Mayor Marnagor lifted his head toward the sunlight streaming in through the window, squinted for a moment, then spoke apologetically.
"Sorry. Warm sunlight makes people sleepy."
Rowan shook his head slightly. "This matter is rather special. I originally intended to inform you privately, but I did not expect you to come in person."
"Mayor, you really should pay more attention to the quality of your sleep," Tikshiel said with a smile from across the table.
"You know, I have always been lazy," Mayor Marnagor chuckled.
The atmosphere among the three was harmonious, and their relationship was clearly a good one.
"Alright, alright. Let us talk about business," Mayor Marnagor said.
Hearing this, both Rowan and Tikshiel became serious.
Mayor Marnagor looked extremely burly and seemed ill-suited for the position of mayor, but the two knew very well that he was far from incompetent. In fact, he was both shrewd and capable.
Marnagor was not only the mayor of Antara. He was also the commander of the Third Legion, the royal forces of Avendele stationed in Antara.
As the most important frontier city of the Kingdom of Avendele, Antara was also the front line in the confrontation with the Jarahat Empire.
Unless His Majesty the King was a fool, he would never assign an incompetent person to oversee Antara.
And the current king was clearly no ordinary ruler.
His ability to break through the noble system, elevate Gareth, a commoner, to the position of Knight Captain, and allow him to build an entirely new military force spoke volumes.
"The situation is as follows," Rowan said solemnly.
"Over the past two weeks, the number of villages and caravans attacked by goblins has decreased significantly."
"In fact, there has been no information regarding goblin attacks during this period."
The guildmaster of the Magic Caster Guild, Tikshiel, asked with some doubt, "Is that not a good thing?"
"Whether it is good or not cannot be judged based only on the current situation." Rowan continued as he placed both hands on the table.
"Based on past experience, the past few months should have been the period when goblins reproduce most rapidly and launch the most attacks."
"However, this abnormal behavior suggests that something unknown may have occurred within Arkenwald Forest."
Mayor Marnagor, who had been listening carefully, finally asked calmly, "What is the result?"
He did not ask Rowan whether he had sent people to investigate. That would have been a pointless question. The fact that the three of them were gathered here meant Rowan had already obtained some results.
"Hm."
Rowan nodded. "Information has been gathered from several adventurer teams operating on the outer edges of Arkenwald Forest."
"Something seems to have happened in the territory of the Eastern Overlord, Ogloo. The entire forest reeks of goblin blood."
"It appears that a large number of goblins have died, yet strangely, very few goblin corpses have been found."
"Based on the information we currently possess, we can temporarily rule out the actions of powerful adventurer teams. Otherwise, there should have been many bodies left behind."
Rowan paused, picked up the silver magical container on the table, and drank the cold liquid inside in one go.
"You suspect that an internal conflict occurred among goblin tribes in the Grunnfang region?" Tikshiel asked seriously.
"It could also be a battle between the Forest Guardian and the Eastern Ruler for unknown reasons," Mayor Marnagor said softly, his eyes half-closed.
"That is correct," Rowan nodded. "At least for now, this is a good thing for us."
"Keep watching," Mayor Marnagor said.
"Understood," Rowan replied.
...
By the riverside, Saelran was unaware of the small meeting taking place in Antara as a result of his actions.
However, even without knowing the content of that meeting, Saelran understood that the sharp increase in the number of goblins he had killed would have consequences far beyond the forest.
In the first half of the month, the number of goblins he killed had not been particularly large.
Even without intervention, those few goblin corpses would naturally have been devoured by wild beasts and forest monsters.
But now, the sheer number of goblin corpses he had created would cause serious problems if left alone.
If nothing else, it would certainly attract the attention of the Grunnfang, and Saelran had no intention of provoking them.
Furthermore, the drastic decline in the goblin population would also draw the attention of adventurers in Antara.
Many low-level adventurers relied on simple goblin extermination quests to earn money.
If an adventurer ventured deep into the forest and discovered numerous goblin corpses, they could obtain information simply by examining the wounds on those bodies.
This was something Saelran absolutely did not want to see.
The more information he leaked now, the more information Nine Gate of Helldusk would be able to gather in the future.
This intelligence war had already begun the moment Saelran chose to oppose Nine Gate of Helldusk!
Although they possessed power and military forces capable of conquering this world outright, Gurath Goat Govenant acted with extreme caution.
Before making contact with the natives of this world, it was said that Gurath Goat Govenant first established an intelligence team to investigate the inhabitants of the world.
And that was within the game.
Saelran was not certain what actions Gurath Goat Govenant would take in the real world, but it was unlikely to be much different.
Therefore, Saelran gathered the corpses of approximately two thousand goblins and more than thirty orcs he had killed and stored them inside his Inventory box.
As expected of a unique player Inventory box, its capacity was indeed large enough to contain everything. At the same time, Saelran took the opportunity to estimate its overall capacity.
That many corpses filled roughly one third of the Inventory's volume.
Although it seemed large, it was still far from sufficient for a level 100 player.
In the game, the five hundred million gold coins used by the Gurath Goat Govenant to revive one of their Gate Guardians were almost enough to fill Saelran's item box entirely.
However.
At present, such capacity was more than enough for Saelran.
The deaths of over two thousand goblins and thirty orcs had not only broken five iron swords, but also left Saelran somewhat numb, making him far calmer than before.
The reason he went to the river to bathe today instead of continuing to slaughter goblins was because he wanted to rest and adjust his emotions.
Continuous killing, even when done with clear intent and necessity, inevitably left subtle traces on one's mentality. Saelran was keenly aware of this.
If he allowed himself to become numb or indifferent without restraint, it would only lead to mistakes later on.
At the beginning, aside from leveling up, Saelran had been quite enthusiastic about killing goblins and orcs in this forest.
After all, they were enemies of mankind, and Saelran could not forget the scenes from the game where goblins and orcs, acting under the orders of the Goblin King, raided nearby villages.
They captured humans, then burned them and devoured them together.
It was a scene impossible to forget.
With those memories in mind, beyond killing goblins and orcs for the sake of his own growth, Saelran was also, in a small way, reducing the threats faced by humanity.
However, as the number of kills continued to rise, that initial sense of justification gradually faded.