《The Peerless Kobold (WN)》 CH characters 3 (Characters who have ascended the Spiral) Name: Blazer (Male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Garm Skill: Erase Presence (Medium), Luck+ (Small/ Continuous), Leg Strengthening (Small/ Continuous), Flaming Claws, Zantetsuo Title: The Hound of Darkness Weapon: Black Sword (Main), Crossbow Gauntlet (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor The tall, lean Kobold, whose ferocity increases with the black Longsword and the Crossbow Gauntlet, has polished his technique of attacking from blindspots. However, he seems to be concerned about the loss of his camouflage ability, as his fur has changed from a dark brown to a dark brown with a reddish tinge. His newly acquired Flaming Claws allow him to strike with hellfire and his Zantetsuo allows him to cut through space. Although the range of his Zantetsuo is narrow, it is still dangerous to stand behind him¡­ Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Woruah! Guaruoaaah!!¡± (Gotcha! Flaming Claws!!) Name: Ax (Male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Paladin Skill: Slash Resistance, Impact Resistance, The Strongest and Weakest Shield (Cannot be used for a while after activation), Blood Malady (Elementary/Affects Humans) Title: Crimson Knight Weapon: Royal Soldier¡¯s War Axe Armament: Duel Shield The big, blue Kobold may have been late joining in the battle on the streets of the Royal Capital Selkram, but he was the one who dealt the decisive strike with his Shield Bash that stopped the white-masked entity. At that time, he encountered the soul of Priest Aleph, who had been freed from his delusion, on the final level of the Spiral Staircase of evolution, and inherited his unique ability, Blood Malady, which does not match Ax¡¯s calm personality. And combining this with his newly acquired conceptual weapon, ¡°The Strongest and Weakest Shield¡± that completely deflects any kind of attack once, he becomes a very rare Kobold among his peers¡­ and although his eyes are usually blue, they turn red with his Blood Malady skill activated. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Waoguruu guruaah, guruo wafaoaan.¡± (That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to get stronger, so everyone can smile.) Name: Sword () Race: Goblin Rank: G. Sword Master Skill: Ambidextrous Arm Strengthening (Medium/Instantaneous), Thunderbolt Sword, Elementary Magic (Thunder) Title: Master Swordsman Weapon: Twin Swords (Main), Throwing Knife (Auxiliary 1), Dagger (Auxiliary 2) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak After the battle at Lucua Village, he and the Goblin Brave led the survivors to the southern part of the forest. There, they met and joined forces with the Goblin tribe who use wild boars and monitor lizards as mounts. In the beginning, he was only a guest General, but after his power was recognized, he came to lead the horde with Brave¡­ When he took out Prime Minister Delphys and his allies outside the boundaries of the Royal Capital of Elfast, he evolved into a Goblin Master Swordsman. In addition to being ambidextrous, he also has enhanced arm strength, a conceptual skill that allows him to wrap his sword in lightning, and elementary Thunder-attribute magic. He is actually stronger than Brave but feels self-conscious about it when faced with his closest childhood friend. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Giaoau? Gigiu.¡± (Is that all of them? Brave.) (New Characters: Monsters) Name: Alvesta () Race: Human Rank: Half Undead Skill: Blood Malady (Special/Affects Humans), Blood Rain (Affects Humans), Blood Manipulation, Half Immortality, Intermediate Magic (Holy) Title: Seven Plagues (Black Rain) Weapon: Blood Weapon Armament: Blood Shield He is a white-masked monster and one of the S-Ranked Seven Plagues, who wields a lethal disease that has caused a great deal of damage to the human race. It appears in urban areas at regular intervals and spreads a Bleeding disease that infects only humans, claiming tens of thousands of lives. However, its true identity is that of a priest who once lost everything to the blood malady and died regretfully, cursing the meaninglessness of his faith and his own stupidity for only believing. At the moment of his death, he is possessed by a twisted delusion and began to reenact the tragedies of the past as a means of conveying the meaninglessness of faith to his beloved humanity. At the root of his sickness and despair is nothing but pure love for humanity. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Y-you deceive people with your false miracles¡­ You impostors.¡± Name: Vali () Race: Goblin Rank: G. Chevalier Skill: Mount Riding, Taming, Helix Spear, DEX up (Medium/ Constant) Title: Knight Weapon: Assault Spear, Saber (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak He is the Chief of the Goblins residing in the eastern part of the Ancient Forest. He takes in the wanderers Brave and Sword and makes them his guest Generals, but recognizes their power and entrusts them with the fate of his horde. As the Chief, he has the right to give orders to the Goblins, but he uses the honorific title ¡°Lord¡± towards Brave and Sword as a sign of respect. The Land Lizard he rides is a bipedal monitor lizard whom he has ridden through many battles with. He is a Knight of the Goblin tribe who is known for his well-trained physique, and for missing a part of his left ear which was cut off in one of his battles. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°GIUOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± (YOU BASTAAAAAAARDS!!) (New Characters: Humanoid) Name: Alexius Blennbard () Race: Human Rank: Lord Skill: Control, Governance, Foresight Title: King of Riastize Weapon: Holy Sword Alfied Armament: King¡¯s Attire, Crown The King of Riastize is an indecisive, middle-aged man. He is thoughtful and cares for his subjects, and though he shows talent in politics, he is nothing more than decoration in battle. He possesses the Holy Sword Alfied which was handed down from the founder of the nation, but¡­ he owns it in name only. Because he has not been chosen by the Holy Sword, he cannot pull it from its scabbard. He is a good-natured man who wagered his voice in the pledge to designate the area of the Easteria forest where the Kobolds live as a sanctuary. And although he has a mischievous streak to him, nobody can really bring themselves to hate him. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°By the way, I¡¯m curious about the High Kobold that Ernesta says she¡¯s bringing with her. I have never seen a Kobold after all.¡± CH characters 4 Characters introduced up to now (Humanoids): Name : Greio Elballard () Race : Human Class : Wiseman Abilities : Adamantine Body, Blue-flame fist, Thunderbolt Fist, Exterminating Fist, Advanced Magic (Fire?Thunder), Shining Wizard, Lightning Wizard, Frankensteiner, Pile Driver Brain Buster, etc. Title : Steel Sage, Chief Court Mage Weapons : Leather Gloves for Striking Armament : Well-trained body He is the author of the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡± and a Senior Mage in the Kingdom of Riastize. He is a user of the thunder-attribute Adamantine Body, which not only strengthens his muscles but also electrically stimulates his body to push his reflexes to the limit. Although he can use advanced magic, he only uses it for long-distance containment and ultimately uses his fists to fight often. His mastery of muscle-based magic without needing any magic power is exceptional. He possesses so many techniques that only the most common ones are shown. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Even though she is bad at being an apprentice, this Greio is not so old as to stay silent after seeing his foster daughter beaten in front of him¡­ funuuuuh!!¡± Name : Elias Leinard () Race : Human Class : Temple Knight Archer Abilities : Intermediate Magic (Holy), Rapid Fire Sniping, Unit Command Title : Knight of the Holy Church Special Forces Captain Weapons : Longbow Armament: Holy Seal Cloak 20 years ago, she lost her whole family to the Bleeding disease when the white-masked entity appeared in Lualad, a city in the Woderian Empire. The Church had taken her in after that and educated her. The sight of people dying one by one from the plague and corpses all over the streets was burned into her 5-year-old mind. Because of this, she and other survivors from the same town dedicated themselves to studying and volunteered to defeat Alvesta, but the latter beat them back¡­ and she ended up suffering from the Bleeding sickness as well. However, when she lay on the ground and prayed to destroy the enemy, she thought the heavens sent a Holy Beast, for a silver Kobold descended from the sky. She is now steadily recovering in the Royal Capital of Selkram, thanks to the fact that Alvesta was defeated when the Bleeding disease affecting her was still in its early stage. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°L-Lord¡­ I offer you my life! Please send a miracle to strike this man down, I beg of you!!¡± Name : Esther () Race : Werecat Class : Werecat Mother Abilities : Child-rearing, Household Chores, Needlework Title : Abducted Werecat Weapons : None Armament : Female Villager¡¯s Clothes While with her daughter to fetch water from the Sherna River Tributary near Lucua Village, they were captured by slavers who visited the village disguised as peddlers. Although she desperately fought to protect her daughter Lilia, she was stabbed in the right shoulder by a man who presented himself as an adventurer hired by the merchants. She had just lost her husband, a Werecat warrior who fought to help the other villagers escape during the recent Goblin attack, so Wallace, the Head Warrior of Lucua village had made it his responsibility to look after her. The protagonists receive a request from this gentlemanly Werecat, and with their help, she and her daughter are safely brought back to the village. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Ah¡­ I see. Lilia, come over here.¡± Name : Lilia () Race : Werecat Class : Werecat¡¯s Daughter Abilities : Sleeping, Cuddling Title : Young Werecat Girl Weapons : None Armament : Werecat Child¡¯s Clothes She was captured together with her mother by slavers who visited the village disguised as peddlers. She is usually a lively child, but during their capture, she had become quiet and did not act selfishly at Esther¡¯s request, although she did bite the hand of the man who stabbed her mother on the shoulder. Being the child that she is, she¡¯d carefreely ruffle Ax¡¯s or Archer¡¯s fur at one moment and fall asleep the next. After all, Werecat children do tend to sleep a lot. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Thank you, Mr. Doggy~¡± Name: Selam Duston () Race: Human Class: Merchant Abilities: Fake laughter, Fraud, Negotiation Title: Slave Dealer Weapons: Dagger for self-defense Armament: Merchant¡¯s clothing He hired several slave traders, ex-adventurers, and other guards to hunt demi-humans and other types of beastmen in the Ancient Forest and the Easteria Forest. While posing as a caravan of travelling merchants, they would catch and imprison women and children in the empty cargo wagons. Originally hailing from the Alliance of Free Cities, he was planning to trade off the slaves after passing through the Wilm territory, when his caravan was attacked by Kobolds and he was arrested. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Hiii, hiyaaaaaaaah, monsters!!¡± Name: Raios Zedoa () Race: Human Class: Dual Sword-wielding Swordsman Abilities: Dual Sword style, Ambidextrous, Hide Presence (medium), DEX UP (medium/constant), AGI UP (medium/constant) Title: Former Silver Adventurer Weapons: Large Knife x2 Armament: Hard Leather Armor A former Silver Adventurer with a dark past who was hired as an escort for the slave trader¡¯s caravan. He is a skilled Adventurer who can hide his presence and capitalizes on his speed and dexterity, like when he crossed swords with the Silver Kobold with a pair of Large Knives. During that battle, when the other Adventurers who were hired the same time as he were cut down one after another and the Necromancer was finally defeated, he concluded it was useless to fight, and, with a parting remark, disappeared into the darkness. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Shit, this isn¡¯t worth it! I¡¯m outta here!!¡± Name : Aristia Elfaria () Race : White Elf Class : Lord Abilities : Advanced Magic (Holy), Intermediate Magic (Earth), World Tree Link, World Tree Management, World Tree Cultivation Title : White Queen Weapons : Dagger for self-defense Armament : Traditional Elf Attire She assumed the role of Queen of the Elven country, the ¡°Grove of the Ancient Guardians¡± only 80 years ago. She agrees with the concept of freedom and equality fostered by the Elves during the battle and the truce with the Philland Republic 600 years ago, so she made radical reforms against the current class-based society where the Black Elves¡¯ rights were restricted, but¡­ the bill she proposed was completely rejected by the White Elf ruling class. As a result, it led to the attack on the Central assembly by the reform extremists who could not hide their resentment. She was almost assassinated by Prime Minister Delphys who predicted that the presence of a young and uncontrollable queen would disturb and divide the country¡­ After that, she was rescued by the protagonists from being held captive by slavers after some twists and turns. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°You must be mistaken, I am but a lowly Elf who is happily living with 6 Kobolds in the forest¡­ We shall get back to roasting the boar meat, so please leave.¡± Name : Delphys Craybell () Race : White Elf Class : Prime Minister Abilities : Intermediate Magic (Holy), Intermediate Magic (Fire), World Tree Link (magic provision only) Title : Prime Minister (Conservative Moderate) Weapons : Rapier for self-defense Armament : Traditional Elf Attire He is the Prime Minister of the ¡°Grove of the Ancient Guardians,¡± and the leader of the conservative moderate faction. He had always appealed to the Queen for gradual reform, believing that radical change would cause conflict and confusion among the Elven clans, but she did not listen. He lost his son, Fors, in a later attack on the Central Assembly by the reform extremists, and he grew determined to get rid of the Queen, who was blinded by her ideals. While stopping a conservative extremist, Theodore, from preparing to retaliate against the reform extremists, he takes advantage of the situation to take Queen Aristia out of her quarters to the outskirts of the forest, but is taken by surprise by the goblins, and loses his life. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°But that¡¯s not all¡­ The situation in which Your Majesty is also encouraging these Reformers is one of the problems. Freedom and equality are wonderful, yes¡­ but radical change creates distortions, and it divides the country!¡± Name : Eliza Ruins () Race : White Elf Class : High Wizard Abilities : Intermediate Magic (Holy), Intermediate Magic (Wind), World Tree Link (magic provision only) Title : A key player in the Moderates¡¯ Coalition Weapons : Short Sword Armament : Blue Dress She is a noble who took over and united the conservative and reform moderate factions after Delphys¡¯ death. She is the daughter of Theodore, the new Prime Minister, and is often seen correcting her father¡¯s obsession with White Elf supremacy. She is calculating and very knowledgeable, but as a sheltered lady, she lacks experience and can be a bit of a schemer. In the recent public scandal, she was able to unite the reform and conservative moderates, who were losing their unifying force after the assassination of their leader, Minister Marcus, who was antagonizing the reform extremists. Additionally, she had also not forgotten to seek out the assistance of Zeist, the Captain of the Guards, and of Leia who was the captain of the Chamberlain Knights. She is also close friends with Aristia, who is close to her age. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Father¡­ the people are only agitated and excited by the works of a few malicious extremists. If you lose sight of that, you will make a mistake in your judgment.¡± Name : Sheyard Bluebrad () Race : Bronze Elf Class : High Engineer Abilities : Elementary Magic (Thunder), Magic Eye of Structure Appraisal, DEX up (Large/Constant), World Tree Link (magic provision only) Title : Craft Guild Master Weapons : Tool Set Armament : Safety Shoes, Gloves, Work Clothes He is a pale-skinned, golden-eyed Elf as well as a Craft Guild Master and the Assistant Chieftain of the Bronze Elves. His Magic Eye can grasp the structure of inorganic materials. He was basically neutral in the recent scandal, but he eventually persuaded the Chieftain to allow him to help the moderate coalition led by Eliza. When the reform extremists attacked the Royal Castle, he led the protagonists to the castle using the secret underground tunnels that the Bronze Elves had set up without permission. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°The other day, the Chief finally gave me permission to lend a hand to the ¡°moderates¡± of both the conservatives and reformists, and it¡¯s only by chance that I saw you standing here in front of the guild, so let me help you.¡± Name : Gregor Rudy () Race : Black Elf Class : Elf Warrior Abilities : Elementary Magic (Fire), Increased Arm Strength (Medium / Constant), World Tree Link (magic provision only) Title : Leader of the Reform Extremists Weapons : Saber Armament : Black Leather Armor He was blessed with a good physique and a quick wit, but he could not tolerate the current situation where he was restricted in various ways due to the difference in clans which was dictated by their skin color. He is the leader of the reform extremists who gathered his brethren with similar radical ideas and ordered the attack on the Central Assembly and the assassination of Minister Marcus, a reform moderate who advocated non-violence. The intention behind these dark actions was to incite conflict between the Black and White Elven clans. They often planted personnel who would provoke the people and cause riots and chaos in protest rallies, assaulted the guards, and engaged in vandalism. He tries to inspire the Black Elves who outnumber the ruling class to establish a revolution, but the rise of the moderates¡¯ coalition causes him to lose control of the situation, and he launches a violent attack on the Royal Castle. He was accompanied by Adre, a well-known sorcerer among the Black Elves, and Bright, an Earth magic-user. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°If we are successful with the siege, then our Black Elf brethren will support us and the White Elves will have no choice but to follow! This is the moment of truth! Let¡¯s go!!¡± CH 1 When I opened my eyes, I was enveloped in light-brown fur. Maybe it was due to the warmth and the fluffiness, but it had the sense of security of being in a bed. I¡¯m pretty sure I died on the battlefield in the desert country of Athos, but¡­ ¡°Kyuu, kyuuaoon?¡± (What in the world is happening?) Wh-what? I can¡¯t speak!? I guess it responded to my agitation, but the little fluff next to me woke up and gave me a playful bite. Stop it, you bastard, where do you think you¡¯re licking!? Not that place, what the hell are you thinking!? ¡°Kuua, kuua, kuaaann!¡± (Bastard, stop it, aaaaaaah!!) Even the other small fluff on the opposite side joined in the fray as I frantically fought against the sudden threat to my chastity. ¡±Ukyuu ?¡± ¡±Kukyuuu!?¡± (You too!?) I respond with violence to the fluff who climbed on me from the side. ¡°Kuh, kuwawafuh!¡± (Kuu, eat my fist!!) ¡®Pofu*¡¯ ¡°Kyuh, kyuaauuh!?¡± (What, it¡¯s not working!?) My soft paws buffer the shock of my punch, as I belatedly noticed my small and fluffy hands. ¡°Kh, kyuukyuah!? Kukyuh¡± ¡®(Wh, what the hell is this hand!? Eei!)¡¯ Pofu, pofu, pofu-pofu, Pofu-pofu-pofu-pofu-pofu ¡°Kyu, kyuaaaan ?¡± ¡°Ku, kuruan! Kyuou?¡± (Hey, why are you happy!? Are you an M!?) Even though I desperately tried to resist, my breath caught, and I lost my strength as the two fluffs tried to lick me greedily until I was covered in drool¡­ ¡°Uu~ (Uu~)¡± Just when I had half given up and let them do as they pleased, the huge fluff that had been enveloping us unexpectedly stirs. Looking up, I saw a humanoid, dog-type beast, which could not be mistaken as anything but a ¡®Kobold¡¯¡­ I instinctively understood what I was now. (Wha!? I¡¯m a Kobold!?) Amid the shock and confusion, I was wrapped up in my canine beastman mother¡¯s arms, and my exhausted puppy body was unable to resist the drowsiness as I was lulled to sleep. This is how I was born as a Kobold, a dog-type beast that lives in the woodlands. Living with four others in my family in a dark, underground lair at the back of the forest. There are several similar lairs in the vicinity, and all in all, about 30 Kobold live in the area. As soon as I was able to crawl, I popped my head out of the burrow to scout, but my mother gently picked me up and brought me back to bed. ¡°Kyu, kuun, kuaaan¡± (Fu, mother, I get it already.) Curiosity killed the cat¡­ Yep, that is apt for the current me. By the way, my little sister also imitated me and crawled to the exit, but was brought back immediately. In this fashion, as my mother looked at us satisfied and nodded, I suddenly felt a presence behind me. ¡°Hapuh.¡± ¡°Kyan!?¡± Quicker than I could turn around, my little brother bit my tail. Kuh, this guy attacks me from the back when I¡¯m not careful, oi!? Pofu, pofu-pofu-pofu Haa, haa¡­ I wasted energy again¡­ I should mention that I do not know the order in which I was born, and referring to my siblings as my younger sister and brother is merely subjective. And since I feel older, I didn¡¯t participate in the rivalry to be beside my mother and left it to them instead. Sometime later, my first test came as I was being weaned off. ¡°Kyuou, garuoguaoaaan!?¡± (Father, are you telling me to eat this!?) ¡°Wafu, uoau¡± (Yes, that¡¯s right.) The thing placed in front of me was a rabbit with its neck ripped off. Of course, its wild flavor was overflowing because of the dripping blood. ¡±Kyuun¡­¡± I hesitated as I saw it and climbed up on my mother¡¯s knee to try begging for milk, but I was immediately picked up and returned to the dead rabbit¡¯s side. ¡°Kyuu ?¡± ¡°Wafuh!¡± Tsk, my little sister and brother are already greedily eating, these damn beasts!! Whatever. I get it, if I don¡¯t eat this, then I¡¯ll only starve to death later! Chomp Nn, it is delicious!? (Is it because my sense of taste is that of a Kobold¡¯s?) And so, my siblings and I ate the food that father hunted¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The growth of a Young Kobold is quite fast. At six months, my siblings and I were able to walk on our two legs. With our recent growth, my mother has allowed us to go out and wander around the area where other Kobold burrows are located. And as I began to meet other Kobolds aside from my parents and siblings, I began to realize a crucial fact. There were no elderly within the Kobold, and perhaps, even the oldest of them only lived to about 10 years at the most. It seems that the survival rate of the Kobolds, who are at the lowest level in the monster hierarchy, is very low. Maybe not as low as an ordinary wild dog, but the odds of dying before they reach the end of their natural life span seems to be very high. The Dog man¡¯s basic lifestyle was just a repetition of sleep¡ú wake up¡úgo out to hunt¡úeat¡úsleep, with no other elements. What I¡¯m trying to say is, they haven¡¯t even thought of making better weapons or training themselves to increase their rate of survival! As it stands, I¡¯ll most likely be killed by another monster or human, and my second life will end prematurely. I refuse to be like that, and I still haven¡¯t forgotten the ¡°regret toward my useless self¡± that I harbored on my deathbed during my previous life. Even if Kobolds were weak monsters, I wanted to have the strength to die while smiling proudly without a shred of regret this time. Therefore, I decided to train myself as much as possible, and push my Kobold body to its limits. We have no choice but to do our best every day because we don¡¯t know if and when we will lose our lives. And because it was better to have more friends I could rely on, I recruited my siblings to train as well. My sister, who is attached to me and is willing to share in my activities, would do push-ups, sit-ups, tree climbing, and stone-throwing without even understanding the meaning behind it, but¡­ my little brother immediately got tired of it. I thought that I didn¡¯t need to force myself and my siblings at that time, but I would regret later on that I should have trained harder. The law of survival of the fittest was tough¡­ And so, every day, we ran till we were exhausted to cultivate our basic physical strength. While as children, the results of hand-to-hand combat training continued to pile up, and we had become the strongest out of our generation of eleven Kobold pups that had been born this spring. Consequently, there may have been some pride in our parents. As the seasons progressed, it was almost time for me and the other young kobolds to gradually explore outside the settlements. By then, the mothers in the pack had stopped meddling and only followed close to their children. One day, as my friends and I were strolling through the forest like always, I suddenly felt the presence of something huge stirring in the bushes, and an indescribable chill ran down my spine. ¡°Wauu!!¡± (It¡¯s an ambush!!) At the same time as my warning sounded, something emerged from the bushes. Standing before us was a terrifying creature with large jaws that devoured its prey to the bone, huge paws, and hard claws that tore through trees with ease. This was the worst monster in the area ¨C the Grey Bear! ¡°Guruuuuh¡­¡­ Gaaaaah!¡± Growling, it raised its stout arms as it roared and reached for the nearest kobold pup with a swing of its arms, hitting it with a heavy sideways blow!! ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s notes: *Pofu (¥Ý¥Õ¥Ã) ¨C onomatopoeia, depicts the sound of a punch hitting something soft CH 2 ¡°Gyauuh!!¡± As if it was hit by a giant hammer, the young Kobold struck by the Grey Bear was flung away, spraying blood in the air as its flesh was gouged by the bear¡¯s claws. ¡°Woru, woruoooon!!¡± (The tree, climb the trees!!) When I roared loudly and hurriedly climbed a nearby tree, my little brother and sister saw me and started to climb the nearby trees as well. It should be noted that Kobolds are not good at climbing trees. However, because my sister used to imitate me when training and was used to climbing on trees and jumping on thick branches all the time, she was able to smoothly move up the tree this time as well, but¡­ my brother who often slacked off on training wasn¡¯t used to it and took more time than expected. ¡°K-kyua¡­¡± Perhaps because he was in a hurry, or perhaps out of fear, my brother suddenly lost his footing while climbing the tree and his grip slipped as he started falling, and before he even touched the ground, he was unfortunately caught mid-air and crushed by the Grey Bear¡¯s jaws. My outstretched hand had not even reached him before his life was taken away. ¡°Guuruuh!!¡± (Dammit!!) ¡°Kyu!? Kyuuuah!¡± I looked across and shook my head in response to my sister¡¯s gaze which seemed to ask whether we could still save him. ¡°Auu, gyuaa¡± (No, we can¡¯t save him anymore.) I, along with the other young Kobolds, quickly dispersed and ran away like baby spiders. With the two mothers serving as a diversion beneath us, I jumped nimbly from tree to tree towards the direction of the settlement. Shortly after, I saw my sister also determinedly chasing after me, and both of us were able to safely escape back to the settlement. Unfortunately, due to an error in judgment, three young Kobolds lost their way and fled deeper into the forest instead of heading towards the settlement. In the evening, one of them returned covered in blood, but his wounds were too serious and he died soon afterward. Needless to say, the mothers in the pack were very sad that day. The fathers looked resigned, perhaps because they were feeling the harshness of nature. As a result, the young Kobolds in the village were reduced to about half and only 6 were left, but perhaps it was a relief that there were no couples who lost all their children. This day became a turning point for me as I resolved to train my peers who survived the ordeal. From the next day onwards, those who opposed me were reined in by force and were half-forced to train. Since I was originally the strongest among the young Kobolds, the training of my peers, who were more or less born in the same season, went favorably. ¡°Wafa¡­¡­ (Uwah¡­¡­)¡± ¡°Gauh, gagauh!!¡± (Stand! Stand up!!) I scolded the weakest Kobold who had become winded in the middle of a push-up, as I mercilessly stepped on his fluffy tail. ¡°Kyan!?¡± ¡°Uorua kuruauuon, guaoouh!¡± (The enemies will always come after the weakest guy, you want to die!?) The training I devised was quite spartan, but because the memory of losing our friends was still fresh in everyone¡¯s minds, they were eager to do it. Nevertheless, I was still worried that the adult Kobolds might think that the children were acting strangely and try to stop it, but that seemed nothing more than a groundless fear. To begin with, the Kobold¡¯s way of life was formed around a hierarchical society, so even if we started sparring right after doing push-ups, they probably thought that the children were just playing pretend duels for ranking among themselves. ¡°Kukyuaan! ¡° (Ei!) With a cute roar, my sister caught her opponent¡¯s arm between her knees and elbow as he tried to strike at her, delivering a straight punch without a moment¡¯s delay. ¡°Gyann!?¡± Failing to react to the presence behind her, she turned around and received a backhand blow. ¡°Woaouu, wofu!!¡± (You are unable to hide your killing intent, dear sister!!) ¡°Gyafunn!¡± My sister glared at me with teary eyes as she whimpered while holding her nose. ¡°Fuuuh!! (Fuuuh!)¡± ¡°Kyuau, kuaoru gaoua¡± (Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to hit you in that spot¡­¡­) Our days of training continued even when our mothers became pissed at us because of our occasional injuries, and before long, we had turned to become praiseworthy two-year-olds. The growth rate of the Kobolds is so fast that in two years, we had already come of age. Standing in front of me was a group of strong Kobolds who took pride in their well-trained, steel-like bodies. No, correction, since my sister and her friend were both females, they are more supple and muscular rather than steel-like. We hadn¡¯t encountered any Grey Bears since then, however, despite frequent attacks by other kinds of monsters, none of us had gone missing until we all turned two, and because we had struggled through our predicament, we were able to set ourselves apart from all the other Kobolds. However, not everything had gone well, and during the last year, my father had suddenly disappeared. One day, after going out on a routine hunt with the others he never came back¡­ The bodies of the group of Kobolds that escaped back had large claw marks that looked like they had been gouged out. I don¡¯t know if it was the same Grey Bear that ate my brother, but I had vowed to hunt it down eventually. It was fortunate that my sister and I, who were both 1 ? years old at that time, were already able to hunt. Therefore, the loss of our Father didn¡¯t place a very big burden on Mother, and I was also able to improve myself by practicing while chasing prey. Thus, now that I had gained a certain amount of ability, I led my friends on an expedition through the forest. To defeat the Grey Bear, the weapons that I am currently using like the spear, that I made by combining obsidian stone and a rod, an obsidian knife, and throwing stones were not enough. Appropriate equipment was necessary but since we cannot make them ourselves, and, even though it was somewhat painful for a former human like me, we had no choice but to steal them from the adventurers who came into the forest. Our targets were those who had been driven away when they had encountered their fellow adventurers who had also come to collect medicinal herbs used in making medicine to treat wounds, so I already had a rough idea where they were likely to visit. They probably had received a collection quest meant for beginners at the adventurer¡¯s guild. For adventurers of that caliber, we could neutralize them and take away their equipment. ¡°Wauo? Gauoaoo ¡° (Got it? Killing is forbidden.) ¡°Waonn, kuon¡± (Ok, big brother.) ¡°Wawooon, gurua¡± (Leave it to us, chief.) After carefully warning my companions that a bounty would be placed on our heads if we injured the adventurers gravely, we hid in the bushes and stealthily approached the four boys and girls who were armed and collecting medicinal herbs. With a roar, we jumped out of the bushes all at once. ¡°Eh!? What, a macho kobold!?¡± ¡°That¡¯s no longer a kobold, isn¡¯t it!?¡± I quickly subjugated the young swordsman who hurriedly tried to pull his sword from the scabbard at his waist, by holding him down while his hand was still on the hilt of his sword. ¡°Eh! Don¡¯t be careless, guha!!¡± And just like that, I gave him a body blow that took away his consciousness. ¡°Dammit!!¡± Beside me, my sister kicked out the dagger that the thief girl used when she tried to slash at her. Slipping close to her confused opponent¡¯s chest, she fired a palm strike to her chin that instantly knocked out her opponent who was too slow to even react. Checking the situation around moments after our scuffle, I found that my other companions had already defeated the spear-equipped warrior as well. ¡°Hiii, m-monster, I, I won¡¯t taste good if you eat me you know!?¡± The remaining priestess was so scared that she fell on her behind and slid backward as she collapsed on the ground. No equipment could be taken from the girl, so we left her to take care of the unconscious adventurers. (It¡¯s not safe to sleep in this kind of place after all) As an ex-mercenary, I felt somewhat guilty for ambushing the adventurers, so I had placed restrictions on myself by drawing a clear line against the taking of lives to prevent myself from becoming a beast. Even if it was no more than just hypocrisy, I gave them that small amount of consideration and we retreated into the forest after quickly divesting them of their equipment. After that, we did the same to a few other groups of adventurers who had run away and prepared six sets of equipment for all of us. CH 3 Our loot consisted of the following items: Weapons: 1 x Long Sword 1 x Spear 1 x Set of Bow and Arrow 2 x Daggers 1 x GreatSword 1 x Battle Axe Armaments: 4 x Leather Armors 2 x Shields 4 x Cloaks ¡°Kyuunn,¡± (First,) ¡°Kuauu, kuaruoauooruaon!¡± (Hey, you! Don¡¯t lick the spear tip!) One of the guys who had just come to know the taste of iron had an indescribable look on his face. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know how to use a weapon ¡­ That¡¯s not food, my friend¡­ Well, the Kobolds in the settlement use spears made out of obsidian strapped to a wooden stick, so he should be fine, I reasoned. Anyway, we returned to the nearby forest and I decided to show them how to use the different weapons during a regular hunting session. ¡°Guruu, kuan.¡± (It went over there.) ¡°Wafuh, guruuah!¡± (Yeah, leave it to me!!) Soon my companions cornered a boar, I attacked it from the side with all my might and sliced down at it with the Long Sword. ¡°Buoaa! Buooh¡­¡­ Oooh.¡± The boar tried to stand up despite the huge wound on its gut, but it eventually lost too much blood and slowly fell to the ground. ¡°Kuaaaan¡± (Thanks for the meal?) ¡°Kyua?¡± (Yay?) Everyone approached me with a squeal of joy, but before dividing the meat, I distributed the weapons first. Getting in between the food and my companions who were extremely faithful to their instincts, I raised the Long Sword and pointed the tip at the boar¡¯s open wound. ¡°Kuu?¡± (Hnn?) Having done that, one of them noticed the sharp cut and took an interest in it. (Yes, yes, you¡¯re doing great!) Returning the sword to its scabbard, I handed the weapon to that guy. Taking the Battle Axe next, I cut off the dead boar¡¯s legs to show off its cutting power, and, just like earlier, handed it to another guy. ¡°Uu, kuuaou¡± (Uu, how dangerous) Shocked that the boar¡¯s legs had been cleanly cut off, he gingerly handled the Battle Axe. In the same way, I picked up the Great Sword and tested the blade, and handed it to the male who had the best physique in my generation. ¡°Ofa¡­¡± (It¡¯s heavy¡­) Lastly, I used the daggers to slice and clean the rest of the boar¡¯s carcass, and we ate dinner together. ¡°Kyuu~¡± (I¡¯m so happy~) ¡°Kuaaan¡± (I¡¯m so full.) I scolded my childhood friends who had laid down happily after eating the boar¡¯s meat. ¡°Guruo, gurugaouaah!!¡± (You guys, don¡¯t lose your energy now!!) I wasn¡¯t done teaching them about the equipment yet, and it was necessary to have them try on the armor next. However, even I, a former mercenary, felt an indescribable discomfort with the leather armor I wore, so I was anxious to know how the others would respond to it. (I¡¯ve only worn a straw skirt until now¡­) Be that as it may, I needed to steel myself. I made the Great Sword guy, a.k.a. Buster, stand up and punched him in the chest. ¡°Gurua, garuouh!?¡± (Chief, what are you doing!?) Even though he complained of pain, I forced Buster to wear the Leather Armor and punched him in the chest again. Buster braced his body for the impact, but¡­ ¡°Kuu, wafon?¡± (Hmm, it doesn¡¯t hurt?) After making sure that Buster, who had tilted his head as he looked between me and the Leather Armor, understood the importance of it, I lightly punched my younger sister on the chest like earlier to make her understand the meaning of it as well. ¡°Wafaa!? Ku, kuoonn!!¡± (It hurts!? B-big brother!!) Because I was relatively soft on her, my sister was somewhat confused by the punch, so I made her wear the Leather Armor without saying anything and punched her in the same place again. ¡°Wu, kuuwafon?¡± (Oh, it doesn¡¯t hurt much?) And like that, they were able to understand the importance of wearing armor. Further, I made the Long Sword-wielding Blazer and the Battle Axe-bearing Axe equip the Shields, and taught them how to use it properly by making them repeatedly block my punches in the form of combat training. Lastly, I gave the cloaks to the two females, which included my sister, and to Blazer and Buster, thus making our composition as follows: Name: Buster (male) Race: Kobold Weapon: Great Sword Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak Name: Dagger (Female: Sister) Race: Kobold Weapon: Dagger (main) Dagger (auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak Name: Blazer (Male) Race: Kobold Weapon: Long Sword Armament: Shield Auxiliary: Cloak Name: Ax (male) Race: Kobold Weapon: Battle Axe Armament: Shield Auxiliary: None Name: Lancer (Female) Weapon: Spear Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak Name: Archer (Male: Me) Race: Kobold Weapon: Bow and Arrow (main) Short Sword (auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak So why did I choose a bow, you ask? Because no one could use it! Although, I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m good enough to hit a bull¡¯s eye with it either¡­ ¡°Garuwooon! Guruau wuuoon!!¡± (The bow is just for show!! The higher-ups don¡¯t understand that*!!) ¡­ I really need to practice more rather than say these stupid things. This way, we were able to acquire armaments, and, in addition to hand-to-hand combat training, we also carried out training with the obsidian knives, wooden swords, and wooden spears. In between, I practiced with the bow and arrow by myself and managed to improve my skills to a point where I could handle it properly. And so, 2 months after procuring the weapons, I stood out among our pack of 30 Kobolds for achieving great success in hunting, and, along with 5 of my excellent companions, I stood at the top of the other Kobolds in the settlement. Next in rank was Buster, who had recently emerged as a force to be reckoned with, followed by my younger sister, Dagger. At that time, we were already two years and two months old. Still, no one in the pack knew how long the Kobold race¡¯s lifespan was. This is because some, if not most, disappear or don¡¯t return from hunting when their strength waned with age. Aside from that, these days, even the Kobolds that are about 3 to 4 years of age have also begun training independently. Along with their help, my friends and I were stationed to protect the youngest Kobolds, ranging from newborns to those about a year old. We aimed to improve the standard of living and defense capabilities of the village. ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes : *The bow is just for show! The higher-ups don¡¯t understand that!! ¨C may not make sense to most readers, but the original text, which is [¹­¤Ê¤ó¤Æï—¤ê¤Ç¤¹¥Ã£¡ ‚¥¤¤ÈˤˤϷ֤«¤é¤ó¤Î¤Ç¤¹£¡] (Yumi nante kazari desu! Erai hito ni wa wakaran no desu!!), is a parody of a popular line from the Gundam novel series (https://dic.nicovideo.jp.a/¥¸¥ª¥ó¥°Õû‚äÊ¿#h2-3). CH 4 I might have made a mistake by assuming the Kobolds to be the weakest among the members of the monster race. I¡¯ve recently realized, if you pit an untrained Kobold against a similarly untrained human, the Kobold would probably win. In other words, if they were thoroughly trained, then the Kobolds could tap into their hidden potential and easily surpass humanity. As these thoughts filled my mind, I watched Axe swing his Battle Axe in a frenzy, and looked back to the events a while ago¡­ The pack settlement is situated in an open area of the forest where lairs were made in the ground, but several trees blocked access to the central square. It all started when I decided to cut those down, and asked Axe to do it¡­ ¡°Wafuh, wauuh, garuaouu.¡± (Hey, Ax, cut the trees over there.) ¡°Gurua, kuua~n.¡± (But boss, that¡¯s impossible.) Ax was second to Buster in terms of size, but despite being the second biggest Kobold in the pack, he possessed a rather timid and reluctant personality. ¡°Guuruuh, kuaru wooan.¡± (Don¡¯t give up right away, just agree to it.) ¡°Kyuuun!?¡± A dull sound echoed as I kicked Ax on the shin. ¡°Fauh!?! Kuu, kuan.¡± (Ow!?! Alright, I¡¯ll do it.) And so, Ax reluctantly swung away at the tree with his Battle Axe, but¡­ It seems that the Battle Axe was made for fighting and not for chopping trees. Being unable to cut it well, he cried and whined repeatedly. ¡°Kuu, kuuafaan.¡± (My hand, my hand hurts.) ¡°Gaouuh, garuguoua voruaaoon!¡± (You¡¯ll be fine, just get over it and it¡¯ll go numb!) As the sound of me firing him up echoed over his sobbing and whining¡­ He suddenly snapped. ¡°Guruaa, guu, guruaa~n!?¡± (Stop, stop it already~!?) ¡°Uoaa!!¡± (Uooo!!) Flailing his arms around like a small bullied child while repeatedly saying ¡®stop¡¯, the huge, well-trained Kobold cleaved the surroundings in all directions with the Battle Axe in his hand. ¡°Gua, guruaan!?¡± (Rather than me, isn¡¯t it you who should stop!?) The Battle Axe that he swung haphazardly hit the spot where the tree had been previously cut, causing it to fall in one blow. ¡°Au?¡± (Huh?) Unfortunately, the tree was going to fall in the direction of the guys from the village who came to watch, and a dumbfounded Kobold cub looked up just as he was about to be crushed underneath it. ¡°Kyu!? Kyuu!¡± ¡°Guruaaa!!¡± (Buster!!) ¡°Uoooh, gurua!¡± (Leave it to me, chief!) Buster, who was nearby, caught and supported the tree trunk that had almost crushed the less-than-a-year-old Kobolt cub who missed its chance to run and, slowly lowered it to the ground. The sight reminded me again of the Kobold¡¯s infinite potential. After that, we calmed down Ax who was still grumbling and asked him to cut the rest of the trees on the central square, leaving the logs on the outskirts of the settlement. It would be nice if we could make use of the logs, but¡­during my time as a mercenary, I more or less had some experience with woodworking since fixing dormitories and mending tools was part of my job. But no matter what, specialized tools are still a necessity for any woodworking. It¡¯s not impossible to make similar tools out of obsidian, but it was preferable to make the tools out of iron, and we needed to have a furnace for any kind of metalwork. And we would need a heat-resistant hearth made out of volcanic rock and an iron hammer to forge, but¡­ we don¡¯t have any iron, so that means we would have to use stone hammers in the beginning after all? Yes, that¡¯s right, we would have to prepare some crude tools first, and then we could build some high-precision tools with them later on. There¡¯s the flint used for making a fire that we took from the adventurers the other day, so aside from that, it was necessary to procure some iron ore. Thinking about this and that, I finally realized the most essential thing. To collect iron, a pickaxe was necessary, so we needed to make a pickaxe out of suitable rocks first. In other words, it was necessary to complete ¡°all the stone tools¡± first to acquire iron. (What a pain¡­¡­) In any case, we would be going to the mines deep in the forest. We would only be making a preliminary inspection, as there were no means to transport it even if we dug up the iron, it¡¯s likely that we would be moving the settlement depending on the situation¡­ Well, if we keep on robbing adventurers, they would eventually notice and destroy us, so we had no choice but to look for other alternatives. And so, the three of us ¡ª Buster, my sister Dagger, and I went on a month-long journey. As a general rule, it is important to consider taking a route that focuses on bodies of water when going on a journey since the amount of water living things need is so large, that it would be difficult to carry it around. The average horse, for example, drinks approximately 30 liters of water in a day. By contrast, a reasonable load for each horse is 90 kilograms. In short, the most a horse could survive in a place without bodies of water is around three days, provided that it would only carry its own drinking water and nothing else. Taking this into account while using the common sense of my days as a mercenary, the most we can move around in a place without a water source would be at most four days, and it would be a death march if we fail to find a water source during that time. Therefore, we too will be relying on the river that runs through the forest as we advance. Also, the riverside is the perfect hunting ground for the animals that live in the forest. ¡°Wuon!¡± (I¡¯ll take a shot!) I aim at the deer with the bow and arrow that I¡¯ve recently finally learned to handle properly lately. Unfortunately, it¡¯s not a monster, but a normal deer¡­ For some reason, we feel a part of their life force and magic flowing into us whenever we defeat a monster, and if we continue hunting them, it feels like we could aim to increase our levels. (I was a little off the mark¡­¡­) I looked back and saw that my arrow had hit the deer¡¯s torso. With this, I can now say that I am a great Kobold Archer. Not really, it¡¯s just something I came up with when I was naming my friends on a whim¡­ Despite being hit by the arrow, the deer was still desperately struggling, and as it tried to stand up, my sister gleefully charged at it with daggers at both hands. ¡°Wu, wuaooonn?¡± (Meat, we can eat meaaat ?) ¡°Kiiiaa¡­¡­ a¡­¡­¡± After the deer stopped moving, Buster, who hid at the other side in case I missed my shot appeared and lifted our food by its legs. ¡°Guruu, guuagauu voa.¡± (Chief, let¡¯s prepare this somewhere we can hide in.) Now, it¡¯s time to eat. Not one of us Kobolds could keep ourselves from drooling. CH 5 As it turns out, my planning was inadequate even though we advanced for several days without encountering any problems. On the route along the river that went from the settlement to the mountain range, was a dangerous area called the ¡°Balberra Forest¡±, which even veteran adventurers dare not carelessly step into. In this place, a very powerful monster spawns every so often and unleashes its fury on the hapless souls that wander in. Yes, at that time¡­¡­ ¡°Guruah!¡± (Uoh!) ¡°Kyuah!¡± (Uhyaah!) Dagger and I split to the left and right to dodge the jet-black unicorn that came charging at us. At the same time, Dagger belatedly thrust out her right-hand dagger to slash at the beast¡¯s side, but because it had been too late, she only managed to graze its tail as it passed through. ¡°Goaah!!¡± (This bastard!!) ¡°Hinn!¡± Buster swung his Great Sword with a yell, but the jet-black unicorn nimbly avoided him and he missed. Appearing suddenly, I tried to stab it by slashing from a different angle with my Short Sword, but this too was deflected by the horn on its head. (This is bad, I don¡¯t think we can win against it¡­¡­) The beast¡¯s strength rose suddenly. Certainly, I¡¯ve heard during my mercenary days that a unicorn is a dangerous beast, as it pokes its prey with its horn and siphons off its victim¡¯s lifeblood. I was so terrified of the tale that I sobered up quickly¡­¡­ ¡°Gurua, garuo kuaaruoon?¡± (Chief, don¡¯t you think we should retreat?) ¡°Warugaaru, uoaoou!!¡± (We¡¯re up against a horse, so climb the trees!!) Gathering strength in our legs, we avoided the next rush then dispersed to climb the trees, but¡­ ¡°Kuan, ku, kuuoon¡­¡­¡± (Big brother, I, I sprained my foot¡­¡­) ¡°Guh, woooan.¡± (Tsk, guess we have no choice.) When she tried to avoid the jet-black unicorn¡¯s attack earlier, my sister seemed to have sprained her foot due to the poor foothold she was on. Dragging her dominant leg behind her, she avoided the charging unicorn by moving in a circular motion. ¡°Gurua¡­¡­ guruu garugoaaon.¡± (Chief¡­¡­ I¡¯ll stop its movement.) ¡°Wafi?¡± (What?) Before I had any time to stop him, Buster thrust his Great Sword into the ground, clapping his hands together to draw the jet-black unicorn¡¯s attention. The unicorn has an agility that does not match its large build and with a blade-like horn that it uses to charge, with the intention of bringing its prey down with one hit. And he¡¯s saying that he¡¯s going to stop that? That¡¯s reckless anyway you look at it!! ¡°Guau, garugu guoaruooonn!!¡± (A moment, I¡¯m putting everything into this one moment!!) Perhaps Buster¡¯s provocation was effective, or perhaps he thought it was easier this way, he let go of his weapon and spread both of his arms wide, and the jet-black unicorn rushed toward the hulking Kobold with great force. ¡°Hihiiiiiiiiinnn!!¡± ¡°Uoooooooh!¡± Buster bent over, and, with his arms crossed, launched himself toward the unicorn¡¯s throat and slipped underneath it at the moment of impact! ¡°Buruah!?¡± The jet-black unicorn stops moving for a moment. And it¡¯s unlikely for me to miss such an opportunity. ¡°Guruaah! Guaaaaan!!¡± (You did it! Busteeer!!) I thrust my short sword into the side of the unicorn charging at it with my whole body, and with a twist of my blade, widened the wound further. ¡°Hiiiii¡ª¡ª¡ª-nn!?¡± It screamed and thrashed about violently, trying to shake us off as we clung to it. ¡°Gua!?¡± ¡°Kuuuh!¡± With the last of its power, it flailed and threw us off its body, so I quickly leaped back to try and suppress the shock. However, I staggered involuntarily as the heavy impact unexpectedly went through my leather armor. When I somehow endured and looked at it again, the unicorn seemed to be reaching its limit, and a pool of blood was slowly accumulating by its feet. (That was quite a match¡­¡­) I raised my Short Sword again, while Buster pulled out his Great Sword from the ground and carried it over his shoulders. And together, we swung both our blades down and brought the curtain down on the fight. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ And then, I found myself in a completely white space. We just put an end to the jet-black unicorn earlier, but¡­ where did Dagger and Buster go? Looking around, I found a huge endless silver spiral staircase touching the heavens. The moment I saw it, a wealth of knowledge that I wasn¡¯t supposed to know anything about came rushing into my head. ¡°¡­¡­ Wofuvorugu.¡± (¡­¡­ The Ultimate Spiral Staircase.) Yes, this was the lowest level of the Tree of Life, a place where lesser souls of creatures like us Kobolds gathered. My instincts compelled me to climb the spiral staircase. Despite the fact that there were no other creatures except for me, I felt many eyes watching me, coupled with the auditory hallucination-like cheers and blessings that I could hear from somewhere, I continued moving forward until I finally arrived at a place that looked like a dance hall. The point where I had climbed was so low that It seemed as if I had just begun to climb the Ultimate Spiral Staircase, but right after that I thought, no matter what it was actually a huge step forward for me personally, and suddenly my consciousness was consumed by the light. As I felt the ebb and flow of knowledge through my head, my consciousness gradually floated back to reality. ¡°Wafuh?¡± When I opened my eyes and checked the situation after being unconscious for a moment, what laid before my eyes was the dead unicorn, whose life force and magic flowed into us and enhanced us. Suddenly, as I lifted my gaze, I noticed one anomaly. ¡°Gau, guruaa, kuuaruan woaan!?¡± (Oi, Buster, your fur is changing color, you know!?) The fur from his forearm up to his upper arm had changed into vivid jet-black color, while the arm itself had become so muscular to the point that it seemed uncomfortably different from the rest of his body. At a glance, he looked like a higher variation of the Kobold, the Kobold Fighter, but with a slightly different and longer tail. ¡°Gurua, wafuoonn!?¡± (Doesn¡¯t Chief look somewhat different as well!?) ¡°Kuon, kuuun¡­¡± (Big brother looks so pretty¡­¡­) ¡°Wu?¡± (Eh?) I looked at my own arm as soon as they told me, and instead of the usual brown fur, my fur had become an almost silver-ash color. Somehow, it seemed like I had gotten shiny too, but¡­ Instinctively looking behind me, it seemed like my tail had become fluffier as well. (What the hell is this¡­¡­) As we would learn much later on, Buster had evolved into a Kobold Warrior, a variation of the Kobold Fighter, while I had evolved into a High Kobold, which is a mutative variant. Name: Buster (male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Warrior Skill: Arm Strengthening (Large, effect is instantaneous) Weapon: Great Sword Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak Name: Archer (Male: Me) Race: Kobold Class: High Kobold Skill: Elementary Magic (Earth and Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement) Title: Chief (or Boss) Weapon: Bow and Arrow (main) Short Sword (auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak CH 6 We somehow managed to defeat the jet-black unicorn (whose name and race I was still clueless about), but we were forced to change our plans at this point. ¡°K-kuuofan¡­¡± (M-my foot hurts¡­) This was perhaps the correct time to retreat, as my sister had sprained her foot, and it was not like Buster and I had come out of the fight unscathed either. ¡°Gurua, garuo guruvoafa uruaon¡± (Chief, the whole place smells like this guy¡¯s blood.) ¡°Wafuh, gaokuruuu varuouu¡± (Yeah, other beasts will probably be lured by its scent.) Buster and I directed our eyes down and looked at the corpse of the jet-black unicorn we just brought down. I felt like it was a bit of a waste, but we had to leave it and retreat for now. ¡°Waaguoru guruoon¡­¡± (I guess we could at least take its horn¡­) I checked the horn and found that it had not suffered a single scratch from my sword strike earlier. Crouching down, I placed the unicorn¡¯s head over my lap and tried to break the horn off from the roots with all my might. ¡°Uoooooooooooooonnn!!¡± My roar echoed through the forest, but¡­ the unicorn¡¯s horn did not even budge an inch. And, for some reason, a little magic left my body the same time as I roared. ¡°Au? Kuuofa wuru kuroaan!?¡± (Huh? The pain on my foot became a little better!?) ¡°Gaoa guruuan!!¡± (My power is rising!!) The pain on Dagger¡¯s foot subsided by a bit, and Buster¡¯s power rose, and even my own body was filled with vitality. It seems that the roar earlier was imbued with magic that enhanced my companions¡¯ basic abilities. (However, it activated simply by putting effort into my roar¡­ gotta be careful from now on.) Nevertheless, our goal was accomplished as a result. ¡°Gurua, won! Guuguruu wooann!!¡± (Chief, leave it to me! I can do it now!!) As I moved away from the jet-black unicorn, Buster carried the Great Sword on his shoulders and took a crouching stance. His target was the base of the unicorn¡¯s horn. ¡°Guou, guruuafan. Guouaoou¡­¡­ gaaoruu!!¡± (One strike, otherwise, it¡¯s uncool. A single blow is an extremely¡­deadly move!!) For a moment, the muscles on Buster¡¯s arms that were wrapped in fighting aura instantly bulged as he executed a single blow with his Great Sword! Clanggg!! A clear sound like metal colliding against metal rang out, and the monster unicorn¡¯s horn was cleanly severed from its roots, falling on the ground with a ¡®clunk¡¯. That is how we acquired a valuable item called the unicorn¡¯s horn and headed home, but because the magical effect of my roar wore off, the pain in my sister¡¯s foot returned, and we journeyed back at a slow pace. ¡°Wafuou, gaauru woa kuuoaau¡± (In a while, we will reach the riverside, let¡¯s cool our legs by the river then.) ¡°Woann, kuon¡± (Okay, big brother.) ¡°Guruua guruau warufau¡± (Chief and I will both walk, one ahead and one behind you.) As he suggested, we walked back on the road with me in the lead while looking at the compass we stole from the adventurers, followed by Dagger, and Buster at the rear. As a result, we didn¡¯t reach the mountain range until five days after we left the settlement. Still, bad things kept on occurring one after the other. When we reached the riverside, we quenched our thirst with the river water, and Dagger cooled her legs in the river, but the sound of rustling leaves alerted us that something was approaching us from upstream. ¡°Gua, garufu, guruuah!¡± (Tsk, it¡¯s coming, be on your guard!) ¡°Guuoah, gurua!!¡± (Got it, Chief!!) Getting into formation, Buster and I acted as vanguards and Dagger acted as a rearguard, and we waited. With my sister being unable to run, we had no choice but to be prepared to defend. What we could see in between the trees was a red-haired girl in mage¡¯s clothes who had a desperate look on her face as she ran toward us while being chased by a huge lizard whose skin was covered with ore. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Muriel Vest (17), was a novice mage who graduated early from the Royal Capital¡¯s Magic Academy this year with excellent results. Also, since only magic users who have graduated from a formal institution can publicly call themselves mages, the title was considered as a kind of status. Moreover, she majored in biology, which included the study of magical beasts. It was a field where one had to travel to various areas to investigate the ecology of the monsters and the flora and fauna in the surrounding area and publish those findings or conduct research through commissions from the guild. She might still be a novice, but she aimed to be someone who earned a living as an adventurer, and, eventually, with her accumulated knowledge in the field, be recognized as a scholar around the world. Currently fleeing from the threat that is a C+ class monster, the Rock Lizard, she earnestly runs to be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a great biologist in the future!! ¡°Geez, no, stop following me already!!¡± My current situation originated from events that occurred several days ago. To the East of Warren, the core city of the Ferias Territory is a woodland area, and I chose this city as my first base of operations because I was interested in the vegetation and the monsters that live there. Two days ago, I received a quest to collect medicinal herbs and materials from low-level monsters in the forest. And yesterday, I, along with four of my colleagues, left the city and traveled along the Steele River to reach the forest. We then spent the night at the forest¡¯s entrance, and today, we collected the medicinal herbs and hunted low-grade squirrel and boar-type monsters to fulfill the quest. The process went smoothly, and, by mid-afternoon, we had already collected the items on the quest, so our leader, the warrior Ares, consulted, and asked for everyone¡¯s opinion. ¡°It¡¯s still early in the afternoon, and we still have energy to spare, so I would like to move deeper into the forest to accumulate more experience, but¡­¡± I faintly remember feeling uneasy at those words. In our case, since we entered the forest through the Steele River from the City of Warren, the boundary to the danger zone known as the ¡°Balberra Forest¡± was nearby. If one were to carelessly step into that boundary, then they ran the risk of encountering C+ grade monsters, whose danger class is incomparable to the E grade monsters in the surrounding area. The scary thing about this Balberra Forest is that it has a ¡°low probability¡± of spawning a monster with a strength that surpasses the other monsters in the area and it is known for taking the lives of countless careless and unsuspecting adventurers. In case you were wondering, the rest of my companions were on board with the idea, and I, having joined them just recently, could only nod vaguely as I did not have enough say to hold them back on my own. CH 7 A short while later, a spirited shout rang throughout the part of the forest that we headed into. ¡°Seyaaa!!¡± ¡°Kushu, kuuh!?¡± Ares¡¯ Long Sword cut off the meter-long Great Horned Rabbit¡¯s right front leg. Although the attack missed its body, it was enough to slow down the monster¡¯s movement. ¡°Alright, leave it to me!!¡± The hunter Mirea, who nocked an arrow, dexterously maneuvered a small bow, and, from a close range, pierced the flank of the Great Horned Rabbit. ¡°K-kukyuu¡­¡­¡± The Great Horned Rabbit cried weakly and collapsed on the ground. This E+ threat level monster was something that even a novice ¡°iron¡± adventurer could beat easily. (Our lives could have been in danger if we got stabbed by that big pointy horn with a surprise attack from the bushes though¡­) While I was thinking about the monster¡¯s unique traits as was my habit, the lightly armed warrior who acted as our vanguard, Liberto, crouched in front of the Great Horned Rabbit and brought out his dagger. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take whatever we can take from this guy, we can¡¯t waste the life we took from it after all. Muriel, what would be the best way to process this?¡± Since I majored in Biology at the Royal Magic Academy, it made me unexpectedly happy when he asked me about how best to process the monster we brought down. ¡°Hmm, the Great Horned Rabbit¡¯s horn and claws are valuable, so remove those parts first. Then, after draining its blood, we can take the rest of it to the restaurants in the villages along the way so they will buy it from us.¡± ¡°Ah, but lugging this around while traveling is a little¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it either way, but if we¡¯re bringing it along, I¡¯ll do the negotiations for its sale.¡± Ares, who looked a little uncomfortable, wanted to travel light, while Mirea, who earns her keep as a hunter, said anything was fine with her even though she seemed like she wanted to take it with us. Deep down inside, she¡¯s probably counting how much she can sell it for. ¡°Anyway, shall we just call it a day and head home already?¡± We had ventured pretty deep into the forest, so I sighed with relief when it seemed like we had finished the day without incident. However, disasters usually strike when you least expect them. I know that much at least. On the day of the entrance ceremony at the Magic Academy, I happened to be seated next to the one who would be known later on as the Tempest Witch, Ernesta Elballard. I spoke to her casually, but my school life became tumultuous since then¡­ Rather, this is not the correct time to be thinking about that. (It¡¯s an adventure until you get home!) The moment I shifted my attention from my silly thoughts, a large shadow jumped out from the bushes in front of me and made its way towards Liberto, who was processing the Great Horned Rabbit. ¡°!?! Ugwaaaah¡­¡­ kahah¡± Liberto was caught off guard and was thrown into the air, his back hitting a tree and expelling all the air from his lungs. ¡°Liberto!¡± The identity of the shadow that leaped out was a 3-meter long, ore-covered monitor lizard. Ares immediately jumped between it and Liberto to protect the latter. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a Rock Lizard!!¡± The giant lizard shaking its tail threateningly is known as a Rock Lizard, a threat level C+ monster. Its ore-covered skin repels physical attacks and makes wind and water cutting spells ineffective, whereas its fire-resistant attribute decreases the effectiveness of fire spells as well. It has weaknesses, but, unfortunately, the magic I have learned cannot deal with it. Furthermore, I¡¯ve heard that it possesses tough muscles and sharp fangs and, in some cases, even preys on humans. ¡°Ares, it¡¯s the ¡°Monster of Balberra¡±! It¡¯s too much for us, let¡¯s run!¡± ¡°Easier said than done. Liberto, do you think you could run?¡± Liberto assessed his condition while Ares kept the Rock Lizard in check. ¡°Guh, sorry, my ribs may have been broken. Haha, just breathing hurts¡­I¡¯ll try to buy us some time, so hurry up and go!¡± shouted Liberto. ¡°Hey, are you letting Liberto go alone with these injuries!?¡± ¡°Kuh, Mirea, I¡¯m counting on you!!¡± The Rock Lizard opened its mouth wide, its fangs peeking out as it charged at Ares who shouted as he bent his body to dodge, and Mirea who nodded as she lent her shoulder to Liberto and retreated. Ares swung his longsword with all his strength, aiming at the large lizard that tried to turn its body in response to the movement. ¡°Uoooooooooh!!¡± Clang Using centrifugal force to clash against the monster¡¯s ore-covered skin¡­ the Long Sword suddenly broke into two as it hit the monster. ¡°Geh!?¡± Ares¡¯ eyes widened and his body stiffened as the Rock Lizard¡¯s fangs started to close in on him! ¡°Guuuuuuh!¡± ¡°Tsk, I won¡¯t let you! Pierce, Ice Bullets!¡± As I finished casting my magic spell, I had summoned several chunks of ice from my palm and shot them at the Rock Lizard¡¯s snout, but the damage they caused was negligible. ¡°I-it¡¯s impossible to beat it without weapons, so let¡¯s split up and run away!!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Yes, my misfortune began from that point on, but it was still okay. ¡°Eh!? Why is it coming this way!?¡± ¡°Giruuaaaah!¡± Ares and I split up and ran, but the Rock Lizard followed me and roared while moving with a speed that didn¡¯t match its size¡­while its snout bled all over the place. I probably incurred the Rock Lizard¡¯s wrath when I fired the Ice Bullets at its snout. If it catches up, it¡¯ll kill and eat me, won¡¯t it? ¡°Nooo, stop following me, please!!¡± Is that where my end lies? As I whined and cried, I saw three figures ahead of me. I ran up to them assuming they were adventurers because of their armor-clad appearances, but¡­ let me say this again, misfortune has no precedent. What stood over there wasn¡¯t human, but the canine-type monster, the Kobold. And that was how I met these eccentric, almost unorthodox, beings. CH 8 As I watched the red-haired girl desperately run towards us, it was clear that she was running away from the huge, ore-covered lizard. ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡± She ran up to us, but on the way, she tripped on a tree root and fell. Our gazes met at that moment, and I unintentionally caught the desperate plea in her eyes. ¡°Guuh!¡± (Tsk!) Even though I clicked my tongue, I found myself running towards her. Because I still have the memories from when I was a human, it was painful for me to abandon her. Besides, my sister could not run because of her sprained ankle, so we had no choice but to fight. ¡°Guruaah!!¡± Quickly wrapping my arms around the girl, I jump sideways, quickly anticipating the attack of the roaring predator approaching us. Immediately after, the Rock Monitor Lizard bulldozed through the place we were previously standing at great speed. ¡°Eh!? It¡¯s fluffy? How did that happen!?¡± ¡°Wafuu, woaoonn!¡± (Hey, watch out!) Turning back as I held the confused girl close, I found that the monster had slowed down its movement and changed course towards Buster, who seemed to be its next prey. ¡°Guruuuuo¡­ gau, uoooann!!¡± (Aren¡¯t you a tough one¡­ Go ahead and come at me!!) It seems like a switch of sorts had been flipped inside my friend. Letting himself become the bait, he lowered his hips and took a stance. ¡°Garugouaa, kuuauooon!!¡± (With this one strike, I shall finish you!!) Aiming for the head of the rock monitor lizard that attempted to bite, catch, and squeeze him, Buster¡¯s powerful slash attack hit, but¡­ ¡°G-guah!!¡± (Ugh!!) The ore covering the lizard¡¯s skin simply deflected the attack, Buster had added his own weight to the centrifugal force used to deliver the blow, so the deflection sent a powerful rebound shock through his arms. However, the rock monitor lizard was hit with the Great Sword when it just looked up, so its head was pushed back down because of the force from the sword. Furthermore, because it was hit pretty hard on the head, its movement temporarily halted. ¡°Woaoonn!!¡± (I won¡¯t let such an opportunity go to waste!!) ¡°Ukyah!!¡± Tossing the red-headed girl I had been carrying under my arms, I pulled out my short sword from the scabbard at my waist, and, running towards the rock monitor lizard, I aimed between one of the gaps in its ore-covered body, and stabbed at it. ¡°Kshhh!? Gugaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Guh!¡± (Gah!) The rock monitor lizard lashed out in pain, pushing Buster¡¯s Great Sword away and flinging me with its huge and heavy frame. ¡°Guruu, kuaaroan, gauruaah!¡± (Chief, do that thing you did earlier, we¡¯re not getting anywhere!) ¡°Wafu, guruau¡± (Sure, leave it to me.) And so, I gathered power into my core and this time, out of my own volition, let out the Hellhound¡¯s Roar, which enhanced my fellow Kobold¡¯s base capabilities. ¡°Uwooooooooooooooon!!¡± ¡°Garuuoooh! Wooonn!!¡± (I¡¯m burning up! Let¡¯s do this!!) The muscles in both of Buster¡¯s arms bulged in an instant as he unleashed all the power in his body in a single slash. ¡°Guuruaaah!!¡± (Slash!I) Smash!! The Great Sword, which was blocked by the Rock Monitor Lizard¡¯s robust defense, shattered the ore acting as its armor, but the remaining strength could only stab shallowly at its body. This caused it to swivel around and angrily deal a blow to Buster with its tail. ¡°Gyaaooooo!¡± (Angry!) ¡°Wooooh!?¡± Buster received a blow from the thick of its tail and was blown away. ¡°Guruaaah!!¡± (Busteeer!!) ¡°G-guoh, uruaaah!!¡± (G-guh, uraaaaaah!!) The black-armed, heavy-set Kobold picked himself up and endured the pain as the battle cry fired him up again. (Huh, it seems like he¡¯s fine.) It was not looking good no matter how I look at it¡­the next attack would not go through. What¡¯s going on here? Even the monster from earlier was strangely strong. If there were many monsters like this in the forest, then we Kobolds would have been annihilated a long time ago, but, it was futile to complain since we still had a chance to win. When Buster was thrown off by the rock monitor lizard¡¯s tail attack earlier, its underside was exposed and it wasn¡¯t covered with ore at all! ¡°Kuruu, kuaaoonn!¡± (Here goes nothing!!) Kneeling on the spot, I pressed my hands against the earth to focus my magic. There was something I have been feeling ever since my fur turned silver earlier. It seemed like the sensory understanding of the world that one possesses at birth to fully demonstrate their potential. Perhaps I¡¯m turning into a magic-user type Kobold that can control the earth and wind! ¡°Uoah, uorufuh!!¡± (Eat this, Fangs of the Earth!!) ¡°Guh, gaa¡ªh, gii, gya¡­..¡± Numerous fang-shaped clods appeared directly underneath the rock monitor lizard and pierced its belly, skewering it to the earth. As I suspected, no ore-like armor covered its underside. Even its dorsal side had gaps in its ore-covered skin, to allow for some movement. If its underside were also covered in ore, then it would rub against the ground and it would not be able to move that quickly. ¡°Gurua, gaoruan?¡± (Chief, is it dead?) ¡°Gau, uaou.¡± (No, not yet.) And so I called Dagger (my sister) who had been waiting behind me. ¡°Wafu? Kuon¡± (What is it, big brother?) ¡°Kuua gaoruau¡± (Finish it off.) When we beat the jet-black unicorn earlier, we evolved¡­ to confirm if the same phenomenon will occur again, I asked Dagger to deliver the final blow. ¡°Kuu, garukuuga kuruun¡± (But it doesn¡¯t seem like my dagger will work.) ¡°Garuouu¡± (Use this.) I took out the Unicorn horn from my backpack and handed it to Dagger. ¡°Nn, kuruoou kuon¡± (Okay big brother, I¡¯ll give it a try.) Using the Unicorn horn, Dagger stabbed deep into the gap between the ores covering the earthbound rock monitor lizard¡¯s head and put an end to it. CH 9 ¡°Kuu, kuaouh?¡± (Huh? Where am I?) Before I knew it, I found myself in a white space. All the white light was hurting my eyes¡­ There was nothing but white in front of me, but when I turned around, there was a huge silver Spiral Staircase extending towards the heavens. ¡°Wu¡­ wofu vorugu.¡± (Ah¡­ It¡¯s the Ultimate Spiral Staircase.) Ummm, why was it called ¡°Ultimate¡± again? As soon as I thought about it, the answer automatically appeared in my mind. I see, so it¡¯s called ¡°Ultimate¡± because it means ¡°to come to an end of evolution¡±. I started to climb the stairs again. But, why is this set of stairs spiral? It¡¯s the ¡°DNA¡¯s double helix structure¡±? Hmmm, so there¡¯s another set of stairs behind this one. It was kind of fun going up the silver Spiral Staircase with all the blessings and acclamations pouring down from the heavens, but I guess this is the end for this time. My memory of this place was wiped clean, and I returned to reality. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Right after she put an end to the rock monitor lizard, Dagger¡¯s appearance changed. ¡°Gurua, wofu¡­¡± (Chief, that¡¯s¡­) ¡°Wafu, kuuaon.¡± (Yeah, it¡¯s become fluffier, hasn¡¯t it?) What was fluffier was Dagger¡¯s tail. Compared to my tail which became 1.5 times fluffier than normal, the volume of hers was two times more than before¡­ That¡¯s right, her tail had become similar to a fox¡¯s. Contrasting with my silver, her fur had become a somewhat dull gold color, and her ears also enlarged a little. Name: Dagger (Female: Sister) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold ¨C Foxy Skill: Leap Enhancement (Large, effect is instantaneous), Elementary Magic: Illusion Title: Lizard Killer Weapon: Unicorn Horn (main) Dagger (auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak ¡°Woan? Kuon.¡± (What¡¯s wrong? Big brother) ¡°Guua, guu gaoruaoou¡± (You don¡¯t look like a Kobold anymore.) ¡°Guao, kuorufaau¡­¡± (Dagger, you look like a fox¡­) Strictly speaking, I had the impression that the Kobold was a mix between a dog and a fox, but¡­ As the three continued with their exchange, someone was observing them carefully from the side. It was Muriel, the mage aspiring to be a biologist. ¡°Eh, it evolved!? Th-th-this is amazing!!¡± I had learned at the academy that monsters do evolve, but rarely, for me to be able to witness such a precious moment! I was so happy that I completely forgot the life-threatening danger I was in earlier. I mean, they evolved you know? Other than that, the surprises just come one after another! First, their physiques! Normal Kobolds are smaller than an average human male, and yet these were as tall as a man. Moreover, that one was very huge. Their height was what convinced me to think that they were adventurers at the start. In addition, they all had well-trained bodies. ¡°No matter how you look at it, those muscles aren¡¯t normal¡­ Did they train!? These Kobolds did muscle training?¡± This might be perhaps an incredible discovery¡­ Besides, those sturdy muscles aren¡¯t just for decoration. A Kobold with a threat level of E+, that could be taken on by an ¡°iron¡± adventurer, just took down a threat level C+ Rock Lizard that a mid-tier ¡°silver¡± adventurer would normally take on. ¡°Ah!¡± At that moment, I realized that my problem was still not over. I feel like they helped me earlier, but¡­ it was dangerous after all. If they used their speed and coordination to attack me, then I would not be able to get away at all. I have not heard of any stories of Kobolds eating humans before, but¡­ As I watched them while being concerned over my safety, I noticed that one of them, the petite one with the insanely fluffy tail, was dragging along its foot. (Huh? I wonder if it¡¯s hurt¡­¡­) When I looked closer, I saw that the bigger Kobold was also pressing against its stomach, which was injured when the Rock Lizard attacked with its tail. That was when a scene from a novel appeared at the back of my mind. It was a love story between a werewolf and a village girl, where the two met when the village girl rescued the werewolf who was hurt in battle. It seems like I would need to pitch in and help so that they don¡¯t attack me. I slowly approached them as they continued to talk about something in gibberish. After the battle ended, I checked on Dagger¡¯s condition after she evolved. While asking her several questions, I examined the condition of her sprained foot as well. I also checked on Buster who had injured his flank when he took an attack from the rock monitor lizard¡¯s tail, but according to him, he only had some minor bruises and wounds. It was probably thanks to his well-trained body and the Leather Armor that his wounds were not severe. However, the Leather Armor was badly scratched due to the ores in the rock monitor lizard¡¯s tail. And finally, I realized, aren¡¯t the ores attached to the lizard iron ore? I would have wanted to take them home but with our present condition, it was just impossible. ¡°Woruwoaru uruoa kuaruoo¡± (Looks like we have to go back to our part of the forest.) ¡°Kuon, wokuauu¡­ fauaruo¡° (Big brother, I¡¯m scared¡­ let¡¯s hurry and go home.) ¡°¡­Gurua¡± (¡­ Chief) Turning my gaze at Buster¡¯s prompting, I saw that the red-headed mage from earlier was making her way to us, so I spoke to the girl while being careful not to frighten her. Of course, I was using the Kobold language¡­ although I can understand this continent¡¯s common language because of the memories I have of my past life, I still couldn¡¯t pronounce because of my Kobold vocal cords. ¡°Ofuu, garuo faaoon¡± (Stop, we mean no harm.) She probably could not comprehend what I was saying, but the red-haired girl responded to my voice and stopped at least 3 meters away from us. ¡°Uh, umm! Is she hurt? I¡­I can use primary healing magic, so¡­¡± What!? I thought she looked like a mage but she¡¯s actually a priestess? That was when the insignia on her mage garb that was clad in divine protection caught my eye. (A mage, huh¡­so she¡¯s an elite if she were compared to a Kobold like me.) As I recall, people like her have learned various spells at the academy, so she can probably use healing magic. Even though I only helped her at the spur of the moment, it seems my decision to do so wasn¡¯t a mistake! CH 10 Note: Muriel¡¯s dialogue is placed in bold to distinguish her from the Kobolds in Archer¡¯s POV. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°Guruah!!¡± (Chief!!) ¡°Kuon!¡± (Big brother!) Dagger and Buster became more vigilant as the Mage girl approached. Well, it was only natural¡­neither of them understood the common language of the continent that this red-haired girl was speaking after all. ¡°Guoruh, uoau garuku vorufa¡± (Wait, it doesn¡¯t seem like she has any ill intentions.) ¡°Kuu, kuon!¡± (But, big brother!) My sister was baffled when the human stood in front of her, but she said she would heal her with magic, so I gratefully accepted her offer. ¡°Wafah!?¡± (Ouch!?) ¡°Ah, s-sorry. Does it hurt?¡± Big brother, can I hit her? Dagger scowled not at the girl but at me and gestured, but I slowly shook my head and let the girl check her injury. ¡°Hmm, I think I can manage this much¡­ May thou who are tormented by pain be soothed by the light, Healing Light.¡± The red-haired girl invoked her magic as she pressed her hand over Dagger¡¯s swollen ankle. A warm, milky white light appeared and instantly disappeared as if it were sucked into the affected area. ¡°Wu, wufon?¡± (Huh, it doesn¡¯t hurt?) ¡°Alright, you¡¯re fine now.¡± The girl let go of Dagger¡¯s foot and stood up. ¡°And you! I¡¯m going to come over there, so don¡¯t get angry, okay?¡± And so, she cautiously approached Buster and reached out her hand towards his abdomen. ¡°¡­Gurua¡± (¡­Chief.) ¡°Woofu, guruaa¡± (At ease, Buster.) In the end, the red-haired girl held her hands over the cuts and bruises on Buster¡¯s abdomen. ¡°¡­ May thou who are tormented by pain be soothed by the light, Healing Light.¡± ¡°Wofuh¡­¡­ Kuruuu.¡± (This is¡­¡­ So warm.) ¡°And with this, both of you are fine now.¡± I faced her and bowed. The red-haired girl made a surprised face as she saw me do so. ¡°A-are you thanking me? You¡¯re very clever, aren¡¯t you?¡­ Ah, you helped me too, so we can call it even.¡± Alright, I¡¯ve already expressed my thanks as a Kobold. Now, all that¡¯s left is a speedy retreat! I¡¯m about to run out of magic power¡­The magic capacity of the dog people sure is small. ¡°Gaoon, guruah¡± (Let¡¯s get going, you two.) ¡°Won, kuon?¡± (Okay, big brother?) ¡°Wafuh¡± (Okay.) We hurriedly left the place, but the red-haired mage followed behind us as if it were a natural thing to do so. Rustle Rustle Rustle Rustle Crunch When we stopped walking, she stopped too. ¡°Gaofuau¡± (Please go ahead.) I made a gesture with my hands and told her to go ahead. However, the red-haired girl refused and shook her head from side to side. Tsk, if this continued, we would have no choice but to take her with us until the settlement¡­ should we just shake her off? ¡°Wonn!!¡± (Run!!) Coordinating our timing, we dashed away at the same time. It was no trouble at all to give the female mage the slip. ¡°W-wait a minute, if you leave me in this place then I¡¯ll die!!¡± I could hear her panicked voice calling out from behind. ¡°Waaaiiiiit, uwah!?¡± Crash Looks like she tripped again¡­ ¡°¡­Guh.¡± (Tsk.) My guilty conscience made me stop in my tracks. ¡°Woonn, gurua?¡± (Are you sure, Chief?) ¡°Gofuu, wofu guaoauu.¡± (It¡¯s alright, she did take care of my sister anyway.) Sighing, I went back in her direction and crouched in front of the red-haired mage. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Picking up a moderately sized stone that conveniently lay nearby, I carved the letters of the continent¡¯s common language into the ground. ¡°I am the Kobold Archer¡± ¡°Huh? N-no way, you can write!? And in the continent¡¯s common language too!¡± I point my palm towards the astonished red-haired mage and urged her to introduce herself. ¡°Ah, okay.¡± She took my hand and squeezed it tightly, and tilted her head cutely. ¡°¡­Guruooah Ukyaah!!¡± (¡­That¡¯s not what I meant!!) Shaking my hand away from her hold, I wrote more letters on the ground. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what you meant¡­ I am Muriel Vest, a mage and biologist.¡± After hearing that, I stood up and held out my hand to Muriel who sat on the ground. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ I took the furry hand that the wolf with the dull silver fur offered me. Nothing makes sense anymore as the action soundly shattered my common sense. A Kobold who can write? I don¡¯t know how he did it, but¡­If he can write, then he can probably understand human speech. Anthropologically, after verbal communication, hieroglyphics, and other forms of writing were invented, while developmentally, children also learned to speak first before learning how to write. As I thought about it, I followed after them as I did earlier. ¡°¡­At any rate, these three sure are advancing into different class variants.¡± I¡¯m guessing the silver one is a High Kobold of the mutative variant, while the one with the long tail and the well-developed arms is a subspecies of Warrior Kobold. As for the one with the injured foot¡­hmm, I don¡¯t know that one. ¡°In the first place, I don¡¯t even specialize in Kobolds.¡± I don¡¯t know if any biologists specialize in them, but maybe it¡¯s a good opportunity to explore that field¡­ Ha!? Now is not the time to be distracted. I checked the direction with a compass and sketched a rough path on my map as I followed the dog men. The so-called Kobold ¡°settlement¡± was located in the shallow part of the forest, and if I continue, I will be able to arrive at the outer edge of the forest. The area seems like there wouldn¡¯t be too many monsters with high threat levels since they took up residence in it. If I can get there, then I may be able to reach Grau village using my compass, map, and some Distance Vision magic¡­¡­ but it seems like we¡¯re still a ways away. CH 11 During the time that Dagger, Buster, and Archer were away from the settlement, the other three left behind were¡­ ¡°Wafau~, woruwaouu woaan¡± (It¡¯s so peaceful~ It¡¯d be nice if it were always like this.) Said Ax as he threw his body weight into the swing while cutting the trees and soon he dozed off under the filtered sunlight underneath the tree canopy. Of the six unique individuals within the settlement, he was the only pacifist. Recently, he had been following the Boss¡¯ orders, to cut down the trees into timber every day, so that he became used to cutting the trees with the Battle Axe. However, Ax didn¡¯t realize he had developed this strange habit of thinking while he specialized in felling trees with a Battle Axe. With his main occupation as a lumberjack, there were so many things that didn¡¯t quite fit. Behind him, a suspicious figure lurked within the shadows¡­ ¡°Fu, woaa faruoon, guoorua!!¡± (Fu, you¡¯re so full of openings, you¡¯re going to be knocked off guard!!) ¡°Wafuh!?¡± (Eh!?) Ax hurriedly got up but was lightly hit with a wooden sword on the back of his head by the assailant. ¡°Waoofu, waoaan! ¡° (What the hell are you doing, Blazer!) ¡°Kuu, ruaru, guoru faruoou guuooan¡± (No, sorry, it¡¯s just that you were so full of openings that you were practically begging to be attacked.) The one who scratched his head as he apologized was the Kobold who wielded the Long Sword, Blazer. While his weapon, the Long Sword, had a regal feel to it, his personality was totally opposite to normal sword wielders. He believed in winning matches by ¡°playing dirty¡±. But nothing could make Blazer intentionally throw away a match, because, for Kobold males, fights are something that they simply cannot lose. To put it simply, he was a ¡°sore loser¡±. If an opponent still stands strong no matter what hand one uses, wouldn¡¯t it be more reasonable to confront an enemy in an unorthodox way instead? From his point of view, it was not worth it if both parties were on equal footing when squaring off. Rather, it was more ideal to either lay a surprise attack, to strike from the shadows, or to lay a siege at night and run away at dawn. In other words, this Kobold¡¯s disposition was completely opposite Buster¡¯s disposition to crush the enemies head-on, but¡­ ¡°Wafioaan, guruofau¡± (What the hell are you guys doing?) Carrying a raccoon she hunted from the forest, Lancer sighed at the two Kobolds who were messing with each other. ¡°U, kuaan~¡± (Ah, welcome back~) ¡°N, kuuau, guruaruau uaruoaan?¡± (Hnn, Lancer, are you okay with being in charge of taking care of the Boss¡¯ mother?) ¡°Gau, guoa kuurufuaoufu ¡° (Well, it¡¯s already that time of year after all.) The Boss had asked her to fight off the males approaching his mother during the breeding season. ¡° Why don¡¯t you just beat them yourself?¡± She had asked. ¡°Guruaouu, guruuofann¡± (That¡¯s so childish and embarrassing, isn¡¯t it?), was the reply that came back. Why is it that men are like children no matter how old they become? Looking at Ax and Blazer who frolicked in front of her, Lancer sat on a tree stump and used an obsidian knife to prepare the raccoon she caught from a hunt. ¡°N, guaou kuugakuarufu woaann¡± (Yeah, it would have been easier if Dagger lent me her short sword though.) As she struggled to cut with the dull knife, an alarming howl suddenly echoed from the forest. ¡°Guanoh!¡± (On your guard!) ¡°Wafuh.¡± (Yeah.) ¡°Waonn.¡± (Yes.) The three of them looked at each other for a moment and ran to the location of the howl, but what they found there was the Grey Bear whose memory was burned into their childhood and traumatized them. ¡°Gaoaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Gua, guruuoah!¡± (Whoa, it¡¯s the Grey Bear!) While they have heard from their childhood friend who led the pack that he intended to hunt it down eventually, Blazer and Ax were not mentally prepared to face the Grey Bear and momentarily stopped in their tracks. Running past the two of them was Lancer, who used her momentum to stab the Grey Bear with her Spear. ¡°G-guuh!?¡± The sharp spear attack pierced the grey bear¡¯s arm. Lancer landed back on the ground, preventing the grey bear¡¯s advance into the settlement and saving her friends from their predicament. ¡°Garuu.¡± (Don¡¯t lose focus now!) ¡°Guu, ruauh¡­¡± (Nnngh, sorry¡­) The other wounded members from the settlement fled as soon as they heard the roar and the Grey Bear reacted to the movement by swinging its claws down towards Lancer who took on a defensive stance. ¡°Guruaaaaah!!¡± Lancer jumped back and ducked away from the sharp claw strike, but the grey bear placed all four paws on the ground and made its way towards her, leaping with its jaws wide open and drool dripping all over the place. ¡°Kuruuh!?¡± (No way!?) She was slow to respond as the movement caught her by surprise, and the grey bear¡¯s fangs were about to close in on her! If it bit her, she would be done for. ¡°Guruoaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Uoooooooooh!!) Clash Ax swung his Battle Axe down between Lancer and the gray bear, blocking the latter¡¯s fangs by a hair¡¯s breadth. ¡°Kuruau, kuaann¡± (Thanks, you saved me.) ¡°Uofuh.¡± (Don¡¯t mention it.) ¡°Kuu, gurua auruo voruaaau¡­¡± (I can¡¯t believe we ran into you while Boss was not around¡­) Lightly exchanging words, Lancer and Ax both slid away while positioning themselves along the bear¡¯s left and right side respectively as it stood on its hind legs again. ¡°Guruaaa!!¡± (Eat this!!) Aiming for the Grey Bear¡¯s flank, Ax swung his Battle Axe horizontally, but it clashed with the mighty swing of its arms. However, the instantaneous attack and defense caused the gray bear¡¯s stance to collapse, and Lancer took advantage of the gap to follow up with a spear attack. ¡°Wonn!¡± (There!) ¡°Guuh!?¡± However, the Grey Bear avoided the stab to the head by a paper-thin margin and caught the spear shaft between its powerful jaws. ¡°Gauh, guruoauh¡± (Ah geez, you¡¯re pointlessly good at this.) The moment she provoked it, a black shadow descended from above the grey bear! ¡°Voaruoonn!!¡± (Drop dead!!) Blazer, who had hidden his presence from the moment of contact, climbed into a tree and looked for an opening. Launching himself and using the acceleration of the freefall, he clutched the Long Sword in an underhand grip and pierced the crown of the Grey Bear¡¯s head. ¡°Gauh¡­ nngu¡­¡± ¡°Garuuaaah.¡± (This is the end.) Slash Ensuring that the wound inflicted was fatal enough, Ax swung his Battle Axe down and with a thud, the Grey Bear sank into the sea of its own blood. And like this, the subjugation of the Grey Bear which was the main reason that the other three Kobolds ventured out, was fulfilled unbeknownst to them. CH 12 Today, another Kobold rose upward from the lowest level of the sparkling silver double helix that pierced the heavens. Generally, evolution is triggered by an abrupt mutation, but¡­ Mutations are brought about by genetic errors, and, as previously theorized are not always beneficial for the species, and generally occur randomly. However, since only the species most suitable for the environment among the variants ultimately survives, it could be surmised that ¡°evolution works to the advantage of the environment¡± if one only looked at the facts. ¡°Wu, ¡°wofuvorugu¡± guanguru uaoaauu¡± (So this ¡°Ultimate Spiral Staircase¡± only goes up, eh) As Blazer ascended the Ultimate Spiral Staircase, in the middle of the applause and blessings, he thought about this contradiction. ¡°¡­ Gau, gurua aooouu orufaaoon?¡± (¡­I¡¯m sure I was climbing up, but why does it seem like I¡¯m going down?) He stopped to contemplate, and, after a short while, came to a conclusion based on his intuition. ¡°Guou, ¡°vorugan¡± guofuru uogauufuh¡­¡± (Perhaps this isn¡¯t the proper way towards the ¡°End of Evolution¡± ¡­) A voice coming out of nowhere like an auditory hallucination praised him for climbing the Ultimate Spiral Staircase, but Blazer thought it was too much. All those thoughts remained on the surface as if he was in a transient dream, and he woke up. Upon opening his eyes, he saw that the Grey Bear had fallen and laid in a pool of its own blood. As he lifted his gaze, Lancer, who had a shocked expression, uttered. ¡°Wafuh, wafuaann!¡± (Eh, what just happened!?) Right after Blazer thrust his sword into the Grey Bear¡¯s head and jumped back, Ax followed suit and swung his Battle Axe sideways to finish it off, and their outer appearances changed. Blazer¡¯s coat of fur became short and stiff, with black flecks mixed in from his back to his tail. Additionally, his ears stood up and his body became tall and lean. Apparently, it looked like the 5 led by the eccentric Kobold, Archer, would not all turn into the high-ranking Kobold Fighter variant. Name: Blazer (Male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Jackal Skill: Erase Presence (Medium), Luck+ (Small) Title: Sly Dog Weapon: Long Sword Armament: Shield Auxiliary: Cloak Meanwhile, Ax¡¯s body became bigger but it was not the same as Buster. The long, blue fur which seemed pleasant to the touch, was so silky that sword blades would slip through, and his thick skin was elastic enough that it would mitigate the impact of physical attacks. Name: Ax (male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Defender Skill: Slash Resistance, Impact Resistance Title: Woodcutter of the Forest Weapon: Battle Axe Armament: Shield Auxiliary: None ¡°Auh!? Gururuan waoaauu, gusun¡± (Huh!? My fur¡¯s color changed, sniff) ¡°N, guruu kuaruu?¡± (Hnn, I also slimmed down?) The two Kobolds twisted their necks as they intently checked the changes to their bodies. ¡°Fuu, gaarua wofaaan¡­¡± (Fuu, so they¡¯re still the same on the inside¡­) Lancer was relieved as she watched the two and walked over to them. ¡°Garu, uoaruau garuguaann ?¡± (Let¡¯s bring the bear meat home and have a feast ?) Completely forgetting about the raccoon she caught earlier, Lancer drooled over the mouth-watering feast laid in front of them. Speaking of the prepared raccoon that Lancer left¡­ ¡°Au!? Wauaaan?¡± (Ah!? Someone dropped their meat?) ¡°Wafu? Kukyuu!¡± (Eh? Where!) Well, the young Kobold pups from the settlement enjoyed it of course. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ On the other side¡­ The red-headed mage, Muriel, looked troubled as she looked at the map and compass while they were inside the forest which was far from the settlement. ¡°Ugh, looks like we¡¯re still far away from Grau village, huh¡­¡± I was chased by the Rock Lizard earlier, so I might not have mapped my route perfectly, but this should still be quite accurate¡­ If that¡¯s the case, then the three Kobold¡¯s settlement should be halfway between the North of Grau village and the South of the Elves¡¯ dwelling place, beside Viel village? If I¡¯m not mistaken, there was a rumor circulating in the Guild that there were two parties of fledgling adventurers who were sent around this part of the forest on a collection quest but they were ambushed by macho Kobolds and stripped of their equipment. I glanced at the three who were walking ahead of me. Buster, whom I was introduced to earlier, carried a Great Sword on his back, while Dagger had two Short Swords for both hands, and Archer also carried a Bow and Arrow. Moreover, they were also wearing Leather Armor. ¡­Guards! The culprits are here!!! ¡­Is what I should be saying, but it would be a huge disservice to them since they saved my life. ¡°In the first place, they can¡¯t be handed punishment using man¡¯s laws, so¡­¡± Thus, the rumors were regarded as unreliable and died down immediately. First, several of them were suspected to be macho Kobolds that were bigger than a normal Kobold, and second, they were smartly stripped of their equipment without suffering any major injuries, so the suspicions of it being a lie only grew stronger. None of the victims suffered any bite or claw marks but were merely bruised¡­ Hence, it could not be ruled out as the work of a Kobold. But the silver Kobold in front of me, who is too smart for a normal monster, could have factored that into his calculations too. Moreover, the fact that it was an ¡°iron¡± adventurer who gave the account was also a factor. The Adventurer¡¯s Guild in the Town of Zelgra, which was 5 hours on foot from Viel village, conducted an investigation, but it was recently concluded that it could be the work of a thief running wild on the streets, or it was merely a fabrication. I recalled the story as something the gossip-loving receptionist in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild told me. ¡°¡­Reality sure is stranger than fiction.¡± As a fellow novice adventurer, I muttered to myself, feeling sorry for those who were unfortunately stripped of their stuff by these dog people. CH 13 Be that as it may, I needed to see where these three are headed to! I approached Archer who is accompanied by two other Kobolds, to discuss my future plans. ¡°Uh, umm, Archer, mmmph!? (y-your paw is¡­!?)¡± Using my right hand, I covered the mouth of the red-haired mage Muriel, who approached me with a light jog. I did it because food had just appeared right in time for dinner. I made eye contact with the Kobold Dagger (my sister) and gestured with my left hand. ¡®There¡¯s some prey over there.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I got it, big brother.¡¯ A hand signal came from Buster as well. ¡®Chief, I¡¯ll go around it.¡¯ The huge, black-armed Kobold kept himself low and moved carefully so as to not make any sound, and moved diagonally across the serow* who was munching on the grass. Similarly, Dagger unsheathed her two daggers, crouched low, and moved diagonally in front of the prey while keeping her distance. And like this, the prey was locked in a pincer attack position between Buster and Dagger. From that position, the two ducked as low as possible and carefully approached the Serow. I left Muriel who immediately realized the situation and quieted down in one place, moved up to the prey¡¯s side, knelt on one knee, and nocked an arrow. My arrows were pretty much the main attack weapon and Dagger and Buster were there to guarantee the kill. ¡°Wofu, garuva¡± (O wind, heed my call.) I had the idea of wrapping the arrow with wind magic, thus enhancing its power and then releasing it. ¡°Gii!?¡± The arrow, enhanced by magic, did not miss its target, and pierced the serow¡¯s belly, causing it to collapse. ¡°Waau, waau, gauuwau!¡± (Food, food! It¡¯s dinner time!) As usual, my sister put an end to the prey and drained its blood on the spot before rigor mortis** set in. ¡°Gurua, woruau guruuofauuo¡± (Chief, recently I haven¡¯t been able to do anything.) Hmph, I¡¯m not a Kobold who just swings his Short Sword, you know. Basically, we did a lot of close-quarters fighting, so I was usually fighting with my short sword except making the first shot with my bow, since there were lots of preparations to be made in fighting with a bow and arrow, like nocking the arrow and focusing on the target. ¡°A-amazing, this is the first time I¡¯m seeing Kobolds on a hunt! Hmm, but perhaps it¡¯s more appropriate to say that it¡¯s my first experience as a biologist (apprentice)?¡± For some reason, the redhead mage Muriel was excited. It seemed like Dagger was done draining its blood, so Buster carried the serow and we changed locations, as the majority of monsters and creatures drawn to the smell of blood are high threat level ones. Once we found a place to settle down, Dagger swiftly prepared the serow using her daggers. Usually, Dagger is placed in charge of processing meat because out of the six of us, my sister has gained quite the experience when it comes to handling daggers. Muriel stood by and watched, giving instructions on how to cut certain parts of the carcass. By the way, ordinarily, women are not very good at this kind of thing, but there are many female adventurers who don¡¯t mind it at all. ¡°All things considered, Dagger sure is adept at preparing meat, huh. Ah, by the way, a serow is not deer, but is actually related to cows.¡± ¡°Wafiaaon? Garuwauan¡± (What are you saying? This is meat.) I was able to hear some parts of their conversation. It seems like my sister could make out some of the words, but she probably doesn¡¯t know what it means¡­ Anyway, it was time for dinner, and after taking a bite of the water-rich fruit we found on the road while moving to a campsite, I gave Muriel the same thing. ¡°Ah, this is a Kuremia pear, right? Thank you.¡± She divided the pear with a knife and brought the small, bite-sized pieces to her mouth little by little, like a small animal. And for tonight¡¯s main dish, we had the serow meat. It was one of the finest pieces of beef in the broadest sense of the word. ¡°¡­ Sorry, I can¡¯t eat it like that.¡± It¡¯s so bloody that the wild flavor is overflowing, huh¡­However, we are the only ones that don¡¯t feel awkward eating it raw. ¡°Woaoon¡± (Maybe I should use that.) Using a nearby stone, I dug out a hole, and in there, I placed a bundle of twigs tied in ivy from the tool bag on my waist. Furthermore, I also tossed in some wood chips I made beforehand, and tinder which I made from collecting finely torn, dried grass, into the hole. After throwing in some more dry leaves from nearby, I held the flint we obtained from the adventurers. *click, click* ¡°Guh, guruoufa woruo wauoah.¡± (Nnngh, It¡¯d be better if we had other materials aside from flint.) It¡¯s not quite catching fire¡­ ¡°Kuon, wafian?¡± (Big brother, what are you doing?) ¡°Gurua garuuo woruaufu¡­¡± (I don¡¯t understand what Chief is trying to do¡­) Nnngh, the looks Buster and Dagger gave me are painful to bear. I struggled and worked hard for a few minutes, but the fire still wouldn¡¯t start. Just as I paused to think about what to do next, Muriel placed her hand over the firepit from beside me! ¡°Eii, fire!¡± Wh-what!? At the moment I withdrew my hands, the redhead mage, Muriel, invoked the most basic fire magic, ¡°fire¡±, and lit up the tinder, woodchips, and twigs. ¡°Garuaau voru guruaou!!¡± (If you can do it, then say so earlier!!) ¡°Kyah!¡±, The startled Muriel cried out. I was not able to light up a fire with the flint, but it seems a fire was lit within me¡­ nnngghhh if only I could use fire magic! ¡°Kuaan¡­¡± (Serow¡­¡­) Huh!? ¡°Ofu, ofauofoh¡± (Wait, wait, sister!) ¡°Kyuu!?¡± (It¡¯s hot!?) I was a step slower, and Dagger reached her hand out to the fire, which caused light burns. ¡°Gurua, gaon?¡± (Chief, what¡¯s this?) ¡°Woann¡± (It¡¯s fire.) I showed Dagger¡¯s burns to Buster, told him about the danger of fire, and showed them how to grill the serow meat over it, and let them eat. By the way, even with Kobold taste buds, grilled meat is tasty in its own way. ¡°Gurua, guaugaruou kuruaah¡± (Chief, let¡¯s do this again sometime.) ¡°N, kuruauu¡± (Mm, delicious!) Was what they thought, and seems like Muriel did not think it was bad either. ¡°It¡¯s quite tasty, isn¡¯t it? I wonder if it¡¯s because it¡¯s related to cows?¡± Many things had happened, but finally, everyone, including Muriel, was able to have dinner together. ************************************************************************************************************* Translator¡¯s Notes: Serow (¥«¥â¥·¥« / kamoshika) ¨C is a Japanese goat-antelope, an even-toed ungulate mammal. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_serow Rigor Mortis ¨C the state in which the body becomes rigid several hours after death. Source: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40573 CH 14 ¡°Wafuh, kyuuun?¡± (Waaaah, I¡¯m so happy?) ¡°Thanks for the food.¡± And so, after dinner, everybody spent their time relaxing. Except for one guy, who single-mindedly practiced with his Great Sword¡­ ¡°Guou, guruuauoh!¡± (I shall master the one-hit-kill attack!) Well, Buster¡¯s been like that ever since he got his Great Sword. As we watched him, I picked up a suitable twig and wrote on the ground. ¡°Hnn? What¡¯s up, Archer?¡± ¡°I would like to ask about magic. How do you increase magic capacity?¡± The Kobold¡¯s magic capacity is low after all¡­ if I could increase it somehow with training, then there¡¯s nothing better than that. ¡°Hmm let¡¯s see, generally speaking, you have to use magic to empty your magic power. When you repeat this process, then your magic capacity will gradually increase.¡± I see, then, once we get back to the settlement, I would not mind the trouble it would cause around me and let my magic-infused battle cry echo with a roar! ¡°Hey, I also just wanted to ask, but¡­ What does non-human magic look like?¡± Non-human magic? Ah, basically, the magic used by humans and monsters is partly different. Excluding the magic commonly used by Demon kin, magic used exclusively by monsters is called non-human magic. ¡°Well, rather than theoretically, it feels like I understand how to use my magic instinctively. Perhaps it¡¯s just not limited to non-human magic, but there might also be some self-determined magic that only we could use.¡± ¡°Archer, would you like to test it out? I use fire and water magic, so I can teach you that strain, you know?¡± ¡°No, my affinities are wind and earth.¡± ¡°I see, that¡¯s unfortunate. It would have been a great opportunity to test the Kobold¡¯s magic aptitude¡­¡± Muriel showed a truly disheartened expression, but she regained her composure after and reached into her leather bag. ¡°By the way, I¡¯d like to confirm something.¡± As she said so, she spread a map that she had been secretly making for a while. ¡°Guuoan, garuo guruuao¡± (Muriel, give this to me.) ¡°What, what¡¯s wrong?¡± The map that Muriel spread out was a fairly detailed map for adventurers, which clearly showed the topography of the river and the forest where our settlement was located, along with the relative position of the surrounding villages, towns, and cities. The amount of information we have would be completely different with it. I could not help but roar in excitement earlier, but I once again wrote on the ground. ¡°Give that to me.¡± ¡°Eh, no way. I won¡¯t be able to go back to Warren.¡± Suddenly, she held the map close to her. Tsk, no choice. I have to memorize what¡¯s on that map as much as possible. ¡°Ruau, woouan¡± (Sorry, let¡¯s continue.) Judging that I had calmed down, the red-haired Muriel once again spread the map on the ground. ¡°Right now, we¡¯re around this area, but¡­ where are you guys heading to?¡± ¡°¡­¡± I was speechless and hesitant for a moment because that would be tantamount to giving away the position of our settlement, but after this, we would be bringing her along after all. I would not feel good abandoning her in the forest and letting her die a dog¡¯s death. Steeling my resolve, I pointed to a point on the map. ¡°¡­Waon¡± (¡­ Here.) At this time, I roughly decided to invite her to the settlement. ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re close to Viel village.¡± Aah, that is close¡­ it was the first time I was hearing about a village this close to our place. Maybe I should go and scout it with Blazer¡­ that guy loves to hide, after all. I wrote the letters on the ground as I reminisced about my childhood friend who was so good at playing hide-and-seek that we could never find him and he would become livid if we gave up and played something else. ¡°So Muriel is headed to this Viel Village?¡± The silver Kobold, Archer, skilfully wrote letters on the ground and asked me¡­ It still fascinates me no matter how many times I¡¯ve seen him do this. ¡°Well, since my base is in Warren City, I wanted to drop by Grau village first¡­Uh, once I finally reach Viel village, then I guess I could somehow manage?¡± In the beginning, I was interested in the unique ecology of ¡°Balberra Forest¡±, and thought of gaining experience as an adventurer in the nearby city, but now I am extremely interested in this eccentric Kobold. ¡°Hnn, maybe I can move my base of operations in the Town of Zelgra that¡¯s near Viel Village?¡± Yes, that might be a good idea! Viel Village¡¯s territory is small so it does not have an adventurer¡¯s guild, but the Town of Zelgra has a guild branch. If I make that my base, then their settlement will also be close by. As I was thinking about getting involved with the cheeky and peculiar Kobolds, the huge Buster approached us, his Great Sword tucked away. ¡°Gurua, varuo guooon?¡± (Chief, what shall we do with the night watch?) ¡°Ruo, kuuao guaoonn¡± (I¡¯d like you and Dagger to go on the first watch.) ¡°Wonn, gurua garuuaan?¡± (Understood. Then, Chief will go with the redhead?) Well, in terms of understanding each other, then I guess that¡¯s the only pairing possible. ¡°Wafu¡± (Yes.) ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± With excessively keen eyes, the red-haired mage drew close, so I wrote on the ground again. ¡°Nothing, we were just talking about the order of taking the night watch. First is Buster and Dagger, then it¡¯s you and me.¡± I leaned against the tree while listening to her rambling and ignored her frequent glances and tried to sleep shallowly while hugging my short sword, but¡­ ¡°¡­ei!¡± With a poof, Muriel let out a cute voice and jumped at me. ¡°Nnn, so fluffy?¡± Well, it does get quite cold in the forest¡­It would be bad if she gets sick, so I¡¯ll just leave it be. We remained asleep until such a time when Dagger woke us up to take our turn at being the lookouts. CH 15 In the forest, a little distance away from the settlement. A young, puppy-like Kobold walked on all-fours under the shade of the trees. It seemed it was still unable to walk on two legs. Could it have been separated from its parents? Or, could it have left the settlement on its own and gotten lost? In any case, it was unnatural for a young one to be in such a place. ¡°Kukyuu, kyuaaan?¡± The young Kobold pup happily made its way into the forest. It did not even notice the suspicious shadow that aimed for it from the top of the trees¡­ Just as the young Kobold approached a tree, a bird-type monster, the Yatagarasu Modoki flew over its head with a loud rustle of its wings! ¡°Kukaaaaah!!¡± Was it going to grab the young cub with its powerful claws and carry it off into the air? Was it going to hold the cub on the ground and kill it on the spot..? ¡°Kah!? Gaa¡­, aa¡­¡± However, it was the Yatagarasu Modoki who became the pathetic prey. An adult, fox-like Kobold with golden-colored fur and an insanely fluffy tail stood where the puppy-sized juvenile Kobold had been a while ago. The fox-mixed dog kin, Dagger, jumped down and buried her sharp fangs into the Yatagarasu Modoki¡¯s throat. [Illusion Magic (Beginner): Size Reduction] [Effect: possible to shrink one¡¯s body; at that time, shape correction is also somewhat possible.] Dagger, however, was not wearing even a single piece of protective gear or was she wearing any weapons. When she used magic to shift into a juvenile Kobold, all the equipment she was wearing fell off. In a way, she wasn¡¯t exactly naked, but¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that she was only in her fluffy fur. ¡°Kuonn, kyuau oaann!¡± (Big brother, I¡¯ve finally secured a gift!) I lowered the bow and arrow, which I held at the ready, and emerged from my hiding place within the trees. Similarly, Buster, who had been lurking not far from Dagger, also appeared. ¡°Guruaah, wofu!¡± (That was splendid, dear sister!) ¡°Guaoruuu, garuuou¡± (Dagger¡¯s Illusion Magic isn¡¯t something to be underestimated.) The two of us approached Dagger, who had brought down the Yatagarasu Modoki. The red-haired Muriel, who was standing at a distance, also approached, carrying Dagger¡¯s weapons and equipment in her arms. ¡°The Kobold, the Kobold performed magic¡­ No, I won¡¯t be surprised anymore!¡± As she said this, Muriel handed Dagger her weapons and equipment. In addition to our natural fur, we equipped leather armor as well. To begin with, we only wore grass skirts on the settlement regardless of gender¡­ clothes were unnecessary because of our fur, and, depending on the time of year, it was also pretty hot. Nevertheless, it was still necessary to protect ourselves, so I called out to my sister, who hurriedly put on her equipment. ¡°Wofu, kuugakuaruo¡± (Dear sister, I¡¯m borrowing your knife.) ¡°Won¡± (Sure.) With the knife I received, I slit the raven¡¯s neck and drained it of its blood, and after the necessary preparations, I handed its meat to Buster. In case you¡¯re wondering, we dropped by this place before arriving at the settlement to procure gifts for the other group that remained in the village. And no, we¡¯re not trying to awkwardly buy our way with a gift just because we did not arrive at our destination and returned empty-handed¡­ at least that was the intention. By the way, for us Kobolds who run on the ground, it¡¯s rare for us to hunt birds in the sky. We¡¯ve acquired such a gift, so the three of us, plus Muriel, proceeded to the settlement in a good mood. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Wou¡­ guruo uaau¡± (That¡¯s¡­ Hmm, I don¡¯t know these guys.) As I wandered through the forest with my trusty partner, the Long Sword, in search of lunch before proceeding to take up guard duty in the village, I unexpectedly saw unfamiliar figures of my race from a distance. At the head of it was a conspicuous-looking silver Kobold, followed by a fox-like Kobold, and, for some reason, they were accompanied by an adventurer too. And lastly, at the rear was a Kobold with a big physique. Even if they were only walking, it was evident that they were focusing on erasing their presence, though it seems like those guys have not noticed me yet¡­ Well, it was not like I was in a position to fight them head-on, and besides, I¡¯m downwind too. [Activated: Presence Erasure (Medium)] [Effect: One¡¯s presence becomes hard to detect.] I erased all traces of my presence, laid low, and soundlessly approached my opponents to check them out. Of course, I did not intend to fight them, I just wanted to check what they were like. It would be foolish of me to fight while being outnumbered, so on the off chance that they found me, I was ready to flee from here. And so, I noticed something as I cautiously approached them. The huge Kobold at the rear¡­while the fur on both of its arms has turned black, that guy was Buster. Huh? Then this is Leader¡¯s party! ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°G-garua¡­¡± (T-this is¡­) While there may be no visual traces of any presence, my beastman ears picked up the faintest sound of footsteps. My hearing had improved ever since my fur turned silver. However, compared to the guy in my memories, he has surely improved with erasing his presence¡­ ¡°Wauh, waoann!¡± (Oi, Blazer!) ¡°Wauan, guruah!¡± (It¡¯s Leader after all!!) Blazer emerged from the bushes slightly ahead of us, and I noticed that he had become taller and leaner, and somewhat different from before. Afterward, we caught up with each other, including the confirmation of the circumstances surrounding our change. ¡°Gaon, guruuoa¡­¡± (I see, so the grey bear is¡­) ¡°Kuh, guruugao aaoonn¡± (Nngh and I even planned to be the one to cut it down too.) Beside me, Buster sank to his knees. It was not like I did not understand what he was feeling; the grey bear was the cause of our childhood trauma. ¡°Vu, guruuoaoruau, woufan vorufauoon¡° (Then, after we brought the grey bear down, we noticed that our bodies changed.) ¡°Guruo uoakuuoaaan¡± (The same thing happened to us!) From what I have heard, Ax¡¯s fur has also turned blue. He was one of the Kobolds who underwent as much of a change as my sister and me when it came to physical changes. ¡°Gurua, garuugaoa?¡± (By the way, Leader, who is that human?) ¡°Kurua¡­ kuoaruooon¡± (A guest¡­something like a friend.) Since no one but Kobolds had visited the settlement before, I described Muriel to them as a friend. *************************************************************************************************************************** Translator¡¯s notes: Yatagarasu- a mythical, three-legged raven in Japanese mythology. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-legged_crow CH 16 ¡°Woon, wuuh kuuau uoruau?¡± (By the way, how are Ax and Lancer?) I had been anxious to see our comrades who remained behind ever since we left the settlement 10 days ago, so I asked Blazer about their whereabouts and thought that things would go smoother if I introduced Muriel to them first. ¡°Oauu, woruwoaru kuanoouu woaruou¡± (Those two are accompanying the pups to the river to bathe.) It was an apt place to play in the water as the currents were slow and the waters shallow. During my childhood, my mother used to take us there a lot. Hmmm, the three of us and Muriel had been walking in the forest for some time now, so our bodies have gotten dirty. Maybe we should take a dip in the river before returning to the settlement¡­ ¡°Gao, guruo woaruoonn¡± (Alright, let¡¯s also head to the river first.)¡± ¡°Wokuaon, gurua¡± (That¡¯s a great idea, Chief) ¡°Won, kuon, kuau uaorua aoon!¡± (Yes, big brother, It has been a while since I last saw Lancer too!) Seemingly in an uncharacteristically good mood, Dagger wagged her tail from side to side. My sister and Lancer were the only females out of the six Kobolds who were born at the same time. The two shared a good relationship, and to my innocent sister, Lancer was like a caring older sister. And then there was Buster, who was strangely fidgety. He was glancing at his arms that had changed color, and his tail that had gotten longer. I knew. I knew that Buster had started to become aware of Lancer at some point¡­ But from what Dagger and I could see, Ax was the one more likely to appeal to her maternal instincts. Well, I did not really understand what was going on, but even I had moments where I wanted to fuss over him¡­ As we were all about to move to the riverside, Muriel grabbed the fur on my arm. ¡°Huh, Archer, isn¡¯t the settlement on the other way?¡± She seemed to be confused when we suddenly changed course because she had a map that told her where the settlement is. I answered her question by gesturing. It¡¯s fine. We¡¯re dropping by the river. On the journey back here, I had taught her all the gestures we used when we hunted, and she fully demonstrated her skills as a mage who graduated from the Magic Academy by mastering them, so we now had another means of communication aside from writing. The riverside was slightly south of the village. In general, since neither humans nor Kobolds could live without a water source, every race would inevitably build their villages near a river or a water source¡­ as a result, disputes would naturally arise because of overlapping territories. Wars were waged daily between humankind or demi-humankind, or between humans and demi-humans, with the Kobold¡¯s arch-enemies being the orcs and goblins who belong to the same demi-human race. The neighborhood of the goblins in this vicinity was located just South of the Steele River (I learned its name from the map), which is the same water source for the settlement we were heading to now, so we could not carelessly wander in the area. We did not know what lied ahead of that river¡­ because none of our Kobold brethren have explored the land beyond it. Frankly speaking, the range of our living is so limited that we never even noticed the existence of Viel village that could be reached within half a day on foot. Oh, we¡¯ve arrived at the riverfront¡­ ¡°Kyuu, kyuann¡± ¡°Kukyuuh!¡± ¡°Kuun¡± There, we found several month-old Kobold pups happily jumping and splashing about in the river¡¯s shallow waters, with Ax and Lancer standing guard to keep the little ones from venturing into more dangerous depths. The two of them cast wary glances at us, failing to recognize us at first with the changes in our physical features. ¡°Kuuau, guruu¡± (Lancer, it¡¯s me.) As I said it, I raised my bow and arrows. ¡°Aavaa? Wafa kuouruaan¡­¡± (Archer? Your fur color changed¡­) ¡°Guruuoau, guuoruauu?¡± (Now that you¡¯ve mentioned it, hasn¡¯t he too?) I pointed at Ax whose fur had turned to a splendid blue. ¡°Kuaan, guruau¡± (Welcome back, Boss~!) Ax walked over to us, water splashing around him with each step. I was just thinking that he¡¯d grown bigger again when my sister suddenly bellowed to Lancer while wildly wagging her tail! As I watched them, I also took off my gear and washed out the grime that had accumulated on it during our journey. ¡°Gaoruu, kuaruaaan!¡± (Lancer, I¡¯m back!) ¡°Wafuh!? Kua¡­¡± (Eh!? Wai¡­) *Splash* Lancer, who was vigorously embraced, fell butt-first into the river, and the two began to play together. ¡°H-hey, Archer, is everyone in your settlement like this? Amazing, this could be a great discovery, I wonder if it¡¯s alright to call you a new species of Kobold¡­¡± I¡¯d hate to rain on Muriel¡¯s parade when she¡¯s this excited, but there are only six of us who have such strong bodies. No, that is not the case. ¡°Hnn, then that just leaves you as the cause of this, Archer!!¡± The red-haired mage suddenly thrusts her finger at me. ¡°Wafi?¡± ¡°Do you get it? When there is a single isolated entity belonging to a limited group, then that existence will bring about change in his generation, and that entity is you!!¡± I gesture to her, who was speaking with a growing passion in her voice. Go cool your head in the river. ¡°Eh? Hey, geez!!¡± Telling her that, I left and leisurely waded into the river¡­ ¡°¡­.Wafu, kuaruaau¡± (¡­Ah, you¡¯re back.)¡± I sat next to Buster, who had all but laid his huge body into the water and listened to him ramble. ¡°Won, kuaruoo¡­¡± (It¡¯s certainly become peaceful¡­) Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Ax, who was watching over the little ones by himself as Lancer frolicked with my sister. Blazer was also standing by the river a moment ago, but¡­he already disappeared before we even noticed. He¡¯s probably concerned about us being defenseless in the water and went to stand guard. But thankfully, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s just too vigilant because we¡¯ve gone through hard times. I was chuckling to myself when I heard the red-haired mage¡¯s mumbling. ¡°Aaahh, this looks nice, I want to clean myself, so it¡¯s okay since there are only Kobolds here, right?¡± I don¡¯t know who she¡¯s confirming with, but after hearing her voice and the rustling of clothes being removed from behind me, Muriel entered the water in nothing but her underclothes. Wetting the washcloth in her hand, she began wiping her body. I understood my attraction when I saw the daringly exposed chest and her blindingly white thighs. Perhaps because I was a former human, I found myself being attracted to the female humans more than the female Kobolds who occasionally approached me. One Kobold looked at me from the side with a shocked expression. ¡°!?! (Wha, no way, Chief. Are you attracted to the human girl!?)¡± Needless to say, I had to go through a lot of trouble just to fool Buster. CH 17 ¡°Wu? Guruah.¡± (Huh? It¡¯s Boss.) ¡°Gurua, kuaan¡± (Boss, welcome back) ¡°Wafuh!?¡± (Eh!?) ¡°Kyu?¡± (Hah!?) The entourage that had come out to greet me as I returned to the settlement with the little ones, froze at the sight of the red-haired mage that accompanied us. It could not be helped since most of the humans we had met in the forest and the outer grasslands, especially the ones dressed as adventurers, would attack us without question. Well, I was so happy that I met a human that I could get along with and talk to, so I had accepted Muriel, but¡­ Was it too soon to bring her here? ¡°Umm, am I¡­ being a bother?¡± She apologetically asked. It could not be helped. I did not want to do it, but it seems I would have to use my own powers and exert my influence. ¡°Guao wauoan, gauruaau guruuaaouh!!¡± (She¡¯s just going to stay with us for a night, but if anyone has something to say about it, then step forward!!)¡± I went to the settlement¡¯s central square and yelled loudly. To state it plainly, the only ones within the settlement who could take me on in a fight one-on-one are Buster or Ax. Blazer is not to be underestimated either, but if he could not take you by surprise, then he is not much of a threat. Either way, I was certain that neither my relatives nor my friends would object, but¡­ I did not expect Buster to step forward in the middle of the quiet square. Eh, for real!? (No, I am sure Buster only came forward because he wanted a fight¡­) I could not help but look at his black, muscular furry arms. I have not gone head-to-head with Buster in his current form yet, but would I be okay? I was feeling a bit fidgety inside, but then he suddenly blurted out something outrageous. ¡°¡­Guruo, guao guruaku!¡± (¡­ Everyone, this is the Chief¡¯s woman!)¡± Wh, HEY!? ¡°Garuoofuh!!¡± (You¡¯re wrong!!) While everyone in the village was visibly upset, the red-haired girl, who had yet to understand what had just happened, tilted her head cutely. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ I silenced Buster who acted rashly with my fists to keep up appearances in front of everyone, and after accompanying the fire-wielding Muriel to a dwelling just outside the settlement, I quietly made my way back to the village to eat and returned to my private den. The settlement was located in a plain with a mortar-shaped depression at the center, while the low slopes in the surrounding area housed plenty of dug-out dens. This is also one of them, and before I turned two years old, there had been a fight over the lair as it had become vacant due to the recent loss of its owner. There are still others like my sister who still live with their parents, but I¡¯m almost at that age where I would be driven out so I thought it best to secure my own den and move out. It should be noted that the permissible number of Kobolds in a settlement is reasonably limited, so when our number increases beyond a certain extent, some are driven out of their overcrowded lairs and have to leave. Those guys will go deeper into the forest or at the edge of the grasslands in search of new living spaces, or they would give up on having children and continue living within the pack without a den to return to. In this place, a den was regarded as a sort of status symbol. ¡°Excuse me for barging in. Huh, it¡¯s dark after all¡­¡±, saying so Muriel suddenly popped in. She took a type of magic stone that lights up when magic passes through it, and when the warm, phosphorescent light lit up my den, she curiously examined her surroundings. ¡°Hnnn, it¡¯s practically bare.¡± Well, there was only a bed of dried hay for me to sleep on after all¡­ As I watched the red-haired mage, who was trying to find something new around her surroundings, I took out my obsidian knife and wrote on the ground while the magic stone still illuminated the room. ¡°Tomorrow, we will accompany you up to a place near Viel Village.¡± It was a situation where I could not turn back now, so I¡¯ll look after her till the end. That, and it also meant grasping the location of the nearby village. ¡°Thanks, Archer.¡± ¡°After this, please don¡¯t tell anybody about our settlement; I hope Muriel isn¡¯t the type to return evil for good.¡± ¡°Sure, you can count on me. I would¡¯ve died in the forest if you hadn¡¯t helped me anyway.¡± She nodded her head to reassure me repeatedly. ¡°Since I can¡¯t tell others about the settlement, and assuming that I can get strong enough to return here¡­is it alright if I come to visit again?¡± She¡¯s not likely to come to such a Kobold settlement often, but it would still be troubling. There is an advantage in having contact with the human side through her, but it also carries risks. However, even if I refuse her request, there would still be adventurers and hunters who would come upon our settlement, so those are also natural risks not related to her. After thinking about it a lot, I gave her a vague answer in the end. ¡°If you became a silver adventurer, then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about you dying on the road leading here.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been my goal to raise my rank from the start, so I¡¯ll do my best!¡± Will this red-haired mage continue to be an adventurer when she reaches ¡°silver¡± rank? Or would we still be in the settlement when such a time comes? It was all too uncertain in hindsight, but I still found myself making promises with such poor prospects. Well, at the very least, as someone who had been reborn as a Kobold, maybe I still wanted to be connected to humans in some way. The next morning, the five of us, Buster, Ax, Blazer, Lancer, and I left with Muriel and headed to Viel Village, following the grassland¡¯s animal trail while scouting the area. CH 18 Due to the absence of any proper path, we relied on Muriel¡¯s map and compass to traverse through the grasslands. According to her map, we were due west of the desert country of Athos, located somewhere in the eastern part of the Riastize Kingdom, the Ferias Territory whose center is the City of Warren. In the eastern part of the territory lies the Easteria forest where we live, and if one proceeded further back, they would reach the mountain range that we attempted to travel to several days ago. On the map, several parts of the forest were color-coded, and a skull mark was drawn¡­right on the path that we previously headed to. It seems we unknowingly ventured into the heart of the dangerous area marked with the skull called the ¡°Balberra Forest¡± the other day. It was close to our community, so I used gestures to confirm with Muriel just in case. (There¡¯s a skull mark, huh¡­) Muriel, where is this? ¡°Ah, this is ¡°Balberra Forest¡±, where we first met. It¡¯s a random spawn point, but compared to the surrounding areas, that¡¯s where most of the high-level monsters spawn from.¡± Like that rock monitor lizard from before? ¡°Yes, but the deeper you go into the forest, the higher the threat level of monsters appearing often. An adventurer even saw a Threat Level A Tyrant Lizard once.¡± As I recall, there is a standardized general classification of monsters thanks to the efforts of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild present in most countries, and it is represented by 6 levels, ranging from E to S. Furthermore, every level is divided subdivided into three parts, like E- ¡ú E ¡ú E+, coming to a total of 18 threat levels. According to the guild¡¯s recommendation, the combination of monster threat levels and the corresponding adventurer ranks that could deal with it is as follows: ¡°Iron¡± ¡ú Threat Level E ¡°Black Iron¡± ¡ú Threat Level D ¡°Silver¡± ¡ú Threat Level C ¡°Gold¡± ¡ú Threat Level B ¡°Platinum¡± ¡ú Threat Level A ¡°Crimson Gold¡± ¡ú Threat Level S However, Threat Level S is the highest level, and dealing with it is not necessarily limited to ¡°Crimson Gold¡± adventurers. In the first place, the few who have reached the highest rank are subject to restrictions by the state, so they are no longer considered as adventurers who sell their services, but dedicate themselves to court service. Still, the Tyrant Lizard that Muriel mentioned earlier is a threat-level A, so it would require the strength of around a ¡°platinum¡± adventurer¡­ Maybe I should check it out one of these days. Hey, which level do you think we¡¯re at? ¡°Hmmm, you guys are too unique¡­An ordinary Kobold would be classified as threat level D, while evolved Kobold Fighters are a threat level D- minus, but¡­¡± She took a fleeting glance at us. And then, she pointed at me and Buster. ¡°The ones I can probably accurately identify are you two.¡± ¡°Wau?¡± ¡°Archer has silver fur and can use magic, so he¡¯s a threat level D+ High Kobold, while Buster who has well-developed arms and tail is a threat level D Kobold.¡± Hm, I¡¯m a High Kobold? And Buster¡¯s a Kobold Warrior, huh¡­ In the guild classification, we both belong to threat level D, so I guess Buster and I are at par with the ¡°black iron¡± adventurers¡­which are the most numerous, so that¡¯s why we can deal with most of them. Although, I felt that we would still be able to somehow deal with a ¡°silver¡± adventurer if push comes to shove¡­ ¡°Ah, but you guys took down a threat level C+ Rock Lizard, and your size is a far cry from the ordinary Kobold, so¡­ it would be different to measure you guys against a standard classification.¡± Well, even the Kobolds in the settlement have a difference in their capabilities. In the end, it¡¯s just one of the many criteria used to measure strength. ¡°But I don¡¯t know Dagger, Ax, and Blazer¡¯s classifications and skills. It¡¯s frustrating as a great future biologist though¡­¡± I see. That¡¯s too bad. Anyway, I should warn everyone in the pack not to venture too close to the skull-marked ¡°Balberra Forest¡±. ¡°Guruah, gaouaanh¡± (Leader, stay there!) ¡°¡­¡­Garuuah!¡± (They¡¯re coming!) Buster, who acted as the vanguard, took a swinging stance unsheathing the Great Sword on his shoulders, while Blazer pulled out his Long Sword and made his presence as faint as possible. Ahead of the two was a swarm of beetle-type monsters who approached them by crawling on the grass from a slope in the distance, but as daunting as they looked, they weren¡¯t that much of a threat. ¡°KISHAAA!!¡± ¡°Guuruaaah!¡± (Off with your head!) The beetles approached at a high speed, and from a distance of 2 meters away, opened their jaws to aim at their target¡¯s throat or face. They then jumped at him, but Buster domineeringly swung his Great Sword down on them. ¡°Gii!?¡± The blow cleanly cleaved the beetle, but immediately after, another beetle aimed and jumped towards Buster¡¯s throat without missing a beat. ¡°Garuou voruaau, voaruaah¡± (You¡¯re as large as usual, but you¡¯re full of openings!) ¡±Gi¡­h, gi¡­¡± The beetle, which was expected to take him by surprise, was cut down by Blazer from the side and fell on the ground. ¡°Fu.¡± (Hmph.) The tall, lean Kobold mercilessly crushed the beetle as it fell to the ground. On the other hand, I too aimed at the beetles that tried to pounce on us, thrusting my Short Sword and skewering them. ¡°Gigii¡­h¡­¡­¡± ¡°Gauh!¡± (Sei!) Blazer swiftly pulled out his blade to finish off the beetles he stabbed and stepped on them as soon as they fell to the ground as a precaution. Meanwhile, Lancer thrust her spear into the beetles just before they jumped at her and pinned them to the ground. Several of the remaining beetles also approached Ax but fell prey to the Battle Axe that he swung haphazardly. ¡°Haah~ you guys are amazing¡­ You finished those Red Insects in an instant. It¡¯s impossible to gauge you guys against the Guilds¡¯ threat level values after all.¡± While listening to Muriel¡¯s excited rambling, we resumed our advance to Viel Village. Now, since the area was an unobstructed grassland, our destination came into sight in no time. CH 19 While the five Kobolds and the red-haired mage fought the red beetles, or the so-called Red Insects, near Viel village, a group of roughly a dozen lightly armored men had snuck undetected into the village from a different direction than our party of six. Recently, there had been reports coming in from the guild branches that bandits had been appearing frequently on the road connecting the town of Zelgra to Viel village and were attacking merchants and had resorted to even killing several of them. It was surmised that the appearance of bandits began exactly a month ago when several ¡°iron¡± novice adventurers who were on a quest in the eastern tip of Easteria Forest, were stripped of their possessions. In the report from the bandit victims that was compiled by the guild: ¡°The first and second victims claimed that they were not attacked by bandits, but by muscled, abnormally developed Kobolds, but the lack of any distinctive injuries makes it less credible.¡± And other such incredulous accounts by victims were written, but it was just an unfortunate incident. Despite having doubts about the facts, the report was generally correct, and it was after that time that rumors of the bandits were first heard. There will always be a certain number of rogues in any era. The groups of bandits consisted of a variety of poor farmers, cash-strapped and bloodthirsty ruined mercenaries, and adventurers who dealt with shady businesses. Amongst them, it was generally known that the mercenaries who have gone out of business are the ones mainly involved in looting. And so, these bandits posed as mercenaries that protected towns and villages and used underhanded measures to create demand and supply. In the worst cases, half of the mercenaries played the role of thieves, while the remaining half acted as guards to cheat some towns and villages. However, the armed group that headed to Viel village weren¡¯t the cunning types but were merely a band of brigands. The man spearheading their operation was one of those typical ruined mercenaries wearing brigandine armor combined with metal pieces tied into the interior and carrying around a Warhammer that specialized in piercing armor. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s grab everything we can and quickly leave like what we did in the previous territory¡­¡± ¡°Captain, we¡¯ve been in this territory for too long already¡­so if we don¡¯t retreat and cover our tracks soon, the soldiers of the Feudal Lord of this territory will hunt us down.¡± Basically, bandits were wanderers. If they stay in one place too long, they will naturally be identified and subjugated, so after plundering, they have to move to another location right away. Most Feudal Lords who oversee the land are also aware of this and choose not to proactively pursue them unless the looting crosses their bottom lines. In the case of a full-scale subjugation, it would be necessary to expend forces to go after the bandits who have fled into the mountains and forests, with poor visibility and unfriendly terrain. The economic cost of such an operation would be a waste of resources. The Bandit Leader considered his subordinate¡¯s suggestion that if they stayed any longer, then the Feudal Lord might actually have them hunted down in earnest. ¡°Well, even if we leave, there would still be some expenses, so I wanted to end this with a bang¡­ Gizel, report.¡± ¡°Yes, Viel Village is a small village consisting of approximately 40 households with over 180 residents. With simple calculations, there would be about 80 men and women if you exclude the children, and within that population, the men would be around half of the adults.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯d probably face approximately 10 amateurs, won¡¯t we? Of course, it¡¯s no sweat to wipe them off by myself, but what about you guys?¡± The leader looks behind him and faces 18 of his subordinates. ¡°Captain, two of us could practically strangle a guy to death, easy peasy!¡± ¡°Hahah, no different from the usual then.¡± The Bandit Leader¡¯s subordinates laugh cold-bloodedly¡­ It was not strange for one or two of the hostages to be ex-mercenaries or ex-adventurers who would probably try to go against their leader, but instead of calling them out on it, he gave importance to raising his troops¡¯ morale and when they favorably responded with vigor, he continued ahead. ¡°In a while, I want you to hurry up and grab all the valuables¡­If they obediently do as we say, then we do not harm anybody.¡± The bandits were also considering the possibility of having soldiers pursue them once they escaped to another territory if they caused unnecessary harm to the villagers. However, there was one thing they did not know. A little while before harvest season, there was an outbreak of beetle-type monsters in the fields surrounding Viel village which devoured the crops, so the villagers had nothing to offer. After a short while, the bandits were greeted at the village¡¯s entrance by a girl that claimed to be the village chief¡¯s daughter who was accompanied by 5 armored village vigilantes. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°By pointing that sword at me¡­ are you saying that you won¡¯t obey?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already told you, haven¡¯t I? This village has nothing to offer you.¡± The bandit leader glared at the girl who had come out to negotiate. ¡°So you made me wait just to give me that kind of answer, huh¡­¡­ You¡¯re not sincere enough!¡± ¡°¡­¡­!!!¡± The girl was frightened as the bandit leader shouted at her with a stern face. Her father, who had been too ill to walk for months, was concerned as she shook off her mother who tried to keep her from facing the bandits. After all, she was merely the village chief¡¯s daughter. The village¡¯s group of male vigilantes stepped forward to protect her. ¡°¡­ You guys intend to fight like that?¡± Aside from them looking like they were not strong enough to fight, the pieces of equipment the vigilantes had were worn-out leather armors and dull swords. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll deal with you.¡± The bandits leered and mocked her, but the girl who squared off against them seemed to show no signs of retreating. As both parties continued the stand-off with each other, one of the bandits spotted something and cried out. ¡°Captain, look over there!¡± While the vigilante groups stalled them for time, the people of the village were secretly sneaking away with their children. Unfortunately, they were seen by one of the bandits and he called them out. ¡°Oi, where are you people thinking of running off to!!¡± ¡°It seems like the time we bought them wasn¡¯t enough,¡± said the village chief¡¯s daughter, Maril, as she nervously bit her lip. CH 20 A little while before the stand-off between the armed bandits and the vigilantes in the village began¡­ As Viel village came into view from a distance, we hid among the grass and lay in wait until Blazer returned with news. From my position, I could estimate the village¡¯s food situation based on how their fields looked. (¡­ How boring.) As I started getting bored, I glanced at the red-haired mage hiding beside me. If something came up I would be able to handle things on my own, but if Blazer returns with good intel from scouting, we would be able to counter the enemy better¡­ It had only been a few days since we met her at Balberra Forest and brought her back to the settlement with us, but it seems I would be missing her once we parted ways. I mean, there were only Kobolds around after all¡­ Although they were born at the same time as I was and had kept me company as close friends ever since we were little, I still had not let go of my feelings from my human days, so there are moments when I still feel lonely. As I thought about it, my eyes met with Muriel¡¯s. She lightly nodded and urged me to speak. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Just as I responded with a gesture, there was a rustling in the grass, and I turned around in response and threw the leather water bottle to the tall, slender Kobold. ¡°Woann, kuruuau¡± (Thanks, for the water.) The leather flask that Blazer raised to his lips was the best product of the trial and error I went through when I started making it when I was 1 year and 6 months old. I washed the stomachs of wild bighorn sheep, dried it, wrapped it in tanned leather, and sewed it together. I was able to make the needle I used for sewing by shaving off a bone to a certain level of precision. The bone needle¡¯s size was no different than the copper needles we originally found in the ancient ruins¡­ For the thread, I beat some hemp to soften it, separated the strands, and twisted it together to make hemp string. I also made some for Dagger and Lancer, but I have not given one to the other three yet. There was a river immediately outside the settlement, and thus there was no urgent need for it during that time. However, during this trip, my companions frequently asked for water, so I guess it was about time I made some for them too. ¡°Wofuh, guruoaauu¡± (Ahh, that really hit the spot.) ¡°Wuh, kuruaaan?¡± (So, how was it?) ¡°Garuau, gurufauooon, gurua¡± (Well, it seems like something fishy is taking place in there, Leader.) According to Blazer¡¯s explanation, it seemed like some armed human men were hanging around the village entrance, with five equally armed men and a female confronting them. ¡°Gurua, gaoaguo kuuoruaauu?¡± (Boss, are the human males competing for the female?) ¡°Wauu, gaaoua kuurufaouh.¡± (Ax, this isn¡¯t the season for that.) Lancer softly rebuked him, but really, that¡¯s just the Kobold standard. After all, humans do not have mating seasons. ¡°¡­ Gaoa woruguooa¡± (¡­ The humans are always in heat.) ¡°Kyuuh!?¡± (Huuh!?) Blazer waited for Lancer to recover from the shock that froze her in place, and shared his guesses based on the information he gathered from the village. ¡°Garuu, woagaao garuooaaou¡± (The village is likely under attack.) ¡°Wuuh? Gaoao guruooauh, gurua.¡± (Eh? The humans in the village are under attack, Boss?) Perhaps sensing the uneasiness that Ax exhibited in response to an unrelated village¡¯s plight, Muriel lightly tugged at the hair on my arm. ¡°H-hey! What¡¯s going on? Ax looks confused.¡± The area on my arm that she was pulling at started to hurt, so I told her about the situation with a quick gesture. ¡°The village is under attack.¡± ¡°Eh!? Th-that¡¯s terrible! We need to help them!!¡± ¡°Garuoo, gurua¡­¡± (What shall we do, Chief¡­) As he asked me, I could see that he was getting fired up based on the way he was stroking the scabbard of his Great Sword. However, I cannot risk my friends¡¯ lives in a disadvantageous battle¡­ even if the battle meant that we could foster a good relationship with the village in the middle to long term. ¡°¡­ We need to grasp the situation first.¡± ¡°B-but we can¡¯t just ignore the village.¡± There was that, but depending on the situation, it would be disadvantageous if we were slain by the bandits and left in the village with dead bodies lying around. But it all depended on the next few minutes. With that in mind, we moved to an area from where we could see the entrance to Viel village with Blazer leading the way. There were 19 bandits in there, including a guy that looked like the head of the group, and 5 village vigilantes, and, for some reason, a young girl with long, flaxen hair. The head thief shouted at the girl that looked out of place. ¡°Hey, you lot, where do you think you¡¯re going off to, huh!!¡± In response to their head¡¯s command, the bandit underlings readied their weapons. ¡°I¡¯ll show you guys a lesson.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, run away Maril!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try to hold them off here¨C guah!?¡± The vigilante that went in front to protect Maril staggered as he received a blow to the abdomen with the spiked metal ball in the bandit¡¯s flail. ¡°Hiiii!?¡± The bandit moved to the side and fired a lead ball from his slingshot and hit her in the legs as she retreated in fear. ¡°Ah, it hurts!¡± ¡°Heh, I won¡¯t let you get away.¡± The lead ball that came flying had hit Maril in her right leg and stopped her in her tracks. The movement of the bandit who was poised to fire his slingshot and chase after her suddenly paused and Maril¡¯s tears which had welled up in her eyes either due to fear or pain unnaturally stopped¡­dumbfounded. ¡°Eh? H-huh? Oomph!¡± A Long Sword pierced the light armor from the back and protruded from the chest of the dead bandit. ¡°Fuh, garugu voooauh¡± (Hmph, your back is exposed.) As the bandit had gone around his companions to aim for the girl, Blazer had erased his presence and approached soundlessly. Using the force of a body collision, Blazer placed his blade at the ready and pierced his opponent¡¯s chest. Yes, after assessing the situation, we went to help the residents of Viel village. Additionally, I also wanted some weapons and tools¡­but more than anything else, to a Kobold, an exposed, unprotected back is something that fires up our hunting instincts. CH 21 The bandit¡¯s companions stared at him with a look of shock on their faces as he was pierced by a Long Sword from the back that protruded from his chest. ¡°Garuaah, guruooon! Woaou guoorua gaooan!!¡± (Look at that stupid face! This is why I can¡¯t get enough of surprise attacks!!) Originally, as was Blazer¡¯s principle, he would never stop and disengage stealthily after a hit-and-run attack, but the guy currently roared in laughter. ¡°Wh-what!?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­is that a Kobold!? That¡¯s strange!¡± In front of the bandits who were still stunned by the sudden attack, stood a tall and lean Kobold who had just killed one of their comrades by stabbing. This Kobold was a head taller than the average Kobold, and it had a toned body that did not have any unnecessary fat on it. He was a light combatant that completely focused on speed. The bandits¡¯ initial response was delayed because their image of a Kobold, being a heavy creature slightly smaller than an adult male, was far too removed from the one in front of them. ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s a stray Kobold! Hurry up and kill it!¡± The judgment of their yelling leader was correct. Ordinarily, if a lone Kobold suddenly appears at the entrance of a village, it was believed that it was a ¡°stray¡± that was driven away from its pack. However, that was not exactly the case here. ¡­ Blazer¡¯s roar attracted all the bandits¡¯ attention, and while their attention was on him, nobody noticed the silver Kobold and the others who had snuck up behind the group quickly. ¡°Awooooooooooooooo¡± I let loose a magically-charged roar as loud as I could. ¡¾Activated: Battle Cry¡¿ ¡¾Effect: The Hellhound¡¯s roar raises the Kobold¡¯s morale, enhancing their base abilities.¡¿ By the way, the Hellhound¡¯s roar not only strengthened my companions but also improved my own physical abilities and magic as well. After I raised my base capabilities, I placed my hands on the ground and unleashed ranged earth magic which had an area attack effect, and fired it towards the bandit leader and his subordinates. ¡°Vorugauah, garuuaaah!¡± (Devour them completely, Binding Fang!) ¡°Guaaah!!¡± ¡°Uoooooh!?¡± ¡°I-it hurts!¡± The bandits in the range of my attack all had their legs pierced by the sharpened clods released by my magic, inflicting injuries and keeping them rooted in place. ¡°Binding Fang¡± is a ranged non-human magic derivative of the spell ¡°Fangs of the Earth¡±, which brought down the rock monitor lizard. While each fang is smaller and less powerful than the ones released by ¡°Fangs of the Earth¡±, the number and area of coverage of the fangs increase drastically. Excluding the guy that Blazer killed earlier, the move immobilized about half of the bandits, including their leader. In addition to my attack, the bandits who were out of the range of ¡°Binding Fang¡± or avoided it, were attacked by both Buster and Ax. ¡°Vorugau guruaaah!!¡± (I am going to cut you bastards in a flash!) Buster twisted his body to the side at the same time as he advanced and assumed a stance with his Great Sword positioned from his flank. From that stance, he used his strength and flexibility to swing the Great Sword horizontally. ¡°Mmmmphrh!? Ugh, gaah¡­ ah¡­¡± ¡°Guhaa!¡± The horizontal blow sent a bandit¡¯s sword flying when he tried to block the attack and cut through the torsos of two other bandits, causing them to fall to their knees while trying to keep their guts from falling out with their hands¡­ Meanwhile, Ax boldly swung his Battle Axe and fired off a successful attack. ¡°Woaaan, gauu, kuaoh!¡± (Uooooh, hiyaa, eat this!) ¡°Ugh!¡± However, for better or for worse, while the spinning Battle Axe¡¯s blade did not make contact with one of the bandits, the handle caught him on the side of his head, sending him flying and rendering him unconscious. ¡°Damn youuu!!¡± ¡°Kuaofuh¡± (You¡¯re just wasting your energy.) Another bandit fired a counter-attack at Ax with a slash of his short sword, but the big blue Kobold effectively blocked it with the shield on his left hand and knocked his opponent¡¯s weapon away with brute force. ¡°Ah¡­¡± The force from the shield attack, or Shield Bash, as it is commonly called, caused the bandit to let go of the weapon he held with both hands. This left the man¡¯s abdomen wide open, and a sideways swing of the Battle Axe chopped him in half. Drawing cover from the series of timed attacks by Buster and Ax, Lancer had come up to the flank and jumped at an opponent, piercing him through the chest. Right after I invoked the attack spell ¡°Binding Fang¡±, Blazer, who immediately took advantage of the mayhem and erased his presence, also killed another bandit with a blow from the enemy¡¯s blind spot. I could say that after the first attack, the match had already been decided. My friends had already taken out 7 men, while there were 9 bandits immobilized as they were pierced by the Earth Fangs that sprung from the ground. Even though they were currently immobile, I still considered the archers within the band of rogues as threats, so I took precautions and kept them in check so that I could readily shoot them to death first if the need arose. Currently, only three men who were were pale and trembling stood on the bandits¡¯ side. In contrast, although one of the five vigilantes from Viel village incurred injuries in the abdomen due to being hit by the spikes in the metal ball of the bandits¡¯ flail, the remaining four were safe and unharmed. It would be probably hard for the bandits to turn the tables in this kind of situation. I guess we should wrap this up soon. With my bow at the ready, I pointed my arrow at the Warhammer-wielding bandit leader. After staying like that for a while, I slowly pointed to the ground. I repeated the action several times. ¡°¡­tsk, you want us to throw down our weapons?¡± ¡°Wau, gaouh¡± (Yes, that¡¯s right.) This guy is quite good! I nodded in response to his question. After a while of debating with himself, the bandit leader muttered, ¡°Tsk, looks like there¡¯s no way we can win, huh¡­¡± as he threw away his weapon. There is a high chance of bandits being sentenced to death if caught, but he chose to take his chances with that rather than be killed here and now. As long as they were alive, it was possible to look for a chance and escape or survive as a criminal slave. Because he decided to give up, it also saved us the trouble of having to kill them. Besides, I don¡¯t like killing my enemies after I win or they concede defeat. There¡¯s a saying that despair gives courage to a coward, after all. CH 22 This all began when I, Maril, the village chief¡¯s daughter, cried in pain when I was hit by the bullet from the slingshot. If only I followed my mother¡¯s advice and ran away with the villagers. Then I would have only regretted my actions. If I died like this, then the last thing I would have seen of my mother would be her angry face¡­ and that saddened me. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± My vision blurred as I bore with the pain, but I saw that one of the bandits was aiming their slingshot at me. It seems he had gotten around his companions and placed me within his sights. I knew it, and he was getting ready to take a shot at me again. ¡°¡­¡­¡± I closed my eyes tight and prepared to endure the pain that would follow a while later. But that moment never came. ¡­ Did he miss? I opened my eyes thinking about it and saw that the bandit aiming for me had a blade protruding from his chest. ¡°Eh!?¡± Stunned, the vulgar man fell to the ground and died, and standing behind him was a tall, and lean dog kin. ¡°A Kobold? But it¡¯s pretty tall¡­¡± Things moved in a blur after that. As I, the bandits, and everyone stared at the Kobold, a howl suddenly echoed from behind the bandits and somehow evoked an instinctive fear within me¡­ A silver Kobold, who was probably the one who howled, placed its hands on the ground and howled again, causing the ground beneath the bandits to sprout spikes made of earth and pierced their legs, halting their movement. The bandits who were lucky enough to avoid the earthen spikes were attacked by a blue and a black-armed Kobold who were both at least 190 cm tall, and in an instant, they had brought down two bandits each. While our attention was on the two large Kobolds, a spear-wielding Kobold charged in. That Kobold was closer in size to the normal Kobold we know, but it swiftly pierced the pitiful bandit through the chest without missing a beat¡­ and then, I noticed the tall and skinny Kobold from before cut down another bandit. The coordinated assault by the Kobolds worked against the formation of the bandits and neutralized them in no time. ¡°A-amazing¡­¡± While I was overwhelmed by the sight, I remembered a time in my childhood when the village huntsman brought home a puppy he picked up near the forest. I was very fond of that puppy at that time and often went to visit the huntsman to play with it, but¡­as I was playing with it one day, the puppy suddenly stood and walked. Yes, it wasn¡¯t a puppy, but a young Kobold. Eventually, the huntsman had to return the young Kobold to the woods so I was sad for a while, but I¡¯m sure the decision to return it to the forest was correct. After all, Kobolds are¡­frightening when they become large. I wonder if the child from that time has become like this now? ¡°Nnngh, I don¡¯t know what just happened, but that was a close call!¡± ¡°Rather, hasn¡¯t our situation become worse!? The Kobolds are scary!!¡± Even while the four village vigilantes were being indecisive, they pointed their dull weapons to the suspicious-looking Kobolds. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Hmmm, even after the bandits threw their weapons on the ground, the villagers glared and pointed their weapons at us. Additionally, the flaxen-haired maiden who seemed out of place couldn¡¯t hide her fear either. ¡°Guofa, gaooauh¡± (Crap, we overdid it.) They were obviously on guard. That was when the bandit leader unnecessarily butted in. ¡°Hey, silver doggy, aren¡¯t you going to fight them too? I don¡¯t think we¡¯re the only ones who should be getting hit!!¡± When the vigilantes heard this, they became more alarmed. ¡°Gurua, gaooon?¡± (Chief, should we fight them too?) ¡°Gau, kuuaouu.¡± (No, we don¡¯t need to.) Let¡¯s leave them for her to explain later. ¡°Awooooooo¡­.¡± I did not mean anything with it, I just used my howl as a signal. While everyone¡¯s attention was focused on us, I heard the sound of footsteps gradually coming in from the village¡¯s northwestern entrance, a short distance away from us. As the wary thieves and villagers momentarily turned away from us, the red-haired mage appeared. ¡°¡­I just happened to drop by Viel village in the middle of my trip, but what¡¯s going on here?¡± Muriel slowly approached the villagers so she would not alarm them. As she did so, she did not forget to show off her ¡°mage¡± insignia in a grand manner. A mage graduating from a reputable magic academy was one of the guaranteed ways of earning public trust, after all. ¡°It¡¯s a mage¡­¡± ¡°Oooh!!¡± With her appearance, the vigilantes¡¯ gazes turned from suspicion to eyes filled with hope. Conversely, the bandits looked quizzically at her. ¡°I wonder if this is how bandits feel like when they barge in on villages.¡± Muriel, the red-haired mage, spoke to the flaxen-haired village girl who was hiding behind the vigilantes. ¡°Y-yes! Miss Mage, these bandits demanded that we hand over our food and valuables to them¡­¡± ¡°And what about those Kobolds?¡± ¡°W-well they just appeared suddenly and took the bandits down.¡± Muriel stared at me, and once again, all eyes were turned to me. It was kind of uncomfortable¡­ ¡°¡­Everyone, that silver dog kin is a High Kobold.¡± ¡°High Kobold?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard about it¡­¡± Questions were raised by both the village girl and the bandits. Their cries turned to surprise after they heard Muriel¡¯s next words. ¡°As a mutative variant of the Kobold; this one ¡°has high intelligence and could understand human speech¡±.¡± Well, I do not know if there is another High Kobold who understands this continent¡¯s common language aside from me, but¡­just as we planned, Muriel had come up with such a thing under the guise of a bona fide third party. CH 23 ¡°Is¡­ Is that so, Miss Mage!?