CHAPTER 12: GOBLIN HUNTING WE GO

The next day, around noon—

“Over there.”

With a sword hoisted at his waist, Gardo pointed with his finger. There laid a gaping cavern, which tunneled through a rocky mountain.

Standing by the entrance were two goblins armed with crude spears.

Goblins are one of the more relatively well-known monsters. They have a height of around 150 centimeters, and they walk on two feet just like humans. They have brown skin and large heads. Yellow eyes without pupils, large mouths which extend to their ears, and fangs are a specialty of theirs. While they possess their own language system, they have a primitive culture, and the clothes they wear are shabby. 

The goblin guards were nodding off and couldn’t focus, but that was most likely due to their nocturnal nature. 

We’ve come here to raid the goblins’ nest. As of now, we were hiding in a thicket nearby their cave, waiting for the right time to strike.

“It’s almost time.”

Laura muttered nervously beside me.

If you’re wondering how it ended up like this, we’ll need to go back to yesterday night.

Laura guided me to the village after we cleared their suspicions. 

Along the way there, Laura and Gardo were conversing about the situation.

“Uncle Gardo, do those goblins live in the nearby cave?”

“Yeah. Nothing ever happened if we didn’t go near their turf, but you know things have been changing in these past couple of years, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh. There were lots of incidents where villagers who went outside were threatened.”

“Luckily, no one sustained any injuries, but… they finally crossed the line the day after you left the village.”

“What happened?”

“Those bastards raided the village.”

“What!?”

“Fortunately, there were only a few small-fry goblins, so our young ones managed to repel their attack. Thanks to that, there weren’t any casualties.”

“How dangerous.”

“Because of all that, we put the village on high alert… That’s why our physically strong guys have been keeping watch.”

“What are you gonna do about the goblins? Leave them be?”

“No, definitely not… We gotta do something about them… If they attacked us in full force, we’d crumble. We requested reinforcements from the feudal lord; We plan on taking the lead and attack them first.”

For the reasons above, a reception banquet was being held for the five soldiers dispatched by the feudal lord.

There, Gardo kindly did us a favor.

“Go sit at the edge of the banquet and eat some food or something. There’s lots of tasty stuff being made, after all.”

“Let’s go secretly eat some delicious food, Albert!”

That didn’t sound very interesting, but it would be troubling if I got separated from Laura, who was both my village guide and provider. I reluctantly tagged along with her.

The five soldiers were reclining and chattering in high spirits at the banquet.

“Hahahaha! Leave those puny goblins to me, the great Lord Garcia! I’ll cut them down and put on a show!”

Five soldiers were merrily getting drunk and loudly touting their own strength.

…They surrounded themselves with the village women. Judging by the stiffened look on the girls’ faces, these soldiers didn’t seem to have the best personalities.

“Be grateful for the kindness of your feudal lord! He went as far as to send the best of the best to this cursed village, after all!”

Garcia the Drunkard didn’t seem to notice, but the surrounding villagers all had bitter expressions on their faces.

…Cursed village…?

They most likely reacted to the word in question. Laura might teach me if I ask her, but… It’s hard to just flat out ask…

At that moment, Garcia the Drunkard looked in our direction.

“Hey, hey! There’s a cute and young girl right there! Come ‘ere and keep us company!”

Laura’s body shook with a jump in response to his remark.

“What, you don’t wanna!? We’re over here risking our lives for this village! You’re telling me you’re fine taking that attitude!?”

…He’s a little too drunk for his own good…

Laura whispered to me after seeing me get angry.

“It’s alright.”

Laura sat next to Garcia.

“Just as I thought, nothing beats a young girl.”

Garcia spoke to Laura in high spirits, his breath stinking of alcohol.

After uncomfortably keeping him company, Garcia looked at Laura’s hair.

“Hm? You’ve got some crazy white hair on you… Could you be one of those? Someone whose blood runs thick with the witch?”

“…Yes, I believe so…”

“Which makes you a magician, right?”

“Yes. I can use a few spells.”

“Right on, right on, right on, right oooon!”

Garcia hit the floor multiple times with a bang.

“It never hurts to have more fighting power! Come with us on the goblin extermination!”

“Huh?”

“P-Please wait! This girl is still a child—!”

The woman sitting next to them intervened in a panic.

Garcia impudently pushed her aside with his hands.

“Sorcery has nothing to do with physical strength, right? Who the hell cares if she’s a child or not. You can use an offensive spell or two, can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s for the village. You’re coming, right?”

“Naturally.”

Laura agreed without hesitation. 

I could tell it wasn’t because she was told to do so—she agreed because she wanted to fight for her village.

That’s why I resolved myself to do what I could to help.

I could only use a single spell. 

However, that one spell is luckily an offensive spell. I bet it could be of use during the goblin extermination.

After this and that happened, I was made a member of the goblin extermination squad the following noon.

Including Garcia, the squad consisted of five soldiers, 20 villagers, as well as me and Laura.

The soldiers were equipped with metal longswords and armor, but the villagers only had short swords and hatchets.

Only a few villagers wore armor, such as leather breastplates or gloves—basically just for peace of mind. They were practically defenseless.

It’d probably be best not to put the villagers on the frontlines…

“Hey, white-haired girl. Shoot some Magic Arrows.”

“Understood.”

“Prepare the bows too.”

Four villagers quietly readied their bows.

“Time your arrows with the girl’s Magic Arrow. Got it?”

Laura drew her wand.

After she drew a sharp breath, she spoke the words that acted as the trigger.

“Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow!”

The instant after, two white arrows made from mana struck the two goblin guards.