Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 125 Hunter? Prey?

It was a weasel. She had transformed into a human and was spying among the crowd. Gebu had expected this; these beast-transformers weren't stupid and would definitely send someone to monitor them.

"Did you come to check if we brought any gold? Don't worry, 5000 gold coins are all in the chest."

"...Hehehe, you didn't say you were bringing a squad of soldiers," the weasel replied in its mind.

Hey, this guy figured it out in an instant. Could it be that he's been exposed to the teleportation spell before? Gebu thought to himself.

"I'm not stupid. If I come to ransom them alone, I'll probably become a hostage myself. No matter how many soldiers come, if you keep your promise, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"We need to change our meeting point. Follow me," the weasel replied, then waved a tuft of yellow fur in Gebu's hand before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Geb wanted to send a protest message, but the woman had already disappeared.

Hey, why didn't you say so earlier... Changing locations at the last minute is suspicious beyond suspicious.

The group set off to leave the town, and Gebu secretly gave a brief talk to the swordswoman.

"This is clearly a trap. Do we really have to go?" the swordswoman asked.

"It's definitely a trap. If I were them, I would have done the same," Geb said. "But I know how many of them there are. There are less than ten of them in total. We can't beat these soldiers, so we don't need to be too afraid."

"Are you sure these soldiers will fight for us? They didn't expect to be fighting a bunch of beastmen. What if they run away?"

"I have a way, I'm not afraid," Gebu said casually.

The swordswoman interrupted, "...I'll let you go about the rest, but you can't keep me in suspense about this. Battles aren't child's play; you must tell me the whole plan. I don't like surprises and unexpected events."

Seeing that the swordswoman was resolute, Gebu had no choice but to say:

"Alright... I'll explain as we walk."

Geb led the way, using his goblin-like keen sense of smell and the marks (fur, strips of cloth, etc.) deliberately left by weasels along the roadside to guide the group forward.

The group moved from the main road to the country lanes, then into the forest trails, which became narrower and narrower.

The lead-filled boxes were placed on top of the siege crossbows and behind the donkey cart.

"Here's my plan, Swordswoman," Geb transmitted. "These beastmen definitely won't play along. They'll definitely ambush us... but with limited manpower, they'll focus on the most important things—"

"Me?" the swordswoman replied.

"Bullshit—you have the nerve to say that. It's gold! When we get to the handover point, we'll take a few people to pick up Dulin, leaving the 'gold' with the main force. If you were a beastman, which side would you choose to attack?"

"If that's the case, then they must be going to get the gold."

"In that case, most of the beastmen will definitely be fighting the main force—the two of us won't encounter many. As long as we defeat these few guys, get the manticore's spoils, and rescue Dulin, we can leave."

"Then aren't these soldiers really unlucky?" The woman replied, then immediately realized, "Damn it, you don't care about those soldiers' lives at all, do you?"

"I've got it!" Gebu exclaimed. "No matter who wins or loses, they'll fight to the death, leaving them unable to hunt us down. If the soldiers win, we'll go back and pretend to be heroes, saving them; if the beastmen win—we'll just give them 50 kilograms of lead, it won't hurt."

"You... I give up. I give up completely. You're really not human." The swordswoman turned and glanced at Gebu, the halfling splitting into an innocent smile.

The female knight shuddered.

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After walking for more than two hours, the caravan had completely left the edge of the human settlement and entered the hills. The road became extremely rugged, making it very difficult for the horses and donkey carts to move.

The forest obstructed the soldiers' view; the wind rustled the grass, and the shadows of the trees flickered, causing unease among the troops.

Sheriff Matthew frowned and rode his horse to Gebu's side.

"Halfling, where are you taking us? Do you even know the location of that manticore?"

"Be patient. Manticores like to nest deep in the forest, so they're not easy to find," Gebu reassured him. "We'll be there soon. Don't rush."

"If there's still no sign of the manticore by noon, we'll head back."

"No problem, no problem," Geb replied casually.

The reason for this is that the weasel's tracks are becoming more and more dense, and the scent is getting stronger, indicating that it is very close to us.

Sure enough, in less than twenty minutes, the woods opened up, revealing a strange rocky landscape.

Red boulders sit in the low-lying areas of the hills, forming narrow canyons between them. From a distance, the canyons meander and twist, with the narrowest part resembling a sliver of sky.

There's something ahead!

A soldier pointed.

Gebu looked in the direction the soldier was pointing, and his heart sank.

It was a humanoid figure lying in the open space at the entrance of the canyon, with several crows perched on it, pecking at its flesh.

dead body?

Gebu quickly signaled the convoy to stop and sent his magical pets to scout overhead—after several minutes of reconnaissance, Gebu found no ambush and saw no trace of the weasels.

Gebu let the big-eyed raven land nearby to observe. It was the corpse of a beastman, seemingly a half-dog-man. The creature had died a gruesome death, with a deep claw mark running from its left shoulder to its right thigh—its body was almost torn in two, its spine and internal organs exposed, ripped to shreds by the raven.

Was this killed by the manticore? Gebu was somewhat surprised.

The swordswoman looked at Gebu, who nodded. The female knight dismounted and carefully walked to the corpse.

"Don't move, just look," Geb reminded her.

The woman took Gebu's advice and kept a certain distance.

"It was the manticore that did it," the female knight shouted to everyone.

"Obak bless!" one of the soldiers exclaimed.

"Don't panic! What are you afraid of!" Sheriff Matthew scolded nervously. "The manticore is nearby?"

Gebu thought for a moment. Although there was a corpse here, they were brought here by the weasel, which meant that the beastmen were still alive.

Perhaps they were badly beaten by the manticore and their bodies were left uncollected? Or are they just left here to scare us?

“Once we enter that canyon, the siege crossbows won’t be effective,” Matthew said. “This place is more open, and I’d rather fight the manticore here than in there—there’s nowhere to hide.”

Geb thought to himself: You're convenient for fighting, but the manticore is even more convenient... This sheriff knows nothing. To fight flying creatures, you definitely have to be in a place where they can't fly around freely—

However, they didn't come here to fight the manticore. So it doesn't matter.

"If you're too scared to go in, set things up here. The Rose Knight and I will take two people and go in on foot to lure the manticore out."

"Are you giving us orders?" Matthew asked the halfling with a hint of disdain.

"This is the Rose Knight's intention," Geb said. "This is the best way."

The sheriff thought for a moment and then summoned two lightly armed knights as attendants.

"You two go in with them. Remember, don't linger in the fight. Lure the manticore out."

The two lightly armed knights looked hesitant. Gebu added from the side, "Don't worry, it's safer to go in with us than outside. Inside, the manticore can't operate freely; like an eagle catching a rabbit, it will drive us to open ground before making its move."

After hearing Gebu's words, the two felt somewhat relieved.

"Alright, you're number one, you're number two. Sword... Rose Knight, let's go!"

The main force began unloading and assembling siege crossbows in the open area before the canyon entrance, and preparing nets, traps, and other equipment.

The four of them—the swordswoman, Gebu, and two lightly armed knights, Number One and Number Two—advanced into the canyon.

"Are you ready?" the swordswoman asked Gebu. "This isn't about beating up kobolds."

"I've been preparing for days, and I haven't slept much at all—" Gebu opened his dimensional bag, revealing a bunch of white things.

"What is this?" the swordswoman asked curiously.

"What is this? This is 'written magic'."

The halfling winked at the swordswoman and gave her a smug smile.

Yes, ever since the plan began, Geb has been doing one thing every night, a traditional skill of a qualified wizard:

Copy! Roll! Axe!