The Boar Knights were rental monsters that had been on discount when Jin had first accessed the Dungeon Maker. The knights were similar to Nyanmi but the rental cost of Nyanmi was equivalent to ten of these boar knights.
Jin initially thought that getting more rental monsters would bring more variety to the table. However, his funds were severely limited by the decision he made in the Dungeon World so he had not touched any rental monsters for the time being with the exception of these boar knights and Nyanmi. Nonetheless, it was a good idea to increase the variety. Jin also wanted to buy the Boar Knights outright like what he had done with Nyanmi but for some reason, he never felt any decent connection or bond with them, so he decided to just keep them as rentals.
Separately, in terms of monsters, the Boar Knights, and Boar people as a whole, were quite different from werebeasts like the Jacks. The Boarmen had a boar head and legs with a humanoid body while the Werejackals were humans that could transform into Jackal Humanoids.
As he was watching the father-daughter duo’s fight, since there were currently no new customers, he heard footsteps entering his store. “Boss Jin! How are you? Just popping by to say hi!” Xue Ping brought Lee An along to drop by Boss Jin’s store for a moment.
“I am not too bad, busy with work?” Jin noticed that they were each holding onto a panda packaging wrapped around a piping hot Black Pepper Pork Bun, waiting for the buns to cool down a little. Eventually, Lee An was too hungry and immediately grab a bite out of the tasty looking bun despite its temperature.
“We had sort of some minor investigation going on but when we heard that it’s near Tiangong Shopping District, we thought we could come and say hi to you after our work. Oh, and the buns are so much tastier than before!” Xue Ping replied as she could not resist a bite herself.
“It’s definitely meatier, the flavours are slightly stronger, and there is this warm kind of feeling that comes along with it too. No doubt this is one of the best buns I’ve ever eaten.” Lee An talked with his mouth full and did not care about his appearance a single bit.
“Eh? Is that?!” Xue Ping just realised that Boss Jin was standing near Station 1 watching the dungeon fight and noticed someone familiar. Lee An was suddenly curious due to Xue Ping’s comment and took a look too. He almost dropped his bun on the floor.
“Is he someone special?” Jin asked since he vaguely remembered Jing Ru saying that her father was a police sniper.
“If I am not mistaken, he is one of the top snipers in the police force of our entire province but he did not wish to be promoted because of the workload it would bring. He said he wanted to spend more time with his new family.” Xue Ping answered Jin’s question as she double checked the name that was on Station 1’s TV.
“Is he that good?” Jin asked once more, and Xue Ping laughed. “Continue watching and you can judge him for yourself. Though I think he is hiding his true ability from his stepdaughter. Oh erm, I meant daughter. Boss, please keep that to yourself!” Xue Ping realised she had messed up when Lee An knocked her on her head.
“Oh… Do not worry, I would not say it out.” Jin nodded his head and continued to watch the dungeon fight as the two police detectives walked themselves out of the store with Lee An pinching Xue Ping on her cheeks for her careless remark.
————
Even though Ren Wei’s tracking skills were hardly used ever since he got into the police force, it proved to be quite beneficial when it came to searching for a reckless wounded large boar. The boar was panting really heavily and the goblin was beaten to the point that treating his wounds conventionally would only prolong his suffering.
Both father and daughter took a look at the injuries of the boar and tried to assess if they could do anything for it. It was at this moment that they heard the rustling of the leaves, which immediately made both of them pull out their air pistols out from their holsters.
“Stop! They are not the enemy…” The beaten sword goblin used whatever strength he had left to shout. It was then Jing Ru faced her air pistols downwards and saw two other goblins slowly walk out of the bushes. Ren Wei realised that the goblins were talking the same common language as them to hear too, which he found quite immersive for a dungeon instance. He did not believe that there could be an actual plot to a dungeon instance.
“What happened to you and Mr Oink?” The cloaked dagger goblin came and agilely removed the chains from the sword goblin’s neck and limbs. The spear goblin took some medication out and started pasting medicated leaves onto Mr Oink’s wounds while the dagger goblin gave the sword goblin a small potion to drink.
“We were ambushed and these metal clunking Boarman kept calling Mr Oink some Great Variant. I tried to fend them off, but there were too many of them. They later defeated me and quickly chained me up for the crime of ‘holding the Great Variant’.” The sword goblin finally had the strength to talk properly after drinking the potion.
“I think they called it the Great Variant because… ehh Mr Oink, was it? He had two more legs than the boars they were riding.” Ren Wei projected his conjecture, which attracted the goblins’ attention.
“Dad, it’s not just that, you do not know about Mr Oink. He actually has a second form if he gets too injured.” Jing Ru interjected her knowledge about Mr Oink. “So, if I am not wrong, as long as Mr Oink is not entirely dead, he can grow back to his first form again.”
“But that will take ages, probably a goblin lifetime.” The Spear Goblin chuckled.
“Still, he is one of the guardians of the forest, we cannot let him get captured by some weird knights and his King.” The Sword Goblin managed to stand up for a while before he dropped to the ground again.
“I am sorry for the late reply but thank you for saving my friend as well as the Guardian of the Forest.” The cloaked dagger goblin raised his hand and Ren Wei shook it firmly.
“Anyway, we can help?” Ren Wei asked directly. He knew that the knights were relentless and they would definitely come back with more manpow- no, more Boarpower to capture the goblins and Mr. Oink.
“We have nothing to offer you but possible death if you assist us. Are you still willing to help?” The cloaked dagger goblin said bluntly.
“Is this all you got?” Ren Wei asked once again with regards to the number of goblins they have and the dagger goblin nodded its head.
“We three are the only ones left that patrol the Goblin Forest. Even if we die, the forest will somehow recreate us again to protect its secrets. The Guardians are the same as us but capturing the forest guardians, on the other hand, is another issue altogether.” The spear goblin commented.
“So you guys would rather fight to the death for this secret forest than be captured? Aren’t you all curious about the secrets this forest holds?” Jing Ru questioned them and they all shook their head.
“No, we definitely do not wish to be killed but we will die for the cause if we have to. Also, all we know is that there is an abandoned stone temple in the middle of the forest. We have never gone in there before and never wish to.” The cloaked dagger goblin answered.
“But we will have to if you all want to survive.” Ren Wei said with certainty, which made the goblins doubt themselves a little.
“Regardless, I believe that the Knights will need to regroup, or perhaps call in more reinforcements in order to hunt down Mr Oink now that they have an unexpected variable, us. So we have time on our hands to prepare.” Jing Ru suggested, which made Ren Wei pause to wonder.
“They said they have nothing to offer, yet you wish to help them?” Ren Wei asked and Jing Ru pouted at her stepdad. “Mom would do the same right? She married you because she trusted that you would do more good than her.”
Ren Wei was stunned for a while before he smiled like a fool. “That’s true, let’s do this.”
.
.