¡± Maril could not help but repeatedly confirm the astonishing facts Muriel had just shared with them. Certainly, out of the other beastmen tribes, the Cat people¡¯s tribes were the most human-like in appearance with only cat ears and a tail as their distinguishing features. Rather than classifying them as beast kin, they should rather be called a sub-class of humans due to their ability to understand human language and customs along with their almost human appearance. Their race was the only one who could speak the common tongue of humans and thus facilitate negotiations, marking them as demihumans so they were treated as such, while Kobolds were treated as magical beasts, much like the goblins due to their inability to understand and interact using words. ¡°Please calm down. We have to tie up the bandits first. Mr. Silver Kobold over there, we are going to tie the bandits up, but could you cooperate with us and make sure that they do not resist?¡± ¡°Garuu, guruo, varuoaan.¡± (Of course. Everyone, let¡¯s contain the bandits.) ¡°Guoann, gurua.¡± (Roger, Boss.) Everything is going just as planned! I kept my bow trained at the bandit leader while my comrades approached the rogues to disarm them. ¡°Nnngh, ugh¡­ amazing, they really communicate with gestures.¡± ¡°Rivas, how are your injuries?¡± The vigilante who was injured with the spikes from the ball of the flail let out a pained groan and an awed remark while squatting to stem the flow of blood from his abdomen. Upon seeing the situation, Muriel approached the man called Rivas and knelt beside him, and placed her hands over the man¡¯s hands that were pressing down on his abdomen to stop the bleeding. ¡°¡­May thou who are tormented by pain be soothed by the light, Healing Light.¡± ¡°Aah¡­¡­ Thank you very much, Miss Mage.¡± ¡°Now that you are healed, can we restrain the bandits?¡± ¡°Yes! Maril, is it alright to use the rope in the village storehouse?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, please do.¡± As we prevented the bandits from resisting by disarming them, two of the village vigilantes ran into the village. I could hear the rogues muttering as we watched them from behind. ¡°Haah looks like we ran out of luck¡­ This Kobold understands human speech and helps the village? Usually, they¡¯d be on the attacking side, won¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Even their coordination earlier wasn¡¯t like a regular Kobold¡¯s pack¡¯s either, it seems fishy to me¡­¡± Later on, ropes and scissors were brought out, and the vigilantes tied up the bandits. Their hands were tied from behind, and the rope was connected to another one of them as a chain to keep them from moving away easily. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯m going to release the bandits from the spikes, okay? O creator, return things to their ideal state¡­Dispel!¡± ¡°G-guah!!¡± ¡°Nnngh!¡± With Muriel¡¯s cancellation magic, the numerous spikes piercing the bandits¡¯ legs turned into sand and crumbled away. As an added effect, it also caused healing magic to be applied to those who were badly bleeding¡­for her to heal even the bandits, such a benevolent girl. After confirming that the bandits had been tied up properly, I lowered the bow and arrow I had at the ready. ¡°Guruaau wauu, kuuau guouru gaoruaa!¡± (Buster, Ax, and Lancer, please gather and retrieve the weapons!!) ¡°Woaanh.¡± (Understood.) ¡°Wann.¡± (Okay.) ¡°Gurua guruonn guoruoaan¡­¡± (Blazer and I will keep watch just in case¡­) With some hand gestures, I convinced the vigilantes and the village girl to leave for a bit and asked my three companions to gather the weapons that were laid by the bandits¡¯ feet like the War Hammer, Slingshot, Short Sword, Long Sword, and other items in one place. Next, I asked them to strip the bandits of their possessions by collecting the leather bags containing small items from the bandits¡¯ waists and retrieving the leather armors and breastplates they had on. In the middle of our operation, there was some trouble loosening the ropes that bound them, but we got what we wanted. Some of the light armors were pierced by Blazer¡¯s Long Sword, while some of the abdominal armors were cut by Buster¡¯s Great Sword, but¡­ The loot we acquired from the 19 bandits was quite a lot¡­¡­ I slowly approached so I would not startle the girl called Maril who stared at me with great interest. When the vigilante brought the rope out earlier, he checked with her¡­ so she must be the village chief¡¯s daughter. ¡°Hyah,¡± She hid behind Muriel who stood beside her. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Miss Maril. It does not seem like he has any ill intent towards us.¡± ¡°B-but!¡± If you are that frightened, then my Kobold hunting instincts will suddenly start tingling due to your fear, you know. Maybe I should try to control it or it would cause problems for me later¡­ I crouched in front of the two and took out the stone that I have recently begun to carry around, and wrote on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I seem to be demanding a reward for helping you, but I would like to take those with us.¡± ¡°Eh!? This Kobold can write letters!! Th-that¡¯s¡­¡± Maril, who had crouched down with Muriel, looked at the letters I wrote on the ground and checked it over and over again with a look of astonishment on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to return it, so please lend us your wagon.¡± Maril pondered for a while, looking a little unsettled. From the situation, it was true that these mysterious Kobolds saved the village, and Maril herself was saved by the tall, skinny Kobold who was standing not far away. ¡°¡­ Very well, the village has a common hand-pushed wagon, so I¡¯ll lend it to you. Mr. Zeno, can I ask you to lend it to them?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t mind lending it to them either.¡± After he said so, the middle-aged vigilante returned from inside the village, pulling a beat-up, hand pushed wagon. ¡°Thank you, village maiden.¡± ¡°I-it feels so strange to be thanked by a Kobold, isn¡¯t it¡­¡± Without delay, I instructed my companions to load all our loot into the cart. And with this, we finished what we came to do in Viel village¡­ The residents who tried to flee the village earlier were starting to gradually return, so it might be a good time for us to retreat. I beckoned to the red-haired mage girl and said goodbye. ¡°This is where we part ways¡­Muriel has really helped us. Thank you.¡± ¡°¡­ Yeah, it has been a valuable experience for me too. When I become an adventurer strong enough to travel safely, then I¡¯ll come to see you again, okay?¡± She replied in a whisper and I lightly nodded to her as I stood up and stomped my foot to wipe out the message on the ground, and we left Viel village. CH 24 Maril, the villagers, and the bandits saw us off as we left Veil village. We decided to head towards the ¡°Balberra Forest¡± first, which was a bit northwest from the settlement, and slowly make our way back from there. ¡°Hmm, looks like they¡¯re some kind of mutation that came from ¡°Balberra Forest¡±.¡± ¡°Balberra Forest, huh¡­If that¡¯s the case, then I can imagine why they¡¯re so strong¡­¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any High Kobolds like them in the nearby forest, after all¡­¡± I could hear the vigilantes whispering their agreement as Muriel, the red-haired Mage, reasoned out with them behind my back. I was sorry about the fallout and discussions following our appearance and behavior, but I left it all to her. I guess I should send out a scout to the edges of the Easteria Forest just in case¡­or maybe it would be better to find a secure location further into the forest where we can move the settlement if something does happen. With that in mind, we headed into the northeast, where the skull-marked danger-zone, ¡°Balberra Forest¡± was located. If I were to consider a move, then we should be aiming for the southeastern territory then. Well, it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. Maybe we should scout it out when we get the chance¡­ As I thought about the future, we trudged across the grasslands where short grass grew. When the village was out of sight, we changed course to the west, sniffing and looking around vigilantly as we traveled. Then, Blazer, who walked ahead of us, suddenly stopped after a short while. ¡°Guruon, guruuao?¡± (Blazer, have you found it?) ¡°Wafuh, gurua, wooonh!¡± (Yes, Leader, your guess was on point!) There were unnatural traces of trampled grass on the ground. The bandits earlier must have made their way to Viel village through the path we traced. And even though they are bandits, most of them were former mercenaries, so their habits are naturally similar. Normally, mercenaries do not bring supplies that are not directly related to combat. So, where do they keep it? They would hide it in the rear part of the camp enclosure or at someplace near the battlefield. The bandits who we had an encounter with at Viel village did not bring anything with them aside from their weapons and equipment. In other words, they kept their ration and provisions in an area facing the grasslands near Viel village. It was not like they only eat and drink air to survive, after all. ¡°Gurua kuruaau¡­¡± (It¡¯s just as Boss said¡­) Lancer muttered as she looked at the grass where the traces of footsteps belonging to approximately 10 people were. ¡­ Well, it was mainly thanks to Muriel¡¯s intuition and the detailed map she had in her possession. Certainly, intuition cannot be fooled. As a basic rule, many of them are sensations based on the unconscious mind after all. But if I were to force this line of thought into our current situation¡­ The basis for this intuition was knowledge of the north-south road connecting the town of Zelgra and the city of Warren, the tributaries of the Steele river that traverse it, and the east-west road that extends from the town of Zelga to Viel village and its relation to their location, I guess? Considering how they can target both roads, are close to a water source, do not need to cross the river on the south side, or escape to the eastern forest if things went south, then the bandits¡¯ living space is quite limited. Looking at the big picture, it can be inferred that they came from the branch of the Steele river from the south and entered through the north side of Viel village. If we passed through the northeastern part of the forest to keep the settlement from being found, then we could have crossed paths with the bandits much earlier. ¡°Gurua, gaooan¡­¡± (Leader, I¡¯ll go and look around¡­) ¡°Wafu, guon.¡± (Sure, I¡¯m counting on you.) ¡¾Activated: Erase Presence¡¿ ¡¾Effect: One¡¯s own presence becomes difficult to detect.¡¿ As soon as Blazer¡¯s Erase Presence became active, it was hard to sense him even though he was just standing in front of me. And so he followed the trail and headed north. It was unlikely for them to lug around their provisions when they went near the village, so if we followed their trail north, I expected to find their hidden stash and encounter some guards, but¡­could their hideout be in the south instead? As I started to become a bit anxious, a voice called out to me. ¡°Gurua, woagaruuuh.¡± (Boss, can I have something to drink?) I opened the lid of the leather flask we retrieved from the bandits, checked its contents and after I lightly drank from it to check if it was safe, I threw the container to Ax. ¡°Gauuoaru waooaan.¡± (You can have that leather flask.) ¡°Wauh! Kuruaoon?¡± (Eh? I can have this?) Ax happily accepted the leather flask, opened the lid, and drank from it. ¡°Bufoh!?¡± And threw up its contents promptly. I could smell the faintest hint of alcohol in the air. ¡°Wa, wafih!¡± (Wh-what¡¯s this!) ¡°Gauh, gaonh.¡± (Haha, it¡¯s alcohol.) I had seen some residents in the settlement ferment some fruits and drink them before, but it was not a common practice, and I had never seen Ax drink either. So it was basically his first time tasting alcohol. Lancer looked at our messing around with reproachful eyes. ¡°Guu, guruaou¡­¡± (Geez, Boss you always do that¡­) ¡°Wau, uooonh.¡± (Well, isn¡¯t it fine?) While we shared a light moment, we suddenly heard the sound of rustling grass as Blazer returned. ¡°Wooau, gurua¡± (I¡¯m back, Leader.) ¡°Guauon?¡± (How was it?) ¡°Garukuoooofa garua, garuoaauu.¡± (It¡¯s not far away, and there are only two people keeping watch.) Well then, let¡¯s strip those guys off their possessions too¡­ With Blazer leading the way, we crouched stealthily, crept up, and surrounded the bandits¡¯ hideout where a sluggish-looking sentry stifled a yawn. CH 25 I observed the guards as I hid in the grass not far away. Hmm, there are just two of them, so if we attack them, we could take care of them quite easily, but¡­ to ensure a certain level of safety, we had to do this discreetly. I used hand signs to tell Blazer to go towards the opponent¡¯s right flank, and then I told Buster to look for a chance to attack after he moved to their left flank. It was our usual hunting pattern. And so I bent one knee on the ground, nocked my arrow, and waited to attack¡­ ¡°Guruaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Wha!?¡± I aimed at my target the moment the two bandit guards turned to their left in response to Buster who jumped out and roared at the same time. ¡°Wofu, garuva.¡± (O wind, lead my arrows.) Aiming for the arm of the bandit closest to Buster, I released the arrow at the same time as I exhaled and accelerated the arrow with wind-magic. ¡°Guh¡­¡± The arrow hit the arm of the bandit who was about to pull his sword from the scabbard, causing him to falter as the arrow momentarily halted his movement. ¡°Guuruaaah!!¡± (You¡¯re going down!!) *Slash!* ¡°Gguwaaah!¡± Buster immediately closed the gap and used a horizontal slash attack to bring the first man down, and the bandit fell forward dead before he hit the ground. ¡°Uuwaaaaah!!¡± The other man, who was just behind the dead bandit, hurriedly raised his Long Sword, but he could not even swing it down. ¡°Guhhh!?¡± He stopped moving as soon as he raised his weapon and stared at the blade protruding from his abdomen in wonder. Actually, when the bandits turned to face Buster who roared as he jumped out to attack from their left flank, they exposed their backs to Blazer who was stationed on their right flank. ¡°Gauh, garuku guooruaon!¡± (Hah! Backstabbing is the most basic of surprise attacks!) Blazer kicked the groaning bandit on the back as he pulled out his sword. Blood gushed and streamed out from the two fallen bandits. ¡°Guruoa.¡± (Looks like we¡¯re done.) I stood up, emerged from the bushes, and carefully approached the fallen bandits as I slung my bow over my back, pulling out the arrows stuck on the dead man¡¯s arm and returning it to my quiver. Well, I had become a splendid Kobold Archer too. Speaking of desires, it would be nice if there were someone among us who could handle projectile weapons¡­¡­ As I recall, there was a Slingshot among the weapons we looted this time. Since it was easier to handle than a bow, maybe I should let Blazer have it. Sensing that the battle had ended, Ax and Lancer, who stood by as backup, also rose from their positions. ¡°Gau, voau kuruaaoou¡­¡± (So what shall we find today¡­) Now then, let¡¯s see what the bandits have to offer us. If one took away the personal belongings of a soldier as they pleased, then that was called looting, but there was no legal issue with collecting and confiscating the weapons and provisions that a hostile party needs for their operations after winning against them. In other words, they had crossed the line first, and in this case, we have a right to collect them as spoils of war. This is¡­salt and oil? Come to think of it, legumes are growing wild in the grasslands and forests¡­ if we ground those up into a paste and squeezed them with a cloth, then we might be able to produce some oil too. Salt, huh¡­ to get this, one has to go to the mountains or to the faraway sea to acquire rock salt¡­ but ever since I had been reborn in this body, I have not had any salt, so it might be bad if I consumed too much of this. But it was hard to throw it away considering it adds flavor to food, but it might be useful for other things too. ¡°Gurua, wofu wafa?¡± (Boss, what is this?) ¡°Wafuh, garuukuan.¡± (Ahh, that¡¯s dried meat.) ¡°Wu, kuan?¡± (Eh, this is meat?) Ax suddenly took a bite out of the dried meat. ¡°Au, kuuoru, kuaaan ?¡± (Ah, it¡¯s hard, but it¡¯s meat~?) The rest of the food we found was bread and soybeans. The soybeans looked like they would germinate if we just watered them properly. (Maybe I should think of cultivating crops soon¡­) I remember seeing a few wheat plants growing in the grasslands that looked similar to the ones grown in the cultivated fields around Viel village. I wonder if they were from the seeds blown away from the cultivated lands. But even if it was available to us, it would be useless without threshing tools or a millstone. By the way, I had recently begun to take an interest in farming. We had to think of the times in winter where there is no prey after all¡­ Well, it was not really a pressing issue since we¡¯ve been getting by anyway. It was fortunate that the High Kobold had an earth attribute magic, so I might be able to exterminate pests by running my magic through the earth just like earth mages do. I was having difficulty in which insects to exterminate, but basically, Eric (a soldier from my past life who was an earth mage) said that it was alright to crush the insects that are more than 1 mm in size or those who continue to move despite their minute size¡­ ¡°Gurua, wofu wafaou?¡± (Boss, I wonder what this is?) ¡°Wofu guruan.¡± (That¡¯s an iron plate.) It seems convenient for grilling meat. I could use the flint to set fire to some dried stems of the hemp plant native to the forest that has been broken into small pieces, along with some firewood made from the trees that Ax had cut down. It might be good for some lightly salted grilled meat. (Gulp¡­) Alright, we¡¯ll also take the griddle, pots, and other cooking tools along. Since there was a limit to what we could carry at a time, we sorted the items and loaded them into the wagon we found at the site and the other one we borrowed from the village and asked Buster and Ax to pull it and we went back to the settlement. CH 26 ¡°Kuu! Kuon, waoa~n!¡± (Ah! Big brother, welcome home~!) ¡°Gurua, waoanh.¡± (Boss, welcome back.) ¡°Wafuh, gaoruu.¡± (Yeah, we¡¯re back.) As the moon started to illuminate the night sky, I exchanged greetings with Dagger and the other Kobolds of the settlement who were awake and went to the village¡¯s central square to unload the wooden cutlery, cooking tools, and the iron griddle from the two carts we brought home. As I expected, the presence of numerous twigs and rocks made for a rough road, so we parked the wagons with our loot in an open area not far from the settlement and carried the items from there. ¡°Gurua, garuooon?¡± (Chief, where should we put this?) Buster, who carried the bundle of swords tied with a hemp cord over his shoulder, asked. ¡°Varua, garuon.¡± (Place it over there for now.) After we sorted and secured the necessary weapons, we handed them out to the three to six-year-old Kobolds who were born after us. Meanwhile, I gave instructions to Ax, who carried the armors, and to Lancer, who carried the water flasks, to group the items by type and place them in the village square. ¡°Gaoou, kuua wooann.¡± (Sorry, but could you guys help out as well?) ¡°Wann, gurua.¡± (Sure thing, Boss.) ¡°Ao~n.¡± (I¡¯ll help carry it~) In response to my call, three 1-year-old Kobolds gathered around us. Because we shared a special bond with those Kobolds who were born around the same time as us, the rest mostly follow when one of us goes first. By the way, most of the members were trained by Buster and Blazer in combat, so I would occasionally hear them say, ¡°I¡¯ll attack you by surprise!¡± or ¡°I¡¯ll finish you with one blow!¡± It was unnecessary to teach them those habits though¡­ Anyway, including us, there were finally enough members to carry the items to the square. There¡¯s only one more trip left. Let¡¯s work hard so we can have a late dinner after this! I left my sister to go hunting for dinner when we left for Viel village, but she seemed to have exceeded my expectations and brought down a boar-type monster! ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Kobolds eat almost anything, and most of the plants and fruits that grow in the forest were not a problem for us. During our biological evolution, our digestive organs developed, and we acquired resistance, thanks to the sacrifices that were made along the way. Strictly speaking, we could even eat vegetables and other foods that normal dogs could not eat, and it seemed alcohol was okay too. The grilled meat also had a different taste to it than usual. Most wild animals who did not have any custom of eating grilled food would not be able to tolerate this, but Kobolds can eat hot food without any problem. We did not have a custom of eating food cooked with fire in our settlement, but as I remember from my past life, in other packs where there were higher variations of the Kobold Mage, they had a culture of using fire magic to make a fire and cook their food over it. However, a while back, when we roasted the meat over a fire so Muriel could eat too, I burned my tongue because I was not used to hot food, so I learned to cool the meat a bit first or it would be too hot. ¡°Gurua~n, kuuauu?¡± (Boss, can we eat yet?) ¡°Gau, waon, wauuh.¡± (Well, wait just a bit more, Ax.) To my Kobold palate, it¡¯s best when it¡¯s rare and lightly grilled on the surface. And it cools down fast too. ¡°Fuuh, fuuh, wauuh woruwaoon.¡± (Fuuh, fuuh, this has already cooled down, so you can have this, Ax.) ¡°Nn, woann!¡± (Mm, thanks!) Lancer blew on the wild boar meat she placed on the wooden plate and handed it to Ax after it cooled down. ¡°Wauh, kyua~n?¡± (Meat, delicious meat?) ¡°Gurua, garuuuh.¡± (Leader, please give me some too.) ¡°Vuruah!¡± (Here you go!) As Dagger silently carved the boar¡¯s meat with her dagger, I continuously grilled the meat on the iron plate in the public square and tossed it into everyone¡¯s wooden plates. ¡°¡­ Wau, kuon, guruo garuofaan?¡± (Hey, Big brother, I do not think we can still eat at this rate, you know?) ¡°Ah¡­¡± (Ah¡­) By the time we realized it, most of the wild boar¡¯s meat had been eaten by everyone present. And like this, we welcomed the end of the day after a lot of things had happened. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Meanwhile, Muriel and Maril waited for some guests to arrive, a day after Viel village was attacked by the bandits. It was said that the village was originally established when the hunters who lived in the town of Zelgra prepared a base to rest when they went on hunts near Easteria Forest. Because of these circumstances, the court office in the town of Zelgra usually handled the cases when something major such as a bandit raid occurs in Viel village. ¡°If it is something minor, then I can judge them as the Village Chief¡¯s representative, but¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Miss Mage.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. I also have some things to do at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in the town of Zelgra, and you let me stay the night anyway.¡± Yesterday, after I sadly parted ways with the Kobolds, Maril suggested I stay at their house, so I was in the care of the village chief¡¯s household during my stay. At that time, they asked me to explain the circumstances to the judicial court in the town of Zelgra. Well, it¡¯s going to be hard to explain a lot of things¡­ The liaison officer left for the town of Zelgra yesterday, so he should be arriving with the guards assigned to the village soon. I casually used my distance vision magic to look at the path ahead, and what I saw was a uniformed group of about 30 or so armored soldiers from the Ferias territory. CH 27 ¡°Are you Miss Muriel, the Mage?¡± A few days later, a Knight arrived at the village¡¯s entrance and inquired about the incident. ¡°Yes, Sir Knight, I am the Mage, Muriel. Pleased to meet you.¡± ¡°I would like to thank you for extending your assistance in subjugating the bandits. And who might this young lady be?¡± The Knight shifted his gaze to the person beside me. ¡°I am the village chief¡¯s daughter, Maril.¡± ¡°And where is the Village Chief Sergio?¡± ¡°I am sorry, but my father is bedridden due to illness.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­ understood. And the bandits?¡± ¡°They¡¯re over here.¡± I followed behind Maril as she led the soldiers from the village entrance and into the village plaza. There, the bandits¡¯ hands were tied behind their backs and the ends of their bindings were tied together and tied to a stake that was driven right into the ground to prevent them from escaping. Beside them were the corpses of the other six bandits that were placed in burlap bags and placed side by side. ¡°Go and check it out.¡± ¡°Yes. Sir.¡± At the Knight¡¯s order, the bodies were inspected first. ¡°There are three bodies with abdominal wounds, caused by a sword, there are 2 who have been pierced from the back, and one who had been stabbed to death with a spear. This seems to have been done with great skill.¡± ¡°¡­This was the work of the ragtag group of village vigilantes¡¯ ?¡± Of course, they were going to ask who did it, the red-haired mage thought as she secretly released a sigh. ¡°Hah, as if we¡¯d let this village¡¯s vigilantes kill us!!¡± ¡°We won¡¯t lose to such amateurs!¡± Despite Muriel¡¯s dejected expression, the bandits continued to kick up a fuss. ¡°Then whose work was it? Out with it.¡± ¡°¡­Tsk, it was the Kobolds.¡± *sob* Looks like I have to do my best to explain this to them. *sniffle* ¡°¡­Miss Mage, do you have an idea what these bandits are saying?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true. I was in the vicinity when it happened too.¡± In response to my answer, the soldier in charge of the inspection interrupted with a puzzled look on his face. ¡°But Captain, if this were the work of Kobolds, then some things don¡¯t add up.¡± ¡°Explain yourself.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s about the wounds on the corpses, but these are not the types of wounds that could be inflicted by the obsidian stone weapons they use. And there are no signs of any claw or fang marks either¡­¡± Sir Knight¡¯s expression became stiffer and stiffer¡­ I wonder if he thinks I am lying? ¡°Well, that¡¯s what my subordinate says, but¡­¡± ¡°The reason is simple ¡ª the Kobolds were armed. There are rare instances where Kobolds or Goblins would take a weakened adventurer¡¯s or a defeated enemy¡¯s gear, you see.¡± It¡¯s a rare case, so there was no way that I was lying about this. ¡°¡­So the Kobolds had weapons in their possession. That¡¯s dangerous. And where are they now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where they are exactly, but¡­ they probably headed to ¡°Balberra Forest¡± in the northeast.¡± ¡°Balberra, huh¡­that¡¯s quite worrisome.¡± Despite the low probability, ¡°Balberra Forest¡± is notorious for the appearance of threat levels C to A monsters. An ordinary soldier, at best, has power equal to or more than an ¡°iron¡± adventurer but is lower than a ¡°black iron¡± adventurer, which is the minimum rank required to take down a threat level C monster. If a threat level A monster appears, then the power required would be that of a ¡°platinum¡± adventurer, which is practically the highest rank, but there are only about a handful of those quasi-heroes in this country. Incidentally, to reach the highest possible rank, which is the ¡°Scarlet Gold¡± adventurer, it is necessary to produce results that are equivalent to the achievements of past heroes and great sages. Well, that was almost close to impossible. Specifically, one has to defeat a threat level S monster and above that had the capability to destroy a whole country, but if such a monster appeared often, then the human race would already be destroyed. As a result, there are only a handful of ¡°Scarlet Gold¡± adventurers on this continent. Therefore, a threat level A Tyrant Lizard, who was reportedly spotted in ¡°Balberra Forest¡± would be impossible for the soldiers of the Ferias territory to handle. Realistically speaking, it would also be impossible for them to subjugate a threat level B monster, which is a rank lower, either, so¡­I hope they give up on attempting an investigative exploration. ¡°Sir Knight, those Kobolds themselves were mutative variants, so if their combat power is that good, then you could be facing off against a threat level B. Going on such an unreasonable hunt might be difficult too¡­¡± ¡°¡­ I will be reporting this to the higher-ups but it looks like exploring ¡°Balberra Forest¡± is too much for us to handle alone after all¡­¡± Alright! Looks like I was able to persuade them! ¡°But why would that High Kobold help a village like this?¡± Nnngh, there¡¯s that too¡­ It would have been easy if he had not noticed it at all. ¡°One of those Kobolds was a High Kobold, so it possesses a high level of intelligence.¡± ¡°A High Kobold, huh. Balberra Forest sure has all sorts of things.¡± Since we did not know anything about the High Kobold¡¯s way of life as there was only a handful of them ever discovered, then it was alright to just say anything I want, right? ¡°I understand most of what you are trying to say. I¡¯m concerned about those Kobolds, but it would be too risky to send my soldiers out to ¡°Balberra Forest¡±¡­ I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Yes, please do so.¡± Afterward, they asked me where the bandits¡¯ weapons and armor went, so I matter-of-factly told them that the Kobolds have taken it away. ¡°Miss Mage, Miss Maril, thank you very much. However, I would like you to accompany me to the judicial court in the town of Zelgra to file your testimonies as well¡­¡± ¡°I apologize, Sir Knight¡­ but I have to take care of my sick father, so¡­¡± ¡°Then I shall accompany you instead, Sir Knight.¡± Just as Maril and I have discussed from the start, I offered to accompany the soldiers. ¡°Then I shall take you up on your offer, Miss Mage.¡± And so, I went to the town of Zelgra together with the soldiers who came to take the bandits away. I expected to also be questioned by the court officials about the bandit attacks, but they mysteriously let me go so easily that it seemed like a trap had been set up. This is something that Muriel did not know about, but¡­¡­ When the Court Office contacted the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to gather information about the ¡°young, red-haired mage¡± beforehand, the document sent to them said in red, block letters: ¡°BEWARE OF ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TEMPEST WITCH¡± CH 28 ¡°Gurua, garuguaonn¡­zzz.¡± (Chief, I¡¯m entrusting the world to you¡­ zzz) No, that¡¯s too heavy! What kind of dream is he having anyway!? I shook my head from side to side to awaken myself as I listened to Buster¡¯s incomprehensible sleep-talk in the morning, ¡°Wafa¡­¡± (So sleepy¡­) If I remembered the events correctly, we safely escorted and left Muriel at Viel village in the morning, captured and looted a band of bandits, and by the time we finished with the other little things we had to attend to, it was already night time, and then, we grilled the wild boar meat that Dagger hunted and ate it. And, we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning¡­ The weather was not particularly bad, so we all laid down at the central square that Ax had cleared of trees and developed, and fell asleep gazing at the stars. ¡°zzz¡­ Guua, guuaruuaaonn, garuokuauuh!!¡± (zzz¡­Squirrels, there are so many squirrels nooo!!) Ax, you too, huh. I wonder what¡¯s the deal with those squirrels. I really cannot understand what kind of weird dreams these two are having. ¡°Garuu waon waoon.¡± (I wonder if I¡¯ve said something weird too.) ¡°Pfft.¡± I glanced at my tall, skinny childhood friend as he let out a telling sigh. My eyes then landed on my sister, who was sleeping while being curled up in her fox tail nearby. ¡°U~, kuon, waaonh.¡± (*yawn* Big brother, good morning.) ¡°Nn¡­¡± (Nn¡­) Lancer, who was sleeping beside my sister, also woke up and stretched as the sunlight filtered through the trees. After I finally woke up and stretched out, I spent the morning hours peacefully as I waited for Buster and Ax to stir, and finally decided to once again inspect the loot we had laid out in the square before they roused. The loot was mostly Short Swords and Long Swords, but there were some other weapons too like a Bow, a Slingshot, a Great Sword, a Hand Spear, and finally, the Head Bandit¡¯s War Hammer was in here too. Additionally, we had found a whetstone too among the provisions that we acquired from the bandits. As for the armor, most of what we got was light armor, but there was also Brigandine armor, which is basically small metal pieces embedded in light armor. However, when I tested it out, it turned out that it was not compatible with us Kobolds as it would affect our agility. In the end, it seemed like we would have to continue relying on light leather armor. We had acquired about a dozen Leather Armors in the loot this time, this was not including the pieces that were rendered useless by Buster and Ax¡¯s slash attacks and Blazer and Lancer¡¯s thrust attacks. ¡°Gurua, garuguruuaoh.¡± (Chief, let me have this.) Buster lifted a double-handed Great Sword from the pieces of equipment laid out. The one he has been using up until now had already been quite worn down and chipped in places. Well, if one always wielded their weapon with all their might, then the damage due to wear and tear would naturally increase. ¡°Gua, waonn.¡± (Sure, go ahead.) ¡°Garuaonn.¡± (Thanks.) As the massive, black-armed Kobold tested out the heaviness and compatibility of his brand new Great Sword, I picked up a projectile weapon from the arms that were on the ground. ¡°Waoan, garugoan?¡± (Blazer, do you think you can use this?) ¡°Wau, kuruun uooon¡­¡± (Ah, that human¡¯s weapon, huh¡­) I picked up a pebble lying by my feet and loaded it into the Slingshot, and aimed it at a tree standing at the edge of the central square. After I released the Slingshot, the pebble flew and got stuck in the tree and a few wood splinters were blown off from the impact. ¡°Garu¡­ guooagau.¡± (This is¡­ perfect for surprise attacks.) I threw the Slingshot at an interested Blazer who deftly caught it with his hands. After that, I noticed that his Long Sword was also quite damaged, so I replaced it with one from the loot. ¡°Gurua, guruuu?¡± (Boss, what about mine?) ¡°Guruoan, uooon.¡± (There are no Battle Axes this time, but would you like a sword instead?) ¡°Nn~, guruoaoon.¡± (Hmm, my Battle Axe seems fine for now.) ¡°Guruu kuugaoon.¡± (I would like to have a Short Sword too.) In other words, he did not replace his weapon since we did not have anything similar to what Ax currently used. My sister liked the dagger made from the jet-black unicorn¡¯s horn that we got from ¡°Balberra Forest,¡± so she only replaced her auxiliary dagger with a new one. ¡°Guu, guruu, garuouoonh.¡± (Well, I guess everyone prefers the weapons that they¡¯ve gotten used to.) Lancer seemed to be comparing the new Spear with the one she had been using, but in the end, it seems she decided on the conventional spear that had more reach and also smartly secured one of the daggers for herself. Furthermore, the armors we acquired this time allowed me to equip all 5 Kobolds, except for Ax, with Leather Armor. As to why Ax did not have any armor, it was because none of the bandits who owned the light armors matched his more than 190 centimeters tall, macho frame. While he was rummaging through the defensive armaments, Blazer stated that he would stop using a shield because it hindered his movements, and equipped steel gauntlets on his arms that could allow him to perform certain patterns of attacks. By the way, we realized early on that the cloaks were unnecessary, so we tore and processed them into cloths and rags. And so, everyone¡¯s equipment after reorganizing was as follows: Name: Buster (Male) Weapon: Bandit¡¯s Great Sword (replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Dagger (Female: Sister) Weapon: Thrusting Dagger (Main), Bandit¡¯s Dagger (Auxillary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Blazer (Male) Weapon: Bandit¡¯s Long Sword (Main: replaced), Bandit¡¯s Slingshot (Auxillary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor, Steel Gauntlet(replaced) Name: Ax Weapon: Battle Axe Armament: Shield Name: Lancer Weapon: Spear (Main), Bandit¡¯s Dagger (Auxillary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Archer (Male: me) Weapon: Bow and Arrow (Main), Bandit¡¯s Short War Hammer (Auxillary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor ¡°Wafu? Guruua wafiruooufu.¡± (Huh? I¡¯m the only one who hasn¡¯t changed weapons!) While Ax was voicing his discontent for some reason, I looked at the Short War Hammer I had secretly secured for myself. The weapon had an iron core, and it featured a thick and sharp spike on one side and a hammerhead on the other side. With this, I could probably vary my fighting style by quite a bit! After equipping ourselves, we proceeded with distributing the remaining weapons to the three to six-year-old Kobolds. Now more than a dozen of our brethren were finally equipped with leather armor and iron weapons aside from us. CH 29 After distributing our loot, I sat there absentmindedly as I looked at the other Kobolds in the settlement who looked happy despite feeling a little uncomfortable with the leather armor they had put on. In an attempt to develop the cultural life of the pack, we had ventured into the northeast along the Steele River once, but¡­ now that I had looked at the map Muriel carried with her, I understood that it was difficult to advance in that direction. Since in the northeast was both ¡°Balberra Forest¡±, the skull-marked, dangerous territory, and to the north was Warren City, the core city of the Ferias Territory in the Kingdom of Riastize. Both were very risky to approach. ¡°Garuu, wafan¡­¡± (We should go to the south after all¡­) Easteria Forest, where we live, is part of the continent¡¯s largest forested area that stretches across the national borders of nations, and to the south of it lies the Ancient Forest where the Elves live. I did not want to go that far, but I would like to explore the south at least once¡­who knows, we might find something unexpected. And since our settlement is very close to Viel village and the town of Zelgra, we cannot ignore the fact that we risk being found by the humans, so just to be safe, it would also be wise to find another location for the pack to relocate to in case of emergency. Also, Lancer was the only one out of the six of us who had not evolved yet, so I thought it would be a good idea to make it one of the goals for our next journey¡­ ¡°Wau, kuruaaoon, vaaugaruo uuooruon.¡± (Well, that¡¯s just my reason, but I just really want some stimulation and change.) Maybe it was the nature of all living things to travel in search of something new. (It more or less served a real purpose, though.) As I was making up my mind to venture into the southern part of the forest, I called my tall, skinny childhood friend over. ¡°Waoan, guaru gauruwooonh.¡± (Blazer, I¡¯m entrusting you with protecting the pack for now.) ¡°N, voaaon?.¡± (Sure. You¡¯re going out again?) ¡°Wafu, woarufauon¡­¡± (Yes, we¡¯re going to the southern part of the woods.) After that brief talk, I called over Ax too. ¡°Gurua, garuon?¡± (Boss, what¡¯s up?) ¡°Wauuh, guruuuooon.¡± (Axe, I¡¯m leaving the pack in your care too.) As I asked the two of them to take care of the pack in my absence, I looked at my beloved brethren who happily held their weapons in their arms. ¡°Wauan voruaoon.¡± (Go train them, okay?) ¡°Waoon, gurua.¡± (Yes, Boss!) ¡°Guonh.¡± (Of course.) If I only left the training to Blazer, then his habits would heavily influence the others, but Ax¡¯s pensive nature should balance it out to some extent¡­ After spending several days in the settlement to prepare for the journey, the four of us¡ª Dagger, Buster, Lancer, and I set off for the southern part of Easteria forest. But our main problem along the way was primarily our supply of water. It wasn¡¯t as accurate as the map that the red-haired mage had, but according to the map we found among the bandits¡¯ possessions, it would take a two day¡¯s walk from the south of the settlement to reach a tributary of a river different from the Steele River. Just in case, each of us had prepared 4 day¡¯s worth of water in several leather flasks. We intended to turn back once we could not find a water source and had used about half of the total amount of water we brought, but¡­ ¡°Kyuu, kuuao~n.¡± (Big brother, it¡¯s the river!) Despite our secret fears, we found a water source in the form of a tributary on the afternoon of the second day just as we expected. Moreover, there was also spring water in the vicinity. I had also seen some beech trees here and there that store a lot of water¡­The south part of the forest might be blessed with plenty of water. As I was speculating for a bit, the sound of splashing water brought back my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Buster had stepped into the shallows, drew some water into his flask, and thirstily gulped it down. Gulp, gulp¡­ ¡°Gafah!¡± (Puhaa!) ¡°¡­Guoruwoaruu kuruaounh.¡± (Don¡¯t drink too much or your stomach will become upset.) As I sat down on a rock by the riverbank, I watched Lancer, who had always been good at taking care of people, admonishing our large childhood friend, and my sister, who had been playing in the water, move her large fox ears with a twitch. ¡°Wafa, kuoarun?¡± (Can you hear that?) When I listened carefully, I could hear it too. Is this¡­ the sound of someone screaming? ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ By nature, all living creatures live along rivers or other potable water sources. The same is true for both humans and demi-humans and a small distance away from the river where the strange dog kin arrived at, lay the Lucua village where the Werecats and their families lived. Rather than magical beasts, they looked more like humans, with the only difference being their cat ears and tails. They have a high level of knowledge and culture, and since they have interacted with humans over the course of their long history, they could also speak the western common language used throughout the continent. And so the village of Lucua, which is home to about 160 cat people and is a quiet rural area that trades with the town of Wyald in the south and the village of Viel in the west, was currently partly engulfed in flames. ¡°Giu, gireusu.¡± (Burn, raging flame.) A small figure in a robe and decorated hood held out their wand and fired several fireballs that burned the houses. In the glare from the flames, the distinctively large nose and pointy-eared face of a Goblin could be seen from underneath the robes. Name: Rock () Race: Goblin Rank: Goblin Warlock Skill: Elementary Magic (Fire, Wind) Title: Sage of the Goblin Tribe Weapon: Wand Armament: Goblin Mage¡¯s Clothes Auxiliary: Mage¡¯s Robe out back This was the subspecies called the Goblin Warlock, who excelled in magic within the Goblin tribe. The Goblin Warlock laughed lightly as he used wind magic to direct winds toward the blazing fire, strengthening the force of the flames. ¡°Dammit! Eat this!!¡± A warrior from the Werecat tribe angrily threw the spear in his hand with all his might as he approached the goblin sorcerer who burned their houses, but¡­ ¡°Gyaoau.¡± (That was dangerous.) Before the speeding hand spear could take down its target, a huge Goblin Heavy Fighter clad in Brigandine Armor blocked it by holding up their Shield. Name: Heavy () Race: Goblin Rank: Goblin Heavy Fighter Skill: Strengthen Arm(Small/Instantaneous), Physical Strength Enhancement (Medium/Instantaneous) Title: Heavily Armed Soldier of the Goblin Tribe Weapon: Battle Axe Armament: Brigandine, Large Shield, Iron Helmet Immediately while the other Goblins¡¯ attention was occupied by the spear-throwing Werecat Warrior, another Werecat Warrior quickly made his way to the Goblin Sorcerer from the right flank! ¡°Move, you¡¯re in the way!¡± ¡°G-gyaah¡± He cut down the Goblins standing in his way mercilessly with brute force and used his momentum to close in on the troublesome Goblin Sorcerer. ¡°Gih, gyaouh.¡± (Haah, I thought I was gonna be killed.) However, the Goblin Sorcerer quickly jumped out of the way just as the Werecat warrior was closing in on him and a tall and lanky variant of the Goblin Swordsman holding a Short Sword in both hands cut-in between them. ¡°Uooooooohhh!!!¡± The Werecat warrior used centrifugal force to take down the Goblin Double Swordsman with a rotating attack, but the swordsman crossed his swords to block the attack and after deflecting the force of the attack, he pulled his blades back and stabbed the enemy in the chest. ¡°¡­ Nnnghkk¡± Targeting the neck of the Werecat warrior who had spat out blood after being stabbed in the chest, it pulled free the other blade and swung it towards its enemy. Name: Sword () Race: Goblin Rank: Goblin Swordsman Skill: Ambidextrous Arm Strengthening (Medium/Instantaneous) Title: Double Swordsman of the Goblin Tribe Weapon: Twin Swords (Main), Throwing Knife (Auxiliary 1), Dagger (Auxiliary 2) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak With a quick flash of his blade, the Double Swordsman of the Goblin Tribe had sheathed the two swords equipped on each side of his hip, and flashes from numerous Throwing Knives could be seen inside his cloak, giving a strange impression to those who confronted him. ¡°What the heck are you!?¡± The cries from the Werecat warriors could be heard throughout the battlefield; although they had been fighting hard, they were outnumbered, and they fell wounded one after another. As the situation on the Werecat¡¯s side gradually worsened, a large, muscular, High Goblin variant wielding a Greatsword with one hand slowly walked out from within the Goblin¡¯s ranks. Name: Brave () Race: Goblin Rank: Goblin Brave Skill: Battle Cry (Goblin Strengthening), Shining Sword????? Title: Hero of the Goblin Tribe Weapon: Zweih?nder Armament: Leather Armor Immediately after, as if to put an end to those resisting them, the Goblin Brave leading the horde of Goblins let out a loud, magic-laden battle cry that echoed throughout the area. ¡°Gyaugyaoaaah, giigueh!!¡± (Goblin warriors, let your spirits soar!) ¡¾Activated: Battle Cry¡¿ ¡¾Effect: The magic-laden roar increases the Goblin¡¯s morale, enhancing their base abilities.¡¿ ¡°GYAOOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± (UOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!) Responding to the roar of encouragement, an immense fighting spirit surged up one-by-one from within the Goblins, and with the growing intensity of the onslaught, the warriors of the Werecat tribe protecting Lucua village were forced to flee miserably in defeat. CH 30 The Goblins who gained a resounding victory in the battle of Lucua village did not immediately continue pursuit of the fleeing Werecat warriors but rested and gathered their strength while looking after their comrades who sustained injuries. ¡°Gigiu, gyaouh!¡± (Brave, we¡¯re going after them!!) ¡°Gyauaaah!!¡± (Hyahha!!) With more than 10 Goblins under his command, Sword, the Goblin Swordsman who equipped various blades, ordered his subordinates to give chase to the Werecats, while Brave, who commanded the vanguard of the Goblin army also moved to chase after them. ¡°Gigii gia¡­ guan gigiu.¡± (My unit is also going to chase them¡­ Rock¡¯s unit will be the rear guard.) ¡°Guguh.¡± (Sure.) He glanced at the nodding mage who assisted him and shifted his gaze to Heavy, the short and stocky Heavy Warrior. ¡°Gigih, gyaoo?¡± (What are we going to do?) ¡°Giiuo¡­ ¡° (Well¡­) Apart from the Goblins in Heavy¡¯s squad, he himself was slow-footed, so he was unfit to take part in the chase. ¡°Giiru gaa gugiiu.¡± (Heavy¡¯s group will secure this place.) ¡°Gigih.¡± (Understood.) After orders were issued to each of the squads, the Goblin Hero loudly yelled an order as he looked at his brethren. ¡°Giigua giigiruh, gadia!¡± (Let¡¯s attack them with a pincer attack just as planned!) One of the Goblins¡¯ goals was to carry off the female werecats of Lucua village alive. Their species only consisted of males, however, they were capable of interbreeding with any other species and the resulting offspring will always be Goblins. In other words, they needed the females from other species at any cost so they could propagate and prosper. However, if they attacked the village without a plan, then the Goblin¡¯s lumbering manner would be no match for the fleet-footed werecats even with their advantage in numbers, so the only way for them to catch the females was to trap them by chasing them towards a place where their comrades lay in wait to ambush them. Therefore, when they attacked Lucua village, Brave and Rock¡¯s units acted as the main force and attacked from the grasslands situated at the west side of the village, Heavy¡¯s unit attacked from the forest on the east side, and Sword¡¯s unit attacked from the south side, surrounding the village on all three sides. And so, except for a few who were perceptive, most of the Werecats were unknowingly forced to flee towards the northern side of the forest where the Goblins lay in wait. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ While the Werecat Warriors fought against the Goblins who suddenly launched an attack on the village, among the elderly, the women and the children who fled to the northern part of the woods was Liz, a female Werecat with slightly long, black hair. She paired a bottleneck jacket with a short, pleated skirt that was easy to move in, over which she wore leather armor that was the same color as her hair, while a large, Curved Knife hung from her sword belt. She looked like a fine warrior based on her appearance, and her cat ears picked up snippets of the conversations around her as she watched over the citizens who fled towards the forest to escape. ¡°The number of Goblins that attacked¡­was quite a lot, wasn¡¯t it? I wonder if they¡¯re alright?¡± ¡°But Goblins, huh¡­Won¡¯t the village¡¯s warriors drive them away easily?¡± Due to the sudden attack, the Werecats in the village had fled in panic in different directions and thus were divided into several groups. About thirty of them had fled towards the forest, and currently, everyone anxiously talked to each other in hushed tones. (I did hear someone say that the Goblins living in the East of the forest have become active and made appearances around the village lately, but I never expected that they would attack the village.) The goblins they spotted were merely scouts, so the Werecats did not take the situation seriously at that time. (¡­ At any rate, I wonder if my father is alright?) Liz, worried about her father who led the warriors of Lucua village to intercept the Goblins, was praying for his safety when someone suddenly cried out. ¡°R-run!! The Goblins are coming!!¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯re kidding!?¡± ¡°No way!!¡± There was a faint rustle of leaves and the troops of the Goblins¡¯ Double Swordsman who were chasing the Werecat Warriors emerged from the trees. ¡°Tsk¡­¡± Their number was half that of the Werecats, but unlike the Goblins most of the Werecats were elderly, women, and children who could not put up a fight and thus ran away as soon as they saw them. ¡°Kyaah!?¡± ¡°Aaah¡± One of them was unlucky enough to run into the small group of Goblins who laid in wait on the northern side of the forest while trying to escape through the woods and was immediately captured. Liz was also one of the unfortunate ones, as she was unable to avoid several Goblins who suddenly appeared from the bushes when she was running through the forest with two village children in tow. They grabbed and pushed her down. ¡°Giaau!¡± (Hold her down!) ¡°Guouh.¡± (Aye.) ¡°Kyaaah, run away, you two!¡± Her shrill scream stopped the Werecat children in their tracks momentarily, but they ran once again when she pushed them from behind to escape. The Goblins found it unnecessary to chase after them, as they were aiming for the Werecat women from the start. (Trigger Warning: Scenes of Attempted Rape start here) The Goblins swarmed around her while pushing Liz on the ground, holding her limbs down and blocking her movements. They may be small, but they were surprisingly strong, her attempts to struggle and break free were futile as many of them held her down. ¡°Hii¡­!!¡± The Large Knife hanging from her side was taken away, and the leather armor she wore was forcibly torn off by the obscenely grinning Goblins who pushed her down. Liz¡¯s face stiffened in horror. Everyone knew what horrible fate awaited the women they caught. (Tsk, if they have their way with me¡­!) Knowing the tragic end that awaited her, she steeled her resolve and opened her mouth to bite her tongue, but before she could even do anything an old rag was stuffed in her mouth to prevent her from harming herself. ¡°Guu!? Mpfh, muu!¡± ¡°Gyagyah, gyuagireh.¡± (Haha, we can¡¯t understand what you¡¯re trying to say!) It was not uncommon for the Goblins to see the females they captured attempting to harm themselves. As a result, they became used to dealing with strong-willed females like her. When Liz bit the gag as she was about to spit it out, one of them tied a rag around her mouth and grabbed her jacket to forcefully take it off her. ¡°Gih.¡± (Tsk) However, the carefully sewn clothes were not torn easily, and just as the Goblin who straddled her was about to pull out the Large Knife from its scabbard while smacking his lips, she unexpectedly caught the sound of wind cutting through. (Trigger Warning: Scenes of Attempted Rape end here) ¡°Gia?¡± (Heh?) *Foosh* An arrow came flying in and pierced the forehead of the Goblin who had a dumbfounded look on his face as he lost strength and collapsed on top of Liz. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ When we ran to the place where my sister caught the sound of someone screaming with her slightly larger fox ears before we did, we saw a young Werecat female who was about to be abused by the Goblins as a plaything. Dagger and Lancer, who immediately understood the situation, sent us a hand sign. Big brother, let¡¯s finish them. This is unforgivable¡­ By the way, Goblins are one of the races we are hostile with because they hunt down our young and eat them and carry off our women to use them to breed. I had no objections with the girls¡¯ opinion, and with my bow at the ready, I released an arrow towards the Goblin who was straddling the poor Werecat woman. CH 31 In conjunction with the arrow I fired, Dagger, who had the highest burst power damage output out of us all, gripped the cross hilt of her stiletto (her stabbing dagger) and jumped out towards the opponent while keeping herself in a crouching stance. ¡°Waoonn!!¡± (Ei!!) ¡°Gah!?¡± Dagger had crept up behind a Goblin who was defenseless because he was using his entire strength to hold down the left arm of the cat-eared girl and drove her sharp stiletto straight into his heart, instantly killing him. Meanwhile, Lancer, who came out at the same time, used her body weight and speed to skewer the bellies of the other two defenseless Goblins simultaneously who both held down the Werecat¡¯s left and right leg. ¡°Giiiih¡­hh¡­!¡± ¡°Geyah!?¡± ¡°Kuu, waofuh.¡± (Here I¡­ come!) ¡°Giiyaaaah.¡± With another twist of Lancer¡¯s spear, the wound opened on the Goblin¡¯s abdomen widened. The defenseless Goblin who had been stabbed from the front clutched the spear protruding from its belly, while the other Goblin, who was practically stabbed through to its buttocks, screamed in agony as he pressed his hands against the gaping wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Both had sustained fatal wounds, so they died quickly. The last one who saw everything that transpired immediately turned around and ran away in an attempt to escape, but¡­ ¡°Kuaaaann!¡± (We won¡¯t let you run!) Dagger drew her left-hand dagger and threw it at the Goblin, and with a quick spin, it accurately stabbed into the back of the fleeing Goblin. ¡°Giiiih!? Ugaah!!¡± The guy shrieked which turned into a yell of pain halfway through, yet continued to run even as he endured the pain from the dagger sticking out from his back. ¡°Garuofa, wofuh.¡± (Don¡¯t be so careless, sister.) I, who had already readied my second shot, aimed, and released my arrow; it weaved through the sparse trees before it hit the target. ¡°¡­Gaa¡­ a, gefuh¡­¡± The Goblin, who was pierced by the dagger and my arrow, suddenly stopped and instead of yelling, he vomited blood and collapsed. (During my mercenary days, I was a pure close combat fighter, but now, I¡¯m becoming a fine archer too.) That was good enough, but¡­although we had already taken care of the Goblins in the area, a thick tension could still be felt throughout the forest. ¡°Guruo, gaowann.¡± (Everyone, be on your guard!) ¡°Wooonn, gurua.¡± (Leave it to us, Chief.) Both Buster and Lancer left a little ways away and surveyed the area, while my sister slowly approached the carcass of the Goblin who had tried to run away and retrieved the dagger she threw at it. I, on the other hand, turned my gaze towards the female Werecat. During my mercenary days in the desert country of Athos, I had worked with their desert counterparts, so this was not my first time seeing a Werecat. Unlike us Kobolds, they have adapted to living in various lands, are more human in nature, and give the impression of humans with cat ears and tails. (Certainly, it¡¯s not strange for them to inhabit the forest, but¡­) As I speculated about their appearance in the forest, the female Werecat pushed off the Goblin lying on top of her and sat up. As her hand reached for the Large Knife clutched by the dead Goblin who I shot through the head, I held out an open palm in front of me and shook my head from side to side to stop her. After confirming that she had understood and indeed stopped reaching for her weapon, I slowly approached and kicked away the fallen Goblin lying by my feet. After securing a place to sit down, I plunked next to the cat-eared girl. I needed to confirm a few things with her, so I brought out the slate pencil I made with a vertical stone wrapped in some hemp cord from the leather pouch on my waist and directed her gaze to the ground as I began to write out letters. ¡°Why did the Goblins attack you?¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ I was unexpectedly fortunate that I met these peculiar dog people when I was about to fall into a desperate situation. Just as my heart was about to break in despair at being held down by four savage Goblins and being taken advantage of without being able to defend myself as they stuffed dirty rags in my mouth, an arrow pierced the head of the Goblin who vulgarly smiled above me. Nauseated by the awful, bitter taste of the rag stuck into my mouth, I turned away and saw a silver-furred Kobold(?) from a distance who nocked a second arrow in its bow. We all knew that Kobolds were inhabiting the mid-western part of Easteria Forest, as some of my brethren occasionally visit Viel village, which is to the north of our village. ¡­I heard my father say that the Kobolds are small in stature, but the silver-furred Kobold was at least 180 centimeters tall and had an uncharacteristically muscular body¡ª in other words, it had a macho build. As everyone¡¯s attention was drawn by the sudden appearance of the Kobold, two other Kobold, who were also larger than I expected, leaped out from either side of it and used their respective weapons to attack the Goblins holding my limbs down. The remaining Goblin holding down my right arm let go and tried to escape, but it was still within range of the silver Kobold¡¯s bow, and his futile struggle ended soon¡­ Thus freed from my restraints, I removed my gag and took out the lump of dirty cloth that was stuffed into my mouth. ¡°Yech, *cough*¡± I pushed off the disgusting Goblin who had died and collapsed on top of me and got up to take back my beloved Large Knife that the Goblins had taken from me, but the silver Kobold prevented me from doing so. (I¡¯ve heard that Kobolds are intelligent to some extent, but¡­) Looking at the result, it was clear that they just helped save my chastity from the goblins, so I withdrew my hand from my weapon and observed the dull, silver-furred dog kin. And then, he slowly approached and sat down next to me, while his companions began a perimeter check for any remaining hostiles. (It seems like there are also ones that are taller than 190cm, huh¡­So that¡¯s a Kobold too?) A huge, muscular Kobold with black arms? As I was momentarily distracted, the silver-furred Kobold who sat beside me had carved something on the ground. ¡°Y-yes!?¡± I was surprised to see the letters commonly used by us and the surrounding nations. My impression of the Kobold as dumb creatures that was influenced by what I heard from everyone in the village crumbled¡­ (This is not just ¡°a certain extent of intelligence,¡± dad!) And this is how I was rescued by these peculiar dog people. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Character Introduction Name: Liz () Race: Werecat Class: Light-Armored Warrior Skill: Short Sword Technique, Improve Agility (Small/ Instantaneous) Weapon: Large Knife (Main), Throwing Knife (Auxiliary) Armament: Black Leathe CH 32 As I sat next to the Werecat woman with her semi-long, black hair who we had just rescued from being attacked by the Goblins, I decided to assess the situation and gather intel by asking her through the common language of humans by writing letters on the ground with my slate pencil. ¡°It seems pretty noisy in the forest, is something going on?¡± ¡°Yes, Lucua village was attacked by Goblins¡­¡± (The neighboring village, huh¡­) I took out the bandits¡¯ map from the leather pouch on my waist and spread it out on the ground as I studied it carefully and found that Lucua village was located near a river that branched off from the upstream water source, the same one from where we replenish our own water supply. Judging from the scale of the map, I pointed to a place roughly about three kilometers from where we were just to make sure. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s that village.¡± There was no doubt that this was the village that was likely attacked by the Goblins, but¡­ ¡°How many Goblins attacked?¡± ¡°Umm, from what I saw, there were more or less 60 of them who attacked, I guess?¡± ¡°Is that accurate? If you don¡¯t know, then say so, because depending on the situation, any wrong information could be fatal.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going to assume that there will be at least 60 of them.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Also, I think the group of attackers that assaulted you around here were an ambush group. They can¡¯t run ahead of the fleeing Werecats with just their short legs after all.¡± If that was the case, then I cannot make any guesses about the actual number of their ambush troops, and thus I cannot accurately estimate the total number of their current troops, huh¡­ But this is a tricky and troublesome situation¡­ Two days north of here is our settlement, and given the area where we usually hunt and gather food, there¡¯s an extremely high risk that our packmates would encounter the Goblins if they headed there¡­ Furthermore, if they carried off all the Werecat women of this village and gave birth to their offspring, then their numbers will increase even more¡­ ¡°Guruaa, gaugaofu wofuru wooaaouu, garuguruooon?¡± (Buster, it seems like there¡¯s Goblin territory around here, what do you think we should do?) ¡°¡­ Guruaauf, vofuru guorugaooh, gurua.¡± (¡­We can¡¯t just ignore it, those guys are a deadly threat, Chief.) Just as the huge, black-armed Kobold had said, if left unchecked, then the number of Goblins would increase dramatically and it would become a threat to both our settlement and Viel village. Although the town of Wyald located nearby is the most vulnerable location on the map, the probability of them targeting small, defenseless villages around the nearby towns first is pretty high, and our settlement was no stranger to this either. (Looks like we need to nip the problem in the bud¡­) I write on the ground with my stencil again to get a few more detailed information. ¡°Miss cat, when was the attack?¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t been too long since they attacked¡­also, my name is Liz.¡± If it was indeed so, then they had planned to drive the Werecats away from the village and lead them straight to the ambush point¡­If we played our cards right, then we can get ahead of the Goblins. ¡°¡­Those guys are very harmful to us too, so we¡¯ll lend you our power.¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯ll help us!?¡± ¡°It depends on the situation, but we are not doing this for free.¡± ¡°Urgh, if it¡¯s something I can do, then I don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Well, I just tried to mention a reward. Anyway, if we do not find and exterminate those G¡¯s right away, then they would multiply fast and become a pain in the ass¡­ After wrapping up our conversation, we waited for Liz to get her clothes in order and headed south taking more or less the long way around. Judging from what she told me about the situation during the attack, it seems the Goblins herded the Werecats to the northern side of the village where an ambush unit was deployed. If that was the case, then we had to keep them from playing a ¡°game of chase¡± with the Werecats by eliminating the group of Goblins who are holding down and securing Lucua village. This would relieve the pressure off the Werecats and help the defeated Werecat warriors to retreat safely and regroup. With Liz leading the way, we quickly and carefully infiltrated the village¡­ ¡°Lucua village is just up ahead, Archer.¡± I braced myself at those words. As we walked on, we could see the open space in the middle of the forest and the houses standing in the distance. To get a clearer look at the situation inside, we hid in the bushes a little way away from the fence surrounding the village, but a building was in the way, so it was difficult to gauge the situation from where we were hiding. With that being the case, I turned to my sister and sent her a hand sign. Climb the trees and assess the condition. Leave it to me, Big brother. ¡¾Activated: Leap Enhancement¡¿ Dagger leaped to the tree on her right and kicked the trunk to propel herself to a branch of the tree on the left. From there, she leaped onto the higher branches one after another and lightly moved onto one of the treetops. After waiting for a while, we saw Dagger descend from the upper branches and she sent us another hand sign. They are in the village square. How many are there? As if to say ¡°Hmmm,¡± my sister bent and thrust out her left thumb, and, starting from the thumb on her right hand, bent another three fingers. After we close our hand by bending all five fingers, we repeat the action of unbending them to represent numbers. Bending a finger on the left-hand represents 10 while bending one finger on the right means one. And since my sister opened up one finger from the left hand and three from the right that meant thirteen. In other words, there are thirteen Goblins currently occupying Lucua village. Comparing the Goblins¡¯ and our one-on-one combat capabilities, we could handle them by charging from the front, but I thought of another way to fight them more efficiently and safely, so I wrote it on the ground with my slate pencil. ¡°Liz, we need you to be our decoy.¡± ¡°Eh!?¡± We started to move despite Liz¡¯s openly distrusting expression. First, we infiltrated the village from the west side, hiding in the shadows of the houses as we spied on the Goblins guarding the square. Hmm? I¡¯ve never seen a fat one before¡­and it¡¯s huge. It was not as big as Buster, but was it not bigger than me? And it was even better equipped than the others. (Guess I¡¯ll just have to be careful¡­) Now then, the original plan was to let Liz be captured again and round up all the Goblins neatly as they swarmed around her, but she strongly refused and said ¡°No, definitely not!¡± So, left with no other choice, we did the next best option. *clatter* ¡°Gii?¡± A noise from the side of a house near the square caused the Goblins to turn around to see a limping female Werecat. ¡°Uwah!¡± ¡°Gigiah, gugyaoooh!!¡± (What a fool, going back to the village!!) ¡°Giggii, gyau gigiguga!!¡± (Haha, and she¡¯s hurt too!) ¡°Ggrigia.¡± (Lord Heavy.) ¡°Gia, giigiruh.¡± (Alright, let¡¯s surround her.) Under the direction of the huge armed Goblin, three of the Goblins called out and approached the cat girl Liz, but as soon as they came closer, she suddenly jumped into the house and disappeared! ¡°Gia?¡± (Eh?) ¡°Gii!¡± (Wha¨C!?) Suddenly, in her place was a colossal, black-armed Kobold! ¡°Guruaaooooh!!¡± (I¡¯m gonna kick your ass!!) Buster stepped forward with his right foot and unleashed a full-forced slash! ¡°Gugeyah!¡± The vanguard Goblin was slashed diagonally from the right shoulder and sprayed blood everywhere as it fell. While it died, Buster who had raised the tip of his sword a bit after the first attack, and lightly pulled his arm back, stepped forward with his left foot and delivered another stab at the next Goblin. The blow went through its flank and skewered the second Goblin in the abdomen. ¡°Gh¡­ gguha¡­¡± (Gh¡­gguha¡­) ¡°Gyaaoou!!¡± (You bastaaard!!) The third Goblin used his momentum to slash at Buster with his Long Sword, but Buster pulled his left foot backward as he stepped back and held his Greatsword up while backing away, effectively blocking the Goblin¡¯s slash attack. ¡°Gau, guruuuh!¡± (Hah, too slow!) While flinging off his opponent¡¯s blade, Buster took half a step forward, made a fist with his right hand, and punched the Goblin in the face. ¡°Gahah!?¡± And, immediately following up on the Goblin who went off-balance, he raised his Great Sword with both hands and swung down! ¡°Guuruaaah!!¡± (Slash!!) ¡°Giiiaaaaah!!¡± The third Goblin raised an agonized cry of pain and also breathed his last. ¡°A-amazing, in an instant, he¡­¡± Liz, who watched the scene in amazement, was not injured in her right foot, but it was actually an effect of Dagger¡¯s primary illusion magic that made it so. ¡¾Illusion (Primary): Disguise as weak¡¿ ¡¾Effect: To deceive the enemy by pretending that there is a deficiency in one or more body parts and catching them off guard.¡¿ CH 33 ¡°Gauun, guuaonh!¡± (Let¡¯s move, lady!) After cutting down the three Goblins that we had lured, Buster called out to Liz. ¡°Eh? I don¡¯t understand the Kobold language.¡± Even though she could see that the black-armed dog person was talking to her, Liz could not understand what he was talking about. ¡°Gau, gauou¡­¡± (Tsk, no choice¡­) ¡°Kyaah!? H-hey!¡± Giving up on trying to communicate with her, Buster held his Greatsword in his left hand and carried the catgirl like a sack of potatoes under his right arm, as they quickly fled the house from the back. Meanwhile, the Goblins in the plaza heard their comrade¡¯s anguished cries and went on high alert. ¡°Gi, gigiuh! Gigiaoh!?¡± (Wh-what the heck! What happened!?) The heavy-set wearing Goblin Heavy Fighter called out loudly looking towards the back of the house where the catgirl had hidden earlier, but none of his companions he had sent to capture her responded. ¡°Guah, gugiuh!!¡± (Shit, watch out!!) ¡°Giuh!!¡± (AYE!!) The Goblins quickly formed a battle formation with the Goblin Heavy Warrior in the middle ¡ª four in the vanguard, two on each flank, and one in the rear guard. The rearguard Goblin, in particular, was a head taller than the other Goblins and had a muscular body. With his back protected by the strongest of the Goblin Fighters, the Goblin Heavy Warrior stared towards the back of the house where the screams came from. ¡°Giauo giiigiruh!¡± (Go and check the situation!) And so, the vanguard cautiously approached the place from where they last heard the screams of their unresponsive companions¡­ Although it was the right decision to fortify their defenses and become vigilant when they felt the presence of the enemies first. However, the order to spread out their forces to confirm the situation when they heard their companions¡¯ screams was the most foolish thing they did. Even though it was only a short distance away, there was a significant risk that the enemy could exploit the gap in the deployment of their forces, and the guys who went to confirm the situation might be ambushed and put at a disadvantage. (Well, it doesn¡¯t change what we have to do, but¡­) If our opponent scattered his troops, Buster and Liz, Dagger and Lancer and I will try to destroy each of them by repeating the Hit-and-Run tactics. However, if they take up a defensive formation and stand guard, we would knock them out with a magic and slash surprise attack and, depending on the result, decide whether we press on or retreat from the battle. It was unfortunate that we were not able to cut down their numbers further, since they gathered into a defensive formation right away, but¡­ it was also fortunate that they took on a close formation because they prioritized defense. As I hid and peeked out to see what was going on, Buster came out from behind into the full view of the enemies after finishing off the Goblins on the other side, and¡­after taking a deep breath, he roared to catch the Goblins¡¯ attention! ¡°Gaaruoooooooooooonn!!¡± ¡°Gia!?¡± (What the heck!?) ¡°Garugiah!¡± (So even the dog people have that!) As the Goblins turned around to look behind them, the black armed, hulking Kobold rushed forward while carrying the Greatsword on his shoulders, and on either side of him were Dagger who held a blade in both hands and Liz who drew her Large Knife. It was a simple diversionary tactic, but since they could not ignore an enemy who was approaching with an intention to kill, the gazes of the Goblins, including the huge one, were redirected towards them. ¡°¡­¡± I took advantage of the opportunity and crouched low as I ran forward. Quickly determining them to be in the range of my non-human magic, I placed my hands to the ground and released my Earth Magic into the earth. ¡°Vorugauah, garuuaaah!¡± (Devour them completely, Binding Fang!) ¡°!!¡± ¡°Gyaaaaaaah¡± ¡°Gugea!!¡± Suddenly, the Earth Fangs sprouted from the ground and pierced the Goblins one after the other, and locked their movements while inflicting wounds. This was the non-human magic, ¡°Binding Fang¡±, which I had used to immobilize the bandits in Viel village before. Unlike last time, I had not buffed myself with Battle Cry, but both the quality and the quantity of my magic had improved drastically, probably an outcome of my daily training. Therefore, the Fangs of the Earth were larger, more numerous, and more powerful than before, but¡­naturally, I was unable to round them all up at once. ¡°Guaguru vorufa¡­¡± (I took out 7 of them, huh¡­) The two Goblins who were just outside the range of my ¡°Binding Fangs¡±, along with the Goblin Fighter who sustained a bleeding leg wound yet raised his machete and attacked. ¡°Gyaoaaaaaa!¡± (Take thiiiiiiisssss!!) *clash* I blocked the attack from the machete with my short War Hammer as I stood up, with our crossed weapons as the pivot point, I half-turned and slammed the hilt of my weapon in the Goblin Fighter¡¯s face. ¡°Gugi!?¡± Once I gained some distance from my opponent who recoiled from the pain of the hit, Lancer, with her spear in hand, rushed out from my side like a roaring gale wind! ¡°Voruau kuaruaann!¡± (It¡¯s all about speed!) According to the laws of physics, kinetic energy depends on the mass and speed of the object and thus is one of the most fundamental factors that determine the penetration power of the spear. However, there was no way that a Kobold would understand such a complex reasoning, and pursuing speed during attack was just a mere guideline Lancer discovered intuitively ever since she got the Spear¡­ ¡°Gugaaaaaaaah! Gah¡­ ah¡­ guh¡± In any case, her spear pierced right through the Goblin Fighter¡¯s gut and brought it down. And as if her defeating the opponent signaled her crossing the threshold, Lancer¡¯s consciousness blurred as it was consumed by the white light. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Varuo¡­¡± (It¡¯s all white¡­) I suddenly found myself in a completely white space, and in front of me was a shining Silver Spiral Staircase¡­ I was confused for a moment, but then an incredible amount of knowledge flowed into my head, and I understood what this was. However, what was at the end of the spiral was not disclosed yet. (Rather, I wonder if everybody had seen this before?) It¡¯s okay to climb, right? ¡°Gaon, guruon guruooa¡­¡± (I mean, everyone seems to have climbed already¡­) If it were in this place, then I could understand why my friends¡¯ appearances changed. In fact, I was just a little envious of everyone, so I was relieved when I too received congratulations and applause as I took one step, and then another, and climbed the Silver Spiral Staircase. I did not understand why I felt that way, so the praises that came my way made me a little uncomfortable, but¡­ that feeling was just a fleeting thought. Before long, my consciousness was bathed in white light, and I awakened back in reality. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Oouah, kuuau!!¡± (You¡¯ve evolved, Lancer!!) ¡°Wafi?¡± (What?) Lancer¡¯s limbs and the tip of her tail had all become covered in white fur, as she held the Spear that pierced the Goblin Fighter. Also, a slightly warm wave of magical power flowed from her. Name: Lancer (Female) Race: Kobold Rank: Kobold Holy Lance Skill: Leg Strengthening (Intermediate/ Effect is Instantaneous), Primary Magic (Holy) Title: Healer of the Forest Weapon: Spear (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Since we were currently in the middle of battle, there was no time for us to be distracted. ¡°Giigiu, gyaoooooo!¡± (How dare you do this to my friends!!) Without caring about ripping open his wounds, the giant goblin let out a roar, as he freed himself from the ¡°Binding Fangs¡± with brute force and attacked us. CH 34 As he stepped forward with his dominant foot, the large Goblin Heavy Warrior used his Scutum Shield[1] to push aside the Goblin Fighter in front of him who was skewered by the iron spear and the sudden movement ruined Lancer¡¯s balance, since she was still holding onto her Spear handle. ¡°Kua!?¡± (Kuh!?) As she staggered back, the huge Goblin raised his large Battle Axe and swung it down with full force; its strength magnified by the weight of the Axe head. The strength of the blow however did not match up to the full force of Buster¡¯s one-hit Slash. ¡°Kuuauh!¡± (Lancer!) ¡°Kyuann!¡± (Ukyaah!) Quickly letting go of her Spear, Lancer jumped back diagonally to avoid the swing of the Battle Axe, but¡­ *Break* ¡°Guh, guruu vorukuuh!!¡± (Wah, my Spear!!) The force from the blow cleaved her beloved spear in two. ¡°Garuoh¡­!!¡± (Dammit¡­!!!) Lancer angrily pulled out the dagger from the sheath in her sword belt and made a fist with her right hand as she took a half step back and got into an assault position. This was one of the most basic stances when fighting with a short blade. The intention was to reduce the area of the body that could be attacked by positioning the blade in front of you and angling the body away showing only the side of the body and thus making it harder for the heart and internal organs to be targeted. However, her opponent was not one that could be easily killed by a single Dagger¡­ ¡°Gaugaruuh.¡± (Get out of here.) ¡°Woaonn, gurua.¡± (We¡¯ll leave the rest to you, Boss.) Timing my attack as soon as Lancer jumped away from the range of the Battle Axe once more, I moved forward from the opposite direction and raised my Short War Hammer as I closed the distance. ¡°Guruaoooh!!¡± ¡°Ugaaaaaah!!¡± In response to the blow that I unleashed with a roar, he too raised his spirits and charged forward with his Great Shield for a shield bash. ¡°Gahah!?¡± The defensive counter I made with my Short War Hammer was overwhelmed by the added weight of the giant Goblin in his attack. Even as I staggered, I managed to somehow maintain my stance, but he did not miss a beat and raised his Battle Axe for a follow-up attack. ¡°Gaaah!!¡± Even though I immediately jumped back to evade, my right shoulder was shallowly cut and blood oozed from the wound. In the lull following the attack, from the edges of his vision, the huge Goblin caught sight of Dagger as she stepped on the heads of the other Goblins who were stuck with the ¡°Binding Fangs¡± and leaped high to attack from behind. ¡°Vuruaaann!!¡± (I¡¯m gonna stab you!!) Using the momentum of her descent, my sister clutched both of her daggers in an underhand grip and stabbed them into the huge Goblin¡¯s back. *clash* *stab* ¡°Ggaaaah!?¡± Of the two daggers, the ordinary Dagger we obtained from the bandits bounced off the small iron plate implanted within the Brigandine armor, but the stiletto, which was made from the Black Unicorn¡¯s Horn, cut through the links of the small iron plate and pierced deeply into the enemy¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°Guruaah! Wofuh!!¡± (Wonderful! That¡¯s my sister!!) Dagger switched places with me and maintained a safe distance from the huge Goblin after her attack. I then gathered wind magic in my left hand and with a roar charged at the enemy who had lost his balance. ¡°Uugah!!¡± The huge Goblin held up his Shield to defend, but I hooked the claw of my Short War Hammer at the edge of the Shield and using that as a pivot moved around the outer side, and slammed the heel of my left palm on his face! ¡°Giuuh!?¡± ¡°Wofu, voruou!¡± (O wind, tear them to pieces!) Catching hold of his face, I unleashed the non-human wind-attribute magic ¡°Wind Cutter¡± at close range. *Whoosh* ¡°Geah¡­ah¡­ nnghhk¡­¡± I was completely bathed in the guy¡¯s blood as it spurted out, but I wasn¡¯t bothered by it. There was a slight delay, but then the helmet that the huge Goblin wore dropped with a *clang* and rolled on the ground¡­ As I moved my gaze after I finished the enemy, the other two Goblins who escaped my ¡°Binding Fangs¡± were also taken care of by Buster and Liz, and the battle at Lucua village¡¯s town square had already concluded. All that remained were the Goblins whose lower bodies were stuck on the Earth Fangs. They did not seem to possess any flying devices and as such posed no threat. After confirming the situation, I checked on my own condition. Maybe it was because I saw Lancer¡¯s evolution earlier¡­ so I was wondering if there were any changes after I took down the variant Goblin too. ¡°Tsk, so nothing changed, huh.¡± As I felt a bit of disappointment, the agonized cries of a Goblin suddenly rang out. ¡°Giaaaaaaaah!!¡± When I turned around to see what was going on, I found Liz driving her Large Knife into the chest of one of the Goblins caught up in the ¡°Binding Fangs¡±. ¡°Youuuu!! How dare you do that to my brethren!!¡± ¡°Gi¡­i¡­ah¡­¡­uhh.¡± The bodies of several Werecat warriors who fought at the village square were strewn about. The sight of them seemed to fuel her anger, causing her to repeatedly stab her blade into the already dead Goblins. Those Goblins were supposed to meet their ends anyway so I let her do as she pleased. I then raised my Short War Hammer deliberately to end their lives. ¡°Gu, gugiao¡­¡± (He-help me¡­) It seemed to be saying something, but¡­ I could not understand what it was saying, so I mechanically drove the claw of my Short War Hammer into its skull. ¡°Gea¡­ ah¡­¡± I killed the rest of the writhing Goblins together with Liz, and as I drove my Short War Hammer into the skull of the last one, my consciousness was dyed in white. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ And so, I awakened to the sound of blessings and congratulations pouring out of nowhere. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the Spiral Staircase that shined white. ¡°Gau, waofuruau guruoou¡­¡± (Now then, let¡¯s climb up and aim for the top this time¡­) I did not know what was at the top of it either, but apparently, everyone seems to want to know what lies at the end of it. Some were waiting in anticipation, while some were giving up on it, and some even came to hate it. Leaving that aside, things like the ¡°truth¡± and ¡°essence¡± are not the same concept. The truth refers to the absolute truth only, while essence is something that is close to it, but different. If the target I used for archery training was the truth, then the surrounding was the essence. Reaching the top is not the truth, but it is not a state where it is devoid of its essence either¡­ The others gather here and share a part of that essence, but the truth they all seek is quite different. (Well, it doesn¡¯t concern me) My feet became heavy as I thought of such things, and the memory of this place blurred and disappeared. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Au, kuon wofuaoounn?¡± (Huh? Big brother, has your aura changed?) ¡°Garuu, vorukuooun¡­¡± (This¡­ It seems the quality of my magic power changed¡­) There was not much of a physical change, but if I had to say something, then my fur had somewhat turned to a glossy silver color and my body overflowed with magic and life force. Name: Archer (Male: me) Race: Kobold Rank: Elder Kobold Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth?Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement), Magic Enhancement (Small, Constant), Howling Noise (Inhibits Magic for a Period of Time) Title: Sage of the Forest Weapon: Bow and Arrow (Main), Short War Hammer (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor It looks like I¡¯ve evolved again¡­ ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Notes [1] Scutum Shield ¨C they are large rectangular shields typically as high as the wielder and are used by heavy fighters for both defense and offense. CH 35 ¡­ If I focused my consciousness and looked inside myself in detail, I could intuitively understand the power that resides within my body. At present, it seems that the amount of demi-human magic I could handle has risen significantly; if I did not use it, the gap between awareness of my increased magic capacity and sensation of my increased magical power will not be filled. (So my affinities are still Wind and Earth¡­) There was perhaps the possibility that I could only use Earth and Wind attribute magic. I do not know if it was because I acquired the new skill ¡°The Roar that Inhibits Magic Circulation¡±, but I could strongly feel the presence of a different power residing inside me. ¡°Gaua¡­vogua garuaaouu, gurua.¡± (Well¡­ looks like you¡¯ve surpassed me again, Chief.) I heard Buster grumbling about it, but if we sparred against each other, I¡¯m sure he would be stronger than I am. I have a feeling that my development is leaning more towards a magic practitioner type role. And since it was dangerous when sparring with friends, I do not use magic so I am at a natural disadvantage against the warrior types like Buster and Ax. (¡­ Alright, let¡¯s work out from now on.) As I finished gathering my thoughts, I suddenly felt a pang of pain. ¡°Kuh¡± Speaking of which, the huge Goblin¡¯s Axe had slightly cut my right shoulder. I did not feel the pain much during the fight, but now it stung. ¡°Kuon, kuruaan?¡± (Big brother, are you okay?) My worried sister approached me, and after checking the wound on my shoulder, she started licking it up. ¡°¡­¡± I wonder why beasts and Kobolds lick open wounds? The mothers in the settlement used to lick their pups whenever they were injured, but sometimes, it was too much and made the wound worse instead¡­ Alright, let me get her to stop. *lick* ¡°Wafuh.¡± (Ah!) As I kept my sister from licking my wound by pushing her head away, Lancer, who had been trying so hard to fix her broken Spear since earlier, called out to me. ¡°Gurua, woafu kuruaanh.¡± (Boss, I think I can heal you.) She extended her white, furry paws over the wound on my shoulder and focused her attention. ¡°¡­ Kuruaonn.¡± (¡­ Holy Light of Healing.) ¡°Oooh!¡± My shoulder wound gradually started closing up as it was enveloped in the warm phosphorescence¡­ It was the first time that someone among my brethren has been able to use recovery magic, but honestly, it was very reassuring to have a healer in the group. ¡°Waoan.¡± (Thanks.) As I was expressing my thanks to Lancer, I noticed her hand that was missing the usual Spear¡­ Looking for something that could be a substitute, I saw that one of the Goblins who was caught on the Earth Fangs held a worn-out spear. It looked like a true Goblin Spear; its tip was made of metal even though it was rusted. So I grabbed it and handed it to Lancer. ¡°¡­Gurua, garuaoon?¡± (¡­Boss, are you telling me to use this?) She had a subtle look of disgust on her face, but she reluctantly accepted it because beggars can¡¯t be choosers, and we cannot stop after making a breach in the Goblin backlines. ¡°Hey, Archer, what are we going to do after this?¡± ¡°Gaoua¡­¡± (Well¡­) Currently, the plan was to join up with the Werecats who had fled Lucua village. And to that extent, Liz would be leading us towards her brethren. After that, we could either use our current numerical strength to deal with the situation, or go back to the village and annihilate the Goblins with both the Dog race and Cat race people together, but I could not make my decision because I cannot determine the exact number of enemies and the strength of the Werecats. Since there are many things we needed to confirm and there was nothing we could do even if we stayed here, ¡°Garuo, gaouoonh.¡± (Everyone, let¡¯s retreat for now.) I pointed to the forest on the west side of Lucua village so Liz could understand, and we started to move. She looked one more time at the bodies of her fallen brethren that were in the plaza before following us. We then moved through the forest for a while, and after we were at distance from the Werecat¡¯s village, I asked my companions to stay alert and hold ground as I returned alone to gather more information on the Goblins. Considering that they left some of their forces in Lucua village, I was certain that the Goblins planned to come back. At that time, the group who chased the Werecats to the north side of the forest would surely come back, so I hid in the treetops, looking for a tree that would allow me an unrestricted view of the surrounding area. And so, I hunkered down and waited for the Goblins, and they returned a little less than a quarter of an hour, I guess? The first one that emerged from the trees was a squad of a dozen or so led by a hooded, sorcerer type Goblin, accompanied by two Werecat women whose hands were tied with ropes. Their left and right legs were also tied together with ropes, and they were prevented from running by limiting their stride. After surveying the scene for a while, they found their large friend lying dead in the plaza, and began to check their surroundings again while watching out for the attackers. In the meantime, about three more groups of Goblins emerged from the forest. They also had about four half-naked Werecat women with them, and from the way they were dressed, it could be seen that they had been defiled on the spot when they were captured. Furthermore, they were also followed by a unit composed of tall, lean Goblins, and a squad of large, well-built Goblins, who seemed to be the last ones to return. Additionally, the squad of hulking Goblins had also captured two Werecat women. (Roughly, there are only about 54 Goblins in their forces now. However, there are three odd ones and a few warrior-class ones under their command¡­) At first, we took out five Goblins in the forest and another thirteen in the village plaza. And then, we found at least 10 Goblins that were likely taken down by the Werecat warriors during the siege. (Hmm, so originally, there were about 80 middle-ranged ones that belonged to their horde, huh.) After confirming that no new goblins have appeared, I jumped over the branches of the trees and returned to my companions. CH 36 ¡°Gigiuagia¡­ gire, giirugizerudorasuh!!¡± (What is the meaning of this¡­ how, how has Heavy been killed!?) Indignant, Brave looked towards his fallen brethren whose faces have been crushed. By nature, Goblins are not that strong as monsters, and thus are creatures who are insensitive to the high mortality rate of their kind at the hands of other species, but that did not seem to be the case with the horde that Brave led. ¡°¡­ Giiru, gyagigiu?¡± (¡­Heavy, what happened to you?) A tall, skinny Goblin Swordsman picked up the unresponsive large Goblin¡¯s helmet and stroked it once before reluctantly placing it near the bodies. ¡°Giiguu gerea¡­¡± (They didn¡¯t leave any survivors¡­) Looking around, the Goblin Warlock mutters and points to the center of the square. ¡°Gaoagire giwegiiuzu, gigirurausu¡­¡± (It looks like their feet were bound with Earth Magic and then they were killed¡­) One of the corpses of their compatriots who were skewered by the earthen clods had a gaping chest wound caused by a blade, while the others were also pierced by a piercing type weapon¡­ Even Heavy¡¯s legs had multiple stab wounds, but some of those were probably caused by the earthen spikes as well. The Goblin Hero Brave who carried a Greatsword on his back deeply thought for a while and summarized their current state after the losses related to the recent attack. (In our first battle with the Werecats, at least 12 have been killed. And now, even the 13 men we left in the village, including Heavy, have all been wiped out, and from the squad that had been assigned to the ambush, 5 haven¡¯t returned yet¡­ Should I think that they were already killed? Dammit!) His sharp gaze, which was laced with anger turned to the captured and bound Werecat women. Some of them were girls who even seemed to still be too young to be considered women. ¡°Uwah¡­¡­¡± ¡°Hiuuh! ¡°Uuuh¡­¡­¡± (Even if we impregnate these bitches, it would still take time before our numbers return to what they were¡­This raid was not worth it, it¡¯s a failure.) Most of all, it was painful to see Heavy, who was part of the higher ranks, among their lost comrades, so a reduction in their strength was inevitable, as their original force of about 80 had been reduced to about 50 personnel. Moreover, the fact remained that with the losses they suffered, they should consider a retreat. ¡°Giaua gea giiigiru?¡± (Have we underestimated the Werecats?) ¡°Gigiu, gaa kyuau.¡± (Brave, we should get out of here.) After similarly surveying their surroundings and pondering, the Goblin Swordsman, Sword, suggested. (As I feared, it¡¯s time to move¡­ but it¡¯s impossible to do it right now.) The Goblins¡¯ base of operations was a cave in the forest about a full day¡¯s walk east of this place. Originally, the Goblins had been moving from place to place in the forest in search of prey, and it was only recently that they began to focus their activities around that location. Yesterday, they camped at a place a short distance away from the Werecat¡¯s village, and since they moved from there and began their raids in the early afternoon, it was now time for the sun to set in another hour or two. Besides, their fatigue from moving and raiding had already accumulated. If they started moving right away, then the odds were good that they would be ambushed in their fatigued states by the Werecats who had the advantage of moving in the night. (¡­The Werecats have the advantage at night after all.) It was for the same reason that they avoided a night raid this time. The Goblins can see a bit at night, but it was not as good as the Werecats¡¯, so a night-time raid would work against them. If that¡¯s the case, then it is not wise to retreat under the moon, or to camp in the dark forest. Even if there was some risk, they planned to light a campfire in an area with a good view of the village as originally planned, and after recuperating their strength and energy, they were to retreat as soon as possible. ¡°Giiido, gian giigugia, giiigugia gigusu¡­¡± (Sword, everyone is tired, and those guys have the advantage at night¡­) ¡°Gea, gausu giiusu?¡± (So should we make camp here?) Brave nodded at the suggestion, and the Sorcerer Rock gave instructions to their gathered comrades. ¡°Kuadou goaozu giiigiruh!¡± (Go in groups of four and search the houses!) ¡°GIUH!!¡± (AYE!!) Responding to the orders, the Goblins called out to their nearby compatriots and formed more than a dozen groups of 4 each to go around and check the houses all over Lucua village. Some of the houses were locked, but they smashed them down with their hand axes and stepped in. They also checked if any Werecats were lurking inside, and secured any food, water, alcohol, tools, and other necessities at the same time. After a few moments, numerous reports that no Werecats were lurking in the village were brought back by the groups sent out by Brave, along with the loot they gathered. ¡°Giuu¡­¡± (I see¡­) ¡°¡­ Gii, giirugu gaagua gireuzesutoru?¡± (¡­ Hey, should we just leave Heavy and the others like this?) Only a few Goblin hordes have the custom of mourning for their dead, so the custom had not taken root in them either, but Sword, who felt uncomfortable spending the night while leaving the bodies of their friends unattended, asked. ¡°Gua gireusu giiresu.¡± (I will send them off with my flames.) ¡°¡­ Giia.¡± (¡­ I¡¯ll leave it in your hands.) The bodies of the Goblins lying all over Lukua village were gathered in one place, and Rock held out his wand toward them. ¡°Gia, gireusuh.¡± (Burn, Raging Flames!) The flames released from the wand burned their brethren¡¯s bodies, and with the smell of burning flesh, smoke rose into the evening sky. As he watched the smoke rise, Brave sent a silent prayer. The principle behind their actions was no doubt a Goblin¡¯s, and Brave, impelled by instinct, attacks and eats other creatures, but in a corner of his mind, he harbored love and sympathy for his comrades. With that kind of mindset, there was no doubt that he was indeed the ¡°Hero¡± of the Goblin Race. Under his command, the Goblins were divided into rest and night watch teams while spending the night in the village. CH 37 In my experience, small-scale guerilla warfare combat tactics consist of two processes: ¡°ambushing¡± and ¡°hit-and-run¡±. The advantage we had right now was that the Goblins were on the defensive, allowing us to decide when and where to execute our ¡°ambush¡±. Simply put, we could choose to wait and ambush them when they were the weakest at night. However, we could also choose ¡°not to commence¡± an ambush. My former mercenary captain once said that one should not attack when the information about the enemy is unknown, and it was an iron-clad rule I still follow until today¡­ I remembered this as I sat on the ground and swept my gaze over my companions. ¡°Guruam woruooan?¡± (Chief, what are we doing next?) ¡°Wafuaaooan, gurua.¡± ( Boss, you¡¯re thinking of something again, aren¡¯t you?) I do not want you guys to look at me with so much expectation¡­ ¡°¡­ gauruaguruonn.¡± (¡­Let¡¯s join forces with the Werecat warriors.) I spread out the map on the ground and pointed out where I estimated the Werecat warriors were likely to retreat. If they were forced to decide how to respond to a sudden Goblin attack, then they would not have enough time to bring out enough supplies. In that case, it was obvious that they would head to a place near a water source if they were to leave the village temporarily. Therefore, if we headed from Lucua village towards the upstream river where we had refilled our flasks before, then there was a high possibility that we would meet the Werecats who had escaped. I beckoned Liz, who was staring at the map, to sit beside me, and I took out the slate pencil from my leather pouch and wrote on the ground. ¡°Liz, I would like to join forces with your brethren. I¡¯m counting on you to explain the situation to them.¡± ¡°Sure, leave it to me. I hope my mother and father are fine, though¡­¡± Although she looked anxious, her expression brightened up a bit as she responded. She was going to be reunited with her people after all, so it was natural that she would be happy. ¡°Wooonh.¡± (Let¡¯s go.) With me in the lead, and Buster in the rear, Dagger, and Liz, who had better hearing, took on the role of scouting the surroundings for any potential hostiles, we carefully advanced to the north of Easteria forest and returned to the tributary of the Sherna river, which was located northeast of Lucua village. Liz¡¯s gaze was glued to the river. Well, it was natural that all that running and fighting would make one thirsty after all¡­ it seems I did not go wrong with choosing to look for the escaped Werecats near the river upstream. It was easier than writing on the ground, so I sent her a hand sign to indicate the river. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m a little thirsty¡­¡± Dagger and Lancer followed her as she went to the river¡­ there was water in my leather flask, but it was already lukewarm, and she probably wanted something cooler. Buster and I looked at each other and headed to the river as well. After a short break, we followed Liz from a distance as she headed upstream along the slightly winding Sherna river. If a huge Kodold suddenly appeared near the frightened escapees, it would be a source of confusion after all¡­ Or so we thought, however, the plan backfired. Just after Liz made her way through the trees to navigate the big winding river, she spotted her father and her friends up ahead and impulsively ran up to them. ¡°Wafih!?¡± (What!?) ¡°Kuon!¡± (Big brother!) And so, Dagger and I, who were clueless as to what was going on, followed her through the trees¡­ And spotted the armed Werecats up ahead. ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°Liz!? We¡¯re going to save you!!¡± Her father reached for the weapon on his waist as he ran past his daughter, who was coming towards him. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Gua, garuh!¡± (Hey, watch it!) From their perspective, it seemed like the Werecat girl was being chased by macho Kobolds, and as the screams of the evacuees were heard from behind, a roar rang out as if to drown it out. ¡°Uoooooooooo!!¡± The slender, black-haired, and gentlemanly cat-eared man vigorously took a big step forward as he pulled the blade from the scabbard and pointed his saber at us. ¡°Guruoh!?¡± (Uoo!?) *clash* I managed to somehow make an abrupt stop and leaned my body backward as I blocked the attack with my Short War Hammer. At the same time, I moved my right foot forward and kicked my opponent in the stomach. ¡°Gahah!?¡± The gentlemanly Werecat who had indiscriminately fired a series of slash attacks at me jumped back and maintained a stance to mitigate the impact he received from my block. Furthermore, the Werecat warrior who rushed in as a follow-up confronted Dagger, who, while looking for a slip in her defense, readied the Buckler[1] on his left hand and pulled back the sword on his right hand and tipped it down¡­ and from there, it seemed like he was trying to parry Dagger¡¯s attack and then follow up with a sudden upward slash attack. ¡°Garuukuon!¡± (As if I¡¯d let you!) ¡¾Activated: Leap Enhancement¡¿ Dagger, who got the better of him, crouched low and leaped forward, and delivered a full-body kick to her opponent who crossed his arms to block the attack! ¡°Naah!? Guuu!!¡± ¡°Wuonh!!¡± (Take this!!) He bent backward, unable to withstand the attack, and my sister quickly sent a right uppercut to his jaw from close range and the Werecat warrior stumbled back with a groan. Meanwhile, the spear-wielding Werecat warrior who was a little behind sped up and unhesitatingly rushed towards the similarly spear-carrying Kobold, but¡­ ¡°Ruaku auooh!!¡± (You¡¯re not fast enough!!) The Goblin Spear in Lancer¡¯s hand knocked away the Werecat¡¯s Iron Spear and caused it to miss its mark as the tip of the spear stabbed into the ground, and the opponent, unable to resist the inertia of the assault, followed it. ¡°Uwah!? Gaah!¡± Without missing a beat, Lancer kicked his oddly thrust-out chin with her white, furry legs, and sent the Werecat flying, he was knocked out cold. And so, under the setting sun, facing the four of us were the gentle-featured, black-haired Werecat warrior, the unconscious Werecat Spear-user, and the Werecat warrior who glared at Dagger as he rubbed his bruised cheek while holding up his shield¡­¡­ As the screams of the other Werecats behind them grew louder, and the other Werecat warriors who just came from patrolling the perimeter appeared one-by-one, Liz finally raised her voice. ¡°Hey, Dad! What the hell are you doing!?¡± Surprisingly, the one who Liz had been calling her father since earlier turned out to be the gentle-featured Werecat. Well, he just looked young, but he might actually be quite old. Character Introduction: Name: Wallace () Race: Werecat Class: Werecat Fencer Skill: Sword Drawing Technique, Improve Agility (Small/ Instantaneous) Title: Liz¡¯s Father Weapon: Sabre (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Black Leather ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Editor¡¯s Note: [1] Buckler ¨C A buckler is a small shield, up to 45 cm in diameter, gripped in one hand. It was common as a companion weapon in hand-to-hand combat during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. CH 38 ¡°Liz, stand back. These Kobolds are quite skilled.¡± Liz¡¯s Dad (temporary) held his Saber out in front of him, while the other Werecat warriors slowly took their places, weapons drawn, half-surrounding us¡­ ¡°Gurua, gauoonn.¡± (Chief, we¡¯re surrounded.) ¡°Gaoan? Kuon.¡± (What are we going to do, big brother?) Nggghh¡­ Should we do a tactical retreat before these Werecat warriors surround us? Looking at how the situation was turning out, we might have to consider the option of just leaving these Werecats alone and returning to our settlement. However, those G¡¯s would continue to attack villages indiscriminately as their numbers keep increasing with each raid, and if the threat becomes too great, then the Adventurer¡¯s Guild will host an extermination expedition consisting of numerous parties of adventurers to wipe them out in one swoop. (It doesn¡¯t mean that the pack will definitely be safe, but if we don¡¯t do anything now¡­) Seeing that we were about to leave, Liz stood between us and the Werecat warriors. ¡°Put down your weapon, dad. And you guys too!¡± ¡°Liz, what are you¡­¡± Obeying Liz¡¯s order, we stopped pointing our blades at our opponents as we lowered them to the ground and relaxed our tense postures. Seeing this, Liz¡¯s Dad (temporary) choked on his words. ¡°¡­Everyone put down your weapons. We don¡¯t need to fight them anymore.¡± After a few moments of observation, the Werecat warriors determined that we had no intentions to attack and they similarly removed the weapons pointed at us and lowered them to the ground. It seems that Liz¡¯s Dad (temporary) was the one leading them. ¡°Barrack, you too.¡± ¡°¡­ Tsk.¡± The Werecat warrior who got a taste of Dagger¡¯s right uppercut was somewhat displeased, but he obeyed and lowered his weapon reluctantly. After observing that our opponents had relaxed their stance, we sheathed our weapons, except for Lancer who had to carry her Spear. The Werecats also did the same and sheathed their weapons one-by-one. Seeing that the standoff had ended peacefully, the numerous Werecats behind them also calmed down. And like this, we were finally in a position to talk things over. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Thank you for saving our daughter.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Liz¡¯s Father, Wallace, and her mother, Ermina, bowed their heads. Relief was etched all across Liz¡¯s face, as she sat next to them after she confirmed that her worried parents were safe and unharmed. Currently, the riverside had become the gathering point for all the Werecats who had fled, and they sat along the river bank gathered around with their families. The sun had already gone down, but there was no campfire lit since their kind could see at night as long as there was moonlight. Besides, they may also be trying to avoid having their whereabouts revealed by the smoke. Since they could not make a fire, cooking any prey they hunted was out of the question, so the dinner consisted of berries and other fruits foraged from Easteria Forest. Liz, who sat beside me, also held a fruit that was handed to her by Ermina. Well, it was normal for us Kobolds to eat our food without cooking it through a fire, so the rest of my companions went to procure their dinner on the north side of the forest which was across the river. I was left alone to mingle with Liz¡¯s family. And so, using my beloved stencil, I wrote on the ground to decide our next move. ¡°Where is the leader of your clowder?¡± ¡°Dad, is the Village Chief around?¡± ¡°No, he probably went to Wyald village to seek aid.¡± Considering the time it would take for him to secure any aid and then plan their movements and travel, I could not rely on the reinforcements to arrive in time. Realistically, by the time the earliest reinforcements arrive the Goblins would have long disappeared into the forest. ¡°Then who leads the Werecat warriors?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s the head of the village warriors, then it¡¯s my father.¡± I had the feeling that her father was the leader earlier based on the earlier interaction in the forest, and I was right after all¡­ ¡°Around how many warriors are there?¡± ¡°Ahh, if you include my daughter, then there are 19 warriors.¡± Hmm, including us, that makes it 23 warriors¡­ I do have my intermediate magic, and considering that most of the Goblins are weak individually, we could take out about 50 of them, so the problem is the 3 Goblin variants and the 8 Werecat women they captured. If we were not careful with this, then they could be used against us as hostages. As I considered what to do, I momentarily locked eyes with Wallace, who sat facing me. ¡°¡­Well, let me ask you this, you knew the state of the village and the enemy forces when you came here, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Wauh.¡± (Yes.) ¡°Can you tell us about it?¡± ¡°Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t heard of it either, Archer.¡± There was no reason to hide it from them, so I wrote on the ground when they prompted me for information. ¡°Over 50 Goblins are camping inside the village right now, and they have captured about 8 Werecat women.¡± ¡°¡­It is really unfortunate, but we probably can¡¯t save those people.¡± ¡°Can we really not do anything for them, Dear?¡± The couple¡¯s faces clouded over as they contemplated the fate of their captive brethren. Liz, who could not stand such a scene, tugged at my fur and asked, ¡°Hey, is it really impossible for us to rescue the captives?¡± Hmm, there was the option of waiting for it to get dark and launching a night raid. In that case, since the number of enemies that could respond to the attack would be quite small, thus we could create a situation where we destroy them one by one. However, the Goblins would naturally be alert for any night attack, and there was a high possibility that they would use the captured women as hostages. So if we failed in the ambush, then we would be caught in a standoff. But if we wanted to prioritize rescuing the captives over destroying them, then it would be necessary for us to reach the girls in a flash. In that case, then we have to ambush the Goblins when they are on the move back towards their base and use the break in their ranks to extract their captives. At that time, if we destroy the Greatsword-wielding Goblin leading them, then there would be no chances of pursuit by the other party. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that we can successfully secure them, but¡­¡­¡± ¡°Eh, you can do it?¡± ¡°Where did those Goblins originally come from?¡± ¡°Hmm, they were originally spotted in the east woods.¡± I unfolded the map and followed a tributary of the Sherna River that runs near Lucua Village to the east. Even if they are Goblins, as long as they are living beings, then they cannot escape from the curse of needing a water source to survive either, so although I am just using that as a guideline, I already had an idea where their base was. Moreover, as soon as they depart from Lucua village if we follow their path and make informed guesses, then we would be able to set up an ambush attack. ¡°Wallace, I have a suggestion.¡± If there was a possibility of rescuing their captive brethren and decreasing the threat of Goblins by whittling down their numbers, then this was worth considering as the head warrior of Lucua village¡­ CH 39 As dawn broke and the sky began to change colors, the Goblins who stayed the night in Lucua village began to stir. Yesterday, under the orders of their leader, Brave, they were able to have a proper rest after drinking themselves silly and making merry, so most of the troops appeared to be in good shape. However, their progress was slowed down because of the loot and the captured Werecat women that they had brought with them. ¡°Giu, gigiigiaooh.¡± (Come on, hurry up and walk!) ¡°Utah¡­¡± The Werecat women¡¯s hands were tied in front of them, and even though the Goblins forced them to walk by pulling on the ropes, their footsteps seemed very heavy. They knew that they would be doomed once the Goblins took them to their lair. However, they could not even resist because the Goblins were threatening them with their sharp daggers. ¡°sob *sniffle* sob sob¡± ¡°Uuuuu *sniffle* *sniffle* waaah¡± The sound of the Werecat women¡¯s sobs could be heard loud and clear breaking the peaceful morning that rolled in at Lucua village. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Meanwhile, a silver dog man standing on top of one of the trees that offered a view of the village from the north side, watched the Goblins as they made their way home. ¡°Guruo garuaooh.¡± (Please call everyone here.) ¡°Waon!¡± (Okay!) With a cheerful reply, my sister speedily jumped from tree to tree, returning to the group who lay hidden in a place not far from here. And I carefully made my way to the east entrance of the village and waited for the others to follow as I tracked the Goblin¡¯s destination by following their tracks. ¡°Garuo, kuon.¡± (I¡¯ve called them, big brother.) It did not take long for the Werecat warriors and their families to arrive, and their faces twisted in horror and rage as they took in the state of the destroyed village, and their fallen kin lying on the ground. ¡°Dammit, I¡¯ll make them pay for this!¡± ¡°¡­This is too much!¡± There were signs that several of the corpses had been eaten by the Goblins, making the scene more morbid than we left them yesterday. ¡°Ueh¡­¡± ¡°Uurrrghhh¡­¡± Liz and the other female Werecat warriors retched dryly as they tried to keep their nausea at bay. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s prioritize our living friends first¡­¡± Wallace brought everyone¡¯s attention back as he patted his daughter¡¯s back. The Werecat warriors¡¯ expressions were all full of indignation and anger, and it felt like their bodies were seething with fighting spirit as well. After offering a few minutes of silent prayer for the departed, we started following the Goblins¡¯ tracks. As we had guessed bringing their prisoners along had slowed their marching pace, so we were able to catch sight of the last Goblin. I observed their entourage as they left Lucua village and from what I recall the composition of it was as follows: marching at the front were the group of lean and skinny Goblins, while the middle group consisted of the captured Werecat women, the Goblin sorcerer, and his unit, and lastly, the group at the back consisted of the Greatsword-wielder who seemed to be the leader of the horde and his unit. As I figured out the best way to take out the Goblins, I sent a hand sign to my companions. ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead first.¡± ¡°Roger, Chief.¡± Once they passed at a certain point, it was confirmed that the Goblins¡¯ destination was just as I had predicted, so I took the long way to get ahead of them and hid in between the trees. The Werecat warriors who had likewise followed me similarly laid low in the bushes and under the shade of the trees, their tails wagging impatiently¡­¡­ it looked like their hunting instincts had been awakened? Fortunately, their course did not seem to change, and soon, the group led by the tall, skinny Goblins passed in front of us. A few minutes later, the group led by the Goblin sorcerer which included the captured women who were our targets, approached. I had wanted to release my ranged earth magic, but I could not do it since the Werecat women would be caught up in it. In my left hand, I clutched two arrows along with my bow and nocked an arrow with my right hand. (I would love to shoot that sorcerer first, but if I miss, I might hit the hostages instead¡­No choice.) After I finished the preparations for my attack, I released a magically-charged howl that signaled the start of our counterattack. ¡°Guruaoooooooonn!!¡± ¡¾Activated: Battlecry¡¿ ¡°Gi!?¡± (What!?) ¡°Giauh!!¡± (Where did that come from!?) ¡°Gyaouh!¡± (Be on your guard!) Aiming for the surprised Goblins, the Werecat warriors jumped out from their hiding places in the trees and the bushes and commenced the attack!! ¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone!!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOOH!!¡± ¡°Guruaaaaaaaaah!!¡± (We¡¯ll beat you all!!) ¡°Garuuoa voann!!¡± (I will pierce you with my Spear!!) Aiming for a chance to shoot in the middle of the confusion, I fired my first shot at one of the Goblins guarding the prisoners. *whoosh* ¡°Gyah!¡± Using the arrows I held with my bow, I quickly fired a series of shots. As a countermeasure for reducing the magic consumption and time taken for magic activation during rapid-fire attacks, I maintained a constant air current using air magic and used the arrows in conjunction with it. *tang, whizz, tang , whizz* ¡­the arrows flew with the light sound of air currents being cut through rang out. ¡°Giuh¡­ aaah!¡± ¡°Gigii¡­i¡± Three arrows pierced the chests of the three Goblins who had stopped moving one after another. ¡°Gauh!¡± (Alright!) After I finished my task, I set my bow against a tree, held my Short War Hammer in my right hand, and hovered my left hand over the ground. ¡°Uruguugah!¡± (Clay Sword!) As I cast the earth type demi-human magic spell, ¡°Clay Sword¡±, a Sword made out of rocks and mud shot out of the ground and settled into my left hand. Holding a weapon in both hands, I prepared for battle. I was a little late to the battle, but I charged at the Goblins with a yell. Buster kicked one of the Goblins who had an arrow in his chest when he came to join the fight, and he raised his Greatsword and swung it down on the Goblin Fighter who pulled on the captives¡¯ ropes. ¡°Guuruaaah!!¡± (Instant Kill!) ¡°Giiaaaaaah¡± Intending to block the blow, the Goblin Fighter raised his Sword and pushed back with all his might, but Buster¡¯s one-hit attack broke the sword and sank into half of his skull, causing him to die immediately. Aiming for the time when Buster paused after his splendid attack, another Goblin tried to stab his dagger at Buster from the side, but¡­ ¡°Kuonn!¡± (Pierce!) ¡°Gii!?¡­ Giuah!!¡± Lancer¡¯s Goblin Spear suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pierced the abdomen of the Goblin who tried to take Buster by surprise. ¡°Onh!¡± (Hyah!) She quickly pulled back her weapon and kicked away the Goblin as she removed her Spear from it. As the two of them appeared, the 19 Werecat warriors also charged and fought bravely. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± ¡°Diiiiiieeeeeee!!¡± ¡°Giih!¡± (Shit!) ¡°Gigiguh, gugaaoh!¡± (As if we¡¯d just let you kill us!) Two of the Werecat warriors stopped the Goblins¡¯ Slash Attacks with their Bucklers and counter-attacked with a thrust of their swords. ¡°Kuah!?¡± ¡°Ow, dammit!¡± With their natural agility, the Werecat warriors jumped back, but the enemies¡¯ attack penetrated their leather armors and they received shallow cuts. ¡°Fall back, men!!¡± When they diagonally jumped backward in response to the command from behind, they saw Wallace who held the hilt of his Saber in his right hand as he held onto its sheath with his left. ¡°Flash!!¡± With a quick step, he simultaneously drew his Sword and unleashed a side-sweeping flash attack, flinging away the Goblins¡¯ swords and slashing their bellies horizontally. ¡°Gyah!? Gi, ia¡­ah.¡± ¡°Gugeah! Guuu¡­ gubuh¡­¡± The Goblins squatted down while holding onto their abdomens as their blood and guts spilled out of their wounds and they died lying in a pool of their own blood. ¡°Gia, gueh!!¡± (Im¡­possible¡­!!) Rock, the Goblin Sorcerer, could not hide his agitation at the sight of his fallen brethren. They had kept vigilance for surprise attacks when they stayed the night at Lucua village yesterday, but they were caught off-guard when they expected nothing to happen. They figured that if there were an ambush, then it would be at the time when they were tired, and the enemy had the most advantage, that was why they had even made preparations to use the captured Werecat women as hostages last night¡­ While he was thinking of such things, a Werecat¡¯s blade loomed over him! ¡°Uraaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Giuuh!¡± The Goblin mage immediately held out his hand and gathered his wind-type magic to form a wind blade. ¡°Zenosuh, ireusu.¡± (O wind, tear them to pieces.) ¡°Guuh!?¡­¡­ Gahah.¡± The Werecat warrior who attacked Rock was unable to avoid the wind blades and was slashed in the abdomen, spraying blood all over the place as he collapsed¡­ but impatience and fear were written all over the Goblin who took his attacker¡¯s life. In the first place, he was guaranteed a certain death if the Sorcerer stepped into close combat range against warriors. Looking around he saw that most of the troops he was leading were either dead or currently engaged in battle. (This is bad, we have to retreat to Brave¡¯s side as soon as possible!!) (¡­) But that order had come too late. Dagger, who had not appeared in the midst of the battle, had hidden in the treetops and gradually gotten close to the Sorcerer. Holding her Daggers in an underhand and overhand grip, Dagger attacked from above. ¡°Guruaoooooon!!¡± (I¡¯m gonna kill youuuuuu!!) ¡°!? Gah¡­.nnghk, gii.¡± (!? Nggah¡­n-no way) Reacting to the sudden sound, the Goblin sorcerer looked up and was stabbed between the eyes with the Stiletto, while the other Dagger slit his throat. ¡°Hyu¡­ hih¡­¡± His life ended in regret as the sound of leaking air came out from him. Having finished off the troublesome Goblin, Dagger kicked off the corpse as she retrieved her blade that was stuck between his eyes. ¡°Guangiah!? Gyaouh!!¡± (Lord Rock!? Dammit!!) Before she could catch her breath, a Goblin Fighter aimed at her from a slightly diagonal direction and unleashed a thrust with his Long Sword with the blade cutting at her horizontally, but because he was upset, the attack was released too early and did not reach. ¡°Ukyann!? Gaonn!!¡± (Uhyan!? You shit!!) Dagger lightly sidestepped and avoided the sword thrust, and before the Goblin warrior could pull back his arm, she drew close to his chest and used her body weight to put force as she thrust her Stiletto into his heart. ¡°Gubuah, gah¡­ahh¡­¡± The Goblin warrior, who was fatally wounded by the blow that penetrated his leather armor, vomited blood and lost his grip on the Long Sword he was holding as he sank to the ground. At that moment, Dagger¡¯s consciousness climbed the Ultimate Spiral Staircase in the middle of the hectic battle without anyone, including her, noticing. The shape of her ears changed slightly, while the fur on her tail became even fluffier and contained magic. Furthermore, the fur on the tips of her limbs also turned white, contrasting with the golden-colored fur on her body¡­ Name: Dagger (Female: sister) Race: Evolved Kobold Rank: Fox Walker Skill: Leap Enhancement (Large/ Effect is Instantaneous), Elementary Phantasm, Hearing Enhancement (Small/ Constant), Fox Fire Title: The Fox That Attacks From Above Weapon: Stiletto (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armo CH 40 I could tell that Dagger had changed, but I did not have the time to think about it, as the element of surprise we had due to the surprise attack had already worn off and the Goblins had started to retaliate. ¡°Gyag, giiaruh!!¡± (Tsk, we¡¯re under attack!!) ¡°Giidogyah!¡± (Lord Sword!) ¡°Guoah! Giu giureh!!¡± (I¡¯m going to cut our way in! Follow me!!) The tall and lean Goblin, Sword, crossed his arms and held onto the hilts of his Short Swords, which were sheathed in scabbards hanging on either side of his belt. Slightly pushing it back to make unsheathing easier, he then pulled out his twin blades. The Goblins under his command also unsheathed their swords a little later, and the sounds of blades scraping against scabbards could be heard throughout¡­ ¡°Voa, guaoouh.¡± (I¡¯m sorry, we got stuck at the front.) As I slashed and flung away a Goblin with my Short War Hammer, I thrust my earthen sword by my feet and activated the earth type, zone binding demi-human magic, ¡°Thorns of Punishment¡± which I prepared earlier. ¡°Voruguooh.¡± (Thorns of Punishment.) ¡°G-gugiiiih!!¡± (Y-you bastaaaard!!) ¡°Guh!?¡± ¡°Gieh!!¡± (Uoh!!) The legs of the Dual wielding Goblin Swordsman charging at me were caught by the thorns growing out of the ground. More than a dozen Goblins under his command were similarly entangled in the thorns, and anyone who stepped into it while running was similarly incapacitated by the thorns. It was a spell that could only be used effectively in forests with lots of trees, and because the area of effect was large, I was able to buy some more time¡­ But I was careless, and the supposedly immobile tall and lanky Goblin quickly put his swords away, took out the Throwing Knives from his cloak, and threw them at me! ¡°Gyaaaoooh!¡± (Eat thiiiisss!) ¡°Uoh!?¡± ¡°Guaaah!!¡± I deftly turned my upper body away and dodged it at a paper-thin margin, but Barrack, the Werecat warrior standing behind me, got hit in the shoulder. I felt a little sorry for him somehow, but it wasn¡¯t the right time to do so. As I attempted to return fire towards the tall, skinny Goblin who continued to throw his knives, I reached behind me to take my weapon, but my hand only grabbed air. (Ah, I left my bow behind¡­ dammit!?) In the time that I wasted looking for my bow, the two knives that the tall skinny Goblin had thrown at me drew near! ¡°Guuru, kuaruuun.¡± (Protect, Light Barrier!) *Clang, clang* As I braced myself to get injured, a shining barrier made of holy light appeared in front of me and deflected the blades. I thanked Lancer for activating the spell right on time, and once I hid between the trees, I checked on the captive girls and saw that Liz had just cut their bindings with a knife. ¡°Liz, thank you¡­¡± ¡°You can run now, can¡¯t you? Go over there!!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Liz had only cut the ropes tied between their ankles that the Goblins used to prevent them from escaping. In an area not far away from the girls, the Werecat warriors led by Buster and Wallace were holding off the Greatsword-wielding Goblin and his squad. ¡°Garuou voruoah!!¡± (Thou shall not¡­ pass!!) ¡°Giuah!!?¡± (Uoh!?) ¡°Giiuh!¡± (Watch out!) Stepping in with his right foot, Buster twisted his upper body to release a sideways cleave to frighten the approaching Goblins, but¡­ ¡°Giueruh, gyaugyaoh!!¡± (Fear not, the Goblin Hero is here!!) The large Goblin who unleashed a magic-infused roar to enhance his brethren, used his companions¡¯ backs as a stepping board to launch himself as he swung his shining Greatsword! ¡¾Activated£ºBrilliant Blade¡¿ ¡¾Effect£ºSends a slash of light flying towards the enemy (Close Range), Effective against Spirits and the Undead ¡¿ ¡°Uooooh!?¡± As Buster dodged the slash of light that suddenly flew at him in an attempt to break his stance, Wallace, who was aiming for an opening once the enemy wielding the shining blade landed, stepped wide and unleashed a single right-handed stab! ¡°Hiyaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Giuh!¡± (Nggguhh!) The large Goblin used his Greatsword to deflect the attack and took a half-step in the opposite direction to kick the troublesome Werecat warrior in the solar plexus with full force. ¡°Gyaaaoh!¡± (Uraaah!) ¡°Fuh!¡± As Wallace jumped back after blocking the kick with his left hand, Buster lowered his stance and rushed forward with the Greatsword on his shoulder! ¡°Garuguouooooon!!¡± (You¡¯re going down with a single blow!!) ¡¾Arm Strengthening (Large/ Instantaneous)¡¿ ¡°Gyauooooh!¡± The large Goblin raised his weapon and bore the full brunt of the Slash Attack as Buster made a semi-circular orbit as he approached again, but because the Kobold was superior in size, Buster held him down with full force. ¡°Gi, gyah¡­¡± (Kuh, uuh¡­) ¡°Gigiugyah!¡± (Lord Brave!) ¡°Giuah.¡± (Damn you!) The Goblins nearby moved to join forces to help their trapped horde leader, but they were not the only ones who responded to the situation. ¡°Kuruooouh.¡± (You¡¯ll have to go through me first!) ¡°Hold them back!¡± Dagger and Wallace reined the attacking Goblins in, and as the Werecats and Goblins continued to cross blades, the battle gradually tilted in favor of the Werecats¡­ ¡°Giiaooh!¡± (Uooooh!) ¡°Guh!?¡± The Greatsword-wielding Goblin stepped back diagonally with his left foot and kept his upper body away as he slightly lowered his sword which blocked the strike to remove one of his hands from the hilt to deliver a punch to his opponent¡¯s face. However, Buster, who also saw that he was within striking distance, similarly removed a hand from the hilt of his Greatsword and delivered a right jab, the dull sound of their connecting fists audible. ¡°Gugeh!¡± ¡°Gaah!¡± Both of them were taken aback once their punches connected. But after they took some distance from each other, they resumed their fight. ¡°Gueru giu giosuh!!¡± (I will split you into two with my Blade of Light!!) ¡¾Brilliant Blade¡¿ ¡°Voruaooouh!!¡± (I¡¯ll smash you to bits!!) ¡¾Arm Strengthening (Large/Instantaneous¡¿ The shining blade wielded by the Goblin with the Greatsword clashed against Buster¡¯s brusque Slash Attack. *Clash* ¡°Gugiih!¡± (Kuah!) ¡°Gauh!¡± (Guah!?) A moment later, the scattered afterglow cut Buster¡¯s shoulders and arms, but his attack, which won the contest of sheer strength, sent his opponent¡¯s shining blade flying and destroyed the latter¡¯s stance. ¡°Kuuh, garua!¡± (Kuh, now¡¯s my chance!) Without paying attention to his injury, Buster shook the dirt off the tip of his Greatsword and unleashed another full-powered attack as he ran towards his target! ¡°Gugaah!¡± (Dammit!) Narrowly reacting, the large Goblin tried to defend with his Greatsword, but he was overwhelmed by the sheer force of the attack that he ended up being slashed diagonally* from his right flank up. ¡°Gu, gugii¡­¡± The large Goblin, mortally wounded from belly to shoulder, staggered back, and with the last of his strength, gathered his magic into his Greatsword, making it shine radiantly. ¡°Garuuoaooon!!¡± (This is the end!!) *slash* ¡°Guhah, gia¡­ uh¡­ With a final blow, Buster ended the Goblin Hero¡¯s life and the light dwelling in the Greatsword burst. ¡°Guoh.¡± The fading afterglow, which was the result of the Goblin leader¡¯s last struggle, wounded Buster enough to cause him to cough up blood. ¡°Gi, gigiugyah!! Gyao¡­¡± (L-Lord Brave!! No way¡­) ¡°Gigiugya giirugiaruh!!¡± (Lord Brave has been slain!!) With the leader of their horde struck down, the grief-stricken Goblins started fleeing like a scattering of spiderlings. ¡°Gii, gyaougieru!¡± (Tsk, let¡¯s get out of here!!) The Goblins who were trapped in the thorns cut their way out and similarly fled, and the battle concluded without us having to withdraw. ¡°Everyone, we won!!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOOOH!!!¡± Amidst the victorious battle cry raised by the Werecat warriors, another Kobold ascended the Silver Spiral Staircase. And as always, there was no way to perceive it in reality¡­ ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: *Slashed Diagonally ¨C in the original, the phrase was ÄæôÂôĤËÇФêÁÑ (gyaku-kesa ni kirisakareru) which is ¡°to be cut up diagonally¡±. Gyaku kesa(giri), or upward diagonal cutting, is one type of Tameshigiri which is the Japanese art of target test cutting. CH 41 ¡°Vo, garuou¡­¡± (I¡¯m here again¡­) For some reason, in the space holding the Silver Spiral Staircase, continuity of memory was preserved. Once someone stepped out of this space though, everything about it just faded away like a transient dream¡­ Well, now that I was here, might as well climb the silver double helix staircase. (Anyway, unlike Chief, I don¡¯t know the troublesome things he does and I don¡¯t care about such things¡­) I am only going to conquer my own path, and cut down everyone that stands in my way! Cut, slash, cut, slash, and in the end, I¡¯m going to get slashed and kick the bucket. (Hah, it¡¯s easy to understand, isn¡¯t it?) While he thought of such disturbing things, Buster ascended the shining staircase one step at a time. Amidst the blessings that poured down, a silvery-white powder believed to be the remnant of the souls of the departed occasionally drifted down from the upper levels. As soon as it piles up on the lower levels, it becomes a new life. Everything is made of the same thing here like in a bubble or a dream. Therefore, when I wake up, my memories will only pop and disappear¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Wafi? Voaruoon!!¡± (What? I¡¯m bursting with power!!) Name: Buster (Male) Race: Kobold Rank: Kobold Vanguard Skill: Arm Strengthening (Large/ Effect is Instantaneous), Instinctive Evasion, Hard Blade (Depending on Fighting Spirit, Specializes in Slash Attacks) Title: The Dog that Cuts the Vanguard Weapon: Greatsword Armament: Leather Armor His remarkably well-developed muscular arms stayed as they were, but his overall build seemed more agile, while his long tail remained healthy-looking, proving that he had just reached a new level. ¡°Gauruoon, guruaao?¡± (How are you doing, Buster?) ¡°Waoooann.¡± (Not bad.) The Kobold whose specialty was being a vanguard raised and lightly swung his Greatsword, scattering blood everywhere as he returned the weapon to its scabbard as if it was just another regular day, but¡­ he was bleeding from the wounds on his shoulders and abdomen that were caused by the light blade. ¡°Wau, garuuoafu gururuuh.¡± (Hey, stop moving and keep still.) Sticking her Goblin Spear into the ground, Lancer placed her hands over his shoulder and abdomen and cast the holy attribute magic ¡°Healing Light¡±. ¡°Ruauu¡­¡± (Thanks¡­) Watching as the warm light accelerated Buster¡¯s metabolism and gradually closed his wounds until only a faint scar was left, Dagger tried to grab my attention with her absurdly fluffy tail¡­ ¡°Kuon, kuon, kyuuh!¡± (Big brother, big brother, look at me!) ¡°¡­ Wafu, kuoruau.¡± (¡­ Wow, you turned fluffier.) Wondering how I should react, I reached out and grabbed her fluffy wagging tail. ¡°Kyan!?¡± (Hyan!?) As I amused myself for a while by playing with my sister¡¯s tail as she made strange noises, I caught sight of the parent and child duo, Wallace and Liz, approaching me so I turned around and faced them. ¡°Mr. Silver Kobold, allow me to express my gratitude.¡± ¡°Thank you, Archer.¡± I responded by lightly raising my hand, and as I sat down and wrote on the ground with my slate pen, the two bent down and followed the letters with their eyes. ¡°Wallace, what about pursuing them?¡± ¡°Hmm, well they did scatter and run away like spiderlings, so I think it would be futile if we chased after them now¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re going back to the same place, though. We can look for them there and purge them.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re tired after what happened yesterday. And we also have to bring back whatever they took from the village without permission.¡± Just as Liz said, I could see that the Werecat warriors gathered around seemed tired indeed. Even though we were victorious in the end, there were also a lot who were injured, and one of them had died due to the sorcerer goblin¡¯s magic attack, Of course, we could not just leave his corpse lying with all those Goblins, and about four people carried the corpse and prepared to take it back to Lucua village. (¡­ we are closer to Lucua village, so rather than forcing them to chase after the Goblins, I guess we should go back first.) ¡°Very well, let¡¯s return to the village. But if we don¡¯t eradicate these Goblins, these things will just happen again, you know?¡± ¡°I also understand that. On that note, there is indeed a possibility of them capturing female adventurers and the like, huh¡­ So if we¡¯re not careful, their numbers might grow again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, this is our chance to destroy every last one of them!¡± Liz, who clenched her fists, was fired up. I guess her anger was also rooted in the fact that the G¡¯s pushed her down¡­ ¡°Well, there¡¯s still the situation with everyone, so let¡¯s go home first.¡± Following Wallace¡¯s instructions, they recovered the looted items and the Goblins¡¯ weapons and equipment before heading home. At that time, the Holy Lance Kobold, also known as Lancer, fished around the Goblins¡¯ equipment, but¡­ apparently, there was nothing but Goblin Spears so she dejectedly gave up. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ A short while after the Werecat warriors left, the surviving Goblins reappeared at the place where the bodies of their fallen comrades laid. Out of all of them, the tall, skinny Goblin knelt on the ground and gently picked up his robed sorcerer friend¡¯s corpse in his arms. ¡°¡­ Guan, giia gierugiasu.¡± (¡­Lord Rock, we will avenge you.) ¡°Giido gia¡­¡± (Lord Sword¡­) They offered a moment of silence for their fallen friends. But in the middle of their meditation, a light sound of pouring sand was slightly heard. ¡°Giau?¡± (What¡¯s happening?) As the Goblins opened their eyes, their sight fell on the ground where Brave¡¯s prone form was. ¡¾Activated: ????? ¡ú Hero¡¯s Resurrection¡¿ ¡¾Effect: There is a low probability of resuscitation, but for each resurrection, the probability decreases each time until it reaches 0.¡¿ ¡ùHowever, areas that are severed from the body will not be healed, and resurrection will not activate if the head is severed. ¡°GAAAAAAOOOOOOAAAA!!¡± With a roar, the Goblin Brave rose! ¡°Gyaauh!?¡± (What!?) ¡°Gigiugiah!?¡± (Lord Brave!?) ¡°Gi, giigii, gireuedosu, gigiuh!!¡± (Hahaha, he¡¯s alive!! Brave is alive!!) Sword, who was the first to react, rushed over and propped himself up as he nearly tripped and fell again. ¡°Gireu, garugiah!¡± (I will never forgive those dogs!) ¡°Giuh!!¡± (Yeah!!) ¡°Garesu, garesugiuh! Guuarudesu!!¡± (Power, we need more power! More than we have now!!) With the help of Sword, the Goblin Hero burned with hatred as they walked back to the east of the forest. What he had to do with the current situation was to gather his remaining people and lie low for a while. As a rule of thumb, Brave knew that lairs and settlements were always attacked after suffering a major defeat. He looked at his silent companions lying cold on the forest floor. Vowing to take revenge, they abandoned their base and moved away from the land¡­ CH 42 During the battle earlier, the female Werecats who hurriedly fled were forced to escape to the northern side. Some Werecats had evacuated in that direction, so if they went in the right direction, they would surely meet up with the others, but if they were lost, then we had to find them. We could not deny the possibility that they might have momentarily hidden themselves during the battle, so we headed back to Lucua village while thinking about the events that had recently unfolded. The fallen Werecats¡¯ bodies were still there, and the parts where the Goblins had nibbled on added to their gruesome appearance. Including one warrior who had fallen in the battle earlier, the Werecats lost a total of 12 men to the Goblin attack. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s unbearable, isn¡¯t it, Liz?¡± ¡°Yes. We might have won, but this makes me sad¡­¡± ¡°Dammit!!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Many of the bodies belonged to the warriors of Lucua village who were probably friends who trained with them. The Werecat warriors mourned for the dead in their own ways. ¡°First, let¡¯s gather all the bodies in one place first¡­¡± Under Wallace¡¯s instructions, the bodies were moved from the places where they had met their end and placed inside burlap bags that were brought from the village warehouse. In the middle of the process, we joined up with the Werecats who returned to check the situation. Since the Werecats who evacuated to the Sherna river on the northern side of the village yesterday were given strict orders by Wallace to stand by, it was likely that these were the ones who fled in the opposite direction and returned after one night. ¡°¡­Sir Wallace, is there anything we could do to help?¡± ¡°Thank you. Then please clean up the remains of the Goblins¡¯ campfires.¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯re on it.¡± While everyone was busy dealing with the aftermath, I pulled Liz¡¯s sleeve and wrote on the ground. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Tell them to check all the well water in the village too, they might have thrown something in it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s scary¡­¡± ¡°Just to be safe, let¡¯s give it to a small, harmless animal to drink and see what happens after a few hours.¡± ¡°Okay, got it. Dad, do you have a minute?¡± It may seem like I¡¯m nervous, but¡­ During my mercenary days, I¡¯ve seen towns planted with slow-acting poison which, along with the raids, wiped out entire populations. After a while, when various things had been dealt with to a certain extent, we left some of the Werecat warriors behind and headed to the vicinity of Sherna River. The purpose of this was to look for the Werecat women who fled earlier and to call back the other villagers who evacuated. ¡°Aavaa, waonh.¡± (Archer, over there!) Lancer, who focused her attention on her sense of smell, caught the Werecat¡¯s scent in the air. The act itself was part of the hunt, so her tail wagged as if she had found her prey. Similarly, my sister and Buster, who had also focused their attention on their sense of smell, also showed expressions that were also reminiscent of the times we hunted¡­ Big brother, I¡¯m going for a bit. ¡°Auuh.¡± (No, you can¡¯t) I stopped my sister who sent me a hand sign and happily wagged her tail while erasing her presence. I then sent a hand sign to Liz to go instead. ¡°Sure, leave it to me.¡± Deliberately making noise by rusting the leaves, she slowly approached and called out to the others to alert them of her presence. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can go out now.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Liz?¡± A young Werecat female emerged from the bushes. She seemed to be acquainted with Liz, but her clothes were torn off when the Goblins touched her, so it was pretty hard to look at her¡­ ¡°Liz, take this¡­¡± ¡°Thanks, dad.¡± Averting his gaze, Wallace approached the two and handed his cloak to Liz, who slung it over the girl¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Liz. And to Liz¡¯s father too.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t mind it. It¡¯s hard to look if you¡¯re dressed like that, so it¡¯s the least I could do.¡± ¡°Geez, dad! You¡¯re the one looking at Amelia!! I¡¯ll tell mom, you know?¡± ¡°¡­Give me a break, Liz.¡± No matter what species, it seems like the father¡¯s position is always difficult¡­ Anyway, we continued with that pace, and by the time we had found four of the female Werecats, we had already arrived at Sherna river. We also picked up 2 more girls who were loitering in the river shallows, and as we made our way upstream, the other werecats who were in the riverbank loudly cheered when they saw us. As we gradually got closer, we saw two more of the girls who escaped amongst the other villagers. Apparently, the villagers had partially heard about the battle situation from them. From among the dozens of Werecats, Liz¡¯s mother, who seemed somewhat calm, emerged from the crowd. ¡°Welcome home, dear.¡± ¡°I¡¯m home, Ermina.¡± She greeted them warmly as if her husband had returned after going out for a bit and proceeded to call out to her daughter as well. ¡°Liz, you¡¯re not hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, mother.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re covered in scratches.¡± Around the mother who was concerned for her daughter were the other Werecat warriors who also checked if their families were safe, but¡­ the problem is, they were one person short. ¡°Excuse me, Sir Wallace, but where is Gene?¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Annie. I couldn¡¯t bring your husband back with us.¡± ¡°N-no that¡¯s impossible!! You¡¯re lying, right!?¡± ¡°¡­You know I won¡¯t lie about such things.¡± ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Annie!¡± The young woman broke down in tears, and her relatives went to comfort her. Their expressions also showed they were suffering, but they could not leave the distraught woman alone. For a while, only the sound of sobbing could be heard in the otherwise quiet place¡­ After we waited for the Werecat woman called Anne to calm down, we headed back to Lucua village where the same scene was repeated among the Werecat families whose loved ones were killed. CH 43 After a full night¡¯s rest, we ventured out as soon as dawn broke and followed the Goblins¡¯ trail from yesterday to locate their lairs. With our keen sense of smell, we picked up the trail even if their tracks disappeared at regular intervals, while the Werecat warriors fortified their defenses and proceeded carefully behind us. Since we were focused on tracking their scent, we left it to them to take care of any monsters we encountered. Various scents remained near their living spaces. If one was at a certain distance from the lair, then they would be able to smell the different scents mixed in the air. Thus, after less than half a day¡¯s travel with a brief lunch break in between, we found the Goblin¡¯s lair before sunset, but¡­ just as I suspected, not a single soul was left. Their base of operations was a place that followed a tributary flowing in the vicinity of Lucua village, and at some distance from there, several burrows were dug into the sloping interior of the depression formed near the river. ¡°Gurua, guruuon¡­¡± (Chief, it looks like they escaped¡­) ¡°Guruh!¡± (Tsk!) However, it was troubling that among the scents we picked up, one belonged to a human female. It might be a captured adventurer or something, but it meant that they had a way to breed. The Werecat warriors grouped themselves in three¡¯s and checked each burrow, but they all came up empty-handed. ¡°Sir Wallace, there¡¯s nothing here.¡± ¡°¡­ Looks like they gave us the slip.¡± ¡°Archer, can¡¯t we chase them?¡± I shook my head sideways at Liz who cutely tilted her head. Kobolds have an excellent sense of smell, which means that we are highly sensitive to the different scents in the air. However, it does not mean that we could pick up scents from far away. Of course, it is highly effective when we could pinpoint a location like the Goblins¡¯ dwelling space, but the four of us and a dozen or so Werecat warriors couldn¡¯t chase after the Goblins when we did not even know which direction they went. In the end, it was clear that we had to use human-wave tactics if we wanted to go after them¡­ ¡°Aavaa, garuuu¡­¡± (Archer, this is¡­!) ¡°Kuon.¡± (Big brother.) I understood right away what my sister and the others were trying to say. Judging from the lair¡¯s layout and the way it was dug, there was a high chance that our brethren, in other words, Kobolds, originally lived here. It¡¯s hard to tell with the thick scent of the Goblins, but there were also places where the faint scent of dogmen lingered. So they drove out our brethren from this village and made it their base of operations, huh¡­ (We could move the settlement here in case of an emergency, but¡­ it¡¯s also a place that was once attacked.) As I thought about it, I looked around and saw that the Werecats had started making preparations for camping under Wallace¡¯s orders. The black-haired, cat-eared gentleman came over in my direction as soon as he noticed my gaze. With that appearance, it was hard to believe that he was already a father in his late thirties. ¡°Mr. Archer, I was thinking we should make camp today, but only if it is alright with you? We¡¯re fine traveling after the sun sets, but everyone seems exhausted from all that walking already.¡± ¡°Won.¡± (Sure.) In addition to my response, I nodded so that Wallace could get the message. After Buster and Dagger went out to procure dinner, Lancer and I sat at the entrance of one of the lairs and watched the Werecats¡¯ encampment. ¡°Kuruaan garuuoaan?¡± (I wonder where the guys that originally lived here went?) ¡°Guruoh, woguu wauaoan¡­¡± (Yeah, they could¡¯ve headed to the east or north for all we know¡­) From here, the Werecat¡¯s village of Lucua is in the west, while the Elve¡¯s territory is in the south, so they have no choice but to go further east or to head north. (If they headed north, I hope they don¡¯t get in trouble with the other guys¡­) ¡°Ah, there you are. Archer, can I have a minute?¡± Liz came over, her tail swinging out of her pleated skirt. As she crouched down in front of us, I automatically took out my slate pencil from the leather pouch on my waist. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s about the reward we talked about at the start, but¡­¡± Come to think of it, we did talk about that¡­ Although her species interacts with humans, their village is still located in the middle of the forest and maintains a certain distance from the people. They are an existence that serves as a middle ground between humans and demi-humans, so to speak. As Liz looked at me with upturned eyes, I thought for a bit and started to write. ¡°I would like you to provide skilled support to our settlement.¡± ¡°You want skilled support?¡± ¡°I would like to borrow some tools for agriculture, carpentry, and blacksmithing, and a few werecats who have skills in those areas.¡± ¡°Archer, those are things out of my capacity¡­¡± With a troubled expression, she flattened her ears and looked down as she was at a loss for words. ¡°Then ask Wallace about it. That guy understands the price of risking one¡¯s life to fight.¡± ¡°Mmmu, I¡¯m also a soldier, so I understand it too, that¡¯s why I was worried about what you were going to say¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry to have to ask you to do this in the absence of the village chief, but please take care of it.¡± It might have been to our advantage that the person-in-charge had fled to Wyald village to ask for reinforcements. Thanks to that, Wallace, the head of the warriors, currently headed Lucua village. We fought together, so he would consider my request. Anyway, inviting a blacksmith was a problem since there was no way to procure iron ore for them to use. However, the Steele river was named as such because of its ¡°iron¡± deposits, so we should be able to get some fine quality iron sand. However, once we started blacksmithing, we would need charcoal, which would lead us to cut more trees in the forest. Well, as long as it¡¯s only for our own use, then it would be no problem, but¡­ as one of the beasts that live in the forest, we must not forget to be considerate towards nature. We returned to the village of Lucua the next day and received some of the farming and carpentry tools, and a small amount of iron ore. Accompanying us back to the settlement were Joseph and Grimer, who would instruct us on how to handle the tools, and Barrack, who was actually a Blacksmith¡¯s son. CH 44 While the four Kobolds and the Werecats were engaged in a battle against the Goblins, the Kobold residents back at the settlement spent their time peacefully along the Steele River in the central part of Easteria forest. ¡°Kuuuun!?¡± (I¡¯m spinning!?) The only notable incident during this time involved a young Kobold cub who became dizzy and fell with a plop after chasing its own tail. Watching the funny scene from a distance was the big, blue-furred Kobold Ax, who sat down and leaned against a large tree as the sunlight filtered through its shade. ¡°Wafaan~, kuruauo ?¡± (How peaceful, it¡¯s so soothing?) It was a line he had heard before. ¡°Ua!?¡± (Huh!?) With the deja vu that he had once been caught off-guard by his close friend in a similar situation, he suddenly pulled himself up and looked to his left and right before looking up overhead. At that moment, the tall, skinny Kobold, Blazer, who hid in the bushes after erasing his presence, fired a preserved acorn with his Slingshot! It whizzed past Ax who was wary of the treetops, but he never noticed it as he was looking up. As a result, the acorn dove into the bushes opposite Blazer¡¯s hiding place and made a sound. ¡°Wafuh!?¡± Then, just as Ax reflexively turned to the other side, Blazer crouched low and jumped out! ¡°Guoah, guoorua!!¡± (Uraah, surprise attack!!) ¡°Gyafun!?¡± A wooden sword hit the back of Ax¡¯s head with a pop. ¡°Kuoofuu, kuah!¡± (Geez, what are you doing!) ¡°Kuuuoaruon? Wauu.¡± (Aren¡¯t you being a tad too careless, Ax?) Even though there were more than a dozen armed Kobolds now, only two of the main pack members remained in the settlement. Certainly, what Blazer said was not wrong, but with Ax¡¯s gentle nature, it was something that could not be helped¡­ ¡°Wuoon, guruowaooon wafa?¡± (By the way, are you guys done with training today?) ¡°Guu kuruaoru.¡± (We¡¯re currently on break.) ¡°¡­ Gau kuruaoh, guruuguaaon.¡± (¡­ Then go on break and stop teasing me, geez.) As Ax gave Blazer the stink eye, one of their armed companions approached them with a loud rustle of leaves. It was one of the guys that Blazer sent out on patrol. ¡°¡­Garuon?¡± (¡­What¡¯s wrong?) ¡°Woruo kuouoan, gauru kuruu gaaoouru.¡± (Some unfamiliar Kobolds are approaching and some of them have ears hanging down.) Most of the settlement¡¯s Kobolds were prick-eared, and floppy-eared Kobolds were considered rare among them. ¡°Guruonh, wauu.¡± (Let¡¯s go, Ax.) ¡°Wauh!¡± (Yes!) The tall, lean Kobold tossed his wooden sword, while the hulking blue Kobold picked up the hilt of his Battle Axe that was lying on the ground as he stood up. Led by their comrade who had come to call the two of them, they ran out to the forest from the southern side of the settlement. As for the concerned Kobolds, their ears were definitely hanging down. In fact, they were part of the pack who had originally built the small village in the depression towards the south, which was a two-day walk from where they currently were. However, about two months ago, they were attacked and driven out of their village by a horde of Goblins, so they ended up having to move from place to place in the forest. At first, they fled to the east along the river, but because there was a risk of encountering powerful demons if they approached the depths of the forest, they changed their course to the northwest, and here they were at present in front of our Kobolds¡¯ settlement. ¡°Waau, woaan?¡± (Elder brother*, have you noticed?) ¡°Gua, garuan waoooonn¡­¡± (Yes, it seems we¡¯re in another pack¡¯s territory.) If they focused their senses, they could smell the faint scent that indicated the presence of others belonging to their race since a while ago. Therefore, the Kobold with the best physique who led their small group became more alert. Compared to the others, this Kobold¡¯s limbs were far more developed. If the red-haired mage who called herself a biologist were around, then she would be ecstatic to discover a Kobold Striker, which was considered a rarity among the Kobold species. Furthermore, the small Kobold who called him his big brother was also an evolved variant called the Kobold Smith, which was a subspecies known for their high dexterity. However, those Kobolds were oblivious of these facts. Paying attention to the direction of the wind, they kept their distance and did their best not to be sniffed out by the other Kobolds who were observing them¡­ (¡­ Bows and arrows are upwind, surprise attacks are downwind!) # (Let¡¯s wait for the right moment and stay still like stones!) Watching them while thinking of the best way to mitigate the situation with the fewest number of casualties were two of the three-year-old Kobolds trained by Blazer who specialized in surprise attacks. As they observed the unfamiliar Kobolds encroaching on their territory, they were joined by four more Kobolds, the two being the ones currently in charge of the pack. Their drill master immediately sent them a hand sign. ¡°Sorry for the wait. How many enemies are there?¡± Upon receiving the inquiry, one of the Kobolds bent all the fingers in his left hand and brought out his pinky and ring finger after, which meant there were seven of them. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them, let¡¯s just subjugate them first¡­¡± Kobolds rarely settle disputes by fighting to the death, so Blazer and his apprentices wrapped their swords with hemp cords that were produced in the settlement. This will not cause their blades to slip out even if they swung their swords around, but Ax, who saw what they were doing, hurriedly sent a hand sign to the others. ¡°We have to try talking to them first¡­¡± (Well, if it¡¯s Ax, then he would do it that way¡­ Alright, I¡¯ll just use him as bait!) ¡°Then you go, and I¡¯ll stand by here.¡± Blazer stopped Ax who nodded earnestly and was about to move out and urged him instead to make a detour and make contact with the intruders from the front. As he did so, Blazer and his troops erased their presence and stalked the floppy-eared Kobolds from a distance. ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: *Elder Brother ¨C The original is (ÐÖÕß / anija), which is an old way of addressing an older male sibling. If you¡¯re familiar with Kabuki or have watched it, they also use this word in some of their dialogue. # Bows and arrows are upwind, surprise attacks are downwind!- bows and arrows gain power when you attack with the wind(upwind), and surprise attacks are carried out against the direction of the wind(downwind) so that the enemy can¡¯t smell your scent, so he¡¯s basically saying they have to stay downwind to avoid getting attacked CH 45 ¡°Garuruh.¡± (So they came.) In front of the small group, a hulking blue Kobold slowly emerged from the bushes. It held a large Battle Axe in one of its hands, and, combined with its large and muscular body, created an imposing sense of intimidation. ¡°Wa, waauh!!¡± (Ah, Elder brother!!) ¡°Guruoao¡­¡± (Calm down¡­) The Kobold Smith who was not fond of fighting curled his tail between his legs and started to inch backward. Even as he pacified his brother, the Kobold Striker, who had met someone bigger than him for the first time, was also shaken deep inside, but he could not show his shock in front of the others. (Tsk, don¡¯t you dare falter!!) He scolded himself inwardly and regained his composure. (My agitation will spread to the other members of the pack I¡¯m leading if this continues! If that happens, then there would be no chance of us winning either!!) ¡°Guruoaaoooh!!¡± The hulking blue Kobold stopped in its tracks when he released a menacing howl, but the situation could only be described as ¡°someone¡¯s bark is worse than their bite¡±*¡­ Unconsciously, the other members of his pack increased their vigilance. The only scent that flowed in the wind was the trees, other animals, and the faint smell of the creatures who belonged to the same race as them. (Only one of them came forward!? Such arrogance!!) The big blue Kobold, who they assumed to be the chief of the Kobold pack in the area by his appearance and strength, approached and spoke to them in a relaxed tone. ¡°¡­ Guua guruuo waoooan, woafuoouu?¡± (¡­ You guys are intruding on our territory, so can I ask you to leave?) While the intruders¡¯ attention was focused on Ax who appeared in front of them, Blazer, who was aiming for their unprotected backs, had hidden downwind and erased his presence as he moved diagonally behind them. Two of his companions lurked on either side of him, while three others hid among the bushes on the other side. The three Kobolds hiding on the opposite side were supposed to attack in waves as part of Blazer¡¯s attack operation. (¡­ I still don¡¯t know how this will turn out. But that guy sure has lots of openings!!) Ensuring the safety of the people entrusted to them by the pack head took priority. Though he did not show it openly, Blazer admired their pack leader and honored his instructions, even going so far as to go against his principle and getting out of the fight to observe how things were going to unfold instead. ¡°¡­ Gau, guruuguruoh, gauruoao?