Gob was walking after Curan. The human kept a steady pace. As they traversed the sea of fallen leaves, they exchanged their information.

“So the orcs are dead.”

“Yes. They were slain sometime ago.”

“By who exactly?”

“I don’t know who killed them, but I know that two orcs were dead. The tribe chief didn’t send the offerings since their death.”

Curan looked at Gob with caution.

“What exactly was in the offerings?”

“Mostly meat and shiny junk, but now and then a decent sword or axe was given away.”

Oh. No humans. Curan didn't want to think where the meat was coming from.

“Steel ones?”

“Heavily ornamented junk. They looked nice.”

Curan fell silent, so Gob tried asking him instead.

“Did the news about orcs reached the city? They were important in the forest.”

“In April one orc was captured outside the city. He was injured.”

“So it means that something beat three orcs.”

“There was a story about a new Adventurer appearing at the other side of the mountains, it could be him.”

“Adventurer?”

“A mercenary working for the city guild. They usually take monster slaying quests. They are stronger than most other people.”

Now it was Gob’s time to remain silent. The world was way bigger than the forest, he knew that, but it seemed like he needed to adjust his world view. To think that there was something beyond the mountains! How big would the world truly be?

Curan stopped and pointed at the trees.

“We found you somewhere there.”

“Can we go to this place? It would be easier to guide you.”

“No. You said the orc’s stash was near the mountain side. I do not wish to take any unnecessary detours.”

The sun was high above their heads. They needed to hurry. Gob didn’t need the sunlight to navigate throughout the woods, but Curan did. He was also wary of many greenskin tribes scattered around the forest, as well as the common wildlife. It was autumn already. Wolves alone were getting restless.

Gob wanted to convince him, but he wasn’t on an equal footing. Not by a long shot. Despite that he still asked.

“Are you afraid that whoever killed the orcs took the treasure with him?”

“If what you are saying is true, and the orcs were wiped suddenly by the outside force, it wouldn’t be possible for a single person to take everything with them.”

“And if they did?”

“Then you are dead.”

Curan looked at the goblin. His anger somewhat went away. This random adventure was a much better idea than any normal city deal. At least for the time being. And if the information, however believable in his eyes, was a miserable lie then he wouldn’t have any qualms about finishing the goblin here and there.

The city was sealed. Any money, doesn’t matter how dirty it was, would be a godsend. The forest was wide and dangerous. So many warring factions were regularly clashing with one another. Meanwhile the monsters were busy finishing anyone left in between.

Who could possibly know more about the hidden treasures than a monster that lived here for so many years?

“Gob?”

The name was so stupid. It was like naming your children Child.

“In which month did the orcs die?”

“I don’t know months.”

He should foresee this. Gob was just a goblin after all. There were a few gaps in goblin knowledge.

“Was it snowing?”

“No. The snow was away. It was green when the Elder knew about the orcs.”

“Then we might be the first to check the cave. Erlen’s Adventurers guild was disbanded during the winter.There shouldn’t be anyone from the city meddling with orcs. Let’s move. Point the direction.”

Gob pointed west. Curan smiled. He tried earlier to change their path a bit in order to confuse the goblin, but he correctly pointed towards the mountains, despite them not being able to see them. Which meant that he based the direction of the one he gave him earlier. He walked first, but the goblin didn’t budge.

“Make promise means do something later right?”

“Yes. That’s what making promises is.”

Gob nodded in agreement.

“Then promise me something.”

“What?”

“Promise that if there will be enough money you would let me go there.”

He pointed towards the place where Peter found him.

Curan turned to properly face the goblin.

“If you aren’t lying, then I will personally guide you there.”

“I don’t lie.”

With that Gob chose the path and made Curan follow him through the forest.

They walked in silence. Gob didn’t feel like talking about his tribe. Curan didn’t bother to keep the conversation going. Orcs were powerful creatures. Capable of wielding small trees as their maces. Many humans described them as giant, pig faced walls of flesh.

Orcs were stupid. They didn’t feel fear and rushed their victims with no reason whatsoever. Their size was their biggest strength. Adventurers were often called to drive the orcs away from human settlements. Rampaging orc could be compared to a natural disaster.

If someone managed to kill two orcs in a fight, he must either be that unreasonably strong or extremely well prepared. Curan could probably take two orcs at the same time if he planned accordingly for their size, but it still could go terribly wrong with no ranged support.

Gob claimed that there were only three orcs in the forest. Or at the very least he didn’t know of any other living close by. If the orc that the city caught was the lone survivor then the stash could as well be empty.

The most logical thing Curan wanted to believe went as follows:

The orcs fought against someone stronger than them because they lacked judgement.

The certain someone killed two of them before escaping making the last orc go on a rampage in the nearby human village. Orcs were known for their simple drives. If someone pissed the orc, he would be targeted for revenge. It was most likely a small group of humans or maybe even a single human that destroyed the greenskins.

It was unlikely for some animals to kill something so superior in the food chain as orcs. Natural disaster was also possible, but Gob noted that the orc’s cave was in an abandoned mine shaft. Humans have never exploited the mountains before. If it was dwarven, then it wouldn’t just randomly collapse.

“We are close. The spire is in sight.”

As they moved next to the mountain side Gob pointed towards the large oddly shaped rock that he referred to as spire. It was sharply raising to the sky and well visible from the distance, making it a decent landmark.

Gob moved past many caves until he finally reached the one he was looking for. He looked at Curan in anticipation. He slowly sighed and took the torch from his bag. He could already rule out the last possibility of the orcs extinction. The cave was made of tightly placed stone bricks. Near the entrance there were no sight of human army tracks.

The empire didn’t kill the orcs he was sure. He looked at Gob and sighed once more. There surely were treasures inside.

The orc’s stash was in a dungeon.