Chapter 34 Martin's Party Never Come Back

One week later

And just like that, one week passed. Still no sign of Martin's party or goblins. It was a quiet, boring, and wet week. Every single day was a rainstorm. No matter what direction you look, it was raining with lightning.

"Girl, I am convinced... three weeks have passed, and they are not coming back."

"Yeah, I had hopes that maybe the storm was hindering Martin's coming back but looks like they won't be coming back here after all. Any chance they took a different route back home?"

"Highly doubt it, it would be a big detour considering the path they come from."

"Oh well... Maybe someone else comes by."

"Hmmm... The girl doesn't look too worried. Not whining about going home? Don't care about what happened to adventurers? Bill may think that little girl like it here."

"I wouldn't say I like it here per se... but it's okay here, this cave, your cave I mean... it's not a home of mine but after all this time I spent here, I got used to it."

"Not missing your parents? Friends?"

"I sure do miss Mom and Dad. I am still curious to this day, kinda missed the chance to ask my parents what was the occasion to celebrate the day before I was kidnaped. As far as friends go... I have none, I was a cheerful girl, talked a lot with everyone, and was friendly with everyone, but I never hang out with anyone... I kept my business to myself... always alone."

"Hmmm... not even one? Wow... that's sad... even Bill had friends, one or two. I mean, how unfortunate one must be not to have a friend. Heh! Bill is a monster but still managed to find friends... they are long dead tho, but still."

"Okay! I get the point, Bill. I am unfortunate, I have no friends, and the only friend I ever made sold me to some bastards for 10 gold coins. So yeah, I am, unfortunately, a fool."

"And who was that friend?"

"Antonio, the city guard. Well, it was kind of my first love too, he was a friend at first but I kinda got feelings for him along the way over the years. I met him when I was little, and since then I stick around."

Listening to the little girl's sad story Bill bursts into laughter.

"Well... at least you know now how much he valued you... it's whole 10 gold coins, ha ha ha! If I remember correctly, 10 gold coins is a one-year pay for city guards. Hahhha! He traded you for one year's pay, looks like he wasn't the brightest fellow. He should have at least asked for 20 gold coins, hahaha!"

Listening to Bill ridicule her like that she is shocked at how he is so insensitive.

"Wow Bill! You really are laughing at me? It's not funny. I loved the man and he discarded me like I was some dirty rag like I was some trash."

"Girl! Look around, what world do you think you live in? This world is unfair, cruel, unforgiving, and miserable. Learn to roll with the punches. That's the best advice I can give you."

Suzuka got angry as she listen to Bill talk, she clenched her fists and with a low voice whispered to herself, "Oh yeah? You stupid bull... grrrrr... I will roll you with the punches... stupid, stupid bull."

Bill noticed her whispering and asked, "What was that?"

"Oh, no, nothing. I was thinking about checking on the weather outside. So you can lay in your bed all day."

"Hahaha! Stupid girl, that's the plan."

Suzuka got irritated by how Bill was insensitive and walked to the exit of the cave. She pressed her back against the wall and looked outside the cave at the violent lightning flashing in the sky.

Finally, after a couple of hours, the rain stopped. The sky was still dark but it was calm, with no wind, no rain, and no lightning. Suzuka noticed the change in weather but didn't bother to tell Bill about it because she was still upset with him. But she didn't need to, Bill was standing behind her and watching. 

Suzuka turned to him and asked, "So? The rain stopped, are we going to Goblins Castle now?"

Bill walked close to her, peeked his head outside the cave entrance, looked to one side then another, turned back to her, and said, "No, not today... we will get lost... corrupted magic that lingers in the air is too thick. We would be going in circles. It's nothing new around these parts... after long rainy days like this, the corrupted magic spreads across the forest lands throwing off orientation."

"Good to know, considering that I don't have any anti-corrupted magic protection crystals left. So what's the plan?"

"For today, eat... take a dump... go to sleep... drink some wine... Bill doesn't care what Girl does, just be ready and well-rested for tomorrow."

"And if the rain storm returns?"

"It wound, we have a small window... 4 days or so. It's always like this around here. If it rains for longer than a week... arhhh! It's too damn complicated to explain! Just do what Bill tells you."

"Okay, I get it. Rain needs to recharge or something. I will check my gear, eat something, and sleep. Jeez... no need to be so cranky."

Bill turned around and walked deep inside his cave where his junk pile was and started to look for something. A few minutes later he finally finds what he was looking for, it was a big leather bag.

He emptied the bag and dropped everything that was inside on the ground into the junk pile, then he put inside the bag a couple of bottles filled with water and some food. After he was done packing supplies in his bag, Bill went back to his pile of junk and picked up a beat-up shield and one of his axes.

Done inspecting his gear Bill put a shield, axe, and leather bag close to his bed and lay down for a sleep. Suzuka took her time, she didn't rush. After carefully checking her stuff she didn't go to sleep like Bill, instead, with all that free time she practiced her combat style in silence.

Night time come and Suzuka went to sleep, the night was calm with no raging winds or stormy rain, and the morning has come. Bill got up first.

"Wake up Girl! It's morning! We move in a few minutes."

"I'm awake, ready to go, all my stuff is on me."

"Good... good. We can't waste time, we need to reach the castle today... before nightfall."

"But can we really make it?"

"I know all the shortcuts, been there more than a few times, Girl. It's just the two of us, we move fast, with no rest breaks until we reach the place."

"We have a plan?"

"Yeah, a simple one. We go there, we kill everyone there, and we come back here. Simple right?"

"Yes, simple. Okay then, let's go."

And with that note, they grabbed their stuff and went deep into the forest toward the castle. Bill was keeping a fast pace, a normal human wouldn't be able to keep up but Suzuka didn't even notice. A few hours into travel, they found a few corpses of monsters. Bill and Suzuka stopped to inspect the scene. 

Bill checked the corpses and said, "One Bloody wolf... one Torso... two Zimmerman... one Zomboar. This... most likely done by Martin's party. Corpses are old, maybe 2 weeks old or more."

"So, Martin and his party did this. He was on this path."

"Little girl, let's move with caution. These rotten corpses may attract more monsters and we don't want to stick around to meet them."

"You don't need to tell me that twice, let's get out of here."

And the journey continued. It was the middle of the day when they stumbled upon the abandoned campfire. Nothing special only a few rocks to sit on and a big campfire made out of small rocks. It was a good spot to stop for a quick rest but daytime was running short and they kept on going without stopping. 

As they pass by the campfire Bill said, "This place, Martin was here too. They spend the night here. So they definitely reached the castle. At our pace, we will reach it by nightfall."

"Can't tell if it's good news or bad news... don't answer that."

Without saying another word they kept on going. Finally, it was about to get dark when Bill said to Suzuka to stop.

"Little girl, stop. We will spend the night here. This is it, this is the place. Only a few minutes till Goblins castle."

"Oh, we really there?"

"Yeah, we are. Go past these tall bushes and you will see the Goblin castle ruins."

Without saying another word Suzuka went past tall bushes and saw the castle.