¡± (¡­ Hey, you look pretty strong. Your pack must be huge.) After being defeated by the horde of Goblins, their pack fled and scattered in different directions, and the floppy-eared Kobolds went in a bind, thus were forced to wander Easteria forest. In the process, two of their comrades were killed by a monster whom they had the misfortune of encountering, and their group was currently reaching their limits. At the end of the day, they desired to join a strong pack that would not let them go through such a bitter experience again. ¡°Wafuu, ua woruon voaruoooouu.¡± (Hmm, as far as I can tell, we¡¯re the biggest pack around here.) As soon as he heard those words, the challenger steeled his resolve. ¡°Gaouru, kyuao garua gauru guonn!!¡± (I challenge you to a duel! Whoever wins has to join their opponent¡¯s pack!!) ¡°Uu, guruoauu?¡± (Ehh, do we really have to do this?) ¡°Guruoooh!!¡± (I will not run!!) Legs wide apart and hips low, the Kobold Striker took a stance as he placed his left hand in front of him and the right by his flank. In response, Ax took hold of the Battle Axe propped up against the nearby tree and slowly approached them. Blazer, who was watching everything from a distance, covered his face with one hand and involuntarily looked up at the heavens. (Tsk, this has gotten nasty¡­ I have confidence in Ax¡¯s strength, but there¡¯s also an unlikely chance that they could get him. If Ax, who is the strongest among us falls while Leader and the others are away, then it could cause chaos within the ranks of the pack.) He pondered about the worst-case scenario. (Even though it¡¯s cowardly, the only way we could go forward with this is to attack with force once Ax is about to lose and leave everything undecided. Once the duel starts, those guys will focus on Ax and we¡¯d probably be able to take them¡­) Regardless of his intentions, the two Kobolds in front made their move! ¡°Gau, gaooon!!¡± (The first to attack wins!!) Striker closed the gap by sliding his feet, aiming for a left jab at his opponent¡¯s face and a series of right-hand punches to the solar plexus. ¡°Wafuh.¡± (Fuh) Upon taking a short breath, Ax stopped the left jab with his right hand and smoothly used his left leg to step back to keep his upper body from getting hit by the follow-up punches from the right, and used his right leg to sweep at his opponent¡¯s feet from close quarters. ¡°Garuah!!¡± (Nice try!!) Anticipating the counter-attack from his opponent¡¯s right, the Kobold Striker jumped back, reducing the impact of the strike. ¡°UOOOOOOH!¡± (EAT THIS!!) From a slight opening, he released a right kick aimed at Ax¡¯s heart. ¡°Guuh!!¡± ¡¾Continuous Activation £ºImpact Resistance¡¿ Although he was kicked on the left side of his chest, Ax¡¯s Impact Resistance as a Kobold Defender mitigated the damage. However, not wanting to miss the opportunity of his opponent breaking his stance and staggering backward, the Kobold Striker swung his kicking leg down and built some momentum to deliver a full-forced palm-strike to his opponent¡¯s unprotected gut. ¡°Wuooon!!¡± (This settles it!!) ¡°Gyauh!¡± (Ow!) No matter how impact-resistant one is, what¡¯s painful will always be painful. Involuntarily, Ax let out a yelp of pain. ¡°Kuoofuh!!¡± (What the hell are you doing!?) ¡°Gufaah!?¡± (Uoooh!?) A pissed off Ax haphazardly swung his thick arm and caught the Kobold Striker in the flank. ¡°Gau!¡± (Tsk!) Frustrated that the attack was less effective than he had expected, the Kobold Striker put some distance from his opponent, stepped in again, and hit his opponent in the face with a full-bodied straight punch at the same time! ¡°Ruaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Shaaaaaah!!) ¡°Kuuuuh!¡± However, the high-powered, sweeping strike merely grazed the opponent¡¯s cheek and left a small cut. This was because Ax slightly bent his upper body backward and turned his head to the side. ¡°Kuh!?¡± Furthermore, the hulking blue Kobold quickly grabbed his opponent¡¯s arm with both hands, and, with all his strength, spun around and crouched low as he threw his opponent down from his shoulder. Yes, this was the so-called one-arm shoulder throw.** ¡°Kuruaaaaaaaan!!¡± (Deryaaaaaaaaaaah!!) The sound of Ax¡¯s spirited roar echoed through Easteria forest! The Kobold Striker, who was thrown by the force of his opponent¡¯s hane goshi*** while getting his arm pulled, flew through the air and slammed into the ground on his back with a loud thud. ¡°Guhah!? ¡­ugh.. agh..¡± With his dominant foot, Ax stepped on the defeated Kobold¡¯s belly to block his movement. ¡°Gueh¡­¡± ¡°Waauh!!¡± (Elder brother!!) ¡°Guruah!!¡± (BOSS!!) As the Kobold Striker¡¯s companions reflexively made a move, Blazer and the others who had been laying low jumped out from behind their right flank, while the other three Kobolds also appeared from the opposite side. And, with nary a pause, the tall, skinny Kobold barked out a command. ¡°Guruoh, garufuuooh!!¡± (You guys, don¡¯t move!!) ¡°Wauh!? Gaoah!¡± (Wha!? It¡¯s an ambush!) ¡°Kuuh!!¡± Quickly surrounding the trembling, floppy-eared Kobolds, Blazer and the others held out their weapons to block their opponents¡¯ movements. ¡°¡­Gurua wooon.¡± (¡­ We win.) Putting aside the fact that he planned to take the opponents by surprise once his friend was placed at a disadvantage and declaring a draw, Blazer declared victory. And with this, their encounter with the unfamiliar group of Kobolds came to an end. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Note: *Someone¡¯s bark is worse than its bite ¨C the original is ¡°Èõ¤¤È®¤Û¤É¤è¤¯ºð¤¨¤ë¡± (yowai inu hodo yoku hoeru), which is literally translated into ¡°the louder a dog barks, the weaker it is¡±. CH 46 From Lucua village, we crossed the Sherna river and headed further north. Returning to the settlement after approximately one week, we headed to the town square with the Werecat craftsmen in tow. ¡°Wafu, guruao!¡± (AH, IT¡¯S BOSS!!) ¡°Vo, gaouoaan?¡± (They brought someone along again?) There was a previous encounter with the red-haired mage Muriel, so they were not too surprised with the appearance of the Werecats. However, the mothers who just gave birth this spring moved to a corner of the square with their young¡­ It was natural to want to keep the cubs safe, after all. Still, most of the Kobold inhabitants happily greeted us, while some of our gathered brethren felt unaccustomed to Dagger and Lancer¡¯s appearances. ¡°Wafu, gaua, voooan.¡± (Huh? Dagger, you changed again.) ¡°Gauann!¡± (She¡¯s right!) ¡°Uruuh, uan? Kuruann!¡± (Fufu, how is it? Isn¡¯t it great?) For some reason, the Kobold Dagger (my sister) once again showed off her fluffy tail by wagging it, but¡­ is there any meaning behind it? Similarly, Lancer, whose fur had turned white on her tail and arms, was also attracting the attention of our brethren. As I nonchalantly looked around the crowded square, I noticed a group of unfamiliar Kobolds hanging around from a distance. Buster had also noticed the unfamiliar floppy-eared Kobolds, so he approached them and questioned them with a somewhat threatening tone. ¡°¡­Guruu, gaoua.¡± (¡­ I haven¡¯t seen you guys before.) In response to the inquiry, the largest Kobold in their group stepped forward. Even though he was not as large as Buster or Ax, he was still bigger than the average Kobold. ¡°Guoa wauuoan guruauu?¡± (Are you the Boss that Ax told us about?) ¡°Guu, garuooau, guruaooonn.¡± (No, I¡¯m not. The Chief¡¯s over there.) Following the direction that the black-armed Kobold pointed to, the unfamiliar group went and knelt in front of me. With his head hanging down, the Kobold from earlier stated his purpose. ¡°¡­ gauru guoaann, gurua.¡± (¡­ We would like to join your pack, Boss.) ¡°Garuuaoh.¡± (Please let us join you.) (¡­ So there are seven all-in-all, huh.) Well, it¡¯s not like the settlement¡¯s inhabitants are at a point where we can¡¯t accommodate them, and this huge guy could also be a valuable fighting asset. ¡°Wonn, kuruuaon.¡± (Alright, I¡¯ll take you guys in.) The large, floppy-eared Kobold looked up and met my gaze after I gave them my consent. ¡°¡­ Gurua, garuo wauua waoaaan varuowaaan.¡± (¡­ Boss, I would also like to be bestowed with a name like Ax and Blazer.) ¡°Gaou, kuruou?¡± (What is your weapon?) ¡°Guo, guorugaaah¡± (My fists. I fight with my fists.) As he said so, he raised his powerful-looking fists in front of him. ¡°Gau, guua gaou gauaruh!!¡± (Very well, henceforth, you shall be known as Knuckle!!) ¡°Gauaru¡­¡± (Knuckle¡­) The large, floppy-eared Kobold repeated his name in a whisper as if to make sure. Name: Knuckle (Male) Race: Kobold Rank: Kobold Striker Skill: Increased Arm Strength (Small/ Constant), Increased Leg Strength(Small/ Constant), Increased Reaction Speed (Small/Constant) Title: Dog Fighter Weapon: Right Arm, Right Leg (Main), Left Arm, Left Leg (Auxiliary) Armament: Straw Skirt ¡°Waooonn, gauaru.¡± (I¡¯m counting on you from now on, Knuckle.) ¡°Wafuh!¡± (Yes!!) Just as our conversation came to an end, Ax emerged from the trees with his Battle Axe in one hand and the Shield on his back. His fur was dripping wet, and from behind him, several parent-and-child Kobolds who were in the same state followed¡­ From the looks of it, he probably accompanied them to bathe in the river. Since various animals and monsters also gather in the shallows in search of water, a suitable guard to keep them company is necessary if they play in the water longer. I lightly waved to my big, blue childhood friend who was fulfilling that role. ¡°Au, guruo, waon~¡± (Ah, welcome back, everyone~) ¡°Kuruaan, wauu.¡± (We¡¯re home, Ax.) ¡°Ruu kuruaaaan?¡± (We¡¯re back~?) With one hand raised, Ax joined our little circle as he smiled at Lancer and my sister. ¡°Gurua, garuoa garuoou¡­¡± (Boss, about those guys¡­) After taking a glance at the floppy-eared Kobolds, the big blue Kobold apologetically hunched over and tried to explain the situation to me while his hands flailed to keep me from talking. ¡°Guruoa gauruguoan, guo garuon?¡± (Well, you already accepted them into the pack, so it¡¯s fine, right?) ¡°Waonn!!¡± (Yes!!) Perhaps thinking that I would reject his decision, Ax¡¯s expression became relieved when I responded favorably. Since I entrusted the pack to you, I¡¯ll respect your judgment and not question your judgments as long as they don¡¯t majorly affect everyone. Ah, speaking of putting the pack in their hands, I believe it was the same for Blazer, but I couldn¡¯t see him around as usual, so he must be going on patrol around the settlement again¡­ ¡°Heeey, Archer, can we have a minute?¡± Suddenly, the Blacksmith¡¯s son Barrack called out to me from behind. ¡­ I had almost forgotten about the Werecats who were standing around with nothing to do. While feeling apologetic, I sat down facing the£í and took out my beloved slate pencil from my pouch. ¡°Forgive me, I got caught up in a lot of things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, but¡­ there¡¯s virtually nothing here. Mr. Grimer, can you at least make us some sleeping quarters? I don¡¯t want to sleep inside a burrow.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ making bricks and doing full-scale woodworking would take too much time¡­ Mr. Silver, could I use the wood over there?¡± The Werecat Carpenter Grimer pointed to the corner of the plaza where the trees that Ax had cut down were piled up. ¡°Go ahead and do as you like.¡± ¡°Alright. Then, I¡¯ll make the frame out of thin tree trunks and ivy, then I¡¯ll also use tree bark to make a foundation for the leaf-covered roof¡­ and for the walls, let¡¯s use clay soil from the riverbank. That should give the house some shape.¡± Well, just as I imagined how it was going to be at first, Barrack reacted to the word ¡®riverbank¡¯. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll also go to the river with you, I want to see the iron sand there. I¡¯ll also be using some clay for the furnace, huh¡­ I would need some charcoal too, so I¡¯ll be taking some of the wood. Also, Archer, can you make a leather bag?¡± ¡°Are you going to use it to make a leather bellow? We can make some from the processed stomachs of large beasts.¡± ¡°The wind from those isn¡¯t that strong enough, but we could make a couple of them to supplement the smaller furnaces.¡± ¡°How about using Wind Magic?¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll need more firepower at some point, but I¡¯ll consider that.¡± After my conversation with the Blacksmith¡¯s son ended, I turned to the Farmer Joseph. ¡°¡­Compared to the two of you, it seems I have it easier. I just need to plow the land and sow some green and yellow bean variants and plant some red potatoes in a field after all. Mr. Archer, can you use blessing-type earth magic?¡± ¡°Yes, I could probably do it.¡± ¡°Alright, that sounds good.¡± I don¡¯t think it would be easy, considering how far we had been living from civilization, but we have no choice but to work at it with patience and trial and error. I secretly motivated myself to work towards living a healthy and cultured life, but my companions gave me strange looks as they watched my interaction with the Werecats. ¡°Wafuh?¡± ¡°Vo, gurua uaouguoruh¡­¡± (The Chief is doing something unbelievable again¡­) I can¡¯t help but think that the road ahead is going to be difficult¡­¡­ CH 47 ¡°Garuwaoa, guanoa garuoh!¡± (Then, I¡¯m leaving the hunting party to you, Buster!) ¡°Woooh, gurua!¡± (You can count on me, Chief!) The black armed, hulking Kobold grouped the young Kobolds into hunting parties with four members each. After instructing each group to head in a different direction, he led the groups and disappeared into the forest. I had to be with the three Werecats during their stay, but we also needed to provide food for the settlement, so I had placed Buster in charge of the hunting group and saw them off. ¡°Guru, guruoaon¡­¡± (Now then, we should head out as well¡­) We led the two Werecats with the Blacksmith and the Carpenter jobs down to the river in the south. Meanwhile, the Werecat with Farmer job Joseph, stayed at the settlement and planned to make a small potato field in one corner of the village which had been cleared to some extent. Joseph said that he would have to burn the dead trees and fallen leaves and mix the ashes with the soil to fertilize the area, so he had to go separately to pick up what he needed. I assigned two armed Kobolds to go with him as escorts just to be safe. I expected that we would be carrying clay soil and iron sand back to the settlement, so I recruited several of the 1-year-old Kobolds and Knuckle¡¯s group of floppy-eared Kobolds to come with us. ¡°Alright, first, let¡¯s pick up some quartz.¡± (Quartz? Weren¡¯t we taking some clay?) Wondering what he was going to use it for, I tugged on Grimer¡¯s clothes and took out the slate pencil from my pouch after clearing the ground of rocks and crouching down. Grimer followed suit and also crouched down to read what I wanted to say. ¡°What are we going to use quartz for?¡± ¡°Quartz can be found rolling in the riverbanks, but that stone is excessively hard, you know? If you strike it against other rocks, then we can break those down and process it.¡± ¡­ We had also processed obsidian before, but we did not care which material was best to use for it and just pounded it with the stones around here. I wonder if it would be easier to work with if we did it with that material instead? ¡°So I was thinking of making a Stone Axe since I don¡¯t think the tools I brought would be enough¡­ I¡¯m sure Barrack is more adept at this than I am though.¡± He searched by the riverbank for a bit and picked up a fist-sized piece of quartz and a flat basalt. While everyone¡¯s attention was focused on him, he used the quartz as a hammer to crush and scrape the basalt rock into shape. Tonk! Tonk! Tonk! The sound of hammering echoed in the surrounding area, and after a while, a sharply carved hatchet was in Grimer¡¯s hands. ¡°¡­ You¡¯re a hell of a lot better at it than I am, Mr. Grimer.¡± ¡°Ga, gauo! Guruguaan!!¡± (A-amazing! It looks so easy!!) One of the small, floppy-eared Kobolds looked very excited, his eyes shining after seeing Grimer¡¯s creation. It seemed like he also wanted to try making it by himself, so he ran to the riverbank in search of a suitable stone after watching the completion of the Stone Axe. ¡°Hmm, like this, I guess? Try using it for a bit.¡± Grimer handed me the boomerang-shaped* Stone Axe. One half of the boomerang-shaped Axe was the handle, while the other half was the blade, which was thinned out and sharpened along the edges. The whole thing was decently balanced and looked like it had great cutting power. I looked at it from the right and left angles and pointed it at a thin tree nearby that was about 8 centimeters in diameter ¡°Wafuh, wauuh, kuan.¡± (Hey Ax, come and cut that down.) ¡°Wauan, guruukuan¡­¡± (I knew you were going to call me for that¡­) Yes, when it comes to felling trees, Ax is the only suitable choice. Ax took the Stone Axe from me and walked up to the tree I specified and hacked it down with his expert hands. ¡°Wauaaann!!¡± (Heave-ho!!) After he had cut the trunk of the tree considerably, he used his body weight to break it using the principle of leverage. Holding it with both arms after it broke, he twisted the trunk to sever it from the stump. This was an impressive feat for someone who had worked daily from dusk till dawn cutting trees to make a clearing for the plaza. ¡°Wafuh, gaoauooon?¡± (How is it? Do you think you can use it?) ¡°Wann waon!!¡± (Yes, I can!!) ¡°I can¡¯t understand what you guys are saying, but¡­ I¡¯m relieved that it doesn¡¯t seem to have any problems.¡± Grimer smiled as he received the Stone Axe from Ax when he returned. He was pretty muscular for a Carpenter, but this cat-eared guy had an odd freshness to him¡­ As I thought about it, I heard the similar ¡°tonk tonk tonk¡± from earlier. I turned to see the floppy-eared Kobold dexterously hammering away with the quartz to make a Stone Axe. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great, Mr. Droopy ears. Then, can you make five more of these?¡± ¡°Wau?¡± (What?) The floppy-eared Kobold stopped what he was doing and tilted his head. I pointed to his unfinished Stone Axe and bent all five fingers in my right hand. By the way, I learned from Ax that they also used the same hand signs and counting system that we had. ¡°Waon, gurua.¡± (Got it, Boss.) The guy nodded and went back to work. After watching him go at it enthusiastically, I secretly named him Smith (temporary), but that name would be bestowed on him the next day¡­ ¡°Now, we can¡¯t dig the clay by hand, so let¡¯s cut some logs to a suitable length and use it to dig up the soil¡­¡± Barrack reached out to take the Stone Axe from Grimer and grabbed the end of the felled tree and lifted it. Using the stump as a platform, he placed the part of the tree that he wanted to cut and swung the Stone Axe down. ¡°Ah, Barrack, while you¡¯re at it, can you sharpen it to make wooden stakes?¡± ¡°Sure thing!!¡± The Werecat Blacksmith used his skilled hands to dexterously shave off and sharpen the end of the log that he had cut into a reasonable length. Soon after, he had finished making a wooden stake. ¡°Kuruaaon, Gurua.¡± (They¡¯re pretty skillful, aren¡¯t they, Boss?) ¡°Waaon, kuan.¡± (They are, aren¡¯t they, Big brother?) ¡°Gurua garuoh!¡± (Alright, let¡¯s make them too!) ¡°Wafu!?¡± (EHH!?) It was necessary for us to move and actively participate in what they were making too, as there would be no sense in just watching them make things for us. In that regard, Smith (temporary) was a guy who had good prospects! Barrack stopped making wooden stakes after several were finished, and gestured that he would be digging up clay. I then pointed at myself and then at the pile of logs nearby. ¡°Ah, you want to make it too? Go ahead.¡± I accepted the proffered Stone Axe and began processing the wood. After a while, my other companions followed suit, and numerous wooden stakes were completed in no time. During that time, I also discovered that my sister Dagger was surprisingly skilled. ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: *Boomerang shaped ¨C The original was ¡°¤¯¤Î×ÖÐÍ¡± (ku no jikata) or shaped like the hiragana letter ¤¯ (ku). CH 48 thunk pssshh thunk pssshh thunk pssshh With the wooden stakes we made, I dug into the soil at the riverbank and eventually reached a clay layer in a shallow section. ¡°Gauh, gaoruuoann!¡± (Alright, we have the clay!) However, the clay soil was a little hard, so I sprinkled some water from the river and softened it. When I looked around, I saw the group of 1-year-old Kobolds single-mindedly digging the ground with the wooden stakes as well¡­ ¡°Waou, waou, waan waouh? ¡° (Dig, dig, let¡¯s dig, dig, dig?) ¡°Kuuwaou, wanwan?¡± (Let¡¯s dig here, woof woof*?) Yes, we Kobolds love to dig holes. ¡°¡­ Guruoa, gaorukua?¡± (¡­ Guys, did you get the clay?) ¡°Wau!?¡± (HUH!?) ¡­ It¡¯s hopeless, these guys enjoyed digging so much that they forgot their main objective. ¡°Kyuu, kyuuun¡­¡± (Big brother, I¡¯m sorry¡­) ¡°Guruuoh!¡± (You too!?) Despite all of that, we spent a fair amount of time digging in the riverbank and procured quite a lot of clay. The Werecat Blacksmith Barrack was currently checking the quality of the clay we dug. ¡°Nice, this is good quality clay! We could make a furnace with this type. As for the fire resistance¡­ we won¡¯t know how good it is until we make one¡­Well, the quality of the soil and the iron sand isn¡¯t bad either, so this should be manageable.¡± ¡°Barrack, let¡¯s try to make some sun-dried bricks first and see what we can do with the rest. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find plenty of uses for those.¡± Grimer held a bunch of dried leaves as he spoke. Hmmm¡­ I took out my slate pencil and wrote on the ground. ¡°Are you going to mix those with the clay?¡± ¡°Yes, but we need to grind it up first and remove the unnecessary parts and make it fibrous. Mixing it in the clay makes it harder for the bricks to crack.¡± The Werecat Grimer placed the leaves and stems on top of a semi-flat rock and used the Stone Axe to expose the plant fibers. Imitating him, we also reached for some leaves and helped out. By the way, it seemed that the floppy-eared Kobolds are more skillful than us¡­ Looks like we made the right decision taking them in. After carrying the clay mixed with plant fiber back to the village square, Grimer immediately set to work and began building their sleeping quarters. Apparently, that was his priority, and Joseph, the Werecat Farmer who had returned ahead of us and Barrack, the Werecat Blacksmith assisted him. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start with making holes for the pillars!¡± thunk thunk thunk As Joseph held the wooden stake in place, Barrack and Grimer each took a large rock with a flat face and used it to take turns driving the stake into the ground. They finished by burying the wooden stake into the ground up to the line they had carved on it beforehand. They repeated the process, and three holes were made in a straight line, and three more directly opposite it were finished. ¡°Next is the foundations for the pillars. First, we have to place the highest pillars into the middle hole. Then we need to remove the branches and cut a pair of posts into the same height.¡± ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Barrack fashioned two logs to the same height and shaved off their branches with a machete. He then passed the crossbeams between the two completed pillars and tied them tightly together with ivy to create a sort of ¡°torii¡±, which is a type of gate that is said to be found in an island country in the East. This was then inserted into the middle holes. The left and right holes were filled in the same manner, and smaller ¡°torii¡± were erected on either side of the central pillars. (I see, so the reason why the middle one is high and the left and right ones are low is to make the sloping roof¡­) Meanwhile, the Kobold Smith (temporary) who watched them with sparkling eyes joined in on the work. Following his example, we also joined in to help out. ¡°¡­ I appreciate you wanting to help out, but it seems to be slowing the work down.¡± Barrack said. ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯m going to make a rafter so could you make 10 wooden beams the size of this one?¡± I handed Smith (temporary) the thin piece of wood that I received from Grimer and only bent the thumb on my left hand. By the way, each of the fingers on the left hand represents the number 10, which means I meant 10 if I only bent my thumb. ¡°Wan, guruan!¡± (Okay, I¡¯m on it!) He enthusiastically cut off the branches with the Stone Axe he made and measured the length of the wood against the sample before cutting it. In no time at all, he had produced 10 pieces of wood with uniform length and thickness. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Droopy ears. You¡¯re really great at this.¡± Grimer tied two ends of the wood together with ivy and pulled them apart to form a triangle-shaped* rafter. After making five pairs, they set them up in the tallest row of the three pseudo torii. Now it¡¯s starting to look like a house! I was also getting excited for some reason. ¡°How is this, Mr. Grimer?¡± ¡°That¡¯s perfect, Joseph, thanks.¡± I was impressed, and beside me, Joseph handed Grimer the roofing made of huge, dried leaves that he had been working on. Grimer used ivy to attach the roofing onto the roof¡¯s framework. We also made similar ones that were attached to the roof one by one. Finally, the bark, which Barrack peeled using a knife, was placed over the roof and secured. ¡°Guu, kuoa¡­¡± (Oooh, it¡¯s the roof¡­) ¡°Now, let¡¯s go at this steadily.¡± The sky has gotten a little dark, but it posed no problem to the Werecats who continued with their work as they could see well in the dark. ¡°Guu, guruouooh, gurua.¡± (What¡¯s this? You¡¯re still going at it, Chief?) ¡°Garuuo, guruao.¡± (Oh, you¡¯re back, Buster.) ¡°Gaou, guuoaan?¡± (How did it go? Did you catch anything good?) ¡°Guoa, guruoah!!¡± (Yeah, we had a good catch today!!) thump Buster lowered the stag deer he hunted in front of Ax. After him, the other members of the hunting group gradually returned to the settlement with their successful kills. ¡°Guruu kuaouun, gurua.¡± (I¡¯ll take care of cooking this, Boss.) ¡°Garua, guruuh!¡± (Then I¡¯ll help out too!) ¡°Garuuuoah.¡± (I¡¯ll carry this for you then.) Knuckle, who was unskilled with his hands, carried the dead deer and slipped away with Lancer and my sister¡­ I¡¯m going to leave the dinner preparations to my sister and the others, so what will come after the roof? As I returned my gaze to the Werecat Craftsmen, I saw that they had made a framework for the wall by cutting the flexible wood into appropriate lengths, and, making some appropriate incisions at the top they split those lengthwise and tying them together with ivy. The mud made from soil, water, and the clay we harvested was generously spread onto the outer and inner side of the framework to make the dirt walls. Right after the dirt wall was completed, Grimer went into a fit. ¡°Ga, garuoh!?¡± (Wha, what¡¯s going on!?) ¡°Kuu!? Guruuh!!¡± (Eh!? What¡¯s wrong!!) While Smith (temporary) and I looked at each other stunned, he smashed a section of the stone wall with a Stone Axe. We both looked at Grimer. ¡°Hmm? Oh, this? I¡¯m building a fireplace because it gets cold in the forest at night. We¡¯re not as warm and fluffy as you guys after all¡­¡± I see so that¡¯s what it was. With an expression that showed he did not understand, Smith (temporary) tilted his head to one side, and I explained the situation to him. And while I was at it, I also told him about the dangers of using fire. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of making the chimney, so please do the interior, Mr. Grimer.¡± ¡°Roger that~¡± Barrack skillfully heaped the clay mixture onto the wall to make a chimney on the outside, while Grimer created a fireplace using clay as the main material. Nearby, Joseph was making a simple bed out of bundles of wood and leaves. ¡°So is it complete?¡± ¡°Not yet, Barrack. We need to build a fire in the house and let it dry while we smoke it and let the wood and dirt walls dry¡­¡± Once inside the house, Grimmer dug a hole in the center, threw in some crushed and dried leaves and hemp fibers, and took out the flint. It seemed like dinner was finally ready, and my sister who went to call us stuck out her hands. ¡°Kyuuh, kuruaaan.¡± (Big brother, leave it to me.) A small flame appeared at the tips of her fingers. ¡¾Activated£ºFox Fire¡¿ ¡¾Effect£ºLets the user create and control fireballs. ¡ùCan be thrown¡¿ ¡°Woaoon¡­¡± (When did you¡­) ¡°Oh, the fox girl can use fire magic? Then, if you please.¡± My sister lights a fire with a smug look on her face and burns Ax¡¯s homemade firewood. Looks like my chance to use the flint has decreased again¡­ After the Werecats had dinner with us, they spent another night in my den since the building still needed more time to dry. The following day, the finished building was covered with dry hay and the bed was also set up, creating the first house in the settlement. However, the house could only shelter two people, so, going by seniority, it was decided that Grimer and Joseph would occupy it. Later, Barrack, who complained almost immediately, set out to make another house. ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: *Triangle-shaped ¨C the original says ¡°¤Ø¤Î×ÖÐÍ¡± or he no jikata, which translates to ¡°shaped like the hiragana letter ¤Ø (he). ¡°¤Ø ¡± is pronounced like the ¡°he¡± in ¡°Hedwig¡±. CH 49 After the first house was completed, the floppy-eared Kobolds, led by the Kobold Smith, attempted to make houses in the square by themselves. ¡°Wauuwaauh, guruuooonn!¡± (Brother Ax, please hit it!) ¡°Waoa, garuuh!¡± (Alright, here I go!) As Smith supported the lightly buried wooden stake from the side, Ax easily lifted the large, flat stone with his muscular arms and drove it down! tonk, tonk, tonk It seems the floppy-eared Kobolds looked up to Ax after he beat Knuckle, but¡­ When did he become their ¡°brother¡±? Looking around, I saw my sister skillfully sorting and adjusting the length of the wood one after another. As the floppy-eared Kobolds received the wood, they tied it together with ivy to create the frame of the house. With some minor adjustments by Grimer here and there, the members of the pack succeeded in making a house all by themselves. (¡­At this rate, it would be possible to build more houses in the settlement.) By the way, when I visited the family den first thing in the morning and told my mother to move into the next house that was going to be built, she said¡­ ¡°Guruau gauru uoaaan, guorua guoan?¡± (Rather than me, shouldn¡¯t you be thinking about the other pack members first? Didn¡¯t those new kids join a while ago?) ¡­And lightly admonished me. Certainly, the floppy-eared Kobolds are actively working hard for us because they are newcomers. But just as my mother said, it¡¯s right to let those who don¡¯t have dens occupy the houses first. Although it was not as refined as the Werecat craftsmen¡¯s houses, the house built by Smith and the others was finished by the end of the day. ¡°Uooon, guruu guano kuaaoo¡­¡± (What¡¯s all the fuss about? It¡¯s calmer inside the den¡­) Blazer, who had erased his presence like always, came up beside me, mumbling as he put a hand on his chin. Which reminds me, this guy hasn¡¯t helped out with the work since yesterday at all. For someone as conservative as Blazer who ¡°wouldn¡¯t even cross a bridge until he knocks on it¡±*, he might be secretly opposed to this change in our way of living because it carried a certain amount of risk¡­ And so, with the work completed today, we moved on to making steel the next day. ¡°I can finally start my job¡­¡± ¡°Now, now, it¡¯s our turn to assist you this time.¡± Grimer encouraged Barrack, who already seemed tired even before he started. ¡°Even if you say that, we can only make a primitive draft furnace, and we have to make charcoal first!¡± ¡°So we have to dig a hole first, huh. I think it¡¯s okay to let them handle that.¡± ¡°How big and how deep do you need it to be?¡± I wrote on the ground with my slate pencil. ¡°We will be building a rectangular furnace with the furnace opening in the upwind direction and the chimney going downwind. We still have some of the clay we used for the chimneys and the walls, right? It¡¯s gotten pretty dry, but we will be using it after reconstituting it with a bit of water.¡± After determining where the furnace would be built, the several Kobolds from the settlement happily dug the hole with their Stone Axes and their wooden stakes. It was quite amusing when they dug too deep and had to fill the excess though¡­ The furnace opening and the chimney were built on the rectangular hole and a sleeper was placed at the bottom, while the pieces of firewood that Ax made in his spare time were laid inside the hole. ¡°Pack it as tight as you can, Joseph.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done this before, so I should be fine.¡± As Joseph filled more gaps with grass, my packmates¡¯ excitement suddenly rose when he also filled those with dirt. ¡°Wauh! Gurun!?¡± (Ehh! He¡¯s burying it!?) ¡°Kua, garuuh!!¡± (Then, this too!!) One of them absently pulls a glittering stone out of the pouch on his waist and tries to fill it in. ¡­Isn¡¯t that amber? I wonder where he got it from. ¡°Guruugaruo, garuaou?¡± (That¡¯s going to burn up during the charcoal making, you know?) ¡°Kyuuh!?¡± Another name for amber is burning stone after all¡­ I had to stop him before such a sad thing happened to his treasure. After that, the work proceeded smoothly, and the wood for the charcoal was placed inside the kiln before being heaped up with more dirt. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s light up the firepit and get some air in it.¡± ¡°Kuan, woaan.¡± (Sister, light it up.) ¡°Wau, kyuan.¡± (Okay, Big brother.) Just like yesterday, my sister produced a small flame between her hands and lit the dried grass that was stuffed into the fire-pit. There, Barrack fanned the fire with a fan made of leaves and branches which increased its intensity. And then, smoke rose from the ground. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Grimer, can you fill the gaps for me?¡± ¡°Sure. I mean, if we don¡¯t fill it properly, then we¡¯ll end up with ash instead of charcoal.¡± We also pitched in to help him finish his task. ¡°Okay, how is it now?¡± Two to three hours after the fire was lit, smoke naturally started to come up from the chimney of the earthen kiln even after Barrack stopped fanning. (It¡¯s burning well inside¡­) The charcoal can be used in many ways, so we have to watch closely and remember how it¡¯s made¡­although, that may be unnecessary, as Smith hungrily watched it like looking at the most delicious food he was going to take a bite out of. ¡°Next, we¡¯ll just fill it up until only the furnace opening is left! The rest of us will stand guard patiently for half a day or more until the wood is completely charred and there is no more smoke. We¡¯ll take turns with one of us and one of you guys in pairs.¡± ¡°Waon.¡± (Got it.) I nodded as I answered. ¡°Wao kuua, wann.¡± (Lancer, you go first.) ¡°Guruu? Woaaoan.¡± (Me? Alright.) While checking the condition of the kiln, if we found any smoke leaks we repaired them. When the smoke had turned pale blue and was no longer coming out, we sealed the fireplace and the chimney to cut off the air. After it was sealed completely, we extinguished the fire and cooled the charcoal in the ground for a few hours. A whole day had passed by the time we took out the coals. Charcoal burning is such a time-consuming process¡­ ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s notes: *Wouldn¡¯t even cross a bridge until he knocks on it ¨C ʯ˜ò¤òßµ¤¤¤Æ¶É¤ë (ishibashi wo tataite wataru) is a Japanese idiom which means ¡°very cautious¡±. CH 50 We started making another batch of charcoal as soon as the first batch was out of the kiln. Steelmaking seems to consume quite a lot of charcoal for some reason¡­ ¡°Wauu, gauaru, waonn.¡± (Ax, Knuckle, I¡¯m counting on you.) ¡°Waonn, guruah!¡± (You got it, Boss!) ¡°Guruouh.¡± (Got it.) I left Ax and Knuckle who have been on good terms lately, in charge of making firewood and supervising the charcoal making team while I went with Barrack and the others to work on the draft furnace. ¡°Mr. Silver, I¡¯m thinking of making a leather bellow, but¡­ do you have any tanned animal skins I can use?¡± Holding my pen, I crouched down and wrote on the ground as usual. ¡°I have about four pre-dried stomachs from huge boars that I prepared for making water flasks.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯d like to have it.¡± ¡°Mr. Grimer, won¡¯t we be needing some hollow trunks for the bellow¡¯s vents too?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go and find some. Mr. Grimer, please start making the bellow, and Barrack, please start making the furnace too.¡± With one hand waving and the other holding onto the machete, Joseph disappeared into the trees, followed by the two Kobold escorts I assigned to him. If anything happened to him, I wouldn¡¯t be able to face Wallace and Liz, so I can¡¯t risk it¡­ After the Werecat Farmer left, Barrack started digging in a corner of the square using a Stone Axe. The hole did not seem to be that large, though¡­ ¡°Hey, that small, floppy-eared guy over there, look closely, okay?¡± ¡°Wafuh?¡± Over the past few days, the Werecat Craftsmen have become familiar with the Kobold Smith who often accompanied them. He beckons to Smith to show him the process. ¡°First, we line the hole with stones and charcoal, then cover it with clay.¡± Most of the hole he dug earlier was filled in. ¡°Then, just like the earthen kiln earlier, we¡¯re going to make a furnace with the furnace opening facing the upwind direction and the impurity outlet facing the downwind direction.¡± As Smith stared at him, the Werecat Blacksmith formed a cylindrical furnace from the base to a height of about 1.2 meters and dug a shallow circle in front of the fire pit and outlet. He also drilled holes in the four corners of the furnace to serve as air vents for the leather bellows. ¡°Well, that¡¯s about it, I guess.¡± ¡°Uau, guruo garuah!¡± (Smith, we¡¯ll help you make one too!) ¡°Wann, guruah!¡± Guruoaoh!¡± (Roger, Boss! Everyone, let¡¯s do this!) The construction of the simple hearth and furnace wasn¡¯t that difficult, so the floppy-eared Kobolds and I were able to complete a second draft furnace in no time. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for today. We still have to let the clay dry after all. By the way, is the fox girl not around today?¡± ¡°Ah, she accompanied the kids to bathe in the river.¡± ¡°I see. Then let¡¯s make the fire this time.¡± Barrack takes a flint and a hammer from his pocket and I take the hemp fiber tinder out of my pouch and hand it to him. He placed the burning tinder into the mouth of the hearth and blew on it to increase the intensity of the fire, and placed the charcoal in it. The black charcoal turned into a reddish hue and dried the furnace from the inside out. ¡°Woankuruu garuaoh?¡± (It¡¯s burning even without fire?) Smith, sensing the danger from the heat, withdrew his outstretched hand and stared fascinatedly at the unusual object. He continued to watch the coal gradually turn to ashes without getting bored. ¡°Archer, we¡¯ll be using the ashes from the charcoal so don¡¯t throw it out, okay?¡± ¡°Waon.¡± (Understood.) I nodded to let him know that I understood. Just then, Joseph returned with some hollow trunks cut at a reasonable diameter. As he started adjusting them, Grimer brought out the body of the leather bellow, sticks, and some thread. On its side was a small entrance for air with a round valve made of layers of leather attached from the inside to prevent air from leaking out of it when it was depressed. ¡°I¡¯ll be putting an anti-backflow valve on the nozzle too, so give me some of those.¡± He stretched one of the leather valves, making it take on a rectangular shape. He then glues it to the tip of a short, thin, piece of wood with glue. ¡°When the air is pumped in, the joint of the leather valve goes up due to air pressure, later the weight of the leather valve closes naturally. Its dimensions allow it to be pushed up when air goes out and pushed down when it takes in air.¡± He further cuts a short portion of one of the thicker trunks and expands its cavity using the chisel he brought from Lucua village. Then the thin, valved trunk is inserted and the rest of the sawed-off trunk is inserted on the other side of the cavity and hardened with glue. A nozzle is then created, with the thicker trunk in the middle and the slender ones on each end. The leather bellow is completed after the wooden parts are glued to the leather body. ¡°Alright, the anti-backflow valve is working well. It¡¯s complete!¡± ¡°Thanks, Mr. Grimer. Please work on the remaining leather bellows too. He repeated the same process, and before long, all 4 leather bellows were completed. And the next day, we finally started the first steelmaking operation in the settlement. (¡­Back then, we traveled to the eastern mountains to look for iron ore, but we were faced with a setback because of the strong monsters we encountered in the Balberra forest, among other things. Now that I think of it, I wonder how Muriel is doing?) I continued to work even when I suddenly remembered the red-haired mage. In front of me, the fire jumped out of the 1.2-meter tall furnace opening as the coals were tossed into it. ¡°Now, add more charcoal to the top of the furnace! Let¡¯s fill it up from top to bottom with charcoal!¡± Under Barrack¡¯s direction, Grimer and Joseph threw more coals into the top of the furnace. ¡°Archer, start pumping in some air with the leather bellows.¡± I instructed the floppy-eared Kobolds to use the bellows to pump air into the furnace. After two hours of adding more coals from the top of the furnace, it finally warmed up, and the flames appearing from there turned orange. ¡°We¡¯re going to send air into the flames to maintain their current color, so keep them orange until the end!¡± And then, iron sand was poured inside when the level of the coals went down. ¡°Mr. Grimer, please pour equal amounts of the iron sand when the coals decrease! Joseph, please take care of the lime dust.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± The two shoveled in the lime dust and the iron sand into the top of the furnace, and Barrack immediately piled the coals on top of it in a similar manner. They repeated the same action as the coals continued to decrease. Barrack would poke the corners of the furnace from above with his steel rods to make sure there were no holes in it. ¡°Hey! The small, droopy-eared guy, get out of the way!!¡± ¡°Wafuh!?¡± When Smith went to take a closer look at Barrack¡¯s work, the latter scolded him, and he freaked out and curled his tail in surprise. ¡°Tsk, not enough air¡­ The temperature¡¯s dropping! What the hell are you guys doing!!¡± ¡°Gurua, guruuunn!¡± (Boss, we¡¯re at our limit!) ¡°U, auu¡­¡± (It¡¯s impossible¡­) ¡°Kuu, ruua!?¡± (It¡¯s still not enough!?) The floppy-eared Kobolds who have been pumping the leather bellows since earlier became exhausted. I¡¯m sorry, I was so engrossed in watching the process and forgot to tell you guys to switch places¡­ ¡°Garuah!¡± (Alright, change!) ¡°Waonn!¡± (OKAY!) I let the one-year-old Kobolds take over from the floppy-eared Kobolds and used my wind magic to temporarily strengthen the fire. ¡°Wofu, oaann!¡± (O wind, blow wild!) When I directed the wind into the fireplace, the flames in the furnace shot up and its color returned to orange. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep the fire like that!!¡± Eventually, after feeding the furnace with lime powder and iron sand about 30 times, we were almost done with processing the steel. Impurities dissolved in the sludge that flowed from the furnace outlet and collected in the circular depression that had been dug earlier. From there, they stopped feeding the iron sand and coal was added several times, and we stopped introducing air to it when the level of the coal was almost half of the furnace. ¡°You can stop pumping air into it now. Good job, guys. Let¡¯s dismantle the furnace!¡± When the Werecat Blacksmith destroyed the draft furnace using the Wooden Mallet in his hand, a lump of red-hot iron was revealed from the inside. ¡°Now, let¡¯s hammer it in!!¡± Using wooden sticks, the three Werecat craftsmen hoisted the lump of iron into a nearby tree stump. Of course, the wooden sticks and the stump caught fire, but¡­ will they be alright? Tssssss Joseph poured water from a clay bottle into the lump of iron, causing some steam to rise from it. ¡°SHAAAH!!¡± With a spirited shout, Barrack swung his hammer down!! clang, clang, clang Repeated blows were applied to the sponge iron and the remaining impurities in it were knocked away. Before long, a high-purity lump of iron was formed. ¡°¡­ Fuu, I guess this is good enough.¡± Later on, this iron block would later be re-finished on a flat stone and transformed into Lancer¡¯s new spear. With the blacksmithing work done, the farmwork led by Joseph was completed without any hitch. They stayed for about half a month training the members of my pack and went back to Lucua village after. Of course, we came along and escorted them back to their village. During that time, I met the Village Chief of Lucua village for the first time, Liz asked me to train with her, and many other things happened, but¡­ That¡¯s a story for another time. And as the days passed peacefully, I forgot to be vigilant, and trouble came knocking at our door¡­ CH 51 While the Kobolds had finally achieved some semblance of civilization within the Easteria Forest which was a part of the Ferias Territory in the Riastize Kingdom, a certain incident occurred in the Royal Capital. Yes, as the records from the last 200 years indicated, it always started from the church. ¡°¡­ Oh my, is it going to rain? That¡¯s strange. It was so sunny just a while ago.¡± It was just a little past noon, and the summer sun¡¯s brilliant rays illuminated the lush lawn. On such a sunny day, Ellen, a nun, was walking in the grounds from the chapel to her quarters when a raindrop-like liquid fell on her forehead. She wiped the substance off her forehead in a casual fashion. ¡°Eh!? Is this¡­ Blood?¡± Surprised by the reddish-black substance on her fingers, Ellen immediately realized that it was blood. In this era, the Holy Church healed the sick and wounded with Holy Magic to earn money via donations. Moreover, they also gained social status and power by promoting the act of saving lives. Of course, the church congregation she belonged to was no exception, and she was used to seeing blood from performing healings. ¡°Blood¡­ From the sky¡­ It¡¯s the Black Rain!!¡± It was too late by the time Ellen realized what it was. ¡°Au, uaah¡­ ah¡­¡± Suddenly, her body became sluggish, and, losing strength, she collapsed right on the spot. Next came a high fever that consumed her mind. ¡°Ellen! What¡¯s going on, are you alright!?¡± ¡°ELLEN!!¡± Her fellow nuns and the deacon who noticed the oddity rushed over. ¡°No, don¡¯t come near¡­ get inside¡­ the building¡­¡± She managed to squeeze out the words, but her colleagues who did not understand the situation continued to approach her. And so, the raindrops from the Black Rain fell on their heads too. ¡°Wha, a rain of blood¡­ No way¡­ Is this Alvesta¡¯s doing!?¡± ¡°The blood got on me too¡­ you¡¯re kidding, right? Are¡­ are we going to die?¡± ¡°N-NOOOO!¡± The nuns and the deacon who were also rained on lost their composure. There was no clergyman from the Holy Church who did not know about ¡°Alvesta of the Black Rain¡± after all¡­ This is because they are usually the first victims in the city whenever the tragedy hit. This information was something that had been shared in both the national and international network of the Church. ¡°Calm down, we still have not ascertained whether it is the same thing¡­ guh, auugh!¡± ¡°Father! Uaaah¡­ ugh¡­¡± ¡°Ah, ah¡­ ugh, aah¡­¡± The three people who were supposed to help Ellen also lost their strengths and fell to the ground as the high fever started to torment them too. ¡­ a set of empty eyes watched them from above. From the highest spire of the magnificent chapel in the Royal Capital, a mysterious person clad in black stood in contrast to the clear sky. Dressed in black from head-to-toe, its gender was unidentifiable as its face was covered by a white mask. If someone were to look closely at the mask, then they would be able to see the madness lurking behind it. However, no one had noticed them since earlier¡­ is it because people tend to not look at the sky as they age? ¡°G-G-god¡¯s¡­w-w-word¡­f-f-fools¡­j-j-judge¡± The mysterious person in black whispered through their mask. However, there was not one soul who could hear them. That day, more than a hundred people, including the clergymen and women, fell seriously ill at the country¡¯s biggest church located at Selkram, the Royal Capital of the Riastize Kingdom, and reports of the emergency were brought to the Royal Castle¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Is this true¡­ I won¡¯t acknowledge this if your information is wrong, you know?¡± ¡°Y-yes, I will pay with my life should its contents be false! It coincides with old records where the first victims were people of the cloth, so I think the possibility is very high¡­¡± This is no doubt a serious issue, and it would have been better if the report was wrong, but¡­ The Court Mage, Ernesta Elballard, inwardly sighed as she received the report from her subordinate. ¡°Certainly, it¡¯s not surprising that things like this would appear every once in a while. Rather, I would not be surprised that it appeared in the Royal Capital¡­ Very well, I shall report this to my foster father.¡± ¡°Lady Ernesta, I would like to send out a mage to immediately confirm the damage, but would it be alright?¡± After thinking for a while, Ernesta gave her instructions. ¡°We do know that the source of the infection is the blood right? If it is really that bloodborne disease where blood spurts from the body in the end stages¡­ Then, make sure to quarantine those who have been infected!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Also, a gag order will be put in place, so please don¡¯t say anything to the people involved either.¡± ¡°Understood. Then, I would like to excuse myself.¡± After the mage¡¯s subordinate bowed lightly and left the room, Ernesta threw herself on top of her desk and her beautiful silver hair spread out and glittered under the sunlight streaming in from the window. ¡°Out of all things to appear, it had to be Alvesta of the Seven Plagues¡­¡± The Seven Plagues are monsters whose existences are currently classified as S-rank threats, especially those that humans consider dangerous. Some are clearly not monsters, so it¡¯s hard to classify them as such¡­ but ¡°Alvesta¡±, the creature spreading the sickness was known to speak the human language, so it could not be classified as a genuine monster¡­ If Ernesta had been an adventurer instead, then ¡°The Tempest Witch¡± could have become a ¡°Scarlet Gold¡± rank, which is rumored to be the highest rank that an adventurer could attain. She could no doubt blow the Royal Castle to bits if she clad her arms in full-powered windstorms and slammed down her brass knuckle-equipped fists. It was obvious that her foster father would severely scold her if she did that, but¡­ Even if it were impossible for her to take it on alone, as the deputy court mage of the Kingdom of Riastize, if she utilizes the two hundred Magic Knights under her command, then defeating an S-ranked threat might just be possible. After all, the great heroes and great sages in the past had done it too. Most of them had also received support from the nation and defeated the threats with the help of their armies. ¡°Ugh, how troublesome.¡± However, Alvesta of the Black Rain was a particularly troublesome calamity-type threat, so she held her head in her hands. CH 52 ¡°Mom, it¡¯s raining.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. We have to take the laundry in¡­ Eh!?¡± As she spoke, the young mother turned to her child and stiffened. She looked up at the sky because the raindrops that fell on her son¡¯s face were reddish-black. ¡°¡­ Mom, I don¡¯t¡­ feel so good¡­¡± ¡°Zenos, hang in¡­ there¡­ aghh¡­¡± The mother propped up her collapsed son as she lost strength and laid on the cobblestones as well. Beyond her darkening vision, the people walking down the street until a while ago also started dropping like flies. ¡­ The day after one of the Seven Plagues, Alvesta of the Black Rain, caused an outbreak in the Royal Capital of Selkram, rains of black blood fell sporadically all over the city, which caused over a thousand people to fall victim to the bloody disease. Because of this, all of the Holy Cathedrals in each section of the city seemed like a bloody battlefield. ¡°Listen closely, don¡¯t let the patients¡¯ blood get on you or you¡¯re going to catch it as well!!¡± ¡°B-but Father!! Holy Attribute Magic doesn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°I know that. It¡¯s the same even in the records from the past!!¡± ¡°I-it hurts¡­ h-help me¡­¡± ¡°Then what should we do about them?¡± ¡°¡­ The only way we have is to pray for them. It takes a month or so until the patients reach the end stage and die¡­ so we can only hope that the Lord would somehow make a miracle¡­ ¡°¡­¡± At the words of the priest, the nuns realize that there is nothing more they can do. It was something that was beyond their feeble powers. In the two hundred years since Alvesta appeared in this continent, very few people had survived the bleeding disease. However, their survival was random, and not because they underwent a treatment process. The clergymen looked nothing short of ridiculous as they prayed in the middle of the groaning and suffering people in bed inside the treatment center of the Holy Church. The deputy court mage who visited to inspect the area watched the scene coldly. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they try to do something before succumbing to prayer first¡­¡± Fundamentally, all the medical treatments used in the continent mainly used Holy Attribute Magic in combination with medicinal herbs and holy water. However, that alone was not enough to cure all diseases. Then, what happens if healing magic does not work? The answer was right in front of her. In other words, the clergymen could only pray while being surrounded by the suffering people. However, most of them would die in vain. Among the families that have attended to their loved ones until the end, it was understandable that they were unable to accept this situation, and poured their hearts and souls into pursuing something called medicine, which was another method of treatment besides pharmacology and magic. The Court Mage Ernesta was one of those who aspired to practice medicine. But for some reason, she was only able to use Wind Attribute Magic. Her foster father advised her to enroll in the Magic Academy in the Royal Capital where she tried her hardest to learn all the magic attributes but all the methods she took to learn them failed. She became a court mage not just because she benefited from the influence of her foster father who is the head magician, but because no one in the castle thought that she would become something else because her Wind Attribute Magic was in a league of its own. However, such power was not enough for her. If the time came when she was powerless to save a ¡°life that could be saved¡±, then she would surely regret it. And, thinking that if it were someone dear to her¡­ Ernesta turned her attention to learning medicine. However, due to the convenience of Healing Magic, priests are treated more highly as medical professionals than doctors, while doctors are treated as shady people, but¡­ ¡°Healing magic is ineffective against it.¡± ¡°¡­.Everyone, let¡¯s pray!!¡± Unlike the clergy, they do not have the virtue of giving up. Ernesta believed that doctors struggle until a cure can be found. ¡°I guess that¡¯s all the information we¡¯re getting from here. Let¡¯s go back to the castle.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss Ernesta.¡± Her subordinates were inwardly relieved that their boss did not say something unreasonable like, ¡°take the patient¡¯s blood and bring it back with us.¡± They had been instructed by the Head Mage to stop her at all costs if she had said something reckless. ¡°¡­I¡¯m just one person and I¡¯m also considering the risk of being infected. If someone I care about falls ill, I¡¯ll do what I have to do, but I¡¯m not willing to risk my life for them under the circumstances. Are you willing to risk your life for someone you don¡¯t know? ¡°¡­ no, I would not.¡± ¡°Good¡­ If you had agreed, then I would¡¯ve advised my foster father to dismiss you.¡± She beamed cheerfully. Based on appearance alone, she was a silver-haired, blue-eyed beauty, but¡­ ¡°May I ask why?¡± ¡°I believe that the more there are people who don¡¯t value themselves, the more people they¡¯ll bring to the mix when they self-destruct, you see.¡± She said it in a light-hearted tone, but the mage let out a heavy sigh as he thought he would lose his job the next day if he had answered incorrectly. ¡°Don¡¯t just sigh there, get a grip! If what the records say about the effects of his disease-bringing magic is true, then we would become busy from having to attend to at least a thousand patients every day.¡± ¡°¡­ It just makes me feel unnecessarily depressed.¡± According to previous records, Alvesta always appears suddenly in large cities with populations numbering in the tens of thousands or more, sporadically causing a rain of reddish-black blood to fall, and spreading the bloodborne disease. It begins with the clergy living in the Holy Cathedrals, affecting about a hundred people in one day, and a thousand from the next day onwards, and finally affecting about 20,000 people before it disappears. However, more than 90% of the affected people succumb to the disease a month or so after Alvesta leaves¡­ ¡°For the early measures, have the materials from the Great Library regarding Alvesta been gathered in my office already?¡± ¡°Yes, it should be fine, but other materials such as the appearance of a High Kobold that could comprehend human language is still being processed by the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, so it may take a bit longer.¡± ¡°That one¡¯s the real deal, so it would be nice if they could hurry up with that.¡± After saying that, Ernesta turned on her heel and left the cathedral. CH 53 After returning to the castle, Ernesta hurriedly went to the office assigned to her. This is because she must come up with a plan against the bleeding disease and present it to Greio Elballard, the Head Magician, and King Alexius by evening. ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t want to waste my time eating lunch¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll just skip it.¡± Deciding to skip lunch, she opened the door to her office and saw that a person had been waiting inside along with a large number of reading materials delivered from the Great Library. ¡°Thank you for coming, Mr. Vest.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure, Lady Elballard. So, what can I help you with?¡± Despite his humble manner, the youthful, gray-haired, and thoughtful-looking man called Christ Vest was one of the most prominent biologists in the Kingdom of Riastize. Although he has taken on the old family name of Vest, he was originally a mere adventurer, and his wife, who inherited the peerage was left to take care of the household while he, along with his daughter who was in the same profession, conducted field studies on monsters and the like. ¡°Nobody but you and I are in this office, so as Muriel¡¯s dad you don¡¯t have to be so formal around me, Uncle Christ. Rather, I¡¯m the one who should be grateful to you for coming all this way.¡± ¡°Very well, then I¡¯ll be more casual with you.¡± ¡°Have you read the materials already?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve skimmed some of them over and chose some books that I think would be useful to you.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s split it up and read it then.¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The first confirmed case of the bleeding disease was approximately 200 years ago, in Sedona, a city in the southern tip of the continent in the Kingdom of Zerba. During that time, the mysterious, white-masked person had not been around yet, and the source of infection was unknown. However, there are records scattered about that the first patient who had acquired the bleeding disease was an adventurer who became ill after being bitten by a green monkey, the Forest Ape, in the forest area. Its symptoms were extreme lethargy and a high fever that would impair the infected person¡¯s mobility. After three weeks, the patient would enter the last stage of the disease, dying due to bleeding in the oral and nasal cavities, the skin, and other body parts. Additionally, those who come into contact with the blood also become infected. Not long after the first outbreak, the disease spread next from Sedona to the nearest city called Alve, where the first victims were the people of the Holy Church, and the mysterious, white-masked entity was spotted when the disease scattered throughout the city. Since then, similar incidents have occurred throughout various cities within the continent every 20 years, with the clergymen becoming the first victims every time while the eerie, white-masked entity was spotted whenever the black rain fell. The information was spread throughout all branches of the Holy Church as they were always the first to be affected, and the mysterious entity was given the name Alvesta. And due to the magnitude of the damage made by the black rain, they were classified as one of the Seven Plagues, which were S-rank monsters considered to be huge threats to humanity¡­ Eventually, Christ, who had finished compiling the material, shared his thoughts on the matter. ¡°I would think that the first and second breakouts of the bleeding disease were separate events, but¡­¡± ¡°Yes, the second occurrence seemed to be man-made since the infections started from the clergymen first.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a marked difference that anyone can see.¡± ¡°¡­ the first case infected large numbers of livestock that died of the bleeding disease and became a further source of infection but from the second case onwards, only people were affected.¡± Yes, pets and livestock were unaffected after the second case occurred, and even now, none of the animals were affected in places where the black rain fell. ¡°Ah, so Alvesta of the Black Rain is a threat that specifically targets humans.¡± According to the records of the second case, when the Holy Church became aware of the mysterious entity spreading the disease, they dispatched a squad of Templar Knights to subdue them. However, when they had pointed their swords and cornered the entity in question, the surrounding Knights were sprayed with blood that gushed out from Alvesta, and the disease-ridden soldiers ended up being unable to carry out their orders. They were unable to stop the white-masked entity from leaving and in three weeks, the Knights passed away due to the bleeding disease. In the third instance, having learned their lesson from the last time, the Holy Church attempted to launch a remote attack with magic and bows and arrows, but they were unable to deal with Alvesta who quickly moved from place to place as if it were a phantom. They were unable to stop the entity during that time either, and it escaped while looking down on its pursuers. As a result of their numerous failed attempts, the entity, who killed people by indirect means, was recognized as man¡¯s ¡°natural enemy¡±. No matter how strong the Tempest Witch was, she did not dare to face it head-on either. (It would be the end once it gets close to you¡­ It¡¯s too dangerous!) ¡°¡­¡­ What do you think of this one? I would like to hear your opinion on this.¡± Ernesta showed Christ an old journal. It was the diary of a nameless doctor who lived in a city where he was the 7th person to fall to the disease. Hoping to find a clue in curing the illness, he took blood samples from the infected and conducted various experiments on it. The results confirmed what had long been whispered among the doctors and the priests, and proved that except for humans, various animals and monsters could not contract the bleeding disease even after coming in contact with the contaminated blood. The doctor himself also contracted the disease during an experiment, which led to his death¡­ ¡°I¡¯ve read it, but what would that do? Releasing a monster inside the city would only create more harm than good.¡± ¡°But what if it were a monster that could communicate and cooperate with us?¡± Just then, someone knocked at the door of the office. ¡°Lady Ernesta, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild sent some documents over.¡± ¡°Thank you, come in.¡± ¡°Excuse me.¡± Bowing as he entered the room, the young mage handed the documents over and immediately exited the room. After skimming through the materials, Ernesta passes the documents to Christ. ¡°¡­I have something interesting for you. I was told about it when I asked about Muriel through the guild.¡± A look of astonishment appeared on Christ¡¯s face as he looked at the material she gave him. ¡°¡­ A High Kobold? And not just that, one that can understand human language too!?¡± ¡°What do you think about it?¡± ¡°¡­ There are a few cases of Kobold sightings, and there are a lot of unknowns about them. Of course, I cannot deny that possibility and it¡¯s unthinkable that my daughter would tell such a lie. But why didn¡¯t that child tell me such an interesting story!?¡± His interest already seems to be on the Kobolds rather than the countermeasures against the disease¡­ ¡°Based on the doctor¡¯s diary from earlier, it seems that Kobolds are not affected by the disease either.¡± ¡°Are you suggesting that I take a group of intelligent High Kobolds and have them take down Alvesta?¡± ¡°Yes, since that thing cannot be defeated by humans¡­ According to the report, the Kobolds headed to Balberra Forest, but where do you think their actual whereabouts are?¡± ¡°Looking at the accounts of the battle in Viel village and how the bandits were made to submit, it may be possible that they tried to hide their retreat route¡­ Balberra forest is a dangerous place to live in, after all.¡± Christ thought for a while. ¡°As I recall, there was a story where a group of fledgling adventurers were attacked by abnormal-looking Kobolds and robbed of their weapons in Easteria forest near Viel village. But the case was pegged as the work of bandits since they were cleanly stripped of their equipment and did not present with wounds from fangs, claws, or stone spears, but¡­¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s send out a scout there. I will also leave for the Forest once the countermeasures against the infection have been established in the Royal Capital.¡± The silver-haired, blue-eyed witch smiled mischievously. ¡°Fufu, it¡¯s time to hunt.¡± CH 54 There was a Great Horned Rabbit at least 50 meters away from my hiding place among the trees where the gentle sunlight filtered through. It greedily munched on the wildflowers without care¡­ ¡°Sorry, bud, you¡¯re dinner.¡± With my left hand, I smoothly held the bow at an angle and pointed it at my target. And then I nocked an arrow and pulled back the bowstring. whizz ¡°Uukuh!? U¡­ kuu¡± The arrow I silently fired cut through the wind as it flew, hitting the Great Horned Rabbit in the flank. The 1 meter-long animal tried to crawl and escape, but it was fatally wounded and unable to move. I went beside the dying rabbit and stabbed it to end its suffering. ¡°Kua, guruaaon¡­¡± (Now then, let¡¯s drain you of blood, shall we¡­) Before rigor mortis began to set in, I bled it on the spot, and after I tied its limbs with a linen rope and carried it on my shoulder, I walked back to the settlement. A few moments after I came back from hunting, I sat on a tree stump in the plaza and watched the young Kobold pups play as I prepared the Great Horned Rabbit with an obsidian knife. ¡°Wafaa~!¡± (Here it comes~!) Ax, who seemed to be in high spirits because things have been calm recently, lightly tossed a decently-sized wooden disk made from the cross-sectional cut of a tree. ¡°Wauh!¡± ¡°Kuan?¡± ¡°Kyan!¡± The kids chased after it and scrambled to get it with all their might. While it seemed like they were just playing a game, it was actually part of their basic strength training. The biggest pup in his generation of younglings caught the wooden disk and handed it to Buster who was nearby. ¡°Kuuh!!¡± ¡°Garuu, gururuu¡­ woan.¡± (Hmm, alright¡­ leave it to me.) ¡­ he took the disc and fully twisted his body to gain more strength in his throw. ¡°GURUAAOOOOOH!!¡± (HERE IT COOOOOMES!!) And so, using his whole body as a fulcrum, he half-turned and threw the disc with a roar! fwoom! ¡°Kyuuh!?¡± ¡°Kuah!?¡± crash It spun and flew at a tremendous speed, eventually hitting a tree in the outskirts of the village and shattering it. ¡°Waofauh¡­¡± (Really now¡­) ¡°Kuruau.¡± (Sorry.) Amused, Blazer walked over to the tree to collect the broken shards of the toy. (I really don¡¯t know what he¡¯s trying to do sometimes¡­ anyway, it¡¯s rather calm today too.) It was odd that the wind had not blown since this morning. We had a hard time finding our prey because no scents were flowing around. But we were too careless and naive. By the time any of us had noticed it, a small, deeply hooded figure in black robes had appeared in the middle of the village straight out of nowhere. ¡°Hey there. We finally meet, Mr. Silver High Kobold.¡± ¡°Guruu¡­¡± (Who are you¡­) When they removed their hood, their silver hair flowed out and shone in the sunlight. The hooded figure was a silver-haired, blue-eyed girl. While the pack¡¯s attention was on the human girl who suddenly appeared, I faced her, making sure that Blazer slowly placed his position so that he could get behind her. ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Ernesta Elballard! You understand what I¡¯m saying, don¡¯t you?¡± After hesitating for a bit, I nodded. ¡°Good, you pass the requirement¡­¡± After mumbling, she smiled mischievously and declared out loud, ¡°We¡¯ve already surrounded you; it¡¯s useless to resist.¡± At that moment, the wind, which had been calm for so long, came roaring back to life. ¡°G-guruah!¡± (L-leader!) ¡°Guruah!!¡± (Chief!) ¡°Guruooah!?¡± (What the heck!?) The wind blew in and carried the scent of numerous people and iron, and Armored Knights emerged from the trees one by one, herding the remaining Kobolds of the settlement into the central square. ¡°Kobolds have a good sense of smell, you see. So I stopped the wind from flowing in this area.¡± ¡°Wofaon!¡± (An anti-wind barrier!) How could I, who was a former desert inhabitant, not notice it!? The Anti-Wind Barrier is one of the spells that was created in the desert country of Athos, which extinguished the wind to protect the city from being damaged by a sandstorm. However, it was not a spell that could not be cleverly deployed by blending her magic power with nature to keep me from detecting it¡­ I threw a sharp gaze at the girl in front of me. It¡¯s terrifying how I do not sense the strength of the magic coming from her¡­ ¡°Now, do you understand your situation? There are over two hundred Magic Knights from the first army battalion of the Riastize Kingdom surrounding you right now. It¡¯s fine if you want to put up a fight, but aside from being Knights, they are also Mages, so they¡¯re stronger than you.¡± The woman called Ernesta proudly declared. ¡°Wafuu¡­¡± (Haaahh¡­) Sighing, I took out the slate pencil from my pouch. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s just like the documents said. You don¡¯t need that anymore, I made this for you.¡± She took out a silver half-mask from the leather satchel on her waist. ¡°If you wear this, then you can communicate telepathically. It¡¯s made of pure mithril though, so there¡¯s only one for you.¡± ¡­ You want me to wear this? Surely, even a Kobold like me could wear a mask if it only covers the upper half of my face, but¡­ There was no way that I would recklessly wear something handed to me while we were surrounded, but rather than that, it was a depressing and painful sight to imagine myself wearing such a mask¡­ ¡°Hurry up and put it on, you can¡¯t speak, can you?¡± I hesitated to put it on after I got it from her, but she pressed me to wear it immediately. ¡°Gauh.¡± (Tsk.) Against my better judgment, I decided that it was better to obey and press the mask to my face while my packmates were gathered in the square and surrounded by the armed men. The half-mask made of mithril reacted to my magic and changed to fit my face. ¡¾Title Added£ºKobold Mask¡¿ ¡­ I had such a bad feeling about it that I removed it immediately, but it came off without a problem. Apparently, there was no such thing as it being unremovable once I put it on. ¡°Garuoan?¡± [How¡¯s this?] ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine. I can understand you now.¡± Depending on how one sees it, this half mask might be quite useful¡­ ¡°Now, I actually need to ask you a favor, but¡­ I¡¯d be in a lot of trouble if you refused, so I had to subdue you first.¡± ¡°Guoa garuoa guoooan¡­¡± [This is no way to ask for a favor though¡­] My muttering sounded like a low grumble. CH 55 ¡°¡­¡­ Voruu garuooa.¡± [¡­ Very well, state your purpose.] With an indignant look, I urged Ernesta to speak. ¡°Everyone, put your swords down!¡± The Knights surrounding us lowered their weapons on her order to keep the intimidation down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if we came in such a manner, but we don¡¯t have much time¡­ I apologize if we started with threatening you, but I want you to know how serious and ready I am to negotiate.¡± ¡°Guoru, kuauon, guruoaaooh?¡± [So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re not bluffing and are prepared to convince us with brute force?] ¡°Yes, since empty threats will only make one look bad.¡± (¡­Well, if you put such a level of preparedness forward, then I can surely see your will to succeed with the negotiations no matter what the cost. Hmmm, I wonder if we can take advantage of this situation?¡± ¡°¡­ I only have one request, and that is to hunt the monster running amok in the Royal Capital.¡± ¡°Gurua woaan¡­ garuaooon, guruu?¡± [Can¡¯t you do it yourselves? Didn¡¯t you say they were strong?] ¡°¡­¡± I could tell from the atmosphere that the Knights who are silently observing the course of events here are quite skilled. ¡°It¡¯s impossible. That thing is built so that ¡°humans¡± cannot take it down.¡± ¡°¡­ Garuou?¡± [¡­ What are you up against?] ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know of the disease-spreading monster, Alvesta of the Black Rain, would you? It¡¯s what we humans call it, but¡­¡± Isn¡¯t that one of the Seven Plagues¡­? So it¡¯s a threat level S monster. As I recall, there were records of its appearance 140 years ago in Constantia, the capital of Athos. During that time, the Holy Church and the Religious Sect of the Heavenly Moon were not on good terms. The Holy Church back then did not share information with the Religious Sect of the Heavenly Moon about the white-masked monster, thus catching them unprepared and causing extensive damages to the latter. For now, I¡¯ll pretend not to know about it and see if they are lying or not¡­ ¡°Gugaoa guorun?¡± [What are the characteristics of this monster?] ¡°It¡¯s a white-masked entity that causes sickness and death to humans through the reddish-black rain of blood that it casts all over the city. If we tried to get near it, then it would spew forth a cloud of blood and incapacitate us on the spot, but you guys¡­¡±. ¡°Guuaaon.¡± [You have no proof of that.] I affirmed Ernesta¡¯s statement and interrupted her mid-sentence. As far as I know, the records have indicated that the blood disease caused by Alvesta of the Seven Plagues has not affected anything else other than humans, but I cannot say if there is no risk of infection to our kind either. ¡°Kuarugu guugurua worugaruaou?¡± [You want me to risk my life and my people¡¯s lives on pure speculation?] ¡°I know there¡¯s that too, but¡­ according to the records, except for the first case, all the other cases of the blood disease after that only affected humans, so I cannot guarantee that there is no danger to your lives either.¡± Losing her mother from a young age, Ernesta understood that no matter how much the other party is willing to pay, no amount of compensation could match the value of a life. That¡¯s why they have not yet decided how to mitigate the damages in the Royal Capital, but¡­ while it may be a matter of convenience on the human¡¯s side, the Kobolds¡¯ lives are likewise irreplaceable. As a student of medicine, she values just not people, but ¡°lives¡± as a high priority. And because of that belief, she ended up in the current situation. In other words, she had placed the lives of the people that need to be protected on the negotiating table. So for that reason, she secretly advanced and threatened the Kobolds even if her heart bled and she knew that her red-haired friend would blame herself if she were around. ¡°A life can only be paid with another life. That¡¯s why we subjugated you and your brethren¡­ I¡¯m sorry if that seems very selfish to you.¡± ¡°Kuorugu guuo?¡± [So you were threatening us after all?] ¡°Of course we will also compensate you, but that won¡¯t be enough either, won¡¯t it?¡± Ernesta whispered and reached her hand out to the sky. A gust of wind suddenly blew over, and in her hand was a piece of parchment. ¡°Please read this.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The parchment she handed over to me was a ¡°pledge¡± created with the secret techniques of the Magic Society, a large organization that spanned nations. It was made so that one of the parties involved would lose one of their bodily functions once they break the oath written on it. The parchment contains a spell that engraves the contents of the pledge into your memory and soul at the same time you approve it, and you will be punished the moment you are even slightly aware that you have broken it. It seems that people lie to themselves and take advantage of the fact that they cannot completely lie to themselves¡­ I have seen the Commander exchange these with his bargaining partners a few times during my time as a mercenary. I passed my magic through the ¡°pledge¡± and secretly confirmed that it was the Magic Society¡¯s seal that appeared. (Looks like it¡¯s the real ¡°pledge¡±.) This is a summary of its contents: Regardless of the defeat of Alvesta of the Black Rain, the reward for our earnest cooperation will be paid in good faith. As a reward, the central area of the Easteria Forest in the Ferias Domain of the Kingdom of Riastize, namely, our settlement and the surrounding forest area, was to be given to us and no one would be allowed to enter it without authorization. Formally, the King would also compensate the Feudal Lord of Ferias, and designate this area as a hunting ground under the direct control of the Royal Family, which in effect, will allow us to use it as we please. Furthermore, they will also turn a blind eye to the fact that we robbed several adventurers earlier in spring. It also said that we would lose our voices if we violated the pledge, and written at the bottom of it was King Alexius¡¯ name. All that was left to do was for the King to give his approval and the ¡®pledge¡¯ would be valid, but likewise, if he violates the pledge, then he would be left unable to speak. ¡°I know it¡¯s a little lukewarm for you to be risking your life and your comrades¡¯ lives, but¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Lady Ernesta.¡± Behind her, a dark-skinned man that seemed like her second-in-command chided Ernesta. ¡°Hmm, certainly, King Alexius has also placed his voice on the line too. Don¡¯t worry, Glen, I¡¯m already keeping myself from making too many negative comments about it.¡± Glen turned to me and spoke. ¡°¡­ I have a further message from His Majesty saying that he would be willing to grant anything that you demand as long as he could provide it, so please consider our offer.¡± I returned my gaze to Ernesta after Glen bowed. ¡°Gugau?¡± [What if we refuse?] ¡°Then I would be in a real pinch. I¡¯d really love it if you could help us.¡± ¡­ I removed the telepathic communication mask and consulted with the main members who were present. ¡°Woruan garuonn?¡± (Do you think we could turn this situation around?) ¡°Guuh, guuh, guuaooon!!¡± (Let¡¯s just cut, cut, and cut them down!!) ¡°¡­ Gauh, guuon.¡± (¡­ Tsk, it¡¯s impossible.) ¡°Guruu kuauoouu¡­¡± (I don¡¯t think we can take them on either¡­) Buster was raring to go, while Blazer and Ax disagreed. The rest of the group on the other hand¡­ ¡°Kyuuunn¡­¡± ¡°Kuuun¡­¡± Nope, their tails have already curled up. ¡°Wafu~¡± (Sigh.) I let out a sigh and put on my mithril mask again. CH 56 As I placed my mask back on, I detected the presence of my sister, Lancer, and Knuckle from the faint scents mixed in the wind. They probably just came back from getting iron sand from the Steele River and are laying low just outside of the Knights¡¯ encirclement. Taking that into account, it was still difficult to turn our situation around. If it were just us, we could break through via a point in the encirclement and lose our attackers in the forest, but¡­ ¡°Kyuun¡± ¡°Kyuuuh!¡± That is not exactly an option we could choose since there are several new-born Kobolds among us. Regaining my composure, I turned and talked to the silver-haired mage. ¡°¡­ Kurugaaua garuouh, gururuu gauo woaruoo.¡± [¡­ I know Alvesta. I have some connections with humans, after all.] (I remember hearing a lot about Alvesta during my mercenary days. That guy was pretty famous.) ¡°¡­ You¡¯re quite an interesting guy.¡± Ernesta narrowed her eyes at me, but I ignored her and continued. ¡°Guu, guruaoa uo gauoaaan?¡± [What made you think that we Kobolds could take that guy on?] There is quite a distance from the Royal Capital to the Easteria Forest in the Ferias Territory¡­ Considering the nature of Alvesta of the Black Rain, the number of people affected by the Blood Disease will surely increase. Since they spent some precious time getting here despite their condition, then they must have some hope of winning. ¡°Hmm, to be honest with you, we don¡¯t have any records of the battles, so I can¡¯t say for sure, but¡­ there is a high possibility that Alvesta isn¡¯t as strong as he seems. It¡¯s just that its compatibility with us is too bad that we can¡¯t win against it¡­¡± ¡°Guaruofu, kuooauon uoaaao?¡± [So you¡¯re saying that anybody can do it as long as they can¡¯t catch the Bleeding Disease?] ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s a possibility because the biggest threat that thing has is its ability to wield the disease. In the past, many of the Templar Knights who contracted the bleeding disease testified that the presence and magical pressure they felt from Alvesta was about a threat level C at the very least.¡± If that were the case, then the focal point would be whether races other than humans could catch that Bleeding Disease or not¡­ ¡°¡­ Wona kuua, guuru gaouon.¡± [¡­. If we take this job, then there will be several conditions.] ¡°I can generally guess what they¡¯re going to be. The effect of the ¡°pledge¡± is dependent on the King, so it¡¯s not necessarily permanent, but at the very least, it can guarantee the safety of your settlement in the future.¡± A King would not ordinarily use a ¡°pledge¡± when giving out rewards to his vassals. However, if one thought about how he would risk losing his voice for his people, then the King must be a pretty decent ruler, but¡­ ¡°If you are concerned with regards to guaranteeing your safety currently, then we can add another clause to the ¡°pledge¡±. However, there is presently no way to ensure that the ¡°pledge¡± is more effective than it already is, so if you have any suggestions, then I¡¯m all ears.¡± ¡°Garuguoru guruaan.¡± [Please involve the Holy Church.] ¡°The Church?¡± Originally, defeating Alvesta of the Black Rain was the Holy Church¡¯s deepest desire. They have always been its first targets, and since their healing magic does not work on the Bleeding Disease, they would end up losing face and followers alike. It is known that every time Alvesta appears, the Church would organize and send out a subjugation unit to defeat it, but the tables are always entirely turned on them, and all of the soldiers involved die due to the disease¡­ ¡°Gauoaan, guauguruo woaru ¡®kuaruo¡¯ uaao.¡± [I want this forest to be formally acknowledged as a ¡®sanctuary¡¯ as soon as the subjugation succeeds.] The ¡®sanctuaries¡¯ appointed by the Holy Church are sacred domains to humans and, in general, cannot be accessed by anyone. Its designation requires the approval of the King or the Emperor, and the Nobles governing the lands. ¡°Oh, I get it. With the appointment of the Church and the approval of the forest¡¯s designation as a ¡®sanctuary¡¯ by the King and the Feudal Lords, then it cannot be easily changed without the agreement of all three parties. In other words, you are securing and strengthening the independence of your forest¡­¡± Ernesta stares at me, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. ¡°¡­ Are you really a Kobold? If I didn¡¯t know better, then I would think that someone is lurking inside that fluffy exterior.¡± After staring at me for a while, she let out a sigh. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll approach the Cardinal of the Royal Capital about your reward for cooperating with us in the subjugation. They are a little more desperate than we are, so a little recklessness should do the trick¡­¡± ¡­ As expected, if the forest is recognized as a sanctuary, then the Kingdom will not be sending in any Knights to avoid losing face with the Pope, so it will be unlikely that something like this may happen again in the future. ¡°Gaa, guuo worua.¡± [¡­ I would also like to have some weapons made.] The equipment carried by the Knights surrounding the village square is better than ours. After all, the equipment we currently have was taken from the bandits. ¡°Right, since we¡¯re the ones asking you to take out the enemy, then we will prepare the things you need. It¡¯s going to be the same equipment the troops are using, though.¡± ¡°Kuruoaon.¡± [That¡¯s fine.] I would also like to bring up the matter of trading, but I am still in talks with the Village Chief about trading with the Werecats of Lucua Village. We intend to sell charcoal and firewood, as well as medicinal herbs, animal furs, and the occasional amber or jade stones found in the area. And if there are things we need, then we will purchase them from the peddlers passing by. Taking that into account, it seems there would be less of a problem if we went through the Werecats rather than getting involved with peddlers and other humans. The first transaction is supposed to take place soon, but¡­ I guess we could delay it a bit. ¡°¡­ If you have other conditions, please don¡¯t hesitate to tell me.¡± I want money to start trading, but I don¡¯t want the humans to start getting suspicious either¡­ ¡°Kua guoaan.¡± [I think that¡¯s it for now.] ¡°Then, we¡¯ll be counting on you from now on, okay?¡± With a somewhat relieved smile, Ernesta held out her hand while I shook it. CH 57 While the First Army Battalion hurried to return from the Easteria Forest in the Ferias Territory, the white-masked entity spun around and danced wildly in a deserted back-alley. ¡°Y-y-y-your p-p-pra-prayers a-are u-useless¡­¡­ o-o-open y-your eyes, brothers!¡± The reddish-black rain fell on the alleyway in the middle of the night in the Royal Capital of Selkram. ¡°Augh¡­ kuh, kahah!?¡± ¡°H-huh? My¡­ my strength is¡­. Nngh!!¡± Even though there are signs that the epidemic has been spreading throughout the Royal Capital, there is still a minimum amount of human activity to sustain life so the flow of people and the economy does not stop. Thus, some people have collapsed on the streets today as well. ¡°O-overcome th-t-this tra-tragedy, m-my d-de-dear humans! O-overc-come it w-with your pe-persistence!!¡± Unnoticed, the dancing entity declared madly in a string of stuttered words even though nobody heard him¡­. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°King Alexius, there are an estimated 4,300 people who are affected by the bleeding disease in the country right now. The medical facilities of the holy cathedrals and the city hospitals in each part of the city are already at capacity and the city government cannot support the rising number of cases anymore.¡± The indecisive, middle-aged King¡¯s expression was dark in contrast to his bright golden hair when he received the report from the old Head Magician. ¡°¡­ A short while ago, Sir Eiward proposed that we ban all the victims of the bleeding disease who cannot be accommodated by the medical facilities from the capital. It is supposed to decrease the number of secondary infections, but what do you think of it?¡± ¡°Well, it would be effective, but the risk of the city falling into chaos is quite high¡­ we could also opt to make temporary quarantine facilities outside of the Royal Capital, but¡­¡± ¡°Then let us go with that option. However, instead of a quarantine facility, let us make a treatment facility instead. We must consider how to avoid discriminatory prejudice against those affected with the bleeding disease and their families.¡± Sitting on his throne, Alexius let out a deep sigh. ¡°But I wonder if it will be alright?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I am talking about the ¡®pledge¡¯ that my foster daughter brought with her, Sire.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡­ it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s something concerning the Royal Capital, so we cannot ignore it. I¡¯m sure that if I were a mere citizen, I would not pay for it with only my voice.¡± Whether it was a subconscious action or not, the King lightly stroked his throat. Upon seeing the behavior, Greio Elballard let out a tired sigh. (Even though Ernesta pushed strongly for this, but for the King of a country to sign a ¡®pledge¡¯ with a monster¡­he is just too good of a person¡­ caring for his people is a good quality to have, but he is a King ruling in a peaceful time¡­) ¡°By the way, I¡¯m curious about the High Kobold that Ernesta says she¡¯s bringing with her. I have never seen a Kobold after all.¡± So he has never seen an actual monster before¡­ ¡°Rest easy, Your Highness¡­ everything is being taken care of as we speak, so let us wait for the good news.¡± Greio turns on his heel and leaves the audience hall. There were a lot of things that needed to be done. For now, there was the matter of building a treatment facility outside the Royal Capital as we discussed earlier, and the consultation regarding the acceptance of the Papal Office¡¯s request to dispatch the Templar Knights¡¯ Special Forces to the Capital. (They are quite enthusiastic even though the tables always get turned on them and most of them end up dead from the disease.) The Special Force of the Templar Knights exists only to extinguish Alvesta of the Black Rain, chasing the white-masked monster during the period of its appearance. They are always wiped out whenever this monster appears but is it because there are a lot of overzealous believers that this unit is still around to this day? In any case, it was bad form to keep the Cardinal waiting, so the grey-haired Head Mage hastened his steps and headed to the next location. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Together with Ernesta and her troops, we left Easteria forest and walked through the grasslands for a while, and headed to the place where their camp was set up. More than a dozen squires were accompanying the Knights there, and they seemed to be preparing dinner while keeping watch over their supplies. With my sense of smell, I picked up the aroma of freshly made soup. However, seeing as it¡¯s made on the march, it¡¯s probably a simple meal. ¡°We¡¯re not that familiar with your eating habits, but are you alright with pea soup? There¡¯s also some reconstituted dry beef and some bread, but¡­¡± ¡°Guu, guuon.¡± [Yes, we¡¯re fine with it.] ¡°¡­ Guua, gaoaan guaoaon.¡± (¡­ But it¡¯s too unsettling with all these humans around.) ¡°Wafua, gaoaau~¡± (That¡¯s right, there are so many humans around~) Compared to Blazer who is always vigilant of his surroundings, Ax is relaxed even at times like these. ¡°Wau, guruo kuruua guoaruu, gaaguoun woauuu.¡± (Well, they¡¯re not so different from the Werecats anyway. Although I must say, they smell strongly of iron.) ¡°Kuu, kuruan garuou.¡± (I, I think so too.) Maybe it¡¯s because they have been dealing with the little project involving the Werecats of Lucua village who look similar to humans, but Lancer and Dagger do not seem wary of the humans either. Meanwhile, I left the management of the pack to Knuckle and Buster. Just to be safe, I instructed them to take everyone to the abandoned settlement that the Goblins previously occupied near Lucua village and hide after we left. I have been told that it was where Knuckle, Smith, and the other floppy-eared Kobolds¡¯ previous pack used to live in, so I entrusted them with leading the way. If I did not make a ¡°pledge¡± with the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage, then I would have been thoroughly bewildered, but¡­ My pledge required us to accompany them to the Royal Capital to confirm and present the outcome of the negotiations to the King. After he agrees to our terms and likewise makes his pledge, then we will assist in defeating the Black Rain. Meanwhile, Ernesta¡¯s pledge entailed eliminating any human that will try to harm us during our cooperation in their operations. The price for violating either of the pledges is the loss of sight. Not letting me carry out the pledge one-sidedly might be her way of showing her sincerity, but¡­ it seemed too forced to begin with. I glared at Ernesta¡¯s back disapprovingly. ¡°¡­ Then, I¡¯m going to have some food brought to you in a while. Glen, has their tent been prepared?¡± ¡°Yes, we have already set up two tents for them.¡± ¡°We have already prepared a place for you to stay, so shall we go? After dinner, I will be distributing some of our weapons to you as promised.¡± As she said this, she turned around and we followed her as she walked ahead and led us to the tents prepared for us. CH 58 Two tents meant for four people were set up by the squires. One was for Ax who had a large body frame and Blazer who was tall and lean, and the other one was for me, Dagger (my sister), and Lancer. The inside of the tent was illuminated by the light of an oil lantern that was lit earlier. The oil¡­ smelled of rapeseed. If we made a plant-based oil in the settlement, I wonder if we can sell it to Lucua village? ¡°Excuse me, I have brought your dinner.¡± ¡°Gau.¡± [Come in.] From the tent¡¯s entrance, the tan-skinned Knight, Glen, handed me a tray with food. Behind him, two squires were similarly carrying trays of food. Hanging by Glen¡¯s hip was a two-handed curved blade called the Shamshir, which is a weapon common in desert countries. Additionally, a similar, albeit one-handed curved blade is called a Scimitar. (That weapon sure is nostalgic¡­ Still, it¡¯s quite rare for someone from a Middle Eastern country to become a Knight in these parts. I wonder if he converted?) I lightly shook my head from side to side. (Well, it¡¯s no use poking my nose into people¡¯s affairs. It just makes me a little nostalgic¡­ I don¡¯t even know how long it¡¯s been since then, but maybe it¡¯s good to go back to my hometown once.) ¡°Is something the matter, Sir Archer?¡± ¡°Gua, garuuo¡­ kuruaan.¡± [No, it¡¯s nothing. Thanks for the food.] I took the tray from Glen, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, and handed it to Dagger who sat at the back. ¡°Kuaon, kyuan.¡± (Thank you, big brother.) I also received another tray from the Squires behind him and handed one to Lancer, and finally took one for myself. ¡°Then, please excuse me. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call me.¡± As he said so, the Knight who reminded me of my hometown left. ¡°Kyua~n? ¡° (So good? ) Returning my gaze to my companions, I saw my sister already gnawing on a piece of dried meat while wagging her fluffy fox tail. I guess she¡¯s the type to go after the meat first¡­ And so, I broke the hard bread into bite-sized pieces and dunked it in the pea soup to soften it before throwing it in my mouth. ¡°Kyuu?¡± (Hnnn?) My sister imitated me after seeing what I did. The exchange was the same as when we were younger. ¡°Kuruu kyuaan!¡± (It¡¯s more delicious like this!) ¡°Kuu, kuuaruoon.¡± (Oh my, it just keeps you going for more, doesn¡¯t it?) Lancer ate in the same way as well. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m coming in!¡± The silver-haired, blue-eyed mage entered the tent as she called out. In her hands was a tray the same as ours. It seemed like she was going to eat with us, and sat beside me. ¡°Garuoua?¡± [What is it?] ¡°Hmm, well, I figured you would have a bad impression of me, so I thought I should join you for a meal and try to get along.¡± ¡°¡­ Woaoo.¡± [¡­ Do what you want.] While glancing at her, I think about the exchange we had earlier. (If Ernesta had asked me politely¡­ I probably would have refused. Even if there had been no cases of demi-human infection after the second breakout of the Bleeding Disease pandemic, there is still a high chance of it happening.) If that happens, then we¡¯d end up exhausting our power. However, even if there were various factors involved, the only one who could make the best decision, under those circumstances, was me. We could have cut off the weakest members of the pack and escape, but I didn¡¯t do that and pledged my cooperation and offered my sight lest I break it. (It¡¯s not like me to sacrifice the pack in that situation after all¡­) All life, without exception, will die and return, won¡¯t it? If the final destination is the same, then the process of living determines the value of everything. Therefore, I don¡¯t want to depart from that belief much. Besides, there¡¯s more to living than just self-preservation. Is it because I was a former mercenary? For someone who became a mercenary due to poverty, it was something that had been ingrained into me unconsciously. Ernesta stared at me through the mithril mask as I silently ate my meal while being lost in thought. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m more personable than you think, so I¡¯m feeling guilty about how I handled things. The problem is, there¡¯s a part of me that¡¯s indecisive about this. What about you?¡± I looked at Ernesta who stared up at me calculatingly and swallowed the mouthful of dried meat I had been eating before I responded. ¡°Guraoou gaoou. Garua worugu guaoruaan.¡± [If there¡¯s something I need to do, then I will see it to the end. Otherwise, I¡¯ll only have regrets when I die.] ¡°¡­ You¡¯re so manly, aren¡¯t you? If you were human, then I¡¯d fall in love with you.¡± A moment later, she stops eating and thinks about something. She then mussed up her hair and scratched the side of her head. ¡°Ugh, that¡¯s just unnecessarily distressing¡­ Anyway, we will be providing you with the best equipment available. My unit is the most elite in the whole Kingdom of Riastize, so you can expect that the equipment will be top-notch.¡± ¡°Guuon garuon.¡± [We¡¯ll be counting on you then.] ¡°Kuau gurua, guruugaooon?¡± (By the way Boss, what are you talking about?) ¡°Gau, guruuao guogarua kuruuo.¡± [Ah, it seems they¡¯re going to give us good equipment.] ¡°Woan guruugau kuruaon?¡± (I wonder if they also have better spears than mine?) Lancer lightly tilted her head and looked at the propped up iron spear that Barrack had forged. Having had a hard time with the low-quality Goblin Spear, she tended to be fixated on the quality of her armament. Giving her a sidelong glance, I thought that I cannot force my companions to come along with me in dealing with this matter. After all, I was the only one who pledged. It seems there are a lot of things that I should think about while considering that as well¡­ CH 59 The next day, we were shown the equipment of the First Magic Knight Battalion led by Ernesta as promised. The equipment lined up in the middle of the encampment included prototype weapons which seemed better than expected. ¡°Our unit is always the first one to be asked to try out various things. You can choose whatever you like, but¡­how about this? This one¡¯s called the ¡®Shield of Love and Peace¡¯.¡± ¡°Wafi?¡± (What?) She shows Ax a small shield with dark green and gold accents. It¡¯s a type of magical equipment where a certain amount of magic could be felt. ¡°Guoaruau?¡± [What kind of effect does it have?] ¡°Hmm~ if I¡¯m not mistaken, the Royal Blacksmith said this is a shield which spreads Healing Light every time it receives an attack until the user¡¯s magic is exhausted.¡± So its effect is indiscriminate¡­Still, it¡¯s valuable as a recovery artifact. ¡°Also, its user needs to possess Holy Attribute magic for it to activate.¡± So it¡¯s useless even if Ax had it¡­ Wait, if the user has Holy attribute magic, can¡¯t they at least use the elementary spell, ¡®Healing Light¡¯? Looks like its value just dropped in one go¡­ ¡°Can the big, blue Kobold use magic?¡± ¡°Gua, kuaruo.¡± [No, he can¡¯t.] ¡°Ah, then this electromagnetic shield might not be useful either. If you run Lightning magic through the shield, then it will become powerfully magnetic and attract iron, but¡­¡± Even if it attracts Iron Swords, it seems to be ineffective against weapons made of Mithril and Orihalcon. Well, except for the ones with some iron mixed in, I¡¯ve never seen a pure Mithril or Orihalcon weapon before, so this one could still have various applications, but¡­ None of my companions could use lightning magic. ¡°Guruu garuoaan.¡± (I prefer this one.) In the end, Ax chose a variant of the so-called Duel Shield, which is a white shield with a short, horizontal handle and a blade-like, tapered point which is good for both offense and defense. Meanwhile, Lancer was comparing a spear with a mechanized spring structure that extends length-wise and a spear with a short sword-like blade tip. ¡°Guruouaru, garuo aruo kurua aruu¡­ gaoh!!¡± (This one¡¯s pretty tempting since the spearhead could extend during offense, but¡­ hiyah!!) She unleashed a quick thrust in the open space and pushed the release mechanism in the handle. The spring-latch was released, and the speartip shot out with a length of at least 1.5 meters. From there, she quickly pulled it back, but¡­ the spear was too long that it became hard to handle. That was the weakness of the prototype flying spear called the Bullet Spear. The length had become so long that it would be impossible to quickly return the spear tip to its original length during battle. ¡°Wauoan, gurugaorua¡­¡± (It might be great for surprise attacks, but after that¡­) This time, Lancer picked up a slightly shorter slash spear with a speartip that looked like a short sword. ¡°If you hold it near the blade, then you can use it as a sword to make a slash attack.¡± Ernesta took Lancer¡¯s right hand as she talked, and made her hold the part she was referring to, and stepped back. ¡°Woa!!¡± (Seyah!!) Immediately after making diagonal slashes and transitioning to horizontal blows, Lancer thrusts her spear forward while backstepping to keep her distance. Timing her movement, she loosens her right hand on the hilt and slides it backward, drawing out her left hand as she takes a spear attack stance. Then, she loosened her grip on the spear as soon as she pulled it back, sliding the handle towards the blade and once again taking a sword attack stance. ¡°Kuruaoaan.¡± (I wonder if I should get this¡­) Lancer looked like she had already made up her mind. ¡°Gurua, guruukuruaou.¡± (Boss, I¡¯m taking this one.) Blazer, who had been cunningly rummaging through the selection of armaments, equipped a black Long Sword and a gauntlet with some sort of contraption attached to it. ¡°Garuo?¡± [What are those?] ¡°It¡¯s a black sword for surprise attacks and a small, crossbow gauntlet.¡± When Blazer turned on the mechanism, a part of the gauntlet extended on both sides and a bowstring stretched between it much like a crossbow. It seems that the small arrows installed in several small grooves are fired from it. ¡°It¡¯s a small crossbow so it¡¯s not very powerful, but it¡¯s assumed that the user is supposed to use poison arrows on it, so I¡¯ll add a vial of a highly viscous paralyzing poison for the arrows later.¡± ¡­ If anything, this choice of weapons perfectly reflects his personality. Dagger, on the other hand, did not seem to have any intention of replacing her beloved Stilleto made from a unicorn¡¯s horn and only replaced the other dagger. ¡°Gauh!¡± (Eei!) thud ¡°Uu¡«¡«?¡± (¡«¡«?) Since earlier, I had been playing with some mechanical daggers whose blades pop-out due to springs by throwing it on a wooden board. Well, I guess I¡¯ll take this one too. Now, just when I thought of choosing a weapon too, Ernesta confidently brings out a medium-sized bow. The bow had pulleys attached to both ends of it, and it had a complicated string tension. ¡°Fuffu~, this is the latest creation of the Weapon Manufacturing Division of Riastize Kingdom, the mechanical bow, Baroque. The pulleys allow the user to draw the string with minimal effort so you can draw the string tighter to gain more distance.¡± Its appearance seemed somewhat odd, but¡­ ¡°Woaoon garuan?¡± [How far do the arrows fly?] ¡°Hmm¡«, I hear it has an effective range of over 100 meters.¡± I took the weapon from her and pulled the string. I aimed the arrow at the dark, empty forest, but¡­ ¡°Wau???¡± [Hnn???] Unlike a normal bow, there is a strong resistance when I begin to pull the string. ¡°Guouh! Ooh!?¡± [Nnngh! O-ooh!?] When I put some force into it and drew the string again, I couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious as I felt a click as I passed its point of elasticity. There¡¯s a somewhat inexplicable feeling about it, but¡­ I¡¯m glad that the force required to maintain my shooting stance is minimal. Although I can¡¯t say for sure until I¡¯ve finished testing it out, I am attracted to the distorted bow and I decide to take it. For my auxiliary weapon, there was a Scimitar, a nostalgic, one-handed curved blade that continued to attract my attention which I, of course, equipped. Still, we refrained from equipping the Knights¡¯ full plate metal armor as it clashed with our preference for mobility. ¡¾Weapon Change¡¿ Name: Ax (male) Weapon: Royal Soldier¡¯s War Axe (replaced) Armament: Dual Shield Name: Lancer (female) Weapon: Slash Spear (Main: replaced), Mechanical Dagger (Auxiliary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Blazer (Male) Weapon: Black Sword (Main: replaced), Small Bow Gauntlet (Auxiliary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Dagger (Female: Sister) Weapon: Stiletto Dagger (Main), Mechanical Dagger (Auxiliary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Name: Archer (Male: me) Weapon: Mechanical Bow Baroque (Main: replaced), Scimitar (Auxiliary: replaced) Armament: Leather Armor Thus newly armed, we, together with Ernesta¡¯s troops, passed through the gates of Selkram, the Royal Capital, after a six-day journey. CH 60 Selkram, the Royal Capital whose landscape stretches across the river, is located at the mouth of the Crea river, which leads to the Lapis Sea in the North. Since there is a harbor at the mouth of the river, the city is shaped like a semi-circle, but the entire area of the Royal Capital is surrounded by a wall and towers for archers. A moat stretches around the outer walls and the water flowing in it is drawn from the upper course of the Crea river. Additionally, the waterways inside the Royal Capital are also drawn from the river, and some sort of drainage facility that uses embankments and windmills could be seen from afar. (¡­This is definitely a place fit to be called a Royal Capital. They have everything: a life-sustaining water source, a harbor that is key to trading, and a vast area of cultivated land in the outer edges that can support the population.) The Magic Knights surrounded us so we can keep a low profile. From behind my deep hood, I glanced at the streets of the Royal Capital Selkram. The citizens probably refrain from going out to the streets because of the Bleeding Disease¡¯s influence, that¡¯s why the crowds are few today. But even so, there are still a lot of people going about their daily lives to keep the economy going. Blazer, who was walking beside me, also cautiously observed his surroundings while deeply hooded. (¡­This human settlement is so huge that it¡¯s a little worrisome.) Looking at his expression, it seems like he feels threatened by humans again. However, in contrast to Blazer, my sister, who is not afraid of things, has discovered a water wheel and is getting excited. ¡°Wapuh.¡± Quickly covering my sister¡¯s mouth when she was about to say something, Lancer placed her pointer finger in front of her mouth to remind her to keep quiet. This is because we have discussed this with Ernesta¡¯s group beforehand, and had arranged that we would enter the castle discreetly. Sorry, I forgot. As if to say ¡®oops¡¯, my sister sent Lancer a hand sign. Well, we¡¯re doing our best to remain inconspicuous, but there¡¯s only so much one can do when passing through a wide road to the castle. ¡°The Magic Knights sure stand out a lot, don¡¯t they?¡± Yes, in the first place, it¡¯s Ernesta¡¯s First Battalion Squad who stands out a lot! In addition to that, the Magic Knight¡¯s cloak that we used to conceal ourselves was of a needlessly distinct design. The crimson cloak was embroidered with Riastize Kingdom¡¯s emblem in gold¡­ of course, the people would be curious of us even if we were covered in the Magic Knight¡¯s cloaks. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Could it be?¡± I hear whispers from some of the people who have noticed us, but even if I left it alone, they would not be able to say anything to either the Tempest Witch or the Magic Knights, so I did not worry about it. Just as I dismissed the thought, a shadow passed over our heads. (What was that?) ¡°Kurukku¡«?¡± ¡°Welcome back, Haku.¡± flap flap A pure white dove gently descended and perched on Ernesta¡¯s shoulder. [¡­Who¡¯s that?] While looking at the white dove, I sent a telepathic message to Ernesta via the mithril mask without saying anything. ¡°Hmm? Oh, as you can see, Haku is my familiar. You set a lot of conditions, so I sent a message ahead to give them enough time to prepare for your arrival.¡± ¡°Kuruh!¡± When she placed a hand underneath the white dove perched on her shoulder, it lightly jumped into her hand. ¡°I asked my foster father to obtain a Sanctuary Certification from the Lord of Ferias territory and a Letter of Designation from the Cardinal in the Royal Capital, you see.¡± [Will it be completed immediately?] ¡°Hmm, if my foster father sent the King¡¯s letter to the Lord of Ferias territory in the city of Warren through his black hawk, I wonder if the reply has arrived via a fast messenger horse now? The Cardinal is in the Royal Capital right now, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already talked about it though¡­¡± The way she¡¯s saying it, it does not seem like she¡¯s sure at all¡­ [The pledge I made entails the confirmation of the results of the negotiations and cooperating in the subjugation of Black Rain once the King agrees and makes a pledge to our terms. If the result becomes otherwise, my contract with you will be null and void, but¡­] ¡°Ugh, this is a situation where no condition is impossible to fulfill. But if it does become impossible, then I¡¯ll graciously give up because I didn¡¯t read the situation well enough.¡± The ¡°pledge¡± is a grimoire inscribed with magic that uses the consciousness of the person who made the oath to inflict a physical penalty the moment they perceive even the slightest violation of the pledge. However, if for some reason the pledge itself is perceived as invalid without any fault, then the contract magic inscribed in the soul will disappear. Now, I wonder what will happen¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The Royal Head Magician was reporting to the King in the audience room, which was bathed in the afternoon sunshine. ¡°King Alexius, a letter has arrived from the Lord of Ferias this morning.¡± ¡°¡­Is that what I think it is?¡± ¡°Yes, we have received a letter recognizing that area as a sanctuary. However, there is a note attached that permits the residents of Viel village to enter the forest on the premise that their livelihood will be directly affected by the designation, but¡­¡± Alexius, who looked a little pensive, brushed back his golden hair and smiled widely. ¡°Huh, well it was originally a forest inhabited by monsters that the nearby residents, except for adventurers, can enter anyway. In other words, even if it becomes a sanctuary, it won¡¯t change anything for those who live there even with that supplementary rule.¡± ¡°You have a point, Sire.¡± ¡°¡­Hmm, I wonder what the Cardinal would think about that? There is only one appointed Cardinal in each country and he has the power to represent the Pope to designate a part of his jurisdiction into a sanctuary. Hence, if the Cardinal objects to the additional condition, then the matter in question will not push through. It has already been two weeks since the first outbreak of the Bleeding Disease started and affected a huge number of people. Three weeks was the standard period for the Bleeding Disease to enter the final stages, but even under the present circumstances, people were beginning to die of illness as early as possible, especially the children and the elderly who were not strong enough. They had to avoid wasting more time in the present situation. ¡°¡­ I just checked with him and it seems he is alright with it as long as Alvesta of the Black Rain will be defeated. During that time, he also reminded me that we had to cooperate with other things as well.¡± ¡°Hmph, does he want to be the next Pope?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­ In any case, I have already secured the Letter of Sanctuary Designation from the Cardinal.¡± During the audience, the Cardinal¡¯s letter of Sanctuary Designation, the Feudal Lord¡¯s letter of Sanctuary recognition, and lastly, the King¡¯s letter of recognition and appointment of the central part of Easteria forest as a sanctuary was gathered together. ¡±Now it¡¯s just a matter of whether the silver Kobold will approve of the supplementary conditions, but I find it quite worrisome.¡± ¡°He and the other Kobolds have saved the residents of Viel village from a band of thieves before, so I think it should be fine with him¡­¡± Alexius seemed a bit delighted as he responded to the Royal Head Magician¡¯s noncommittal statement. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, I am finally going to meet the silver Kobold after all.¡± ¡°¡­ It¡¯s not just mere curiosity, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°¡­Of course.¡± Thus, it was decided that King Alexius would receive the strange, silver Kobold. CH 61 When we entered the castle, we were shown to a nondescript room. However, even the interior of the room and the tables and chairs had a high-class feel to them. By the way, we parted with the Magic Knights in front of the gate separating the inner and outer walls of the Royal Castle. There is also a row of houses for the Knights in the fortifications that separates the castle from the rest of the city, which they will return to after their excursion and rest for a while. ¡°Then, please wait here for a while. I¡¯ll come and fetch you later when everything is ready.¡± ¡°Gau.¡± [Okay.] With her familiar, the white dove, perched on her shoulder, Ernesta hastily left the room. After confirming that she has left, I focused my attention on my magic. (¡­ O drifting wind, I beckon you.) Letting the gentle wind magic swirl around me, I read the flow of the air and checked for peepholes in the ceiling and the walls. This is because many rooms where foreign emissaries are temporarily kept waiting are equipped with a mechanism for observing them, and sometimes they are equipped with a kill hole for assassination. ¡°Worufu, ruau.¡± [What do you think of the castle?] ¡°Garuuoa woauon¡­ ¡° (It seems quite secure¡­) Like me, Blazer who has also finished checking the room by visual inspection and lightly tapping on the wall also seems to have determined that there is no particular problem. He then positioned himself facing the doorway and leaned on the wall. I also took off my half-mask which seemed to be made of pure mithril and loosened up a little. ¡°Kuan, wafa?¡± (Big brother, what¡¯s this?) I turned in response to her question and saw my sister grabbing both legs of the chair with her white, furry hands and holding it above her head. ¡°Guruu, kuaou kuruuguruan.¡± (Now that you mention it, there are no chairs in the village.) Normally, armor is designed to maintain the range of movement, so the backside has nothing but a piece of leather cloth freely hanging from it in anticipation of sitting down. That¡¯s why we can put it on and sit down without minding our tails, but for chairs with backrests like these, the positioning of the tail is a bit of a problem. Having no choice, I sat down with my tail placed on my side so that I would not accidentally sit on it. ¡°Guu~, gauruou kuuaruonn.¡± (Hmm, so instead of rocks you¡¯re supposed to sit on this, right?) My sister, who understood the purpose of the chair, placed it back down and tried sitting on it for a bit. ¡°U~, wafa garuu oou.¡± (Uu, it¡¯s somewhat uncomfortable.) The position of her fox tail, which is the biggest and fluffiest out of all of ours, looked odd, so she kept wagging it while she remained seated. ¡°Kuruguan¡­ uuh, gauruau kuuaruou.¡± (Let me try it¡­ hmm, I think I¡¯m more comfortable sitting on a rock.¡± ¡°Guruu kuarugu garuooan?¡± (I wonder if it¡¯s alright for me to sit on it too?) Following Dagger, Lancer also sits down on a chair. Meanwhile, Ax, who has a huge and muscular physique, asked Lancer and sat down with trepidation. On the other hand, Blazer silently watched them with a sidelong glance, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯s thinking something like, ¡°if I sit down and something happens, then it will just delay my reaction, won¡¯t it?¡± Out of the four of us, he was the only one who did not show any interest in the chairs or the elaborate candlesticks in the room. Anyway, as we rested in the room for a while, the silver-haired mage returned and I put on the mithril mask that allowed me to communicate telepathically again. ¡°Have I kept you waiting?¡± ¡°Kuruaon.¡± [It¡¯s fine.] ¡°I just confirmed with my foster father, but for some reason, it seems an audience with King Alexius has been set up¡­ but since you¡¯re the only one that needs to come, we¡¯ll have to make the others wait here.¡± ¡°Guruo, kuoua worufaon.¡± [Everyone, please wait here for a while.] ¡°¡­ Gau, woa garuaon.¡± (¡­ Sure, leave it to us.) ¡°Woon, gurua.¡± (Got it, Boss.) The long, skinny Kobold and the blue hulking Kobold, whose temperaments are as different as night and day but get along well despite that, sent us off and I followed behind Ernesta. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll teach you the proper etiquette of an audience if you need it. This time, the audience was granted due to the Kingdom¡¯s circumstances, so you can¡¯t be accused of being rude though.¡± ¡°Guorufu.¡± [It¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t need it.] In the first place, what was she trying to do by asking a Kobold about manners? I don¡¯t know the standard etiquette when having an audience with higher-ups in the Western countries, but in my memories, I once had an audience with the Royal Family together with my commander in the desert country of Athos, where mercenaries were heavily used. At that time, I remembered that the commander taught me not to be rude. Well, I don¡¯t want them to have a bad impression of the dog people because of me either, so¡­ I¡¯ll just go with the flow for now. We continued through the main castle to the door of the audience chamber on the top floor, and before I was told, I removed the Mechanical Bow and the Scimitar at my back and offered it to one of the Royal Guards standing on either side of the door. ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll take those if you will.¡± The Royal Guard who received my weapons seemed slightly amused. Perhaps it was because a Kobold, which is classified as a monster rather than a human species, understood the circumstances of which weapons could not be brought inside the audience hall. ¡°Looks like I really didn¡¯t need to teach you, huh¡­¡± As Ernesta muttered, the two guards pushed open the extravagantly decorated door. As a side note, most doors at important places mostly open inwardly. Basically, it will take more force to push a door rather than pull it, so holding the door from the inside will prevent the outside enemy from easily entering. Aside from that, the audience room had a long, vertical layout. On the farthest part of the room was a set of steps that led to the throne. On both of its lower wings, an elderly Court Wizard and several Royal Guards stood upright. Well, unless an audience with several people in a row was planned, the King would show up after all the figures and preparations were in place. I followed Ernesta¡¯s lead and her line of sight and stopped just a little behind her, similarly bending one knee on the red carpet and bowing lightly. CH 62 From the main entrance of the audience hall, I could see that there was a different door at the side of the throne located at the back of the room. It¡¯s probably where the King of Riastize Kingdom passes through to get to the audience room. After waiting for a while, the sound of a door opening echoes, and I could feel the presence of a person moving from the left side of the throne. A voice announced their arrival as they stopped in front of us. ¡°His Majesty, The King of Riastize, King Alexius has arrived.¡± I could not see since my head was bowed, but judging from the clinking sound of plate armor, the Royal Guards seem to have paid their respects to the King¡¯s vassals. Then, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the throne after a while. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard, Ernesta.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. I have just returned from the Ferias territory.¡± Ernesta responded to the King while keeping her head bowed. ¡°I have already prepared the documents necessary for the designation of the central part of Easteria forest to a sanctuary as indicated in your petition.¡± ¡°Thank you for the grace, Your Highness.¡± Despite already bowing low, she lowers her head even more to show her gratitude. ¡°You may return to your place.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± After the exchange, she raised herself in a fluid motion and walked forward to join the ranks of the other Vassals. ¡°So this is the Kobold Chief living in the Easteria forest in Ferias territory¡­ You may raise your head.¡± ¡°¡­¡± When he called out the first time, I only slightly raised my head. If it were me from my memories as a mercenary, I would directly raise my head and be severely scolded by my commander right after¡­ ¡°¡­ You may raise your head.¡± The second time he said it, I finally raised my head, but did not make eye contact with the King. ¡°Kuruoo wauaoon, gurua.¡± [It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.] I finally got a good look at the King while the vassals in attendance made an uproar after I completed my greetings. Despite the curious look on his face, he seemed like a good-natured, middle-aged man who carried himself with dignity. ¡°¡­ Are you from the Eastern countries? Your manner is similar to someone from the desert countries. If I¡¯m not mistaken, there is an area where some desert Kobolds live, but¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Guu, guugauo woru fooua uoan.¡± [¡­No, Your Highness. It¡¯s just a mannerism I picked up from some human travelers.] ¡°Hmm¡­ The reason I asked you to come, of all people, is to help us defeat Alvesta of the Black Rain. Greio.¡± A white-haired, elderly mage who stood nearest to the King on the right side quietly approached me and showed me three letters. The letters were the Sanctuary Designation from the Cardinal and the letters of Sanctuary Recognition from the Lord of Ferias territory and the King of Riastize Kingdom. ¡°Sir Silver Kobold, I am pleased to inform you that the central area of the Easteria forest is now a Sanctuary. However, as a condition from the Lord of Ferias territory, the people residing in Viel village are allowed to enter the forest¡­¡± Viel village, huh¡­It reminded me of the girl with the long, flaxen hair for some reason. Well, geographically speaking, that village makes a living out of woodworking and hunting after all. I feel awkward barring them from entering the forest. Besides, if I think of the long run, it¡¯s not like we cannot interact with them as we do with Lucua village. ¡°Kuruuoan, guaoru.¡± [That is alright, Sir Mage.] ¡°Then, I will be sending these three letters to the Pope in the Holy city of Veritas Quedam. They will be kept in the Papal office there.¡± The old mage also takes out another ¡°pledge¡±. ¡°I have prepared this at your request. Please confirm its contents.¡± It contained the conditions I had given, such as the delivery of the documents related to the Sanctuary to the Pope, the dissemination of the announcement to the vassals, and mutual inviolability. It also contained the price to be paid for breaking the vow and the King¡¯s signature. ¡°Upon the ratification of this ¡®pledge¡¯, the prerequisite of your pledge to Ernesta to defeat the Black Rain has been fulfilled and is now in effect.¡± I nodded and handed the ¡®pledge¡¯ back to the old mage. In turn, he handed it over to the King, who handed it back to me. ¡°In the name of Alexius, I hereby pledge¡­¡± The King recites the pledge to make sure the contract magic enchants his soul. After the oath was made, the ¡®pledge¡¯ is enveloped in a pale blue light. The color of the light indicates that the pledge has been made and that it is now complete. ¡°Now that our business is finally out of the way, it¡¯s my first time seeing a Kobold, so I¡¯m a bit curious about you.¡± The mood of King Alexius becomes friendly, and he gives me a curious look. ¡­ Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this. ¡°I have heard that Kobolds are small and weak monsters, but that one is completely different from what I imagined.¡± ¡°King Alexius, this is a High Kobold¡­ No, it seems to have evolved further than that, so I can only give you an impression.¡± The old mage, who seemed to have the same bad feeling as I did, tried to change the subject, but his master would not stop. ¡°Then I would like to see its strength!¡± ¡°With all due respect, Sire¡­ that is not part of the pledge that I made with him.¡± Ernesta¡¯s words caused the King to pause for a moment. ¡°Then, as a reward for the match, I will give you the ¡°Seed of the World Tree¡± My ears reflexively twitched. The seeds are quite valuable. The seeds themselves have no efficacy as an elixir, but the leaves of the World Tree could be an alternative to every conceivable medicine, and also has the effect of nurturing the forest. ¡°¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re giving those away, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Greio¡­ you couldn¡¯t make it sprout after trying all sorts of ways either. Do you still have some attachment to it?¡± There have indeed been no cases of humans being able to grow the seed of the World Tree, but¡­ Originally, it was the Forest people, the so-called Elves, who grew the World Tree. The forest that spans the southern border of Easteria, where we live, is also the domain of the Elves. I don¡¯t know how a seed of the World Tree ended up in the Kingdom, but it is very valuable to the Elves. If I have it, then it can become some sort of bargaining chip. Hmmm¡­ I¡¯ll take it if I can. ¡°Guruvorufa, garuoaaon.¡± [I accept. I will participate in your match.] I cut him off before the old mage could admonish the King. CH 63 ¡­And so, the silver-haired mage and I stood facing each other in the parade grounds. Seated on the spectator¡¯s seats were King Alexius, his bodyguards, the middle-aged mage, the usual entourage, and before I knew it, there was a golden-haired lady as well. Since she¡¯s in the area meant for the Royal Family, she might be the King¡¯s daughter. ¡°Are you going to be fine with me as your opponent? I¡¯ll be careful not to injure you, but¡­¡± ¡°Kuruauoo voru guruo oouah.¡± [It¡¯s not my style to keep losing all the time.] Having said that, I took off my mithril mask that limited my vision and went near the lower spectator¡¯s seats to throw it at Ax. ¡°Wafuh!?¡± Perhaps it was unexpected, but I saw him hurriedly catching the silver mask with both of his hands as I returned to my place and waited for the signal with the wooden sword at the ready. Ernesta, on the other hand, was bare-handed. Considering that she can deploy a large-scale wind-breaking barrier on the go, there was a time when I thought that she was without a doubt a skilled wind magic-user¡­ ¡°Begin!!¡± ¡°Guruooooooooooonn!!¡± ¡¾Activated £ºBattlecry¡¿ At the same time the old mage raised his arm on cue, I let out a magical roar that enhanced the physical capabilities of a Kobold and lost no time in closing the distance as is customary when dealing with a mage. ¡°Shaaaaaaaah!!¡± However, along with the unimaginably immense fighting aura coming from her, Ernesta lowered herself and propelled herself forward with the help of the wind magic covering her limbs just like a silver arrow! ¡°Uoooooh!?¡± shatter She almost got me with a wind blade-covered right punch if I had not blocked it with the wooden sword, but the wooden sword shattered with just a single strike. ¡°Sei!!¡± Furthermore, the silver-haired mage¡¯s feint allowed her to take another step forward and deliver a short left uppercut. (I can¡¯t dodge it!!) I promptly crossed my arms by my throat to reinforce my guard, but the gales surrounding her left fist broke through my defenses, and her punch connected with my lower jaw. ¡°Guah!¡± The power of the blow was reduced by my intersected arms, but it left the rest of my body defenseless. ¡°Hah!!¡± ¡°Gahah¡­¡± Taking a short breath, Ernesta hits my stomach with the heel of her hand. I reflexively jumped backward, and the impact of her attack barely crossed my Leather Armor. And so I took another huge step back to gain some distance from her while at the same time I threw away the hilt of the wooden sword which I held in my right hand and fired some Wind Blades. ¡°Uo, guruah!¡± (O wind, tear my enemy to pieces!) ¡°Tear my enemy to pieces, Triple Wind Blade!¡± The other side also launched three wind blades, one canceling my wind blade, and the other two going straight for me. ¡°Kuh.¡± I avoided the Wind Blades by dropping to the side and rolling on the ground with the momentum. ¡°Haaah!!¡± When I managed to stand up, Ernesta was already in front of me and unhesitantly unleashed a roundhouse kick from the deep slit of her battle robes, exposing her young, healthy-looking smooth legs. ¡°Oooooooh!!¡± Even though I just stood up, I evaded the roundhouse kick once again thrusting my left hand out and dropping my upper body on the ground. And then, I propelled myself backward by doing a cartwheel. ¡°Aguh!?¡± In doing so, my heel catches Ernesta¡¯s chin, and she also moves backward and breaks the series of offense and defense, but¡­ This is bad. ¡°Even though I¡¯m holding back, you¡¯re holding up pretty well, Kobold Wind-user!¡± .. Tsk, I¡¯ll admit that she is better than me. So she was holding back? Then I¡¯ll use that to my advantage! I was a child when the Commander picked me up from the desert city of Laudonell and he was stronger than I was. Looks like I have to struggle again like that time. ¡°At least let me have a little more fun!!¡± And with those words, she came dashing towards me covered in wind! ¡°Wuooonn garuaaah!¡± (Take this, Greedy Fangs!) In response, I quickly laid my hands on the ground and invoked a version of my earth magic, ¡°Binding Fangs¡±. Numerous earthen fangs that were lower than usual sprouted and blocked Ernesta¡¯s advance. ¡°!?!¡± Reading the flow of magic, she leaped over the fangs right away. From her position above, she pointed her hands to the ground and, with her gale-covered heel, unleashed an ax kick on my lowered head. ¡°Gguruouh! Wuoh!!¡± (You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s been reading moves! Wind!!) The earthen fangs that I sprouted from the ground were a distraction; the reason I made it so low was to increase the chances of her leaping, even for a little. Additionally, by lowering myself and exposing my head, I also invited her to go for a knockdown attack. This time, I crossed my arms and mimicked Ernesta, and canceled out the magic gale winds covering her. Goh!! ¡°Guu!¡± ¡°Kuh!¡± A considerable amount of impact hit me which almost made me fall to the ground, but I managed to hold on and caught her kick between my arms. Without a moment¡¯s delay, I vigorously stood up and used my left hand to brush away her kick and break her stance. ¡°Uoruaaaaaaaannn!!¡± ¡¾Active£ºHowling Noise¡¿ ¡¾Effect£ºInhibits the use of magic for a period of time¡¿ ¡°Wha!?¡± Furthermore, she is hit by the full force of the Hellhound¡¯s Roar, blocking her magic for a moment and taking away her means of defense. From there, I did not hesitate and delivered a full-strength blow straight to her solar plexus with my right fist. ¡°Guruoaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Kahah¡­.¡± Unintentionally bending over, she exposes her neck and I give her a hand chop, finally rendering her unconscious. Thud ¡°¡­Kyuu~¡± ¡°We forfeit!!¡± When Ernesta was knocked out cold, the old mage stopped the match. CH 64 At the same time the verdict of the match was announced, the Royal Head Mage immediately descended from the stands to the parade grounds with his ashen cloak fluttering behind him, his physique making it hard to believe that he was already a grey-haired old man. ¡°¡­ Really now, you¡¯re still wet behind the ears, dear daughter.¡± To the embarrassment and groans of the Royal Guards protecting the King, he picked up Ernesta who was stretched out on the ground, and handed her to the paramedics who came running from the sides of the parade ground. ¡°Please take care of my daughter.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Greio!¡± As I watched the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage being carried out on a stretcher, applause from the King rained down from the spectator¡¯s upper box. ¡°Wonderful! You were even holding back, but it was quite a feat beating the Tempest Witch!!¡± ¡°Garuoah, gurua.¡± (As expected of Leader.) ¡°Gurua, kuruo~n?¡± (Good job, Boss?) ¡°Kyuua, woau guruaoo.¡± (Big brother is strong after all!) My companions were unusually happy. It seems they still have not gotten over the shock from when we were surrounded in the village¡­ ¡°Greio, give him what I promised.¡± ¡°¡­Yes, Your Highness.¡± The old mage reaches into his pocket and throws a small, round object at me. ¡°Wafuh?¡± When I caught it with a whump, I felt a warm and strong life force from my clenched fist. On top of that, a dense amount of Earth attribute magic, and a faint amount of Holy attribute magic dwelled within it. ¡°It¡¯s the seed of the World Tree, which King Alexius entrusted to me to study. I was never able to make it sprout¡­¡± When I opened my hand, there was a blue seed, the size of an almond on it. ¡°Woru vaaruau¡­ garugu waou ¡®voruau¡¯.¡± (So this is the seed of the World Tree¡­ it¡¯s ¡®alive¡¯ just as the rumors say it is.) As my gaze is drawn to the ¡°Seed of the World Tree¡±, I unexpectedly hear a muttering. ¡°Well, I gave it to him as promised¡­¡± As I shifted my gaze to the old mage, I found him taking off his cloak with the emblem of Riastize Kingdom embroidered in gold on a white background. ¡°Even though she is bad at being an apprentice, this Greio is not so old as to keep silent after seeing his foster daughter beaten in front of him¡­ funuuuuh!!¡± beaaaaaaam ¡°Wafi!?¡± (What!?) When the elderly mage¡¯s fighting spirit rose, his upper body swelled with muscle and tore his mage¡¯s uniform! A moment later, an old man with a slender, but well-trained steel-like body stood there. ¡°Fuuuuuh!¡± A pale, white flame appears from his raised right fist. This reminded me of the author of ¡°Herculean Pulverization¡±, a unique grimoire that pursues physical enhancement to its utmost limits, which I had heard about from my fellow Earth magician, Eric, as a funny story while we were drinking in the bar during my mercenary days. If I¡¯m not mistaken, the author was called Greio the Steel Sage¡­ (So that was you¡­ Are all the mages in this country like this!?) As my image of a mage steadily crumbled, the hearty voice of the King of Riastize Kingdom echoed from above. ¡°Ooh, it¡¯s been a while since I last saw Greio fight.¡± ¡°King Alexius, with your permission¡­¡± As I looked disgusted at the situation where a parent was going to fight their child¡¯s battle, help came from an unexpected source. ¡°Father, that dog person will be in danger¡­¡± A woman with the same hair and eye color as the King reproached her father. ¡°¡­ You¡¯re right, we can¡¯t ask him to do more than that. Greio, save it for another time.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty¡­¡± After slightly closing his eyes, the old mage switched his awareness and picked up the cloak by his feet. By the time he wore the cloak after brushing off the dust from it, the overflowing fighting aura had all but vanished, but¡­ he looked somewhat sad. ¡°Silver Kobold, you have entertained me well. I have prepared rooms in the castle that you can freely use during your time in the Royal Capital.¡± And lastly, the King added, ¡°I have been persistently reminded by Greio that a King cannot bow his head, so I would like to ask you to do your best to defeat Alvesta of the Black Rain for the sake of my subjects.¡± As I nodded silently, King Alexius and his bodyguards exited the spectator¡¯s seats. In turn, a small female attendant appeared by the exit of the parade grounds. ¡°¡­ I have been told by His Highness to take care of the rest. She will be leading you to your rooms to rest for now.¡± The old mage, who no longer had the slightest trace of the fighting aura from earlier, pointed to the maid and continued, ¡°The Black Rain often begins to fall after dusk¡­ There are already close to 10,000 people affected by the disease and we have no way of saving their lives as they continue to suffer. All we can do is to eliminate the source of the infection as soon as possible, so we will be relying on your help.¡± Perhaps intending to speak on behalf of the King who says he cannot bow because of his position, Greio bows deeply and then disappears to the exit on the side where the unconscious Ernesta was carried off to. ¡°Wau, gurukuruoau woruaooou¡­¡± (Phew, I guess I can take a breather now.) As I watched the old mage¡¯s back as he left, my companions climbed over the threshold of the spectator¡¯s seats and entered the parade grounds. ¡°Gurua, ruao¡­¡± (Boss, your hand¡­) ¡°U? Gau¡­¡± (Hmm? Oh¡­) It seems my right hand was slightly injured from the splinters of the wooden sword when it shattered during the first attack. With her white, furry hands, Lancer took my hand where the blood had begun to dry. ¡°¡­Kuruaonn.¡± (¡­ Healing Light.) A warm light envelopes my hand and the wound disappears. Likewise, my jaw, which hurt from Ernesta¡¯s blow, was also healed. ¡°Gaaorua aon guuao woruoan, gurua.¡± (The bad aftertaste from being defeated in the settlement has gone down a bit, Leader.) ¡°Wuonn.¡± (It has, hasn¡¯t it?) An unexpectedly happy Blazer lightly slaps me in the back. When the pack was surrounded by the Magic Knights in the village, his apprentices had been out guarding the perimeter, but¡­ all of them had been defeated and captured. For someone who was in charge of guarding the area daily, that must have been a shock for him. ¡°Waofu, gauan.¡± (Here you go, Boss. I¡¯m giving this back to you.) ¡°Kyuu, kuruu!¡± (This too, big brother!) I received my Mithril mask from Ax and my Mechanical Bow and Scimitar from my sister. Apparently, the guards who had received my weapons before I entered the audience room previously had given them to my sister. I put on the silver mask again to address the maidservant who had a slightly frightened expression as she looked at us. It reacted to my magic and remained stuck on my face. (It¡¯s such a subtle sensation every time¡­) ¡°Kuu, uoruo garuoaan?¡± (So what are we going to do after this?) ¡°Kuaruu uonaruoon.¡± (She is going to lead us to our rooms.) After answering Ax, who tilted his head with his big, blue body, I walked to the attendant standing by the exit. ¡°Guoa, guruaou.¡± (Let¡¯s go, shall we?) CH 65 ¡°Urgghhh~, Even though I was holding back¡­ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d lose.¡± ¡°Kurukku~¡± ¡°Mmm, are you trying to cheer me up, Haku?¡± ¡°Kuh, kuu.¡± In a room at the top of the tallest spire of the castle, the silver-haired mage sat depressed while the white dove sat on her shoulder¡­ She had no recollection of the match earlier after she received a hard blow to the solar plexus. When she woke up, she was already on a bed in the treatment room. (¡­Could it be the first time I¡¯ve lost to someone other than my foster father in a while?) She was fortunate to still be able to feel frustrated. If she were to lose at a battlefield or elsewhere, then she would not even have room for such thoughts and just die. ¡°What you were doing was not holding back, but being careless, you foolish child.¡± So it was reasonable that her foster father would give her such a stern warning. ¡°I can¡¯t stay depressed forever, and it¡¯s about time for them to get moving¡­ I guess I should get going too! Haku, I¡¯m counting on you!¡± ¡°Kuruh!!¡± The white dove flew from her shoulder and into the night sky of the Royal Capital. Ernesta had only been able to use Wind-attribute magic since she was a child, but she can also have a familiar as long as it also possessed the same wind-attribute. And since she and Haku are magically connected, she could borrow its vision until a certain distance. But since her familiar is diurnal, its night vision is not as good¡­ If Alvesta spurted out blood and it scattered while people were out and about, then the damage to the surroundings would be enormous. Therefore, it was decided to carry out the subjugation during the late-night hours when there was a restriction from going out at night to prevent infection. ¡°¡­Now, I wonder how they¡¯re doing?¡± Through the thread of magic power connecting her to the white dove dancing in the night sky, Ernesta borrowed its eyes to look around the vast area of the Royal Capital. The first thing she saw was the Templar Knights¡¯ Special Forces who wore pure white cloaks with a cross inscribed in them. Anticipating the damage to the surroundings, they were also carrying out their operations in the Royal Capital at night. Assuming that they were going to engage in battle with Alvesta, the team was made up of skilled Bow Knights equipped with Long Bows. Additionally, their movements indicated that they were not wearing plated armor; their armor was only the cloak that was enshrouded in defense-type Holy attribute magic. (¡­ It would be foolish to wear heavy armor when facing Alvesta, but then again, that unit has always been excessive.) They also have a Guardian Beast Familiar, the ¡° White Owl ¡° flying over their heads, and as soon as they discover the whereabouts of their sworn enemy, they will probably secure a sniping point and move in for an attack. (The Longbow has an effective range of 150 meters, but there are records that Alvesta, who was once hit by several arrows in the body, continued to move around like it was nothing¡­ which is questionable. Not that I would mind if they took out the Black Rain, though.) However, this time, they were headed in an opposite direction from the Kobolds. If a hound¡¯s sense of smell is to be believed though, then they will not be meeting the white-masked entity tonight¡­ Ernesta sent instructions to Haku through the magic link, and this time, she caught sight of the Kobolds scampering through the Royal Capital in the middle of the night. The sight of the hounds jumping over the roofs of the houses and advancing without hesitation gave her a sense of confidence. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Fortunately, it was not difficult for us Kobolds to locate the whereabouts of Alvesta of the Black Rain as the unique smell of blood sticks to our noses even from far away¡­ At dusk, we wore our cloaks and blended in with Glen¡¯s platoon of Magic Knights, and headed to the area where the reddish-black rain previously fell so we could pick up the smell of blood which was Alvesta¡¯s distinctive scent. ¡­ Leader, I¡¯ve found it. The tall, skinny Kobold who went as a vanguard stops and sends me a hand sign as he stares at the back alley from the rooftops of the disorganized district of the poor. I could also tell where it is by the thick scent of blood. I could not see it because of the blindspot, but like my sister, I could also smell the unusually thick smell of blood. (From this place, the closest area is candidate number 3, which is the Royal Academy of Magic.) As I thought about its next target, I looked up to see the white dove circling in the sky, so held up three fingers in the air. (I guess it¡¯s about time we meet¡­) I roughly informed my companions of the danger we were facing just in case Alvesta¡¯s sickness is effective against Kobolds as well, but¡­ just to make sure, Got it? If that guy gets close to you, your life will be in danger, so run right away. Got it, big brother. I had to make sure my sister and the others nodded before I continued. Don¡¯t push yourselves too hard either. ¡­ Of course. Blazer, the tall and skinny Kobold, thinks that he who survives wins and has no intention of dying here whatsoever. Also, even if I get taken down, I want you to run immediately. That¡¯s impossible, Boss. The big, blue Kobold Ax frowned and gave me a troubled look, but we had no choice. Lancer, take care of him. Leave it to me. And after I ascertained that the spear-wielding Kobold nodded, we began to move. Ax and Lancer went to the southwest side of where Alvesta¡¯s presence was. Blazer and Dagger went to the opposing northeastern side, while I went around to the northwestern side and laid low among the roofs. We held our breaths as we waited a while for the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage to give the signal. The white dove then flies ahead and heads to the grounds of the Royal Academy of Magic. ¡°¡­¡­!!!¡± After determining the direction it headed to, I rose from my hiding place and went on the move. ¡°Guruaoooooooooh!!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºBattlecry¡¿ I leaped off the roof with my legs that were strengthened by the Hellhound¡¯s roar, twisting my body so that I landed feet first as I jumped into the alleyway. ¡°Gi¡­i¡­?¡± I caught sight of the strange, black-clad entity who blended with their surroundings. It tilted its head as it stared at me with empty eyes through its white mask. ¡°Vorufu, guogarufu!!¡± (Tear my enemy into pieces, Triple Wind Blade!!) I stuck out my right hand and unleashed the Wind magic that I learned earlier at noon! CH 66 The white-masked entity crossed his arms and shielded himself from the three wind blades coming towards his head from above. ¡°Gu¡­uhh!¡± The wind blade aimed at his face was repelled with a clanging sound. However, the two other wind blades cut through Alvesta¡¯s right shoulder and left flank, causing blood to spurt out. While watching the situation, I jumped back up again and landed on the opposite roof. With my left hand, I immediately reached for the Mechanical Bow Baroque on my back and with my right hand, reached for the arrow barrel hanging on my waist, but¡­ (He¡¯s not slowing down!?) Without regard to injury, Alvesta kicked the wall and made a triangular jump, leaping from the alleyway and launching himself into the air. He then came at me while swinging a reddish-black blade that sprouted from his hand. ¡°¡­Ah¡­AAAAAAH!!¡± With a strange cry, he shot out a diagonal slash aimed at my torso. ¡°Guuh!¡± I avoided the attack in the nick of time by taking a step back. Leaping further towards the back of the roof, I aimed at his large torso with the Mechanical Bow. ¡°Woruah!!¡± (Piercing Shot!!) Woosh The white-masked entity chased after me and tried to close the distance, so I shot him from a distance where he had no room left to duck! ¡°Ho-h¡­how can s-su-such a l-lo-lowly mo-m-monster¡­!¡± My arrow found its mark, puncturing Alvesta¡¯s flank and causing him to spurt out blood, but he did not care and continued to chase after me, holding the reddish-black blade of blood, as he leaped towards the roof I was in. ¡°Guh¡­Garuuh!!¡± (Tsk, to hell with it!!) Since the Battlecry from earlier was still in effect, I put some strength in my legs and leaped into the air, and collided with Alvesta. ¡°Wh-whaat!?¡± Since I beat him to the punch, it surprised him and momentarily delayed his response. I then immobilized his right arm which produced the blood blade and snuffed out his chances to carry out a slash attack. ¡°Guuruoah!!¡± From close quarters, I slammed a knee strike at his solar plexus and slammed a punch into the white mask while still holding onto my mechanical bow. ¡°G¡­guuh, aaaaaah!?¡± A small crack ran until the edge of the part of the mask that received my blow, and Alvesta came crashing into the alleyway while being exaggeratedly distressed. Well, I also fell into the alleyway following the laws of physics, but I maneuvered my body and landed safely on the ground. Since the alley isn¡¯t that wide, I threw my Mechanical Bow on the street to prepare for close-quarters combat and pulled out the Scimitar by my waist whilst glaring at the white-masked entity. ¡°Gu, aah!¡± (If he¡¯s not scattering blood in this distance¡­ then does this mean that the Bleeding Disease this guy spreads only affects humans after all?) The moment I felt inwardly relieved, the white-masked entity used the gap in my awareness to quickly turn around and break off running. ¡°Garuoaaann.¡± (I won¡¯t let you go!) Picking up my Mechanical Bow, I let out a roar as a signal to my companions who were laying low nearby, even as I continued to follow behind him. ¡°Gau, guaoaaaaaaan!!¡± (Now, let¡¯s go hunting!!) ¡°Uoooooonn!!¡± ¡°Guruaoooooon!!¡± As I listened to my companions¡¯ corresponding howls, I considered the blows I exchanged with him earlier without stopping to think. (I couldn¡¯t feel any fear or hesitation in his movements when he received my attacks earlier¡­ so I¡¯m still holding out on my conclusion. On the other hand, I got a response from him when I punched his mask. It might be a little cliche, but that¡¯s what it is, I guess.) It seems like an obvious weakness, but since it was an area that is easy for him to defend, it had a huge advantage, which makes him more troublesome. I lost sight of Alvesta in the complicated alleyway while thinking of such things, but it wasn¡¯t a problem at all since the smell of blood was very thick. ¡°Woaaaaaaaann!¡± ¡°Guruaooon!¡± Occasionally, the howls of the other Kobolds echoed through the Royal Capital late into the night. They used their howls to confirm each other¡¯s position while at the same time, alerting their prey to their presence and guiding it to the direction they wanted it to escape to. The intricate alleyways of the Royal Capital do not pose an obstacle if you run on the roofs after all. After executing some more strategies, we finally cornered the white-masked entity and slowed down when we arrived at the plaza in front of the auditorium of the Academy of Magic which is located on the southeast side from the place where we had a close encounter. ¡°Wh-why a-a-are mo-mo-monsters¡­¡­ in, in th-the ci, city?¡± A white dove perched on the Bell Tower gazed at the white-masked entity who leaped into the plaza in front of the auditorium. It shared its vision with the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage who lightly hovered 1000 meters in the air. From the high altitude, Ernesta¡¯s silver hair shines in the moonlight, and her back has invisible wings made up of pure magic, which catches the updraft caused by wind magic and allows her to stay in the air. Furthermore, the light-tinged ball of wind that circulated above her raised palm formed a halo shape approximately 3 meters in diameter. Doesn¡¯t it look just like a halo? It is a unique magic called ¡°Halo of the Storm Angel Zachiel¡± that can only be used by the Tempest Witch who has received the blessing of Setio, the Storm Goddess. The intention is to increase the diameter of the halo, to counteract errors in long-range magic due to the distance. Its features were a long range of more than 10 times that of normal magic and unparalleled cutting power. The clouds above and below were scattered in advance. She switched her vision to her own magic-enhanced eyes for sniping and aimed at the small black dot that was about to run through the center of the auditorium square below. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s finish this in one shot! ¡®Zachiel¡¯s Halo¡¯!!¡± And just before the increasingly shining Storm Angel¡¯s Halo was thrown, the white-masked monster looked up at the sky! ¡°Giiiiiiiiiih!?¡± DOWOOOOOOOOOOH The Halo of the Storm Angel that she unleashed tore through Alvesta in an instant at a speed close to 1000 m/s, but the monster tilted and shifted his head, warping his upper body to avoid a direct hit to his mask. After the halo cut Alvesta from his right shoulder to his groin at a slight angle and cut him in half, it also partially cut through the statue of the dean nearby, and then disappeared as if it were sucked into the ground. ¡°Woruah!!¡± (Did she kill it!?) ¡°Gauuo, Guruah!!¡± (Not yet, Leader!!) ¡°I, I so-somewhow e-endu-endured that.¡± Alvesta, who should have been cut in two vertically, stands on the spot without collapsing. The blood spouted from the cut surface joined the divided halves, returning the masked monster to its original form. ¡°What the hell? It can¡¯t be!¡± The scene is also visible to Ernesta through the white dove¡¯s eyes, but invoking a second shot is impossible for her since she is running out of magic due to the halo and flight magic. ¡°Guruo, voaru gaouh!!¡± (Everyone, aim for the mask!!) ¡°Gauh! (Got it!) ¡°Ruuoa kuanoh!!¡± (Burn bright! Foxfire!!) I nocked an arrow on the Mechanical Bow that I held at a slight angle and at the same time I shouted. From a short distance, Blazer also activates the mechanism of his Gauntlet and deploys the Crossbow attached to the Gauntlet, while my sister created a huge Foxfire with both of her hands. ¡°I, I w-wo-won¡¯t¡­ l-let you!!¡± ¡°Uoh!¡± (Uoh!) ¡°Gau¡± (Tsk.) ¡°Kukyuuh!¡± (Kyaah!) However, the white-masked monster was faster than us and unleashed a wide swath of blood. I have a feeling that I was exposed to a small amount of blood during the battle earlier, but¡­ I¡¯m not sure whether I would still not be infected with the Bleeding Disease even if I¡¯m exposed to a large amount of blood. ¡°Kuoh!!¡± (Get out of the way!!) So I did not push it and jumped away from the spot and kept my distance. ¡°Kuruoaaaaan!¡± (Eat this!) Lancer, who was diagonally behind us, threw the Slash Spear at the place where Alvesta¡¯s head was supposed to be while the spray of blood made it difficult to see, but¡­ Clunk Only the sound of the spear falling over could be heard in the plaza. After the blood screen dissipated, the white-masked entity¡¯s form was nowhere to be found¡­ ¡°¡­Uoon garuoaan.¡± (¡­You can run, but you can¡¯t hide.) CH 67 From the plaza in front of the auditorium of the Royal Academy of Magic, the white-masked entity that had escaped through the haze of blood sluggishly ran through the city streets late at night. ¡°I¡­ I re-rece-received¡­ t-too mu-much da-damage¡­¡± Why am I being chased away like this? Alvesta thinks with a mind that no longer works, and an obsession with a deep-rooted delusion. ¡°C-co-could i-it be, be t-the sm-smell of¡­ b-blo-blood?¡± Normally, he would have noticed it sooner, but¡­ the delusion that had not ceased since he took on this form 200 years ago had prevented him from making sound decisions. Yes, even at this moment, it would not let him decide on withdrawing from the Royal Capital either. ¡°¡­I-I c-ca-can¡¯t¡­ st-stop¡­yet, I¡­have to¡­.wa-wake up¡­ as-as ma-many o-of, of my brethren a-as I, I¡­c-can!¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Looking back, everything started to get out of control when an injured Adventurer from the Eastern Woodlands returned to the city of Edona. ¡°Uh, uah¡­¡± When the male Adventurer was brought to the treatment center of the Holy Church, he had a high fever and was vomiting blood, although in small quantities. ¡°¡­ What do you think, Father?¡± ¡°It seems to be a fever with bleeding, but¡­ Healing magic does not work on it; The only thing we can do for him is to pray, so I would like to speak with his companions¡­¡± Aleph had a somber look as he replied to Jill, the nun who was standing behind him. As always, I can only pray for the people who have a low survival rate because healing magic would not work on them. I had been a priest for over 10 years now, and I have found myself praying for people who are dying more often than not. In the general theory of the Church, the ¡°redeemed¡± and the ¡°unsaved¡± are defined by God¡¯s will according to their daily behavior. This doctrine is a deep-rooted majority in the Holy Church, and I have been taught that since I was an apprentice. In other words, God¡¯s salvation is extended to those who have done good deeds and who have a high level of faith¡­ not that there was ever any doubt. Does this mean that the people suffering from sickness and death have not done any good deeds? Can you say that to a family holding a patient¡¯s hand in prayer? ¡°¡­ It¡¯s outrageous that I would dare question God¡¯s will.¡± I crossed my arms in front of my chest and bowed my head, ashamed of myself for having thought such an insolent thing even for a moment. ¡°Is something the matter?¡± ¡°¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing. Jill, there is a possibility of being infected, so please rinse off the blood on your hands and change your clothes, I¡¯ll do the same.¡± ¡°Yes, Father. It would be terrible if the children in the orphanage were also possessed by the disease.¡± Afterward, I informed the Adventurer¡¯s companions of the same thing and also asked them to contact the owner of the inn where they had stayed. In hindsight, there may have been other measures that could have been taken if I had any knowledge of medicine. But as a priest acting on behalf of God¡¯s miraculous Holy Magic, I was afraid to study medicine because I doubted its power, and there was no way I would have that knowledge. I have heard of tales of doctors saving patients of whom Healing magic was ineffective, but they were saved by the Lord¡¯s Will and not by the Doctors¡­ not at all. (If I had poorly studied medicine, then it would create doubt in my mind about the Lord¡­ how frightening!) But, little did I know that I would later on despise that idea with all my heart¡­ The next day, following the first Adventurer, the inn-keeper¡¯s daughter and the Adventurer¡¯s colleagues presented with the same symptoms and arrived at the treatment center on wobbly legs. ¡°Father, this is¡­!!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know yet how serious this disease is, but¡­ it¡¯s definitely an infectious disease! Send word to the Feudal Lord¡¯s deputy and urge him to take measures against it.¡± ¡°Yes, I will send Anna over!¡± ¡°I present to you a miracle of healing, EX Cure Light!¡± ¡°Uhh¡­.ugh¡­ Father¡­¡± A strong, Holy Light envelops the innkeeper¡¯s daughter, Liana, as she lies in bed, but her condition shows no signs of abating. I know that Healing magic is not a panacea. It¡¯s not just a simple injury, but the fact that it doesn¡¯t work on some diseases is confirmed in the history of the Holy Church. ¡°Liana, stay strong. I am well aware of your faith and your daily actions. Surely, the Lord will not forsake you.¡± I called out to her as the fever made her restless. ¡°Hahah, maybe I¡¯m not so good then. I¡¯ve killed quite a few monsters, after all.¡± The female adventure next to us joked. She may be sick, but she probably hates the gloomy atmosphere. ¡°You have also saved people by killing those monsters, and the Lord knows that.