grave... I'm called Doffin, straighten out your dwarf tongue before you speak."

"Ancestors above, all my companions in the caravan have disappeared, their fate unknown. They were traveling together, have some compassion!"

"It's Dove, you bastard!"

Just as the two were arguing, the halfling popped out from the side, coughed, and tried to get their attention.

"Ahem... Hello, I mean no harm..."

"Goblin!" the female mercenary blurted out, reaching for the short sword at her waist.

"What?!" Gebu's heart tightened, and he quickly touched his face—he hadn't given himself away; the mask's duration had just been refreshed!

"Ah...sorry, my eyes were playing tricks on me...I think I saw a goblin for a moment."

After saying that, the woman stared at Gebu's face for a while, her hand still on the weapon, not letting go.

Gebu broke out in a cold sweat and breathed a sigh of relief—upon closer inspection, the woman looked somewhat familiar.

Where have I seen this before?

As Gebu was reminiscing, the dwarf saw a stranger approaching and spoke in a warmer voice:

"Young halfling... don't be alarmed, we are just unfortunate travelers. As you can see, we were separated from our companions by some matter, and when we caught up with them, we found the camp in this terrible state... We are also investigating what happened."

"Don't talk to him about that." The woman rolled her eyes at the dwarf, then continued to watch Geb warily. "What do you want, halfling?"

"I am a traveler passing by. My driver discovered something ahead, so I came to investigate."

After saying that, Gebu pretended to look around. He had already seen the scene of the camp before, and now he was just putting on an act.

"Oh dear... what a misfortune. What do you think happened? Robbers? Wild beasts?"

"Goblins?" the mercenary interjected. "The recent wildfires drove all the humanoids out of the forest, and these guys are causing trouble everywhere—the church has put up a bounty: two silver coins for a goblin's head."

Good heavens… Gebu’s hair stood on end instantly. This clever head on his neck was only worth two meals.

However, while the church claims to be hunting goblins, a closer look reveals that they are actually after me. What they want is the Book of Sand.

It must be that black-clad witch hunter's conspiracy. Since he couldn't capture Gob himself, he mobilized the entire kingdom to hunt down goblins.

The innocent goblins are suffering... But, better to die for your fellow cultivators than for me.

After listening to their conversation, the dwarf remained silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke:

"By the way, Polyphenols, remember what the bartender said—recently, a flying beast has been appearing in the area, attacking travelers. Some say it's a wyvern, others say a manticore. What do you think, was it that thing?"

"A beast? I've never seen a beast steal money." The mercenary walked to the side, kicking aside a scattered box, which was empty. "Besides, where are the corpses? Even a wyvern couldn't eat that many people. I think it was mostly the goblins' doing. Those filthy beasts, driven to desperation, seized the opportunity to retaliate against humans."

Does this woman have a grudge against goblins...?

Although these words weren't directed at Gebu, they were still insulting to goblins, which made Gebu somewhat unhappy.

"They could also be human bandits."

"This isn't a trade route, just a country road. This guy's caravan was just an accident—what kind of bandits would lie in ambush here to steal cheese?"

The woman was sharp-tongued, and Gebu had no intention of getting entangled with her. The important thing was to build a good relationship with this dwarf…

"In that case, I'll help you investigate and find out what the threat is, so I can have peace of mind myself."

The woman snorted, "Suit yourself. I'm not doing any work since no one's paying me."

The dwarf quickly thanked him.

The group split up to investigate. The woman didn't move, while the dwarves searched the camp thoroughly.

Gebu then crouched down and carefully searched the traces on the ground.

Footprints, smells, residue.

Gebu's culinary skills as a scout came in handy.

He observed, analyzed, and searched the camp for a long time before finally focusing his attention on the footprints on the ground.

It's a little past ten o'clock now. The weather is rather overcast and damp today, and the footprints on the ground haven't completely dried yet. Apart from the two people's boot prints, three different types of footprints can be distinguished.

The footprints were thick and wide, and very deep, like those of a dwarf—this must be the companion of the bearded dwarf.

The footprints were long and thin, with a moderate depth, like those of a human?

"Hey, dwarf, are any of your travel companions human?"

"There are two human mercenaries who are our guides and guards," the dwarf said.

"Two insidious villains," the mercenary cursed from the side, then spat on the ground.

That's it, Gebu thought. However, there weren't just two human footprints here; there were at least seven or eight.

Hmm... Did another group of people come here?

The third type of footprint was completely different. It was thin and small, with forked toes, like a large chicken claw. It stepped on the other two types of footprints, so it seemed to have arrived last... Hey, I recognize this one.

Fucked kobolds!

You damn bastard!

Geb's goblin nature kicked in, and he felt a surge of malice. He followed the footprints to the overturned wagon, bent down to search, and found a cheap, large slingshot hidden in a crevice.

The classic weapon of the kobolds.

Geb picked up his slingshot and called to the dwarf.

"The case is solved, dwarves, the kobolds raided your camp."

"Kobolds? Are you sure? Even if those two mercenaries are useless, they shouldn't be unable to defeat a few kobolds," the woman interjected from the side.

