Just like in the past few days, I sent Usagi to lure the goblins with her. However, when she arrived at the cave, she didn't find any living creatures there. Despite trusting her, I decided to go and see for myself.

Upon reaching the cave entrance, I noticed many footprints, but I couldn't distinguish their direction. Most of them, however, were facing inward. To make sure, I quickly glanced around the cave entrance.

As it was an underground cave with an entrance in a small mound, it didn't take long to check, but there was no sign of life wherever I looked.

Standing in front of the cave entrance, I tried to investigate, but I found nothing.

"It seems I have no choice but to go in," I muttered.

According to Usagi, there were still many goblins here yesterday, so it's impossible for all of them to have disappeared out of nowhere.

While I was thinking, Rin pulled my hand, wanting to enter the cave.

"Not yet, let's wait for Hagu to finish exploring the surroundings," I said. "We can't underestimate these goblins. Even though they seem dumb, they can set up ambushes."

Taking a tactical retreat, we moved away from the cave and waited a few minutes for Hagu to return. Even after searching, he didn't find a single goblin nearby.

With no more clues and a low chance of it being an ambush, we returned to the cave entrance. But before entering, I had Hagu explore the surroundings again, but this time I had him go further.

With him in the sky, the members exploring the cave were Rin, Kurama, Usagi, Kuku, Han, and me.

"Han!"

At my call, Han stood ready in front of me.

"Go in and check for any danger."

Following my orders, she entered the cave without hesitation and soon disappeared into the darkness, only to return minutes later. Apparently, even inside, there were no goblins.

With safety assured, I entered the cave followed by the others. As we proceeded, the passage led us deeper underground, and everything became increasingly darker. Fortunately, I had Night Vision, so I had no trouble seeing the surroundings.

As we passed through a narrow corridor a few meters long, we came across a massive interior space.

"Wow, this is bigger than I expected," I murmured in surprise. "I'm sure this place could easily accommodate a few thousand people if they don't mind being close to each other."

Considering the number of goblins that chased Usagi, I had already imagined that this place was large, but it was even bigger than I expected. Since the entrance was on higher ground and protected from rain, the area was relatively dry.

Come to think of it, since I arrived here, I haven't witnessed heavy rain, only some short drizzles.

With no one inside the cave to bother us, we examined every corner of the grand hall. Just like in the wolf cave, we found some sturdy-looking bones and plenty of salt rocks on the walls and floor.

Even though I had already collected some when we killed the wolves, since I have an apparently unlimited inventory, I didn't hesitate to gather a bit more. I chose the relatively clean rocks from the higher places and stored them.

In addition to the hall after the entrance, there were also several tunnels, making the place look like an anthill. According to Han, these tunnels weren't very deep, and one of them was another entrance. However, as there could still be goblins, we needed to explore them.

"There are thirteen tunnels in total, and if we all go together, it will take too long," I said. "Let's split up, and each one will take a tunnel."

"For safety, if you spot a large number of enemies, retreat and let me know." Looking specifically at Rin, I asked, "Understood?"

Although I addressed her directly, Rin was calm and simply nodded. Her way of acting gave me the certainty that she wouldn't follow my orders.

She really doesn't change.

"Fuu~~" I sighed, "Alright, let's begin."

Dividing ourselves, Han, Usagi, Kurama, Rin, Kuku, and I each went to a tunnel.

Needless to say, as it was a goblin dwelling, the place was very smelly, so it wasn't a pleasant exploration. My goal was to spend as little time as possible inside.

Fortunately, as Han had said, the tunnels weren't deep, and we were able to explore them fairly quickly. While Usagi took care of three, the rest of us each dealt with two tunnels, and in most of them, we only found salt and bones.

The only exception was one of the tunnels explored by Usagi. This tunnel was another entrance in a location distant from the first entrance. This was the other entrance that Han had mentioned.

As we exited the cave through the back passage, I immediately called Hagu. Following my instructions, he had already explored a vast area around the cave. As a result, whether inside or in the vicinity, there was not a living soul nearby.

Luckily, unlike the passage we entered through, the one we exited from had footprints that pointed in a single direction. It seemed like a huge caravan had left the cave, leaving behind a trail of destroyed vegetation.

Based on my knowledge of goblins, they don't have a habit of migrating. They only leave in search of a new home when a place becomes too crowded. The question is, all the goblins vanished from the cave.

"That can only mean one thing, the goblins sensed danger and fled," I murmured. "But that's strange, they're usually willing to fight to the bitter end."

Whether they fled or not, they left a huge trail for us to follow.

Having Hagu follow the trail from the sky, I started researching in the glossary about goblins. I wanted to find out if there was any reason for them to abandon their dwellings.