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Both this cheerful female adventurer and the good-natured Liana were unable to walk on their own after ten days or so, just like the first adventurer. By that time, countless cases of infection have also sprung up, including Liana¡¯s parents. The infection spread through the blood, saliva, and vomit of the patients, and was further carried by rats and other small animals that lived in the city. Moreover, the treatment centers of the Holy Church in each section of the city could no longer hold any more patients, and the hospitals run by the doctors were already in a similar state. ¡°Father, it¡¯s painful¡­¡± ¡°¡­I wonder if it¡¯s because I skipped the morning prayers this morning.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Do not worry about it, you would not be punished for such a thing.¡± (I¡¯m sorry, I could only pray for you.) At this point, there was no way the children in the orphanage were safe, and every single one of them was already lying down on their beds. ¡­ Furthermore, I have also begun to exhibit some signs of the infection. I probably would not be able to move in a few days as well. And so, on the 15th day, the male Adventurer who was first infected passed away, and the next day, Liana and several others who were infected early on followed soon after. On the 17th day, the children of the orphanage will also die sooner than the others, considering the time of infection. No one was going near the Churches, Hospitals, or other health facilities where patients were housed anymore. I could barely even walk now. I managed to muster the last of my strength and headed for the chapel. I was not going there to pray. I was going there to confirm something. There are also patients lying around in the chapel. I managed to reach the altar and kneel without stepping on them. ¡°My, my Lord ¡­ Milly, who died just now, has only lived six years. Did that girl commit some kind of sin?¡± There was no answer. Of course. In all the times that I have stood at this altar, not once did the Lord answer me. ¡°Leo often overslept and missed the morning prayers, but is it enough to cost him his life¡­.?¡± As I expected, there was still no answer. So I repeated my questions and my prayers, and as I lay on my deathbed, I finally understood. ¡°There¡­ there is no God!!! Even if¡­ ugh, even if there were, there would be no saving grace!¡± How much attention does a being that is so far beyond humanity really pay to a short-lived being like a man? I do not know either, but I do know one thing. Prayers are pointless!! The next thing I had was self-loathing. I have saved countless lives with my healing magic, but I had done nothing for those whom it did not work on. At this point, regret surged through me. I also felt anger towards God, but even his existence was unclear to me that there was no point in lashing out at something that may or may not be there. I felt that even the relationship between Holy magic and God is only questionable when it comes to this place, and the fact that even some monsters deal with it shows that. ¡°I-if I don¡¯t tell them¡­ that prayers are worthless¡­ that we have to use our own power as humans to overcome it¡­¡± However, I am almost at death¡¯s door. My sight is already so blurred that I can barely see. (Oh, what a shame ¡­ I wish I could have shared the insights I gained with someone else.) That was the last time Aleph died, but a white death mask appeared on his face. Even if he was a Priest, the quality of his magic and his regrets were enough to trigger a reaction¡­ In cases like these, it was still rare for a dead person to resurrect as an Undead. ¡°Gu¡­ Uuhaaah!!¡± However, in his case, he seems to have become a half-immortal monster¡­ but he still acts to clear up his regrets. ¡°I¡­ I have to tell them¡­ that faith¡­ is worthless!!¡± He thought with a mind imprisoned within the delusion. And so, the white-masked monster appeared and, seeking self-reliance, showed the pointlessness of prayer by causing the ¡°Bleeding Disease¡±, a pseudo-hemorrhagic fever that is spread through blood-borne magical interference. Thereafter, he would visit other cities to recreate the ¡°Bleeding Sickness¡± that afflicted the city of Edona until his magic ran out, and if his power was exhausted, he would go to sleep for a while without being noticed. Thus, the people came to call him ¡°Alvesta of the Black Rain¡±, one of the Seven Plagues. CH 68 ¡°Captain Elias, we¡¯ve got him! It¡¯s the Black Rain!!¡± A subordinate who shares his vision with the white guardian owl employed by the Priests of the Holy Church and the Templar Knights as a familiar raises his voice. A while ago, the sky in an area within the Royal Capital shone brightly, so the Knights had sent the guardian owl who was flying overhead to check the situation. ¡°What is the situation!? What¡¯s going on!?¡± ¡°It seems to have come from the direction of the Royal Academy of Magic and is heading this way!!¡± A slender female Knight with brushed up violet hair who wore a pure white cloak decorated with an embroidered cross looks up at the sky. ¡°¡­So it came from there, huh.¡± Her Distance magic-enhanced vision identified a white owl that stood out in the night sky. The guardian beast tracked Alvesta¡¯s movement from the sky, indicating its position. ¡°Shall we pursue it? Captain¡­¡± ¡°Of course, we shall.¡± The Special Task Force of the Holy Order exists only to defeat Alvesta, their sworn enemy. That¡¯s why Vice-Captain Cedric¡¯s question seemed absurd, but¡­ All of the past subjugation units have entirely died of sickness, and from here on out, it was their turn to face a dangerous situation from where they might not return alive either. But nobody would hesitate at Elias¡¯ orders. ¡°¡­I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°There have been too many tragedies, this has to stop now.¡± ¡°I have been waiting for this day ever since I lost my family¡­ Even if you tell me not to go, I¡¯ll still go no matter what happens.¡± That¡¯s right, most of the Knights present are from the Church in Lualad, a city in the Warderian Empire where the tragedy took place almost twenty years ago, where they have lost someone important to them to the Bleeding Disease. Even their Captain, Elias, had lost her parents to the disease when she was 4 years old and was sheltered in the orphanage of the Holy Church. Around the city where Alvesta had spread the strange Bleeding Disease, many people had died without receiving any healing magic or prayers. Consequently, the Holy Church¡¯s influence crumbled along with the trust and confidence of many of its believers. However, to keep the trust of its believers, the Church¡¯s post-event response had been very thorough. As a result, some highly religious people who harbored hatred towards the Black Rain grew up in the area and volunteered to join the Special Forces. Still, when it came to potentially heading towards the land of the dead, she had to reaffirm their commitment. But even if someone were to drop out, she was not going to fault them. ¡°¡­ I understand how you feel. Let¡¯s go.¡± When Elias closed her eyes and made a quick sign of the cross in front of her chest, the other Knights also followed suit. Upon careful observation, it seemed like they were determined to push away their fears. ¡°Divide the troops into four-person squads! Please keep your distance from each other and make sure that a single blood shower doesn¡¯t incapacitate us all!¡± ¡°That said, if you stay too far away from each other, you won¡¯t be able to work together either, so keep that in mind.¡± ¡°YES!¡± Following Elias¡¯s instructions and Cedric¡¯s advice, the Templar Knights make up four squads of four, which were decided beforehand. ¡±We¡¯re going to commence the attacks with a half siege! Lumiere¡¯s and Cedric¡¯s squadrons will attack from the left and right, and Raymond and I will conquer from the front! All units spread out!¡± ¡°AYE!!¡± While maneuvering their way towards the white owl flying in the night sky, Elias¡¯ and Raymond¡¯s squads approached their target in a straight line, while Lumiere and Cedric¡¯s groups made their way towards the enemy on either side. Eventually, after turning several corners, the Bow Knight Elias¡¯ vision caught the black-robed, white-masked monster. ¡°I see the enemy!! I¡¯m going ahead!¡± She went ahead of him, sliding down on one knee as she took her position, and with a flowing motion, she held up the Longbow in her left hand and held the arrow she had taken out of the quiver. Next to her, another Bow Knight similarly took a one-knee stance and aimed. ¡°Pierce, Holy Arrows!!¡± ¡°AIM, FIRE!!¡± Woosh Woosh The Bow Knights of Elias¡¯s squad fired Light Arrows enchanted with Holy Attribute magic. The arrows cut through the darkness of the night and fly to the white-masked monster. ¡°¡­aah.¡± However, the masked entity leaps diagonally and avoids the arrows, then kicks the wall in front of him and brings himself back near the center of the street again, and then increases his speed and closes the distance. ¡°Y-you deceive people with your false miracles¡­ You impostors.¡± ¡°SECOND SHOT, FIRE!!¡± Standing behind Elias and the others who are propped up on one knee, Raymond¡¯s squad shoots Light Arrows at the target¡­ but it passes over Alvesta¡¯s head as he lowers himself and crawls on the ground. ¡°I-it¡¯s no use¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Explode, Sacred Flames of Death!!¡± With only several meters separating them from the masked monster, Elias brought up her left hand and shot out small, light bullets. ¡°Tsk! Repel all attacks, Holy Shield!!¡± The white-masked monster held his hand out and deployed a Holy Shield against the Light Bullets that were packed with magic power and traces of Holy attribute magic. The fired Light Bullets exploded in his immediate surroundings and scattered flames of light, but they were blocked by the Holy Shield of Light. ¡­The Priests, Cardinals, and Upper Clergymen are all aware that the entity spreading the disease was originally a Cleric. That¡¯s why they want to defeat the heretic at all costs, but that fact is kept secret from the Public. This is because if rumors spread poorly, then the Holy Church¡¯s Authority would fall to the point that it would be irrecoverable. However, as a precaution, they only disclosed the bare minimum to the public that their sworn enemy could repel the Priests¡¯ Holy Magic with equivalent magic of its own. ¡±That¡¯s to be expected!!¡± The white, glowing flames could not burn Alvesta, but it stops him from advancing as the flames glow brightly around him. ¡°I¡¯ll hold it back for you! Holy Flames of Death!!¡± ¡°Guuuh¡± The place she was aiming for was an intersection between two alleys where Cedric¡¯s and Lumiere¡¯s teams were deployed from a distance on either side. ¡°Now!! Aim, FIRE!!¡± Woosh Woosh Under Cedric¡¯s orders, the team members surrounding both sides of the alleyways readied their Long Bows and fired their arrows. ¡°Aaaah!¡± In response to the surprise attack, the masked monster quickly covered his face with his left hand to hide his weakness and formed a Blood Shield. However, all 8 arrows were aimed at his torso which was easy to hit¡­ ¡°Guuuh¡± As a result, the arrows all hit their mark, but not enough to inflict a fatal wound. And so, the lack of information about the opponent would later decide the fate of the Templar Knights¡­ CH 69 ¡°Keep on attacking, don¡¯t let up!¡± ¡°Gaaaaaah!¡± As she was focused on barking out orders and releasing another attack, it was too late for Elias by the time she noticed that something was wrong. Alvesta had crossed his arms and hid his mask with the reddish-black blood shield and closed in on her by breaking through the barrage of Holy Flames. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Fwoosssshhhh The moment she whispered her surprise, a spray of blood had gushed out of the arrow wound that the white-masked monster received. ¡°Guh¡­ ah¡­ugh¡­¡± ¡°M-my, my power is¡­¡± A sudden high fever, numbness in the body, and a terrifying sense of weakness tormented the Knights of Elias¡¯ and Raymond¡¯s squads, and even as they struggled to hold on, they gradually collapsed. ¡°Uuugh, ueh¡­¡± ¡°T-this¡­ is¡­ the Bleeding Disease aah¡± Even Elias, who glared into the eyeholes of the mask could only see the approaching end reflected in those empty eyes. After the blood screen was cleared by the wind, there were 8 Templar Knights who laid moaning and groaning on the street. ¡°Elias!!¡± ¡°Dammit! Take this!!¡± Charging in from either side of the intersection, Lumiere and Cedric fired a second volley of arrows from their Long Bows. Woosh Woosh However, the white-masked monster uses its right foot as an axis to turn around, smoothly evading the Arrows of Light. ¡°Y-your faith¡­ is just an illusion, open your eyes!!¡± In a continuous motion, he crosses his arms once again and targets both Lumiere and Cedric, and sends out countless specks of blood flying! ¡°Kyah!!¡± ¡°Uoooh!?¡± The two Bow Knights quickly hid in the side alleys to avoid the attack, but¡­ with a series of pitter-patters, the bullets of blood dispersed and scattered blood mist all around. ¡°Sh-shit! Guh¡­ ughhh¡± ¡°Kh-gahhk!?¡± They both inhaled it, and the strength from their bodies suddenly drained out of them and they collapsed on the street. ¡°Vice-captain!!¡± ¡°Lumiere!¡± The Templar Knights of each squadron who were nocking arrows into their bows from behind during the Blood Bullet assault went to help the two men, but¡­ from the corner of their eyes, they saw the white-masked entity jump from the intersection. ¡°I-it¡¯s th-the¡­ en..d¡­.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­¡± ¡°No way!¡± As the white-masked monster jumped from the intersection, he spread out his arms from which he shot out countless reddish-black bullets from his palms towards the remaining Knights. The flying Blood Bullets burst in front of them with a small, eerie sound just like earlier, causing a plume of blood to disperse in the area. ¡°Gu, gueeeehh¡­.¡± ¡°*cough* Ah, aaaaaaaah!!¡± The Bow Knights who had inhaled a little more of the blood mist collapses while vomiting blood, while the others are unable to stand properly due to the sudden deterioration of their health condition. The agonized moans of the annihilated Templar Knights echoed in the Royal Capital in the middle of the night. ¡°¡­ Fools.¡± The white-masked monster turned around as he murmured. Naturally, as long as he was being chased by the Kobolds who have a keen sense of smell, going to hide in an underground tunnel or some other place where smells are mixed in would be the right choice. However, the words of Elias¡¯s prayer that she said while suffering, stopped him in his tracks. ¡­ He could not stop listening. ¡°L-Lord¡­ I offer you my life! Please send a miracle to strike this man down, I beg of you!!¡± ¡°N-no matter how much¡­ y-you pray for a mi, miracle¡­¡± ¡°Guruaoooooooooooh!!¡± Before he could finish his words while staring coldly at the suffering woman, a lone Kobold who gave off a silvery glow under the moonlight descended from one of the roofs with a roar. ¡°Ughh¡­ uaahh¡­ aahh, my Lord!¡± ¡°Ah, aah, it¡¯s a Sacred Beast¡­¡­¡± Due to the coincidental timing, the Silver Kobold seemed like an Apostle of God in beast form sent to Elias and the others in response to their prayers. ¡¾Title Added£ºThe Sacred Beast of Selkram¡¿ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ A little while back before the silver Kobold was recognized as a Sacred Beast without his knowledge ¡­ ¡°Kyuu, woruann.¡± (Big Brother, I¡¯m going ahead, okay?) ¡°Kuuruu guruuaoon.¡± (We¡¯ll go around and hold his head.) With her superior leaping power, my sister leaped from the street to the roof of the building on the right, while Lancer used a wooden crate on the side of the road as a stepping stone to get up on a roof of a building on the left. From there, she leaned forward and kicked the roof, accelerating as she and my sister split to the left and right directions and pulled ahead of us. I get the fastest of my companions, Lancer and Dagger, to get ahead of our prey¡¯s path and hold him back. Leaving them in charge of containment, I and the other two are going to save our energies and catch up to them to put a stop to that menace. ¡°Wauu, voruaonn¡± (Ax, I¡¯m going ahead!!) The tall, skinny Blazer pulled ahead as he called out to Ax who started to slightly lag due to his huge frame. Ever since we were children, it was always the big, blue Kobold Ax who chased the backs of his friends in pure pursuit after all¡­ ¡°Woaruou, wauu.¡± (I¡¯ll leave the rear to you, Ax.) ¡°Waonn, woaaoruan.¡± (Okay, I¡¯ll catch up to you later.) I also accelerated after leaving a word and jumped up, chasing Blazer by using a foothold to make a triangular jump to get on top of the roof and creating a magic whirlwind near my feet. The two who went ahead caught sight of him faster than I expected as they sprinted from roof to roof, shoulder to shoulder, avoiding buildings taller than the one they were using as a foothold. CH 70 (Are those¡­ the Templar Knights?) From what I can see from here, about eight Knights clad in all-white cloaks lay incapacitated in the street. (I¡¯m sorry for those two that went ahead of us, but we can¡¯t let go of this opportunity!!) ¡°¡­¡± ¡¾Activated£ºErase Presence (Medium)¡¿ Blazer, who has been running alongside me, seems to have the same idea and instantly hides his presence and disappears from the roof and into the alleyway. (Soar! Whirlwind!!) After confirming his position, I covered my feet in whirlwinds and jumped towards the white-masked monster from the roof! ¡°Guruaoooooon!!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºBattlecry¡¿ ¡°!?¡± I guess it was a bad idea to activate the Hellhound¡¯s Roar which enhances the base capabilities of Kobolds while launching my surprise attack since it allowed the white-masked monster to turn his body to the side to evade, and my leg, which was aimed at the back of his head, cut through empty air. ¡°Gauh!¡± (Tsk!) I passed over Alvesta¡¯s shoulder and landed forward, pulling out my scimitar just as I faced the guy who was caught off-balance with the attack. With the centrifugal force of that motion, I slammed the hilt of my curved blade into his mask! ¡°Aa¡­¡­h, giaaaaaaaaah!?¡± Alvesta moved backward, covered his mask with his left hand, and screeched. ¡°Garuoaaan!¡± (You¡¯re not going anywhere!) ¡°Giiiiih, aaaaah!!¡± I tried to cut my way into him with the curved blade I pulled out, but he caught it with the reddish-black blade that sprouted from his right arm and immediately drove his knee into the pit of my stomach. ¡°Guoh!?¡± In the time that I recoiled from the attack, the white-masked monster quickly jumped back and thrust his left arm towards me as he stepped further back. ¡°S-strike down¡­ my enemies, continuous Light Bullets.¡± ¡°Vooooh!!¡± (Uoooh!!) Of the two light bullets that flew towards me with a slight time gap in between, I was able to dodge the first bullet with a half-turn. But seeing that it was impossible to avoid getting hit by the next bullet, I crushed it with my whirlwind-covered left fist. FWOOM¡­ Although I avoided a direct hit to my body, my left fist was burned by the Holy Light and the smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air. ¡°Ugah, garuuah!!¡± (Ugah, you shit!!) Enduring the pain, I threw my curved sword towards Alvesta¡¯s mask before he could fire more Light Bullets. ¡°I-it¡¯s a hopeless struggle!!¡± But the moment he turned to keep the spinning projectile from hitting his upper body, something happened! A Black Longsword suddenly extended from the darkness of the empty alleyway! ¡°Wha!?¡± ¡°Guruooaaah!!¡± (You¡¯re finished!!) Following the tip of the sword was the tall, skinny Kobold who leaped out of the alleyway with a roar while holding the Black Longsword horizontally. The thrust did not miss its aim and smashed Alvesta¡¯s mask with a loud crack. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAH!!¡± With a scream, the white-masked monster jumps back and lashes out like a madman, scattering his blood screen everywhere. He desperately covered his face with his palms, but fragments of the mask spilled out of the gaps¡­ ¡°¡­!!!¡± Blazer, cautious of the blood spray, gives up the chase and retreats to my side. The tall, skinny Kobold¡¯s fur had turned a slightly reddish-brown, and the black hairs on his back were gone. Furthermore, his limbs seemed more powerful and supple than they did just a moment ago, and his slightly elongated tail is filled with a magic power that is hard to describe. ¡°Gauh, garuuu¡­¡± (Tsk, the cut was too shallow¡­) Blazer, who muttered to himself, did not notice that his figure had changed, but there was no time to point it out. ¡°Guruo voruaaaaan!¡± (Let¡¯s end this here!) As I stretched to my full height, grabbed the Mechanical Bow Baroque and aimed, while Blazer, who was next to me, also activated his Gauntlet¡¯s contraption and deployed the small Crossbow that was integrated into his glove, but¡­ ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± Screaming as he turned around, Alvesta ran as fast as he could. Just as we thought that he was going to escape again, the fellow who caught up to us a few seconds later due to his huge body frame jumped out from the corner of the alleyway! ¡°Voruaaaaah!!¡± (This is as far as you¡¯ll go!!) ¡°Uaaaaah!?¡± As Ax swung out the Duel Shield with his thick, muscular arms, it connected and resounded with a cracking sound, shattering the white mask into pieces. ¡°Uh¡ª¡ªuhhh¡ª-AAAAAAAH!!¡± The black-clothed monster, who had lost his mask which was the source of his existence, covered his face with his hands as he glared at Ax through the gaps of his fingers as his body melted into a viscous mulch and crumbled away. Only the black robe, the fragments of the mask, and a large pool of blood remained on the street¡­.. And like that, the poor priest who was trapped in his delusion finally went to sleep. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Wafuh, voaan?¡± (Hmm? I¡¯m here again?) By the time I noticed it, I was at the top of the Silver Spiral Staircase. Earlier, I couldn¡¯t even remember, but now I had the memory of having climbed up to this point. Unlike before, I did not hear any blessings or congratulations, but a strange silence filled the air. Instead of the usual white, a shiny red and black powdery snow fell from the upper levels and onto the big blue Kobold. It was the remnants of the soul of the one who had passed on just a moment ago. Within the Tree of Life, that soul had been freed from the delusion that bound it. ¡°I just didn¡¯t want anyone else to experience the tragedy of the despair I once felt. So I wanted to prove that miracles don¡¯t just happen conveniently and that it is up to each of us to overcome our difficulties¡­.¡± The former Priest, Aleph, does not turn to talk to anyone in particular but instead talks to himself. ¡°Because I became a half-immortal, I became obsessed with that twisted delusion and took many lives¡­¡± The lone Kobold responds to his monologue even as it climbs up the Spiral. ¡°Woruan kyuoaah, varuouru gauaruu.¡± (I don¡¯t really understand complicated things, but I don¡¯t need either despair or tragedy.) It¡¯s what I hate the most. ¡°Waoguruu guruaah, guruo wafaoaan.¡± (That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to get stronger so that everyone can smile.) ¡°¡­I see. That¡¯s such a wonderful thing. If it¡¯s you, then¡­¡± He could not hear the last word, as Ax had already arrived at the next level and his awareness had become enveloped in a silvery light as he returned to reality, submerging everything that happened here into the depths of his consciousness. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°¡­Wafuh.¡± Under the moonlight, the hulking Kobold¡¯s fur instantly changed color as he stared at the pool of blood and the white debris left on the street. The fur from a part of his chest to his jaw had turned white, while the rest had remained blue¡­ and his eyes glowed the same shade of crimson as the blood that was spilled on the ground. Name: Ax (Male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Paladin Skill: Slash Resistance, Impact Resistance, The Strongest and Weakest Shield (Cannot be used continuously/ Can be granted to others), Blood Malady (Elementary/Affects Humans) Title: Crimson Knight Weapon: Royal Soldier¡¯s War Axe Armament: Duel Shield ¡°Vaoruaaan, gurua¡­¡± (It¡¯s finished, isn¡¯t it, Leader?) ¡°Wafu.¡± (Yeah.) I let out a breath and pointed out the change in Blazer as well. ¡°¡­Kurua woan, guruugao aon.¡± (¡­ By the way, Blazer, look at your arms.) ¡°Wafi!? Kuruoau voruoaaan!!¡± (What the hell is this!? My fur color changed!!) And this time, his surprised voice echoed throughout the Royal Capital of Selkram in the middle of the night. Name: Blazer (Male) Race: Kobold Class: Kobold Garm Skill: Erase Presence (Medium), Luck+ (Small/ Continuous), Leg Strengthening (Small/ Continuous), Flaming Claws, Zantetsuo (The tail that houses the resentments of the severed) Title: The Hound of Darkness Weapon: Black Sword (Main) Crossbow Gauntlet (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armo CH 71 ¡°Uhh¡­augh¡­ Al¡­ves¡­ta is¡­¡± ¡°A¡­ah, my Lord¡­¡± ¡°Hah, hahahh¡­ ugh¡­I couldn¡¯t¡­ take revenge¡­ on my own, but¡­¡± ¡°The Black Rain¡­ will no longer¡­ fall.¡± Elias could hear the delight in the voices of her comrades whom she had been training, sleeping, and eating with to bring Alvesta of the Black Rain down. They all lay on the ground because of the Bleeding Disease and were a little pale and short of breath, but¡­ ¡°Mother¡­ Father¡­ *sob*¡± I¡¯ve been spending a lot of time in training lately, and my late parents, who I¡¯ve been remembering less and less, come to mind. If this helps to reduce the number of orphans like me, even if only a little, then all my efforts have not been in vain. I have heard that the previous Special Forces have all died in disappointment, but it seems we don¡¯t have to follow that path anymore¡­ As I crawled on the ground, I looked up and burned the image of a silver angel borrowing the form of a beast standing under the moonlight in my mind¡­ ¡°¡­ Gurua, woua guruouuuh.¡± (¡­ Leader, I could feel her staring at us.) ¡°Wuonh¡­¡± (Me too¡­) We have been feeling the gaze of the violet-haired, young female Templar Knight who lay on the ground, staring at us with moist eyes since earlier. The Knights around us have also been staring at us while some of them have even brought their hands together in prayer¡­ What the hell is happening!? ¡°Garuuuuh¡­ Guru wauuua voruaooon.¡± (I don¡¯t feel good about this¡­ Let¡¯s hurry up and go to Ax.) ¡°Wuoon.¡± (Yeah.) Just as Blazer said, it¡¯s honestly uncomfortable to see the Holy Knights praying quietly with smiles on their faces even while they were suffering. It¡¯s as if this place has turned into a chapel of some sort. Disliking that, the tall, skinny Kobold puts away the small Crossbow on his Gauntlet, and heads down to Ax who was standing at the end of the street. I also did the same and unloaded my Mechanical Bow and picked up the one-handed Curved Blade that I had thrown earlier as I followed Blazer. ¡°Guruaah, wauu.¡± (You brought him down nicely, Ax.) ¡°Kuunn, gauoruu.¡± (No, it was just a coincidence.) ¡°Uruoaru, garuguuorua uaoon.¡± (Don¡¯t be so modest, that was a great surprise attack!) Blazer, whose fur had now turned into a reddish-brown color, clapped the big, blue Kobold on the back. As I watched them, the white dove owned by Ernesta circled overhead and landed on a roof facing the street. (Hmmm, so now that the situation with Alvesta has been settled here¡­ We just need to regroup with Dagger and Lancer.) I had planned to have the fastest members of my group go ahead and obstruct Alvesta¡¯s path, but contrary to my expectations, the Holy Knights in front of us stalled him instead¡­ Taking a deep breath, I send out a signal to fall back by letting out an annoyingly loud howl throughout the Royal Capital in the middle of the night. ¡°Uwooooooooooooooooon!!¡± ¡­ And then, we waited. ¡°Aoooooooooooon!!¡± ¡°Kuruaaaaaaaaaan!¡± After I confirmed the returning howls of the Spear-using Kobold and my Foxified sister, the three of us slowly walked along the late-night streets towards the Royal Academy of Magic to meet up with Ernesta and the others. (It¡¯s been such a long day¡­ I¡¯m feeling rather sleepy too.) I wanted to go back to bed immediately and sleep, but Ernesta pointed out that both Blazer and I had a little bit of Alvesta¡¯s blood on our bodies, so we had to wash it off with the well water from the outer citadels of the Royal Castle. Well, let¡¯s just assume that it¡¯s better than Ernesta and the others who had to stay up all night to aid the Templar Knights who were laying on the street and dealing with the wreckage from dealing with Alvesta afterward. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The next day, I woke up just past noon as the sunlight filtered through the window. ¡°Wafuu.¡± I stretched out on a bed for the first time since I¡¯ve been in this body. I had a pretty good night¡¯s sleep. By the way, the large room had enough beds prepared for several people, but the only ones who used the beds were me and my overly curious sister while the rest of our companions curled up over the bedsheets they laid out on the floor. In a way, I kind of feel sorry for the maids who have to clean up. After all, it¡¯s only been a day and the room is already covered in fur¡­ ¡°Waoo, kyuu.¡± (Good morning, big brother.) ¡°Wafu, waoon.¡± (Yeah, morning.) On the bed next to mine, my sister is rubbing her body against the sheets as if they feel good while she greets me. Ah, she¡¯s getting fur all over the sheets too¡­ ¡°Garuou, gurua.¡± (You¡¯re awake, Leader.) ¡°Gaou.¡± (Hey.) Someone knocks on the door just as I pick up the Mithril Mask from the bedside table and put it on as I respond to Blazer. ¡°Garuoooau.¡± [Come in.] ¡°Pardon me for the intrusion. Everyone, lunch has been prepared. Would you like to have some?¡± (We are¡­ pretty hungry right now.) ¡°Garuaou.¡± [Yes, we would like to have lunch.] The maidservant who entered the room ushered us into the guest dining hall, where we had some lightly-seasoned bacon, eggs, bread, and some bean soup. It seems the menu had been prepared while keeping the Kobold¡¯s lifestyle in mind¡­ Seeing the joy in my friends who experienced eating eggs and meat together for the first time, I wondered if we could purchase some chickens in the upcoming deal with Lucua village¡­ After the meal, the same maidservant led us again not to the audience hall, but to the room where the King informally meets with Nobles. There, King Alexius waited and started with a huge grin on his face, ¡°Ku kukuh, how are you today, oh Holy Beast of Selkram sent by the Lord?¡± ¡°Wafi?¡± [I beg your pardon?] CH 72 ¡°Garuvofu¡­ Garuvofuh!?¡± [¡°Holy Beast¡±¡­ A Holy Beast, you say!?] Oh right, so the reason the Templar Knights were praying was because¡­ Eh, seriously? I closed my eyes and tried to recall the events during the subjugation of Alvesta, but I could not understand where that detail came from. It was Ax who finished him after all¡­ ¡°Kuruoon, wauu. Guruu garuvofan.¡± [This is great, Ax. It seems you¡¯re a Holy Beast now.] ¡°Wafi, kuruaan?¡± (Eh, what¡¯s that? Is it delicious?) I had a feeling that it was going to be troublesome, so I tried to push the credit to Ax, but Ernesta, who was in a corner of the wide room, shook her head and corrected me. ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong¡­ He meant you, Archer.¡± ¡°Gaon.¡± [I see.] ¡°The people from the Holy Church were kicking up a fuss and came to me this morning to get the details of the incident out to the public.¡± The old Magician, Greio, who was standing nearby, supplements more details in response to the King¡¯s statement. ¡°Sir Archer, in this case¡­ A lot of people are not financially capable of evacuating from the Royal Capital, so we¡¯ve been controlling the information to avoid chaos. The existence of Alvesta of the Black Rain was not made known to the public.¡± ¡­Even if it were to avoid chaos and mitigate the damages to the populace, some, especially the victims of the Bleeding Disease and their families, will probably distrust the state. But even if they tried to hide it, there was a high chance that eyewitnesses and the doctors who examined them might expose it. ¡°Gaoruwoan.¡± [That Is difficult.] Ernesta let out a heavy sigh at my observation. ¡°It is¡­about two hundred people have already died due to the disease¡¯s fast progression and the remaining 9000 people are receiving treatment in the medical facilities in and outside the town¡­ so we have to be very careful about it, you see.¡± ¡°Gurua, kuruuoan¡­ Wafiouaan.¡± (Hey Boss, I¡¯m feeling a strange mood but¡­ Is there a problem?) ¡°Wau, guruo voruoaoo.¡± [Well, it doesn¡¯t really concern us.] Since this issue was not directly related to us, I answered Lancer, who sensed the delicate atmosphere, in a small voice as the Old Magician Greio continued to speak again. ¡°For the meantime, the accounts of the investigation last night led the Royal Knights into recognizing Alvesta and pursuing it, while at the same time, the Templar Knights who were investigating it as well came into contact with it and during the moment where they were on the verge of being completely wiped out, the Sacred Beast arrived and defeated one of the Seven Plagues¡­ Well, at least that is what we are going with.¡± Then, aloofly, King Alexius concludes. ¡°So in other words, you turned the public¡¯s attention to the Sacred Beast who suddenly made an appearance so that their criticism towards how the state handled things would somewhat fade into the background. You even told them to make a big fuss of it in the Holy Church! You have my deepest gratitude for everything that you do.¡± In other words, they were going to use the Holy Church to manipulate the interest and the impression of the people¡­ (You can never let your guard down with this King¡­) ¡°¡­¡­.if the state receives unnecessary criticism, it will be too late to deal with the people suffering from the disease. You can ask all about it later, but first, we need to find a cure for the Bleeding Disease. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people, even the nobility, who don¡¯t understand such things.¡± (Well, he is a good guy deep down inside, though¡­) ¡°Garuuan, kyuou¡­¡± [But is treating them possible¡­?] ¡°It¡¯s not about being possible or not, but about doing your best.¡± Without a pause, the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage added. ¡°Fortunately, reports have been coming in since this morning that the progression of the disease has slowed down. And with the defeat of the Black Rain, it may also be possible to treat it. I have also heard some interesting things from the doctors on the frontlines.¡± ¡°We have a plan to organize the doctors and apothecaries who have been dealing with them individually at my foster daughter¡¯s suggestion and provide support from the Kingdom¡¯s side. And by adding the priests from the Holy Church, we will also be eliminating any opposition to the plan.¡± ¡°Uruuo auooon.¡± [Looks like you put a lot of thought into this.] And just as I was becoming impressed, someone knocked on the door. ¡°Pardon me for the intrusion, Your Majesty. This is Glen from the Magic Knights.¡± ¡°Very well, come in.¡± With the King¡¯s permission, the sallow-skinned Knight from the Eastern country who evoked nostalgia within me bowed and entered the room. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, did a visitor arrive on short notice?¡± ¡°Yes, well¡­Someone claiming to be the Head warrior of Lucua village is here to see the rumored Sacred Beast¡­¡± ¡°Lucua village? I¡¯ve never heard of that name before¡­¡± ¡°Your Majesty, it is a village of demi-human cat people who live on the part of Easteria forest that is not under our country¡¯s jurisdiction. Lord Ferias has allowed trade relations between them and the town of Wyald and Viel village, and their relations have been good ever since¡­¡± If it¡¯s the Head warrior of Lucua village, then it could only be Wallace¡­ Now that¡¯s a name you don¡¯t usually get to hear in these parts. ¡°Easteria forest¡­ Do you know them?¡± ¡°Wafu.¡± [Yes.] ¡°Very well, let¡¯s wrap this up for today then. Now, if you¡¯ll just let me feel your fur¡­¡± ¡°Garuruuh!¡± [NO!] ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The room that the dark-skinned Knight showed us to was smaller compared to the room earlier, but it was a part of the Castle, so it was still wide enough to fit the five of us, including Ax, who had a large physique. And in that room, a black-haired, Werecat warrior wearing a traveler¡¯s cloak waited for us. Just like always, he still looks like a youthful gentleman¡­ even though he already has a daughter around my age. ¡°!! So you were the Sacred Beast of Selkram they were talking about!¡± Wallace got up from his seat with a clatter as he caught sight of us. ¡°I have an urgent request. Let¡¯s move somewhere so you can write on the ground.¡± ¡°Guu, vanguua garuoooan.¡± [No, I can speak telepathically, so we can just talk here.] Wallace¡¯s ears and tail stood on end when I suddenly spoke to him. ¡°I thought you were just wearing a weird mask, but I guess you¡¯ve always been one of those guys who goes off the beaten path.¡± He nodded earnestly. I guess this pure Mithril half-mask looks strange after all¡­ Although, it is pretty convenient. CH 73 With that thought in mind, the moment I looked at Wallace while stroking my Mithril mask, I had a flash of inspiration. (No, this is¡­ it¡¯s possible.) Deep inside, I praised the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage who made the mask out of pure Mithril. This was a magic tool that conveys one¡¯s thoughts to an opponent. This was a magic tool that conveyed one¡¯s thoughts to another person. In other words, even if you wear the mask, you would still be unable to understand the other party unless you know the language that they use. However, Kobolds do not have to use it. However, we Kobolds do not have to use it. For example, let¡¯s say that I made Wallace wear the mask and made him hold an apple. And then, he would stick out the hand holding the apple and say, ¡°This is an apple.¡± [Wou kuauru.] (If this Mithril mask is used in such a way, then the other Kobolds could be efficiently taught the common language of this continent¡­And as long as we have one mask for a teacher, then there would be no problem.) Unfortunately, our vocal cords do not allow us to be able to pronounce the words of the common language, but there is another way for us to communicate: the written word. They could learn to read and write eventually, but when they do, they would have to listen first¡­ The question is if there are any of my brethren who are willing to learn it. At the very least, I would like the 5 others who were born at the same time as I was to learn it¡­ ¡°Hmm? Is something the matter?¡± ¡°Guu, wafaon.¡± [No, it¡¯s nothing.] Wallace is suspicious of my sudden silence, but I subtly distract him. Now, let¡¯s listen to him. ¡°Voaru, guovoruon?¡± [Rather than that, what is this urgent matter of yours?] ¡°It had only been a month since we were attacked by the Goblins, but another problem has arisen¡­ several days ago, a young mother and her child who went to fetch water together never returned.¡± Hmm, it would only take a few minutes from Lucua village to get to the nearest tributary of the Sherna River. For a moment, I had thought that the mother and daughter had been attacked by a monster or something, but I do not understand how that would cause Wallace to go to the Royal Capital. ¡°There were bloodstains by the riverside, so at first I thought they were attacked by a monster. I went with the village Warriors to look for them, but¡­ We could not find the mother and the daughter, and neither did we find their remains.¡± ¡°¡­Vangaru.¡± [¡­So they were spirited away.] Wallace shook his head. ¡°No, the way I see it, it was not caused by spirits, but humans. The day the mother and child disappeared, a merchant¡¯s caravan came to the village¡­ At first, they would seem like they were just selling their wares, but looking back, there were a lot of guards that I thought they were slavers posing as ordinary merchants.¡± ¡°Garuoooan woruoon?¡± [So you came all this way pursuing them?] He came all the way to the Royal Capital¡­ That¡¯s an awfully long journey, but we¡¯re not one to talk either. ¡°Yes, well I also stopped by the town of Wyald, but even there, it seems one of the town¡¯s girls also went missing after the merchant¡¯s caravan left.¡± The dark-skinned Knight, Glen, who had been quietly listening up to now, raises an eyebrow in response to the information. ¡°Mr. Werecat, there have also been some reports that several children who have lost their parents to the Bleeding Disease are missing. It might be possible that the cause is the same, as it seems that there was a group of twenty merchants who left the Royal Capital for the Wilm territory at this time yesterday.¡± ¡°Guan, vangaruo guruoaoon?¡± [Glen, can¡¯t you send a Royal Guard unit to chase after them?] The old Sorcerer may have said that the Cat People are not under Riastize Kingdom¡¯s jurisdiction, but if the town of Wyald and the Royal Capital are also affected, then it is not something they can just ignore either. ¡°¡­ Sir Archer, even if we prepare now and chase the merchant caravan, the only place where we could catch them is in the Wilm territory which is outside the Kingdom¡¯s jurisdiction. The Earl of Wilm territory has the authority of maintaining public order over there, so we cannot just step foot in there without any concrete evidence.¡± (Come to think of it, humans are such troublesome creatures¡­) Besides, even though Alvesta has already been defeated, the situation with the Bleeding Disease is still unsettled. Therefore, it would be difficult to send out soldiers with the current shortage of manpower. In the first place, the Royal Capital is built on land that is difficult for any country to land a direct assault on. Therefore, the number of reserve corps available during peacetime is very few, which means it is up to Earl Wilm to decide. ¡±In the meantime, I can send out a message and tell them what¡¯s going on, but¡­ without solid proof, how far will they go¡­?¡± ¡°Wau, kugaruao wouu kyuuaou waoon.¡± [Well, there¡¯s the option of greasing the palms of the officials at the bottom of the food chain though.] The Werecat Swordsman deeply nods at my suggestion. ¡°I agree. I¡¯ve chased them this far because I¡¯d rather do what I can than relying on someone else and regretting it later, but¡­ I only possess circumstantial evidence as well.¡± ¡°Kuuruoan.¡± [Where are your companions?] ¡°¡­ That battle with the Goblins has reduced the number of our warriors, so we cannot afford to thin-out the protection of our village now. I¡¯m the only one who went to the Royal Capital.¡± With a jingle, Wallace took the leather bag from his waist and placed it on the table. The loose and open mouth of the bag revealed a reasonable amount of money. ¡°The Merchant¡¯s caravan will be going through the town, so I¡¯ve solicited some funds from everyone in the village to hire some adventurers when they are within capturing distance¡­ I would like to hire you with this.¡± I pulled the leather bag towards me. ¡°Guruo, woru kuao aoooauu kuruaofu?¡± [Hey guys, I¡¯d like you to listen to the Werecats¡¯ request, so can you hear me out?] ¡°Woan.¡± (Of course.) ¡°Kuruu, kuaoaoooa.¡± (I¡¯d like to know what they need too.) Well, considering Ax and my sister¡¯s personalities, their answers were expected. ¡°¡­Vogauruo uoaoon guuaoru.¡± (¡­I¡¯m a little concerned over being away from the pack for a long time.) Something could indeed happen the longer we spend time here. I could understand where he¡¯s coming from, but¡­ ¡°Waou woruoaan, garuooon?¡± [We will be getting involved with the Werecats in the future, so would you consider participating this time as well?] ¡°Gua, woruoaoonn.¡± (Well, I guess there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.) ¡°Kuuoon, woruuo vaon.¡± (I wouldn¡¯t like to leave them alone and see them getting hurt either.) Blazer does not seem to oppose the idea so much, while Lancer¡¯s personality does not let her ignore those who are in need either. Once we have set our course of action, I accept the request and reach for the leather bag, but¡­ Glen pushes the reward back to the Werecat¡¯s side. ¡°If the citizens of Riastize are being harmed as well, then we would like to take this request up with you instead. With my authority as the Vice-Captain, I would like to contribute the same amount from the army¡¯s war funds.¡± ¡°I¡¯m grateful that you are making the request instead, but¡­ I kind of feel bad not giving them anything for it.¡± A short while later, I asked the troubled Werecat gentleman to become a teacher to teach my brethren the common language just as I envisioned earlier. CH 74 Currently, the story released by the Holy Church about the Holy Beast of the Silver Moon is gradually spreading like wildfire in Selkram, the Royal Capital. Therefore, there is a risk of confusion among the citizens if they see us leaving the Capital. So I asked the Knight Glen to prepare two covered carriages that would hide us from prying eyes. These carriages will also be used as transportation for the abducted people when we rescue them. And so we loitered by the gatehouse in the castle¡¯s inner ward¡­ ¡°Wafuu, waouaaann.¡± (Wafuu, the weather is so nice~) The big, blue Kobold happily takes in the warm sunlight and squints as he looks up at the sun¡­ It seems like he¡¯s planning to stand there for a long time. Meanwhile, the tall, skinny Kobold is drawn in by Ax who was full of openings and began to creep up on him¡­ but a Spear swung down and kept him from launching a light surprise attack. ¡°Gauh, kuruaou woruan.¡± (Geez, leave him alone.) ¡°¡­Waou garuo aooon.¡± (¡­I just wanted a bit of fun.) Scratching his head, Blazer backed away and Ax was unknowingly saved some trouble, but¡­ my sister, the Kobold Dagger, mercilessly ruined everything. ¡°Wauh? ¡± (Eii? ) ¡°Fuah!?¡± A bewildered Ax loses his balance as Dagger suddenly grabs and pulls his tail from behind. ¡°Kuoofuh!¡± (What do you think you¡¯re doing!?) ¡°Kuu~, guuon?¡± (Hnn~, did I find your weak spot?) While watching Ax and my sister who cutely tilts her head and twitches her fox ears, I analyze the information we have of the Merchants¡¯ case so far¡­ (First of all, we need to find out where they¡¯re going¡­) Spreading out the map of Riastize that I borrowed from Glen and followed the flow of the river from the outskirts of the Royal Capital Selkram up to the Wilm territory as was my practice. Since the Merchants use horses, it is safe to assume that they are tied to taking a route closer to a water source. After all, horses drink about 20 to 40 liters of water a day, so the only realistic way to get there is to follow a river, a lake, or some other water source. As I closely traced the river path on the map with my finger, I discovered that it crosses the Wilm territory and ends up in the neighboring country which was known as the League of Free Cities. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I suspected too. It¡¯s difficult to try them for the crime they committed once they cross this territory¡¯s borders, after all¡­¡± ¡°Garuau.¡± [Figures.] Wallace slightly nodded in agreement. Even within the same Kingdom, jurisdiction and authority to maintain public safety is granted to each territory¡¯s Lord, so they cannot just interfere in matters outside their territory without consulting with the other rulers unless there are special circumstances. It would be especially troublesome if the Merchant caravan were to reach the League of Free Cities¡¯ sphere of influence¡­ Now that I have a general idea of where the Merchants are heading to, I think of a way to catch up to them next. (It depends on how they¡¯re moving and how fast they¡¯re going, though¡­) Basically, the covered wagons used by the Merchant caravan are meant to protect their merchandise from the wind and rains to keep them from deteriorating. For example, if the carriage was exposed to the rain while carrying salt, then the salt will absorb the rainwater and melt away. If the product is poorly handled, then the salt will not be sold. To avoid such a situation, almost all of their goods are loaded into the horse-drawn carriages while the people walk alongside them. If that is the case, then it is safe to assume that the speed at which they travel will not exceed the speed of walking, even if they go at the fastest possible pace. The ¡°fastest¡±, huh¡­ If fewer horses are pulling the wagon as compared to the volume of the load, then the speed of travel will be reduced by the number of horses pulling the wagon. This is because the horses will be more tired and they will need more time to rest. ¡°Woafu, gyaugaoru worufaoon?¡± [Wallace, what was the composition of the Merchants¡¯ caravan?] ¡°When I saw them in Lucua village, I think there were three covered four-wheeled wagons with two horses, and the rest were four riding horses for some of the Merchants.¡± ¡°Kuaaagu vano¡­¡± [Three carriages, huh¡­] I don¡¯t see how the weight of their cargo would slow them down if they are using a carriage drawn by two horses. Considering that they are peddling and decreasing their inventory while carrying the abductees as a replacement for that load, then the loading capacity shouldn¡¯t that be extreme¡­ If that¡¯s the case, then the speed of the Merchant caravan would be about the same if they were going on foot. If they were illegal slave traders, then they would have thoroughly thought that part through. However, because of the length of the journey, the individuals they abduct will increase, so the speed at which they travel on foot will be considerably slower¡­ it would be safe to assume that they are going at a speed of about 4km per hour. (So if you consider the distance they¡¯ve traveled between their departure at sundown yesterday and at sundown today, then that¡¯s approximately¡­ 56 to 60km?) Since our luggage is limited and all of us are occupying the two carriages, then we can cover approximately 40km in 4 hours if we rush the horses. Furthermore, if we get off the exhausted horses and use our legs to cover the remaining 16 to 20km while conserving our energy in anticipation of battle¡­ (We could catch up to them by midnight, just as the day changes¡­ we might even be able to do a night raid.) Of course, they would have people to stand guard, but there would be fewer people to deal with at once. It¡¯s even possible to take care of the guards one by one before the resting group could grasp the situation and fight. Unsurprisingly, this kind of situation is something that would make Blazer happy, isn¡¯t it¡­? Additionally, if we refer to this map while traveling, then we will be able to intersect the Merchant caravan on their way to Kelp, a city in the Wilm territory. Unlike Ernesta and the others who are under the direct command of the Royal Family, we Kobolds are unconcerned about things like jurisdiction or politics. ¡°Uruoooaaaan.¡± [We can do anything we want!] ¡°HIHIIIIIINN!!¡± Just as I figured it out, we hear the neighing of the horses heading in our direction and see Ernesta and Glen each driving the covered carriages which stop in front of us. ================================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: Gatehouse ¨C The original indicated ñR³ö¤·/umadashi, which is a unique structure in Japanese castles that is used as a defensive barrier. Unfortunately, this does not have an English equivalent, and the closest one would be the gatehouse. If you do find one or are knowledgeable about castle structures, comment down below or message us~! CH 75 ¡°Thank you for waiting, Sir Archer, Sir Wallace.¡± Glen gets off the driver¡¯s seat and hands me the reins which he held in his left hand, but¡­ I shake my head from side to side. ¡°Bururuh!!¡± ¡°Hihin!¡± ¡°Van garuouaaa¡­¡± [They are wary of us¡­] ¡°Now that you mention it, you are a Kobold, after all¡­ What about you, Sir Wallace?¡± ¡°Well, we Werecats are forest people, so we do not ride horses.¡± In the forest where there are many obstacles, horses can only move on even footing. Thus, it is more advantageous for the Werecats and us Kobolds who can easily move in the forest terrain. Considering the cost and efficacy of maintaining a horse, forest people like us do not keep horses because it is not economically reasonable for us. ¡°Lady Ernesta?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can send some of our men with them. They would have nothing to do without the carriages, after all.¡± Ernesta answered while she dismounted from the carriage in the same manner. Glen slightly bowed before he turned and walked away. ¡°I heard everything from Glen. Looks like we¡¯ll be relying on you again.¡± ¡°Wau, worua kuruaooua.¡± [Well, it just so happened that we were helping the Werecats, though.] After thinking for a bit, I showed my true intention and continued. ¡°Garuu kuruooan?¡± [Can I have this as part of the reward too?] ¡°Hmm, sure. That was originally part of the equipment I provided, after all.¡± ¡°Kyuon kuruoou¡­ Gauruo, gaugoau voruoaaan?¡± [Then I shall receive it with thanks¡­ By the way, what is the situation with the Bleeding Disease patients?] In response to my question, Ernesta ruffles her beautiful, silver hair and groans. ¡°Urghh, we found out that the disease was a curse that circumstantially causes the magic inside the body to run amok, destroying the body little by little from the inside, but the thing is, the effect of the curse is now weakening.¡± ¡°Although¡­¡± she added, ¡°Once the body is ruined, it won¡¯t return to normal even if the curse loses its power completely. We can¡¯t be optimistic that the magical disturbances in the body will also recover naturally, so we can¡¯t rely on the Holy attribute healing magic either.¡± ¡°Guruouaru¡­¡± [So it¡¯s just like before¡­] ¡°No, it¡¯s hard to help the people with terminal infections, but if we can slow down the progression and stabilize those who are exhibiting the early signs of infection, then we¡¯ll have a fighting chance. This is a critical time for us¡­¡± The only patients of the Bleeding Disease I¡¯ve actually seen were the purple-haired female Knight and her crew who were sprawled on the street. It would weigh on my conscience if they died of illness, but¡­ it seems like they have a good chance of surviving now. ¡°Vuu, garuann.¡± [Then, please do your best.] ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡± As I continued to talk to her a while after that, two men who appeared like coachmen cautiously approached. ¡°¡­ We¡¯ve heard so much about you. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holy Beast.¡± ¡°Pleasure to meet you, sir.¡± I nodded lightly as the two coachmen who approached us took off their hats in greeting and made their way to the carriages. ¡°Guruo, gaoruaaann!¡± [Everyone, get inside the carriages!!] ¡°Aouwan.¡± (Got it.) ¡°Kyuaon?¡± (This looks fun?) After lightly checking the inside of the carriage, Blazer went in and was followed by my sister who used her inherent leg strength to leap inside the vehicle. I followed them after and called out to my two remaining companions to get inside the other carriage. ¡°Wauu, guruu kuuaouaon.¡± [Ax, you and Lancer get in that one.] I point out to the second horse wagon that Wallace just got into. ¡°Guruo, aoon.¡± (So we¡¯ll be going there, right?) ¡°Wau, waonn.¡± (Okay, got it.) ¡°U, uuwh¡± (It¡¯s so impressive¡­) The coachman nervously sweated as the big, blue, macho Kobold slowly approached the carriage. And it was not just him, but the horses as well. ¡°Buruaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Hihiiiiiiiiinn!?¡± ¡°Kuu!? Ki, kyuun.¡± (Wah!? I-I¡¯m so sorry!) ¡°Hooo, y-you guys need to calm down!!¡± When the coachman managed to pacify the horses who were about to go wild, Ax ducked and entered the carriage and the Spear-using Kobold followed suit. (He¡¯s the most harmless guy in the group though¡­) And after all of us boarded the carriages, I lightly waved to Ernesta who saw us off. ¡°Garuoon.¡± [We¡¯ll be off, then.] ¡°Take care.¡± After the exchange, the carriage left and passed from the gatehouse to the outer walls of the castle and into the streets of Selkram, the Royal Capital, where the people were suddenly excitedly talking about the Holy Beast. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Exactly at the same time, a Merchant caravan advances through the road connecting the Royal Capital of Selkram to the city of Kelp in the Wilm territory. Around twelve bodyguards surrounded the three horse-drawn carriages which contained the precious cargo. Compared to the actual Merchants, the number of bodyguards accompanying them was rather large. Only three people on each carriage are the Merchant and his subordinates, while the rest are ruined adventurers under their employ. These adventurers have been stripped of their adventurer status for crimes or violations. And because of these circumstances, they often fall directly into the ranks of ruffians and thugs¡­ ¡°Mr. Selam, we will be entering Wilm territory soon.¡± One of the men on horseback drew back to the middle carriage and spoke to the plump merchant who poked his head out to admire the scenery. ¡°Good work, now all we have to do is get out of there and head back to the League of Free Cities.¡± ¡°¡­ Are we going to enter the city of Kelp?¡± ¡°Of course we¡¯re going in, but we don¡¯t need to cause any more mischief. Wilm territory has a deep relationship with the League because they hold its capital, so if we do anything there, it could be traced back to us.¡± Although King Alexius was aware that the League of Free Cities was economically encroaching on the Wilm territory which has been strengthened by the relationship between the daughter of a wealthy merchant on the Alliance¡¯s side and the children of the nobles under the Earl of Wilm. And because of that fact, the Knight Glen placed priority over the jurisdictional right of the Earl of Wilm. After all, if they handled it poorly, then they would just be poking the hornet¡¯s nest¡­ ¡°Then, it¡¯s just business as usual, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± When they enter the city through the strict checkpoints, they would drop off the women and children they abducted as slaves in a secluded, and guarded area. That way, there would be no problem even if the guards inspect the inside of the wagon. ¡°However, we still have a bit of a distance to go, so we will have to camp out today¡­ ha!¡± With a shout, the man on horseback kicks his horse on the side and returns to the front of the caravan. ¡°But this time it looks like it will be profitable, Mr. Selam.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± As the man sitting on the driver¡¯s seat calls out to the plump merchant while driving the horse carriage, Selam turns his gaze to the back of the wagon. Along with selling their wares, their itinerary this time included abducting people along the way, and one of those they abducted was the Werecat mother and child who were in high demand as pets. They were bound, gagged, and thrown along with the luggage. ¡°Tsk¡­¡± The young mother¡¯s right shoulder was haphazardly bandaged as she received a stab wound when she resisted, and even now, muffled voices leaked out as the carriage swayed on the road. Furthermore, the other carriages also carried other captives as well, so all in all, he considered this trip an excellent harvest. ¡°There were some unexpected results, but I wonder if it¡¯s due to my good behavior?¡± ¡°Haha, there you go again with your jokes¡­ but we really did get lucky this time.¡± However, unbeknownst to them, they were already being chased by someone from the Royal Capital¡­ CH 76 ¡°HIHIIIIIIN!!¡± ¡°BURURUAAAAAAH!!¡± Two covered horse-drawn carriages ran through the road connecting the Royal Capital of Selkram and the Wilm territory. The sun had already set over the horizon, but the horses continued to gallop without regard to the surroundings. Their eyesight is rather sophisticated after all. Even now, if you look at them from the front, both of their eyes will be shining in the darkness, just like us and Wallace who is a Werecat. Even though horses are diurnal, their eye structure is closer to that of nocturnal animals. During my mercenary days, I was staring at the horse¡¯s eyes that glowed at night when one of my companions who boasted of a specialized weapon that came from a small country in the Far East told me, ¡°I heard there are reflective plates behind their eyes.¡± Although it¡¯s somewhat hard to see, it does not cause any problems in the horse¡¯s activities even at night¡­ ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Mr. Holy Beast! These guys are already at their limit!! They need to take a rest soon.¡± ¡°Garuaonn!¡± [Understood. Thank you for your hard work!] After hearing my response, the coachman leaned back and pulled on the reins to gradually slow the horses down. The other carriage also did the same, and both wagons came to a stop. Quickly pulling out the map from my pocket, I checked the locations of the rivers along the road and gave the man sitting in the driver¡¯s seat some instructions. ¡°Guuvaaruwoga kuaruoooou, garugua guan.¡± [Let the horses drink and rest by the river; we¡¯ll be returning in the morning.] ¡°That¡¯s fine and all, but I¡¯m a little apprehensive since we can¡¯t do anything once a monster comes around and attacks us¡­¡± ¡­ It felt ironic that the coachman voiced his worry about magical beasts to a Kobold like me who is technically one of those beasts. Well, there are Goblins and Steppen Wolves around this area, so even if the coachmen are armed to protect themselves, I don¡¯t think they are strong enough to beat them either. ¡°Woafuh!¡± [Wallace!] As I jumped down from the carriage, I faced the carriage behind ours and called out. ¡°What is it, Mr. Silver?¡± ¡°Woga kyuuru, woruau guruoan¡­ woruan.¡± [The horses are at their limits, so we¡¯ll take it from here¡­ please watch over them.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reflexively opening his mouth, Wallace was about to say something when he stopped and thought for a bit. ¡°¡­ If I go with you, are you thinking that I could put the mother and daughter, Esther and Lilith in danger?¡± ¡°Won, guuoaru guruaoouuh.¡± [Yes, I am inclined to think that they will be effective hostages against you.] It was better to pretend that there are monsters around and wait around here since there would be no consequences thereafter. ¡°¡­ Got it. I would have liked to save them on my own after coming all the way here, but their safety comes first. I¡¯ll be counting on you then.¡± After I made sure that the Werecat Swordsman was convinced, I called out loudly to my four other companions who had already gotten off the carriages. ¡°Guruo, garuah!!¡± [Everyone, let¡¯s go!!] ¡°Kuaaou, kuruu voruaaann.¡± (I¡¯ve been itching to run since earlier.) ¡°Kuruu kuruaaan~¡± (I¡¯m going to run to my heart¡¯s content~) The Spear-user and my sister who are two of the fastest Kobolds in my group were perhaps excited by the speed of the carriage, so I hated to rain on their parade. ¡°Gururuan gaofa kyuuan¡­ voruouaan.¡± [If you did that, then you¡¯ll be out of breath by the time we get there¡­ I¡¯d prefer it if you did that after our operations instead.] ¡°Woaoon voooan garuaaan, gurua?¡± (But if we walked there normally, won¡¯t we get there around half past midnight, Leader?) There should be no movements from the enemy as they should have made preparations and camped out before sunset. On top of that, we also rushed the horses to catch up with them and covered quite a distance¡­ ¡°Wafu, gaon.¡± [Yes, that¡¯s right.] ¡°Waoa, gauauon.¡± (Then we¡¯ll go at a normal pace, got it.) As Ax brought the conversation to a finish, we advanced to the road leading to Wilm territory, and not long after, we crossed the territory¡¯s boundary line. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ As they have been on the road that connects the Royal Capital and Kelp city for most of the day, the three carriages composing the Merchant¡¯s caravan stopped and cleared an area to build an encampment after they crossed the Wilm territory and advanced for about a dozen kilometers. Their priority when camping was to take their meals first. Then, the first half of the guards would sleep almost immediately in preparation for their turn as night watchmen, while the second half was responsible for feeding their horses and the abducted slaves, after which they would stand guard for about six hours. Then, after waking up the sleeping men in the middle of the night and changing the guards, the first group of night watchmen would go to sleep until the morning where they would continue their journey. ¡°There are only 2 hours left until we could switch with the other guys.¡± ¡°¡­¡± One of the ruined-adventurer-turned-bodyguards who was a Spear user tried to talk to the man who seemed like a mage who was burning wood in the dug-up hole in the ground to keep the campfire burning to ward off the monsters lurking about, but the only reaction he got from the latter was a slight nod. ¡°You¡¯re only wasting your time with him, he¡¯s always so quiet.¡± A young Swordsman armed with a Shield and Longsword interrupts him after watching their exchange from the side. He seems to be a bit concerned about the wound on his left hand. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zayed?¡± ¡°Well, I got bitten by the cat while I was feeding them¡­¡± ¡°Hahah, that¡¯s unfortunate. Which one of them bit you?¡± ¡°It was the little shrimp that bit him. They¡¯re so annoying, but¡­ we can¡¯t hit the merchandise, can we?¡± The man called Saxe said sullenly. ¡°Now that you mention it, didn¡¯t Mr. Selam get mad at you after you stabbed the mother in the shoulder when we captured them?¡± ¡°Yeah, well she was struggling and then bit me when I covered her mouth¡­¡± Saxe shrugged as if to say, ¡°oh well,¡± as his gaze landed on the Swordsman who was standing not far away. ¡°Hey, Raios. I heard from Mr. Selam that you were a ¡°silver¡± adventurer before¡­ But just what did you do to lose your status?¡± ¡°¡­Looks like the booze has gotten into your head, please don¡¯t ask me for details.¡± ¡°Oi Saxe. Don¡¯t stick your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong¡­ Raios, you¡¯re a very dependable comrade.¡± In a word, as long as they had the ability, that was all that mattered, and in that respect, the weird mage may be good at his craft too. ¡°¡­¡± He catches a slight magical reaction in the ¡°Surveillance¡± area magic he developed himself and sends a look towards the intruder. However, all he found was a small fox, so he disregarded it and turned his gaze away¡­ CH 77 After leaving Wallace and the coachmen, we continued on the road for about 10 kilometers. As we carefully made our way along the river that ran parallel to the road, we eventually saw the faint light of a campfire in the distance. ¡°Van¡­¡± [So that¡¯s where they are¡­] With that confirmed, I stopped and sat on the ground. By nature, even in the deep areas of the forest, the Kobold race, which has good night vision, can perceive their enemies in the dark better than the Human race. This is especially true if there are lights that shine in the darkness. Because human eyesight adapts to light, their ability to see in the dark is reduced. When they move from a bright place to a dark place, it becomes difficult for them to see until their eyes get used to it. In other words, their light-adapted vision due to the campfire will reduce their perception in the dark. In this situation, it is only natural that we can recognize their presence before they do. (Now, there¡¯s a limit to how much we can get close to them in this unobstructed, well-maintained road¡­) After thinking a little more, I tap my sister on the shoulder and make her look at me, and she immediately sends me a hand sign. What is it, big brother? ¡°¡­¡± [I want to confirm whether the Werecat mother and her daughter are in there. Can you do it?] Since it would be too awkward to say that it was the wrong person after setting up an attack and overpowering them, I conveyed my intentions through telepathy to the fox-mixed Kobold who nodded and cast a compound version of her illusion magic. ¡¾Illusion£ºShrinkage¡¿+¡¾Illusion: Weak Body Disguise¡¿ After a moment, a little fox emerged from the equipment that had fallen off and piled up on the ground. ¡°Kyuh.¡± After a single small cry, the small beast trotted towards the Merchant¡¯s caravan. En route, she stopped as she seems to have tripped up the detection-based magic that one of the magic-users or diviners among the guards handled, but the weakness disguise worked, and they did not see her as a threat as she slipped inside the Merchant¡¯s encampment. We waited as we watched her retreating figure from afar¡­ The little fox, who seemed like she was looking for something, entered through the canopy of the middle carriage and returned to our side after a while. (Found them¡«¡«?) According to my sister who was in a good mood after perfectly pulling off her performance, there was another person inside the carriage who was being held captive. But since the rescue of the Werecat mother and daughter pair is our top priority, we will not worry about them in the current situation. With that in mind, I approached the Merchant¡¯s encampment up to a distance of 60 meters once and warned my companions who were following me to stand down. If we proceed any further, then we would step into the range of the weak magic flowing in the ground and inform the other party of our presence. [¡­It¡¯s ¡°Surveillance¡± magic.] This is a magic that is useful to adventurers, as it detects magic power above a certain level within a radius of about 40 to 80 meters and is centered on the magic-user. Well, minute things like insects are ignored, but since it also detects the magic power flowing inside the bodies of small animals, its application is hard to judge. That was also the reason why my sister was able to pass through earlier. (Rather, since it was a little fox disguised as a weakling, then I wouldn¡¯t consider it a threat either¡­) In any case, if we step beyond our current location, we will be inevitably detected, but there are various ways to go about it. Surveillance magic is not all-powerful after all. First of all, its range is narrower than the range of a bow, so it cannot respond to sniping, nor is it far away enough to react to a quickly approaching enemy. (Well, if they use wind protection magic in conjunction with it to guard against bows and arrows, then the efficacy of the attacks will certainly decrease, and it can nullify long-range sniping too.) There¡¯s a good chance of that happening, so sniping with my Mechanical Bow Baroque from this location is also tricky. We could have Dagger use her illusion magic on all of us, but it cannot completely keep us from being detected either, and it would be meaningless if they could confirm our intrusion visually too. What do we do next, Leader? [¡­What, I wonder.] I let my thoughts wander after the tall, skinny Kobold sent me a hand sign. The number of enemies within my visual range is five, and assuming two or three are out of my field of vision, then I could assume that there are around seven to eight of them. Add to that the sleeping guards, and my estimate comes to about a dozen or so¡­ Well, we don¡¯t have to deal with all of them if the other half is sleeping, so we could just think of it as two waves of battles with seven or eight opponents. If that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s opt for an orthodox approach and rapidly launch an attack from outside of their range. [We¡¯ll take them in one fell swoop. Let¡¯s take down the ones by the fire first. Let¡¯s go!] In order to disguise myself as a mere monster, I take off my Mithril mask and place it on the ground to prevent my opponent from being able to hear my telepathic messages and stand to my full height. At the same time, I activated the Hellhound¡¯s roar which raises the capabilities of those belonging to the Kobold race. ¡°UWOOOOOOOOON!!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºBattlecry¡¿ ¡°Garuoaaaaan!¡± (Let¡¯s go!) ¡°Kuoruaooooon!¡± (I¡¯m going to run them through!) Furthermore, as I wrapped my magically generated whirlwind around both of my legs and rushed into the Merchants¡¯ encampment, everyone else followed their hunting instincts with howls of their own! ¡°Oh shit, the monsters are attacking!¡± ¡°Even if you don¡¯t say it we could tell just with the howling!¡± ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t those Kobolds!?¡± ¡°Watch out! Those are mutated variants!! As expected, in addition to the five guards who reacted quickly and held their weapons at the ready, I concentrated my power in my right palm while confirming that three more guards have appeared from behind the carriages. ¡°Wofuh, ruaaaan!¡± (O wind, show them your rage!) Among the guards facing me, I aim at the sorcerer standing beside the bonfire and shoot a wind bullet concentrated with as much magic power as possible! ¡°It¡¯s useless¡­¡± As expected, it seems that wind protection magic has been deployed. And although my wind bullet was suddenly blocked by a wall of upward airflow that caused it to roll and be launched into the sky¡­ ¡°U-uoh!?¡± ¡°What the¨C!!¡± The gale caused by the collision between the Wind Bullet and the wall of wind blew out the lights of the campfire and instantly enveloped the area in darkness. The mage seemed to have anticipated the situation and jumped backward, but an attack window caused by a momentary delay in the response of the other guards was created. And like I said earlier, the human eye is vulnerable to sudden changes in light and dark. ¡°Garuoaaa!!¡± (Gotcha!!) ¡°Gaah¡­ Aaah!?¡± A black-painted Longsword flew from within the darkness and pierced the young Swordsman¡¯s chest through his Leather Armor, inflicting a fatal wound. CH 78 ¡°Zayed! Dammit!!¡± The Spearman who stood a little to the left of the Swordsman who had been stabbed through the chest curses out. His eyes have not yet adjusted to the faint amount of moonlight, but even he can at least discern the moving shadows. ¡°Take thiiiiiiiiiiis!!¡± Grasping the hilt of his Stabbing Spear with both hands, he takes a hard step with his dominant foot and delivers a sharp thrust to the shadow. ¡°Gaah¡± (Tsk!) Blazer, the shadow¡¯s true identity, lets go of his black Long Sword, steps back diagonally with his right foot, and avoids the strike to his upper body by a paper-thin margin. Furthermore, he grabs the extended Spear with both hands and pulls it toward him with full force! ¡°Vuoooooooh!!¡± ¡°Uoooh!?¡± As the Spearman was pulled towards him, the tall, skinny Kobold closed the distance by stepping forward with his left foot. Extending his right hand, he grabs the Spearman by the throat. ¡°G-gahah!¡± ¡°Woruah! Guaruoaaah!!¡± (Gotcha! Flaming Claws!!) The magical flame that spewed forth from his palm dazzlingly lit up the otherwise dark space as his enemy went up in flames. ¡°GIIIIIAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± The flame not only scorched the Spearman¡¯s throat and took his breath away, but it also consumed his whole body. Determining that he cannot fight after dealing serious damage to his opponent, Blazer pulls out his black Longsword from the Swordsman¡¯s chest as he jumps back and pulls away¡­ At the same time, Lancer was also swiftly attacking the guards on the other side. ¡°Ruaaaaaaaaaan!!¡± (I¡¯ll run you through with all I¡¯ve got!) ¡°E-eh!?¡­ wha, aaaaaaaaahhhh!¡± She used her Slash Spear to pierce the belly of the large guard who was blinded by the difference in light and dark that accompanied the disappearance of the light from the bonfire. ¡°Woonn!¡± (Get out of the way!) Lancer draws out the Spear piercing the large man¡¯s stomach and kicks him away as he screams with shock. As she pulls out the Spear, she removes her left hand from the handle and loosens her right-hand grip to slide the handle towards the blade to switch the spear to a slashing weapon. ¡°Uraaaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Garuuuh!!¡± (Too slow!!) Clash Against the Shield user¡¯s Sword which he brought down in a side slash, she thrusts out her left hand as she strikes away with a centrifugal-powered sideways cleave. ¡°Kuruoaaan!¡± (Glimmer, Holy Light!) ¡°Ugh!? Uuugh, guaaaaaah!!¡± A dazzling flash of light momentarily blinds the Shield user again. Using that opportunity, Lancer steps sideways and slashes him from the side in a flash. As a result, the large guard who was kicked away after being stabbed through his stomach and the Shield user who was subsequently slashed from the side, both fell forward while holding their abdomens. Meanwhile, diagonally in front of Lancer who had incapacitated the two men in a short time was the big, blue Kobold who swung his vertical great shield with all his strength. ¡°Uwoooooon!!¡± (Deryaaaaah!!) Plunk ¡°Gah!?¡± The warrior who was struck on the head by the Great Shield in full force instantly fell unconscious and dropped to the ground. ¡°Woruwon garua~¡± (We¡¯re coming for you~) ¡°Guheh!¡± Not paying attention to a different opponent who was slashing at him, Ax sends his attacker flying with a splendid Shield Bash, while a black shadow flies from behind him. ¡°Kuoorua?¡± (I¡¯ll take you by surprise?) ¡¾Activated£ºLeap Enhancement (Large)¡¿ With a line I heard from somewhere, Dagger leaps over the big, blue Kobold and attacks the Swordsman who had lost his balance! Spinning mid-air, she takes her mechanical dagger and spins it around her finger for an underhanded grip. Taking a half-step as soon as she lands, she stabs her opponent on the chest plate, but her attack is blocked by the metal plate incorporated in his Lamellar Armor. ¡°Guh!?¡± ¡°Uwoh¡± (Hnn) Without stepping away, she slides her blade-tip back and inserts the dagger into the connection between the metal pieces. Pushing the button on the contraption again, the blade springs out with force and breaks the armor¡¯s seams, stabbing the man on the chest. ¡°Guuuh, aaah¡­ aa..aah¡­¡± The man staggers backward, propping himself up on one knee. The metal armor seems to have done its work by preventing him from acquiring a fatal wound, but the attack left him unable to fight. If he moved too forcefully, he would bleed out and the injury would become life-threatening¡­ As my companions attacked aggressively, I held my Curved Blade in one hand as I closed in on the Sorcerer who had jumped back earlier. However, a bouncer-like man who was equipped with armor held a pair of Large Knives in both hands and intercepted my attack. ¡°Garuaaaaaaah!!¡± (Slash!!) ¡°Tsk.¡± The dagger wielder catches the flash of my sideways draw with his specialized weapons, and without pause, he slides his right-handed Large Knife with the blade pressed against the curved sword and aims for my throat. ¡°Guuuh!¡± (Guuuh!) Anticipating the move, I backstepped to gain some distance away from him, but the Dagger wielder who spun and switched the position of his Large Knife into an underhanded grip came after me. ¡°Daraaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Voruah!¡± (You bastard!) Clutching his right blade in a backhand grip, he unleashes a blow that nicked my jaw through a short uppercut and, narrowly missing my vitals, plunges the blade in his left hand into my flank! As I stopped the other blade coming in from above with my left palm, I dodged the blade by turning my body away and retaliated with a concentrated Wind magic attack. ¡°Guruah!¡± (Slash through!) ¡°Uuahh!?¡± The Wind Blade cuts off the Dagger wielder¡¯s right hand, and he jumps away to keep his distance¡­ And just as my companions and I were finishing the initial assault, the remaining guards woke up with an uproar. CH 79 ¡°M-monsters are attacking us!!¡± ¡°Wake up!¡± ¡°Tsk, what is going on!? Eh!? ¡­Uugh¡± A small arrow lodged itself between the eyebrows of one of the guards who responded and tried to assess the situation. Stunned, the man collapsed whilst holding the arrow that struck his forehead. ¡°Guruaaaaaaaah!!¡± (I¡¯ll keep firing away!!) Blazer, who has activated the small crossbow gauntlet on his left hand, holds two more arrows in his right hand and fires at the adventurer-like man who emerged from behind the carriages. ¡°Gu, uaahhh!!¡± The small arrows found their way to the man¡¯s flank and right leg and sent him kneeling on the ground. Two more guards who were about to follow the man stopped in their tracks and became wary of the tall, skinny Kobold who had taken out three more arrows with his right hand. Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Ax and Dagger held back the guards who became aware of the situation and tried to join in the fight. ¡°Kuruaaoon!¡± (Burn!) A ball of foxfire flew and enveloped the guard who had been sleeping with his back to one of the carriages as soon as he woke up and grabbed his weapon. ¡°Uaaaaaaaaah!!¡± The warrior screams and rolls on the ground and somewhat manages to put off the fire, but the foxfire clings to him relentlessly, causing burns all over his body. The three other guards who saw it happen were quite visibly unnerved. Under this situation, I could hear the mage muttering as he finishes his incantation. ¡°I made it in time. With this, I¡­¡± The wryly smiling sorcerer waves his arms, scattering numerous white shards that successively sink into the ground¡­ ¡°Clear away thy regrets, o undead soldiers! Rise from the depths of the underworld!!¡± ¡°Uuuuhhh¡­urhhhh¡­uhh¡­¡± Voices were heard from underground as white, skeletal arms sprung up from the soil. Next, the skull and the upper body of the Skeleton Soldiers appeared as they crawled out from the ground. (So those were skeletal fragments earlier¡­ Isn¡¯t that a type of forbidden curse¡­?) Quickly thrusting my hand downwards, I channeled my earth magic to the ground. ¡°Gaua guruaoh! Voooaan! (Return to the earth! Turn undead! ¡¾¡ùBluff¡¿) ¡°Uuuuuhhh¡­.¡± ¡°Aaaa¡­aaahhh¡± The soil in front of the Skeleton Soldiers who were crawling their way out of the ground rises and buries them back like an avalanche ¡­It was not the advanced Holy magic spell, Turn Undead, but it was simply the Earth-type magic spell called ¡°Earth Flow¡±. It saved me a bit of time from having to deal with those, but¡­ It was more than enough. ¡°What the heck!? Impossible, they can even use earth magic!!¡± ¡°Kuruaah!¡± (This is my chance!) Lancer took the opportunity and rushed at the mage who was left defenseless and shaken after I forcibly buried the Skeleton Soldiers that he especially summoned. Following Lancer, I also grabbed my weapon and went to subjugate him. ¡°Garuaaaaah!!¡± (I¡¯m not letting you get in the way!!) ¡°Guuh!!¡± Clangg The Dagger Wielder who blocked me was momentarily stunned as he crisscrossed his Large Knives in time to block the slash from my Scimitar, but Lancer used this time to rush beside him and stabbed the mage in the abdomen. ¡°Guu¡­.aah, to fall¡­ in this kind of place¡­ gahah¡­¡± Since the Caster was fatally wounded, the Skeleton Soldiers who were struggling from beneath the mud avalanche instantly stopped moving and fell limp like a puppet with its strings cut. ¡°Shit, this isn¡¯t worth it! I¡¯m outta here!!¡± The Dagger Wielder retreated after seeing what happened and tried to make his escape by hiding himself in between the three parked carriages. ¡°H-hey did Raios just¡­¡± ¡°Kuh, he¡¯s right though; this really isn¡¯t worth it!!¡± It seems the other guards also saw what the Bouncer-like Dagger wielder did, and the five remaining guards, after seeing the destruction and chaos surrounding them, also retreated slowly and fled the scene. And as soon as they were quite a distance away from us, they turned their backs and ran towards the direction of Kelp city. ¡°Kyuuh, gauan?¡± (Big brother, shall we chase them?) ¡°Guu, kyuaoon.¡± (No, there¡¯s no need.) Our main objective was to rescue the Werecat mother and daughter as Wallace requested after all¡­ and also to secure the merchant and the others, I guess? I turned towards the covered wagons where I could smell the faint scent of iron among the Werecats and humans. ¡°Gau, voruaaan¡­¡± (Now, shall we end this¡­?) Holding the curved blade in front of me, I inched closer to the covered wagon where the Werecats¡¯ scent was strongest. ¡°U¡­ uwaaaaaaaaah!!¡± As I suspected, a man holding a dagger with both hands springs out from inside the carriage. I safely avoided the attack by generously sidestepping. I then brought down my curved blade which I held at the ready in a sloping manner. Slash ¡°Guuh, aaah¡­ uu, ughh..¡± The merchant-like man who was not even wearing any armor fell with a grunt as I pulled him forward when I cut him from his right shoulder to his chest with my curved blade. ¡°Hiii, hiyaaaaaaaah, monsters!!¡± ¡°Vonn.¡± (So loud.) ¡°Uwaah!?¡± I grabbed the fat merchant by the collar as he was hunched over and screaming from inside the wagon and dragged him outside with force. As I did so, I made sure that there were no more threats coming from inside and pointed the tip of my sword at the cowering merchant who awkwardly crawled on the ground. ¡°Hiii!¡± ¡°Garuoaah, wauuh!¡± (Knock him out, Ax!) ¡°Waouh!!¡± (Eii!!) As the slightly overweight merchant froze and stared at me in fear, the big blue Kobold took a step forward with his dominant foot and brought down his huge Shield on the man¡¯s head as he approached from behind! Thunk ¡°Auh¡­¡± I then took out the hemp rope from the bag on my waist and walked over to the man who laid limp and unconscious on the ground. And as my companions kept vigilance in our surroundings, the kidnapping Slave Trader became the prisoner. (¡­ There are still around two of those merchant-like men inside the other two carriages, but if we also incapacitated them, then no one would drive these coaches.) ¡°Varuaaooou, guaou.¡± (Dagger, go fetch my mask.) ¡°Kuu, woauoonn.¡± (Okay, I¡¯ll be back in a bit!) I received my Mithril mask after a few beats and headed to the other two carriages where I ¡°persuaded¡± them by showing them their captured leader. ¡°I, I got it! I¡¯ll throw away the weapon!¡± ¡°Th-this is fine, right?¡± We also captured the men who emerged from the carriages with their hands raised, ending tonight¡¯s hunt. CH 80 Occasionally, a thin moan from the injured guards crawling on the ground could be heard in the highway that has become quiet once again. Their fatal wounds have already decided their fate, and they can no longer move around much. Also, the guard that Ax struck down with his lethal weapon called the shield, the Swordsman equipped with an iron fragment armor who my sister stabbed in the chest and cannot move, and the adventurer who received arrow wounds in his leg and flank have already been restrained. My gaze meets one of the guys who were gathered in one place alongside the fat merchant and the three guards who were limp and unconscious. ¡°Hey, y-you, give me an antidote, m-my body feels numb¡­ you understand what I¡¯m saying, don¡¯t you?¡± Numb? Ah, Blazer must have used the numbing poison he received from Ernesta. Some of the Kobold clans deal with a viscous poison extracted from a poisonous plant. If they dip their obsidian spears on it and wounded their prey, then they can just follow the scent of the poison once it weakens even if it escapes. However, refining poison is not a widespread knowledge in the Kobold race, so there are very few even in my pack who could handle it. And that is also why I watched the tall, skinny Kobold who was checking out the man¡¯s condition with interest¡­ ¡°Guruu kuruaao garuvoruaaan.¡± (I¡¯ll use whatever I can get my hands on.) ¡­ was what he said. Poison Arrows are difficult to handle because even the fast-acting types take a while before it takes effect whether you like it or not, but if it¡¯s him¡­ then I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll be able to handle it just fine. ¡°¡­ Worugaaruo, kuua garuoan.¡± [¡­ It¡¯s just a paralyzing poison, so just give up and stay numb.] The truth is that Blazer should have received the antidote in case he poisons himself by mistake, but I¡¯ve heard that the numbing effect is only for a few hours, so I¡¯ll just leave it at that. Now, we have just finished hunting, but there has been something bothering me ever since a while ago. ¡°¡­ Wau, woaorun.¡± [¡­ I guess that could wait.] I needed to secure the Werecat mother and daughter just as Wallace requested first, so when I looked into the wagon which smelled faintly of Werecats, I saw two pairs of cat eyes glowing in the dark. ¡°Mmuh, uu, muu~¡± ¡°U mmuuh¡± Of course, they could still hear the sounds of battle outside despite being confined in the covered carriage¡­ so the mother tried to move and hide her young behind her despite being bound and gagged. ¡°Woafu garufuoann¡­ Gauaruo kuukuu?¡± [Wallace sent us to help you¡­ You¡¯re Esther and Lilith, aren¡¯t you?] ¡°Mmmh?¡± When the older Werecat, whose eyes could still see well even in the dark, caught sight of the silver Kobold, the fear and tension that resided in her expression completely disappeared. It was a well-known fact that the Warriors of Lucua village and the Kobold pack that dwelled in the central part of Easteria forest by the Steele river are on friendly terms with each other. And that Kobold pack was led by the silver-haired Kobold archer, of course¡­ I climbed up and entered the carriage, and removed the restraints and gags of the mother-and-daughter pair who nodded in gratitude. ¡°Ah, thank you so much!¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Doggy~¡± ¡°Woan, garuu kuruo.¡± [Don¡¯t mind it, we are getting paid after all.] While I returned the greeting, I brought my hand out to stop the cat-eared child from getting out of the carriage on her own. ¡°Hnn?¡± ¡°¡­ Guo garuoua.¡± [¡­We just finished a battle outside.] ¡°Ah¡­ I see. Lilia, come over here.¡± Because it was not appropriate to show to a growing child, the mother brought her child close to her and kept her from seeing the after-battle scene outside. ¡°Mmm, m, mmmmh!?¡± (Th-the Kobold can talk!?) In an unbelievable turn of events, the town girl who was captured along with the Werecat mother and child could not believe how casual they were talking to the silver Kobold that she could not help but make a scene. Moreover, the Kobold with the massive, well-trained physique that was before her eyes was far too different from the weak, Threat Level E+ monster that she had often heard about. ¡°M, mmuu?¡± (Y-you are a Kobold, aren¡¯t you?) (¡­ If I¡¯m not mistaken, Wallace mentioned that a girl also went missing from the town of Wyald.) I made eye contact with the town girl who was looking at me fearfully, so I reached out to her as well and released her from her gag and restraints. ¡°Hiuh¡­ h-huh?¡± ¡°Woaruvo guou?¡± [Are you from the town of Wyald?] ¡°Ah, yes¡­¡± Thus, after freeing the three people from their restraints in the covered carriage, I left and headed to the next one, but my sister was already there. ¡°Ku, kyuann, wafa kuruugaruouann.¡± (Ah, big brother, there¡¯s a human that smells different here.) Dagger called out as she alighted from the carriage to switch places with me. From where I was standing, I could see that the dark inside of the carriage contained three children who were not old enough to match the description of the ones taken from the Royal Capital. And although it was slightly hard to see, there was also a small girl with silver-blonde hair. ¡°¡­ Gaou, garuankuruooon.¡± [¡­ No, you can¡¯t just rely on looks.] The ears sticking out of the whitish-blonde hair were shaped like a bamboo shoot, and her eyes, which slightly glowed in the dark, had that characteristic jade green color. In other words, this child was a White Elf. It is said that the White Elves lead all three forest clans. Accompanying them are the pale-skinned Bronze Elves and the wheat-skinned Black Elves. Additionally, their country is located in the area known as the Ancient Forest, which includes the southern part of the Easteria Forest and extends beyond the borders of the Riastize Kingdom to the neighboring countries. As an exclusive race, their inner workings are unknown, but according to the accounts left by the Great Sage Morozof, their society was a dystopia of sorts¡­ This was also probably the cause of my discomfort, as the Earth-attribute magic in the ¡°Seed of the World Tree¡± in my waist bag had also been giving off slight reactions since earlier. CH 81 Jade-colored eyes stared at me from the darkness of the wagon. ¡°Eldis cobalto? Wea dieforeoalta¡­¡± (An Elder Kobold? What¡¯s it doing away from the woods?) ¡°¡­ Kuarukua garuoua.¡± [¡­ I don¡¯t understand Elvish.] For the most part, I have not seen any Elves in the Desert Country in my previous life. The Elf girl and I looked at each other in silence. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Now, let me tell you a bit about the history of Elves. In the part of the Ancient Forest that stretches across the southern part of Easteria Forest, you will find the Elves Country that is called the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡±. The Elves grew the World Tree and expanded their territory by planting its seeds, causing friction with the humans¡­ Eventually, the Humans cut the tree they had planted, and this led to the Forest Garden War between the Elves and the Philland Republic. Today, the Elves outside of the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡± were those who were taken as prisoners 600 years ago, and even after the ending war agreement, a small number of them were never able to return. Most of them saw an opening after a long while and ran away, or died for one reason or another, and now only their children, the half-elves, remain. Additionally, the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡± as seen by the Great Sage Morozof and the Philland bureaucrats who drafted the end-of-war agreement, was a dystopia, where its citizens were clearly distinguished by the color of their skin. At the top were the beautiful white-skinned, White Elves with silver-blonde hair and jade green eyes, followed by the pale-skinned, Bronze Elves with indigo hair and golden eyes who are dexterous and skilled in iron-making. Lastly, the main forces of the Elven race during the Forest Garden War were the most bloodied, wheat-skinned, silver-haired, and blue-eyed Black Elves. The Bronze and Black Elves were restricted to certain occupations and were not allowed to hold government office or serve as custodians of the World Tree. They are also restricted to their residential areas and are not allowed to marry into other clans. Furthermore, their taxes were heavier than those of the White Elves. ¡°Why do you just accept these circumstances?¡± When the Great Sage asked the Chief of the Black Elves back then, he answered¡­ ¡°¡­ Because it is the natural order of things; this is all in accordance with the World Tree¡¯s guidance.¡± That was the reply that he got. It was said that only the White Elves were the ones who could sprout and communicate with the World Tree that was necessary for their survival. However, the exchange that happened between the Great Sage Morozof, who headed the diplomatic mission, and the Elven Clans that had lasted for only about two months gradually made them aware of their current situation. The awareness started with the Bronze and Black Elves, and perhaps because of the Elves¡¯ long lifespan, it gradually spread to the White Elves who were in the ruling class. And so the wave of change started and it accelerated with the ascension of the new Queen 80 years ago leading to the current era¡­ along with its many problems. ¡°My Queen¡­ the bill allowing non-White Elves to sit in the Central Assembly has been rejected.¡± ¡°¡­ Was it too premature, perhaps?¡± Queen Alistair cast down her beautiful jade green eyes and let out a sigh as she received the report from Prime Minister Delphys that the bill she proposed to allow the Bronze and Black Elves to join the Central Assembly was turned down. ¡°Forgive me, My Queen¡­ but it seems your views were too radical. Would it be possible for you to reconsider?¡± The Prime Minister, who is a conservative who defends the traditional strict distinction and who also serves as a negotiator with the reformers at the same time, finds it impossible to unite the views of both parties. ¡°Delphys, do differences in skin color matter that much?¡± ¡°¡­ It is just as important as the history that we have built up to now.¡± His response was the same as always. At that time, the Queen saw a Guard hurriedly running into the Audience Hall. ¡°What is going on? Speak.¡± ¡°Forgive me for the intrusion, Your Excellency! But the Central Parliament is under attack from the radicals advocating reform and liberation! There have already been casualties within the conservative senators!¡± Alistair¡¯s expression clouded over further as she received the report. If she had to guess, then it was probably a protest in response to the rejection of the bill to give up seats to the members of the Bronze and Black Elf clans. ¡°Why would something like this happen so soon¡­?¡± ¡°Your Majesty, these so-called reformers are clamoring for equality and liberty but take up arms against their own brethren¡­ It is alright to capture these extremists, isn¡¯t it? ¡°¡­Yes.¡± If they allowed the status quo to be changed through violence, then she cannot rule the country, and she can no longer defend these people who have taken up arms and killed their own brethren. Thus, the attack on the Central Parliament which involved the other clans and resulted in the deaths of a large number of conservative legislators triggered another incident. And that¡­ is the assassination of the Queen who supported the reformists. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Delphys, is it up ahead? For them to be lurking around here¡­¡± As the mild afternoon sunshine filtered through the trees, Alistair made her way through the woods with a small number of guards. She was enjoying her after-meal when she received an urgent report from Prime Minister Delphys. It seemed that the Conservatives who were victims in the recent attack on the Central Parliament which left many casualties were hiding and plotting a retaliatory attack against the reformers¡­ Since Delphys was also a Conservative, his report was highly credible. If the Prime Minister says that the Queen is the only one who can stop them, then she cannot ignore it. After all, she does not want blood to be shed meaninglessly again. (But it¡¯s strange¡­ Goblins have been appearing here recently, so I wonder why they would hide in such an area of the forest that is outside the bounds of the city and the settlements¡­ No, rather than that, I have to stop them first!) In other words, Delphys was plotting to claim the murder of the Queen as the work of Goblins. And so, the Queen hurriedly proceeded into the depths of the forest without knowing about the imminent threat to her life¡­ CH 82 ¡°¡­ We¡¯re here, Your Highness.¡± Prime Minister Delphys who was leading the way stops and turns around to look at Aristia. ¡°?¡­ But nobody¡¯s here¡­ where are the Conservatives and Sir Theodore?¡± She had learned that Theodore, a White Elf who had the most radical ideas within the group of Conservatives, was leading the retaliatory assault against the Reformers this time. ¡°No, Sir Theodore was making a lot of noise about taking revenge on the Reformers, but I have already stopped them. After all, there¡¯s no point in shedding more blood on useless things.¡± ¡°Eh, then why¡­!?¡± ¡°¡­¡± The four Knights who were her escorts silently pointed their swords at Aristia as she was about to ask the Prime Minister the reason. Seeing that what she had feared before had come sooner than expected, she let out a heavy sigh¡­ ¡°¡­ You¡¯re bearing a grudge over what happened to Fors, aren¡¯t you?¡± Fors was the son of Prime Minister Delphys, who was killed in the attack on the Central Assembly previously. He was one of the first victims who appealed to the Reformers¡­ for the meaninglessness of the freedom and equality that they were trying to win through violence. Even though he was a moderate Conservative and advocate of the gradual democratization of the Government. ¡°¡­I would be lying if I told you I wasn¡¯t.¡± She was the one who introduced the bill to give the Bronze and Black Elves a right to vote in the Legislative Assembly and was partly responsible for the violent outburst of some of the radical Reformists who were aiming to reverse the rejection of the bill. ¡°But that¡¯s not all¡­ The situation in which Your Majesty is also encouraging these Reformers is one of the problems. Freedom and equality are wonderful, yes¡­ But radical change creates distortions, and it divides the country!¡± ¡°¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t say anything back. The attack on the Legislative assembly had left a lot of casualties in its wake, so the situation between the Conservatives and the Reformists have been critical ever since. ¡°If both you and I had kept the Reformists and the Conservatives in check, then we could have gradually turned towards democratization!¡­ but this has already gotten to the point where there¡¯s no turning back now.¡± ¡°Then you could have remonstrated with me¡­¡± Delphys shook his head at Aristia¡¯s words. ¡°I have already asked you many times¡­ but your eyes which have been blinded with ideals could not see anything else. As one of the people who supported your ascension to the throne, so shall I end it with my own hands.¡± stab ¡°Ahh, uughh¡­¡± As his rapier stabbed the middle of Aristia¡¯s chest, she gradually collapsed as the strength and the blood gushed out of her body. ¡°Return to ashes, Blue Flame!¡± Delphys thrust out a flame-clad arm towards the Queen to burn up her body the same time he stabbed her. At that moment, everyone¡¯s attention had turned to Aristia who had collapsed on the ground¡­ Even though it was a place where Goblins roamed and was far from the residential area¡¯s barriers. ¡°Gyauaaaaah!!¡± (Hyahha!!) With a roar, a tall, skinny Goblin holding Short Swords on both hands descends from the treetops while twisting and rotating his body! ¡°Wha-!? Uwaaah!!¡± The Goblin¡¯s Twin Swords slashed at Delphys¡¯ outstretched arms. ¡°Gih, giugireah!!¡± (Hah, gotcha!!) Furthermore, the same time he landed and took a low stance, the Twin Sword-wielding Goblin swung his right sword in a sideways slash to split Delphys¡¯ abdomen and then thrust his left sword out to penetrate the wound. ¡°Gubuh¡­ ugh..¡± The moment the other Elves¡¯ eyes were glued to the scene, several other Goblins flew out from their hiding places behind the bushes and shadows under the trees. ¡°Gi-do giugiasuh!!¡± (Follow Sword!!) ¡°GIAAAAAUUUUH!!¡± (UOOOOOOHHHH!!) ¡°Uwaaah!? Uuaaauuugh!!¡± ¡°Gubeh!? It huuuuuurts!¡± ¡°What!?¡± The Goblin Fighter stabs at the gap in the Elven Knight¡¯s Light Armor and splits his abdomen, twisting the blade to stir his insides from the wound opening. ¡°Guuh, dammit!!¡± ¡°Gii!? Giiah¡­ ah¡­¡± The Knight grimaced in pain but managed to grab hold of the dagger hanging by his waist, stabbing the Warrior-class Goblin between the eyebrows to end his life, but¡­ ¡°GIUUUUUUAAAAAAAH!!¡± (GO TO HELL!!) ¡°Augh¡­ gahah, hiughh¡­¡± Immediately afterward, another Goblin Fighter jumped in and ripped the Knight¡¯s throat open with his crude Short Sword, delivering a fatal blow. A little distance beside them, the Elven Knight who had been stabbed in the thigh during the surprise attack fought back hard, cutting down one of the Goblin Fighters as he brandished his Sword. And then, as he glared at the Warrior-type Goblin who had slashed his comrade¡¯s throat¡­ ¡°Giurea gugiruauh!!¡± (Your back is wide open!!) ¡°Gugah, uu, ua¡­¡± The Goblin Fighter, who had been circling the injured Knight and waiting for the chance when his movement slowed down, stabbed his opponent from the back through the heart with his Longsword, immediately killing him. Meanwhile, the large Goblin carrying a Greatsword on his shoulder charged alone at one of the Elven Knights who dared to look back as he tried to run, and cut him down with one slash. ¡°GAAAAAAAH!!¡± (SLASH!!) ¡°Gaah!? Uwaaaaah!¡± Not waiting for his opponent to fall over, he kicked him away and closed the distance with the other Elf who ran ahead as he brandished his Great Sword that had begun to faintly glow. ¡°Giauoah, guerugiuh!!¡± (Cut him in pieces, Brilliant Blade!!) Using the momentum of his wide turn, the Goblin Brave unleashes a flurry of sweeping strikes. ¡°Guuughhh! Nggh!?¡± Even the Knight who stepped backward to gain some distance away from the opponent as he could not go against them with the slender blade that the Elves used, was followed by the slash of light as it flew towards him. ¡°Gaaah, aah, uughhh¡­¡± Because he was aware of the coming attack, he was able to avoid it with a paper-thin margin. However, the light blade directly rips his chest and the Elven Knight falls while spurting out blood¡­ And so, the only ones left standing were the Goblins. ¡°Giaoau? Gigiu.¡± (Is that all of them? Brave.) ¡°Guh, giugu¡­¡± (Hnn, you¡­) The appearance of the Goblin Sword who called out to him after the fight changed in the blink of an eye. His skin had turned from green to a bluish-white hue, his large nose had somewhat become smaller, and his pointed ears had become a bit more rounded. His appearance had become closer to that of humans, except two horns were growing out of his forehead. ¡°Giu, garesuagiah¡­¡± (Aaah, I can feel the power flowing through me!) Name: Sword () Race: Goblin Rank: G. Sword Master Skill: Ambidextrous Arm Strengthening (Medium/Instantaneous), Thunderbolt Sword, Elementary Magic (Thunder) Title: Master Swordsman Weapon: Twin Swords (Main), Throwing Knife (Auxiliary 1), Dagger (Auxiliary 2) Armament: Leather Armor Auxiliary: Cloak ¡°¡­ Gigiugia.¡± (Lord Brave.) A Goblin Fighter interrupts the conversation between the large Goblin and the tall, skinny Goblin. ¡°Gyaua?¡± (What is it?) ¡°GIusureuaru, gie garegyuuesu.¡± (It¡¯s about that Forest bitch, but there¡¯s no hope for her anymore.) ¡°Gia, gaurua giuaru¡­ Gyauruo gugiaouu kyuaueru!¡± (Well, that¡¯s quite unfortunate¡­ Anyway, strip them bare and let¡¯s head back!) Under Brave¡¯s orders, the fallen Elves were stripped of their arms and clothing, and the four Goblins retreated, leaving the corpses of their fallen comrades as well. Since this was strictly the Elve¡¯s territory, they, the elite members of the Goblin Tribe made up of only the evolved species, did not need to stay longer. ¡­ And even after they left her alone and retreated, Aristia was still surprisingly alive. ¡°Uugh, nnngghhh¡­¡± The Queen of the White Elves was deeply connected with the World Tree that she was able to share its life force and survive. However, the wound inflicted on her body was too much that it could not forcefully speed-up her metabolism to heal her fatal wound, and her consciousness slowly sank into darkness¡­ Unconscious, Aristia was then found and captured by the Slavers who had been targeting the Elves in the nearby forest by binding her extremities and fitting her with a demon-sealing collar. CH 83 Jade eyes that glowed faintly in the darkness stared at me¡­ while the other frightened kidnapped children gathered around the female Elf. ¡°Diruretoruze giaru zuikutosu.¡± (¡­ You are scaring the children.) I could generally guess what she is trying to say, and she could understand me through telepathy, but¡­ It¡¯s still hard to communicate because I can¡¯t understand what she¡¯s saying. Since I don¡¯t know Elvish or their written language, it¡¯s impossible to communicate through writing either. ¡°Uon, guruguaaann!¡± [Alright, let¡¯s just leave it for now!] Aside from the bindings on her limbs, she was fitted with a demon-sealing collar that was connected to a sorcerer who had committed a crime, so she posed no threat if we moved around with her and the other captives. Besides, my Commander during my mercenary days often said that a swift retreat was essential after a raid. Having decided that I would leave it for now, I turned to one of the slavers we captured and pointed my Curved Sword at one of them. ¡°Hiuh!¡± ¡°Gugaoru voruou garuau.¡± [Who was guarding this carriage?] ¡°Oh, it¡¯s me and him, plus one of those guys you cut down.¡± In other words, there are two horse-drawn carriages we can use¡­ Since we need to transport the kidnapped victims and the captured slavers, we¡¯ll have to discard the one packed with luggage. Anyway, the covered carriage could normally carry around five people, but it can board until 6 people if we were to force the horses. In contrast, if you exclude the two coach drivers from the merchant¡¯s men, there would be four of them, and for the rescue side, there are 7 which are composed of the captured children, the Werecat mother and child, the village girl, and the mysterious Elf. (Now, so that I could make sure that these coachmen don¡¯t run away with their master, I think it would be best to have these hooligans ride with Blazer and me in one carriage and have the children ride on the other one¡­) After thinking for a while, I decided to have the Werecat mother and ride with the mysterious Elf instead. ¡°Lilia, come here.¡± ¡°Okay, mama!¡± ¡°Tsk¡­¡± The Werecat mother, Esther, stopped moving and winced in pain as she carried her daughter while transferring to the other carriage¡­ the wound on her right shoulder must be sore. ¡°Kuua.¡± [Lancer.] ¡°Wonn, gurua.¡± (On it, Boss.) In response to my call, the Spear-wielding Kobold jumps into the carriage and presses the tip of her white paw on the Werecat woman¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°Kyuaruo, kuruaon.¡± (Ease her worries, Healing Light.) ¡°Ah¡­¡± The warm, white light that came out of Lancer¡¯s palm lighted up the inside of the carriage for a moment then disappeared. ¡°T-thank you, Ms. Kobold.¡± Esther adjusted her hold on her daughter and hugged her child tightly against her bosom to prevent her from seeing the casualties outside and hopped onto the carriage beside the one they were on. It might be a bit cramped, since there were four children including Lilia, the mysterious Elf, Esther, plus me who would be joining them later. ¡°Guu gaoruan¡­ Wauuh!¡± [Now, all that¡¯s left is loading them on the carriage, huh¡­ Ax!] ¡°Wauoann.¡± (Heave-ho!) ¡°Sh-shit!¡± Ax throws the fat merchant and four of his men who have been lightly treated for injuries into the empty wagon, leaving the Merchant¡¯s two coachmen who would be driving the carriages. ¡°Garuo waoon.¡± (You¡¯re coming with us too, okay?) ¡°D-don¡¯t t-touch me! M-my body is tingling all o-over!!¡± The hired escort whose entire body became numb after being poisoned earlier writhes in agony as he was carried by Ax, but¡­ a lone Fox girl watched the scene, waiting for an opportune moment. Bzzt ¡°O-ouch, y-you¡­!!!¡± ¡°Kyu¨Cn ?¡± (Kya~~?) ¡°Guuh, kuoruaan, guaou.¡± (Geez, stop it, Dagger.) Slightly dismayed, Ax pushed the group of illegal slavers further into the wagon and asked Blazer to get in with them. ¡°¡­ Gugaruo.¡± (¡­This is just a precaution.) As Blazer said so, he warned them again by attaching and tightening our prisoner¡¯s restraints which we borrowed from the Slaver¡¯s possessions even when their limbs were already tied with hemp rope¡­ As always, this guy takes no risks. And so, excluding me and Blazer, my other three companions were to keep strict watch of our surroundings and walk alongside the carriages. (¡­ I guess that settles it. As for water, we can get it from the river flowing alongside our path, and if it¡¯s food, then there¡¯s probably some game we can hunt by the water. As for the horses¡­ it¡¯s a bit time-consuming, but I guess we could let them graze for a bit.) Besides, once we meet up with Wallace and the others, we can all fit into the carriages, and it would only take two days to get back to Selkram and we also have a bit of food stored in there. After briefly gathering my thoughts, I checked the horses that were tied to a tree not far from here and turned to look at one of the men in merchant¡¯s clothes who was sitting on the ground. ¡°Gauoorua, gauruofu¡­ woaoru voruuoaoon.¡± [Bring the horses here and connect them to the carriages¡­ But if you try to run, then I can¡¯t guarantee your safety.] ¡°I-I got it!¡± To make my point, I took my arrow and loaded it up, and slightly pointed it at the guy. ¡°Hiii! I-I already said I won¡¯t run!¡± And with that, the merchant guy approached the horses¡­ and attached half of them to the carriage that Blazer boarded first. Following that, I had my sister unbind the other guy with her dagger, and made him sit on the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Waoan, guaruowan.¡± [Blazer, keep an eye on them.] ¡°Wafu, wooann, gurua.¡± (Yeah, leave it to me, Leader.) As Blazer positioned himself behind the man who held the reins, he held his long, black Sword in a way that he can readily pull it out at any moment. Meanwhile, the merchantman attached a second horse to the carriage, and the covered carriage that the long, skinny Kobold rode in was finally ready to go. As the horses were being connected to the second carriage, I instructed Esther to temporarily hold the reins. ¡°U-um, I, I haven¡¯t handled horses before!¡± ¡°Guoaooon, garuoafa kuruuo woaooouu!¡± [If they start to move, just pull on their reins using the force of your upper body and lean backward!] That¡¯s how the horses are disciplined to stop. While the Werecat mother became flustered and made a ¡°hawawawah¡± sound, the horses are connected, and the rest of the preparations on the carriage is finished. At that point, I also boarded the carriage and urged the merchant to sit on the driver¡¯s seat and take over from her after connecting the horses to the carriage. ¡°Kuua, guaou, gurugaou gaaarugau woruooon.¡± [Lancer, Dagger, let the rest of the tied horses go.] ¡°Gauah, woruaan.¡± (Alright, let¡¯s get this over with quickly.) ¡°Kuu, waofuaaan, kuan.¡± (Then I¡¯m going for a bit, big brother.) Finally, after releasing the remaining horses and leaving the scene, we will be meeting with Wallace and the others in the morning and returning together to the Royal Capital¡­ Also, I¡¯d like to at least check the identity of the White Elf who stared at me from time to time during the whole trip. CH 84 Wallace¡¯s group had apparently spent the night in a sparsely wooded area near the road, and when we reached the area, they called out to join us. Still, it looks like we now have quite the large group, don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Wafu, woaoon garuoarua varufauoan.¡± [Yeah, if you include these guys we captured, then our numbers have quite grown.] In other words, our main problem right now is the food supply. In the meantime, the distance we have to travel to get to Selkram is around 40km, so if we could figure out a reasonable route where we could also let the horses rest¡­ (It¡¯s been one and a half-day, huh¡­ it still depends on the horses¡¯ condition and how they¡¯re feeling, but we could probably get there by afternoon tomorrow.) The carriage we were riding on was stocked with three days¡¯ worth of food for the five of us, Wallace, and the two Royal Coachmen. It was prepared by Glen, the second-in-command of the Magic Knights, which was packed in several burlap bags that contained hard bread, dried meat, and nuts. While the rest of the food we had was taken from the Slavers¡¯ luggage and brought by Lancer and the other members belonging to the walking group ¡­ So I guess we could have enough food if we could catch at least two medium-sized prey every day. After I finished putting together my thoughts, I already felt sleepy and exhausted. If I am already feeling like this, then the others must be feeling the same¡­ (It¡¯s been more than 10 hours since I woke up yesterday evening, so I guess this is the limit¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll go hunt after taking a nap.) ¡°Mr. Sacred Beast, I have already tied up the merchants who drove the wagons here just as you instructed.¡± ¡°Waoan.¡± [Thanks.] At the campsite, we planned to rest until a bit past the afternoon, so I watched from the carriage as the merchants who drove the horses here were tied up. ¡°Woafu, gauakuan garuooou?¡± [Wallace, were you able to get any rest?] ¡°Of course, we were taking turns resting too. You must be getting tired too, so rest up while we take care of things here.¡± Then, I guess I¡¯ll have to let the two Royal Coachmen take care of the horses while we rest. And if Wallace is one of the watchmen¡­ he was up all night too, but I guess I¡¯ll have one of us go on watch too. ¡°Waofan woafa guuaruowan, waoan?¡± [I¡¯m sorry Blazer, but can I ask you to keep watch with Wallace and the others? ¡°Won, waua garukuaru gaorufa fauoooaan.¡± (Sure, I got to sleep in the carriage on our way from the Capital, anyway.) Come to think of it, he was doing his best to sleep in the rocking carriage on the way here yesterday. I did think he was doing it in anticipation of everyone¡¯s fatigue peaking in the morning after the night raid, but¡­ ¡°Gauh voruouan, garuruan kuaruo gaoruuonn, gurua?¡± (You knew I was conserving energy, so you had me board the carriage on our way here as well, didn¡¯t you, Leader?) ¡°Kuaruh, garuwaon.¡± [Yeah, thanks. I¡¯ll leave it to you, then.] After I handed the food and leather canteen that we got from the illegal Slavers to the tall, skinny Kobold, I told everyone that we will be resting and camping in the woods until half-past noon. ¡°Kuu, wau, wafa kuruaa-n?¡± (Ah, this spot kind of makes me feel nice.) Ax immediately found the perfect spot under the shade of a tree where the sunshine slightly filtered in from the gaps and curled up his big, blue body while lightly wagging his tail¡­ Ever since we were children, this guy has always been good at finding a comfortable place to nap. ¡°Waoa, kuruuann.¡± (Then I¡¯m going here.) My sister also chose a shady spot with a nice, moderate breeze and curled up under the tree and hid her eyes with her bushy fox tail, while Lancer curled up beside her. (I guess I should go to sleep too¡­) But they seem to have taken all the nice places¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ It seems the Elder Kobold¡¯s group who attacked the Slavers decided to take a nap here. ¡°Weruweia resutadi¡­¡± (What a curious scene¡­) Outside the parked wagon, three races were working together to guard the surroundings: Human, Werecat, and Kobold. Because Elder Kobolds tend to have high intelligence, they may mingle with humans and Werecats without any problems¡­ As I recall, I was told that the dog people who were led by the Elder and High Kobolds also fought alongside us as Forest people in the battle of the Forest Garden against the Philand Republic before I was born. In that battle, there was a promise of rewarding the Black Elves who were the main force who shed the most blood in the war, and there was a trend of gradually extending rights to them since we were a long-lived race. Compared to the past, the types of jobs and living quarters that my Black and Bronze brethren could choose from had been gradually expanding already, so I thought the time was ripe for them to participate in the Central Assembly that governed the national government, but¡­ (No, that was a regretful move. No matter how you put it, I still made the wrong decision¡­ This situation I¡¯m in could only be identified as a consequence of that.) Even if the concept was idealistic, it was still selfish of me to impose it through my power without regard to the currently established social structure. I have a lot of regrets. But just as Delphys said, I can¡¯t deny the possibility that if I do something, it will deepen the conflict between us all. (Maybe it¡¯s a good thing I left the country even in this situation¡­) Besides, I have always wanted to see other races mingling with each other even for just a bit. (That silver Kobold seems to be able to understand the common language of this continent.) There was a time when we Elves temporarily mingled with the humans after the war, and during that time, most high officials could understand the language and hold a proper conversation. Of course, I was one of those people too¡­ his words will probably be sent to me telepathically through that mask, so I will respond to him through the human language next time. CH 85 ¡°¡­Uu?¡± (¡­Nnu?) Something felt uncomfortable around my stomach, so I opened one eye and looked at what was causing it. ¡°Mmmnn¡­ Mr. Doggy¡­ zzz¡­¡± Turns out, the young Werecat girl used my stomach as a pillow and slept soundly on top of it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her mother Esther lightly bow in my direction. With the way the sunshine filtered through the trees, I guess it¡¯s about time to wake up¡­ but just as I pondered what to do next, I heard the sound of rustling grass beside me. ¡°Fuwaa~~n, wofan.¡± (Yaaaawn, that was a nice nap!) The big, blue Kobold slowly got up, and lazily stretched as he let out a huge yawn. Reacting to the movement, Lilia¡¯s small body stirred and she opened her eyes. ¡°U? Miu~ Gummornin¡¯¡­¡± ¡°Kyu-n, garuvoan¡­¡± (Oh sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to wake you¡­) ¡°¡­Kuu, kuruoaan.¡± (¡­Nnn, is it time already?) ¡°U~ kurua woau¡­zzz¡± (Ehh~, let¡¯s sleep a bit more¡­zzz) It seems Dagger (my sister) and Lancer have begun to stir as well, and I cannot keep on lying down forever either. After I slowly got up and lightly shook my head, I approached the tall, skinny Kobold Blazer, who leaned back against a nearby tree while holding onto his black Longsword. ¡°¡­kuao, garuukuaan.¡± (¡­ Thanks Blazer, I was able to rest properly thanks to you.) ¡°Wau, woaan¡­ kuo, guruu kuaaaonn.¡± (Oh, don¡¯t mention it¡­ Now it¡¯s my turn to rest.) After sleepily blinking, he first checked the carriage we rode from the Royal Capital for any occupants before entering¡­ After a late lunch, he probably decided to rest inside the carriage until we had to go. So he¡¯s getting ready for the next night watch by sleeping from noon to evening¡­ I¡¯m impressed. ¡°Mr. Archer, I have already had my lunch, so I am also going to sleep in the carriage to prepare for the next night.¡± ¡°Guu, ruauonn.¡± (Alright, I¡¯m counting on you for tonight as well.) With a fluttering wave of his hand, the black-haired Werecat gentleman also joined Blazer in the same carriage, but¡­ it seems he was kicked out as I expected, so he slept next to the coachmen resting in the next carriage. (¡­ Well, that guy doesn¡¯t allow himself to be bothered by anyone but our packmates, after all.) Glancing around to check my surroundings, I see that the White Elf has left the carriage and is resting under the shade of the tree with us, while Lilia rubbed Ax¡¯s fur as Esther looked on smiling¡­ ¡°Gauaru, guruo, gauruoruaan?¡± [Esther, has everyone had their lunch?] ¡°No, it seems everyone was not able to sleep last night either, so they have been sleeping until earlier.¡± As I listened to her response, I glanced at the carriage that was holding the five captured Slavers. ¡°Ah, and the Slavers have not eaten yet either.¡± It¡¯s still going to take a day-and-a-half till we get back to the Royal Capital, so I guess it¡¯ll be alright if we just give them water until we arrive, but¡­ Well, if we had enough spare food in the rations, then I guess it¡¯ll be alright to give them some light meals too. During my mercenary years, my commander said that ¡°you may think you can do anything to your prisoners, but if you go down that road, then your heart will be rotten¡±¡­ he was a pretty ruthless guy on the battlefield, though. The words of the commander who was a father figure to me ever since he picked me up from the streets as a kid still stayed in my head up to this day¡­ and it¡¯s a little distressing. Anyway, whether we could feed our prisoners or not still depends on how good the hunt goes today! ¡°Wau, kuaaooo¨Cnn!¡± [Now then, let¡¯s go hunting!] ¡°Wan, kuruaoo¡ªn¡± (Alright, I¡¯m hungry~!) ¡°Wofa, uooru voruaaann.¡± (We¡¯re going to the grasslands, so we can run, right?) My sister walked over to us, her fox tail swinging back and forth. The Spear-wielding Kobold followed not far behind, carrying her long weapon over her shoulders. ¡°Guru~a¡± (Bossuu~) I turned towards the miserable voice and found that Lilia had perched on Ax¡¯s lap as he sat down and clung to his torso as she started to fall asleep again. The Werecat race is a species that sleeps well, especially the children¡­ Ax¡¯s huge frame doesn¡¯t make him fast on his feet, and the camp also needs someone to guard over it while Blazer sleeps, so I¡¯ll have him stay here with the Coachmen. ¡°Gaouuauonn.¡± [I¡¯ll need you to keep watch over here.] ¡°Waon, uooon.¡± (Alright, leave it to me.) As we left the guy who responded in a mild manner the three of us proceeded to the river that flowed some distance away from the road, and from there, we went upstream. Luckily, we caught the scent of our prey about an hour later, and as we lowered ourselves to crawl while we approached our targets from downwind, we found about four 50cm long prairie rats that were edible despite being considered rodents. They must have a den nearby. (They¡¯re just the right size¡­ if we had killed a 2-3m ferocious Byrox bull monster instead, then we would have had a problem carrying it back.) [¡ùNormally, Byroxes are the ones who kill Kobolds instead.] Big brother, shall we take them down? Of course. After we exchanged a quick hand-sign, I went and stayed in position as I held my mechanical bow and nocked two arrows with my right hand. Meanwhile, Dagger (my sister), and Lancer split and went around the left and right sides of the prairie rats, and waited for the right timing¡­ (It¡¯s about time¡­ I¡¯ll take a shot!!) After waiting for an ample amount of time, I pulled the string and released the arrow! Without waiting to see if I hit the target, I nocked another arrow in rapid succession and fired it at another prairie rat without pause. ¡°Kua!?¡­ K-kuuh¡­¡± ¡°Kuuh, hh¡­¡± ¡°Kuuh!!¡± ¡°Kuouh¡± The first arrow reached the prairie rat in the stomach when it stood up to see what was happening, while the second arrow hit another one in the leg as it tried to flee. But the other two split up in different directions and got away¡­ ¡°Kuauh!¡± (I got it!) ¡¾Activated£ºLeg Strengthening (Medium)¡¿ ¡°Uuuh!?¡­ kuahh¡­.¡± The other prairie rat who went near Lancer¡¯s position was pierced through the torso by her Slashing Spear as she flew in to attack it from the side, and lifted it with her weapon. However, the last one was able to skillfully evade the ambush attack and disappeared among the bushes in the grassland, but the result of our hunt wasn¡¯t so bad. Meanwhile, even though the prairie rat who was pierced by my arrow through its leg tried to escape, my sister swiftly cut it down with her daggers, so all in all, we were able to capture three of them. ¡°Waoa, guruoua¡«?¡± (I¡¯m going to drain this, okay¡«?) My sister deftly handled her daggers and made quick work of our prey before rigor mortis set in, while Lancer tied their limbs with a hemp rope to make it easier to carry. (¡­ This should save us a bit of the food and other supplies Glen sent with us.) It seems we could spare the Slavers some food with this as well, and we returned to the encampment as I thought about our food situation. CH 86 In a corner of the woods along the side of the road, we dug up a hole on the ground and carefully placed the dry firewood, twigs, and leaves we found on it, and finally placed the slightly tall rocks in the four corners of the pit. ¡°Guaou, waon.¡± [Sister, please light a fire.] ¡°Ruuoa kuanooh.¡± (Light it up, Foxfire!) A scarlet flame appears between the Kobold Dagger¡¯s hands and burns the top of the firewood, twigs, and leaves as soon as it touches it. But before the fire became stronger, I placed some flat stones on top of them and waited for them to warm up. I think we¡¯re going to need four more of these according to the number of people, but I wonder if it¡¯ll be enough to cover the whole surface? ¡°Kuruaoou varuooau, gurua.¡± (I¡¯ve already cut and quartered it, Boss.) ¡°Waoa, garuuah.¡± [Then I¡¯m going to start grilling.] This is the so-called stone grilling. I had Lancer and Dagger prepare the three prairie rats we caught, while Ax and I prepared the stone grills for cooking. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get too close!¡± ¡°Okaaay.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Not far from us, Selena, the girl from Wyald village, warns the children who were abducted from the Royal Capital not to get too close to the fire while she grills the juicy rat meat on sticks over the stone grill. ¡°Oh, here are some bread and walnuts from the carriage, please have some.¡± ¡°Why, thank you.¡± ¡°Waoan.¡± [Thank you.] ¡°¡«¡«?¡± I took some bread and walnuts from the small hands of the young cat girl whose tail was wagging and patted her on the head. When she and the other children finished distributing the food and nuts, they returned to the stone grill where the two Royal Coachmen began to grill the meat. On the other hand, my companions, who can enjoy the delicious taste of raw or extremely rare meat, already started devouring the lightly grilled rat meat. ¡°Wauh, kyuaoon?¡± (This meat is delicious~?) ¡°Uoruua gaoou wauuh, guruu kyuaooon.¡± (Meat that has been lightly seared on the surface is definitely the best for me.) ¡°Guruoa, kuwauuru wafuru kuaaann.¡± (After all, fresh meat is better than dried meat!) Additionally, meat is also typically smoked when being stored for long periods of time. It is a part of the preparations where people devotedly make smoked meat during autumn as preparation for winter when crops cannot be harvested¡­ Just like the Kobold packs who single-mindedly pick up acorns, a staple food during the winter, from the forest floor before the cold months arrive. (¡­We are already able to make charcoal, so maybe we could smoke some meat in the settlement next time.) Well, there¡¯s a limit to how long it could last, so when you eat it, you¡¯ll have to use a knife to remove the parts where it has started to rot, or where mold has grown. By the way, if you will only be keeping it for a short period, then you can freeze it using ice magic, but the taste will be lost either way. The best thing to do is to keep it alive though, so it is necessary to secure hunting grounds. Hence, Nobles manage their hunting grounds so that they can have fresh meat anytime¡­ ¡°Kuu, kuao¡­ vuua, gaaruu.¡± [Mm, this is delicious¡­ go on, you should eat too.] Once the rat meat was sufficiently cooked, I skewered some of it on wooden sticks and offered it to the mysterious Elf. With the stone grill between us, we faced each other in an attempt to communicate properly. ¡°Yes, I shall. Thank you.¡± ¡°¡­ Voruaah, kuaruguo woruoonn!!¡± [¡­ Wait a minute, so you can speak the common language!!] Silently, the fair-skinned, silver-blonde Elf nodded. ¡°Garuwau guruaun, kuaaruu.¡± (I can also speak the Kobold language, but only a little.) ¡°Woann!?¡± [What the heck!?] ¡°¡­But it¡¯s impossible for me to use it for everyday conversation.¡± This Elf is amazing¡­ It made me kind of frustrated for some reason. While I was still stunned, she continued. ¡°If I think about what happened last night, it seems like you have saved me, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°¡­ Gaurukuaru guoauru.¡± [¡­ It just happened because you were there when we rescued the Werecat mother and child.] ¡°But still, thank you, Sir Kobold.¡± ¡°Vuoon¡­ guruuou Aavaa, gaaruau?¡± [Don¡¯t mention it¡­ My name is Archer, what¡¯s yours?] Not meeting my gaze, she momentarily closed her jade-colored eyes and hesitated, but laughed dryly as she introduced herself in a self-deprecating manner. ¡°My name is Stia¡­ I was a fool who incurred my people¡¯s wrath and was caught by the slavers after, fufufu.¡± This person somehow seems like the type to be difficult to work with¡­ ¡°Woruaon, garuoaau¡­¡± [To be honest, I¡¯m not really the type to care about such things¡­] After introducing ourselves, I told her over lunch that my companions and I will be returning to our home in the forest after we deliver them to the Selkram Royal Capital. ¡°Is that so¡­ By the way, I don¡¯t know much about the dog people outside the Ancient Forest, but have you always interacted with the Werecats and the Humans?¡± Stia glanced over at the scene of the three races eating together around us and slightly tilted her head. ¡°Gaufuo wooa kuruuoaaaru, vano guruouua.¡± [We have more or less mingled with the Werecats several times, but we¡¯re still a little distant with the Humans.] ¡°But it seemed like those Coachmen earlier were respectful towards you earlier¡­¡± ¡°¡­Voaruu.¡± [¡­It¡¯s just mere happenstance] She narrowed her jade eyes quizzically¡­ (And to think that we¡¯re only fighting because of the difference in our skin color¡­ Is it because we¡¯re the same race that we can¡¯t overlook minor differences?) Her thoughts speed up even during their sparse conversation. (¡­Paradoxically, it¡¯s not about the essence, but basically, it¡¯s the imbalance of power relations created by the accumulated consciousness of my people which means the skin color is just kind of like a flavor, isn¡¯t it?) Sinking deep into thought, the Elf girl let out a heavy sigh. She started to doubt whether she should have sought a change in the public consciousness first rather than rushing to get results and imposing reforms from her place of power instead. Seeing that she had become lost in thought during our conversation, I began to finish my lunch and made one last confirmation. ¡°¡­Va, guruo kuorugaaruu varuan, kuruua wafuoaaan?¡± (¡­We are going back to the Easteria Forest after this, but what about you, Stia?¡± ¡°Well, I was wondering whether it would be alright if I stayed with your group for a while¡­ As thanks, I could grow the seed of the World Tree in your possession if you want?¡± And just like that, she beat me to the punch. CH 87 ¡°Wafa, guruo varuao ruaaooan?¡± [How did you know that we had a seed of the World Tree?] ¡°Oh my, you don¡¯t know anything, do you. We White Elves are connected to the World Tree, so if there is a seed nearby, then we will know immediately¡­ Those are very precious to us.¡± According to a story that I heard during my days as a mercenary, all Elves have magical qualities and lives by utilizing the magical power that surrounds the World Tree. They built cities around the Tree which was the source of their power and placed wards around them and created a civilization that was distinct from other races. And it seems that the one who is connected to the World Tree and oversees the state of affairs and survival of the Elves was none other than the White Elf in front of me who possessed fair skin and jade green eyes. ¡°Sir Archer, can you show me the seed?¡± ¡°¡­Wafu.¡± [¡­Sure.] After thinking about it for a while, I took out the ¡°living seed¡± that was about the size of an almond from my waist bag and handed it to her. ¡°Hmm¡­ This did not come from the Ancient Forest, but this is a seed of the World Tree that comes from the outer forests.¡± ¡°Woruwoan, kuaoaaan.¡± [I don¡¯t know where it came from, I just received it.] ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I just wanted to see if I could make it sprout¡­¡± As she said this, she placed the seed in her bosom which was quite well-endowed for a White Elf. ¡°Gau¡­¡± [OI¡­] ¡°I am just warming the seed to make it sprout though?¡± Is that so? Come to think of it, Greio, the Steel Sage also took it out of his breast pocket¡­ Could that guy have¡­ That¡¯s ridiculous. Well, it is kind of understandable why that old man Greio would be fixated on the World Tree. The only Western country that possesses a World Tree is the Philland Republic which received a World Tree sapling as part of their end-of-war agreement with the Elves. The Kingdom of Riastize must have been envious of the wealth acquired by the country after conducting studies on the World Tree on a national scale and exporting its branches and leaves to other nations, but¡­ ¡°¡­ Guoruvoan?¡± [¡­ Is that really necessary?] ¡°Yes, of course. We White Elves have to keep it warm with our skin for a while until the conditions for germination are satisfied.¡± ¡°Waoa, varua van kuruoaaan¡­¡± [So for humans to be able to sprout a World Tree¡­] ¡°That must be some kind of lie¡­ Not just for the Humans, but it is also impossible for the Bronze and Black Elves, you know?¡± Stia cutely tilted her head¡­ I see, so that record of a far-off Eastern country being able to sprout a World Tree was a lie. So the effort that old man Greio spent on this was just a waste of time¡­ I feel kind of bad for him. Anyway, I got up from my seat after finishing my meal. Then, after a quick clean up, we all got into the wagons and left for the Royal Capital Selkram, where we arrived at the Castle¡¯s inner gatehouse in the evening of the next day¡­ ¡°Welcome back, Archer~¡± ¡°Thank you for your hard work¡­ It seems your operations went without a hitch.¡± Ernesta and the dark-skinned Knight Glen were already standing by the entrance waiting for us when we arrived¡­ When we entered the Royal Captial earlier, the Tempest Witch¡¯s white dove familiar was circling overhead, so that¡¯s probably how they got wind of our return. After grasping the situation through the increase in the carriages we brought compared to when we left, Glen walked around checking the insides of the carriages, found the children abducted from the Capital, and confirmed some things. ¡°We will take care of the children that were taken from the Capital.¡± ¡°Uaooon¡­¡± [Yes, please do.] ¡°And you must be the one from the town of Wyald, right? We will be sending a carriage to accompany you back to the town so please rest assured.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much, Miss Knight.¡± After she returned the greeting to Serena who quickly bowed, Ernesta froze as she turned her gaze further inside. ¡°¡­An Elf? And she¡¯s a White Elf too. How did this happen!?¡± ¡°Uerua¡­¡± (It¡¯s nice to meet you¡­) The silver-haired, blue-eyed mage examines Stia as she says something in Elvish and curiously looks up at the castle built by the Humans. ¡°Guoa garuouu, woaruguuvaaru.¡± [We picked her up during the raid, so we¡¯ll bring her along on our way back to the forest.] ¡°¡­ As always, anything goes with you, doesn¡¯t it?¡± After he made the necessary checks, Glen returned to report his findings to Ernesta who still had a dumbfounded look on her face. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s right¡­ Archer, we will also be taking these illegal traders in. After all, we also have to clean up after your rampage¡­ As long as we take their testimonies, Count Wilm will be satisfied.¡± ¡°Gaoaruoon.¡± [Then I¡¯ll leave that to you too.] After hearing those words, Glen instructs the waiting guards to take the slavers away. When the children and the town maiden Serena were also led away by the maid who was called to come out, the Werecat gentleman Wallace took their place and approached me with Esther and Lilia following behind. ¡°Archer, it¡¯s about to get dark, so we will be looking for a place to stay in the town.¡± ¡°¡­Gauarua?¡± [¡­Ernesta?] ¡°Hmm, Glen, can you prepare a room for them and the Werecats?¡± ¡°Yes. We already have some rooms ready.¡± After saying that, the dark-skinned Knight turned on his heel and led the Werecats inside the castle. ¡°Gurua, guruou kuruoua.¡± (Boss, let¡¯s get some rest too.) ¡°Waonn.¡± [I guess we should.] ¡°Kuann, wafuon¡«?¡± (Alright, we get to sleep on a bed¡«?) ¡°¡­Gaou, guarukuaan?¡± (¡­ Is it really that great?) Dagger happily wagged her fluffy tail and seemed eager to slither into the cozy bedding and cover it in fur again¡­ In the end, we spent the night at the Castle that day and set out for the central part of Easteria Forest in the covered wagons they prepared for us the next day. When he heard that there was a White Elf amongst the rescued people, the old sorcerer left his duties and asked Stia to teach him how to sprout the World Tree, but after learning that it was impossible for humans, and found out that the records were fabricated, he got on his hands and knees and looked depressed. According to Ernesta, he had spent several years conducting research and experiments on the seed of the World Tree. By the way, those records were deemed as spurious books that spread false knowledge by the Steel Sage Greio, who ordered all copies of the books to be burned in the Kingdom¡­ CH 88 It had already been a month ago¡­ since Ernesta and her unit discovered our settlement in the Steele river basin and I told Buster to move our pack to the cave near Lucua village when we left the forest. And so, after Miss Serena got off from the wagon at Wyald village, I asked the coach driver to proceed until the entrance of Easteria forest, where Lucua village was nearby. Since there were no passable roads for four-wheeled wagons in the forest beyond this point, we had to say goodbye to two young Magic Knights who both served as our coach drivers and escorts. ¡°Thank you very much for all you¡¯ve done for us.¡± ¡°Take care, Sir Archer, Sir Wallace!¡± ¡°Guruo wouruaan, guaau, ugaru.¡± [Thank you for everything, Joyce, Ricar.] ¡°Thank you for sending us home. It would have been difficult for us to get back on our own with little Lilia here.¡± Well, in the 6 days where we ate and slept together since we left the Royal Capital, we had also gotten a chance to know each other, so it couldn¡¯t be helped that we were a bit reluctant to part with them¡­ ¡°Waoa~n?¡± (Bye-bye?) ¡°Kuaruou worukuouu.¡± (Take care on your way back!) ¡°¡­Waoauh.¡± (¡­ Goodbye.) It was unusual for the tall, skinny Kobold Blazer to join my sister and Ax as they said goodbye to the two even though their words could not be understood. Similarly, Esther and her daughter Lilia also bade them farewell. Well, we can¡¯t just stay here saying goodbye forever¡­ ¡°Guruo, uwooonn!!¡± [Let¡¯s go, everybody!!] ¡°Wauh, gurugauruoaan¡­¡± (Aah, we can finally return to the pack¡­) ¡°Gauua, guuoaru garukuaaan?¡± (The forest is the most relaxing place after all?) ¡°Deruweru foreo¡­¡± (Hmm, this is quite a nice forest, isn¡¯t it¡­) After I called out to everyone, I took the initiative and set foot inside the forest where the temperature was slightly cooler, and the smell of earth and trees was stronger. (It¡¯s certainly calmer around here¡­ Let¡¯s drop by Lucua village for now.) As I was thinking that it would not be bad to drop by Lucua village on the way to the cave where the pack evacuated, Wallace walked up to me. ¡°Mr. Archer, how are we to go about teaching your pack the common language through your silver mask? I am the head warrior, so I cannot leave the village often¡­¡± Ah, we did talk about that before¡­ ¡°Guauu¡­ voruu, rukuaruu woruforuaaan?¡± [You¡¯re right¡­ Then can you let them stay in Lucua village once I find an opportunity to send them to you?¡± ¡°Yes, alright. Just let me know in advance and I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± After quickly confirming things with me, Wallace went back to the Werecat mother and child behind him. Looks like he was still concerned about the condition in which they were rescued. When it comes down to it, that guy is a gentlemanly Werecat with a strong sense of responsibility¡­ After that exchange, it didn¡¯t take us long to reach Lucua village. And as we approached the center of the village square¡­ ¡°Hnn? Isn¡¯t that Mr. Silver and¡­ Esther, Lilia! You¡¯re safe!!¡± ¡°Oh!? Mr. Wallace is back!!¡± When Grimer, the Werecat Carpenter who had been working on wood with a spear-plane* outside of his house noticed us and called out, the adjacent door from across the street burst open, and out came Barrack, the Blacksmith¡¯s son. ¡°It really is Esther and Lilia!!¡± ¡°Esther, you¡¯re safe!¡± Starting with the two of them, the other Werecats that came out one by one gathered around us, and by the time we noticed it, we were surrounded by a sea of cat ears¡­ ¡°Au~. gauruouaaan, gurua.¡± [Au~, There are so many cat ears, Boss) ¡°Kuann, wafiruaaan?¡± (Big brother, they look like they¡¯re having fun?) In the blink of an eye, Blazer and Stia who had taken advantage of their distance from us had already removed themselves from the crowd and left the four of us stuck in the middle of it. (¡­Looks like we missed our chance to escape.) As I let out a sigh, Esther bows her head awkwardly in the middle of the crowd. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we didn¡¯t mean to worry you¡­¡± ¡°Uu, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Similarly, even the young Lilia who was holding onto her mother gets overwhelmed by the atmosphere and succumbs to it. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright. Fred won¡¯t forgive us if we let anything happen to you.¡± ¡°Esther and Lilia did nothing wrong, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± (Fred?) Noticing the question on my face as I heard the unfamiliar name, Wallace whispered in a hushed tone. ¡°¡­ Fred is Esther¡¯s husband who was killed in the battle against the Goblins during their initial attack on the village. That¡¯s why everyone in the clowder is worried about them.¡± ¡°¡­Woffu.¡± [¡­I see.] I closed my eyes and said a little prayer for Fred¡¯s soul. And when I opened them again, I unexpectedly met Barrack¡¯s gaze. ¡°Archer, I don¡¯t get what happened, but it seems you¡¯ve helped us again¡­ If your weapons get worn out, just bring it over and I¡¯ll fix them for you, okay?¡± ¡°If you need some simple tools or some supplies, then I¡¯ll make it for you too, Mr. Silver.¡± ¡°Aruou kuaoaaan.¡± [I appreciate your kindness.] We have already received monetary rewards from Ernesta and her Elite Unit, and those two are running a business¡­ so I guess I¡¯ll just have to politely refuse them. (Besides, gaining the trust of the Werecats is already enough of a priceless reward ¡­) After we were thanked by the Werecats around us, Wallace and his wife, Emina, saw us off as we left the village and walked to the cave in the east where our pack was. We had to leave the pack for a while due to some circumstances, but we were finally going home. Although, I get the feeling that something will happen after we get back¡­ CH 89 (¡­ I guess they should be heading home any time now.) In a place not far away from the cave to the east of Lucua village where the Kobolds were staying, the trees were sparse and the sun was shining through the foliage. Buster, the black-armed Kobold, avoided that sunlight as he stood and leaned back on one of the trees. After his comrades left for Selkram, the Royal Capital, he led the pack together with Knuckle and Smith southward to a cave that they made into a temporary dwelling. Since then, he had continued to train whenever he had the time in the slightly open corner of the forest. However, he still had not trained today¡­ because he felt that the ones he had been waiting for were arriving anytime soon. (Now that I think about it, Chief has always been ahead of me¡­) He smiled bitterly at the memory of his childhood, where he found himself constantly being brought to the ground despite his physical superiority. Still, back then, Buster never doubted that he would follow in his father¡¯s footsteps and lead the pack. However, he knew that the Chief was better suited for the role than he was, and understood why his father chose him as the next Pack Leader instead of him. (But still, this and that are different things, and I just can¡¯t stand losing all the time¡­ No, rather than that, I¡¯d like to be acknowledged instead.) Although he has already relinquished his position as Pack Leader to Archer and is in retirement, my father¡¯s heroic appearance is still etched in my memory. When my brethren and I who were born at the same time attacked by the Grey Bear, my father led the males of the pack to stand against the bear when it chased one of the young Kobolds as he approached the settlement. When I looked at his back, I vowed to become a fine male and protect the pack¡­ So I might still be hung over the fact that my father did not choose me even though I knew what influenced his decision. (Oh well¡­ It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve challenged Chief to a match, so maybe that¡¯s why I¡¯ve been thinking of unnecessary things lately.) In the past few months, we¡¯ve attempted to go the mountain range that could be seen from afar, gotten involved with humans and fought some bandits, and fought off the Goblins together with the Werecats¡­ We¡¯ve been through a lot. I am also aware that I have gained quite a lot of strength through these events. I have been training with Knuckle ever since Chief and the others set out for the Royal Capital in the west, so my strength has improved since then¡­ As I was thinking about this and a couple of other things, a strong wind blew through the forest, and I picked up the scent of my returning friends. (Guess I¡¯ll challenge the Chief to a match.) ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ After we left Lucua village before dusk, we found someone waiting for us in the slightly open area near the cave where Knuckle and his old pack previously lived, which now served as our temporary shelter. ¡°U, guguaaoon.¡± (Hmm? Isn¡¯t that Buster?) ¡°Kuu, uaruu, kuruau~?¡± (Oh, you¡¯re right, we¡¯re home~?) ¡°Oruto, maasel cobalto¡­¡± (It¡¯s another macho Kobold¡­) When Blazer spotted the black-armed Kobold, my sister wagged her fluffy tail and hurriedly approached, but¡­ I tilted my head as I noticed the vigorous aura surrounding him. ¡°Wau, wafion, guruaao?¡± (Huh, is something the matter, Buster?) ¡°Guau, wafuau¡­ wauo gurua voruoooaaan.¡± (Nothing¡­ I was just thinking how it¡¯s been a while since I fought Chief in a match.) After he lifted himself off from the tree he was leaning on, he removed his Leather Armor and placed it beside the Great Sword nearby. He stood wearing only a straw skirt, which was the Kobold¡¯s primary garb, for ease of movement. When Kobolds fight for position in a pack, they do not inflict lethal wounds on their opponents as the pack itself would collapse if, for example, the two highest officials in a pack both died during a match. We have always spoken with our fists in our pack for generations even though there are various forms of competitions such as hunting or fishing contests. And for that reason, we remove things that could potentially restrict our movement, such as armor, before every match. ¡°Waon, garuoaa¡­¡± [Alright, I accept¡­] (I kind of expected this will happen soon anyway¡­) Like Buster, I also removed my equipment and placed it on the ground, and walked towards him. Meanwhile, the others kept silent and watched from the sides. ¡­ But it¡¯s not like I came unprepared. I was aware that the direction of my growth was not specialization in physical combat, and my new-found magic ability would be a rule-breaker and create conflict within our ranks¡­ after all, the only things I could use in a match like this are the limbs I was born with. So I came up with a secret strategy. ¡°Fuuu¡­ VORUAAAAH!!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºAdamantine Body(Earth Attribute-Type)¡¿ I borrowed a bit of the life force that resided within the earth, causing the power circulating inside me to violently rage and burn, as it turned my body indestructible! ¡°Garuu, woaruuaan, gurua!¡± (Haah, that¡¯s a nice trick there, Chief!) A moment later, the muscles of my upper body bulked up, and I became as muscular as Buster. Yes, I have been doing my best to read the contents of the unique grimoire, ¡°The Book of Herculean Pulverization¡±, during breaks, and while we were on the rocking carriage on our way home¡­ Of course, it was written by none other than the Steel Sage, Greio Elballard. There¡¯s a thing called supply and demand in the world¡­ and while the contents of the book would leave an ordinary mage dumbfounded, the grimoire was valuable to me who is sometimes challenged to a fight in the pack. Yes, it was valuable even though unsold copies of this grimoire were stacked high in the old magician Greio¡¯s private study¡­ CH 90 Anyway, the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡± was full of rambling statements such as, ¡°A mage that cannot talk with his fists is weak,¡± or ¡°Armor is merely a decoration and a well-trained body is a work of art¡±¡­ However, in addition to the Adamantine Body, there were many useful things such as the ¡°Zealous Fist¡± which crushes magic attacks with opposing magic-covered fists, and some bits and pieces of information that have nothing to do with magic at all. Moreover, the Lightning Wizard technique he talked about on page 137 was merely a physical attack where the practitioner would unleash a full-bodied back fist strike¡­It was no longer on the level of what you would classify as a grimoire. Well, aside from that, I should finish this fast. After all, I can only sustain this Adamantine Body for a few more minutes¡­ ¡°Garuoaaan¡­ voruah, guruaaonn!!¡± [Let¡¯s end this quickly¡­ Let¡¯s go, Buster!!] ¡°Voruoaaaauh! Guruah!!¡± (That¡¯s supposed to be my line, Chief!!) As both of us rushed to close the distance, he unleashed a full-powered right straight punch! I pretended to stop and receive Buster¡¯s punch, but l leaned in at the last second and made the first strike. ¡°Voruooonn!¡± (Annoying!) ¡°Fuuh!¡± Buster swung with force as he used his left hand to push back against my right straight cut and deflected it outward. Furthermore, he also guarded against the follow-up left jab which I directed to the right side of his head. ¡°Ugu, garuu, guruaaah!¡± [Ugh, haah, take this!] I feel some pain as his jab connects with my right arm, but I immediately slam my right knee into Buster¡¯s unprotected abdomen! ¡°G-guoh!?¡± He reflexively jumps back to offset the force of the knee strike, but I don¡¯t let this opening pass. ¡°Garuoooooh!!¡± [Daraaaaaaaaah!!] With my left foot, I took a step forward, raised my right leg, and rotated my hips until my knee was pointing downward as I unleashed an axe kick aimed at Buster¡¯s neck. ¡°Gauh!¡± (Tsk!) ¡¾Activated£ºInstinctive Evasion¡¿ As my knee pointed down for an axe kick stance and my right leg approached Buster¡¯s neck, his split-second decision paid off and he used his thick right arm as a guard and caught my kick just in time. ¡°Voruaah, guruah!!¡± (Take this, Chief!) ¡°Uwooooh!?¡± [Uwooh!?] Before I could regain my stance, Buster preemptively gets into my space and hits my left leg with a powerful foot sweep! As both of my feet left the ground, I inevitably wound up on my back. ¡°Kuh!¡± [Kuh!] ¡°Uruaah!¡± (Uraaaaah!) When I quickly rolled over to gain some distance away from him, Buster vigorously brought down his foot and stepped on me. ¡°Gauuh!¡± [Shit!] ¡°Gauah!?¡± (Naah!?) I instantly wrapped myself around Buster¡¯s lower half as I pulled myself up, placing my left hand on his hip and my right hand around one of his knees so that I could use the strength of my Adamantine Body to lift and hurl the black-armed Kobold! ¡°Gaaaaaah!¡± [Gaaaaaah!] ¡°Woaruah!!¡± (Oh no you don¡¯t!!) Perceiving my move, Buster drops his hips, lowering his center of gravity, and presses me back down with his right fist, preventing me from getting up! Furthermore, he also raised his left fist to strike me from above, but¡­ ¡°Vorugau, garuoaaah!!¡± [Don¡¯t underestimate Herculean Crushing!!] Greio had also mentioned dealing with this kind of situation in his book as well. I immediately switched my position from trying to lift myself and twisted around, overworking the muscles of my upper body to throw Buster sideways. ¡°Uwooooh!?¡± (Uwooooh!?) He, like me, also uses the momentum of his fall to roll over and gain some distance away. I was just able to get up on one knee, so it was impossible to make a follow-up attack. However, since I regained my footing a little faster than Buster, I attacked him by thrusting my knee against him as he was trying to get up. ¡°Kuuh.¡± (Kuuh.) Buster quickly crossed his arms and prepared to guard against my attack, but¡­ that was not what I was aiming for! Using Buster¡¯s raised left knee as a stepping stone, I leaped over his head and unleashed a full-forced back kick to the back of his head. ¡°Gahah!¡± (Gahah!) As Buster was distracted by the damage at the back of his head, I turned around as soon as I landed and unleashed a spinning kick to the unprotected side of his head! Well, it¡¯s dangerous to strike a blow against the head while it¡¯s unprotected, so I had to reduce the strength a bit. Thud ¡°Guh, guuu, garuaann¡­¡± (Guh, nnghh, I give up¡­) Buster admitted defeat after he received a supposedly deadly blow to his exposed head had I not toned down the force of my attack. This was just a warm-up compared to the succession of fights we just won, and Buster wasn¡¯t really thirsting for results, so this fight did not mean anything at all. Thus, our little game ended here. (¡­ Knowing your personality, you only had to stop my last kick with your hand before it landed on you.) Surprisingly, I realized that ¡°Herculean Crushing¡± isn¡¯t something to take lightly of¡­ Basically, even though it is lacking in terms of range in hand-to-hand combat, this technique makes up for it by adding attribute magic in the fighter¡¯s limbs, in addition to the attack magic technique that is incorporated into the limited range of moves. However, this is definitely something that goes beyond the scope of an ordinary Mage¡­ ¡°Gauruaao, waon? Gauruaaan.¡± (Buster, are you alright? Come and let me see.) ¡°¡­ Wafon.¡± (¡­ Thanks.) The Spear-user, Lancer, who is basically caring by nature, places her paws over Buster¡¯s injuries and casts Healing magic over them. ¡°Eruku rehite eru wetesdi. Berukureia, ruku girukuoru eldaawuru cobalto foreo viida imajin taunto.¡± (So they can even use Healing magic. But even if he¡¯s an Elder Kobold, he still fights with his fists¡­ It somehow ruins my impression of a Forest Sage.) ¡°From what I heard, Elder Kobolds are supposed to have mastered the Magic arts, but¡­¡± the jade-eyed and fair-skinned White Elf whispered¡­ CH 91 As I watched the spear-wielding Kobold apply healing magic over Buster, I dispersed the magic circulating inside me. ¡°Fuuuu¡­ uh.¡± But as soon as my bulging muscles returned to their normal state, the muscle pains hit me! (It was mentioned that the muscle pain would go away once I get used to this, but¡­ this Adamantine Body sure takes a lot out of me.) When I tried to call out to Buster while enduring the muscle pain and maintaining my composure after my victory¡­ ¡°Kuonn, kuruaan?¡± (Just as expected of big brother?) ¡°Gua, garuh!¡± [H-hey, what the heck!?] With a light hop, I dodged my sister as she dove at me with her excellent leaping power. ¡°Wafi? Kyuauh!!¡± (Huh? Hey!!) ¡°Vann!¡± [What the heck do you want!] I dodged Dagger as she tried to hug me again and her gaze narrowed as if she were eyeing some prey while she suspiciously wriggled her fingers. ¡°Uuuh, kuroau woauaaan!!¡± (Ooh, you know I¡¯ll just get more worked up the more you try to avoid me!!) ¡°Ga, gaouh, wofuh!¡± [W-wait, sister, please!] ¡°Gaoann, kyan!?¡± (I¡¯m not gonna wai¨C KYAN!?) As my sister was about to pounce, Lancer¡¯s white paw grabbed onto the end of her furry tail and scolded her. ¡°Garuouu.¡± (That¡¯s enough.) ¡°Waoon, kuoruaan.¡± (She¡¯s right, cut it out.) ¡°U~¡± (Eeeeh~) When Lancer and Ax both stopped her, my sister slumped away. Her back looked a little lonely¡­ I guess I¡¯ll give her a little play-bite later and then ask her to go fishing together. Lancer then walked up to me and placed her paws on my chest as she talked. ¡°Gurua garuouua, kyuoaaan¡­¡± (Boss, you shouldn¡¯t try to act though too, I¡¯ll heal you¡­) ¡°Gauooan¡­¡± [So you noticed, huh¡­] ¡°Guruu garuguoru kuruaaou¡­ guoruaoou, woru?¡± (It¡¯s because I can also feel the flow of magic¡­ That thing earlier put some burden on your body, didn¡¯t it?) Warm, holy light poured out from her palm and my overworked muscles were healed. ¡°Waoan, ruou vaaruou.¡± [Thank you, that helped a lot.] After I gave her my thanks, my gaze moved to Buster. ¡°Voruaaan, guruaao.¡± [You¡¯ve gotten better, Buster.] I was not trying to flatter him. In the past, Buster would focus on making big swinging attacks and finishing his attack in a single strike, so the gaps in his defenses were equally huge. This time, however, he was the first one to attack with a series of jabs and straight cuts, and he was also able to smoothly deal with the feint attacks which I mixed in with some middle and high kicks. ¡°¡­ Woguruuaonn, garuouuu, gurua.¡± (¡­ I¡¯m going to win next time, so don¡¯t go losing to anyone, Chief.) ¡°Wauh.¡± [Sure.] And with that, we grinned at each other, fangs peeking out. Seeing the full-toothed grins, the tall, skinny Kobold merely shrugged and said, ¡°Oh boy,¡± as he looked on. By the way, Blazer doesn¡¯t actively fight for pecking order within the pack, and no males were quick to challenge either of us six, but¡­ there was one instance where a male had challenged Blazer to show his good points to a female he was trying to impress. Perhaps he purposefully avoided the muscular Ax, Buster, and I, who was slated to be the next Pack Leader. And so, by process of elimination, he decided to fight against Blazer, but¡­ As he carelessly approached Blazer who pretended to be afraid, the poor guy was knocked down with the sand and pebbles that Blazer had waiting for him. Well, after that, it seems everything worked out with the female that guy was aiming for anyway¡­ ¡°Garuuoau guuan, gurua garuuaan?