Pt. 1 – The Army Forms
The deaths of a total of 18 goblins meant that we only needed to kill 12 more to complete the quest we had taken.
"Hello, adventurers. My name is Garron Vell. I'm from the Adventurer Guild. My job is to give out quests to new adventurers—and it looks like you're already part of the goblin-killing quest. Is that right?" Vell asked.
Turning to the man who came up behind us, Nil said,
"Garron Vell, we are on the quest to exterminate a portion of the goblin population in this part of the Infinite City. Has there been an update to the quest that we need to be made aware of?"
He held up a guild official's pin to prove his statement.
"Yes. There are now confirmed sightings of a goblin prince—a C-rank monster—so the guild has given me the authority to put together a task force to put down this threat.
But if you don't want in on this new part of the quest, I can mark the quest as complete—full credit.
However, if you join me, you can earn more points and up to 15 steel coins—300 points to rank up. Also, any loot from the goblin camp will be split among the group."
"Well, I'm fine with it. If you are, Nil," I said.
"Fine, Mister Vell. Please take us to your base of operations. But I must ask—if there is a C-rank monster, I am not able to defeat something that powerful, and neither is my companion Tarn. So will you kill it, or is there someone else?"
"Myself and three other D-rankers will be fighting it, so it'll be fine. To head off any further questions, other than you and your companion Nil, there are five other E-rankers and twenty F-rankers. So we'll have a total of thirty-one. That should be enough to defeat the goblin camp," Garron said.
"That sounds like a good amount... but how many goblins will there be?" I asked.
We started to walk with Garron.
"The last update I received is that there are ninety to a hundred goblins. So three-to-one in the goblins' favor is pretty good overall odds. But there could be more or less depending on the number of goblins the prince sends out to gather food or treasure.
So we could walk in on 125... or as low as 75. But we're hoping for 100—that way we won't get overwhelmed, and we also won't have to worry about the goblins reforming the camp," Garron said.
The base of operations was one of the better-kept buildings—one that's maintained by the guild for operations like this.
"There are some cots set up in the back room," Garron said. "Also, since it's just you two, I'll have both of you come to the team leaders' meetings. The current plan is to attack the goblin camp tomorrow at first light."
Once at the team leaders' meeting, Nil and I sat around the large wooden table.
We introduced ourselves and said our rank. Garron, as the leader of the operation, started by putting a hand-drawn map of the goblin camp on the table.
"So the goblin prince has five hobgoblin knights around itself at all times as a personal guard. Rick, will you and your team be able to take them out?"
Rick, the E-rank, responded,
"It'll be tough, but it'll be fine. We can do it."
"Good. Now, me and the other D-rankers will fight and kill the prince itself and then help mop up the rest as needed. The general will be near the prince. Now—who will be able to take it down? It's no stronger than any of the hobgoblin knights, but it is much smarter," Garron said.
"I can—with the support of a few other people," I said.
"Out of the question. You're only F-rank, Tarn. You did well against the goblins I saw you fight, but that general is a D-rank monster."
"It's fine with me and a few others to keep people off of Tarn," Nil said.
Garron was quiet for a few seconds.
"Simon," he said to another E-ranker, "will you and your team help Nil and Tarn?"
"Yes, that would be fine," Simon replied.
"Fine. I'll allow it. Now—the rest of you will kill the rank and file."