Two days later, Nobina found herself waking up to a bunny sitting directly on her. She chuckled as she moved her hand to pet her companion, Pausers, who was still wearing the top hat she had given it earlier.

“Excited for today, Pausers? Today’s the big day after all.”

Nobina knew the importance of today as much as everyone else. Today was the day the raid group was set to depart to cull the South Goblin Nest. However, before that was to happen, they were still waiting for two reports to be received. One report from the team scouting the North-East Goblin Nest and one from the team scouting the North-West Goblin Nest. Ideally, both reports were favorable, but Nobina was preparing herself for the worst case.

She grabbed her bags and wished Pausers a good day. Once she was downstairs, she was surprised to see that the inn dining area was relatively quiet.

“Quiet today, eh?” she told Harris, who was helping the only other person there. “Everyone’s already out preparing to wish the adventurers good luck,” he chuckled. “I guess you’ve never seen a raid before, huh. It’s common tradition that towns wish raid parties good luck in their endeavor. Most of the time, many of the lives in the raid party are individuals who mean a lot to the town. Even if we don’t have many of those types of people, the towns still shows appreciation.”

Nobina gave a nod. As someone new to this world, such a custom wouldn’t be familiar to her, but it was one she thought was nice. Having people wish you good luck before a major event certainly would raise morale.

“Well, I got to head out,” said Nobina. “Thanks for explaining things.”

Harris gave a nod, returning his attention to the only customer.

Nobina left the inn and made her way to the guild. She saw a large influx of adventurers and civilians along the streets as she made her way there. It was as Harris said, as the people there were all gathered around waiting outside the guild. There were a few people entertaining the large crowd, but most of the people there seemed to be chatting amongst themselves.

A few eyes fell upon her, whispers catching Nobina’s ears. She didn’t like eavesdropping on what they were saying, but she did catch people talking about how they recognized her as one of the guild officers. It made Nobina happy that people knew she was playing a role.

Eventually, she found herself in the guild itself, where it was bustling with activity. Adventurers were in small groups discussing the following raid with each other. It made Nobina begin recalling the setup for the culling that was about to happen.

There were ten adventuring groups set to head out to perform the minor culling operation. Once they arrived, they would split into groups of three, three, and four to begin defending the three known goblin exits of the South Goblin Nest. Nobina, the day before, had assisted in the planning of the defense, with her explaining the barbed wiring and its applications for the defense. Many adventures were impressed and at ease knowing they had such a potent tool, but there were also skeptics of using something they weren’t familiar with. The main worry was that Eric and Mimiki were planning to stay back in town in case the other nests became active. However, Mimiki’s speech to everyone the day before had convinced everyone that the raid would go without problems. Even Nobina found herself believing that those adventures could do it.

Getting back to the team compositions, the groups were five to six adventurers, mostly two normal groups of three mixing into a large group. That or it was solo adventurers joining an established group.

There were a lot of lower-rank adventurers, but the amount of C and D-rank adventurers should have been enough to keep the raid from falling into chaos. After all, Mimiki explained how experience was critical in large operations like this. Too little of it, and it could all fall apart, especially since they didn’t have a “leader” amongst them.

“I’m sure things will go good,” Nobina told herself.

Before she could say anything else, she noticed her Gaze bag glow. Normally, she wouldn’t even open it in the guild, but the bag seemed to open itself as a tiny creature flew out of the bag. It flew directly in front of Nobina, surprising her as it merely hovered in front of her.

The presence of it didn’t escape others either, as people began talking about the new appearance of a creature no one recognized.

“Is… is this a miniature hammerhead? With wings?” asked Nobina to herself.

Nobina had seen a hammerhead shark before, but this one was far different from what she saw in books. It was as tiny as a hummingbird, and it had wings instead of fins that allowed it to fly. It also was holding a scroll in its mouth, which made her wonder if it was meant to deliver messages. If so, she wondered from who. She also wondered if it needed to be in water to live, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The hammerhead flew around Nobina’s head before landing on her shoulder. It seemed to relax before settling in, prompting Nobina to sigh.

“Well… I guess I have another companion. I guess you can keep Pausers company.”

She began moving towards the back of the guild, where Sarah was speaking with another adventurer. She took notice of Nobina, but her eyes fell onto Nobina’s shoulder.

“Nobina… What is that?” she asked.

“A miniature flying hammerhead shark… It came from the Gaze bag.”

“Oh…”

Sarah seemed to accept it easily, but Nobina could tell that she’d likely want to see it more when they got a chance.

“Eric’s upstairs waiting for you Nobina.”

Nobina thanked Sarah before heading up to the second floor. Shortly after, she found herself in Eric’s office, where Mimiki and Eric were talking about something.

“Oh Nobina…” said Mimiki before going silent.

Mimiki’s initial look of excitement turned to confusion as her eyes fell onto Nobina’s shoulder. Like she did with Sarah, Nobina gave the same explanation.

