Chapter 25: Slow and Steady (Part 2)
The Village — Three Days Later
It was morning at the village.
Theo was currently walking together with David and one particular villager: Shum, the village’s old drunk. Normally, the bald old man always looked tipsy, filthy, and weirdly joyful. Today, however, he looked completely sober, freshly bathed, and extremely cranky.
“Vice-Chief!” Shum complained loudly. “You said you’d replace the buffalo moonshine that you use for the battle!”
He took a deep breath like a man carrying unimaginable suffering.
“It’s been a whole week and I still haven’t seen a single drop of alcohol!” he continued. “Everyone’s too busy now! Nobody got time to help me make moonshine anymore! And look at me!”
Shum gestured dramatically toward himself.
“I even bathe regularly now because I got nothing else to do!” the old man complained bitterly.
“Oh my, that is indeed a very troubling situation,” Theo replied with completely fake sincerity.
Then Theo placed a reassuring hand on Shum’s shoulder.
“But we are currently facing unprecedented circumstances,” Theo said calmly. “Please be patient. Before you realize it, things will return to normal again.”
Shum looked directly into Theo’s serious, dependable expression.
“…Thank you, Vice-Chief,” Shum said, visibly reassured now. “Thank you for always being so caring.”
After that, they parted ways.
“Don’t we still have manpower problems even after clearing the goblins?” David asked casually. “We still gotta build the earth mounds on the other side of the village.”
“We do,” Theo replied immediately.
“Then things ain’t exactly goin’ back to normal for Shum anytime soon, huh?” David muttered.
“Nope. Not for Shum,” Theo answered casually. “But people always feel better after hearing someone say things will be fine. Politicians back in my world said that all the time.”
Eventually, Theo and David arrived at the northern entrance of the village. Tara, Captain Matheo, and a fully prepared squad were already waiting there.
“Well,” David said while looking toward the forest ahead, “today ain’t the day for people politics, boss.”
A small grin appeared on his face.
“Today’s the day we finish our business with the goblins.”
---
Goblin Lair Entrance — Moments Later
After harassing the goblin lair with nonstop noise for three straight days, Theo and the others now stood gathered in front of the cave entrance.
The setup around the cave had completely changed compared to before.
Fifteen spearmen led by Captain Matheo stood ready with shields, spears, and armor. Nearby, Tara and her elf scout squad waited quietly with bows in hand. Several strong-looking villagers without weapons also stood among them.
And of course, David stood there with his sling already prepared.
This was the assault.
Since the goblin general refused to come outside no matter how much they provoked him–even after using Erika's cry–they had no choice but to proceed with Plan B and enter the cave themselves.
Of course, they didn’t come unprepared.
For the last three days, they had continuously harassed the cave with noise, making sure the goblins inside never got proper rest. Meanwhile, the villagers themselves stayed fresh by taking shifts.
And to make things even worse for the goblins, the slit drum harassment had suddenly stopped two hours ago. Meaning the goblins were currently experiencing their first real sleep in three straight days.
“Boss, has it been two hours?” David asked quietly.
Theo opened his status window to check. Yes, his system interface actually had a built-in clock, a surprisingly useful feature that was never mentioned in isekai stories.
“Yes,” Theo replied as he closed the window again. “Exactly two hours.”
“Good,” David muttered with satisfaction. “Should be damn near impossible for ‘em to resist sleepin’ by now.”
He looked toward the cave entrance.
“Let’s begin the assault.”
“Good luck, y’all,” Greta said while standing by with her own men alongside several demon hounds and their handlers. “I’ll stay out here and guard the entrance.”
---
A moment later, the assault team entered the dungeon silently.
Tara’s elf scouts moved ahead first without making even the slightest noise. They were the only ones capable of navigating the darkness without torches.
Just as intended, they soon found a goblin guard stationed near one of the cave corners. Sleeping. Completely knocked out from exhaustion.
Tara quietly approached the goblin.
Stab
With one swift and precise movement, she drove her knife upward through the underside of the goblin’s jaw, angling directly into the brain. The goblin died without even opening its eyes. No struggle, no scream. The stealth approach remained intact as the scouts continued screening the paths ahead.
Meanwhile, the main squad followed from quite a distance behind them. Fifteen spearmen marched carefully alongside several unarmed villagers carrying torches. These villagers were porters tasked with evacuating the captives once they were found.
Unlike the elves, humans couldn’t navigate pitch darkness inside the cave. The torches were necessary. Still, the distance between the main squad and the scouts was large enough that the light wouldn’t immediately expose the stealth team ahead.
“Thanks for agreein’ to come down here with us, boss,” David whispered to Theo.
“That’s fine,” Theo whispered back. “You were right after all. If these men somehow need to extinguish their torches, I’m the only one who can relight them without making noises.”
A brief pause followed.
“Besides,” Theo whispered carefully, doesn’t want other to hear, “I still need a fresh corpse anyway.”
He glanced at the villagers ahead.
“Won’t be fresh anymore if I just wait outside.”
For many minutes, they continued moving through the cave without making unnecessary noise. Occasionally, they would come across dead goblins lying on the ground. The result of the scout team’s work.