As soon as I started the search, I found the reason in no time. Apparently, unlike goblins in general, most goblin kings and queens have cowardly tendencies. Due to being more intelligent, they choose to flee when they believe their lives are in danger. And obviously, as rulers, they flee with all their subjects.

In short, there is a king or a queen in that colony, or it could be both. When I tried to gather more information from Han, she couldn't express herself well, but I still managed to get some things. It seems that there are indeed two beings that rule the entire colony, a male and a female. Undoubtedly, a king and a queen.

While I was thinking about how to deal with the fleeing goblins, a bold idea came to my mind. Since my tamer skill recently reached level 8, there are two available slots for monsters. Initially, they were supposed to be for two more birds, but I changed my mind. I will reserve one of them exclusively for the queen.

Although I'm not certain, I believe there's a possibility that, after being tamed by me, she can still control the goblins. If that's possible, I could have more monsters at my disposal. Choosing the queen as my first option instead of the king is not a matter of personal preference; it's just a precaution. Since both the king and the queen can control the goblins, I'm afraid that if it's the king, he might have some influence over Rin. 

Well, as goblins are lustful by nature, I don't want to capture the king just to kill him later.

As for the other vacant slot, after witnessing how useful Hagu is, I plan to take him with me when I leave the forest and leave another one of his kind here to assist the exploration group that will stay behind.

While waiting, it didn't take long for Hagu to return, confirming what I already knew: the goblins had fled. Although they had moved quite a distance, they didn't walk in a straight line, which made it easier for us to pursue them.

With Hagu leading the way, we followed closely as we cut through the forest. I, Han, and Rin rode on Kurama's back while Kuku and Usagi ran behind. Although Kuku had great endurance, she was too slow, so we went ahead while she followed behind.

After about two hours of fast-paced pursuit, we managed to spot them in the distance.

They were wandering aimlessly through the forest while seeming to protect something in the center of the crowd, probably the king and queen.

Trying to get an idea of their numbers, I climbed a tree, and as I did so, I was astonished. Their numbers were astronomical. There were at least three thousand of them.

Even with the previous plan of having Rin tank using my breastplate, facing all of them would be suicide since her endurance has its limits. But that didn't really matter because killing them all went against my plans.

Regarding this plan, Han was an important piece. Just as Rin could infiltrate for a surprise attack with her comrades, Han should be capable of that as well. But unlike Rin, all she had to do was infiltrate among the goblins and reach the leaders to make things easier for me.

Following my orders, Han jumped off Kurama's back and ran to find the goblins while we remained hidden.

In the worst case scenario, Han could be killed, but since I'm not attached to her, I didn't worry too much. When she arrived there, despite the looks she received, the goblins didn't do anything to her, allowing her to blend in quickly.

This part turned out to be quite easy. Once it was done, the next objective was to communicate and find out why the goblins were fleeing. Although the ruling goblins abandoned their home out of cowardice, we didn't leave any goblin alive to return and tell the story. That being said, I couldn't understand the reason for their escape.

Communication took quite a while since the skill to The One Who Understands Animals wasn't effective from a distance. Because of that, everything depended on the connection between me and Han created through Monster Tamer skill.

According to what Han conveyed to me, the goblins were fleeing from a creature that, whenever it appeared before them, made several of them disappear.

This creature was a small quadruped with large ears. There was no doubt they were referring to Usagi. If this were true, we could take advantage of their cowardice.

Changing the plan I had in mind, I used my magic buff on Usagi to enhance her magical abilities and sent her into action.

Following my instructions, Usagi leaped among the trees and approached the two leaders, attacking the crowd with an ice horn.

Although it was a simple attack that only killed one goblin, the cry of the king and queen was enough to throw everyone into a frenzy.

Initially, my plan was to have Han provoke the king and queen so that they would send pursuers after Usagi. When they did that, we would go after the pursuing group and eliminate them as usual.

I planned to follow the king and queen while gradually reducing the number of goblins. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, Kurama could snatch the queen, and I would tame her.

Of course, I expected this pursuit to last a few days, but with us maintaining a certain distance and Hagu keeping watch from above, I was confident that we could succeed.

That being said, I didn't expect the king and queen to be so cowardly.

After the cry of their rulers, apparently an order to attack, almost all the goblins chased after Usagi, leaving only about a hundred of them behind.

Even though they were evolved goblins, dealing with this number was like cutting butter with a hot knife for us.

With such a good opportunity presenting itself so early, I ordered Usagi to flee deep into the forest. As always, she maintained a reasonable speed so that her pursuers wouldn't lose sight of her.

Meanwhile, the king and queen were hastily fleeing in the opposite direction of Usagi, accompanied by about a hundred goblins.

"It seems like I really entered 'easy mode'..." I murmured. "But well, as the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

Climbing onto Kurama's back, I took Rin's hand and helped her up.

"Let's go after them!"