Chapter 112 Hunting Day

Hunting Day.

A festival unique to Rivervale Town.

To some extent, it was less a festival and more a large-scale event organized by Rivervale Town's Adventurers' Association.

Its schedule was never fixed; sometimes it wouldn't happen for years at a time.

Nor was it limited to a single day. It lasted anywhere from fifteen days to two months—also entirely variable.

The festival had only one tradition.

Hunting.

And there was only one target.

Goblins.

Much like a fishing season on the sea, the green-skinned goblins of the Misty Forest would periodically breed and multiply like mad, driven by some unknown stimulus.

This caused their already pest-like numbers to balloon to an absurd degree over a very short period.

Under these conditions, these naturally cruel and vicious monsters—whose morale multiplied with their numbers—were driven by survival instincts to expand outward and invade.

The forest was filled with hostile environments and high-level Transcendent Tier creatures. No matter how many goblins there were, they couldn't break that ecological balance.

In contrast, the fertile, open lands outside the Misty Forest, and the ordinary commoners living on them, became their targets.

Long ago, before the concept of Hunting Day existed, when Rivervale Town was just a remote, desolate settlement...

...the Servia Kingdom stationed a large army here year-round. Though military expenditures were steep, they protected the local residents and suppressed the growing goblin threat.

After all, no one could guarantee what these green-skins might do. They had returned to the Aifala Continent after that hidden ancient event with a reproductive rate so absurd they seemed to come from another world.

If left unchecked, they might have grown like a locust swarm into a disaster capable of threatening Cloudclimb Province, or even the entire kingdom.

Later, as the Adventurers' Association established a branch in Rivervale Town and attracted hordes of adventurers from all over the world...

...the Servia Kingdom gradually withdrew its troops year by year, ultimately reaching an agreement with the Association.

They took a portion of the funds originally meant for garrison upkeep and used it to subsidize the adventurers around Rivervale Town during Hunting Day—the period when the goblin population surged.

The bounty for a goblin went from its usual three silver and seven copper per head...

...up to five silver coins each!

By using coin to drive those money-hungry adventurers, they curbed the goblins' growth and expansion, effectively replacing the kingdom's old battalions.

For the adventurers of Rivervale Town, on the other hand...

...hunting goblins was already part of their job to earn gold.

Even if the bounty had stayed the same or slightly decreased, the sudden explosion in goblin numbers alone would have drawn in a massive wave of bottom-tier adventurers who lacked other income sources due to their limited strength.

Now that the bounty had nearly doubled, their enthusiasm naturally skyrocketed.

The kingdom reduced its expenses, and the adventurers reaped the gold.

A win-win!

Now, after many years, Hunting Day had become a tradition in the river valley, even gaining some fame within the kingdom.

The adventurers, who always displayed unparalleled brilliance when it came to gold, had also gradually figured out some of its underlying patterns.

The sudden population explosion of goblins didn't happen without warning.

It was like a compressed spring.

Before the green-skins began their frantic breeding cycle, the goblin tribes appearing in the wild would noticeably decrease.

The goblins—who normally could never be fully exterminated, with a new batch seemingly spawning right after the previous one was cleared out—would briefly appear to lose their vaunted reproductive capabilities.

Their numbers would plummet!

In practical terms, this resulted in a sudden influx of idle adventurers in Rivervale Town, as goblin subjugation quests were quickly cleared from the Association's quest board and no longer issued.

Following that, predicting the imminent arrival of Hunting Day, adventurers looking to make a fortune would inevitably hoard massive amounts of related supplies in advance.

With skyrocketing demand, coupled with some greedy merchants...

...the prices of supplies naturally surged.

"Get it now? That's why everything in town has gotten so expensive lately."

"I see. So it's just like how fishing gear spikes in price during the fishing season over at South Bay."

"Still a bunch of profiteering bastards. Fuck!"

Seeing that his companion was still caught up in complaining about the rising prices and missing the main point...

...the adventurer, who had lived in Rivervale Town for years and had just spent all that time explaining, sighed. He leaned in abruptly and slung an arm around his companion's shoulders.

"A slight price bump doesn't matter. Other people need to eat too, right?"

"The crucial part is that, when the time comes, the bounty for a single goblin will be a full five silver coins."

"One goblin, five silver. Understand?"

