Is it Wrong to Try to Start a Kingdom in a Dungeon

Chapter 4

~X~

I sighed as the three of us walked down the road, looking around at the destroyed village I came from. Nothing I see is sparking any flashbacks.

Cloud had a severe frown, while Alfia crossed her arms and glared around.

We eventually came across the goblins I killed yesterday at the market crossroad at the center of the village.

"Hm, these are the first dead goblins we've seen so far," Cloud went to a knee and observed them. "Looks like they were killed with magic."

"I killed them," I said, and Cloud and Alfia focused on me. "I woke up not far from here, and some goblins found me. I ran for a bit before I made a stand here."

"I see," Cloud said and stood up. "Alfia."

"I don't hear anyone else around," Alfia said, already knowing what Cloud was about to ask.

Cloud nodded. "We came in from the west so, there are three directions other directions to check, north, east, and south. Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way. I'll go north."

"I will check south," Alfia said.

"I guess that leaves me with the east," I said.

"We'll meet back here when we're done," Cloud said.

Alfia and I nodded, and we all went in separate directions.

.

I explored a few houses, but there wasn't anything of interest. I didn't know what I was looking for. My Predator Skill wasn't picking up anything, either.

I headed back outside and looked at the footprints in the dirt. It was easy to tell goblin footprints from the human ones. The problem was they were going all over the place. One thing I could tell was the goblins didn't enter or exit the village this way. No goblin footprints were heading outside.

I suppose that made sense. There are mountains to the north, and Cloud pointed those out on the map yesterday since they had caves that could hide a nest.

I decided to head to the market crossroad early. There wasn't much to find on my side of the village. It may be better for me to find some useful items in the market.

The first place that caught my eye was a potion shop. It seemed out of place in a remote village.

Heading inside, I saw the shop doubled as the local doctor's office. There were a couple of exam rooms and a large room with multiple beds for patients who needed to stay overnight rested.

Searching around, I found some healing potions. However, the real prize was the books. There were books about different ingredients and what their effects were. And there were beginner books into alchemy. To clarify, alchemy in this world was more akin to Skyrim alchemy, not like something in Full Metal Alchemist. All of that went into my Bag of Holding.

I walked out and waited around for the other two to come back. It didn't take long, only about ten minutes.

"Hey," Cloud greeted. "You two find anything?"

I shook my head. "Just a bunch of destroyed buildings."

"Nothing of note," Alfia said, then tilted her head in thought. "Strange."

"You noticed that too, huh?" Cloud smiled.

I looked between them while trying to figure out what they were getting at.

"Are you two saying the fact we found nothing is very strange?" I asked.

"Yes," Cloud said. "If there was a goblin attack, there would be some very obvious signs. Yet, all we've found are goblin footprints everywhere and the dead goblins you killed. There are no other goblin bodies, no bodies of the people living here, no blood... heck, no signs of fighting at all. The only thing are destroyed buildings, but it looks like nothing was taken from the places."