Chapter 278 – Winter Sonata

The white snow was already lined with footprints and tracks from wagon wheels, but even those were soon to disappear due to the falling snow.

Of course, that’s how people move again.

Just now, other adventurers besides us were on their way out. There were also wagons that were trying to forcefully start before a bigger snowfall.

“Copson. Find a way. Any good points?”
“Leave it to me.”

We put Copson in the lead and entered the snowy mountain.

There was no hesitation in his steps, so I had a lot of faith. Originally, Copson was not a trustworthy friend. We moved while talking about this and that.

“Whoa, it’s cold. But what did everyone do for a living?”

Asked Meria, who was walking, adjusting her fur hat to her.

“What did I do for a living, I lived really hard. I just made money, worked out, and learned a little bit about cutting. Come to think of it, it’s fucking real, hey.”
“I was addicted to drinking and gambling.”
“It’s a contradictory answer.”

I was walking uphill on a snowy mountain, but I didn’t have much strength. My fitness has also improved. Muscle and mana. I realize all over again that those two things made me stronger.

“Maria, have you made any progress in shielding?”
“It’s to the point where it’s more comfortable to hit with a shield than with a sword these days.”
“It’s fucking scary.”

It’s common knowledge that I don’t know, but a shield is also a great weapon.

If you hit someone in the face with something like that, you’ll end up getting a one-way ticket to Samdocheon, even if you’re a decent business person. Looking back, I remembered that Meria had chewed up one of the babies with her shield while catching the cultists.

As we rode the mountain while chatting, her fever began to rise.
She took off the hooded hat she was wearing.

“Hey, Sifal. Come to think of it, isn’t the holy water we received the other day?”
“You mean holy water? I still cherish it.Hehe, it’s a good talisman. I feel that the holy power is protecting me.”

I think I heard that they have an expiration date.

“It was from church. I drank it the other day.”
“Drank?”

I asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I was tired and had no energy, but after drinking it, I felt energized. Since then, I’ve been overflowing with energy, so I’ve been able to work well?”
“Uh… Is that so.”
“Hmm. Is the effect good? I think I should drink it at this time.”

Meria seemed firmly caught up in her placebo effect her.

As a result of what she had heard from Elise, the holy water had no effect of curing people.

I thought there was no need to tell the truth, so I adapted the story appropriately and told the story of killing a cursed monster using holy water and coming back to life.

Unlike the two who couldn’t use it properly, I got the victory by fucking the kobold queen with it.

“Barbarian. Did that happen? If so, I’d better keep it.”
“No, I think they said there is an expiration date. Hasn’t the sacred energy already gone?”
“That, it can’t be! Why are you saying such harsh things, Barbarian!”

Copson hurriedly took out the holy water from his bosom, but he couldn’t feel even a hint of divine energy in that luxurious glass bottle.

It’s only natural that I’m not a religious person.

“Meria. Can you feel something?”
“Not at all?”
“It can’t be! Can’t you feel this holy energy!”

Who has seizures.

“Hey, hey. It seems that only you feel it. At this point, be a priest.”
“I can’t!”
“Don’t drink it long ago like me. It’s a waste.”

Copson, evidently disappointed, threw the holy water, now dead water, into his bosom. I was able to realize the lesson that those who can’t do anything can’t do it.

If I had drank like Meria, I would have felt better because of the placebo effect. In the end, Seong-soo only aroused sad feelings in him.

“I didn’t want to know the truth.”
“The truth is always bitter.”

Meria laughed and said teasingly.

“Cluck cluck. There’s nothing in the world that hasn’t been written.”

I also laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Anyway, it moved on.

The bustle that felt like a crowd faded the further you went into the mountains, and finally entered a clean area with no human footprints.

It was a dense forest in the first place, and there was also a lot of snow that narrowed the view. I couldn’t find anything popular. And monsters build their nests in places like this.

“Whoa. My fever rises after walking for a long time.”

Said Meria, who was walking, taking off her fur hat.
After walking for three hours, it’s time to take a break.

“Isn’t the shield heavy?”
“It’s okay to get used to it.”

Sit in a place where you can avoid your eyes, and take a tree bark and firewood. Then, he started a fire using the oil he had brought and a hwaseopja.

I took a break while warming up the beef jerky and biscuits I had brought there.

“Copson. Can you find anything nearby? I don’t think I can see it?”
“The snow hasn’t accumulated that much yet, so if you look for it, you’ll find it. Leave it to me.”
“This bastard is trustworthy.”
“I know.”

It feels like your body temperature has risen since you are currently climbing a mountain, but as soon as the sweat cools off, your body temperature drops rapidly. We ate hot food and warmed up by the fire.

“Let’s start slowly.”
“Draw.”
“Okay. Now let’s move in earnest.”

With his sword drawn, Copson strode forward, poking around here and there. There are a lot more monsters in the mountains than I thought. That’s why there must be many places where they nest.

Could it have been an hour or so?

“Look over there, barbarian.”

Looking where Copson pointed, he saw a secretly exposed crypt.

It looks small because of the piled up snow, but if you roughly clear the snow, it’s probably big enough to bend down and enter.

“What den? Goblin den?”
“It seems so… Let’s look around for a moment. There might be something useful.”

Having said that, Copson took out a lantern from his backpack and tried to light it.

“Hey, that’s been a while.”
“It’s useful.”
“Could that be when you went to the dungeon?”
“That’s right, Miss Meria.”

ㅡ Tuk-tuk.

I’m trying to start a fire with a flint, but it doesn’t seem to work.

I surrounded him with Meria and blocked the wind. After a while, the light came on. I can go in now

“I’ll go in first.”

