I just stood there, staring down at the wooden trapdoor for a good while, contemplating exactly what my next move should be.
My mind weighed the risks of what could be lurking beneath the floorboards, but seeing that [Danger Sense] wasn't giving me even a flicker of a warning—
"Whatever."
I dismissed my hesitation with a shrug. I reached down, gripped the handle, and pulled it open before heading straight down into the darkness.
I figured I would just deal with whatever was waiting for me down there and finally be done with this place once and for all.
*****
After descending through the trapdoor, I arrived in what looked like an underground dungeon. It was incredibly poorly made; the walls were nothing but layers of hardened mud that felt damp to the touch, and the path was so narrow that I could barely fit through while standing upright.
It was pitch black and totally enclosed, with the heavy air making the space feel suffocating. Standing there in the silence, I couldn't help but remember my time trapped in the cave again.
"Great, I just managed to get out of a hole earlier and now I am right back in another dark area again."
I jokingly mumbled to myself.
Anyway, the only good thing here was that my tracking skills were going to work just as well as they did when I was back in the cave. I took a second to focus myself—
"Fuuu~"
Then I activated [Echolocation] along with [Vibration Awareness]. I sent out a pulse to scan everything that was hidden under here, and in a matter of seconds, I received a lot of information about my surroundings.
There was only one way to go, which was straight ahead. At the end of the narrow tunnel, there was a fairly large open space that seemed to be used for something specific.
Then... I felt it. I could feel movement coming from that area. A lot of weak movement, to be more specific.
My head started piecing all the information around me along with the ones that I just gathered, and almost immediately--
"Prisoners...!"
It clicked in my mind and I came to that conclusion.
My eyes widened. I didn't waste a single second of time.
BAM—
I kicked off the ground and started running down the path.
The tunnel wasn't actually that long, so quickly— I reached the end of it. And there, I saw a rusty prison cell with metal bars that looked like they were about to fall apart at any moment. But most importantly—
"W-Who are you...?"
I saw actual humans locked in there. My guess was right.
Anyway—
"My name is Verc."
I introduced myself as calmly as I could.
"I came to save you all."
Then I followed up with that, letting the words sink in.
*****
The door of the rusty prison was locked tight, but Verc didn't mind it— POP! He simply grabbed the metal bars and pulled with all his might, destroying the entire mechanism and ripping the door open.
"?!!"
The people trapped inside were completely stunned by his display of sheer strength, but they were so overwhelmed that they decided not to say anything.
There were six prisoners huddled under here. Three young women, a man who was deathly skinny, and then a young boy and a young girl. It looked like most of them had been trapped here for a long time, except for the two kids who seemed more recently captured.
Verc immediately realized the grim reality of their situation. The women had clearly been used as pleasure slaves, seeing how they had torn clothes and were left almost naked. Meanwhile, the man had been used for entertainment; he was stripped down to nothing but his underwear, and he was the thinnest of the entire group. His body was covered in a map of visible bruises, open wounds, and signs of severe trauma.
Then there were the kids, who actually looked fine and relatively healthy. It seemed like they had just arrived here a couple of days ago or so.
Verc quickly studied the situation, and after processing the misery in the room—
"I'll help you all out here."
He muttered that with a firm tone.
"We can't... There are a lot of goblins outside, and they have a strong chief as well."
One of the women said to him, her voice trembling. The others nodded their heads in agreement with her, the pure fear in their faces completely visible in the dim light.
Verc looked at them, and then with a small smile—
"I've already dealt with them all, don't worry."
He calmly reassured them, trying to ease their panic.
"I-Is that true..?"
The man sitting on the dirty ground asked. He was stuttering over his words, clearly struggling just to gather the strength to speak.
"How do you think I got here?"
Verc answered confidently, his logic being irrefutable.
Hearing his words, the prisoners widened their eyes in surprise... and then in pure joy. They looked at each other, and then without wasting another moment of their lives—
"Take us with you!"
They all decided to follow Verc out of this shithole.
*****
"There are clothes scattered here and there, and some food as well— take everything you need before we leave. I also took some items for myself, so help yourselves."
