Through hundreds of burned-down trees and different turns on the barely surviving pathway, Sevasta reached the end of the forest. From where she stood, she saw a new land, a flat land of grass, blood, and ongoing fights of other participants who were sent to that world. With the carnage and bloodshed, she noticed a few towns strewn about in the field, some large and some small, some destroyed some standing, and some well off some primitive in appearance.

“My, what is this place?” Sevasta meekly asked.

“Dangerous place, worse than forest. Forest was safe haven for us goblin.” One of them replied to her.

“A place ripe for fighting, I could even see people murdering each other from here.” Aaron stood with Sevasta, wanting to go down and join them in the carnage, but remembered Sevasta’s words.

“What we need now is spoons, forks, and plates. And obviously the pan for the cookies.” Sevasta identified the multiple abandoned buildings, a few had people currently fighting inside them.

“Those ones may be too dangerous for us.” Sevasta pointed at one in particular which looked like a brawl.

“There may be something good there though, nobody fights in a spot where there’s nothing.” Aaron protested.

“Dearie, I am more concerned that you or the little ones here may be harmed if we try.” Aaron looked insulted, but quickly hid it as to not give Sevasta a wrong impression.

“I can handle any of them.”

“Well, you can’t handle fighting me dear, so that is also a problem.” Sevasta went silent, considering her thoughts and decision.

The town was spacious and seemed well off, with many buildings still standing, the mess of blood and debris itched at Sevasta’s head, who wanted to avoid it.

In the end, she let out a long sigh.

“You are right pumpkin, maybe the silverware is in that place, it looks well off. Hopefully, they leave when we arrive.” With a choice finalized, the course was set and they began moving again.

—--

The smell of blood and grass filled their noses, and a darkened sky above shone down what little light it had, revealing the corpses of dozens of people in different sets of clothing.

The goblins quivered at the sight of it, wishing to return to the safety of the forest. Aaron held his sword tightly, looking around pensively, seeing the remaining participants slaughter each other and run onward to fight more.

Sevasta led them on with an emotionless expression, the scent and sight of the field did not affect her at all, apart from a feeling of disgust by it.

“Madame Sevasta, where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Hm?” Sevasta turned to Aaron as they walked to the first town.

“Something I learned through the years, nothing too special.”

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“Can you teach me some of your moves then?” Sevasta laughed.

“Dearie, it is best you don’t learn it. It’s not something to be proud of knowing.” She looked down at the broom, “Never something to be proud of…”

Closer to the town, they came across sacked caravans, more corpses lay in and around the wagons.

The goblins began scavenging each one, pulling out different items, from weapons and armor to common junk they began putting around their body like medals.

“Creative little ones aren’t they?” Sevasta remarked.

While scavenging, two goblins began fighting each other for a mirror. Sevasta walked towards them with her broom in hand and smacked both of their heads.

“Little ones, it’s best to share, if you can’t then we’ll simply destroy it and throw it away.” She explained with a smile on her face. The two goblins paused to think and dropped the magnifying glass.

“Good, good”

—-----

Past more caravans and corpses, they finally reached the entrance of the town. A half-destroyed wooden wall surrounded the entire town, with the gate visibly destroyed. Inside, the people who were once fighting in the town all looked towards Sevasta, drenched in crimson red.

“Look what we have here fellas, we caught ourselves more fresh bait!” The group leader walked forward, donning light leather armor with a bandana covering his mouth.

The rest of his group emerged from the houses, they were wounded, their tunics and pants tattered and torn, having just emerged from what seemed to be a bloody brawl.

“We were just passing through, no harm.”

“Hah, that trick ain’t fooling us old hag.” The man smugly responded.

“You’ll be another tally to our kills, soon we’ll reach fifty whole kills!” After he spoke, an idea perked up in Sevasta’s head.

“I’ve seen far more runts outside here you know? Just out in the field and other towns, you can easily kill them without even being noticed.” Sevasta explained with a smile.

The man paused, looking back to his teammates before cocking his head back to her.

“Good proposition, but what if we just kill you right here and then find those other idiots to kill them?” The man raised his sword. Sevasta could see the wounds on him, having noticed that the man was just as wounded as his men.

“Inexperienced and wounded…” She meekly muttered.

“What was that!?” Sevasta took out her cane, planting it down in front of her with a confident pose.

“You are all wounded, you’re better off finding kills when they don’t even see you or notice you. Those people would be easier to handle.” Aaron and the goblins were surprised by her words, seeing the sudden change in her demeanor and words.

“Still isn’t convincing me, you’re just a hag with a rag-tag of goblins and a bodyguard. What about we just stab you through the chest and add you to the roster too.”

“Would you like to try?” Sevasta glared at the man with emotionless eyes, the sight brought an unexplainable fear to him and made him reconsider his choice.

“Uhhh, to hell with this. Come on boys, let’s kill those schmucks outside the town! These guys are not worthwhile!” With their leader, the entire group rushed out of the town, running past her with fearful faces, now heading out to find more vulnerable targets.

Sevasta let out a deep sigh, holstered her cane on her waist, and stepped forward. She put up a smile and looked back at Aaron and the goblins.

“Come dearies, we can find more food here for you all to eat! And we need to clean this place till it’s spick and span!” Her demeanor had reverted once again to before.

“Madame Sevasta…What was that earlier?”

“Hm?”

“Your tone…And stature…Just changed.” Sevasta looked flustered for a moment and cleared her throat.

“It’s a granny’s duty to make sure her little ones are safe and well-fed!”