Looking out beyond the village, it was as if he could see, across the vast distance, a group of monsters in the forest engaged in construction.
"We can’t just let those monsters build a settlement next to our village and then keep attacking us, can we?"
"There should be an outcome soon." The young man wasn’t sure either, but to comfort the old village chief, he shared his guess. "I heard the explorers who’ve entered the labyrinth should almost be done with their first exploration and are coming back gradually."
"If it doesn’t work out, I’ll make another trip to Barry today and see if I can get through by adding some money..."
Just as the two were worried and anxious.
Outside the village, the rhythmic sound of horse hooves began to echo.
A village youth, in his early twenties, dismounted his horse.
"Bad news, those goblins have already started building a watchtower at the edge of the woods." The horseback villager spoke quickly.
Hearing his message, the other villagers present shuddered simultaneously.
The construction of a watchtower was not good news.
This meant that the temporary camp of those goblins was likely nearly completed.
They now had the resources to extend their influence by building a watchtower.
And this watchtower being constructed in the direction of their village was clear in its implications.
It meant they were being targeted and were likely soon to be marked as an attack target.
"Bob, inform the other women and children to start packing their belongings, to see if they can move to other villages in the near future."
It’s unrealistic to expect to completely evacuate a village of decades in a short time. They couldn’t wait for the adventurers to arrive while the threat from the monsters was getting closer.
They couldn’t just sit and wait for death; the best thing to do was transfer the weakest—old people, women, and children—to a safer place.
This was also the best solution for many villages facing difficult crises.
Transfers the weak, relocates assets, and returns after everything settles down.
Although this would inevitably result in some economic and property loss, at least it would preserve the lives of the villagers.
"Those damn green-skinned rodents!" A young man among them was biting his teeth in anger.
His sheep had been taken recently.
A sheep was definitely not a loss that could be easily ignored.
"Village chief, why don’t we gather some people and launch a surprise attack?"
From afar, nearly ten young and enthusiastic lads gathered around, most of them covered in mud, wearing coarse cloth clothes, their pant legs tucked into ragged boots or straw sandals, clearly having rushed out.
As for the weapons in their hands, they were nothing more than iron forks, hoes, wood-chopping axes, with only two or three people having decent iron weapons.
The old village chief looked at the suddenly gathered crowd, his chest heaving violently.
"Are you all looking for death? All of you go back and rest!"
Looking at the eager younger generation of the village, he felt not relieved but rather sorrowful.
The newer generations in the village truly had no understanding of the power of a hundred-goblin-strong enemy.
Perhaps a single goblin was indeed no match for an armed youth, but would it be the same with a hundred?
Not to mention, there were likely more terrifying demons hidden behind those monsters.
This was also why the village never dared to send villagers skilled in riding to scout deeply.
For fear of encountering the elite demons behind them.
These ten young men, wanting to initiate an attack on such a group of monsters, were likely just marching to their deaths.
"Village chief, we can use fire attacks, shoot arrows from a distance, as long as..."
The leader of the gathered youths, Theo, spoke up.
As he spoke, he also showed the village chief his longbow and the flammable cloth wrapped around the arrowheads.
He believed that if they picked some agile hands, paired with longbows, and ignited the fire arrows, they could definitely inflict significant damage on the goblins.
As one of the few members of the village guard, Theo’s hands were not unfamiliar with goblin blood.
In fact, he thought goblins weren’t strong at all.
"Get back inside!" The village chief completely ignored his suggestion, coldly interrupting him. "Theo, if you still recognize me as the village chief, take the others and disperse! Don’t cause trouble."
Theo put down his longbow, looking at the old village chief staring coldly at him, suddenly feeling a bit disappointed. The once kind elder seemed so weak in his eyes now.
He couldn’t even muster a shred of resistance against the enemies invading their homeland.
And this was their leader.
However, due to the long-standing authority of the old village chief in the village, he still didn’t have the courage to openly defy him.
He just snorted lightly, turned away with a discontented face, and left with his group.
"Theo doesn’t seem very happy," noted the old village chief’s son, Bob, the current village chief, as he withdrew his gaze.
"Ignore him, he’s still young, he doesn’t understand how terrifying those monsters are. Allowing his reckless actions would only drag the others into the abyss." The old village chief sighed.
Who, in their youth, wasn’t filled with fervor and passion, but reality was incredibly harsh; lacking special powers, ordinary humans appeared very weak against demons.
Fleeing, retreating, although sounding shameful, was indeed the best option for most people.
"Bob, go inform the others to pack up and prepare to evacuate. Some things that are hard to move should be hidden or abandoned."