Verc instructed the group as he led them back up into the storage room.
"G-Got it!"
One of the women said, and then they all started frantically searching through the piles for things they could actually use.
They all quickly changed their clothes and took whatever food they could find. They really just took what they needed the most for the immediate future. After being trapped in such a cramped space and starved for so long, all of them just wanted to be comfortable and safe. They just wanted to survive.
...
...
...
"Let's rest here for a while, recover your stamina for an hour or two. Eat all you can. After that, we leave."
Verc explained the plan to the group, and none of the others raised any objection. They had also witnessed what was waiting outside of this room, the gruesome scenery there— they much preferred resting in here than out there among the carnage.
Currently, the group was sitting comfortably on a pile of scavenged blankets. They were eating bread and jerky to fill their empty stomachs.
Verc was just standing there watching them, smiling happily at the scene.
"Aren't you going to eat, sir?"
Then, the young girl looked up and asked him that.
"No, I'm full. You guys need it much more than I do, so don't worry about me."
Verc replied, keeping his smile steady.
The others were really moved by his words. They admired Verc immensely and felt even more grateful to him than they had before.
'Yes, keep eating and recover your strengths.'
Verc thought to himself. Then, as his smile widened even more—
'You guys are going to be my ticket to civilization.'
He added that final thought.
*****
(Verc's POV)
We rested for a good while, and during that time, they all took turns introducing themselves to me.
The young women were Kyla, Barbara, and Clarissa; the three of them were originally maids working for a merchant family. The man's name was Hans, and he was a simple farmer. Then there was the little boy, Noah, while the little girl was Molly. They were siblings.
The six of them were apparently all from the same village. They had just wandered outside their village borders to forage or do chores when they were suddenly kidnapped by the goblins. They told me there were actually more prisoners before I got to them, but once every few days, the goblin chief would come down to the prison and take one person away— and that someone would never come back.
They were all in complete despair when I freed them; the look in their eyes made it seem like they were just waiting and scared for their impending death. But now, I could finally see hope and joy returning to their faces.
'Huh... This doesn't feel bad.'
I thought to myself, feeling a bit of satisfaction after seeing them like that.
... ... ...
After a few hours had passed, we all decided it was finally time to leave.
Kyla and Clarissa carried the young ones in their arms and made sure to cover their eyes, while Barbara assisted Hans in moving his weakened body.
Once we were all set, we left the storage room with me leading the way.
We were all greeted by the sight of dismembered body parts from the humans the goblins had killed once again, but we all ignored it the best we possibly could. I knew no one wanted to see that, so I fastened my pace, and the others followed along closely.
We got out of the chief's house quickly.
And as soon as we were finally out in the open air... Everybody visibly relaxed.
"There really are no more goblins here..."
Barbara muttered in disbelief. Kyla and Clarissa placed the two kids back down on their feet.
The six of them looked around and scanned the entire village; disbelief was written all over their faces. They all looked at me at once.
I just smiled confidently—
"Told you I took care of them all already."
I muttered that, letting the fact of their defeat sink in.
"But, where are their bodies?"
Hans asked, looking at the empty ground.
"Erm, I burned them."
I replied in a hurry. I could tell they might start asking more questions I didn't want to answer, so before they could even speak—
"Let's leave immediately. I'll escort you all back to your village. I know you guys want to go home now."
I shifted the topic and suggested that instead.
They all looked at me with incredibly grateful eyes, which, to be honest, feels uncomfortable as fuck. I just ignored them and started leading the way out again.
... ... ...
With nothing left to worry about, we leisurely walked out of the village's main gate. We got out without any trouble or worry at all.
And as if luck was finally smiling down on us, we found a carriage sitting outside with a live donkey tied nearby. It seemed like the goblins had stolen them from some travelers not long ago.
Hans said he knows how to drive a carriage, but he was still far too weak to actually do it, so we didn't let him. Instead, Barbara would do the driving, and he would sit beside her to give instructions and step up if she needed help.
With that decided, we quickly set up everything we needed, and as soon as we were done...
We left that place without looking back.
'Into a civilization I go.'
I thought to myself with a wide smile on my face.