Then one of the elf scouts suddenly returned and approached the main squad.
“We found the captives’ cages,” the scout whispered to Captain Matheo, who was leading the spearmen at the front.
“Lead the way,” Matheo whispered back immediately.
The group followed her deeper into the cave, navigating through several forked tunnels before finally arriving at a wooden barricade built across one of the cave passages.
Several dead goblin guards already lay around it, with Tara and another scout already waiting nearby.
Captain Matheo quietly approached them.
“Chief,” he whispered. “Inside?”
Tara nodded once.
Matheo carefully brought his torch closer toward the barricade. Only when the firelight reached the other side did he finally see them clearly. The captives. Nine women lay sleeping on the ground completely naked, their bodies dirty and covered with bruises.
“I already sedated all of them,” Tara said softly while casually showing the blowpipe in her hand.
Matheo nodded after noticing several sleeping darts still stuck on the captives’ skin.
Without wasting time, he cut the rope binding the wooden gate shut and signaled his men to begin working.
The spearmen immediately spread out and secured the surrounding cave passages, making sure nothing approached from deeper inside the dungeon. Meanwhile, the unarmed porters carefully lifted the unconscious captives onto their shoulders and began carrying them outside.
From the beginning, this had been the plan. It was safer this way. If the captives woke up frightened during the rescue, even a single scream could risk waking up the goblins deeper inside the cave.
As the five porters carried half of the captives outside, everyone else stayed behind on standby, waiting for them to come back.
“Boss… thank you so much,” David whispered quietly to Theo. “Your plan took time, but it made rescuin’ these poor ladies way easier than expected.”
“It’s also because our people are actually very good at stealth,” Theo whispered back while glancing toward Tara. “And I’m not just talking about the elf scouts. Even Matheo’s squad and the porters move quietly.”
“We’re scavengers, remember” Tara replied smugly. “Sneaking through ruins and dungeons while avoiding fights is the most basic thing we do.”
Then one of the scouts who had gone farther ahead suddenly returned.
“Report,” the scout whispered. “We found the throne chamber ahead.”
“How is it?” David asked immediately.
“Roughly 20-25 goblins and eight hobgoblins,” the scout answered quietly. “One goblin general and one goblin shaman… all of them asleep.”
A small smile appeared on Theo, David, and Tara’s faces. Everything had gone exactly the way they hoped.
“How’s the lighting inside?” David asked. “Pitch black too?”
The scout shook her head.
“No, sir. There’s natural light coming through cracks in the ceiling. Not bright, but enough for humans to see.”
David smiled. “Things just keep gettin’ better. We can bring the spearmen in too then.”
At that moment, the porters finally returned after safely delivering the first group of captives outside. Without wasting time, they immediately lifted the remaining unconscious women and carried them out as well.
“Extraction complete, I guess,” Theo muttered satisfiedly while watching the porters carry away the final captives. “Sleeping beauties secured. Now we just need to slay the sleeping beasts.”
---
Throne Chamber
The throne chamber looked pathetic. Goblins and hobgoblins were sprawled across almost every part of the floor, sleeping wherever they had collapsed from exhaustion.
At the center of the chamber stood a crude throne-like stone pedestal covered with animal skins. The goblin general slept there. Beside him, the goblin shaman also slept while clutching his staff tightly even in his sleep.
This was the first proper rest the goblins had gotten in three straight days. The nonstop slit drum harassment had completely destroyed them mentally. If disciplined humans would struggle staying awake under that kind of exhaustion, goblins with no discipline stood no chance.
Stab!
The outermost goblin died in its sleep as an elf scout buried a knife into the base of its skull.
Stab.
Another goblin nearby died the same way.
Then another.
And another.
Tara, Matheo, and their squads quietly spread throughout the chamber, delivering silent killing blows one after another while steadily advancing toward the throne.
Meanwhile, Theo and David could only watch and follow from the back. The two humans from Earth couldn’t take their eyes off the figure sitting on the throne ahead of them.
The goblin general. Its body was tall and slender for a goblin, with long limbs, green skin, a pointed nose, and a sharp chin that made its face look even more grotesque. Ugly, but unmistakably dangerous.
Next to the throne, another goblin slept while clutching a wooden staff against its chest. Unlike the others, this one wore a crude robe decorated with bones and charms. It was the goblin shaman.
So far, everything was going perfectly. One by one, the scouts and spearmen silently killed the sleeping goblins and hobgoblins without making a sound. Every step brought them closer to the throne.
At this rate, they might even kill the goblin general and shaman without ever needing a real fight. The perfect outcome.
But then—
“Ara ara, are you here to rescue me?” A soft cheerful female voice suddenly echoed through the throne chamber.
Everyone froze. Their heads immediately snapped toward the source of the voice, to the throne.
A female elf was standing there smiling at them. Naked, with a metal chain wrapped around her neck, the other end connected directly to the throne itself.
But that wasn’t what made everyone’s blood run cold.
It was the goblin general beside her. Its eyes were now open. Bloodshot red eyes stared directly toward them, freshly awakened by the elf woman’s voice.
"Ah... we're fucked," Theo muttered.
The goblin general then opened its mouth.
“KRRREEEEAAAAAGHHH!!”