Shire waited quietly for a minute, then prepared to call his subordinates down from the tree.

But then, a few images flashed through his mind. He recalled watching wildlife shows in the past and learning that bears are incredibly cunning animals.

Lions and tigers would run far away immediately after being released, but bears were different. They would linger around their cage after running out, sometimes even attacking it.

With this in mind, he grabbed Red Eyes’ wooden club and threw it down. It struck Scarface’s corpse with a dull THUD.

ROAR! The Fearsome Claw Bear charged out from behind a tree, roaring as it tore Scarface’s corpse to pieces.

After venting its fury, it pawed at the pieces of the body to confirm its target was truly dead. Then, it lifted its head and roared several times, as if asserting its dominance.

It then twitched its nose, snatched up Scarface’s mangled corpse in its jaws, and quickly departed.

Shire carefully scanned the surroundings from his perch in the tree. After waiting a few more minutes and seeing no sign of the Fearsome Claw Bear, he finally let his subordinates slide down the ropes one after another.

Once on the ground, he let out a long sigh of relief, his taut nerves finally relaxing.

The crisis was finally over.

Shire quickly searched the bodies of One-Eyed Grant and Fat Leo, finding nothing but a few Gold Coins and a bag of seasonings.

Finally, he approached Coulson’s body, which had been ripped to shreds by the Fearsome Claw Bear.

"I shot that arrow for you, you know. How are you going to repay me?" Shire muttered as he searched the body.

After searching the entire body, all he found was a single, palm-sized pouch.

It was a waterproof, sealed pouch. Shire shook it, but it made no sound.

’Empty?’

Shire opened the pouch and took out a small seal and a document.

"Fran Kingdom Commerce Bank Deposit Slip. Access via Seal."

"Depositor: Coulson. Amount..."

"357 Gold Coins."

"Whoa, thanks for the generous donation, my man," Shire grinned from ear to ear.

"I never thought being a Reaper was so profitable. Just how many heads did you have to collect for this?"

Afterward, he ordered his subordinates to strip the trio of all their belongings, preparing to take everything back to the burrow. This included the Great Sword left behind by the two sisters.

Once everything was gathered, Shire thought for a moment before leaving. He had his subordinates dig a large pit and bury Coulson’s trio along with his own dead men.

He even whittled a wooden plank and carved a few lines on it.

"Don’t say I’m stingy. I gave you a proper burial and even a headstone."

Shire planted the wooden sign in the mound of earth, hammering it firmly into the ground with a club. After making sure it was secure, he led his men away.

Sunlight streamed down, and the sound of birds chirping once again filled the clearing.

A small bird fluttered down and landed on the wooden sign. It tilted its head, looking at the carved marks, then lifted its head and chirped.

The wooden sign read:

I, Coulson, lie in eternal slumber here.

O, Adventurers who pass by, please do not grieve for me.

For if I were alive,

None of you would be.

...

「Inside the burrow.」

"So? Do you feel anything?" Shire asked hopefully.

Broken Tooth shook his head, indicating he felt nothing at all.

"How could that be?" Shire stroked his chin, pondering the problem.

The previous battle had concluded, leaving him with three new abilities to choose from.

[Available Abilities: Blessing of the Evil God, Basic Endurance x3, Charge, Horizontal Sweep, Shadow Concealment Technique]

[Charge: A single-target combat skill. Allows the user to charge relentlessly toward an enemy in battle, ignoring minor damage during the process. An attack to the legs will interrupt the Charge.]

[Horizontal Sweep: A combat skill. Allows the user to swing their weapon in battle, damaging all enemies in front of them. It cannot hit targets behind the user.]

[Shadow Concealment Technique: A personal status skill. Allows the user to hide inside a shadow, becoming undetectable by others. The size of the hiding area is dependent on the size of the shadow. Shadows that are too small cannot be entered or exited. If the shadow disappears, the user is sealed within the darkness until death.]

The moment he returned to the burrow, he summoned Broken Tooth and granted him the Shadow Concealment Technique. He then waited for a change, but unfortunately, there seemed to be no reaction.

"Why don’t you take a few steps? Go on, just walk around a bit," Shire suggested.

Broken Tooth paced back and forth under his leader’s watchful gaze, not understanding why he was being told to do this.

"Try jumping."

"Stomp your feet. Harder."

"Feel anything?"

"My... legs are numb," Broken Tooth said quietly.

"That makes no sense... Okay, go stand over there." Shire pointed to a dark corner. "Stay there until you feel something."

Broken Tooth didn’t say a word and obediently went to stand there.

Shire squatted near the entrance, his eyes fixed on Broken Tooth as if he were watching a thief.

[Name: Broken Tooth]

[Race: Goblin]

[Danger Level: 0.9, a talented waste]

[Personality: Timid]

[Ability: Shadow Concealment Technique]

"But it clearly worked..." Shire wondered aloud.