“Ah… Well… That’s cool,” Mimiki smiled. “I’d love to see it later. Anyways, we are still waiting for those two reports. I’m concerned the adventurers were delayed, which would mean we’d have to send the raid without knowledge of the status of the other nests. We could try to send a secondary scouting party, but the raid would be too late at that point.”

“We are discussing sending them off past lunch if we still don’t have the reports. If we wait too long, they won’t arrive in time to seal those exits off,” said Eric, as calm and collected as ever. “What are your thoughts Nobina? We are almost in agreement to send them off after lunch, but we want your opinion as well.”

Nobina didn’t feel as if she was qualified enough to sway their decision, but she knew she had played a key role in the planning of both the operation and defense. Her opinion was important as she’d know if there was any scenario where they shouldn’t send off adventurers.

“I’ve thought about such a scenario and our best bet is commence the raid. We’ve held back enough adventurers to hopefully deal with a two-nest attack in the worst case. The culling should commence as planned.”

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Both gave a nod.

With that, the three discussed the raid a bit before Eric instructed Nobina to head down and inform Lare and Sarah about the decision. She gave a nod, heading down right away.

When Nobina entered Lare’s office, she noticed he was busy studying maps of the whole area. When he took notice of Nobina, he invited her to sit. He was about to open his mouth, but Nobina explained where the shark came from. Like Mimiki, he was also curious about it but held off since today was a big day.

“So what’s going on?” asked Lare.

“The operation will begin after lunch even if the reports are late,” said Nobina. “Please prepare the raids as planned.”

He gave a nod.

“Anything else?”

“That is all,” she replied.

“Then please don’t let me keep you,” he spoke, turning his attention to the maps.

Nobina then headed to the front, where she told Sarah the same news. With that, Sarah used her power and began speaking out loud.

“Attention all adventurers. The raid shall begin as planned. Please perform last-minute checks and report to your designated areas for the last-minute brief.”

With that, the guild began swarming in activity. Chatter filled the guild as people began getting ready to move out. Sarah was swarmed with questions, and even Nobina found herself having to answer a slew of questions from adventurers. Everyone was trying to make sure they had everything they needed, and Nobina was doing her best to be as helpful as she could be.

Eventually, lunch rolled around, and adventurers began eating their last-minute meals before the major operation. Sarah and Lare stayed in the front to continue to assist adventurers with information, while Nobina joined Mimiki and Eric for lunch in the back. She felt her nerves start to get to her, but Eric and Mimiki helped her keep as calm as possible.

During their lunch, Mimiki finished quickly and asked if she could see the shark. Nobina didn’t even say anything when the hammerhead flew off her shoulder and flew around Mimiki. To Nobina’s surprise, Mimiki displayed a childlike attitude towards it, giggling as she enjoyed following the shark as it flew around the field, trying to catch it. While it might have been as small as a hummingbird, it certainly moved more like a shark would in water. Only the water was air in this case, and it was far faster than any shark she’d seen.

“Curious,” said Eric. “This is the second creature to come out of your bag, right? It makes me wonder if we’ll see more in the future. At the very least it doesn’t have the negative connotation of your bunny.”

Nobina sighed, shaking her head.

“I’m telling you…”

“You never know,” smiled Eric, clearly still convinced her bunny could be a Death Hare. “By the way, does it have a name? I believe the bunny came with one, correct?”

“It doesn’t. I’m waiting for one of the Gaze members to say something, else I’m fine giving it a name otherwise,” she nodded.

Once their lunch was done, they moved to the front of the guild, where Nobina was amazed at the sight she saw. Civilians were lining a path out of the town towards the South Goblin Nest. Adventurers not involved in the raid were among them, chatting amongst the people. As for the adventurers set to head out for the raid, they were in their mini groups, ready to head out. One party approached Eric, which was the “lead party” of the operation, consisting of all C-rank adventurers.

“Sir,” said Michael, their C-rank leader. “We are ready to head out on your command.”

Nobina was decently familiar with Michael. He had two swords on his side, as his path was Dual Swordsman. He specialized in dealing with large crowds due to his ability, which had people calling him the ‘Goblin Slayer.’ The name did make Nobina chuckle, as she knew another goblin slayer from a show she had seen before.

As for his party, it consisted of an archer, priest, swordsman, water mage, and fire mage. It was well-balanced as all of them could hold their own in combat as they were all C-ranks as well.

“Thank you Michael,” said Eric with a smile. “I shall give my speech.”

With that, Mimiki headed into the guild and quickly brought out a small platform for Eric to stand on. He got onto it and stood facing the crowd, which went silent upon everyone seeing him.

“Adventurers. I’m here to thank you all for being here. For everyone here, today’s raid is about to embark on a culling operation of significant importance. Despite it only being goblins, this involves a matter important to the town and everyone here.”

The crowd began to chatter a bit before quieting down.

