"Speak," Logan commanded, his voice barely louder than a whisper but carrying an absolute weight.
"Give me the camp location, number of goblins, and the leaders."
The goblin spat at his boots, muttering a curse in its mother tongue before turning away defiantly. Logan didn’t blink. He simply drew a small blade from his pocket and slowly placed it on top of the goblin’s small fingers.
"Don’t." He sliced off the goblin’s pinky finger; the goblin wanted to scream, but its mouth was muffled by Logan’s remaining hand
"Fuck." He sliced off the goblin’s ring finger; Althea, who stood the closest, took a step back out of instinct, fearing for her own life.
"With." He chopped off the middle finger. The goblin teared up out of pain, almost fainting from the shock.
"Me." He shifted the blade and ran it across the thumb, cleaning and slicing it off. At this point, the entire group was taken aback by their commander’s ruthlessness. Even the veteran Captain Iron didn’t expect such an obscene act from his respected commander.
"Now, I know that you understand me. Give me the information that I need and everything will go smoothly." Logan glared at the goblin, his dagger still dripping with blood. To the goblin, Logan is no different from the devil himself.
After "peacefully inquiring" of the goblin, Logan found out:
The camp is located deeper in the forest next to a river. There are more than 90 goblins in the camp. The leader of the goblins is a "Hobgoblin Warrior," a D-rank monster.
"Alright guys, let’s head out!" Logan turned toward the rest of the group, his blood-stained dagger casually disappearing back into his inventory as his face seamlessly returned to its relaxed, normal expression.
The entire party immediately took a few collective steps away from him. The shock of how he could so casually transition from cutting up a monster to acting like a completely normal person left a suffocating silence hanging in the air.
"Commander, with their numbers, we will definitely suffer a brutal defeat if we launch a frontal assault." Captain Iron was the first one to gather his thoughts and speak out.
"I know."
"We aren’t fighting them head-on. A direct confrontation is out of the question with our current level and equipment. We are taking the stealth option.
But first, we need to make some preparations," Logan replied while looking through his inventory. He then pulls out a bundle of purple herbs, the same one he distributed in the first wave.
"This is called aconitum; on its own, it’s simply a slightly toxic herb that no creature wants to consume. But when you mix it with another common herb, it can mask your scent and allow you to move stealthily in and out of the camp.
Following Logan’s instruction, the team collected the necessary ingredients to make enough masking agent to cover their scents. They then began making their way deeper into the enemy’s territory.
Parting the thick branches at the top of the hill, Logan dropped low into the bushes as the goblin camp came into view next to the rushing river.
Below them, a messy maze of crude leather tents surrounded a central bonfire, where dozens of goblins actively patrolled the basin.
Using the blind spots created by the purple herb mist, Logan led his units like ghosts through the camp. They slipped quietly past the sleepy guards and walked through the narrow gaps between tents without making a single sound.
Step by step, they moved deep into the center of the enemy camp until they finally reached a splintered wooden cage that held the elf.
The elf sat bound inside the tight wooden cage, her pale white skin covered in deep cuts and heavy bruises from the goblins’ abuse.
A stained black eyepatch covered one of her eyes, while three metal ring piercings rest on her long, pointed ears. She looked completely exhausted, resting weakly against the wooden cage.
Logan signaled to Captain Iron to watch their backs while he and Giles stepped up to the wooden cage. The elf slowly raised her head, her dim eyes widening with a small spark of hope when she saw his face.
"Shhh," Logan whispered, working on the lock. "We’re getting you out."
The elf tries to form a sound, but from being mistreated for days, she is only able to mutter a few short words.
"Run..." She pleaded to no avail.
Logan then stepped closer to use the basic tools to pick the cage. But the moment he inserted his tools, a loud noise rang out from within the lock.
Ding Dong!
I knew this was going too well. Logan thought, his hands still fiddling, trying to open the lock despite the loud sound.
The entire camp woke up instantly. The sleepy goblins snapped out of their daze, their eyes turning red as the alarm notified the entire camp of the intruder’s location.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground near the main tent as a huge, armored hobgoblin warrior rushed out into the field, letting out a loud roar.
"Commander!" Captain Iron shouted, drawing his sword as dozens of glowing green eyes locked onto them from the dark.
Logan stood by the cage, watching the wave of torches rush toward them, his mind racing to find a way to survive.
Before he could begin calculating, a figure exited from the tent next to the hobgoblin warrior’s. A hunched-over goblin exits the tent, his hand holding a long staff with a blue orb attached to the top.
"Is this not hard enough as it is?" Logan tries to lighten up the situation; finally able to free the elf from her shackles, he grabs her by the wrist and pulls her out of the cage.
The instant she was pulled out of the cage, a large ball of fire bolted towards the cage, setting everything ablaze.
"How is there a hidden boss in the first mission already?" Logan screamed out in frustration, raising a middle finger to the sky.