As the rest of the group woke up, Alfred looked over at Jill and she smiled at him. ´Maybe she doesn't remember the nightmare.´ He thought to himself.

˝I'll go wake up Paulus.˝ Alfred said as he left the room, leaving them to prepare their gear. As he got to Paulus's room he knocked and heard a groan coming from the inside. After a few minutes of waiting, Paulus opened the door.

˝Good morning, the others have already woken up. Shall we proceed to the dinning area?˝ Alfred said, he looked Paulus up and down and saw that he was holding his head. ˝Are feeling unwell?˝ 

After another groan Paulus nodded and said ˝I'll be fine, just drank too much so I have a massive hangover. It'll get better.˝ He slung his backpack that he had in his room over his shoulder and continued. ˝Let's first drop off our stuff on the wagon, then let's go eat.˝ 

As they got to the wagon they saw Liz, Jill and Rora already putting their gear on the wagon and checking the horses. They seemed fed and well taken care of, so they finished loading all their gear and went off to eat at the inn. 

They ate breakfast without issue, well almost no issue. Paulus barely had any appetite due to his hangover. They all asked if there was anything the could do to help him, but he just shook his head stating. ˝Well there are spells and potions to help with kind of thing. But buying such a thing would be a waste of money.˝

˝Who knows, maybe we'll learn that spell at some point.˝ Liz said finishing her meal. Alfred nodded to her statement.

˝Maybe you will, yes. Alright, let's go to the wagon. We better get going as fast as possible, so we can travel for longer.˝ Paulus said as he got up from the table. On the way Liz gave him back the leftover money he gave to Liz and Alfred.

˝I'm sorry, we used up quite a bit of your money. We'll pay you back I swear.˝ Liz apologized with a frown.

˝I'm sure it will be easy to pay me back, once you become adventurers. So don't stress out about this too much, Liz.˝ Paulus said as he emptied the coin into his belt attached pouch. He then gave a tip to the stable hand, that took good care of the horses. This made the teenager cry while waving goodbye.

They all got on the carriage and headed towards the main street. They stopped once to get some fresh food products, mostly vegetables. As they got to the gate leading towards the capital they saw a group carrying and supporting some adventurers.  Behind the guards there also seemed to be a wagon with corpses covered in cloth.

As one of the guards carried one such adventurer past their wagon, they saw that he was missing a leg and an arm. That was not the only thing he was missing, his eyes seemed void of life. He was just staring in the distance with a blank expression.

˝What do you think has happened?˝ Alfred asked from inside the covered wagon. ˝Is this a normal thing, there seem to be at least a dozen wounded adventurers. And quite a number deceased ones.˝ He said with a sad voice. 

˝No, this amount is way more than it should be. When we get to the gate, I'll ask the guards.˝ Paulus said, while offering a prayer to the deceased adventurers. 

˝Halt!˝ Said a guard. 

˝We're just leaving towards the capital, is something wrong? With this many wounded and dead adventurers?˝ Paulus said, the guard made a grim face and replied.

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˝From what we've heard from the adventurers, they were hunting goblins. But were assaulted by a well equipped hobgoblin force. They barely got out with their lives, well most of their lives.˝ The guard looked over at the wagon.

˝Hobgoblins?!˝ Paulus exclaimed. ˝I knew it was strange for there to be this many goblins on the roads. But this makes sense now. There might be a Hobgoblin commander ruling a massive tribe in the area.˝ This made him grit his teeth in anger.

˝You said you're on your way to the capital right? We've got a whole bunch of strange reports about monsters in the area. Would you be willing to take them with you?˝ The guard said a bit desperately. 

˝That shouldn't be a problem, right?˝ Paulus saw the other member nod in approval. ˝We'll gladly accept this task.˝ He smiled at the guard. ´We're going there for that reason anyway.´ Paulus thought to himself.

˝Great, I'll go get the commander and some contracts. We'll need to get a few drops of your blood, just in case the reports don't make it the capital. That's fine right, mister?˝ The guard said as he waited for Paulus to give his name.

