Still, he didn't dwell on it too much.
To be honest, being able to wipe out almost the entire goblin nest by himself this time was largely due to luck.
There were too many coincidences: the monk keeping the enemies occupied, his own instincts, and that goblin knocking over the campfire and plunging the cave into darkness. It was only because so many random factors aligned that he was able to achieve such results.
If he had walked in here alone, he probably wouldn't have lasted a minute before being hacked into mincemeat by those twenty-odd goblins, ending up as an extra dish over their campfire.
Even so, Lynn's combat achievements still caught someone's attention.
The monk approached Solon and asked, “How many goblins did we eliminate in total this time?”
Solon unrolled the leather pouch filled with ears and showed it to the monk. “Twenty-five in total. One of them was even a Goblin Warrior, which is worth ten times the bounty of a regular goblin.”
The monk nodded.
The village's estimate had been around twenty, but now that the battle was over, the actual count was six or seven higher.
Still, it was close enough. Either way, the final quest bounty would be calculated based on the actual head count.
This quest, however, had brought him a bit of an unexpected pleasant surprise.
The monk looked at Lynn.
This villager was very young, yet he already possessed more than one skill and could even cast spells. He clearly had the potential to become a spellcaster.
Barring any melodramatic cliches like being some noble's illegitimate son, this young man had to be a monster-level genius.
The monk himself had come from a small village. He had only embarked on the path of an adventurer after joining a monastery to study martial arts.
Thus, he knew all too well how difficult it was for uneducated villagers to learn skills.
Many low-level adventurers only ever learned one or two skills by the time they retired due to injuries.
Furthermore, Lynn's talent was not just limited to his learning capacity.
His combat decision-making was also of an excellent standard. To be able to calmly handle unexpected situations and make the right choices during his very first adventure was something the vast majority of rookie adventurers simply could not do.
Most rookies on their first quest would panic just like Hal did. Even someone like Solon, who could make decisions—even if they were wrong—was already in the minority.
Perhaps... he could invite him to become a regular member of their party...
The idea of recruiting Lynn into the party began to take root in the monk's mind.
Just as the monk was about to strike up a conversation with Lynn, Hal suddenly shouted from the cave entrance. “Hey, look at this!”
Lynn looked over. Hal was standing beside a goblin's corpse, holding up a round red crystal that pulsed with an unsteady, breathing light in the dim cave.
“Is this... a magical material?”
As a spellcaster, Betty was the first to recognize the object.
The adventurers gathered in a circle.
“It looks like a magic stone, but we'll need a professional appraiser to determine its exact grade.”
Only Lynn felt a slight aversion to the thing.
On one hand, it was smeared with foul-smelling goblin blood.
On the other hand, the glowing object reminded him of the radioactive novelties from his previous life. He could almost hear the ticking of a Geiger counter echoing in his ears.
But in the next second, Betty's words made his expression change.
“This might be useful for crafting a staff.”
Betty added, “Staves require magical materials to serve as their cores. Some mage class-holders don't even have a staff that suits them.”
Were staves really that rare in this world?
Lynn's eyes instantly lit up. The disgust in his gaze vanished, replaced entirely by burning desire as he stared at the red magic stone.
Naturally, the others noticed the shift in Lynn's gaze.
Solon suggested, “Maybe this should go to Lynn. After all, he killed this goblin all by himself. We didn't really help at all.”
To Lynn's surprise, Hal the ranger was the first to agree. “I think so too. If it weren't for Lynn, Solon and I might have lost our lives here today.”
It seemed the ranger had been completely won over by Lynn's performance in battle.
The other two naturally had no objections either, so the red magic stone logically ended up in Lynn's possession.
“Make sure you keep it safe. This thing is highly valuable,” Betty warned him as he slipped it into his pocket.
Lynn nodded to show he understood.
He felt no guilt whatsoever about taking the magic stone.
Just as Hal had said, if it hadn't been for Lynn's outstanding performance and timely leadership, today's outcome could have been very different.
Besides, Lynn had killed so many goblins today, yet he didn't intend to ask the adventurers for a share of the quest bounty. He could just consider this magic stone as bought with his share of the reward.
But judging by Betty's solemn expression, the combined bounty of all these goblins probably wouldn't even be enough to buy a fraction of this magic stone.
...
Having distributed the spoils of war, the temporary party was officially disbanded.
The adventurers rode a carriage back to town, where they parted ways.
Hal the ranger warmly invited Lynn to grab a drink with him at the tavern, but Lynn politely declined.
Before parting, both Gan the monk and Betty left him with their contact addresses.
Betty in particular told him that she would take him to a “great place.”
Although he had no idea where Betty was referring to, seeing her play so mysteriously made Lynn look forward to it.
Rate on N.U.
