As the sun set and darkness fell, the screams from all directions became clearer.
Whether goblins were naturally active at night or affected by some drug, they seemed to move even more wildly after night came.
“Huuh…”
A rough breath escaped Juhwan without him realizing.
He stood firmly in front of the wagon, staring in all directions. After killing the last two goblins, there seemed to be none left nearby. They had probably gone to find easier prey.
Juhwan loosened his grip slightly. His hands were numb from swinging the axe without rest.
One of the adventurers, who had been keeping watch a short distance away, bent forward. He looked tired too.
Another adventurer, who had been resting against a building, walked up and tapped Juhwan’s shoulder.
“Your turn.”
“....”
Juhwan nodded and stepped back.
Juhwan and the five adventurers were taking turns resting. Since they didn’t know when goblins would appear, only one person rested at a time. Even that helped reduce fatigue compared to fighting alone.
The wagon stood beside the house.
When Juhwan opened the door, Lizzy quickly came to him. She handed him salted meat and a water flask.
Juhwan sat on the edge of the wagon and only took the water. He wasn’t hungry at all.
“Just one. You need to eat at least a bite.”
Lizzy held the meat out again with concern. Juhwan reluctantly took a piece and chewed it, glancing inside the wagon.
Dorothy was sleeping near the driver’s seat. She had spread out several wolf and rabbit furs and rolled around on them. Wrapped in Juhwan’s spare clothes like a blanket, her arms and legs were stretched in strange directions.
As he chewed the meat, Juhwan took Lizzy’s hand.
It was cold.
“Are you cold?”
Lizzy shook her head.
“No. I’m fine. What about you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Lizzy knelt and hugged him tightly. Even though she said she wasn’t cold, her body felt very cold.
Juhwan took out a piece of cloth from the wagon and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cloak. She had probably been saving it carefully—but this was the time to use it.
He hugged her once more, then closed the wagon door.
He didn’t lock it.
If something happened, they needed to be able to get out.
But it bothered him that the door could only be locked from the outside.
I need to fix that later.
When they escaped this danger, he would add a lock inside.
Juhwan placed his hand on the wagon door.
His family was inside.
“I must protect them.”
He closed his eyes for a moment—then opened them sharply.
Good. Ready.
He loosened his stiff shoulders and walked forward again. As he nodded, the next adventurer stepped back and went to rest near the house.
The house behind the wagon looked abandoned. The doors and windows had been boarded up.
Now they were open.
Juhwan and the adventurers had broken pieces off whenever they had time and made small fires around them. Thanks to that, they could fight even in the dark.
Juhwan had hoped goblins might fear fire—
But unfortunately, they didn’t.
Instead, the firelight attracted people.
From afar, about ten people were running toward them.
The person on the far left was suddenly grabbed by a goblin in the darkness. The goblin’s dark skin made it look like it appeared out of nowhere.
The others ran faster.
The group that had been moving together carefully scattered in panic, each running toward the fire.
No one tried to help the captured person.
One adventurer flinched and stepped forward.
“Hey, stop! Because of them—!”
The others stopped him.
Juhwan didn’t move.
He watched silently.
These were the people who left his family to die.
He had no intention of helping them.
Even now, the adventurers couldn’t be fully trusted.
Juhwan stepped back, closer to the wagon.
Today, his only duty—
“Protect my family.”
From goblins—
And from humans.
When the adventurers realized Juhwan was a fire mage, their attitude changed immediately. They became much more respectful.
They whispered among themselves, wondering why such a skilled mage was in a place like this.
Juhwan didn’t understand all the words—but he understood the meaning.
And then—
A thought crossed his mind.
What if they sold his information?
Lizzy had said the slave mark was just a mark—but what if powerful people had magic to control minds?
What if the adventurers captured his family as hostages?
His thoughts spiraled.
Because of Gus and the villagers, suspicion filled his mind.
“I can’t trust anyone in this world.”
The villagers reached the fire and begged.
“P-please save us.”
“Let us stay here.”
“Let us go inside that house.”
Some glanced at Juhwan—but no one approached him.
“######!”
“No!”
“You’ll bring goblins here!”
The adventurers pushed them away, cursing.
One villager shouted,
“We paid you!”
They raised farming tools and approached as if ready to fight.
Some men slipped closer to the house—and the wagon.
Juhwan stepped in front of them without a word.
“What—what is this?!”
Before the man could finish speaking—
Juhwan punched him hard in the face.
The man’s head snapped to the side, and he fell to the ground.
Juhwan looked at the others and spoke coldly.
“Fight. We don’t need people who don’t fight.”
Silence fell.
One adventurer smirked.
“The mage is right. If you won’t fight, get lost.”
The villagers went quiet.
Then—
Two goblins appeared in the distance.