“Everyone on this raid has prepared for the operation. Everyone on it is qualified and has the heart and soul of an adventurer. While the true nature of an adventurer is to explore the unknown, an adventurer is often looked to as a beacon of our greatest attributes as people. The desire to help. The desire to fight. The desire to protect. As a guild master, I’ve seen the greatest examples of these desires and confidently say that everyone who calls themselves an adventurer in this town possesses one of these desires at the very least.”

Hearing that, Nobina felt herself thinking about how she was an adventurer as well. She had only been on one quest. It didn’t go well either given what happened. Deep down though, she felt she had a desire at least. The desire to protect those she cared about. The desire to help as much as she could. The desire to fight against those who’d harm those she cared about. That alone made her happy to call herself an adventurer.

“As the raid party heads out today, let us all show what we as non-participants can show. Our desire to support. Our desire to hope. Our desire to believe. Now. Let us send off the raid party!”

With that, a roar of cheers and applause filled the streets, likely reaching all over the town. The adventurers who were ready to head out were swarmed by the sheer emotion that filled the streets. Many of them were caught off guard by it due to being relatively new to a raid, but those familiar with such a cheer merely basked in it. Nobina couldn’t help but be proud of everyone. This was a moment that she’d remember forever, as it was a show of what they were all capable of doing.

Soon, Michael ordered the adventurers to begin heading out, with each party heading out one by one. The groups of adventurers began their march out of the town, with the cheers continuing on. As the final group began heading out, Nobina couldn’t help but believe in their success. She wouldn’t be there first-hand to see what the result of the operation would be, but she knew that if she was needed, she’d have headed out immediately to support them directly.

Once the last group of adventurers was out of sight, the crowds began to disperse, while the remaining adventurers headed to the guild to remain on standby. Until the emergency was lifted, everyone was still ready to act should Eric give the order.

As the last few adventurers trickled into the guild, Nobina noticed a group of adventurers running towards the guild from the northeast. She then noticed that all three she saw were injured as they got closer. The worst was that she recognized all three.

“No…”

Nobina’s look of horror threatened to freeze her in place, but she knew she had to act. She ran to the adventurers, who waved at her as soon as she approached.

“Nobina,” yelled Karora, one of the female swordsmen.

“Karora,” she replied back.

Once they were close enough, all of them fell over in exhaustion.

“What happened,” said Nobina. “Where’s…”

“It was horrible,” said Karora in tears. “We… we were ambushed. There were three goblin archers. Two of us went down immediately… Jenga… He sacrificed himself…”

Her cry intensified as Nobina tried to give her comfort. Next to speak was Ned, one of the archers of the group.

“We thought we had gotten away, but they sent five goblin riders after us. It was a nightmare but thank the gods we were able to fight them off. Of course, we are in the condition we are now, but we somehow made it here alive. They luckily didn’t send more than five of those horrific things.”

Nobina realized how much of a nightmare situation this was. Neither archers nor goblin riders were normal to the North-East Nest. It was clear another Goblin Invasion was going to happen. If they had both riders and archers, they could not let this raid reach the town. They’d have to cull this nest as well and block the entrances. Not only that, but they’d have to clear out the surroundings of the nest as well.

“I’ll help you three go to Kim,” said Nobina, helping Karora up. “Let’s go.”

Nobina helped them all to the medical office, where Witmi immediately called Kim upon seeing the four of them. They were all helped to the back, where Kim told her she’d do what she could. Nobina thanked them, saying she had to report to the guild immediately. The two nodded, with her now sprinting to the guild.

“Why… Damn it… Why…”

Nobina began wondering if she was somehow to blame but brushed those thoughts away. She had to report the news as soon as possible.

Arriving at the guild, Sarah asked Nobina what was going on.

“I need to speak with Eric immediately,” said Nobina.

The tone of her voice had the other adventurers worried, but Nobina wasn’t thinking clearly enough to have noticed it. She was merely trying to deliver the message to Eric immediately.

“Of course. Go ahead,” said Sarah.

Nobina nodded and headed back up to Eric’s office, where Eric and Mimiki were.

“What’s going on Nobina,” asked Mimiki.

“The… The North-East Nest… The scouting team was ambushed. Only three of them made it but are heavily injured and at the medical office. They report multiple goblin archers and riders.”

A silent, serious atmosphere formed in the room. Mimiki cursed under her breath while Eric seemed to be gripping his fist in frustration.

“What’s the plan,” said Nobina. “We cannot go with the defensive strategy I have if they have riders and archers. We… we must commence a second culling operation.”

Her words seemed to float in the silence as everyone began to think. A second culling operation was theoretically possible, but in this case, it would likely require sending out Eric to handle it. Mimiki and Nobina’s eyes focused on Eric this whole time as he remained silent. Eventually, Eric spoke up, giving the plan of action.

“Nobina… You must be evacuated. I cannot guarantee your safety with this information in mind.”