He raised his hand and pointed at a sturdy man who was the first to speak: "Just take me to the direction where they frequently appear, no need to get too close, leave the rest to me."
The chosen man immediately puffed up his chest, a smile on his face, exchanged glances with the others, and quickly nodded: "Alright! Mr. Gauss, follow me, I know where they like to come from."
Gauss dismounted from the chocobo, handed over the mount to the workers for safekeeping, and followed the man, walking in silence.
Possibly it was his first time in such close proximity with a Professional, the man was somewhat excited and nervous while leading the way, babbling incessantly: "Sir, you must be careful. There are quite a few of those goblins smashing things up. The other night, right after I went to relieve myself, I accidentally saw them all carrying weapons, about twenty of them, very fierce. Were it not for this, we could have dealt with them ourselves."
"Thank you." Gauss followed behind, speaking little, but seriously collecting intelligence.
This had become instinctive behavior for him, whether it involved commissions dealing with Elite Demons or ordinary ones like this.
His gaze lingered on the fence edges surrounding the lumberyard, soon spotting footprints slightly larger than a handprint, and several marks of damage on the sturdy fence.
He analyzed that this group of goblins was likely scouting and marking the surrounding environment, assessing the number of workers at the lumberyard, whether there were any animals and tools available for plundering inside, and seeking the easiest points on the fence to break through.
This behavior pattern was quite typical, indicating that the group of goblins had already seen this lumberyard as a potential hunting ground. If not cleared early, more severe attacks might follow.
Soon, they passed through a section of felled stumps and reached the extended perimeter outside the lumberyard.
Without needing any introduction from the lumberjack, Gauss already saw numerous scattered footprints on the ground.
"These green-skinned beasts come near the lumberyard every night. We’ve tried setting up some simple traps along the path during the day, but achieved nothing. The traps were even taken away by those little green skins."
This was the biggest problem troubling many ordinary people.
Goblins frequently appeared at night, yet in this era, the vast majority of civilians suffered from night blindness.
The high incidence of night blindness resulted from the combined effects of nutrition, genetics, and economic conditions, unlikely to improve within any foreseeable timeline, whereas the goblins’ night vision was exceptionally good, making nighttime combat against them extremely dangerous.
Moreover, civilians had to engage in heavy production work during the day, leaving them exhausted at night, making it even less likely for them to combat these nocturnal imps.
While reflecting on these, Gauss’s peripheral vision suddenly spotted a figure peeking half a head out from behind a sturdy ironwood.
"Shh. I’ve seen them already." Gauss raised a hand to halt the worker who was still talking.
"Ah?" The man was astonished by Gauss’s sharp eyesight, following Gauss’s gaze and indeed spotting a small figure fleeing awkwardly behind a tree.
"Mr. Gauss, it’s running away!"
"Hmm." Gauss nodded. "I know."
He had deliberately startled that goblin scout.
Beside his foot, a Clay Spider had already quietly scuttled away, following it swiftly.
This was one of the experiences in clearing goblins: applying just the right amount of pressure to the scout.
They needed to know they had been discovered yet should not feel too threatened; otherwise, they might flee recklessly, forgetting to return to their hideout.
"Aren’t we... going to chase it?" The man, watching the green-skinned figure vanish thoroughly into the bushes, was somewhat anxious.
"It’s not going anywhere, rest assured." Gauss said unhurriedly. "Thanks for leading the way. Uncle, you may go back now."
"Ah? Can I... can I follow along for a look? I promise not to cause trouble."
Gauss looked him in the eye.
After a few seconds, he slowly nodded: "You can follow, maintain silence. Once near the goblins’ hideout, stay close to me, don’t wander around."
They were both adults and should take responsibility for their actions. Besides, perhaps he wanted to thoroughly ensure the goblins were indeed wiped out.
Feeling the images returned through the mental link from the Clay Spider, Gauss began following.
The man saw this and quietly followed Gauss’s lead.
In the forest, a goblin scout swiftly traversed the leaf-littered forest floor.
Above it, a white Clay Spider silently leaped from branch to branch, firmly locking onto the goblin scout.
As time passed, the surrounding trees became denser, the light dimmed.
After tracking for about ten minutes, the goblin scout finally reached a concealed ravine.
Scattered here were numerous large rocks that had collapsed at some unknown time, forming a naturally complex terrain.
The rancid goblin stench grew more intense, making the perceptive Gauss wrinkle his brow.
Behind the entrance of the ravine, partly covered by vines and dead branches, came the louder, more frequent goblin shrieks.
Evidently, the goblin scout had perfectly fulfilled its mission, leading Gauss to their base camp.
"So... this is where they’re hiding." The man gasped.