Geb wanted to argue, but after thinking about it, he realized there was no need to argue with the mercenaries or tell them too much information.

"Anyway, based on the existing evidence, the last people to arrive at this camp were the kobolds."

The dwarf muttered to himself.

"Kobolds... So our people were kidnapped by kobolds?"

"The kobolds don't really need to capture them. More likely, their corpses will be dragged back and boiled into soup," Geb said casually.

The dwarf and the female mercenary looked at Geb with horror.

The halfling then realized that for ordinary humans, eating human flesh was a terrible thing.

What's the difference between human flesh and dog meat... as long as it's not goblin meat.

"Uh...it's just a guess. By the way, dwarf uncle, may I ask what you do for a living? Did they steal anything valuable from you?"

The dwarf did not answer Geb. After hearing that his companion might have been taken away by the kobolds, a look of worry appeared on his face for the first time.

"What should we do... what if we lose that thing..."

Oh, so you weren't worried about your companions, you were overthinking it.

Something? A gem?

"What are you talking about?" Gebu asked immediately. The woman glared at the half-man, but Gebu ignored her.

The dwarf paced anxiously in place, not responding, completely absorbed in his own world. After a while, he suddenly walked up to the two people.

"Duo Fen, halfling brother, could you do me a favor?"

"Help? Do you have money?" the woman asked coldly.

"Not now... but once we get the things back, we'll have them..." the dwarf said eagerly.

"What do you mean? You want to give me an IOU and make me crawl through a dog hole?" the female mercenary said unhappily. "Don't even think about it. Kobolds are stinky and disgusting. Once you get them, the smell won't go away for a month. The five gold coins you paid me that day aren't even enough to compensate me for my emotional distress."

Geb didn't want to get involved. However, if the dwarf's "thing" was a gem, then that would be a different story...

The dwarf thought for a moment, struggled with his conscience, and then gritted his teeth and said.

"Help me get my valuables back from the kobolds, and I'll give you each a hundred gold coins!"

Wow! That's a big spender!

Geb had seen a lot of money—but a hundred gold coins was not a small amount either.

A silver coin can buy you a meal outside, while a gold coin can buy you a decent hotel for a day and a night, including food and lodging.

Gebu hitched a ride, a three-day journey, and only paid the coachman 5 silver coins—by that calculation, the mercenary's charge of 5 gold coins a day is really outrageous!

The halfling's eyes darted around. Since the dwarf was willing to pay such a high price, it meant that what he had lost was very valuable—it might really be a gem.

"If they're just a bunch of kobolds, helping him isn't out of the question," Geb thought.

He looked at the woman's face, and her eyes lit up when she heard the number 100 gold coins.

The female mercenary glanced at the halfling, then turned to the dwarf and said:

"What's the use of this guy? Give me all 200 gold coins, and I can handle it all by myself."

"I'm useless? Then go and track down the kobolds' lair yourself. Once you're in the woods, completely in the dark, let's see if you can find it."

Gebu choked on the woman's mouth.

The woman retorted, "What else can you do besides lead the way... 100 gold coins for leading the way? Even a dog could do that job."

"Then are you even less than a dog?"

"You're asking for death!" The woman wrinkled her nose, half-drawn her short sword, and took a step forward. Gebu immediately jumped back, raising his hand in alertness.

"Stop arguing, stop arguing!" The dwarf quickly stepped between the two. "By the honor of the Jinkra clan, you two will both receive a great reward... Don't fight."

"Tell that woman to put her sword away. Don't let her be like a firecracker, ready to ignite at any moment," Gebu said to the dwarf.

The dwarf turned to the mercenary, raised his hand to comfort her, and said with a smile:

"Duofen, my dear travel companion, calm down... Help me with this favor. Once we reach Chifang Town and meet up with the salt and iron caravan, I'll talk to the caravan leader for you and get you a long-term contract... Aren't you looking for work? The caravan won't treat you badly."

Upon hearing this, the woman thought for a moment, glared fiercely at Gebu, and then put away her weapon.

"You'd better keep your promise, dwarf."

"Of course, I, Dulin, always keep my word." The dwarf patted his chest and then extended his hand to Geb.

"Dulin, of the Jinkra clan, jeweler of Stonefoot Mountain, at your service."

"Gebu, traveling herbalist." Gebu shook the dwarf's hand—strong, hairy, and warm.

"This is Duofen... Duofen, Dafen..."

He was about to introduce the woman's name, but his heavy, short accent kept making mistakes, and his tongue almost got tied in knots.

The woman held back for a long time, unable to speak any longer, and finally opened her mouth and said:

"...It's Dove!...Pah, it's Dove, Dove, Dove!"

She was accidentally kidnapped and rushed back to find him, her face turning bright red.

"Okay, I understand, Sword Maiden."

Geb left a comment, waved his hand, and turned to walk away.

"I'll go tell the driver, you guys wait for me."

"You son of a bitch!" The swordswoman was about to charge again, but was held down by the dwarf.

"Calm down, calm down. If you're angry, vent it on the kobolds later..."

"I'm going to chop this guy's head off first!"