The four of them had thoroughly searched through every shoddily built cabin made of rotting wood, haphazardly nailed together by rusted nails that poked through the planks of the goblin village. Goblins were, as it seemed to be true of this world, too, were among the dredges of society, unwanted by civilization for their primitive and barbaric lifestyle. That was evidenced in how they lived. They slept on cots made of dried vegetation and animal skins, cooked with banged up cauldrons pilfered or bought from traders who likely ripped them off, and had little in the way of belongings other than simple weapons like spears, bows, and wooden blanks as shields.

The party reconvened at the center of the village which appeared to be a communal square. Logs were arranged around fire pits and bonfires that have long gone cold. Kanae was able to picture many goblins, similar in appearance to Takumi, sitting and eating together.

"I believe your hypothesis may be true," Thedia said, picking up an empty wooden bowl with gruel and spoon still inside it. She whiffed its contents and recoiled from the foul scent. "There are signs that the goblins left in a hurry or were perhaps forced to leave. While they normally hunt in large groups, it is unlikely that an entire village would up and leave. Judging by the size of their rather… unkempt home, there are maybe between 30 to forty goblins."

Arenade pinched her nose and gagged. "Ugh… Why should we care about what happened to the goblins anyway? We're looking for Takumi and Ingrid."

"Because if the Outriders were out here, I'm willing to bet the missing goblins are related. Edina said that the Outriders had a habit of kidnapping people to work for them, so it's possible the goblins were all taken against their will… Speaking of which, where's Edina?" Kanae only counted three of them, and the squirreling was the odd one out.

They saw in her place a skeletal warrior, who traded searching glances with them.

"Where'd your master scamper off to?" Arenade kicked the risen monster a little too hard and knocked away the right leg bone.

The skeletal warrior pointed to the edge of the village to a house buttressed up against the palisade wall. It hopped on one leg to show them to a cabin built a little nicer and sturdier than the rest. Flowers were planted around the home, and raised garden beds filled with dirt had tiny sproutlings growing within them. Unlike the rest of the cabins in which the front and door faced into the center, this one had its entrance away and to the wall like it was an odd one out.

Inside was no different than the other cabins they had seen, a singular room with only a cot and some weapons hanging by hooks on the walls. However, a hole in the back of the room led to an underground basement too small for Thedia and the cow-tittied Arenade to fit through.

"Edina?" Kanae called out to the necromancer.

"Oh, sorry! I'm here!" Like a true squirrel, Edina crawled out of the hole, her brown fur coat and tail were dusted with a smatter of dust, smelling of flowers.

"Were you hoarding nuts for the winter down there or what?" Arenade asked.

"Hells, it might as well be! There's a whole other room down there that's practically an underground garden, growing mushrooms, flowers, and vegetables," Edina said, patting her satchel which was bulging with edible harvests she had stolen.

Once a klepto, always a klepto.

"Whatever goblin lives in this place— I gotta say— they have a real green thumb, and I don't mean the color of their skin," she added while crunching on a carrot.

In the end, they found little clues within the village. The only trail they had were the tracks leading outside, but—

"Get back here!" a gruff voice demanded.

"Fucking runt, you got no where left to go!" 

A commotion outside brought the four of them out to investigate.Two elves and a human, all wielding cudgels, were chasing a goblin boy into the village. He was too distracted glancing behind himself to notice and ran right into Kanae, the impact knocking only the goblin to his butt. The poor thing was scared out of his wits, round eyes were streaking with tears, and shaking so much his teeth were chattering.

"Oh? Well would ya look at that. We're getting a couple of ladies joining us tonight, boys!" one of the elves exclaimed, thumping his cudgel against the spiked shoulder plate over his right shoulder.

Immediately, Kanae and his party drew their weapons.

"Are you guys with the Outriders?" Kanae asked.

"Hah? Who's asking?" the same elf asked.

"A succubus— Charm!" Kanae's spell took hold of the three bandits in an instant. They straightened up from his full control of both mind and body. For now, they managed to avoid a fight. He extended a hand to the goblin who was still lying on his butt and trembling. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded slowly, but instead of taking Kanae's hand, he continued to stare like a deer in headlights.

"Careful," Arenade warned from behind. "He might throw you a shitty pick-up line!"

"What have goblins done to you that's so bad?" Kanae narrowed his eyes into judging slits.

