Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

At night, a convoy was resting by the roadside. Many people were already asleep, while the guards patrolling the area were still diligently keeping watch.

"Who?" a guard asked warily, his hand resting on the longsword at his waist.

"It's me." Count Valentine emerged from the darkness, draped in a large fur cloak. The guard stared at him for a few seconds, then asked for the password. After confirming the password was correct, he said, "Your Excellency is not asleep."

Valentine pulled his cloak tighter, trying to ward off the cold winter night wind. "I can't sleep. We're going to Plantagenet tomorrow."

"You could actually stay in the town we passed through earlier," the guard said, accompanying the count toward the campfire. "It won't take much time."

"It will still have an impact. I hope to enter the City of Goldfinch by tomorrow morning and arrive as soon as possible. After all, we don't know when the Duke of the North will arrive." He found a rock by the campfire, sat down, and pointed to the rock next to him. "Sit down and talk to me."

"We still need to patrol," the guard said.

"It's alright, they're patrolling too, one more won't make a difference. Besides, this place is close to the outskirts of the royal city, no madmen would choose to commit crimes here."

The guard hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside him.

"Do you miss Torch City?" Valentine picked up a branch from the ground and threw it into the campfire in front of him.

After a few seconds of silence, the guard said, "It would be a lie to say I don't want to, but as I may think about it, following the Earl is my own choice."

Valentine chuckled a few times. "Obodo, I can't say your choice is entirely correct, but what His Highness and I can give you is certainly no less than what the Merlo family can offer."

Obodo also picked up a twig from the ground. He casually held the twig and slowly tapped the ground with it, instead of throwing it directly into the campfire. "I know, I had already made my decision when the Earl found me."

"If you stay in Torch City, you can only become a knight at best, but if you follow the Black Lion, you will one day become a baron. Not to mention, the Third Prince is also an accomplice."

Obodo tapped the branch slowly, nodded slowly, and said in a very slow tone, "Yes, when I met you and saw those people from the capital, I knew that following the Earl would be a better path."

"But," Valentine exhaled a puff of white breath, "why did that guy, Charles, disappear?"

"I also find it strange, sir," Obodo snapped the branch in his hand and threw it into the fire. "We originally planned to take them to the royal city, but they disappeared that very night, and all the guards who were watching over them fell into a deep sleep."

"Logically speaking, I was the only person accompanying him at the time, and no one else followed, but he just disappeared like that," he said in a deep voice, still puzzled by Charles's disappearance at the time.

"It seems Baron Mello still had a backup plan," Valentine said with a hint of resentment.

"No, Your Excellency, I don't think so," Obodo looked up at the count beside him. "Based on my many years of experience as a guard in the Merlo family, I believe that I was the only one accompanying Charles at the time, and Baron Merlo didn't have that many people to make arrangements. At that time, almost everyone in Torch City had to work overtime."

Valentine frowned, whether from the chill of the winter night or from Obodo's words, he seemed to be pulling his cloak tighter around himself. "It seems Deepwater Port is indeed very busy."

"As long as Your Excellency makes the necessary preparations, we will surely have the day when we take over Torch City," Obodo said at the opportune moment.

Valentine chuckled a few times, then turned to the guard beside him, "It's late. After you finish your patrol, take some time to get some sleep."

He stood up, brushed the grass clippings and dust off his cloak, and gazed into the distance. "It's been a long time since I've been to Golden Flower City. I wonder what His Highness will say when I see him tomorrow."

Then, Count Valentine ignored Oberto who had stood up beside him, waved his hand, and turned to slowly walk toward his carriage.

As Oberdo watched the count leave, he reached behind his waist and took out an old brass pocket watch. The watch was rather small, and although it was broken in a few places, it did not affect its basic function. Moreover, many of the gaps were stained with verdigris, but the case was still polished to a shine.

"It's almost dawn." Obodo flicked open the pocket watch cover, checked the time, and then focused his gaze on the inside of the cover, where a relief was engraved, the main subject being a rose, with crossed swords behind it.

"500 years have passed, and I wonder what the Golden Plant family has become."

…………

"What else can happen? They'll just keep fighting amongst themselves." Charles sighed and said to Uncle Musa across the table, "They all want to take Torch City for themselves. After all, I've helped with a lot of government affairs and I understand the general outline of various material transactions. They're all envious of that wealth."

"So, young master, you think this is the reason why our family is in trouble?" Musa said with a gloomy face. He didn't expect that there were quite a few people scheming against the Melo family.

"Yes, the Chamber of Commerce is spreading the word and inciting those nobles, while the royal family is directly taking action to seize a port and fiefdom that will bring in a fortune every day. At the same time, there is also the Church's scheming behind the scenes, plus the cooperation of other nobles. None of these guys are easy to deal with." Charles slowly tapped his fingers on the table and said in a calm tone.

"If the young master's analysis is true, then our enemy is indeed very powerful." Uncle Musa nodded. He hadn't thought there were so many twists and turns behind it before. Now, after listening to Charles's analysis, he felt more and more that the conspiracy was planned in this way. After all, a baron being falsely accused of treason was something that had only happened twice in the entire history of the Kingdom of Fran, and Baron Melo was one of them.

"That's why I want to accumulate strength in the forest." Charles smiled. "To rebel against the church and nobles in a human kingdom, or rather, within the sphere of human influence, is harder than climbing to heaven."

"But Nightmare Forest is different. Their tentacles can't reach in. Even though adventurers keep going into the forest to hunt goblins, they dare not and cannot go too deep into the forest. This has led many people to describe Nightmare Forest as an eternal dark hell."

"Young master, isn't this dangerous?" Musa asked with concern. He wanted to suggest that they give up and just live a peaceful life, but seeing the goblin's determined eyes, he swallowed his words.

"There is some danger, but not much." Charles smiled confidently. He did not complain to the elder opposite him about the environment of the forest, how difficult it was to deal with those goblin bears, magical beasts, and mind flayers, or how he had gotten to where he was now. Every time, he had to outwit and outfight those who were many times stronger than him, and if he made a slight mistake, he would be doomed.

"Look, I'm still alive and well."

Kapibala, while taking a bath, said: Read this book!