The party pushed onward, and at the deepest end of the cavern, they finally made a discovery.
Laid out upon a patchwork pelt carpet were several relatively new pieces of human equipment.
Among them were a breastplate torn more than halfway through, a fine iron longsword snapped in two, and scattered fragments of armor.
Stained with mottled blood, it wasn't hard to imagine the horrors their owner had endured.
"I recognize this sword. It was Rhode's weapon..."
Gray crouched to pick up the hilt, his voice unusually somber.
Everyone fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
This was an adventurer's life.
Even though they could earn handsome rewards from mission after mission, they could just as easily end up dead without even a grave to rest in.
Killed by a pack of goblins like these... Their final moments couldn't have been anything but agonizing.
"All right... Let's keep searching. See if there are any other belongings left behind," Marcus said.
The group began combing through the lair.
Gray found the copper adventurer badges belonging to three members of Rhode's party.
In a corner, Zelier discovered a pocket watch.
Opening it revealed a portrait of a man and a woman. After checking with Gray, he confirmed the man was one of the rangers from Rhode's party.
Beyond that, they found only miscellaneous bits and pieces.
No bones were found—they had likely been devoured long ago by the goblins.
These were all the relics left of Rhode's party. After packing everything up, the group made their way back out of the cave.
The sun hung low in the west, sinking faintly behind the mountains. It would be fully dark in a few hours, so they set off on the return journey.
The forest was quiet, broken only by the occasional chirp of birds.
"Speaking of which... have any of you ever thought about your future?" Zelier suddenly asked.
Vallis shook his head in silence.
"The future... Probably wait until I'm too old to go adventuring, then find a quiet little town to retire in," Marcus said.
A plain and simple wish.
"Assassins don't clutter their heads with that kind of nonsense. Think too much, and the hand that kills starts to shake," Shir said with a light laugh.
"Same as Marcus for me. I'll head back to my hometown and live out my later years in peace." Gak bared his teeth in a grin.
"You lot sure have plenty of stamina, planning to work right up until old age before retiring."
Gray wore his usual cynical smirk. "As soon as I've made enough coin, I'm getting out of the business and taking Marian to travel the world."
"Are you serious? You really fancy that tavern waitress?" Vallis frowned.
"Of course. Heaven and earth can attest to my devotion." Gray grinned playfully.
Shir tossed pebbles as she walked, but suddenly her steps halted.
"There's movement." Shir fixed her gaze straight ahead.
The others instantly ceased their chatter, looking around with heightened vigilance.
"Monsters?" Marcus reflexively unslung his shield.
"No... humans. Six of them," Shir said.
***
"Damn it!"
Drake kicked hard against a tree trunk, shaking down a shower of falling leaves.
Irritation was written all over his face. "Where the hell is the spot marked on the map?! Did you find the right place or not?"
"It's right here, Captain."
A rather short, scrawny man hurried over to Drake's side, his face plastered with a fawning smile.
His name was Richie, the party's assassin, who mainly served as their scout and guide.
"Captain, I swear on my life, the location I found is definitely right!"
"Then where's the treant?" Drake glared.
After Marcus's party took the Mist Cave goblin subjugation quest, Drake had been forced to settle for second best and pick up a mission to slay a treant instead.
The reward was low, but it was better than coming away with nothing.
Yet the party had spent the entire afternoon wandering through Ashwood Forest without spotting so much as a treant's shadow.
The longer they wandered, the greater Drake's resentment grew.
His luck lately had been utterly rotten!
A lucrative bounty mission had finally come up, only to be snatched away by someone else—and personally assigned by Hogan, no less!
Just where was his squad inferior to them?
What kind of garbage ranger and mage were they? Bah, one strike would be enough to cut them down!
"The treant might've wandered off somewhere else... You know how it is, Boss, these monsters love scurrying around all over the place."
Richie trailed off and abruptly clamped his mouth shut. He tilted his ear to listen, a look of pleasant surprise dawning on his face.
"Hold on... Boss! Movement up ahead!"
"Oh? Is it the treant?" Drake immediately perked up.
"Not sure... but we'll know once we go check!"
The six-person squad assumed battle readiness and began advancing steadily forward.
Pushing through the brush, they arrived at a forest clearing. But the moment they clearly saw the source of the noise, the members of Drake's party froze in surprise.
"Well, well... Look who it is. Fancy meeting you here."
Drake recovered, letting out a cold sneer.
"Isn't this the elite party that snatched our quest back at the Association?"
Marcus hadn't expected to run into Drake and his men either; the situation had suddenly turned troublesome.
Having no desire whatsoever to waste time here, he spoke up, "I'm not in the mood to chat with you right now. Excuse us."
With that, he moved to lead his party around them.
"Hold it right there!"
Drake took a wide stride, barring the path Marcus's party had to take.
His gaze swept over them like a prowling jackal, sharp and calculating.
Exhausted faces, bloodstained armor and clothes, and bulging backpacks.
Yes, there was no mistake...
They had already completed the subjugation quest for the Mist Cave goblin settlement!
"Looks like you made quite a haul."
A darker edge crept into Drake's expression. "How much did you rake in this time? Fifty gold coins, or sixty?"
The mention of such a massive bounty audibly quickened the breathing of the teammates behind Drake.
So much money!
The treant mission Drake had taken carried a total bounty of only six gold coins, which came out to just one gold coin per person.
"None of your business. Out of the way!" Marcus barked.
"Ha! Still think you're in the Adventurers' Association? Got that old bastard Hogan backing you up?"
Drake didn't bother hiding his intentions any longer, his grin turning increasingly brazen. "You won't be having that kind of luck this time..."
Gak stepped forward to Marcus's side, radiating hostility. "Are your ears broken? Our captain told you to move aside!"
The intermediate swordsman behind Drake also took a step forward, snapping back without yielding an inch.
"There's no place for you to bark, half-breed mongrel!"
"What exactly do you want?" Marcus's voice turned completely cold.
"What do I want?"
Drake drew the broad-bladed greatsword from his back and rested it over his shoulder. "If you hadn't stolen my quest, would I have spent the entire afternoon out here running around for nothing?"
"Could you please not talk in a way that makes you sound like a complete idiot?"
Gray mocked, "Association Master Hogan was the one who assigned the mission. If you've got the guts, go throw your tantrum at him. Besides, we're all adventurers—who hasn't come back empty-handed before?"
Chapter 48