Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 116 Driving a Deer to Swallow a Lion

The weasel-turned-beastman chewed on a blade of grass, glancing sideways at the half-human in front of him. Gebu swallowed nervously, then put on a stern face.

"Hehe, did you finish the deal? Where's the gold?"

"You will get your gold, Ansar, but not now."

"Then you can say goodbye to your dwarf friends, hehe—you guys beat that wild boar pretty badly last night, so you can roast the dwarf and give him some nourishment."

"He's in your hands, you can do whatever you want with him," Geb said, feigning nonchalance. "But tell Thorton that this dwarf is an important member of the merchant guild. See those tents these dwarves have set up? He's a big shot here. If you're going to kill him so brazenly, then say goodbye to the manticore bounty."

"A bounty on a scorpion? What do you mean?" The weasel suddenly became alert and spat out the hay. "A dwarf is a dwarf, and a scorpion is a scorpion. What do these two things have to do with each other?"

"Who do you think paid that bounty?" Gebu pointed to the surrounding tents. "What you did before, how many people you killed, nobody knows. Maybe, I mean maybe, you could get away with it. But now you've made it clear that Dulin is in your hands. If he dies, you'll become the enemy of the caravan and the town. Even if you kill the manticore and bring the spoils, you won't get a single penny!"

"Tsk! You guys are so untrustworthy! Priests, caravans, you've all lied to us." The weasel said through gritted teeth.

"Reputation? You have the nerve to talk to me about reputation?" Gebu said angrily. "Don't you only trade death? I'll have someone kill you right now, skin you alive, and hang you on the city gate as a warning—let Soton see that we in Chifang Town are not to be trifled with."

"You dare!" The beastman bared his teeth at Gebu, his fur bristling from his face.

"However," Geb suddenly changed the subject, "in order to protect my friend's life and to preserve the reputation of the Holy Church, by Obak, if you cooperate with me... perhaps you can even get the bounty."

The weasel was stunned. The halfling in front of her used a strategy of first pushing the beastman's mentality to its limit, then giving her a glimmer of hope.

The beastman had never encountered such rhetoric before—she simply reacted to Gebu's words instinctively:

"Hehe... What do you mean? Didn't you say you wouldn't give me a single cent?"

"We can forgive and forget what Father Usa instructed you to do before. If you guarantee Dulin's safety, I can vouch for you as a priest of the Church and not pursue your crimes."

"You guarantee you won't pursue this? What about our gold? Your church people are the best at talking big, all talk and no action, but gold! Where's our gold?!"

The weasel wasn't completely fooled at first. It seized on the loophole in Gebu's words and countered.

"Having hunted the manticore, I will personally deliver the gold coins to you."

Gebu replied immediately. The beastman wanted to retort, but for a long time he didn't know what to say.

The halfling continued:

"Think about it yourself. You guys are all strangely shaped and look like uninvited guests—walking into town with your spoils, do you think you'll come out alive? Going through me is the only way for you to get the money."

"Why should I believe you?" the weasel said, wrinkling its nose. "The bounty for the scorpion is three thousand gold coins. What if we hunt our prey and you don't pay us?"

"Not three thousand, it's five thousand!" Gebu held up five fingers and waved them in front of the weasel. "The church has money, and the merchant guild has money too. As long as you keep your promise, kill the manticore, and hand over the spoils to me—I'll give you the money. Otherwise, you can kill him."

Upon hearing the number five thousand, the weasel's eyes darted around—

Gebu was all too familiar with that expression. Was this guy trying to profit from this information asymmetry?

...That doesn't matter, three thousand or five thousand. The point of this number is simply to incite the beastmen's greed. Gebu had no intention of actually giving them a single penny.

"That dwarf's life isn't worth five thousand!" the weasel said after thinking for a moment.

"He might not be worth five thousand, but if you kill him, you won't get a single penny, and you'll have made a wasted trip," Gebu replied immediately, giving the weasel no time to argue. "The Chamber of Commerce and the Church already know about your kidnapping. If anything happens to this guy, you'll become wanted criminals of the kingdom! This place isn't that big; let's see where you can run to!"

The weasel shut her mouth, her eyes darting around; it was clear she was thinking quickly. But Gebu wouldn't give her a chance to sort things out, continuing his sentence abruptly:

"Pass on my proposal verbatim to Thorton: Starting today, at noon on the third day, bring the manticore's carcass to the clearing area we met before. I'll bring 5000 gold coins to trade for the manticore and the dwarf. If the dwarf is missing any parts, you can say goodbye to the bounty forever!"

