episode_0020

“There’s a limit to how absurd things can get.”

On the way to the kingdom’s capital, specifically after I asked him to take a safer road even if it took a bit longer, the coachman chuckled merrily, saying the longer it took, the more it would cost, and then confidently drove the carriage.

This was the result.

Goblins were lying in ambush.

Using something so crude it couldn’t even be called a spear, they stabbed the horse in the neck and killed it.

As the horse died, it twisted its body, overturning the carriage.

Before the startled coachman could even try to do anything, the goblins swarmed him and ripped out the coachman’s neck.

And then, they rushed at me, who had been suffering from motion sickness inside the carriage.

Luckily, it wasn’t my first time dealing with goblins, and if I reacted calmly, I was capable of handling two or three by myself, so I drew my sword and swung it, slicing apart the goblin that was trying to enter the carriage.

My strength was lacking, but the new sword I had received this time was inherently sharp, which made it possible.

Holding the sword, I got out of the carriage and slaughtered two more, and the goblins, their momentum broken, retreated.

If those guys hadn’t known fear, and had rushed at me instead, I too would have died futilely here.

“…Rest in peace.”

I approached the fallen coachman and bowed my head.

I wanted to bury the body, but as I had just seen, goblins were rampant in this vicinity.

If I delayed to make a grave, it was clear I would be in danger myself, so I rummaged through the coachman’s pockets, searching for something to prove his identity along with a map.

Even if I couldn’t make a grave, if I could just confirm his identity, I could at least tell his family the situation.

Blood and grime were flowing out, emitting a foul stench.

Thinking I shouldn’t stay here any longer, I packed my belongings and moved on.

Perhaps it was fortunate.

I knew which direction I needed to go.

“For now, if I stay on the great road, I might run into other people, so it’s probably best not to stray from the path unnecessarily.”

Being attacked on the great road was alarming, but it was still the great road.

It was a road people used often, and in large numbers.

The probability of running into other people was quite high, not just zero.

The problem was that people rarely had a good impression of me from the first meeting.

Fortunately, I had quite a bit of money.

If I paid money, no matter how much they disliked a person like me, they would likely make a spot for me somewhere like on a cargo wagon.

I had no choice but to believe that.

Moving to the next place just by walking was out of the question; it would take almost three days of walking without rest.

“It’s fortunate at least that I wasn’t injured when the carriage overturned.”

If I had even sprained my ankle when the carriage overturned, it would have led to a result too terrible to imagine.

“Those goblin guys, even though they retreated due to the momentum, they probably haven’t gone too far, so I need to move quickly.”

I muttered the reason I needed to move quickly to myself.

There was a considerable difference between vaguely thinking something and actually speaking it out loud.

It awakened my sense of caution.

Since they were creatures with intelligence, they would probably covet the horse and coachman’s corpses, who could no longer resist, rather than me, who was holding a weapon and slicing up their kin. Even so,

The danger remained unchanged.

Under the unusually hot sunlight today, I quickened my pace.

After walking like that for several hours,

By the time the sun was setting, I had no choice but to make camp.

This world was too dangerous to move at night.

Apart from this incident, camping itself had become so familiar to me by now that I gathered branches, lit a fire, and skillfully caught and prepared a rabbit.

I sprinkled salt on it and roasted it over the campfire, but perhaps because I didn’t drain enough blood, the gamey smell was worse than I expected.

After finishing the meal, I swung my sword for about an hour, then leaned against a rock, holding the sword close, and slept a shallow sleep using my cloak as a blanket.

By the time the next day arrived.

As I cut down a goblin I encountered, I thought.

That something was definitely strange.

It made no sense to encounter goblins this frequently while moving along the great road.

That goblins possessed intelligence meant they were capable of thought.

Being capable of thought meant they knew what they should be cautious about and what they shouldn’t do, and thus, goblins usually lived deep within the mountains or forests.

Even though most humans were easy prey, no better than wild animals, they knew there was nothing good about their activity areas overlapping with humans’.

Yet, seeing them this frequently was definitely strange.

Had they been pushed out in a territory dispute?

There were cases, though not frequent, where some force appeared in their original habitat, forcing them to retreat into human territory.

But, wouldn’t they be too aggressive for that?

They ambushed and raided, overturning the carriage.

As if it was something they were used to, they had skilled technique for goblins.

“I’m not sure.”

I pondered, but a clear answer didn’t emerge.

Whatever the case, the fact that a goblin popped out even though I was almost 12 hours away from where the carriage was attacked was definitely not good news.

It wasn’t my business, but the fact that the world was in such utter chaos was not particularly good news.

“Well.”

Tsk – I clicked my tongue.

