Chapter 229

Thank the Heavens, the civilians were fine.

It was standard practice to have panic rooms constructed when building on the outskirts of any town or city. In this case, it was a basement.

The heavy trapdoor leading down was barred on the other side. An axe was embedded into the thick wooden slab, splinters covering the ground. The goblins had clearly been trying to get in, chopping wildly. She wasn’t sure how successful they’d have been, even given time, but Natalie was immensely relieved she and her team had been able to respond quickly. That they’d been positioned to come to their help. Though that’d been the Baron’s planning more than her team’s. Natalie and they had just done the dirty work.

There were no corpses in the house, another great relief. Overall, everything had gone swimmingly.

But Natalie knew she needed to brace herself for the eventuality that someday a quest of theirs wouldn’t be so neat. They’d gotten lucky.

“Hello?” a voice called from inside, muted by the trapdoor. They’d been alerted when Natalie had walked in and pried out the axe.

“Stay in there for a bit,” Natalie called. “We’re gonna go double-check they’re all dead. Is there anyone that needs help?”

“No. We’re all in here,” the man’s voice replied, sounding relieved. “Thank you for coming.”

“It’s what we do. Give us a few minutes.”

They went and did as she’d said, clearing the premises. The barn was an especially gruesome sight: the goblins inside had gleefully murdered every farm animal they could reach, hence the screaming noises she’d heard upon arrival. It was a gory sight, even for Natalie, who was accustomed to slaughtering monsters for a living. Still, she didn’t let herself become squeamish and scoured the barn thoroughly for any other living goblins.

Unlike dungeon monsters, the goblin’s corpses didn’t evaporate into black smoke; they stuck around. And were strewn all about the farmer’s front yard. Clean-up wasn’t going to be fun. She didn’t envy the farmer, or perhaps whatever assistance from the city came to help.

Before encouraging the farmers to leave the secured basement, Natalie pulled Malice back into the [Capture Core]. The fewer people who saw her, the better. Even if she had fake explanations ready for anyone curious.

When the time came, four people piled out of the trap door: the farmer, his wife, and his two children, one a scared-looking toddler and the other a boy in his teen years.

It was strangely gratifying being thanked by them. Natalie could tell by her teammate’s faces they felt the same. They’d been through much harder fights as a matter of routine in the dungeon, but their efforts had always been ... well, selfish, she guessed she could call it, down there. For loot and experience. Here, they’d gained no reward except potentially saving a family’s life. And saving future lives by putting down the goblin raid. Those filthy creatures wouldn’t be able to terrorize anyone in the future, either.

There were still plenty of the monsters left, though, in some hidden base in the ‘Duskwood,’ the forest to the south. But that was their goal for tomorrow.

After handling the rest of that brief crisis, the enchanted wagon ferried them back to the inn, their mission accomplished for the night.

Back in her room, Natalie called Malice out of the [Capture Core].

After orienting herself to her surroundings and finding nothing to kill, Malice frowned and faced Natalie. “No monsters. I take it that means this is one of those summons, then?”

Natalie rolled her eyes. When she’d enlisted the wolfgirl’s help, she had underestimated just how insistent the woman would be. Fighting and fucking. Natalie was hardly a woman known for refraining from either of those, but she didn’t bring it up literally every time she saw someone.

“We need to talk,” Natalie said, exasperated.

“Again? About what?”

“How you acted back there.”

“Huh?” Malice’s long black wolf tail swished in confusion. “I thought I performed well. You disagree?”

“Not that.” Natalie considered how to phrase it. “You were amazing in that fight like you always are.”

Malice preened under the praise. She admired her nails, turning her hand back and forth to look from different angles. “Of course I was.”