Broken Tooth felt his leader’s gaze and began to tremble slightly.

"What are you shaking for? It’s not like I’m going to eat you."

Broken Tooth slowly averted his gaze, and his trembling stopped.

"So how does it activate?" Shire frowned, completely clueless.

"Chief! Chief!" Buck Teeth came running over, yelling.

"Yeah, what is it?" Shire asked without turning his head, still staring at Broken Tooth.

"They’ve sprouted! They’ve sprouted!"

"What’s sprouted?" Shire asked, not immediately understanding.

"The Red Bulls! The Red Bulls have sprouted," Buck Teeth said.

"Oh, really? Let’s go take a look." Shire got up and headed straight for the burrow’s main hall.

In the main hall lay a section of a fallen log that he and his subordinates had previously carried back. On it grew a clump of solid yellow mushrooms with red and blue spots—the very same "Red Bull Mushrooms" that Shire had named.

Next to this clump, a few new, solitary Red Bull Mushrooms had sprouted.

"So they really sprouted," Shire said.

Based on his survey of the locations where Red Bull Mushrooms grew, moisture and shade were important factors, but it couldn’t be too damp, and the temperature was also critical.

The burrow was a little damp, but that was fine. There was no sunlight, and all they had to do was light a bonfire in the center of the hall to maintain the temperature in the winter.

Shire had previously found it odd that the ground beneath the Nightmare Forest wasn’t as damp as he had imagined. In a normal forest, digging down a few meters would strike water, but here, the soil was only slightly damp even three or four meters down.

’Tomorrow, I’ll have Bai Mao take some men to find more Red Bull Mushrooms and transplant them here.’

’I also need to cut down several types of trees to see which kind of wood the Red Bulls prefer.’

’This space isn’t big enough. I need to have the men dig another chamber for air-drying the mushrooms.’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’That way, we won’t have to worry about a lack of Red Bulls to eat this winter.’

Shire was delighted. His grand "Operation Work-Like-A-Beast" could officially begin. He had endured the hardship himself, and now he was ready to drag his subordinates in to suffer with him.

’Once the chamber is dug out, we can air-dry the Red Bull Mushrooms, grind them into powder, and even mix the powder with water to drink.’

’That way, the little goblins born this winter can taste the mushroom powder. "A goblin’s life begins with their first taste of Red Bull."’

After instructing Buck Teeth to keep a close eye on the fallen log, Shire returned to the storage chamber.

As soon as he entered the chamber, he realized Broken Tooth was gone. "Broken Tooth? Where are you?"

He called out a few times and heard two soft mumbles in response.

He followed the sound and saw a solitary goblin head in the corner, staring at him.

"What the hell? How is there only a head left?"

Shire squatted beside Broken Tooth and patted the goblin’s green head as if thumping a watermelon. "Can you come back out?" he asked with a laugh.

Broken Tooth slowly emerged from the shadow until he was completely detached from it.

"How did you figure it out?" Shire circled Broken Tooth, admiring him like a rare specimen.

"I don’t know," Broken Tooth said. "I got scared, and it just... happened."

"What did it feel like?"

Broken Tooth thought for a moment before saying, "Safe."

"Come on, show me again," Shire said cheerfully.

As if sinking into a mire, Broken Tooth vanished into the shadow before Shire’s eyes.

The two of them had a blast playing around. Shire even had Broken Tooth dive into a shadow with a WHOOSH, only to pop back out with a SWISH.

"Excellent. Keep practicing on your own." Shire explained the finer points of the Shadow Concealment Technique to Broken Tooth, seriously instructing him to be careful and to call for him immediately if any problems arose.

After sending Broken Tooth away, Shire was brimming with confidence. ’I should give Basic Endurance, Charge, and Horizontal Sweep all to Red Eyes,’ he considered. ’Then I’ll find a way to forge a suit of Armor for him, give him a human Longsword, and turn him into the goblins’ number one warrior—their Batulu. He can just Charge and use Horizontal Sweep whenever he runs into enemies.’

’Just like that, I’ve cultivated two powerful subordinates.’

’I wonder what Ability I’d get if I killed the Fearsome Claw Bear.’

Shire rubbed his face, dismissing the impractical thought.

’Best to be realistic. Tomorrow, I’ll go look for more Red Bull Mushrooms.’

...

「To the North.」

In the burrow closest to Shire’s territory, a goblin was reporting to its chief.

"Reporting, Chief. We found no other Hunting Grounds to the south."

"Take some men tomorrow and go have a look. If there are no other goblins, plant our Hunting Ground marker there," the chief ordered, clutching a cantaloupe-sized fruit.

"And if we run into another tribe?"

"Kill them all."