In truth, he knew far too little about this world to unravel what he had just seen, and Glenn had neither the mood nor the patience to ponder further.

  The garments he wore were conjured artifacts; with a mere flicker of intent, the blood upon them vanished. Only what clung to his skin required washing. After reducing every goblin corpse to ash with dragonfire, he searched the crude dwellings for water.

  Not far away stood a cage—the goblins’ holding pen for living prey. Inside, two human men still clung to life. They appeared to be around twenty, imprisoned not long enough to collapse completely.

  They had witnessed Glenn’s massacre in full detail. Though they retained a bit of strength, not one dared to raise his voice to beg for rescue. And Glenn, for his part, did not approach them immediately.

  “Leaf! Mushroom! You can come now!” he called once he had scrubbed the blood from his skin.

  The two girls peeked out from behind a distant boulder. Seeing that not a single goblin remained, their eyes widened. They had heard the battle cries, the screams, and the roar of flames—but never imagined the corpses would be burned so thoroughly.

  When they stepped into the tribe’s ruins, they found the ground carpeted in cooled magma.

  “There’s an unfamiliar elemental aura everywhere… it feels terrifying,” Mushroom murmured, studying the molten traces.

  “Never mind that! There are still two people trapped over there!” Leaf tugged her along.

  By the cage, Glenn examined the captives. Their only clothing was a thin, white undergarment—the goblins had surely stripped anything of value. They looked miserable.

  Yet from their physiques—strong arms, hardened muscle, and half-healed wounds—Glenn judged them capable. Their skin, however, was pale and soft, nothing like seasoned adventurers. And the faint fragrance clinging to them was familiar.

  “Are you nobles?” Glenn asked.

  It was a scent nobles always carried—something like perfume. Some men used it to mask their body odor, which only made the smell more nauseating. The original Glenn had met several such types.

  “Yes, sir,” one answered cautiously. Exhausted as he was, he forced himself awake.

  The two girls arrived then. Leaf glanced at the captives and asked, “Aren’t we saving them?”

  “Wait,” Glenn said, gesturing for patience. Then he asked the prisoners, “What are your names? What titles do you hold? And why were you captured?”

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  Bound back-to-back, the men could not exchange a glance. After a moment, the one who had spoken earlier replied:

  “My name is Ailium, and this is my cousin Kela. We hold no titles ourselves, but our fathers do. Mine is a viscount; so is Kela’s. A few days ago, we joined a group traveling here for training—yet none of us knew such a massive goblin tribe lived here. Everyone else was killed. Only we remain.”

  He fell silent, waiting for Glenn’s reaction. But Glenn merely watched him with an easy, unreadable smile, the kind that made Ailium’s stomach twist.

  Just as the man was about to crack under the pressure, Glenn finally spoke:

  “I’ll give you one more chance. Tell the truth—or finish what you left unsaid. Otherwise, you can stay here and wait for the beasts to eat you.”

  “Sir, everything I said is true! I have no reason to lie! There’s no benefit in it for me!” Ailium protested, eyes wide with panic.

  “Tch…” Glenn rolled his eyes, took the girls by the hand, and began walking away.

  “Wait! Let us out! We’ll repay you—properly!” Ailium and Kela shouted desperately after him.

  But Glenn only grew smaller in the distance.

  “I don’t think he was lying…” Mushroom whispered innocently.

  “He definitely was,” Glenn replied without hesitation. When Ailium spoke, his eyes flicked constantly—exactly like a student searching for excuses after skipping homework. Anyone with a sliver of experience could see it—let alone Glenn.

  The girls were unconvinced, suspecting Glenn of showing off.

  But just as the captives’ voices were fading behind them, Ailium abruptly shouted:

  “Alright! You win! I’ll tell the truth!”

  Leaf and Mushroom froze, their little mouths forming perfect circles of surprise.

  Glenn stopped, dramatically swept a hand through his hair, and said, “Let’s go.”

  Showing off was undeniably satisfying—especially in front of children. In high spirits, he strode forward, basking in the admiration behind him.

  When he returned, the two prisoners sighed in profound relief.

  “I… I did leave something out earlier. My apologies, sir.” Ailium’s embarrassment was palpable, especially after his earlier certainty.

  Glenn said nothing, waiting.

  Unable to stall any longer, Ailium confessed:

  “We didn’t come here to train. We came to deal with someone. You must’ve heard of the Rose Demon-Hunting Company? The person we targeted was a new recruit of theirs. We… had a small grudge. So we pretended to bring them here for experience and instead set a trap. We planned to scare them a bit… but the moment we trapped them, we started celebrating and took another route home—only to be ambushed by goblins.”

  Before Glenn could respond, Leaf burst out, hands on hips:

  “For a tiny grudge you would do something like that?! That’s horrible! This place is dangerous—and look what happened! All those deaths—because of you!”

  Ailium and Kela could only nod weakly and agree with everything she said.

  Glenn placed a hand on Leaf’s shoulder to calm her.

  “What? They went too far!” she protested.

  “Don’t rush. I have more to say,” Glenn replied with a smile.

  Both girls looked confused—so did the prisoners.

  Then Glenn said, with unnerving calm:

  “You mean 'her', not 'them', don’t you? I suspect what you truly want to say is this: one of you fancied that young lady, but she wouldn’t spare you a glance. So you devised a trap to frighten her—perhaps even force her hand. Isn’t that right?”

  The two men stared as if they had seen a ghost.

  Their expressions told Glenn everything. He had guessed perfectly.

  When nobles acted over a woman, it was almost always this sort of thing. In Glenn’s experience, such patterns rarely failed.