Chapter 20: Startled Birds

Xierna said, "I recall that young William seemed to be training while hunting slimes with young Bulande and the other kids."

"Huh? Hunting slimes?" Geilan showed a curious expression.

Xierna explained, "At first, young William asked Finley what should be done if a large number of Goblins attacked Bigen Village. Finley taught him several trap‑making methods, and then William became obsessed, collecting materials and crafting traps every day."

Hearing this, David snapped out of his reverie and said, "William seemed to have mentioned to me the hypothetical Goblin attack on Bigen Village as well."

"Me too," Ouli nodded.

The lackadaisical Finley also slowly nodded.

Geilan, hugging his chest with one hand and touching his chin with the other, thought, "That's strange—why would William propose such a hypothesis, as if he knew that this would definitely happen…"

David was instantly jolted awake by Geilan's words; a weird suspicion rose in his mind, but because it was too bizarre, he kept it to himself for further verification.

Xierna said, "Come to think of it, didn't we receive a Goblin‑clearing commission not long ago? You all remember, right?"

Ouli nodded and said, "I remember—we cleared more than ten Goblins back then. For Goblins living in the middle zone of the Magic Forest, seeing a dozen appear on the forest's outskirts is already a rare event."

Xierna said, "Right, a lone or pair of stray Goblins is understandable, but a dozen at once is already odd. If William's hypothesis were true, how many Goblins would have to attack Bigen Village for him to be so keen on making traps?"

Ouli thought for a moment and hypothesized, "If they were ordinary Goblins, David's home is in Bigen Village, and even dozens could be handled by David alone, so at least a few hundred Goblins would fit the hypothesis."

Although Geilan looks rugged, his attention to detail ranks just behind David among the few; he added:

"If a few hundred Goblins appear, that's already a small army. It wouldn't be just ordinary Goblins; there might be Elite Goblins comparable to bronze‑rank adventurers. Just ten or so Elite Goblins could entangle David and prevent his escape."

"Furthermore, if it's a unit with dozens of Elite Goblins, there might even be ogres mixed in. In that case, David handling two or three ogres is already his limit."

After hearing Geilan's reasoning, everyone wore a pale expression and fell silent.

Xierna laughed, breaking the dead silence, and said, "Hahaha, Geilan, you're exaggerating. If a Goblin Army swarmed with many ogres, not only would David be outmatched, but even the five of us together would struggle. In that case, no matter how hard young William tries, he couldn't change the situation."

Geilan realized his speculation was dampening morale and apologetically scratched the back of his head, saying, "Sorry, my hypothesis was too far‑fetched. Goblins don't just mobilize armies against human villages for no reason."

"Exactly, haha!" Xierna patted Geilan's broad back and laughed.

Seeing David still deep in thought, Geilan encouraged everyone, saying, "Whether or not our conjecture comes true, let's steer William's training toward countering large numbers of Goblins. That way, even if something bad happens, we won't have to worry too much!"

Everyone nodded, agreeing that Geilan's idea was good.

In the days that followed,

Geilan and the others taught William martial and magical skills, adding many Goblin‑combat tactics and techniques beyond his planned swordsman development.

After all, being instructed by a silver‑rank adventurer with rich combat experience, William—who had lived a past life as a bronze‑rank adventurer—still gained a lot.

Moreover, it wasn't just William himself who improved dramatically; the children Bulande, John and the others also saw some increase in combat ability.

William knew that not every child could awaken a talent above star level; most still possessed raw‑level aptitude. Adventurers are still a minority in this world, but after six months of training he was confident he could greatly raise their chances of surviving a Goblin raid.

Time passed, and five months had elapsed since William awakened his magical power.

In the outer region of the Magic Forest, three figures darted through the trees—William and the other kids returning from a slime hunt.

William ran ahead swiftly, Bulande kept close behind him, and a short distance behind them, John followed at a slightly slower pace.

After several months, all of John's children had awakened magical power; John's awakened magic was Moon, the other two had Star, and the remaining children all had raw magical aptitude.

Nevertheless, these children had not abandoned their promise to William and still trained by his side.

The kids setting up scouting traps, upon seeing William and the others return, greeted, "Brother William, Brother Bulande, you're back!"

William nodded; now his status in everyone's eyes was higher than Bulande's, and he asked, "How's the trap deployment progress?"

The children, having followed William for months and matured under his influence, answered like disciplined soldiers, "The scouting traps in this area are only two short of completion; after finishing the traps in two more zones, the 180‑degree dead‑angle‑free scouting trap zone toward Bigen Village from the Magic Forest will be fully set!"

The children sounded excited, for this was the result of months of their own labor; seeing a child accomplish something adults couldn't gave them a strong sense of achievement.

"Good. Remember, as before, when placing scouting traps try to stay closer to the direction of the Magic Forest's central area. Although the village elders rarely enter the Magic Forest, they sometimes need to collect herbs there, so don't let the villagers trigger the traps," William said, nodding.

The kids pounded their chests and replied, "Don't worry, Brother William, we'll set the traps seriously!"

As they spoke, a huge roar sounded from the direction of the Magic Forest, and everyone turned to listen.

A flock of startled birds took off from the distant forest, looking beautiful in the sunset light.

Bulande said, "It seems to be the direction where we set the scouting traps; could animals or birds have accidentally triggered them?"

William slightly frowned, said nothing, and stared intently at the direction where the startled birds rose.

After a moment, black smoke drifted from the forest where the birds had taken off, and William instantly sensed trouble.

His eyes widened, pupils dilated; despite a year and a half of preparation, his heart still raced when the scene unfolded.

William turned to the others and ordered, "The scouting trap runes won't emit black smoke even if ordinary animals trigger them; only a magical beast can cause that alarm signal!"

"You all rush back to the village, find my father David, tell him the situation is urgent and have him come to support us. If any members of White Eagle Squad are present, summon them too!"

"Then go to my room and take all the defensive traps I've made, and deploy them according to the plan we discussed!"

"Bulande, John, you two come with me to investigate the area where the black smoke emerged!"

"Yes!"

William had already practiced this scenario many times with everyone, and they promptly carried out his orders in an orderly fashion.