It has been a few days now since both Lara and Ren weren't able to go and do some adventurer work as a party. Ren went and had a solo adventure, while Lara was doing something she wouldn't tell. Hilda was the only one doing actual adventurer work.
Even now she was currently on a mission to subjugate a few goblins that were terrorizing a small village. The goblins have been a little unruly lately, this happened ever since the lich from before disappeared. The surrounding monsters seem to be in a berserker state, as they came closer and closer to human settlements, that they used to avoid.
Still no matter how aggressive this goblins become they were still no match for Hilda, who was able to quickly dispatch them. Hilda who was in a very bad mood, decided not to only kill the goblin raiders, but find their den and destroy them inside their own home.
It was quite easy for Hilda to find the goblin cave since she used to deal with goblins a lot before. She didn't annihilate all the goblin raiders and left one alive, so that she could follow him back. When a goblin is badly wounded it would return home by instinct.
Now that Hilda found the cave were the goblin menace was hiding, she went in and completely massacred them. She cut off some of their ears, as proof of subjugation. As Hilda ventured deeper into the cave she saw, some n.a.k.e.d women.
It was as Hilda expected, of course there will be a bunch of kidnapped women. Since goblins were a race only made up of males, they needed to kidnap women from other races to procreate. Every time Hilda sees a scene like this she somehow feels a bit angry. Imagining her own family in a similar situation made her blood boil.
...
Hilda then proceeded to free the captured women. She promised them to bring them back to their village, but some of them who were already pregnant with goblin children asked to be killed. Actually most of them who were a bit older asked Hilda to kill them.
Even if they were saved, being defiled by goblins basically meant they were already dead to the people of their village. Even if they do return, no one would want them there, and their lives will become difficult. Hilda has been in a similar situation before when she started as an adventurer.
At that time she wanted to save the women, and not kill them. Yet the moment she brought them back to their village they were shunned. Only the parents of the victims wanted them back, still there were some parents that actually shunned their own children. This resulted in the women leaving their village some of them became p.r.o.s.tit.u.t.es while the others killed themselves.
Knowing this Hilda decided to fulfill the wishes of these women. First she asked those who wanted to go home to wait outside. When the others left, Hilda faced the remaining women.
"Do you guys have any last words."
"Thank you."
The women who have been r.a.p.ed numerous times had nothing to say except their thanks. The look of relief they had as Hilda's blade sliced their heads off was heartbreaking. These woman had loved ones, had a life that hasn't been lived to their fullest, and now they stood here thanking the person who would end their lives.
Hilda had cut off their heads and made one last final prayer for them, that one day in a new life they would find happiness wherever they go.
...
Hilda who had returned the remaining women back to their homes, saw the scene she had expected. The reactions of the villagers was not good. The parents accepted their daughters back, but some of them didn't. No matter how much the women groveled and screamed, their parents ignored them.
Hilda gritted her teeth, but she knew she didn't have the ability to save them. This left a bad after taste for Hilda.
...
Hilda who returned to the adventurers guild to report the completion of the quest, handed her proof of subjugation. Once she was done with everything she sat down in one of the chairs of the guilds bar. She felt like these simple quest was more exhausting than it should be.
'This wasn't what I was expecting when I became an active adventurer again. It's all that guy's fault, why would he leave his party to do a solo adventure. We've just done one quest and that was it. Well to be fair that one quest was more than what we expected...'
Hilda then sighed as he ordered a mug of ale.
'Wasn't the whole purpose of me joining his party, was for me to see if he really is a trustworthy person. What am I actually doing right now?...'
Hilda then remembered everything she noticed about Ren during their last quest. He wasn't at all what she was expecting him to be. At first she thought she was like one of those hot shots that think they could do anything. Later on she learned that he was just a free spirit that liked to battle.
Actually now that she thinks about it, Ren's essence, his personality, his very core seems to revolve around battle. She remembered the time he fought the king drake, where he thanked the monster after killing it. He also remembered the time with the lich, when he was forced to retreat to save her and Lara. The disappointment in his eyes was clear to see.
'It's not like he's a bad person per se, well it's also not like he's a good person either. It feels more like he only cares about those somehow related to him, and everything else that isn't worth fighting is nothing in his eyes. Well I guess that's nothing special since everyone is somehow like that, only caring about those that are close to them. Actually it's more abnormal for someone to care for another that they know nothing about.'
'Still I wonder what Ren ordered Lara to do. Well as long as it isn't too excessive and it doesn't mess with the lives of my family, then maybe it's alright to let him be. That guy does seem to have a good reason for doing the things he's doing... Heh, I guess I too am a selfish person, just like that guy.'
Hilda who had her ale at hand started drinking. She hasn't noticed that for the past few days that she hasn't seen Ren, was the time she started to think about him more. It was at this point, she didn't realize that it was just a matter of time before her obsession of him will turn into something else.