Red Monster
Chapter 81: Enemy Inside and Outside of the Village
"This is not how a warrior should fight! You are bringing shame to the village! You are a coward!" The Matron seethed in anger. Her gaze was full of venom, truly hoping that Red would die from this fight, and she seemed to try to get him killed now as well.
"This is never about a one-on-one duel. The Chief asked me to show him how I killed so many kobolds, and I showed him that. That’s the purpose of this fight, and this is how I kill the kobolds... many of them!"
His gaze stopped on the Matron for a moment, cold and emotionless. Just for a moment before turning toward the Chief.
"As I mentioned, it’s me alone against three or four kobolds at first. There’s no way I can win if I fight them head-on. And yesterday, their numbers increased, and I had to fight that way to delay their advance to the village."
Red took a deep breath, "If they got closer to the village and found out the Chief was not in the village, they would attack the village. That’s why I have been doing my best to delay them, but it seems my action puts my village to shame."
His words were directed toward the Matron, the single Matron who hated him for a ridiculous reason. He was not going to be silent anymore. Just because he didn’t say anything back, it didn’t mean the Matron would leave him be. It was proven during the meeting in the village hall.
The Matron was about to say something, but the Chief spoke first, "Enough!"
"The body is yours! We will continue the discussion inside! I don’t want to hear anything else!" The Chief then turned, returning to the village, which was quickly followed by the others.
Red’s eyes didn’t leave that one specific Matron. The ship had sailed, he fought back, and he knew the Matron would not stop. He must get rid of the Matron before it becomes too dangerous.
The Matron took his trivial offense of interrupting his dinner to such an extreme. It would become even worse now that he openly talked back in front of the Chief against her.
He took a deep breath and changed the hob body into loot. He got one Might Core and one Magic Core plus five copper. The loot was not even worth the trouble. He took the loot but didn’t absorb the core.
Red returned to the village hall, and that was when the real discussion was held. The Chief asked him a lot of questions, taking the threat seriously instead of doubting him. The question was specific, asking about the specific gears the kobold had.
The discussion ended with an order. Red was tasked to lead a squad of seven hobs to scout and maybe kill a few groups of kobolds while at it.
Red left the hall with more issues in hand. His head was still filled with a conflict with the Matron. He knew this would not be over. He felt like this was more serious than going to war against the kobold. The reason was that he could be killed without knowing how. They were supposed to be his allies, but now they might try to kill him.
He returned home to give the two cores and the five copper coins. Darla was not home, most likely in the main kitchen to prepare the food for the village.
Remembering about her, he realized that the Matron’s evil scheme would not just be for him, but for Darla as well. She might target Darla first before going for him.
The Chief would not care about what happened to Darla. Even if the Matron stabbed Darla to death, the Chief would not bat an eye. In the Chief’s eyes, humans were even more worthless than the goblin. It didn’t matter who Darla belonged to. In fact, the Chief might mock him for failing to protect what he owned.
’Is confronting the Matron a mistake?’ He could not help but ask himself the question.
Red was fond of Darla, and he invested in her with cores and skills. He didn’t want to lose her after all of that. But there was nothing he could do now, but he knew that he must figure out something.
He was getting prepared, equipping his armor, filling his quiver with more bows. There were thirty arrows in his quiver now. Then he brought the blade, but just one blade this time.
The order was clear: bring the seven hobs with him and investigate the situation. He must lead seven hobgoblins that might hate him after he killed one of them. The situation could not be worse than this, he thought, until someone banged on his door.
Red placed the cores and coppers below the bed before going out. He thought one of the hobs was coming for him, so they could leave earlier. To his surprise, it was the familiar goblin, his ears in the village, Tob.
Tob was looking around warily, glancing to the left and right, to make sure no one saw him before entering the house. The goblin pulled Red inside and closed the door before speaking in a whisper.
"Your female human is in danger."
Red almost bolted out of the house if not for Tob holding his wrist, "She is not in danger right now."
Red frowned, "What do you mean? You’d better explain it properly if you don’t want to get beaten by me!"
Tob rolled his eyes and responded in a whisper, "How am I supposed to explain it if you can’t stay still? At least listen until I finish my report before trying to dart out of the house."
"It’s the hob... Three of the hobs... Or two now, since you killed one of them. Two hobs are the kids from the same cave as we were. Those two gather the other kids that are still around and plan to jump on your female human... today."
Tob shared what he heard. The two goblins who had just evolved into hob gathered the others to take Darla. Similar attempts happened before, but Red beat them down. But the situation was different now; it seemed evolving into a hob gave them the confidence to take action.
"They plan to kidnap her when she returns to your home."
Red processed the information, "Good job! Wait here."
He went back to the bedroom and brought out the two cores, giving them to Tob, "Take this. This is the reward for your work."
Tob’s eyes gleamed in excitement as he snatched it from Red’s hand, afraid that Red would go back on his word.
Red pointed at the back, "Take the back door. Make sure no one sees you leaving my house."