This time, the cave where the goblin was subjugated was not that large. From an outsider's perspective, it seems like the round trip only takes about 30 minutes. However, it was a place where goblins lived, so it gave off a creepy atmosphere. "This is the place where the goblins are nesting. So, what should we do with the formation?" Dotin, acting like a group leader, says something like that.
"I'll take care of the rear guard. You'll be asked to take care of the enemy in front of you." "Hey, wait a minute!? Aren't I the party leader!?"
"I told you to obey my orders only in matters of life and death. The most dangerous thing is to be on the defensive. If you disagree, I'll be the vanguard."
I was fine either way, but I honestly did not feel comfortable entrusting Dotin, who seemed to be easily distracted, with the responsibility of protecting the rear.
"Yes, yes, I understand. I should take on the enemy in front, right?" Dotin accepts my proposal, albeit reluctantly. "You can decide on the rear guard as you see fit. If things go smoothly, I think the order should be Archer, Sorceress, and Nun." "If Charles says so, then that’s fine." "I think that’s fine too."
"Agreed."
In this way, the formation was decided without any delay. "I'll protect the back, so you just need to pay attention to the front. Don't worry about me, just support Doti." "Understood!" "I understand." "Everyone, please light your torches." With my words, everyone lit their torches, and the inside of the cave became sufficiently bright. "If it's this bright, I don't think there will be any surprise attacks, but please be careful." Everyone nods at those words. After such an exchange, we proceeded through the cave, but we did not encounter the goblins so easily. The brightness of the torchlight seems to have alerted the goblins to our presence.
"They don't come out so easily it seems, the goblins." "They specialize in surprise attacks; they probably don't want to fight us properly. Also, the cave seems to be deeper than I thought."
It didn't look that deep from the outside, but I couldn't help but smell something fishy.
There's something wrong with this. My intuition honed over the years has told me so. It seems like I made the right decision to come along. While thinking about this, we walked for a few more minutes. It seemed like we were getting closer to their living area, and the bones of animals that the goblins had probably eaten were scattered all over the place.
"These are chicken bones. They must have been stolen from a farmer." "These are the bones of a small bird, aren’t they?" "Looks like we're getting close. Everyone be careful!" As a leader, Dotin calls on everyone to be on guard. Well, the person that needs to be most careful is you.
"What is it?"
"If it's just animal bones, it's fine." "What do mean?" Dotin reacts to my words, picking up on the deeper meaning. "We might even find human bones. Be prepared for that." "Huh!? Do goblins also eat humans!?" "They're carnivores. Stealing livestock and eating them is cute. If they think they can hunt them, they'll attack humans with no problem." "That’s my first time hearing that…!" Shatitina's shoulders are shaking as she hugs her own body as if to protect herself. I don't mean to scare them, but it seems that the perception that "goblins are small fry'' is fading among everyone. If they formed a gang and attacked, they would pose a certain threat to normal humans. While having this conversation, I noticed that a goblin had been following me for a while.
His tracking was quite skillful, and I can't help but say that it was a good feat for a goblin, which is said to have low intelligence. Okay, should I bait an attack? I deliberately pretended to be open and waited for the goblin to attack.
The goblin, mistaking me for an easy prey, slashed at my unprotected (or so it seemed) back.
However, I intercepted it easily. I accurately sliced just the artery in its neck, killing the goblin silently with one blow. Blood spattered from his neck in a flashy manner, and his eyes froze, unable to comprehend what had happened, never to catch sight of his prey again. I took another look at the goblin I had just killed. Green skin, long pointed ears, a large protruding nose, a gaping mouth, and fangs peeking out from there. There was no longer any light in his eyes, which had been shining glaringly and ominously until just a moment ago. I guess his physique is that of a child in his early teens. He wasn't wearing any clothes, just a loincloth wrapped around his waist. The most distinctive thing about it, as its name suggests, is that it possesses a hairless head with small horns. It has an ugly appearance, as if it were the embodiment of human malice.
With my sword skills, it wouldn't be difficult to cut the whole body in half, but I don't like overkill. I believe in killing in the most efficient manner. That's because if you damage the monster too much, the purchase price for the materials you get will drop significantly. In addition, I've had the experience of trying to defeat someone in too much of a hurry and using too many big moves first, which ended up hurting me. Anyway, the people who were walking in front of me started running towards me when they heard the noise. "Charles!" "It's a scout. Their stronghold is nearby. Be careful." I warned everyone.
"Despite the fact that it's dead, it doesn't have any major injuries." Netiliza said this after seeing the relatively clean corpse of the goblin, although there was a large pool of blood at her feet. "Did he die from a wound like this? Goblins are really weak." Dotin agrees with her. "As you said, the other party is just a small goblin, but..." "What is it?" "They're much more deadly than you think. Don't let your guard down." I chided Dotin for his naive understanding.
"What the hell, don't get all cocky just because you killed a single goblin!"
"Don't be so snarky. I've experienced a lot of pain when I first started out, be grateful for my kind words based on experience."
"Did you also have bad experiences, Charles?"
Netiliza asked with a surprised look on her face. "Yeah. I'm not particularly smart." I answer, remembering my early days. "Once you experience pain, you'll learn even if you don't like it. I don't want you to feel the same way. I'm smart enough to know that." "So, how long have you been doing this job?" "It's been around the time I entered my teens. Back then, I was a hungry demon who lacked wisdom and strength. It's embarrassing, but I almost died more than once or twice." "Um……" Netiliza timidly raised her hand. "I thought you had to be fifteen years old to join a guild." "That's right. I wasn't in a guild, so I wasn't making a living by fulfilling requests, I was making a living by stripping materials from monsters and selling them." "You were a strong kid, weren't you?" "My family was poor. I had to work to make ends meet, that's all." I wasn't really in a position where I couldn't eat, but my late mother probably had a lot of things in mind. Thinking back on it. "I've gotten off topic, though."
I continue moving back on topic.
"There are many adventurers who thought they had finished off their enemies and lost their lives because of their carelessness." Everyone was listening to my serious words. "No matter how careful you are, there is no such thing as being too careful. Just remember that." I really wanted to say this to Dotin, who has a bright talent, I can't help but feel that he underestimates monsters. After this exchange, we set out again to defeat the goblins.
Chapter length 3357 characters.
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