CHAPTER 76: CLUE FOUND?

Kraghul was soaked in green fluids, every goblin in sight dead, but he allowed one of the ’horsemen’ to escape so they could report what they had seen.

The humans had a huge bounty on his head, and there was no reason the orcs wouldn’t cash in.

That was why they let his terror grow—so his bounty would keep increasing.

One could think of it as an investment they allowed to compound, but now they were coming for the rewards.

And there was no telling what the humans would pay to have him alive.

"Alive or dead" was on the banner, but the former was more hopeful than realistic, with the legend Vrognut had built.

The other orc had no idea if this was part of Kraghul’s plan or not, but the fact that Kraghul planned everything so carefully only to be done in by his horse didn’t make sense.

Kraghul came out calm, composed, as if everything was going according to plan.

Did he know Vrognut would eat the horse?

He did have a reputation for cannibalism that everyone knew about since he always took a bite of those he defeated, but horses were never part of the menu.

However, this might have been the exception, because they had traveled so long and there was nothing else to eat.

The goblins had taken a break, and they must have been hungry as well. They didn’t seem well prepared for the journey, and Kraghul noticed this when they left a few of their own to die.

It wasn’t to slow them down, because that did nothing—it was to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

That was why Vrognut carried a decaying limb around; otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to.

And orcs had noses just as sharp as goblins.

The smell of decaying flesh was easy to pick up, but Kraghul had no idea what would happen next—it could have easily been any other goblin who ate the horse.

But from this orc’s report, he knew Vrognut was the type to hide and swap places with others, like he did in the camp. So the chances that it was him were about forty to sixty.

And the moment Kraghul didn’t see him, he knew right away it was Vrognut who had done this.

Kraghul had considered this a possibility, of course, but it still needed a push from Lady Luck, so his plan wasn’t built around this event.

It was unexpected, but still something he had entertained. The orc who came with him helped kill the goblins.

The pure rage in every swing—Kraghul knew that rage would be useful as he threw an unconscious Vrognut over his shoulder.

"Where to now?" the orc asked, but Kraghul knew going back would take days. They were already close to the nearest orc territory, so they might as well continue forward.

"We continue onward," Kraghul commanded, and that was exactly what they did.

---

Byung fucked Naruz to sleep, but even though he was light on his feet, the troubles in his mind didn’t stop.

Byung decided to take a stroll. He noticed no one had spoken about the cave Murkfang had shown them, which meant it wasn’t a coincidence that Murkfang was the only one who knew about it.

Byung felt the gentle breeze against his face and knew there was still so much to do.

This couldn’t turn into a full-scale war either, because the goblins had no chance of winning it.

Byung needed a lead—and fast—but now he had the power to make changes.

It was around 4:42 a.m., even though time barely mattered to them.

Byung walked around; this was the safest place to be for someone of his status because he had brought structure to this race.

Crimes among goblins were almost zero—or rather, no one ever reported them.

Like when Sneegle attacked him, and they both kept it quiet.

He managed to get through that encounter with little damage, but after his fight with Drekk, no one dared to oppose him.

The fear and respect they had for the Mogul had transferred to Byung, even though he didn’t defeat him directly.

It didn’t matter—he had put protocols in place to restrain him.

Byung noticed whispers nearby and quickly moved out of sight to see what the commotion was about.

He peeked over his shoulder and noticed they were armed with weapons—which were forbidden.

The weapons they had crafted weren’t allowed to be carried without explicit permission from the Barons.

That rule kept their crime rate low, but this couldn’t be a revolution or a mutiny; these goblins were too dumb for such a complex plan.

Still, Byung didn’t put it past them—he knew little about how their minds worked.

If they were really that stupid, they wouldn’t have done some of the things he had already seen.

"What do you people think you’re doing?" Byung demanded, stepping out of the darkness, and the goblins froze instantly.

Byung knew he could handle them easily but noticed a few supervisors were present.

"That’s why they could access the weapons..." Byung thought, but his heart sank the moment he saw the supervisor he had treated step out of the shadows.

"I see... You want to...?" Byung questioned again, smelling the fear in them.

He paused, giving them a chance to explain before punishing them.

The goblin he had helped with his broken hand stepped forward to speak.

"W-We want to go and look for Murkfang," the goblin said, but there was still no word on Murkfang’s whereabouts.

The fact that Gribnox had sent out a search party that came back empty-handed made them all believe Murkfang was dead—everything pointed that way.

They expected Byung to punish them, but all he did was sigh.

"Why didn’t you just come to me?" Byung asked.

The goblins were confused by his reaction, thinking he was happy Murkfang was missing because it meant he could take his place beside Gribnox.

"Come to you?" one goblin asked, confused about why they’d need to do that.

"Yes. I also believe Murkfang might be alive, but you can’t do it alone," Byung reminded them. The orcs would tear them apart.

Byung walked past them and grabbed one of the weapons from the ground.

"I would have loved to go with you, but this place is in a delicate situation right now," he said, showing regret. He understood how brave these goblins were.

But it was his act of defiance that had pushed them to this point—otherwise, this kind of bold action would’ve been unthinkable.

"It is fine, you have my permission to look for him. But don’t go sneaking around like criminals. I’m glad you’re putting one of our own first," Byung said, because this could be him one day, and he’d want the same effort to find him.

If he discouraged them now, it would destroy the mindset he was trying to build among these primitive creatures.

The goblins agreed to inform him next time, and Byung smiled, hoping they’d find a lead.

"Okay, if you do not return in four days, I will send a search party to look for you. Leave trails so it’ll be easier," Byung advised.

They paused, realizing this was actually a smart idea, and their eyes lit up.

"You poor stupid creatures..." Byung thought, though not with hate. He found it almost cute—one would think something this ugly could at least think critically.

Murkfang must’ve thought he was Genghis Khan but ended up failing at everything he set out to do. Yet, somehow, it all worked out in the end.

The goblins set out, but this made Byung aware of a bigger problem: what if their plans were darker? Would it really have been that easy to access weapons?

That could be trouble in the future, and he needed to fix it.

Byung made sure no one was around before heading to the mine Murkfang had shown him.

He walked for minutes and could swear the tunnel had grown wider, though that couldn’t be possible.

It had been a while since he’d walked this far. He usually sat on Maui’s shoulder and let her do the walking.

But now, he reached the end of the mine.

The hole was still visible, and Byung stared out into the distance.

"You bastard... What have you gotten yourself into..." he muttered.

He hoped Murkfang was smart enough to leave a sign for him, since Byung was the only one he’d shown this place.

It had to be for a reason—and soon that reason became clear.

Byung noticed something poking out from the edge of the wall near the exit.

"Huh?" he blurted before grabbing it. It wasn’t something he’d seen before.

He brought it to his nose—the smell was faint, but it was no doubt Murkfang’s scent on what looked like a piece of cloth similar to what humans wore.

"Maybe all of you aren’t that stupid!" Byung exclaimed. He had taken too long to find it, but there was no doubt.

Murkfang must’ve anticipated his disappearance.

Byung knew he wouldn’t be able to connect the dots until Maui returned.

If Murkfang wasn’t with the orcs, then there was no doubt—the humans had him.