6.13 – The Baron


    Natalie was pleased to see that the Baron meant his words: he really didunch straight into the briefing, forgoing further pleasantries, which they''d been all but drowning in while Tristan escorted them to the manor.


    "It''s a curious case," Baron Crestwood said. "A standard situation by many metrics, but equally as aberrant in some. By my understanding, T has informed you of the basics?"


    "Only that there''s been a growing monster problem in the area," Jordan said. "They''re pretty stingy about the details."


    Baron Edric paused, looking at Jordan, seeming nearly surprised that someone other than Liz had replied to him. Jordan''s face was for the most part neutral, but Natalie knew her well enough to see a hint of amusement in her barely raised eyebrow.


    She''d probably interjected because of how focused he seemed on Liz. Not so much to defensively draw his attention away from Liz—who, despite seeming awkward by the unexpected introduction of social status dynamics, was clearly at ease with interacting with other members of the aristocracy in a formal way—but because Jordan found it <em>funny</em> to interrupt the status quo. And maybe she was the smallest bit annoyed at how they were being half-ignored.


    The Baron''s attention settled on Jordan. "I see," he said. "That is, indeed, the general sense of it." Despite having defaulted to speaking to Liz, he wasn''t so rude as to brush Jordan off. Natalie was pretty sure Liz''s presence was just overwhelming to everyone who knew her surname, <emmanding </em>the Baron''s attention, not some intentional snub on his part. "Goblin n, if they didn''t specify," the Baron said. "A mixture of levels ones to threes, and arge number of them."


    Natalie''s eyebrows raised. Even in that brief introduction, there were several things to take in.


    First, goblins. Humanoid monsters. She''d always had mixed feelings on fighting those. The upside was that she was better trained against them: most humanoids had the same general attack patterns, whereas true monsters could be far more difficult to read and react to. The downside was that killing things shaped like people, and which seemed to have some primitive—<em>very </em>primitive—level of intelligence was intrinsically unsettling. Though she''d done it plenty of times down in the dungeon. Just, that difort wasn''t something she thought she would everpletely shake.


    The next point of interest was that there was ''a mixture of levels ones to threes''. Not just a couple of troublesome monsters, but <em>many </em>of them. That sounded more intense than Natalie would have expected for a level-two quest. Of course, it was probably mostly level ones, with only some level twos, and rare level threes, not an equal distribution. Nheless, even that suggested it wouldn''t be nearly as easy of a mission as Natalie had resigned herself to.


    And they hadn''t even gotten to the ''strange part.''


    She straightened in her chair, suddenly much more interested in what the Baron had to say.


    "Nothing you five can''t handle, I''m sure," he continued, "but it''s not so much the threat they represent as how they''ve been behaving."


    "Oh?" Jordan prompted, happy to continue engaging the Baron''s attention. "How they''ve been behaving?" To her side, Liz also seemed mildly surprised that Jordan had taken over. The royal''s ramrod posture rxed slightly, seeming happy not to have to take the lead.


    "As expected of a band of goblins—filthy creatures—they''ve been carrying out attacks on nearby farms, houses, travelers, wagons, anything within their grubby reach. As goblins do." He shook his head in annoyance. "A headache, I tell you, even for a rating appraisal of level two. Here''s the thing, though. They''ve been <em>stealing."</em>


    The five of them blinked.


    "Stealing?" Jordan asked.


    "They don''t just murder those poor folk and move on," the Baron said. "As normal monsters might. They''ve been stripping the ces clean. When they raid a farm, they clean out the houses. Lug back whatever isn''t nailed down. Then the silos too. The silos? What sort of goblin raids <em>grain?" </em>Even now, the Baron sounded baffled by the concept. "I don''t know how they go about bringing it all back, but they do. They''re especially fond of targeting trading caravans. Been harassing our roads for the past weeks. Crates of spices and textiles, missing. Why would a goblin need spices? It doesn''t make any sense."


    Natalie digested those announcements, as perplexed as the Baron. Maybe his presence, him being there to discuss this mission with them personally, wasn''t entirely due to Liz, then. Natalie had resigned herself to this quest not being that interesting. Routine, as far as a monster-killing quest would be. But it sounded like something genuinely strange was afoot. <em>Not</em> routine in the slightest. Rather, something that truly was worthy of the Baron''s attention.


    Because goblins robbing trading caravans? Clearing out grain silos? Beyond just sounding more organized than usual—most monsters, <em>especially</em> low-level ones, were simply rabid creatures that needed to be put down—they were targeting valuables. And what did ''valuable'' mean to a monster? Spices and textiles? Were they doing something with what they were collecting? What interest did they have in human goods at all?


    Honestly, Natalie found herself surprised that T had passed this quest off to them, some random first years. While the threat rating itself wasn''t all that severe, the <em>strangeness</em> felt like it demanded higher attention. A real investigation.


    Then again, Natalie and her team weren''t just ''some first years'', were they? Besides having Elizabeth Beaumon on their team, they were also making waves as a group of nobodies performing much better than they should. Maybe T <em>had </em>sent an appropriate party to scout out this situation. Maybe they were testing Natalie and her squad. It''d also exin why the raw difficulty rating—the sheer number of levels one to three—was greater than Natalie would have expected for a first-year quest.


    "Also," the Baron continued, seeming pleased by how immediately interested their squad was, as perhaps any orator would be, "We''ve started to recognize patterns in their attacks. They''re definitely more organized than the average goblin n. If we''re correct, we should be able to set you up in advance of one of their raids. Assuming things go well, and you cull their numbers, that''ll help when you hunt down their base. Better to tackle an enemy divided, of course." He tilted his head. "Though, there is the matter of actually tracking them down. That won''t be as tedious as it sometimes is. Let me introduce you to Mister Varten," the Baron said, gesturing to his right. "A level six [Hunter]—the best our city has to offer."