Monster Girl Contract Manual

Chapter 64 The Dangerous Forest

House and the others returned to the town unharmed and reported what they had seen and heard in the forest to the guild.

Upon learning of this strange and unusual situation occurring on the outskirts of the forest, the guild took it very seriously and immediately asked House's team to go to the second floor so that they could recount the entire incident to the guild's intelligence officer.

"Thank you all for bringing this crucial intelligence."

The intelligence chief, who was short and had thinning hair, smiled kindly at everyone and then had his assistant take out 20 silver coins and give them to House as payment for submitting the intelligence.

It was just a verbal report, without even any physical evidence, yet it was exchanged for 20 silver coins. This generous reward left House and his companions looking at each other in disbelief.

The original reward for eliminating more than twenty goblin imps was just over ten silver coins.

I thought this adventure would be fruitless, but I never expected it to double in value.

While the others were secretly delighted, House gradually fell into deep thought.

He was not unaware of the going rates for reconnaissance missions; these missions, which only involved scouting and providing information on monsters, would at most pay a little over 1 silver coin.

Now, the guild is offering a reward twenty times higher than that of a regular reconnaissance mission, based solely on a simple piece of information without any physical evidence.

The guild must know something.

After a moment's hesitation, House tentatively asked the guild's intelligence minister a question.

Surprisingly, the minister was actually willing to tell them the reason.

It turns out that more than a month ago, when House returned from his second adventure, he sent a warning message to the Adventurers' Guild that "something might be wrong inside the forest."

The guild immediately took it seriously and dispatched several experienced adventurers to explore the heart of the Misty Forest.

But after those experienced adventurers stepped into the forest, they disappeared without a trace and never returned.

The guild sensed that something was increasingly amiss and dispatched several more groups of people to investigate, attempting to find traces of the previous groups of adventurers and to investigate the anomalies within the forest.

But the final result was shocking.

"None of the adventurers we sent out have returned."

House was secretly alarmed after hearing the shocking news from the guild's intelligence minister.

"Please keep the contents of this intelligence confidential for the time being," the intelligence minister said, his expression turning serious. "This matter concerns regional security, so please do not disclose it carelessly to avoid causing unnecessary panic."

After giving his instructions, he added that the anomaly was only occurring deep within the forest, and the outer areas of the forest were still considered safe for the time being.

House and his friends can now confidently embark on their adventures.

If you gather any information along the way, you can continue to report it to the guild.

The guild will provide corresponding compensation depending on the circumstances.

House was speechless upon hearing the word "safety".

You call a place where goblin warriors roam safe?

......

After House and the others left.

The intelligence chief, who was short and had thinning hair, took off the "truth ring" from his left hand.

Mantra Ring.

Special magical items issued by the Adventurers' Headquarters to the intelligence departments of each town.

The effect is that it can open up a real-world domain within a certain range, and the wearer can automatically sense whether the other party who enters the domain is lying.

This special magical item, while powerful, also has unavoidable drawbacks.

The wearer is also unable to lie when using the item.

After removing the ring and handing it to his assistant for safekeeping, the intelligence chief turned and walked into the inner room of his office.

A moment later, he was dressed in a sharp adventure outfit, shedding his usual gentle demeanor as the intelligence chief. A look of seriousness appeared in his eyes as he nimbly disappeared through the guild's back door and headed towards the forest.

While you cannot lie while wearing the ring, you can conceal some of the undisclosed truth by remaining silent and not bringing it up.

In fact, what he just said was not entirely accurate.

In previous expeditions, experienced adventurers were dispatched to explore the forest, including one adventurer with a bronze-level adventurer and professional-level strength.

Even that professional adventurer has yet to return.

As one of the few Silver-ranked adventurers in the guild, and also the Intelligence Minister who has embarked on the path of the assassin profession and reached the level of a second-tier professional.

He knew perfectly well that he had to go out in person to find out exactly what had happened in the forest.

......

After descending from the second floor of the guild building, they arrived at a corner of the hall, where House and the others divided the "mission reward" equally.

Four silver coins per person.

After distributing the rewards, the five people did not leave, but instead stayed together, whispering about their next plans.

Although the bald intelligence chief confidently asserted that the outskirts of the forest were relatively safe for the time being, the cautious group simply did not believe him.

How is this safe?!

"Captain, what's the next step?"

Luther spoke first.

Having witnessed House's strength, judgment, and remarkable reaction and adaptability in the face of danger, he was eager to continue adventuring with House.

However, the forest is currently fraught with danger, making conventional clearing operations impossible.

You can't exactly team up with five people to pick herbs, or venture into dirty, chaotic places like the sewers where the rewards are extremely low, can you?

"Don't worry, I'll go check on the situation."

House gave the group a reassuring look, then walked alone to the taskbar.

After surveying the cleared area, House took down a commission and returned to the corner.

"Kobold, how's it going?"

Dog-headed man.

They belong to the same low-level monsters as goblins.

They are burrowing, reptilian, humanoid creatures, standing 90-120 centimeters tall.

Its personality is cowardly and cunning, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, forming cliques, loving to set traps, and being good at digging holes... It worships dragons extremely and considers itself a servant of dragons.

They are mostly found inside various caves and mines.

It is worth noting that although they belong to the same low-level monsters as goblins, the two sides do not get along well and often fight each other over territory and resource ownership.

Compared to goblins, kobolds are weaker, both individually and as a group.

Their direct combat and teamwork capabilities are relatively weak, so their prices are relatively low.

One, worth 30 copper coins.

Although they are relatively weak, their numbers are extremely large.

A typical kobold tribe has at least fifty members, and often reaches hundreds.

In addition, kobolds are skilled at setting all kinds of traps.

Therefore, goblins will not easily provoke kobolds unless absolutely necessary.

This is why areas where kobolds are present generally do not have goblin activity.

"Since goblins are a problem, let's just find a place without goblins to continue our adventure."