“So do you think you will need the four days?” Chelsey asked me as we were walking back from the guild.
I pull the parchment back out and look over it again. “If it’s just eight goblins, It will be just fine.” After confirming how many that were spotted on the parchment, I turned it over to look at the map to the dungeon. “I don’t really know how to read this map, how long will it take to get to the dungeon from here?”. I hand over the parchment over to Chelsey so she can have a better look at it.
“Oh, this isn’t too far. If I remember correctly there was a fork in the path before the homestretch to Trennent and if you take a right there instead It’ll be about a half days worth of travel time to arrive there.” While she was talking she trailed her finger along the path I will be taking and after she finished, she handed it back over.
I take it from her hands and put it back away “When were you guys leaving again?”.
Chelsey places a finger upon her lip “Well with all things considered, we are expected to leave for the capital on the second morning from now.”.
With hearing that I made sure in my mind to get this evaluation quest done as fast as possible so I could thank Chelsey and give them a goodbye before they head up to the capital.
There was a short walk of silence as we made our way back to the inn and when it was in view again Chelsey asked “If you have any questions about anything before you leave, feel free to ask!”
While shaking my head to her I claim “No, if anything I’ll leave right away. If it’s just goblins, I fought some goblin shamans in that forest and proved to be not difficult.”.
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Not fazed by what I said and instead she says “I haven’t known you for too long but I had a feeling you would want to get it done right away. You should still be careful, I remember hearing stories when I was a kid that goblins can be ruthless and will devour little girls whole…” she pauses for a moment “Wait now thinking back maybe that's just how my mother put me to bed faster… Either way you should still be careful!”. I only caught a small glimpse of her reddening face before she turned away.
“I don’t really understand what you are saying but I’ll be careful.”.
Once we arrived at the front doors of the inn, Chelsey turned to me “You still are just gonna go straight out there, aren’t you?”. After Chelsey sees me nod my head she then tells me “Just wait here for a moment.” and she rushes into the inn.
Several minutes pass by before she comes back out. “Even if your wounds heal by themselves, you still need to be prepared! I knew it would come to this so I prepared a few things for you but you should be doing this yourself and always be prepared for the worse.” As she tells me, she hands over a bag that was making sounds of glass clinking together. “It’s only a couple of lesser potions but this should be enough for you, there is also some dried meat in there too, I have a feeling you probably didn’t think about that either.”
Once she was done talking, I had the bag tied to the opposite side from my other one. “You’re right, I wouldn’t have thought of any of this, thanks.” After making sure I have everything ready, I look to Chelsey once more “Alright, I’ll be going right away, with your explanation on how to get there, I should be back by nightfall tomorrow.”.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat or anything else before you leave?” Chelsey asks with a slightly worried expression.
I shake my head “I want to get this done as fast as possible, Serval Grue is in this town with possible answers for me, I wouldn’t be able to sit idle knowing I can be doing something to get to him faster.”.
A sigh escapes Chelsey’s lips before she says “Okay, I understand, just be safe out there, okay?”
With a nod to those words, I walked past her and started to make my way to the main gates.
While I was finally close to the main gates, I noticed that it was still busy and while I was walking out the gates, I overheard the guardsman talking to someone entering “The bandits have been getting worse, if you have no reason to leave the town, I’d suggest you don’t leave until officials have gotten it under control.”
While overhearing their conversation I was thinking back to the bandits that tried to raid us on the way here. I was still confused on why that guy said he had a feeling we would fight again. And while thinking that I remembered that this has been the first time in a good amount of days where I was alone again.
A short distance later, I started to near the fork in the road that Chelsey mentioned and turned the way towards the dungeon.