PICK ME UP, ANOTHER LOBBY!

All four of my comrades quickly slid down the slope and charged toward the remaining enemies.

The monsters were scrambling around, confused by the ambush.

Jonah threw his exploding spear and claimed three goblins on his side, leaving two remaining.

Somehow the explosion was larger than I expected. From Jonah's slightly surprised face I could tell he was thinking the same.

He and Trudy rushed side by side and cut down the enemies while they were still perplexed by the situation.

On the other side, Darius struck down with his arrows two goblins who were already up and ready for battle.

Shanny dashed ahead of the archer and beheaded a third one who was trying to aid its comrades.

Four more came charging toward Darius and Shanny.

The middle-aged man sent another arrow flying.

Three foremost goblins evaded the projectile, causing the fourth at the rear to be caught off guard and struck by it.

Facing them head on, Shanny kicked her foot to the ground and sent a cloud of dust bursting to the goblins' faces.

The monsters halted their charge as their visions were impaired.

Shanny used the opening to ram through their formation with her shield, causing the three goblins to crash to the ground.

She plunged her sword to a collapsed goblin's throat and crushed another with her heel.

The final goblin managed to crawl away and regain its footing.

But before it could think of doing anything to the swordswoman, an arrow was already lodged to its head. 

With all the enemies dealt with, I descended to the flatland.

My comrades joined up to me as they searched for any breathing goblins. They did not find any.

"That wind magic of yours sure is a breath of fresh air, pun intended."

Shanny commented to me.

"It does feels nice of not having to worry about getting burned."

Jonah said with a relieved smile.

"It would be hard to investigate this place if it's all burned up, no?"

I replied to them.

I continued.

"Don't forget our mission. Search this area and look for anything worth noticing."

My comrades nodded to me and they spread around the goblin encampment.

I made my way toward the cliff, overlooking the buried valley. Shanny and Trudy joined me.

It was there that the foul stench I sensed earlier turned more intense.

"Ugh! What awful smell! It's like rotten eggs!"

Trudy stated, pinching her nose.

"I don't know why but the smell is familiar to me. And I'm not talking about eggs rotting."

Shanny commented.

Despite the stench, there was only the buried valley and the goblin corpses that could indicate where the stench was coming from. And we could say for sure it was not the goblins.

But then I noticed something staining my black and white dress through the passing wind, specifically toward the dark spots on the white fabrics.

I brushed my hand across the spots and found my fingers blackened with dark soft grains, as if covered in soot.

I neared my stained fingers to my nose and smelled the same foul stench from them.

Having learned the origin of the smell and its form, I now knew what it was.

"Black powder."

I spoke up.

Trudy tilted her head in confusion.

"What is that?"

"It's something used to make things explode. Typically used in cannons or in the mines."

The black powder in the air would also explain why Jonah's exploding spear combusted more wildly.

I slightly shuddered to think what would happen if I had used fire magic.

Shanny nodded excitedly to my explanation.

"So that's why I was familiar with it!"

"You've encountered black powder before?"

I asked.

"The lord I worked for owned a mine. I once accompanied him and the mistress when they were doing an inspection. I believe they used the black powder to blast the mine and open up more caverns."

Trudy stared down the cliff.

"Is that why the valley is buried in boulders? Somebody used the black powder to blast the mountains?"

Excellent deduction on her part. I agreed immediately.

"That's what I'm thinking. It's likely the goblins did it."

"Are goblins smart enough to do that?"

She asked.

"Some of them are. I heard some could even construct and operate siege machines as well."

Shanny squinted her eyes toward the discussion.

"But why would they do that? Why would they bury this valley?"

It was then that Darius walked up to us.

"Serafina, can you help me find something?"

"What's the matter?"

"I saw on the fifth floor record you used a magic spell that allows you to see something from afar. Can you do that right now?"

"Of course, what do you want me to find?"

He pointed to the north, where the valley ended.

Beyond the valley was a narrow coastline with the blue ocean expanding further to the northern horizon.

Jonah was looking at that direction as well, trying to make out something in the far distance.

"I think Jonah and I saw something moving at the edge of the sea. But we couldn't make out what it was."

Darius said.

I waved my hand and formed a translucent lens on one of my eyes.

I directed my gaze to the ocean and spied along the blue horizon.

Just as the middle-aged archer said, something was moving at the edge of the sea, and it was not just the waves nor the sea creatures.

A sailing ship was cruising through the northern ocean.

From here I could tell its size was almost just as large as the training ground in the lobby.

It was not an ordinary ship. It was a war vessel.

It definitely was from the dozens of canons placed by the railings and the ones peering out from the ship's hull.

I had seen dozens of that kind of ship before.

Just as I was scrutinizing the details of the vessel, the familiar bluish-white light began to envelop us.

[Stage Clear!]

['Jonah (★)', 'Shanny (★)', 'Trudy (★)' levelled up!]

[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']

[Reward – 5,000G, Iron Ore (C) x1, Leather (C) x1]

With the emergence of the mission window, I hurriedly looked through the sailing ship before we were transported back.

However, the bluish-white light rapidly blanketed my environment, hazing my vision of the ship.

Just before my surroundings turned into a white dimension, I barely managed to glance the crimson lion painted on the ship's large ivory sail.

The crimson lion. An image I had seen before coming to the forged land.

I saw it more often during the weeks prior to my arrival.

The lion was bannered along the marches of soldiers along every road which led to places of disaster.

The insignia of Tsatu Empire's imperial army.