They followed the tiles and the distant light, but they were not sure what to expect.
Soon, they saw a post on the way and halted their steps. If one looked up, there was even a colorful flag at its apex.
"Huh..." Arthur uttered, looking at the post and wondering if it had meaning.
Was it someone’s property? Technically speaking, no one person could own property in the danger zone. It had to be approved by all three Kings.
There were also a lot of conditions before this was approved, not to mention money and strength, the most stringent one was the ability to build and maintain buildings.
There was no news about someone approved for this. If there was, it would’ve been worldwide news.
Still, they were already here, so they might as well investigate the light sources. They needed a camping area and perhaps there was a large group camping nearby?
Now that they were closer, it was clear that it was more than one, and a lot of smaller ones.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. He noted that many of the smaller lights were equidistant and above ground.
"I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but a setup like this feels like there are...street lights."
The others looked at him. Street lights?
Weird, but they could also understand the impression.
After a few moments of thought, they really stepped forward to see what it was and hoped for the best.
The moment they passed the post, the screen indicating the [Rules and Regulations] as well as the entrance fee appeared. Fortunately, it seemed like they had a few hours to pay for this so-called entrance fee to expire and they’d be kicked out.
They looked at each other, feeling curious, and continued to head deeper.
"There’s a more homogenous pathway here," Ignus said at the side, and they followed after him.
In the middle of the forest, connecting with those intermittent tiles from outside, was a straight pathway made of polished stone. It was of much higher quality and seemed to be made by skilled artisans.
They walked along it and also to where the light was, realizing very quickly that they really were street lights .
"...what?"
Then they encountered a plaza, and a whole group of buildings!
They also saw two goblins doing different things on one of the lawns in front of a well-lit building. They were wearing matching clothes, and flinched when they saw them.
They scuttled in front of them (which wasn’t really shocking, as they were used to servants doing this). However, there were differences between these goblins versus others, and it was not just their uniforms.
Was it demeanor? They weren’t sure.
"WELCOME TO THE WANDERER’S REFUGE!"
...
They studied the small complex of buildings, connected by streets made of the same type of pathway. Was this really still in the middle of nowhere? Not to mention, it was already nighttime, and all of them were brightly lit.
Not even small towns would have buildings lit up like this.
Arthur couldn’t help but look at his brother, who was the one who led the way in this excursion. "Are you certain we weren’t heading back to the safe zone instead?"
Ravin gave him a look, and the blonde looked away, and his eyes caught the window of the building, getting a glimpse of the furniture inside.
The buildings themselves seemed well-maintained and were definitely not what one would expect in the middle of nowhere. "Where...is this place?"
Perhaps they entered some magic portal of legends somehow, and they were in a totally different world?
"How exciting," Arthur said at this thought, sparkly eyes sparkling even more than usual. Ravin ignored him and walked past, looking at the goblins.
"Tell us what this place is."
The goblins shivered a bit, feeling the nobility, and some instincts kicked in. However, they would never forget the Master’s words when he noticed their behavior in front of some humans.
" You are not just goblins, you are a staff member of the miraculous Wanderer’s Refuge," he said. "I hope you carry yourselves with the pride of its staff."
Like this, they shook their heads and puffed their cheeks and lifted their chins. Ravin’s eyebrows rose a bit, but he didn’t take offense.
"This is the Wanderer’s Refuge—the refuge amidst the danger!" Ranran and Tumble said in sync, reciting the tagline they practiced to say well for a long time.
Ravin just looked at them weirdly, Arthur chuckled, while the two guards looked curious.
Haohao and Durgan—who went over when they heard the greeting—watched at the side with a smile. The boss mentioned that, as much as possible, get the goblins used to powerful people of status, so they wouldn’t help out this time.
"You can sleep in our comfy rooms for 3 gold a night! We also have solo premium rooms at 5 gold," they said. The guards’ eyebrows furrowed at the expense, but then they looked around again and thought that if one was stuck in the middle of nowhere, it was indeed tempting if one had money.
Arthur nodded and was about to hand over some gold from his space. His family was not poor, and his allowance per day was bigger than this.
Then again, he was thought not to be led by the nose too often, so he paused and looked at the goblins once more.
"That’s a bit expensive, isn’t it?" he asked, releasing a bit of his aura.
Durgan and Haohao blinked, about to interfere. Goblins weren’t strong, and they could absorb cores much, much more slowly than others. Not to mention, they had a cap. Unexpectedly, the green ones didn’t need their help at all.
"No, no! It is worth it!"
"Yes, yes! We know many things, ask us anything!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
The goblins were nervous, but passionate. They truly did study well, determined not to cause shame for the Inn!
Finn, using some of the paper he bought back in town, made a little guide for staff members about what they could do in some basic situations. While most situations would depend on their own wit and choices, it was a good guide to have, especially if they were lost or clueless.
This guide also had some ’Frequenty Asked Questions’ that the customers might ask.
This included the available rooms, the effects, the fees, and so on. There was more information about the facilities, what they were, as well as what they could do and their potential.
There were even some tips. For example, the canteen’s menu for the day would be about the same the whole day, so the guests could try out different combinations for each meal, and so on.
There were even techniques on how to maximize the utility room and washing areas. For example, combining very similar cloth together would wash faster than washing them separately. Cost would also be a bit lower. And so on.
There was more information about the rules and regulations, which could sometimes be open to interpretation.
The goblins were, in fact, still learning to read with Micc, but they read the ’guide’ over and over, even at their slow pace, so they knew the answers by heart.
The two were fast talkers, and the guests managed to squeeze in a lot of information within a few minutes. They told them about the rooms, the regeneration rates, as well as the fact that they actually had a barrier.
Arthur and the others couldn’t help but look at each other. The more they heard, the more disbelieving they were. How could there be such a place?