"All I know is that these mongrels have no respect! They will literally hit on anyone with a vagina!" She stomped over to the goblin, startling him. "Look, you. Don't you dare make any obscene googly-eyes at us. Keep those thoughts to yourself—"

"Now, now. Let us save the hostilities for our real enemies, shall we? Companions should be more… intimate with each other." Thedia embraced Arenade from behind, sinking her clawed hands into the elven woman's immaculate breasts. The nails and fingers both sank deep into the bountiful mounds, causing her to shriek first in surprise, then breathe heavily from the stimulating assault that left her red in the face and legs trembling.

"You… damn cat… What are you… nnh… doing?" The priest was struggling and failing.

Kanae, Edina, and the goblin gulped hard. It wasn't until Thedia flicked her gaze to the goblin and bandits did Kanae regain his composure.

"Can you tell me why they were chasing you? Does it have anything to do with the village being missing?" Kanae knelt down to speak with the goblin at his height.

"Y-Yes…" he stammered. "Uhm… Who are you all?"

"We came out here to look for a friend. He's a goblin like you, named Takumi. Should also be with Ingrid, a human woman with an eyepatch. They were kidnapped about a day ago. Have you seen them?"

The goblin's demeanor lit up with recognition.

"You have seen them!" Kanae exclaimed.

"I have," he nodded. "They were brought in cages. The goblin Takumi was put to work. I don't know what happened to the woman."

"Put to work? Like the rest of the goblins were?" Edina asked, throwing her arms out to her sides to mean the missing village.

The goblin blushed even harder when Edina joined to question him. It was obvious that he was shy, or maybe even had a hard time speaking with the opposite sex. However, nothing about him lent credence to anything the others had bad mouthed about goblins. At least not yet.

"It happened a few weeks ago… a lot of scary men came and threatened us to help them. They've been putting us to work in the mines… If… If you aren't with them… Will you please help free my village? I don't know how much longer we can last. Please, help us!" he pleaded in earnest.

Thank goodness, Kanae thought. The goblin seemed to know where the others were.

When Kanae glanced in the direction of his party, Edina nodded. So did Thedia, who had let Arenade go and was amused by the scolding she was receiving from the priest.

"My name's Kanae. The ladies with me are Edina, Arenade, and Thedia. We'll help," Kanae said, much to the goblin's relief. "But before that…

The three bandits were standing around like idiots, minding their own business. They haven't moved an inch because Kanae ordered them to stand as still as statues.

 "I'll ask again: are you guys with the Outriders?" Kanae asked.

"Yeah, we are. Been with 'em and Bardell for maybe ten years now," the human man said.

Before Kanae could ask another question, it was Edina who threw the next one.

"Maybe you guys can tell us why Bardell's shacking up with the Knights of Colors?" Edina interrogated the elven man who appeared to be the leader of the trio.

"Bardell ain't told us much. Only that the Outriders'll be untouchable once he's knighted. Hey, wait a minute. You the pipsqueak, right? Big man's been heartbroken ever since you cut ties with us, and he sure as three hells ain't happy about it one bit—"

With every word that came out of the elf's mouth, Edina became increasingly more angry until she kicked him in the nuts. The elf dropped straight down, clutching his delicate sack. Meanwhile, Edina continued to kick him in various parts of the body.

"Edina!" It took Kanae pulling her away to get her to calm down.

"Sorry…" Edina was still shaking as she apologized. "I just… That bastard getting one of the greatest prestiges in the land after all he's done pisses me off to no end."

No kidding. Kanae had only just crossed paths with the Outriders, and they have been trying to screw with him in any way they could. For Edina, she was made to endure abuse from the syndicate for years, and there was no telling what else she hid in that small body of hers.

"Bardell will get what's coming. I promise you that. Until then, we need these guys to be able to walk so that they can lead us to the others," Kanae said.

"Wait!" the goblin exclaimed. "They might lead you on a path that could get you discovered. I know a safer way. I'm gifted with the Pathfinder class. Please, allow me."

"You're a Pathfinder? Well, that changes everything," Arenade expressed fascination for the class and directed everyone's attention to the circular sigil on the goblin's wrist.

"What's special about the pathfinder class?" Kanae asked.

"It's rare like my necromancer class," Edina chimed in. "Pathfinders aren't great fighters, but they have incredible survival skills and are quick to adapt to new places. Ever need someone to guide you through dangerous, uncharted territory? Count on a pathfinder."

They agreed to have the goblin lead the way and stripped the Outriders naked, tied them up, and left them in the village to deal with later. With the pathfinder goblin at the head of the group, they ventured into the forests again.