A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 701 The Mind That Acquires - Part 7

It pointed its huge bludgeon – more of a log, really – towards Oliver, as though it were a knight declaring a challenge. Oliver smiled to himself. Any other monster, and he might have shown a shred of respect at that gesture. But, Hobgoblins, of all creatures, would forever keep a special place of hatred in his heart.

Spurred on by the pressing time crunch that he was on, Oliver gave no mind to its antics. As though he was a goblin himself, he ran straight forward, not bothering to feint, not bothering to set up the attack for an opening as he normally would, he simply did as the Moonbear did, trusting that his strength would be enough to overwhelm any foe that came his way.

For a creature like a Hobgoblin, that direct challenge was infuriating. It stood its ground and swung its bludgeon in time with the incoming attack. This, Oliver ducked, merely because it was faster to duck it than it would have been to cut through it. There was a huge opening, should he have needed it. With Oliver's superior speed, he could have killed it then in any number of ways.

Instead, he simply thrust his sword through the side of its neck, killing it as swiftly, cleanly and anticlimactically as possible.

Certainly, from the expression on the Hobgoblin's face, it had likely never expected to be defeated so casually, as though he was nothing more than a low-tier common monster himself.

Whatever complaining he tried to do was reduced to a torrent of blood coming out through the chunky fangs of its mouth, and down onto his chest. Oliver twisted his sword in the wound, severing the front half of the neck completely, and finishing the job all at once.

Before the life had even fully left the Hobgoblin's eyes, Oliver was already dragging it back to where he knew the others to be, his hands under its arms, and its blood leaving a long trail through the snow behind them.

"Already..." were the words that Blackthorn met him with, as he met them back on the main thoroughfare. He could see from the additional harvested organs that they'd already finished processing the Moonbear, as he would have expected.

"You were certainly far faster today than we could have expected, my Lord," Verdant echoed that sentiment. "You've even done much of our work for us. I think we're all increasingly aware of the catching up that we need to do."

"We could have gone faster, if not for..." Karesh grumbled, eyeing Blackthorn's retainers. Amelia glared at him in turn.

"No one asked you, curly," Amelia said with an excessive amount of venom.

"Hey! Don't you talk to my cousin like that," Karesh said hotly. "Not when you've been so useless. Act big when you can do big, or keep your mouth shut, woman!"

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"Karesh," Verdant said, his voice as cold as ice, immediately warning the retainer of the line that he'd crossed.

"But she..." Karesh said meekly.

"I know," Verdant said, his tone cool enough that even Amelia was freezing from it, though she wasn't its direct target. "But it would be foolish for retainers to start wars amongst allies, would it not? A retainer that is unable to hold his tongue, despite what is said to him, will be of no use to our Lord."

"Sorry..." Karesh said.

Somehow, Verdant had managed to chastise both of them, making Amelia appear even worse than Karesh, as he seemed to deem her beneath the standard that he'd set for them. Of course, Oliver knew that wasn't exactly the case – Verdant seemed a far more magnanimous man than that.

"Well, you certainly seem to have this lot under control," Oliver said. "That's good."

"Measures need to be put in place and understandings need to be had," Verdant said. "I understand well and good that they're all tired, but it is no excuse to say the unsayable. If we are to join you on your missions next month, my Lord, we ought to be able to function far more cohesively than this."