˝My name is Paulus, it's fine with me.˝ 

˝Thank you very much, mister Paulus.˝ The guard ran off towards a stone building next to the wall. After a minute he came out with a silver haired lion-kin. ˝Just please read the contract information and apply some of your blood to the bottom.˝ He handed it over to Paulus.

The silver haired lion-kin looked at Paulus and saw the rest of group in the wagon. ˝I thank you for your help, the monsters in these parts have been acting strangely for a few months now. So we're hoping to receive some reinforcements and hopefully an investigation into this behaviour will be started.˝

˝We've seen this already in Furshire and on the road to here. We've already had to fight some goblins that were hiding near the road.˝ Paulus said, this made commander sigh in relief.

˝Finally someone who takes this seriously, the last few merchants weren't interested in helping us. Especially since we cannot afford to pay you anything for your troubles. And we cannot even send our men to report this, since we are already short on manpower. I'm named Otto, I thank you for your assistance once again, sir Paulus.˝ Otto said, looking over at the adventurers.

˝I've lost so many good guards and adventurers, make sure to stay safe on the road. While the hobgoblins were not sighted near the road other monsters may try and attack you. Damn, sorry to rush off like this. But is seems I'm needed at the hospital, some of the adventurers have woken up and I need to ask them some questions.˝ Otto ran off towards the other side of the town, with a few guards.

˝Poor man, must be hard on him.˝ Alfred said quietly inside the wagon.

˝Alright, contract complete.˝ The guard said as he took the contract from Paulus. ˝I thank you for you service and may the gods and goddesses protect you on your way to the capital.˝ He saluted as the passed with the wagon.

˝We'll get there as fast possible, I promise.˝ Paulus said as they continued moving along the road.

As they got further away they started conversing without having to worry about Alfred's identity being discovered.

˝I hope Furshire is alright.˝ Jill muttered ˝I want to get them help, so I'll have to do my best to get stronger on the way.˝ She clenched her fists with determination. 

˝I'm sure they're all fine Jill. I'll help you out with training so you'll get stronger in no time.˝ Rora said while patting Jill's back.

˝We'll get stronger together. I have to be strong enough to help out Alfred after all.˝ Liz as she hit Alfred's arm very lightly.

˝I shall assist you as well. And if there is at any point something to dangerous for your current strength I will protect you. I swear it on my maker.˝ Alfred said while giving Jill a thumbs up.

She chuckled a bit and said ˝Thanks everyone, I look forward to training with you all. And Alfred I'm sorry, I was still a bit afraid of you because of the goblin incident. But seeing how hard you want to protect us all, and that you felt sorry for the adventurers and commander. You can't possibly be a bad golem.˝ Jill said as she gave Alfred a hug, Rora and Liz joined in the hugging.

˝I would also join in on this group hug, but we've got a long road ahead and my head is killing me. So I'll pass. You guys just enjoy your youth.˝ Paulus laughed from the front of the wagon, making everyone stop hugging and blush.

Well almost everyone. ˝Why are we stopping? That was very pleasant, we should do this more often?˝ Said Alfred confused why this was too much he looked at Liz and said. ˝Is this what you meant when you said, I shouldn't do it too much. Ah, it is embarrassing I see.˝ He nodded.

This made Liz turn red even more while Jill and Rora started laughing. ˝At least they cheered up a bit, since this situation is not that great, a bit of laughter is a nice thing.˝ Paulus muttered to himself.

While they were being merry in the wagon, Alfred saw something.

New quest acquired: Bring the monster reports to the adventurer’s guild HQ.

Meanwhile in Artisia's divine realm, a certain goddess was jealous about more women hugging Alfred.

˝Ahh, not fair! More and more people are being affectionate to him. Why can't I do it tooo!?˝ Aritisa yelled, making everyone around shake their heads again. 

After recovering from her tantrum, she looked over at her crystal screens.

˝I wonder what is happening in the world for Tim to warn Alfred. I really need more worshipers, I barely know what's happening down there. I just hope Alfred doesn't get involved in some dangerous stuff.˝ Artisia said as she got off her seat.

˝I guess I'll go visit uncle Tim, then I can give some information to Alfred. Hehehe, he'll praise me and like me even more. A brilliant plant.˝ She skipped happily as she opened a portal to Tim's realm.