¡± (By the way, is that long-eared girl Chief¡¯s new woman?) As I was engrossed in reminiscing our first memories of spring, Buster eyed me suspiciously. Apparently, this guy seems to see me as a pervert in his mind¡­ ¡°Wau, guruau kuua kuruaan?¡± (Yes, I¡¯ve just recently become his ?) ¡°Gaouh, vurua!¡± [Now, wait a minute here!] The Elf girl bashfully hid her face in her hands while her bamboo leaf-shaped ears twitched as if to say, ¡°Oh no~¡±. The hulking, black-armed Kobold was momentarily confused when she spoke the Kobo language, but he took the attack in stride, and¡­ ¡°W-waon, gurua wuaaaon¡­¡± (I-I see, then, please take care of Chief from now on¡­) ¡°Woann!? Wooon!¡± (Is that so!? Congratulations!) ¡°¡­ Kyuou!?¡± (¡­ I have a big sister now!?) I had to admonish Ax, who got really excited and calm down Dagger who was equally confused, and by the time I had cleared up the misunderstanding Buster created, a sense of exhaustion surged through me. Kuh, that guy was sniggering while he watched me get flustered¡­ and then, I turned to the fair-skinned Elf and glared. ¡°I was only joking, Archer. I¡¯m sorry if I offended you.¡± As she said this, Stia turned in my direction and briefly bowed. The other Kobolds didn¡¯t know about her circumstances, but perhaps she was a bit cheery because she was freed both from the daily pressures of her queenhood and her days of captivity. ¡°¡­ Wau, oon.¡± (¡­Yeah, it¡¯s fine.) I can¡¯t wait to get back to the pack and rest¡­ Mentally and physically tired, I dragged my sluggish body to the cave which was a short distance away. Additionally, it seems that a few more of Knuckle¡¯s floppy-eared packmates have joined our settlement, and our pack members wanted to hear about the Royal Capital, so it took me a few more hours before I could finally rest in the lair¡­ CH 92 There is an area of the forest called ¡°The Ancient Forest¡± where the Elves¡¯ country, the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡± is located. And currently, four World Trees exist there. A World Tree will drop 1 to 2 seeds in its long life span of several thousand years, but it is not a tree that could grow densely either. Also, the seeds can become mature trees in about two years if the conditions are right, and if they are carefully taken care of by the members of the White Elf Clan. And because of this, the Elves¡¯ residential areas roughly cover the World Trees¡¯ area of influence. The World Tree has the property of circulating the earth¡¯s vitality by stretching its roots around the earth¡¯s veins and sharing a portion of that power to the Elves, who turn it into magic power, which plays a vital role in their daily lives. ¡­ They depended on the life force of the World Tree. In other words, most Elves, except those who truly have magical qualities, could not use magic beyond a certain point in the World Tree¡¯s area of influence, even though magic is heavily incorporated in their everyday lives. In the center of their cities was a ¡°Forest of the World Tree¡±, and from there, concentric residential areas in the city which divide the White Elf Clan Quarters, the Bronze Elf Clan Quarters, and the Black Elf Clan Quarters are built in that order. Furthermore, since there are 4 World Trees, there is roughly the same number of Elf cities of varying sizes around each tree. The largest of them all is the Royal Capital Elfast, which houses about 12,000 residents. And within that city lies the Royal Capital branch of the Industrial Arts Guild which is located in the Bronze Elves¡¯ area. ¡°I¡¯m still not convinced! Why was Asta imprisoned!?¡± ¡°¡­ Because he was the one who made the magic tools and armor used in committing the crime.¡± The angry, blue-skinned Apothecary Mira admonished Sheyard the Guild Master. The rejection of the bill stipulating that ¡°..any Elf, regardless of the color of their skin, can become a Senator¡­¡± was still fresh on their minds when the extremist side of the group of Elves who supported Freedom and Equality attacked the legislature with weapons in their hands. It was the day before yesterday when the magic tools and weapons used in the attack by the extremist reformers were investigated and the Blacksmith Asta, who was Mira¡¯s childhood friend and the one who created the magic tools and weapons in question, was imprisoned. ¡°But Mr. Sheyard. We have no idea how our creations are going to be used, don¡¯t we? That sounds just like an accusation from a bunch of old conservatives¡­¡± After the attack, it was announced that the Prime Minister, Delphys, who was a moderate conservative, had been assassinated by the reformists, and Lord Theodore, who was a conservative radical, became the new Prime Minister. Since then, Queen Aristia, who had been pushing for reform policies, disappeared, and the conservative extremists gained strength and cracked down on the reformers. ¡°Wido, don¡¯t think of such unnecessary things¡­ The Chief has already decided that the Bronze Elves will take a neutral stand on this case. We can¡¯t take sides.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about that! I want to know what happens to Asta!!¡± With a loud thump, Mira hit the table in the Guild Master¡¯s office. ¡°I have already made an appeal for them to consider the extenuating circumstances¡­ He will only be charged with the crime of aiding and abetting at best, so there probably won¡¯t be any severe actions.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± Shaking with anger, the petite, Bronze Elf girl stormed out of the room, and after a slight shrug, the Alchemist Wido also followed after her. After seeing them off, Sheyard called a guild officer and asked him to keep an eye on Mira, then let out a small sigh as he slowly leaned back against his chair¡¯s backrest. ¡°As long as I can comfortably experiment and develop things, that¡¯s all that matters¡­¡± That was the long-cherished desire of the Bronze Elves, who were a clan of engineers with various specializations. (Now, I wonder how this will pan out¡­) Since the reform extremist raids, the idea that ¡°it is foolish to insist on liberty and equality through violence¡± has been gaining ground among the dark-skinned Black Elves. Ironically, the words of Lord Fors, a moderate conservative who became the first casualty as he tried to stop the reform extremists¡¯ attack, had been spread through propaganda. If the idea of nonviolent resistance could reunite the Elves beyond their conservative and reformist views, then the situation could be turned around, but¡­ ¡°I hope it works out¡­¡± But the Guild Master¡¯s whispered hopes are betrayed, and the situation makes a turn for the worse. The following week, Marcus, an Elven Priest of the Black Elves who had attempted to unite the conservative and reformist factions of the Black Elves by calling out for non-violent resistance, was assassinated. A single arrow pierced his chest while he preached about the pointlessness of hating each other despite belonging to the same race. The perpetrator was said to be a conservative extremist who did not like him or an extremist from his own people who were losing their unifying force to the moderate reformists. However¡­ ¡°Kuh, aah¡­ D-do not be consumed with anger because of this¡­ I f-forgive, ugh, everything, Someday, a day will come when we can all la-laugh together regardless of the color of our skin¡­¡± ¡°Minister Marcus!?¡± ¡°Minister!!¡± His last wishes were drowned out with angry shouts, but it caused a new spark amongst the handful who heard it. It would be some time before his words would be engraved onto a stone monument and resonate in the hearts of many Elves. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ As the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡± met with further chaos, the Philland Republic, which was a nation adjacent to them, also suddenly began to run into a panic. ¡°¡­Is that true, Sir Leiard?¡± ¡°Yes, this is definitely good news for us.¡± The Half-Elf, who was also a relative of Landes, the Chairman of the Republican Council, nodded at his question. Although Landes looks older in appearance, Leiard was a man who had already lived several generations before him. ¡°For the past few months, we have been exploring the forest along the borders, and only recently did we stumble upon a break in the barrier surrounding the Elven cities.¡± At his news, several ¡°oohs¡± were heard among the cheering council members. ¡°I have also dispatched the Half-Elves under my command on an intelligence mission so that they could infiltrate the inner barrier at the slightest break in the wards¡­¡± ¡°Good work, Sir Leiard.¡± ¡°With this, we could finally extend the life of our World Tree!!¡± After the Battle of the Forest Garden, 600 years have passed since the World Tree was acquired according to the post-war treaty. Ordinarily, the World Tree should be alive and well at this point, but¡­ the World Tree in the Philland Republic had gradually fallen ill due to the over-harvesting of its branches and leaves, which were used for various medicines and magic tools in exchange for the importation of food from the time of the great famine. ¡°But will the Elves be willing to help us?¡± The Chairman reined in the excitement of the Council members and offered his opinion. ¡°Chairman Landes, once the break in the Elves¡¯ barrier is repaired, then we cannot contact them anymore and we might miss the opportunity if we take our time¡­¡± During the battle 600 years ago, when the World Trees were mere saplings, it was only with the Sage Morozof¡¯s power that they could break through the barriers and successfully cut down the trees, but¡­ If the barriers of the mature World Trees and the White Elves¡¯ barriers were combined, then the land would be inaccessible to humans. Thus, it was recorded that the humans were forced to cut down the trees before their lands were taken away from them. After that, the wars that followed were also mainly fought within the forest, but they were unable to invade the Elves¡¯ cities. However, if the cities around the forest were surrounded, then they would have no choice but to give in. And as a result, a truce would have to be signed. But it would be impossible without investing a reasonable amount of money and manpower¡­ ¡°If you think about it practically and realistically, then we would have to resort to tough measures,¡± the male Half-Elf casually stated. ¡°You¡¯re a Half-Elf, aren¡¯t you? Aren¡¯t you worried about them?¡± ¡°My homeland has always been the Philland Republic, so my country¡¯s interests come first.¡± (Besides, I don¡¯t really care about the Elves in the ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡± who abandoned the generation of captive Elves where our parents belonged¡­) With a cold look in his eyes, the Half-Elf, who was with the Republican Council, replied. CH 93 The atmosphere in the cave beside the tributary of the Sherna river which was about half a day¡¯s travel to Lucua village was quite laid-back as its residents spent their day under the gentle afternoon sun, oblivious to the brewing tension in Elfast, the Elves¡¯ Royal Capital. ¡°Wafuu~~¡± (Hafuu~~) The big, blue Kobold leaned against a tree, limbs lazily spread out on the ground. Before, several young Kobolds would usually be found hanging around the gentle guy, but since they turned 6 months, they began to enter their rebellious phase, so we don¡¯t see them playing within the settlement anymore. Now that they have grown up to their full size and can walk on two legs, they have been wandering around the area with their peers and siblings and worrying their parents in turn. In our pack, we are considered fully grown-up when we reach about 1 year and 2 months old and are expected to leave our parents¡¯ lair and survive on our own when we pass the age of 2. Some who fail to leave are kicked out of their family dens and are given the cold treatment afterward, but they are still considered part of the pack¡­ By the way, my sister and I were also treated much the same way by our mother, but¡­ I guess that¡¯s just how it is. The law of the wild is pretty strict, after all. When my eyes landed on Ax¡¯s stomach, I saw a little fox napping on top of it. Needless to say, I knew it was my sister right away. (¡­ I don¡¯t get what¡¯s happening, but is she using him as a bed?) Anyway, as I was thinking about some matters on hand, Stia emerged from the trees and I automatically put on the mask of telepathy which was becoming an indispensable item nowadays. ¡°This part of the woods is pretty nice, isn¡¯t it? Although it¡¯s a shame I can only explore around here.¡± ¡°Woaruu wafirua aooan.¡± [Well, you never know what¡¯s lurking in the forest, after all.] ¡°I guess, you¡¯re right. By the way, this little one has already sprouted. Here you go.¡± She casually takes the seed of the World Tree from her chest and shows it to me. If you look closely at the top of the seed, which is about the size of an almond, you can see a white bud starting to sprout from the top, but¡­ (¡­I¡¯m a bit hesitant about receiving something that was just taken out of that place¡­) ¡°If you don¡¯t want it, then I¡¯d be happy to receive it.¡± ¡°Guu, waoann.¡± [No, I¡¯ll take it, thank you.] It was still faintly warm when I got it from her. Well, the seed of the World Tree had always been warm anyway¡­ ¡°Garuuguoaa woruaaan?¡± [Will this grow if I just bury it?] ¡°Yes, but it will take about a month to grow.¡± Rather, how long does it take for it to grow in a mature tree anyway? The book that tricked the Steel Mage into believing said that it would reach the heavens once it germinates, but I guess that¡¯s hogwash too. ¡°Wafion, varuoooa guruooruua?¡± [What do I need and how long will it take to mature?] ¡°It has already sprouted, so sprinkling it with some Porcelain mead at first should be alright¡­ And because the World Tree has a lot of vitality, it will only take around 2 years to mature.¡± If it¡¯s going to take two years to mature, then it would be worthwhile to wait until we get back to the settlement by the Steele River and plant it, but¡­ wait, Porcelain mead? ¡­. Common mead is a primitive kind of liquor and is made by diluting honey with water two to three times its amount and fermenting it for a little over a week at this time of year. Mixing honey and water alone does not guarantee that it would successfully ferment, so mixing a bit of breadcrumb would be good too. She expressly added the word ¡°Porcelain¡±, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that kind of mead¡­ ¡°Garuoua vaauon?¡± [What is Porcelain mead?] ¡°It¡¯s a liquor made with honey and water from the golden bees of the ancient forest and a bit of White Elf blood. It¡¯s ceremonial, so we don¡¯t add blood to it when we enjoy a normal drink¡­¡± ¡°U, ruan waiioaru guruoaaan¡­¡± [So, do we need to go to the Ancient Forest to make it¡­?] It had already been three days since we arrived at the temporary cave shelter. Since the area of our original settlement has already been recognized as holy ground, then it should be safe to move back there, but¡­ If we were to go to the Ancient Forest, then we would be heading in the opposite direction. ¡°Wau, gurua, garuaon? Guruuoaan, gururuaou garuguoua.¡± (Hey Chief, are you going out? If you¡¯re going, then take me with you; I¡¯m bored waiting in here.) Buster, who heard our conversation approached us, Great Sword slung over his back. ¡°Wafu, gauruganviaruu vaa guruon.¡± [Yeah, I¡¯m going to get some Golden Bee Honey.] ¡°Wafy!? Vaah! Guruuon.¡± (Eeeh!? Honey!? I wanna come too!) ¡°Kyuu~~!?¡± (Kyuu~~h!?) Ax suddenly woke up when he heard the word ¡°honey¡±, and my sister, who had been sleeping on top of his belly in her fox form, rolled and fell over¡­ ah, her transformation came undone. ¡°Vaa, kuruaan, juuruh.¡± (Honey is so tasty~ slurp) You¡¯re already looking happy and drooling with just the word ¡®honey¡¯¡­ Are you a bear!? And so, it was decided that along with Stia who would act as our guide and healer, the four of us, including Buster, who had been bored waiting when we went to the Royal Capital Selkram, and Ax, who was hooked on honey, Dagger, and I were to head to the Ancient Forest to harvest some honey. Meanwhile, in my absence, I placed Blazer and Lancer in charge and instructed them to lead the pack and return to our original settlement in the central part of Easteria forest first. Additionally, Knuckle was in charge of the floppy-eared Kobold group, while Smith was in charge of repairing the houses and the fields in the settlement. (¡­ Since we¡¯re going all the way to the Ancient Forest, it might be nice to visit the Elven country too after we finish making the mead.) (Now, I probably won¡¯t get bored if I tag along with Chief.) (I hope we can get enough honey for everyone too¡­) With such a carefree atmosphere, we set out to our next destination. CH 94 This transpired when the four Kobolds led by the jade-eyed Elf were making their way south to the Ancient Forest¡­ In Elfast, the Royal Capital of the Elf Country ¡°Grove of the Village Shrine¡±, hundreds of Black Elves were gathering in one of the city squares. ¡°Why did they kill Minister Marcus!? The man only wished for peace! Are we not allowed to freely express our opinions anymore!?¡± In the crowd, Gregor, who led this demonstration, shouts out. The dark-skinned, silver-haired, sharp-eyed Black Elf is surrounded by his allies which were reform extremists. ¡°Brothers, I would like you to consider this. More than half of the Elves living in the Royal Capital are people like us, the Black Elves! So why are they keeping us from joining the political assembly!?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s tyranny!!¡± In response to his call, several voices arose from the crowd. Several of his companions who were mixed into the crowd shouted to incite the people, but¡­ Gregor¡¯s words were not entirely false. Of the 12,000 people living in the Royal Capital, approximately 7,000 of them belonged to the Black Elf clan, while the remaining population was composed of around 3,000 Bronze Elves, and about 2,000 White Elves. Apart from the Royal Capital, the population ratios were almost the same for the other 3 cities. ¡°Certainly, it¡¯s true that we are unable to control the World Tree¡¯s life force. However, must we continue to follow the rule of the White Elves forever to continue receiving the Tree¡¯s blessings? That makes us no better than livestock!! We have to stand up for ourselves somewhere along the way! We¡¯ve earned that right!!¡± ¡°OOOOOOOOOOU!!¡± Gradually, Gregor¡¯s speech became more and more passionate, and the crowd was drawn in by it. ¡°Just like I told you before, everyone gathered here will march up to the castle to express their sentiments! There is power in numbers; follow me!!¡± ¡°Count me in!¡± ¡°For the sake of our Black brethren!!¡± Dozens of his companions who were blending into the crowd raised their spirits and called out to the other Black Elves around them. Originally a gathering for those who questioned the dominance of the White Elves, hundreds of Black Elves gradually began to march towards the castle¡­ ¡°Ugh, I smell trouble brewing¡­¡± The Bronze Elf Apothecary Mira commented as she quickly glanced from her window and watched the Black Elves make a commotion with their marching. ¡­ The Elves¡¯ cities were designed with the World Tree at its center, surrounded by the White Elves¡¯ quarters on the inner ring, followed by the Bronze Elves¡¯ residential area, and lastly, the Black Elves¡¯ territory. In other words, if the Black Elves were heading to the castle, then they were sure to pass through the Bronze Elves¡¯ quarters. And if a riot breaks out between the White and Black Elves, then the Bronze Elves¡¯ area would get caught up in the mayhem. ¡°Looks like the Guild Master was right when he told us to stay out of it¡­ In case of an emergency, maybe we should also think of evacuation routes too.¡± As she moved her long ears which peeked from her blue hair, she took out a map of the surrounding underground tunnels and studied it with a serious look on her face. In the first place, they were Production Elves so as long as they were able to freely create things, then that was all that mattered. That¡¯s why she was so upset at the fact that her childhood friend was imprisoned because he was accused of making things. Like Mira, most of the Bronze Elves in the area had also closed their windows and shutters and were quietly waiting for the protesters to pass through, but¡­ Hundreds of Black Elves led by Gregor had just stepped into the Black Elves¡¯ residential area and were being pushed back by the armed White Elven guards. ¡°You guys should back off peacefully!!¡± ¡°This behavior is getting out of hand!!¡± ¡°Why? We just want to make a petition to the Queen!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!! Get out of the way!!¡± While the leader of the advancing Black Elves and the White Elven Guards were struggling with each other, a fist unexpectedly flew out to the guards¡¯ side. ¡°Gaah, y-you bastard!!¡± The beaten guard reflexively fights back against the Black Elf man who was about to strike him again, but the man who was struck back cries out immediately, ¡°One of the guards just hit me! Do not let the guards harm the people!!¡± ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Is this how you White Elves deal with things!?¡± ¡°Are we just like livestock to you people!?¡± Similar voices were raised elsewhere, and shouts of rage were exchanged between the Black Elves and the guards who were trying to push each other back. Additionally, those who were mixed in with the crowd and attacked the guards, and those who agitated the people with their radical statements were all reform extremists who had received instructions from Gregor. They were trying to divide and create a confrontation between the mainstream conservative White Elves and the mainstream reformist Black Elves. (¡­ We outnumber them by far. Right now it¡¯s just a little skirmish, but if the spark grows and a conflict erupts, then we can beat those White Elves! I¡¯m going to teach those White Elf bastards a lesson for looking down on us!!) Gregor, who had kept on adding fuel to the fire and who was also behind the attack on the General Assembly, secretly smiled in the midst of the crowd. Aside from being blessed with a good physique and excellent hunting skills, Gregor was also highly respected within the Black Elves¡¯ Clan¡­ That¡¯s why he did not want himself to be limited by what he could do just because of the color of his skin. (I can¡¯t just stand here and let the minority do as they please! Managing the World Tree? I¡¯d like to see them try to threaten us by force!!) Additionally, some White Elves belonging to the reformist moderates questioned the imposition of equality based on skin color, but¡­ Gregor also intended to dispose of them once his goals were accomplished. And to that end, he needs to increase the number of Black Elves he could mobilize in protests and also recruit more reform extremists who would follow him. With the idea of freedom and equality gradually becoming more and more prevalent, so does the gap between the status quo and the dissatisfaction caused by it grow day by day, allowing him to gradually grow in power¡­ CH 95 ¡°Those foolish Black Elves! What in the world are they thinking?! ¡°Hiuh!?¡± Theodore, the Prime Minister standing in as a proxy in the Queen¡¯s absence, shouted in anger when he received a report from his subordinates, and the maidservants who were waiting on him let out a small scream of surprise. Following the assassination of reformist moderate Minister Marcus, protest rallies have been held by the Black Elves in various parts of the capital, their numbers growing by the day. As part of the protest, the Black Elves, who are coming to the Royal Castle to proclaim freedom and equality, are mixed with the reform extremists, who have been lashing out and harming the guards who try to hold back the crowd. Aside from that, the recent report also showed that some stores in the White Elves¡¯ area were also attacked and some White Elves were harmed on the streets. ¡°They have not been farming and herding, are neglecting their daily lives, and are making a fool of themselves! Why are they acting lawlessly while talking about freedom and equality!?¡± ¡°Father¡­ the people are only agitated and excited, and it¡¯s all the work of a few malicious extremists. If you lose sight of that, you will make a mistake in your judgment.¡± Eliza, the daughter of the indignant Prime Minister, rebuked her father with a melancholy look on her face. She was a young, beautiful Elf girl who was about a hundred years of age, with curly silver-blonde hair, and deep jade green eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Eliza, I¡¯ve shown you something unsightly¡­ Seems like I¡¯ve surprised the others too.¡± ¡°No, please don¡¯t mind it, Lord Theodore.¡± The attendants waiting beside him quietly bowed. ¡°But we cannot let ourselves be easily agitated by these people. The Black Elves¡¯ actions cannot be tolerated.¡± ¡°If all the citizens were outstanding, then that would be strange. But because there are only a few of those while the rest are normal or less than average, then things such as this is inevitable.¡± Theodore nods toward his daughter¡¯s broad-minded opinion. ¡°Hmm, but a political assembly that is influenced by the people¡¯s voice is nothing but folly¡­ And that is why we of the White Elf clans must lead these people.¡± ¡°This way of thinking is what makes the Black Elves resent you, father. In the first place, the political assembly is based on the consensus of many people, so we cannot ignore them.¡± After a pause, he asks his daughter, ¡°Then what do you think we should do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just limited to the Black Elves¡¯ clan, but I think we should cultivate knowledge and decency over time since abrupt changes tend to create friction and backlash amongst the people.¡± Eliza¡¯s response was typical of a moderate conservative¡¯s, which was quite different from the ideas of her father, who was a conservative extremist. ¡°However¡­ the reform extremists do not wish for that. We will have to do something about those fools first, won¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Theodore is a typical conservative extremist who has some problematic beliefs such as the idea that the White Elves, who are a superior species, are responsible for leading the other Elf clans, but he is not a fool. In the case of the recent attack on the Central Assembly, he was quick to notice the danger of the reform extremists who advocated for freedom and equality but wielded violence that produced casualties. And so, he acted to raid and capture the reform extremists and Gregor, who united them, knowing that he himself would be tried for breaking the law. Even though he was admonished by the former Prime Minister Delphys, he still stood his ground, but¡­ ¡°By the way, Eliza, what is the World Tree¡¯s condition?¡± Just when Queen Aristia disappeared and Vizier Delphys was killed by someone, the life force of the World Tree was severely reduced. At that time, the water and sewage systems, which were maintained by the Bronze Elves¡¯ magical device that converts the life force of the World Tree into magical power, was shut off, and a disruption in the usage of Living Magic occurred, which prompted an immediate investigation to be conducted. ¡°Listy, your report please¡­¡± From behind Eliza, a Priestess of the World Tree who had the role of assisting the Queen emerged. ¡°¡­The recent disruption in the energy supply of the World Tree was probably caused by a life and death condition which affected Lady Aristia, and it is presumed that an enormous amount of life force was consumed from the World Tree to keep Her Majesty alive.¡± ¡°Then, the Queen is probably¡­¡± ¡°Yes, she is alive.¡± Theodore was interrupted mid-sentence with Listy¡¯s declaration. ¡°Nnngh¡­¡± Theodore pondered the situation for a while with a difficult expression on his face. Queen Aristia might be an inconvenience to him as she is also pushing for reform, but she is currently the only one with the thickest concentration of High Elf blood in this generation. And so, Theodore, who values the principle of White Elves as the more dominant species, cannot make light of the Queen¡¯s existence in relation to his beliefs. ¡°Very well, then let us send out a search party around the Northern Woodlands where the Queen seems to be hiding.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be a good idea indeed, father.¡± Currently, the moderate conservatives are already searching, but since it would be better to have more people join the search, Eliza nods and shows support for her father as he makes arrangements to dispatch the squires and knights who are under house arrest. ¡°¡­ There is more to the report, Your Excellency. May I continue?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, please continue.¡± ¡°We have been prioritizing the maintenance of the city facilities to bring the recent chaos under control. And because the World Trees in other cities also get life energy through the same veins of the earth, fluctuations in the barriers around each city have also been observed.¡± The current situation had been predicted from the very start, but¡­ With the current state of affairs in the Royal Capital, if further confusion is imposed by the concerned parties on the citizens, then various outbursts are bound to occur. And for that reason, it is important to prioritize the maintenance of the city¡¯s facilities first. ¡°How long would it take the World Tree to return to its previous state?¡± ¡°The earliest could take a month, and the latest would be about half a year¡­¡± ¡°I hope nothing happens during that time, though.¡± ¡°It would be ideal if we could at least stay on high alert during this period¡­¡± Just as Eliza sighed while playing with her curly, silver-blonde hair, her attendant entered the audience room and whispered something in her ear. ¡°Father, I apologize, but it seems I have a visitor, so if you¡¯ll please excuse me.¡± After excusing herself, Eliza quickly left the room. After all, she also had a lot of things to do¡­ When she returned to her private chambers, she found two Elven men ¡ª one with pale skin and one with dark skin ¡ª waiting for her. ¡°Thank you for coming, Lord Ziebel.¡± ¡°Yes, well, we are just as distressed as you are about the current situation.¡± The man named Ziebel responded. The man was also a reform moderate who is currently trying to unite all the other reform moderates who belong to the Black Elf clan. He is also one of the people who will carry on the will of Minister Marcus, who called for nonviolent disobedience. ¡°Thank you for also coming over, Lord Sheyard.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m still in a neutral stance over this situation though.¡± This man was called Sheyard, the Guild Master of the Craft Guild that unites the Bronze Elves living in the Royal Capital. Taking advantage of his position and having access to the Royal Castle, he hid Ziebel in the carriage with mixed deliveries and brought him to Eliza in secret. ¡°I know it¡¯s on short notice, but you coming here means¡­ you are going to help us aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, if it¡¯s just us, then we would not be able to stop those radicals from inciting the people, after all.¡± Originally, the moderate conservative faction which Eliza belonged to merely feared that sudden reforms would cause chaos, but it was not like they rejected all kinds of reforms. ¡°We will do everything we can to help, and together we will work for the abolition of extremism.¡± Smiling, Eliza held out her hand and Ziebel shook it. ¡°It would be reassuring if the Bronze Elves cooperates with us too.¡± Cutely tilting her head, she also glances in Sheyard¡¯s direction, but¡­ ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry, but I cannot make the Bronze Elves make a move on my own. The least I can do is to make sure that weapons don¡¯t get into the hands of the reform extremists, but¡­ If I do more than that, then we would not be considered neutral anymore.¡± Sheyard replied with a shrug. That day, the reform conservatives and moderates joined forces to contain the growth of the reform extremists led by Gregor, and to bring the chaos he caused under control. CH 96 With the secret initiative of Eliza, Prime Minister Theodore¡¯s daughter, the reform moderates and conservatives were united, and together, they tenaciously persuaded the dissatisfied Black Elves to keep from joining the reform extremists like Gregor and his colleagues¡­ Meanwhile, the Kobolds who returned to their settlement near the Steele river basin also seemed to be busy on their own way. ¡°Au~, guaruoua¡­¡± (Au~ The fields are ruined¡­) The Kobold Smith had fallen on all fours and was devastated at the state of the field of sweet potatoes and yellow and green beans in a corner of the settlement near the village square. ¡°Uwau, guruao? Garuaan guruaoauruu.¡± (Smith, what should we do? If we leave it like this, then the Boss will surely scold us.) ¡°Uuuh¡± (Nnngh.) The small, droopy-eared Kobold with handmade tools hanging from his waist sighed as he looked at the field. It was fortunate that the scent of Kobolds that lingered in the area kept small animals away, while the wooden fence surrounding the settlement built by Smith and his team kept most of the medium to somewhat large animals from damaging their crops. Moreover, due to the effect of their Boss¡¯ earth-attribute magic, ¡°Earth¡¯s Blessing¡±, they could still manage the damage if they worked hard and took care of the plants. ¡°Wauoa, vaou guuavoruo ruoann!¡± (Let¡¯s just pull out the ruined crops and weeds for now!) ¡°Waon~¡± (O-ka~y) ¡°Ruoaan!¡± (Alright, pull!) The droopy-eared Kobolds quietly worked on the farm. If done well, the green and yellow beans they sowed at the end of June would be ready by the end of September, and the red, sweet potatoes they planted at the same period could be harvested around a month later, by the end of October or November. ¡°Woaon, vaoru kuaruou woruaann!¡± (If we work hard, then we¡¯d be able to eat more than acorns this winter!) ¡°Woaaau~¡± (Ya-hoo~) During winter, most of the animals in the Easteria forest are inactive, so their chances of encountering prey are reduced. At worst, they would have to survive on the well-preserved acorns they devotedly pick during the autumn, but¡­ now that they are planting sweet potatoes, then their food situation is going to change this winter. The sweet potatoes could be stored at room temperature with the soil still on them and can be kept from 3 to 6 months in the fall and winter seasons. With this in mind, Joseph, the Werecat farmer, recommended them to grow sweet potatoes. Well, that is if they could harvest them properly¡­ A short distance from Smith and the others who were working a sweat on the farm, the tall, skinny Kobold is giving lessons to a batch of Kobold puppies who were about six months and could already walk on two legs. ¡°Gauo, guruah! Woruuguou garuau varuguh!!¡± (Got it, kids? Anyone who tries to directly confront their opponent is a fool!!) ¡°Waooon, garuuh!¡± (Yeees teacheeer!) Several Kobold pups cheerfully replied in unison. ¡°Guou voruaaguruoan oufuh! Gau, guoru kyuouruaaann.¡± (Even the strongest guy is fragile when caught by surprise! But I¡¯m not saying that training is pointless.) As Blazer¡¯s words became filled with passion, the puppies attentively listened to him, eyes twinkling. ¡°Guruuguorua, worugaooon garuvoruaah!!¡± (Train yourselves to be the best you can be and choose your own way!!) ¡°Teacher is so cool!¡± And, as warriors too, they would grow up to be quite eccentric Kobolds. ¡°Wau, waoa, gurugauooonn!!¡± (Alright! Then, let¡¯s start with push-ups!!) After their session with him, the droopy-eared Kobold Knuckle calls the children over, and he gets to work teaching them basic training to build up stamina¡­ After watching them for a while, Blazer turns his gaze to the southern direction of the forest. (¡­ I wonder how Chief and the others are doing now.) ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Kuraa, kuano? ¡° (Burn it up, Foxfire? ) After digging a hole to keep the fire from spreading, I placed some stones around it and threw some firewood, dried leaves, and ordinary leaves into the pit. After that, I asked my sister to light it up with her Foxfire. (Now, it¡¯s my turn next¡­) Focusing my attention on the fire in front which was gradually producing smoke, I wrapped my palm with some concentrated wind magic. ¡°Wofuh, woruh!¡± [O wind, carry it forth!] The rising smoke is carried by the wind magic and sends it to the base of a tree 60 meters away. Once there, the smoke naturally rises upwards and smokes the Golden Bee¡¯s hive in turn. ¡°Vaa, vaa~?¡± (Ho-ney, ho-ney? ) ¡°Guaou¡­ kuauruaou, voruoufu.¡± (Dagger¡­ Your tail stands out too much, stop moving it around.) ¡°Waoon, gauaaaon kuruaauooou.¡± (That¡¯s right. If they find us, then we¡¯ll have to run away.) My sister, who was wagging her golden, fuzzy fox tail is admonished by the two large Kobolds on either side of her and became dejected. ¡°Uu~, kyuou.¡± (Uu~, I¡¯m sorry.) And so, the four Kobolds, plus the White Elf girl all laid down on the grass and watched from a distance as the bees flitted about to get away from their hive which was fumigated by the smoke¡­ and aimed for the moment when most of them have already emerged from their hive. After a moment, I slowly went into position and knelt on my knee, reached behind my back with my left hand, grabbed my Mechanical Bow Baroque, and held it at the ready. Fluidly grabbing an arrow from the tube resting on my waist as I have practiced many times before, I nocked the arrow and pointed it at the base of the beehive which was hanging from a tree branch 60 meters ahead. ¡°Guruoauh!!¡± [Release!!] Whoosh By using wind magic on the arrow which somewhat reduced the effect of the air resistance, it sailed through the wind, hit the Golden Bee¡¯s nest, and dropped it to the ground. ¡°Impressive, you were able to knock that thing down from this distance¡­ The name Archer isn¡¯t just for show.¡± ¡°Wouru¡­¡± [I just got lucky¡­] Paying no attention to Stia¡¯s flattery, I patiently wait for the bees who are flying around their fallen hive to give up and leave. CH 97 ¡°¡­ Isn¡¯t it about time?¡± ¡°Gauon¡­¡± [You¡¯re right.] In response to Stia who was hiding next to me, I looked at the fallen hive and saw that most of the Golden Bees that were flying over it had already flown somewhere. Because the ants crawling on the ground have already started to make their way into the beehive and honey when the bees left, we had to retrieve it right away. ¡°Wauh, guaou.¡± [Your turn, Dagger.] ¡°Waon~, kuruaann, kyuh.¡± (Oka~y, I¡¯ll be right back, big brother.) ¡°Kuruaruoaan worukuouuh.¡± (Be careful not to get stung by the bees.) As everyone watched, my sister crawled out from the bushes, approached the Golden Bees¡¯ hive which had fallen near her hiding place, and came back cradling it in both hands. ¡°Vaa~?¡± (Honey~?) ¡°Vaa¡­ juruh¡± (Honey¡­ slurp) Ax drooled at the sight of the Golden Bee¡¯s Hive as it dripped honey onto my sister¡¯s hands when she happily presented it to us while wagging her furry tail. I feel like he¡¯ll be able to eat both the honey and the beeswax at this point¡­ However, the goal is to make Porcelain mead, so I¡¯m reserving the honey from this first beehive for that purpose for now. (¡­ we got the beehive, but we made a lot of smoke.) I thought it was alright, but if there were other humanoid races around, it was possible that they would check out the unnatural smoke, so it would be better for us to move to another location to refine the honey. While Goblin hordes could be found in every forest, we could also get in trouble with other Kobolds who belong to a different pack, so it was better if we could move ahead, but¡­ ¡°Kuruua, gaouguruoa? Vuuh¡­¡± [Stia, do they appear around here? The G¡¯s¡­] Fortunately, we were moving downwind so I was able to catch the scent of those guys from the wind, but this¡­ was mixed with other scents. ¡°I heard that recently, a Goblin horde came from the northern forest where you were from and settled in the ancient forest, but¡­ What¡¯s wrong? Why are you asking so suddenly¡­¡± At that moment, her bamboo leaf-shaped ears twitched as she caught the sound of rustling leaves, her expression became alert, and she reached for the borrowed dagger on her waist. Seeing that she picked up the sound at almost the same time, it seems that the Elves¡¯ hearing is just as sensitive as the Kobolds¡¯. I placed my index finger in front of my mouth to tell her to keep quiet and grabbed her by the arm to hide behind the nearby trees. Similarly, the rest of our companions also hides among the trees, avoiding the direction in which the intruders are heading towards. Buster, who was hiding while anticipating a battle, quietly lowered a large, unglazed platter which was tied with hemp rope from his back. The piece of pottery was made by the pack¡¯s artisans, the floppy-eared Kobolds, by kneading clay from the Steele river and firing it in the furnace that the Werecat blacksmith Barrack passed down to them. Additionally, the reverse side of the plate was imprinted with Smith¡¯s pawprint, which identified it as his work. When Smith and the other floppy-eared Kobolds were trying their hands at pottery, I told them that ¡°Master craftsmen would secretly engrave their signatures in their creations¡±. Since then, they would inscribe their paw-shaped ¡°signatures¡± on the bottoms of plates or other inconspicuous parts of their pottery products. My sister carefully placed the beehive she was holding on top of the large plate, and happily licked her hands which were covered with honey. (I know it¡¯s delicious, but this isn¡¯t the time to be doing that!) After pulling herself together, Dagger imbues her legs with magic, and, with her leaping-enhanced ability, dexterously leaps up and disappears among the trees¡­ A while later, 2 Goblins riding on the back of boar-type monsters emerged from the trees, followed by 4 more Goblins who rode on earth-colored monitor lizard-type monsters. The monster mounts were even fitted with saddles on their backs and bit mouthpieces in their mouths. Upon observation, one of the Goblins who was missing a part of his right ear looked like the leader and carried a Lance normally used for horseback while riding a monitor lizard. They were probably an evolved variant of the Goblin race, namely the Goblin Page and the Goblin Cavalier. This species usually takes young monsters and raises them as mounts¡­ (So there are 6 members of the Goblin Hunting Cavalry. It would be nice if they just passed through, though¡­) But that might be impossible¡­ After all, a boar-type monster¡¯s sense of smell is pretty good. I could say that it even rivals ours. In the place not far from our hiding place, the boar-type monster who walked ahead with a Goblin on its back began to paw the ground and twitched its snout. (¡­ The fact that only the Cavalry came poses the possibility that there are other units behind them, and if we happen to engage in battle with them, then we should at least take the boars out.) I sent a hand sign to Buster and Ax who lurked nearby. Get ready to fight. Got it, Chief. I¡¯m ready to go anytime. During our exchange, the boar-type monster faced our direction and the Goblin riding it pulled out his Longsword and shouted, ¡°Giu, gyauah, varigia!¡± (There, they¡¯re over there, Lord Vali!) ¡°Garugisuh, gadia!!¡± (Let¡¯s go and hunt some dogs!!) Following the command of the muscular Goblin riding the monitor lizard, the Goblin group simultaneously rushes towards us without delay. Anticipating the move, I plunged my right palm into the earth and fired a convergent earth-type spell! ¡°Gau, wuoooon, garuaaah!¡± [Tsk, devour everything, Fangs of Greed!!] ¡°BUOOOOOOOH!?¡± ¡°Guguu!!¡± (Uwah!!) When I invoked the earth-attribute, non-human magic spell, ¡°Binding Fang Chains¡±, countless earthen fangs protruded from underneath the boar monster which pierced its body and limbs and kept it in place! CH 98 ¡°GURUUAAAAA!¡± (ORRRAAAAAAAAH!) With a battle cry, Buster maneuvered in between the trees and approached the Goblin Cavalryman who was stuck with the boar monster the same time I unleashed my earth magic. ¡°Giuooh!¡± (I won¡¯t allow it!) However, one of the Cavalrymen riding the earth-colored monitor lizard, the Land Lizard, approached from the side, pulled out his Saber, and attempted to intercept the black-armed Kobold¡¯s attack! ¡°Gauh, kuogaruuoaaa voruouh!!¡± (Hah, you think you can stop my attack with a single hand!?) ¡¾Activated£ºArm Strengthening (large) + War Blade¡¿ While the Goblin Cavalryman held the reins with his left hand and his right hand handled the Saber with his right hand, Buster unleashed a heavy blow with the overpowering force of his muscular arms. ¡°Guh!? GIAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°U-ugaaaaaah!?¡± The sharp blow, which was clad in fighting spirit, not only cleaved the Goblin in half, but it also went through the mounted Land Lizard¡¯s saddle and made a shallow indent on the ground. Meanwhile, Ax, who had jumped out at the same time, closed in on the Land Lizard whose mouth was opened wide when it was pierced by the earthen fangs¡­ ¡°WORUAAAAAHH!!¡± (TEYAAAAAAH!!) ¡°Guuuuuh, aaaaaaaaaaaah!?¡± He swung his Battle Axe down and it shattered the Land Lizard¡¯s skull as it slammed to the ground. ¡°Giuuuh!!¡± (Tsk!!) Another Goblin Cavalryman unleashed a slash attack aimed at Ax¡¯s neck from below by swinging his Saber in a diagonal cut, but the big blue Kobold calmly held up his long Shield. ¡°Waouh.¡± (Heave-ho) Clang The raised Duel Shield easily repelled the attack. Ax then let go of the Battle Ax which was still lodged in the Land Lizard¡¯s head and punched the Goblin Cavalryman in the face. ¡°Gahah¨C¡± (Gahah!!) The Goblin Cavalryman who was hit square in the face loses consciousness and limply falls from the saddles¡­ (These Cavalrymen cannot easily maneuver within the forest after all¡­ If it¡¯s like this, then their threat level is quite low.) I reaffirmed my observations while staying hidden behind the trees. I raised the arrows which I had been holding in my right hand and nocked them into the Mechanical Bow when an angry shout rang throughout the forest. ¡°GIUOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± (YOU BASTAAAAAAARDS!!) The leader, a Goblin Cavalier who was missing a part of his ear, rode the Land Lizard at a speed that did not match his frame, made his way through the trees, and aimed for Buster¡¯s flank. Holding a Lance made of thick wood and an iron spearhead, the Cavalier charged at the massive, black armed Kobold. Meanwhile, a short distance away from Buster, the remaining Goblin Cavalrymen also launched continuous attacks at the big blue Kobold with their Lances. ¡°UGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± (UGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!) ¡°Uoh!?¡± (Uoh!?) Buster nimbly avoided the accelerated rush by a hair¡¯s breadth by shifting his weight to the side, while Ax parried the spear-attack of one of the Goblin Cavalrymen and counter-attacked with his long Shield! ¡°Uh!? Uwaaah!!¡± (Eh!? Uwaah!!) ¡°GIUREIAH!!¡± (THIS IS THE END!!) Ax fell over and managed to avoid one of the Goblin Lances thrust at him, but he was hit by the huge Land Lizard and was flung away. ¡°U-uu¡­ uuhh.¡± ¡°Giuaah!!¡± (I got you!!) The Goblin Cavalryman who counter-attacked earlier pulled out his Lance from his mount and approached Ax who received the Lizard¡¯s blow and fell to the ground, and attempted to strike a finishing blow on the dazed Kobold. ¡°Kuh, woruoann!!¡± (Kuh, Penetrating Burst!!) I jumped out from the trees and took the Goblin¡¯s attention, and the move bought me enough time to fire a Wind magic-imbued arrow straight to his heart! ¡°Guh!? Giih, guuaaaaah, uah¡­¡± (Guh!? Nnngh, guuaaaaah, uah¡­) The arrow pierced the Goblin¡¯s Leather Armor and lodged itself in his chest, and the concentrated Wind magic in the arrow tip burst and pierced his heart. The Goblin stiffened for a moment, and limply slipped away and fell from the saddle on the Land Lizard¡¯s back. During this time, the eyes of the Goblin Cavalier, who was missing a part of his ear, widened in surprise as he made eye contact with me. ¡°Gyaou, gigiugio giuesugarugiah! Gii, kyuueruh!!¡± (So these were the dogs¡¯ Lord Brave was talking about! Tsk, retreat!!) Having accurately assessed the current situation, the muscular Goblin instructs his two companions who dismounted the boars and were holding their Sabers to retreat. While he skillfully maneuvered the enormous Land Lizard and disappeared deep into the forest¡­ The two remaining Goblins hurry and try to make their retreat, but a shadow drops over their heads. ¡°Woruaoouah!¡± (You¡¯re not going anywhere!) ¡°G-gah!? Giuh!¡± (G-gah!? What the¨C!) Dagger, who had been aiming at them from the treetops, dropped down onto one of the Goblin¡¯s shoulders and wrapped her legs around his neck. (Isn¡¯t that the Headscissors Whip*!? I haven¡¯t even mastered it yet!!) It was an advanced technique described on page 147 of the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡±. It was a move that mainly disables your opponent¡¯s arms and crushes their balance while you wrap your legs around their neck and throw them down with the centrifugal force created by a somersault. Another variation of this is to leap vertically while trapping your opponent¡¯s neck with one leg and putting all your weight to drop them to the ground to break their neck, but¡­ It was a Muscle Art that did not require the use of magic at all. ¡°Wauh!¡± (Ei!) ¡°Giaaaaahh!!¡± (Giaaaaahh!!) However, my sister betrayed my expectations and pulled out the Stiletto made of a unicorn¡¯s horn while in that position and ended his life as she plunged her weapon deep into the Goblin¡¯s skull. So it wasn¡¯t a Headscissors whip after all¡­ ¡°Garuaaaan!¡± (You¡¯re mine!) As Dagger jumped away from the fallen Goblin¡¯s corpse, she pushed the release button of the Mechanical Dagger on her left hand and sent the blade hurtling towards the throat of the other Goblin who was shocked by the power of her throw. ¡°Kathy, ua¡­¡± The remaining Goblin finally toppled over while holding the part of his neck that was pierced by the short blade. On the other hand, Ax was relatively safe even though he was hit by one of the giant lizards, and our encounter with the Goblin Hunting Party came to an end. CH 99 ¡°Wauu, waoan?¡± [Ax, are you alright?] ¡°Uuu~, waoau kuaan¡­¡± (Uuu~ It hurts everywhere¡­) The big, blue Kobold Ax was hunched over while rubbing his abdomen as he approached. ¡°U, guuvaa kuruukyuan~?¡± (Ah, but if I eat some honey, I might get better~?) ¡°Vo woruou¡­ kuruua, wauukyuaou.¡± [That¡¯s the most unbelievable thing I¡¯ve ever heard¡­ Stia, please treat Ax.] ¡°Wauu, gauruaaau.¡± (Come here, Ax.) The jade-eyed elf beckoned the big blue Kobold and pressed her hands against his chest while invoking a spell that was a mix of earth and holy magic. ¡°Olkretorze matel gaias aura¡­¡± (May the earth mother bless her children¡­) The life force from the earth¡¯s veins enveloped her and Ax and bathed them in a faint blue glow for a moment. Ax¡¯s scrapes and bruises were instantly cured with ¡®Earth Heal¡¯, which is a spell that is mainly cast by the White Elves who possess both earth and holy attribute magic. This spell is a combination of both earth and holy magic and is known to be more effective than the red-haired mage¡¯s ¡®Healing Light¡¯ as it shares the life force of the earth and at the same time boosts the metabolism of the person being healed. As I watched the big blue Kobold get healed, I borrowed a dagger from my sister and walked towards the ceramic platter lying nearby. I then knelt and cut a few pieces out of the beehive on top of the platter and brought them to Ax who happily accepted them after finishing his treatment. ¡°Kyua~~n?¡± (Yummy~~? ) ¡°Kyuu, kuruuo~¡± (Big brother, me too~) ¡°Kuua, va woruaruo kururuuau¡­¡± (Didn¡¯t you already lick the honey that stuck to your hands earlier?) ¡°Uu~¡± (Eeeh~) While ignoring my sister¡¯s complaints, I turned and observed Buster. He didn¡¯t seem to be seriously injured, but¡­ he was thinking about something. ¡°¡­ Guuvoruo, woruguruuau wauua?¡± [Was that attack earlier aimed at me and not at Ax?¡± ¡°Guu, gauoru¡­ woauru gurua oaau.¡± (No, that was probably for both of you¡­ I guess we need to be more careful of where we are positioned next time.) On a real battlefield, you never know what could kill you, and even if you take all possible precautions on all sides, there will always be a chance that something will get through¡­ But even so, certain battles are unavoidable in life, and in the end, you have to become stronger to overcome them. (¡­ Especially since we are Kobolds.) If you go out hunting, you may encounter various risks like unexpectedly meeting a stronger monster, or being chased away by the Adventurers. Even for the human race, it is not uncommon for Goblins and Orcs to attack villages and towns on the frontier and causing extensive damage, while places like the Royal Capital where the surrounding area has been developed are not spared from these attacks either. Staying alive is a challenge in itself, regardless of race. (Well, it looks like we won¡¯t be having a hard time finding tonight¡¯s dinner though!) From the corner of my eye, I spot the two boar-type monsters that the Goblins had been riding earlier. Their limbs and bellies may have been pierced by the earthen clods, but they were still weakly struggling. ¡°Wofuh, kuoruaaann!¡± [Sister, go secure our dinner!] ¡°Kuoru, aaaaan? ¡° (I¡¯m coming for you, dinner? ) Wagging her tail from side-to-side, my sister picked up the mechanical dagger by the blade tip and spun it in her hand as she walked towards the struggling boar monsters. ¡°Kyuauooonn.¡± (Thanks for the tasty food.) ¡°Buwooo!? G-guoo¡­hooo¡­h¡± Dagger in hand, my sister slashed the boar monster¡¯s neck and bled it until it died. One boar was enough to feed all of us tonight, but it was obvious that the other one was mortally wounded and would not survive, so we eased its suffering as well. We then quickly processed our catch and threw the necessary amount of meat chunks into Ax¡¯s jute bag. While we were doing this, I had Buster and Stia watch out for other beasts or Goblins that may become attracted to the smell of blood as the sunlight poured through the trees from the west. (¡­ The sun is about to set, we should head back to the water source and set up camp soon.) After a while, we left the battleground without any other encounters and headed back to the river that we originally followed to get here. Currently, I just finished washing the cloak that had been processed as a piece of cloth and laid it over Smith¡¯s platter and crudely cut up the beehive with my dagger. I could smell the meat cooking right next to me, but I have to endure¡­ I had to take care of getting the honey from the hive first. ¡°I¡¯ve always eaten honey, but I didn¡¯t know you had to crush the hive to extract it.¡± Stia peeked over my shoulder in interest as her beautiful, silver-blonde hair touched my shoulders. ¡°Wau, kuuvorugu, kurukuaruu woaruou.¡± [Yeah, you have to crush this finely, place it in a cloth, and hang it over a tree branch.] As I explained the process, I crushed the hive into smaller sizes, wrapped it in the cloth, tied the corners with some hemp cord to make a cloth bag, and walked to a nearby shrub while carrying it on the platter. I placed the platter at the base of the tree to serve as a honey receptacle and tied the extra hemp cord on the bag that contained the crushed beehive to a branch. ¡°So if you do it that way, the pure honey from that bag would accumulate in the dish while we¡¯re camped out¡­¡± The Elf girl who followed me nodded. We did aim for a rather large hive, so we would be able to collect a good amount of honey from the platter tomorrow¡­ After that, I just need to transfer it into my leather canteen and I¡¯ll be able to secure the Golden Bee Honey. ¡°Gau, kuoruaah!?¡± [Now, shall we eat!?] ¡°Yes, let¡¯s!¡± As we were heading back to the others, I suddenly picked up the sound of leaves rustling. We were upwind so I could only detect their approach through hearing. ¡°L-lady Aristia! You¡¯re safe¡­¡± As we warily looked in the direction of the intruder, a short-haired Elf girl with lightly pigmented skin and jade green eyes emerged from the darkness. CH 100 ¡°You must be mistaken, I am but a lowly Elf who is happily living with 6 Kobolds in the forest¡­ We shall get back to roasting the boar meat, so please leave.¡± ¡°Eh!?¡± Stia said with a composed expression and turned on her heel. ¡°W-wait a minute!¡± But she did not wait and returned to the bonfire lit with my sister¡¯s Foxfire¡­ Which left me alone with the second mysterious Elf. ¡°Gau, guruuo, uruaauh!?¡± (Hey you, what is the meaning of this!?) She could also speak the Kobo language? Stia said she could only speak a little, but I wonder if the other White Elves are the same. She gives the impression of an intellectual and seems to be more educated than the average Elf¡­ Well, this short-haired Elf girl also seems to be highly educated, as she wears fine knight armor, although it¡¯s of the light armor type. ¡°Wau, oruu.¡± [Please calm down first.] ¡°T-telepathy!?¡± I responded through telepathy, so she was somewhat confused at first, but I explained that it was because of the effects of the Mithril Mask I was wearing. I also told her that if she was not good at the Kobo language, then she can just communicate using the continent¡¯s common language. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then this would greatly help¡­Actually, the Kobo language isn¡¯t as widespread as other languages, so we can only communicate in a very basic way.¡± No, on the contrary, I¡¯m surprised that she could even speak our language¡­ These White Elves shouldn¡¯t be underestimated. ¡°¡­Guouru, aakuruua wofa?¡± [¡­ By the way, who is this Aristia you speak of?] After some hesitation, the female Elven Knight glanced at Stia who was snacking on boar meat and fruits, nodded, and said, ¡°Lady Aristia seems to be fond of you, so I¡¯ll let it pass¡­ She is the Elven Queen ruling the Grove of the Village Shrine.¡± ¡­ Judging from her knowledge and behavior I thought Stia would be holding a certain position, but then I also had the feeling that it would be something troublesome. The fact that an Elf who held such a position would be easily held captive by the Slavers means that something serious must have happened. Alright, I¡¯ll just follow Stia¡¯s lead earlier. ¡°Guao waaaan, guruu vaurukuaoou¡­ kuoh!!¡± [Ah, then you definitely have the wrong person. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to go back to roasting the boar meat too¡­ kuoh!!] Just as I turned on my heel, the Elf girl suddenly grabbed me by the tail. I had no choice but to turn around at this point, and I made eye contact with the tear-filled eyes of the Elf girl¡­ ¡°Uu, we¡¯re in really big trouble, so please¡­¡± ¡°Wafuu¡­ guruuo wofuru?¡± [Haahh¡­ What¡¯s your name?] ¡°My name is Lenaide, Sir Kobold.¡± ¡°Waoa, waofuh vaaurukuooan.¡± [I see. Then let¡¯s go ahead and enjoy some boar meat for now.] It would be a pity to turn her away, so I returned to camp with the second mysterious Elf called Lenaide in tow. ¡°Kyuu, guuu, gairuou?¡± (Big brother, who¡¯s that?) ¡°Kuruuau kuoua, hamuh.¡± (She¡¯s from the same race as Miss Stia, right? Chomp) Ax mumbled lazily as he bit into the rare wild boar meat, apparently prioritizing eating over her. Buster, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and looked at Lenaide¡¯s armament: Rapier, Knight¡¯s Light Armor, and muscle tone. He¡¯s probably wondering what such a thin sword could do and how good its user is. ¡°¡­Guoruuan.¡± (¡­Pardon my intrusion.) ¡°Wau¡­¡± (Sure¡­) The hulking, black-armed Kobold scooted over and made some room as I sat beside my sister while Lenaide sat directly opposite Stia and made eye contact with her. ¡°Lady Aristia, I do not know what is going on, but¡­ Won¡¯t you come back to Elfast? The situation back home is still very difficult.¡± ¡­ Her story was as follows: The Elves had a hierarchical society where the White Elves reigned supreme just as described in the Great Sage Morozof¡¯s records. It seems that after Stia became queen, she made many reforms. However, her radical reform proposals were all rejected by the Central Assembly, which was made up of White Elves, and the reformers who had been gaining momentum were thrown out in the cold. It is said that the turmoil started when some reform extremists attacked the Central Assembly with weapons in their hands. (¡­ It somehow reminds me of the civil war in my homeland, the desert Country of Athos. Their situation is quite similar where the situation turned bloody in the blink of an eye. I was one of the mercenaries who lost their lives during that time.) Stia, who listened to the story¡­ I guess I should call her Aristia now since that¡¯s her real name¡­ Anyway, Stia¡¯s characteristically long ears flattened as she released a heavy sigh. ¡°¡­ So Minister Marcus had been killed. That must have been rough. And that the Reformers are also suspected of killing Delphis as well.¡± ¡°We couldn¡¯t find any definitive proof of that, but¡­ was it the work of Goblins?¡± After a moment of silent reflection, the Elven Queen asked, ¡°So, Lenaide, whose orders are you working under? You cannot act on your own, even if you are my Chamberlain Knight¡­ Is it Sir Theodore who had become the Prime Minister?¡± ¡°No, my orders are from a Noble Lady who has been leading and organizing the unification of the conservative and moderate factions after Lord Delphis¡¯s death.¡± It seems that Lenaide and a few other knights who had been placed under house arrest to take responsibility for the queen¡¯s disappearance were sent by the Noble Lady in question and asked to join in the search for Aristia. To begin with, the purpose of the house arrest itself was to make it easier for the Chamberlain Knights to move behind the scenes. ¡°¡­ I understand. Then, let us return. Everyone, it was only for a brief moment, but thank you very much for taking care of me. I am in your debt.¡± Aristia stood up quickly and politely bowed after giving her thanks. ¡­ G¡¯s tend to appear around here, and two Elves will not be enough to fight them off. In addition to that, it¡¯s also hard to accept the fact that some of the people who are caught up in profit and extremist ideology, while claiming to be free and equal, incite the people who seek them to shed their blood. ¡°Ofuu, guuaouru¡­ vuru, woruan.¡± [Wait, it¡¯s already too late to go back¡­ You can just leave first thing in the morning.] ¡°T-thank you, Archer.¡± It all depends on the situation, but I¡¯m willing to help them to the best of my ability¡­ CH 101 Just in case you¡¯re wondering, Ax had always been sleep-talking ever since we were children. And just like now, the things he says in his sleep are often unintelligible¡­ ¡°Waaaan, guruu woaruooon¡­ kyuuun¡­zzz¡±(Uwa~n, I¡¯ve been caught by a fish¡­ sob sob¡­zzz) ¡°Woarua, gurukuaaann, garuouaaan¡­ zzz¡± (Wait, I¡¯m coming to help you, Kobold Punch¡­ zzz) Bonk ¡°Au~~¡±(Au~~) For some reason, Buster reacted to Ax¡¯s sleep talk and lightly kicked Ax in the side while calling the attack a punch and saying he would help him. ¡°¡­I can only understand fragments of what they¡¯re saying, but it doesn¡¯t make much sense.¡± ¡°Guou gurukuaooon, aakuruua.¡± [Don¡¯t mind them, Aristia.] While feeding the fire some dry pieces of wood, I faced Aristia who sat directly across. With the addition of the Elven Chamberlain Knight, there were now 2 Elves and 4 Kobolds in our party, so we decided to do the night watch in 3 shifts. It¡¯s been about an hour since we took over from Ax and Dagger who were the first to go on night watch duty. ¡°Woruau, kuaruorua guuauruoaan.¡± [But then again, Elves are complicated creatures too, aren¡¯t they?] The minority of White Elves maintain the World Tree and the living environment as the ruling class while the rest, which is made up of Bronze and Black Elves who belong to the Working Class, benefits from it. It¡¯s good as long as all the parties traditionally affirm the societal structure, but the Black Elves, which make up the majority, won¡¯t be satisfied with their treatment as low-class citizens forever. ¡°Garuruwofu, guanguru varuafu?¡± [Why is your race divided into different clans anyway?] Seems like a hotbed of trouble to me¡­ ¡°This is to preserve the blood of the High Elves. If the White Elves mingled with the other clans, then that blood would fade and the power to manage the World Tree will be lost. That is why we forbade intermarriage with other clans and separated the residential areas to prevent mistakes¡­¡± ¡°That gave rise to lineage preservation and a clan-based social class structure,¡± she added. ¡°Gauaruou¡­¡± [So that¡¯s how it was¡­] Their troubles seem to go way back. The cause of the problem was there from the start, so it was bound to happen¡­ When I was lost in thought, I felt a gaze on me. ¡°May I ask why you are offering to help us?¡± While slightly tilting her head, Aristia observed me with her jade green eyes which faintly glowed in the dark. ¡°Va, gaarunvoruo woruoaau¡­¡± [It¡¯s because I witnessed a similar situation a long time ago¡­] Although I said that I¡¯ve witnessed it before, it¡¯s more like I was a part of it at some point. ¡°Owafuoou guruaoru.¡± [I also do not feel comfortable leaving you alone.] ¡°You¡¯re actually a good-natured fellow, aren¡¯t you? Then you have my thanks¡­¡± She amusedly shook her head and bowed deeply, but I told her, ¡°Well, we¡¯ll only help as much as our abilities would allow.¡± However, once the civil unrest escalates to something bigger, then that would be hard to fight against. If it comes to that, then we will just go back to the Easteria forest instead. (I guess it¡¯s about time¡­) Judging the time roughly by the position of the moon peeking from the trees in the west, I wake up Buster while Aristia shakes Lenaide awake. ¡°U, gurua, ouruafu¡­¡± (Chief, is it time to switch¡­?) ¡°¡­Good mowning, Lady Aristia.¡± The two of them took over the night watch while sleepily rubbing their eyes when we went back to sleep¡­ After collecting the Golden Bee Honey from the platter and transferring it to my leather flask that morning, we set out for the Royal Capital of Elfast, which would take us a day and a half of travel. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ On the day that the Kobolds arrived at the Royal Capital before dusk, a larger protest rally than usual was being led by the Black Elves who were against the monarchical rule. ¡°LET US HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE OUR PROFESSIONS!¡± ¡°IT¡¯S UNFAIR THAT ONLY THE BLACK ELF CLAN IS BEING TAXED A BIT HIGHER!!¡± Those were some of the complaints they shouted while trying to get to the castle, and by extension, the World Tree, but¡­ as usual, they were stopped by the guards before they even reached the residential districts of the White Elves. A coalition of moderates led by Eliza, the daughter of Prime Minister Theodore, and Ziebel, a member of the Black Elf Clan, were able to keep those who joined the reform extremists in check, but they were unable to stop the protest rally itself. Although they have been effective in suppressing the tide of violence and the growing power of the reformist extremists, those who had gathered under Gregor¡¯s network were determined not to give up reform even if it meant taking up arms and were growing impatient. ¡°¡­Right now, the tide of reform is now returning to the moderates.¡± ¡°Gregor, if the monarchy and the moderate reformists come to an agreement, then we¡¯ll never see the light of day.¡± Apart from the current problem, several agreements have already been made between the conservative moderates and the reform moderates behind the scenes while the conservative extremists gave into the daily protests and tolerated the movement. ¡°On the contrary, we could be held accountable for all the vandalism and violent acts that have recently taken place¡­¡± Gregor already knew about the consequences even without being told. After all, he was the one behind the attack on the Central Assembly and the assassination of Minister Marcus¡­ The pointy-eyed Black Elf slightly raised his hand and interrupted his associates¡¯ chatter as he looked around at more than 300 of his followers who secretly gathered in the middle of the forest armed with bows and sabers. Seeing that time was working against them, he had planned to attack and occupy the Royal Castle, and at present, was preparing his forces for a large-scale protest rally. ¡°Everyone, the White Elven Guards have been dispatched en masse to deal with the rallyists! Now is our chance to attack!! Our goal is to gain control of the Royal Castle and take the World Tree¡¯s priestesses!!¡± Originally, since the area around the Elves¡¯ cities were protected by wards that spread out from the World Tree, the number of deployed guards was few and most of them did not have actual combat experience. Aside from outnumbering the members of the army, the Black Elves had the upper hand when it came to battle experience, as they have fought and hunted monsters outside the barrier regularly. ¡°If we are successful with the siege, then our Black Elf brethren will support us and the White Elves will have no choice but to follow! This is the moment of truth! Let¡¯s go!!¡± ¡°OOOOOOOOUUUUHHHHH!!!¡± Under Gregor¡¯s command, the reform extremists commenced their attack on the Royal Castle from the opposite side of the protest rally¡­ CH 102 When the sun¡¯s rays grew stronger as it headed to the west, there was a heavy knock on the door of Garrison Officer Zeist¡¯s office which was located in the barracks inside the Castle. The White Elf, who was the master of the room, looked up from his paperwork and gave the young guard who rushed in permission to enter. ¡°¡­What¡¯s going on?¡± After bowing briefly while his commander gave him a pointed look, the young guard hurriedly delivered his report. ¡°A report came in from the Observation Platform, and the groups of armed Black Elves who are approaching the northern and southern gates of the Royal Castle from the east are believed to be members of the reform extremist faction!!¡± ¡°Haah, Lady Eliza told me that something like this could be expected, but¡­ Looks like they really did it.¡± Gist mumbled as he hung his head and released a tired sigh. ¡°How many rebels are there?¡± ¡°We have seen at least the equivalent number of people in a company unit on each gate, Sir.¡± When the Elves fought against the Philland republic in the past, the standard number of people in a platoon would be 30, while those in a company unit had at least 300 men, and a battalion was composed of 500 men. In other words, the number of rebels was roughly, but probably more than 300 per unit. (I¡¯m going to have to divide the guards into two groups. If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯d have to call back the guards who have been assigned to handle the protest rallies¡­) If I did that, then there is a risk of the mobs storming into the castle and causing an insurrection. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to deal with them with just the soldiers inside the castle¡­¡± Zeist rings a bell on top of his table and a messenger enters from the next room, quickly bows, and waits for his orders. ¡°Inform the first and fourth platoons who are on standby that they will be dispatched to the southern gate and tell the second and third platoons that they are to be dispatched to defend the northern gate. Also, remind them to strictly adhere to the rules of engagement.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± After repeating his orders, the messenger quickly turned on his heel and returned to the next room, where he informed his colleagues who immediately delivered the orders to the platoon leaders. As he listened to the flurry of sounds from the next room, Zeist once again turned to the young soldier who remained in the room and spoke, ¡°Tell the Prime Minister about the rebels and the soldiers¡¯ deployment and return to your unit.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± The young guard leaves the room in response, leaving the Captain of the Guard alone once again. ¡°The rebels on the southern and northern gates easily surpass our forces by a hundredfold¡­ Defending is going to be hard even with the walls.¡± The Elves¡¯ city defense system was largely made up of a spiritual barrier called the ¡°Forest of Wandering¡±, which attacks the mind of intruders. However, nobody from the castle thought that they would be attacked from the inside, so the construction of the walls was simple and not that strong. Besides, magic to break down walls also existed, so they cannot overestimate the defenses of the walls. (Well, I guess the rebels knew they had a chance of winning so they attacked, but¡­ This is such a nuisance.) Moments later, the armed reform extremists who had passed through the Bronze and White Elf residential areas gathered near the northern and southern gates, and the thunderous roaring of wind rang out¡­ The first platoon leader in charge of defending the southern gate responded by firing several Fireballs as a warning to keep the rebels from coming any further, but the wooden gate burned down and exposed the rough steel structure underneath. ¡°Well, that was unexpected. If the gates burned down by a mere barrage of fire magic, then it¡¯s a defective castle.¡± He was just thinking about what would happen if he burned the gates when it happened, so Gregor moved on to the next step without dwelling on it and issued his orders. ¡°Adre, Bright, are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes, no problems here. We just finished all preparations.¡± ¡°Same here¡­¡± A slender, Black Elf clad in light armor and a nervous-looking Elf man who peeked from under his deep hood and revealed silver hair and blue eyes characteristic of the Black Elf Clan nodded in unison. After confirming, Gregor smiles widely and says, ¡°ALL HANDS, CHARGE!! BREAK DOWN THE CASTLE GATES!!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± At his command, more than a hundred Black Elves gathered by the southern gate began to charge at the castle walls! ¡°D-don¡¯t let them get close, start firing!!¡± Naturally, the first platoon commander, who was in charge of defending the gate, gave the order to attack, and dozens of guards fired their arrows from the top of the castle walls, but¡­ A strong gust of wind suddenly killed the arrows¡¯ momentum and swept them out to the horizon. ¡°Captain, it¡¯s wind protection magic!¡± ¡°I can see that! Prepare for the next volley, but this time, don¡¯t fire all at once and shoot them in squads instead! Ruin their wind barrier one layer at a time!!¡± Following the captain¡¯s immediate orders, the guards aimed for gaps in the wind barrier where the concentration of magic was weakest and fired several arrows which mostly found their marks. Even though the concentration of the World Tree¡¯s power was strongest around the castle, the burden of taking the earth¡¯s life force into their bodies and converting it into magic at this scale became too much, and the Black Elves soon realized that they cannot continue using tactical magic. ¡°Gregor, we can¡¯t hold out any longer than this!!¡± Adre, who invoked the first layer of the Wind Protection barrier, shouted as he began to prepare for the next spell, while the other Elves in his squad turned their attention to the top of the walls and maintained the activated wind barrier. ¡°I won¡¯t keep you waiting for long! Bright!!¡± ¡°On it!!¡± The troops specializing in earth magic went near the 5 to 6-meter wall where the White Elven guards were stationed, thrust their hands to the ground, and activated the spell ¡°Earth Flow¡± which made the earth beneath and behind the castle walls move vigorously. ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Whoaaaa!!¡± As a result, a cavity was formed under the part of the castle wall where the Black Elves invoked the spell, and the wall collapsed under its own weight. ¡°Uwah, sto¨C, augh!!¡± ¡°Guh¡­.. Augh, dammit¡­¡± At that time, two of the guards who slipped and fell were immediately surrounded by the militants who killed and cut up the defenseless men with their sabers. ¡°Tsk, the second squad, shoot directly below!!¡± The guards directly fired their arrows at the earth magic users who continuously invoked the Earth Flow spell to expand the sinkhole they created just beneath the castle walls ¡°Protect them, o wind!!¡± In response, the wind users from the rebel group once again deployed their Wind Protection magic, but¡­ ¡°Guuuh!¡± ¡°Kuoh!?¡± ¡°Uwaaaaah!¡± They were not close enough to be able to break the momentum of the arrows, so most of the underpowered arrows pierced the limbs and torsos of the rebels who were trying to break down the walls. Additionally, another dozen or so guards pointed their arrows at the bottom of the walls and attacked without pause, causing more and more of the militants to be injured. ¡°Dammit, don¡¯t let them attack, prepare to fire!¡± At Gregor¡¯s command, the rebel side¡¯s archers also returned fire, aiming for the guards positioned on top of the castle walls. ¡°Everyone, get down!¡± At that time, the guards who were on top of the walls placed their shields over their heads and crouched down to stave off the attack, but¡­ they could not remain completely unharmed, and while they were defending against the attack, the part of the southern wall the rebels were attacking finally collapsed and made an opening for the attackers. ¡°Shaaaaah!¡± ¡°CHARGE! FOLLOW ME!!¡± Several dozen troops under Gregor¡¯s command broke through and headed to the castle. For his part, Gregor was concerned about the movements of the guards on the northern gate who were holding back the protesters. He also wanted to limit the loss and damage to the reformist militants accompanying him. Judging from the number of guards stationed at the southern gate, he surmised that there would be fewer guards inside the castle, so he prioritized seizing the central part of the castle first. ¡°Kuh, we won¡¯t let you go any further!¡± ¡°Guaaaah!!¡± ¡°Ow¡­ aaaah!¡± From a corner of the collapsed wall, firebombs and wind blades were hurled at the rebels which killed several of the troop leaders who were trying to follow Gregor who had gone ahead of them. As a result, the battle at the south gate stalled as Gregor and his men left, while the battle at the north gate, which had been more of a diversion since the main force had been sent to where the rebels attacked, faced a similar situation. However, just before some of the radicals broke through the gates, a suspicious, masked Kobold was spotted watching the battle from the rooftops of the Bronze Elves¡¯ living quarters¡­ CH 103 As Aristia and Lenaide led the way, we passed the ¡°Forest of Wandering¡± and saw some wheat-skinned and silver-haired Black Elves farming the patches of cultivated land along the way. Basically, there was enough land on the outskirts of the city to feed the population. There is a rule of thumb as to how the land is spread out: the closer to the city, the more delicate crops are cultivated, and the further away, the more robust crops are cultivated that do not require frequent care. However, the most striking view of all was the World Tree, which could be seen from a distance. ¡°Wafaa, vawurugau~ Kyuuh?¡± (Fuwaah, that¡¯s such a huge tree~ Isn¡¯t it, big brother??) ¡°Wau¡­ ¡° [Yeah¡­] My younger sister excitedly exclaimed as she gazed up at the towering World Tree, while both the black-armed Kobold and the big blue Kobold beside her seemed confused by the distance as they also gazed up at the enormous tree. ¡°Garuoouaaon¡­ Guua.¡± (It¡¯s impressive how close it looks from this distance¡­) ¡°Waoou.¡± (I agree.) ¡­ Even I, who was a former desert dweller, could not help but become deeply moved upon seeing the World Tree for the first time. My homeland, the desert country of Athos, had coastal plains and hills that ran along a large inland sea that serves as a point of connection with the western countries. While there are rainfall areas in mountain ranges that allow for farming, approximately 40% of the country is desert. So of course, there was no such thing as a World Tree there either. ¡°What do you think? The World Tree ¡°Aion¡± (Eternity) in the Royal City of Elfast is the tallest tree in the ancient forest, standing at about 250 meters!¡± The Elven Chamberlain Knight triumphantly told us about the World Tree that caught our attention as she puffed up her chest that seemed small for her race. ¡°¡­I¡¯ve only been away for a little over a month, but I still get emotional at the sight of the World Tree.¡± As I snuck a glance, I saw that Aristia was looking fondly at the World Tree. ¡°Guruuaooou garuaaa, woa¡­¡± (Nothing¡¯s going to be done if we just stand around here. Shall we go?) ¡°Yes, I suppose we should.¡± As we walked along the road leading to the Royal Capital, we occasionally caught the gazes of the Black Elves engaged in farm work as we headed toward the still-distant World Tree. ¡°¡­ Ruvoruan, kuaruoua woruau.¡± [¡­ Doesn¡¯t it seem like there are only a few Elves working compared to the farming area?] ¡°Ah, that¡¯s because most of the Black Elves have been participating in the protest rallies which resulted in them neglecting their farming duties.¡± Aristia followed up with another question after the Chamberlain Knight Lenaide answered my query. ¡°What is the situation and scope of the protest rallies compared to before?¡± ¡°Hmm, well the scale of the protests itself is getting larger, but thanks to Lady Eliza¡¯s efforts, it does not feel like it will turn into another riot.¡± Initially, the protests and demonstrations were led by a couple of dissatisfied Black Elves, and the faction of reform moderates rallied other members of their clan to demand peace and equality. However, it gave rise to the reform extremists¡¯ idea of willingly using force and it gained power among its followers, which resulted in a fear of insurgency for a while, but¡­. The one who suppressed it was the current Prime Minister¡¯s daughter, Eliza, as she united the conservative moderates after the loss of their leader, former Prime Minister Delphys, and supported the reform moderates who were in turmoil after Minister Marcus¡¯ assassination. At present, Lenaide says that the moderates, whose core members were from the Black Elf clan, were becoming the mainstream faction on the reformists¡¯ side. ¡°I see¡­ Well, I did think that Elaine was one of those scheming types.¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s quite a harsh assessment, Lady Aristia.¡± ¡°No, I can only say this up front because we are friends who are close in age.¡± (¡­It truly is different when you have a friend who is closer to your age.) As I nodded in agreement with Aristia¡¯s opinion, the huge, black-armed Kobold beside me asked, ¡°Garuon, gurua.¡± (What¡¯s the matter, Chief?) ¡°Guu, garuuo.¡± [It¡¯s nothing.] I replied and continued to listen in on the Elf girls¡¯ conversation. ¡°If that is the case, then things are under control for now¡­ Rather, I¡¯m worried about the outburst of the reform extremists who are losing control of the situation. I get the impression that they have already gone too far to turn back.¡± ¡°Minister Marcus¡¯ assassination is still under investigation, but the attack on the Central Assembly and the violence during the protests are definitely their work¡­¡± Well, since they¡¯ve already caused casualties and damage, it can¡¯t be helped that they are held responsible for it. They won¡¯t be able to back out now¡­ ¡°U, kyuan wafa?¡± (Uh, big brother, what¡¯s that?) ¡°Woa¡­ Vanguru.¡± (That¡¯s¡­ The castle.) As we approached, I could see the city of Elves spreading out from the base of the World Tree ¡°Aion¡± (Eternity). Among those, my sister asked and pointed out the largest building surrounding it. At first glance, the World Tree, which rose from the center of the city at approximately 250 meters, looks like a potted plant with an enormous building like that surrounding it, but¡­ That building is probably the castle. Moreover, the black smoke rising into the beautiful sunset sky accents the World Tree¡­ (¡­ Black smoke!?) ¡°Kuoruauoon, gurua varukuaouu¡­ Juuruh.¡± (It¡¯s almost dinner, so everyone¡¯s probably grilling some meat¡­ Drool) Contrary to the leisurely vibe that the big, blue Kobold behind me is giving off, the current situation isn¡¯t as peaceful as he thinks¡­ ¡°This¡­ It seems the castle is under attack!¡± ¡°Let us hurry!!¡± ¡°Waoan.¡± [Agreed.] We rushed into the outer edges of the Royal Capital which was a residential area that featured two-story buildings made of brick and wood. Both sides of the cobblestone streets were lined with lush plants. There were only a few people on the streets, but all of them were wheat-skinned Elves. They were all looking up at the smoke coming up from the Royal Castle with complex expressions. ¡°Eldiar cobalto!?¡± (A-an Elder Kobold!?) ¡°Cobatis wea wuldo¡­¡± (What are Kobolds doing here¡­) We ran through the streets, ignoring the gazes and comments made by the Black Elves. The cityscape gradually transitioned to streets lined with strangely-designed buildings that smelled of iron, herbs, and medicine. There, we found the pale-skinned, golden-eyed Elves who looked worried as they gazed up at the castle and the World Tree. ¡°Archer, the White Elves¡¯ residential area is up ahead. Once we pass through it, we¡¯ll arrive at the north gate of the Royal Castle.¡± ¡°Ofuh.¡± [Wait.] I stopped Lenaide from leading everybody further and looked up at the tallest building in the vicinity. (Well, it¡¯ll be dangerous if I fall, but¡­ I¡¯m not like the silver-haired witch who could fly anyway, although I can at least soften my fall with wind magic.) ¡°What¡¯s going on with Mr. Archer?¡± ¡°¡­ It appears he has some business with the Bronze Elves¡¯ headquarters.¡± Apparently, the building, which was constructed with great attention to detail and whose beauty failed to appeal to my sense of artistry, was the headquarters of the Bronze Elf Engineers. ¡°Woruruo aan.¡± [I can use this as an observation platform.] I answered the jade-eyed Elf girls¡¯ question after a while and leaped onto the building by wrapping wind magic on my legs and taking advantage of the structural unevenness of the guild headquarters to reach the roof. ¡°Wauah.¡± [Upsy daisy] Using one of the window overhangs as a foothold, I tightly held onto the edge of the roof after I leaped and pulled myself up on the roof. ¡°Gauh, garuoaaan!¡± [Hah, that¡¯s perfect!] As far as I can tell, this guild headquarters in the Elves¡¯ Royal Capital was the second-highest building next to the castle and allowed me to assess the situation in the castle from afar. ¡­ The view of the city of Elfast from this place was probably the most beautiful. The city looked one with nature, the lush greenery flawlessly stretching up from the lake where we previously camped, leading into the city. The view almost made me forget about my purpose, but we cannot have that¡­ Meditating, I focused and reinforced my vision with magic and looked into the distance. (Is that the group doing the protest rally? It¡¯s not very reassuring that they¡¯re trying to get into the Royal Castle at a time like this¡­) In a place farther from the castle¡¯s west gate, more than a hundred White Elven guards tried to push back the thousand or so protesters who had gotten past the White Elves¡¯ residential area. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the castle, the east side still had not turned into a battlefield and only a handful of guards were stationed on the east gate¡­ However, just ahead of us, the guards in the northern gate were using the walls to hold off the armed militant group who was easily twice their numbers. (Even though I can¡¯t see the south gate from here, judging by the faint echoes of sound and the smoke rising from it, it seems that the battle is more intense there¡­ If I want to get Aristia and the others into the castle, then the eastern gate is my best bet.) After gathering my thoughts, I got down from the building using a different path from when I climbed up and found that a pale-skinned male Elf had joined us¡­ CH 104 As I stepped down from the roof of the Crafting Guild headquarters and onto the street, a man with long indigo hair, characteristic of Bronze Elves, tied back with a leather strap, bade me a quick hello. ¡°Guuarugau, uoau¡­ gaou kuaruauuoru gaaaou?¡± (Silver fur¡­ are you perhaps the Sage Gavi that I¡¯ve been hearing about?) ¡°¡­ Guruu, woa.¡± [¡­ Who¡¯s that?] The Bronze Elf tilted his head slightly and we stared at each other for a while. Lenaide broke the silence through a deliberate cough. ¡°Sir Sheyard, this is Mr. Archer from Easteria forest. He can understand the continental language, so you don¡¯t need to force yourself to speak in Kobo language.¡± ¡°Oh, pardon me. I thought he was the Elder Kobold Gavi who lived around here¡­ So you¡¯re from a different forest.¡± Hmm, so the Ancient forest has more Kobold varieties than the Easteria forest. ¡°I am the Assistant Chief of the Bronze Elf Clan and the Crafting Guild Master, Sheyard. It would be better if we did not talk outside, so if you could please step inside¡­¡± The man who had just introduced himself did not lose any time and opened the door of the building he had rushed out from. ¡°Sheyard, we are in a bit of a hurry¡­¡± ¡°My Queen, we¡¯ll reach the castle quicker than what you are planning.¡± ¡°What do you mean?/¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that¡­ We have prepared something just for this kind of situation,¡± he added with a grin. ¡°The other day, the Chief finally gave me permission to lend a hand to the ¡°moderates¡± of both the conservatives and reformists, and it¡¯s only by chance that I saw you standing here in front of the guild, so let me help you.¡± But of course, the help offered was not just out of good intentions. He is extending help to the moderate conservative faction to free his brethren who have been imprisoned by Prime Minister Theodore for selling gunpowder and weapons to the reform extremists. Moreover, the stability of the situation is essential for him to be able to devote himself to his craft and technological development without worry. ¡°Everyone, this way please.¡± Sheyard led us to a storage room on the first floor of the guild and stood in front of a door in the room. He then unlocked the two different types of locks on it, revealing a hidden staircase to the basement. ¡°And this is¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the entrance to the underground tunnels leading to the Royal Castle, your Majesty.¡± Aristia¡¯s eyes narrowed at the man¡¯s answer to her questions and stared quizically at the pale-skinned, male Elf with an aloof demeanor. ¡°W-wait a minute, why is such a thing inside the guild headquarters!?¡± ¡°Why, it¡¯s because it was built by the Elves of the Bronze Elf Clan, Miss Lenaide.¡± Ax¡¯s nose twitches from behind a surprised Lenaide. ¡°Wafi, woaruoa waoau.¡± (Huh? Doesn¡¯t it smell like water?) ¡°Wuonn woa¡­¡± [Yes, that¡¯s definitely water¡­] ¡°Yes! In the history of the Royal City of Elfast, we have developed a large underground waterway! You can go to any major place in the capital with water!!¡± The pale-skinned, long-haired Elf¡¯s bamboo-shaped ears twitched as he drove his point, but¡­ From a politician¡¯s point of view, their creation poses a threat to the government. With a slightly stiff expression, the Elf Queen lets out a sigh. ¡°*sigh* We may have left the management of the Royal Capital¡¯s water and sewage facilities to the Bronze Elves, but I did not know that this kind of thing also existed underground¡­¡± ¡°Even from a security standpoint, this is unbelievable.¡± What would have happened if the Bronze Elf Clan had sided with the reform extremists instead¡­? Ignoring the two speechless girls, Sheyard claps his hands together and begins to activate his magic. ¡°Zaido, elfa¡­ Gil radou celes.¡± (Gather and glow¡­ Illuminate the pathway to the unknown.) A pale light gathers between Sheyard¡¯s palms which he held at chest-height, creating a light source. ¡°The underground tunnels are a bit complicated, so I¡¯ll lead the way.¡± With a ball of light floating above his palm, Sheyard went down the stairs and led the way. ¡°Wau~ Aou.¡± (Au~ It¡¯s narrow.) ¡°Guruooou¡­ Auh.¡± (It¡¯s hard to move around¡­ Ow!) The Crafting Guild Headquarters¡¯ building was large, and the stairway leading down was not that narrow, but. The two Kobolds, Ax and Buster, who possessed large, muscular physiques, had cramped expressions as they kept their heads low. ¡°N, woruau kuru~n.¡± (Hnn, so it¡¯s spacious from here, huh~) Fortunately, just as my sister had said, once we got down the stairs, the underground tunnels were reasonably wide, with an 80-90cm corridor flanked by 100cm wide waterways that were less than two meters wide. It was somehow high enough to keep Axe¡¯s head from hitting the ceiling, and, looking ahead, there were places where light from the ground shone through, so it seemed that not everything was covered by the ceiling. (This is a marvelous waterway that fully utilizes both earth and water magic¡­ I think I understand why Sheyard was so proud of it.) So this is the converted magic power used by the Elves through the Blessings of the Earth, which is the stored Life Force of the World Tree combined with the sunlight from the heavens. ¡°¡­ Gauo.¡± [¡­ Amazing.] ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t let people pass through other routes except for the main locations, though.¡± As we proceeded through the underground tunnels toward the Royal Castle in silence for a while, Aristia unexpectedly opened her mouth, ¡°¡­ Sheyard, I will have to ask you to submit the data on these underground tunnels later. I¡¯m not sure what to make of this, but it¡¯s something I should be aware of as a political head.¡± ¡°Understood. (¡­ Should we cover up some underground tunnels to avoid being found out?)¡± Sheyard seemed to be thinking for a moment, but¡­ since he was leading the way, his expression went unnoticed, and soon, a ladder attached to the wall of the passage came into view. ¡°We have arrived. Please stand back a little.¡± After waving goodbye to the others, he climbed up the ladder and slowly opened the wooden panels attached to the ceiling. Creeeeeeaaaakkk Since the door above seemed to be hidden by soil, some earth and sand slid over the tilted wooden panels and fell into the underground tunnels, letting in light from above. (It¡¯s a bit like going out to the courtyard, isn¡¯t it?) When the soil and sand stopped flowing from the doors, the Bronze Elf led us to the surface, where we found ourselves in a small garden. If one looked closely, then they would be able to see the large trunk in between the numerous trees. ¡°¡­ So the passage goes as far as the forest of the World Tree.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this area the central part of the castle?¡± It seems the scope of the underground tunnels of the Bronze Elves has already reached the heart of the Royal City of Elfast as well¡­ CH 105 While Queen Aristia and the Kobolds were being guided by the Bronze Elves¡¯ Guild Master in the underground tunnels, around twenty Civil Officers gathered in the castle¡¯s lobby which also features the grand staircase. ¡°Hey, how many rebels do you think there are¡­?¡± ¡°Not many people agree and sympathize with their methods to use violence to get their point across, so it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Some of those present try to reassure themselves with baseless assumptions, while others do not hide their indignation. ¡°So those fools advocating for reform have finally snapped!¡± ¡°Because of these shortcomings, the Black Elves will always be inferior to us White Elves!¡± While listening to the remarks of the conservative and extremist nobles who proclaimed White Elf superiority, Zeist, the Head of the Guards who had just called for the other guards to gather in the lobby, let out a deep sigh. (As I recall, it was¡­ ¡°The ruling class dismisses those who do not understand the social system and simply regards those who complain as stupid, while they justify themselves by looking for bad people to vent their frustrations on.¡±) The chatter around him reminded him of the young Elf Lady who said those lines with dismay while playing with her curly hair. (After the Queen went into hiding and Delphis was killed, I thought she was just a little girl who was just riding on her father¡¯s coat-tails when he became the new Prime Minister, but ¡­ she is unexpectedly excellent.) The proof of her brilliance lay in the fact that Zeist and the majority of his platoon leaders had already been won over by the ¡°Moderates¡¯ Coalition¡± organized by Lady Eliza. ¡°Sir Zeist!¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned¡­ speak of the devil.¡± Someone called out to him from the grand staircase leading into the second floor. Along with the 12 other guards gathered in the lobby, they all looked up to find the White Elf in a chic, blue dress with black accents. Watching her steps as she descended the stairs, Eliza was followed by Listy, the Priestesses, and the Chamberlain Knights of the World Tree. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Lady Eliza?¡± ¡°Well, father is waiting in the throne room for the status report, but depending on the situation, I thought it might be necessary to evacuate everyone from the Royal Castle¡­¡± ¡°¡­ I was also thinking that we should make that decision depending on what happens next.¡± ¡°How do you think we should go about this?¡± For a moment, Zeist recalled the report he got from the guards on the observation platform. ¡°Well, the rebels seem to be attacking from the southern and northern gates, so ideally, our routes of escape would be from the eastern and western gates.¡± ¡°It¡¯s troubling that while the protesters are crowding the western gate, the eastern gate is surprisingly calm, so there may be a few ambushers or snipers in the area¡­¡± It seems the purpose of the reform extremists is to make the Black Elf Clan rise in power by taking control of the royal castle and securing the World Tree, but at the same time, they may also be intending to kill or capture the key figures of the monarchy. Following that train of thought, then they would be keen on capturing the Priestesses of the World Tree in particular. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it would be better to go to the west gate. The crowd is currently being managed by the 7th to 10th platoons, but you can meet up with some of them and they will escort you out of the castle.¡± ¡°Very well. Then after you inform father, please gather everyone left inside the castle and¡­¡± ¡°L-Lady Eliza! Intruders have been detected in the ¡°Forest of the World Tree¡±! Their numbers are believed to be about two platoons!¡± Just as its name implies, the ¡°Forest of the World Tree¡± is a U-shaped garden surrounded by the castle with the World Tree standing in the middle. If one were to pass through that section, then they will be able to reach the main entrance to the Royal Castle, where the lobby and the staircase lay¡­which was also their current location. ¡°What!? Does this mean the castle walls have been breached!? Damn, it¡¯s too soon!¡± ¡°Captain, what do we do now?!¡± ¡°Oh no, they¡¯re probably headed here now¡­ Lady Eliza!¡± ¡°But earlier, you said that we¡¯re still fine¡­ Eh? No way, then we have to escape¡­¡± The lobby immediately broke into chaos as some of them tried to escape from the front door. ¡°Halt, if you¡¯re evacuating, go to the west wing! The rebels may already be laying in wait beyond that door!!¡± ¡°Y-yes¡± Zeist stopped the nobles, turned to the guards, and gave his orders. ¡°Even if we¡¯re outnumbered, we can at least buy time for everyone in the castle to escape by fortifying the entrance! It¡¯s time for you to do your duty as guards, and leave your lives in my hands!!¡± ¡°¡­ A-are you ready for this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be paid just to run away from the enemy when it matters most!¡± Of course, running before the enemy is a grave sin, but¡­ For the long-lived White Elf clan who has always pursued their own way of life, they cannot allow themselves to run away under the current circumstances. After a few moments of hesitation, the guards nodded to each other, each with a determined look on their faces. ¡°Sir Zeist, we, the Chamberlain Knights will also lend you assistance.¡± ¡°Miss Leia¡­ I am grateful for your assistance.¡± As the Queen¡¯s shields, the Chamberlain Knights were always prepared for such emergencies, so they were quick to decide in situations like this. ¡°Lady Eliza, we will have to take our leave now¡­ Please take care of everyone in the castle.¡± ¡°U-understood. Then, I will be evacuating everyone.¡± As a White Elf, Eliza is naturally proficient in magic so her abilities are higher than average, but¡­ If she were to lose her life in a fight, it could reignite the conflict between the conservative and reformist factions, or in other words, the White and Black Elven Clans. After considering it for a while and lightly biting her lip, she gave her agreement. ¡°Sir Zeist, Miss Leia, may the tides of war turn in your favor¡­ Listy¡­¡± ¡°Yes, my Lady.¡± The World Tree Priestess crossed her hands over her chest and recited a ritual prayer. ¡°Zelnes foreoa exgia vielua ruudo.¡± (May the brave guardians of the forest be granted with the blessings of the World Tree.) ¡°Gadia ecto shilva iris hauruto.¡± (Grant we beseech thee that you may bless them with silver apples to protect themselves with.) As if in response to their words, a pale light flew around the people present, illuminating the place with a warm glow before dissipating. ¡°This¡­ I feel like I¡¯m being filled with power.¡± ¡°A-amazing!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was a mystic art like this¡­¡± ¡°¡­I can feel the vibrations of the World Tree.¡± Those who received the blessing felt even closer to the World Tree and marveled at the life force that flowed through their bodies. ¡°I have strengthened the spiritual path that connects you to the World Tree. This should allow you to temporarily handle powerful magic, but please do not overdo it¡­¡± ¡°Thank you, Miss Listy¡­ Everyone, let¡¯s go to the main entrance and fortify our defenses!!¡± ¡°OUU!¡± Their morales raised, Zeist and his men fortified the entrance to the main building of the Royal Castle, their long ears twitching as they picked up the rustling of leaves as the reformist militants led by Gregor emerged from between the trees¡­ ¡°Hah, just as I thought, there are only a handful of guards! Adre!¡± ¡°Yeah, leave them to me! Men, let¡¯s blow them away!¡± In response to the sharp-eyed Gregor¡¯s orders, the deeply hooded Elf mage formed a fireball between his palms while his troops similarly evoked wind and fire-type offensive spells¡­ CH 106 ¡°A magic attack is coming! Deploy the six-fold layer ¡°Invisible Shield¡±!!¡± ¡°YES!¡± While moving to surround the entrance of the Royal Castle¡¯s main building, Leia and the other Chamberlain Knights immediately deployed defensive shields in response to Adre¡¯s group of reformist rebels who were forming balls of light between their palms. The main purpose of defensive magic is to defend, so the speed of activation is given more importance than the sturdiness of the defensive spell. As a result, the ¡°Invisible Shield¡± of the White Elven Female Knights activated right away, and a magical ward that emits blue light composed of pure attribute-free magic power is deployed in a six-fold semicircle, and the attack magic from the enemy¡¯s side clashed with it! Fwoooom zaaasssshhh ¡°W-we might not be able to stop them any longer, waah!!¡± With the sound of shattering glass, the first ward catches the thunderbolt attack, while the other two layers catch the flames and pops, but¡­ That was a good thing considering that the protection magic that is normally focused on deployment speed can only catch one blow at most. That was how effective the Blessings of the World Tree was. ¡°W-we can do this! Let¡¯s show them what we got!!¡± ¡°Yeaaah!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± The ¡°Invisible Shields¡± were popping off one by one as they were hit by the flying rock bombs and wind blades one after the other¡­ But the last one was left behind to catch all the attack magic that Adre and the others had unleashed. ¡°Th-this is ridiculous!? Even though their shield is multi-layered, it shouldn¡¯t be able to take this many attacks!¡± ¡°Seriously¡­¡± ¡°Mr. Adre, they¡¯re going in for a counterattack!¡± Aiming for the sorcerer unit of the rebel group who had momentarily stopped their movement, the soldiers who had been preparing their offense magic from behind the Chamberlain Knights emerged to the front and commenced their attack. ¡°Now¡¯s our chance, fire!!¡± ¡°Uwooo!?¡± ¡°Tsk!!¡± On their Captain¡¯s command, the 12 guards unleashed Wind Blades at the members of the militant sorcerer unit, including Adre, but¡­ Several walls of earth rose from the ground with great force, catching the wind blades and shattering them. The ones who deployed the earth magic, ¡°Ground Wall¡±, were the militant Elves who did not join the attack earlier. ¡°Th-thanks, Bright.¡± ¡°No problem. But that was such a close call.¡± In this kind of place, there was no room to even pause and breathe. According to Gregor¡¯s plan, after capturing the key personnel, they were going to set the inside of the Royal Castle on fire and incite more than a thousand of their Black Elf brethren to march toward the west gate to protest. To do so, they sent a number of their people into the protest rallies to incite the crowds and take the initiative to cause trouble with the guards and provoke a riot¡­ But time was not always on their side. For a moment, the two sides stared at each other while the entrance to the main building of the Royal Castle was half surrounded, then Gregor issued another set of orders. ¡°They may have received the Blessings of the World Tree, but the effect won¡¯t last forever! Prepare for the next attack! There¡¯s no need for us to get too close, we¡¯re going to crush them from here!!¡± The militants divided themselves into defensive and offensive roles, and the sorcerer squad led by Adre once again began chanting attack magic spells. But this time, they will take some time to build intermediate and higher-level magic that is more powerful than the initial attack. ¡°Kuh, don¡¯t let them attack!!¡± ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s supposed to be our line.¡± Once again, the guards fired Wind Blades and Thunderbolts at the rebels, but¡­ Since Bright and his unit of earth mages outnumbered them, another Earth Wall was put up in defense while the guards helplessly received the enemy¡¯s counterattack. ¡°Kuh, uuugh, Sir Zeist, if this keeps up, the barrier won¡¯t be able to hold any longer!!¡± ¡°C-captain Leia, look at that!¡± Alerted by one of her subordinates, Leia looked at the section protected by the earthen wall where she felt a large volume of magic being generated. ¡°It seems to be the Thunder Spear that could pierce through everything.¡± ¡°Not even our shield would be able to stop that thing¡­¡± The man leading the rebels¡¯ sorcerer unit, along with three other Black Elves, was casting the advanced thunder magic spell, ¡°Azure Lightning Spear¡± while several others supplied their magic to make up for the insufficient power as the spell was being put together. (¡­ looks like we¡¯ll have no other choice but to let the rebels set foot inside the castle.) The time they bought may have only been a few minutes, but that time was precious to the Civil Servants who were inside the castle. It¡¯s not like they are conservative extremists who are slaves to the ideology of White Elf supremacy, so the nobles cannot ask their subordinates to die alongside them no matter how prepared they are. I am not going to let Leia and her unit who are the personal Knights of the Queen die here either. At that moment, Zeist, who had been controlling the flow of sound with his wind magic, announced the order to retreat. ¡°Everyone, this is as far as we go! Retreat to the west wing and¡­!?¡± ¡°WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºHowling Noise¡¿ Just then, a hellhound¡¯s roar echoed throughout the garden and shook the atmosphere! ¡°What¡¯s going on? The spell is collapsing¡­¡± ¡°No way, we can¡¯t maintain the ¡°Invisible Shield¡±!!¡± The interference from the magic-imbued roar interfered with the spell being cast by the rebels while the Chamberlain Knights let out a panicked cry as the ¡°Invisible Shield¡± flickered repeatedly until it died down, but¡­ they were also confused as to why the rebels¡¯ attack magic was also dying down and disappearing. ¡°What the hell!?¡± ¡°Th-the spell!¡± ¡°Kuh, do everything to maintain it! If it goes off, we¡¯re all going to die!!¡± ¡°We know that!¡± Adre and his unit, who were casting the advanced magic ¡°Azure Lighting Spear¡±, were desperately trying to resist the effects of the Hellhound¡¯s roar as the explosion from the spell they were casting could be fatal for all of them. ¡°I-impossible, why is a member of the Dog People here!?¡± ¡°It looks like some advanced variant of the Elder Kobold!!¡± Both White and Black Elves stared in shock as a silver Kobold roared from behind a nearby tree. CH 107 (This is¡­ unexpectedly amazing.) After going around the flank of the militant reformists surrounding the guards and the entrance, I used my wind magic to activate the spell, ¡°Howling Noise¡± to attract their attention and create an opening by blocking their magic. As a result, the magic of the Elves on both the attacking and defending sides in front of the main building of the Royal Castle was completely canceled out. Perhaps the true essence of the Elder Kobold lies in this ¡°Howling Noise¡±¡­ (Well, I¡¯ll think about it later, so I¡¯ll just do what I have to do now.) I have already agreed with Aristia to go easy on them, so I used my right foot which is imbued with magic power, and stomped it hard on the ground! ¡°Vorua, gaua!¡± [Earth Blast!] With a rumbling sound, the earth in front of me exploded with all the grass and flowers and spewed a large amount of soil and sand upwards. And then, I thrust my hands up in the air. ¡°Vorufah, garuooooh!!¡± [Roar, o raging storm! Takedown everything in your path!!] Whirlwinds wrapped around my arms which instantly turned into a horizontally extending tornado that swept up a large amount of earth and sand as it closed in on the reform extremists who were trying to capture the castle! ¡°Guuaah!?¡± ¡°Gaah!!¡± ¡°M-my eyes, dammit!¡± ¡°*cough* *hack* m-my throat!!¡± The ¡°Sandstorm,¡± a composite spell from the wind-attribute intermediate magic, ¡°Storm Strike¡± and the earth-attribute intermediate magic ¡°Mines¡± devised by Blazer, struck the militant Elves who were unable to deploy their defenses due to the magical inhibition. A few of those who were directly hit were blown away by the storm that contained wind blades, and those who avoided the sandstorm also inhaled the fine grains of sand in the tornado or had their eyes and noses crushed, causing temporary confusion. With that attack as the signal, my other companions who had surrounded the garden emerged from the bushes and attacked! ¡°Guruaoh!!¡± (Slash!!) The huge, black-armed Kobold coats his Greatsword with fighting spirit, charges forward in a low stance and unleashes a reverse diagonal slash as he puts his right foot down, aiming for the still confused militant Elves. ¡°Uaaaah, uh, aa¡­¡± ¡°Uuu, aa¡­¡± The two militant Elves who were cut up diagonally across the torso lost their strength and collapsed, dropping their weapons. After checking his handiwork, Buster follows up with another attack as he steps forward with his left foot and cuts down another Elf. ¡°You filthy dog! How dare you attack my comrades!¡± The Elf wearing light armor could not see because of the sand in his eyes, but he dropped down on his knees and thrust his hands on the ground as tears streamed down his face. ¡°W-wo ah!!¡±(Th-this is¡­!!) ¡¾Activated£ºInstinctive Evasion¡¿ Buster, who was kind of a battle fanatic, always analyzed his comrades¡¯ battle moves, so of course, he was already prepared to react against his silver childhood friend¡¯s signature earth magic spell and smoothly moved in front of his enemy as soon as he recognized the spell with the similar magic attribute. ¡°Take this, Earthen Spear!!¡± ¡°Voruh!!¡± (Pierce!) The similar spell that he had seen multiple times, the ¡°Binding Fang¡±, is both an offensive and defensive technique as the earthen clods would pop out of the ground and act as an obstacle when the user¡¯s opponent dodges. But even though he felt a chill run down his spine and his hair stood on end, Buster dared to charge. Immediately after, multiple earthen clods rose from the ground and his enemy was nowhere to be found¡­ ¡°ORRRAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Whaaa!? Guuaah!!¡± As the tip of the Greatsword plunged into Bright, an Earth Mage of the Black Elves, it tore into his right chest to his shoulder, but his drop prevented him from incurring a fatal injury. ¡°Gah, uu, G-grace of the Earth¡­¡± ¡°Bright!!¡± Bright suppresses the bleeding from his injury by immediately activating Earth Heal, although he is unable to participate in the battle anymore. The damage caused by the sand in his eyes and throat further placed him in a bind, so his comrades came to his aid and pulled him away¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Uu, voruauu!¡± (You¡¯re in the way!) *Bang* *Bonk* ¡°Gehah!¡± ¡°Ow!?¡± Meanwhile, the big blue Kobold hit the militant Elves with the flat of his Battle Axe to stun them while they were distracted by the dust in their eyes as he went after the mage that his boss marked as his target. Since the Reform Extremists focused on surrounding the entrance to the main building of the Royal Castle, they were vulnerable against attacks from behind, and Ax quickly closed in on the hooded Elf Mage he was after, but¡­ ¡°That¡¯s enough for now, direct the attack on that one!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± ¡°Right away!!¡± Adre opened his eyes, which were tear-stained because of the dust, and instructed the others who had somewhat managed to maintain the resonance magic to direct the ¡°Azure Lightning Spear¡± at Ax. ¡°Turn to ashes! Azure Lightning Spear!!¡± ¡°Woruviaru!!¡± (Become the weakest to the strongest!!) ¡¾Activated£ºThe Strongest and Weakest Shield¡¿ A dazzling purple lightning spear shoots out from between the outstretched palms of the four Black Elves and heads straight to their enemy. In response, Ax held his shield diagonally and enchanted it with ¡°The Strongest and Weakest Shield¡±, an inherent conceptual armament he acquired in the Selkram Royal Capital. Monsters know how to use their acquired abilities based on instinct. Therefore, the Kobold Palladin was aware of his unique skill, but¡­ he also knew that ¡°The Strongest and Weakest Shield¡± prevents any attack only once. It doesn¡¯t exactly prevent the attack, but rather nullifies it by dissipating all types of energy like kinetic energy and heat energy which is a bit difficult for him to understand. However, because of the condition where he can only ¡°defend against any attack once¡±, he can defend against attacks ranging from the transcendental magic ¡°Meteor Fall¡± to the play-bite of a young Kobold only once. Also, since it cannot be used until a special type of magic power builds up in the user¡¯s body, it is necessary to wait a while before activating it again, so it should only be used once per battle. The spell is quite difficult to use, but¡­ As soon as the ¡°Azure Lightning Spear¡± that generated a huge amount of heat and thrummed with power as it burned the plants around it touched the faintly glowing Long Shield, it simply disappeared like a dream or an illusion. ¡°HAAAAH!?¡± ¡°EHHH!?¡± ¡°N-no way, impossible!!¡± (Phew, I¡¯m alright~) While the militant Elves around him were shocked to the core, the huge Kobold inwardly sighed as he patted his chest¡­ Although he had tested the skill with his friends, the usually timid Ax was inwardly scared for the first time during an actual battle. As his relief wore off and he was able to gather himself again, Ax took a huge step forward with his dominant foot and swung his shield, which had lost his brilliance, to the side with all his might! ¡°Auoaaann, guuh!!¡± (That was really dangerous, geez!!) ¡°GUHAH!?¡± ¡°BUHEH!?¡± While the four mages, including Adre, who had combined their powers and cast the advanced magic, still struggled to understand what had just happened, Ax hit them with a Shield Bash which stunned and rendered them unconscious. CH 108 ¡°Adre, shit, what is wrong with these guys!? Do they have something against us?!¡± Gregor, who had avoided being directly hit by the sandstorm attack but was still blinded by it, opened his eyes and angrily shouted, but it was drowned out by the White Elves¡¯ battle cries. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on, but this must be divine providence. All hands, chaaaaargggeeee!!¡± ¡°OOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± On Guard Captain Zeist¡¯s orders, twelve guards rushed at the enemy with their Sabers drawn. ¡°We can¡¯t let them charge alone, we will also follow their lead!¡± ¡°YES!¡± The Chamberlain Knights also drew their swords and followed suit. ¡°G-Gregor!!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t panic, we still outnumber them! Men, get into position!¡± Unnoticed, a shadow approached the leader of the reformist militants who continued to inspire his allies despite knowing that they were already losing. The first Elder Kobold who showed up had taken advantage of the confusion and had somehow made its way from the rear of the semi-circular enclosure. ¡°Uguh, aa¡­h¡± ¡°Guauh.¡± [Surrender!] The Kobold dodged a slash attack aimed at his upper body by one of the Black Elves protecting their commander. The Kobold countered by drawing his sword and cutting down the Elf, kicking him away before his enemy even fell. ¡°What the hell, you bastard!!¡± ¡°Voooh!¡± [Too slow!] Another Black Elf tried to attack me with a Fireball spell, but I moved towards my left and slammed my wind magic-wrapped fist into him! ¡°Gaah!?¡± The moment my wind magic directly hit the Elf, the wind burst immediately and knocked him unconscious, clearing the path that led to the pointy-eyed Black Elf. ¡°This is all your fault!!¡± ¡°Guuh!¡± [Guuh!] The man shouted and launched an attack with his Long Sword which I caught with my Curved blade, but a one-handed weapon was not as effective against an opponent wielding a two-handed weapon. I then ducked to the left side of my opponent, slid my Curved sword up to the tip of the Long Sword to deflect it by pinning the blade to the ground, and punched him in the face with my right fist. ¡°Guhah!¡± It was a spur-of-the-moment move so I couldn¡¯t imbue any magic into my fist, but the pointy-eyed Elf spat out some blood from his lips and stepped on a foot bellow lying on the ground. ¡°Kyuuh!¡± (I got you!) ¡°Wha¨C!?¡± A small fox jumps out of the bushes from behind the man just as he loses his balance, lands on his shoulders, and undoes her spell to turn back into her original appearance! ¡°What the..!? Guuh!¡± Needless to say, my sister, who was riding on the shoulders of the Black Elf Leader, tightened her legs around his neck. ¡°Kyuuaan, garuvoruaaaaaan!!¡± (Take this attack I learned from my brother, Iron Steiner!!) (It was Greio who invented it, though.) She falls backward while both of her legs are wrapped around his neck and performs a somersault. With both hands on the ground, she uses centrifugal force to throw her opponent away! ¡°Uwooooooh!? G-gaaaaaah!¡± The guy flew in a beautiful arc as my sister threw him, and he plunged face-first into the ground, where he stopped moving¡­ ¡°No way, Gregor!¡± ¡°Damn it!!¡± ¡°Gaoruah, guruoooaaaaann!!¡± [We have defeated the enemy general!!] To quickly quell the battle, I let out a battle cry that was carried into the wind by magic. The reformist extremists temporarily stopped attacking and became uneasy. ¡°Calm down, all of you. The leader of the group invading the Royal Castle has fallen.¡± The voice of Aristia, who left for the World Tree with her guard Lenaide, was heard all over the garden. She seems to have been waiting for the right opportunity, but¡­ was her voice being conveyed by the World Tree through the vibrating leaves and branches of the trees? ¡°¡­ I wish to achieve everybody¡¯s wish of freedom and equality, but I will never accept violence as a means to get things done.¡± Originally, the current queen was widely known to be leaning towards reformist idealism, so the Black Elves of the reform extremist faction concentrated on her words. The rumor that the queen, who had gone into hiding, was being imprisoned by conservative extremists also fueled the distrust of the monarchy among the Black Elves, so they were interested in her whereabouts. In a sense, it could be said that her absence had led to the current chaos, though some of it was generally unavoidable. ¡°Even though it was triggered by my stupidity, it¡¯s still impossible to acquit those who did the deed when there have already been so many casualties. However, if they don¡¯t commit any more crimes, their sentences may be reduced by a pardon.¡± ¡°So this is as far as we¡¯ll go?¡± ¡°It¡¯s time for us to surrender¡­¡± Upon losing their leader, some of the reformist militants put their weapons down at the advice of the queen, but some members still did not surrender, so Aristia spelled it out to them further. ¡°Besides¡­ to tell you the truth, I do not want to see further bloodshed amongst my subjects. So please, please let me help everyone.¡± (¡­ The queen who has the highest concentration of High Elf blood has a special significance to the Elves after all.) If this were a country run by humans, there would still likely be a dispute, but¡­ In this case, the Elves were already surrendering their weapons. Furthermore, the same message had also spread through the trees in the city to the whole Royal Capital of Elfast, so the battles between the guards and the reform extremists at the north and south gates have already ceased, and both sides have already begun to lay down their weapons. Meanwhile, the people around the west gate, mainly the Black Elves, who had been on the verge of rioting at the instigation of the reform extremists, also gradually regained their composure. The calming down of the situation was due in no small part to the activities of the coalition of moderate reformers and conservatives who had been working behind the scenes with the White and Black Elf Clans. The Prime Minister¡¯s daughter, who had been working to bring order from behind the scenes, breathed a sigh of relief as the people in the west gate retreated. ¡°Kuh, Her Majesty bows her head to the Black Elf Clan!?¡± ¡°Father¡­ If she were not to do that, would it be better for the country to be in a state of chaos?¡± ¡°Uuuh, that¡¯s¡­ Forgive me, that was improper of me.¡± As usual, Eliza bows in dismay at her Father¡¯s antics¡­ Although the gap between the White and Black Elves still ran deep, any possibility of bloodshed had been successfully avoided for now. ¡°It looks like this is going to be a lot of work to clean up, but let¡¯s go see my friend Aris for now.¡± Without talking to anyone in particular, Eliza said her thoughts out loud as she made her way back to the Royal Castle. After that, nightfall came, and after the affected locations in the Royal Capital of Elfast took care of the aftermath, the long day at the Royal Capital finally came to an end¡­ CH 109 Splash I approached the riverbank after bathing in the Clarsflume river, which is a river located in the woods on the outskirts of the Royal Capital Elfast that runs along the Elven towns. It was still dark outside, but it was even more so in the forest. ¡°Gau, uruan.¡± (I guess it¡¯s about time.) After shaking off the excess water and making myself presentable, I headed out of the small forest which ran parallel to the river and passed the cultivated lands as I made my way back to the city. ¡°Wofu¡­¡± (O wind¡­) It was still early so nobody was around when I entered the Black Elves¡¯ settlement on the outer edge of the Royal Capital. I then clad my legs in whirlwinds and flew up, landing on the roof of a nearby building. I was aiming to get to the heart of Elfast, the World Tree which was surrounded by the Royal Castle. Why must it be such a big tree? (There¡¯s no way I¡¯m not going to climb that!!) By the way, I chose to go out before the crack of dawn since I wanted to watch the sunrise and because my sister might wake up and go with me if I left a little later. If I tried to climb and fell, I could soften my fall by using the updraft since I was a wind user, but¡­ It would be difficult to take care of my sister too. So while the others were asleep and my sister was still rolling on the sheets and covering the bed in fur, I snuck out from the guest room on the west wing of the Royal Castle and shook my sleepiness off by taking a bath and dressing up. Well, if a certain tall, skinny Kobold who was vigilant of his surroundings were around, then I would not be able to sneak out though¡­ While thinking about that, I noticed that the cityscape had changed from the simple buildings of the Black Elves to the needlessly artistic buildings which the Bronze Elves were particular about. After I passed through the Bronze Elves¡¯ district, I entered the White Elves¡¯ district where large buildings such as the parliament building and aristocratic residences stood side by side. As I flew further, the 6-meter high western castle gate came into view. And so, after confirming the placement of the guards who were on the lookout, I briefly descended to the street, lightly ran, and used the whirlwinds surrounding my legs to launch myself up as I jumped. (Aaand up I go!) Hooking my hands on the edge of the wall, I kick up and use the recoil to balance myself and turn my body to get over the wall. (Hup!) Immediately after that, I silently dropped down into the inner wall and completed my break into the castle. (Hmm, with my current physical abilities, conquering a 6-meter castle wall is a piece of cake.) However, because the Elves assumed that the castle would not be attacked, the walls protecting it were simple, but if it were a castle wall of about 15 to 16 meters, it would not have been so easy¡­ (Let¡¯s not think about that now!) If the guards found me, Aristia and the curly-haired Elf girl wearing a dress yesterday would scold me, so I jumped from the top of the wall to the inner castle, and went to the garden called ¡°The Forest of the World Tree¡±. (¡­ This is the moment of truth.) Before stepping into the garden, I placed my hand on the ground to examine the flow of magic, and sure enough, I discovered that the area was protected with detection magic. It seems there are magic devices or wards placed around the vicinity of the World Tree that converts the tree¡¯s life force into magic to detect the presence of foreign magic. I don¡¯t know how it alarms the person-in-charge about the intrusion, but it¡¯s probably through a magic pathway or a wave of a specific frequency, but¡­ it reminded me of a time when I was a novice mercenary and I was accidentally caught in it during an infiltration operation. Now that I remember it, it was kind of a good memory because Leonardo, who was my buddy at that time, became injured while trying to escape and was slapped by his lover Liza after she found out. After immersing myself in the memories of the past for a bit, I took out the ¡°Seed of the World Tree¡± from my waist bag and wrapped myself with a thin layer of the power that resided within it to conceal my own magic. And then, I carefully stepped into the area covered by the detection magic. (It doesn¡¯t react to the same power derived from the World Tree after all.) Strictly speaking, there are slight differences due to the individual distinctions of the World Trees, but it does not pose a problem as long as it is not strong enough to be detected by the sensors. In the first place, if it reacts to the magic of small creatures such as ants and grasshoppers, then it will be useless because they will be constantly alerted to intruders. That is why the spell is usually designed so that it will not react if there is a small disturbance in the magic flowing on the surface of the earth. (Alright, I¡¯m going to climb you!!) And so, the silver-furred Kobold began to climb the World Tree with enthusiasm, but¡­ ¡°Hnn, aaagh¡­¡± On the 2nd floor of the main castle, there is a luxurious room with walls decorated with gorgeous silver and mother-of-pearl accents created by the Bronze Elves. On the canopy bed, which also seemed to be made for royalty, lay the Elf Queen whose hair was in disarray as she writhed around. ¡°Nnngh¡­ uh, auh, uu~?¡± Aristia sat up as she was awakened due to the sudden attack of sensations of something touching her body all over. Last night, Aristia strengthened her connection to the highest level to perform a close examination of the condition of the World Tree that was reported to be in bad shape and fell asleep without breaking the link¡­ And so, the sensation of the silver Kobold climbing the World Tree was directly transmitted to her. ¡°¡­ Uh~, is this magic from a different World Tree? But¡­¡± The surge of magic power was a familiar one, as it was none other than her who incubated the seed of that World Tree¡­ In other words, it was almost undetectable. Originally, climbing the World Tree was an unacceptable act, but¡­ as long as it does not cause a disturbance, Listy and the other Priestesses would not notice it. ¡°Using the magic of the World Tree seed to blend in¡­ He¡¯s a clever one.¡± After lightly rubbing her sleepy eyes and collecting her thoughts, Aristia decides that it is alright and dives back into her bed for the first time in a long while¡­ ¡°N-nnh, hyah, so this is¡­ the feel of paws, mmnn¡± She could not fall asleep due to the subtle stimuli that constantly went through her body. All she had to do was break her deep connection with the World Tree, but it was not until later that Aristia, who was still half asleep, realized it. CH 110 Just as I reached the top of the World Tree Aion, the dazzling morning sun appeared in the eastern sky, bathing the ancient forest in gentle sunlight. ¡°UWOOOOOOONN!!¡± Something inside me was so moved by the scenery that I couldn¡¯t help but howl at the sight. As I looked around, I could see the three other World Trees towering in the distance just as Aristia described. (As far as I recall, the World Tree on the southeast is called ¡°Affectio¡±, and at its base is the city of Elwind¡­) Further ahead was the Philland Republic, whom the Elves fought against in the Battle of Forest Garden and where the World Tree ¡°Memoria¡± was sent to as a sign of peace after the war. It was hard to tell from here which World Tree belonged where, but it¡¯s only the nation in the west that possesses one. And when I turned around and faced north, there was the Easteria forest, where my pack and I live. ¡°Guruau, woruoaau¡­ Wafu?¡± (I wonder if they¡¯re getting alo¡ª!?) Suddenly, a shadow shot from behind me, and when I turned around¡­ ¡°Kwaaaaaaaannn!!¡± (Angry!!) ¡°Wafuh!?¡± (Wha!?) ¡­An enormous bird of prey suddenly swooped down and tried to grab me. ¡°UWOOOOOOH!!¡± *grab* I tried to evade and bring it down, but¡­ It grabbed my torso with its left leg and the ¡°King of the Skies¡± soared into the dawn sky. ¡°Varuoh, gauruuoguruh!!¡± (It¡¯s a King Eagle!!) King Eagles are large, aerial monsters that prey on harpies, insects, and bird-type monsters. They are known for their speed, which is faster than the dragon species, so they have no natural enemies in the sky. Another thing to note is that these birds make nests on top of large trees like the World Tree. This piece of information came to mind when I saw the enormous, white egg buried in the treetops as I was lifted into the sky. ¡°Ofuu, wooah!¡± (Wait, this is all a misunderstanding!) ¡°Kwaaaaaaaannn!!¡± (Angry!!) My Mithril Mask of telepathy was in my waist bag, so it didn¡¯t understand me and kept flying away from the World Tree at a tremendous speed. I hesitated to attack the bird because of the egg I saw earlier and as I made a futile attempt to scratch it with my feet, I noticed that we had already traveled far away from Elfast in under a minute¡­ So these King Eagles can reach speeds of about 150km/hour in a heartbeat. (Kuh, then that means I¡¯m already about 20 km away from the city!!) And we headed further away as I realized the situation¡­ ¡°Gauoaaaan!!¡± (I¡¯m sorry about this!!) Fortunately, I was able to free my right arm, so I touched the King Eagle¡¯s thick leg and concentrated wind magic from my palm so I could fire a wind blade to cut it off! ¡°Kuu!?¡± ¡°Wafih!¡± (Wha¨C!) However, the bird was sensitive to wind magic and let go of me just as I was about to do the deed. ¡°UWOOOOOOH!!¡± Following the laws of gravity and inertia, I naturally fell at a high speed, so I pictured a parabola to estimate my landing and¡­ ¡°Wofu, garuoh!!¡± (O wind, I command you!!) Using wind magic, I produced an updraft to reduce the speed of my fall and made minor adjustments so I would fall on a suitable tree. Tumble, rustle, thud ¡°Auh, uu¡­¡± (Ow¡­) I came tumbling down a tree until I got caught in a tree branch. From there, I crept my way down until I reached solid ground. ¡°¡­ Worugaon?¡± (Where am I?) It seems I¡¯ve been brought somewhere in the northeastern part of the forest from the capital¡­ It¡¯s only about 25-30 km away at best, so if I can find my way to the Clarsflume River that flows into Elfast and rely on my sense of smell while moving southeast, I should be able to return. (But the problem is getting through the Forest of Wandering¡­) Well, the Elves are immune to the effects of the barrier called the Forest of Wandering, so it would be safe to assume that the mist detects the wave of magical power that goes around the body. Therefore, if I could disguise my power to be as close as the magic produced by the World Tree that maintains the barrier¡­ It¡¯s just a theory, but it¡¯s worth a try. I reached into my waist bag and felt the warmth of the Holy and Earth attribute magic that enveloped the Seed of the World Tree. Besides, if I get close to the barrier¡¯s area of influence, there¡¯s a chance that I would run into my companions who would be looking for me or meet a Black Elf who is in the middle of hunting. There are a lot of uncertainties in my plan, but¡­ Nothing will happen if I just stand around here. And so, I sharpened my sense of smell and walked through the northeastern part of the Ancient Forest. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ On the afternoon that the silver Kobold reluctantly made his trek to get back to Elfast, the main Elves gathered in the Audience Hall of the Main Castle despite the commotion caused by his disappearance. ¡°My Queen, I bring you good news and bad news. Where would you like to start?¡± As one of the Queen¡¯s subjects, Eliza follows the court etiquette during their audience even though she affectionately calls her childhood friend ¡°Aris¡± in private. ¡°Very well, let us start with the bad news.¡± Nodding at Arisitia¡¯s prompt, the fair-skinned Elf began her report. ¡°First, we have the total number of casualties in the White and Black Elf sides from yesterday¡¯s mayhem¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­ Those who have died should be respectfully mourned, regardless of whether they are White or Black Elves.¡± According to the report, the corpses had already been placed in burlap bags in the morning and laid to rest near the north gate and later a tree burial will be held in the forest on the outskirts of the city. ¡°But on a more depressing note, the living is more of a problem than the dead.¡± ¡°Are you referring to Gregor¡­? The militant leader had a crack in his neck bone, but it was not fatal and he was already receiving treatment. Meanwhile, others also survived like Adre, the Black Elf Sorcerer who was merely knocked out during the skirmish, and Bright, who healed himself to save his life. ¡°That¡¯s also one thing, but that is not the main problem.¡± The Queen paused to think about Prime Minister Theodore¡¯s response and replied, ¡°¡­ This is about the members of the reform extremists who fled in the confusion, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Exactly. That and we also have to find and expose the traitor who planned your assassination.¡± She sighed at the Prime Minister who had a triumphant look on his face. ¡°Theodore, if you do that, a lot of names will be involved¡­ Besides, the prison is already at maximum capacity from all the reform extremists who surrendered.¡± ¡°Then what are we going to do? We can¡¯t just say that no one is to blame for all this.¡± Eliza looked at the Queen who sat pondering with her eyes closed on the throne and made a proposal, ¡°Let¡¯s think realistically¡­ Let¡¯s enlist the help of the reform moderates to crack down on the reform extremists who have escaped, especially those who have extremely dangerous ideas. We could also temporarily allow the over containment of the prisons while new ones are being constructed in the vicinity.¡± ¡°Can I count on you to take care of this?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± And with that, the discussion regarding the post-management of the previous day¡¯s battle was settled. And after setting the schedule of the forum with the reform conservatives and moderates, a series of discussions about several issues followed¡­ ¡°¡­ By the way, what was the good news?¡± ¡°We were able to pinpoint Sir Archer¡¯s whereabouts after Listy reported that there was a momentary reaction with the Seed of the World Tree on the ley lines connecting the northeastern World Tree Incunable and the World Tree Aion.¡± ¡°So he was there¡­¡± Aristia tilted her head while absently playing with her long, silver-blonde hair. I was sure he climbed the World Tree this morning¡­ ¡°He has helped me with a lot of things, so please get him back safely. His companions must be worried about him as well¡­¡± Regardless of the reason, Lenaide and the other Chamberlain Knights were deployed into several search parties and left for the northeastern part of the Ancient Forest that day. CH 111 After I hunted and had some breakfast around midday, I reached the Clarsflume river past noon. I got a little lost because the Ancient forest inhabited by the Elves was a forest rich with food and vegetation and the smell of the water was drowned out by the mixture of various smells. (Maybe I should have tried this first over finding the smell of water from the beginning¡­) In the end, I was able to find my way to the river not through the smell of the water but through the smell of the plants such as the reed plant that grew in clusters along the riverside. If it had been spring, then I would have found my way through the smell of irises, forget-me-nots, and other flowers that bloom along the riverside. By the way, we also used the scent of plants to check our location on our way to the Elves¡¯ territory. Gladiolus, a member of the iris family, grew wild in the forest. Because its leaves grow from the base of the plant in a north-south direction under natural conditions, by combining this with the position of the sun at different times of the day, we could determine our approximate direction. This knowledge came from one of my conversations with Muriel, the red-haired mage girl. It seems her dream of becoming a Biologist wasn¡¯t just for show. (Thank you, Muriel!) I thanked the red-haired mage girl at the back of my mind. As I dunked my leather canteen into the water, a fish¡¯s shadow caught my eye and I checked my waist bag which contained some flint, hemp fiber, and tinder, along with a fishing line made of hemp and a fishing hook that Smith crafted from a boar monster¡¯s tusk. ¡°Wauh, gaurua varuuoan!¡± (Alright, let¡¯s have grilled fish for lunch!) Thinking that it would be nice to fish every once in a while, I hurriedly took the bone hook out of my waist bag. The fishing hook was made from a boar¡¯s lower molar tooth which was whittled down and shaped into a suitable size. A mammal¡¯s molar tooth typically has four roots that connect to the gums, and if you split them right in the middle, they form a U-shape, making it easy to process them into fish hooks. And because teeth are the strongest of bones, they are sturdy enough to stand the shaping process and won¡¯t easily break. (That guy is pretty good with his hands¡­) While commenting on Kobold Smith¡¯s handiwork, I loosened the hemp fibers and tied them together to form a fishing line that I secured to the bone fishing hook, and tied the other end to the end of a tree branch that I randomly picked. (Now, for a suitable fishing spot¡­) I looked around the gently flowing Clarsflume river. When I found a suitable rock where I could comfortably sit, I used magic to cover my legs in whirlwinds to jump to and safely land on the rock. ¡°Guuorua woruuaaou woan.¡± (It¡¯s nice to spend some time alone every once in a while.) I guess I can manage even if I ended up as a stray Kobold. As I mused to myself, I dropped the hook into the water with a flick of my wrist and waited for the fish to bite. (I wonder if there are rainbow trout around here? It would be delicious if I grilled it¡­ *slurp* Huh!?) While I was thinking about the fish I hadn¡¯t caught yet, I faintly felt multiple signs of life around me, and I focused my attention on my sense of hearing and smell to grasp the situation. (Ah, I¡¯ve gone and done it¡­ Looks like I¡¯m in another pack¡¯s territory.) Various creatures lived around water sources. Humans, Werecats, and other forest inhabitants like the Dog People naturally build settlements like villages, towns, and even cities near water sources, so it¡¯s unavoidable to meet native inhabitants in places like this. (¡­ O wind, protect me) Since I was wary of arrows or other attacks using flying projectiles, I secretly deployed Wind Protection, a mid-tier spell that is also used by Humans. That aside, this spell is not part of the non-human magic that only monsters can use. Although I¡¯ve fortified my defenses, I¡¯m certain that this encounter won¡¯t end in bloodshed since my kind typically avoids killing individuals that belong to the same race. ¡°¡­ Garuooou, Waau.¡± (¡­Come out brother, I know you¡¯re in there.) I called out in the direction where I felt the strongest magical presence while tending to my fishing line, and a Kobold with a dull silver coat came out from the trees. ¡°Gauu, guruukuau.¡± (Excuse me, I¡¯m a female!) ¡°Gauruuah!?¡± (Oh, I¡¯m sorry!) For some reason, a fish chose to bite the line during this moment, and I reflexively pulled up my fishing rod! And then, a small, salmon-like fish jumped out of the water and landed in my hands. ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± Flop, flop A strange silence falls between me and the female High Kobold who was looking at me from the riverbank. ¡°Wafaoon, gurua¡­¡± (What the heck are you guys doing¡­?) With a dumbfounded look on his face, a tough-looking Kobold with a toned physique and mixed black and white fur emerges from the bushes beside me. He holds an iron spear in his hand, and judging by his white fur and long tail, he must be a Kobold Warrior. (¡­ Their pack can process iron already?) The Kobolds in this area were probably more civilized than their counterparts in Easteria. If so, the cause is probably the Elves, who are said to be in contact with these Kobolds. ¡°Wau, voaruo guruaaaan.¡± (Well, I was thinking the timing was bad.) ¡°Woaaauoon~¡± (That¡¯s right~) A huge, light brown Kobold carrying knuckle axes in both hands appeared, followed by a smaller Kobold with fluffy white fur. Judging from the weapons the light brown Kobold carried, he must be a Kobold Striker while the smaller, hooded one carrying an oak staff must be a magic-user. After revealing themselves, the other Kobolds hiding in the trees and bushes appeared as well¡­ (Eh, there are several other breeds mixed within their pack!?) The High Kobold who appeared first was surrounded by the common light brown Kobolds, while the black-and-white Kobolds with toned physiques gathered around the tough Kobold warrior. And on the side of the huge, light brown Kobold, there were the seemingly ordinary ones with triangular ears and curly tails, and around the white Kobold, there were the similar small ones with fluffy white fur¡­ CH 112 It was awkward talking to my brethren while holding a struggling fish, so I released it into the river. ¡°Woah.¡± (Off you go!) I stood from the rock as the fish I released swam away and with a light boost of power to my legs, I jumped and landed beside the silver High Kobold and met the gaze of the long-tailed Kobold with the unruly white fur. ¡°¡­ Guruu, gaua varuuoau?¡± (¡­ Hey, are you really an Elder Kobold?) I didn¡¯t sense any hostility from him, but it didn¡¯t feel good to get that doubtful look directed at me¡­ ¡°N~, woaan¡­ gaonn, guoruuaauh!¡± (Hmm, I¡¯m certain he is, but¡­ Oh that¡¯s it, he isn¡¯t big enough!) ¡°Uu, kyua, garuvao woruuaan¡­¡± (I¡¯m sorry, I only confirmed through the silver coloring of his fur¡­) One of the light-brown, prick-eared Kobolds flattened its ears and apologized to the large, light brown Kobold leading them. It seems one of these prick-eared Kobolds spotted me while on their way to fetch water from the river. ¡°Wafuu, guoruau¡­ kua, guruouaru worua garuo voruou?¡± (Huh, so it was the size¡­ This child seems to be holding back, but I could feel that he¡¯s packing a lot of power, though.) (¡­ So they think I¡¯m a kid.) The aura surrounding the silver female Kobold is calm as she releases a sigh. Compared to the people in my pack, she seemed to be somewhere around 4 to 5 years old. If that¡¯s the case, she¡¯s almost twice as old as I am, so I can¡¯t blame her for treating me that way¡­ (The only one who acts like that in front of me is my mother, so it feels a bit weird¡­ On second thought, I guess this is just like the older members of the pack looking out for the younger ones.) I appreciated the gesture, but I was annoyed that they were just saying whatever they wanted, so I decided to change the topic. ¡°Guoagauru garuguoruwo aau¡­ guruoafu?¡± (I noticed that there are different Kobold groups in your pack, but¡­ who are you?) As a general rule, the strongest Kobolds are given names by the members of the pack, so these Kobolds who lead their respective packs will have a name. ¡°Waruowa, guruu woru gaauaruou arva.¡± (That was rude of me, my name is Silva, a blood relative of the Sage Gavi.¡± ¡°Guruu aruon~, kuuoru.¡± (The name¡¯s Shiro~ Nice ta meet ya, young Sage!) So the female Kobold with the dull silver fur is Silva, and the petite Kobold with the white, fluffy fur is Shiro¡­ By the way, I learned from Aristia that they use the term ¡°Sage¡± as a title of honor towards Elder Kobolds. ¡°Garuvoruaaon, woruguaau¡­ gauan, guruu vurua.¡± (With your well-trained physique, it¡¯s hard to believe you¡¯re a Sage¡­ Oh well, the name¡¯s Hasta.) For a moment, the perfectly posed manly figure of the Steel Sage flashed through my mind. By the way, there is also a description of how beautiful a body is in the grimoire he wrote called ¡°Herculean Crushing¡±, but¡­ I skipped that part. ¡°U, guruagau. Woa uo varuuoaan?¡± (And my name¡¯s Blau. So are you an Elder Kobold?) ¡°Wafu, arufaruo woruoaau.¡± (Yeah, that¡¯s what the Elves told me.) I watched the four Kobolds look at each other when they heard my response, so I repeated my question about why their packs were together to dispel the awkward atmosphere. ¡°Wau, kuruuwofu guruoaaan~¡± (Well that¡¯s certainly strange to someone like you, isn¡¯t it?) ¡°¡­ Wuo, gurugauru gaofa guruoaau, kuuugaoau.¡± (¡­ My pack was attacked by the Goblins the other day and nine were killed in the encounter.) According to what I heard, the Goblins living in the northeastern part of the Ancient forest seem to have been active lately, and at that time, they crossed into the territory of Hasta¡¯s pack. At first, it was only a small skirmish that didn¡¯t seem like anyone would die, but a week later, the village suffered an attack by the Goblins. And so, the black and white Kobolds who were tough but few were outnumbered by the Goblins, were forced to evacuate and abandon their village. In the process, nine of them, including their Chieftain, lost their lives so they could let the females and their young escape. After that, Shiro¡¯s pack, who frequently interacted with Hasta¡¯s group, took in the weak and wounded evacuees into their settlement. ¡°Gurua kuorukyua~n, urugauru kuruaaan!¡± (We are small and weak, so our pack has to get along with our other brethren!) Although they originally lost a turf war and were expelled from their territory, the smiling fluffy white Kobold¡¯s pack seemed to live a dignified yet quiet life, focusing on small-scale farming and gathering. However, because they were adept at healing magic, they were able to secure some territory in exchange for cooperation with other packs, so the wounded black and white Kobolds fled to the white fluffy Kobolds¡¯ pack. Later on, due to the white, fluffy Kobolds¡¯ sphere of influence, news of the Goblin attack reached the ears of Sage Gavi, the leader of the largest pack in the northeastern part of the Ancient forest, and Brau, the leader of the pack of prick-eared Kobolds. According to Hasta¡¯s group, the number of Goblins who attacked their village at that time was around 80, but after some reconnaissance work, it was found out that their numbers surpassed 120¡­ ¡°Wuru woarufa gaofa woaguoru voruuu¡­¡± (It seems the horde from the northern forest joined forces with the ones from here¡­) Speaking of the northern forest, the place they were referring to seemed to be the Easteria forest¡­ (¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I may have an idea why those guys are here.) The Goblin¡¯s numbers had grown so rapidly that it was difficult to deal with them individually. But if nobody did something about them, it was possible that the Kobold packs and the forest¡¯s other inhabitants could be wiped out, so at the call of Sage Gavi, a joint task force was formed to push the Goblins back¡­ ¡°Woa garuaoooonn! Woruguruo kuruau gaoruauh!!¡± (And that¡¯s who we are! Our other brethren are camped out a bit further down the road!!) And with this, I was able to generally grasp their situation, but¡­ ========================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: It has been brought to our attention that there was an error in posting the chapter order (chapter 112 was posted as ch 111) last Tuesday. The chapter order has been corrected. Apologies for the mistake, and please enjoy our double release! Additionally, I will be on TPK hiatus from 3/22 to 4/19 due to health and personal issues. But not to worry! Updates will continue while chapter stocks last. CH 113 While Archer was meeting with the Kobold inhabitants of the Ancient forest by the riverbank, someone was keeping an eye on the pair of parent and child antelopes grazing on the sparse forest¡­ Hiding in a grove of trees about 10 meters ahead of the antelope and its young was a large Goblin who had two horns protruding from his head and was carrying a greatsword. It was Brave who evolved after defeating the pack leader during the raid on the black and white Kobolds the other day. His appearance was more civilized than when he was rampaging through Easteria forest, and he wore black leather armor over the clothes he had taken from the Adventurers. While keeping an eye on the antelope and its young who had yet to notice them, Brave sent a quick hand sign to his partner who was a tall, thin man with pale blue skin. Sword, I¡¯m going after the parent. Sure, you want to test your power, don¡¯t you? Sword, the Goblin who responded to the message, was similarly dressed in irregular leather armor on top of the clothes he had taken, and his favorite twin swords hung from his waist. He also had a head of hair, perhaps due to evolution, and two horns growing out of the gaps. With their human-like appearance, both of them looked more like demons living in the mountains of an island nation in the Far East than Goblins. You guys, push them back from the sides. After confirming that the two Goblin Warriors who received Sword¡¯s message have hidden their presence, muted themselves, and blended into the trees on either side while avoiding the antelope and its young, Brave came rushing out with a power-infused battle cry from his core. ¡°KOOOOOOOOOOOOH!¡± A small dot of light appeared in his mouth, and a strip of light gushed out from it! ¡°Giuuh!? U¡­uh¡± Thud The Breath of Light emitted from Brave¡¯s mouth pierced the parent antelope¡¯s body. The antelope was able to keep standing for a while, but it eventually lost strength and dropped to the ground. ¡°Giau, giu!¡± Unable to grasp the situation, the young antelope approached its parent¡¯s corpse and cried out, but the move ended up being an unwise choice. ¡°Giuruh, raruto.¡± (Pierce, Thunderbolt Sword!) ¡°Gii!?¡± A horizontal thunderbolt shot out from Sword¡¯s outstretched palm and hit the young antelope hard, stunning it. Immediately after, four Goblins lurking on the left and right sides approached the antelope pair, and slit the parent antelope¡¯s artery to drain its blood before rigor mortis set in. Meanwhile, since the young antelope was merely stunned by the Thunder Sword attack Sword had used while making minor adjustments, it was not killed on the spot but bound and casually carried off. While watching the situation, Brave meditated on his recently acquired abilities. The first time he fired the Breath, he felt a sensation similar to nausea and he felt uncomfortable as if the contents of his stomach were threatening to come out. ¡°¡­ Giuruegiru garusu agiusu, iruregisu.¡± (¡­ I appreciate the ability to be able to fire a long-range attack, but it¡¯s a strange feeling.) Name: Brave () Race: Goblin Rank: High Brave Skill: Battle Cry (Goblin Strengthening), Elementary Magic (Holy/ Healing only), Shining Sword, Hero¡¯s Resurrection, Breath (Light) Title: The Shining Hero Weapon: Claymore Armament: Leather Armor ¡°Gii, gifire garuva.¡± (Well, you¡¯ll just have to get used to it.) A Goblin Fighter approached Sword, who was still unaccustomed to the sensation of using magic and opened and closed his hands and called out to him to catch his attention. ¡°Iratigusu, magire edoru.¡± (We will be done processing the meat in a while.) ¡°Kauru gieruah! Haruto girusu girumedes.¡± (Today¡¯s catch is a feast! It¡¯s just tiring having to lug these back though.) While an adult antelope might not be that big, it still weighed around 50kg. However, considering the ratio of blood to body weight, it would be a little lighter after draining the blood. If it is still too heavy, it would weigh about 30 kg after the guts are removed, which is a bit of a waste since some parts can be eaten. We brought two pairs of backpacks and jute bags to carry the prey and four of the larger and stronger Goblin Fighters accompanied us to carry the food. If we took turns carrying the baby antelope, the 3km distance to Vali¡¯s village won¡¯t be a problem. ¡°Gia, girusuvarigio gigu demugiire ergadoa!¡± (Now, let¡¯s go home and have a drink with Lord Vali while snacking on meat!) ¡°Eru gurezea, giido¡­ giau dorau giigiru.¡± (Sword, don¡¯t drink. You¡¯re annoying when you¡¯re drunk.) As he rebuked Sword who was a bad drunk, Brave concentrated on their surroundings and looked for monsters and their natural enemies such as Kobolds who are attracted to the smell of blood. After checking that the coast was clear, he urged his companions to return to the village. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ I hid on top of a tree and used my magic-enhanced eyes to look at the Goblin village nearby. When Silva and the others asked for my help as an Elder Kobold, I withheld my answer and came to scout the Goblin village they told me about, but¡­ (What the heck!? Their village is more prosperous than my pack¡¯s!) Apparently, the Ancient forest has more history than the Easteria forest, so the Goblins are living more sophisticated lives. Well, I¡¯m sure the clothes the Goblins are wearing were taken from the other races they captured¡­ Besides, I don¡¯t think they can make sewable linen cloth since it would at least require a primitive loom and some skill. When I took a quick look around, I saw a large house in the middle of the settlement that was covered on all sides by a wooden fence of about 130 m per side, and about 40 large and small houses were built around it. The house in the center is probably the chieftain¡¯s house which has a prison for captive females such as Humans and Elves. Meanwhile, at the northwestern side of the village, there was a ranch where boar-type monsters and the bipedal Land Lizard monster mounts are kept. I wonder if they¡¯ve ever considered having those as emergency food during times of famine? (Judging by the size of the building and the lot area, there should be about a dozen Cavalry Goblins.) And when I turned my gaze to the Eastern part of the village, I saw a small cultivated area that draws water from the river, and the remains of a primitive draft furnace after it was dismantled, so it seems they can process steel too¡­ Also, from the training facilities like the arena, the presence of archers must be considered. (They have all the facilities that I¡¯ve wanted to build for my pack village¡­) I was already annoyed by this, and my feelings were somewhat inclined to cooperate with Silva and her team, but there were other reasons as well. In the first place, the Goblins have always been our natural enemies because they competed with Kobolds for territory, and I couldn¡¯t overlook the fact that this hostile race is becoming more civilized. If we¡¯re not careful, there¡¯s also a possibility that they¡¯ll move north and invade Easteria forest too. (Alright, let¡¯s burn this place down and get rid of those Goblins!) After taking some time to determine the state of the village and its battle strength, I left my hiding place and returned to the other Kobolds who were hiding in a place about 10 km away. CH 114 Know a foreign language (or two) and want to translate a novel you¡¯re interested in? Join us! We are currently recruiting Japanese and Korean translators and English editors. For interested parties, please contact Mystique on our Discord server to guide you through the recruitment process. And while there are no plans to host Chinese novels yet, feel free to drop your application so we can contact you once we host them! ========================================================================================================================= In the meantime, the three other Kobolds who were advised to stay in the Royal Castle until the search party that went out to look for Archer returned and were enjoying ¡­ dinner. ¡°Wau? Kuruou vaaruu!¡± (Hmm? Doesn¡¯t this taste slightly like honey?) ¡°Kurua~n!¡± (It¡¯s delicious, isn¡¯t it?) While eating a rare ox steak with his hands, the big blue Kobold created a happy atmosphere in the Royal dining hall while the fox-tailed Dagger also joined in and beamed. Also dining with them was Aristia, the newly-crowned Elf Queen who had high concentrations of High Elf blood in her body. She was separated from her parents at an early age and she did not have any people whom she could call relatives, so the dining hall was rarely occupied by so many people at a time. Since the demise of the previous Queen, Claudia, whom she secretly loved like a mother, the only people who had used the dining hall were Eliza, her closest childhood friend whom she met at the Royal Castle when she first arrived, and the other Priestesses of the World Tree who she works with often. But today, she had invited over her new friends with whom she had shared meals and slept together for almost a month. ¡°Guruo uwau kuruaooooou, uwau oruan guruaaaou.¡±(I heard that everybody likes honey, so I had some food made with it.) Today, Eliza wore a dress and took some effort to beautifully style her curly hair. She explained the dishes with a composed expression. In addition to the freshly cut steak that had been marinated with honey and grilled, there was also honey toast with nuts sprinkled on top and even honey wine¡­ and other dishes made with honey. Eliza might be a bookworm, but she has a keen interest in new things. However, because she is someone from a prominent family, she could not freely explore, so the Kobolds that Aristia had brought with her piqued Eliza¡¯s curiosity. (¡­ I told her this was too much.) As she bit into her honey toast that was dripping with honey, the mistress of the castle, Aristia, was dumbfounded by the ridiculous amount of honey-based dishes on the table. She also liked sweet food, but¡­ there was nothing on the table except sweet dishes. (It seems Ax and Dagger are enjoying themselves, but¡­) She takes a glance at the black-armed Kobold. (I¡¯ve only known him for a short while compared to the others so I don¡¯t know what he likes, but¡­ I wonder if he likes sweet food too?) ¡°Kuaruu guruguouaruu¡­ Wau?