Goblins.

Every adventurer was familiar with that name; Goblins were one of the most annoying species out there, they pillaged towns, killed men, raped women, it was said they even ate children.

They were nasty monsters hated by everyone of any intelligent race.

Goblins had a high birth rate, so it had been impossible to exterminate them despite the active effort of hunting them down. Every city had rewards for killing goblins, any sighting would be reported and subjugation party would be sent.

They were mostly weak individually, but due to their high birth rate they could become a huge horde in short time, and in great numbers it was inevitable that strong individuals would arise.

Goblin Chieftains, Shamans and the like would appear once the tribes rose their number of members, and they would become a serious threat to any city.

“Is it a raiding party? How many are there?”

One of the adventurers asked.

“That seems to be the case but I’m not sure of their numbers, they were spotted by a scout in the north. The alarm was sounded it must be hundreds, the streams of people rushing into the city have increased but the Watch will handle that, we need the adventurers to go towards the Northern Gate and prepare for engaging the Goblins.”

The guardsman spoke and turned around to leave.

Buri City was a wealthy commercial city where many goods were gathered and traded. So there were always long queues of people entering and leaving the city.

The problem now was that due to the emergency, people had to be left inside the city for refuge, the guards couldn’t just close the gates and leave them to be killed by the Goblins.

And among those people there could be some who carried illegal goods, wanted criminals and other undesirables trying to sneak inside during the confusion.

To prevent this kind of situations, the City Watch prepared areas next to the gates where the people who had just entered would be gathered and inspected, after inspection they would be free to enter the city.

It would be a hassle to do it while the City was under attack, but they also couldn’t let criminals into the city, so they needed to hurry up and thankfully they had spotted the Goblins from quite a distance away.

Thus the solution would be for the City Watch to handle the people in the inspection areas while the Adventurers’ Guild and Knight Order would face the invading threat, whether it was by staying in the walls or by sending troops to meet the approaching enemy was up to them to decide according to the situation.

The adventurers started to move towards the Guild’s door. It wasn’t the first time the city was attacked, it was surrounded by wilderness and many areas were filled with monsters.

Likia Kingdom was also fairly hated by other countries and there was constant conflict, especially for an important commercial city.

Of course, it was also the reason Buri City was full of armed guards, knights, and adventurers every day.

“Just a normal day in Buri City, right?”

Simon spoke loudly, he and his team walked in front of the rest. He turned his head to look behind him to the rest of adventurers.

“Let’s go, those guys from Saber Tooth are probably running to the walls already, don’t let them take all the fun. Even if they are A rank, let’s show them we can’t be looked down upon.”

There were some laughs and sounds of agreement from the adventurers.

“Alright, let’s see what kind of crazy bastard is trying to take the city this time.”

“Let’s kill some goblins!”

“Yeah!”

The adventurers went out and ran towards the Northern Gate.

Tom, Senior Guardsman from Buri City, stood over the Northern Wall and watched the approaching Goblins in the distance. A raiding party of over 400 Goblins.

“Yo, Tom! How’s adventuring going?”

Watch Captain Teresa Martdlein smiled at him, she had never stopped teasing him since they had met a B rank Adventurer that was also called Tom.

It didn’t help that the adventurer Tom was also mainly a spearman and even was kind of similar to him, tall with auburn hair and brown eyes.

He just sighed and returned the smile, he had already given up on making her stop on that teasing so he just played along.

“Looking good, Tess. Maybe my namesake will be joining us in the fight later. Have you decided on the battle plan?”

“Hmm, I just wish your doppelganger was as good with the spear as you. We are going to let the Goblins approach and attack from the distance with magic. If we see they don’t have much fighting power, we’ll send troops to exterminate them.”

“Sounds good. But isn’t it too relaxed?”

“Well, yeah. But the City Lord has informed us there’s no need to worry.”

Teresa went a bit closer to Tom and lowered her voice.

“It seems there’s a big shot from Lei Clan, a really powerful Mage, I bet the City Lord will have him shower some lightning on the Goblins.”

“Oh.”

Tom’s eyes widened in surprise.

“If it’s them… well, those guys are famous for their lightning magic, just what we need to get rid of those Goblins quickly.”

“Yes, I’m more worried about the crowd that just entered the city, can I count on you to check on them later?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tom replied with thumbs up, Teresa took a step back and patted Tom on the back.

“Thanks, Tom. Be right back, I’m gonna go shout at some lazy guys.”

She turned around and started giving commands to the Watch members, checking that her previous orders had been done and giving new ones.

Tom was planning on inviting her for dinner tonight, but that would have to wait until the battle was over.

The city gates had been closed and the Goblins’ raiding party was getting closer, they didn’t plan to get around the city.

“Stupid Goblins, as if this city could be taken by so few of them.”

Tom had constantly fought against goblin hordes in the past. He knew they shouldn’t be underestimated, but he also knew this raiding party had no chance of taking the city.