Meria, who put her shield in front of her, grinned.

“This is good.”
“As expected, a tanker.”

We lowered our posture and followed Meria slowly inside.

Compared to the narrow entrance, the ceiling inside was quite high, so I could move around comfortably. As Copson raised his lantern, the interior began to become clear.

ㅡSlowly.

Holding our breath, we went straight through the sky and inspected the cave.
It wasn’t a very complicated structure, and it wasn’t long either.

It wasn’t long before the targets were spotted.

“…It’s a goblin.”

Meria whispered.

This was the den of goblins. There were a lot of things like dry reeds and bushes here and there, and the goblins who got into them were sleeping in the winter.

These guys…

Someone is punishing money and goes through hardships in the snowy mountains like this, but did you dare to go on a trip to the land of dreams with peace of mind?

Suddenly, I felt inhuman, and my murderous intent and anger began to soar.

This is the curse of winter.

Winter deprives people of composure and makes them cruel. Humans are creatures designed that way from the beginning. So winter is a cruel season. A barren season where you can’t survive unless you steal it…!

It seemed that Copson and Meria felt the same way.

The happy goblins’ resting place was quickly filled with the irrational anger of the three. Because of the overflowing murderous intent, it was mistaken for a moment that this place was a regular meeting place for serial killers.

ㅡkee…

A goblin turned over.

Maybe he felt the warmth from the orange light of the lantern.

ㅡTuk.

Copson sets the lantern on the ground as a signal,

ㅡSureung.

Each of us pulled out our knives, and needless to say, we mercilessly ripped off the heads of the goblins who were sleeping comfortably in a comfortable space like spam lids.

It was an extremely idyllic and quick job.

ㅡPoo-wook.

The sleepy goblin tried to resist as if he had come to his senses when his head his was cut in half, but he could n’t do anything because his head his had already been cut.

It was the moment when winter sleep turned into eternal sleep.

Anyway, it’s not too late to search the cave after killing all the goblins.

The goblins, noticing the commotion, tried to rise one by one, but by responding immediately, they were able to carry out the massacre without any problems.

Soon after, a sea of ​​blood was created.
The goblins, who looked a little younger than twenty, were massacred.

“It’s pitiful, but can you spare the baby?”

Meria, who had driven her sword into the stomach of the last adult goblin, looked at the baby goblins with pity and said,

“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them? We’ll go together when we go. They’ll be very sad if they’re the only ones left alive when everyone else in the family is dead.”

I have to save it anyway, but I don’t think it’s necessary to do that.

Because the bastard who ate its mother was not a good adult.

“Barbarians. Think about it carefully. Aren’t those bastards the future food for us anyway? When they grow up, we have to deal with the adventurers to find jobs.”
“Do you want to see this wicked bastard?”

Thinking about it, it felt like it was fair to let the pups live.

Even if you take it anyway, it will freeze in the middle, so you can’t even take it to the arena.
If so, let us have mercy.

“Yeah, well. Let’s save the bastard.”
“Aw, what a pity.”

Judging by how excitedly she was talking about the subject of exterminating the goblin family, Meria was also a thorough foreigner.

Well, it’s true that the kid looks pitiful, so I can’t help it.

It felt like seeing a little bit of pity that didn’t exist when I saw a cub that looked plump rather than a disgusting goblin.

I put away the whining babies in a corner and explored the goblin’s den.

“Meria. Do you have anything?”
“Wait. I’m looking for it.”

Looking at it, I saw a lot of nuts wrapped in hard shells, probably gathered as food for the winter. It’s a squirrel-like habit.

I took everything because I could eat it.

Selling this to a general store will make money.

“Oh. There’s a dagger, yes.”
“What’s the status?”
“Looks good. I’m guessing about 30 coppers.”
“Tsk.”

In the end, I couldn’t find anything worth the money.

What will happen if we catch the goblins during our time? I threw away the useless-looking club and came out with only what I needed to take.

As I was about to be blatantly disappointed, Copson said.

Hehe, but since you did good things, I think good things will happen.”

If slaughtering sleeping goblins was a good thing, it would be a good thing, but if it was judged as a true good deed and a good thing happened as a reward from a god, I strongly felt that the world would surely be wrong.

“Well, then let’s look for the next place. It would be great if we could find an Owl Bear at least.”
“What about an owl bear… Meria. Does an owl bear make sense?”
“Do you think it’ll be okay if I attack the sleeping one?”
“Damn it.”

Crazy guys.

Anyway, he led two idiots with foolish ideas to the snowy mountain. As a result, the eyes grew weaker and weaker, and finally stopped.

Copson was delighted that this hinted at something good ahead.

As the words proved, it wasn’t long before I was able to find more dens of various monsters. Turning into slayers in an instant, we drenched our knives in blood and took everything we could use.

“Hmm, but if you continue at this pace, it will be difficult to expect big profits.”

Certainly, the work is going well, but it feels like there is not much money to be made. This is why the kids are aiming for the Owl Bear.

It is not easy to earn money by working hard.

“Why? But I think this is good enough?”

Meria seemed satisfied.

“It’s not okay. At this rate, even if you do it until night, if you divide it per day, it’s 50 coppers.”
“That’s enough.”

Is it enough?

“Let’s increase the speed of movement first. If you kill all the monsters in the vicinity, you’ll be able to expect some income.”
“Let’s do it.”

As the saying goes, catching monsters is an adventurer’s daily life, what else could there be?

Following Copson down the mountain, he looked for a possible nesting site.

It was then that he encountered a group of unfamiliar adventurers.