~Y/n pov~

We heard rumours of girls going missing and things being set in fire at night in a nearby village, so we decided to travel there to check it out .

~*~

We were searching around for some clues.

"Who or what do you think did this?" I asked Itsuki.

He pondered for a moment , "Hmm , it was probably a humanoid race that isn't as smart as us."

Near the outskirts , there was a gap in the fence but it was only small enough for a child to fit through .

There were also footprints scattering around , presumably they scouted out the area before attacking.

The footprints were quite small so we could confirm they were some small creature as it was obvious they didn't wear shoes because of the toe marks.

"Hey you were right." I stated, getting a hum in response.

We then decided to ask some locals if they heard or saw anything but nobody got a real glimpse , though some things were set on fire , it luckily didn't kill anyone or spread too far.

Approaching the village leader , I asked , "What kind of landmarks are nearby?"

"There is a small trail that leads into the woods and there is also mountains with caves , I'm not sure what direction they came from though." He gave an apologetic look.

I smiled , "No need to give me that look, the information was actually very helpful. Thanks!"

After a little while, our party rejoined so we could discuss all the clues and information we had gathered about the situation at hand.

~*~

"We could either explore into the woods or try searching for something in the caves." Itsuki suggested.

"Well we need to guess what creatures it could possibly be to find out where they will most likely be hiding . This is also a race against time though because we have no idea what is happening to the kidnapped girls but it can't be good." I added.

"Judging by the size of the footprints and shape," Morino speculated , "The creature could be an imp, goblin or gnome."

"Assuming that's correct ." Aki continued , "I think they are most likely hiding out in a cave because lots of people travel through the forest and there aren't many good places to hide out so they'd probably have been spotted and killed already."

Nakei , who had his arms crossed over his muscular chest , nodded in agreement, "Right, so we should probably set out tomorrow at dawn, it's too late now."

"I agree , I know we should try to save them as soon as possible but it would be unwise to face goblins in the dark." I stated.

Itsuki sighed, "Yeah the goblins would have the advantage being able to properly navigate around the cave and being good at seeing in the dark, we would be at a total disadvantage and we would be tired too, we need to rest up so we have the energy to fight them."

Laughing slightly I said, "When did you get so smart?"

He mocked my laugh before responding, "I just so happen to be good at fantasy games ."

We both smiled at our silliness before our party seperated and went to their rooms.

A long day was ahead of us, we'd need our rest.

~*~

I laid in bed , waiting for Itsuki to get in bed aswell.

The bed dipped signalling he had sat on it, he shuffled and slid under the covers with me.

As if on instinct, Itsuki's arms immediately wrapped around me, holding me close to his chest .

Perhaps he was afraid he'd close his eyes and I'd disappear, he almost lost me once , who knows what will happen in this crazy world.

Placing my hand on his chest, I snuggled my face in his neck, taking in his sweet scent.

Moments like these were what I wished lasted forever, but of course they don't.

We can only dream, at least we were together though, this world had brought us together and although things didn't look so good.

I wouldn't mind all this fighting and struggle if we get to be together in the end, all the struggle in the journey makes the end result feel better deserved .

~*~

To be able to fight the goblins we had to change things up a bit, we were all wearing light armour so we'd have agility to move in the cave because heavy armour would slow us down and give the nimble goblins advantage.

If we had long weapons like a long sword or spear, we also got shorter versions so we'd be able to move to our full ability. We had prepared all this equipment so hopefully, we were ready.

~*~

On our way up to the mountains we hadn't encountered any monsters which was lucky for us.

We all stood in front of the cave, mentally and preparing ourselves , we could do this.

Itsuki lit his torch and passed another to Morino and Nakei. This meant we could split up into groups of twos if needed and we'd have a light source .

"Just remember to keep on guard and look out for traps." I explained.

Itsuki nodded, "There are certain tactics that goblins often use in caves, the only problem would not be knowing of them and they also can get better from stealing our technology so let's hope that's not the case."

The rest of the party nodded, we could do this.

With that, we stepped into the dark cave, hoping we'd come back out, preferably with the girls , alive.

~*~

After a bit of walking, we had eventually come to a part where the cave seperated, so we decided to split up .

Me and Itsuki were in one group and the other three in our party another.

The light of the torch barely lit up what was in front of us so we couldn't see that far in front, we had to rely on our other senses .

As we travelled further down the tunnel, I heard a weird jingling noise, or was it more of a clanking?

The further we travelled the louder it got, until we were basically right next to the sound, it stopped .

Itsuki stepped forward using his torch to try see what it was and he almost recoiled in shock at what he saw .

The cave had come to a dead end, and on the wall, chained up were three girls , wearing barely anything and covered in cuts and scratched .

Checking their pulses, I was relieved to find them alive but just unconscious.

I couldn't imagine what they had gone through .

Suddenly , I could hear several small footsteps running towards us, it was so quiet and sneaky I almost didn't hear it.

Putting my hand on Itsuki's shoulder , I jerked my head in the direction of the noise to notify him of their presence .

The rest of our party must've found their hideout in the other tunnel and tried to kill them all but some escaped, I hope this means they are alive and haven't been killed .

~*~

After we had somehow defeated the goblins, we heard three heavier footsteps running towards us.

When they neared I noticed Morino in the front of the group, it was our party.

They all stopped in front of us, placing their hands on their knees and trying to catch their breath for a few seconds .

"We found their hideout and killed all of them, we even had to kill their children." Morino frowned slightly.

Nakei sighed, "Some managed to escape mid-battle, I'm glad you managed to kill them."

The corpses of goblins on the floor then caught everyone else's attention.

"Did you manage to find anyone who went missing?" I asked .

Aki looked away, fiddling with her hair, "All we found were rotting corpses but I don't know how long they've been there and if it was the same people."

A moment of silence occurred before Itsuki decided to break it.

"We found three girls, we should cut their chains and then bring them back to the village." He sighed.

~*~

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1376 words

A/n I've been busy lately and hoping to get a longer chapter out soon but who knows when that will be :) Also my chapters weren't publishing so sorry for the wait.