Unless the goblins had a more numerous group in another location, maybe circling them?

That shouldn’t be the case, the scouts would have spotted them. Nevertheless, the strategists must be considering those options if they decided to play it safe and fight from behind the walls

“We learned the hard way to never underestimate those pests.”

Tom had a grim expression as he remembered scenes of the past when he had lost friends and nearly lost his life while fighting Goblins.

“Never again.”

He spoke resolutely, awaiting the arrival of the enemy.

Goblins.

They were known to all; they were despised, hated, feared, insulted and killed by everyone and everything that encountered them.

An oppressed race, living in constant fear and hatred.

People experienced many different emotions when they hear the word ‘Goblin’ and even more when they actually meet a Goblin.

And none of those emotions were ever good, no one felt love for them, care or even pity. They were considered monsters, pests that deserved to be killed at sight.

And they would be right, but also would be wrong.

Goblins simply did the same as everyone else. Kill? The humans, elves, beastkins and any other ‘civilized and intelligent’ race also killed both for survival and for pleasure, both others and their own.

Goblins weren’t great crafters and they could not trade goods with other races either. What kind of commerce could be established if they weren’t even allowed the chance to start a conversation? Could agriculture or mining industries be made if they never had the chance to settle down without being hunted down and exterminated?

So they ambushed caravans to obtain goods, they also looted towns and cities they successfully raided, that was the glory of conquest and was practiced by every species.

Then why was it glorious when an intelligent race did it, but infamous and tragic if Goblins did it? The arrogance of those people was something Goblins always hated, and if other species would not give them a chance to live in harmony, Goblins wouldn’t give them peace either.

This discrimination and conflict were too old to stop now, the history of bad blood went back hundreds, even thousands of years, nobody knew when it started and nobody cared either, it would only stop when one side was wiped out.

A poke on the side made Kar get out of his own thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He turned his head and saw one of his fellow Goblin making signals, he pointed to the side, then joined his hands mimicking a butterfly.

The other raiding parties were ready, so were they. It was time to begin the attack.

Kar nodded his head and spoke in the Goblin tongue, a guttural and semi-bestial sound came out of his throat.

“Get ready to fight.”

The other Goblin nodded and ran off, shouting to the others the order.

Another Goblin approached Kar, not just any average Goblin, it was a Hobgoblin, the next step in their evolution.

Hobgoblins were stronger, faster, tougher, and smarter than average Goblins. Of course, there were exceptions, but that was the usual case, they were usually taller too and more handsome, even by other species’ standards.

“Strong city.”

The Hobgoblin, whose name was Tur, spoke in their language. He was worried about the upcoming fight, Buri City was a fortified city, with walls enchanted with multiple magic wards and a numerous well-equipped army protecting it.

Kar was not a Hobgoblin, but he was strong as one, and smarter than most Hobgoblins he had met. He also had a proper name, which was not common among normal Goblins. So he was recognized and given an important position by his Chieftain. Kar was the leader of one of the 3 raiding parties attacking Buri City.

So even if he wasn’t a Hobgoblin, he commanded Hobgoblins.

“Big prey. We are bait.”

Kar answered and looked to their target, a mountain of treasure and food surrounded by walls, but all that treasure was zealously guarded by the soldiers like mad dogs.

It was the dream of every Goblin to raid that city and loot its treasures. One day, Kar hoped to be the one to do it. But it won’t be today, Kar knew it.

The mission of his raiding party was to attack the Northern Gate of the city and draw their attention, then after a short fight they would retreat to lure troops to chase after them.

An ambush by other 2 raiding parties would be getting ready and kill those troops sent outside. Even if Buri City sent more troops to rescue the first ones, with 3 raiding parties they were confident in handling the situation.

Kar didn’t approve of this action, they weren’t ready for this. But the Chieftain had gotten drunk on his newly acquired powers and called for an attack.

His Chieftain, a red Hobgoblin called Feneh was the strongest Chieftain in the region, commanding over a thousand goblins in his Tribe, in recent days he had grown stronger, and with more strength came more ambitions.

Their plan carried lots of risk for Kar’s raiding party and required a lot of sacrifices, but if it went well they could obtain lots of equipment.

He didn’t like it, but orders were orders, so he would obey and hopefully survive.

“An important job.”

Kar said, trying to justify this mission both to Tur and to himself.

“True, but I don’t like being bait.”

Tur answered with a grunt and extended a clenched hand towards Kar.

“For another meal.”

Tur said.

Kar laughed and bumped Tur’s fist with his own.

“For another meal.”

Kar repeated and nodded.

It was a Goblin expression, it meant ‘to live another day, enough to have another meal’, basically how Goblins wished ‘good luck’ and ‘don’t die’ to others before doing something risky or stupid.

Which in Kar’s opinion, was true for their current mission in both accounts.

Tur raised a battle axe over his shoulders and strode ahead.

Kar unsheathed his weapon, an iron sword, and shouted the command that would change his fate forever.

“Attack!!”