After saying this, Gebu turned and left, then signaled the guards to chase the weasel away. The beastman was swept out the door, without even a chance to say a word.

After explaining all this, the halfling forced himself to remain calm, turned to a corner, and took a breath.

I'm all sweaty!

Good heavens! This is quite a convoluted explanation! Even Geb herself is almost dizzy from all this. She doesn't know how much of it this guy believes—but whether she believes it or not is irrelevant, and even whether Thorton believes it or not is irrelevant. If he's smart enough, he'll see the logic behind it all:

Trusting Gebu doesn't guarantee you'll get money, but not trusting Gebu guarantees you won't get any!

These are the chips Geb has in his hands.

Let the beastmen kill the manticore, then gather more people to kill the beastmen—ideally, you can save Dulin, but if you can't, there's nothing else you can do but do this.

You've always been lucky; may your ancestors bless you! Gebu sighed for the dwarf.

Next, we need to figure out how to get people from the lord's son...

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After leaving the caravan, Gebu quickly returned to his inn room, locked the door, instructed the hostage to keep an eye on things and prevent anyone from entering, then downed a bottle of calming potion and quickly entered a meditative state.

Just do one thing:

Explore the great book hole! Search for the Eucharist of Oebak!

Search for 【Trials】【Pilgrimage】【Missionary Missions】!

The Edicts were written by the followers of Oebac and record the life and experiences of Oebac and his saints. They are arranged chronologically into seventeen Gospels.

In other words, the seventeen books are seventeen collections of stories.

Geb skimmed through the scriptures, searching for stories that could be used to his advantage—he needed a classic tale of a young knight/believer who was inspired by a god, embarked on a journey, underwent trials, slew monsters, spread the gospel, and was eventually canonized.

Since Father Usa said that the scorpion is a punishment sent by God, isn't it reasonable for a vanguard sent by God to resolve this punishment?

Isn't it great that a pioneer, called by the Lord, stepped into the territory of heresy, became a torch in the darkness, and spread the gospel of the Lord?

How could a mere priest stand in opposition to this great and reasonable "Obak Pioneer"?

This vanguard was sponsored by the caravan, without the Kingdom Church contributing a single penny. If it succeeded, the Church would flourish; if it failed, they could simply deny it and distance themselves. It was a win-win situation, so why not?

However, it's not really appropriate for me to be the vanguard—it would be too conspicuous.

Who should I choose?

This person can't be too smart, at least not smarter than me, otherwise I won't be able to control them.

But we can't be too dogmatic, otherwise we won't be able to bribe them.

They also need to be good at fighting, have a lot of courage, and preferably have a weak sense of morality.

A word flashed across the Book of Sand, and Geb's attention was immediately drawn to it.

Rose Gospel 7:01

"Saint Sophia dreamed that thorns pierced her finger, and the blood that dripped from it grew into a sea of ​​roses. In that endless sea of ​​holy blood flowers, she learned God's will: Saint Sophia should not marry a mortal man; she should walk a difficult and perilous path, pass through many trials, and become God's bride."

"The first trial the Lord gave her was to kill the remnants of arcane magic who were causing havoc in the territory of Baron Vando, a two-legged dragon cursed by a wizard."

Hmm... Saint Sophia.

A brilliant idea popped into Geb's mind.

He quickly read through the story of Hagia Sophia, then ended his meditation, refreshed his mask, rolled off the bed, and ran out of the room.

"Eureka! Eureka!" he called out as he ran.

The hostage looked at the elated Gebu with a bewildered expression.

The halfling dragged the hostage out of the hotel and ran to a cheap inn on the other side of town.

Dove had just finished breakfast and was now stretching her body with a long stick in the house. She was wearing a tight-fitting short top, and her six-pack abs were visible under her thin skin.

Bang! Gebu kicked the door open and rushed into the room, his face beaming with excitement and his eyes filled with fanaticism:

"Sword Girl! I have a very important question to ask you!"

"Huh?" The female mercenary was startled and looked at the little guy in front of her warily.

"Are you a virgin?" Gebu asked bluntly.

The woman with the knife turned pale, then red, and then struck Gebu in the face with her stick!