"Two of those wild-dog-sized goblins can be traded for a shiny, warm gold coin. That's enough for you to live it up at the White Titmouse all night and drink the place dry!"

"It's just for a few dozen days. Grit your teeth and go all out. If you're lucky, you'll earn enough to buy a house in Nym."

"Do you get it!?"

He had spelled it out so clearly that even a fool would understand.

Coupled with the beautiful prospect painted by his words...

...the complaining adventurer, whose face had just been dark and sullen, immediately changed his expression. Filled with anticipation, he lowered his voice.

"You mean..."

"Don't bother going out to take on quests for the next couple of days, kid. It's just meager scraps, not worth the effort." He patted his companion's shoulder, took a large gulp of ale, and wore a look of smug satisfaction.

"Get your money-making tools ready. I've already made arrangements with Jamie and Rivers. As soon as Hunting Day arrives, we head into the forest and get to work!"

That was the end of the useful information.

After that, the topic of the two adventurers at the neighboring table gradually shifted to what they would do after earning all that gold—whether to buy a few slaves with elf blood to enjoy themselves, or to save up for a noble title and live comfortably as wealthy landlords in the countryside.

Listening to them stray further and further off-topic, eventually even discussing which territory they should demand from the king after expanding the borders...

...Xia Nan withdrew his attention.

He pondered.

'Hunting Day, huh... That suits me perfectly.'

His current short-term plan was to hunt a large number of goblins. While ensuring his own safety, he wanted to grind his proficiency in [Fang Hunt] through combat.

He aimed to train it to the Level 5 "Mastery" stage as soon as possible.

At the same time, he wanted to save up money to prepare for upgrading his equipment or hiring a combat technique instructor in the future.

With Hunting Day approaching, the goblin population would suddenly explode, and the bounty would nearly double.

It actually satisfied both of his current needs simultaneously.

After a moment of consideration, he made his decision.

...

[Quest Number]: 1121D

[Type]: Special-C

[Reward]: 15 Gold

[Quest Summary]:

A small Goblin Lair located on the edge of the Misty Forest requires clearing by adventurers.

(For specific location details, please contact the relevant Association staff after accepting the quest.)

[Time Limit]: 3 Days

...

Xia Nan's eyes swept quickly across the quest board, memorizing the bounty number of a specific posting in the corner of the wall.

He squeezed through the crowd, quickening his pace as he headed toward the front desk.

At this point, five days had passed since he first heard the news about Hunting Day in the tavern.

He had plenty of time, and his substantial savings allowed him to comfortably prepare those overpriced supplies in advance.

He also stopped taking on quests.

Instead, he stayed in town, bitterly training his [Fang Hunt] against thin air.

It yielded some results; over those few days, his proficiency increased by two points, pushing his upgrade progress past the ninety mark.

But compared to before, the speed was noticeably much slower.

After leveling up, increasing the proficiency of [Fang Hunt] had become much more difficult.

Without the boost of actual combat, training out of thin air resulted in very slow progress.

At the same time, he kept a constant eye on the movements of the town's adventurers to ensure he didn't miss his window.

Sure enough, early this morning, when he came down from his room to the tavern's main hall to order breakfast...

...he suddenly realized that the adventurers—who had spent the last two days crowding the tavern, waiting for the event to begin instead of heading out—had bizarrely vanished en masse.

It left the White Chickadee Tavern, which should have been filled with noise and the stench of booze day and night, completely empty overnight, as if business had dried up and it was about to close down.

Looking out onto the main street, the passing adventurers were all fully armed, rushing hurriedly out of town with excited, jubilant smiles on their faces.

Xia Nan immediately understood.

Hunting Day was today!

He packed his gear, hurried to the Adventurers' Association, squeezed through the bustling crowd, memorized the quest number, and lined up at the front desk amidst a clamor loud enough to pierce the roof.

It was still the same listless, short-haired girl named Molly.

"1121D."

Not wasting any time, Xia Nan crisply stated the number of the quest he wanted to accept.

Molly didn't even look up. Keeping her head down, her hands worked away beneath the counter.

"Number: 1121D, Status: Available..."

Two seconds later, her hands suddenly paused, as if she were waiting for something.

Another three seconds passed. Seeing that the information she wanted still wasn't forthcoming...

