Inside Guangyue Tavern, a few people were tidying up.
After cleaning up, Lunn brought out a few dishes and invited Adrian to sit down and eat.
Besides Adrian and his companions, there was no one else in the tavern.
The Old Priest and the Guard had already returned. Adrian originally wanted to leave, but Lunn insisted on treating him to a meal.
Moreover, Lia and Lora also had something to tell him.
After eating, Lia recounted her and Lora's experiences.
After Adrian lured the Goblins away, she and Lora also fled towards Gruer Town.
However, the two of them wandered for a long time in the forest, wasting a lot of time before finally getting out.
It was fortunate that their general direction wasn't wrong, otherwise, they might have encountered Goblins again.
Upon arriving at Gruer Town, they faced the same predicament as Adrian .
No money!
Lia had picked up the trench coat Adrian had previously discarded and wore it before escaping.
Otherwise, besides her swimsuit, she wouldn't even have had clothes!
Disheveled, the two begged for food in the town and were encountered by Lunn.
Lunn pitied them and let them work in the tavern, so they could at least earn a living.
After listening, Adrian also recounted his experiences, only sharing what he could.
When they heard Adrian went to the grassland to hunt Slimes with just a wooden stick, both women's mouths dropped open in surprise.
"This is the first time I've heard of Professionals!" Lia took a long time to process the information Adrian had shared.
"This world has a large number of Magical Beasts. If humans didn't have Professionals, they would have been wiped out long ago!"
Adrian took a sip of water and said, "I want to become stronger, first for self-preservation, and second to open an Adventurers' Guild!
Open an Adventurers' Guild, become a Guild Master, lead countless Adventurers to fight against Magical Beasts, and save the world!
That sounds incredibly exciting!"
By the end, Adrian even stood up in excitement.
Lora blinked her big eyes and curiously asked, "An Adventurers' Guild? What is that?"
Adrian sat down and explained, "It's a group of Professionals who accept quests!"
Lunn asked from the side, "Isn't that just a Mercenary Corps?"
"You could understand it that way!"
Adrian was too lazy to explain the difference between the two right now.
Lunn stroked his chin and said, "To establish a Mercenary Corps, you need to go to Valkam and apply to the Viscount."
"And only Professionals can apply!" Adrian said with a wry smile, "I know that, which is why I was killing Slimes to earn money earlier.
But Slime hides are too cheap, only one copper coin each. Even with how hard I worked these past two days, I only killed a few hundred!"
"A few hundred! Good heavens!" Lunn exclaimed, hearing the number Adrian reported, "Did you kill all the Slimes on the grassland?"
Lunn had not ventured deep into the grassland and didn't know how many Slimes were there.
He only knew that looking out from the road into the grassland, one could see large swathes of Slimes!
"Not at all! There are at least a few thousand Slimes on the grassland, still far from done!"
Having finally acquired a decent weapon, Adrian also wanted to clear out all those Slimes.
But a conflict arose with Harry, and he also received funding from Lunn.
Adrian didn't want to take risks outside. He didn't have powerful Summons yet, and if Harry ambushed him, it wouldn't be worth it.
"That's still very impressive!"
Lunn gesticulated as he spoke, "Two years ago, during a Slime infestation, I personally saw Slimes harming people.
Those hit by the Slime's acidic liquid had their flesh rot away, screaming in agony.
If it weren't for Priest Henry, many people would have died at the hands of the Slimes!"
"That serious?"
Lia had just heard that there were thousands of Slimes and that he had killed hundreds, so she thought Slimes were very weak.
But from Lunn's description, she realized that Slimes actually had the ability to kill people!
Lunn said with a wry smile, "How can Magical Beasts not be powerful! We are just ordinary humans; we can't fight Magical Beasts at all.
Previously, there were dozens of towns around Valkam.
Now only more than thirty remain!
The others were destroyed in Magical Beast attacks!"
Lora asked in disbelief, "How could this be? Weren't there Guards in the other towns?"
"There were! But Magical Beasts are also very strong. Besides Slimes, there are also brutal Goblins. Although Guards are powerful, they can still be killed if they encounter some strong Goblins!"
Hearing this, Adrian thought of the Goblins he had encountered earlier.
The Goblin Adrian killed had a white soul, indicating its level was not above Level 5.
Yet Adrian almost died at its hands.
At the same level, a Goblin's combat power was significantly higher than a Slime's.
If Adrian hadn't learned skills, facing a Slime at the same level, he could kill it with a wooden stick by being a little cautious and avoiding the acidic liquid.
But if he faced a Goblin of the same level, he would need to be prepared for Death!
This was also why Adrian didn't dare to use the numerical advantage of Summoning Slimes to fight Harry and the others.
In front of Professionals, Slimes were simply not durable enough!
Then, Lunn revealed a piece of information that made Adrian and the two women widen their eyes.
"Goblins usually kill human males for food. For females, they will keep them captive, rape them, and make them bear small Goblins.
Goblins have special physiques; human females can become pregnant if defiled by them.
Therefore, in towns attacked by Goblins, captured males are all killed, while females fall into endless suffering!"
After hearing this, Adrian immediately thought of the several women who were captured by Goblins at that time!
Among the people who woke up in the church, there were eight men and seven women.
Adrian personally witnessed the Death of three men; the whereabouts of the remaining people were unknown, and the situation was not optimistic.
As for the women, besides Lia and Lora, five remained.
One woman was raped in front of everyone, and a strong young man went to save her at the time.
Another woman was hit by an arrow in the chest when Adrian climbed over the church wall and was certainly captured by Goblins afterward.
The remaining three women were also very likely captured by Goblins.
Adrian had always thought that Goblins raped women simply out of depravity, and these women would be killed afterward.
He had never imagined that these people might not be dead and were still being continuously tormented by the Goblins!
Thinking of this, Lora turned pale with fright and trembled all over.
"Beasts!"
Lia also thought of this, slammed the table, stood up, and started to walk out.
Adrian quickly asked, "What are you doing?"
Lia said without looking back, "Of course, I'm going to find the Guards and rescue people!"
Lunn looked at Lia's hurried retreating figure and asked, puzzled, "Did I say something wrong?"
Adrian then explained to Lunn that the Goblins in the forest might have captured several women at this time.
"This is bad!"
Lunn's face changed drastically upon hearing this, and he paced back and forth anxiously, "Everyone has always considered the Goblins in the forest a hidden danger.
A year ago, to prevent them from attacking the town, the previous Town Chief spent 2 gold coins to hire a Mercenary Corps, all above Level 5, and took five Guards into the forest to try and wipe out that group of Goblins.
But in the end, only one Mercenary escaped!
According to that Mercenary, there were Goblins exceeding Level 10 in the forest.
Unless it's a Mercenary Corps with Professionals above Level 10 or the Viscount sends troops to deal with them, no matter how many go in, they will all die!
But there are only three Mercenary Corps in Valkam with Professionals above Level 10, and their asking price is at least 10 gold coins!
For our small town, gathering 2 gold coins already meant everyone had to scrimp and save; where would we get ten gold coins!
The new Town Chief reported it to the Viscount, but the Viscount has never sent anyone to wipe them out.
Everyone has always regarded that forest as the Forbidden Forest!
How could you have ventured into that forest?"