“Evidence……?”
Jinovan showed faint interest as he looked at the fairly large box placed on the table.
He was not particularly interested in the mercenary standing before him, but the item had at least been brought personally by Chloe, granddaughter of the Golden Hand and a member of the family that owned the Gilenne Trading Company.
Jun opened the box.
Inside was a sphere bearing signs of damage in several places.
“This is……!”
“Yes. A Golem Core.”
“Where did you obtain this?”
Jinovan’s gaze shifted toward Chloe once more.
“Actually, the mercenary sitting before you participated in the previous goblin subjugation under your command.”
“H-he did?”
Jinovan stared at Jun as though he had never expected to encounter a survivor here.
“Wait. I distinctly remember hearing that the White Whale Mercenary Company failed to return.”
The company had been large enough to contain more than a dozen mercenaries, so Jinovan still remembered it.
“The mercenary captain was killed there. Another member and I were the only ones who managed to escape afterward.”
“Then you inherited the mercenary company?”
“That is correct.”
“The two of you escaped the forest alone…….”
As a graduate of the Imperial Military Academy, Jinovan possessed a fairly extensive knowledge of the Black Forest.
“The beasts must have descended on the area in droves. And in the middle of all that, you even managed to kill a Golem? Just the two of you?”
He plainly found it difficult to believe.
Jun slowly explained what they had experienced in the forest.
“……I never considered using a Tower Shield in that manner. I have learned something today. However, I still find it difficult to understand how a single Low-Rank Mage and a Level 1 Warrior managed to kill a Golem.”
“Appearances do not always reflect the entirety of a person’s ability.”
“You were hiding your strength?”
“I was part of a mercenary company, after all.”
“Because of the mercenary company’s rules, I take it.”
In terms of sheer destructive power, Jun was already comparable to an Intermediate-Rank Mage.
The reason he had continued moving from one mercenary company to another despite that was to accumulate experience.
“In any case, that is not the important part, is it?”
“The Golem…… Yes. If one has appeared, that changes matters considerably.”
The number of goblins might be difficult to appreciate without seeing them personally, but a Golem was different.
Like a Goblin Lord, a Golem was one of the monsters that heralded the appearance of an Area Lord.
“So this gives us our evidence.”
Jun silently watched as Jinovan’s expression immediately grew serious.
Then Chloe spoke again.
“We could simply take this Golem Core to the Commanding General as it is…… but if we did that, someone else would most likely reap the benefits, wouldn’t they?”
“Hmm…….”
Just as Chloe said, even if they presented the Golem Core to the fortress’s Commanding General, operational command would most likely be given to someone else.
Jinovan’s reputation had fallen that far.
“What if I could restore your reputation first, Commander?”
“How?”
Now completely invested in the discussion, Jinovan asked the question seriously.
Jun answered in Chloe’s place.
“At the very least, we can make you known as a commander who does right by his men.”
CLOP, CLOP, CLOP.
After leaving the fortress headquarters, Jun and Chloe spoke casually about what came next as their carriage carried them back.
“Still, things are going more smoothly than I expected.”
“They had better. You and I spent several days holding meetings late into the night over this.”
Jun had devised the broad outline of the plan, while Chloe had filled in the finer details and arranged the meeting with Jinovan.
That was how they had managed to bring the plan this far.
In the end, Jinovan had pledged his full support to Jun and Chloe.
Of course, one task still remained.
The final issue they had discussed—
Restoring Jinovan’s reputation.
If they could resolve that, their future activities in the Black Forest would become considerably easier.
“So, are you going to move immediately?”
“I have to. We don’t have much time to spare.”
They needed to finish their preparations and put the plan into motion quickly.
After Chloe saw him off, Jun stepped down from the carriage and immediately explained everything that had happened to Aiden.
“So, from this point onward, our job is to restore Commander Jinovan’s reputation.”
“His reputation…… That does not sound easy at all. Do you have a plan?”
They were sitting in the tavern where they usually met.
At Aiden’s question, Jun grinned.
“Of course. Do you think I would have started all this without a plan?”
“As expected. Impressive, Senior.”
“Enough flattery.”
“Then what is the core of the plan?”
“Right. I’ll explain. What we need to do to raise Commander Jinovan’s reputation is…….”
Namely—
“We’re going to steal.”