...Molly finally looked up. Her eyes, half-hidden by her bangs, fixed on Xia Nan.

"Party name?"

"Huh?"

Xia Nan, who had been waiting for her to finish registering him just like usual, was caught off guard.

What did she mean?

Molly, having worked here for several years and experienced Hunting Day a few times...

...didn't even need him to ask to guess his confusion.

Speeding up her words, she explained, "During Hunting Day, 'Special' type quests must be accepted by a party. The minimum requirement is four people."

Without waiting for his reply, she knew from his expression that he must be a solo adventurer.

Molly lowered her head again, her arms moving as if she were switching some sort of page beneath the counter.

"If you don't have a party but still want to participate in the Hunting Day event, leave your name and address. I can register you here, and any party looking to fill out their roster will contact you later."

Xia Nan's mind raced.

Based on what she said, anything related to Hunting Day—meaning bounties marked "Special-C" on the quest board—required a party to accept.

He found it undeniably troublesome.

He had just scanned the entire quest wall.

Compared to before, the number of quests during Hunting Day had indeed multiplied several times over.

But the vast majority—nearly ninety-five percent—were special types that couldn't be done solo.

Which meant that if he wanted to reap the benefits of the doubled goblin bounty during this period...

...he had to find a party to join, even if it was just a temporary one that would disband once the event ended.

'Or maybe I just don't take a quest. I could go into the forest alone, track down a Goblin Lair the hard way, and just earn the bounties on the monsters themselves?'

The thought flashed through his mind, but he instantly rejected it.

While the green-skins' numbers would indeed skyrocket over this short period...

...with so many adventurers in Rivervale Town keeping them in check, they wouldn't reach a qualitative tipping point.

Under that premise, even if their overall population vastly exceeded previous records, it was still like pouring a small lake into the ocean when compared to the vastness of the entire Misty Forest. The impact would be negligible.

Even if he ignored the other dangers in the forest, forcibly wandering in to search for goblin tracks without the rough coordinates provided by the Association would likely yield nothing.

The efficiency of leveling up his [Fang Hunt] proficiency that way might be even worse than just staying in town, doing nothing but grinding it against the air until Hunting Day ended.

But...

His past experiences with the Ragtag Party made him instinctively reject teaming up with strangers.

Unless a quest required it, or under special circumstances like that half-elf token, he was much more accustomed to adventuring alone.

If he registered with the Adventurers' Association and ended up in an unreliable party...

He didn't want to split his focus between guarding against the forest's dangers and watching his back in case his teammates turned on him.

'Maybe I could ask Chapton, the owner of the White Chickadee Tavern?'

Having rested in Rivervale Town for so many days, taking all three meals and his nightly lodging at the White Chickadee...

...Xia Nan and Chapton had developed somewhat of a rapport.

The man was well-informed and might know of a trustworthy party that was currently short on members.

Xia Nan wasn't boasting.

While his current combat strength certainly couldn't compare to those Class Holders who had already obtained a Class Level, it was absolutely outstanding among ordinary adventurers.

If he showed off a little skill and expressed a willingness to join, he would probably be highly sought after.

There was no rush for a day or two anyway.

Xia Nan nodded to Molly and turned to leave.

"Thanks, but I'll pass on registering for now. I'll come back later."

Without another word, Molly just listlessly lowered her head again.

Ding—

Along with the soft ring of the bell, her feeble voice echoed behind him.

"Next."

...

"Boss, what about Kegel?"

In the Association hall, Old Berg leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, asking Adeline beside him.

"I've partied up with him before. Even though he doesn't always follow orders well, his combat strength is decent. He should have trained two of his combat techniques to the 'Proficient' level."

"Did you take his money?" Adeline didn't look back. Her tone was steady as her gaze swept through the dense crowd in front of the quest board.

"Uh..." Called out so directly by Adeline, Berg looked slightly embarrassed, but he didn't deny it. He just coughed lightly. "Not exactly. We were drinking a couple days ago, and he bought me a glass of 'Magma's Sigh', asking me to just mention him to you."

"What about Stacy? With him I actually..."

He only got halfway through his sentence when Adeline seemed to finally spot her target.

Striding on her thick, powerful legs, she walked straight toward the Association's doors.

"Hey, Boss, wait for me!"