Chapter 26: You Should Always Thank Your Savior Properly, Understand?
Lin Wei glanced at Iresha, who now lay sprawled on the ground, completely unconscious.
With a snap of his fingers, swirling mana gathered at his command, drawing the shredded goblin remains scattered across the floor into a single, gruesome heap.
He piled the congealed corpses in the corridor leading to the entrance, transforming the passage into a grisly barricade—one that would give even the boldest adventurer pause.
“That should do it. Even if another adventurer barges in, they’ll think twice before getting any closer.”
His gaze shifted to Iresha, and he mused aloud, “Now then… how should I deal with a city girl like you?”
Iresha was utterly insensible, lost to the world.
Her face, once striking, was now streaked with fresh blood, her crimson hair darkened further by the stains. Beneath her battered mage’s robe, pale skin peeked through, marred by wounds and bruises.
Judging by her condition, even if he finished her off right now, she wouldn’t so much as twitch.
But Lin Wei had no intention of killing her.
“To be honest, I really did want to use this goblin disaster to teach her a lesson,” he muttered. “But then I realized—maybe this is an opportunity. If I can put a stop to this whole mess, I might be able to get a ticket to the imperial capital out of it.”
He studied Iresha’s unconscious form, lost in thought.
After all, goblin outbreaks were a serious problem across the world.
Goblins—creatures of pitiful intellect, ruled by base instincts. Their ability to breed was unmatched, and they had no concept of restraint or morality.
If left unchecked, their numbers would explode, overrunning entire labyrinths and turning them into nothing but goblin nests.
The most terrifying part? There were no reproductive boundaries with these monsters.
The goblins born from such unions had a small chance of inheriting certain traits from their “mother,” mutating into rare variants. These mutants would then breed and expand the tribe even further.
It was an endless, nightmarish cycle—a twisted, self-sustaining ritual of selective breeding. Given enough time and the right traits in the initial “mother,” who could say what horrors might emerge? Perhaps even something capable of rivaling the gods.
If that ever happened, not even the combined forces of the Empire and the Holy Church would be able to eradicate it quickly. They might just declare the entire area a forbidden zone.
For someone like Lin Wei, living near Lotai, that was a disaster waiting to happen.
“Just reporting a suspected goblin outbreak to the Adventurers’ Guild is enough to earn a hefty reward,” he mused. “But if I could track down the source and put a stop to it myself… I might even be hailed as a hero.”
And in a situation like this…
Iresha—a mage from a hero’s party, who ventured alone into the labyrinth and was attacked—was the perfect witness for such a tale.
If a lone adventurer managed to resolve a goblin disaster by themselves, people might grow suspicious, and an investigation would be inevitable.
But if you brought a member of a hero’s party along to help resolve the problem, both the Guild and the Holy Church would accept it without question.
“No matter what, it’s safer than the alternative: ‘Hero’s party member dies in the labyrinth’ plus ‘an adventurer with a known grudge against the hero’s mage just happens to solve the goblin disaster.’”
If this woman died here, there was no way he’d escape suspicion from the hero—especially with Alicia already whispering in her ear. Even if he killed the Pope himself, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name.
“All right, that settles it.”
With a decisive nod, Lin Wei hoisted Iresha up with one hand and pressed deeper into the labyrinth.
He kept careful count of the distance traveled. Once he was certain they were far enough from the exit, he stopped and set Iresha down on the ground.
“Open up—ahh.”
Lin Wei pinched her cheeks and poured the healing potion he’d brought straight into her mouth.
A moment later, with a faint, involuntary moan, Iresha’s pale face twitched. She finally blinked her eyes open, looking utterly drained.
“Ugh… am I dead?”
Darkness and silence greeted her as she came to. Iresha stared blankly around, confusion clouding her mind. The last thing she remembered was the swarm of goblins leaping at her from behind.
And then—she’d seen that infuriating yokel. In a burst of desperation, she’d unleashed all her remaining magic to give him a chance to escape.
“That country bumpkin… Even if he’s weak, he should’ve made it out by now, right?” she thought, recalling how close they’d been to the exit.
“I just hope he managed to report the goblin outbreak…”
“But… I never imagined the last person I’d see before dying would be him. I always dreamed that, when my time came, I’d die in the arms of someone I loved.”
With a wistful sigh, Iresha accepted her regrets.
Her neck was untouched, no pain anywhere in her body.
But then again, if she was dead, it made sense she couldn’t feel anything.
Only her head felt a little fuzzy—maybe her soul hadn’t stabilized yet, since she’d just died. She’d rest for a bit, then figure out the mysteries of the afterlife.
“Sorry to disappoint, but the last person you saw before dying was me!”
Suddenly, a voice sounded right beside her.
Iresha was so startled she shot upright on the spot.
“Ahhh!!! Oww—ow, ow, ow!!”
The sudden movement tugged at her wounds, sending a fresh wave of pain shooting through her body.
The sharp sensation yanked her back to reality. She blinked, and there he was—Lin Wei, that familiar face, sitting right beside her, expressionless as ever.
A small, flickering flame danced nearby, casting a soft glow over his features and, oddly, lending a sliver of comfort to the moment.
His eyes really were quite striking, she noticed—calm, without a hint of malice. He was just… there, quietly keeping watch.
In his hand, he still held the empty potion vial from moments ago.
That taste lingering in her mouth… Was it a healing potion?
Wait—what’s going on?
Did that mean she hadn’t died, but had actually been saved by him?
“Hey, country boy! What are you doing here?”
The exhaustion of depleted mana washed over her again, her body still wracked with pain—but it was getting better, little by little.
As the realization hit, Iresha’s eyes widened in disbelief. The survival instinct she thought long gone suddenly came roaring back.
“Why am I here?” Lin Wei shot her a glare, his tone bristling with annoyance. “Obviously, I’m hiding from those goblins.”
This woman—she really knew how to get under his skin the moment she opened her mouth.
If he’d known she’d be this ungrateful, maybe he should’ve just tossed her back to the goblins and rescued her after she’d been thoroughly roughed up.
With a scowl, Lin Wei fixed her with a feline glare. “And is that how you treat the person who saved your life? My name is Lin Wei, not ‘country boy,’ in case you’ve forgotten!”
“I—I…”
She’d gotten so used to calling him “country boy” that, for a moment, Iresha couldn’t quite adjust.
She sat there, stunned for a couple of seconds—long enough that Lin Wei was about to give up on her and move on to the next step.
At last, he heard her voice, softer than before, tinged with genuine weakness.
“…Sorry, Lin Wei. But… why did you save me?”
If it had been any other adventurer—someone who’d just argued with her—faced with a situation like this, they’d probably be glad to see her dragged off by goblins. Maybe they’d even try to snap a few humiliating shots with a recording device for good measure.
“I was planning to run, honestly,” Lin Wei replied, still wearing his sour expression. “But then I remembered that Fireball you threw to cover me right before you nearly died. Figured I’d swallow my conscience and save you anyway.”
His tone was still gruff, but as Iresha’s attitude softened, so did his voice.
“Wait—does this mean we’re in the upper levels?” Iresha’s eyes lit up with hope, a spark of survival flaring within them.
“No… We’re still on the fifth floor.”
Lin Wei’s answer snuffed out her hope almost instantly.
“And to make things worse, I ran deeper into the labyrinth to avoid those goblins. So right now, even I have no idea where the exit is. That’s the situation we’re in.”