About three days earlier, Binkines's potential in magic became a hope for the villagers to achieve independence. They were able to clear the monsters’ nests around the village while Binkines healed them immediately. Despite all her success, Grandma Manma was worried about the reality behind Binkines's supernatural growth in magic. She was afraid that Binkines was still meeting the soldier she had healed few days earlier.

  Within the next two days, the villagers killed an old, solitary goblin. They ripped his body apart and made a spectacle of it to scare the other monsters and hopefully deter them from returning. After the villagers cleared the region of the harmful monsters, Binkines, Ryon, and Saint teamed up and investigated the old goblin’s cave.

  Walking inside, they found littered papers covered in an unknown language. The cave was filled with many strange items.

  “It looks like he killed many people,” Ryon said.

  “This is terrible,” Binkines commented.

  Saint, who had been observing, found a connection between the items, which deeply concerned him about how the villagers had killed the goblin. He heard a voice coming from deeper within the cave, but it was too dark to venture further. Thus, he took a candle and slowly walked toward the source of the voice.

  “Where are you going?” Binkines asked.

  Saint ignored her.

  “Are you still mad about the way they killed the goblin?” Ryon said. “It’s not her fault.”

  Suddenly, the candle fell, and Saint disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Binkines ran toward him with concern, taking another candle. When she reached him, she found him knelt down while the tears in his eyes were dropping, and he was holding something around his arms.

  Ryon followed them. “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s all your fault,” Saint said quietly, his teeth chattering with anger. Then he shouted, “This monster was still a living being, and you all killed him in a brutal way!”

  “What are you talking about?” Ryon said, grabbing Saint’s shirt.

  The thing Saint was holding was revealed: a sleeping baby. It started crying after all the shouting. When Binkines saw the baby, she screamed and eventually fainted.

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  “These… These monsters are becoming smarter,” Ryon said, his face etched with shock. "He was taking care of this baby."

  The kingdom deployed soldiers around the village to protect them after they discovered the cave. They learned that these goblins had developed their own language and become more emotionally intelligent by caring for the baby.

  That day, a crowd of goblins left the region, driven by fear for their own lives but filled with an indescribable anger. They remembered the villagers' scent and were waiting for the chance to return and seek revenge.

  Binkines was driven to insanity by the burden of causing the death of an defenseless creature. However, Ryon took care of her and protected her from blame. Meanwhile, the villagers had lost their strength again after losing a healer.

  The kingdom’s soldiers took care of the villagers and provided them with food for the next few days to avoid any encounters with the enraged goblins.

  Manma noticed the soldier suspiciously watching Binkines. Her worries were almost confirmed: Binkines had used something the soldier gave her—a kind of boost to level her up quickly and probably temporarily for the kingdom's sake.

  Back to the present day, the village awoke to the whistle of one of the village guards, Boris. It was a warning of impending danger that everyone understood except Zoeske.

  “Zoe,” Jacob said. “Wake up!”

  “What’s going on?” Zoeske asked.

  The house's door opened slowly, and someone stepped inside quietly. Jule and Alia went to him, while Jacob and Zoeske watched through the holes in the door.

  “You’re tall; I can’t see anything,” Zoeske whispered.

  Jacob knelt down to give Zoeske space to see outside. Zoeske placed his hands on Jacob’s head and pushed down to raise himself up.

  “What are you doing?” Jacob whispered, annoyed.

  “Who is this person?” Zoeske asked.

  “It’s Boris, one of the guard team my mom told you about earlier,” Jacob said. “The team that doesn’t participate in feeding the fungi.”

  “Oh, yes, I remember,” Zoeske said.

  “Let’s listen,” Jacob said.

  “What’s up, Boris?” Jule asked.

  “There are a few goblins camping near our village,” Boris said.

  “Goblins are camping?” Jule asked. “You mean nesting?”

  “No, they are camping,” Boris said. “There was a fire and a tent made of leather.”

  Alia and Jule exchanged concerned glances about the goblins' changed behavior.

  “Camping?” Jacob said.

  “In our area, goblins camp, but they don’t make fires,” Zoeske said. “Something is off.”

  Jacob stood and hit Zoeske’s face.

  “Ouch,” Zoeske said. “What’s wrong?”

  Jacob immediately realized that these goblins might have come all the way from the Abyss village, which suggested that something had happened there, and possibly something bad.

  “N… nothing,” Jacob said. (There must be a way to distract him from realizing that. It’s not a coincidence that these goblins are being seen around here for the first time. Jacha has chosen this location due to the lower presence of monsters, and the goblins we usually see here are completely animalistic,) he thought.

  Suddenly, Jule left the house with Boris, and they went to start an urgent investigating.