Chapter 95: Hide and seek.

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Hide and seek.

Chapter 95: Hide and Seek.

The guild’s mission notice had provided him with a general location, but there was a large difference between knowing that something was somewhere inside a forest and actually finding it.

If he simply wandered around looking for a cave, he could waste several hours.

However, his nose gave him another option.

’The goblin blood should be enough to lead me back to their nest.’

Osborne continued moving through the trees, occasionally stopping to take another breath and confirm the direction with his spare goblin ears.

Whenever the scent became weaker, he would change his path slightly until it became stronger again.

It wasn’t perfect.

There were too many different smells inside the forest, and some of them were strong enough to interfere with his senses.

Still, compared to simply wandering around blindly, it was far more reliable.

After walking for some time, Osborne finally noticed something unusual.

The trees ahead were becoming denser.

The ground also became increasingly uneven.

He slowed his pace.

The goblin scent was much stronger now.

Osborne moved between several trees before finally spotting a large opening within a rocky hill.

A cave.

He stopped several meters away from the entrance.

The smell coming from within was unmistakable.

Goblins.

There were several of them inside.

Perhaps dozens.

Osborne’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’The Guild didn’t report there being this many...’ His lips pressed thin.

He couldn’t help but wonder whether the person who placed the mission was simply looking for a way to save money.

Osborne let out a sigh, choosing to put that aside for now.

He remained outside instead of immediately entering.

The cave entrance wasn’t particularly large, but it was wide enough for several goblins to move through at once.

There were no goblins standing guard outside.

That was useful information.

However, Osborne didn’t take it as an invitation to rush inside.

He looked toward the cave.

Then toward the trees.

Then toward the vegetation growing around the entrance.

His eyes slowly narrowed.

’Why make things harder than they need to be?’

Osborne looked around the area for several moments before walking toward a section of dry vegetation.

He began gathering branches, dead leaves, dried grass, and anything else that could burn easily.

It took him some time, but eventually he had gathered a considerable amount.

Osborne carried everything toward the cave entrance and carefully arranged the dry vegetation directly in front of the opening.

He made sure not to block the entrance completely yet.

There needed to be enough space for the fire to breathe.

Once he was satisfied with the arrangement, Osborne stretched out his hand.

[Fireball]

A small flame appeared above his palm.

He stared at it for a moment.

Even after everything that had happened, there was still something strange about using magic without properly completing a chant.

He brought his hand closer to the pile of dry vegetation.

The flame touched the leaves.

Within moments, the dry material caught fire.

Small flames began spreading through the pile, slowly growing larger as more of the vegetation caught fire.

Osborne watched quietly.

Once the flames had reached a suitable size, he raised his other hand.

The ground in front of the cave began to shift.

Mud and loose earth rose from the ground, gathering together as Osborne shaped them with his magic.

A wall slowly formed.

It wasn’t particularly thick, but it was enough to block most of the cave entrance.

Osborne left only a small opening near the bottom.

The flames outside continued burning, while smoke began drifting through the remaining opening.

Osborne stepped back.

He examined his work carefully.

The fire would continue consuming the dry vegetation, while the mud wall would prevent the flames from simply spreading outward.

At the same time, the small opening would allow enough air to enter for the fire to continue burning.

More importantly, the smoke would have nowhere to go except inside the cave.

Osborne crossed his arms.

’Rather than rushing in and fighting every goblin one by one, I can simply force them out.’

’Or better yet, suffocate them inside altogether.’ A cold glint flashed past his eyes for a moment.

His eyes remained fixed on the cave entrance.

There was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Even if goblins weren’t particularly strong individually, fighting a large group inside a narrow cave could still become troublesome, especially since he’d already decided not to use magic in his attacks so as not to attract unwanted attention.

There was also the possibility that some of them possessed weapons, traps, or other things he hadn’t accounted for.

Osborne had already learned enough about this world to understand that underestimating an enemy simply because they appeared weak could eventually get him killed.

He wasn’t going to make that mistake.

The smoke gradually became thicker.

Osborne could hear movement from within the cave.

At first, it was faint.

Then it became louder.

Several muffled voices echoed from inside.

The goblins had noticed something was wrong.

Osborne remained completely still.

His enhanced hearing allowed him to pick up their panicked movements even from outside.

Some of them were shouting.

Others appeared to be coughing.

A few were moving deeper into the cave.

Osborne’s expression remained unchanged.

’That’s it.’ His lips couldn’t help but curl upwards.

He hadn’t noticed, but these senses of his were making it seem as if he was witnessing their reactions in person.

---

A loud coughing sound suddenly came from near the cave entrance, followed by the hurried sound of footsteps approaching.

Osborne’s eyes narrowed beneath his helmet.

He remained standing in front of the cave, his hand resting lightly against the sword at his waist while he waited for whatever was coming out.

A small green figure suddenly rushed through the narrow opening.

The goblin was coughing violently, one hand covering its mouth while the other desperately waved through the thick smoke surrounding it.

"COUGH! COUGH! Kekekeke!! (Get out! We have to get out of here!)" The goblin spouted on and on.

It could barely see where it was going.