They spotted a woman and ran toward her, making strange noises.
Juhwan pushed the nearby villagers away from the wagon and rushed forward.
Thud! Thud!
The goblins’ heads were crushed one after another.
One was clearly dead—
But the other still had its eyes open.
Juhwan swung his axe again and cut off its neck.
He didn’t even look at the body.
He returned quickly to the wagon.
The villagers slowly backed away from him, gathering on the opposite side.
Soon, no one stood near the wagon.
Juhwan stood alone in an empty circle.
He looked into the darkness again.
After that, villagers began arriving one by one, or in small groups.
By dawn, many survivors had gathered there.
Juhwan’s earlier threat seemed to have worked. The villagers began fighting too, using farming tools.
Even some women joined.
Maybe because there were more people now—they had gained some courage.
More goblins followed the women.
The fights became more frequent—
But because there were more people, Juhwan and the adventurers could rest a little more.
That was a relief.
By morning and then noon, the number of goblins clearly decreased.
Almost none were coming anymore.
Most of the women had gathered here, so there were probably very few goblins left in the village.
Can we leave now?
Even at dawn, the sky was still red in the distance. The walls were still burning.
But maybe some areas had weakened flames.
Juhwan looked at his hand.
If he used all his mana, maybe he could burn through part of the fire and create a path.
The problem is running out of mana…
But now—
There were fewer goblins.
Maybe it was worth it.
People were sitting on the ground, exhausted.
Juhwan glanced at them, then walked to the adventurers and spoke quietly.
“I’m leaving. Thanks for fighting with me.”
“What?”
“You’re going?”
“You should stay a bit longer—”
Juhwan shook his head.
“No. I’m leaving now.”
The adventurers looked disappointed—but didn’t stop him.
They would probably stay and collect their reward.
As Juhwan turned toward the wagon, one adventurer—the one he saved earlier—came closer and spoke quietly.
“Go to ## after leaving. Before the nobles ##, you should ##. If you register as an adventurer, you’ll get protection.”
Juhwan didn’t understand everything.
From inside the wagon, Lizzy tapped the wood and nodded. She seemed to understand.
Juhwan held out his hand.
The adventurer shook it.
“Thank you.”
The adventurer smiled.
“No, thank you. I survived because of you.”
Juhwan untied the horse and climbed onto the driver’s seat.
At that moment—
The chief’s wife ran over, screaming.
“You thief! That’s ours!”
Crying, she grabbed the back of the wagon and opened the door.
Juhwan jumped down—
But he didn’t need to interfere.
Something jumped out from inside.
“I’m bored…”
Dorothy hugged Oz and rolled around inside the wagon.
At first, she had been scared—
But now she wasn’t scared at all.
Her dad was strong.
The monsters weren’t coming anymore.
She was just bored.
She played with Oz and her doll, even pretending they were getting married.
When she needed to pee, she used a wooden bucket—but it was a bit embarrassing.
Still—
Bored.
Then—
The door suddenly opened.
Dorothy looked up in surprise.
A strange-looking woman stood there—her face swollen on one side.
Oh… the chief’s wife.
The woman shouted angrily and tried to come inside.
She looked like a monster.
Dorothy felt scared.
At that moment—
Oz suddenly stood up.
His ears perked up.
He dashed across the wagon—
Jumped—
And stuck to the woman’s face.
Then—
He started kicking her rapidly.
“Ah!”
Dorothy’s eyes widened.
The woman’s face turned red. Blood came from her mouth.
She fell backward—
But Oz didn’t stop kicking.
Dorothy ran forward and saw her dad standing outside.
He looked troubled—but didn’t stop Oz.
Seriously… adults!
Dorothy carefully climbed down from the wagon.
She ran to Oz and grabbed him.
Oz suddenly became quiet.
Holding him, she spoke seriously.
“Oz! Are you going to be a bad rabbit?”
Hitting people was wrong.
Her parents had told her that.
Even if she was hit before—
That didn’t make it right.
“Oz, you’re still a baby, so you don’t know—but you mustn’t hit people.”
She sighed.
She had so much to teach.
“Say ‘I’m sorry.’ When you do something bad, you say ‘I’m sorry.’”
She held Oz toward the chief’s wife.
But Oz didn’t understand.
He just stared blankly.
“Dorothy is really busy…”
Since Oz couldn’t apologize—
Dorothy decided to do it herself.
She stepped closer to the woman, bowed her head, and said—
“Pii!”
Someone laughed.
Dorothy looked up.
People were laughing.
Even her dad.
“Why are you laughing?”
She tilted her head.
Then she explained seriously—
“Oz is a rabbit, so he only knows rabbit language. So Dorothy has to speak rabbit language too.”
Lizzy started laughing inside the wagon.
Dorothy stomped her feet angrily.
These adults… really!