Goblin Dependency-Chapter 215 - 122 Mage and Arm Armor_3

"You speak as if you’ve been involved before. If it weren’t for the Association’s mission, you probably wouldn’t even want to leave the house, right?"

Cornell was noncommittal.

"After this mission, I should rest for some time."

"Hmm? Preparing to advance to Transcendent?"

"No way, still far from it." Cornell replied with a smile, "My mentor wants me to return to Huancai City; his experiment is at a critical moment and he’s short-handed, so he asked me to help for a few days."

"Oh..." The Elf’s expression didn’t seem particularly disappointed; instead, there was a hint of relief, "Just so happens I’ve been taking on quite a few tasks lately, too tired. After this one is over, I’ll go home and rest for a few days."

Upon hearing this, Cornell nodded slightly.

"The target is located within the forest. According to the Association’s task information, it’s probably two or three days’ journey from here."

"It’s time to take a break."

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest.

The time had reached dusk.

After packing up the loot from inside the cave, having completed their mission, the "Green Blood" team was searching for a suitable spot to set up camp for the night during their return journey.

For the Half orc who helped them by clearing out the goblin nest ahead of time, Xia Nan was initially surprised and cautious.

But as the Half orc left the cave without hesitation and showed no hostility towards them, Xia Nan no longer paid much attention.

Just considered it a small episode in the adventure.

Besides, the Half orc left all the spoils from the nest to them, which even included a Bear Goblin.

Adding everything up in bits and pieces, each person could get around a dozen Gold Coins, which wasn’t entirely unprofitable.

Compared to that, it was Berg, who was standing guard at the cave entrance for them, who was particularly agitated.

"I said before, we shouldn’t take such far-off tasks; it takes four to five days round trip, way too uncertain!"

Seemingly holding a grudge against the Half orc who suddenly appeared in the cave, he complained to Adeline at the front of the team.

Past shadows and encounters with powerful professionals during the mission turned this middle-aged man, who had been in the adventurer business for years, into an emotional wreck.

Adeline walked silently at the front of the team, not saying much, just allowing him to vent his words, soothing the deep-seated insecurity in his heart.

She knew this was just his personality.

And precisely because of that, the experienced and somewhat capable Berg had always stayed with the "Green Blood" team, making a living by hunting goblins.

Xia Nan watched from the side and couldn’t help but recall when he had just joined the team shortly before on an adventure and encountered "Huo Ya" Bennett.

He remembered after the battle ended, Berg’s behavior was pretty much the same as now.

Only then, "Huo Ya" had targeted the group because Berg had leaked the team’s information to his old acquaintance Kegel, who, after being rejected by Adeline, joined the "Huo Ya" team, exposing the group’s information.

The fault lay with Berg himself.

So back then, no matter how intense his emotions were, he only exhibited guilt and self-blame publicly.

At the time, Xia Nan even thought that was all there was to him.

But as they went on more adventures together, he gradually perceived the true nature hidden beneath Berg’s jovial facade and experienced exterior.

Simply put, it’s "afraid of death."

On the other hand, if he truly feared death, wouldn’t it be safer to live in a well-governed large city far from Demon gatherings than making a living in Mist Forest every day?

Ultimately, he chose the latter in the balance between danger and high income.

Reckoning that Gold Coins were more important.

Fortunately, the mission was over, and they didn’t need to venture deeper into the forest; the group was on their way back.

The insecurity in their hearts slightly stabilized.

After venting his emotions, Berg gradually calmed down.

Though not reverting to his usual relaxed posture as a seasoned adventurer, he refrained from uttering more complaints, just silently following the team.

Beside him, Xia Nan, who witnessed it all, didn’t interfere. He wasn’t one to meddle.

And Abi, who was usually talkative and had a good relationship with Berg, as a novice, wisely shut his mouth.

Until nightfall approached, cooling the team’s atmosphere.

Only then did he inadvertently utter his first words due to an unexpected discovery:

"Hey, what’s this?"

Xia Nan’s gaze followed.

He saw Abi holding a silver-white metal piece in his hand.

An odd sense of familiarity arose.

In his ears, Adeline’s surprised voice suddenly sounded:

"That is... ’Iron Hand’ George’s Arm Armor?"

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