The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

041 The Goblin Was Seen Running

He carried a load on his back and had a small knife and axe tucked into his waistband. If he encountered a goblin on the mountain path, there was no time to take off the load. He had to quickly cut the shoulder straps of the load and face the goblin. The small knife was for that purpose.

On a normal day, the sound of mountain birds would warm his heart, but today it only sounded ominous. Lizzy clung to him as if she were anxious. Juhwan held Dorothy with one arm and took Lizzy’s hand with the other. In the cold air, their body heat felt unusually warm.

Crunch, crunch, the sound of footsteps spread in all directions. Even Dorothy, who was always noisy, was quiet now.

Only now, after the fierce battle had ended and time had passed, did he begin to realize how terrifying today had been.

After walking for a long time, he finally felt relieved when he saw the village’s outer wall in the distance.

The back gate leading from the mountain was open. Although the sun had not yet set, the light would soon pass over the mountain. Night was coming quickly. He had heard that the gate was usually closed at this time, so why was it open?

Suppressing his uneasy feelings, Juhwan closed the gate. Today had been a tiring day for everyone. Dorothy was already nodding off.

After tucking the child inside his clothes, Juhwan entered the village with Lizzy. Although the village walls were crumbling in places, he felt truly relieved once inside.

It was never a crowded place, but today it seemed even more deserted. As they walked along the quiet path into the village, they finally saw some people.

The villagers who spotted Juhwan and Lizzy looked slightly flustered. They did not approach. They watched from a distance, whispering among themselves.

“….”

Something was strange. It wasn’t just that they were treating them as unfamiliar outsiders; the atmosphere was suspicious. It didn’t seem like their stares were just because of the load on his back.

His nerves, already on edge from the goblins, sharpened. Juhwan subtly adjusted his clothes so he could draw his axe at any moment.

Lizzy quickly reached out her hand. When Juhwan took the child out from inside his clothes, even though she was nodding off, Dorothy reached out her arms towards Lizzy.

Although she ate and slept well, Dorothy was still very thin and small. She was small enough to fit comfortably in Lizzy’s arms.

Lizzy supported the child’s bottom with her hand and followed closely beside Juhwan. The rabbit ears in Dorothy’s front pocket wiggled between Lizzy and Dorothy.

—

From what I heard, it seemed like they were arguing about food. The adventurers were demanding better food and hospitality, and the villagers seemed troubled.

As Juhwan approached, the village chief and the villagers, who had been arguing with the men, hesitated and fell silent.

The adventurers’ gazes also turned to Juhwan. From bottom to top, and then from top to bottom, the men scrutinized Juhwan.

The village chief cleared his throat a few times and asked Juhwan.

“What brings you here? ### With such a large load?”

Before coming here, Juhwan had learned the word for goblin in this world. Lizzy knew it. Juhwan opened his mouth while observing the adventurers.

“Goblins have appeared. Fifty of them.”

“What?”

The village chief, the villagers, and even the adventurers were all shocked. The village chief, flustered, shouted.

“What #### nonsense is this! Fifty?”

“….”

Juhwan looked around at the faces of the people who had gathered. They were all bewildered. But it didn’t seem like they were surprised by the word goblin. It seemed more like….

The sound of people whispering could be heard from all around. There was more talk about the number than the word goblin. The number ten could be heard here and there.

One of the adventurers, his face turning red with anger, spoke.

“You lied! We clearly heard it. Ten.”

“No, it’s true. It’s not a lie. Gus said ten ##.”

It was unclear whether it was the village chief or the villager next to him who answered the adventurers’ accusations. Or maybe both of them had said something like that.

Juhwan’s mind started to whirl with various words, images, and information all at once.

‘These guys, they knew.’

The villagers’ reactions and the words he heard slowly came together in his mind.

The villagers knew that goblins were in the mountain. They didn’t just vaguely know that such monsters existed. They even knew the number, although they were wrong.

Everyone, all the villagers knew, but only Juhwan and Lizzy didn’t.

Even though they knew there were goblins in the mountain and that it would be dangerous for people living in the mountain, no one had warned them.

[Gus said ten.]

The words that had come out of people’s mouths shone in his mind like warning lights.

Gus, whom he had thought of as the closest and most grateful person in this village, also knew. Not only that there were goblins in the mountain, but even the number.

And he had lied to these people.

If Gus knew about the goblins’ existence and had scouted enough to mention the number, he would have known the scale to some extent. He couldn’t have not known that there were more than ten.

Gus had lied even to the villagers. The actions Gus had taken so far flashed through his mind one by one, quickly.

What was Gus’s expression like when he was looking for traces of the beast? Didn’t it seem like he was looking for something more?

—

—

Gus was extremely careful in handling the traces after killing the beast. Even though it was far from people’s homes, he meticulously erased the traces.

He said it was because of carnivores, but yeah, maybe that was part of the reason, but wasn’t it actually because of goblins? Wasn’t he worried that goblins might expand their territory, drawn by the entrails?

Suddenly, the image of the goblin that had attacked him came to mind. It was very strange. It was definitely not a natural state. At the time, he was unsure, but now he could be certain.

