Chapter 100: Goblin Stronghold Extermination |
“……”
Right now, Lance wished he could curse that damn system to death!
This is what it calls mild hallucination and relaxation?
Where’s the relaxation?!
A reaction that can even cause physical symptoms—and it’s still considered mild?!
Had his voice somehow turned into a source of mental contamination like those indescribable monsters?
Lance had absolutely no idea that he was mixing up the Flowering Period of Elves with the effects caused by the system.
Looking at the well-behaved and sensible half-elf girl sitting across from him—
Lance felt like his conscience was being condemned.
The last part of the secret mentioned that the condition had already begun to subside, which meant the girl’s body was indeed gradually building resistance.
This piece of news barely made Lance feel a tiny bit better.
Now he finally understood.
He had definitely made a serious misjudgment about the textual descriptions in the system panel!
That so-called “mild” in that ridiculous system—
Was very likely calibrated against certain indescribable scenes, amplified tenfold by fantasy settings!
Otherwise, how could it produce such outrageous physiological reactions?
This system was simply detestable to the extreme!
Just as he was about to close the panel, the corner of his eye casually swept downward, landing on the second secret.
Birthday?
So in five days, it would be this girl’s birthday.
Seeing this, Lance decisively cut off his thoughts and directly closed the entire system panel.
He couldn’t keep looking.
The information he had just obtained already made him feel deeply guilty.
Everyone had the right to keep their own secrets. Even between friends, boundaries were necessary.
From now on, this Codex’s secret-peeking function should be reserved only for those damned enemies.
More importantly—
Since this whole mess was caused by his broken system, then he had to find a way to properly make it up to her.
Perfect timing—he could use her birthday in a few days as an opportunity to prepare a surprise.
“Senior?”
Cecilia noticed the man across from her staring blankly at the table with an empty gaze while holding his cup.
She called out softly with concern.
“What’s wrong?”
Lance was suddenly pulled back to reality by her voice.
He quickly adjusted his emotions, set down the cup, stood up, and revealed a gentle smile.
“It’s nothing.”
Looking into Cecilia’s clear eyes, he spoke seriously.
“I just suddenly felt that the bet in that game earlier was unfair to you.”
“Huh?”
Cecilia froze for a moment, clearly unable to follow his sudden shift in thinking.
“That round doesn’t count. I actually cheated.”
Lance shamelessly overturned the rules he had just set himself.
“Follow me properly to complete the commission today.”
“I’ll treat you to grilled steak tonight.”
He hoisted the heavy Kite Shield onto his back and looked back at the still-dazed girl.
“Let’s go!”
Watching his figure stride toward the street, Cecilia remained seated, her face full of confusion.
Senior’s mood changed way too fast, didn’t it?
One second he was smiling happily because he won the game, the next he was suddenly spacing out, and then inexplicably claiming he cheated and offering to treat her.
……
Behind the wide wooden counter of the Adventurers’ Guild, Nia seemed somewhat distracted today.
She held a quill, registering several low-level commission forms.
Yet every so often, her gaze would uncontrollably drift past the crowd toward the guild’s entrance.
She had completely lost sleep last night.
Every time she closed her eyes, the young girl’s voice from the imprint crystal would echo uncontrollably in her mind.
That voice was crisp, sounding quite young. What bothered her most was the strong sense of reliance on Lance in its tone.
This inexplicable sour feeling tormented her all night.
She couldn’t help but imagine that during the time she went to White River City to clear her mind, Lance must have been teaming up with that unknown female adventurer to complete commissions.
“Crack.”
A crisp sound interrupted her thoughts.
The fragile quill in her hand snapped accidentally, black ink spreading across the parchment.
Nia immediately came back to her senses, putting on a standard apologetic smile as she softly apologized to the adventurer waiting in front of her.
She quickly replaced it with a new pen from the drawer, forcing herself to refocus on her work.
By the time she finished handling the miscellaneous tasks and handed back the stamped commission form, the corner of her eye just happened to catch two figures entering through the door.
Nia’s gaze was instantly drawn to them.
Walking in front was a familiar figure wearing a chainmail hood.
Just from that upright posture and walking habit, Nia recognized Lance instantly without a second of hesitation.
And half a step behind him—
A small figure wrapped in a dark cloak followed closely.
This person was clearly shorter than Lance, the hood pulled low enough to completely obscure the face.
But that slender, delicate build—it was undoubtedly a girl.
Nia’s heartbeat suddenly skipped.
It was her!
While Nia secretly observed—
Lance had already brought the girl straight to the mission board.
His gaze swept quickly across the densely packed parchment sheets before locking onto one marked with a red danger symbol.
【Copper Creek Forest Outskirts: Goblin Stronghold Extermination】
The commission sheet clearly marked several scattered stronghold locations.
According to intelligence gathered by guild scouts, there were roughly over eighty Goblins active in this area, and it was highly likely that variant elites had already emerged.
Ever since the last joint extermination by nearby towns, only these scattered clusters remained.
They were probably stragglers that had wandered out from some dark corner deep within the forest during this period.
Without any hesitation, Lance reached out and tore the sheet down.
He had his own considerations for choosing this mission.
On one hand, his strength had recently surged, giving him sufficient confidence to seek revenge.
Today, he would reclaim his lost face with interest.
It would also serve to test just how far his current strength had reached.
On the other hand, this was also a long-term plan for Cecilia’s internship progress.
As an adventurer, if she only ever faced aberrant monsters like Stone-Shell River Crabs, her psychological endurance would never truly grow.
Goblins were typical humanoid monsters.
They possessed limb structures highly similar to humans and knew how to use crude weapons.
When their limbs were severed by blades, they would even emit agonizing screams eerily similar to those of humans.