Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 307

“Baron, the sun is about to set. Shall we return to the village?” As the sun begins to dip below the horizon, I call out to the Baron.

“Mm, I’ll do that.” The Baron’s appearance as he replies is strange and gruesome.

In his right hand, he grips a specially made butchering knife, while in his left, he holds a forceps-like tool. His elbow-length leather gloves and apron are stained red with goblin blood. Though his attendant has wiped the blood off his face, it’s difficult to bathe or wash in this area with its few water sources.

“It’s inconvenient when the sun sets,” the Baron mutters. He hands his bloodied gloves and apron to his attendant and turns to Jilboa. “So, what do adventurers usually do with those corpses?”

The Baron addresses Jilboa instead of me, probably because Jilboa ordered the goblin’s corpse to be thrown into a hole, followed by the digging of another around it. It seems he’s up to something.

“Normally, we burn them. If burning is difficult, we separate the head and bury the rest. However…” Jilboa pauses, and I add, “This time, we’ll use the goblin corpses to attract monsters. We plan to trap a few magic wolves that will be drawn to the corpses.”

At Jilboa’s response, the Baron raises an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

Wolves also scavenge on corpses. Sometimes, they live in goblin settlements, or they fight for prey. I remember a wolf in a goblin settlement we planned to destroy as adventurers. It was difficult to deal with.

As we make our way back to the village, I tell the Baron about my time as an adventurer.

What particularly catches his interest is the ecology of monsters.

I’m not the type to tackle problems head-on like the Sword Fangs Legion. Instead, I focus on observing monsters, luring them, and setting traps. The Baron seems intrigued by the things I notice during those days.

Jilboa also joins in the conversation, which is unusual for him. He speaks about the rare monsters he’s encountered on distant missions, promising to provide new materials. The Baron seems to take an immediate liking to him.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Well, today’s going to be busy again!” the Baron declares enthusiastically the next morning.

We’ll be exploring the goblin nest, and if luck is on our side, we might observe and dissect a demon wolf.

On the other hand, the morale of the Sword Fangs Legion members appears somewhat low. They often face powerful monsters, so defeating goblins doesn’t excite them as much. Additionally, some are tired of the Baron’s dissections.

I’ve explained to them the significance of the requests and how much the distribution of booklets with goblin illustrations will benefit adventurers and rural areas. But they don’t seem to grasp the importance of it until they see the actual booklets and pictures.

Whenever something new is started, those with vested interests oppose it, while the future beneficiaries offer only weak support. That structure doesn’t change until clear results are seen.

I suppose we’ll have to accept that this is the way things are and continue moving forward steadily.