¡± (The smell alone could make me full¡­ Hmm?) Drinking some of the honey wine and shredding the meat into small pieces before popping them into his mouth, Buster suddenly looked in Aristia¡¯s direction. ¡°Gaoaruooou?¡± (Does it suit your taste?) ¡°Wafi woruaaau¡­ Gao kuaruooaaan.¡± (It¡¯s good to have something like this every once in a while¡­ Besides, we¡¯ve been in your care, so I ain¡¯t complaining.) At first, all three of them wanted to go and look for their pack leader, but they were held back by the barrier around the Royal Capital, which was being regulated by Aristia¡¯s magic. The barrier is spread out over a wide area around the capital, so if they wandered off, they would have suffered a terrible fate. As the Elves are not affected by the effects of the barrier, they also had an option to accompany the search team as they set out, but¡­ in the unlikely event that they were separated by a monster attack or some other trouble, it was going to be a problem. So to avoid secondary damage, the three Kobolds agreed to Aristia¡¯s proposal and decided to stay in the Royal Castle for several days after some careful explanation. But the only reason they easily agreed to the arrangement was the belief that the silver Kobold would be fine. It was the same for Aristia, and the fear that she had stifled when she first saw the silver-furred, golden-eyed dog monster standing against the moonlight had now been replaced by trust. (If it¡¯s him, then there¡¯s nothing to be worried about¡­ No, I am worried he might do something out there after all. I mean, he did climb the World Tree without permission¡­ And thanks to that, I¡¯ve been having trouble sleeping lately. Geez!) The reason she was writhing from the sensation of crawling all over her body is because she had forgotten to turn off the sensory link between her and the World Tree, but it seems she had not taken that into account. Aristia was worried about Archer in a lot of ways, but there were more pressing issues she had to attend to at the moment. Well, that¡¯s not something I should think about during a meal, so I¡¯ll just put it off for now, Aristia thought as she happily went back to her dinner. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The city of Elwind, where the World Tree Affectio (Affection) is located, is a two-day travel southwest from the Royal Capital Elfast. And it was three days ago, around the time when the rebels rioted in the Royal Capital, that a messenger from the Philland Republic arrived in the city. The Philland Republic is the only nation in the west that came to possess a World Tree after it signed a peace treaty with the Elves at the end of the Battle of the Forest Garden 600 years ago. However, Queen Claudia, the reigning monarch at that time, cut off diplomatic relations after only a few years, believing that the new values rapidly coming from the Republic would be poisonous to the Elves¡¯ concept of a hierarchical clan society. Naturally, the messenger should not have been able to make his way through the barrier surrounding the Elven cities, but¡­ During the assassination attempt on the current queen, a large amount of life force was consumed from the World Tree Aion (Eternity) to keep her alive. And because of this, some energy was also transferred from the World Tree Affectio in Elwind via the leylines, thus creating temporary gaps in its barrier system. But even with the gaps in the barriers, it was still effective against warding away Humans, so the messengers sent were the Half-Elves, whose ear spans are only half as long as normal Elves¡¯. Meanwhile, at the encampment of the 2nd Division of the Philland Republican Army which was several kilometers away from the city of Elwind, Leiard, a Half-Elf Republican Councilor who was accompanied by 2,000 members of the expeditionary force, muttered as he recalled the events from the other day. ¡°Hmm, so they are calling us false Elves¡­ Well, since the city of Elwind is my mother¡¯s former hometown, I¡¯ll make sure to give them my utmost respect.¡± CH 115 Needless to say, part of the reason Leiard became a ¡°fake Elf¡± was because of the events involving the Grove of the Ancient Guardians* at that time. Nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t help but feel frustrated at being called derogatory names. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the White Elves, in particular, are very obsessed with bloodlines¡­¡± Depending on which clan their parents belonged to, the Half-Elves were also divided into white, pale, and wheat-skinned groups. However, because their numbers were few and they are discriminated against in the Republic, their cohesion is tight regardless of their skin color. Practically all the Half-Elves are gathered under Leiard, which shows the high level of camaraderie among them. To begin with, he was the one who had the most privileged upbringing among the Half-Elves born in the early days. Leiard¡¯s mother, a White Elf called Eleanor, was bought as a concubine by his father, a great nobleman, because of her beauty. And although this was how they met, his father loved his mother dearly and raised Leiard as the next head of the family despite all the opposition. Unfortunately, even though his father¡¯s love for his wife and child was genuine, his mother Eleanor could not accept his affection and died of illness¡­ In any case, Leiard was fortunate to become the head of a powerful house in the aristocracy, so he either bought or hired Half-Elves who were in harsh conditions at the time. As a result, a total of more than 250 Half-Elves and Quarter-Elves are gathered under him. And because they lived a long life, many of them have taken advantage of their strengths to take important positions in the Republic. Another one of them was Ragiel, the 2nd Division Commander of the Republic Army, who came along thanks to the appointment of Leiard, the special envoy who had full authority over the expedition. ¡°The deadline is the day after tomorrow, but I wonder what kind of response our messengers would bring us? What do you think, Master Leiard?¡± By the way, the younger generation of Half-Elves who were taken in by Leiard are all under his tutelage, so many of them use the honorific title of ¡°Master¡± in informal settings. ¡°Considering the report from Merida, I¡¯d say nine out of ten would refuse.¡± ¡°Thought so.¡± Suddenly, a voice calls out from behind them, and the two turn around to see a Black Half-Elf with wheat-colored skin and silver hair approaching them. ¡°How is Elwind doing?¡± ¡°There hasn¡¯t been anything to note so far, so it seems that our warning not to make any poor decisions seems to be effective.¡± Leiard nods to the response and reminds the younger Elf after some thought. ¡°While there might be a low chance that the barriers will become fully operational soon, the possibility is still there, so please be careful.¡± ¡°Yes, leave it to me! Oh, Master, how about a drink after all this is over?¡± After welcoming the Scoutmaster Merida, who flirtatiously tilted her head, the Republican envoy gazed out from the encampment into the depths of the forest where the city of Elwind was located and let out a light sigh. (¡­If we are going to do this, we must do it with the least amount of sacrifice.) The significance of the World Tree in the Republic is so great that they were prepared to use forceful means as necessary. In addition to its financial value as one of the Republic¡¯s national budget sources, the World Tree was also recognized as the nation¡¯s symbol. Moreover, the fact that the Republic is the only country in the west that can produce the resources derived from the World Tree is also significant and helps them gain an advantage in diplomatic relations. So if the Tree were to die, it would certainly be a factor in the decline of their motherland. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ In the early hours of the morning, the Prime Minister and his daughter, and the World Tree Priestess Listy were all gathered in the spacious private chambers of Queen Aristia, holding documents prepared by the bureaucrats and discussing them. ¡°In particular, this reopening of diplomatic relations is a problem¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it might be unusual, but I agree with your father on this one.¡± ¡°¡­ Although it was my own fault that caused the political unrest, the problem is deeply rooted in the concepts that originally flowed from the Philland Republic 600 years ago.¡± Thanks to the efforts of the coalition of the moderate and conservative reformists, the revolutionary tone that resulted in violence had died down, but the gap caused by the dispute between the Black Elf clans, who sought to gain more rights, and the White Elves, who were the ruling class, was too deep to be settled overnight. In this situation, except for some members of the aristocracy, it would be too risky to get involved with the Republic who had a more liberated approach, and would only make the situation chaotic, not to mention that it would allow them to overrun the Ancient Forest by taking advantage of the gaps in their barriers. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we can¡¯t have the Republican troops stationed at Elwind City loitering around, can we? After all, they might be there as insurance against the city¡¯s barrier, but¡­¡± Just as Eliza says while playing with her curly hair, even if the Republic could get the Elves to accept the conditions they presented, if the barriers were restored after the event, then interference from the outside would be blocked. Therefore, their intention of taking the city of Elwind as a hostage was obvious. ¡°We should also refuse their request to treat the World Tree Memoria (Memory). After all, if we gave in to their demands and their show of power, then they will only look down on us. ¡± Aristia meditates on Prime Minister Theodore¡¯s suggestion for a while. ¡°Listy, is it possible to connect the World Tree Aion to Memoria through the earth¡¯s ley lines despite the distance?¡± ¡°It was originally connected to Affectio. However, even though we chose the land it was planted on, it seems the connection has been severed and the location has become the nation¡¯s capital now, so I¡¯m afraid we cannot take care of it from here.¡± A World Tree has the ability to grow fast, so by the time it was handed over to the Philland Republic, it had already grown sufficiently to provide the Humans with leaves for elixirs and branches for making magical tools. Fearing interference from the Ancient Forest, it was believed that the Republic probably severed its connection through the earth¡¯s ley lines to make it independent from the other trees. And even now, the chances of them allowing the Elves to connect to the tree were nil without any kind of guarantee. ¡°¡­And what is the status of the barrier surrounding Elwind City?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid it still hasn¡¯t been restored to its original state, Your Majesty.¡± Prime Minister Theodore¡¯s face clouded over at Listy¡¯s explanation. ¡°According to the additional reports from Elwind City, we have confirmed that at least 2,000 soldiers from the Republic are camped near the barriers and their actual fighting force, excluding the Transportation Units, are at approximately 1,600 personnel.¡± ¡°What about the status of our soldiers stationed there?¡± ¡°The only ones who could respond are about 260 soldiers from the Royal Capital. If we enlisted the help of the Black Elves and gave them equipment, then we could gather around a thousand people, but¡­¡± Even though Aristia didn¡¯t want to think that the presence of a foreign enemy would cause further in-fighting between the clans, the Prime Minister¡¯s unexpressed intentions were what worried her the most. ¡°¡­ Depending on the situation, they could also be targeting the Royal Capital, so please make preparations. Also, please instruct the cities of Elreic and Eldart to send over reinforcements as soon as possible.¡± ¡°So in terms of military force, I think we¡¯re on equal footing, Your Majesty. However, I¡¯m sure the Republic won¡¯t stand idly either.¡± As Eliza put it, the deadline for responding to the conditions presented by the messenger of the Republic was set so the Elves could not make any unnecessary moves to provide any decent assistance to the city of Elwind. (Of course, I understand where you¡¯re coming from, but we¡¯re stuck on both sides¡­) Aristia released a heavy sigh at Eliza¡¯s suggestion. ¡°¡­ This is just a bit of wishful thinking, but may I suggest something?¡± ¡°Yes, you may.¡± ¡°The terms set by the special envoy of the Republic may seem one-sided, but they do show some consideration for us.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I do not know what is going on with the Humans, but they do not seem to have any intention of making things worse¡­ At the very least, I think they need our assistance with the World Tree in their possession.¡± After collecting her thoughts for a while, Eliza continues, ¡°Let us allow them to stay in the city of Elwind and continue negotiations. At the very least, it would give us some time to restore the barriers and we could also prepare our troops so that they cannot go through.¡± ¡°Besides, it will be harder for them to act out if they are politely invited,¡± she added. And like this, a messenger was dispatched to the city of Elwind to inform the other party. The 2nd Division of the Republican Army then took up a position on the outskirts of the city, and Eliza was assigned to take charge of the negotiations. CH 116 Similar to the other cities, the municipal office of Elwind City also stands at the base of its World Tree, Affectio. And from within it, several men and women of Half-Elf descent looked tired as they came out and made their way back to their encampment on the city¡¯s outskirts. ¡°¡­ That Eliza has already mastered the art of being fake despite being so young.¡± ¡°Yeah, talking to that woman makes me so tired¡­¡± Merida, Leiard¡¯s escort, nods as she remembers the negotiations they have been doing with the Elves these past few days. There were three main conditions set out by the Philland Republic: the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two nations, the deployment of the 2nd Division in Elwind City, and the healing of the World Tree Memoria. In exchange, the soldiers of the 2nd Division will be responsible for defending the Ancient Forest, but¡­ It¡¯s a given that a nation can¡¯t just easily rely on another nation¡¯s military force to take care of their territory¡¯s defense. ¡°¡­Resuming our diplomatic relations with them is proving to be a bottleneck isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes, just as expected, the timing was bad if you think about their political instability¡­¡± ¡°Master, I have an idea!!¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hear it.¡± At her mentor¡¯s behest, Merida shares her idea with a wide smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go ahead and incite the Black Elf Clans to take action?¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s no good.¡± ¡°Eh~ you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°If you want to throw the ¡®Ancient Forest¡¯ into chaos, then that¡¯s good and all, but¡­ What we want is the cooperation of those higher-ups with High Elf blood who can manage the World Tree.¡± After all, the purpose of their expedition was to extend the life of the Republic¡¯s World Tree, Memoria, and to increase the country¡¯s power by re-establishing diplomatic relations. If they caused chaos within the country, then there was a risk of losing the person they needed to help them. (But still, it¡¯s hard to get through that little minx¡­) The other party¡¯s intention is obviously to stall, but talking to Lady Eliza makes me think that the negotiation will go well. It seems as if we¡¯re being manipulated, but negotiations with most countries are like that. ¡°Merida, send out scouts to investigate the gaps in the barriers around the Royal Capital. If you find any suspicious activity from the other cities such as sending out military reinforcements, we will immediately take over this city by force.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we do it now? We can just cut off their access to the World Tree Affectio through the ley lines and snatch away their Priestesses so they can¡¯t repair the barriers, right?¡± ¡°I would like to continue with the negotiations as long as we can achieve our goals through peaceful means.¡± (We are just prioritizing the best interests of our country even though we were victims of the previous war they caused.) Leiard thought as he discussed the subjugation of the city with his Division Commander Ragiel back at camp. Several figures watched from the shadows a while later just as people moved about in the encampment around dinner time. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Guruu garuon?¡± (Is it really possible?) Eliza, who was dispatched from the Royal Capital as a negotiator, speaks to the big, blue Kobold in a whisper. ¡°U~, gaofu garuaoh.¡± (Hmm~ it¡¯s probably going to be fine.) Ax¡¯s eyes turn a deep red as a menacing light that is contrary to his gentle nature radiates from his body. The huge Kobold, whose blue eyes have turned red, stabbed the sharp end of his Duel Shield into the ground and leaned his Battle Axe beside it to free both of his hands. ¡°Guruoo vuruuoan.¡± (If we¡¯re going to do this, please do it quickly.) ¡°Wauo.¡± (Understood.) Buster focused his sense of smell while holding his Greatsword, while Dagger twitched her ears to pick up the sounds around them. They were near enough from the other party¡¯s military base so they could not stay long and had to exercise caution. It all started before Eliza left the capital. Eliza got along with the other Kobolds after sharing a meal with them, so she visited their room thinking that it would be better to tell them about the current situation. ¡°Sigh, I wonder if we can get rid of them without any fuss.¡± During their talk, Eliza unconsciously dropped a complaint, to which Ax responded, ¡°Wau~, gauoau kuruaaan? Wafioaaan!¡± (Hnn~, so these people are troubling you? Maybe we can work something out!) His kind-hearted words were suspicious, but if it worked, there was a good chance that they would negotiate a better deal, so they worked out the details that led to their present situation. ¡°Waoa, garuaan.¡± (Then, I¡¯ll begin, okay?) Eliza blends her consciousness with nature and connects the World Tree¡¯s vitality to Ax through the ley lines. ¡°Zerunes forea exgia viela ludo.¡± (Bestow the World Tree¡¯s blessings to this Guardian of the Forest.) Kobolds were originally affiliated with earth attributes, so they had good compatibility with the World Tree. Therefore, the connection between Ax and the World Tree came naturally, and it became possible to draw power from the World Tree Affectio through the ley lines. ¡°Wau, wafurua~n.¡± (Ah, this feels so nice.) The Blood Malady that only affects humans can be dispersed as long as there is a surplus of life force due to its blood-boosting effect. However, with Ax¡¯s normal status, he was at risk of becoming anemic if he infected 60 to 100 people a day, so Eliza proposed to connect him to the World Tree. The results turned out favorably, and a blood mist spurted out from both palms of the Kobold whose eyes have turned red! ¡¾Activated£ºBlood Malady: Blood Mist (human-specific)¡¿ Ax¡¯s gentle nature has mitigated the curse and reduced its potency somewhat, so even though it has the characteristic healing magic invalidation and immediate inability to move, it is not lethal anymore. So if the infected person is in good health, then they would only suffer from high fever and vomit blood for a week or two. In addition to being told by their Chief to use their newly-acquired abilities, Ax instinctively understands that it is not lethal, which is why he can use the Blood Mist even though he has a gentle personality. However, if the Blood Malady user has a pre-existing medical condition or is physically weak, then it may be impossible for them to use it¡­ ¡±Viel meias!¡± (O wind, be our guide!) The Blood Mist was then carried out by the magical wind that Eliza, who was also a High Wizard Elf, cast and spread into the enemy¡¯s base camp. CH 117 ¡°H-huh? I¡¯m¡­ getting¡­ weak¡­ ugh¡­¡± ¡°H-hey, what¡¯s wrong!? Urgh, ah¡­ huh¡­?¡± The two soldiers who were standing on guard suddenly slumped on the ground and struggled to get up. However, not only have their limbs suddenly gotten weak, but they also developed a high fever. ¡°Wh-what is this¡­ gahah, eh!? B-blood?¡± In yet another place on the camp, a soldier who was preparing the plates for the meals suddenly coughed and fell in surprise as he spat out blood onto the dinnerware he was carrying. Similar episodes were also experienced by the other soldiers throughout the camp, but the Half-Elves were the only ones who could still move despite feeling some discomfort. ¡°Guh, hey, are you alright? Get the medics!¡± ¡°They can¡¯t come, they¡¯re also down!!¡± A Half-Elf Knight held up a soldier who collapsed and used Earth Heal on him, but the effect was only momentary and could not stop the soldier¡¯s pained groans. ¡°What the, hey! Someone explain what¡¯s going on!!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on either, Commander! All the Humans just¡­¡± Ragiel, who emerged from one of the tents grabbed the collar of one of the confused Half-Elf Knights and demanded an explanation of what was going on, but Leiard, who also got out of the tent, stilled his hand. ¡°¡­ Calm down, Ragiel.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master.¡± Leiard looked around and observed the other Half-Elf¡¯s condition. ¡°Nggh, I don¡¯t feel good either, but¡­ the Humans have it worse.¡± He walks over to a nearby Medic who had collapsed and drops to one knee, touching his forehead as he assesses the situation. ¡°The high-grade fevers, loss of strength in the extremities, and other symptoms seem to affect the humans more than us. Moreover, this smell of blood mixed in the air¡­This might be the Bleeding Disease.¡± Even though he thought it was impossible, Leinard quickly decided and instructed the Half-Elves in the vicinity. ¡°Everyone, bring the collapsed individuals into the tents, and don¡¯t go out! Do not touch the blood they threw up either!!¡± Although none of the Half-Elves have collapsed, they were still feeling unwell. After all, they also had human blood running in them, so they had to be knowledgeable and aware of epidemics that could cause enormous damage to humankind. ¡°M-Master, I¡¯ll send out the scouts.¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t do that¡­ If the opponent is the white-masked entity Alvesta, then there will only be more casualties.¡± Leiard responded to Merida without looking back and tried to recall the rumors he had heard in the capital before their expedition. (I think there was some news from the Holy Church that it had been subdued or something¡­ Rather, that can¡¯t appear here, so this must be the work of the Elves.) ¡°Master, hurry up and get in!¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Leiard was too absorbed in his thoughts to move, so Merida pushed him back into the tent. The next day, the damage assessment revealed that 60 percent of the army, or about 1,200 people, including the Quarter-Elves, were infected with the Bleeding Disease. They also found out that the only ones left were the Soldiers who were out of the path of the miasma that spread throughout the camp yesterday. ¡°The Half-Elves seem to be recovering, but¡­ it seems treatment is impossible for the Quarter-Elves.¡± ¡°I agree, they are not responding to the healing magic either¡­ There¡¯s no proof yet, but it¡¯s clear that this was an attack made by the Elves. For them to do such a nasty thing¡­ Damn them, were they just using the negotiations as a front to trick us?¡± Just as Ragiel said, the timing was too perfect, so the perpetrators could only be the Elves. Leiard felt his anger rise thinking about it, but he could not blame them either since they were being aggressive towards the Elves from the start as well. (It seems we¡¯re already at a stalemate¡­) The number of their available troops was still four times more than Elwind¡¯s, but they were at a disadvantage due to the number of sick people they had. (Should we just abandon the affected personnel and conquer the city? ¡­ No, that would be foolish. If we did that, then we¡¯ll just repeat the series of events from the previous war, won¡¯t we!?) And even if they went on the offensive, they would just be crushed faster if they were to go by the events from the previous day. ¡°Master, it¡¯s time to go¡­¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Even though they were in the midst of a crisis, Leiard took several of his troops and marched towards Elwind¡¯s city hall to continue negotiations. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Your Excellency, won¡¯t you listen to our request again?¡± The Half-Elf with near-white skin and pale jade eyes tried to reason with the city mayor. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lord Leiard. We are prepared to assist the affected soldiers since I¡¯ve heard that quite a number of your troops have suffered from hemorrhagic fever. After all, they won¡¯t be able to get back in that condition, won¡¯t they?¡± ¡°¡­ Very well, what are your conditions?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s about our conditions, then I will be taking over from here.¡± Eliza made eye contact with the city mayor and continued, ¡°Our conditions are simple, please disarm.¡± ¡°To put it simply, are you asking us to surrender? We have no idea what happened yesterday, but it¡¯s clear you¡¯ve already won. How shameless.¡± Leiard responds by ordering the wheat-skinned Half-Elf escort to stand down and the latter promptly goes quiet. ¡°Lady Eliza, just as Merida said, that is tantamount to ordering us to surrender. Is your confidence in issuing this condition coming from the fact that yesterday was your doing?¡± ¡°No, I have no clue about what you are talking about. But either way, considering the provisions you have in place, wouldn¡¯t it be hard for your party to move out immediately?¡± Eliza responded calmly, but Leiard and the other soldiers felt a slight chill when she inquired about the situation of their camp. Unbeknownst to Leiard¡¯s group, even though the Blood Malady skill had a synergistic effect with the energy coming from the World Tree and Eliza¡¯s wind magic, it still posed a threat, so Eliza had made sure multiple times that that Kobold¡¯s ability would not affect the Elves. (If it is our provisions¡­ We have enough for a month, but since the whole Transport Unit is incapacitated, then it would be hard to bring the supplies from the neighboring cities.) If they didn¡¯t have a means of transporting the goods, then it was useless no matter how many supplies were given to them by the neighboring cities of the Republic. ¡°We still have enough strength to engage in battle. We can¡¯t just go home empty-handed.¡± The Prime Minister¡¯s daughter chuckles at the obvious mix of bluff and threat that Leiard was throwing at them and says, ¡°After you disarm, we will assist in treating the World Tree Memoria just as you requested. It¡¯s painful for us to see a World Tree wither and die after all¡­¡± (Can we¡­ trust them? Perhaps the wards around the cities of the Grove of the Ancient Guardians broke down because they have also consumed too much of the life force of the World Trees just like us and it is not something that can be immediately repaired.) If that were the case, then the Republic can make contact with the Elves for a while provided they don¡¯t do anything rash. (Besides, there¡¯s not much we can do at this point, so I guess this is where we¡¯ll have to settle¡­) ¡°Merida, I¡¯m sending a message to the homeland. Tell them we are stationed in the target city, but due to the extensive damage caused by a local epidemic, we are seeking to withdraw. Please also add that the Elves are going to lend us assistance in healing the World Tree.¡± ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll tell them that and have them restore the Tree¡¯s connection to Affectio too.¡± When the negotiations were roughly decided, the expressions of everyone present at the negotiations relaxed. After the talks were over, the members of the Republic¡¯s army retreated, leaving only a handful of soldiers in the camp for self-defense. A few days later, Aristia attempted to heal Memoria from Elfast through the World Tree¡¯s restored link to Affectio in the city of Elwind, and certain results were confirmed from the Republic¡¯s side. At the same time, except for some with severe symptoms, more than a thousand soldiers from the Philland Republic¡¯s Army who had been lying ill gradually recovered and returned home, and as a result, the series of incidents came to an end without unnecessary bloodshed on both sides. Additionally, Aristia also rewarded the big blue Kobold who played an active role behind the scenes with a large amount of honey and an honorary title¡­ ¡¾Title Added£ºYggdrasil Knight¡¿ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ As for Archer, the story goes back a few days before the three Kobolds became involved in the Elves¡¯ affairs¡­ CH 118 Surprisingly, the other Kobolds were more unique than I first thought. ¡°Gaou, vurua guruo auruon.¡± (That¡¯s why I told you to listen to me!) ¡°Vao, kuruau garuiruaaan!¡± (No, I¡¯ll just end up getting convinced if I do!) The huge, prick-eared Kobold covered both of his ears while arguing back. Well, I was talking to convince them, but¡­ the other Kobolds from the Ancient Forest just nodded as they observed from the sidelines. ¡°U~, guaruou gaauaoru kyuoruaa~n.¡± (Hnn~, Lord Gavi always gets him to agree to things, so I don¡¯t blame him.) ¡°¡­Aruo, kuoru wogurua guoaruoon?¡± (¡­Shiro, stop badmouthing Lord Gavi like that.) The white, fluffy-haired Shiro spoke in his usual laid-back tone while Hasta, the manly, black and white Kobold who was sitting nearby, reproached him. Also in attendance were Shiro¡¯s pack and Hasta¡¯s men who were in their care. In terms of numbers, their forces were greater than the enemy¡¯s. Sliva, who possessed silver fur like me, led 30 Kobold Warriors. Blau also had the same number on his side, while Hasta and Shiro¡¯s combined forces equaled to around 40 more Warriors. However, the Kobold Warriors who gathered to beat back the Goblins¡­ lacked unity. I sighed inwardly and thought, ¡°¡­they¡¯re such a disorderly bunch.¡± At first, we got along well after I got back from scouting the Goblin¡¯s village and we shared a meal, but¡­ things got complicated the moment I came up with a specific plan of attack. Even now, I took a bite from the dried meat I received earlier as I watched Blau, Silva, and Shiro battle it out for control. (This smoked meat is pretty good¡­ maybe I could have Smith study how this is made when we get back so everybody can have it for winter too.) It was just salted meat smoked with some wood chips, but it would keep well. With a Kobold¡¯s taste buds, it would be difficult to eat without removing the excess salt, but¡­ unlike dogs, we could tolerate salt to some extent, so we could also prepare some rations just like the Kobolds of the Ancient forest does. In addition to the smoked meat, each pack had gathered 3-4 days¡¯ worth of food, including nuts, so there was no need for us to procure food in the Goblins¡¯ territory. Well, if the 100 or so Kobolds tried to procure food within the territory, there was a high chance that we would encounter the Goblins before or after catching prey, and the smell of blood from the meat processing could expose our encampment. Moreover, if we approach their village, their scouts would probably spot us, so it was best that we delay engagement for as long as possible. (But these parts are also under their control¡­.) I switched my attention and focused on what Blau and Silva were saying. ¡°Guu, gaaruoaau gaawa kuaruguo wafih!!¡± (But why didn¡¯t Gavi come along when he was the one who proposed to fight together in the first place!?) ¡°Gaawagao vofa faruuoruau? Voruooonn!¡± (Have you forgotten that Lord Gavi had already passed his 60th spring? Don¡¯t be absurd!) Hnn? So Elder Kobolds had such long life spans¡­ ¡°Kuh, gauah, kuoaruoon! Ruouuh guoruaaaaann!!¡± (Kuh, enough, this is getting us nowhere! Let¡¯s just talk with our fists!!) ¡°UWOOOOOOON!!¡± Blau imbued some power into his thick arms as he thrust them out, and the prick-eared Kobolds behind him howled to show their support. Meanwhile, some of the black and white Kobolds also howled, but they quieted down immediately when Hasta glared at them. ¡°Va, guguugaau kuaaunn!¡± (No, I¡¯m at a disadvantage no matter where you look at it!) Unlike me, Silva is a proper High Kobold, which means she is classified as a Sorceress. In other words, even if she has a slim and toned figure, it was still going to be impossible for her to hit Blau. It is a tacit understanding that fights among Kobolds should be in the form of fistfights to avoid fatal injuries. So in this sense, save for a few exceptions, magic-type Kobolds cannot become pack leaders even if they were useful to the pack. ¡°Gauh, kuaruoooun, vau gaua?¡± (Tsk, you¡¯re such a weakling, what about you, Hasta?) ¡°Gauo, aruo?¡± (What do you wanna do, Shiro?) The black and white Kobold glances at the pack leader who had been taking care of his group. ¡°Guruu kuruaru~n, vaa, vau guruoaou~¡± (Well, I¡¯m also weak, so Hasta will be my representative~) ¡°WOAAAAANNN!!¡± The Kobolds following him howled in support, but this time Hasta did not silence them and looked at Silva to confirm her participation. ¡°Guruoaoon? Guu gauoruaan guoruvaau¡­¡± (Are you guys sure about this? I won¡¯t go easy on you even if you complain later¡­) ¡°Kuoh, guuh! Waoa, guruoaou garuuh!¡± (Geez, fine! Then, he will be my representative!) ¡°Wafu?¡± Silva suddenly pointed at me. ¡°Wo vorufaruo woaaouh, garuaaan?¡± (Your well-trained body isn¡¯t just for decoration, isn¡¯t it? You can do it, right?) ¡°Guruon¡­ woooau guruaoou?¡± (I don¡¯t mind, but¡­ If I win, you guys have to do as I say, alright?) I warned her. ¡°Gaauaagao guruvaruuo¡­ guruoan?¡± (He¡¯s the same type as Lord Gavi¡­ but is everyone okay with that?) ¡°Wauh.¡± (Sure.) With the support of Silva and her pack, I joined the other two, and, like them, removed the leather armor that restricted my movement. In the meantime, the Kobolds surrounding us had moved away, creating some open in the middle of the sparse forest. But even if it¡¯s a sparse area, there are still some trees growing in it¡­ ¡°Kuuoaaan, ruaworu.¡± (I¡¯m counting on you, young Sage Archer.) ¡°Vaau, woruua kyuoaan garuoon¡± (Hasta, I¡¯ll heal you if you get hurt, so good luck~) The silver and white Kobolds, both shouted out carefree encouragements as they backed up and joined the outer circle. ¡°Waa, gaoaru woruauuoon.¡± (Then whoever remains standing wins.) ¡°¡­Waon.¡± (¡­Understood.) Hasta nodded at Blau¡¯s declaration. In the case of a three-way fight, the one who is left out of the fight is at a disadvantage, so it seems everyone will attack at the same time, but¡­ (Oh, that¡¯s right, outsiders are usually taken out first¡­) The large, light brown Kobold and the black and white Kobold turned their sharp gazes at me. As I nodded to show my agreement, I filled my whole body with earth-type magic and slowly breathed out. ¡°Fuuuu¡­..h, wooooonn!!¡± ¡¾Activated£ºAdamantine Body (Earth-attribute type)¡¿ In an instant, my body buffed up as I was clad in steel-like muscles. Part of the reason I was easily persuaded by Silva is that I didn¡¯t mind fighting. (Hah, don¡¯t underestimate the skills of a battle-hungry mercenary!!) I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s just because of my wild instincts, but ever since I¡¯ve been in this body, I¡¯ve always loved to fight. CH 119 The surrounding Kobolds flinched as I turned muscular due to the effects of Adamantine Body¡­ ¡°Vo, voruu¡­¡± (Yet another strange skill¡­) ¡°Wau, guruuwaonn, gurua!¡± (It¡¯s fine, Hasta!) We kept an eye on each other as we backed away until each of us took our positions in the triangular formation¡­ After a while, I went into a fighting stance with both my right foot and right arm positioned in front. I then looked at Hasta who was in a similar stance as me and then at Blau who had both his fists in front of him. ¡°Garuu woafu kuruaou?¡± (Can I start anytime?) I asked the two while coursing power through my limbs. ¡°Garuo kuruaon.¡± (I don¡¯t mind either way.) ¡°Wau, waruo¡­ gauh!!¡± (Then here¡­ I come!!) While the Kobolds around us were busy cheering for them, I charged as soon as Hasta answered! ¡°GURUAAAAAH!!¡± I wasted no time and instantly closed the distance to Blau and unleashed a right punch with a roar. ¡°Garuh, uruah!!¡± (What the heck, uraah!!) However, Blau took a step back and deflected my punch with his left fist, followed by a body blow counter-attack with his right. ¡°Fuh!¡± (Fuh!) I blocked the blow aimed at my solar plexus by immediately launching a knee strike as fast as I could. I then intertwined my right arm around Blau¡¯s left arm to pull him in and hit his lower jaw with a left palm strike! ¡°G-gaah!?¡± (G-gaah!?) ¡°Guruu faonn!!¡± (Sweet dreams!!) In one fluid motion, I turned my body to the right and delivered a speedy backhand blow to the back of Blau¡¯s head!! ¡°Gah, ha, ugaaaaaaaah!!¡± Despite being somewhat dazed after receiving the ¡°Lightning Wizard¡± attack which was written in the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡±, Blau remained standing and swung one of his strong arms with a shout. ¡°G-guuh.¡± (G-guuh) His defense was slightly delayed as he pulled back his left arm, so the impact of the blow to the side of his head and his raised arm was heavy. He unconsciously let out a groan on contact, but¡­ that was it. ¡°Shih!¡± And so, with a short exhalation, I drove my left fist into Blau¡¯s face, my whole body spinning inwardly at the moment of contact. The corkscrew attack added more force to my punch and it immediately rendered Blau unconscious. ¡°A¡­uu..h..¡± The prick-eared Kobolds shouted in dismay as Blau collapsed just minutes after the duel started, while the other Kobold breeds cheered. (Mustn¡¯t get distracted!) I blocked out the distracting sounds around me and immediately turned around to look for Hasta who had disappeared. ¡°Garuoah!!¡± (ORAAA!!) ¡¾Activated£ºLeg Strengthening(Intermediate / Instantaneous)¡¿ ¡°Guh!¡± (Tsk!) While I was exchanging blows with Blau, Hasta had used the opportunity to hide around the trees and launched an attack that caught me off guard! ¡°Guuuh!?¡± (Guuh!?) ¡°Gauh, garuoaaah!!¡± (Hah, I got you now!!) I crossed my arms and defended against the fast-approaching flying kick that was aimed at my face, but the weight of the kick pushed me back. But Hasta¡¯s attack didn¡¯t stop there. He used my arms as a springboard to lightly leap then launched another kick to the side of my head while he was mid-air. And because my arms were crossed in front of me, there was no way I could defend the side of my head. When I first met him in the river, I should have been wary of the fact that this iron spear user could have the same leg-strengthening skill that my comrade, Lancer, possessed, but it¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk now. ¡°Guh, uuh¡­¡± The taste of blood permeated inside my mouth after I took a direct hit from his roundhouse kick. During the moment that I was off-balance, Hasta was already poised to make another upper kick as soon as he landed. He was probably planning to kick me in the chin and knock me unconscious. ¡°V-vuruoaaaah!¡± (Don¡¯t fuck with me!) ¡°Wauh!?¡± (Tsk!) Just as he was going to raise his knee to launch the kick, I used my left foot and lightly kicked his knee to spoil the momentum. ¡°Garuruh!¡± (You¡¯re not beating me yet!) ¡°Waonn!!¡± (Yeah right!!) With his kick stopped halfway, Hasta moved backward and placed his weight on his right fist to balance himself as he ducked and defended against the cross-counter attack. Hasta, who had caught my fist that was in his line of sight, bent his neck backward to duck as another fist grazed his temple, but¡­ My aim wasn¡¯t to hit him at all. I kept my left arm locked with Hasta¡¯s right and slightly bent as I closed the slight distance and reached for his shoulder. ¡°W-wafi!?¡± (W-what!?) ¡°Guh, waoruah! Garuaaaaaah!!¡± (Gotcha! GRAAAAAAH!) I then reached for Hasta¡¯s inner thigh with my right hand, and with a burst of energy, I lifted him horizontally as I turned his body upside-down and placed him over my shoulders! * ¡°Uwooooh!?¡± (Uwooooh!?) ¡°Kuoruouh!!¡± (You¡¯re going down!!) From that position, I held Hasta up so he was slightly vertical, and as I spun around, I used his weight as I slammed his body on the ground!! ¡°Gyauh! Ugh¡­¡± After confirming that Hasta had been knocked unconscious by the ¡°Iron Flowsion¡±** which was a Muscle Arts move that Greio shared in his book, I gingerly thrust my right arm towards the moonlit sky. ¡°UOOOOOOOOAAAAANNN!!¡± ¡°GARUOOOOON!!¡± The various Kobold breeds who were watching the match roared in unison and stomped on the earth. (Ah, so the way of honoring the victor of a match is the same as we do in Easteria forest¡­) Anyway, even though we¡¯re about 10km away from the G¡¯s village, their Goblin Scouts will surely find us if any happens to be nearby¡­ CH 120 Now, the main role of the commando unit is to ¡°attack from outside the battle range¡±. Leveraging on their mobility, they will repeatedly run around the battlefield and ¡°create an air of local superiority and individually crush the enemies¡±. To do that, it is necessary that they efficiently kill the enemies while preserving their strength. Following that line of thinking, the commando unit will be composed of archers who are adept with their bows and the battle plan will be centered around shooting down the enemies. However, there were only 5 archers on Silva¡¯s pack. It was likely that the Elder Kobold known as Sage Gavi introduced the bow and arrows to his pack, but since the weapons are difficult to handle for us Kobolds, there were only 6 archers, including me. It wasn¡¯t enough to form a decent commando unit. ¡°Aruva, garufu woaru?¡± (Silva, do you have any magic users?) ¡°Kuuruh, kuuah.¡± (Kusell, Noa.) In response to her call, a male and female Kobold wearing hooded cloaks and mage¡¯s gloves came forward. Both of them were recognized by the pack and given names, so it was safe to assume that they had the appropriate skills. ¡°Kuuru, garuwaon woruo.¡± (My name is Kusell, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, sir sage.) ¡°Kuuaruo, garuofaaan.¡± (I¡¯m Noa, we¡¯ll be in your care.) The two of them bowed to me, and I briefly assessed them as I returned their greetings. ¡°Varugaua?¡± (Which magic attributes do you have?) ¡°Guruu garuguo aruou¡­¡± (Mine are earth and fire attribute¡­) ¡°N, kurua varuguoa.¡± (Well, I could only control non-attribute magic.) As Noa answered, she produced three small, faintly phosphorescent bullets on top of her palm. Non-attribute magic is a branch of magic that turns magic energy into offense and defense and is a magical attribute that only experts proficient in magic energy control could handle. ¡°Au.¡± (Like this.) After producing the three magic bullets, she let them dance around in her palm before grabbing them again and absorbing the magic energy into her body. What a skillful fellow¡­ ¡°Au, kuuo garufoa woruau¡­¡± (We¡¯ll need a couple more people who can use magic though¡­) I could also choose someone from Shiro, Hasta, or Blau¡¯s packs, but¡­ I rather prefer that the members of the commando unit come from the same pack if I were to consider coordination between the archers. ¡°Uu~, urugauru kuorua oufaruo.¡± (Hnn, if you need more from my pack, then we only have them.) Two young, male Kobolds came forward as Silva beckoned to them while talking to me. They nervously came to the center of the encampment and bowed. ¡°Garuofaaan!¡± (Thank you for this opportunity!) ¡°Woauh!!¡± (I am equally grateful!!) After they both confirmed that they were able to control wind magic, I assessed their magical abilities and determined that their magic levels were at a level that could somehow withstand actual battle. ¡°¡­Guruu, garuaau orufa, ruufau kuuaruau.¡± (¡­ I¡¯ll take my childhood friend as my wife once I prove myself and receive a name.) I overheard a somewhat worrisome conversation, but¡­ In addition to the Kobold magicians, the archers also came forward. I then divided the unit into two groups while taking the balance in battle strength into account. However, the enemy G¡¯s aren¡¯t stupid. Because they also have cavalry troops, they would probably use similar battle dominance tactics in the field¡­ In fact, when the Goblins attacked Hasta¡¯s village, it seems the advance troops of their hunting cavalry defeated the Chieftain when he and a few others remained in the village to let everyone else escape. ¡°Vurua, guurugaru foruau?¡± (Hasta, do you think you guys can hold down the enemy¡¯s cavalry troops?) ¡°¡­Guruua.¡± (¡­ Leave it to us.) The black-and-white furred Kobolds nodded as their determination quietly oozed from the surface. In the first place, everyone in Hasta¡¯s pack seemed to be equipped with iron spears that were ideal in taking down the enemy¡¯s cavalry troops, so I decided to leave it to the fearless black-and-white Kobolds led by Hasta. However, in a forest with many obstructions, it was common to assume that there would be mixed battles between small groups. To prepare for that, I added one of the furry, white Kobolds to act as a Healer for every 4 of the black-and-white Kobolds and grouped them into 5 units, and left it to Hasta to command and reorganize them. ¡°Guoru~, guruau vaaruooon¡­kyuan.¡± (So in other words~, we¡¯re going to be separated¡­ sigh) ¡°Gau, guruo woaoruo kuoruauu¡­¡± (Well, even if you guys stayed together you can¡¯t do anything anyway¡­) When I asked around, I learned that all of the fluffy, white Kobolds were proficient in healing and defense magic branches of the Holy magic attribute but could only use a few beginner¡¯s offense magic, so their breed was not suitable for group operations as a standalone unit. I wonder how I could use the Healer unit on the frontlines¡­ ¡°Garuu, garua vorufaoaan?¡± (Hey, should we also divide ourselves into groups?) ¡°Guu, gauruguau guruu gauu guruaau.¡± (Yes, I am also putting you in charge of your own pack, Blau.) I left the command of the different packs to their respective leaders to avoid unnecessary confusion. This was also the case with Silva¡¯s pack after I picked the members of the commando unit, and I tasked her with organizing the remaining members into groups the same way. After a while, the prick-eared Kobolds who teamed up with the white, fluffy Kobolds formed 7 teams with 5 to 6 members each, while Silva¡¯s pack had formed five teams as well and both Silva and Blau¡¯s teams were in charge of overseeing the operation. Well, it seems Shiro¡¯s pack frequently collaborates with the other packs, so even if they were suddenly distributed amongst the other groups, they should be able to work with them. I repeatedly emphasized that under no situation were they allowed to break away from their units to protect their packmates in the event of a crowded battle in the forest. I also warned them to be conscious of the other groups and their positions on the battlefield and gave Silva, Hasta, and Blau a basic understanding of leveraging on mobility in dispersal tactics. ¡°Gua, voruah!!¡± (Let¡¯s go!!) ¡°UWOOOOOOOON!!¡± ¡°AOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!¡± As I gave my order to depart, each group formed three rows with little spaces between them and advanced towards the Goblin¡¯s village while maintaining a semi-siege formation that could disperse and combine at any time. Meanwhile, I handed the command of the main team over to Silva and asked her to take a short break while I took the commando unit on a detour as we headed to our destination¡­ CH 121 The 1 to 2km area around the Goblin¡¯s village serves as their survey area and several groups patrol the area regularly. Of course, instead of just walking around aimlessly, they also have the minimum role of acting as scouts, and even now, the two Goblins were extra vigilant as they moved in the shadows of the trees of their assigned area. The basic rule in becoming a scout is to ¡°remain undetected¡±. In the case of a small scouting party, being discovered is directly linked to death. And if they can avoid detection, their next step is to ¡°spot the enemy first,¡± but¡­ Unfortunately for them, the Kobolds, who are their natural rivals in the race for survival, were better scouts. Aside from having battle experience, these Kobolds were also expert hunters. The Goblins were somehow smart enough to hide their scent by rubbing concoctions of boiled grass and soil on their bodies, but they cannot fool a Kobold¡¯s sense of smell. However, the Goblins¡¯ noses were not just unnecessarily large. They also had a reasonable sense of smell, so they are also able to detect the enemy through their scent even though they are a bit behind. In fact, if they cannot even do that, then they would have been eradicated by the Kobolds who share the same territory a long time ago¡­ They are also a species that has survived so long that if fate had not played a cruel joke on them, they could have replaced the Human race and become extremely prosperous. The fledgling adventurers who don¡¯t understand this are mercilessly killed, and if they are a woman, they are captured and are met with a cruel fate¡­ (Alright, this is a do-or-die situation from here on out.) Yesterday, I took several members of the commando unit and led them to a point that was about 2 km from the G¡¯s village where I had completed my preliminary inspection. While I was sharpening my senses, Oswald, the head hunter of Silva¡¯s pack, whispered to me, ¡°Woaon, woaru gaukuuo guuou.¡± (It would be difficult for us to do a covert operation from this point on.) ¡°Guu, van uooou, garuguo vuruoau¡­¡± (Yeah, the head hunter¡¯s right, their noses aren¡¯t just for show¡­) The archer with a battle scar on his forehead and the Kobold Fighters accompanying us stopped in their tracks, so I also stopped and finished what I set out to do. ¡°Garuu, waoon¡­ wofu garuoh.¡± (Yes, I know what you mean¡­ O wind, follow my command.) I manipulated the wind with my magic so that it blew in a 20m radius away from us. This was the same intermediate magic called ¡°Severed Winds¡± that the silver-haired mage Ernesta used last time when they surrounded my pack¡¯s settlement undetected. While she was able to stop the wind in the entire forest around the village, I could also do it if the area isn¡¯t too big. ¡°Wofuaou¡­ ruauo woruaan.¡± (The wind has died down¡­ So that¡¯s why you¡¯re an Elder even though you¡¯re so young.) With this, the Goblins¡¯ sense of smell will be deceived, so the next step is to mess with their sense of hearing¡­ Earlier, I was bothered by the sloshing sound that my leather canteen made, so I ended up holding it. It would be bad if it made too much noise as all living beings instinctively seek the sound of water. I can just discard the contents of the water bottle, but we could also just fill our canteens to the brim so it doesn¡¯t produce any sound. Additionally, as a last resort for keeping my quiver from producing any sound, I left two arrows on the container and tied the rest in a way that it could be easily released when needed, and returned it to the quiver. After all the archers had done the same, we put down our quivers and jumped up and down along with the mages. clink, clank ¡°Au¡­ ¡° (Ah..) ¡°Uu, kuauu.¡± (Err, I¡¯m sorry.) Sure enough, the flint, fire strikers, and other materials that were inside the waist bags of the two young Kobold mages that were added to our group clashed and made noise. The accessories Noa was wearing also made noise, and with an awkward look on her face, took them off and kept them in her waist bag. (It doesn¡¯t make sense to wear accessories on the battlefield after all..) It was just like my mercenary days when I used to look at the appearance of the nobles on the battlefield and wonder if they really wanted to fight¡­ Meanwhile, perhaps due to Oswald¡¯s guidance, the archers seemed to be highly skilled and were not wearing any useless things. I also liked the fact that they didn¡¯t make any unnecessary noises that bothered me. Anyway, as a precaution, we all squeezed our waist bags tightly and tied some hemp string around it from the base to keep it from making any noise. After taking all the possible precautions, the commando unit, who made sure that they were conspicuous with their unnatural up and down movements, took a roundabout route that was in the opposite direction from the main unit as they approached the Goblin¡¯s village¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Giu, giauh!!¡± (Se, haah!!) The tall, thin, and pale-skinned Goblin Sword Master known as Sword, silently wielded his twin swords in the Goblins¡¯ Village Square. As he holds his left iron sword diagonally as a guard, he uses his right sword to slash against the imaginary enemy while assessing its body as he goes to the side and pierces their flank with a thrust of his right iron sword. ¡°Gaah!¡± (Gaah!) And while he switches his hold on the left sword to an underhand grip, his hair whips around in the air as he turns to get around his imaginary enemy and hits him in the back with an axial thrust! ¡°Giuruh!!¡± (Pierce!) At the end of his performance, purple electricity burst from the sword he had thrust into his imaginary enemy and the air smelled of ozone. ¡°Zeu, gidirugia garuzeosu, giidogio.¡± (You¡¯ve got some moves, Lord Sword.) ¡°Giu, regusuaru berugileusu gudoru.¡± (Well, it doesn¡¯t work like this in real battles, though¡­) While sitting on a stump in the village square, Sword sheathed his twin swords and fiddled with his hair that had grown out as he responded to the horde leader Vali. (How long is this going to grow? I hope it doesn¡¯t make me look like one of those human females¡­) Now that I remember it, that human female we took from those annoying adventurers who attacked us yesterday just killed herself this morning. Hmm, we also need to go hunting soon...just as Sword released a sigh, a commotion came in from the southwest side of the village and the two Goblin scouts who had been out on surveillance came running in and knelt in front of Vali, the horde leader. According to them, they had been patrolling the forest as usual when they detected the scent of different Kobold breeds. After hiding among the brush and going downwind, they had discovered the Kobolds and came running back in a mad rush. ¡°V-varigia, garugia giuruh! Gigu gideru regudih!!¡± (L-Lord Vali, the dog people are coming and there are about a hundred of them!!) CH 122 ¡°Gigus galdoh!¡± (Sound the alarms!!) ¡°Giuh, varigia!!¡± (Yes, Lord Vali!!) One of the Goblins in the village square rushed over to the gong and rang it as Sword and Vali got a quick rundown of the details from the scouts. Meanwhile, the rest of the Goblins who heard the alarm gathered in the village square fully armed. Everyone present was in a flurry as the plaza was thrumming with nervous energy until Brave, the Goblin Hero who was now sporting tan skin and white hair emerged and gave his orders in a loud voice, ¡°Gyau, regio zekus!!¡± (Everyone, gather into squads!!) The Goblins, who were confused until a while ago, moved quickly in response to the command. The hunting cavalry gathered under the Goblin chief Vali, while the others organized under the banners of the four Goblin generals which included Brave and Sword. ¡°Rawasuh, giudekto.¡± (Sorry, I was a bit late.) Scratching his head, Brave apologized to Vali who had taken him and his horde in when they wandered into the Ancient Forest. ¡°Garugia, saisureu giuraslea.¡± (It¡¯s the dogs. It seems they¡¯re attacking from the southeastern part of the village.) ¡°Giu, garudias¡­¡± (Hmph, I¡¯ll kick their asses¡­) In a show of encouragement, Vali nodded at Brave who boldly laughed. ¡°Desta garugia giralu! Razu giisu rakuse, fiales!!¡± (The dogs are coming soon! We have the advantage in numbers, do not be afraid!!) ¡°GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± The Goblins were pretty shaken by the news of the sudden attack, but they understood that if they lost control of the situation, then the dogs would run them over. In the world of monsters, the law is survival of the fittest after all¡­ Looking at the determined faces of his people with satisfaction, Vali turns to Brave, one of his guest generals. ¡°Giru dizelku senogadoah! Dizeledo, gigiugio!!¡± (I will take the cavalry unit and attack their flank! Lord Brave, I¡¯ll leave the rest to you!!) ¡°Giuregio, varigio.¡± (You can count on me, Lord Vali.) As Vali turned and headed to the stables, several cavalry soldiers followed him out of the square. ¡°G-gigiu, giou gadiah!¡± (Brave, I¡¯ll go too!) ¡°Gii, saisurau zelugias!¡± (Sure. I¡¯ll meet you in the southeastern part of the forest!) Brave raised his sheathed greatsword to his shoulders in response to his comrade and gave his orders, leaving about 10 guards in the village to intercept attacks¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ The silver High Kobold commanding the main Kobold forces stops about a kilometer from the village and her keen sense of smell picks up on the flurry of activity from the enemy camp. ¡°Kuofa gaouruah! Wofuguruou guauruogaoah!!¡± (Everyone, get into formation! Blau¡¯s and my team will go in the front!!) ¡°Wuooon, guruoah!!¡± (Let¡¯s go boys!!) ¡°WUOOOOOOOOON!!¡± While Silva imbued magic into her voice as she gave instructions, Blau, who could not do the same thing, encouraged their brethren in a loud voice while moving from the back of the formation to the front. In conjunction with Blau, Silva gathered her troops from the sides and instructed them to move to the middle of the crowd. ¡°Vaagaru vauruoonn, gauorua woaauh!!¡± (Hasta, I¡¯ll leave the flanks to you. Watch out for attacks from the sides!!) ¡°Aruo, vaurugaoaan, guruuvaaruou.¡± (Shiro, take the left side, I¡¯ll take the right.) ¡°Voruwofu~¡± (Alrighty~) Shiro, who had a unit of his own, commanded 3 squads, while Hasta commanded 2 units and headed to the right side of the formation. After a while, the Kobolds formed a crescent moon formation and moved out. As if on cue, Silva¡¯s keen sense of smell caught the scent of many Goblins approaching, and her sensitive hearing picked up the sound of leaves crunching beneath their feet. ¡°G-garuah!!¡± (They¡¯re coming!!) Goblins of all sizes emerged from the trees nearby, and Silva carefully observed the enemy formation even as the nervous energy within their ranks became more palpable. (¡­ It¡¯s just as he predicted, it seems they left a part of their forces to protect the village.) Currently, there was an equal number of Kobold and Goblins on the battlefield. Silva recalled the young Sage¡¯s words, both sides have strong defenses, and the tides would only turn in our favor if we could find the side with the least amount of guards¡­ (But their cavalry unit will surely be here¡­) It was a situation where anything could happen. The rate of victory and defeat in a battle is attributed to at least 20 to 30 percent, while the superiority or inferiority of a group is generally decided by how many casualties either side inflicts on the other. Since no one is crazy enough to risk their lives without a chance of winning, the losing party usually starts retreating even at the risk of being pursued and taken out individually¡­ or else their whole race would be wiped out. While listening to the low growls of her brethren and the threatening roars of the Goblins, Silva focuses, takes a deep breath, and unleashes the Hellhound¡¯s roar to heighten her brethren¡¯s abilities! ¡°Vorufoaaaaaann!!¡± (Let¡¯s show them what we got!!) ¡°Gyauh, giuregioh!!¡± (My Goblin brothers, show me your valor!!) Simultaneously, another magic-imbued battle cry arose from within the Goblin ranks, which signaled the start of battle from both sides. CH 123 ¡°Giresu, giuaaaaah!¡± (Dieee, oraaaah!) ¡°Giuruah!!¡± (Die, you bastard!!) The prick-eared Kobold slams his dominant arm on the side of the head of the charging Goblin who was carrying a steel sword and a small shield and follows up with an uppercut punch. ¡°G-giu¡­h¡­¡± He was clutching a T-shaped stake when he made the punch, so the sharp tip extending from between his fingers pierced the Goblin¡¯s skull, immediately killing him¡­ ¡°Garugiausuh!¡± (How dare you, you mutt!) ¡°Uwoooh! Gubuh¡­ uu¡­ a¡± Another Goblin attacked from behind his fallen comrade and used his Iron Spear to pierce the Kobold¡¯s stomach. ¡°Gau, kuauh!¡± (Tsk, let¡¯s get outta here!) Another Kobold cut off the iron speartip and accompanied his injured comrade to the fluffy white Kobold who immediately rushed over and carefully pulled out the speartip while casting healing magic¡­ Shouts of rage rang throughout the forest as the Goblins and the Kobolds crossed blades. There were already a few casualties from both sides, and their corpses lay sprawled on the damp earth of the forest. ¡°Gi, uaah, uh¡­ah¡­¡± And at that very moment, Blau, who had his Knuckle Axes equipped, delivered a straight right punch that smashed a huge Goblin Fighter¡¯s face, instantly killing him. ¡°Guoruga wofaruooouh!!¡± (Don¡¯t just charge in recklessly!!) ¡°Kyuouh, gurua.¡± (Sorry, Chief.) While yelling at his fellow Kobold who had almost died, Blau used his knuckle blades to deliver a short uppercut against a Goblin who was attacking from his left and used his other fist to deliver a body blow. The blow from his weapon inflicted a critical injury as it created a deep gash on the Goblin¡¯s belly, causing his opponent to fall while clutching his abdomen, but¡­ the sheer number of Goblins made it impossible for Blau to let his guard down for even a moment. (Dammit, we can¡¯t get past these guys!!) Although Blau inwardly cursed at being unable to beat back the enemy, the move to divide the groups into smaller working units had a good effect on the busy battlefield. Additionally, evenly distributing the white, fluffy healer Kobolds to all the units also increased the battle capability of the Kobolds. Surprisingly, the battles were only occurring on the vanguard¡¯s side. To say it simply, if you place a large army to fight in a narrow alleyway, then the vanguard group will be the only ones who would be able to fight. This is a tactic used by small armies when fighting against large army groups to stall for time, and to fall against this tactic was a blunder in itself¡­ As it turns out, the Kobolds could get the upper hand by efficiently utilizing the vanguard. With the wisdom of Archer, the Kobolds maintained a semi-siege formation while leveraging on their mobility and managed to keep the Goblin vanguards at bay and decrease their numbers at the same time, but¡­it wasn¡¯t enough to break through the enemy ranks. ¡°Giulgah, gueru giuh!!¡± (Tear them to pieces, Blade of Light!!) ¡°Gyauuuuuh!?¡± ¡°Gauuh, uuu¡­a¡­¡± The shining Greatsword cut down two Kobolds, killing them on the spot. It seemed that no matter how effective the strategy was, it would still be difficult for the Kobolds to completely push the enemy back if there was such a huge difference in ability. ¡°Vaaruoa ¡°Gaau¡±!!¡± (Restrain the enemy, ¡°Vine Prison¡±!!) ¡°Uwoooh!?¡± After seeing her brethren fall from the blade of light, Silva recognizes the threat of the Goblin variant who carried a Greatsword and thrust her hands to the ground to launch earth-type restraint magic that caused the vines nearby to grow abnormally and bind the enemy. Meanwhile, on the left wing, just as the black and white Kobolds who Hasta entrusted to Shiro were coordinating with Silva, a tall, skinny Goblin carrying twin swords attacked by firing lightning magic at them. In response, Shiro deployed the Holy-attribute intermediate magic, ¡°Holy Barrier¡± to dispel the lightning directed at them, which weakened and scattered it into smaller light particles. ¡°Ga, gaoaouu~¡± (Whew, that was close~) But while Shiro expressed his relief, it didn¡¯t mean that they were already safe. The tall, skinny Goblin, along with the other Goblins under his command, closed the distance and attacked. ¡°GYAOAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Voaruoouh.¡± (Get your spears ready.) In response to Shiro¡¯s command, the courageous black-and-white Kobolds thrust out their iron spears to defend against the attack, but it did not stop the tall, thin Goblin. Instead, he proceeded to knock away the iron spears as he clashed blades with the enemies while immobilizing them at the same time by shocking them with the electric current that he ran through his weapon. ¡°!? Gyauuuh!!¡± In an instant, he aimed the tip of his other sword on the throat of one of the black-and-white Kobolds who had gotten paralyzed by his attack! ¡°Waouaann!!¡± (Oh no you don¡¯t!!) ¡°Gyaouh!!¡± (Tsk!!) Before the sharp iron tip even nicked his comrade¡¯s throat, Shiro immediately deployed a small shield midair and hurled it, knocking away the tall, skinny Goblin¡¯s blade. This allowed two other black-and-white Kobolds to attack the Goblin with their spears from the left and right sides, but he immediately jumped back and evaded the attack. While the other Goblins were restrained by Silva¡¯s vines, the other black-and-white Kobolds came and took away the electrocuted Kobolds, leaving them to the white, fluffy Kobolds for healing while continuing to engage the enemy in a stand-off. Meanwhile, on the right wing, in addition to using healing magic, the white, fluffy Kobolds under Hasta¡¯s command deployed defensive barriers to minimize damage and deflect the occasional attacks coming from the Goblin mages. However, a pale column of light suddenly appeared, and the Goblin cavalry who was lurking within the forest emerged from their hiding places and began to make their move. ¡°Gyawiaruh!!¡± (Attack!!) ¡°UGAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± The hunting cavalry, led by the Goblin Chieftain Vali, rode their bipedal Land Lizards towards the faint column of light coming from the right wing and attacked! ¡°Kuah, kuoah!? Aavaa!¡± (Tsk, isn¡¯t he done yet!? Archer!) Silva, who had her hands full dealing with the unexpectedly strong Goblin variants and the Cavalry attack became impatient¡­ But in that instant, smoke and flames rose from the village that the Goblins were protecting! CH 124 A few moments before the Kobold Alliance approached the village and the Goblin Warriors dashed out to engage them with angry battle cries, the elite Kobold unit observed the settlement from the bushes just outside the village¡­ (Hmm, I wonder how many guards they have left in the village¡­) While waiting for Oswald and his group to come back from checking the blindspots around the village, I was running several scenarios about our current situation in my head when I picked up the faint sounds of rustling grass. Everyone reacted to the minute sound and shifted their gaze to the bushes, including the mages who, perhaps nervous about infiltrating the enemy territory with a small number of people, turned around in a panic. (Whew, I knew that smelled like Oswald and the others!) While silently reassuring myself, I sent a hand sign to Oswald who had just come back from scouting the area. Just like the phrase, ¡°when in a foreign land, act like the natives,¡± I used the variation of hand signs that Silva¡¯s pack uses to communicate when hunting. How was it? Can¡¯t see from here, but there are five of them. So there are five guards on the northeastern side of the village¡­ The northwestern side also has five guards, so there are ten of them all in all. Of course, we still can¡¯t afford to be too careless at this point, but there was still something else worrying me. Were they there? No, neither the Greatsword one, the Twin Sword one, or the one with a missing part of his ear was around. (Tsk, so this is a miss.) I thought that if the largely-built Goblin and the tall and lean Goblin we encountered in Easteria and the large, Cavalry Goblin Leader with a missing part of his ear were around, we could take them out one-by-one, but¡­ If they came along with the group that went out to fight with the main force, then we had to hurry. While curbing my impatience, I proceeded to assess our situation with the information we had. The reconnaissance team found a total of 10 Goblins who were put in charge of defense, including 1 High Goblin Warrior, 2 large Goblin Fighters, and 7 normal Goblins that included archers. After some more new bits of intel was added and preparations were made, everyone¡¯s ears perked up as we heard the sounds of battle that were carried by the wind from the nearby battlefield which was on the southern part of the forest. (So they¡¯ve already started. We have to finish this quickly!) After nodding grimly at each other, the mages, including myself, separated from the archers and secretly infiltrated the Goblins¡¯ village, and stopped in front of the main building that was made of wood. ¡°Wao, garuoh!!¡± (Alright, burn it!!) ¡°Garuu, woruo.¡± (Yes, oh wise one.) The fire mage Kusell had a twisted smile on his face as he placed his hands in front of his chest and focused his magic. ¡°Garufauh, kuruo voarufuh!!¡± (O ancient flames, return everything to ashes!!) A high-temperature, high-density magic flame shot out from between his palms and into the building where monsters are bred as mounts for the Cavalry Goblins. The flames immediately clung onto the walls upon impact, turning from high-concentration fire magic to regular flames as it gradually spread out. ¡°Gaouaonn!!¡± (Make it bigger!) ¡°Guruaaaann!!¡± (Leave it to us!!) ¡°Wofuh, kuruaaann!¡± (O wind, go wild!) It seems there was still a Boar-type monster inside, so its cries rang out as the flames burned stronger while being controlled by the two wind users! ¡°Giuuh, giuruah!!¡± (O flames, consume the enemy!!) ¡°Vorufu, garufa!¡± (Tear them to pieces, Wind Blade!) I immediately fired a Wind Blade at the Goblin who came to check out the situation after being attracted by the flames. ¡°U-ua¡­a, giah¡­¡± The blade of wind crushed the unfortunate Goblin¡¯s face and killed him, but the warning earlier invited the attention of the other Goblins defending the village, and the large Goblin Warrior saw us as he came rushing into the village square. ¡°Gii, guagalgia giirukuh!!¡± (Tsk, shoot those dog bastards down!!) As he yelled his orders while looking in the direction where the archer Goblins had disappeared to, the large Goblin drew his sword. ¡°Gadosurauh, gadia!¡± (Beat them up, charge!) ¡°Guouh!!¡± (YEAHHHH!!) The commander led his foot soldiers and drew near us while watching out for magic attacks and arrows. Generally, when places like towns and villages with lots of structures are attacked, it would be hard to clearly determine the number of enemies, so it would be easier to charge in and find out how many there are¡­ (I¡¯ll give them points for taking initiative, but they¡¯re too distracted.) As I was absorbed in my thoughts, the Goblin archers suddenly peeked from their hiding places with their short bows loaded and aimed at us. ¡°Girauah!!¡± (I got them in my sights!!) ¡°Giasleuh!¡± (Fire!) While briefly warning the others, I ducked and dodged the arrows that were coming at us from the Goblin archers¡¯ hiding place. After confirming that Kusel and Noa were safely hidden, I realized, ¡°Gauh, guruu woruguaoo.¡± (Huh, looks like I was too distracted too.) While I was admonishing myself, the enemy archers peeked out and were getting ready for the second volley of attacks, but tragedy struck just as they were about to strike. ¡°Gyauah!? Gehah¡­¡± ¡°Giiih, giu¡­ah¡­¡± Two Goblin archers were suddenly hit by flying arrows on the throat and chest and fell. The archers from the commando unit who split up with us fully displayed their hunting skills by hiding their presence as they took the lapse in the enemy¡¯s attention to the blazing flames as an opportunity and struck. Meanwhile, another set of miserable Goblin screams rang out from a different place. ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Guaaah, h-haa¡­¡± In the midst of the sudden commotion, sparks and burning pieces of wood continued to be scattered by the wind from the burnt-out building, causing the other structures nearby to catch fire and produce billows of smoke. ¡°E-edo girausu¡­!?¡± (T-the village is burning¡­!?) Aiming at the Goblin Fighter who momentarily quailed at their situation, Noa fires two no-attribute magic bullets one after another. ¡°Gih!?¡± (Wha!?) However, even though the Goblin warrior was able to narrowly stop the first bullet with his buckler, the following bullet makes a hole in his chest and kills him. ¡°Guaruooau, woau garuoooau.¡± (Don¡¯t take it against us, we¡¯re just giving you a taste of your own medicine.) ¡°Guh, uwa¡­ aaah¡­a¡± As the other remaining guards shrieked one after the other, the Goblin Warrior who seemed to be their commander yelled in anger, ¡°Galegudorah, giusu giirah!!¡± (Stop fucking around, what the heck is this!?) As the Goblin Warrior continued to yell, I pulled out my Scimitar and carefully approached him for a confrontation. ¡°Giuruaaaaah!!¡± (You bastaaaaarddddd!) However, I was a few steps ahead of him as I took a step back to evade the diagonal slash attack he launched at me in anger. Coursing power to my legs, I leaned forward and adapted a low stance, and flew at him with an instantaneous slash attack. ¡°SHAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± There was a flash of light followed by the sound of air being cut and the Goblin Warrior¡¯s throat was torn open before he could even pull back his weapon. ¡°U-uu, aaa¡­uh¡­¡± ¡°Kuaruoua.¡± (Rest in peace.) I pressed my left palm against his chest while concentrating magic at that point and fired a Wind Blade at point-blank range, effectively ending his suffering. After that, I walked around the dead Goblin¡¯s huge body while sheathing my Scimitar and turned towards the presence that was approaching me from behind. ¡°Woaruooon? Woruo.¡± (Is this how you want it, wise one?) ¡°Wau, uwaon.¡± (Yes, that¡¯s right.) Just as Oswald asked as he approached, the flames were moderately spreading throughout the village and creating thick billows of smoke. There was a risk of killing the captured Elves and Adventurers that were probably inside the Village Chief¡¯s house if we got carried away and overdid it after all. (I guess this is enough. Now, on to the next task¡­) After a bit of deliberation, I called everyone to gather and let out a roar to alert the Goblins fighting nearby that we have captured their village, and ran over to the south side of the forest where the thick of the battle was happening. CH 125 ¡°!? varigiah, edo giraudei!¡± (Lord Vali, the village is burning!) ¡°Guh, gidora galdes! Dize gados!!¡± (Tsk, we can¡¯t stop now! Cavaliers, charge!!) The bipedal Land Lizard they were riding was fairly fast, and since it would give the enemies a chance to strike if they suddenly stopped, the Chieftain Vali, who was also the Cavalry commander, decided to push through with the attack, but¡­ ¡°Woauh! Vaooa!!¡± (They¡¯re finally here! Attack!!) On Hasta¡¯s cue, the bushes and leaves around the enemy forces rustled, and 6 spear-wielding black-and-white Kobolds popped out as if they were arrows shot out of a ballista! During the standoff before the battle, they had kept themselves inconspicuous and out of view from the Goblins by hiding behind Blau¡¯s unit which had larger members. Hasta intended to make it seem like the right side of the formation was weak due to the sparsity of spearmen to lure the enemy¡¯s cavalry group in. However, it was also unavoidable that the hidden Kobolds would not be able to participate in the battle and their defenses on the right flank would be sparse until the time was right. He had explained beforehand to Blau and his group that they would have to take the brunt of attacks until his plan worked, but reassured them that the 3 fluffy, white Kobolds from his unit would support the prick-eared, curly-tailed Kobolds from the rearguard. Still, it must have been frustrating for the Kobolds who had no choice but to lay in wait for the ambush to see their brethren fall before the blades of the Goblins¡­ ¡°Guruogaruguh, woaoon!¡± (Everyone, let¡¯s destroy them here and now!) ¡°Voruaaaah, urugao!¡± (We will fight you to the end, you pests!) With faces filled with rage, the 6 Kobold Spearmen attacked the front of the Cavalry unit led by Vali from the sides. ¡°Uwoooo!?¡± (Uwoooo!?) ¡°Giuah!!¡± (What the¨C!?) ¡°GUUUUUUH!!¡± Surprised by the sudden attack, the Land Lizards tried to stop and evade but collapsed along with the riders that clung to them. Without missing a beat, the 6 black-and-white Kobolds raise their spears and pierce the mounts and riders to end them. ¡°Gugh, gugii¡­ uh¡­¡± (Guh, it-it hurts¡­ugh¡­) ¡°Gehah¡­ uguaaah¡­¡± ¡°Gua¡­uh¡­¡± To prevent themselves from being caught with their comrades who had been dying left and right, the Goblin riders behind them tightened their mount¡¯s reins to prevent them from falling together after suddenly stopping. While most of the Goblin Cavalrymen were struggling to keep from being shaken off, Vali, who was commanding them, maneuvered the reins of the large Land Lizard with one hand and launched a spear attack on the nearest black-and-white Kobold in front of him even though he was slightly out of position. ¡°Lugiusuh!¡± (Helix Spear!) ¡°Uwah¡­ Kofuh¡­¡± The wind blades around the spinning spear attack pierced the Kobold¡¯s chest and the Kobold fell while coughing up blood. ¡°G-garuaa, guruou!!¡± (H-how dare you, you bastard!!) ¡°Giih, derakh!¡± (Hah, too slow!) Vali quickly pulled out his weapon when he righted himself and avoided the Iron Spear thrust at him by one of the fallen Kobold¡¯s comrades by catching the spear tip with his left hand and pulling the enemy forward. ¡°Wauh!?¡± (Wha!?) The Kobold whose weapon was captured when he attacked was pulled towards the large Land Lizard who had opened its mouth wide. ¡°Gidogizeru, giusu.¡± (Time for a snack, partner!) ¡°Guauh!!¡± ¡°Gobuh, gauah¡­ uh, gaaah!!¡± (*wheeze* y-you shit¡­ ugh, gaaaah!!) The black-and-white Kobold tried to squeeze the Land Lizard¡¯s neck with all his remaining strength even though he was bitten on the throat and was suffering from the fatal injury. At a glance, it seemed like their effort had gone to waste, but Hasta took advantage of the opportunity and approached the enemy in a flash. ¡°V-varigia! Guuh!?¡± (L-lord Vali! Guuh!?) ¡°Alkuh!? Elesureu!!¡± (Arrows!? Where are they coming from!!) With a whoosh, multiple arrows suddenly shot out from the dark part of the forest behind them and hit the Goblin Cavalry, thinning out the soldiers surrounding the Goblin Chief. The sniping was the work of the archers led by Oswald who had rushed to the right flank, and Hasta, with his Iron Spear in hand, plunged into the large Goblin with the chipped ear, without being obstructed by his underlings. ¡°Woau garuuaah!!¡± (You¡¯re going to die here, you bastard!!) ¡°Gidoah!¡± (You fool!) His target, which was the large Goblin riding on the Land Lizard, turned around and launched his spinning assault spear which was covered in wind blades at the fearless black-and-white Kobold. Everyone expected Hasta¡¯s left arm to come flying off when he brought it over his head to avoid a direct hit, but at the moment of contact, a circular light shield appeared on his forearm and clashed against the spiral attack, scattering sparks and blood before he was knocked down by the heavy blow. ¡°GUOOOOOAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Giusuah!?¡± (What the heck was that!?) The Light-emitting Arm Shield that caused the unexpected outcome was an intermediate Light-attribute magic called the ¡°Recoil Buckler¡±, which was the trump card Hasta asked his sworn friend Shiro to cast on his left arm. Even with his trump card, Hasta still couldn¡¯t repel the spinning force of the wind blades surrounding the Goblin¡¯s Spear and ended up having his left arm bleeding and torn to shreds. But that one arm was a small price to pay for the opportunity to win the battle. With his good arm, Hasta took his Spear and thrust it into the enemy¡¯s throat. ¡°Guruooooah!¡± (Take this!) ¡°Gahah, gi, auh¡­ uu¡­¡± (Gahah, th-this¡­ uurgh¡­) The Goblin with a missing piece of his ear loosens his grip and stops moving after being pierced by Hasta¡¯s Iron Spear in the neck. Hasta also takes out the Large Knife from his waist and drives it into the enemy¡¯s heart and through his leather armor in one smooth motion. ¡°Ua, varigia¡­¡± (Wah, L-Lord Vali is¡­) ¡°Gi, giah! G-gubuh¡­ Aa¡­¡± (I-impossible! Sob¡­ sniff...) The rest of the Cavalry also sustained injuries from the sniper attack by the archers hiding in the trees and were taken out by the rest of Hasta¡¯s men. During the confusion, the Land Lizard mount of the Goblin Chief who also suffered from an arrow wound quickly scooped up the lifeless body of its master in its mouth and disappeared into the forest¡­ CH 126 While the black-and-white Kobolds were fighting the Goblin soldiers, the mages of the commando unit who separated with the archers, rushed to the left flank with the young Elder Kobold leading them. Hiding their presence, they peeked from the shadows and assessed the battle situation from nearby. (This is bad¡­ Shiro¡¯s group is being pushed back!) Considering that the white, fluffy Kobolds aren¡¯t really built for fighting, they¡¯re still holding up pretty well, but¡­ their opponents were really strong. (Those guys also got stronger¡­) From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar-looking Goblin, albeit more human-like, with long, ash gray hair who angrily wielded his twin swords. ¡°Gii, guzea zetoras! Garun!!¡± (Hah, your aim is off, you mutt!!) The twin sword-wielding Goblin evades the Iron Spear that was aimed at his flank by taking a step backward with his left foot and then going forward with his right foot to close the distance with his enemy. ¡°Wafih!?¡± (W-what!?) The black-and-white Kobold jumped back to try and evade the attack, but the Goblin Swordsman flashed his deadly blade and cut the unfortunate Kobold¡¯s throat. ¡°Kahah, u¡­ uuahh¡­¡± ¡°Worugaooh! Garuau kuruoooon!!¡± (I won¡¯t let you die! Earth Heal!!) Shiro immediately deployed his healing magic to close the wound and connected the retreating Kobold¡¯s life force with the earth even as his blood spilled out. At the same time, the black-and-white Kobolds tried to block the enemy from reaching him, but the situation only got worse as the Goblins banded together and pushed them back. ¡°U, uwaaan~, aruvaruo¡­¡± (Th-this is bad~, Silva and the others are¡­) Shiro glances at Silva¡¯s unit who are fighting on the central side and sees that they are in dire need of backup as the occasional flashes of light followed by the pained screams of their brethren indicated that they were also struggling with a high-level individual. Shiro was able to grasp the situation in a short amount of time, but the enemy grabbed the opportunity to knock him out while he was lost in his thoughts. ¡°Zeldoreu wezeasu, rigaruh!!¡± (You¡¯ve been getting on my nerves since earlier, you white mutt!!) Frustrated at the hassle caused by the enemies getting healed as soon as he cuts them, the twin sword wielder throws his purple lightning-covered throwing knife at Shiro, the cause of the problem. The glimmering blade easily slips through the black-and-white Kobold shield and lodges itself right in between Shiro¡¯s eyebrows. ¡°Kyan!?¡± (Ow!?) The throwing knife is just an auxiliary weapon, so its killing ability is low and isn¡¯t enough to penetrate through the skull. In other words, it wasn¡¯t enough to kill Shiro, but¡­ lightning descended upon him as soon as it stabbed him. ¡°¡­Kyuu~¡± Shiro, who was instantly shocked, let out a groan before falling unconscious. If his protection wasn¡¯t adequate, it could have fried his brain, but Shiro only fainted because he was a high-level Kobold Priest that had high magic resistance¡­ ¡°Giu, gyauo, giuledora!!¡± (Alright men, rain them with attacks!!) ¡°UWOOOOOOOOH!!¡± The black-and-white Kobolds could not hide their shock at Shiro¡¯s fall. But as they readied their spears to defend against the high-spirited Goblins, a roar rang out from the forest! ¡°Vorufah, garuuoaoooann!¡± (O raging storms, blow the vermin away!) As wind magic coated my arms with whirlwinds, I stretched my palms out and unleashed a raging storm attack containing numerous wind blades that wounded the Goblins. ¡°Gehah, uwaaaaah!¡± ¡°Giaaaaaaah, aah¡­¡± ¡°Guuuuuh!?¡± While keeping himself from getting caught in the rampaging winds, the twin blade-wielding Goblin watched as several of his brethren were caught in the storm and were flung away in a spray of blood and smoke. ¡°Zenogilgah, jikusu!!¡± (It¡¯s that silver bastard again!!) Deciding that the tall and lean Goblin who was screaming something would be my next target, I clad my legs in whirlwinds and rushed at the enemy. ¡°Redos, giula!!¡± (Wait, where are you going!!) ¡°Zelgias!!¡± (I¡¯m taking him on!!) The Goblin Fighters reacted quickly and tried to break into the space created by the magical storm, but the Kobold mages who were hiding amongst the trees took advantage of the chaos and fired their own attacks. ¡°Varukuoauh!¡± (Pierce, Magic Bullets!) ¡°WOFAAAN!!¡± (WIND BLADE!!) ¡°Gih, guaaaah!¡± ¡°Gyaoooh!!¡± Unable to dodge Noa¡¯s continuous magic bullets that assaulted them from a blind spot, one of the Goblins staggered backward as he sustained fatal wounds on his right shoulder and flank while the wind blades cast together by the nameless Kobold mages was stopped by the enemy¡¯s Longsword. However, our goal of stopping them was achieved, so I took this opportunity to close in on the tall and lean twin swordsman and unleashed a speedy slash attack together with a magic-imbued roar that would disrupt the flow of magic. ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOOONNN!!¡± ¡°Guh, gileudo.¡± (Good, you¡¯re powerless now!) The Goblin unsheathed his twin blades to parry the blow from the curved sword and imbued lightning magic into his weapon on contact. ¡°Giuh, giusuh!?¡± (Take thi¡ª what!?) However, due to the Howling Noise skill, the flow of magic inside his body was disturbed, and an unbearable discomfort strikes the twin blade-wielding Goblin. ¡°Guuh.¡± ¡°Gauoou¡­¡± (The countermeasure worked¡­) It was unfortunate for Shiro and the others, but I was able to understand the danger of the twin swordsman¡¯s purple lightning when I got the chance to observe it while waiting for our cue. And thanks to that, I deployed my countermeasure before he could even attack. Just to be on the safe side, I also gathered magic on my right hand which was holding the Scimitar to reduce the damage taken in case the purple lightning struck, but the skill worked, and my apprehension was put to rest¡­ However, with this, it was possible to face the enemy on equal footing. The move did not diminish the enemy¡¯s murderous intent one bit, and both sides charged and continued to battle. CH 127 ¡°Gyaooou!!¡± (You¡¯ll never get away with this!!) ¡¾Activated£ºArm Strengthening (Intermediate)¡¿ The Goblin Sword Master¡¯s arms suddenly bulked up as he tried to push back against the curved sword¡¯s attack that he had stopped with his twin blades. The momentum of my surprise attack was cut short and parried, and my hand which held the scimitar was firmly pushed back with little resistance. ¡°Kuuh.¡± As I jumped back, he slightly twisted his upper body and brandished the iron sword so that it was over his left shoulder, and drew the iron sword in his left hand to the side in a position that allowed him to execute a series of attacks. ¡°Gaderausuh!!¡± (Take this!!) ¡°Gau, vowuru.¡± (Hah, not today.) As I evaded his attacks, I released the concentrated wind magic from my right hand in the form of wind blades and ruined his attack sequence, but¡­ ¡°Zetosuh!¡± (You¡¯re too naive!!) ¡°Wafuh!?¡± (Wha¨C!?) Seeing the Wind Blades shot from up close, the Goblin Sword Master uses his left foot as a pivot point and turns to evade the attack. At the same time, he vigorously swung his right sword and aimed for the back of my neck! ¡°Gyaoooooh!!¡± (Uraah!!) ¡°Uwoooooooh!¡± (Uwoooooooh!) I instinctively shouted and crouched with my ears pinned back as his sword narrowly passed over my head when he thrust it towards me at a great speed. If I hadn¡¯t pulled my ears back on time, then I would¡¯ve become an ¡°Earless Kobold¡± by now¡­ ¡°Guh, gooruaaaaaah!!¡± (Tsk, you¡¯ll pay for that!!) I thrust my left hand into the ground from a crouched position and moved my right foot a bit behind. I then pushed myself forward and lunged at him while aiming my curved blade on his shin! ¡°Uwoh!!¡± The twin blade-wielding Goblin avoids my scimitar by quickly taking a step back, but the blow cuts through the leather shin guard and makes a shallow cut which slows his movement for a moment. ¡°Guruaaaaaaaaah!¡± (Daraaaaaaaaaaah!) I then took that opportunity to quickly stab him in the adam¡¯s apple, but he unexpectedly deflected my attack with his left sword and stabbed me straight to the heart with his right. ¡°Giuah, giradoresu!!¡± (I¡¯ll kill you, you little shit!!) ¡°Gauuh, voruaah!!¡± (Hahah, I admit you¡¯re pretty good!!) My wild instincts kicked in, and for some reason, a rush of energy surged as I stepped sideways to avoid the direct hit to my heart, got into his personal space, and countered with a punch to his face with my left hand. ¡°Guuuuuuuuuh!?¡± As the Goblin swordsman groaned while he stumbled back, I concentrated Earth-type magic into my right leg and powerfully slammed my foot on the ground. ¡°Gauaoooh, worufu!!¡± (Devour the enemy, Fangs of the Earth!!) ¡°UWOOH!¡± Perhaps sensing the flow of power, he surprisingly dodged the earth clod that shot towards him and rolled on the ground to gain some distance away from me and got up. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to miss on that opening and was about to fire a follow-up shot, but¡­ ¡°Guu, reijih!¡± (Nggh, Lightning Bolt!!) Frowning, the Goblin Swordsman stops moving and keeps his distance while coating his twin blades with purple lightning. (Tsk, has the effects of Howling Noise run out!?) At this point, the effect of Howling Noise which blocks the flow of magic throughout the body has run out. But because the skill requires a good amount of magic refinement, it wasn¡¯t a move that you could just use in battle unless you were going against a stronger foe. ¡°Gaua uruvu kuvoruaaaaaaaann!!¡± (Using my trump card against this guy might be bad, but here goes nothing!!) While covering my left fist with a wind magic-powered whirlwind, I held my scimitar at chest level and prepared to confront the Goblin Swordsman. Around us, both the Kobolds and the Goblins have been clashing with each other to stop either side from interfering with our fight, so we couldn¡¯t just take our time on a stand-off. It seems the both of us had the same thought¡­ And so, after a moment of silence, a sharp battle cry rang out. ¡°UGAAAAAAAAAA!!¡± With increased vigor, the Goblin Swordsman charged ahead and swung his purple lightning-covered swords! When I turned to the right to evade the slash attack, the opponent flawlessly swung his purple lightning-covered left sword and aimed for my neck. However, while I was able to deflect his attack by a hair¡¯s breadth with my whirlwind-covered left arm, the back of my hand ended up getting covered by multiple shallow cuts and blood sprayed everywhere. ¡°Gauuh.¡± (Tsk) But before I could even register the pain and numbness from my left hand, the Goblin Swordsman skillfully passed the iron sword on his right hand under my left arm and stabbed me in the torso. In the end, I could not evade the blow he made while I was momentarily dazed, and the purple lightning-covered blade made a shallow cut in my abdomen. ¡°Guuaah!? GURUAAAAAAAH!!¡± At that moment, an electric shock ran through my body, but I was able to use Adamantine Body to circulate the pure magic power in my body to create interference and increase my magic resistance. Afterward, I snapped out of my daze, pushed him away with a roar, and slashed at the enemy¡¯s torso with my curved blade right after I found a gap in his attack. ¡°Gubuh, aa, gizu gileusua¡­¡± (Cough, aah, so this is my end¡­) The Goblin Swordsman who had been slashed from his abdomen to his chest lost power in his legs and fell. When the opponent lost his grip on his twin swords and they fell with a clatter, a column of light gushed out at the same time as an angry shout rang out! ¡°GIIIIIIIIDDOOOOOOOOOO!!¡± (SWOOOOOOOOORD!!) ¡°Wafa!? Guoooooh!!¡± (Wha!? Guooooh!!) Before I knew it, the Goblin carrying a Greatsword had come close within shooting distance, opened his mouth wide, and shot a breath of shining light that pierced my right shoulder. ¡°Uuah¡­¡± While also blinded by the light, I dropped my scimitar due to the intense pain¡­ But the next time I opened my eyes, I was standing in the middle of a familiar white space in front of the landing of the silver Spiral Staircase. CH 128 ¡°Wau gaooa woon.¡± (What timing¡­) It was my third time standing within the place called the ¡°Tree of Life¡± which contained the shining silver structure called the Ultimate Spiral Staircase. Although I could not access the knowledge I acquired from this place in reality, the continuity of my memory was preserved the moment I stepped back here and I could even remember my previous visits. ¡°Wogauau¡­¡± (But still¡­) When I glanced at my right shoulder which was painful earlier, I squinted and saw the damage in my leather armor and the wound. The wound wasn¡¯t fatal, but it would be hard to continue fighting if I didn¡¯t get it healed soon¡­ (Rather, isn¡¯t this unreliable?) This was a place where thoughts turn to reality, and my own perception only represents the state of the wound. I perceived this fact after the information unexpectedly flowed into my mind. In other words, this wound may either be a severe or a mild injury. I also wondered for a moment how the bleeding seemed to stop, but that question was soon cleared up by the knowledge that came from within me. (Time seems to flow differently in here compared to reality and I seem to also be all healed¡­ wait) Why was this place called the ¡°Tree of Life¡± anyway? ¡­ After closing my eyes for a while, a large volume of information suddenly rushed inside me and I had to process all of this to answer all my questions. (So this is a place where memory is carved into the soul, where archetypes that transcend race are buried into the deepest depths of the subconscious, and is the ultimate destination where souls gather¡­It doesn¡¯t really make sense.) Well, there¡¯s no point in thinking about something I¡¯ll easily forget when I get back to reality anyway. And so, just like always, I climbed up the Ultimate Spiral Staircase while listening to the cheers and blessings until I arrived at a circular observation deck. ¡°U, guoaru garukuaoooon.¡± (So the path suddenly splits from here.) In addition to the stairs leading to the top, the floor also has a hollow passage that leads to another spiral staircase floating in the sky. I stopped my advance and looked at the two paths before me while waiting for new information to come to me, but¡­ only an incomprehensible noise flitted through my mind. (No choice, I guess I¡¯ll just let luck decide for me.) I grabbed one of the gold coins from the Riastize Kingdom from my pouch and was about to make a coin toss to decide, but I stopped when I saw the bust of King Alexius engraved on the surface, which was slightly more dignified than the real thing. If I were to rely on this coin, I had a feeling that I was leaving my future in his hands, not in the hands of luck. So in the end, I chose to follow my instincts and walked to the passage instead. Of course, the floating Silver Staircase looked wondrous as it ascended to the endless snow-white space, but I simply wanted to pass through the walkway. While I was advancing along the path, I looked around and saw multiple silver Spiral Staircases. None of them were within my reach, but I somehow understood that they were all connected to the roots of the evolutionary Tree of Life. (This ¡®Tree of Life¡¯ is such a magnificent thing¡­) I was filled with so much emotion as soon as I reached the new Spiral Staircase, and my consciousness moved back to reality, leaving behind the knowledge I gained in this realm. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°U, ugaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± My fangs grew and I screamed uncontrollably as intense pain and renewed power rushed throughout my body. Furthermore, the claws on both my arms and feet also became sharper and the muscles on my jaws and limbs grew in size. Name: Archer (Male) Race: Wolfish Kobold Rank: Silver Wolfdog Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth?Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement), Magic Enhancement (Small, Constant), Howling Noise (Inhibits Magic for a Period of Time), Beastification (Sensory Enhancement?Howling Sound Attacks), Humanization (Sensory Dulling) Title: The Willful Silver Wolf, The Holy Beast of Selkram Weapon: Mechanical Bow (Main), Scimitar (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor (Shoulder Damaged), Grimoire ¡°Copy of Herculean Crushing¡± Recognizing the instant change that the silver Kobold was going through, Brave, the Greatsword-wielding Goblin rushed to his comrade¡¯s side, helped him up, and applied Healing Magic. Rather than using the opportunity to pursue their enemy, his goal at that time was to rescue his friend. A bit of the faint white light seeped from the palm Brave was pressing against the laceration as he desperately tried to hold onto the small amount of life force that remained in his friend¡¯s body. ¡°Gido, gizusekto!¡± (Don¡¯t worry Sword, it was just a small cut!) ¡°Datos retiado, gidoa¡­¡± (Don¡¯t lie to me, idiot¡­) The Goblins that came with them from Easteria Forest surrounded Sword and Brave as they exchanged a few words, while Silva¡¯s pack did the same and came running to their equally injured brethren¡¯s aid. ¡°Aavaa, kuruaan!?¡± (Archer, are you alright!?) ¡°Wafiou¡­¡± (Somewhat¡­) One of the fluffy white Kobolds forcibly pressed a paw against my shoulder to heal me and I forced out a smile as I responded to Silva while trying to endure the pain. Meanwhile, both races had lost their momentum in battle and were being reluctant to attack the other side when a loud voice suddenly rang out from the Goblin¡¯s side. ¡°Gii, gyaouh!!¡± (Tsk, retreat!!) ¡°Giuh, gigiugio.¡± (Yes, Lord Brave.) ¡°Gia, gadore gifireusu.¡± (Well, we are used to losing battles.) After the commotion on the enemy¡¯s side, the Goblins, whose defense on both flanks had fallen and were being surrounded, began to retreat in an organized manner, breaking up into smaller groups to lose their pursuers and escape. The huge Goblin with the Greatsword who had given the order to retreat earlier carried the gravely injured Goblin Swordsman on his back and disappeared into the depths of the forest as well. ¡°¡­Kuuaoooou?¡± (¡­ Should we pursue them?) (I have some concerns over pursuing them, but they shouldn¡¯t have gone far¡­) With regards to the commando unit, Oswald and the other archers were almost out of arrows while the mages were also unsure when their magic would reach its limit. Hasta and Shiro¡¯s units were in charge of fighting in the right and left flanks so they were all extremely exhausted and Silva¡¯s troops took a lot of damage while they tried to hold back the Greatsword-wielding Goblin earlier. And so, the least damaged group, the prick-eared Kobolds who were under Blau¡¯s command, were tasked to continue the chase and the battle came to an end. CH 129 Rough breaths echoed in the forest as several Goblins ran with all their might, disturbing the leaves as they rushed past. In their haste, they had no time to think of countermeasures, so the light brown Kobolds¡¯ distinct triangular ears pricked up and focused on pinpointing their opponents¡¯ location through hearing. ¡°U, woaoon.¡± (Yep, they¡¯re over there.) ¡°Gau, voruah!!¡± (Alright, let¡¯s go!!) Sensing the barks of their pursuers getting nearer, the Goblins who had accompanied the Greatsword-wielding Goblin who was carrying his friend over his shoulder as they escaped prepared to face their fate. ¡°¡­Gigiugia, radoleus.¡± (¡­Lord Brave, please be safe.) ¡°Krono iruleas.¡± (Go, we¡¯ll try to buy you guys some time.) Several Goblin Fighters spoke up as they stopped and turned around, drawing their Longswords from their scabbards and holding their weapons at the ready as they glared at the approaching enemies. ¡°G-gyuo¡­noigiralesu.¡± (Make sure¡­ not to get yourselves killed, alright?) Brave took one look at his brethren who responded with their backs to him and disappeared among the trees while continuing to heal Sword as he carried him on his back. A few moments later, several Kobold Strikers raised their knuckle guard-wrapped fists with a roar and launched themselves into the Goblin soldiers who were lying in wait. ¡°GARUOAAAAAAAAAHHH!!¡± ¡°Gaugaurugireudih, galgia!!¡± (All this barking is so annoying, it¡¯s driving me insane!!) ¡°Gi, zeugizuo lutia.¡± (Ah, my thoughts exactly.) The Goblin Fighters exchanged small talk as they engaged with the enemy, and the sounds of metal hitting against metal echoed in the forest as the small-scale battle commenced¡­ Fortunately for the Goblins, the silver wolfdog had instructed the light brown Kobolds to ¡°go easy on the enemy,¡± so while the opponents were still drunk on their victory, the Goblins who were prepared to die easily beat them back. Of course, if they were faced with Blau, the pack leader who led the prick-eared Kobold troops to chase after them, their outcome would have been different, but as it turns out, that unexpected stroke of luck had them barely escaping with their lives. In the meantime, Brave and Sword were able to escape safely thanks to the help of their brethren, but¡­ it wasn¡¯t enough to prevent Sword from getting weaker. ¡°Guzeado¡­ disurah, kahah!¡± (Brave, that¡¯s enough¡­ just leave me *cough*) The Goblin Swordsman coughs up blood in the middle of his sentence, creating a messy, reddish-black patch on the ground. If Brave had stopped casting Healing Light on his friend, then the effects of the spell would immediately run out and Sword would die sooner. That was why he couldn¡¯t choose to fight against their pursuers earlier¡­ However, it seems Brave was already reaching the limit of his magic. (Kuh, is there really no other choice but to give up!?) Brave was born as a weak monster and he has also lost numerous friends in battle, but the rational part of him already understands that there is nothing he can do to save his friend. However, whether he can accept it is another matter; the death of his dear friend was something that the Goblin Hero could not accept. ¡°GIUUUAAAAAAAAA!!¡± (DAMMIT!!) The echoes of his anger-filled screams paved the way for them to be entangled in a complex fate. A few moments after his screams rang through the forest, a young woman with black hair and bright eyes who was dressed as an ordinary village girl suddenly appeared from the depths of the forest. ¡°Hmm, I wondered what was making so much noise, but I come and find demons instead, how rare.¡± ¡°G-giosuh!?¡± (A- a human!?) ¡°Oh? Looks like you guys don¡¯t understand human language¡­¡± She tilted her head adorably as she observed the two Goblins unreservedly and let out a sigh. At first, she thought that they were one of her brethren, but she was disappointed when she realized that they might have been a type of Goblin who had a similar form that was native to the region. (Well, Demons are only found in Yamato after all¡­ Maybe these guys are distantly related?) As she reminisced about her destroyed hometown, her eyes land on the two pseudo Demons and notices that the larger pseudo Demon is casting healing magic on his companion who is on the verge of death. ¡°Ahaha, this is fine! I don¡¯t mind it at all!!¡± Regardless of how the pseudo Demons before her have lived till now, she realized the value of saving these two distant species and treating them as companions. ¡°Fufu, I¡¯m greedy for wanting to save all the lives I can find after all.¡± The strange human suddenly laughs and Brave becomes alarmed, but the girl talks to him in an easygoing manner. ¡°Sorel, giulekto! Galgiido gil disleidia.¡± (I¡¯ll help you save his life! I have nothing to do anyway, so I can kill some time with this.) ¡°G-giurado¡­¡± (W-what are you¡­) When Brave became warier of the human who was talking to him using the Demon language, two horns grew out from between the girl¡¯s bangs, and the *lower half of her body morphed into a large spider¡¯s body. Name£º Kaede () Race£º Demon Rank£º Demon Spider Skill£º Soul Eater (Gets stronger depending on the number of souls consumed), Requiem (Annihilation of the Undead), Revival (Creation of the Undead ¡ùunder self-imposed restrictions), Soul Binding, Will-o¡¯-the -wisp, Advanced Magic (Earth), Spirit Healing, Oath of Non-Slaughter(Denial of nonessential killing), **Horn-hiding (Humanization) Title£º Seven Plagues (Devourer of a Million Souls) Weapon£º Spider Thread, Sougetsu (Short Sword) Armament£º Village Maiden¡¯s Clothes Shortly after Brave had come to his senses after feeling crushed by the force of the overwhelming mass of souls unleashed by the transformation, the girl caught Sword with the spider silk that flowed from her palm, gently covering the laceration and reeling her catch by hand. ¡°Heave-ho¡­¡± She then easily lifted Sword, placed him at the back of her spider half, and turned her gaze to the dumbfounded, silver-haired, dark-skinned pseudo Demon. ¡°Niru destrauze, kyuleu kronodestal¡­ galeusa.¡± (Since his soul is almost gone, it¡¯s going to take some time to completely heal him¡­ Come along.) ¡°Gih, zelkreias¡­¡± (Tsk, might as well follow her¡­) After scratching the side of his head, the Goblin Hero reluctantly chases after the departing spider woman. Thus, with this strange twist of fate, the two evolved creatures stepped out from their way of life as Goblins¡­ CH 130 ¡°Wafi, gauao woruoaaaan~, garuau!¡± (Why is it this busy as soon as I wake up? My head hurts too!) Shiro, who collapsed right after receiving a shock to the brain from the purple lightning earlier, was left unattended because his external injuries were not serious and his treatment was of low priority, had naturally awoken a few moments ago¡­ It hadn¡¯t been long since he and the other injured Kobolds were carried into the vicinity of the south entrance of the Goblin village that had been destroyed, but the scene he awoke to was him being surrounded by his injured brethren and the white fluffy Kobolds busily running around and attending to the wounded. In other words, the scene he woke up to was the ¡°aftermath of the battle¡±, and Shiro was also dragged away by his packmates to start healing the injured as soon as he woke up. Moreover, since his packmates judged the wound he received on the forehead from the throwing knife was just a light injury, Shiro healed it himself and attended to the seriously injured Kobolds who could not be treated with the Healing Magic of his subordinates. Some of the critically injured Kobolds would take a while to heal so it was expected that it would cause some disturbance with their daily lives, but since these warriors who were injured for the sake of their packs were given the best treatment, their conditions stabilized to the point that it could be manageable after a while. However, nothing could be done for the Kobold warriors who had fallen during the battle. ¡°Wogauru kuoruaaoon¡­ Garuu kuauwaooan.¡± (All of the other packs are in a similar state¡­ but there have also been numerous casualties.) ¡°Waon, vorufau kuruuo¡­¡± (I see, then I have to give my thanks to these brave warriors¡­) I remained silent for a while and prayed for the souls of those warriors who had risked their lives for the future of their packs and families. During this time, their corpses were being carefully buried by their comrades at the bases of trees with their own hands¡­ Living in this harsh nature is a struggle, but if we avoided strife, then we would eventually lose our shelter and die from hunger, so it is unavoidable to fight back at some point in our lives. The same is true for the Goblins who have been abandoned in the woods, and it could be said that they too were serious about surviving. Since they can¡¯t reproduce without kidnapping and attacking the females of other humanoid species, it can¡¯t be helped that they are looked down upon in many ways¡­ (It¡¯s hard for them too, I guess¡­ After all, having no females and being born male was the price they had to pay to gain the evolutionary ability to reproduce through cross-breeding.) It also reminded me of what my old Mercenary Captain, Weld, once said, ¡°maybe everyone¡¯s just fighting for themselves, so there may be no right or wrong in these situations,¡± so I also said a little prayer for the souls of the unfortunate Goblins who perished in battle. ¡°Wafioua garuaauu, gauon¡­¡± (Archer, I¡¯m sorry for disturbing you while you¡¯re deep in thought, but¡­) In response to Silva¡¯s call, I followed her gaze and saw three Black Elf women who had just been released from the Goblins¡¯ confinement cells and one Adventurer girl who had just returned from the riverside after cleaning her body. Apparently, there was one more Adventurer woman, but she had killed herself after being mistreated by the Goblins after they cut the tendons in her legs once she tried to escape. (As always, it¡¯s depressing after getting down from the highs of battle¡­) This was the same even during my days as a mercenary. That¡¯s why when everything is settled, we can fool around with our friends and reminisce about the comrades who died before us¡­ But for now, it was important to think about how to handle these girls who survived. I took out the Mithril mask that had been sitting in my pouch for a while. I then pressed it against my face and the mask adapted to fit my face. ¡°Buh, wafioaaan.¡± (Pfft, what the heck is that?) ¡°¡­Guorufaou.¡± (¡­ It doesn¡¯t suit you at all.) (Even if it did, I don¡¯t like it either.) Blau laughed when he spotted me with my mask on, while Silva had a complicated look on her face as I faced the girls who were surrounded by Kobolds on all sides. ¡°Kuarukua garuowan, vorua auooo.¡± [I don¡¯t understand Elvish, so I¡¯ll just communicate this way.] Suddenly, the telepathic message I sent also resonated with my brethren, so they gathered around us, making me a bit uncomfortable as I spoke to the Elf girls whose healthy wheat-colored skin peeked from the tears in their clothes. ¡°Urufauoau voruaaaan.¡± [I¡¯ll help you get back to Elfast.] ¡°Diseltos.¡± (Thank you.) ¡°Uu, u-ulrekto?¡± (Y-you¡¯re going to help us?) In contrast to the elven girls whose faces gradually lit up in joy with the news, the remaining Adventurer girl raised her voice in a panic and clung to me with tears in her eyes. ¡°U-um, what about me?¡± If one were to think about her reaction, aside from the Elves who couldn¡¯t speak the Kobo language but could interact inter-racially, for the human girl, the Goblins and us Kobolds are the same as other monsters¡­ ¡°Garuu¡­ aruva, gaoaruu worun?¡± [Hmm¡­ Silva, can you accompany the Human to the humans¡¯ village?] ¡°U~ waoaan¡­ woaruo garua gaoorufa.¡± (Hnn, we can¡­ but I don¡¯t see why we have to go till there.) When I saw the curious expression on her face, I realized that my thinking was closer to a human¡¯s, but¡­ I knew it was going to bother me if we just left the human girl in the forest to die. While I was thinking about what to do next, Hasta spoke up from behind me. ¡°Wafuruou guorufaon, aruva¡­ guruo gauoaan.¡± (Silva, it doesn¡¯t matter what the reason is¡­ these girls are our responsibility after all.) ¡°Kuuorua vaa aruu aoooan.¡± (We do owe the young sage, so let¡¯s do as he says.) I was very thankful to Hasta and the other black-and-white Kobolds who possessed a strong sense of duty at that time¡­ Like me, he was also quite injured, but even if his wounds had already been treated with healing magic, the blood he lost was too much and he looked slightly anemic. After we worked out a few details about the treatment of the human girl, we also managed to come up with a conscientious solution for handling the other prisoners we freed from the Goblin¡¯s village. Moreover, if I accompanied the black Elf girls, we would be able to smoothly pass through the Forest of Wandering and get back to Elfast together! A few hours later, a search party sent by Aristia which included Lenaide wandered in by following the footprints left by the group of Kobolds who passed through the forest. There was some commotion with their arrival, but we stayed the night in the Goblin village after it was smoothed out. The next day, I said goodbye to my brethren whom I had fought together with and started my journey back to the Elven Kingdom with the Elves who came to pick me up. CH 131 A silver wolf powerfully sprinted through the forest as the midday sun hung over the sky and the sunlight filtered through the trees. (Hmm, my senses are becoming sharper¡­ So this is Beastification!) Currently, I am about 180cm long in my large Wolf dog form (excluding the tail), and my standing height with all four paws on the ground is approximately 105cm. It was amusing how fast I went as my feet instinctively kicked the ground and my claws scratched the earth, but¡­ ¡°Guoh!? Wafah!¡± (Whoa! That was close!) I was so carried away that I was heading into a tree so I jumped to the side in a rush and slowed down till I came to a stop. (Kuh, I can¡¯t go fast in the woods¡­) I wonder how fast I could go if I ran at full power? If I trained, I might even go as fast as a well-trained warhorse. I couldn¡¯t help but be excited just thinking about it¡­ ¡°Wau?¡± (Hnn?) My heightened sense of smell picks up the scent of prey nearby, so I was brought back from the pure ecstasy I felt from running and remembered that I was originally in charge of securing food for lunch. Of course, Lenaide and the other Elves had brought a fair amount of food and supplies with them when they set out, but they did not expect that the Black Elf girls that were rescued from the Goblin village would be joining us. Since we had to make up for the shortage in supplies by procuring them locally, I left the Elves by the riverside to set up camp and I went out to hunt and try out the Beastification ability that I had gained recently. When I came back to my senses, I hid my presence as much as I could and relied on my sense of smell as I carefully approached my prey from downwind¡­ As I stealthily peeked through the grass, I found a large badger. The badger belongs to a family of carnivorous mammals called Mustelids, and its meat is so delicious that just thinking about it made me drool. (This one looks like it has a good amount of meat in it and is just the right size¡­) However, as I got ready to hunt it down, a realization hit me. (I don¡¯t have a bow¡­ Tsk, and I call myself an archer.) The only thing I brought with me was my leather pouch that I hung around my neck with some hemp cord. So I meditated for a bit and tried to see if I could use magic in my current state¡­ (Hmm, it¡¯s impossible after all¡­ But if I train, I might be able to.) Because some parts of my body had changed, it was hard to control the flow of magic inside my body, so I stopped trying to use magic and tried the skill that I discovered that I could use while in my Beast form instead. And so, I put all my power into my legs and energetically jumped towards my prey! ¡°K-kuwawah!?¡± ¡°Voruaaaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± The roar I released became a sound blast that forcibly flung the badger into the base of a tree. ¡°Ah¡­ wawauh¡­ kkuu¡­¡± I approached the badger which continued to struggle while it convulsed and drove my fangs into its throat, killing it and draining its blood from the laceration. (Guess I¡¯ll have to take a bath on the way to wash off all this blood on my mouth¡­) After getting myself in order, I offered my prayers for the life I took, picked up the prey with my mouth, and went back to the place where I left Lenaide and the others. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Mm~ I didn¡¯t know badger meat could taste this good.¡± ¡°Gau, kuruua gaui waoo garuaaaoou.¡± [Well, the werecats and the humans usually eat this type of meat.] While watching Lenaide eat the salted and grilled badger meat, I remembered that Wallace, the cat-eared gentleman, mentioned that it was Liz¡¯s favorite food. He also mentioned that this meat goes with all sorts of stews¡­ Maybe I can bring this as a gift the next time I do business in Lucua village. ¡°¡­Kredi ruu.¡± (¡­It¡¯s delicious.) ¡°Serato¡­¡± (You¡¯re right¡­) I don¡¯t know Elvish, but it seems the others liked the meat from their reactions as well. Besides, it was just grilled meat, so if the ingredient was fresh, then it would naturally turn out delicious¡­ I bit off a piece of meat from the wooden skewer that was made from a tree branch and ate some nuts that Lenaide and the others had picked. ¡°Sir Archer, we¡¯ll be reaching Elfast this evening¡­ But I must warn you, you shouldn¡¯t climb the World Tree again, alright? Listy was furious when she found out.¡± ¡°Kuruua? Gua, valgau¡­¡± [Listy? Oh, she¡¯s the World Tree priestess, right?] It was normal for Aristia to be involved with these matters, but why would the World Tree priestess, whom I have barely interacted with, suddenly come up in the conversation? As I was pondering this, I heard something absurd. ¡°You¡¯ll be living with us for a while, so making a good first impression is important.¡± ¡°¡­ Wafu?¡± [¡­ Excuse me?] ¡°After all, an Elf will always be present in places where there are World Trees!!¡± It was the sacred duty of the ancient Elves to watch over the growth of a World Tree that was sprouted by those of High Elf blood¡­ So unless there are unexpected circumstances, it seems that they would have to manage the sprout¡¯s development at least until it was stable enough. Owing to this, it was decided that the Elves will dispatch the World Tree priestess Listy and her escort Lenaide to watch over the seedling. ¡°Ah, but the remaining members of our team who will be selected know the Kobo language, so don¡¯t worry!!¡± As was typical of White Elves, Lenaide¡¯s long ears moved up and down as it peeked from her short, blonde hair and she leaned forward while clasping her hands tightly¡­ Based on Aristia¡¯s incident where she was captured by slavers, it was evident that Elves were rare and valuable among the Humans, so there was a chance of attracting unnecessary trouble if they were discovered. (Our territory has already been declared a sanctuary, so we could avoid being spotted by the Humans, but¡­) Even though the hunters from Viel village are treated as an exception and are allowed to enter the sanctuary forest, we still have to be careful even if our relations with their village aren¡¯t bad. Of course, I could also refuse to take the Elves in, but¡­ as religious matters are always complicated, there was a high possibility that I wouldn¡¯t be able to refuse since this was an ancient sacred practice for them. (Anyway, I have to check this with Aristia as well¡­) Lunchtime passed as we were immersed in discussing the matter at hand and we restarted our trek back to the Kingdom in the afternoon. CH 132 A few hours later, we returned to the Royal Capital of Elfast after two and a half days of travel and found that the place was pretty much silent at night. After all, the Elves are a diurnal race, so they wake up and go about their daily activities when the sun rises and stay indoors and retire to bed when night comes. ¡°Guoaruuu garuaon¡­¡± [It¡¯s great that the place is pretty deserted at night.] ¡°I agree. After all, if a Wolfman¡­entered the capital during the day, they would surely stand out.¡± One of the Chamberlain Knights who was walking behind me responded to my muttering and spoke to me in the common language of Humans. After they found out from my exchanges with Lenaide that I could understand Human language, they stopped using the Kobo language which they weren¡¯t very good at. I found it funny that she stopped in the middle of her sentence after calling me a wolfman. She wasn¡¯t entirely wrong though, since I definitely looked more like a wolf than a Kobold right now. However, if we looked back at the past, the Kobolds were actually a group of dog people who stayed together to survive after they were deemed by the wolf people to be the weakest members and were kicked out of their packs, so it might be safe to say that my body was just reverting to its origins. But even if the two races shared the same genes, the Werewolves, who sometimes attacked people by disguising themselves, were exterminated by the fearful Humans and their numbers drastically dropped over the long course of history. Meanwhile, because the weaker Werewolves interbred with each other, it also further weakened their offspring, and the Kobolds, who were the descendants of these Werewolves, had lost their ability to transform into humans and were left alone to thrive because they were relatively weak¡­ (When I think about it¡­ it¡¯s quite ironic that the weaker species prospered more than the stronger ones.) While I was lost in my thoughts, I had passed through the Black Elf quarters and entered the Bronze Elf residential area, and was about to pass through the eastern gate of the castle when someone talked to me from behind. ¡°Se-senoh¡­¡± (Uh, ummm¡­) When I turned around, I saw the two Black Elf women who were wearing the Chamberlain Knights¡¯ cloaks over their clothes that were torn by the Goblins. ¡°Strauze, tia riddo vira lesdi¡­ ia, milea uldia?¡± (Excuse me, but I live nearby¡­ so can I go home first?) ¡°Neito kitol uldi, tizel vilektal lurdea¡­¡± (If we are heading to the castle, then our current appearance is inappropriate¡­) ¡°Uu, sera riddo milearudi.¡± (I would like to go home as well.) I couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying, but since we were near the Black Elves¡¯ living area, I could roughly guess that they wanted to go home. However, if we think about the proper order of things, their families have probably reported them as missing, so they would have to follow some procedures at the guard¡¯s headquarters before they could head home. Sure enough, Lenaide had a troubled look on her face as she talked to the women and was unable to make them get a move on. In the end, it was decided that 3 of the Chamberlain Knights would accompany the women back to their families that night and escort them to the Guard¡¯s Headquarters the next morning. ¡°Now, shall we head back to the castle as well?¡± ¡°Wafu.¡± [Sure.] After that, I walked with Lenaide along the unpopular moonlit streets and we soon arrived at the palatial-style white castle that was built around the enormous World Tree. I was then escorted back to the room where my comrades and I were staying, but¡­ ¡°Guruua woauo¡­¡± [There¡¯s nobody in here¡­] I became worried about my sister and the others, and it didn¡¯t help that I could also feel the nervousness of the guards inside the castle. However, it¡¯s not like I could just casually visit the Queen¡¯s quarters even though I had an inkling that she knew what was going on. (I¡¯m confident those 3 could handle themselves well, so it should be alright. Anyway, I¡¯ll just ask them about it in the morning.) I was very tired after the adventure that followed after I climbed the World Tree, so I sleepily took off my armor, placed my mithril mask by the side table, and climbed into bed¡­ The following morning, I was slumped in front of the built-in full-length mirror inside the room. ¡°Guuuuh, ku, kuau, uu¡­¡± (Nnngg, i-it¡¯s a failure, nngh¡­) To be honest I had been feeling like crap since I woke up this morning¡­ I had to crawl to the sink not because I had a problem with my psyche, but because I felt like I was going to throw up. Now that I think about it, I also felt a strange sensation in my body when I underwent Beastification, but the discomfort I got with Humanization was largely due to the drastic change in my skull structure¡­ Just a moment ago, I leisurely woke up to the sound of birds singing in the morning, but as soon as I looked at my wolf-dog appearance in the mirror, I wanted to try out the Humanization skill, but I was unsuccessful with the transformation¡­ (Now that I think about it, both my bone structure and musculature would have to undergo a drastic change during the transformation¡­ Humanization is so uncomfortable.) As soon as I triggered the change, I felt my skeletal structure smoothly distort, but I also felt an indescribable discomfort with the Humanization and the pain caused by my muscles spasming took my focus away and I ended up reverting into my original wolf-dog form. Did the Werewolves experience this kind of pain during Humanization? Anyway, this skill could be handy in the future, so I might as well train myself to use it¡­ I then grabbed the edge of the sink and staggered to my feet, determined not to use the ability as much as possible. ¡°Hnn? What are you doing?¡± I heard a voice coming from the room¡¯s entrance, so I raised my left hand to gesture for them to wait and adjusted the flow of magic within my body while swallowing down nausea. After I calmed down a bit, I returned to the side table to retrieve and wear my Mithril mask. ¡°¡­Waoon, kuauvo.¡± [¡­Good morning, Lenaide.] ¡°Good morning, Sir Archer. You¡­ seem like you¡¯ve had a rough morning today.¡± Oh, did my expression give me away? ¡°Guu, guuaorufu, gaurua kuu wafooon¡­¡± [Oh, don¡¯t mind it, I¡¯m just feeling a bit sluggish this morning¡­] ¡°Lady Aristia seems to want an audience with you though. Will you be able to come?¡± Well, I still had to know where my sister, Buster, and Ax went after I disappeared, so I might as well show my face and talk to her. After I got myself in order, I nodded and followed Lenaide out of the room. CH 133 ¡°Muu, nilurauzu¡­ olto, fauna ulzeitosu?¡± (Nn, he hasn¡¯t arrived yet¡­ Did he wander off again?) After I connected my consciousness with the World Tree for a while, I tried to find the location of the Seed of the World Tree via the leylines spread over the whole capital city. (Looks like my worries were unfounded¡­) As I felt the warm magic that contained both Earth and Holy attribute magic gradually get nearer, I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror and sipped some tea from my teacup in preparation for my visitor who was approaching in a few seconds. I was feeling a little down because of the rebellion a few days ago and the matter with the Philland Republic was ongoing, so I wanted to complain to him a little. Now that I think of it, there was also the time when I fell asleep and failed to disconnect my sensory perception from the World Tree Aion (eternity) when he climbed on it, so I felt like I was being groped all over albeit indirectly¡­ ¡°Deluagiriis, kyaro riedilto uldismolfa?¡± (Hmm, should I imitate the little Werecat and exact my revenge by ruffling his fur?) I was actually a little jealous of how Lilia, the young Werecat girl who was captured by the Slave traders along with me, used to ruffle the Kobolds¡¯ fur without reserve. Also, around this time, they should have already shed their summer fur and their coat should have changed into their soft and warm winter fur, so it¡¯s bound to be even fluffier by now! As the Queen of the ¡°Guardian¡¯s Forest¡± secretly schemed, there was a light knock on the door of her private chambers¡­ ¡°Lord Aristia, alvis diktorea.¡± (Lady Aristia, I have accompanied Sir Archer.) ¡°¡­ Ludi, reklatous.¡± (¡­ Come in.) ¡°Estorias.¡± (Pardon my intrusion.) After Aristia responded, Lenaide opened the door and stood by it, and urged me to enter the room. ¡°Gauruaaan.¡± [Sorry for the intrusion.] ¡°Then, I shall take my leave.¡± The Chamberlain Knight quickly left the room after a brief bow, leaving Aristia and me alone in the room. At first, I thought we had gone to one of the many multi-purpose rooms in the castle, but from the looks of the plain but elegant furnishings and interior and the door to what looks like a bedroom, it seems I was brought to Aristia¡¯s private chambers¡­ ¡°I¡¯m glad you came, Archer.¡± ¡°Kuruaon, gurua voruouu.¡± [It¡¯s fine, I did have something to talk to you about anyway.] As we exchanged greetings, I moved to sit on the chair directly across the round table from Aristia, but she silently patted the chair near her and gestured for me to sit beside her. (?¡­ Oh, alright.) I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s up to, but when I sat on the chair she directed me to¡­ ¡°Ei, this is payback for the other day?¡± ¡°Uwoh!?¡± [Huh!?] For some reason, she suddenly embraced me and ruffled my fur to her heart¡¯s content. ¡°Hnn, this must be the scent of the bath soap that Eliza bought from the Bronze Elves. I¡¯m told that it has been infused with iris essential oils.¡± (With our sense of smell, we would appreciate it if they just gave us regular bath soaps, but¡­ I¡¯ll just keep that to myself.) Of course, when it came to choosing good products, the blonde, curly-haired daughter of the prime minister would instantly come to mind, but¡­ rather than voicing my discontent with the soap, my main concern was to confirm the whereabouts of my companions. ¡°Gau, guruou oofaaaaan?¡± [Anyway, do you know where my packmates went?] ¡°Well, a lot of things happened. By the way, I heard that after you fought off the Goblins in the northeastern part of the forest, a female with beautiful fur invited you to her pack just as you were leaving¡­¡± When I was about to leave the Kobold coalition, Silva did indeed invite me to her pack thinking I was a stray Kobold, but I politely declined and told her I was leading a pack in Easteria Forest, but¡­ Aristia got a useless piece of information this time¡­ Was it Lenaide? ¡°Well, that issue aside¡­¡± Aristia, who had been petting the fur around my neck, moved away all of a sudden, adjusted her seat, and sat back down, so I remained seated as I righted myself and looked directly at her beautiful jade eyes. ¡°Actually, I would like to give you my heartfelt thanks for saving my people from the Goblins.¡± ¡°Guruukuou waourua, varuau gaoruoou.¡± [It was merely a coincidence that I saved them while giving assistance to my brethren.] In response to my tight-lipped answer to her small talk, she lowered her head and started talking about my packmates whom I had asked about. ¡°About the others¡­ They should be arriving at the city of Elwind around this time.¡± ¡°Uruuanvu?¡± [¡­Elwind?] Apparently, while I was away, a military division from the Philland Republic which was near the borders of the Ancient Forest had marched into the city after they took advantage of the cracks in the barrier caused by the attack on the Parliament by the Reformist Extremists. ¡°Haah¡­ We knew that there were Half-Elves in the Philland Republic, but we didn¡¯t expect them to hold key positions. If they lead the Humans, which comprise more than half of the army, then they will be able to break through the Forest of Wandering.¡± ¡°Gaorufoan.¡± [That¡¯s a troublesome situation.] In the end, there was no immediate battle, but the Republican envoy who visited Elwind made unilateral demands, so Eliza went to the city as a negotiator. ¡°But before she left, she paid a visit to your packmates and they offered to help her¡­¡± Ah, I¡¯m starting to get the gist of the story. Even with Half-Elves in the mix, the Philland Republic is a sovereign state of the Human race and the main constituents of the army are Humans. If that¡¯s the case, then that ability Ax inherited from the white-masked entity would come in handy¡­ so, depending on how it¡¯s used, it was possible to disable the intruder¡¯s troops and use that to their advantage in the negotiations. ¡°I hope we can somehow work things out¡­¡± Aristia released a deep sigh while wearing a melancholy look on her face. ¡°This unnecessary turmoil tends to create unforeseen situations. Some people with radical beliefs are still roaming the streets as we speak, and they sincerely think that disrupting the current political situation is a good thing.¡± If a person misses seeing the big picture when they are motivated by ideals and discontent, they will end up doing something reckless and backing themselves in a corner after all¡­ ¡°And to think that I was the same as them before¡­ I was such a fool then.¡± ¡°Varuau, kuruoaan garufaooon.¡± [Well, to be fair, it is hard to make rational decisions when you¡¯re stuck in a chaotic situation.] I got up from my chair and patted the depressed girl¡¯s head with my paw. For now, I just hope that Ax and Eliza will do well over there while I busy myself learning all about raising a World Tree before they come back¡­ After all, I did come to the Ancient Forest to make Porcelain Mead. (We made such an extreme detour that I almost forgot what we originally came here for¡­) Four days later, I received some Porcelain Mead from the castle storage and headed home together with my packmates and the Elves who were going to live with us to watch over the growth of the new World Tree. Meanwhile, during the time we were absent from the pack¡­ CH 134 The Kobold pups¡¯ voices rang out from the village square as they trained like they always did day in and day out. ¡°Gauh!¡± (Deyah!) ¡°Kyuaann.¡± (Too slow!) In response to the black Kobold pup¡¯s right hook, the white and brown Kobold pup raised his left arm to deflect the attack and closed in on his enemy¡¯s space! With nary a pause, the young Kobold¡¯s right elbow shot up as he rotated in a semi-circular trajectory and hit the black and white Kobold in the chin. ¡°Guuuuh!?¡± ¡°Wauaah!¡± (Gotcha!) The white and brown Kobold pup then proceeds to extend his right arm to deal a backhand blow to his opponent¡¯s face, but the other pup tilts his head and avoids the attack. However, just as he evaded the attack, he was given a direct hit near the left clavicle¡­ ¡°Kuah, uu¡­ kyuun, gusuh.¡± (Kuah, uu¡­ it hurts, sniff) The black-furred Kobold pup who had received an elbow to the chin and a downward back fist to the collar bone crouched down with his tail curled up as if he were going to cry. ¡°Gaouwau.¡± (That¡¯s enough.) ¡°Ofuu, gauaru¡­ Kuu voaoo.¡± (Wait, Knuckle¡­ both of them are still standing.) Knuckle, who had been overseeing the training of the other Kobold pups, was about to announce the end of the sparring match when the tall, skinny Kobold standing next to him prevented him from doing so. ¡°Waoan, gurukuauoo¡­¡± (Blazer, even if I let them continue¡­) Knuckle was about to voice his opinion but he was dumbfounded when the spectacle caught his eye. Just as soon as the white and brown Kobold pup hesitates in giving the finishing blow when he sees his crying opponent, the black-furred Kobold pup thrusts his right hand into the ground and launches a half-moon somersault kick! ¡°Kuruaaah!¡± (This is payback!) ¡°!? Gyauuh, uu¡­ ah.¡± The unexpected kick hit the white and brown Kobold pup squarely in the chin and sent him stumbling back. Not letting the opportunity pass him by, the black Kobold pup hurriedly got up on his feet after the somersault and dealt the winning blow on his opponent. ¡°Gaooah!¡± (Seiyah!) ¡°Guu, kyuuu¡­¡± The white and brown Kobold pup couldn¡¯t dodge because of the pain from the earlier blow, so he was struck on the face and fell to the ground. This time, his loss was not just because he was caught off-guard, but because he was truly overwhelmed¡­ ¡°Wau, kuruuah! Woauguruua, guuaaon!!¡± (Oh my child! Hey, your child¡¯s playing dirty!!) ¡°Uu~, gauaoooouh, wafaaou~¡± (Well I can¡¯t make excuses for my child, but you¡¯re a sore loser, aren¡¯t you~) ¡°Uwoon, gauo!¡± (Alright, that¡¯s enough!) As she stopped the two mothers from arguing outside, the spear-wielding Kobold whose limbs and the tip of her tail were covered in white fur approached the two pups. (Sometimes, I wonder why I have to be the one to scold these people who are older than me¡­) Lancer sighed at the thought. Although she was on the same rank as her best friend Dagger among the females in the village, all the other females regarded her as the arbitrator of the pack even though she was younger than them. It was usually a task reserved for her friend who was the Boss¡¯ relative, but¡­ (Even if I asked her to take over¡­ she¡¯s the one who¡¯s more likely to cause trouble rather than fix it.) As she imagined her best friend happily lighting up a fox fire, Lancer picked up the white and brown pup who was groaning while he lay sprawled on the ground and brought her hand to his injuries. ¡°Ruu, kuruaonn.¡± (Gather, Healing Light.) ¡°G-guu¡­ ua¡­¡± A warm, faint light appears and heals the bruises and injuries on the pup¡¯s chin, face, and mouth. ¡°Kyua, garuoaan.¡± (You too, come over here.) ¡°Waoon.¡± (Okaaay.) Lancer beckoned to the black-furred pup and after she had healed his injuries, Blazer approached him and patted the child¡¯s head. ¡°Wafuh! Garuu?¡± (Wafuh! Master?) ¡°Kuuaoon rugau, garuou waouru¡­ woan?¡± (You won, kid. But remember that you won¡¯t win so easily next time, got it?) Blazer turned his gaze to the white and brown pup who was pouting as he sat on the ground. Even though they were merely playing and training right now, this generation of pups were already competing for their ranks, so if one lost a match, they would naturally feel down. ¡°¡­ Waon, garuu.¡± (¡­ Yes, Master.) ¡°Giuruvofu, gurugaiiu kuuorua¡­ garuaa voruau.¡± (You shouldn¡¯t be careless; you¡¯re lucky this wasn¡¯t a real battle¡­ so work hard to be as strong as you can, alright?) Unless one was lucky, there would be no next time if they failed in a real battle. They would merely die and their corpse would return to the earth¡­ There also aren¡¯t many options to win during an actual battle, so training the pups from a young age was essential to hone their survival skills. ¡°Ruoaau, waoan?¡± (Can we move on to the next match, Blazer?) ¡°Wau, uwon¡­¡± (Yes, please¡­) After getting confirmation from Blazer, Knuckle selected the next pair of pups with equal strength who were going up in the following match. Meanwhile, Lancer led the two pups who had just finished their mock battle and led them to their mothers. Behind the group of waiting mothers, Easteria Forest stretched on and was beginning to show signs of changes in early autumn. This was a busy season for all species, as they were either preparing for hibernation or stocking up on walnuts, tree nuts, and other necessary supplies to get them through the coming winter. The Kobolds are no exception either, as they have to compete with the Grey Bears and other magical beasts and animals that are also roaming the forest in search of food. Moreover, the autumn season was also the mating season for Kobolds, so most of the single males were busy catching prey to impress the females with their strength, and, if necessary, were also preparing to fight against their love rivals over their potential mates. (Well, it doesn¡¯t affect us anyway~) Lancer thought to herself as she looked at her restless, unmated brethren. The prime age for mating was around 3 to 4 years old, and by the time they reach 6 years old, they were expected to already be mated, so only the 3 to 6-year old Kobolds who are single or have lost their mates were busy looking for mates during this season. Coincidentally, her childhood friend¡¯s mother who had lost her mate was still at the age where she was eligible to find a match, so she was still considered a potential mate. (Ah, now that I think about it¡­ this season isn¡¯t unrelated to me either.) But of course, just like last year, said childhood friend had once again put Lancer in charge of fending off the unworthy males approaching his mother. CH 135 Autumn is the time of year when an increase in activity in the Kobold¡¯s settlement and the nearby Human settlement, Viel village, is observed as hunters go out to hunt for food in preparation for the coming winter. During this time, the rest of the villagers in Viel village are busy sowing rye, barley, or wheat which will be ready to harvest next year. In the Ferias territory where Viel village is located, rye, which is resistant to cold, is mainly cultivated and wheat is only grown as a supplement. The rye is enclosed in husks that are attached to grass stalks. So after the stems are cut from the base, it is necessary to pile them into a heap and single-mindedly beat them with paddles. After this coarse threshing process, the remaining husks must be peeled off by hand to make unpolished grains. ¡°Fufu¡­ this is tiring, isn¡¯t it~?¡± ¡°Yes, it sure is¡­¡± Even though they were tired, Maril, the Village Chief¡¯s daughter, and the other girls from the village praised each other¡¯s efforts as their task for the day ended. Even though it takes so much time and effort to hand-harvest the rye, it pays off in the end because they could easily store them for over a year. After all, since there is a possibility that a disaster or a drought might unexpectedly hit, being able to store food supplies is a big advantage. Because of that, primitive societies would store and barter grains such as wheat, and it became the prototype of today¡¯s monetary economy where part of the tax is still paid in a form of annual tribute. Anyway, the two types of grain they produced after a hard day¡¯s work is mixed and milled as necessary in the watermill which is a bit far from the village as it was built along a tributary of the Steele river. The resulting product is then used to make rye bread, which is the staple food of the people in the village¡­ ¡°Arrrgh, why does this gotta be so damn heavy anyway?¡± ¡°Maril, language¡­ The red-haired mage who was sitting on a tree stump and was reading the page about Kobold Marines from the book, Illustrated Guide to the Kobolds of the World by a renowned scientist called Cedie Hartland, looked up from her book and cautioned Maril who was grumbling as she carried a 10kg bag of rye. ¡°Mages sure have it good, you¡¯re already finished with work~¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as it looks to be; I did have to work hard, you know.¡± ¡°Without her, the job wouldn¡¯t have gone easy this time.¡± ¡°Indeed, it was all thanks to her.¡± Ares, who was practicing with his longsword nearby, praised Muriel, and Riberto, who was sharpening his beloved Saber, agreed. Meanwhile, Mirea, another member of their party, was nowhere to be found as she was sulking somewhere after she was subsequently kicked out when she joined the village hunters and tried to enter the forest with her bow in hand as the newly established sanctuary was off-limits to outsiders. The job they took on this time was a ¡°rat extermination¡± request which included the extermination of the monster-type ¡°Fanged Rat¡± and to prevent the rodents from eating the village¡¯s store of rye, walnuts, and dried meat. ¡°Heheh, well, I am a biologist after all ?¡± To accomplish this, Muriel used a pesticide concoction that contained scilliroside, a toxic compound derived from the bulb of a type of lily called the sea onion, as an active ingredient. This was a rodenticide from the time of the Ancient Kingdom which did not affect anything but rodents, but through Muriel¡¯s ingenuity and hard work, the highly cautious rats took the bait and ate the poison without any problems. (I feel sorry for the mice, but this is also how humans fight for survival against other species¡­) As an academic majoring in biology, she understood the law of survival of the fittest, and is aware that humans are no exception to this rule either¡­ So for a while, she prayed for the lives they took that day. Even though the action was a bit hypocritical¡­ As a result of her efforts, their quest of exterminating the rats went on smoothly, and the Fanged Rats, who had sharp fangs and whose bodies were more resistant to the rodenticide, were easily killed by her party members when their movements slowed down. After quickly completing the extermination request, Muriel and her party had the necessary documents stamped by Maril¡¯s father and have been staying at the village chief¡¯s house for the past 2 days. ¡°Anyway, we have been imposing your hospitality, so¡­ Ms. Maril, I¡¯ll carry that for you.¡± ¡°Eh? Are you sure? You¡¯re so reliable, Mr. Ares?¡± As he became flustered with the village girl¡¯s flirtatious smile, the red-haired mage muttered under her breath as she watched Ares receive the large sack of rye from the girl. ¡°¡­ Ares, you¡¯re so obvious.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like she¡¯s a stranger to us anyway¡­¡± Ares, who had heard Muriel¡¯s comment, cringed as they watched the two head further in the direction of the watermill¡­ After that, the villagers vigorously worked on the fields, while the women patched up the sheets and beddings in preparation for winter. Meanwhile, beer was being brewed from malt and hops in the local monastery. And so, the adults were unaware that a rumor about fairy sightings had become widespread among the children of the village as everyone had become busier than usual in the bustling Viel village. ¡°It¡¯s true, I saw it with my own eyes! I saw a small fairy with wings!¡± ¡°I-I saw it too, it was so cute~¡± ¡°Ehh, I haven¡¯t seen it, so I don¡¯t believe you.¡± ¡°I wanna see it too¡­ They show up in the village outskirts, right?¡± The children seemed to be excitedly talking about it, but¡­ unbeknownst to them, ancient fairies are extremely dangerous. Lore has it that they have the power to distort space due to their tendency to appear in unexpected places and are considered as nuisances because they would sometimes switch with Goblin or Human babies and spirit the infants away. However, the Ancient Faeries¡¯ mental makeup is most terrifying, as it is completely different from Humans or demi-humans. But according to one theory, these numerous malicious acts are all carried out with good intentions. Well, no one could understand how these beings think, and it¡¯s not confirmed that what the village children saw were indeed the fairies of old, but¡­. ¡°Waah, so pretty¡­ Eh!?¡± At dusk, a little girl headed into the outskirts of the village after she saw a glowing being with wings while the landscape around her changed into that of a dimly lit forest. CH 136 ¡°*Hic* *sob* huhu¡­¡± The chestnut curls on the small girl¡¯s head shook as she cried while walking through the dark forest at dusk. It had already been a while since Sophie had wandered into Easteria Forest and her small body was almost at its limit. Still, she was doing her best to continue walking with her mud-covered shoes, but¡­ ¡°Aaah!?¡± Perhaps unable to lift her legs due to her tiredness, Sophie tripped on the roots of a thick tree, lost her balance, and fell. ¡°Ouch! U-uwaaaaaaaah!¡± Her palms were scratched and wounded when she used them to break her fall. She finally cried out from the pain and anxiety, but it was not a wise decision. Hearing her cries which echoed throughout the forest, a group of suspicious beasts drew near her and whispered amongst themselves. ¡°Gaoa¡­ waru?¡± (A human¡­ What should we do?) ¡°Uu~, waurukuaoruun?¡± (Hmm, it¡¯s a cub from the nearby village, isn¡¯t it?) Four pairs of animal ears and tails poked out from the bushes. These beasts were known as Kobolds, and they came from the litter that was born during the spring of the previous year. They were over a year-and-a-half old and were bigger and more muscular compared to the other Kobolds due to their training with Blazer and Ax. Because they were equipped with iron spears and loincloths created in the workshop of the floppy-eared Smith, it was quite easy to hunt down a small girl like Sophie, but the current situation was not as easy as it seemed. ¡°Gau, gurua kuaorua garuaufu kuwaon.¡± (If I recall correctly, Boss told us not to attack anyone coming from the pack in that village.) ¡°Wau, garuu guawo garuaauu¡­!?¡± (But didn¡¯t Master tell us not to show any mercy towards strangers too¡­!?) Suddenly, one of them picks up a different scent and stops mid-sentence. Everyone followed suit and they all increased their focus on their surroundings as their ears stood up in attention. It seems that it wasn¡¯t just the Kobolds who were attracted to the little girl¡¯s cries as they detected some faint rustling from the bushes across them. ¡°Hiah, wh-what? Kyaaaaaaah!!¡± In response to the noise, the child looked up and she saw a huge centipede monster rise from the bushes. She was frozen in place as she screamed and could only step backward after a while, but¡­ the enormous centipede was not looking at her as it stood stock still. While its first target might have been the poor little girl, it seems to have noticed the presence of the other group as it lifted its massive body from the ground and got ready to pounce. In an instant, the centipede monster, known as the Grow Centipede, and the Kobolds who were looking at each other, attacked at the same time! ¡°Gih, giiiiiiiiiiih!¡± ¡°Waaaaaah!?¡± One of the four Kobolds pushed the young girl away as they scrambled to evade the giant centipede¡¯s bite while two more roared to warn their nearby packmates. ¡°AWOOOOOOOOOO!!¡± Fortunately for them, the Kobold settlement was nearby, so it was possible to ask for help since it was going to be difficult for them to deal with the giant centipede even though it was four against one. That said, if they just left the enemy alone, it might endanger and take innocent lives from their pack, so the young Kobolds decided to risk their lives and readied their iron spears as they unleashed a battle cry. ¡°ORUAAAAAAAAH¡± ¡°UWOOOOO!!¡± ¡°Giiih!!¡± As they roared, two Kobolds positioned themselves on the enemy¡¯s left and right sides and thrust out their iron spears, but they failed to pierce it as their speartips merely slid against the giant centipede¡¯s rounded exoskeleton and were flicked away when it shook its body. ¡°Uh, guwaaaah!?¡± ¡°Kuuuh, aaaaaaah!!¡± As soon as the Kobolds, who were unintentionally thrown off their stance, picked up on the sound of cutting wind, the giant centipede had already used its thick antennae as a whip and made shallow cuts on the Kobolds¡¯ abdomens as it sent them flying. ¡°Gaouh!!¡± (How dare you!!) ¡°Voruaah!¡± (Die already!) The two remaining Kobolds were enraged as they helped their comrades retreat after they were flung away in a bloody arch. They then held up their iron spears and used their full force as they launched an attack from both sides, but¡­ ¡°GISHAAAAAAH!!¡± The giant centipede quickly swung its head and tail and blew off the advancing dogmen. ¡°Uu, auu¡­ah¡­¡± ¡°Kahah, gauvofaruu¡­¡± (*cough* I think my ribs broke¡­) The two Kobolds who used their bodies to break through the enemy¡¯s hard carapace coughed up blood and were unable to get up from where they landed. ¡°Varuoaan!!¡± (Let¡¯s buy them some time!!) ¡°Wafuh.¡± (Yeah.) To protect their immobile companions, the Kobolds whose bellies were shallowly cut with the centipede¡¯s antennae tried to divert the enemy¡¯s attention while checking on them, but¡­ Eventually, they were also knocked down with the giant centipede¡¯s tail. ¡°Gigi, giii, giiiiiiiiiiih¡± The Kobolds prepared to face their fate as the giant centipede slowly opened its huge jaws while it approached them. But at that moment, a Holy Spearman from the Kobold race appeared in a flash and launched a full-powered slashing attack straight at the enemy¡¯s mouth! ¡°Giiiiiiaaaaaaahaaaaaa!?¡± ¡°Kuah, guruaau!¡± (Geez, it¡¯s so stubborn!) Lancer couldn¡¯t help but curse as she released her spear handle and retreated as she was no match for the giant centipede who thrashed around with incredible force despite sustaining wounds on the inside of its mouth due to the spear strike. Immediately after, Blazer, who had hidden his presence and was looking for the right timing from the treetops, launched himself from a low position and rotated his body as he dove straight into the thrashing giant centipede! ¡°Voruou, gauoh!¡± (Tear it to pieces, Severing Tailblade*!) *formerly Zantetsuo At that instant, his tail, which was surrounded with unexplainable magic power, slightly extended as it cut through space itself and easily cut through the giant centipede¡¯s hard body. ¡°Gi!? Giaaaah¡­ Giiiiiii!!¡± ¡°Gaoruva, kuua¡­¡± (This guy is too tough¡­) Blazer blurted out as he landed with one hand on the ground and looked at the giant centipede who was still wriggling even though it had already been cut in half. ¡°Waoan, guauou! Guruu kyuaaauuh.¡± (Blazer, please take care of the rest! I have to tend to their injuries.) ¡°Uu, kyuuh¡­ Au, kuruau.¡± (Uuugh, it hurts¡­ but we¡¯re saved.) ¡°K-kyuaua¡­ gauu.¡± (S-sorry, big sis¡­) As Lancer used healing magic on their injured brethren, Blazer held his Longsword in a backhanded grip and relentlessly stabbed the giant centipede¡¯s head until it stopped moving. After he was done, he followed the pungent smell that had been bugging him since earlier and saw the small human girl who had wet herself while she was hunched over and unable to move. ¡°Uwaaah, huhu¡­¡± (A human cub, huh¡­ this is going to be troublesome.) The tall, skinny Kobold sighed as he placed a hand on his forehead¡­ CH 137 (Hmm, there are several ways we could go about this¡­) While thinking about what to do next, Blazer scowls at the child. Meanwhile, the little girl, whose eyes briefly met with his, froze at the sight of the jet-black longsword that was dripping with the giant centipede¡¯s blood. ¡°Hih, d-don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± ¡°Wafu, kuaruwofu?¡± (Ah, is she begging for her life?) Upon guessing the situation based on the girl¡¯s reaction, the tall, skinny Kobold with the reddish-brown fur lightly shook off the blackish blood from his blade and reached for the cloth on his leather pouch on his waist to clean his weapon, but¡­ Due to the act, some of the blood got on the little girl¡¯s cheeks and gave off a strong, bloody scent. ¡°Ah.¡± (Ah) ¡°U-Uwaaaaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Wafi oawu, kuuaruo¡­.¡± (What the heck are you doing¡­?) Lancer, who sported a slightly stunned expression, was drawn to the crying child. Caring by nature, Lancer examined the scratches on the young girl and slowly placed her palm over her wounds to avoid scaring the child while she gathered Holy attribute magic. ¡°Kuruauou¡­¡± (Healing Mercy¡­) ¡°I-it¡¯s warm?¡± The warm light healed the light scratches on the child¡¯s limbs and also eased the pain from the sprain she got when she was pushed away by one of the Kobolds during the scuffle with the giant centipede¡­ After healing her wounds, Lancer took the small girl and held her tightly against her chest. They would usually do this in the pack to put the newborn puppies comfortably to sleep, but the sudden hug confused the child. ¡°Wapuh, *hic* huhuh~¡± However, the little girl, partly influenced by the instinct of viviparous mammals to calm down when embraced, quieted down when she was enveloped in Lancer¡¯s fluffy arms. ¡°Wafa kuaofuuh.¡± (I managed to stop her from crying for now) Lancer let out a sigh as she exhaled, but¡­ The main problem still hasn¡¯t been solved, so one of the young Kobolds moved forward and asked on behalf of everyone. ¡°Guruu, waoau?¡± (Master, what should we do?) ¡°Vaaruowaaan? Woguruo gaoaa ooauu¡­¡± (I think it was called Viel Village? This human cub might belong there¡­) It¡¯s unnatural for a young one to be wandering in such a dangerous forest, so there¡¯s a high possibility that the villagers might be looking for it. If it were us, then the whole pack would be looking for the lost pup immediately. However, stepping into the dark forest after sunset is risky, so even if they expanded the area of their search up to this area, it would have to wait until tomorrow although there is no guarantee that their young would stay safe until then. Well, from the perspective of a pragmatist like Blazer, it did not matter whether the child was a human cub. ¡°Guruuooon, guruauu¡­¡± (It¡¯s fine if it were just me, but what would Leader do?) As he thought about the childhood friend whom he had trained with and who brought him to heights he could not have even reached by himself as a normal Kobold, he became reluctant to abandon the child. After all, as a leader of the pack, his friend aspired to form good relations with the inhabitants of Viel village. Also, since the nervousness from a while ago had already dissipated and was replaced by exhaustion, the young girl in question began to nod off while clinging to Lancer. And from the expression on his other childhood friend¡¯s face, it also seems that she had become attached to the child, as from her point of view, it was common sense that the young had to be protected. (Hah, she¡¯s such a softie¡­) It seemed that no matter how much he seemed to put on airs, the tall, skinny Kobold had a soft spot for his friends. Even though he originally thought that it would be fine to just leave the child alone, Blazer began to look for a logical reason to help the human cub¡­ and found a satisfactory answer not long after. (After all, if we leave it here and the villagers come looking for it near our settlement, it would be dangerous¡­) The reason was a bit far-fetched, but because his troublesome personality did not allow him to make a move without a valid reason, he had to come up with one. But once Blazer has made up his mind, he quickly takes action because he has the conviction to stick to his beliefs. ¡°Guruo, vogaao guruau vaaoaruouu.¡± (Everyone, let¡¯s take it along to the village with us tonight and just accompany it back to its village tomorrow.) ¡°Won, waoaan.¡± (I agree.) Because the red-haired mage and the Werecats previously visited their pack, everyone had already gotten used to interacting with other races, so letting the child stay overnight with them did not pose any problems, given the precedent. When Lancer agreed with his decision to take the child home, the other Kobolds who were observing the situation visibly relaxed. ¡°Waoa, ruau wauoon!¡± (Alright, let¡¯s go home and eat!) ¡°Wauruuoou wooau¡­¡± (Yeah, that was quite the unexpected exercise after all¡­) A young female Kobold glanced at the giant centipede¡¯s carcass as she let out a light sigh. It looked strange no matter how she looked at it and thought that it was best not to consume it unless they were sure that it was safe to eat. If for some reason, they are unable to catch common prey, they would have to venture into unknown territory to source food. When this happens, one of the Kobolds would take a bite out of the prey they caught from those lands, and their condition would be observed for at least half a day to avoid mass food poisoning. Currently, there was no need for such an action, and the Kobolds who had lost interest in the centipede turned on their heels and walked back to the pack settlement. After that, Lancer took the little girl they saved to the shallow river nearby and washed her since she was covered in soil and mud. And as Lancer worried about what would be good to feed the girl, the autumn night deepened. CH 138 The next morning, in the Kobold settlement in the central part of Easteria forest, the little girl was enveloped in fluffy fur. She seemed quite warm and comfortable. Even though they did not speak the same language, the 6-month-old Kobold pups and the little girl were both brimming with curiosity and got along almost immediately. They played in the village square and slept huddled together in the pavilion that Smith and his team built. However, looking at the charming spectacle before him, the tall, skinny Kobold boorishly grumbled, ¡°Gau, gaoaawouru kuooruauuoou, guruua kuorufa.¡± (Tsk, they¡¯re sleeping comfortably with the human cub, those kids aren¡¯t wary enough.) ¡°Varuvo woaou¡­¡± (There you go again, this early in the morning¡­) Amazed by the usual rudeness of her childhood friend, Lancer, who was standing next to Blazer, gently reached out and plucked out the little girl from the sea of fluff without waking any of the pups. ¡°Au? Doggy¡­nnn¡­ zzz¡± The sun had just started to rise and the little girl was still sleepy, so Lancer held the little girl tightly against her chest and lulled her back to sleep¡­ ¡°Gau, wooan.¡± (We should get going.) ¡°Gaoua kuan oufauu kuruuaauu.¡± (The Humans must be worried about the disappearance of this cub.) After their short exchange, Blazer and Lancer turned on their heels and were accompanied by two other young Kobolds as they left the settlement. Since Viel village was a few hours away from their settlement, the little girl¡¯s adventure would come to an end by the time they arrived in the morning. