Goblin Dependency-Chapter 289 - 154: Dice

Jimmy did not feel ashamed of the change in his thinking.

In fact, even back when he was just a country kid who couldn’t tell the difference between a frog and a toad, he had similar experiences.

He remembered there was a family in the village whose second son got lucky and found a decent job following a convoy to Neum, sending a lot of money back home every month and often bringing back some new and interesting things from the big city for his younger brother during festivals.

Even many years later, he still remembered that little guy with snot hanging from his lips, standing on a stone by the pond with a proud smile, showing off the toys his brother brought back from Neum.

Speaking of toys, to the present-day Jimmy, it was just a finely crafted six-sided die.

At that time, he didn’t find it particularly nice-looking either.

At least not as appealing as the Wooden Sword that his father had carved for him.

And he couldn’t understand why something only thumb-sized and easily lost in the grass could cause such excitement among his peers, gathering them around the little guy.

Was it just because it came from Neum, with its special status?

Later, as the little guy kept showing off to everyone, more and more children gathered around him.

Standing in the crowd, watching that clay-fired six-sided die spinning and landing with a crisp sound against the gravel,

feeling the envious gazes around him, Jimmy, holding the Wooden Sword, had a faint change of thought too.

And with the little guy’s approval, under the eager eyes of his companions, he stepped forward and picked up the die from the ground.

For the first time, feeling the cold touch of the die’s surface and seeing the patterns on it, which seemed very exquisite at that time.

It was as if, at that moment, Jimmy finally perceived the beauty of the die.

Speaking of which, his cousin hadn’t shown him that statue for days.

Usually cherishing it like a treasure, keeping it close even when sleeping or using the restroom.

Only occasionally, waking up in the middle of the night half-dazed, did he see his cousin sitting alone in the corner of the camp, gazing and stroking the wooden carving under the firelight, looking dazed.

Yet even so, he clearly remembered the natural and smooth lines and patterns of the statue, the upright figure resembling a goat or a deer, and those two spiraling horns that reached up...

"Gelin, where are you going?"

The rough and slightly drunken voice brought Jimmy back to reality.

Looking over, he saw across the campfire a red-faced, bearded man calling out to a figure gradually disappearing at the edge of the camp.

"To relieve yourself? Wait up, hic... I’m coming too!"

"Today it’s Jack’s turn to set up the alert traps, and I’m not very confident in him, I’ll go check. You guys keep drinking."

"Damn Jack," the bearded man muttered, sitting back down.

"If you ask me, Gelin’s just been in the Mist Forest for too long to get used to it."

"I travel this trade route several times a year; there’s no mention of any demon, barely even wild boars, safer than my own garden."

A nearby traveler, also drunk, half-laying on a cushion, squinting his eyes, said.

"Hey, he’s basically spending the entire Hunting Day in the forest, so isn’t it natural?"

"No wonder there’s a stench of blood on him, can’t wash it off, like ’Green Blood’; the whole person marinated with it."

It was just casual chatter, but hearing someone say this, the bearded man seemed to have thought of something and suddenly got interested.

He lowered his voice and glanced meaningfully towards the wagon not far away.

"Speaking of ’Green Blood,’ we have someone in our convoy somewhat related to her..."

"Tsk tsk, ’Gray Sword,’" an adventurer smacked his lips in envy, "it’s said she’s already achieved Professional Level, not the same as us anymore."

"Gray Sword!?"

Not everyone was well-informed, and as soon as the words fell, another traveler exclaimed in surprise.

"The black-haired one? So young?"

"Then there’s nothing to worry about!"

"With a real professional stationed in the convoy, what danger could there possibly be in this Earth Realm?"

Even though it was drunken talk, what he said wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

At the moment, the convoy was on the road from River Valley Town to Neum, though it was a desolate wilderness, it often encountered passing travelers and convoys, and every few days they could come across small villages.

Even at night, there was basically no dangerous Demon appearing.

Even if they encountered an attack, at most it would be some insignificant bandits or a dozen or twenty goblins.

Without Xia Nan, the only professional adventurer in the convoy taking action, the accompanying guards would solve it.

It could be said to be quite safe.

The nights of the journey didn’t have much for entertainment, and topics about ’Green Blood,’ ’Gray Sword,’ and ’professionals’ piqued interest, so the energetic adventurers, having no other outlets, started chatting enthusiastically fueled by the drink.

Of course, if you expected these unlettered, burly guys to discuss anything deep, it was impossible.

When all is said and done, it still came down to just a few things:

"Gold Coins," "women," "demons"...

and the most classic segment of bragging.

"Two years ago, I followed my elder brother to the tundra side, never in my life have I seen snow that big, the whole town looked like it was covered in frost."

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