“What?”
Goblins moved throughout the village, each going about its assigned task.
Individually, they were simple monsters that posed little difficulty.
But the story changed when there were nearly a hundred of them.
If that many attacked simultaneously, even those who hunted in the 2nd Tier would struggle to deal with them.
Aiden, who had willingly come all the way to such a place, looked utterly bewildered.
What would happen if those goblins noticed them and drew aggro?
Imperial blood or otherwise, Aiden’s head would bid his body a permanent farewell before being hung from a tree, while what remained of his body would be torn limb from limb and disappear into the goblins’ stomachs.
“Let’s start getting ready.”
It was Jun beside him who pulled Aiden back before his thoughts could descend into panic.
“It’s time for a little burglary.”
It had begun like this.
“What do you think this Mercenary Badge is for?”
Before they departed for the Black Forest, Jun had abruptly asked the question.
Aiden tilted his head.
“Is it not an identification badge?”
“Right. But identification isn’t its only purpose. It’s also insurance.”
“Insurance…… Ah.”
Aiden recalled when he had first received his Mercenary Badge and quickly understood what Jun meant.
“Basically, mercenaries registered with the Mercenary Guild can deposit their money with the Guild. They charge a fee, but plenty of mercenaries still choose to keep their money there.”
“Because they are preparing for the possibility of their own deaths, correct?”
Most mercenaries lived from one day’s earnings to the next.
But there were also plenty who did not.
Some steadily saved money in the hope of someday returning to their families.
The problem was that mercenary work was a profession in which one could die at any time.
That was why they deposited their savings with the Mercenary Guild.
If someone later brought the deceased mercenary’s Mercenary Badge to the Guild, the money they had accumulated could be properly delivered to their bereaved family.
That was why so many mercenaries entrusted their money to the Guild despite the fees it charged.
“What we’re going to steal back from the goblins are those Mercenary Badges. If we recover them, wouldn’t that restore at least some of Commander Jinovan’s reputation?”
“Ah……!”
That certainly made sense.
If they succeeded, Jinovan’s reputation among the mercenaries would improve considerably.
And from Jinovan’s perspective, he would surely reevaluate Jun and Aiden after they accomplished such a feat.
That was not all.
“And if everything goes according to plan…… it should help our finances quite a bit too.”
“Our finances?”
“I’ll explain that on the way.”
The two departed and soon returned to the battlefield where the subjugation had taken place.
“As expected, there are quite a few Mercenary Badges left.”
“But there seem to be fewer than we expected.”
They had recovered only around half as many Mercenary Badges as there had been mercenaries in the subjugation force.
Jun answered.
“The goblins probably took the rest. The beasts descended on them before they had time to sort through everything and throw away what they didn’t need.”
“Ah…… Then is this all we can recover?”
“No. We’re getting the rest back too. The more we recover, the better Commander Jinovan will look.”
“Do you mean…… we are going to find the goblin village ourselves?”
Aiden sounded deeply uneasy.
Jun merely gave his usual grin.
“Of course. Come on. I have a good idea where they’ll be storing their loot. If it isn’t there, even I’ll give up without complaint.”
That conversation had taken place half a day ago.
They now stood on a hill directly behind a goblin village.
There were easily more than a hundred goblins visible at a glance, and even Aiden could no longer conceal the tension on his face.
“Goblins are among the monsters that understand human greed particularly well.”
“That is what you mentioned earlier. Human greed…… Are you saying they deliberately lure humans in?”
“Exactly.”
The village Jun and Aiden had reached was not far from the site of the previous subjugation.
And Jun had come here because he was one hundred percent certain that this village contained a storehouse for the goblins’ spoils.
“They take equipment because they intend to use it themselves. But gold, silver, and other valuables carried by humans are useless to them. The reason they collect those things anyway is because of this.”
In other words, they stockpiled treasure in their homes to lure humans toward them.
“Good heavens. How do you even know something like that?”
“You can find information like this just by reading a Monster Encyclopedia sold on the market.”
That was not even a lie.
Back when Blackout had still been a game, players had been able to read books within the game itself.
“It’s just that most goblins aren’t capable of devising strategies on that level. It only becomes possible once a Goblin Lord appears.”
“A Lord truly does make an extraordinary difference…… But Senior, there must be more than one goblin village. Why did you choose this particular one?”