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Meanwhile, a few hours before the Kobolds in the sanctuary left their settlement, people had gathered at the plaza in Viel village. Three hunters were carrying an arrow on their back and a quiver and a sword hatchet on their belts, while the rest of the 5 other people present were roughly equipped with leather armor and Short Swords. This is the village¡¯s vigilante unit that is tasked with keeping peace and order within the village. While most cities are protected by soldiers employed by the feudal lord, it is economically difficult for small towns and villages to ask for the same treatment, so security is usually maintained by the volunteers that live there. Furthermore, in exchange for allowing the residents of Viel village to freely enter and leave the forest that was designated as a sanctuary, the Lord of Ferias also imposed an order for them to capture those who would violate the ban. But this time, their goal was not to apprehend an outsider who entered the forest despite the restriction but to search for Sophie, the young girl from their village¡­ Maril, the village chief¡¯s daughter who took over as the acting chief while her father Sergio was still ill, headed the search operation. Stepping forward, she speaks to the village¡¯s vigilante unit who had responded to her early morning call. ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m sorry for calling you this early in the morning.¡± ¡°Please forgive us¡­¡± Following Maril¡¯s brief bow, Sophie¡¯s parents who had become haggard from worrying also bowed their heads low. ¡°It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s times like these that the vigilante unit is most needed after all.¡± The vigilante who was injured during the last scuffle with the bandits, Reebus, softly responded, and the awkward-looking hunters behind him also muttered out responses while scratching their heads. ¡°¡­I was scared and hid when the bandits came at that time, so I¡¯ll do my best this time.¡± ¡°I was hunting in the forest at that time, but¡­ well, I was in the same situation.¡± The hunters have a big role in this operation since the search range includes the Easteria forest. Maril looks at them expectantly as she once again explains the situation to them. ¡°As I¡¯ve told you yesterday, there are multiple testimonies that little Sophie entered the Easteria forest alone. That¡¯s why the Adventurers will be in charge of searching the grasslands on the eastern part of the village, while we will be going inside the forest sanctuary to search for her there.¡± As she talked, she turned to the 4 ¡°Black Iron¡± Adventurers who were standing just outside the village square. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, Mr. Ares, and Ms. Muriel.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s all in a day¡¯s work.¡± ¡°Just leave it to us, we can cover for each other when the situation gets tricky.¡± While thanking them for accepting the urgent request based on personal trust and not through the Adventurers Guild, Maril worked out the details of the search¡­ Meanwhile, Natalie, Maril¡¯s mother, unconsciously let out a sigh as she watched her daughter¡¯s figure from behind. ¡°She has always been such a tomboy since she was younger, but¡­ like this, no one will take her in as a bride.¡± Maril¡¯s upper body was protected by a leather breastplate, while a machete blade hung from her waist, and on her feet were leather boots. Perhaps Maril was uncomfortable with the fact that everyone would step into such a dangerous place and leave her in the safety of the village, so she was determined to step into the forest herself even though she could not yet handle a sword. Of course, her mother also tried to stop her, but she would not listen. (While it¡¯s nice that she is hands-on as the acting village chief, it¡¯s also a problem that her sense of responsibility is too strong¡­) As she sighed once again, Natalie glanced at Zeno who led the local vigilante group, and gave him a meaningful look that asked him to ¡°take care of her daughter.¡± The man himself had no intentions of stepping deeper into the autumn forest, so he was the only one she could rely on to admonish her daughter to not overestimate her capabilities. Although she was reluctant, Natalie put on a smile as she watched her daughter go. Maril¡¯s parents had dedicated their lives to Viel village, so she also cared for the village and was working as hard as she could as the acting village chief. Viel village¡¯s vigilante¡¯s headed into the depths of the forest sanctuary while the Adventurers headed to the eastern plains after the sun rose, and the mother and daughter pair parted ways without understanding how the other truly felt. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ A few hours later, when the sun had already appeared in the morning sky, the Adventurers who had already finished searching the grasslands sat by the entrance of Easteria forest and seemed to be preparing an early lunch. ¡°Is it really alright to just sit around and have lunch in this kind of situation?¡± ¡°Surely¡­ this isn¡¯t the only thing we can do. What do you think, Muriel?¡± While using a dagger to prepare the prairie rat they had hunted earlier, Mirea, the hunter who acted as their scout, asked Muriel who was sitting opposite her. However, since her question was exactly what the others were thinking, Muriel had nothing to say about it. ¡°At any rate, we can¡¯t enter the forest sanctuary anyway, so I guess that¡¯s that¡­ Muriel, fire please.¡± ¡°Okay. Fire.¡± In response to the request of Riberto who was in charge of preparing the campfire, Muriel placed her hand over the hole that was lined with firewood and kindling and uttered a short spell to produce fire. From there, Mirea placed the prepared meat into skewers and grilled them. Not long after, a nice smell surrounded the area. ¡°Oooh, that looks delicious!¡± ¡°Hey, Ares, you didn¡¯t do anything, go help around with something!¡± ¡°Oh come on, I¡¯ll take care of the clean-up later, let¡¯s dig in first!¡± The meals that they could prepare while camping is usually sparse, but since they have been staying at Viel village, they were able to procure some soft bread and walnuts, so their lunch was rather lavish than usual. ¡°Nnngh, I know I¡¯m supposed to be worrying about the lost child, but is it wrong that I still have an appetite? ¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m digging in. Thank you for the food!¡± After saying her graces, Muriel cunningly secured a few pieces of skewered meat as her companions would eat all of the food if she hesitated. The meat was grilled nicely, and the light sprinkling of salt had made it tastier. (...drool) (What a delicious scent) (I wonder why food looks tastier when you see someone else eat it?) Hidden between the trees in the boundary of the forest and the plains, the beasts twitched their noses as they observed the Adventurers nearby. However, they were no longer looking at anything else since they were so focused on their sense of smell¡­ ¡°Oh, you¡¯re drooling, Mr. Doggy¡ª mmppph!?¡± Pressing a paw against the mouth of the little girl who began to speak, Blazer squinted his eyes and gazed steadily at the red-haired Mage who sat among the Adventurers. CH 139 (Isn¡¯t that¡­ the person Leader likes?) With that thought in mind, Blazer looked at Lancer to see if she noticed. Lancer nodded and sent him a hand sign. We¡¯ve met her, haven¡¯t we? Yes, we have. The two younger Kobolds also nodded at the exchange. During the time that the human girl first visited their settlement, the black-armed, hulking Kobold who was second in command came and told everyone that she was the ¡°Chief¡¯s woman,¡± and the red-haired girl made a strong impression on them ever since. As he observed her in secret, the tall, skinny Kobold who was very keen on details narrowed his eyes. (¡­ I believe she was called Muriel.) As I remember, the human female that Leader and the others brought over had a name. And just like that time when we worked with Ernesta, all of the humans also had a name, so I couldn¡¯t determine how strong she was or what her standing among the humans was, but¡­ As Blazer pondered with his hand on his chin, a small hand patted his arm. ¡°Uuuuh~, can¡¯t breathe.¡± ¡°R-ruauu.¡± (Oh, sorry.) He apologized to her in a hushed tone and removed the paw he used to cover the mouth of the suffocating child. As soon as the paw covering the girl¡¯s mouth was taken off, Lancer placed a finger in front of her mouth to tell the child to keep quiet. This gesture was always used by the silver Kobold since they were kids to tell his noisy sister to quiet down, and the action had been unconsciously adopted by the pack ever since. The little girl seemed to understand the gesture and quietly nodded, and Blazer returned to observing the adventurers who were feasting on rat meat. (Now, should we hand over the cub to them or not¡­?) They needed to be wary of humans since some of them had kidnapped Werecats, children, and an Elf before, but the young one in their custody no doubt belonged to Viel village. Lancer sighed as she looked at Blazer who began to meditate. (Being careful is a good thing, but¡­) Since they cannot communicate with humans, they cannot gather new information either and they would just end up going in circles. If that¡¯s the case then it might be better to entrust the child to Muriel whom their brethren had previously brought to the settlement after days of traveling and accompanied to Viel village after. (Hnn~, if Archer knows this person, then it should be fine, I guess?) .Lancer makes a small nod and sends Blazer another hand sign. Why don¡¯t we leave it with them? I guess that¡¯s the safest option¡­ It seems Lancer also came to the same conclusion as her tall, skinny childhood friend. After Blazer sends another hand sign to the others to get ready to move, he reached for the small pouch on his waist. The pouch, which Kobold Smith¡¯s workshop had developed, had more capacity than the ordinary leather bag that they used¡­ And the object that Blazer took out of it was an acorn, which could be found anywhere during the current season and is gathered by the Kobolds as emergency food during the winter. The acorns are inedible if they are untreated, as they may be infested with insects. In treating acorns, the first thing to do is to throw them in water, sort out the ones that have floated as those that have been eaten by insects and are hollow, and select the ones that are in good condition. After that, the acorns would be rinsed again so they could be eaten, but currently, the floppy-eared Kobolds in the settlement would start a fire with their homemade flint, so they boiled them, removed the scum, and dried them again as a way to preserve the nuts. But this time, Blazer did not take the acorn out to snack on. Adjusting his aim, he prepared to throw the acorn in the midpoint between him and Muriel who was eating meat while unaware of her surroundings. (Alright, I think I have a grasp of the distance. Here goes nothing!) He threw the acorn and it sailed into the air, hitting Muriel in the head with just the right amount of force. ¡°Hnn? An acorn?¡± As the red-haired mage picked up the acorn, she looked in the direction she thought the acorn had been thrown from and¡­ ¡°Uwah, m-mister doggy!?¡± A little girl appeared from the bushes as if she were being pushed by something from behind. ¡°A-Ares, wait!!¡± ¡°Hnn? What¡¯s the matter, Muriel?¡± ¡°I found Sophie!¡± ¡°¡­ She does fit the description Maril gave us.¡± Mirea, with her hunter¡¯s eyes, looks at the little girl staring at her from the forest boundaries and takes the lead in approaching the child while telling her companions that it was the person they were looking for. ¡°Ah, wait.¡± ¡°Riberto, just eat later.¡± The rest of the group hurriedly postponed their lunch and followed Mirea with a short jog. They surrounded the little girl they were looking for. ¡°Uu, uwah¡­ Wh-who are you?¡± Muriel crouched in front of the child, who became wary when four adventurers suddenly surrounded her and talked to her gently at eye level. ¡°Nice to meet you, my name is Muriel. Um, can I call you Sophie?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± After hearing the child¡¯s response, Ares and Riberto clenched their fists in joy, but Mirea also crouched down and lowered her gaze as she asked Sophie, ¡°Sophie, where were you?¡± ¡°Hmm, I was in a place with lots of doggies?¡± ¡°Dogs? She must mean the wild dogs in the forest¡­ But I wonder how she¡¯s safe?¡± Beside Mirea, who focused on the word ¡°doggies¡± and muttered something in a small voice, the red-haired mage smiled stiffly at the child and let out a dry chuckle. (Wh-what should I do, I think I know who she¡¯s talking about¡­ Ah, but the area surrounding their settlement has already been declared as sacred ground, so they¡¯ll probably be okay.) A little while back, Muriel was told by her close friend Ernesta about what happened at the royal capital, but she didn¡¯t tell anyone about it and only lamented the fact that the sanctuary declaration kept her from contacting Archer or the other Kobolds. (But still, for him to be called the Holy Beast of Selkram¡­) She was unaware that the silver Kobold had cooperated with Ernesta in taking down one of the Seven Plagues in the royal capital. When she heard about the incident after it was over, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a little sad. However, as a result of the collaboration, the central area of Easteria forest became a sanctuary, and only the Cardinals, Priests, or the residents of Viel village, who had been granted access to the area due to their circumstances, were allowed to enter the territory. Moreover, the residents of the village didn¡¯t have a bad impression of the Kobolds because of the incident with the bandits a few months ago, so it was unlikely that the Kobold settlement would have any problems with the humans any time soon. (Hnn, I guess they¡¯re going to be fine) Muriel let out a sigh of relief, but her fears were unfounded as the tall, skinny Kobold had taken a rather complicated route to deliver the child to the forest borders and the little girl had no recollection of the exact location of the Kobold settlement either. Still, Blazer¡¯s meticulousness was on full display as he continued to observe the Adventurers resume their lunch after securing the little girl. He also followed the group closely until they reached Viel village before returning to the settlement with his companions¡­ Meanwhile, during that time, Maril¡¯s group had split into 2 groups and was searching the shallow part of the forest¡­ Unaware that the missing child had already been found, they continued the search only to lose their way due to the thick fog that had obscured their vision and ended up missing themselves, and the hunters in the forest had become the hunted instead. CH 140 After Neil, who was one of the hunters, cut the ivy and grass that was blocking their path with his machete, the young substitute chieftain following behind him impatiently complained. ¡°Geez, where is this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I think we¡¯re lost.¡± Neil replied, looking troubled and embarrassed. Although they had entered the forest from the village¡¯s eastern border intending to find the missing child, they ended up getting lost due to the thick fog enshrouding the forest. ¡°Haah, what are we supposed to do if we can¡¯t see clearly and the compass doesn¡¯t work anymore¡­?¡± ¡°I can understand if this were morning fog, but it¡¯s already noon, you know?¡± ¡°I wonder if Reebus and his group are in the same situation?¡± Zeno looked into the distance, worried about the others who split up with them at the forest entrance. The forest is shrouded in a dense fog which restricted their vision to a limited area. However, Zeno could only see ordinary trees no matter where he looked. He continued to look at the unchanging scenery around them as they walked¡­ until his gaze was drawn to a single tree. ¡°Th-this is!?¡± As he caught traces of small quantities of bark peeling off the tree¡¯s root, Zeno called after the others who were moving ahead. ¡°Oi, everyone, wait!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Mr. Zeno?¡± ¡°This¡­ Don¡¯t you remember seeing this before?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± As the other men took note of the part of the tree where the bark was peeling off, Maril responded first and let out a small cry. ¡°This is from earlier where Maril tripped over a tree root and these are the marks from where she kicked it out of spite.¡± ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m sorry, I got carried away¡­¡± She thought she had only kicked it lightly, but it was still fresh in her memory how the dry and brittle bark fell into pieces. On top of getting lost, she was also getting tired of walking¡­ so it was expected that she wasn¡¯t going to be kind to nature either. Despite her adorable appearance which was claimed to be the best in the village, she has a strong personality as evidenced by the way she confronted the bandits on behalf of her father. She is usually pleasant in public, but¡­ ¡°Ow, why is a tree root lying around here anyway?¡± The four members of Zeno¡¯s team witnessed the flaxen-haired maiden as she irritatedly kicked away at the tree. This tale had spread throughout the village for a while and brought great distress to her mother. This is a story for later, but currently, her behavior is being judged by the members of the vigilante group. ¡°Thanks to Maril, we realized that we¡¯ve been going back to the same place¡­¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean our situation will change for the better.¡± ¡°This fog has to clear out at lea¡ª- uwaaaaaaah!¡± From between the fog-covered trees, a thorny vine had sprung out and wrapped itself tightly around one of the middle-aged village guards and pulled him towards a suspicious tree up ahead with great force! ¡°Ow, ow, ow, stop, guaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Wh-what¡¯s going on!?¡± ¡°R-Rald!¡± While everyone was terrified by the sudden event paired with the screams of one of their companions, Maril pulled out her machete sword and tightened her grip on it as she looked at the tree when a strange, human-like face with empty eye sockets and a mouth appeared on the trunk. ¡°OoooOOOOoooOOOooo¡­¡± ¡°Hiiuh, a- a tree monster¡­¡± As they looked at the tree, they found several small animals who were covered in thorns and weakly crying by its base along with Rald who was caught and covered in thorny vines. He was bound with the thorny vines, its sharp thorns piercing him all over through the gaps in his leather armor. Zeroing in on the remains of some animals and Goblins scattered around the tree, Zeno whispered in a morose tone, ¡°I never thought I¡¯d encounter another Blood Trent again¡­¡± During his youth, he was confident in his potential so he left the village to become an adventurer. However, it was this blood-sucking tree, the Blood Trent, that forced him to retire. This kind of tree monster is a troublesome existence that uses underground water veins to produce a fog throughout the surrounding area that induces disorientation. It then lures in its confused victims and feeds on them. Fortunately, groundwater veins are only native to forests that pass through water-bearing soils and rocks beneath the surface of the earth, so there have been few confirmed encounters with Blood Trents. However, since it can appear anywhere as long as the conditions for it to grow naturally are met, many people have been harmed by these unexpected encounters. Zeno was one of these people. Just as he was about to be promoted from a ¡°Black Iron¡± Adventurer to a ¡°Silver¡± Adventurer, he and his party were attacked by a Blood Trent in a forest they entered, causing him to lose his two companions. (Back then, I had no choice but to leave them, but¡­) The bitter memories and regret from being unable to help his friends who were covered in the thorny vines and being the lone survivor after hiding until the fog cleared surfaced back into his mind. But this time, instead of telling the members of his group to retreat, he wields his Long Sword and charges towards the enemy! ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± As he swung his weapon in a diagonal direction, he stepped in closer and cut off the thorny vines that were trying to wrap themselves around him and used his blade to fend off the vines that were attacking him as he approached the tree monster. ¡°Take this!¡± ¡°OOOoo ooOOoo¡­¡± The Blood Trent let out an eerie growl as Zeno slammed into the tree and blindly pushed his blade deep inside its trunk, but¡­ due to the tree¡¯s inability to feel pain, its reaction towards the attack was rather weak. ¡°UuUU OOuuU¡­¡± ¡°D-did it wor¡ª Uwoooooooh!?¡± Zeno cursed as he had to let go of the sword after it wouldn¡¯t budge. However, the vines caught one of his feet as he tried to jump away and it hung him upside-down from the tree. ¡°No, Mr. Zeno¡­!¡± As Maril screamed, the hunter Neil pulled his bow taut and aimed the arrow at the vines holding their companion in mid-air, but the vines were so thin that it was difficult to shoot. He could choose to shoot right away, but there was a chance that it would hit the person he was trying to save, so Neil could only look on bitterly as he tightened his hold on his bow. ¡°Shit, I can¡¯t just shoot. That darn tree.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, just run!!¡± However, Zeno¡¯s warning came too late¡­ The vines, which had secretly made their way to the other members of the group from underneath the fallen leaves, had already wrapped themselves around Maril and the other men¡¯s ankles. ¡°Owaa!?¡± ¡°Ukyaaaa!¡± Before they knew it, Maril and the other villagers were already covered in vines and were being pulled towards the Blood Trent. These poor villagers were doomed to be sucked dry of their blood and used as live bait to lure other victims in, but¡­ They were not the only ones who were caught up in the fog that was thick with dark magic. Attracted by the smell of blood, four hounds arrived at the place where the villagers and the Blood Trent were and hid themselves to observe the situation. When they found the right time to spring an attack, the four dog men rushed out all at once! CH 141 ¡°Guruo, voruaaaah!!¡± (Everyone, let¡¯s go!!) ¡°Voruaaaan!¡± (Charge!) ¡°UWOOOOOOOOON!¡± The weapons of the dog men who charged towards the blood-sucking tree with a roar emitted a pale phosphorescence which drew a trail of light in the forest which had been darkened by the thick fog. This light was due to the spell cast on their weapons with Lancer¡¯s holy attribute magic, ¡°Holy Weapon¡±, which is a holy light that burns the souls of the undead, vampires, and demons. While it may sound amazing, it is an elementary holy attribute spell that can be used by any full-fledged member of the clergy who is recognized by the Church. In this case, the choice of spell was correct for the situation as this species of blood-sucking monster contains impure magic within it. As soon as it came into contact with the holy light which it was weak against, it seemed to be frightened and the vines approaching the Kobolds backed away. ¡°Garuouh.¡± (Outta my way!) During that time, one of the Kobolds who was blessed with a huge physique and inherited Ax¡¯s old Battle Axe, swung the weapon down and cut up the vast bundle of vines blocking their way. Without stopping his momentum, he used his body as a centrifugal force to spin like a top while wielding his Battle Axe and cut off the thick, thorny vines which pursued him until he reached the Blood Trent¡¯s trunk and attacked it. ¡°OOoo OOoOoO¡­¡± ¡°Woruvaah, wauaoruaaan!!¡± (You tree monster, don¡¯t you underestimate us lumberjacks!) After spitting out a line that didn¡¯t suit the current battle with much gusto, he swung a heavy slash attack at the base of the tree! While his mentor, the huge, blue Kobold who trained him in the way of the lumberjack, was away, Smith and the other floppy-eared Kobolds encouraged him to chop trees as a way of training. But while the blow he dealt to the body of the Blood Trent only slowed down its movement for a bit, its bland reaction towards the attack proved that it did not feel any pain at all. ¡°Gauh, guorufaou.¡± (Tsk, this thing is so creepy.) Immediately letting go of the Battle Axe while cursing out the tree, the Kobold with the huge physique stepped back and dodged the thorny vines which descended from the treetops. Learning from the human male who had hesitated to let go of his Longsword which was stuck to the tree and ended up getting caught by the vines and dangling upside-down from the tree, the move he pulled off still seemed to be a success even though the tree launched a surprise attack from above instead of below. Meanwhile, the Kobold who was from the same litter batch as him attacked at the same time with his light Spear but did not challenge the tree to fight close combat and instead stepped back a fair distance away, tipped back his shoulder, and threw his Javelin with all his might as he turned his body forward in a semicircular motion. The Javelin cut through the air as it flew in a straight line and lodged itself into the tree¡¯s trunk. But even though it didn¡¯t seem to have an effect, it pours out the holy light cast into it, blocking the flow of dark-attribute magic circulating inside the body of the Blood Trent. ¡°oOOU UuUuU.¡± For the first time, they felt impatience from the voice of the tree monster who supposedly doesn¡¯t feel pain, but¡­ Immediately after, it directed its ire towards the Kobold who had just thrown his weapon and out popped sharp tree roots from beneath him! ¡°Guh!? Woaaah, guuh.¡± (Wha!? Woaaah, guuh.) The roots of the tree pierced the side of the young Kobold who quickly moved his upper body to the side in an attempt to evade, but the vines wrapped itselves around him and he fell to the ground while enduring the pain. ¡°Auu~¡± After a while, the lone Kobold who was captured had a disgruntled look on his face as he moodily wagged his tail. Ordinarily, he would have no leeway to act like that in such a situation, but¡­ Since he had fulfilled his role to act as a decoy, he probably felt that the rest was up to his companions. And speaking of the two other Kobolds who jumped in to attack at the same time as them¡­ ¡°Kuu, voruauuh.¡± (It¡¯s annoying, isn¡¯t it?) Lancer used her slashing spear to cut away at the thorns and vines coming her way and ran swiftly like the wind as she approached the Blood Trent from the right, while Blazer, who matched her speed, attacked at the same time from the left to form a pincer attack. ¡°Gauru kuaoruu, guruaaaah.¡± (For the safety of the pack, I¡¯ll bring you down!) The reason why the cautious Kobold decided to take out the blood-sucking tree despite the risks involved, was because of the remains of the Goblins scattered around it. If they had ignored the Goblins¡¯ sacrifice and left the tree alone, there was a high chance that their fellow pack members, whose lifestyles and habitats overlapped with theirs, would also be affected. In other words, it was necessary to remove this threat from the pack territory, but¡­ Since the dog people were conveniently within its reach, the Blood Trent launched numerous vines to capture the tall and lean Kobold and use him for nourishment. In response, Blazer raised his left arm towards the vines approaching him and unleashed hellfire from his claws after judging that the risk of fire spreading within the fog was low. ¡°Gaoah.¡± (Shaaah!) Immediately after burning the vines with his Flaming Claws, he used the black sword in his right hand to make semi-circular slashes on the ground to cut up the vines which had snuck up beneath the fallen leaves. ¡°OOo OOou¡­¡± ¡°Gauh, gurukuaa woruau!¡± (Hah, I¡¯ve seen that trick earlier!) After ruining the surprise attack which captured the villagers from Viel village in one fell sweep, a huge shadow suddenly loomed over his head as he approached the Blood Trent. ¡°Gauh.¡± (Tsk.) He instinctively prioritized evasion rather than confirming what it was and endured the burden on his legs as he made a huge side step to evade, and the tree made a violently loud sound as it slammed its left palm into the ground. CH 142 In the same way, the tree also slammed its right palm on Lancer who was attacking at the same time, but she didn¡¯t slow down and launched herself from a low position, ducking under the tree¡¯s arm and using her weight and speed to unleash a slashing spear attack! ¡°Uu, wauan kuouru¡­ Kuuh.¡± (Nngh, its defenses are strong¡­ but¡­) Lancer put all of her force into the spear strike, deeply piercing the trunk and immediately pouring holy attribute magic through the spear and into the Blood Trent¡¯s body. ¡°UuUUuUa AaAah¡± ¡°Waruo voau, kuaon.¡± (Destroy this evil existence, Holy Light!) Lancer, the spear-wielding Kobold, used all of her magic to pour holy light into the blood-sucking tree and burn it from the inside. Squinting as he watched the dazzling light, the tall, skinny Kobold who had regained his bearings smirked and sneered at the enemy. ¡°Gau, guruuwaoann.¡± (Now then, I should get to work too.) Blazer shook his tail with a slightly fiendish expression and used his Severing Tailblade, an attack that used spatial severance, to cut the thick trunk. The attack managed to wound but not cut through it, so he followed up with an attack with his claws which have been imbued with fire-type magic. ¡°Garuoaoo, guaruoah!¡± (Burn it down, Flaming Claws!) ¡°AaaAa AaAaaA¡± The Blood Trent cried in agony as the Holy Light and the Punishing Flames combined inside its body and aggressively burned it. The combination of two skills resulted in a silvery flame that had an effect similar to the intermediate spell, ¡°Holy Blaze¡±. ¡°oOO OOoOOO¡± The burning tree monster groaned and thrashed about, and swung its arms left and right to mow down everything around it! ¡°Uwoah!?¡± ¡°Kyuuh!¡± Blazer avoided it by a hair¡¯s breadth as he pulled back his claws and lay on the ground, while Lancer similarly avoided the attack by letting go of her spear and jumping to the side, and carefully getting up to retreat to a safe distance while observing the situation, but¡­ The humans that were unable to move because they were trapped by the vines were in danger. ¡°Uhyaah¡± ¡°Uwoooooh!?¡± The tree¡¯s arms passed over Maril, the village girl, and Neil, the hunter, as it tried to mow down everything in its way. The two became pale and their teeth chattered as they trembled due to shock. ¡°We-we¡¯re going to die, pl-please help us¡­¡± The two were safe because they were restrained on the ground, but it was unusual for Maril, who was usually so strong-willed, to sound weak. But rather than them, Zeno, who was hanging from the tree, was in greater peril as he was about to be burned by the silver flames together with the tree. ¡°Cough cough why did they burn it, dammit¡­¡± As he braced himself for the approaching flames while he was covered in smoke, Zeno relaxed his body, slowly closed his eyes, and waited for his end, but¡­ ¡°Huh? It¡¯s not hot?¡± Just as Zeno¡¯s words suggested, while Holy Blaze only consumes evil beings and has no effect on anyone but its target, it cannot be immediately extinguished with water or other substances. In other words, the silver flame, which is a powerful combination of holy and fire attribute magic, destroys both the body and soul of vampire and immortal-type monsters. The damage was immense, and the movement of the violently struggling Blood Trent gradually slowed down. Shortly after, the purple glow in its empty eye sockets disappeared and it completely stopped moving. ¡°Voaruau¡­¡± (It¡¯s gone¡­) ¡°Huhu, you saved us?¡± Blazer¡¯s and Maril¡¯s gazes met as they both whispered at the same time. When she realized that it was the tall, skinny Kobold who previously helped them, Maril feigned friendliness and tried to ask for help while wearing an adorable expression, when suddenly, an unpleasant cry echoed through the forest. ¡°Gi, gii, iiiii¡± ¡°Wh-what is it now!?¡± ¡°Oioi, you¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡­¡± While the vigilantes from Viel village looked fed up while they were still restrained by the vines, the Kobolds increased their vigilance as a giant ladybug promptly crawled out of the Blood Trent¡¯s mouth and fell to the ground with a thud. Although its wings and body have already been burned by the silver flames, the poisonous-looking mottled pattern on its back could still be glimpsed. ¡°Ua, kuofaua¡­ Wau?¡± (Uwah, that looks disgusting¡­ Ei?) ¡°Giiiii, gii, gia¡­a¡­¡± Even if they knew it would die down if they left it alone, Lancer pushed the button on her mechanical blade and stabbed it to be sure. This giant ladybug monster, which is the main body of the Blood Trent, parasitizes trees that are located in places with optimum conditions and use vines to catch animals and other creatures to suck their blood, but¡­ Since it targets small groups of individuals and it takes a great deal of time and effort to defeat it, only a few people know of its existence because there are only a few records of people successfully subjugating it. But while most may think that it would be a good idea to burn them to death without fearing the loss brought on by forest fires, these parasitic monsters controlling the trees which are growing above shallow water veins can control the water underneath and immediately put out the fires. The only effective way to beat it was for a vanguard to squeeze the life out of the tree while defending against the vines and the branches and for a high to middle-ranking priest in the rearguard to deal a fatal blow using holy attribute magic. And so, it could be said that the Kobolds were pretty spot-on with how they handled the situation. And so, immediately after killing the powerful monster which was classified as a threat level C+ to B-, Lancer¡¯s consciousness faded into a white light and she found herself standing in the middle of the Silver Spiral Staircase that she had been to previously. ¡°Gau, waofuvorugu¡± (Oh, so I¡¯m at the Ultimate Spiral Staircase again¡­) She uttered as the memory of reaching the Tree of Life long ago and ascending the stairs while being given blessings and cheered on came back to her instantly¡­ CH 143 ¡°Wofu, guruou woruau.¡± (With this, I¡¯ll finally catch up with the others.) Even though she didn¡¯t mind it much, Lancer was aware that she was one step behind her childhood friends, so the holy spear-wielding Kobold happily ascended the Silver Spiral Staircase. She received the cheers and blessings that were pouring out of nowhere with open arms because she gave it her all in the battle with the Blood Trent this time. ¡°Kuu, vorufa? Oruau garuaau~¡± (But why is my magic waning? Not just that, but I¡¯m also getting tired~) After advancing for a while with somewhat heavy footsteps, Lancer casually stopped and looked around, and saw several shining spiral staircases rising to the sky in the pure white space. (I didn¡¯t have the leisure of looking around before, but now that I¡¯m looking at it, it sure is pretty in here.) Lancer stops in the middle of her ascension as a powdery snow-like phosphorescence flitted in front of her and was promptly blown away by a breeze from the spirit world and fluttered into the void. ¡°Wou¡­¡± (That¡¯s¡­) The words ¡°the remnant souls of the dead¡± suddenly appeared in her mind, and the knowledge of reincarnation, which she could not have possibly known, surged into her mind, making her understand a part of how it worked. (So the remnants of the soul of the deceased will return to the ¡°realm of completion in the Tree of Life¡±, and will be reborn after the deficiencies in the soul have been supplemented¡­ Oh, so there¡¯s also a possibility of their race changing, huh.) Suddenly, her silver-furred childhood friend who did not act like a Kobold came to mind. ¡°Au~, gaouaan¡­ kuaoruu, aorufau guruu?¡± (Ah~ that¡¯s probably the case with him¡­ Maybe I just don¡¯t have any memories of it, but could it be that I was the same way?) Lancer was given a fleeting glimpse of a gallant female knight whose hair fluttered in the wind as she stood in the middle of a plain, but the information and memories she gained from that time could not be brought back. After a while, Lancer reached the next rank in her evolution and she lost all her memories and regained her consciousness instead¡­ Name: Lancer (Female) Race: Kobold Rank: Kobold Valkyria Skill: Leg Strengthening (Advance / Effect is Instantaneous), Intermediate Magic (Holy), Attribute Enhancement (Holy), Beastification, Holy Lance (Has a special effect against Vampires, Demons, and the Undead), Sacred Howl (Howl heals abnormal status inflictions) Title: The Kobold of the Holy Lance Weapon: Slashing Spear (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor The magic circulating inside Lancer¡¯s body faintly carried the holy attribute while her eyes took on a golden color, giving her a slightly holy aura. Basically, all existences contain non-attribute magic, and if they have the talent, they can react to the magical elements and attributes found in the natural world according to the individual qualities they possess to create a spell or a technique, but¡­ In some cases, the magic that resides inside someone is constantly under the influence of a specific element. As a result, the effect of the corresponding elemental attribute is increased. But while the time and concentration needed to cast a spell is reduced, other attribute magic becomes difficult to handle. Moreover, since magic has compatibility and conflict among the different magic attributes, it also carries advantages and disadvantages, so ¡°evolution¡± is achieved and the creature¡¯s overall physical ability is also improved. ¡°¡­ Vorufauu, kuuau.: (¡­ Looks like you¡¯ve gained power, Lancer.) ¡°Wau, kuruaaan.¡± (Yes, it seems I did.) Lancer utters a short response towards the tall and skinny Kobold as she opens and closes her hands as if to confirm her newly acquired power. But while she was concentrating on her inner self and trying to grasp her condition, her vine-covered pack mate let out a pitiful cry. ¡°Gauu, vurukuauu~¡± (Big sis, please help me~) The only one among the Kobolds who couldn¡¯t dodge the Blood Trent¡¯s attack and was bound to the ground by the vines was being helped by the Kobold with a good physique, but¡­ neither his bare hands nor his axe was effective against it. ¡°N, waooon.¡± (Hnn, give me a minute.) Lancer placed her hand on the hilt of the mechanical dagger that she stuck on the giant ladybug¡¯s carcass and pushed the button on it until it clicked into place and pulled it out. She then walked over to her bound packmate and crouched down. She used her dagger to nimbly cut through the vines wrapped around him and used her remaining magic by placing her paws over the injured area and creating a warm healing light. (Huh, looks like my magic usage is more efficient than usual.) Maril, who was still wrapped in vines, glanced at the Kobold wielding the Holy Spear who had her head tilted as if she was deep in thought, and turned to the tall, skinny Kobold who stood beside her while observing their surroundings. Maril did her best to get his attention with a look and tried to appeal to him to help them again. ¡°P-please, Mr. Kobold! Help us too.¡± ¡°P-please help us!¡± ¡°I beg you!!¡± It was obvious that the consequences would be disastrous if they were left as they were in the dangerous forest, so the villagers tried their best to talk to them and managed to move Blazer, who was cold-hearted to all other beings but his pack mates. ¡°Gauh, garuaaauu¡­¡± (Tsk, guess we have no choice¡­) To him, as long as it didn¡¯t take a lot of effort and the threat of danger was low, Blazer was more than willing to lend a hand to the Humans who lived in the settlement near their territory. Blazer approached the village maiden Maril whom he had been briefly acquainted with and leaned over to pick up the machete blade she had dropped earlier. Since earlier, Maril had been sending him passionate looks, but¡­ when the Kobold with the reddish-brown fur approached her with the blade in hand, she could not help but be nervous and cowered before him. Unaware of her inner thoughts, Blazer cut through the vines enveloping the girl and after she was freed, the beautiful village girl whose clothes were in disarray crawled towards him in an unladylike manner. ¡°Th-thank you, Mr. Kobold?¡± Whether it was because of the relief or because the tension she was feeling had been broken, Maril involuntarily hugged the Kobold in front of her and expressed her gratitude, but¡­ the receiving end subtly displayed a displeased expression towards the gesture. (Well, autumn is mating season, but¡­ this¡­ to be wanted by a human female is a little¡­) The tall, skinny Kobold was severely misguided and thought as such¡­ ¡°Fuwaah, he¡¯s fluffier than I expected and he also has nice muscles¡­¡± Forgetting her original intent, Maril ruffled his fur to her heart¡¯s content. After that, the rest of the vigilante members from Viel village were freed from the vines binding them, and, although they had lost a lot of blood from the Blood Trent¡¯s attack, they survived thanks to Lancer¡¯s healing magic and headed home while lending a shoulder to their comrades. Needless to say, after they had canceled the search and scuttled back to the village, they were assaulted by a terrible sense that their efforts were just in vain as they saw little Sophie happily telling her parents about the dogs she had met in the forest. Thus ended the extremely rare and troublesome incident involving the fairies of old, and a few days later, the chief of the Kobold pack in Easteria Forest returned from his adventure in the Elve¡¯s forest¡­ CH 144 This happened a little while before the Kobolds inhabiting Easteria forest, a newly-declared sanctuary, found and cared for the little girl from Viel village¡­ On their way back from the Ancient forest, the silver wolf-dog and his party of Kobolds and Elves dropped by and stopped over Lucua village. However, the village was small and did not have a big enough place to let everyone stay, so they camped out in the clearing just outside the village and spent the night there, but now, the sound of wooden swords clashing and shouts could be heard from the area. ¡°SEYAAAAAAH!¡± Liz, whose energy was as high as her cat ears standing on end, launched herself from a low stance and used the wooden dagger on her right hand to aim for the gaps in the black-armed Kobold¡¯s leather armor and pierce it. Although the blade was made of wood, such an attack would still cause an injury if it hits, so it was common sense to hold back on attacking the opponent during practice, but¡­ with Liz¡¯s experience, it was rather difficult to expect her to hold back. There was a possibility of something going wrong if the attack connected, so because he didn¡¯t need to receive the blow, Buster stepped back with his left foot and bent his back a bit to evade the attack. ¡°Wauoh.¡± (That was close.) ¡°Kuh, I¡¯m not done yet!¡± Continuing from her first attack, Liz used the wooden dagger on her left hand that she held in an underhand grip and aimed for Buster¡¯s throat, but Buster used force to hold down Liz¡¯s thin wrist and stop her momentum. ¡°Voo, kuaruu¡­¡± (She¡¯s light, but she¡¯s still slow¡­) ¡°Kuuh!?¡± Liz, whose left wrist had been captured, pulled her right arm back from her initial attack and tried to aim at her opponent¡¯s heart¡­ However, the move was within Buster¡¯s expectations, so he vigorously yanked her wrist towards him and moved in to punch Liz in the face as she lost her balance! ¡°Kyaah!!¡± Liz involuntarily flinched and was unable to move as she tightly closed her eyes, but¡­ The pain she was expecting didn¡¯t come, but she felt Buster¡¯s paw patting her in between her cat ears instead. ¡°¡­Oaruga.¡± (¡­ Let¡¯s stop here.) ¡°Urghh, I can¡¯t even win against Buster who¡¯s fighting barehanded¡­¡± Unlike monster-type demi-humans who experience ¡°abrupt evolutions¡±, human-type demi-humans also ascend the silver Spiral Staircase little by little without being aware of it through experience and combat. One such example is a Werecat swordsman who possessed the ¡°Omniscient Eye¡±, which was admired by all Werecat warriors as a hero of their race because of his astounding dynamic vision and ability to execute slash attacks at an extreme speed. But since he did not know the continental language, the black-armed Kobold Buster could not understand what Liz was saying. (Hmm, I don¡¯t understand what she¡¯s going on about, but¡­) Upon seeing Liz depressed, Buster patted her head more and ended the mock battle that his pack leader asked him to participate in. (Now, let¡¯s see what¡¯s happening over there¡­) Buster was puzzled as he looked at the scene before him. Instead of his furry chieftain, a wild, silver-haired man with a narrow look in his eyes carefully approached a Werecat swordsman who was holding a wooden sword. ¡°¡­It seems like your movement has slightly slowed down, Archer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still not used to this form¡­ Rather, it seems you¡¯ve gotten stronger, Wallace.¡± ¡°I have regrets over losing my friends to the Goblin attack, so I can¡¯t afford to lose to them again.¡± The youthful-looking gentleman smiled fearlessly as he blocked the incoming attack, jumped back, and held his sword in a multi-directional stance*. ¡°Tsk, I can¡¯t find an opening¡­ You¡¯ve truly gotten stronger.¡± A few days before this mock battle, I succeeded in changing into human form and was finally able to speak the human language. But then I found that it was quite difficult to move in this body. I had anticipated it would take time for me to get used to it, but this was more than I expected. I also realized that it was easier to move in a loincloth than moving in clothes with tail holes that I bought in Lucua village yesterday. Still, it was necessary for me to test my limited abilities in this form so I asked Wallace for a mock battle, but¡­ I had a hard time due to the decline in my sense of hearing and smell, as well as Wallace¡¯s growth in terms of battle strength (Should I just charge in¡­!?) While I was at a loss as to how to attack, my opponent flawlessly charged in without missing a beat and launched a diagonal slash attack aimed at my upper body. ¡°Sei!¡± ¡°Guuh.¡± I caught the attack by a hair¡¯s breadth by raising my wooden sword diagonally, but at the moment of contact, the Werecat swordsman slackened his wrist and slid his weapon back, drawing a half-moon downward at an unrecognizable speed and launched a follow-up attack at the same pace. ¡°!?¡± I gripped the wooden sword tightly to avoid being hit, and somehow managed to withstand a series of blows, but in a short time, the force of the blows calmed down and I was able to get an attack in. I felt a momentary chill as I pushed and slashed, blocking Wallace¡¯s movement. After our swords clashed once, I quickly jumped back, gaining some distance away from my opponent as I squared off with him again. ¡°So after launching a series of attacks to put your opponent on the defensive, you get them to focus on protecting their upper body and launch an attack from below, huh¡­¡± ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s amazing how you caught all of that.¡± We smiled at each other as we exchanged a few words. Then, I took on a crouching tiger-like stance by turning my upper body to the side, lowering my hips, and positioning my sword so that the tip would extend to the back. (I¡¯m pretty sure this is the fool-proof single strike she was talking about¡­) As I recalled the words and techniques of Sakura, a mercenary in my group who hailed from the Far East, I sharpened my focus. I felt Wallace take a half-step back while slightly lowering his hips and holding his sword in an upper stance. And after a moment, the sound of two blades rushing forward cut through the silent air! I closed the gap as if I were running on all fours by sliding my left leg backward, thrusting my other knee towards the ground, and using that as a spring to increase the force and speed of my attack as I used my upper body as a centrifugal force to swing the sword. However, my blade met my opponent¡¯s blade with almost the same force. The violent sound of the wooden swords clashing with each other reverberated in the area and the blow I launched caused the Werecat Swordsman¡¯s weapon to fly overhead, creating a deadly opening. ¡°Uwah!?¡± ¡°Gotcha!!¡± I instantly adjusted my hold on the sword and proceeded to launch a slash attack at Wallace¡¯s undefended torso, but¡­ ¡°Well, they are made of wood after all.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± Both of our swords had completely broken due to the impact of the attacks. ¡°Do you want to continue?¡± ¡°No, let¡¯s stop here¡­ I have a feeling that I can¡¯t win against you barehanded.¡± I took on a light fighting stance and controlled the magic circulating inside my body in preparation for activating Adamantine Body when I asked Wallace if he wanted to continue, but the Werecat gentleman waved his hand in refusal. So I relaxed my shoulders and looked in the direction of Buster and Liz who were supposed to be engaged in a mock battle, but it seemed like they finished earlier and came to watch. However, as soon as my eyes met theirs, they both averted their gazes and ran away somewhere. Meanwhile, Ax fell over when one of the broken swords flew in his direction and hit him in the face while he was holding a bottle of honey¡­ If I had to guess why he failed to dodge, he was probably busy licking off the honey from his paw. CH 145 ¡°Uu~, wafionn, gua!!¡± (Uugh~, what the heck!?) ¡°Wauuh, gaufa~?¡± (Ax, you¡¯re so slow~?) I moved a little far away as I heard my sister mercilessly tease the gluttonous Kobold who rubbed his forehead as he groaned while tears fell from his eyes. There, I took off my leather armor and kept my trousers on while being mindful of the position of the tail slot, and transformed from my Human form back to my wolf-mixed Kobold form. (Guh, uh, just like usual, it feels like my body is still transforming¡­) To be honest, the process feels uncomfortable, but if I didn¡¯t go through with it, then I wouldn¡¯t be able to change back to my original form. I don¡¯t think there are many instances that I would need to do Humanization, but will I ever get used to this sensation? ¡°Kuou voruoo.¡± (I guess I¡¯ll have to practice every day.) When I changed back, my vocal cords switched back to a Kobold¡¯s, and speaking in the continental language became impossible for me. My fur grew back and my fangs and claws grew longer, and my tail also grew back and filled the tail hole at the back of my pants. The tail hole, huh¡­ The clothes that could be bought in Lucua village comes with a tail hole and is just right for Werecats and Kobolds, but it becomes completely useless once I turn Human. (Well, if I just put on a coat or a cloak to cover it, it¡¯ll be fine. Besides, it¡¯s not uncomfortable to wear either.) The fabric used for the clothes was linen that was weaved by the Werecat women during the winter using a machine called a waist loom. We were also able to purchase such a machine to create cloth for our loincloths. And thanks to this, my pack will now be in the process of transitioning into wearing loincloths instead of grass skirts which were often prickly and uncomfortable. Smith, the small, floppy-eared Kobold who was interested in learning to weave linen, wanted a waist loom, so I had to buy one along with a flat chisel for stone processing. (The waist loom could be found at Grimer¡¯s workshop since it¡¯s made of wood, while the iron tools could be found at Barrack¡¯s¡­ And then, I should ask Joseph to sell me some chickens if possible.) I put my hand on the leather pouch on my waist and confirmed how many gold and silver coins I still had. Since Lucua village is included in the economic zone of the Ferias territory through the neighboring town of Wyald which had a population of approximately 2,000, we didn¡¯t encounter any problems using the Diore currency there. But since the village was quite self-sufficient due to the nature of the Werecats living in the forest, it is important to note that the amount of currency in circulation is small and the places where you can use it are limited¡­ And so, after we more or less completed the list of items we were asked to buy, I approached Ax who was still being healed by the World Tree Priestess from the Ancient forest who was accompanying us and apologized. ¡°Guruvaau¡­waruaou.¡± (It was out of my control¡­ I¡¯m so sorry about earlier.) ¡°Waon, woruu guua vaagauoon.¡± (Don¡¯t worry about it. Next time, I¡¯ll just hide away and eat honey.) As he said this, Ax sat on the ground and tapped the ground with his tail in an unhappy manner¡­ Our emotions tend to show in our ears and tails, so I understood right away. As I thought of a way to cheer him up later, someone lightly tugged on the fur in my arm. ¡°Kuon, kuruau gauruan? Wafiguaan?¡± (Big brother, it¡¯s almost lunchtime? Shouldn¡¯t you be setting out to hunt?) ¡°Waoan.¡± (Yeah, I should get going.) ¡°Uworu, guruuuoou¡­¡± (Then I¡¯ll come with you¡­) The petite Black Elf who had been sitting on a tree branch watching the mock battle earlier jumped down with a loud thud and held up the large Elven Bow she had been carrying around. The Elf, whose silver hair hung on her shoulder in a braid and whose healthy wheat-colored skin was exposed between her thick shorts and thigh-high boots was Selica, a hunter who was working as the Shrine Maiden¡¯s bodyguard. I heard she was known as the best archer among the Black Elves, and although she came out clean in the end, she was suspected to be the assassin hired by the reform extremists to shoot the priest Marcus. She was living a difficult life because of it when she was asked to be a bodyguard. At first glance, she looks cool and pretty, but she¡¯s the type who hates to lose. Ever since I killed a wild rabbit before she did when we were hunting together one time, she became very competitive with me. But even though she¡¯s a better hunter than me, I wish she¡¯d stop snickering whenever I get to her prey first. Anyway, I still have some errands today, so I should just ask them to hunt lunch for our group. ¡°Guan seraaoon, wofa guruaaoouu.¡± (Then again, I¡¯ll leave the hunting to Selica. My sister and Buster will accompany you.) ¡°Vitora roze.¡± (¡­There¡¯s no competition, how boring.) Selica muttered in Elvish as she turned around and made her way to the forest while my sister who was wagging her tail in a good mood and Buster who carried his Greatsword followed along. ¡°Woaoonn, gurua.¡± (We¡¯re going, Chief!) ¡°Kuruauu guaaoon~?¡± (We¡¯ll bring back something tasty, okay~?) ¡°Wau, kuuoaan.¡± (Sure, I¡¯ll leave it to you.) After nodding and sending the food procurement team off, I took the mithril mask that was hanging on my belt and put it on. Selica was good at the Kobo language because she often encountered Kobolds whenever she went hunting as it was essential to avoid conflicts. But I had to remember that everyone wasn¡¯t good at it and that it was still necessary to communicate via telepathy. ¡°Wau, guruo oarukuaau¡­ kuaruou wafuoaaan?¡± [We¡¯re going to finish the rest of our shopping in the village, but¡­ what about you guys?] ¡°Hmm, well, it¡¯s rare for us to visit a Werecat village, so I guess we¡¯ll just look around.¡± On behalf of the other Elves, the Priestess Listy who had her familiar, a small sparrowhawk, perched on her shoulder, answered while directing her gaze towards Wallace for confirmation. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. Our ancestors also lived in the Ancient forest before, so we also consider you as good friends.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll show you around!¡± As Listy thanked Liz, whose cat ears were excitedly twitching as she offered to show them around, the newlywed Bronze Elves beside her who were huddled together tightened their hold on each other¡¯s hands in excitement. After all, Bronze Elves were naturally brimming with curiosity¡­ ¡°Hmm~, I¡¯m curious about the medical situation of the Werecats around here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so like you, Mira. Alright, I¡¯ll come with you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Asta¡«?¡± The one squeezing her husband¡¯s arm to her chest was the Bronze Elf Apothecary Mira, and the man hopelessly wrapped around her finger was the Bronze Elf Black Smith Asta. I was told that they were childhood friends and they had not been aware of each other at first, but when Asta was imprisoned for selling weapons and gunpowder to the Reform Extremists, their relationship changed and it developed rapidly from there¡­ (Their relationship is so intimate and sweet that it¡¯s giving me a toothache.) As I averted my eyes from the scene, my eyes met with Lenaide¡¯s who was also single and she similarly turned her eyes away from the scene. Anyway, after we endured their sweet musings for a while, we entered Lucua village and spent our time exploring the village. On the way, our luggage carrier Ax was captured by the Werecat child Lilia and petted, but in the end, we finished our shopping and promptly returned to the campsite where Selica welcomed us, pointed to the wild boar she had killed, and proudly puffed her small chest before turning away. After we had finished the lunch that Selica and my sister had prepared while waiting for us to come back, we spent two more days traveling and finally set foot in the settlement that we hadn¡¯t seen for a while. Character Introduction Name: Selica Greenwood Race: Black Elf Class: Elf Archer Skill: Eagle Eye (Can see at least 5.4 meters ahead) Elementary Magic (Water?Wind), Erase Presence (Medium), Enhanced Jumping Power (Medium/Effect is constant) 6 Consecutive Shots (1 shot per second with 80% accuracy) Title: The Tree-lurking Huntress Weapon: Elven Bow(Main), Crystal Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Archer¡¯s breastplate, archer¡¯s brace CH 146 After our series of adventures in the Ancient forest successfully ended, we finally returned to our pack settlement and I was able to sleep comfortably in my lair after a long while. However, I was awakened the next day by a shrill noise outside. I got up as I rubbed my sleepy eyes and poked my head out of my lair to see what was going on, only to find out that the noise came from the rooster that was crowing cheerfully in its straw-lined enclosure. ¡°¡­Vaoru guoruaan.¡± (¡­Why¡¯s it making such a fuss in the morning?) I always thought it was a normal thing for chickens to crow in the morning, but for some reason, my Kobold instincts are telling me it¡¯s an act of intimidation. If you¡¯re wondering why then it¡¯s because the pair of hens are quiet¡­ During my days as a mercenary, we came to exterminate vermin in a town where livestock and poultry farming were the main sources of livelihood, and one of the ranchers there told me that the chickens followed a certain order of crowing in the morning. (Well, I guess there¡¯s a pecking order within these guys too.) I guess a hierarchy is automatic for animals and other creatures that live in groups. Yesterday, a three and a four-year-old male began dueling in the village square for pack ranking, and the warrior-type Elves such as Selica and Lenaide looked on with interest while Listy, Asta, and Mira were frowning the whole time. It was currently the breeding season, so the eligible males in the pack were going wild. By the way, the three-year-old male won, but the opponent he kicked away hit Buster who was eating venison while watching the match. The guy was stunned as the meat fell and he was met with Buster¡¯s sharp gaze that his tail curled up in terror. Needless to say, it wasn¡¯t looking good for him to show such behavior in front of the females in the pack. ¡°Uaauoo¡­¡± (Well that¡¯s unfortunate¡­) Anyway, we needed to expand the settlement in preparation for the baby rush in early spring which will come after the hibernation period following the mating season. It doesn¡¯t mean there won¡¯t be any sacrifices at all, but our pack members¡¯ fatality rates had gone down ever since we took over. But even before that, the settlement was already crowded and was in dire need of more space to accommodate the members of the pack. (We can¡¯t just expand outside the forest, but if we¡¯re going to do so, then the most ideal place would be in the southeastern part¡­) After scratching my head, I put on the mithril mask and headed to the central square where the Elves set up their tents and checked in on them. ¡°¡­ Good morning, Archer!¡± Some Kobolds seem to have just woken up and were milling about in the village square. Meanwhile, Selica took out a large kettle and set it over the fire to boil water, wrapped some loose herbs in a make-shift tea bag, and added it into the kettle. ¡°Waoon, gauru kuuwoau.¡± [Good morning. Is that morning herb tea?] ¡°¡­ Want some?¡± I sleepily nodded in response to the Black Elf girl¡¯s question and sat on the other side of the campfire just as the Bronze Elf Apothecary and the Black Smith crawled out of the tent, lured in by the scent of the brewing tea. ¡°Fumyu, that peppermint scent¡­ It has the effect of clearing one¡¯s head, you know.¡± ¡°But it smells quite different from the mint tea you make for me, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Hnn, give me a minute, Asta?¡± Mira went back to the tent as she said this, and carefully retrieved her apothecary¡¯s bag which is used to store small amounts of herbs without waking up Listy and the others who were still sleeping. ¡°Let¡¯s add this rosemary into the tea!¡± Mira quickly packed some dried herbs into a medicine pouch and added it to the kettle, along with some more water to accommodate the growing number of people gathering around the fire. ¡°Kuofau~, garuu woruau?¡± (That smells nice~, let¡¯s add this too?) Like Mira, Ax was similarly drawn in by the smell of the tea and sat in front of the fire. He then proceeded to open the lid of the bottle he was carrying and threw in 4 heaping spoonfuls of honey into the mixture. ¡°Guoruguaau kuarufau¡­¡± (I don¡¯t really like my tea sweet¡­) ¡°U~, kurua~Uu.¡± (Eh~, but it tastes so good.) But just as he was about to add more honey, Selica grabbed the sweet-toothed Kobold¡¯s hand and shook her head. Ax¡¯s ears drooped as he pouted. (Any more and it would¡¯ve been too sweet for my taste¡­) While praising Selica from the bottom of my heart, I accepted the freshly made mint tea with honey and enjoyed the quiet morning with my packmate and the three other Elves of color while we huddled around the campfire. ¡°Woruu aua, kuaworun wouruoon?¡± [By the way, Asta, what do you think of the thing I showed you yesterday?] ¡°Ah, well I do admire how Smith has worked hard at it, but his woodwork is not that precise¡­ and I think it will break down soon. Aside from the hatchet and the spear plane he made himself, he would also need this kind of saw for woodworking.¡± The thing we were talking about was the waterwheel I asked Smith to make before we left for the Ancient forest. The pack settlement is located in higher ground than the Steele River so the damage we receive during heavy rains is greatly reduced, but it would be difficult to create irrigation waterways from the river to the fields. Well, the autumn-sown wheat we bought from the Werecats only require minimal watering, and the residents in our neighboring villages, Lucua and Viel village, can grow them without creating aqueducts to their fields, so it suffices to say that we don¡¯t necessarily need to draw water from the river because natural farming is possible in our area. (But still¡­ I¡¯m thinking of having other crops grown in our fields, and then there¡¯s also the issue of efficiency.) As a former native of Athos, a desert land that has many areas that experience low rainfall, I understood the effectiveness of using the irrigation farming system. With this method, a stable supply of water can increase the crop yield per field unit area. And for this purpose, we would need a water wheel that has numerous buckets attached to its outer rim. Powered by the flow of the river, the water drawn by the buckets is elevated by the rotating motion of the wheel and is poured into the water reservoir to create an elevation difference. From there, it would be easy to deliver water to the settlement and improve land conditions. In terms of structure, the waterwheel was just a wheel with buckets attached to it so I asked the dexterous Smith and his group of floppy-eared Kobolds to create one that looked just like the waterwheel at the mill in Viel village, but¡­ Although it may seem like a simple wooden structure, apparently creating one wasn¡¯t as straightforward as I thought it was. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 147 ¡°Guauu vuuo kuaoruuu?¡± [What do you think needs to be fixed?] ¡°Rather than fixing it, I think it would be faster to build a new one instead, but this time, I¡¯ll be the one in charge of making it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll also be staying in this village for a while, so it¡¯s necessary to have one.¡± The petite, pale-skinned Elf replied, snuggling up to her husband while sipping her herb tea. Although she says they are only staying for ¡°a while¡±, for this long-lived race, this length of time is equivalent to a Kobold¡¯s entire lifetime. Given the distance from the settlement, it must be a hassle for them to make the 20-minute trek just to get water from the river. Anyway, in Elfast, they had these three ridiculously huge scoop wheels that were maintained with taxpayers¡¯ money, along with water and sewage systems, so they had access to clean water at all times. I understand their desire to create a similar living environment, but nothing is more expensive than something that¡¯s given for free. ¡°Guu guruu guruaaoo,garuu wafuoa.¡± [We¡¯ll be supplying the tools you¡¯ll need, but what about payment?] ¡°Let¡¯s see, Selica is in charge of hunting food for our party, so we wouldn¡¯t need you to supply that for us¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll¡­ do my best.¡± The Elf dispatch unit consisted of the hunter Selica and the chamberlain knight Lenaide who were in charge of procuring provisions, the blacksmith, Asta, who made various things necessary for living, the apothecary Mira who was familiar with vegetation and was in charge of gathering fruits, and the priestess Listy who was a healer. (I guess their group is structured in a way that they could support each other, huh¡­) While I made guesses about their roles in the group, Asta looked at me as if he had made up his mind. ¡°Archer, for payment, why don¡¯t you guys help us make a house instead?¡± ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t just keep living in a tent forever, there¡¯s no privacy at all~¡± ¡°Garuwaon¡­ wauu.¡± [Sounds good¡­ Ax.] ¡°Waon, wauo kuruaa~n.¡± (Okay, I¡¯ll tell Smith and the others about it.) Aside from the matter concerning our cooperation, it was difficult for me to tell the droopy-eared Kobolds who had been working on the waterwheel that Asta would take over their project. And so, I sent Ax, whom they adored and affectionately called ¡°brother Ax¡±, to tell them since he was the one who looked after them when he brought them into the pack. I finished the herb tea in my cup and stood up. ¡°¡­ Shall we go hunting?¡± ¡°Gaoua¡­¡± (Sure¡­) I had already said yes to the wheat-skinned Elf who was wearing a cloak before I noticed it, so I went back to my lair to prepare for hunting after I greeted Listy who had just woken up and came out of the tent last. Yesterday, everyone in the pack proudly showed me the red potatoes they had harvested, but since those were meant to be our food for winter, we couldn¡¯t touch those. Besides, I still had to get some meat for smoking anyway, so it was good that I came along. (I¡¯ll look forward to having roasted potatoes in winter, so for now, I¡¯ll focus on hunting.) Secretly motivated, I set out together with Selica to the forest with a mechanical bow in hand, but I once again lost to our little game of who would get to the prey first. ¡°Fufu, I¡­ win.¡± With a smug laugh, she puffed out her chest as she pointed to the slain Forest Boar while her bamboo leaf-like ears twitched to convey her good mood. Originally, Elves hunted by picking up sounds with their long ears and spotting their prey with their excellent vision, but Selica¡¯s Eagle Eyes, which allowed her to see several meters ahead, was beyond comparison. ¡°Garuvoa gurufau.¡± [Using those magic eyes is cheating.] ¡°¡­ What, you can¡¯t accept defeat?¡± ¡°Garuu, garuwoa kuruaoou?¡± [Hmph, should you be saying that?] She had pierced the huge animal through its head and belly, but it looked too heavy for her small arms to handle even if we drained its blood right here and now. Selica, who sensed what I was going to say from the way I was looking at her, gently approached me and hugged my arm while pressing her chest against it, but her attempt fell short due to the rugged breastplate she had on¡­ ¡°¡­ Wafioruu.¡± [¡­ What are you doing?] ¡°I¡¯m imitating Mira when she¡¯s asking a favor from Asta¡­Can you help me carry this back?¡± ¡°Garuu, guafu guruo woruauuh.¡± [Of course I¡¯m carrying this back, everyone¡¯s eating it after all.] ¡°Ugh, you meanie¡­¡± Selica let go of my arm, reached for the scabbard hanging by her belt and pulled out a dagger with a clear crystal blade that Blazer would have wanted, and expertly cut several arteries on the animal to drain its blood. Having nothing to do, I also took out my hunting knife and joined her in preparing the meat by removing the unnecessary parts of the Forest Boar. We then placed the prepared animal carcass into the linen bag Selica carried with her and I carried it over my shoulder. ¡°Gau, varuaan.¡± [Shall we go back?] ¡°¡­ Yes, we should head back soon.¡± It was no longer breakfast time when we returned as we wandered a bit more through the forest in search of easy prey. On our trek back to the village, I stopped by and said hello to the pack members we met along the way and came across the droopy-eared Kobolds that were huddled in a corner of the village square. My sister was together with them too, and she happily wagged her fluffy tail as she greeted me. ¡°U, kuon, kuaan~?¡± (Ah, big brother, welcome back~?) ¡°Gurua, kuaaoon!¡± (Welcome back, Boss!) ¡°Wafu.¡± [Thanks.] As we exchanged greetings, I noticed that some of them were pumping air into the clay furnace using the leather bellows while Asta picked up some wrought iron with a clamp and placed it inside to melt. ¡°Gauu, wofuruuoruu!¡± (Alright, look closely!) Smith, who was eagerly observing the process, watched as Asta placed the red hot wrought iron on the flat stone he was using as an anvil and used a mallet to stretch it into a plate. After heating it once again, he let Smith take it out with the clamps and used a chisel and mallet to vigorously break the thin iron sheet to cut it into thin rods, but¡­ ¡°U~, guaaofuau?¡± (Uh~, it¡¯s getting deformed, you know?) ¡°Garuwaoon.¡± (That¡¯s fine.) Asta proceeded to grab one of the thin iron rods with the clamp and moderately heated it onto the furnace, hammered it repeatedly to straighten it, sharpened the tip, and bent the other tip into an ¡°L¡± shape. ¡°Gauo, kuoruva¡­¡± (Amazing, you made an iron thorn¡­) ¡°¡­ Wau, kuoruuo.¡± (¡­ Yes, it¡¯s an iron thorn.) It¡¯s actually called a ¡°nail¡±, but¡­ it¡¯s not familiar to us because we only use hemp rope or ivy to bind wood structures. However, these ¡°iron thorns¡± and the saw that was made earlier would prove to be useful tools. When he completed the first stage of his work, I held up the food we caught for him to see and invited Asta to join us for a late breakfast. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 148 ¡°Oh, it¡¯s already noon¡­ Come to think of it, I only had a few walnuts this morning.¡± It¡¯s typical that when one is focused on a task, they don¡¯t feel hunger right away. However, my timing seemed to be just right, so the blacksmith Asta quickly put away his tools and straightened his back. ¡°Guruo garuoaan?¡± (What are you guys doing?) ¡°U~ wooaa waaou guafoon¡­¡± (Umm, well, our brothers haven¡¯t come back from hunting yet¡­) The ¡°brothers¡± the two young male Kobolds were referring to were Ax and Knuckle, who take them along when they hunt as a small group. In addition to the prey that their hunting groups catch, the fruits and other things they get from exchanging their manufactured goods support their daily necessities, so the droopy-eared Kobolds are always looking to improve their skills. ¡°Wau, ofuauu kurua ¡°kuoruva¡± guruaou.¡± (Smith, while we¡¯re waiting for them, let¡¯s try making these ¡°iron thorns¡±.) ¡°Waonn, guruo vagaruan!¡± (That¡¯s a great idea! While we¡¯re at it, let¡¯s make saws for everyone too!) ¡°¡­ Garua vorufaou?¡± (¡­ Do we have enough pig iron for that though?) My sister, together with Asta, extracted themselves from the circle of droopy-eared Kobolds who began talking enthusiastically. She then ran up to me and held out her hands. ¡°Gaurukuua~n? Kuon oau, guguvoaann.¡± (We¡¯re having wild boar for lunch! Give it to me, big brother, I¡¯ll prepare it.) ¡°Gaoruau worukuau.¡± [Be careful not to drop it.] ¡°Wafuh!?¡± After our exchange, I handed her the hemp rope bag and Selica supported my sister who was swaying from the weight of the prey that was bigger than usual. ¡°¡­ Guruu, kuuau.¡± (¡­ Let me help.) ¡°N, waoan.¡± (N, thanks.) They carried the bag to the straw patch at the edge of the village square. After that, they both took out their favorite daggers and examined the animal carcass in front of them, and glanced at Asta who was standing beside them. ¡°Guruo woaruooauu.¡± [Maybe we should go fetch some water.] ¡°Ah, yes, let¡¯s do that.¡± Since we were going to the river for water, I thought of bringing the leather canteens along, but when I went to fetch them from the Elves¡¯ tent¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know what prompted it, but Lancer was currently learning basic magic lessons from Listy. There was no need for me to unnecessarily bother the two girls who were currently focused on what they were doing, so I hurriedly took everyone¡¯s water containers and went to the upstream part of the Steele River to fetch some water. Along the way, Asta told me that we couldn¡¯t just build a waterwheel without determining its placement first. It seems the diameter of the waterwheel must be decided according to the water flow and depth to ensure its smooth operation. (I guess I got it wrong from the start¡­ Sorry, Smith.) After apologizing to the skilled, floppy-eared Kobolds at the back of my mind, I walked with the Bronze Elf Blacksmith who was measuring the water¡¯s depth with a wooden pole by the riverbank. ¡°The depth of the water here is around 80cm¡­ Basically, at least a quarter of the waterwheel must be submerged in the water and it should be able to float when fixed into the riverbed, so we could install a water wheel that¡¯s at least 2m in diameter.¡± ¡°Wafu, guooon.¡± [Yeah, that should work.] As I nodded in approval, Asta crouched down, dipped his hand in the water, and was deep in thought. ¡°This¡­ It would be good to also make a stone weir in front of the waterwheel to create some elevation for the water drop.¡± At this point, I decided to leave the specifications to the expert to decide so I refilled the leather canteens by submerging them in the water, but¡­ I finished my task soon, so I had nothing to kill some time with. ¡°Gau, guoru gauruofau kuuaru oauruaan?¡± [Hey, won¡¯t your wife get upset if we make them wait too long for lunch?] ¡°Well, she¡¯s become sweet since we got married, but she¡¯s actually impatient¡­¡± I had a feeling that my sister would be the one getting angry for making her hungry from waiting, but our trek back should be peaceful. After finishing the preliminary survey, Asta took some of the water bottles and walked back to the village. I did the same and carried the rest of the water bottles and followed him back, and distributed them to Selica and the others when we arrived. When we got back, the girls had already finished processing the large wild boar and some of the carved meat was laid out on a flat stone. Beside them, iron plates were laid on four stones of similar size, and charcoal was stuffed into the gaps. ¡°Ruu, ruuoa, kuano?¡± (Light it up, light it up, fox fire?) My sister held up her palms over the pit and dyed the charcoal red as her fox fire burned brightly. When the griddle was hot enough, she speared some of the boar meat with the tip of her stiletto dagger and began grilling. ¡°Mmm~ that smells so good¡± Mira, who smelled of medicinal herbs suddenly appeared and sprinkled some finely chopped herbs and salt on the meat. ¡°And while I¡¯m at it, I¡¯m going to grill these too!!¡± Mira took out a variety of mushrooms and added them to the iron grill plate. The mushrooms consisted of maitake that she had collected from the roots of beech trees during our travel back to the village, high-class white truffles that are mostly found buried on the ground, and cute and round field mushrooms. (Well, those are all edible mushrooms, so it should be fine.) I don¡¯t doubt her judgment as an apothecary and an Elf who lives in the forest, but we were the ones who found and dug up those white truffles using our sense of smell¡­ When the boar meat was fully cooked and we started serving them on wooden plates, Listy and Lancer who were training in magic earlier came out of the tent after they were lured out by the smell. When I asked Listy about Lenaide, whom I hadn¡¯t seen since this morning, she said she had gone out with Buster to look for an appropriate place to plant the World Tree seedling in the forest. After I heard this, I casually looked in the direction of the forest and saw Ax and a bunch of the floppy-eared Kobolds who had just returned from hunting. (Those are deer and badger meat¡­) Anyway, it seems Ax is going to eat with the floppy-eared Kobolds, so I¡¯ll save some for Lenaide and Buster and smoke the rest of the leftover meat. (Now that I think of it, we gotta stock up before winter comes.) While thinking of the things I had to do, I thrust my wooden fork into the herb-grilled boar meat and ate. ¡°Wofuworu kuruaou¡­¡± [Why these are quite tasty¡­] ¡°Kuruauu~¡± (So yummy~) ¡°Fuffu~, don¡¯t be shy, you can praise me more~¡± ¡°This is delicious without a doubt¡­ but I was the one who hunted it.¡± Listy stopped nibbling on the piece of boar meat she was eating and smiled as she watched everyone happily eat the grilled meat and mushrooms. ¡°Fufu, it¡¯s so nice to see everyone laughing together without minding their skin color or the clan they belong to.¡± ¡°Woan¡­¡± [You¡¯re right¡­] In a way, the Elves¡¯ existing social infrastructure suppresses individual freedom. That¡¯s why Listy, who is a reformist moderate who agrees with Queen Aristia¡¯s ideals, somehow seemed to feel at home in the dog people¡¯s village. And so, the Elves from all three Elf clans and us Kobolds spent the rest of lunch in a lively manner. In the afternoon, Asta and the droopy-eared Kobolds went up to the river to build the waterwheel and the waterways while we waited for Lenaide and Buster to return from planting the World Tree. The tree-planting ceremony was much simpler than I expected as the World Tree Priestess Listy ended the ritual with a prayer while pouring porcelain mead on the ground. I was told that this ceremony would have to be repeated multiple times until it sprouts from the ground. Then, with the help of Ax, we cleared the southeastern part of the woods to create a field that would be used to plant the autumn-sown wheat and passed the rest of the season fighting squirrels and other forest rodents for the walnuts and chestnuts, and before we knew it, winter was almost upon us¡­ This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 149 This was an event that transpired long ago. Smoke rose into the evening sky and was carried away by the wind. Normally, it would be from households cooking rice for dinner, but this time, it came from the burning houses around the castle town. Soldiers from the neighboring countries, many of whom were originally burglars, were looting the area, killing entire households, and setting fires. The same was happening in the Ichinose castle, which stood on the north side of the town¡­ Amidst the angry and anguished screams, the castle burned and burned. ¡°F-father¡­¡± ¡°Princess, you must hurry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, please leave while you still can.¡± How are you still saying this? Although my mother and the others managed to draw the pursuers from earlier, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything even if I escaped safely to the neighboring ally¡¯s territory. It might have been a different story if I was born male instead, but it¡¯s impossible to change the gender I was born with. For a moment, I remembered the explorer and the boastful blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who visited the castle last year. Rosa Valeria, who had traveled from the far west, was also a great warrior who defeated the samurai in our household in a friendly match by skillfully wielding two blades, a shortsword and a longsword, that was made in a country in the west. She was a woman with a dynamic personality, and I have a feeling that she would smile fearlessly at such adversity. While thinking about such nonsense, I escaped with my bodyguards and headed east to the Forbidden forest, but we were caught before long. ¡°Guuh!?¡± ¡°D-damn you, gahah, uu¡­¡± Near the keystone which was said to be the place where our ancestors had sealed a great demon in the ground hundreds of years ago, several men who had been lying in wait in the bushes jumped out with their crude bamboo spears and stabbed the two bodyguards. ¡°No¡­ why?¡± It was not the enemy soldiers who had rushed to the castle fortress, but only the poor lords who lived in the village just beyond the forest. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s a woman here.¡± ¡°Heheh, yer a pretty lil¡¯ thing, ain¡¯tcha?¡± ¡°Gubuh, p-please¡­ run¡­¡± The guards coughed out blood as they told her to run, but the daughter of the daimyo was unable to move her legs due to the horrible scene in front of her and was soon held down by the group of men. The two thugs seized her arms and forced open the front of her kimono, and a large man with a vulgar smile on his face forced her legs open. ¡°Noo! Sto¨C guuh!¡± ¡°Shaddup! Hey, hold her still!!¡± She frantically struggled, but a single hand was pressed to her throat, stifling her voice and depriving her of any strength to resist. The last thing she saw as a human after being severely tortured by her captors was her dazed expression which was reflected on the deadly blade that swung down on her. ¡°Kafuh¡­¡± As she harbored resentment towards the fools who only cared about fulfilling their desires while their own country was facing a crisis, her dying consciousness noticed something beneath the ground. It was very weak just like her, but its will to survive was so strong that it appeared to shine¡­ and her soul was drawn to it as soon as she drew her last breath. After a while, the two souls merged, and a new life was formed. ¡°Wh-wha¨C an earthquake!?¡± ¡°¡­ C-calm do¨C guuuuuh!?¡± ¡°Uwaaaah, guh, uuugh¡­¡± ¡°Wh-what¡¯s, this¡­¡± A silver thread appeared on the ground and captured the men who were stripping the clothes and possessions of the people they had just killed. And then, the earth shook intermittently and split, and a giant spider that was at least 3 meters tall crawled up from the depths of the earth with wounds all over its body. (I¡¯m hungry¡­ Huh? I¡¯m¡­ No, hungry, must eat¡­ can¡¯t stay awake¡­) Driven by an uncontrollable sense of hunger that bordered on starvation, its restless red eyes looked around until it found the prey it had captured. ¡°Hih, a d-demon spider¡­ stop, it hurts, it hurts, DON¡¯T EAT ME, GIYAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± ¡°Ah, a, aaaaaah, h-help, HIIIIIIIIIH!!¡± It gobbled up the men who were begging for their lives without reflecting on their actions, and, along with their bodies, it also consumed their souls. (Not enough, not enough, more, more, I want more¡­) The demon spider, who felt hungrier even after half-heartedly eating several men, drooled as it was attracted by the smell of blood that was mixed in the wind and headed towards the castle town where a massacre was about to take place. All the warriors from the victorious neighboring country who were celebrating their victory, the few people who were still resisting, and the people who were escaping were all entangled in its strings and their souls were consumed as their bodies were crushed. But even after all of that, the hunger it felt from several hundred years could not be satisfied, and the fear and regret that had clung to the souls it consumed caused the demon spider who had lost its sense of self to go on an unstoppable rampage. After consuming tens of thousands of souls, the mysterious spider which ran amok across the country stopped its activity and retired to the deep forest to molt undisturbed. But strangely enough, when it broke through its exterior exoskeleton, its upper half was a beautiful, black-haired woman with clear eyes while its lower half continued into that of a smaller spider¡¯s body. When the woman saw her lower half, she screamed. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª Wh-what has happened to me!? Uegh, oeeegh!¡± After ascending the silver spiral staircase and somewhat regaining her humanity to transform herself, she spat out the contents of her stomach, but the souls she had devoured did not return and she could only go on and on admonishing herself for what she had done. To her credit, she consumed tens of thousands of souls before she regained her reason. However, the rumors about her had grown, and she was now known as one of the Seven Plagues, ¡°The Devourer of a Million Souls¡±. But¡­ All of this had transpired hundreds of years ago and was just a tale that nobody could know about now. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ ¡°Giuh, zeno gareausu¡­¡± (Damn, I had that weird dream again¡­) The Goblin twin swordsman cursed as he woke up wrapped in a blanket in a neatly rebuilt cave and unconsciously stroked the large scar that ran from his abdomen to his shoulder. ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s a sign that the fragment of my soul that I have given to make up for the missing part of your soul has taken root. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be in good shape soon. Also, you understand the common continental language now, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Gih, noigiorusu, rizeru degludo zelnogia.¡± (Sigh I just can¡¯t understand why ya have to show me that unpleasant memory every time.) Sword didn¡¯t mind the scene where the humans were dying left and right, but he became extremely uncomfortable whenever he saw the female that looked exactly like Kaede being tortured to death. (I wonder, is it because I owe her my life?) In any case, as long as they are conversing, Sword could tell if his friend is lying, but¡­ He didn¡¯t need any words as it was clear from the look of envy that his partner was giving him. ¡°Sword, you don¡¯t know, suffering I¡¯m going through.¡± ¡°Brave¡­ you actually love what you¡¯re doing, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t really hate it.¡± Just like that. It wasn¡¯t long before he followed along that Brave was fascinated with the various illustrated books that Kaede possessed. After that, the former Goblin Hero began to read them with Kaede¡¯s help, and he also developed an interest in languages. He didn¡¯t understand why the Goblins are always the villains in every story he read, but¡­ it didn¡¯t hinder him from satisfying his hunger for knowledge, and now he was able to read books on his own. ¡°Is that ¡°The Observations of the East¡±¡­?¡± ¡°Different pictures, pretty.¡± The large, dark-skinned pseudo Demon was holding a book written a hundred years ago by the explorer Rosa Valeria which was part of the reason the Demon Spider from Yamato was on this continent. For Kaede who had been confined to the castle, she longed to hear the amusing tales of adventure told by the explorer who visited Yamato. So even if she had already lost her humanity, she decided to embark on a journey after her hometown was destroyed and she was chased by the Imperial Court as a fugitive. Remembering that she had already placed that memory to the back of her mind, Kaede glanced at the disgruntled Sword and at Brave who was engrossed with reading his book. She secretly smiled as she thought that it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea if she brought them along as travel companions if she had to leave again, and involuntarily turned her gaze outside the cave and at the white snow that had recently started to fall around the area. CH 149.1 ¡ïCharacters that have ascended the spiral Name: Archer (Male) Race: Wolfish Kobold Rank: Silver Wolfdog Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth?Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement), Magic Enhancement (Small, Constant), Howling Noise (Inhibits Magic for a Period of Time), Beastification (Sensory Enhancement?Sound Blaster), Humanization (Sensory Dulling) Title: The Willful Silver Wolf, The Holy Beast of Selkram Weapon: Mechanical Bow (Main), Scimitar (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor (Currently being repaired by Smith), Grimoire ¡°Copy of Herculean Crushing¡± A Silver-furred Wolf Dog who has evolved and gained new powers such as Beastification and Humanization after defeating the Black Elves belonging to the Reform Extremist faction and the Goblin Swordsman in the Ancient Forest. It¡¯s not surprising that he and his pack of more than 40 Kobolds could be classified as Threat Level A monsters but after their success in defeating one of the Seven Plagues, ¡°Alvesta of the Black Rain¡± in the royal capital, his status as a Sacred Beast excluded them from the list of monsters to be exterminated. Lately, he frequently takes on the appearance of a Silver Wolf and runs to the town of Zelgra and visits the local tavern after changing into a man. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Vorufah, garuooooh!!¡± [Roar, o raging storm! Takedown everything in your path!!] Name: Lancer (Female) Race: Kobold Rank: Kobold Valkyria Skill: Leg Strengthening (Advance / Effect is Instantaneous), Intermediate Magic (Holy), Attribute Enhancement (Holy), Beastification, Holy Lance (Has a special effect against Vampires, Demons, and the Undead), Sacred Howl (Howl heals abnormal status inflictions) Title: The Kobold of the Holy Lance Weapon: Slashing Spear (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Leather Armor Is considered to be the big sister of the pack who is good at taking care of others. On their way back from sending the child they picked up in the forest back to Viel village, she and her comrades were caught in the fog deployed by a ¡°Blood Trent¡±, but together with her companions they created a diversion, and she and her tall and skinny childhood friend combined forces to create the spell ¡°Holy Blaze¡± which defeated the enchanted tree. When she ascended the Silver Spiral, a glimpse into her past life influenced her evolution into a Kobold Valkyrie. She is currently training in Holy Magic under the World Tree Priestess Listy. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Waoan, guauou! Guruu kyuaaauuh.¡± (Blazer, please take care of the rest! I have to tend to their injuries.) Name: Wallace () Race: Werecat Class: Werecat Swordsman Skill: Sword Drawing Technique, Improved Agility (Small/ Instantaneous), Improved Reaction Speed (Medium / Constant), Successive Arc Moon Slash, Severing Iron, Sword of Exorcism Title: Liz¡¯s Father who has become stronger than ever Weapon: Sabre (Main), Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Black Leather Is the head warrior of Lucua village who had lost many of his comrades in the Goblin raid. He has been putting in extra effort into his private training after he felt that he was not strong enough during the kidnapping incident that occurred in their village. Unlike the demi-human monsters who experience a drastic change, he is steadily ascending the Silver Spiral by gaining experience. He became strong enough to come head-to-head in a mock battle with Archer who was weakened by his Humanization. His skill, the Sword of Exorcism, infuses magic onto his blade which enables him to ¡°cut through magic¡±. In addition, his sword-drawing stance, which he had single-mindedly perfected throughout the years, is quite popular with the young Werecat ladies which caused his wife to burn with jealousy. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°I have regrets over losing my friends to the Goblin attack, so I can¡¯t afford to lose to them again.¡± Name: Brave () Race: Goblin Rank: High Brave Skill: Battle Cry (Goblin Strengthening), Elementary Magic (Holy/ Healing only), Shining Sword, Hero¡¯s Resurrection, Breath (Light) Title: The Pseudo Demon Who Loves Books Weapon: Claymore Armament: Leather Armor, Grimoire: The Fool¡¯s Prayer He ascended the Silver Spiral after attacking the tough Black and White Kobolds living in the Ancient Forest and killing several Kobold Warriors. He used his newly-acquired power, the Breath of Light which has a high piercing power, to wound the silver-furred Kobold in the shoulder and save his friend who was in a pinch. As a result of his many experiences, he has become more compassionate towards his own kind and ultimately chooses to retreat rather than continue the fight. During his escape with Sword who was on the brink of death, he meets one of the Seven Plagues, ¡°The Devourer of a Million Souls¡± who was drawn to his friend¡¯s fading soul, and their encounter drastically changes their fate. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Gido, gizusekto!¡± (Don¡¯t worry Sword, it was just a small cut!) ¡ïThe Kobolds of the Ancient forest Name: Silva (Female) Race: High Kobold Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth), Elementary Magic (Holy), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement) Title: The Sage¡¯s Successor Weapon: Birch Staff (Main), Ceremonial Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Kobold Mage¡¯s Light Armor She is a young Kobold with a promising future who was born into the clan of Sage Gavi, the wise leader of the Largest pack in the Ancient forest. When she was leading her troops to fight the Goblins who were increasing in strength, she met a male Elder Kobold who was sitting on a rock and was leisurely fishing in the Clarsflume river. After working with him and successfully driving away the Goblin horde that was invading their territory, she asked him, ¡°Won¡¯t you join my pack?¡± which, in their race¡¯s culture, was tantamount to a proposal, but¡­ it seems that the silver wolfhound, who was a former mercenary in his past life, didn¡¯t get the message exactly. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Vaaruoa ¡°Gaau¡±!!¡± (Restrain the enemy, ¡°Vine Prison¡±!!) Name: Hasta (Male) Race: Black and White Kobold (inspired by Huskies) Rank: Kobold Warrior Skill: Leg Strengthening (Large / Effect is instantaneous), Arm Strengthening (Large / Effect is instantaneous) Title: The Simple and Sincere Warrior Weapon: Steel Spear (Main), Short Sword (Auxiliary) Armament: Hard Leather Armor A Kobold whose settlement was burned down because they were the ones situated closest to the Goblins¡¯ territory. During their retreat with the pups and the females, they were attacked by the Goblin Chieftain Vali, whose men killed their chief. After that, they were taken in by the pack of White Kobolds with whom they had friendly relations. He led his pack as the acting Chieftain and joined the Kobold Coalition to drive the Goblins back. With the help of his sworn ally Shiro, they used the ¡°lose a battle, win the war¡± strategy and splendidly defeated their worst enemies despite sustaining a bad injury as a result. He possesses a strong sense of duty and at the request of Archer who had led them to victory, he escorts one of the Goblins¡¯ rescued female human prisoners back to the nearby village. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Woau garuuaah!!¡± (You¡¯re going to die here, you bastard!!) Name: Shiro (Male) Race: White Kobold Rank: Kobold Priest Skill: Intermediate Magic (Holy), Elementary Attribute Defense (All) Title: The White Fluffy Priest Weapon: Evergreen Oak Wand (Main), Slingshot (Auxiliary) Armament: Kobold¡¯s Priestly Robes, Blue Potion (Self-made) He is a Priest who is bad at hunting just like the other members of his pack, but this breed of White Kobolds possesses a special trait that enables everyone to use Holy attribute magic. For that reason, they have a cooperative partnership with all the other Kobold clans who are living around the area and are given prey in exchange for their healing services. His pack has taken in the remaining members of the Black and White Kobolds and thanks to them, their food situation has improved. During the battle against the Goblins, he had saved many of their brethren with his healing magic, but he was knocked out after the Goblin twin swordsman hit him with a throwing knife and used it to electrify him. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Worugaooh! Garuau kuruoooon!!¡± (I won¡¯t let you die! Earth Heal!!) Name: Blau (Male) Race: Prick-eared Kobold (inspired by Shiba Inu) Rank: Kobold Striker Skill: Increased Arm Strength (Medium / Constant), Increased Leg Strength (Medium / Constant) Title: The Stubborn Chieftain Weapon: Knuckle Axe (Main / Auxiliary) Armament: Battle Armor He is the Chieftain of the light brown, prick-eared Kobolds. He is easily deceived due to his straightforward nature, so his parents, worried about his future, sent him to study under the Great Sage Gavi. But there, he was continuously teased by the mischievous Sage, so he grew up to be a stubborn Kobold who did not listen to others. Although he does not possess any notable skills, he is physically strong. After he received a name from the Sage, he returned to his pack and dominated the ranking battle, and became the Chieftain. During the battle against the Goblins, his pack protected their brethren and reduced the number of lives sacrificed in battle. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Vao, kuruau garuiruaaan!¡± (No, I¡¯ll just end up getting convinced if I do!) CH 149.2 ¡ïMonsters Name: Grow Centipede Race: Centipede Rank: Grow (Threat Level D+) Skill: Exoskeleton Defense, Poisoned Bait, Antenna Whip, Crushing Title: None Weapon: Mandibles (Main), Antenna (Auxiliary) Armament: Exoskeleton A giant centipede-type monster that can be found in the northern and central areas of the Easteria forest. Its saliva contains poison, so one should be careful of its bite attacks, but if proper care is taken after defeating it, a potent neurotoxin that causes respiratory distress in mammals can be obtained from it. It is classified under Threat Level D+, they should be avoided by Iron class Adventurers and Kobolds alike as their attacks are ineffective against it. However, if there are higher-ranked Kobolds in the pack, these monsters can be safely dealt with, but if there are only ordinary Kobolds, then it would require at least 8 or more of them to surround it and use obsidian spears to stab it in the gaps in its abdomen and the soft inner abdomen. Because of the risk it poses, it is often exterminated by the dog people during its larva stage. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°KISHAAAAAAH!!¡± Name: Blood Trent Race: Vampire Rank: Blood-sucking Tree (Threat Level B-) Skill: Attribute Enhancement (Darkness), Water Spray, Vine Net, Fog of Confusion, Root Spear, Thorns of Punishment Title: The Confounding Predator Weapon: Wooden Arms (Main), Roots (Auxiliary) Armament: Hard Bark One day, a tree monster suddenly rose above a shallow underground water vein and enveloped the surrounding area with a thick fog that contained dark magic that affects the mind. After it lures its prey towards it, it uses numerous vines to bind and pierce its victim with its thorns to slowly suck out the blood while they are still living. Its main body is a giant ladybug that parasitizes on trees, and it is said that ¡°Holy Blaze¡±, a combination of Holy and Fire attribute magic is effective against it. It is difficult to beat it with normal flames because it can draw water freely from the underground water veins. However, if one wishes to beat it with only fire magic, the advanced magic, ¡°Crimson Storm¡± should be cast to envelop the entire tree and burn it all at once. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°OOo OOoOoO¡­¡± Name£º Kaede () Race£º Demon Rank£º Demon Spider Skill£º Soul Eater (Gets stronger depending on the number of souls consumed), Requiem (Annihilation of the Undead), Revival (Creation of the Undead ¡ùunder self-imposed restrictions), Soul Binding, Will-o¡¯-the -wisp, Advanced Magic (Earth), Spirit Healing, Oath of Non-Slaughter(Denial of nonessential killing), **Horn-hiding (Humanization) Title£º Seven Plagues (Devourer of a Million Souls) Weapon£º Spider Thread, Sougetsu (Short Sword) Armament£º Village Maiden¡¯s Clothes A Demon Spider maiden who traveled to the west after being chased out of the continent of Yamato. More than a hundred years ago, she was a naive princess of a country, but at the time of its fall, she was hunted by fallen warriors and was captured and tortured to death by a group of peasants. Coincidentally, she drew her last breath in the forbidden forest where her ancestors sealed a great demon away hundreds of years ago. There, her soul and that of the starving Demon Spider merged and reincarnated into a new being. Unable to suppress the Demon Spider¡¯s hunger that had grown for hundreds of years, she forgot how to eat and continued to eat both the souls and resentments of her victims, lost her humanity, and rampaged across the country. After devouring countless souls, she ascended the double helix of evolution and changed into a monster with the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a spider. She regains her reason soon after and regrets her actions, but the lives she took will never return. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Ahaha, this is fine! I don¡¯t mind it at all!! ¡­ I¡¯m greedy for wanting to save all the lives I can find after all.¡± ¡ïHumanoids Name: Leiard Zestoa() Race: White Half-Elf Rank: Arithmetician Skill: Economics, Political Science, Advanced Arithmetic, Machinery Design, Alchemy, World Tree Link (magic provision and control) Title: Teacher, Marquis, Leader of the Half-Elves Weapon: Sword Cane Armament: Reinforced Cloak, Book (Rhetoric: Manuscript) He is a marquis from Philland, a country whose chosen form of national government is Aristocratic Republicanism. His mother was a White Elf who was taken as a slave during the battle between the Elf country, The Grove of the Ancient Guardians, and the Philland Republic. For that reason, his mother never developed any love for his father for the rest of her life, but because his father truly loved his wife and child, he made Leiard the next head of the Marquis household despite the opposition of others around them. After that, he was blessed with a good environment and many gathered under him when he began to support his yellow Half-Elves. For various reasons, he took advantage of the break in the protective wards and led his troops to the Grove of the Ancient Guardians, but the tables were turned on them when the miasma caused by the Blood Mist was unleashed by the big, blue Kobold who was cooperating with the Elves which led to their untimely retreat. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°We still have enough strength to engage in battle. We can¡¯t just go home empty-handed.¡± Name: Selica Greenwood Race: Black Elf Class: Elf Archer Skill: Eagle Eyes (Can see at least 5.4 meters ahead) Elementary Magic (Water?Wind), Erase Presence (Medium), Enhanced Jumping Power (Medium/Effect is constant) 6 Consecutive Shots (1 shot per second with 80% accuracy), World Tree Link (magic provision only) Title: The Tree-lurking Huntress Weapon: Elven Bow(Main), Crystal Dagger (Auxiliary) Armament: Archer¡¯s breastplate, archer¡¯s bracer A Black Elf maiden who uses her skill, Eagle Eyes to see at least 5km ahead, and is also known as one of their best snipers who shoots from the treetops. But because of this, she was suspected of being the one who assassinated Priest Marcus in the Royal Capital. All the charges against her were eventually cleared, but even so, she was still in a tight spot. At that time, she was summoned by Queen Aristia and dispatched to the Easteria forest probably because she was originally a Hunter who had a good command of the Kobo language due to her encounter with Kobolds in the forest. At first glance, she seems to be a cool beauty who doesn¡¯t say much, but she is someone who hates to lose, so she frequently goes hunting with the silver-furred wolfhound and challenges him to hunting matches. Since she met him after he was able to change into a human, she has never considered him to be a pure Kobold since then. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Uworu, guruuuoou¡­¡± (Then I¡¯ll come with you¡­) Name: Asta Chrome Race: Bronze Elf Class: Middle Engineer Skill: Intermediate Refinement, Intermediate Forging, Magic Tool Creation, World Tree Link (magic provision only), Elementary Magic (Fire?Wind) Title: The Bronze Blacksmith Weapon: Steel Hammer (Main), Smithing Tools (Auxiliary 1), Carpentry Tools (Auxiliary 2) Armament: Work clothes, Apron, Safety shoes He is an up-and-coming Elf engineer who can make anything from architectural structures to magic tools, but because he specializes in blacksmithing, he likes to call himself a Bronze Elf Blacksmith. He is still young, but as an Elf, he has gained a lot of experience over the years and can create a variety of things. He couldn¡¯t say no to a request, so he sold weapons and magical tools to the Black Elves belonging to the Radical Reformist faction even though he thought they were suspicious. As a result, he was imprisoned because his products were used in the bombing of the Central Parliament¡­ However, the incident led to the formation of a romantic relationship with his childhood friend Mira who was an Apothecary, and they got married in Elfast before an opportunity opened itself to them and they were dispatched to the Easteria forest. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°The depth of the water here is around 80cm¡­ Basically, at least a quarter of the waterwheel must be submerged in the water and it should be able to float when fixed into the riverbed, so we could install a water wheel that¡¯s at least 2m in diameter.¡± Name: Mira Chrome () Race: Bronze Elf Class: Alchemist Skill: Intermediate Compounding, Plant Discernment, Animal Knowledge, World Tree Link (magic provision only), Elementary Magic (Earth?Water) Title: The Bronze Elf Apothecary Weapon: Wand (Main), Short Sword (Auxiliary 1), Compounding Tools (Auxiliary 2) Armament: Apothecary¡¯s clothes, Medicine bag She is an Apothecary Elf who has shoulder-length indigo blue hair and golden eyes typical of Bronze Elves and is considered more cute than beautiful. She has a short temper that is unsuitable to compounding which requires steady work, and when she gets stuck, she can be heard making frustrated sounds such as ¡°Uu~¡± and ¡°Unya~¡±. She also has a collector¡¯s spirit and has a keen eye for rare flowers and plants. When her now-husband and childhood friend Asta was imprisoned, she implored Sheyard, the head of the Craft Guild that united the Bronze Elves in the royal capital, to do something about it. During that time, she visited the prison frequently, and it seems that their relationship progressed from being mere childhood friends. Chapter Excerpt: ¡°Hmm~, I¡¯m a little concerned about the medical situation of the Werecats around here.¡± CH 150 ¡°Ruo, guau vii¡­¡± (The snow¡¯s already begun to fall this year, huh¡­) I shivered as the cool morning air blew in, and when I opened one eye and looked outside from the entrance of my den, white crystals were softly falling. Two months had already passed since we came home from the Ancient forest, and during that time, the village saw a huge improvement thanks to the efforts of Asta, Smith, and the others. One of these big changes was the waterwheel which was installed in the Steele river where multiple wooden barrels that are attached to a rotating wheel scoop up water one after another and empty into a wooden channel as the difference in weight propels the wheel. The water channel branches out once it reaches the forest area just at the edge of the settlement where one leads to a water reservoir which is a dug-up hole lined with gravel and the other leads to the lower reaches of the river. At the junction point, there is a sill plate that serves as a sluice gate, and we can choose whether to let the water into the reservoir or discharge it directly into the river. As a precaution, we usually close the gate leading to the reservoir to prevent it from overflowing and only open it when the water level drops. However, we¡¯ve only begun to use it so there¡¯s still no need for that. And so, the water stored in the reservoir was not only used by everyone in the village but was also used to water the autumn-sown wheat fields nearby. However, due to sanitary issues, we don¡¯t use the reservoir water for drinking but draw the water directly from the canal leading downstream instead. (Hmm, I hope the water doesn¡¯t freeze in this cold weather¡­) As I recall, freely flowing water is harder to freeze than water that has been stored in a tank, so the water in the reservoir is sure to freeze first. Thinking that it didn¡¯t make sense to worry about such things, I stifled a huge yawn and untangled myself from Selica who clung to me as she slept and stood up. ¡°Agh¡­ Urgh, my head hurts¡­¡± Last night, she came over with some liquor and we chatted while drinking, but¡­ I never expected her to get so wasted with just fruit liquor¡­ (Isn¡¯t that to be expected though?) I glanced at the empty bottle that had rolled nearby. The wine was an excellent product created by fermenting the wild strawberries and apples Mira picked during the fall together with some honey from Ax¡¯s stock. It was unknown how strong the drink was, but looking at the hungover wheat-skinned Elf beside me, I guess it was pretty strong. I then proceeded to leave my burrow and headed into the village square where a nice smell was coming from. As I approached the square, the full-scale building Asta was working on came into view, and it blended in with the simple houses that were sparsely built around the site. The structure¡¯s exterior walls were made of a wooden frame carefully covered by soil and finished off with some lime mortar. It seems the mortar was made from firing some limestone taken from the limestone cave in the upper reaches of the Steele river to produce quick lime and adding water to the mix. ¡°Wogaru guoruaooauu.¡± (Looks like it¡¯ll be completed soon.) As promised, Smith and the other Kobolds are cooperating with Asta, and day by day, the structure is gradually taking shape. With their progress, it seems all that¡¯s left to do is to bake the sun-dried bricks, lay them on the roof, and set up the floor. However, in the process of building the house, we needed high-precision tools such as fine saws, planers, and wall-painting trowels, so I had to shift into human several times and go to the nearby town of Zelgra to obtain those tools. (All those things cost quite a lot, but¡­ It¡¯s a good opportunity for Smith and the others to learn as many skills as they can.) This would raise the standard of architecture within the pack, so there¡¯s no point in having second thoughts. Also, it¡¯s a secret that I¡¯ve been enjoying meals at the local tavern every time I visit the town¡­ Speaking of which, the mouth-watering smells coming from the village square lured me in, and I followed it to find the droopy-eared Kobolds who were huddled in a corner of the square while roasting some potatoes. As usual, my huge, blue-furred childhood friend stood out among the smaller Kobolds as he enjoyed eating the roasted red potatoes that are doused with honey. ¡°U, wofu vooa ruoauu, kuruaauh.¡± (Th-this is such a wonderful discovery, these potatoes are so yummy!) ¡°Wauuwau, guruaan¡­¡± (Brother Ax, can I have some too¡­?) ¡°Garuuo~, kuruaouu gauaruou?¡± (Of course~ delicious things should be shared with everyone after all?) I approached Ax who was holding onto a roasted potato covered in honey after he happily handed Smith the honey jar with one hand. ¡°Guaaoou.¡± (Can I sit with you?) ¡°N, waoon.¡± (Sure, go ahead.) I sat down on a spot slightly off to the side and used a stick to stab through the pile of dried leaves and coals and picked up one of the warm red potatoes. ¡°Wofu, guruau.¡± (Have some, Boss.) ¡°Woan, garuu.¡± (Oh right, thanks.) I took the jar from the group of droopy-eared Kobolds gathered around, brushed off the ashes from the potato, and poured some honey over the peeled potato before handing it back to Ax. ¡°Auu~¡± (Awwh~) Ax looked sadly at the now empty jar of honey, but we all knew that he still has several jars of honey from Aristia hidden in his lair. Anyway, after a rather late breakfast, I brought out the saddlebags that I bought along with some tools. The two large cloth bags are attached to leather harnesses on both ends which function to balance the weight, and Smith refitted it to fit me for when I became a beast. After putting my bow and arrows, scimitar, leather armor, water bottle, and other necessities inside the bags and securing them in place, I focused my consciousness on shifting. ¡°Fuuuh.¡± After a short exhalation and the occasional cracking sound of bones, I turned into a large silver wolf, crawled under the leather harness, lifted the saddlebags, and had my sister attach the clasps securely. ¡°Kuon, woan!¡± (All done, big brother!) Well, I¡¯ll definitely stand out with this, but¡­ ¡°N, gurua, vo gaoaru guruauu?¡± (Hey, Chief, are you going to the human settlement again?) ¡°Wafu, voruguan.¡± (Yeah, I¡¯ll be back in a few days.) For the past two months, I had been going to and from the nearby town as needed, so everybody had gotten used to my appearance. However, my destination this time was Warren, the core city of the Ferias territory! I just hope there are more attractive jobs I could take than the ones around here. Actually, I had registered as an Adventurer in the guild in Zelgra to secure some funds for our expenses, but¡­ due to supply and demand, it seems that the town is nearing the upper limit of the number of Adventurers it can accept, making it difficult for a newcomer like me to obtain a legitimate commission. That¡¯s why the only choice was to go to the largest city in the territory to find some work. Meanwhile, my sister, whose curiosity was stimulated by new and unknown things, transformed into a little fox using her illusion magic, Size Reduction, and jumped up with her enhanced leaping ability. ¡°Kyuu!¡± Poof And so, with the little fox on my back, I sprinted toward the north. CH 151 Meanwhile, a young, red-haired mage sat in the corner of the adjoining tavern amidst the hustle and bustle inside the Adventurer¡¯s guild branch which is located in a thriving district in the city of Warren, the capital city of the Ferias territory. ¡°Sigh. This is the worst¡­ and to think that we¡¯ve just been promoted to ¡°Black Iron¡± Adventurers¡­¡± ¡°Ah~, let¡¯s just think of it as a badge of honor, I guess? I mean, I¡¯ve been kept from joining the strike unit for a while because of this.¡± Muriel¡¯s friend, Mirea, an archer serving as the scout in their party, smiled wryly as her right hand which was wrapped in bandages due to a compound fracture dangled from a sling. She is popular among the male members of the guild due to her friendly personality and her revealing attire which emphasizes ease of movement. Aside from Muriel, Mirea was also visited by several big, burly men from the guild, but she still responded to them with a smile. (She¡¯s smiling, but she¡¯s probably annoyed deep inside¡­) Under normal circumstances, it was natural for her to be in a bad mood because she was unable to hold her bow and arrow due to an injury she acquired while retreating and protecting the villagers of Grau village at the same time, but she did not seem to be in the slightest bit unhappy. After a while, she sent the big men off with a goodbye and turned to her friends. ¡°Anyway¡­ I have to rest for a while so I¡¯m really sorry I can¡¯t join you.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. After all, there are things even Muriel¡¯s healing magic can¡¯t cure.¡± ¡°Yeah, if I forcibly heal you, your bones would have fused improperly and you wouldn¡¯t be able to hold a bow and arrow anymore¡­¡± The only way to cure it was to take some time off and heal it gradually, so it was unlikely for her to be ready in time for the upcoming battle to defeat the Valley Ants. ¡°But still, it¡¯ll be hard without Mirea, but it¡¯s difficult to back out too¡­¡± ¡°If we did that, our Adventurer licenses would be suspended and we¡¯d have to pay a fine too, you know?¡± Riberto immediately warned Ares who was muttering as he ran his fingers through his chestnut-colored hair. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a special mission ordered by the lord of the territory after all.¡± Currently, the special mission that was causing quite a stir within the guild was a special commission that a territorial lord could issue to the guild during times of crisis within the territory. In this case, all Adventurers in the area under the guild¡¯s jurisdiction are eligible to participate, except for those who are injured or out of town, such as Mirea. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll do our best not to die then.¡± ¡°Just as Ares said, rather than the reward, we¡¯d have to fight to survive¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, after all, we can¡¯t beat the Valley Ant Queen.¡± The Queen of the giant ants is a threat level B monster and Adventurers who have just been promoted to the ¡°Black Iron¡± rank like Muriel and her party stand no chance against it. Moreover, in case of an encounter, they also have to be prepared to face the Imperial Valley Ants that protect the Queen. Fortunately, more than half of the Valley Ants are threat level E+ so they can handle it, but in case they encounter individual monsters that are higher ranked, they have no choice but to flee. ¡°¡­ I wonder if we¡¯re going to be alright with the subjugation quest this time.¡± Riberto, who was unconsciously thinking out loud, mirrored everyone¡¯s thoughts. Normally, it would require 2-3 ¡°Gold¡± ranked Adventurers to raid a Valley Ant Queen¡¯s nest, plus the Imperial Ants around her and several other normal monster species, but¡­ ¡°Muriel, wouldn¡¯t poison work with it just like the rat extermination quest in Viel village?¡± ¡°Umm~, these monsters are poison-resistant, so it¡¯s less likely that it¡¯ll work on them.¡± While Mirea¡¯s suggestion was a good option, no one could just prepare an effective poison so conveniently. Currently, there are 3 ¡°Gold¡± Adventurers in the city, but even if they worked together, it would still be difficult to completely exterminate them. While it would be better if there were at least one ¡°Scarlet Gold¡± hero and one ¡°Platinum¡±-ranked Adventurer per country, the highest-ranked Adventurers that could be normally found are ¡°Gold¡± Adventurers. The ratio of these ¡°Gold¡± ranks in the country is less than 3% of the total number of Adventurers, followed by ¡°Silver¡± at around 7%, then by the general ¡°Black Iron¡± at about 60%, and the ¡°Iron¡± Adventurers who are considered fledglings at 30%. The proportion is the same in the city of Warren, and the distribution of at least 60 Adventurers currently staying in the city is the same. In other words, most of these Adventurers are the same rank as Muriel¡¯s party or are a rank below them, so it would be difficult to subjugate monsters that are at the level of a Valley Ant Queen and her Imperials. That¡¯s why everyone present couldn¡¯t hide their anxiety, but¡­ at the same time, they couldn¡¯t leave the monsters alone either. ¡°¡­ But if we don¡¯t exterminate them, then a stampede would occur, you know?¡± Muriel faces everyone with a determined look. ¡°Yes, but there are also a lot of people who can¡¯t help¡­¡± ¡°We know the extent of our abilities, Riberto.¡± Mirea responded while being mindful of the serious man, but Riberto knitted his brows as he looked at the painful traces of her treatment. While Mirea claimed that the injury was a battle scar, it was still probably too much for her to bear. As she watched the interaction between the two, Muriel recalled how the situation had started. It all started when they met four Adventurers who were fighting several giant ants that were 1.5 meters long and at least 1 meter tall near Grau village on their way home after fulfilling a request from the Nees Trading Company to deliver some valuables to Douglas city. ¡°¡­ Should we help them?¡± ¡°Hnn, it would be bad if we just ended up getting in their way, but¡­ that looks dangerous.¡± Although they had already brought two giant ants down, it seemed like the healer¡¯s magic had already run out and the man and woman in the vanguard were still fighting and protecting the rearguard even though they were injured. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then shouldn¡¯t we be helping them!?¡± Mirea grabbed three arrows from her quiver, grabbed her bow, and fired three shots in succession. ¡°Gih, gigi!?¡± The giant ant who took two shots on the abdomen and one on the head stiffened for a moment and headed towards the archer who shot it, but it fell halfway through and died. ¡°Hnn~, it doesn¡¯t have much stamina, so it doesn¡¯t seem to pose much of a threat.¡± But while Mirea muttered to herself while looking at the fallen giant ant, another one noticed her and crawled towards her faster than expected. ¡°Tsk!¡± The archer jumped back with a click of her tongue and a lightly-armored warrior wielding a saber took her place and lowered himself as he approached the monster. ¡°SEIYAAAAH!!¡± ¡°KISHAAAA¨C!¡± He swung at the attacking giant ant from the side and created a deep wound in its head to kill it, but its forward momentum didn¡¯t stop and it fell forward. ¡°!? Uwaaah!¡± Riberto fell on his buttocks as the giant ant¡¯s corpse pushed him down. ¡°Ow¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re so clumsy, Riberto.¡± ¡°That¡¯s harsh, man.¡± Riberto looked a little sulky as Ares held out his hand to help him stand. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine¡­ but rather than that¡­¡± It seems that while they were killing the two ants, the other party was also fighting two more giant ants. The exhausted Adventurers waved as they walked towards them. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 152 ¡°Thank you so much for helping us.¡± ¡°You arrived just as we were getting quite tired~¡± A rugged-looking tanned man thanked them while the pale-skinned woman beside him scratched her cheek in embarrassment. Following behind them was a thin man in priestly robes and a petite mage. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s she doing over there?¡± ¡°Ah~, she¡¯s just doing her usual stuff, don¡¯t mind it.¡± As Ares exchanged a few words with the other Adventurers, Muriel stood in front of the giant ant¡¯s carcass and muttered to herself. ¡°Hmmm~, this isn¡¯t a monster type often seen in these parts, right? But it looks familiar¡­ T-this is a Valley Ant!!!¡± As he stood beside the red-haired mage who suddenly shouted out of nowhere, Riberto, the one who killed one of the giant ants earlier, stared at the carcass in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s a Valley Ant?¡± ¡°Th-this is dangerous, we have to report it right away!¡± ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s why you have to explain¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a highly reproductive and dangerous species of ant monsters that can cause a stampede if left unchecked!¡± Everyone tensed up at the mention of a dangerous species for a moment until Ares picked up the conversation again. ¡°But it¡¯s early winter, you know? Aren¡¯t ants supposed to be dormant during this time?¡± ¡°No, these ant monsters are most active during this period until the snow piles up!¡± Generally speaking, mere ants couldn¡¯t be compared to their monster counterparts. If they hadn¡¯t gathered enough food during the autumn season, then it¡¯s no surprise that they would be active during this time. If that¡¯s the case, then they would attack the surrounding towns and villages before they go into dormancy during the winter. (If I remember correctly, there are usually around 200 Valley Ants living in a single colony¡­) Of course, unlike small, ordinary ants, only a few of them can lurk inside a burrow at one time. Nevertheless, they are still a threat that an Adventurer cannot handle alone. ¡°But they aren¡¯t that strong, are they? We were even able to force them back.¡± The rugged-looking Adventurer looked a little awkward, but he implied that they could have easily beaten the monsters back by themselves if they were in top condition. However, his statement was unfounded. ¡°You¡¯re too naive. Those were only Valley Ant Scouts, that¡¯s why they were weak and there were only a few of them. But if they were to attack the surrounding towns and villages, a hundred Valley Ants that are threat level Cs and the queen which is a threat level B would come rushing all at once.¡± ¡°¡­ Seriously?¡± The rest of the Adventurers still looked half-convinced at Muriel¡¯s words even though their companions who were also biologists froze in shock when they heard her warning. ¡°It¡¯s that bad?¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t really tell yet¡­¡± ¡°In any case, I have a feeling that Grau village and other places nearby might be in danger¡­¡± Muriel is usually right about her hunches in these kinds of situations, so as a precaution, she and the other Adventurers they met dropped by the nearest village. After they parted ways, she and her party visited the village chief, but¡­ the response they got did not bode well. ¡°Hmm, dangerous monsters you say? The local village guards reported that they fought off several ant-type monsters yesterday, but I haven¡¯t heard of such a threat.¡± The village chief, Rechte, looked suspiciously at the Adventurers who suddenly visited him and claimed that the village might be in danger. However, he took the red-haired girl¡¯s words seriously because she was wearing a mage¡¯s cloak decorated with an owl emblem made of mithril. He suspected that if she were a mage who had studied in the Royal Academy of Magic, it wasn¡¯t strange for her to have connections to nobility or court mages even if she were just a mere Adventurer. He wasn¡¯t far off the mark though, as Muriel was the only daughter of the Vest family, which is a local aristocratic household, and she is also a close friend of Ernesta who is a junior Court Mage in Riastize Kingdom. But even if he had been rude to her, the ¡°Tempest Witch¡± would not be involved with such a trivial matter. And although she belonged to a house of nobles, her father was not a noble but a famed adventurer and biologist who had explored various regions in the west. However, the chief of Grau village didn¡¯t know these circumstances, and worriedly observed the red-haired mage who was deep in thought. ¡°¡­ Have there been sightings of Valley Ants even before the village guards drove them away?¡± With one hand on her chin, Muriel tried to confirm her suspicions. Logically speaking, the villagers should have first encountered these giant ants around the grasslands or Easteria forest rather than the local village guards suddenly encountering them near the village. They were probably in the process of verifying these sightings when the village guards came across the Valley Ants. ¡°Yes, there have been complaints of giant ants appearing around the pastures.¡± ¡°That might be bad¡­ When did this happen?¡± ¡°Around 3 days ago, the local guards were on the lookout for them yesterday¡­¡± (Ugh, that¡¯s even more dangerous) If the first batch the villagers suddenly encountered were reconnaissance-type Valley Ants, then there¡¯s a high probability that yesterday¡¯s scouting unit was sent out to survey the area. Moreover, ¡°fighting off¡± doesn¡¯t exactly mean that the monsters were completely defeated, and some may have even survived and brought information back to their colony. Muriel sighed as she pieced together the current situation and faced Ares. ¡°I think we should return to Warren as soon as possible and report this to the administrative office.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, there¡¯s only so much we can do right now.¡± After they wrapped up their conversation, Muriel looked out the window and saw that the sun had already set. It seemed it was already time for them to go. ¡°Village chief Rechte, thank you so much for your time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Rather, I should be the one thanking you for going to report this issue to Ferias Territory¡¯s administrative office.¡± After a brief farewell, they headed back to their lodgings in Grau village. Since this was a village around the outskirts of the capital city, the inns were reasonably good, and Muriel and the others have stayed in them several times. After she met up once more with the other Adventurers at the ¡°Temple of Abundance¡± and had dinner in the dining hall ahead of the others, Muriel retired to the double room they rented and dove into the bed. ¡°Ugh~, I¡¯m so tired.¡± As Mirea sat beside the red-haired mage lying on the bed, Muriel wriggled around and took off her mage¡¯s cloak, followed by her equipment, and stripped off the rest of her clothes until she was only in her underwear before getting inside the covers and pulling the blanket over herself. ¡°I¡¯ll just keep on thinking about it the more I stay awake, so I¡¯m going to sleep already.¡± ¡°Sure, good night. I hope everything goes well tomorrow.¡± Mirea thought positively as she patted Muriel¡¯s head as she fell asleep, but¡­ things did not go smoothly as expected. Early next morning, while Eina, the petite mage, woke up before everyone and went for a walk, she suddenly remembered what the red-headed mage from the previous day said. Curious, she walked to the edge of the village in the east and used her vision magic-imbued eyes to look far into the depths of the forest. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here¡­ Just what was I hoping to see anyway?¡± While thinking how foolish she was, she decided to make the most of the spell and turned around to face the northern edge of the village and looked into the grasslands¡­ ¡°N-no way!¡± She saw that countless black spots were approaching from the northern plains. As she concentrated and poured more magic into her eyes, she was able to confirm that the black spots were the giant ants. Panicked, she immediately turned around and rushed back to the inn where the other Adventurers were gathered. ¡ùCharacter Introduction Name: Ares () Race: Human Rank: Sword Fighter Skill: Full Swing, Parry, Arm Strengthening (Medium / Effect is instantaneous) Title: ¡°Black Iron¡± Warrior Weapon: Long Sword (Main), Mail Breaker(Auxiliary) Armament: Banded Armor Name: Riberto () Race: Human Rank: Fencer Skill: Triple Slash, Evade, Arm Strengthening (Medium / Effect is instantaneous) Title: ¡°Black Iron¡± Swordsman Weapon: Saber (Main), Parrying Dagger(Auxiliary) Armament: Hard Leather Armor Name: Mirea () Race: Human Rank: J?ger Skill: Short Range Archery, Trap Disarming, Trap Setting, Increased Dexterity (Medium / Effect is instantaneous) Title: ¡°Black Iron¡± Hunter Weapon: Short Bow (Main), Hunting Knife (Auxiliary) Armament: Hard Leather Armo CH 153 A while later, the petite Mage who was out of breath because she was not used to running arrived at the ¡°Abundant Harvest Pavilion¡± and ran straight to the table where her companions were seated while waiting for breakfast. ¡°Zachs, a lot of ants are coming!¡± ¡°Hn? Like the ones from yesterday?¡± ¡°W-we have to run! We can¡¯t take them on!¡± ¡°Wait, calm down, Eina.¡± The fair-skinned warrior handed their companion a cup of water and calmed her enough to ask about the situation. Meanwhile, Muriel and her party were at the next table waiting for breakfast too when they overheard everything and roughly grasped the situation. Muriel beckoned to the girl who was still trying to catch her breath. ¡°Ms. Eina, around how many Valley Ants were there? ¡°Ah, Ms. Muriel¡­ It¡¯s just as you said, there were more than a hundred of them.¡± ¡°Nngh, from which direction did they come from?¡± ¡°They were coming from the northern plains. From what I could see from my vision magic, I¡¯d say they were at least 4 kilometers away from the village.¡± As the Mage finally calmed down and recounted what she saw, the fair-skinned Warrior became agitated this time when she heard how many enemies there were. ¡°A hundred giant ants are coming, you say!?¡± ¡°Yeah. I guess the only choice for us is to run¡­ but¡­¡± The thin man dressed in priestly garb who was supposedly sent on training by the Holy Church gripped his staff and stood from his chair. ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s rule states that we are to protect people in times of crisis.¡± ¡°Yes, we know that, but we can only protect them to the best of our abilities you know?¡± The rugged-looking warrior and the priest exchanged glances for a while and when it seemed like they were disagreeing on the matter at hand, Mirea interjected from the side. ¡°But still, wouldn¡¯t it be awkward to just leave them? If we ran away without doing anything, everyone would laugh at us at the guild in Warren¡­ Also, I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be receiving quests for a while if we did that either.¡± The Adventurer profession is based on a trust-first basis, so if the guild suspects one of their members, then the number of quests they can accept will be decreased. Moreover, if there comes a time where an Adventurer saves someone during a quest, a reward for the deed will be given by the guild, so nobody could say that they¡¯ve worked for nothing. ¡°Tsk, guess we have no choice¡­ Ms. Landlady, we¡¯re canceling our order.¡± ¡°Even if you don¡¯t say it, we¡¯re already in the middle of preparing to evacuate, so we can¡¯t serve you now.¡± ¡°Sorry, but please have your breakfast somewhere else.¡± Ares sighed as he glanced at the inn owners who were busily gathering their condiments and ingredients while listening in on their conversation and sat up from his chair. ¡°I guess we have some work to do before we get any breakfast huh, Muriel?¡± ¡°Urhh~, first we have to assess the situation and instruct the people to evacuate.¡± The red-haired mage drank the water from her cup as she groaned cutely. Then, using her staff made of evergreen oak, she stood up and followed Zachs and the others who were waiting outside the inn. By that time, several village people had already noticed the large swarm of approaching Valley Ants and were beginning to panic, while the local guards of Grau village gathered in the village square. When the Adventurers rushed towards the guards in the square who were clad in equipment that was not of good quality, the village chief also hurriedly ran towards them at the same time. ¡°Mr. Rechte, please decide quickly, we can¡¯t fight them all off!¡± ¡°The giant ant swarm will be here in about ten minutes, let¡¯s abandon the village and escape!¡± ¡°¡­ Please sound the alarm to evacuate the village.¡± ¡°But where should we evacuate?¡± The red-haired mage took the opportunity to cut into the conversation as the village chief took a moment to think about the head of the local guard¡¯s question. ¡°U-umm, I think it would be best if you evacuated to Warren city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Do you mean we have abandoned the village for a long period, Ms. Mage?¡± ¡°Yes, a temporary evacuation is not possible.¡± ¡°So we have no choice but to rely on the lord of the territory, huh¡­¡± Even if you temporarily escape danger, by the time you return, the Valley Ants would have already eaten the supplies stocked for the winter, and surviving till the next spring will be difficult. With this thought in mind, Muriel continued, ¡°We should escape while the Valley Ants are still distracted with the livestock and stockpiles.¡± ¡°Understood¡­ Adventurers, can you help us escape?¡± The village chief bowed deeply to the eight Adventurers, and Ares, the chestnut-haired Swordsman, and Zachs, the representative for the other group both nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Mirea, who was silent since earlier, called out in a powerful voice: ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no time to lose! Sound the alarms!¡± ¡°Y-yes!!¡± ¡°As for the other members, please lead the villagers to evacuate the western side of the village!¡± ¡°U-understood!!¡± The local guards, who were rushed by her uncharacteristically polite orders, began to move at once, and one of the men who couldn¡¯t believe that he was going to ring the alarm to ¡°abandon the village¡±, rhythmically pounded on the bell. ¡°A-are we really going to abandon the village?¡± ¡°N-no way¡­¡± ¡°This is a life-threatening situation, we should run too, dear.¡± ¡°W-wait a minute, all the valuables are¡­¡± The local guards called out to the people who started moving when the bell rang and urged them to escape to the western side of the village and to head to the city of Warren to evacuate. The mothers carrying their children were the first to move, followed by the other villagers who were rushing to escape when the first group of Valley Ants entered Grau village from the northern side. ¡°¡­ We¡¯re lucky there¡¯s a farm in the direction they¡¯re heading from.¡± ¡°Yeah, it will buy us some time, but poor things¡­¡± As she responded to Zach¡¯s muttering, Muriel shook her head and felt that it was deceitful to feel pity towards the livestock who were destined to be eaten anyway, and checked on Mirea who was coming down from the roof of a small church facing the western side of the village. ¡°How is it, are there still any people evacuating?¡± ¡°Well, only the livestock are being attacked, so we should run too.¡± Mirea smoothly dodged Riberto¡¯s question. From what I saw earlier, the ants were beginning to damage the livestock, so I wasn¡¯t completely lying. But I¡¯m still seeing some stragglers. I guess it took them a while to prepare to escape¡­ What should we do? (But an Adventurer must save as many lives as possible¡­) I know it¡¯s too dangerous to help, but unless they¡¯re lucky, those villagers will fall prey to the giant ants. If we disclose everything to the villagers, they would tend to choose to act recklessly, but if we don¡¯t, I¡¯d only feel guilty that we¡¯d abandoned them. Besides, if we do that, we¡¯ll just waste time arguing, and all of us will be in danger, so it¡¯s better to just keep it to ourselves even if it¡¯s going to gnaw at me later. After lightly pressing her chest, Mirea changed her mood and followed her friends who were among the last ones to escape from Grau village. CH 154 However, even if they were able to avoid danger, there were a lot of parents with their small children and elderly in the close to 200 people who were escaping to the city of Warren, so it was still difficult to outrun the ants. ¡°Kuh, Ares, they¡¯re coming!¡± ¡°Yeah, I see ¡®em, Zachs!!¡± A few moments after they left the village, the two warriors, along with the other Adventurers and the local guards, drew their weapons while the escaping villagers ran for cover and scowled at the Valley Ants who chased after them by relying on their antennae and combined detection abilities. ¡°U~, these guys are probably the ones left after raiding the village, but¡­¡± It is natural for the Valley Ants to take their captured prey back to the colony, so most individuals might have gone back while carrying the sacks of grain or the livestock they have broken down with their strong mandibles. But even with the reduced number, the red-haired Mage frowned as she still saw more than 50 giant ants chasing after them. ¡°Uu, it¡¯s impossible, but¡­¡± ¡°Ms. Muriel, let¡¯s just try not to die, okay?¡± While implying that they should escape when push comes to shove, the petite Mage, Eina, raised her wand which was clad in wind-type magic. A beat later, the red-haired Mage also raised her evergreen oak wand and activated her fire-attribute magic. ¡°O Ancient Flames, crush thy enemies, Fire Pellets!¡± ¡°Tear them to pieces, Endless Wind Blades!¡± As soon as the vanguard Valley Ants entered the spells¡¯ area of effect, the vanguards from the Adventurers¡¯ side vacated the area, and the Mages both fired intermediate-level offense magic. ¡°Gi, giu!?¡± ¡°G-gigii¡­ Gih.¡± Multiple wind blades ran through and cut off the legs of two ants in one strike, and the giant ants, unable to support their weight, collapsed head-first into the ground. Meanwhile, next to them, countless fire bullets rained down and pierced three of the giant ants which burned them from the inside, but¡­ the attacks continued. After firing the initial attacks, the two mages immediately withdrew to the back of the formation when the other giant ants walked over the corpses of their fallen brethren and attempted to close in on them. As a side note, only a few people are as dexterous as a certain wolfdog man who can both fight on the front lines and cast magic when they get the right chance, so it¡¯s not a feat that Muriel and other normal mages can easily pull. And so, it is the job of the vanguards to directly engage the opponent. While dodging the giant ants that were rushing at him, Ares swung his Longsword with all his might and lopped off the 3 legs of a giant ant. ¡°GIIIH, GIIIIIIH!!¡± As the giant ant cried as it fell to the ground, Mirea aimed at it while it was struggling with its last leg and released a finishing shot from a short distance that completely stopped its movement. Using her wide field of vision to observe the situation, she saw Riberto cut off one of the vanguard giant ants¡¯ hard, spear-like antennas with the Saber in his right hand and another giant ant on the brow with his Parrying Dagger on the left as it tried to bite off his throat. ¡°W-we¡¯re outnumbered!!¡± Riberto placed one of his feet on the immobile giant ant¡¯s head, pulled out his beloved Dagger from it, and backed away from the approaching giant ants. Adventurers who are used to fighting just like him and Zachs do not force themselves to continue fighting, but instead back away to reduce the momentum of their opponents. However, unlike them, the case was not the same for the inexperienced local guards who were fighting the giant ants with them. Even though they tried to fight off the giant ants from the beginning, they couldn¡¯t dispose of the monsters fast enough so they ended up being surrounded in no time. ¡°Gi, gigiih!¡± ¡°Uwah, h-help!! Ah, it ate my leg, hih, gah¡± Unable to react in time to a bite attack from the side, a local guard whose left leg had been bitten off by the giant ant¡¯s strong mandibles collapsed, and another ant cornered him and ripped off his throat. ¡°U, uwaaaah, die, you bastard!!¡± Meanwhile, a panic-stricken guard nearby haphazardly struck out his iron spear and accidentally pierced the head of the giant ant that killed his comrade, but¡­ ¡°Gio¡­ gii¡­h, gi¡­¡± ¡°Ha, haha, serves you right, gubuh!?¡± For a moment, the man¡¯s expression relaxed, but since he was also pierced by the ant¡¯s sharp antennae from his flank to his belly, he spurted out blood when it was pulled out of him. He let go of his spear and tried to put pressure on his abdomen, but it was no use since they were surrounded. As soon as he fell on his knees, the giant ants swarmed towards him and disappeared. Once the ants had broken through the local guards, the fleeing residents of Grau village were unable to do anything, and screams rose all over the place. ¡°Tsk, Zachs!¡± ¡°Kuh, I know!!¡± In response to the chestnut-haired warrior¡¯s call, the rugged-looking warrior kicked the Valiant Soldier in the face as it came close to biting him, and finished it off with a two-handed sword strike without pause. But even though the Adventurers were fighting hard to fend them off, the giant ants found them too troublesome to deal with and ignored them and turned their attention to the fleeing villagers instead. ¡°Kyaaaah, uwah, ow, sto¨C, help, uwa¡­¡± ¡°Gobuh, gohah¡­¡± ¡°Uu, uwaa, uu¡­¡± The unfortunate victims that were bitten by the giant ants cried, and the gory sight set off a chain of panic and screams. Amid the chaos, Mirea had gone down to provide logistical support and surveyed the scene, and spotted a small child who had tripped on the uneven grassland. ¡°N-noo, somebody, my daughter!¡± ¡°Kuh, stand back!¡± Upon hearing the mother¡¯s pleas, she drew out her bow with small movements and used her arrows to shoot at the approaching giant ants. She shot two arrows in rapid succession, and just as she was about to release a sigh of relief when she saw the mother had gotten safely to her child, a familiar voice called out to her. ¡°Mirea!!¡± The other person was screaming to warn her though, as one of the soldier-type ants opened its jaws and let out a battle cry when she turned around. ¡°UKYAAAAAAH!¡± As soon as she saw this, Mirea thrust out her right hand to keep its head from reaching her. But as she tried to forcibly twist away her body to keep herself from being severely injured, an unpleasant breaking sound from her fingertips and arm reached her ears. But even with all the effort, she was only able to keep herself from getting caught in its strong jaws, and Mirea was flung away as soon as she came in contact with the soldier ant¡¯s body. ¡°Kahah, kuu, aa¡­ uu¡± ¡°Eina, we need support!!¡± As she lay on the ground groaning and moaning in pain, a worried Muriel rushed to her side, and Eina, who followed behind her, raised her hand and cast a spell to fight off one of the aggressively approaching ants. ¡°Dance, Ring Blade Gales!¡± The condensed wind on her palm formed two small, circular rings, and the twin blades flew towards its targets in arcs and tore them to pieces. ¡°Giih, giiiiiiiih¡­ Gi, gii¡­¡± A few moments later, after Eina confirmed that the giant ants who were struggling to escape her Ring Blade Gales had all died already, she approached Muriel and applied healing magic on Mirea while staying vigilant of their surroundings. ¡°¡­ You can¡¯t fight in that condition anymore, you know.¡± ¡°S-sorry, ugh.¡± ¡°¡­ It¡¯s fine, there are only a few Valley Ants now anyway.¡± Just as the red-haired mage said, there were only a few of the giant ants who were still baring their fangs at them, but it did not mean that the Adventurers had been successful in beating them back; it only meant that most of the ants that had attacked the village had simply taken the prey and most of the stocked food and returned to their colony. Be that as it may, they were only able to kill about 20 of the ants lying on the western plains of Grau village, and while the battle fought by the Adventurers and local guards resulted in the loss of more than half of the guards, it was undeniable that they were able to decrease the number of human casualties in the village. (This is fine for now, but I can¡¯t say it¡¯s enough¡­) With a feeling of inadequacy in her heart, Muriel protected the injured Mirea while Ares continued to cut down the giant ants that had stayed until the end, and the battle that ensued while the residents were fleeing from Grau village came to an end and caused about 40 casualties. Over the next two days, the surviving villagers from Grau village arrived at the city of Warren, and the threat of the Valley Ants became clear. After receiving reports of the damage caused by the monsters, the lord of Ferias made arrangements to send out his troops, but at the same time, he also issued a special commission which had caused the current restless atmosphere in the local Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Meanwhile, only a few people had noticed the silver-haired man who was accompanied by a small fox on his shoulder as he wandered inside the guild where various people were fervently trying to make a name for themselves while some looked around coldly. CH 155 Unlike the sharp-eyed, silver-haired youth who avoided the lively and crowded tavern attached to the guild and headed straight to the bulletin board where commissions were posted, the little fox perched on his shoulder restlessly looked around the room. ¡°Wafaaaouu, kuon.¡± (It¡¯s very loud in here, isn¡¯t it, big brother?) Although his sister was talking to him, he couldn¡¯t just speak to her in their language inside the guild, so he settled for a slight nod as he patted her on the head. ¡°Kyu~n?¡± While we were still on the outskirts of the city, I already told Dagger that I would ignore her if she spoke to me. It was the same when I went to the town of Zelgra before, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems. This time, however, I planned to stay for a few more days and I¡¯ve rented a room in an inn called the ¡°Four-leaf Clover Pavilion¡± which is three buildings away from here, so I can have a space to have non-urgent conversations. (Maybe I¡¯ll just accept a suitable commission and get some food¡­) As I glanced around and took in the smells of the connecting tavern at dinnertime, I spotted a young woman with an attractively cheerful smile who was clad in better equipment than the other Adventurers. Her golden hair was tied in a red ribbon and she appeared to be a Swordswoman, but instead of a staff, she wore numerous ornaments that would aid her in casting magic which made her look a little uncomfortable. The large man sitting in front of her also stood out because of the massive Middle Shield that was propped up on the chair beside him along with the Greatsword that had a pointed, isosceles triangle-shaped back blade. (So that¡¯s a Magus Sword and a Defense Vanguard¡­) My wild instincts tingled at the unexpected presence of a stronger person, but since I had no reason to be concerned, I immediately took my gaze off of them and looked at the bulletin board where the requests were posted. ¡°Hmm, a Steppen Kobold living in the northwestern side of Dresde Town¡­ Rejected.¡± The quest was to reduce the number of Kobolds living in the grasslands before they starve and start attacking livestock in winter, but I¡¯d feel bad exterminating my brethren¡­ Anyway, my pack was fortunate enough to live in Easteria forest which was abundant in food and prey, so as far as I know, we had never done something so risky as to lay our hands on the humans¡¯ livestock animals. However, I remember we beat up a couple of Adventurers in early spring, so just to be sure, I checked if there were any subjugation requests to ¡°exterminate the Kobolds in the central part of Easteria forest¡±, and sighed in relief when I didn¡¯t find any. ¡°Kyuou?¡± (What¡¯s wrong?) ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± I patted the head of the little fox who tilted her head and peeled off a commission from the bulletin board which was from an Apothecary who requested to ¡°collect 10 Black Rabbit horns¡± and took it to the receptionist at the counter. Black Rabbits are black horned rabbits that are about 1 meter long and have silver horns that are processed to make medicines for natural diseases that couldn¡¯t be treated by magic like liver disease and gastroenteritis. Since the encounter rate of these particular monsters is much lower than the ordinary Big Horned Rabbits¡¯, it¡¯s hard for Humans to collect those horns so the prices of these materials tend to go unbelievably high especially in desert countries where they couldn¡¯t be found. After I¡¯ve confirmed that the reward was reasonably good, I thought that we could find at least 1 in a few days with our excellent sense of smell and experience living in the forest. I calculated how much we would get for the elusive black rabbits¡¯ horns and if all goes well, we¡¯d be able to buy souvenirs for everyone in the village as well, so with that thought in mind, I presented the request to the receptionist in a good mood, but¡­ ¡°You do know that the territorial lord has issued a special commission, right?¡± ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°The guild can only accommodate requests related to the Valley Ants right now, but can you show me your guild registration card?¡± As requested, I took the small, folded parchment from my waist bag and handed it to her. ¡°Archer, specialty weapon is a bow¡­ I see, so you only have a first name.¡± ¡°¡­ (Maybe I should have chosen a simpler name after all?)¡± ¡°Eh? Even though you¡¯re an archer, your aptitude says you¡¯re a vanguard!?¡± The aptitude test I took when I registered at the guild assessed my basic physical abilities as well as my skill with the weapons I was using, but reluctantly, it seems my aptitude as a vanguard was higher than my aptitude as a rearguard. Of course, I can¡¯t say that I don¡¯t have an idea since I took down the Goblin double swordsman and communicated with my brethren using my fists according to Kobold tradition, but¡­ Agh, I feel like I haven¡¯t grown at all since my days as a mercenary. While I was idly recalling my memories of the distant past, the receptionist finished checking my information and timidly handed my registration document back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you belong to the guild in Zelgra, so¡­¡± According to the receptionist who explained to me while slightly frowning, Adventurers who visit an area where the territorial lord has issued a special quest are obligated to participate in it too. (I might know a lot of things, but I guess there¡¯s still a lot more that I don¡¯t¡­) As I was about to open my mouth to confirm some things about the special quest, I felt a presence behind me and I turned around. ¡°Hey there, sorry, but can I talk to you for a bit?¡± A chestnut-haired man smiled as he pulled back the hand which was about to touch my shoulder that my sister wasn¡¯t perched on. ¡°Sure, no problem¡­¡± ¡°See, I saw you enter the guild alone earlier¡­ Are you a loner?¡± For someone that has such a refreshing smile, this guy sure says rude things while being subtle about it. ¡°You see, there was a Valley Ant subjugation nearby, and our archer was injured during that encounter¡­ so we¡¯d like to ask someone to temporarily take her place if possible.¡± Hmm, a temporary party member, huh¡­ I¡¯m not really interested so whether I join them or not is fine, but as I looked towards the table that the chestnut-haired man was pointing to, I saw a familiar red-haired Mage that was quietly sitting in one of the seats. ¡°¡­ Well, I guess we can discuss it.¡± ¡°Really!? Thank god!¡± I thought it was a good opportunity for us to meet like this so I agreed, and as I was guided to their table, Muriel began to repeatedly shake her head. At that point, I noticed it too. I noticed that she was staring fixedly at my sister who had begun grooming herself while sitting on my shoulder¡­ Then, after my sister finished, she raised her white fur-tipped paw to her. ¡°Kyua~n?¡± ¡°!?¡± Immediately, the red-haired Mage froze in shock. CH 156 (That little fox looks awfully familiar¡­) If memory serves me right, I think this is the disguised form of the fox-mixed Kobold I met in the forest half a year ago. I still remember that time because I was astonished by its behavior of acting as bait to lure out the prey. (It even raised its paw in greeting, was it directed at me?) In other words, the man who is carrying a Compound Bow on his back and the little fox sitting on his shoulder is¡­ (Could it be¡­ could it be them?) My eyes were unconsciously glued to the lightly armored archer. His well-trained, wrought iron-like physique coupled with the impression of a hunting dog made it impossible to look away and I became curious. ¡°Hnn? Anything wrong?¡± ¡°Nuh-uh, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Ares, who brought him, tilted his head and looked like he was wondering about my reaction, so I gave him a vague reply, but for some reason, Mirea who was sitting beside me, took interest. ¡°Could it be love at first sight for our Myuri? So you¡¯ve finally come to that age¡«?¡± ¡°¡­ I, there¡¯s only one difference between us, isn¡¯t there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious, is that refined body slightly firmed up by alchemy?¡± Although she¡¯s smiling mischievously, I¡¯m sure she wasn¡¯t ogling the silver-haired man, but the impressive metal bow on his back. It seems there are several unfamiliar parts attached to it which makes it distinctly different from the mass-produced bows similar to it. (Hnn~, but his bow is quite different from when I saw it before¡­) As I became anxious about not knowing what to expect, Ares began to introduce us with a refreshing smile. ¡°Oh sorry, we haven¡¯t introduced ourselves yet. I¡¯m Ares, a vanguard warrior. The lightly armored warrior over there is my partner Riberto, and the injured girl over there is Mirea, the archer I told you about earlier.¡± Ares pointed to himself first when he introduced himself, then said the names of the people who were seated on the round table while they lightly nodded in return. ¡°And lastly, this is our resident mage, Muriel.¡± He had slightly emphasized the Mage part of my introduction, but I pretended to act natural and extended my hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. silver-haired archer.¡± ¡°¡­ Yes, I look forward to working with you, the name¡¯s Archer.¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ A magic-user can feel the magic possessed by each individual through physical contact. Although I hesitated a little, I figured it should be alright since I¡¯ve slept and shared meals with her before, so I shook the soft, white hand that she offered to me. After she nodded slightly with a confident look, she moved her chair and pulled another one from the next table, and gestured for me to take a seat beside her. There was no reason for me to refuse, so I obediently followed, and Ares also took a seat and called for a waitress. ¡°It¡¯s on me today, order anything you like!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember agreeing to anything yet though, is that alright?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine, I¡¯m just glad you agreed to listen.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t you paying for it using our living expenses? Don¡¯t try to act cool.¡± Ares became speechless when his companions retorted and quietly opened the menu instead and ordered some bergamot herb tea and a dish, and asked for a plate of milk while pointing at my sister who was resting on my shoulder. After I quickly made my order and looked up from the menu in front of me, I met Mirea¡¯s gaze and she told me about what happened in Grau village. During that time, I observed her and saw that she was wearing skimpy clothes which were focused on ease of movement and looked at the painful-looking wounds on her hands, arms, and thighs which were wrapped in bandages. Basically, healing magic uses magic intervention to forcefully activate the body¡¯s healing process, so if a healer tries to forcibly heal someone with a grave injury, the body will be unable to withstand the rapid recovery, and the wound will heal unnaturally, leaving after-effects behind. Additionally, since healing serious injuries consume a great deal of energy, there was a tendency for the affected person to die from over-exhaustion in worst-case scenarios. So whenever there are life-threatening injuries, it¡¯s necessary to let the wound heal naturally over time while assessing their physical strength. (From what I see, those wounds would take at least two weeks to heal.) It would be suicidal if they took her along in such a state, so it was the right call for them to find a temporary replacement. ¡°So, what do you think? We¡¯d like it if you could help us out though.¡± Muriel gave me an expectant look as she lightly fidgeted with the hem of her dress. In the first place, there¡¯s no other quest I could do aside from this one anyway and I was more than willing to join her since I¡¯ve already made a connection with her before, so I nodded as I took a bite out of the rye bread. ¡°N, thank you, we¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± ¡°Great! With this, I can finally take it easy and focus on recovering.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s been said before, but we¡¯ll be counting on you, Archer.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± I stuck my fork into a dish of roasted venison that had been cut into bite-sized pieces as I responded to the lightly armored warrior called Riberto (I think), and fed it to my sister who had been stomping on my shoulder since earlier. ¡°Kyua~n? Kuon, gauu!¡± (Yummy~? Big brother, gimme more!) Tsk, I¡¯m already feeding you, and yet you¡¯re asking me to give you more!? You spoiled beast!! As I helplessly poked at another piece of meat, Mirea pointed at the little fox. ¡°Hey, can I touch it?