The number of nocturnal beasts seemed to have increased significantly in recent days.
As long as they did not provoke him, Saelran would not bother with them, because he had gained a lot of experience, and he was in a rather good mood today.
After all, there should be a goblin colony in this area.
Saelran planned to search for it thoroughly tomorrow.
For some reason, Saelran felt like he had missed something, but after checking more carefully, he realized there was nothing he had overlooked.
The only thing that troubled him was the recent orc attack, but ever since he escaped from those orcs, nothing similar had happened again.
The night wind blew.
The cool breeze made the many thick leaves in the forest sway slightly.
Saelran's nose twitched. A faintly familiar scent drifted in with the wind.
At first, Saelran did not pay much attention, and just as he was about to return to sleep, he suddenly opened his eyes.
This scent…
Goblin!
Yes, it was the smell of a goblin, a foul stench like socks that had not been washed for decades.
Saelran's previously confused gaze instantly turned clear.
He felt like he had missed something, but now, upon smelling the scent in the air, he suddenly understood.
It was the scent coming from the goblins.
After interacting with goblins for the past two weeks, Saelran had grown accustomed to the smell and subconsciously ignored it.
However, in the past few days, this scent had faintly lingered every night at his campsite.
In the darkness, Saelran did not know what expression he wore, but it must have been terrifying.
The creatures that had been passing beneath his tree were not beasts. They were goblins.
Although goblins had night vision, they were not nocturnal creatures, just like humans.
Unless necessary, even goblins would not hunt at night in the forest environment.
He had been targeted.
Damn it.
He only realized it now.
Saelran could not help but curse internally. That vague sense of unease that had accumulated in his heart over the past few weeks suddenly became very clear.
After maximizing his "Sword Saint" level, perhaps because there were no monsters that could truly threaten him in the outer forest, even orcs, unless present in large numbers, did not pose much danger.
This caused Saelran to lower his guard compared to before, and he had not even noticed the goblins silently watching him this whole time.
Wait a moment. A spark flashed in Saelran's eyes behind his black hood.
With the intelligence of an ordinary goblin, it was impossible for it to conduct surveillance this meticulously.
"Could I really be lucky enough to encounter some sort of mutated goblin?" This thought crossed Saelran's mind, and he unconsciously licked his lips.
Even if he let down his guard, he should have noticed an ordinary goblin trailing him.
Guerrilla? Forest Priest? Druid? Rogue? Hunter?
All of these jobs specialized in tracking, especially in complex environments like forests, where they could be detected without the use of detection magic.
Saelran calmed down. The goblin monitoring him most likely had one of these jobs.
So what was its purpose?
Saelran frowned.
The goblin was not only following him. It was also revealing its location every night, clearly with some intention.
The reason the goblin was confident was likely because it was a mutated goblin, not an orc.
Orcs were too large. Their movements caused a lot of noise, making them unsuitable for tracking.
"A trap?"
Saelran recalled the events of the past few days, and a suspicion surfaced in his mind.
He rarely encountered goblins lately. Only today had their number suddenly increased.
If he had not discovered the goblin he suspected to be mutated lurking in the shadows, he might have assumed his luck had run out.
Now it was obvious that this was the work of that goblin.
After realizing this, Saelran continued pretending not to know anything, leaning against the large tree to sleep as usual.
Once he found the goblin, the roles of "hunter" and "prey" would be reversed.
Moonlight and starlight slowly faded.
Birdsong in the morning accompanied by sunlight filtering through the leaves echoed throughout the forest.
Saelran stretched and jumped down from the tree, looking refreshed.
His sleep had been peaceful last night. In fact, the quality of his sleep was even better than yesterday.
Since the suspected mutated goblin had not attacked him, it meant its strength was far lower than his. Otherwise, it would not have simply tracked and observed him for so long.
Saelran continued as usual. He took out his black wheat bread and ate the cooked pork meat, chewing heartily while holding his iron sword.
He continued observing his surroundings, but as expected, he found nothing.
Seeing this, Saelran became certain of one thing. The other party could not be too close.
This made him give up on trying to find the goblin immediately. If the opponent really had one of the jobs he suspected, locating it in the forest would be extremely difficult.
"Let me see whether this is a trap prepared specifically for me. Perfect for catching you," Saelran thought to himself, his eyes gleaming.
About ten minutes after he left the area…
A figure with pointed green ears, similar to a goblin but twice the size, appeared where Saelran had been moments earlier.
Not only was its size different, but its eyes were completely different.
Goblins had long, narrow, beast-like eyes. This creature's eyes were the size of human eye sockets, mostly white, with only a small black pupil in the center.
Its gaze showed caution and vigilance.
The creature sniffed the air through its slightly sunken green nose, and its eyes focused on the crushed leaves and broken twigs ahead.
Those were the tracks left by Saelran.
After a brief pause, the creature continued following the trail.
Astonishingly, wherever the creature walked, grass, bushes, and even dense branches parted on their own to make way for it.
And throughout the entire process, there was not a single sound.
Without realizing it, the day had already grown bright.
Saelran took out his waterskin, filled it with water, and squinted slightly as sunlight filtered through the canopy.
He did not carry just one waterskin. He had bought more than sixty waterskins, each with a capacity of about five kilograms, as part of his supplies.
It was enough for two bags a day, a full month of supply.
As for drinking water, he never had to worry about running out.