We went to the prison where the now-deceased goblins had kept the girls as hostages.
Their faces were anxious as they tried to see through the bars what had happened in the village, but unfortunately their field of view was very limited, leaving them with nothing to do but wait for someone to bring them news.
"You came…" the black-haired woman who had spoken to me before said, her eyes wide. "So the goblins…"
"Yeah, there's none of them left to tell the story," I said to her. "You're free now."
The girl who had cried in despair earlier collapsed to her knees and started crying again, but it was no longer out of sadness.
"Thank goodness," she said amid her sobs of joy.
The other girls joined her in a chorus of joyful sobs now that the door of their cage was open.
The girls who still had empty eyes, eaten away by fear and despair, seemed to receive a breath of life, and their gazes began to shine again.