Since this world is a game, and if the game world were peaceful, there would be no reason for the protagonist to step forward, so perhaps the chaos is natural.

Thinking nonsensical thoughts, I took out the map from my pocket and checked the direction.

If I walked straight along the great road, a small village would appear.

“For now, I should head this way.”

It was such a small village that I wondered if what I needed would be there, but I had to head there even just to rest and recover from fatigue.

Having set my destination, I started walking again.

Having lost the carriage, there was nothing else I could do.

Nothing but to keep walking, bored.

It was then.

Kyaaaaaak-! A horrible scream was heard.

Rather than being startled and flustered, I instinctively drew my sword and started running towards the direction of the scream.

As I got closer, all sorts of noises mingled and could be heard.

“Why are these goblin bastards in a place like this—!”

“I don’t know! Just kill them first!”

“Nenya’s been hit!”

“Hold on, fuckers! You know what happens if you get caught by goblins!!”

The sound of weapons clashing.

The sound of flesh tearing.

The scream I had just heard must have been the death rattle of someone dying, as a corpse with a hole in its stomach, spilling its intestines, came into view.

Twelve goblins, and five people opposing them, no.

One just went down, now there are four.

If I hadn’t intended to help, I wouldn’t have run towards this place in the first place, and if I intended to help, there was no reason to hesitate.

I threw my bag onto the ground and entered the fight.

I walked.

I got behind a goblin and swung my sword.

The sword, too long to be called a dagger and too short to be a typical sword, fit me so well it was worthy of being called a treasure sword.

My strength was lacking, so it was made lightweight.

As the weight became lighter, it became thinner.

Thin, light, and sharp.

I approached silently and sliced off the goblin’s head.

Only after the goblin’s head fell to the ground did the people start to notice me, and only when the second goblin’s head rolled on the ground did the goblins finally notice me.

I flicked the blood off the thin sword and switched to my grandfather’s sword.

It was sharp, but equally delicate, so it could break meaninglessly if misused. Thus, it was better not to use it when facing off against an enemy who was aware of me.

“What are you gawking at! Fight!”

As I felled two goblins and shouted, the people also each gripped their weapons and began fighting the goblins.

Goblin heads were being crushed, and human flesh was being torn by goblin attacks.

As if I was the most dangerous presence there, three goblins surrounded me.

Holding my sword, I glared at the goblins.

At the tip of the sword I swung widely in a semicircle, one died as its chest was split open.

Simultaneously, reacting to the goblins who rushed in, I urgently rolled on the ground to evade.

I grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and scattered it at the goblins.

One guy was caught off guard and had his vision taken away.

Without hesitation, I thrust my sword in, piercing its belly.

One was left.

That guy surveyed the situation, realized he was the only one left alive, and started to flee.

“That bastard…!”

“Don’t chase him! There might be a trap!”

I grabbed the shoulder of the man, who was excited and about to chase, and urgently restrained him, and at his action of irritably swatting my hand away without warning, I furrowed my brow.

There was no need to endure even this.

“You son of a bitch, someone saved you, and instead of saying thank you, what kind of behavior is this?”

“……What?”

“It might be different if you were so fucking strong that you could chase after the escaped goblin and wipe out any traps or whatever, but if I hadn’t helped, you’d all be dead here, so don’t act like an idiot.”

Even though he was two heads taller and more heavily built than me, his actions just now were practically suicidal.

If I didn’t push him hard, he would clearly do something strange.

“What you’re trying to do isn’t revenge, it’s suicide. Get a grip. If you want to die following your comrades, you might as well just kill yourself cleanly here. If you have a head on your shoulders, you’d know you won’t get a good ending if you die by goblins.”

“……Damn it.”

He must be frustrated.

And he must want to say, ‘Who the hell are you to say that?’

But the reason he was trembling and couldn’t say anything was both because I wasn’t saying anything wrong, and because that person wasn’t completely out of their mind either.

“Sorry for the harsh words. But if you truly cared about your comrades, you shouldn’t have chased after that.”

“……No. I’m the one who’s sorry. And, thank you.”

“It’s okay.”

Since it was true that I had cursed first, I thought he wouldn’t see me favorably.

Expressing apology and gratitude so readily, more than I expected, suggested he had only lost his temper for a moment and wasn’t a bad person by nature.

If that’s the case, I should also show some goodwill.

I took out the hemostatic agent I had received as a reward last time from my bag.

“Apply this. And first, let’s get to a safe place.”

If we just stayed here, goblins could swarm again.

We have to get at least 4 hours away from here.

“Everyone move. I’ll help too, so if you have anything to say to each other, let’s do it somewhere safe.”

The time for asking and answering each other questions won’t be too late even afterwards.