“Oh. Good question.”
This was a strategy the goblins had devised using what intelligence they possessed.
“Humans don’t simply give up and leave forever after losing once. The goblins exploit that.”
If a stronger human army returned and subjugated the nearby villages, they would discover the gold and treasure stored there.
Naturally, ordinary mercenaries would grow even greedier.
And if those greed-blinded humans ventured deeper into the forest, hundreds of goblins would be waiting for them.
“I see…… But are we not the greed-blinded humans in this situation?”
Aiden’s observation struck directly at the heart of the matter.
Jun laughed instead of denying it.
“Heh. You’re not wrong. But greed isn’t always bad. Greed without a plan is dangerous. Carefully calculated greed can become fuel for growth.”
With that, Jun looked toward the Plant Undead they had brought with them on the way.
The creature remained completely motionless.
Although it possessed the characteristics of an Undead, it was also a plant and thus had a weakness to cold.
Prolonged exposure to cold caused it to enter a dormant state, and the Frost Potion Jun had made had currently plunged it into a deep sleep.
“All right…… That’s enough explanation. Shall we begin the operation in earnest?”
Jun tossed one of the leather waterskins he normally used as a canteen onto the ground and grinned.
It was already the tenth one he had emptied.
Each had contained horse blood purchased at an auction house.
The systems of <Blackout> could be exploited in countless ways befitting the game’s enormous degree of freedom.
Even a system like a Random Encounter, which normally worked against the player, could be turned against the enemy if used properly.
“All right. Time to wake up.”
As the effects of the Frost Potion faded, the Plant Undead slowly began opening its eyes.
Jun promptly slapped it across the face with all his strength.
SMACK!
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH——!!
The Plant Undead had opened its eyes only to be slapped by some random human, and its survival instincts made it wail pitifully.
Its shriek echoed through the entire forest.
In response, the Beast-Type monsters that had been approaching, drawn by the smell of blood, began howling as well.
KREE?
GRAAAK! GRAAAK!
SKREEEE!!
The goblins inside the village began crying out viciously in turn.
They had grown highly agitated upon hearing the cry of a Plant Undead, one of the few creatures in the Black Forest that posed a genuine threat to them.
“It worked!”
Jun hurled the remaining three blood-filled waterskins down the hill, then covered himself completely with his cloak alongside Aiden.
They had already camouflaged the shabby cloaks with all manner of plants.
As an additional precaution, they had even smeared animal secretions over them in case anything unexpected happened.
All that remained was to watch the goblins clash with the beasts that had entered a Frenzy.
‘Even the failed subjugation is helping me here!’
Ordinarily, this method was not something one could use easily.
Beast-Type monsters normally did not gather in such numbers within a single area.
They placed great importance on their territories, so the mere scent of blood would never ordinarily draw this many together.
Ten or so would have been the limit, and that number would never have been enough to deal with more than a hundred goblins.
‘I feel bad saying this about the dead mercenaries, but they’re the reason this opportunity exists.’
The circumstances were different now because the failed subjugation had spread the smell of blood throughout the forest.
A fair amount of time had passed, and many of the Beast-Type monsters had already returned to their original territories.
Even so, quite a few remained nearby, having effectively moved their habitats into this area.
It was a deception tactic that could only be used when very specific conditions were met.
‘Good. Not a single one is staying behind. They’re all heading for the entrance.’
While Jun watched with satisfaction, Aiden stared blankly at the goblins gathering near the entrance to confront the approaching beasts.
‘A tactic like this…… is actually possible?’
Abandoned or not, Aiden had still been a member of the Imperial Family.
He had therefore received extensive private tutoring from an early age and had studied various tactics.
When he first entered the outside world, he had trusted the knowledge he had learned back then.
After all, his head was filled with advanced knowledge that ordinary people had never had the opportunity to study.
Yet once he actually came out into the world, his knowledge had proven almost entirely useless.
Hadn’t a Monster Encyclopedia sold in an ordinary marketplace—or even the idle chatter of mercenaries he had once dismissed as noisy—proved far more useful?
“That’s it! They’re all gone. Move!”
While Aiden was still lost in admiration, even the goblins guarding the storehouse abandoned their posts.
It was, in every sense, a perfect demonstration of how to rob an empty house.