Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 110 The Eyes of Night

Fear is a cowardly yet curious monkey.

It flits at the edge of courage; if you stand tall, it retreats timidly. But if you show fear, it will creep along your veins and into your heart.

The fear of tonight is in the shape of a deer.

Behind the mask, the goblin's heart skipped a beat.

The little creature driven out of the forest by the wildfire—isn't that me?!

No way, not again?!

Geb's mind raced:

Who hired these beastmen? Could they be the witch hunters, vultures?

No, the existence of the Book of Sand is a secret. True to the Church's nature, such matters are not entrusted to outsiders.

It wasn't the vulture, nor the old shaman—the Broken Tooth tribe was gone, and all his enemies were dead, so who else could it be?

After thinking for a moment, Gebu concluded that the only possibility was that old elf woman, the peacock.

"What grudge is this?! Is it really worth it? I just took a few things from you!" Gebu thought to himself. "After living for hundreds of years, this is all the mentality I have. No wonder he's still tinkering with poison in the basement at his age."

"If you don't mind me asking, how much did the person who hired you to hunt this 'little thing' promise you?"

"A lot." The half-deer-man grinned, revealing half a sharp tooth, but his eyes remained unmoved. "And the price goes up every day."

"Such a good deal... If that's the case, why not let the prey live a couple more days? That way, we'll make even more money," Gebu said, forcing a smile.

This sounds like a pig saying to a farmer, "Feed me for two more days, I'll eat more, and my meat will taste even better."

"Ha, let it live a couple more days? Interesting. Someone once made the same request to me. Come to think of it, that person was also a 'priest'."

Wait a minute... what does that mean?

Geb frowned slightly. The priest was pleading on his behalf?

No, no, there's only one priest here, Old Usa, and he doesn't even know who Gebu is... Could it be that this so-called prey isn't referring to himself?

The "hunter," who had some interaction with the priest, possessed wild animal characteristics...

Did the farmer's son, who was attacked by a manticore in the field, hear the howl of the wild beast when his father was killed?

These people, could they be...?

Wow.

The trees behind him rustled softly, and the black eyes of the night stared at the halfling's back from the shadows.

Gebu knew he was in trouble. Damn it, he still had no chance to escape.

He exhaled, his breath freezing in the cold air.

Leaving the campfire and tent, the autumn night was indeed quite chilly.

If we can't run away... then we won't! Let's see what these people are really up to!

Gebu raised his head and calmly walked toward the campfire and the three beastmen.

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The half-deer seemed somewhat surprised by the small man's actions, raising one eyebrow slightly. Gebu looked directly into his beastly eyes and nodded.

"Since you are familiar with human etiquette, you should know that honesty is a virtue. I think there has been some misunderstanding between us. From now on, I hope that we can both speak frankly and without reservation. First, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gebu, and I am a priest of the Church of Oberc."

The half-deer squinted, and his thick nose, covered by brown mane, twitched as if sensing the scent in the air.

After sniffing for a moment, the beastman said in a low voice:

"Thorn-Deercry of the Barbarian Tribe, son of the forest blessed by the Thousand-Horned Fairy... The names of the Ansar are very long. To outsiders, my name is Thorn."

"Hehehe, Thorne, why are you wasting your breath arguing with the halflings?" the weasel chimed in from the side, his eyes narrowing into slits.

Ignoring the beast-like woman, Gebu continued speaking to Thorne, the deer-man:

"If I may venture a guess, your target for hunting in this land is a scorpion lion, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this word, the wild boar and the weasel looked up at the deer-man. Thorne nodded to Geb.

“Not just one manticore, but ‘that’ manticore— ‘Blackwing Rattlesnake,’ the last surviving manticore in the kingdom’s forest. Its bloodline dates back hundreds of winters ago.” The deer-man spoke slowly and deliberately, his words carrying a thick Onsal accent, his voice reverberating in his nasal cavity and the back of his throat. “Beautiful, and dangerous, like a fairy in the Immortal Forest.”

Blackwing Rattlesnake...that's a pretty imposing name. I guessed wrong; there really is a manticore...otherwise, no one would go to such lengths to find it.

"So, you're monster hunters?" Geb asked.

"Are you calling me a monster? A halfling?" The deer-man suddenly asked, his expression changing.

The boarman and the weasel stood up abruptly, reaching for their weapons, watching the deer-man's movements, ready to pounce.

"Oh dear, there's been a misunderstanding," Gebu quickly explained.

"I'm the one who hunts monsters, not that you're a monster. I admit, your appearance is unusual, but I am a servant of God. God teaches us to treat everyone equally, regardless of appearance, background, race..."

"Those black-robed men who came to our forest said something different," the deer-man wrinkled his nose and gritted his teeth. "Those 'witch hunters' of the human church called us heretics, beasts... They cut off the shaman's tongue and nailed it to her forehead. This was the punishment for 'blasphemy.' The sacred tree was burned, and ten thousand mountain owls turned to ashes. The fairies of the Blessed Forest left that place and will never return. Because of them... because of your church, the children of Angsal can never return home."

Oh dear, I'm doomed. There's such a history behind this? I should have known better than to pretend to be a priest; I've made a mess of things and run into the line of fire.

But even after all this talk, the other side still hadn't made a move. Gebu didn't know if he was just lucky, or if these people really needed his help.

"...This is a regrettable mistake. I assure you, there are good and bad people in the church, and what the witch hunters did to you was wrong. I strongly oppose it."

"We don't care what you think, servant of O'Bak. That was a long time ago. You may worship your gods as you please, but the gods of the Ansar are gone. Now, we only worship gold."

"You said before that someone hired you to hunt this 'Blackwing Rattlesnake.' Judging from the situation, your hunt hasn't been successful yet?" Gebu probed.

"We have your compatriot, 'Father,' to thank for this. That old fellow named Usha told us that the longer the prey lives, the more valuable it becomes. He promised us that if we kept the manticore alive, he would pay us 100 gold coins for every day it lived. In exchange, we would get rid of everyone who tried to hunt the beast."

This old man!

Gebu suddenly realized why so many hunters had died on the road—these unlucky fellows hadn't even caught a glimpse of the manticores before being wiped out by the beastmen.

These Ansar people were earning 100 a day from the priest while waiting for the bounty on the scorpion to rise steadily. In the end, they would kill the scorpion and pocket the bounty. They were really good at scheming!

How come I didn't think of that!

However… Gebu was suspicious that he hadn’t told him the secret. Now that he’d revealed everything, Gebu’s suspicions only intensified.

Telling me everything means they don't intend to let me live!

In this situation, even if we can't escape... we still have to give it a try.

Gebu remained expressionless, secretly preparing to unleash his spell.

"...Let me guess, you're telling me all this so I can go back and tell Father Usa to settle the money quickly, or else his secret will be exposed?"

"No, halflings." The deer-man grinned, revealing a cold smile. "Only humans would use secrets as bargaining chips; the Ansar people only trade death."

"We killed a few farmers to show the priest, but unfortunately, he didn't seem to understand what we meant."

The stag, wild boar, and weasel simultaneously revealed their filthy yellow teeth.

"Perhaps, a priest's mind will remind him of his promise."

No sooner said than done, the instant the three beastmen rose, Gebu uttered the incantation:

"Vocare Neb..."

Before he could finish his incantation, a bowstring twanged from above—something shot straight into the blazing campfire and then burst into a blinding light!