Red Monster

The Chief and the Matron received the guests directly. He saw the three Goblin Champions who led the reinforcements, as they had once come out to get their food. Their size was massive, but the Chief was still bulkier and two heads taller than them.

With so many goblins and hobgoblins, Red stationed himself in the kitchen. In case these goblins and hobgoblins jumped his woman. He was sitting behind the counter, watching the dining hall from the kitchen.

Darla was at ease with his presence in the kitchen, and she could focus on cooking with him around. Red quickly summoned Tob and asked for more goblin workers.

The kitchen was busy, but to his surprise, there was no brawl or racket that he expected. These goblins and hobgoblins were more docile than he thought, more disciplined than the first reinforcement.

He could see the greed in their eyes as they kept glancing at Darla. Yet they reined in that lust, and no one approached her. That was how his day was, overseeing the kitchen till night, until Darla finished with her work.

Tob gave him some information, another thing that surprised him. The Chief had taken the Healing Potion, and they would leave tomorrow. That was not a surprise. The surprise was the fact that the Chief would lead the army. The three Goblin Champions agreed for the Chief to lead the war.

The reason behind that decision was even more shocking. It was because their village was the only border village that survived and wiped out the kobolds’ force.

Apparently, their village was not the only target. Seven goblin villages had been destroyed by the kobolds, and the war on the other side was bleak. The three Goblin Champions came with a message. They were tasked to breach into the kobolds’ territory while the kobolds were busy on that side.

Red was glad that the Chief would lead the war, but he had a bad feeling about their task. It didn’t make sense at all. At least, it didn’t make sense to him.

If the other side was troubled, they should help there instead of attacking into the kobolds’ territory. If they went too deep into the kobold’s territory, they would be easily surrounded if the kobold decided to retreat.

It felt like they were being used as bait to take the pressure from the other side. If they managed to go deeper into the kobold’s territory. The kobold had no choice but to pull off some of their force to defend. That was when they would be surrounded.

’I wish that’s just my imagination.’

Red wished that he was wrong, just like how he was wrong about the hobgoblin and the goblins’ behavior now.

The following morning, Red was standing in front of a table filled with food. Five grilled Dire Wolf Legs, five portions of the white soup with the Crimson Scale Biter, five Grilled Rabbon, five portions of Mystic Meaty Gruels, five Dire Wolf Steak, and the potato dish he ate yesterday.

This was the most important supply for him. Darla mentioned it was called Infused Dish, food that was injected with her mana.

Red drooled looking at the food on the table, but he managed to hold himself. He put them into his Storage Pouch one by one, carefully. The table was emptied, and then he met Darla’s gaze.

Her eyes were full of worry. There seemed to be a lot that she wanted to say, but the language barrier made it hard for her to convey everything.

"I will return!" He hugged her for a moment, kissing her lips. Darla responded passionately, and they ended up kissing for longer.

A bow and quiver on his back, six throwing spears on his back, and a sword wrapped in black cloth in hand. He left the house.

Tob sent him a message that they would depart early in the morning. The goblins and hobgoblins were lining up in front of the village hall.

Red didn’t join them because he was the first one to leave. The instructions were clear. It was to make a safe path for them to travel. Their numbers were big, and the Chief didn’t want to get attacked by the King of the Jungle or a pack of beasts.

Their first destination was the kobold village they attacked. It should be empty, and the Chief wanted to use it as an operational base. It was a quick trip, as he just needed to follow the mark he left behind yesterday.

The mark was still fresh, and he quickly spotted them. This was not the hard one or risky at all. After the reinforcement arrived in the village, that was the real risk. He had to scout an unknown territory and look for another kobold village.

He arrived at the village within a fifteen-minute trip. It could be faster if he ate the food for blessing, but Red decided to save it for later. He didn’t know how long he would stay out here. Keeping the blessing for an actual battle was the safe option.

Red entered the village and frowned when he stepped into it. There was no more fire, but an unpleasant smell permeated the air in the village. To ensure the village was safe to occupy, he did a round to check it all.

He was thorough with the search, checking the houses one by one. Even the ruined house. There was really nothing, not even a dead body. He found a lot of coins, though- the copper coins that were left behind by them.

He returned once the village was safe, and he returned to the village with the reinforcements. He had his eyes on the three Goblin Champions, trying to see their reaction.

The three Goblin Champions observed the aftermath of their battle. They kept looking toward the burned house. They must have realized that the village no longer had the Shaman and wondered where the fire came from.

"The weirdo Red that I told you not to bother was the one who caused the fire."

Red overheard what the Chief said since he was close to them.

The three Goblin Champions snapped toward him. "Is that magic?" One of them asked.

"Do you even need to ask? It’s obviously magic." The Chief sounded proud.

"Shouldn’t we send someone else to scout? He’s too important in the fight against the kobold!"

"Don’t worry about him. Two Elite Kobolds could not even kill him, and he is quick like everyone else," The Chief disagreed. "We need to use him if we want to find the kobold quickly."

"Red!"

Red came over. "Yes, Chief."

"Find the kobold village and establish a safe route!"

He bowed and turned around, not complaining even though they had just arrived. He had expected that he would leave right away. That was what he wanted as well, so he didn’t complain even though it looked like the Chief didn’t give him time to rest.

Red left through the other entrance where they fought against the kobold’s reinforcements. He saw the scorched ground and walked past it.

This was the right time to use his blessing. He needed those extra Dexterity; the right blessing for scouting was the Crimson Scales Biter dish.

Red remembered that the infused dish made of Crimson Scales Biter increased his Dexterity, a pure Dexterity blessing. He went a little bit further from the village, hiding above the tree.

Only then did he take out the first dish, the Grilled Crimson Biter. He took a big bite out of the head, chewed it, and finished it off quickly.

[You have consumed Mystic Chef’s infused dish, Grilled Crimson Scales Biter.]

[You have received Mystic Chef’s blessing: Dexterity +40. Duration: 4 hours.]

His eyes widened slightly when he saw the notification. Darla improved her blessing again. If he was not wrong, it was supposed to be +35 Dexterity, and the duration was three hours. Five dexterity was worth half a level, but most importantly was the duration. An hour increase in duration was a big improvement.

Red immediately took the second dish, the fish soup. A big bowl with a whole fish inside, half submerged under the white broth. It was still steaming, and he only noticed the new aroma. He smelled something new that he hadn’t smelled before. Darla added something, something more aromatic.

He first slurped the white broth. The flavor was rich; savory and umami, a little bit sweet, naturally sweet. He preferred his food spicy, but he also liked this soup. He took a second slurp. It was deeply comforting to his throat. There was this warmth spreading in his throat.

Then he started to devour the fish. The fish was soft and lacked the crunch that he liked when he ate them grilled. He liked it grilled for the texture, but overall he liked the fish soup more.

The whole Crimson Scales Biter quickly disappeared from the bowl. Then he finished the whole broth, drinking it all.

[You have consumed Mystic Chef’s infused dish, White Fish Soup.]

[You have received Mystic Chef’s blessing: Dexterity +50. Duration: 5 hours.]

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