Chapter 288 - Do Things Keep Happening To Me Because I’m the Protagonist? (1/2)

Do Things Keep Happening To Me Because I’m the Protagonist?

I gave Daniela a detailed report of what had happened. And then finished the story by flashing the newspaper article in front of her. ‘Well done,’ she said proudly.

“It was a good job, considering you were alone. It is a difficult thing to capture so many people alive. Besides, the fact you were able to use so much magic without the help of your ice dragon armor, proves how much you have grown.”

“I don’t mean to be smug, but I’m quite satisfied with what I did. I hate pyromancers, and yet I was able to deal with her.”

“So, I suppose you will not be relying on your ice dragon armor as much, now?”

Hmm. One did not let go of those buffs so readily. Besides, it was because of them that I was able to use my trump card, ‘Niflheim.’ The thought of not being able to use it in a desperate situation made me really nervous. Well, I did also see the importance of being able to fight without relying on it.

Daniela and I talked about such things as we ate dinner. But then the conversation of some other customers suddenly entered my ears.

“Hey, did you hear about it?”

“Aye. The stampede.”

Now that was a word that caused my ears to prick up.

“Well, no one goes to the forest near the northern Alessa mountains…”

“They say that it’s goblins. I’m sure people from Lambrusen have been sent. It’ll probably be fine.”

There was a vast, deep forest surrounding those mountains. According to what they were saying, it was on the Flugelnia side. As for goblins in that area, they would be forest goblins. I remember it now. They really liked their tree sap.

“Please excuse me. Would you mind telling us about that?”

It was rare for Daniela to approach others like this.

“Oh, uh. It’s just about how goblins have appeared in the forest along the Alessa mountains. We know this to be true because people from the nearby village have fled from the area.”

“Is this village to the southeast of the Alessa mountains?”

“No, it is directly north of the Imperial City. You must be talking about…Senka Village. No, it wasn’t there.”

“I see. Sorry to disturb you. Hey, waiter. Two ales for these gentlemen here.”

“Certainly!”

Daniela bought them drinks for their trouble. It almost seemed like she was used to this kind of thing.

“Ah, you shouldn’t have.”

“Much obliged.”

“No. Thank you for the information. I will leave you alone now.”

And with that, she returned to our table. The waiter came back quickly and gave the men their drinks.

Hmm. The communicatively impaired Daniela…had sure grown.

“…Hmm? Ah, that face. You are surprised that I approached some strangers?”

“Yeah. I still remember how you were like in Spiris. Though, it’s hard to believe now.”

“Hmph. I know when things have to be done. Besides, I try to gather information in places like this. I am not the only one who feels more talkative when around food.”

“I’m not sure that’s something to be smug about…”

But Daniela clearly did not agree. If only the time and place didn’t matter… Well, she was at least good at pretending to be a good listener. Maybe that was something to be smug about…

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The next day, we visited the guild in order to dig a little deeper. Unsurprisingly, it was the talk of the guild. And so we split up and questioned other Adventurers, sometimes buying them some food for their trouble. In about an hour, we had all the information that we wanted.

“Uhh… So, the people that fled were from the village of Namila, which is directly north of the Imperial Capital. I have to say, I’m relieved it wasn’t Senka Village, as bad as that sounds… Uh, oh, and there’s a lake between the village and this city.”

“Yes. It is called the Rivier. It is supposed to be quite big. The people had to travel around this lake to come here. From what I understand, everyone made it alive. The military is surprised that there were no casualties.”

The north district of the city was mostly occupied by the military. In other words, civilians usually didn’t use the north gate. Even outsiders tended to go around to the west or east gate. The fact that they hadn’t had caused quite a stir. Though, that didn’t concern me, so I didn’t ask about it too much. To be honest, the Reserentrible incident had been very tiring. That was one of the reasons I chose to do the security quest without really know what I was getting into.

The villagers who entered through the north gate talked to the soldier who was guarding the gate. The military immediately prepared to defend. Defend the city, that is. While there was no one left in the village, it was still the home that these people were born and raised in.

But the army was only interested in protecting the city. It was their job. So, who would protect the village? Adventurers. The villagers had put up a request to take back the village from the goblins. And they were using all of their money for this. Not only that, but the city was also offering to pay as well. It was one way to support them without leaving the city.

In any case, all of this resulted in a rather lucrative quest showing up on the board.

“‘Namila Village Liberation Front.’ That’s a pretty grand name for a quest.”

“It was the chief who wrote it. Apparently, this chief is quite young.”

That explained it. Well, I quite liked names like this.

The Namila Village Liberation Front had the ultimate goal of suppressing the goblin stampede. And so there were requirements when it came to rank. You had to be a Garnet at least…or Rank C. While F-Rankers often killed goblins, it was a different matter when they came in such great numbers. Besides, there were different kinds of goblins. Most of the encounters I had with goblins were in Fhiraldo or on the road. But in stampedes like these, there were likely to be goblins that used arrows or even magic. It was the result of being raised in a special environment that caused them to grow in such a variation.