¡± ¡°Eh, you shouldn¡¯t touch other people¡¯s companions¡­¡± Muriel, who knew about us, stopped her, but Mirea shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean the little fox, I wanted to touch his bow!¡± It seems she was pointing at the bow on my back and not at my sister, so I handed her the bow sling that was attached to my leather armor, or rather, I handed her the leather case that holds my Mechanical Bow Baroque. ¡°Wow, the handle has been slightly hardened by alchemy while the rim is made of layers of thin sheets of wood made pliable through alchemy and hardened by resin!? I¡¯ve never seen anything like this¡­ What is this?¡± After carefully receiving the mechanical bow, Mirea excitedly started talking as she examined it. As I listened to her yammering, unfamiliar words popped up here and there but it merely flew over my head. (I said I¡¯d take it, but I didn¡¯t know it was this special¡­) As I thanked Ernesta in my mind, a woman neatly dressed in a maid outfit entered the guild and walked up to Muriel who was munching on some stir-fried vegetables. CH 157 Prev Next Keep the website running by whitelisting us! ========================================================================================================================= ¡°A red-haired Mage¡­ You¡¯re Muriel Vest, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Ummm, do I know you?¡± ¡°Oh, pardon me, my name is Delia and I work as one of the chamberlains of Duke Ferias.¡± Judging from her beautiful hair and the way she bowed gracefully, she was probably the daughter of a lower nobleman serving under the Duke¡¯s office. If that were the case, then she must be someone appointed to an important post within the household. (I wonder what she needs from her¡­) I tried to pay attention, but I couldn¡¯t focus on their conversation because my sister who had turned into a fox cub kept on badgering me for more venison meat. ¡°Slow down¡­¡± ¡°¡«¡«?¡± I exasperatedly watched my sister heartily eat the diced meat. Meanwhile, from what I could gather from their conversation, it seems Muriel was the one who submitted the report regarding the Valley Ants¡¯ appearance to the local government office. ¡°Yesterday, village chief Rechte also came by and told the Duke about you¡­ I know it¡¯s sudden, but could you please come with me to the mansion?¡± ¡°Uu, am I allowed to refuse?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I would be troubled if you did.¡± The chamberlain quietly pressured her behind the polite smile, and Muriel stiffly turned to us like a rusty tin doll. ¡°Oh, well, I have to change my bandages¡­¡± ¡°And I have to go and accompany Mirea back to the inn, ya know.¡± While avoiding eye contact, Mirea used her injuries as an excuse to get out of the troublesome situation and Riberto went along with it. Similarly, Ares also followed, saying he couldn¡¯t stand being in a nobleman¡¯s mansion. Well, no ordinary adventurer would want to go to a feudal lord¡¯s mansion after all¡­ ¡°You guys are so cold¡­ What about you, Archer?¡± ¡°Hmm, the Feudal Lord, huh¡­¡± Duke Ferias is a peerage title given to the ruler of the territory. However, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that it¡¯s their real name. In fact, in the Feudal Lord¡¯s Sanctuary Certificate that the Steel Sage showed me in the royal capital, it was signed as Bernholdt Leidingen. The territory that this person governs also includes my pack settlement, so it should be alright to meet him at least once. ¡°I should be fine accompanying you.¡± ¡°N, thanks, I¡¯ll be in your care?¡± After eating the last piece of venison, I exchanged information with Ares about the inn we were staying at, and went ahead and left the Adventurer¡¯s guild first. And so, as we followed the chamberlain along the road leading to the lord¡¯s mansion while the chilly night wind blew through the city of Warren, Muriel suddenly leaned in and spoke to me in a whisper. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve wanted to ask, but¡­ Is that fox cub Dagger?¡± ¡°Yes, long time no see, Muriel.¡± ¡°Kyuu!¡± ¡°Woah!!¡± The small fox immediately jumped on her head as soon as she pointed at her. I let Dagger do as she pleased since it lifted the weight off my shoulders as well. ¡°She¡¯s heavier than I expected! Mmu~ I¡¯ll come to your room later and catch up with you, okay?¡± ¡°Oh my, so you¡¯re close enough to stay in the same room, aren¡¯t you? That¡¯s so bold?¡± ¡°Fuwah, n-no, you have the wrong idea, Ms. Delia!¡± Muriel jumps back in a panic at the surprising remark, but the chamberlain merely smiles. ¡°Fufu, let¡¯s just leave it at that.¡± ¡°¡­ have it your way.¡± Contrary to my first impression of her, it turned out that Delia had a mischievous personality. The three of us chatted for a while as we walked through the deserted streets of the city until we arrived at the Duke¡¯s manor. (Even though it¡¯s this big, it¡¯s still just a mansion. After all, a city far from the national border doesn¡¯t need a castle, to begin with¡­) The city walls only surround about half of the old parts of the city within a radius of about 0.8 km which is centered around the administrative district and does not cover the newer parts of the city which were part of the recent expansion. While thinking whether the situation would also destroy the rest of the land, Delia instructed the guards to open the service entrance by the main gate. ¡°Please enter here.¡± We passed through the side gate we were guided to. Because the maids were finishing up their tasks for the day, Delia guided us to the lesser populated parts of the mansion and into the receiving room. ¡°Apologies, but I would have to ask you to leave your weapons here.¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s fine.¡± In response, Muriel handed over her staff, while I handed over my Scimitar and mechanical bow to the maid who was waiting inside the room. From there, we moved up to the office of Duke Ferias which was on the 3rd floor of the mansion. ¡°Your Grace, I have brought our guests.¡± ¡°Thank you, please let them in.¡± As the heavy doors were opened for us and we were ushered inside, there was a middle-aged man who was reading some documents written in parchment paper behind his desk. In addition to that, my senses, which were still better than an ordinary human even though they were dulled by my humanization, sensed other presences as well. I didn¡¯t just smell the personal scent of the white-haired Duke that was mixed in the air, but the scents of other people hung thickly in the nearby walls. If I focused my senses momentarily, I could hear an unnatural draft coming from those walls. (There are hidden rooms on the left and right side of these walls and two guards per side, huh¡­) As expected, Dagger, who currently had sharper senses than I, also sensed the people hidden in the room and reacted. ¡°Kuon, gauuruo guruaan?¡± (Big brother, it seems we¡¯re surrounded, should we take them down?) I shook my head towards Dagger who cutely tilted her head while Muriel held her in her arms. Since the other person rules a vast territory and is a venerable Duke with ties to the Royal family, it was understandable that he wouldn¡¯t just meet with unidentified Adventurers without any guards or escorts around. After making my conclusion, I faced the white-haired Duke who was looking at Muriel holding the little fox that cried out earlier and opened his mouth, ¡°Long time no see, young miss of the Vest family.¡± ¡°¡­ Duke Ferias, I¡¯m sorry, but have we met at a soiree or something before?¡± ¡°Why, yes. I believe it was around 10 years ago when I was staying at Baron Vest¡¯s estate. I was strolling in the garden when a little child who was covered in leaves came out of the bushes and happily showed off the lizard that she held by the tail.¡± Muriel froze as she heard the Duke recount their first meeting. ¡°Why, you were the only person who ever slapped me in the face with a lizard, haha!¡± ¡°N-no, it was a misunderstanding. The lizard¡¯s tail just happened to snap off on its own!¡± It was the second time Muriel said, ¡°no you have the wrong idea¡± while making some kind of excuse and turning to me for help. ¡°Wh-what should I do, he still remembers me!¡± One of the guards who was hidden in the room couldn¡¯t help but let out a small chuckle at the exchange, and the tense atmosphere in the room relaxed. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. ========================================================================================================================= T/L Notes: Sorry for the long wait! I got sick with the virus (again) so I am only posting now. Please enjoy the update(s)! ========================================================================================================================= CH 158 Prev Manga Info Keep the website running by whitelisting us! ========================================================================================================================= ¡°Your Grace, that sound just now¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I have two bodyguards guarding me in the room just in case.¡± The white-haired Duke who looked somewhat uncomfortable answered Muriel¡¯s question and threw a glance at the wall where the noise came from. At first glance, it only looked like a bookshelf built into the wall, but there is probably a door leading to a room his guards are hiding in. (So he wants to draw our attention to the guards who were found out and leave the rest hidden¡­) The Duke glanced back at Muriel as if he had just shown her his hand, but I was aware that other guards were hiding beside the ones hidden behind the wall with the bookshelf that had a secret mechanism. I was vaguely aware of their locations the first time we entered the room, but after spending time inside, I was now sure about their whereabouts. Meanwhile, the wall on the other side of the room where the rest of the undiscovered guards were still lurking was ingeniously disguised with designs and ornaments, but I bet one of those wall panels would rotate. (I worked as a guard for the nobility during my mercenary days after all!) As I was casually recalling a nostalgic memory, the Duke took interest in me after exchanging greetings with Muriel. ¡°And this young man who has accompanied Lady Muriel, what is your name?¡± I modestly responded and did the semi-formal bow that I learned from my mercenary days so I wouldn¡¯t appear rude. ¡°My name is Archer, an Adventurer from the guild in Zelgra, your Grace.¡± ¡°An Adventurer¡­ Then, we¡¯ll be in your care in that case. Good luck.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll do our best. (And try not to get hurt at least¡­)¡± ¡°Kyuuh!¡± Have you adjusted to the situation? The small fox proudly chirped while Muriel carried her in her arms as she took a seat on one of the chairs that were opposite the Duke¡¯s desk. I promptly took the seat beside her and we started to talk about the issue at hand. ¡°Now, regarding the report I received from you, Lady Muriel, is it true that the Valley Ants are equivalent to a Threat Level A if the Queen Ant and her offspring attacked all together?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, yes¡­¡± By the way, it¡¯s not so easy to take down a monster who is classified as a Threat Level A. It requires an elite group of Adventurers of ¡°Silver¡± rank and above led by either a Knight or a Sage. Well, since such a force isn¡¯t readily available, the only way was to get ready to make mass sacrifices to push the monsters back, but the Duke¡¯s expression clouded over as the damage was too great. There was no way that the two guests in front of him could have known, but¡­ The Duke¡¯s anxiety only grew as a mysterious monster known as the ¡°Holy Beast of Selkram¡± who both defeated the Tempest Witch who led the Magic Knights in a royal match and one of the Seven Plagues was also lurking in the forests within his territory. ¡°This is worrying. The core city has about 120 soldiers, while the guild has about 60 Adventurers, making our forces to about 180 men. Do you think it¡¯s enough?¡± ¡°Uu, it might be tough since there are a lot of Valley Ants.¡± But suppose the city mobilizes its residents to fight against the monsters, the numbers would be enough, but the number of war casualties will only increase. Besides, if one were to think how many families would lose the heads of their families, the outcome would not be ideal for the people and their finances. That said, the city could put out recruitment for mercenaries from all over the country, but they would probably still be under contract and avoid moving during the winter. The earliest time those additional forces could come is around early spring, but the Valley Ants and the damage they would cause would have increased by then. ¡°¡­My Grace, what if we asked for additional forces from the royal capital?¡± It would be hard to ask for additional support from the nobles in the neighboring territories since they also have to protect themselves, but if we asked help from the royal capital, they should have enough reserve troops to send, and the good-natured King Alexius would not ignore the request of one of his vassals who is also related to him. ¡°Sir Archer, are you aware that the misers from the League of Free Cities are reaching out to the Wilm territory? The situation has only gotten worse since there is also involvement from the ¡°neo-pagan¡± Church.¡± During my stay in the royal capital, I may have heard Ernesta and the Steel Sage talk about the League of Free Cities economically encroaching on the neighboring Wilm territory of the Riastize kingdom, but¡­. ¡°Hmm, so they¡¯re in quite a dangerous situation themselves.¡± I could only scowl at the trouble that was still brewing in its early stages. At first, they merely invaded the territory¡¯s economy, but it seems they had also penetrated through the teachings of the ¡°neo-pagan¡± Church which is a strong force within the alliance. Their argument was simple: ¡°It is not against the teachings of the Lord to accumulate wealth for worldly gain¡± through trading. They deny that amassing wealth is a sin, and they strongly reject the traditional way of the Holy Church which asks for large amounts of donations. (Ah, then it¡¯s favorable for the merchants and nobles from the commercial cities.) Curiously, since members of the merchant families from the League of Free Cities have intermarried with the nobles from the Wilm territory, there is news that some of these noble households are likely to switch sides and bend to the teachings of this new faith. ¡°In addition, the nobles governing the cities and towns along the national border are colluding to gain autonomy from the Margrave Wilm, and backing them is the Neo-pagan Church and the League of Free Cities.¡± ¡°In other words, after the territory recognizes their autonomy, then the League of Free Cities would gain new members¡­¡± So far, the invasion is being carried out behind closed doors, but if the number of neo-pagans in the cities increases, then the nobles governing these cities will be unable to retreat and the territory will be thrown into chaos. ¡°So since the Magic Knights are privately working on that matter, asking for reinforcements from the royal capital would be difficult.¡± ¡°Urrgh, religion is so troublesome.¡± As I watched the red-haired Mage who had been quietly listening to the conversation voice out her frustration, I understood that we needed to destroy the Valley Ants¡¯ nest with our current forces. ¡°Muriel, would it be too much for a mixed strike force of regular Soldiers and Adventurers?¡± ¡°Hnn, we could probably take them on, but¡­ it¡¯s going to take a lot of sacrifices.¡± ¡°¡­ But if we fail to stop it, the damage will increase.¡± After pondering for a while, the white-haired Duke faces Muriel and strongly states his will. ¡°First and foremost, we have to protect the residents at all costs in emergencies like this, so Lady Muriel, I would like to borrow your insight regarding this.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best, your Grace¡­¡± Muriel nodded in response to Duke Ferias¡¯ request, and after discussing countermeasures against the Valley Ants, it was decided that a mixed strike force composed of Adventurers and Soldiers would be sent to the northeastern plains in a few days. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. ========================================================================================================================= CH 159 ¡°Uu, I wonder if it¡¯s going to be alright?¡± As the cold, early winter breeze blew through the moonlit road, the red-haired mage embraced the sleepy little fox tighter as she voiced out her worries. ¡°Hn? It¡¯s probably at a level we can manage.¡± ¡°U~n, I¡¯m sure the ¡°Gold¡±-ranked Adventurers Edgar and Grace who were in the bar earlier will be fine, but¡­ Urgh, I don¡¯t want to get badly hurt, so I¡¯ll probably just sneak out in a corner¡­¡± Ahh. Come to think of it, the archer in their group sustained quite an injury from the Valley Ants. A lot of time has passed since we ate with them at the guild¡¯s adjoining tavern, so they¡¯ve probably returned to their inn called the ¡°Lost Lamb¡¯s Pavilion¡±. ¡­ It has a great name, but it seems too good to be true that such an inn would lend rooms to Novice Adventurers who don¡¯t have any money to pay rent in advance. It¡¯s a guild-subsidized inn for novices, and any Adventurer above the ¡°Silver¡± rank cannot stay there. As I was thinking how much more protective and nurturing an Adventurer¡¯s Guild was compared to a Mercenary Agency since they actively made an effort to support and to train these young people, we came to a stop in the middle of a fork road. ¡°Your inn is that way, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ll walk you home.¡± It was unsafe for a woman to walk alone at night even if she were a Mage, so I beat her to it and offered to walk her home, but as I tried to enter an alleyway from the street corner, Muriel pulled at the hem of my coat. ¡°U~, I told you I wanted to ask you a lot of things so I¡¯ll visit your room, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°I know, but¡­ It¡¯s pretty late, you know.¡± In the middle of our conversation, Muriel¡¯s voice unconsciously became shrill just like earlier when the chamberlain had teased her. ¡°Geez. You¡¯re staying at the ¡°Four-Leaf Clover Pavillion¡±, aren¡¯t you?¡± Since she was familiar with the area, she started walking and made her way through the familiar streets. (Well, I guess it¡¯s fine¡­) I lightly scratched my head and followed her through the deserted streets at night and went into what she described as a fairly expensive inn which was three blocks from the Adventurer¡¯s guild. As soon as we arrived in town, my sister and I rented a room for two which was located at the end of the third floor from the stairs. As soon as I opened the door, the little fox jumped out of Muriel¡¯s arms and ran inside. ¡°Kyuu~~~?¡± (Ya~~~?) As she made happy noises, my little sister threw her small body to the bed, undid her disguise, and turned back into a fox-mixed Kobold. ¡°It¡¯s still fascinating no matter how many times I see it.¡± Me too. Meanwhile, my sister who made it a point not to stay up late rubbed her body against the sheets and promptly fell asleep after marking it with her scent. ¡°¡­ Wait, who¡¯s going to clean up those fur-covered sheets?¡± Tired, I pulled out a chair from the corner of the room and offered it to Muriel. But the moment I sat down on the bed adjacent to my sister¡¯s, Muriel curiously leaned forward. ¡°Hey Archer, I want you to show me your original form.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s no problem, but¡­¡± In the first place, I didn¡¯t even like maintaining this appearance unless it¡¯s necessary since my senses are repressed whenever I am in human form, so I agreed easily. While taking a deep breath, I gradually undo the humanization and accept the changes to my body, muscle structure, and growing body hair¡­ ¡°A-amazing, I-I have to write this down!¡± The self-proclaimed, Biologist Mage reached into her leather satchel and pulled out some fibrous flax paper, a quill, and ink¡­ While she was doing this, I adjusted the position of the tail hole on my trousers and turned back into a wolf-mixed Kobold clad in my usual clothes and leather armor. ¡°Ohhh~, change back to human again¡­¡± It was easier said than done, and although I have gotten used to changing into a human, the discomfort I felt during transformation was still there. I removed the Mithril mask hanging from the special belt Smith made, put it on, and talked to her through it. ¡°Garuruuh!¡± [No!] ¡°You won¡¯t change even if I ask nicely?¡± ¡°Uruuo gauoua.¡± [It¡¯s too uncomfortable.] ¡°I-is that so? Oh, but I still have to ask you for details¡­¡± As her reddish eyes which matched her hair color sparkled with curiosity, Muriel thoroughly asked me about a lot of things with a quill in one hand. After a while, she wore a satisfied look on her face as she stopped writing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for asking you about a lot of things.¡± ¡°Woaao.¡± [Don¡¯t mind it.] ¡°For someone so blunt, you¡¯re pretty good at taking care of others, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Voru ooou.¡± [Whatever.] In my previous life, a fellow mercenary also told me the same thing once, so it might be possible that the essence of an individual remains the same even though I¡¯ve turned into a Werewolf. After sharing an awkward smile, we talked about each other¡¯s recent situations for a while. ¡°¡­ But still, rather than a dog man, you¡¯re more like a werewolf.¡± ¡°Garuu, guruaan?¡± [I knew it. So you see it that way too?] ¡°Hang on, let me check.¡± Muriel stood up from her chair, took my hands, and nodded after examining my paws. She then proceeded to take my cheeks between her hands and examined my jaw muscles and fangs and continued to feel the shape of my skull. ¡°Ummm, definitely a wolf¡­ I guess you¡¯re more like a pseudo-Kobold now?¡± (Kuh, what a mean thing to say.) Upon noticing my disapproving expression, she hurriedly continued, ¡°B-but silver wolves are so rare that you might just be like the Werewolf Hero Beowulf!¡± ¡°Kuruaaofuaan?¡± [Never heard of that before.] ¡°Umm, I¡¯m talking about the murderous Werewolf King Venom who appears in a fairytale. Although he was considered a villain, the Werewolves regarded him as their hero, and it seems his real name was Beowulf.¡± I know about the murderous Werewolf King, but since that guy is considered a villain in a story, it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m being praised¡­ (He is considered a Hero among the Werewolves though.) After letting out a small sigh, I got up from the bed and opened the window to check the time by checking the position of the moon while taking in the cool, night breeze. ¡°Gau, guuoavaruo¡­ Waruuoo.¡± [Now then, I guess it¡¯s about time¡­ I¡¯ll send you home.] ¡°Yes, please, HYAU!?¡± I quickly wrapped my arm around Muriel¡¯s waist and picked her up. I then used Wind Magic to wrap both of my legs in whirlwinds as I leaned out the window to check our surroundings and leaped out! ¡°Kyaaaaah, w-wait, Archer!!¡± Ignoring her screams, I descended to the main street and immediately went into the alleyway and alternately kicked the left and right walls of the narrow passageway until I jumped onto the roof and we were bathed in moonlight. ¡°Garuu, oaruauuruh!!¡± [Hah, it¡¯s such a nice full moon tonight!!] ¡°Uuh, this, this is too sudden¡­ Ukyaaah!¡± Perhaps scared of the floating feeling she felt when they descended from the window, Muriel clung tightly onto Archer as the silver-haired wolf-dog ran through the roofs under the moonlight while instinctively aiming for the inn called the ¡°Lost Lamb Pavilion¡±. Thus, two days have passed since the night that some city residents heard a girl¡¯s screams and a wolf¡¯s distant howls, and armed people gathered at the city square to defeat the Valley Ants who attacked the village of Grau. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 160 Duke Ferias had mentioned in advance that we would be departing today, so I stood in the corner of the plaza to wait for Ares and Muriel, but¡­ ¡°Kuon¡­ Gaogauru kyuafa~n¡± (Brother¡­ it won¡¯t stop itching~) Snugly tucked into the leather bag that hung from my belt, the little fox held onto her nose while hitting me with her other paw out of spite. (I did tell you yesterday and the other day that you didn¡¯t have to come along though.) Anyway, now that I think about it, my sense of smell isn¡¯t faring well either. It¡¯s because we¡¯ve been helping out the Duke and Muriel with the preparations for the past two days. As to what we¡¯ve been doing, we have been going into the city outskirts and buying cold-resistant herbs such as lavender and rosemary and collecting similar herbs in the forest. According to Muriel, some aromatic herbs contain insect repellents and certain poisons to make them more difficult for insects to eat as a means of self-preservation. Well, that¡¯s great, but¡­ being exposed to different aromas around the clock did a number on my sister¡¯s sensitive sense of smell. (I didn¡¯t expect that the sensory dulling from my humanization has its advantages too.) However, I was also affected since I still maintain some sensitivity to smell, and I unconsciously half-turned to the several horse carts carrying large amounts of straw and herbs nearby. At that moment, I caught sight of Ares and the others approaching me from a side street. ¡°Hey, still not feeling well?¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s better compared to yesterday.¡± While waving and responding to Ares, I also waved to Riberto who had been walking alongside him, and Muriel who was walking behind them. ¡°Good morning, Archer. We¡¯ll be counting on you during the campaign.¡± ¡°N, we¡¯ll be in your care.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll do my best¡­¡± ¡°Kuruu!¡± (Me too!) Do you want to join in? It was interesting to see my sister, who was being self-assertive, respond to them even if she didn¡¯t understand the language. I cracked a small smile and checked how many Adventurers had gathered, and saw that among them, I could also see Knights who were organizing the units in the city square. ¡°Captain Eldric, the preparations for the second platoon have been completed.¡± ¡°The third platoon is also ready to go.¡± ¡°Preparations for the horse carts and other personnel are¡­ still underway. Grace!¡± In response to the call, the female Magic Knight that I saw at the tavern last time stopped taking count of the Adventurers and her blonde hair which was tied up in a side ponytail with a red ribbon swung softly when she turned around. My attention turned to their direction, but I couldn¡¯t hear what they were talking about from here. The command line of the Adventurers who are members of the guild is independent of the soldiers, so Grace was informed yesterday that she would be in command of the Adventurers as she is a ¡°Gold¡± rank. They¡¯re probably talking about marching formations and the distribution of personnel during the battle. As I narrowed my eyes and observed them, I felt Muriel¡¯s presence beside me. ¡°Ms. Grace is so cool. She¡¯s so strong and pretty!¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess so¡­¡± ¡°But I haven¡¯t seen her in a commanding role before¡­ I wonder what¡¯s up?¡± Ares¡¯ question was valid since the Adventurers¡¯ unrestrained nature means that even if a high-ranking Adventurer had the right to lead those underneath them, it still does not mean that there is an established chain of command. Well, if it were me, I wouldn¡¯t want to be in charge of that group of people though. (I guess the difference between Adventurers and Mercenaries is that we¡¯re used to being ordered around and carrying those orders out¡­) But now that I think about it, in the Kobold¡¯s ecology where hierarchy is valued, the loose chain of command is more suitable to my nature. While I was lost in thought, I turned to Ares who had his doubts about the Magic Knight, and shared my theory with them. ¡°There¡¯s no point in pushing a free-willed Adventurer to do this and that, so they¡¯ll probably let us move freely with the people we work with daily.¡± ¡°Hmmm, but isn¡¯t that inefficient?¡± ¡°But even so, it¡¯s a more practical approach.¡± You can¡¯t expect to command them like a platoon without regular training, and unlike Soldiers, Adventurers have huge variations in their abilities, so the only way to make it work is to group them with people whom they are familiar with and work with daily. While I was discussing with Ares and Riberto, a bell rang from the cathedral building near the city square which announced the time. In this age, the time that governs people¡¯s lives is often managed by the Holy Church for worship. Each church has adopted several time-telling devices such as a sundial which operates based on the movement of the sun, a fire clock that measures time by how the candles melt, and a water clock with a planetary gearing system which is powered by the flow of water. In other words, there is a time difference between cities and towns because of the uneven precision of these clocks. If I remember correctly¡­ The clock in the Warren cathedral is a state-of-the-art mercury clock that has been created after inviting scholars and engineers from the eastern countries which the Duke¡¯s chamberlain claims that it never freezes in winter and always tells the time accurately. After a while, the ringing stopped, and just after the mage that the captain called cast their magic, the captain¡¯s voice echoed throughout the square while creating huge vibrations in the air. ¡°It¡¯s time. I think everyone is already gathered. So from here, we will head to Grau village, follow the trail to Valley Ants¡¯ nest, and battle. That¡¯s all. Prepare to move out!!¡± The guards are the ones who take the initiative to move, followed by the Knights on horseback who were surrounded by foot soldiers as they left the city square. Following this, Ms. Grace also called out loudly to the Adventurers. ¡°Everyone, each party will come together with the others to form a unit! For now, we will head to Grau village to escort the transportation corps!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with and have a drink with the reward money, shall we? Let¡¯s go!!¡± Her partner, a warrior clad in steel armor, moved among the crowd as if he didn¡¯t feel the weight of his equipment, and encouraged the Adventurers to move out. During that time, another party waved to us as they approached. ¡°Good morning, Muriel!¡± ¡°Oh Eina, long time no see.¡± ¡°Ares looks like we¡¯ll be working together this time too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very reassuring, Zachs.¡± Muriel held hands with a fellow female Mage in a friendly manner, while Ares and Riberto lightly tapped the shoulders of a dark-skinned, rough-looking Warrior in greeting, but¡­ Who are these people? I was feeling alienated as I was the only one who was unfamiliar with these new faces when a fair-skinned female warrior approached me with a smile. ¡°Umm, are you the temporary member working as Mirea¡¯s replacement? Nice to meet you, my name¡¯s Reedy.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, Ares recruited me¡­ I¡¯m Archer.¡± While I was talking with the woman who had a soft atmosphere about her, it seems her attention was caught by the small fox in the leather bag by my waist, and even the slender man who was carrying a bishop¡¯s staff was looking my way, so I looked at Muriel and silently asked what to do. ¡°N~, maybe we should get a move on too.¡± When I checked our surroundings at her prompting, the last of the guards and most of the other Adventurers had already left the plaza following the transport corps, and Ms. Grace was already glaring at us as if she were telling us to ¡°hurry up already¡±. ¡°¡­ Yes, I guess we should.¡± It was terrifying to be glared at by a beautiful lady so I meekly nodded and left the plaza with Zachs and the others. As expected, there were no powerful monsters that could attack a large group outside of the city, so the different units proceeded without any problems, and we arrived at Grau village by sundown. Since the escaping villagers were attacked outside the village, there were barely any bloodstains left inside the village and there were no bodies found since they had been cut up by the ants¡¯ strong jaws and taken back to their nest. Therefore, there were no traces left behind of the cruel attack, but¡­ by the way Riberto was scowling and saying something under his breath, I had an idea that it had left quite an impression on him. After confirming the various other damages to the food supply and livestock, the teams spent the night in Grau village and proceeded to the northern plains the next day by following the trail of bent grass and the giant ants¡¯ huge tracks and closed the distance to our destination which was their nest. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 161 Just as the sun rose over the horizon, the little fox who had been nibbling at the dried meat I was intending to store as emergency food popped her head out from the leather bag which kept her warm and protected her from the cold winter air. ¡°Guruofau¡­ Wafi garuooruaan?¡± (I don¡¯t know this smell¡­ Did we enter someone¡¯s territory?) ¡°Gaon.¡± (Perhaps.) After I briefly responded to my sister in a low voice that almost nobody could hear, I focused on my sense of smell and faintly detected the characteristic scent which was carried by the wind blowing from the north. (It¡¯s hard to immediately notice it when I¡¯m in my human form¡­) However, once I recognized it, I couldn¡¯t ignore it either. ¡°Everyone, get ready for battle, we might encounter them soon.¡± ¡°Have we arrived at the Valley Ant¡¯s territory already?¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there, but isn¡¯t it strange that we haven¡¯t met them already¡­?¡± When I nodded at Muriel who looked tense when she asked, Ares left us and jogged up to Zachs who was walking slightly ahead of us. ¡°Uu, I¡¯m so nervous, I think I might have a stomachache¡­¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you one of the people who planned this? You have to keep it together.¡± Duke Ferias accepted her suggestion and passed it on to his commanders, so the responsibility lay with him. However, it didn¡¯t mean that the pressure of mobilizing the people and causing casualties just as Muriel predicted would just go away. While some nobles merely think of people as pawns, there are also some whose hearts are so worn out that you couldn¡¯t just blame them either. When I was an inexperienced mercenary, I remember that I once bit an elderly territorial lord who had brushed me away while saying, ¡°If you don¡¯t think of people as pawns, then your judgment will be swept by your emotions and more people will die¡­¡± If you don¡¯t respond against a threat, then the sacrifices will be huge, but even if you do play your cards right, there is still bound to be some sacrifices. (It¡¯s tough for people in high positions, huh¡­) Although there is a huge difference in scale, as a leader of a pack, I realized that I also have to keep it together. I patted Muriel¡¯s head as she held on tightly to her staff. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll do my best to make sure everything goes well.¡± ¡°N, thanks, Archer?¡± ¡°You two sure get along well, don¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Au~¡± As soon as she heard Riberto¡¯s comment, Muriel leaned away from me and quickly walked ahead. After a while of following her back, the front of the formation became noisy. ¡°Valley Ant sighting confirmed in the northeast, spread out in a row formation!¡± ¡°Mages and Transport Corps, go to the rear, my group will take the right flank of the first platoon!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take the left!!¡± Under the command of the three Knights who swiftly swooped in and gave their orders, the troops immediately broke the formation. The first platoon stood facing the attacking group of Valley Ants and the other two offense units took the left and right flanks while the mages and transport corps who were carrying huge amounts of herbs and supplies retreated to the back. In the midst of this, the Adventurers who seemed unaccustomed to moving as a unit were left behind by the guards, received orders from Ms. Grace a moment later. ¡°As decided earlier, my group will take the right flank, while Edgar¡¯s will take the left flank.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go, everyone!!¡± ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOH!¡± As several groups of Adventurers shouted out in high spirits and moved to their places with the soldiers, we also moved with Edgard¡¯s group and followed the fearless, metal armored warrior. By the time we were in position, the swarm of more than 200 giant ants was almost immediately upon us. ¡°First platoon, prepare to fire! After we draw them near, prepare for close combat!¡± ¡°OU!!¡± The archers from the soldier group at the front deployed in a two-row formation, with the front row going on one knee and nocking their arrows while the rear line also readied their bows and arrows. Similarly, the mages and archers from the Adventurers¡¯ group also readied their weapons and spells intending to significantly reduce the enemies¡¯ number with the first strike. However, perhaps getting impatient from waiting for the approaching swarm, someone released an arrow even before the enemies could step into the effective range. ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t we shoot after we draw them in¡­?¡± ¡°Gigiaaaaaah!?¡± Zachs was about to say that it was a waste of arrows when his words were drowned out by one of the Valley Ant¡¯s agonized screams. The arrow which was coated with Wind¡¯s Blessing received no wind resistance and flew rapidly and deeply pierced the head of one of the giant ants, and the arrowhead charged with wind magic activated and blew half of its head off. ¡°Y-you cast Air Burst on the arrowhead!?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still refining that spell to intermediate level, aren¡¯t you¡­?¡± Eina, who thought I was only an archer was surprised, while Muriel, who knew I could use magic, observed the skill with interest as I quickly fired my second and third shots. My arrows found their way to the compound eyes and abdomen of the giant ants and exploded, inflicting fatal injuries. As I was about to nock another arrow, I felt the odd looks the other Adventurers were giving me and promptly stopped. (Now that I think of it, other job classes that could use magic other than magic users are pretty rare¡­) As I stopped and looked uncomfortable because of the awkward situation, several burning spears shot out from the right flank and engulfed the giant ants in flames as soon as they hit them. ¡°GIGIIIIIH, GI, I¡­¡± As several of the burning giant ants fell and screamed in pain, the voice of Ms. Grace, who probably fired them, echoed throughout the battlefield. ¡°Everyone, attack!¡± ¡°Fire!¡± At about the same time, the knight leading the first platoon gave his orders and the Adventurers fired arrows and spells from the sides while the soldiers immediately fired a volley of arrows at the swarm of giant ants that were fast approaching by several dozen meters. However, the effects of these arrows are limited, since ordinary arrows that have not been endowed with magic would have to hit the target multiple times to create significant damage. Thus, the giant ants taken down by these arrows were only around ten, while the number of ants taken down by the few magic users within the Adventurers was roughly the same. But even though we had taken out roughly around 1/8th of the swarm after the first volley, the number of people in the strike force and the number of Valley Ants were still the same. In theory, if an ordinary giant ant is assumed to have the same battle strength as an ordinary soldier, it would be difficult for novice ¡°iron¡± rank Adventurers to take them on, while the ¡°black iron¡± Adventurers and even the few ¡°silver¡± Adventurers and above who are present could defeat them, but¡­ While the enemy is mainly composed of Soldier ants, there are also Imperials mixed in that are nearly 2 meters in height and 3.8 meters in length, so we also have to prepare to take damage. Under such circumstances, the battle between the subjugation teams and the Valley Ants entered into close combat. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 162 ¡°All hands, draw your blades! They¡¯re coming!!¡± The soldiers from the first platoon who were also archers quickly put away their bows on their waist quivers and pulled out their handy short swords with a metallic scraping sound from the scabbards hanging from their sword belts. ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± ¡°GISSSHAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± But even though they vigorously swung and exchanged blows with the giant ants¡¯ hard fangs, the momentum from the pre-emptive attack had already died down and the soldier units that received the initial attacks were being gradually pushed back. ¡°Gigi, gih!!¡± ¡°Naah!?¡± Meanwhile, some of the giant ants from the back row were stepping over their brethren to press down on the soldiers who were holding back their outstretched jaws with their iron swords in an attempt to slit their bellies! ¡°Tsk, these damn ants!¡± ¡°Giiiii!? A, aa¡­¡± Eldric, one of the Knights who was assisting while commanding his platoon, quickly fired a shot from his bow which he held at an angle and saved the lives of his men as the arrow pierced through one of the giant ants¡¯ heads. At the same time, the soldiers behind the troops on the front line who were trying to keep the giant ants at bay also used the flat of their swords to hit and then stab the heads of the ants that were climbing on their brethren¡¯s backs, but¡­ ¡°Gafuh, hih, aa¡­ugh.¡± ¡°I-it hurts¡­ uuughhh.¡± As one of the soldiers was trying to stop one of the giant ants from piercing his abdomen with his sword from below, his neck was caught between the jaws of another ant that had attacked from behind and fatally injured him, while I caught another glimpse of the giant ants piercing the limbs of another soldier with their spear-like antennae. ¡°Don¡¯t push it, focus on drawing them in while cutting their numbers!!¡± ¡°Roger that!!¡± The first platoon, which had somehow managed to stop the enemies¡¯ initial attacks, began to gradually withdraw while keeping the giant ants in check. In the first place, these soldiers, who also acted as archers who were equipped with both bows and short swords, were not proficient in close combat, so they could not face them head-on. Hypothetically, the first platoon was supposed to retreat after the initial barrage of attacks and draw in the enemy vanguards as the other two units attacked from the sides, but¡­ it didn¡¯t work out that way. ¡°Tsk, they¡¯re already spreading out before we could even make a move!¡± ¡°Captain, both of the platoons are occupied!!¡± Perhaps due to their natural instincts kicking in, the giant ants fanned out from their single directional formation upon contact and launched closed-combat attacks on every side. If only the first platoon retreated at this point, they might be split up and defeated, so the 2nd and 3rd platoons worked together and battled the ants while gradually beginning to retreat as well. In this situation, the only ones who could move freely were the Adventurer units who were deployed on both sides. As her hair which was tied in a side pony with a red ribbon swayed in the air, Miss Grace slashed at the giant ant in front of her with the magic sword in her hand which was alchemy-refined with 20% pure mithril that allowed it to store magic flames. ¡°YAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Gih!? Giiiiiiih¡­ ii¡­¡± The flaming slash attack beheaded the huge soldier ant and her lightning-fast strike also hit one of the compound eyes of another common ant which was attempting to jump over the corpse of its brethren which caused it to burn inside out. ¡°Giiiiiii¡­ hii, gi¡­¡± Grace quickly kills the giant ants and jumps back as multiple ants chase after her, but this time, the ¡°silver¡± Adventurers take her place and launch their own attacks. ¡°DARAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°KISHAAAAAH!!¡± A swordswoman who took a half-step forward cut off one of the giant ants¡¯ spear-like antennae that was aimed at her, kicked its head as it tried to snap at her, and plunged her black iron sword into the joint connecting its head and thorax to finish it off. Meanwhile, a spear-user slightly dodged as he blocked the ant¡¯s antennae with his blade and counter-attacked by thrusting his spear into the soldier ant¡¯s skull and fatally wounding it. Inspired by their comrades¡¯ display of fighting prowess, the ¡°black iron¡± Adventurers fought hard alongside the soldier units to stop the ants¡¯ attacks, but¡­ their advantage was broken when a huge Imperial-type emerged from behind the ordinary giant ants. ¡°UKYAAAAAAAH, IT¡¯S BURNING!!¡± ¡°Hih, u, uwaaaa!?¡± One of the Adventurers who was hit by a seemingly high concentration of formic acid that the Imperial had vigorously spat out had melted their body from head to toe and the smoking puddle of human remains produced a strange odor. The result terrified his companion who let out a high-pitched scream. ¡°H-help¡­ m-me¡­¡± Meanwhile, another one of the acid attack victims who had fallen down struggled as they asked for help and desperately stretched out their bone-exposed arms but¡­ the damage was too much and they soon passed away. The Adventurers had no time to react to the gruesome scene before them as they were forced to deal with the advances of the giant ants while having no way to protect themselves from the formic acid that was being spewed by the Imperial ants nearby. ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaah, m-my arm, my arm!!¡± ¡°Ms. Grace!!¡± ¡°Shit, they¡¯re on the offensive!!¡± The panic-stricken Adventurers could not help but look in the direction of Grace who had temporarily retreated and found her holding out her left hand while glaring at the huge Imperial Valley Ant nearby. ¡°¡­That¡¯s it. You¡¯re dead.¡± Upon uttering those words, a myriad of bright and burning red spheres surrounded her left arm in a spiral, and all the magical equipment fitted all throughout her clothes glowed faintly. ¡°Pierce and burn them down, Multiple Fire!!¡± A chain of explosions was heard as the small, flaming bullets were launched in succession and continuously cut down the targets as they hit the giant ants¡¯ heads and abdomens. ¡°Giiiiiiiiiiiih, giiaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± ¡°Gigiigiiii!?¡± Unable to endure the pain from its injury, one of the large, Imperial Valley Ants desperately swung its sickle-like legs around and cut down the giant ants around it, and fell down while melting its brethren with the acid that it shot out of its mouth. ¡°Gi, gi¡­ a¡­¡± Eventually, the light completely disappeared from its eyes and it became motionless. ¡°OOOOOOOH!!¡± ¡°Get the injured out of here! Those who can still fight, let¡¯s destroy these ants together!¡± The Magic Swordswoman who was also known as the Fiery Magic Knight gave her orders as the Adventurers cheered, and Grace¡¯s troops stepped up their offensive attacks against the giant ants who had lost the Imperial ant that was commanding them. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 163 Meanwhile, the adventurers belonging to Edgar¡¯s unit who were fighting on the left flank were also engaged in hand-to-hand combat. ¡°UWOOOOOOOH!¡± ¡°GI, GICHICHIH!!¡± In response to Ares¡¯ slash attacks which he swung with renewed vigor, one of the soldier-type giant ants who lifted its head engaged him with its large jaws and both sides attempted to overthrow the other. However, since the giant soldier ant possessed a better means of attack than humans, it immediately prepared to stab Ares with its spear-like antennae. ¡°Ares, get out of the way!¡± ¡°Kuh!!¡± In response to my call, Ares, who acted as the vanguard, immediately jumped back as I fired an arrow from my mechanical bow which hit my target in the forehead. ¡°GIIIH!? AAH!!¡± Immediately after the arrowhead plunged into the enemy¡¯s head, the condensed magic that was packed into it was triggered due to the impact and blew off the head of the soldier ant with a dry sound. ¡°Not too bad for an impromptu coordinated attack.¡± As I reached for my quiver, I checked the battle situation around us and saw Zachs stopping one of the giant ants from attacking with his Greatsword and jumping away to steer clear of his companion¡¯s line of fire. ¡°Eina!!¡± ¡°T, tear the enemy to pieces, Wind Blade!!¡± As expected, range attacks require the vanguard to lure in the enemy to work well. After a single, well-aimed Wind Blade lacerated one of the giant ants and stopped its movements, Zachs jumped back in and crushed its head with the Greatsword he carried on his shoulder. Immediately after the attack, another soldier ant rushed forward and attempted to attack with its sharp antennae, but the fair-skinned female Knight, Reedy, parried it and took the giant ant down. ¡°Zachs, you swing too hard!¡± ¡°Sorry, thanks for the assist!¡± During the short exchange, Eina had already begun casting the next spell, and the Priest who called himself Ignas kept a Healing Light spell activated on his left palm while he had Holy Barrier on his right hand on standby in case the vanguard fell during the battle. If one were to look at the situation, it would seem like Adventurers have no immediate problems cooperating on the surface, but it should be noted that they are also at a disadvantage due to the variance in their abilities. In fact, some Adventurers were even being cornered by the giant ants and Riberto was one of those defending against them. ¡°Tsk, I need some extra support over here, hurry up!¡± ¡°Uu, wait a minute¡­ Ei, Fire!!¡± Muriel¡¯s magic was reinforced by the faint, magical light that was emitted by the evergreen oak staff she carried, and the numerous flame bullets that shot out of her right palm burned the eyes of the giant ant approaching Riberto and frightened them away, but another one attacked him with great force. ¡°GISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Uwoooh!?¡± Riberto promptly swung down his parrying dagger in an underhanded grip and pierced the head of a giant ant who had aimed at him while he was retreating, and the rest of the drooling soldier ants who saw this fled. ¡°Kuh, there¡¯s just too many of them! Hang in there, buddy!!¡± ¡°N-no, I-I can¡¯t fight any more than this!? U, uwaah, gebuh¡­¡± A young Swordsman who was probably an ¡°iron¡± rank who had managed to keep up with the battle until now was pushed down by one of the giant soldier ants who bit his throat off with its large and powerful jaws. ¡°Hi, ua¡­h, aah!?¡± Meanwhile, the light-armored Warrior who had been fighting side-by-side with the unfortunate victim was also caught in the giant ant¡¯s jaws while he was disoriented and shocked and was dragged into the group of giant ants where his grisly screams reverberated throughout. Since the death of the vanguards could lead to the collapse of our defenses, I placed my bow and arrows back into my quiver and clad my limbs with whirlwinds created through magic, and shot forward like an arrow that was fired with a ballista. ¡°Shih!!¡± With a short breath, I drove my fist into the giant ant¡¯s face as I flew towards it, and the magic I concentrated into it produced countless, small Wind Blades which burst out upon contact. ¡°Giiiiiiiiiiah!? A¡­ aa¡­¡± As the body of the giant ant whose face I smashed in and killed went flying, I aimed for the other soldier ant who still had the Adventurer¡¯s blood dripping from its mandibles and turned around to deliver a roundhouse kick! ¡°Gi, giiiah!!¡± At the moment of contact, I also imbued magic into my legs to create small Wind Blades which caused it to be fatally injured as it cut through the joint connecting its head to its thorax as I sent it flying with a kick. ¡°Archer, you can act as a vanguard too?¡± ¡°That was close, thanks for saving me!¡± Ares and Riberto greeted me in a friendly tone as they noticed me coming to support the front lines, but apart from those who were paying attention to the enemies in front, Muriel had a cramped expression as she had watched the whole thing unfold before her. (If I remember correctly, Ernesta did mention that he had gone home with the manuscript of that book¡­) As the image of her close friend who is also a user of the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡± unexpectedly came to mind, Muriel smiled wryly. However, the moment was short-lived as a chill ran through her spine when she saw another large, Imperial-type Valley Ant approach. ¡°Th-this is¡­!? Everyone, stand back!!¡± ¡°Wha¨C Area attack magic!?¡± At about the same time as the rearguards who were skilled at detecting area attack magic warned us, I also sensed the magic spreading throughout the ground and jumped back while pulling Riberto by the collar as earthen spikes popped out from the ground in succession. ¡°O-oh right, I forgot these guys also have innate earth-type magic!!¡± I heard from Muriel that these giant ants do not just rely on brute force when excavating to expand their nest, but they use magic to do so, but¡­ For some reason, I just felt frustrated that these guys could also use the ¡°Binding Fangs¡± that I specialized at. (Up until now, I haven¡¯t seen anyone else use it, so I guess it¡¯s just a common type of non-human magic¡­) However, it was still an effective area attack magic, and several Adventurers who didn¡¯t escape in time were unable to move since their legs were pierced by the earthen spikes. ¡°Guh, uuugghh¡­¡± ¡°Uwaaaah!¡± As the screams of pain rose one by one, Muriel acted quickly and held her right hand up and cast a spell while interfering with the effective range of the earth-type magic. ¡°Return all creations to what they should be, Dispel!¡± Her dignified voice rang out as she struck her evergreen staff on the ground and the earthen spikes crumbled and freed the immobilized Adventurers, but this time, the giant ants came for them while their movements were slowed down by their injuries. ¡°S-stop, don¡¯t come near me, UGYAAAAAAH¡± ¡°Hih, n-no, it hurts, uwaah¡­ uu¡± ¡°Shit, just do whatever you damn bastards want!!¡± I joined Ares, Riberto, and the other vanguards as they rushed to the rescue and when I spotted the large, Imperial Valley Ant in the vicinity, I smirked as I thrust my left hand to the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll give you guys a taste of your own medicine! Devour them completely, Fangs of Greed!!¡± ¡°GII, GIAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± As the earthen spikes pierced the heads and thoraxes of the giant ants surrounding the Imperial one after another, I stepped on the head of the nearest soldier ant and used it as a foothold when I clad my legs in whirlwinds and leaped. Then, I vertically spun in the air to create momentum and used the centrifugal force to drive a right heel drop on the Imperial Valley Ant¡¯s head! ¡°Gigiiiih!?¡± The Air Burst spell I imbued into my leg activated as I directed it downwards and pushed down the giant ant¡¯s head and stuck out my left hand directly over its exposed weak point. ¡°Tear it to pieces, Triple Wind Blade!!¡± ¡°Gii, gigiaaaa¡­ aa¡­¡± The Triple Wind Blade I fired at close range created a deep cut, and the giant head that lolled to the side after losing its support was torn into shreds. I didn¡¯t have time to admire my work since I used my wind magic to create a temporary updraft to extend my time in the air for a bit. ¡°There we go!¡± And then, using the same method, I commanded the wind to adjust my fall and landed on the back of one of the giant ants who had been impaled by the earthen spikes and casually mowed it down with my Scimitar. After beheading the ant that I had landed on, I was safe for a while and watched as Edgar and the others were able to take down several more of the enemy as they hacked and slashed at the giant ants who became restless when the Imperial was taken down. Additionally, it seems the soldiers had managed to slaughter the large Imperials while being led by Eldric and his squad of elite soldiers, and the giant ants who had lost both their commanders and their brethren began to withdraw without any hesitation. ¡°Look at them scurry¡­¡± To be honest, the speed at which they went wasn¡¯t something that we and the transport corps could catch up to. So at the end of the first phase of the battle, our subjugation team ended with 24 casualties, but we also managed to take out at least 83 Valley Ants after. It¡¯s not bad considering the kill vs. loss ratio, but¡­ it¡¯s too bad that most of the casualties were young and inexperienced, although this is a common occurrence on the battlefield. CH 164 After the heat of the battle had cooled down, I sat down on the ground with everyone who was done decompressing and took a break to drive out the feeling of impermanence that had risen in my mind after the fight. (After all, the survival of the fittest is the law of the world¡­) After I evolved into a werewolf, I¡¯ve learned to ¡°hide under a human disguise¡±, but since I was essentially just a Kobold who lives in the forest, it has been engraved in my mind that living is a battle in itself, more than when I was fighting as a mercenary. To keep on living, it was necessary to eat other animals and plants, and in the chain of life, all living beings are desperately risking their lives just to live. (Huh, the god who created such a system must be warped, imperfect, or just evil.) In the first place, it might just be a paranormal existence with a wider perspective on insignificant things such as human emotions and life and death¡­ In the end, I concluded that it had nothing to do with me and reached for the water bottle that hung from my waist and drank some cool water from it. ¡°Kuon, guruuh!¡± (Big brother, gimme!) The little fox who had been nibbling on some bread inside the pouch hanging from my belt noticed the movement, poked her head out, and opened her mouth to demand water, so I slowly tipped the leather canteen and let her drink. ¡°You¡¯re really close with that little fox, aren¡¯t you¡­ Normally, they don¡¯t get along with humans that well.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s because we¡¯ve been together since birth, so¡­¡± After I responded to Ares who used a knife to cut off some of the rationed dried meat and popped it into his mouth, Riberto who had a tough time during the battle earlier plopped down beside us and said in a tired voice, ¡°Rather than that, I was surprised at how well Archer executed that heel dropkick on that large Valley Ant earlier and it made me realize that an Adventurer¡¯s strength and rank don¡¯t always match.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been a mercenary for a long time, so I can¡¯t completely claim to be a rookie.¡± ¡°Fufu, well that¡¯s reassuring.¡± I looked in the direction of the voice who cut into the middle of our conversation and saw Miss Grace who was equipped with a lot of magical equipment, standing nearby with a smile. ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around in Edgar¡¯s unit that someone brought down an Imperial type earlier, you know. They even said that the mix of magic and hand-to-hand combat is reminiscent of the Steel Sage¡¯s fighting style.¡± ¡°Should I¡­ take that as a compliment?¡± It¡¯s undeniable that I¡¯ve been influenced by the grimoire ¡°Herculean Crushing¡±, but he seems to only be a fighter carrying the Sage title, and I¡¯m just someone claiming to be an archer, so I¡¯m not exactly pleased with it. While I was thinking that I just became a bit disrespectful to the head of the royal court mages, Ares nervously turned and responded to Miss Grace. ¡°Miss Grace, what can we do for you?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s nothing, I was just curious about the archer who rushed into the frontlines earlier¡­¡± After making a slight bow, she turned around and walked towards Edgar who was waiting nearby, and Muriel who had been chatting with the knights earlier returned. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m late.¡± ¡°Good job, Muriel~¡± ¡°But it¡¯s amazing how you identified our next course of action.¡± I don¡¯t know if they knew about the time she had slapped the Duke with a broken lizard tail before, but Ares and Riberto had a somewhat respectful look in their eyes as they welcomed her back. While I was thinking about this, I checked the arrows I had collected and made sure that the strings that were attached to the metal fittings were not damaged, when a Knight¡¯s voice was amplified by a wind magic spell that interfered with the atmosphere rang out. ¡°Break¡¯s over, everyone! The injured and the transport corps will be in the middle, while the soldiers will walk in the front and the adventurers will be in the rear!!¡± The guards who had been resting rose to their feet in response to the announcement, while the Adventurers who had been keeping watch of the perimeter also joined their squads, and everyone paid attention to the Knight Eldric as we got into a marching formation. After being briefed on our next course of action, the subjugation team found a huge, gaping hole in the ground in no time after following the tracks of newly broken grass left by the ants earlier while watching out for another attack. (Well, in our case, Dagger and I don¡¯t need to follow their tracks since we could still smell the remnants of their weird-smelling pheromone.) As the soldiers quickly moved to set up a defensive line, we also positioned ourselves to protect the transport corps personnel. Just to be sure, I also checked with Muriel who was holding her evergreen staff next to me if there was a possibility of an immediate battle or not. ¡°Hnn, it should be fine, they already decided that the battle was not in their favor so they retreated, so they won¡¯t come out right away¡­ but we still have to make sure.¡± ¡°I see. In other words, they¡¯re currently holing up during the siege. This behavior is no different from humans.¡± According to Muriel, when an outside invader approaches the vicinity of their nest, reconnaissance-type giant ants will immediately warn the others, and if there are more enemies than the ants that responded from the colony, they will retreat and take defensive action. In other words, the previous encounter we had with them was more like a subjective battle that became a defensive battle for the Valley Ants¡­ and when their numbers dwindled and they were forced into a disadvantageous position, they fled back to their nest to wait for the situation to calm down. I learned that the same is true for the tiny ants that crawl on the ground which switch between offense and defense depending on the number of individuals around them. Furthermore, in an academic paper that was published last year, it was also observed that they decide whether to attack or retreat depending on the number of allies they have with them when facing off against a potentially strong enemy. (Thanks to Muriel, I¡¯m learning more things than I know what to do with¡­) For a while, I had to listen to Muriel talk passionately about the ecology of ants. CH 165 Meanwhile, the soldiers surrounded the entrance to the nest as soon as we arrived, and the mages and the transport corps were summoned from the rear. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s unload the cargo!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with quickly!!¡± Following the instructions of the transport corps¡¯ commander, the large man in charge of the operation shouts out and the porters begin to unload the large cargo from the wagons. ¡°Oof, let¡¯s finish unloading everything and get out of here!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting myself get eaten by those ridiculously large ants¡­¡± Perhaps not wanting to stay in such a dangerous place even though their bodies had been strengthened by daily physical labor, the porters had worked so quickly that by the time I finished listening to Muriel¡¯s mini-lesson about ants, all the cargo had already been unloaded from the carts. ¡°But still, that¡¯s such a huge amount of herbs¡­¡± ¡°U~, gaogauruaau¡± (U~, it¡¯s making me itchy again) After I glanced down at my sister who had briefly poked her head out of the pouch when a barrage of different smells mixed in with the wind, I looked at the mixture of hay and insect-repellent herbs piled up on the ground. ¡°Hnn~, it¡¯s early winter so we were able to gather a lot of wood chips and arboreal herbs and I think the smoke from burning it will work, but¡­ We won¡¯t know how effective it is until we¡¯ve tried it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess that¡¯s all we could do for now.¡± While telling Muriel, who looked anxious because she had no similar experience before this, that unpredictable situations like these were inevitable, we were called up to join Edgar¡¯s team. As a result of spending some time investigating the area with Grace¡¯s team, we have discovered that two more huge holes plus the area where preparations to smoke out the ants were being made, were positioned in a triangular formation that was at least 80m per side. As he stood over one edge, Ares sighed as he peered into the hole along with the other Adventurers. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s not like these guys only have one way in and out.¡± ¡°But depending on the variant, there are ant monsters that can only make one entrance per nest, you know.¡± When it comes to monsters, the types are more limited compared to normal ants, but there are still differences due to diversity, and Valley Ants are relatively known to make narrow tunnels that connect to the surface ground. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that they¡¯re prioritizing their defenses¡­¡± ¡°Correct, and it also means that there are fewer escape routes.¡± Just like Riberto said, if we compared the colony to a fortress, then the entrance would be the castle gates which is the most important part of its defense. Of course, the fewer the gates there are, the easier it is to defend, but if those are seized, then you will not be able to deploy your troops outside the fortress, and you will be in a situation where your path of retreat is cut off. ¡°¡­ I wonder if there are hidden holes other than the ones that are visible.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what Sir Eldric suspects too.¡± The Knights understood this best because they were in charge of protecting the city and the Duke¡¯s manor. Meanwhile, the 2nd platoon leader who joined us later on told us the same thing in the form of a precaution. Additionally, the third platoon had joined with Grace¡¯s unit who had seized another entrance to the colony and each unit decided to prepare and semi-surround the giant ants that had been smoked out and take them down individually. Then, the first platoon who had stayed in the first exit point took some of the herb and straw mixtures and set it on fire. The dried hay kept the fire going and burned the herbs which included rosemary, lavender, and wood chips which sent white smoke up into the sky. ¡°Then, Mr. Alrei¡­¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± The elderly mage that responded to Eldric¡¯s call stepped forward and raised his battered, well-worn staff, and the wind mages surrounding him started casting a resonance magic spell, and the place was filled with wind magic so dense that it could be felt even from a distance. ¡°O wind, obey our will!!¡± Through advanced atmospheric manipulation, a controlled ¡°Down Burst¡± was directed into the colony¡¯s entrance and exit point and sent the white smoke with a unique fragrance deep into the ants¡¯ nest. (Hmm, I thought he was a wind magic user at first because he used the spell ¡°Wind Voice¡± during the march which requires atmospheric manipulation, but¡­ he¡¯s quite impressive.) Nevertheless, they probably didn¡¯t participate in the battle with the giant ants because wind resonance magic required some preparation to become effective. Anyway, the wind blowing into the colony was adjusted while it was being cast, and the herb mixture was continuously fed to the fire to keep it from burning out. When enough smoke filled the burrow, two giant ants who were smoked out came crawling out of the exit where we had been waiting. ¡°Giaaaah!¡± ¡°Gigiiiii!!¡± They cried out and irritably attacked the Adventurers, but the burrow¡¯s exit point was already half-surrounded and they were outnumbered. ¡°Take this!!¡± ¡°URYAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Giiiiiiiiiiiiih, gih, ii¡­ a¡­¡± Several protruding spears and longswords pierced the head and thorax of the giant ants, effectively killing them without any resistance. Furthermore, since the narrow exit that the ant carcasses blocked prevented the other soldier ants from coming out all at once by climbing over them, we were able to destroy them individually. ¡°Hahah, I must say, this is such a huge difference from the first battle, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°¡­ It sure is¨C Shit!!¡± ¡°Gih!? Giaah, giii¡­ i¡± Meanwhile, a warrior who had lost his comrades in the previous battle and buried his comrades with a somber expression smashed the head of a soldier ant with his heavy battle axe. During that time, another ant who was trying to take advantage of the gap in the defense was also skewered in the abdomen from the side with Zachs¡¯ greatsword. I couldn¡¯t see them from here, but the burrow entrance that Grace and her team are in charge of must have gotten a local advantage as well and are probably advancing with a one-sided battle. ¡°This is great¡­ we have so much leeway over them!¡± ¡°Yeah, this way, we don¡¯t have to get hurt at all!¡± While responding to Riberto who was wielding his saber next to him, Ares blocked one of the giant ants from snapping at him, slashed its forehead, and took it down. Since the situation didn¡¯t require us to provide backup, I stood side by side with Muriel from the rearguard with nothing to do and thought that it would be an easy job if it all just ended like this, but¡­ ¡°I guess this job is more suited for a mercenary, isn¡¯t it¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, this looks pretty annoying.¡± But just as a dozen or so giant ants had been defeated, a wave of magical power with a powerful earth attribute spread from the center of the three passageways, and all the mages¡¯ tensed up at once. A moment later, the earth began to rumble as large-scale earthflow magic was activated, and another hole that was comparably larger than the other ones opened up to reveal a ridiculously large shadowy figure which was shaking off the white smoke that clung to it. ¡°GIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± Following the queen ant who let out a deafening roar, a large number of soldier-type Valley Ants accompanied by the large Imperials overflowed to the surface, although their numbers were still continuously being decreased. CH 166 The mages rearranged the spell as the battle situation changed and turned the spell ¡°Down Burst¡± into a gentle downward blast of wind that stayed to protect the soldiers from the first platoon while still directing the white smoke inside the burrow entrance. ¡°I guess we¡¯re somewhat safe for now¡­ Finish off the queen ant! Fire!!¡± Under the command of Eldric, who was also the 1st platoon¡¯s commander, the soldiers who were lined up in the front row of the formation easily aimed at and shot a volley of arrows at the large Valley Ant queen that measured at least 4m in height and 12m in length to take her down, but¡­ ¡°Gi, gigiiih!¡± Because it had a tough exoskeleton that was far more developed than the other Valley Ant variants to support its huge frame, all the arrows that were shot at it merely bounced off and flew in the air in vain. ¡°Captain, the arrows can¡¯t penetrate it!!¡± ¡°We¡¯re just wasting our shots at this rate!¡± Eldric understood the situation even without his subordinates telling him so and was a little frustrated while thinking about their next move. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we¡¯ll just have to reduce the numbers of her subordinates first! Prepare for the next volley, fire at the front!!¡± ¡°AYE!!¡± The front and back rows quickly changed, and while the second shot was being fired at the giant ants in front, the soldiers who had fired the first volley were already preparing for the next shot, and the two rows smoothly fired continuously with few interruptions. ¡°GIAAAAA, AAA¡­ A¡­¡± ¡°GI, GIIIIIIIIIIIIH, IIIH¡± About a dozen or so ordinary ants who were hit by multiple arrows screamed in pain and fell on the ground, but the pile of ant carcasses blocked the archers¡¯ line of sight and became meat shields. ¡°Kuh, prepare for a high-angle volley!!¡± As soon as the soldiers were instructed to hold their bows at an angle, the queen ant who turned about and looked in all directions turned away from the first platoon and shook off the 2nd platoon and Edgard¡¯s unit who were giving chase and began to move along with her colony. ¡°Hah, so it decided to run away rather than die an honorable death! That makes sense!!¡± ¡°Geez, Archer, this is no laughing matter!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile at the queen ant¡¯s reasonable decision. In the first place, it was unnecessary to forcibly fight back in their current situation where they were smoked out from the burrow they were holed up in and were forced into an unfavorable position. Besides, the Valley Ants could move quicker than the strike forces, so it was the best option for them. ¡°Oh no, they¡¯re getting away!?¡± ¡°Tsk, no way!¡± Muriel whined and Ares agreed with her, but¡­ The battle wasn¡¯t going to just end there. The rearguard mages who hadn¡¯t been very active earlier were already moving and building up another high-powered magic attack, and as the vanguards who responded to their call ducked and bent on one knee, they brandished their staves and fired off their spell! Meanwhile, the rearguards from Grace¡¯s squad who were stationed at another entry point did the same, and numerous wind blades, flame bullets, and thunderbolts were jointly fired at the queen ant who was their priority target. ¡°Giaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± As the queen ant roared, its huge body was bathed in a magical light and the phosphorescence that covered her exoskeleton dampened the power of the numerous magical attacks aimed at her and even the intermediate spell, Ex F. Bullet, which was cast by Muriel, didn¡¯t even scratch it. In addition, the high-angle volley that the first platoon rained down on the giant ants around the giant queen to stop them did not have enough firepower and only managed to scratch their exoskeletons or make minor dents in it. ¡°Uu, neither arrows nor magic has any effect on them, I even used the strongest fire magic I had¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not yet done.¡± Just as the unique phosphorescence that significantly dampened the power of magic attacks faded from the queen ant, I assumed a defensive stance, thrust my palms out, and prepared for a counter-attack by activating the condensed attribute magic and creating a horizontal tornado! ¡°O roaring storm, take the enemy down!!¡± ¡°G-GIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?¡± The queen ant shrieked as her huge body tilted to the side when the storm attack hit her, and three wind blades whose power had increased due to the strong wind, made cuts on her sharp sickle-like legs which weren¡¯t deep enough to sever her limbs, but enough to make walking difficult for her. Perhaps having the same thought at the same time, Miss Grace also fired Burning Bullet a moment later which burned another one of the queen ant¡¯s legs and made it smoke. ¡°Did it work¡­?¡± A short while passed while everyone watched with bated breath as the huge body of the queen ant, who had 3 injured legs, shook and toppled to the ground with a heavy thud. ¡°Gih, GISHAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± Even if it tried to get up right away, I could see its bodily fluids spewing everywhere, so there was no chance that it would be running anytime soon. ¡°They can¡¯t run anymore, let¡¯s work with the soldiers to take the queen ant down!!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fall behind, Grace! We¡¯ll be attacking too!!¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Edgar!!¡± As they kept up with the soldiers¡¯ pace while urging everyone on, Edgar and Grace¡¯s teams seemed to join forces as they closed in on the swarm of giant ants led by the queen ant that had stopped moving. In contrast, the enemy took a defensive stance as the large Imperials surrounded the queen, while the soldiers with the large mandibles and tough exoskeletons stepped forward and the ordinary giant ants similarly occupied the rear and filled in some of the gaps. Although both sides were evenly matched in terms of numbers, it was undeniable that the momentum was on the subjugation team¡¯s side, while the Valley Ants, whose queen was injured in their failed retreat, were visibly upset. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± However, as if to turn the tides, the magic-laced Queen Ant¡¯s Roar reverberated and inspired the giant ants to overcome their fear and regain control and morale. ¡°Tsk, they even have a similar skill!?¡± I hadn¡¯t been aware of it when I was a mercenary, but do most monsters ruling a group of monsters from the same species usually have a roar skill that affects their kind? Come to think of it, it also seemed like the large Goblin who shot me in the shoulder with a breath of light also had a similar skill¡­ I quickly snapped out of it after the scar from that wound tingled for a moment and held my weapon alongside Muriel to support our companions while maintaining a distance that would allow me to coordinate with the other adventurers including Zachs and Eina. CH 167 The vanguard team consisting of Grace and Edgar¡¯s teams fought shoulder to shoulder as they cut through the swarm of giant ants while the rearguard team readied their weapons and acted as support. ¡°DARAAAAAAAAAH!¡± ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± As the Adventurers swung their blades in high spirits, Ares scraped the tip of his sword against the ground and the upward slash attack caused the soldier ant to look up, and the follow-up slash that he made with a flick of his wrist severed its head. ¡°Gih, gii¡­ aa¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s 1 down!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get too carried away or you¡¯ll get hurt!¡± As Riberto dissuaded his partner from acting too rashly, he also stomped on the head of a giant ant who attempted to bite off his ankle and killed it by slashing down at the exposed joint connecting its head to its thorax. Both of them were getting used to fighting the giant ants after they experienced battling them in Grau village together with Zachs and Reedy who were also wielding their blades nearby. In addition, the two teams of soldiers who rushed in from both sides of the enemy with their iron spears were also fighting hard, but the giant ants were also desperate because the survival of their colony was at stake. ¡°GIIISHAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± A huge Imperial Valley Ant roared and raised its upper body and spat out a lump of formic acid from its place beside the queen and protected its brethren. ¡°Uwah!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Uwaa, it burns! Aah, my legs are melting¡­ Uguh, gabu¡­h.¡± One of the soldiers who was unlucky enough to be hit with the formic acid screamed and collapsed while scratching at his body even though he was wearing armor. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers who had been defending against the ants behind him also had his legs burned by the acid and was bitten and killed by the giant ants that attacked him once he lost his balance. The same kind of attack was also directed at the other Adventurers, and one of the Imperials suddenly opened its mouth and aimed at Ares¡¯ direction as he faced off with one of the approaching soldier ants. ¡°Hey!?¡± ¡°Uwaah!!¡± Riberto was able to immediately jump out of the way, but Ares¡¯ reaction was delayed since he was holding back the soldier ant¡¯s snapping mandibles with his longsword, but he wasn¡¯t particularly harmed. I then drew my mechanical bow at an angle and shot an arrow that I charged with a lot of magic so it would explode at the slightest impact. The moment my arrow made contact with the lump of formic acid, the condensed wind magic on the arrowhead activated and blew the acid bubble into fine droplets which burned the giant ants¡¯ exoskeletons. ¡°GIGIII!?¡± ¡°Hot, hot, I got hit too!¡± ¡°Stop complaining, that¡¯s just a minor burn.¡± Meanwhile, as Ares jumped back while exchanging some light banter with me, Muriel clasped a magic stone in her hand which condensed water particles from the atmosphere and raised her right hand to launch multiple Ice Needles which pierced the soldier ants that were chasing after them. ¡°Gi, shaa¡­ a¡­ ah¡± ¡°You guys will be in danger if you don¡¯t concentrate, you know.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. We¡¯ll be more careful.¡± Anyway, although both Ares and I understood the situation, Muriel was telling us off with a serious expression, so I obediently nodded and went on to aim another arrow at the head of the annoying Imperials who were spewing formic acid around and took advantage of the magic attacks that Eina and the other rearguards were hurling at the enemies and fired an arrow. ¡°Gih, gigiih!!¡± On the other hand, even though the queen couldn¡¯t stand upright anymore, she activated her earth magic from where she was lying and created a barrier of earth and sand around them in an attempt to reduce the power of the attacks. ¡°Even if you do that, those defenses won¡¯t work!!¡± After a while, I aimed and fired 3 consecutive shots at the head of an Imperial who was gearing up for a counterattack! ¡°Tsk, I missed!¡± ¡°Gih, giiiih!? GIAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± The first shot shallowly pierced the area between its eyes which is tougher than the ordinary giant ants, and the magic contained in the arrowhead exploded which made its head jerk up and caused the 2nd arrow to hit its mandibles. But as soon as it made contact, the magic in the 2nd arrowhead exploded and also jerked its mandibles, and as a result, the 3rd shot which I thought had gone awry penetrated its soft compound eye and caused the magic on the arrowhead to activate and cause a fatal wound after it blew off its head. ¡°¡­ If I got a good result out of it, then it¡¯s fine I guess!¡± After making quick work of the Imperial, I looked around and saw that the queen ant had stuck one of her sickle-like front legs into the ground and was imbuing magic into it. ¡°Tsk!!¡± ¡°Ukyaah!?¡± When I saw the earth magic radiating from the leg she had stuck into the ground, I carried Muriel by the waist and jumped away just as the ground we were stepping on rose and three spear-like earthen spikes projected out of it. It seems the attack wasn¡¯t just directed at us as the ground on which the Soldiers and Adventurers were stepping on also rose and earthen clods appeared one after another. ¡°Uguh, aaaaah¡­ uu.¡± ¡°Kahah, ua¡­ h¡± Meanwhile, those who were not well-versed in detecting magic reacted late and were unable to avoid the earthen clods that shot up from below and several of them ended up being skewered. With both sides beginning to suffer damage, the first platoon who was in charge of smoking out the enemy boldly narrowed the distance and shot at the giant ants who had been using the carcass of their brethren as shields while Miss Grace who was in charge of the Adventurers blew off the lump of formic acid with Multiple Fire and cut down one of the Imperials. The vanguard group led by Edgar also took advantage of the momentum and slashed down several giant ants, and the mages from the rearguard closed the distance further by firing off attack magic at the queen ant, but¡­ ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!!¡± The queen screeched as her large body was once again dyed in a magical light which reduced the power of the attack spells hurled at her such as Ice Bombs and Wind Blades by the synergistic defense effect of the phosphorescence and her exoskeleton. CH 168 Nevertheless, the Mages and Priests from the Adventurer unit were able to block the earth magic attack by alternately shooting powerful offensive magic attacks and making the Queen Ant take a defensive position. Additionally, due to the death of the 2 Imperial Ants guarding her and the rearguard Mages of the first platoon attracting the rest of the giant ants, the Adventurers led by Grace and Edgar were gradually making a path for the huge ant queen while clearing the other ants along the way. As the rest of us followed from a distance, the Queen Ant, who had been slowed down due to her injuries, staggered upward and swung one of her sickle-like front legs towards the Adventurers approaching her! ¡°SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!¡± ¡°GUWAAAAAAH!¡± Edgar, who was oozing with a fighting aura throughout his body, positioned himself as he set his Middle Shield up and activated the High Protection that was imbued in his armor while the two other Adventurers behind him were easily blown away from the impact of the Queen Ant¡¯s blow. However, although the Middle Shield was tough enough to withstand the attack and provide protection to the rearguard while impeding the Queen Ant¡¯s pursuit, Miss Grace couldn¡¯t help but complain about it. ¡°¡­ Is that really a B-threat monster? Everyone, it seems like the attack magic has an effect in close range! Let¡¯s start with its injured leg first and move on to the others!!¡± Following her reliable command after she had regained her composure, Muriel and I continuously attacked one of its legs with Wind Blades and Flame Bullets. Meanwhile, someone had shot an Exploding Ice Bullet at one of its middle legs that were supporting the Queen Ant when she raised her forelegs which caused her to lose her balance. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIH!?¡± ¡°Now¡¯s my chance!!¡± The moment one of her sickle-like forelegs pierced the ground when she fell, I ran past Ares and towards the place where the other vanguards had spread out to avoid the attack and used her front leg as a springboard and leaped towards it with a magical tornado. As I jumped over the head of the Queen Ant who had slightly fallen forward, I maneuvered my body to change direction and landed directly on its back. Then, while holding the scabbard with my left hand, I pulled out my curved blade with my right and forcefully pierced the ant-shaped monster¡¯s weak point which was the area where its medulla oblongata is located. ¡°SEIAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± Although I felt some resistance, my blade went through but was stopped by its hard muscle fibers as it reached the middle, and I was shaken off by the Queen Ant as she cried out and went berserk! ¡°Uwoah!? Kuh, o wind, obey me!!¡± ¡°A-Archer!!¡± It was already too late by the time I noticed Muriel¡¯s cry, so my attempts to extend my time up in the air by creating a magical updraft backfired, and I was met with the Queen Ant¡¯s thick, whip-like antennae. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!!¡± ¡°Na, guhaa! Uu¡­gh¡± I crossed my arms which were equipped with arm guards to catch its whip-like antennae, but the penetrating impact caused my skin to painfully tear, and I was knocked away with a flourish. Of course, I couldn¡¯t just let myself fall into the midst of the giant ants, so I quickly reconfigured the magic I used for creating and maintaining the updraft that kept me afloat and crashed into a location a little far off from the battleground. ¡°Kahah¡­ urghh¡­¡± ¡°Kyauh!?¡± (Kyaaaah!?) Even though I was able to slow down the speed of my fall by manipulating the air current, the impact threw the small fox out of my waist bag and rolled away with a plop while I was thrown into the grassland. ¡°U~, kuon, woruau?¡± (U~, are you alright, big brother?) ¡°Uoquon¡­ Ku, guoruaauon.¡± (I¡¯m fine, but¡­ Kuh, it really got me.) I took off my gloves and shoes while lying down and looking at the sky. Slightly frustrated, I gradually changed my muscle and bone structure and returned to my wolfish Kobold form to make up for my lack of physical strength. I¡¯d been keeping the human disguise for so long that I felt a sense of freedom and contentment when I changed back into my silver-furred wolfman form after a few days. Then, I loosened the metal fittings that Smith had customized for me when he repaired my armor. ¡°Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.¡± I focused on the flow of magical power in my body as I took a short breath. Despite the tightness of my leather armor, I activated the earth-attribute magic Adamantine body and took advantage of the power of my buffed-up body to leap up. As I quickly took note of the situation, I noticed that when the giant ants engaged with the subjugation teams, the rear of the right flank ended up having fewer soldiers guarding it than the other sides where the battle was focused on. In other words, there was almost nothing blocking my way to the target. (If that¡¯s the case, then I just have to charge in!!) I unconsciously smiled at the heaven-sent opportunity as I did a low sprint across the grasslands and rushed at the Queen Ant from behind as she once again stood on her hind legs and raised her sickle-like forelegs. ¡°VORUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± (DIIIIIIIEEEE!!) With the momentum, I clad my legs in whirlwinds and launched a dropkick on the handle of the curved blade that was still stuck on the base of her neck to ensure that the blade was firmly embedded up to the hilt. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?¡± Continuing from the first blow, I landed on the back of the shrieking Queen Ant who had stiffened in shock, and immediately pressed my hands against the junction connecting its thorax and abdomen and gathered wind magic in it. ¡°Vorufu, gaorufuh!!¡± (Cut through, Six-fold Wind Blade!!) Although I said that, it was just really two Triple Wind Blades I launched from my left and right palms, but the six Wind Blades I fired at close range effectively cut the muscle and nerve fibers before the queen could protect herself with the magical phosphorescence again. Of course, the queen shook me off again since she was struggling desperately, but I managed to fire off another Triple Wind Blade just before I was thrown off. ¡°G-giiiiiiih, ii¡­ aaa, giu¡­ a¡­¡± Before I left in a magical whirlwind, I watched as the Queen Ant, whose thorax and abdomen was shredded and its neck pierced by my curved blade, lost her life and collapsed, leaving both the Adventurers and the giant ants stunned and unable to move. ¡°Hey, Edgar, I don¡¯t understand what just happened, but¡­ What was that?¡± ¡°Who knows? It might be the Steppen Kobold that was in one of the guild requests¡­¡± ¡°Won¡¯t it completely wipe out the ¡®iron¡¯ Adventurers who would try to complete the quest!?¡± ¡°Hnn, that¡¯s right¡­!¡± As the red-haired Mage agreed with Riberto who caught a snippet of Grace and Edgar¡¯s conversation, the giant ants who had lost their queen cried out as they rampaged chaotically. ¡°GISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Take them down now!!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s reduce their numbers here!!¡± The Knights from the 2nd and 3rd platoons shouted and the soldiers from both flanks rushed towards the enemy while the Adventurers followed suit, but¡­ Aside from some ants who were fighting to the end, some of the giant ants that can move quickly with their six legs were able to get past the gap in the strike team encirclement and scurried off and disappeared into the grasslands while being shot at by the 1st platoon. As a result, by the time the silver-haired Adventurer got back from retrieving the small fox and joined his companions, the remaining Imperial Valley Ant was also taken down by the onslaught of the soldiers, and the series of battles came to an end. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 169 I offered a silent prayer as I looked at the bodies of the Adventurers and Soldiers whom we had fought side by side with and lost their lives mixed in with the remains of the giant ants that lay on the grasslands that had been dyed red by the rays of the early setting sun in early winter. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s finally over, but the sacrifices we suffered were also great.¡± ¡°Damage is inevitable when you participate in battles like this.¡± I responded and looked at Muriel¡¯s forlorn figure as she quietly stood beside me, and Ares, perhaps uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere, interjected from the side. ¡°While we were preparing to defeat them, there was a report from Warren that a merchant group heading for the town of Dresde was attacked and wiped out, and several residents were killed in the cultivated land nearby¡­ We can¡¯t just leave them alone to be picked off one by one can we?¡± ¡°Yes, if we act later, then the damage will just become greater¡­¡± Just like Muriel said, the Valley Ants will become more active over the winter, and with the growth of their population, they will also run out of food in the surrounding hunting grounds, so there is a risk that they would move their colonies closer to the towns and cities just like now. Moreover, if the new queen born in the nest leaves during the mating season in spring and meets a male winged ant who is also in search of a mate, then a new colony will be created. (It would be a disaster if it happened inside Easteria forest.) Frankly speaking, it would be impossible for my pack to face off with approximately 200 giant ants, and we would be more likely that we would be forced to make a strategic retreat to the settlement near Lucua village. Considering that, I guess destroying the Valley Ants¡¯ nest here was the best choice¡­ When I lightly nodded and once again turned my gaze to the grasslands, I noticed that the members of the subjugation team who were coming down from the adrenaline rush from the recent battle were moving their tired bodies and were engaged with post-battle clean up around the area. As a rule, friends and acquaintances of the fallen mourn the deceased while the others cannot just stand there, so Riberto, who was watching as well, urged everyone to participate in the clean-up. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we help them out?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess one more task wouldn¡¯t hurt¡­ alright!¡± Following Ares who shrugged off his weary expression and psyched himself up, I lightly tapped Muriel on the shoulder as she was the only one in our group who was heading in a different direction and walked away¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll be going, see you later¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m with the Healer group, so I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Those who have an aptitude for Holy attribute magic can also use Healing Light like her, so they were gathered immediately and took charge of healing the injured. On the other hand, those of us in the manual labor group were in charge of stabbing the giant ants who were still breathing to ensure safety and gathering the remains of those who died in battle in one place and burying them after identifying their bodies. The operation was managed by Ignas, an acquaintance of the Warrior Zachs, as he was the highest-ranking Priest affiliated with the Holy Church who participated in the subjugation team. However, he was muttering something with a pensive look on his face while looking up at the sky. ¡°¡­ That silver-furred beast, could it be Selkram¡¯s¡­?¡± (Let¡¯s just pretend I didn¡¯t hear anything.) I ignored his ramblings as I waited for the transport corps to arrive. After they arrived, we left the rest of the work to the dozens of people who brought shovels with them, but now we have to prepare the camp. That said, bulky items such as tents are only used by the officers, and us Adventurers who place importance on traveling light use a waxed, waterproof cloak to protect ourselves from rain and dew for a few days, so it is no trouble at all. (For us dog people, we only have to find a big tree and huddle around its roots to preserve our strength¡­ I want to avoid the rain in winter, so the trees in the forest are much preferable to this.) Once again thankful for the blessings of the forest, I retrieved the luggage that was left in the plains before the battle started, and headed for the Adventurers who had borrowed a huge pot from the transport corps and had started making dinner. ¡°You must be tired right after the battle earlier, is there anything I can do to help?¡± ¡°Oh my, Mr. Archer¡­ Are you alright though? Weren¡¯t you sent flying earlier?¡± Conversely, when I called out to Miss Grace who was leading the Adventurers even after the battle, she expressed concern over my condition. ¡°I¡¯m fine, one of my companions is a Mage who healed me.¡± ¡°I see, then can you please make soup stock out of the dried fish over there?¡± ¡°Miss Grace, do you have anything for us to do?¡± ¡°Then, after you wash your hands, please cut the vegetables with Edgar.¡± Adventurers don¡¯t normally follow a chain of command, but the highest-ranked ¡°gold¡± Adventurer among us was very popular, and the Adventurers, including Ares and Riberto, gladly helped with the cooking. (Well, I guess these guys are enthusiastic because she¡¯s beautiful¡­) In a sense, the sight of these unfamiliar and rough-looking men with dangerous hands cutting up spinach and rapunzel* made me feel nostalgic and reminded me of my mercenary days. Anyway, I couldn¡¯t afford to dilly dally either, so I removed my gloves and after carefully washing my hands, I threw the dried cod, dried scallops, and smoked venison with bones into a large pot and brought it to a simmer. ¡°Gau~, waffa kuruuoaoon.¡± (Gau~, something smells nice) My sister who was perched on my shoulder in small fox form excitedly tapped her front paws to urge me to give her some, so I used some tongs to pick up some dried cod that had been used in the soup stock and cut a small portion of the white meat with cooking scissors. After it had cooled down a little, I offered it to Dagger who took it in her mouth. ¡°It¡¯s not done yet, but you can have some of this for now.¡± ¡°Kyua~?¡± (Yummy~?) While I was doing this, Muriel and Zachs, who had perhaps regrouped on the way, returned from their duties and helped with meal preparation. ¡°Ah, Archer, I have to put the easy-cooking vegetables soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, it¡¯ll be ready in a few minutes.¡± ¡°Alright people, bring your bowls and line up!!¡± ¡°Sure thing!¡± Edgar¡¯s booming voice rang out and the Adventurers who were preparing their equipment brought out their small bowls and spoons and lined up, while the other Adventurers and I also changed places and joined the queue after. ¡°Now, let¡¯s have some, shall we?¡± ¡°N, this looks pretty good, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Even though there wasn¡¯t any alcohol because we were still on duty, it was important to make merry a bit to chase away the feelings of gloom after the battle. Including the soldiers, everyone present was aware of this, so we spent a somewhat lively dinner in celebration of taking down the Valley Ant queen that evening. The next day, the subjugation force searched for a river that originates from the northern side of the mountain to replenish our water supply. The mountain range that runs from the north to the east is quite far from the sea, and because of the low rainfall, the terrain was covered in short grass, but it is known that the water stored in the mountain range gushes out from the foothills and forms several tributaries. If this were not the case, it would be impossible for the Valley Ants to build a nest since they are unable to sip the dew that adheres to plants just like the small ordinary ants do. Therefore, if they were to move, they would not stay very far from where their original nest was. After we arrived at the river without encountering any problems and replenishing our water supply, we returned to the city of Warren after a one-and-a-half day of traveling. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. ========================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: Rapunzel (¥é¥×¥ó¥Ä¥§¥ë) ¨C is a hardy vegetable that is entirely edible and has parsnip or radish-like roots. CH 170 And so, while the silver wolfdog who went out to work was involved in the tussle with the Valley Ants, frost was falling on the turnip and kale fields, and as the weather got colder, the cat-eared Werecat craftsmen came to Viel village During this time of the year when the cold weather is in full swing and the lumber is prepared, a carpenter is invited from the mother town of Zelgra to repair the waterwheel, roofs, farming tools, and such, but¡­ This year, the usual carpenter whom they had always asked for was seriously injured during late summer, and his apprentices were also falling behind on work, so the village was in a pinch. And so, it was six days ago that the acting village chief Maril sent someone to the village of Lucua which it had trade relations with to send for a carpenter, and Grimer, a Werecat carpenter, accepted and came to the village with Barrack who acted as his helper and bodyguard. The two of them worked on plastering house walls to keep the draft from entering through the cracks and repairing the farm tools that had been overused during the harvest season and in the fields for planting autumn vegetables. However, replacing the slide bearings of the watermill was a labor-intensive task, so the villagers whom Maril had approached gathered by the waterwheel shed to help. After they had dammed up the river with a pile of reasonably sized stones, they lifted the waterwheel which had become a small rocking wheel and Grimer worked quickly to replace the worn wooden bearings. ¡°Alright, now slowly place the arbor back on the bearing.¡± ¡°Okay, heave-ho!¡± ¡°Even though it¡¯s a wooden frame, it¡¯s still pretty heavy¡­¡± ¡°Keep it up, everyone¡«?¡± With the support of Maril who was merely watching as she cheered for them from the sides, the villagers steadily lowered the waterwheel and placed the arbor on the newly constructed wooden bearings. When the semi-circular depression on the bearings and the groove carved onto the arbor meshed, Grimer meticulously examined if the two curved surfaces matched up. If the discrepancy was huge, then the axis of the rotation would slightly shift, and minute loads would accumulate on the slits of the waterwheel thus shortening its usage life, so a great deal of precision was required. ¡°Hey, Barrack! I think it¡¯s already fine, but can you come check it out for a minute?¡± ¡°Alright, give me a second¡­¡± Barrack, the Blacksmith¡¯s son from Lucua village who had joined the villagers in lifting the water wheel earlier, approached Grimer and scrutinized the condition of the area where the water wheel arbor and the bearings meet. ¡°It¡¯s perfect, just as I would expect of you.¡± ¡°Nothing will come out of it even if you flatter me, you know? Besides, it¡¯s all thanks to the precision of the circular saw I asked your father to make.¡± When Grimer bragged about the tool while proudly patting it as it hung on the tool holder on his waist, Barrack couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as he recalled the smug look on his father¡¯s face when he showed him how to make a fine-grained, black finish which is a delicate process that was difficult to pull off. Seemingly satisfied with his work, Grimer oiled the joint of the waterwheel with rapeseed oil and covered it with a roof shingle to keep it from being washed away by the rain. ¡°I guess that¡¯s about it¡­ Ms. Maril, instead of oiling the waterwheel every other day, it would be less damaging if it is oiled every day.¡± ¡°Uu, we¡¯ll make sure to do that¡­ at least the local guards will.¡± ¡°Us!?¡± Although Zeno, the leader of the local watch, objected when the oiling of the water wheel was added to their list of activities by the young village chief who was decreasing her workload while the others were distracted, all of the needed repairs had been finished according to schedule. ¡°Well, all that¡¯s left to do is collect the payment and go back to Lucua, right?¡± ¡°About that, what do you say about dropping by the dog people¡¯s settlement first?¡± Grimer nodded at Barrack¡¯s suggestion of dropping by the dog people¡¯s settlement since it was nearby and the Elves who were residing there could serve as their means of communicating with the others even if Archer was not around. ¡°Not bad, I guess we could visit Smith while we¡¯re at it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like to see how much he¡¯s improved too!¡± When they parted ways, Grimer and Barrack had given the small, floppy-eared Kobold some carpentry and blacksmithing tools, and based on the wear and tear on his equipment, it was evident how serious he was about his work. While the two Werecats were talking about their plans, Maril and Zeno stopped squabbling and listened in on their conversation. But aside from the two, the other villagers were also looking at them with interest. ¡°Hey, do you cat people also interact with the Kobolds in the sanctuary?¡± ¡°Well, they helped us when the Goblins attacked our village.¡± ¡°Oh, I wonder if that¡¯s the silver High Kobold¡¯s pack¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably them. The last time we saw him, he didn¡¯t seem like a Kobold anymore though.¡± I¡¯ve never seen a Werewolf before since they¡¯re a rare species and don¡¯t live in the central part of Easteria forest, but¡­ Remembering Archer who had sharp fangs peeking out of his mouth while he smiled and whose body was more toned than before, Barrack suddenly thought that that must be the case with the said Kobold. Inspired by Wallace who had self-trained after the Goblin raid, the Werecat warriors also trained, but the huge skill gap between them and the Kobold warriors remained the same. (Well, there are several others who are as unique as him after all¡­) His tail softly wagging, Grimer devotes his attention to his thoughts for a while. Meanwhile, the villagers, including Maril and Zeno, had begun talking amongst themselves and approached him when they noticed Grimer watching them with suspicion. ¡°Excuse me, but, the forest where the Kobolds live is a sanctuary, so the place is off-limits to people other than the villagers here¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, well, we are forest people¡­ And even though the Duke Ferias recognizes Lucua village¡¯s existence, we are not part of the fiefdom and we worship the ¡°Primordial Elf¡±, you see.¡± Since the Elves have influence over the woods extending beyond the ¡°Guardian¡¯s Forest¡± where the Werecats, Lizardmen, and other subhuman races live, most of the forest people, including the residents of Lucua village, worship Arthy, the goddess of the forest and fertility, who is believed to be the ancestor of the Elves. So for them, the sanctuary designation by the Holy Church is meaningless. Meanwhile, unless they openly deny the authority of the State or the Holy Church, the humans refrain from interfering with the affairs of the subhuman races living in the area to avoid conflict. ¡°U~, we can¡¯t keep them from going if that¡¯s the case, but¡­ this may be an opportunity.¡± Maril nods to herself after thinking about something. After a brief exchange with Zeno, they face the two Werecat men again. ¡°Hey, can we come with you?¡± ¡°We have a rough idea where they are, but we don¡¯t exactly have much contact with them, you see¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s no problem for us, but¡­ What do you think, Grimer?¡± ¡°Well, there are a fair number of other people who know about them anyway.¡± When Archer dropped by Lucua village to shop previously, Barrack had asked about the Kingdom¡¯s currency in his possession, so he told him about the events in the Royal Capital and how it all began with the Magic Knights, so both of them knew about how the Kingdom knows about the existence of the Kobold settlement in Easteria Forest. The two Werecat craftsmen decided to accept their request. The next morning, the four of them, including Maril and Zeno, left Viel village and crossed the grasslands, and headed for Easteria forest. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 171 After the Werecats led them through the trees for a while, they decided to stop by the riverbanks of the Steele River for a rest before they continued to the dog people¡¯s settlement and checked on the villagers who were following them from behind. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Maril, who had a puzzled expression as she asked, was wearing an attire which was easier to move in than when they had set out looking for the little girl Sophie who had gone missing before. Maril¡¯s upper body is clad in a fitted light leather armor while two blades, a steel hatchet, and a short sword, hung on the swordbelt on her waist, while her black stockinged legs which are insulated for warmth peek from the deep slit of her skirt. At first glance, she looks like a fine Adventurer, but¡­ she is just an amateur who started training with the vigilante corps after she and several other villagers were attacked by a Blood Trent. The look was so well put together that Barrack was amazed and couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°if we¡¯re basing it on looks alone, then she looks stronger than Liz.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and ask the Kobolds for permission to enter, so please wait here.¡± ¡°If you follow along the river from here, then we can meet up with you later.¡± ¡°I see¡­ I guess it would leave a bad impression if we just barge in without permission, won¡¯t it, Mr. Zeno?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll leave it to you guys then.¡± As explained by Grimer who took over the conversation from Barrack, this was the best place for them to wait, so Maril agreed and found a huge rock nearby to sit and wait. When they saw the members of the vigilante corps casually surrounding her, the Werecats smiled as they made their way up to the Steele River because despite how pushy the girl seems, she is still being cherished by the people around her. Meanwhile, the beasts who were observing while hidden amongst the trees talked to each other in hushed tones¡­ ¡°Uo, gauruguaru guoaagauruo¡­ Gaoa?¡± (If I¡¯m not mistaken, those are the Werecats who visited us long ago and¡­ humans?) ¡°Gauruua kuaouaauu, uruauoon¡­¡± (The Werecats might be heading for the village, I guess we should notify them¡­) Although they were about to go hunting, they ran back to the settlement and informed the tall and lean Kobold of the Werecat craftsmen¡¯s arrival. (Hmm, so the Werecats are coming¡­ but there are only two of them¡­) With one hand on his chin and his back resting against a tree at the edge of the village square, Blazer closes his eyes and recalls the three Werecats who were skilled in carpentry, blacksmithing, and growing plants. The beans and the red potatoes that have been grown with the technology they brought were a valuable winter food resource for them, and he is not without gratitude as he himself eats the said produce as well. ¡°Gau, garuoaaou guruoaruon¡­¡± (Tsk, it¡¯d be awkward if I treated them carelessly¡­) Blazer thanks the two 4-year-old males who immediately returned to report to him and walks up to the Elven Hunter Selica who had been sipping tea and munching on some cookies made from acorn flour and honey by the fire outside their tent by the village square. ¡°N, wafi¡­ Kuauu¡± (Need¡­ something?) ¡°Kuruu uruoon, garuvu woruauouu?¡± (I¡¯m about to go meet the Werecats, can you mediate for me?) Selica thought about it for a moment, and after confirming that she had nothing lined up, she nodded as if to say, ¡°Sure, why not?¡± The main goal of the Elves who had been dispatched to this land is to raise and cultivate the new World Tree and to connect it to the World Tree ¡°Aion¡± (Eternity) in the royal capital of Elfast through the leylines. Moreover, they are also getting ready for the possibility that more of their kind will eventually move to this part of the forest as time goes by. And from this point of view, it was also best that they get along with the Kobolds for they are also a part of the forest people inhabiting the woods. Furthermore, now that they share the same living space and hunting grounds, they could also deepen their bond through their daily interactions. ¡°Setial, ein¡­¡± (Getting along is priority¡­) Selica muttered as she popped the last piece of cookie in her hand, and after she finished the herb tea on her cup, she picked up the Elven bow beside her and stood up. ¡°Oon¡­¡± (Let¡¯s go¡­) ¡°Kuruuoa.¡± (Thanks) After their short exchange, Blazer looked around and called out to Smith who was boiling dried yellow and green beans in an iron pot and breaking down some rock salt with his beloved hammer for the seasoning and headed down to the Steele River where their visitors were. The Werecats in question had gone upstream so they didn¡¯t have to walk far to meet them, and Smith, who had caught sight of them early on, ran up to them while wagging his tail happily. ¡°Guakkuwaau guaruuuoh!!¡± (Brother Barrack and Mr. Grimer!!) ¡°Hahah, I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying, but you look well, Smith!¡± ¡°Long time no see, my small, floppy-eared friend!¡± Even though they could not understand each other¡¯s words, the two knew that they were being welcomed, and naturally smiled as they turned to the approaching Elf and Kobold from behind. ¡°If I remember clearly, you were the Black Elf we met at Lucua¡­Selica, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I will be their interpreter.¡± ¡°Blazer, it¡¯s rare to see you like this.¡± ¡°Waoon, kuuao gaoruauoouu kuuaou.¡± Almost immediately, the tall and lean Kobold who had Selica translate their words for him responded in a somewhat curt manner. ¡°Guau¡­ voaru gaoaouru kuruuoau?¡± ¡°Well yes, sometimes¡­ by the way, I heard you came with some humans?¡± ¡°¡­ So you were watching¡­ that¡¯s a lot of land to cover.¡± ¡°¡­ Uworuaan, waooukuruu.¡± In reality, they were seen by his packmates who were walking by the riverbank on their way to hunt, but while Blazer¡¯s cautious personality showed when he didn¡¯t willingly give them any more information, the two Werecats talked about the circumstances that led them to come along with Maril and the villagers. (I¡¯d like to tell them that it¡¯s too troublesome so just go home, but¡­) In their pack where adaptability and timeliness are required, it is customary that the highest-ranking individual who can make a decision without delay has the authority to decide. Since two of their pack members who had gone out the other day in search of elusive prey during the winter had still not returned, Buster and Lancer, who had gone out in search for them even though there was little hope of finding them, were not present either, so it was up to Ax to decide what to do with the visitors from Viel village. (We have friendly relations with the Werecats, so I think he¡¯s more likely to agree to see them.) Additionally, since they had previously made contact with the residents of Viel village, a scenario of the mild-mannered, hulking blue Kobold saying, ¡°It¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it?¡± flashes through Blazer¡¯s mind. However, even if he was against it, it would disrupt the pack¡¯s order of command if he were to turn away their guests without permission. With a light sigh, he conversed with the Werecats through Selica who served as his interpreter as they went back to the pack together to confirm with Ax. And so, after receiving permission from his childhood friend just as he¡¯d imagined, they once again returned to pick up Maril and the villagers who were waiting by the riverbank outside the forest, and it was already late afternoon when Blazer and Selica returned to the settlement with the guests in tow. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 172 Under the cloudy winter sky, several Kobolds who came back from hunting gathered around the campfire in the village square and held their hands out to the fire to keep warm. (If I remember correctly, there was a fire-using, mage-type Kobold among them, but¡­) As Maril passed by the group of Kobolds while being led into the settlement, she noticed the flint and steel which had been probably used to light the fire like a person from a civilized place would do instead of relying on innate qualities like fire manipulation. ¡°¡­ They have a scoop wheel and even an aqueduct that stretches to the edge of their settlement.¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost like a small village, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Looks like we have to change our first impression of them¡­¡± Just as the vigilante corps members said, it was surprising that the Kobolds were more civilized than they had imagined. Flustered, Maril looked away and looked at where they were being led to and saw a large, blue-furred Kobold placing a water-filled iron pot over the fire and selecting the appropriate dried herbs to make tea. ¡°Wau, woruan.¡± ¡°Hello, good afternoon.¡± When the hulking blue Kobold with the friendly expression said something, the wheat-skinned elf that accompanied them interpreted it in the common language, but¡­ the number of questions Maril and her companions had only increased. (Anyway, why is there even an Elf here!?) After they waited for the Werecat craftsmen by the river for almost one and a half hours, the ones who welcomed them were the tall and lean Kobold who was somehow connected to the Black Elf. Her surprise at seeing the attractive Elf girl exchange glances with the Kobold and talk with him in their language was still fresh in her memory. Anyway, Maril regained her composure and looked at the large blue Kobold. ¡°I guess it¡¯d be weird to say this is our first meeting, but¡­ Thanks for helping us last time, Mr. Blue Kobold.¡± ¡°Garuoua, ruaoouu¡­ Kuagaoruuo, wauo waoaan.¡± ¡°N, wafion?¡± ¡°Hn? Last time?¡± Although she thought he looked cute as he cluelessly tilted his head to the side, Maril told him about the time they fought the bandits that attacked their village, and the Blue Kobold nodded as if to say, ¡°Oh, I see.¡± ¡°Guoaruo uwaoau~¡± ¡°Oh right, there was something like that before~¡± After some more small talk, the blue Kobold wrapped the mixed herbs in a clean linen cloth and threw it inside the iron pot with the boiling water, took out some honey, added some with a wooden spoon, and mixed it. After being impressed by the practiced manner in which the tea was being prepared and after politely expressing her gratitude to the tall and skinny Kobold who had helped them numerous times, Maril gave another slight bow to the two Kobolds. ¡°I¡¯m Maril, the acting village chief. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Guaurugaao guruaowauu kuaruwau, uaoon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Zeno, the leader of the local vigilante corps.¡± ¡°Guruu garuguau guo.¡± As Maril feigned friendliness and exhibited a graceful demeanor as she greeted the blue Kobold, each of the members of the vigilante corps also followed suit and bowed their heads. ¡°Guruu wauuh, uruoaao kuoruu.¡± ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ax, I hope we can get along well.¡± A worn-out Battle Axe and Shield which showed that he was a warrior lay beside the huge Kobold as he cheerfully responded to their guests. (If I remember correctly he sent those bandits flying with that Battle Axe before¡­) As she recalled an event from the past, Maril sat around the fire with the others and received the present that Zeno took out and handed to her. ¡°These apples and beer are produced by our village, please have some.¡± ¡°Gaaugaruau guouukuauru, kuruaou¡± ¡°Gaou, guruoon¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be taking this for now¡­¡± After receiving the burlap sack that contained the apples and beer, Blazer gave it a light sniff to check for poison and handed it to Ax. ¡°Waoan, guruuagaruo~?¡± ¡°Thank you, please have this from us as well~?¡± In return, everyone from Viel village was treated to some freshly brewed, rosemary-scented herbal tea in wooden mugs, although it couldn¡¯t be called a return gift since it was prepared in advance. A single wooden mug would need to be chiseled into shape and polished with a polishing cloth smeared with a polishing solution made from animal fat and powder made from finely crushed freshwater clamshells, so if this was made by the Kobolds, then they are quite skilled. ¡°This¡­ Did you make this?¡± ¡°Garuo¡­ Guruuo garuau?¡± ¡°Gurufauu, uauoaaoon.¡± ¡°Oh no, I didn¡¯t make it, Smith did.¡± Maril quietly sipped her herb tea after hearing the response and took a deep breath before thinking about the opportunity as the acting village chief. (Hmm, if they are skilled enough to do woodworking, maybe we could buy their wares and sell them to the neighboring towns? Also, I wonder if they could supply us with dried herbs and herbal medicine if we ask¡­) Aside from the possibility of enriching the economy of Viel village, it was also necessary to establish friendly relations with the Kobolds who control the upper reaches of the Steele River which is their source of water and livelihood, and having a trade relation with them could be a way of achieving this. As the leader of the village, she could not overlook the fact that if they could procure a rare commodity from the forest, then they could sell it exclusively since they are allowed to freely come and go inside the forest sanctuary. Moreover, it is a story for later when Maril, who had ridiculously high household skills, was able to make highly detailed, felted Kobold dolls from the Kobold sheddings she received from them and ripped Muriel out of her money. That aside, Maril glanced around the settlement as she put her thoughts together and responded to the casual conversation. ¡°From the looks of it, nothing seems to be particularly of concern, right? ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite peaceful in fact¡­¡± Zeno casually picked up on the whispered words and expressed his agreement. Actually, they were asked by the feudal lord to investigate and report the Kobolds in the sanctuary via the administrative office of Ferias territory which is located in the core city. (Well, I don¡¯t intend to return good with evil after they saved us twice though¡­) In the meantime, just as Maril was thinking to keep the presence of the Elves in the area and that the Kobold settlement is civilized under wraps, Blazer, who had been observing her facial expressions since earlier, interjected, ¡°¡­ Guouru, wooou voruwafaau?¡± ¡°¡­ By the way, what¡¯s your purpose for coming to our settlement?¡± ¡°Well, we only came to greet you as neighbors.¡± ¡°Kuun, guakuoauru gauouu.¡± Although Blazer wondered about the casual response, Ax took it at face value and their conversation with the villagers around the campfire proceeded in a relaxed manner from start to finish, but¡­ (Uu¡­ interpreting is hard¡­ I might have agreed too easily) Selica, who was giving her all in her supporting role, was already getting tired, and although she had already prepared an oil lamp and some vegetable oil, Maril and the other villagers decided to cut the conversation short, as they wanted to return to the outer edge of the forest before it became dark. Although they were cutting it close to their schedule, they also said goodbye to Barrack and Grimer who seemed to be heading back to Lucua village after spending the night in the floppy-eared Kobolds¡¯ house, and headed to the outskirts of the Kobold settlement. However, for the last time, Maril turns to Blazer and Ax who had come to see her off, and, with a slightly embarrassed expression, uttered the simple greeting that Selica had taught her. ¡°Woa, uworu!¡± (See you again!) ¡°Voaruouu¡­¡± (Some other time, perhaps¡­) ¡°Worukuaaouu¡± (Take care on your way back.) After bidding farewell to the two Kobolds, Maril and the other villagers turned around and walked towards the afternoon forest, and the slightly unusual day for the Kobolds living in the sanctuary came to an end. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 173 On the other hand, Buster, the black armed Kobold, and Lancer, the Kobold of the Holy Spear, were searching for 2 missing males which were reported by their packmates while the people from Viel village visited the Kobold settlement¡­ They were currently laying low and hiding among the bushes in a particularly sparsely wooded area in the northern part of Easteria. On the open area nearby, there was a large, monkey-type monster called a Forest Ape, which can reach a height of 2 meters, who was fighting against a large scorpion-type monster called the Giga Scorpius that was around 1.2 meters tall and is over 3 meters long if you include its tail. Regardless of whoever wins, Buster cannot allow dangerous monsters within the hunting grounds especially since he was entrusted with looking after the pack while his silver-furred friend was away. Judging from the corpses of his packmates which he was forced to mourn over after a fruitless search, it was probably the giant scorpion monster who devoured the two Kobolds. (I won¡¯t be satisfied until I kill that thing with my own hands¡­) Buster was especially angry as one of the males who were killed was supposed to be a father in spring. Meanwhile, Lancer, who was lying next to Buster, gently calmed him down with her white-furred palm as he bared his canine teeth, tightly gripped the hilt of his Greatsword, and let the power flow through his limbs. As a precaution, she also sent a hand sign towards her black-armed friend to keep him grounded. Let¡¯s kill it once it becomes weak, okay? I know that, but¡­ As Buster glared at the two monsters, he admonished himself for unintentionally letting out a low growl, while the huge ape who was quite far away once again jumped towards its enemy with a shout. ¡°GAAAAAH!¡± ¡°Gih, gigih!?¡± The giant scorpion reacted instantly and raised its left pincer to catch the fast, heavy blow, but the iron ore that the ape held in its right hand which served as a weapon crushed the scorpion¡¯s hard exoskeleton. Furthermore, the huge ape nimbly avoided the scorpion¡¯s right pincer which it desperately thrust out in pain, and slammed its thick left arm over the scorpion¡¯s head which was already positioned close to the ground. ¡°Gih, i¡­ h, iiiii!!¡± The giant scorpion momentarily stops moving, but¡­ its tail swings slightly and stabs its target with its stinger with lightning speed! ¡°Ugii!?¡± Just as the large monkey jumped back and escaped the danger by a hair¡¯s breadth, the poisonous stinger ripped through the air and pierced its fur-covered thigh. ¡°Guh, gaaaaah!¡± Though the ape tried to counteract the sharp pain with sheer willpower, the giant scorpion that had been hot on its heels turned around and swung its right pincer on the monkey¡¯s flank with all its might. ¡°Gigigiiiiiiii!!¡± ¡°Ugiiiiiiih¡± As it quickly pushed against the scorpion¡¯s pincer with its foot and jumped back using the momentum, its whole body was seized by the paralytic poison, and the huge ape dropped to the ground on one knee. ¡°U, gaa¡­ u¡­h¡± ¡°Gichi, gichichih!!¡± Although it continued to struggle to stand up while clutching onto the iron ore, the veins of the unfortunate prey gave out as the giant scorpion gleefully pierced its heart with the tip of its tail. At that moment, the source power contained within the scorpion¡¯s soul went over its threshold due to the life force that flowed into its body, and the appearance of the monster known as a Giga Scorpius changed. After the change, its body became larger and the luster in its hard exoskeleton increased¡­ Name: Alma Scorpius Race: Giant Scorpion Class: Enhanced Armor Scorpion (Threat Level C+) Skill: Exoskeletal Defense, Paralyzing Needle Sting, Rotating Blow, Elementary Magic (Earth) Title: Giant Ape Killer Weapon: Tail Stinger (Main), Pincers (Auxiliary) Armament: Hardened Exoskeleton However, this was not reason enough to scare off the huge, black-armed Kobold. Buster, who was brimming with fighting spirit as the opportunity to avenge his fallen brethren had presented itself to him, rushed from the side with his Greatsword on his shoulder! ¡°Gauruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!) ¡°Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih!?¡± The giant scorpion, who was caught off guard after winning its struggle for survival earlier, hurriedly pulled its stinger which was still lodged in the huge ape¡¯s chest, and turned around to raise its left claw which was injured earlier to stop the blow, but it could not stop the attack which was powered by inertia. ¡°Guuruaaaah!!¡± (Slash!!) ¡°Gi¡­h, giiiiih¡± The Greatsword, which glowed with fighting spirit for a moment, violently clashed with the hardened exoskeleton and caused the scorpion¡¯s injured left pincer to crack wide open. However, despite the deepening damage of its injury while defending against the attack, the giant scorpion kept its position low with the support of its numerous legs and waved its tail to strike at the surprise attacker with its poison stinger. ¡°Gauauuuh!¡± (That¡¯s not gonna work on me!) Buster used physical force to turn around after his blade bounced off when it clashed with the hard pincer, and with one muscular arm, swung his Greatsword upward to hit the scorpion¡¯s tail just as it fired off a paralyzing needle which ended up flying in a different direction. At that moment, the Holy Spear Kobold, who had been lying low in a blindspot while waiting for an opportunity to attack, activated her leg enhancement skill to sprint forward and thrust her slashing spear on the giant scorpion¡¯s defenseless side! ¡°Guoh!?¡± (It¡¯s hard!?) ¡°Gi¡­ h¡­ GIGIIIIH!!¡± The full force of the attack shatters the hard exoskeleton, but since the force was reduced upon impact, the damage was not fatal. Nevertheless, the damage was done, and the giant scorpion who was boiling with rage swung its tail and struck Lancer on the side. ¡°Kyauuh! Kyuu, wafaa!?¡± (Kyauuh! Hot, it hurts!?) Lancer immediately leaped backward to avoid a direct hit and gained terrible abrasion wounds on the arm and her beautiful white fur was soaked with blood in the process, but¡­ The giant scorpion was greatly distracted due to the sudden attack. Seizing the opportunity, Buster, who once again gained the upper hand in the fight stepped in and dropped low before putting his weight on one foot and using it to launch himself towards the enemy to attack! This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 174 Chapter 174 - Why Am I Struggling To Live? Huh, Isn¡¯t It Obvious? By Buster ¡°Vuruoooooooooooh!!¡± (UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!) ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIH!?¡± Using his worn-out Greatsword which was imbued with fighting aura, he struck the head of the giant scorpion who had been preparing for another strike with its tail and cut through the hard exoskeleton and sent shards of its shell flying everywhere. ¡°Gih, GIGIIIIIIAAAAH!!¡± ¡°Gauh!!¡± (Tsk!!) The shrieking giant scorpion imbued its left pincer with earth-type magic, and chills ran down Buster¡¯s spine as he saw it powerfully thrust its claw into the ground and he clicked his tongue as he jumped to the side to avoid the attack. The ground burst after a short delay and the earthen clods that shot out gouged Buster¡¯s flank and the surrounding trees. ¡°Guu!? U, vaaruau!¡± (Guh!? Magic, huh!) While Buster was holding his greatsword and spitting curses as he gritted his teeth from the pain, Lancer removed her injured left hand from the slashing spear she was holding and thrust it out as it glowed with a holy phosphorescent light! ¡°Kuruoaann, vuorufau!!¡± (Take this, Holy Blaze!!) ¡°KISHAAAAAAAH!¡± As the bead of light was fired and burst into holy flames, the giant scorpion responded to the surge of magic power and thrust its stinger into the ground and used the earth from its ¡°landmine¡± magic to shield itself from the attack. However, even though it was slightly superior than its opponents in individual combat, it was unable to overcome the disadvantage in numbers as it faced off against the two highly-ranked Kobolds who were of equal strength. ¡°Gauh, voaon!¡± (Hah, there¡¯s my chance!) As he aimed for the giant scorpion whose tail was stuck to the ground and was pulling back its left pincer, the huge, black-armed Kobold who held his greatsword at his hip filled his limbs with power and struck the enemy with all his might! ¡°URUAAAAAAAH!!¡± (URRRRAAAAAAH!!) ¡°GIGIH!!¡± Immediately after the great scorpion¡¯s left pincer collided with the tip of his greatsword which emitted fighting aura, Buster¡¯s blade cracked through its tough exoskeleton and pierced its eyes. Then, without missing a beat, he further embedded the blade deep into its skull with the momentary burst of strength that flowed through his black-furred arms. ¡°GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?¡± ¡°Uooooh!?¡± (Uooooh!?) While the giant scorpion desperately screamed and thrashed about, Buster stayed vigilant when the stinger entered his peripheral vision and let go of the hilt of his weapon to gain some distance from it, but¡­ the enemy struck and the tip of its stinger stabbed into his right arm. ¡°Uguh, uu¡­¡± (Uguh, uu¡­) Under the influence of the fast-acting paralyzing poison, Buster dropped to one knee and narrowed his eyes at the fatally-wounded giant scorpion who had finally fallen to the ground as its life ran out. ¡°Ga, gaufu, a¡­ u, u¡­¡± (I c-can¡¯t¡­ hang on much longer¡­) ¡°Vaarukua¡­ kuruan?¡± (That was your last shot, wasn¡¯t it¡­ Are you okay?) Concerned about her childhood friend¡¯s slight twitching, Lancer warily poked the Alma Scorpius with the tip of her beloved spear to confirm if it wasn¡¯t moving anymore, and went to her friend¡¯s side and placed her white-tipped left paw over his head. ¡°Guoaruguo kuaruou, uaonn.¡± (Clear all afflictions, Purifying Light!) The concentrated holy magic which turned into light covered Buster¡¯s huge frame and activated the cells in his body to neutralize the toxins circulating inside it, but at the same time, a different silvery light swallowed up his consciousness. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­ ¡­ Then, a silver spiral staircase that had been built from the perpetual history of life appeared right before him. In this place, perception reigns over existence, so one¡¯s current state is determined by themself, but¡­ It¡¯s normal to be influenced by the state of your actual body when in this space. ¡°Guh, vuu garuo aaau.¡± (Kuh, I¡¯m still feeling numb.) While absently complaining about the discomfort that he still couldn¡¯t shake off, Buster begins to ascend the final flight of stairs with a slow gait. But as his appearance suggests, change is constant in living beings and it never stops. When the capacity of the environment is lower than the reproductive power of living organisms, the struggle for resources is inevitable and optimization of the status quo is constantly required to achieve species preservation. In this process, only those who struggle to survive and adapt to the environment leave behind offspring, weaving the spiral of life that is passed on from generation to generation. But even though one does not know where they will end up¡­ (Well, it doesn¡¯t matter what it is, I just have to move forward.) The sudden surge of unknown knowledge that flashed through his mind was of little concern to the black-armed Kobold. Archer had always viewed life¡¯s constant struggle for survival as ¡°either the creator being imperfect or simply evil¡±, but Buster did not think that way. ¡°Guorufaurua? Garuh, voaruwaoon.¡± (Why am I struggling to live? Huh, isn¡¯t that obvious?) The proud Buster stops in front of the relatively wide landing at the top of the staircase and his gaze is drawn to the hallway that leads to the adjacent spiral staircase. Normally, he would not stray from the path that he usually takes, but¡­ recently, there have been times when he has been thinking about it. (With the current path I¡¯m on, will I be able to truly win against the Chief someday?) After a moment of hesitation, he walked along the corridor in search of new possibilities, and as soon as he crossed the eternally snow-white space and reached the new flight of stairs of the ultimate spiral staircase, his body became as heavy as lead and his consciousness became lighter as he was pulled back to reality¡­ Name: Buster (Male) Race: Wolfish Kobold Rank: Mixed Black Fur Werewolf Skill: Arm Strengthening (Large / Effect is instantaneous), Intuitive Evasion, Paralyzing Claws, Diamond Blade (Specializes in Slashing with Fighting Spirit), Impact Reflex, Beastification, Humanization, Intelligence Improvement (Small / Constant) Title: The Decisive Wolfdog Weapon: Greatsword that has intense chips on the blade Armament: Leather Armor ¡°¡­ Vuo, garuuoau oowaaan.¡± (¡­ You changed again.) ¡°Wauh, ruaou rufa woruaaan.¡± (Yeah, my body feels more toned than usual.) After being cleansed of the effects of the paralyzing poison by purification magic, Buster, whose developed fangs peeked out from his mouth, approached the giant scorpion with a sneer on his face and pulled out his greatsword that was stuck on it. After slightly swinging it and sending blood flying everywhere, he placed it back into the scabbard that hung on his back. Lancer looked somewhat stunned as she watched the black-armed Kobold open and close his hand a few times to confirm the sensation of his developed muscles. ¡°Varua, kyuou varuuoaan.¡± (Anyway, let me heal you first before we head back.) While insisting on healing him as she poked his bloodied left arm, Lancer concentrated ¡°Healing Light¡± on her right palm and healed her injuries first. Next, she pressed her paw against Buster¡¯s flank that had sustained injuries from the earthen clods, and healed the wound with a warm healing light, after which the two Kobolds turned on their heels and disappeared among the trees. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. ========================================================================================================================= T/N: Hello, I am sorry if I had been MIA since my last post in April since irl deadlines keep popping up and my schedule has been pretty hectic so far with language studies. I will be posting the remaining sponsored chapters for now (1/7). Thank you for all your support! -Nao CH 175 Chapter 175 - There Are Many Things Money Can Buy, But Most Of The Time It Can¡¯t Buy What You Really Want A few days later, at the same time as Smith was angrily muttering to himself while swinging his mallet after Buster asked him to repair his worn-out greatsword the minute he returned, the gentle rays of the afternoon sun streamed through the windows of an office in the Duke¡¯s mansion in the capital city of Warren, which was a two-day journey from the north of Easteria¡­ After cleaning the dirt that had stuck on his armor, the knight Eldric entered the room to report the results of the subjugation. ¡°¡­ And that concludes my report on the Valley Ant subjugation.¡± ¡°Good work, please submit the details of the report in writing later. You may now leave.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir Eldric.¡± Delia, the chamberlain who was waiting inside the room, also said a few words of thanks as she opened the door inwardly to lead their guest out, but the knight did not leave right away and seemed to be hesitating about something. ¡°Your Grace, a few words, if I may?¡± ¡°Very well, go ahead.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the soldiers who died on the battlefield¡­ Please grant their surviving families a generous remuneration.¡± ¡°Of course. We shall also do the same for the Adventurers who have died in battle.¡± After their favorable exchange, Eldric silently bowed deeply and left the Duke¡¯s office. ¡°¡­ You heard him. I¡¯ll be leaving the distribution of payments in your hands.¡± Delia thought back on the documents that showed the financial support given to the residents of Grau village who had evacuated to the city because of the Valley Ant attack, along with the estimated cost of repairing the damaged village, and after a few moments of thought, she responded to the Duke. ¡°Certainly, your Grace. May I add the reward money for defeating the queen since there is no recipient?¡± The Valley Ant Queen is a dangerous monster species with a threat level of B, which is the limit of what high-ranking adventurers can handle, so the Duke of Ferias offered a reasonable reward for defeating it. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but it¡¯s still just temporary financial support, isn¡¯t it¡­ how frustrating.¡± Although he was willing to use the money to compensate the bereaved families, it is also a fact that the operating funds of a territory are limited. And as the person in charge of it, he could not afford to be irresponsibly generous. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, your Grace. As the saying goes, ¡®The road to hell is paved with good intentions¡¯*, after all.¡± Those who just want to criticize the government will claim to have good intentions and criticize the policies in place, but if they have a good grasp of the territory¡¯s financial situation, then most of them will only see it as a road leading to self-destruction. For example, even though it may be easy to say that there will be no more taxes starting tomorrow, after a few years, countless bodies could be lying in the poor districts as the city falls into disrepair due to the lack of functioning administrative agencies. ¡°How complicated¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the residents of Ferias territory will be happy as long as your excellency thinks that way.¡± ¡°Anyway¡­¡± she continues. ¡°About the silver Steppen Kobold who took down the queen¡­¡± ¡°I also couldn¡¯t help but worry if there were more of its kind, but that is probably the Holy Beast.¡± As if intending to make Lord Ferias sigh, a few days later, a brutally honest report about the Kobolds who lived in Easteria also arrived from Viel village¡­ As he did his best to read the letters from Maril who wrote in a cute, rounded script, he was enveloped in an inexpressible sense of exhaustion. Unaware of such hardships, the silver-furred werewolf disguised as a human received his reward from the Adventurer¡¯s guild and rested until evening in the ¡°Four-leaf Clover Pavilion¡±, an inn three buildings away, and went to the guild¡¯s connecting tavern with the happy little fox perched on his shoulder. ¡°Kuon, kuruaou gauoaan?¡± (Big brother, I want to eat something tasty?) Dagger, who has accompanied me to town on many occasions, understood that money could buy food, pressed me on, and kept thumping her paws on my shoulder. Although she is usually easygoing, she is not lacking in understanding thanks to her daily education. Just the other day, she had untied the bag that contained money in our room and her eyes were twinkling as she checked the few gold coins and numerous silver coins in it. (It¡¯s great that she could understand the value of money, but¡­I guess I shouldn¡¯t let her get too attached to it either.) Money can buy a lot of things, and depending on the person or situation, it can also buy love and dignity, but I know that it cannot buy what I really want. The most important things to me are absolute trust and love, a strong body, and a steel-like mind. None of these can be bought with money no matter how much I save up. (Well, you can hire strong fighters with it though¡­) Suddenly, I remembered a well-known family in Athos. They were a noble family from the east who had adopted the western culture due to the long history of wars between the east and the west, and the head of that family had made a request to the mercenary corps that I was previously part of. The request was to have his heir to gain achievements in defeating monsters, but the catch was that he would not be required to wield a sword. But what meaning is there in gaining fictional achievements? ¡°Hmph, there¡¯s no value in it if it doesn¡¯t go hand in hand with reality.¡± At least if I wanted something, I would want to acquire it with my own hands even if it seems inefficient and foolish, as long as it doesn¡¯t endanger my companions¡­ After I made a rough conclusion, I put my palm over my shoulder and patted my sister on the head as I went through the guild doors and searched the lively tavern annex, and found Muriel and her friends who had arrived earlier. ¡°Heee~y, over here!!¡± Ares, who was looking in our direction, raised a mug full of amber liquid while Mirea, their archer who remained in the city to recuperate, gave us a small wave. ¡°I heard you performed really well and even took down two Imperial Ants?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why Archer¡¯s treating us to dinner tonight!¡± ¡°Wait a minute, Riberto¡­ How did it end up like that?¡± ¡°Well, I mean, didn¡¯t you get paid more than us?¡± If I remember correctly, according to Ms. Grace and Edgar, the two Adventurers who led the Adventurer units previously, they received a bit more for subjugating the large Imperial ants, but they had no obligation to buy anybody a drink, so I just took his words lightly as he seemed like he was already beginning to get drunk. ¡°Geez, Riberto, stop saying nonsense¡­ Ah, come sit here, Archer?¡± Muriel, whose glossy red hair was illuminated by the lamp that dimly lit the room perhaps to conserve vegetable oil, lightly tapped the chair beside her and urged me to sit, so I willingly obliged. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. ========================================================================================================================= Translator¡¯s Notes: ¡°The road to hell is paved with good intentions¡± ¨C the Japanese equivalent of this idiomatic expression is µØªz¤Ø¤ÎµÀ¤ÏÉÆÒâ¤ÇÅn×°¤µ¤ì¤Æ¤¤¤ë (jigoku he no michi ha zeni de hosousareru) which emphasizes that you shouldn¡¯t just behave well but act according to your intention or you will have problems later on. CH 176 When I looked around, I saw that the tavern was so packed that even the receptionist who welcomed us when we first came to the guild was helping out while the two waitresses hurriedly served everyone¡¯s orders. (Looks like everyone has a lot of money to spend today¡­) But even so, the noisy atmosphere was more subdued as many adventurers had lost their lives in battle, and most of the groups present probably lost a comrade or two. Even Riberto was almost killed while trying to fend off the giant ants when one of the younger Adventurers with him was bitten to death by a vanguard ant as it collapsed. As I remembered the scene for a moment, Ares raised his hand and called the lively, pony-tailed waitress. ¡°Eil, we¡¯d like to make an additional order!¡± ¡°Give me a second, I¡¯ll be there in a while Mr. Ares!¡± After glancing in our direction, she grabs the plate of food from her tray and quickly lays it down on the table where Ms. Grace and Edgar were seated. Well, it¡¯s probably because I was looking in their direction, but¡­ my hearing, which was still more sensitive than the average human¡¯s even though it had been dulled by my humanization, picked up some of the things they said, like, ¡°A strange Kobold took the best kill,¡± or, ¡°Uuugh, my priiize!¡± As I pretended not to hear what they said, the girl called Eil approached us while her indigo hair which was tied back swayed with her movement. ¡°Kuon, kuukuu wau~?¡± (Big brother, get the juicy meat¡«?) ¡°Uwaa~h, what a cute little fox!!¡± ¡°Thank you. Do you still have that sliced venison we had the other day?¡± The only food you can order at an establishment like this are dishes with ingredients on hand, which alternates between different types of meat dishes and soup, along with rye or wheat bread. Although there was a high chance that the dishes we could eat made use of dried meat or other preserved food like dried cod and dried beans, the freshest thing we were able to eat last time was the venison meat, so it was necessary to confirm with them before I ordered. ¡°Oh yes, we do. We still have some venison left over from the stock we prepared for everyone¡¯s return?¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll have that along with two pieces of rye bread and¡­ what about the soup?¡± ¡°Today we have soup made of dried salmon and winter vegetables.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have that too. Also, could you bring a small plate I can use to split food with her?¡± As I pointed to my foxified sister while completing my order, Eil told me the price, and I exchanged my money for the tavern¡¯s iron coin currency to pay for the meat dish, soup, and bread. At first, I didn¡¯t pay attention since Ares and the others treated me to a meal, but¡­ for the waitress to discern the contents of the orders made at one table, I had to place my iron coins in a place that was easy to see. After watching the gesture, the waitress bowed briefly and went to the kitchen, and a few moments later, the receptionist Seti was sent out carrying the food everyone had ordered earlier. ¡°Thank you for waiting. Here are the dishes you ordered.¡± After flashing her bright, business smile, she laid out the soup made with salmon and winter vegetables, bread, and herb-roasted wild boar meat and collected the iron coins before briefly turning in my direction. ¡°Mr. Archer, I¡¯ll notify the guild in Zelgra where you¡¯re registered about your accomplishments in the subjugation, okay? If only you had already fulfilled the other requirements, I would¡¯ve gone ahead and promoted your rank, though¡­¡± In addition to the receptionist¡¯s usual unpretentious manner as she interacts with Adventurers daily, her age is not so different from me who is pretending to be a human in his 20s, so we could just talk straightforwardly without caring about formalities. ¡°No, your operations are well thought out, so I have no qualms.¡± ¡°Well, a lot of people don¡¯t think the same way when performance evaluations are completed first.¡± When ranking up, it is necessary to be evaluated on your achievements, the number of requests taken for every rank, and the length of time you have been a member of the guild. Out of the three conditions, I still haven¡¯t fulfilled the latter two conditions to become a ¡°black iron¡± Adventurer. The same could also be said for Muriel who had hatched the ¡®Valley Ant¡¯ subjugation plan for the Duke. ¡°Uu~, if it were only about achievements, then I would¡¯ve been ¡®silver¡¯ rank by now too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? Just stay on the same rank for now.¡± ¡°Yeah, we won¡¯t let you get a headstart on us, we¡¯ll catch up with you soon.¡± As Mirea merrily responded to Muriel¡¯s murmuring with light banter, Riberto also joined in on the fun, but Seti, who was leaving our table, stopped and turned around. ¡°Oh right, the guild has received a letter addressed to Muriel again, so claim it on your way home, okay?¡± ¡°Au¡­ Alright.¡± For Adventurers who frequently set out on missions, it is customary to leave their mail with the guild regardless of whether they are in the east or west, so it wasn¡¯t uncommon for the receptionist whose task is also to receive these letters, to notify her before disappearing into the loud crowd in the tavern. However, Muriel, the recipient, didn¡¯t look too thrilled about it¡­ If she wanted us to know, she would casually talk about it herself and act like an Adventurer who doesn¡¯t get too involved with another person¡¯s affairs, but¡­ Just as I was thinking about it, Mirea wasted no time in getting into her friend¡¯s business again. ¡°Is it one of those letters from your household telling you to ¡°get married¡± again?¡± ¡°Must be tough being an aristocrat¡¯s daughter.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m just a daughter of a landless noble who serves as the town administrator though.¡± The marrying age of a female noble in the countryside is earlier than those who dwell in the cities, and it is customary for them to be married in their late teens. Of course, nobles who are gifted artists, scholars, and musicians are exempted from this rule and can do as they please, but¡­ as I recall, most of these people are also in trouble with their families. ¡°But there¡¯s also a chance it might not be from your family, so you have to claim it first to find out.¡± ¡°I agree, Archer¡¯s right¡­ But enough of that, let¡¯s have dinner first.¡± Muriel reaches for her fork as if to say, ¡°this conversation is over¡± and Mirea apologizes to me whose order still hasn¡¯t arrived. ¡°We¡¯ll go ahead first, okay?¡± ¡°No problem¡­ my food¡¯s also here anyway.¡± Perhaps these dishes, or their components, were already pre-made so it didn¡¯t take long for my orders to arrive, but after Eil had carried them to our table, dinner was spent in a lively manner with everyone chatting and laughing while my sister urged me to feed her more. After my sister and I were satisfied with the meal of garlic butter-roasted venison, soup, and bread, the subject of the letter was already out of our minds by the time we left the guild tavern and returned to the ¡°Four Leaf Clover Pavillion¡±, but¡­ The next day, we were awoken by the sound of Muriel knocking on the door of our room. This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations. CH 177 ¡°¡­ Uu~, kuon, gaoaan.¡± (¡­Uu~ brother, someone¡¯s here.) ¡°Wauu ruau guuau.¡± (Pull the sheets over you and hide.) After confirming that my sister who spoke to me in a whisper had curled up and covered herself with the sheets, I controlled the flow of power around my body and, along with the uncomfortable sensation of my muscles and bones distorting, shifted back into a human that morning. ¡°¡­ Good morning. Are you two awake?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Muriel¡­ We just woke up, I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡± It took a while for me to change into a human, so I answered through the closed door so I wouldn¡¯t keep her waiting and got out of bed as soon as I finished. Since my fluffy winter fur was gone, I felt the morning chill on my skin as I walked to the doorway, placed my hand on the doorknob, and opened the door inwardly. ¡°H-hey, why aren¡¯t you wearing a top!?¡± I froze on the spot as Archer appeared half-naked in the doorway for some reason. I tried to look away at once, but my eyes were naturally drawn to his well-developed chest muscles. (Even as a Kobold, he was already lean and muscular, but now that he¡¯s human and doesn¡¯t have any fur on his body, his muscles stand out a lot¡­) I told myself that this was part of ¡°biological observation¡±, but when I was fixedly staring at his biceps and six-pack abs, he looked at me suspiciously and spoke to me in a rather sleepy tone, ¡°I had my winter fur until a moment ago so I didn¡¯t need a jacket¡­ Anyway, come in.¡± ¡°Uu, I don¡¯t want a half-naked guy telling me something like that.¡± ¡°Is that so? Well, you don¡¯t have to force yourself anyway¡­ I¡¯m going back to sleep then,¡± and turned to close the door. ¡°W-wait, I have something to talk to you about.¡± I hurriedly went inside and sat on the round stool he pointed me to, taking care not to wake up Dagger who was sound asleep, and waited for Archer to put on a jacket. After lightly dressing himself, Archer poured water from the jug into the two wooden cups which were placed in the room and handed one of the cups to me before sitting across the small table. ¡°So, what did you want to talk about?¡± I took out the letter I claimed last night from my leather waist bag and immediately handed it to him. ¡°Is it alright for me to read this?¡± ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± The letter was sent to me by my mother, Adelia Vest, which told me to ¡°go home and attend the marriage interview.¡± It seems like the patriarch, Count Schwark, was going to introduce me to the son of a viscount who works as an administrator in a different town. (But I still don¡¯t intend to marry, so I have to properly persuade her!) By the way, the one who has a strong influence in the family isn¡¯t my father, Christ Vest, who has no direct blood relation to our predecessor, but my mother, who is a Baroness and serves as the administrator of Velheim. Persuading my mother is necessary to get rid of the talks of marriage that have been plaguing me recently¡­ ¡°Hmm, but isn¡¯t this common between aristocrats like you? If you don¡¯t want to, you can just refuse, can¡¯t you?¡± He said nonchalantly and handed me back the letter. Nnngh, it kind of annoyed me somehow. ¡°Geez, it¡¯s not that simple! Fine, read this next!!¡± ¡°Hmm, a guild request form¡­¡± When I quickly exchanged the letter for the exclusive request form I had the guild issue for me, Archer had a complex look on his face as he quickly skimmed through its contents. ¡°In other words¡­ you want me to pretend to be your partner?¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking you to pretend to be my lover to persuade my parents and to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future.¡± I¡¯m sure my mother is worried that I would pass my marrying age because I¡¯ve been busy chasing creatures ever since I became an Adventurer¡­ Of course, this method would get the result I want, but it would be lying. I mean, I just wanted to have a little more time doing the things I love¡­ I looked up at him while trying to convey my sincerity, but my silver-haired friend let out a sigh in return. ¡°I don¡¯t have a reason to accept your request though. In the first place, an Adventurer and a noble lady would make an unlikely pair.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about that, my father is a former Adventurer too.¡± When my father went around asking nobles for support in authoring his first book on biology, nobody offered a mere Adventurer like him any help except for my grandfather who took an interest in him. When I asked my grandfather about it after he retired and lived on his own, he told me that it was because of my father¡¯s theory that ¡°if the differences in nature and personality of creatures from the same species are arbitrarily paired off, then there would be a huge change that would occur in the next generation,¡± was beneficial for raising livestock. As a result, he invited an eccentric young man into his home and drew on his accumulated knowledge while letting him write his book, and before he knew it, this young man had fallen in love with his daughter and became his son-in-law. ¡°¡­ So there¡¯s no problem if you showcase your abilities.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just ask Ares or Riberto?¡± ¡°Eh!? That¡¯s¡­ that might be quite impossible.¡± When he rescued me from the Rock Lizard while he was still in his fluffy form, I didn¡¯t really think much about him, but I haven¡¯t told anyone that my thoughts go directly to Archer when thinking of someone I can rely on from the opposite sex. Although I can¡¯t deny the influence of the love story of a village girl who yearned for a young man who was a werewolf that I read during my childhood, I still prefer Archer in his human form because of his wild appearance. (Of course, I have to acknowledge my feelings too, but¡­ you have to think of it from a biological perspective, Muriel!) Romantic feelings are a natural part of life because it is essential for the preservation and the flourishing of a species! But following that line of thought, the main goal would be reproduction, which means¡­ huuuh!? ¡°¡­ You¡¯re thinking of something strange again, aren¡¯t you.¡± Leaving Muriel, who had suddenly fallen silent and placed her hands on her cheeks which had become as red as her hair, Archer glanced at the amount of the reward money written on the exclusive request form. (Since we¡¯re acquainted, maybe I should use the reward money as a basis for whether I should accept it or not.) Of course, I did say earlier that I had no reason to accept her request, but¡­ conversely, I didn¡¯t have a reason to refuse it either. Moreover, I didn¡¯t mind accepting it either since I¡¯ve known her for a while now. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it, but I have to return to my pack and see how things are going there first.¡± After briefly gathering my thoughts and telling Muriel, who had been acting a little suspiciously about my conditions for accepting her request, I got up from my seat and thought that it was about time I woke my sister who was sleeping in.