After killing a small group of ambushing monsters, his luck seemed to run dry; he didn’t encounter any more monsters along the way and arrived at E-Rantel without incident.
At the gate, Rowan had to pay ten copper coins to be allowed into the city.
Rowan felt a pang of regret; he had spent half the day spearing fish for about that same amount of money.
Since he heard that adventurers were exempt from the entry fee, he decided it would be better to get registered as soon as possible.
As a fortress city on the border, E-Rantel was not nearly as large as the royal capital, and its population was much smaller, yet there was no shortage of adventurers.
The Adventurers Guild was located in a prominent part of the city, so it wasn’t hard for Rowan to find.
The Adventurers Guild was a massive organization, with a presence in almost every country.
At the Adventurers Guild, one could post or accept quests.
According to its regulations, the Adventurers Guild did not participate in wars between nations.
It was an organization focused solely on monsters, aimed at protecting humanity, so there were no war-related quests.
The Adventurers Guild served adventurers; besides the standard posting and completion of quests, it also functioned as a restaurant and an inn, providing a one-stop solution for an adventurer’s needs.
As soon as Rowan entered the Adventurers Guild, he drew the attention of a few people.
Carrying only a longsword, his eyes darting around, looking slightly nervous—heh, a complete newbie.
The adventurers eating and drinking there took one glance and immediately saw through him.
He was just a novice swordsman, and no one was interested in him.
Rowan went to the counter to register as an adventurer, which cost him five silver coins.
Rowan secretly rejoiced.
If not for Enri’s help, even registering as an adventurer would have been a difficult task.
After successfully registering, Rowan received a copper badge, denoting him as the lowest rank of adventurer.
In the Adventurers Guild, most quests were accepted by parties.
Anything could happen out in the wild, and being alone was far too dangerous.
With more people, there was at least someone to watch your back, and it was easier to handle various complex situations.
Rowan had many secrets, and completing quests as part of a party would easily expose his information.
Therefore, Rowan decided to complete quests alone.
Although lone wolves were rare, they weren’t non-existent.
Rowan took the Goblin ears out of his backpack; he had already retrieved them before entering the city.
While his player inventory was convenient, he couldn’t let it be seen by others.
The eighteen Goblin ears fetched fifty-four copper coins—a bit meager.
Copper rank was the lowest level, so the only quests he could accept were things like clearing out Goblins or Slimes.
Goblins and Slimes were the most numerous and weakest monsters around.
They were everywhere, and their vitality was as tenacious as a cockroach’s.
Although Rowan didn’t think much of Goblins and Slimes, he had no choice.
After all, he was only a low-level Copper-rank adventurer.
The Adventurers Guild’s ranking system was very rigid; one could only increase their rank by completing a certain number of quests or by taking on difficult ones.
It couldn’t be determined by a demonstration of strength.
Otherwise, Rowan figured his strength would have easily reached the Gold rank or higher.
Oh well, he’d just treat it as practice.
Rowan found one such quest and accepted it.
[Clear out the small Goblin tribe near Play Village] [Quest Rank: Copper] [Time Limit: Three days] [Quest Reward: Ten silver coins] [Description: The Goblin tribe is located in the northwest corner of the village, numbering between forty and sixty.
After clearing them, you may submit the Goblins’ left ears as proof.
In addition to the quest reward, the Adventurers Guild has a standing quest for clearing Goblins; one left ear can be exchanged for three copper coins.
This quest is of higher difficulty; it is recommended to handle it with a full party of four.] This quest was decent.
With a good number of Goblins, it was one of the most difficult quests he could currently accept.
A Farmer who hadn’t undergone any training could deal with a single Goblin, so for an adventurer, killing them was as easy as slicing through melons and vegetables.
It was the perfect practice quest for a newbie.
After accepting the quest, Rowan went to buy some food and browsed the nearby armor shops.
Rowan had pitifully little money on him, so he could only afford a second-hand, worn leather armor, which he put on as best he could.
No matter how tattered it was, it was still armor, offering at least some protection.
After spending all his money and paying for a night at an inn, he set out early the next morning, heading toward Play Village.
Play Village wasn’t actually too far from the royal capital; at Rowan’s pace, he could arrive in about half a day.
He arrived at his destination around noon.
The village chief of Play Village was an old man with a bulbous, red nose who looked like he had one foot in the grave.
When he saw that Rowan was alone, he wore an expression of distrust.
Rowan couldn’t be bothered to explain; he would be heading back to turn in the quest once he was done anyway.
After asking around, the old man told Rowan everything he knew.
The Goblins had only recently appeared around the village.
In fact, for some time, not just Play Village, but the surrounding villages had also seen a significant number of Goblins, which was highly unusual.
The village chief of Play Village had previously contacted the Adventurers Guild and hired high-ranked adventurers to investigate the situation, but the result of their investigation was that it was merely a standard Goblin infestation with nothing out of the ordinary.
However, the old village chief believed this was not a normal Goblin infestation and urged Rowan to be careful.
Rowan didn’t know the specific reason either.
But whatever—he had come here to slaughter, so the more Goblins there were, the better.
Whatever the reason, he just wanted to slaughter.
The location of the Goblins was fairly clear, and it didn’t take Rowan much effort to find them.
Seven Goblins were not far from the cave, chattering away while holding wooden sticks, seemingly looking for bugs to eat.
The Goblins were less than a meter tall, looking like children with their hunched bodies.
They wore no clothes and had exceptionally ugly faces.
These little green runts ate everything.
Weeds, leaves, bugs, meat, monsters, and even people.
A single Goblin posed no threat, but one had to be careful when facing a group of them.
Rowan didn’t have any skills, so naturally, there was no need to prepare anything.
He simply charged out and swung his sword.
His strength was terrifyingly high now; with just that one strike, he decapitated the Goblin.
[Experience + 40] Rowan beamed, not feeling the slightest discomfort at the carnage before him.
The group of Goblins screeched and rushed toward him.
Heh, they were just serving themselves up on a platter.
After a bout of frenzied slaughter, it was too late for the remaining Goblins to run, and Rowan chased them down one by one, cutting them all down.
He sliced off the Goblins’ left ears and put them into his backpack—every little bit counts.
As for the rest, he discarded them.
There was absolutely nothing of value on the Goblins.
He wandered around the cave entrance, killing all the Goblins he encountered.
At this time of day, half of the Goblins were outside looking for food, making them very easy to kill.
After clearing out the surrounding area, all that remained were the ones inside the Goblin cave.