Gus did something.

“….”

We need to leave here right now. This was similar to the snares and traps Gus had taught him. It was the process of gradually driving the prey into one place while camouflaging the surroundings so that it wouldn’t feel any sense of discomfort. That’s how it felt.

The moment he realized that, Juhwan turned to Lizzy.

“Where’s the carriage?”

Lizzy answered immediately.

“That way! It’s that way.”

She seemed to have realized something was wrong too. Juhwan headed in the direction Lizzy pointed. He moved quickly. His heart was pounding anxiously, ominously.

The flustered village chief and a few village men blocked his way.

Juhwan immediately drew his axe. At the same time, he kicked the village chief in the chest, who was blocking his way head-on.

Crunch, he felt the sensation of bones breaking dully through his thick shoes. The village chief screamed and collapsed to the ground.

There were a few wooden chairs right next to him. Juhwan swung his axe and smashed two chairs, then glared at the people.

“Don’t block me. I’ll kill you.”

Seeing the sharp-edged axe, the villagers swallowed their screams.

Juhwan glared at the people and continued walking.

Seeing Juhwan’s menacing appearance, the villagers slowly backed away. The path in front of Juhwan opened up like the Red Sea.

The adventurers behind him muttered curses, but Juhwan didn’t care about them. There was no time. He didn’t know what it was, but he had to leave this village right now.

The carriage was behind the village chief’s house. It was bigger than he thought. It didn’t have any fancy decorations, but it was a sturdy carriage made of thick wood.

The roof was rounded in a semicircle, and there was a small window with wooden shutters on the side of the carriage.

Above the driver’s seat, there was a small wooden roof fixed in an ‘L’ shape. It seemed to be to avoid rain or snow. There was a rather large gap between the driver’s seat and the main body of the carriage.

The rear entrance was a thick wooden door.

This should be enough to withstand a goblin attack.

For some reason, the harness connecting the carriage and the horse was neatly placed on the ground. It seemed to be assembled in this order.

Juhwan opened the carriage door and threw the luggage inside. There was a lot of stuff inside. But there was no time to check.

While Lizzy was lifting Dorothy into the carriage, Juhwan headed to a slightly distant building.

It seemed to be used as a stable and a barn. There were two horses, and hay was piled up on the opposite side. Inside the slightly open building, goats and chickens were roaming freely, not tied up.

He remembered reading somewhere that horses are skittish animals. Juhwan carefully led both horses outside, making sure not to startle them.

—

—

A long wooden rod connecting the carriage and the horse had iron rings and leather straps attached to it. As I fumbled, not knowing how to connect them, Lizzy helped me from the side.

I had heard that in the village where Lizzy used to live, several households shared horses. She must have learned how to harness them back then.

Just as we were almost done with the harness, the village chief’s wife came running to the carriage with a man who seemed to be her son. Neither of them was angry. It was the village chief’s wife who was furious. Her son seemed to have followed her.

The village chief’s wife shouted while crying. “That carriage is ours. My belongings, my food, mine,” she must have meant. Words mixed with sobs poured out of her mouth, making it hard to understand.

Juhwan never laid a hand on a woman. He had never done so before. But this woman…

The village chief’s wife left Juhwan and lunged at Lizzy, trying to grab her hair.

Juhwan raised an arm to shield his wife. With the back of his left hand, he slapped the village chief’s wife’s cheek. Her plump body was pushed back, and she fell on her bottom.

Her son glanced at Juhwan’s hand and the axe, seemingly terrified, and pulled the village chief’s wife away. “Mother, let’s go, stop it.” Even as her son said this and pulled her, the village chief’s wife wailed and refused to move. She hurled curses at Lizzy, unable to muster the courage to confront Juhwan.

There was no time to deal with her. Juhwan lifted Lizzy into the carriage and closed the door.

He climbed onto the driver’s seat and shook the reins. Perhaps because he was clumsy, the two horses moved in different directions. He couldn’t steer them well. Still, as the horses began to walk, the carriage rattled away from the spot and headed towards the center of the village.

A few people shouted at Juhwan and followed the carriage. But none seemed to have the courage to confront him. The village chief was still sprawled on the ground.

It was just as they passed the place where the adventurers were. In the distance, Gus’s figure appeared. He was near the entrance. It seemed Gus had suddenly noticed Juhwan.

His heart pounded ominously.

Gus extended his arm and shook a small pouch-like object. Was it powder? It was hard to see. The quantity seemed small, and after shaking it, Gus quickly turned around.

A scream was heard from behind. When Juhwan turned around, he saw smoke rising from the direction of the village fence. Someone had set a fire. Judging by the direction, it was probably the village outskirts, maybe the fence.

Juhwan turned his head. They had to escape. They had to head for the entrance.

But just as he raised the reins to urge the horses, he saw several goblins running from the direction of the village entrance.

A woman’s piercing scream echoed from somewhere. It wasn’t nearby. It was probably from the direction Juhwan had come from, near the back gate of the village’s outer wall.

“We’ve fallen into a trap.”

His heart sank. Like a beast, he had fallen into the trap set by Gus.

—