Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

’That Elf wasn’t telling the truth!’

This was Bakoyannis’s first thought. He had never said the other guy could cast Lightning Bolt!

Luckily, the young man didn’t seem keen on hurting anyone. Otherwise, they would have suffered a major loss during their very first encounter.

’That Gemstone... it must be a powerful Magic Item...’

In that instant, Bakoyannis pieced things together. ’No wonder that Elf was willing to offer such a high price. His true intentions were elsewhere—the Gemstone was his real target, wasn’t it?’

’I have to get my hands on it!’

A fondness and obsession for Magic Items was a common trait among Casters, and Bakoyannis was no exception. At that thought, three Casters and three guards were immediately ordered to chase after Ron, while the others formed a defensive position around Bakoyannis.

The enemy party had five members, and Bakoyannis refused to believe Ron would dare attempt a solo rescue mission for the slaves.

’He’s probably acting as bait... but damn, what tempting bait he is!’

Sure enough, not long after Ron led the six pursuers away, the clang of metal armor and shields rang out from the woods on the other side.

”Half-Elf,” Bakoyannis said, her eyes narrowing. ”This trick of yours is hardly novel. If I, a Mage, had chosen to stay behind and guard the camp, what would you have done then?”

”Then we would’ve just chopped you to bits!”

The barbarian’s roar startled flocks of birds and beasts from the woods. As she yelled, two guards charged forward to engage Sera.

Meanwhile, on the other side, flashes of lightning repeatedly illuminated the forest. It was clearly Ron, the tables now turned, preventing the others from turning back to provide support.

”It’s just a futile struggle. Once it’s over on that side, none of you will escape,” Bakoyannis sneered, dodging Victoria’s Hard Head Hammer and Aive’s Longsword, and counter-attacking with the dagger in her hand. Clearly, she was no mere Caster; to be the leader of her group, Bakoyannis certainly possessed extraordinary skills.

At this moment, Aive and Victoria’s shields became a hindrance. Bakoyannis used the shields’ cover and blind spots to her advantage, dodging back and forth. For a moment, the three were evenly matched.

But even as she effortlessly fought two opponents at once, weaving between their shields and weapons with her Martial Arts and Magic, a mystery lingered in Bakoyannis’s mind.

’They walked right into this too easily. Is anything ever really this good?’

’Can we really claim the bounty on all five of them this easily?’

’Wait a minute... five people?’

Bakoyannis’s heart skipped a beat. ’Three here, plus Ron... that’s only four people. Where’s the fifth?’

’Who was it again?’

”It’s me, your Uncle Dreford!” At such a critical moment, any distraction could be fatal, especially when ambushed by a prepared opponent.

With just a momentary lapse in concentration, Aive seized the opportunity. Her tower shield and Victoria’s Leather Round Shield pressed forward simultaneously, severely restricting Bakoyannis’s room to maneuver. The dark-circled leader instinctively dodged backward, but she never expected a sudden weight on her shoulder as a cold, gleaming dagger was pressed against her well-maintained neck.

”Eyes up! Don’t move! Drop your weapons!” the Goblin Hunter shrieked. ”Or you can get ready to collect your leader’s corpse!”

But it was clear that the group hadn’t reached a consensus on how to deal with Bakoyannis. Just as the other two guards were about to surrender, Sera’s great axe ground into their faces like a millstone.

”You dare get distracted?!”

At the barbarian’s furious roar, every living person on the scene couldn’t help but shut their eyes. For the three slaves closest to the action, even closing their eyes was useless, as they were instantly splattered head to toe in blood and grime.

”Sera...” Aive sighed. ”That’s not what we agreed on.”

”Heh! I got caught up in the fight and forgot!” Sera chuckled.

”How did you...” Bakoyannis looked at them in shock. She tried to throw Dreford off her, but all she got was the blade pressing closer.

”The old ’lure the tiger from the mountain’ trick,” Aive said with a smug grin. ”We just added a little flourish to Ron’s performance.”

”You three were bait, too!” Bakoyannis now understood everything. ”I was the real target!”

”You got it,” Victoria said, hands on her hips. ”We weren’t actually planning on having Dreford make a move, but you’re just too slippery. Aive and I couldn’t catch you on our own.”

”Dreford is good at catching slippery eels!” the goblin clamored in Bakoyannis’s ear.

”Look, Ron’s coming!” Sera pointed into the woods. A young man was sprinting toward them, and behind him were four dusty, disheveled, but still relentless pursuers.

Without Ron needing to say a word—in fact, he was too out of breath to shout anyway—Aive stepped forward to shield him. Sera let out a series of war cries and, as if slicing melons, cut down the pursuers, who were already disoriented from being electrocuted.

”My... aim isn’t great!” Ron flopped onto the ground, laughing and panting, his voice hoarse. ”Used up six Lightning Bolts and only took down two!”

”These guys still suffered plenty. Not bad,” Sera said, walking back with her blood-dripping great axe shouldered. ”If you hadn’t worn them down so much, chopping them up would’ve been a bit more work!”

”If you guys hadn’t... finished up here, I was about to be caught!” Ron lay on the ground, glancing sideways at Bakoyannis, who was restrained by Dreford. ”Yo, long time no see!”

”Clever boy,” Bakoyannis said, looking down slightly at Ron. She hadn’t underestimated him, but she had still been bested by his plan. ”The veteran goose hunter gets his eye pecked out, I see.”

”Walk by the river often enough, and you’re bound to fall in a well, right?” Ron waved for his companions to unbind all the slaves.

These tormented souls were naturally endlessly grateful to Ron and his group. They immediately rushed to the corpses of their tormentors, stripping them of clothes, shoes, and weapons to arm themselves.

The harshness of the environment was plain to see. They had to stick together—rally around Ron and his group—to truly win their freedom.

But among them, Ron noticed two people who weren’t rushing to grab equipment like the others. Instead, they were walking toward him, one after the other.