Ch.259259. Manticore Subjugation (1)

“Peter! How have you been?”

“Yes, Master! It’s been a long time!”

Upon returning to the barony after a long absence, Peter couldn’t hide his joy at meeting his master Bertelo, and they exchanged a few words, both delighted by their reunion.

“So, Peter… do you intend to challenge it?”

“…Yes.”

Naturally, the subject was about why Peter had returned to the barony—about the manticore that had devastated his hometown.

Perhaps there was no reason to leave alone a manticore that had killed all his family and acquaintances in a single day and occupied the village.

“…Is it revenge?”

Thus, Bertelo asked Peter directly, despite the possibility of being impolite…

“I can’t say it isn’t, but that’s not all it is.”

Peter’s answer was something Bertelo couldn’t have anticipated at all.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. I can’t forgive the beast that killed my family, friends, and relatives and devoured them. But… if I leave it alone, there will be more victims. After all, manticores… prefer human flesh.”

Trying hard to maintain an expressionless face but unable to hide his grief, Peter finally lost his composure and asked the only adult he could rely on.

“Master. I… I’ve come to think that killing that manticore to prevent innocent victims is more important than revenge for my family. Does this mean… does this mean I didn’t love my family—”

“—Peter.”

Bertelo cut off Peter’s words with a firm tone and spoke softly to him, who was looking back with anxious eyes.

“You didn’t fail to love your family. That’s simply the result of your good nature. Some may criticize goodness as hypocritical, but that’s just because their own hearts are twisted.”

“Is… that so?”

“Indeed. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Unlike his usual strangely deflated demeanor, Bertelo spoke as if truly rich in life experience, and then, looking straight into Peter’s eyes—for the first time, he brought up stories from his own past.

“My family was murdered by… bandits. People from the same village too.”

“…?!!”

“Burning with revenge, I eventually slaughtered the entire bandit group and succeeded in my vengeance. I never regret that choice, but… I couldn’t harbor the same feelings you do. I only thought about retaliation.”

“That’s, I mean… that’s only natural…”

“Yes, it is natural. And you have a more noble heart than others. You’re a better person than I am, Peter. Better than anyone.”

With what appeared to be lingering regrets about the past dripping from his words, Bertelo in that state… declared.

That Peter’s thoughts and choices were not wrong at all, but simply the result of his noble and good-hearted nature.

※ ※ ※

The day of the final battle dawned.

“Hahaha—!! What wonderful weather, perfect for monster hunting!!”

“…Yes. Indeed.”

The three intermediate—silver-ranked adventurers mounted their respective rides and began moving quickly toward their destination.

‘Ugh, it’s slimy…’

As Layla thought, the vampire steed summoned by the vampire knight Isabel had skin that was unpleasantly slimy, but they all knew better than anyone the importance of horses that could run without tiring.

Thanks to this, after riding without rest for some time…

“Shhhhh…”

“”(Nods).””

Upon arriving near the village, the trio concealed themselves with several spells, then hid in the bushes on a hill overlooking where the devastated village should be…

”…?!!”

‘G-goblins?!’

What actually came into their view was a savage goblin settlement built on the ruins of Peter and Layla’s devastated village.

A crudely made palisade, dwellings that were little more than tents or pit houses made from the remains of buildings, goblins playing or working there, and…

Totems made of bones and unidentifiable leather, erected by someone throughout the village.

They had the appearance of a typical savage goblin tribe, but while Peter was shocked at what they had done, he noticed something like a decorative item.

It was a crudely made quadrupedal beast figure using branches, with a human skull attached to the head part and what appeared to be animal hide wrapped around it.

‘…Is this a goblin tribe that worships the manticore?’

Having assessed the situation, Peter used the thought transmission spell cast by Isabel to enter into a magical communication conference with the others, who had likewise assessed the situation.

‘Those creatures seem to be a tribe that worships the manticore. Look, can you see it? That structure resembling a manticore.’

The manticore—specifically one with the grotesquely distorted head of an old man—is both evil and possesses human-level intelligence, allowing it to take on subordinates or even learn black magic if necessary, as has been observed in several cases.

And the most representative species that wild manticores take as subordinates are goblins.

They are a small race with greenish skin, standing just over a meter tall, characterized by their evil wisdom.

Goblins born in normal civilized societies live as ordinary members of society, but those born in such savage tribes and raised under the influence of forest magic are merely small cannibalistic races.

Among the humanoid races living in forests, goblins are exceptionally weak, but in exchange, they possess remarkably well-functioning brains and dexterity.

As a result, goblins, notorious for their guerrilla tactics, join forces with various evil races that can compensate for their lack of strength—

And one of the representative races with which they form alliances is the manticore, which also possesses an evil nature.

Of course, mere goblins could never form an equal relationship with monsters like manticores.

[…They appear to be slaves of the manticore, warrior boy.]

‘Yes, that’s probably right. A savage goblin tribe couldn’t defeat a manticore. But… they’ll still be quite troublesome in actual combat.’

Therefore, as Isabel suspected, this savage goblin tribe was likely slaves of the manticore, but the three of them knew well that they couldn’t completely ignore these creatures.

On one side, tamed wolves were tied up, and on the other, crude but numerous spears and bows were scattered about.

They knew that goblin wolf riders were quite annoying as light cavalry, and even regular goblins with spears could be troublesome opponents. Add to that the risk of taking a lucky shot from a blind arrow, which could cause significant damage.

The risk was too great to simply ignore them and attack, and… meanwhile, Layla’s words were transmitted into their minds.

[…Peter, Miss Isabel. Look, can you see that symbol?]

[Indeed!]

‘Yes. Is there a problem?’

When Peter asked with confusion about the decoration that looked like some tribal symbol that Layla was pointing at, she explained about that symbol to Peter with a voice tinged with indignation.

[An inverted pentagram with a goat’s head… that’s the symbol of Satan, the demon lord of the underworld. There’s probably a black mage or demon worshipper among them.]

At those words, even Isabel, who had been so high-strung, wore a serious expression for the first time in a while.

No matter how insignificant a savage goblin village might be, the danger of a tribe that worships evil gods and one that worships demons is completely different.

Since the goblin racial deity is an evil god, ordinary savage goblins habitually believe in their racial deity, but this is merely folk religion, and goblins who properly practice their faith are extremely rare.

At most, the occasional blessed goblin (self-proclaimed) becomes a priest, and most savage goblin villages have only one or two shamans who also serve as priests.

But if there are proper demon worshippers or black mages, the story changes.

Demon worshippers and black mages can summon demons through evil rituals such as cannibalistic ceremonies or human sacrifices, and the demons that can be summoned this way are often stronger than the summoner themselves.

Of course, in such cases, they often end up being killed rather than controlling the demon, but the important thing is that even at just 7th grade, one can summon intermediate demons.

Considering all the variables that could arise if an intermediate demon suddenly entered the battlefield, it was absolutely necessary to first sweep away the goblin village as a basic premise.

And—

[Boy, girl. I have a thought…]

As the vampire Isabel seemed to ponder for a moment before cautiously suggesting her opinion,

Peter and Layla concluded that her opinion was very reasonable apart from some slight uneasiness, and decided to follow her advice to utilize necromancy, definitely not a vampire’s special ability.