Leave a comment

TL: Yuki

◇

She ran through the forest, taking Chibi and Youmu with her.

“…Damn.””
Damn.”

The words spontaneously flowed out of my mouth.

Gii’s words echoed from an ornament near my ear. This is a magical device called the “Resonance Bell” that allows two ornaments to communicate with each other within a 20 km range. Telekinesis is not a skill that everyone can learn, and the accuracy varies from user to user. It is said that the magical ornaments were invented for this exact reason.

A single one costs no less than one gold coin, but for the sake of this mission, everyone except Luka is wearing one.

And…

It was ten minutes before we heard Aya’s tearful voice.

We were on our way to Goblin’s nest under the guidance of Gii and the others.

Fortunately, we didn’t get attacked by any Goblins on the way, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

If we were thinking about the city, we should probably retreat immediately and fortify our defenses, like Luka said. However, I did not want to abandon Luka. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way, and no one admonished this behavior.

Well, even Shino, according to Garum.

“If Luka really wanted us to stay in the city, she could have said something else. In short, this is a warning that if we come, we can’t guarantee our lives.”

It was as if we had known each other for a long time.

A few minutes of running later… A few minutes later, I saw Gii, Aya, and Garum gathering.

Ahead of them was a large hole in the ground, a Goblin in armor…. Was it a Goblin Knight?

“Hey, we’re here. This way, this way.”

Garum didn’t seem to be in a hurry, and waved his hand in the air.

Gii and Aya looked at him as Shino did, and they each said something.

“Leticia-chan, Chibi-chan, and Youmu-san!”

“That was quicker than I thought.”

They were both impatient and upset, but Aya had regained her composure. This was probably because Garum was trying his best to behave as usual. Garum’s seemingly dry response was probably a blessing in disguise for the team.

“Sorry I’m late… So, where’s Luka?”

To my question, Aya mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“Gobusuke… According to the Goblin I tamed, the inside was mostly made up of evolved Goblins, and there were a few Goblins that were even more advanced than the Knight. It seems that Luka-san and him are separated at the moment, but he wants to wait a bit until we contact him.”

A certain amount of magic is used to communicate with the Tamed demons.

Since there were Goblins who were familiar with magic in the Goblin’s lair, Luka-san’s position could be aggravated by careless remarks.

It was frustrating, but according to Aya, Luka had been offered as livestock and the Goblin king had accepted Shino’s goblin.

This means that, aside from chastity, life is guaranteed to some extent as long as you don’t take any inappropriate action. I don’t even want to imagine what livestock is used for at this point, but… As long as we invade, it will be an unavoidable path.

You have to be prepared so that whenever you come across something like that, you don’t have to panic.

“Well, if that’s the case… The situation is the same as originally planned. It’s just that they’re a step or two ahead of what we expected.”

Garum said as he finished checking the internal situation with Aya.

“Let’s see, me, Chibi, and Youmu will go in and distract them, Garum will take advantage of the confusion and go on a raid, and Gii and Aya will deal with the Goblins that came back from outside or escaped from inside?”

I checked the plan again, which seemed to put Garum in a lot of danger.

Garum seemed to have noticed my thoughts and shuffled his hand on my head.

“What? You’re worried about me, little girl? Hahahaha, that’s a man’s best friend.”

“No, no, no! Of course, I’m going to worry! Garum may be strong, but you can’t do it alone!”

But Gii rebuked me with a hand chop and said, “Yes, yes, calm down.”

“Aha!”

“Master!”

Chibi’s tail snapped up.

“Well, I understand your concern, but have you seen his skill set? It’s designed for solo combat. If it comes to head-to-head combat, this guy is stronger on his own, so don’t worry. And if you’re not expecting it, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

Ignoring Chibi’s reaction, Gii told her as if he was talking to himself. Gii was probably worried too.

Garum, however, seems to be having none of it, and laughs.

“Gahahaha, it’s not true that I’m stronger alone, you know? I’m stronger when there’s someone waiting for me to return. Especially if it’s a pretty girl. If you want, you can just…”

He looked at Aya with a slightly lecherous look, but she didn’t understand. But Aya doesn’t understand.

“…Anyway, don’t worry about me. Don’t worry about me. It’s easier for me to do what I want when you guys go over there to make a distraction.”
Garum said this while scratching his head, as if Aya’s reaction was more boring than he thought.

“Anyway, Gii and Aya are the only ones guarding the outside, right? Will they be okay?”

Youmu confirms to the two of them while looking at Garum’s sexual harassment comment.

The Goblins’ platoon seems to be patrolling the area, and with only three of us going in, there will naturally be some leaks. The two defenders on the outside who secure and maintain the escape route are probably a bit insufficient in terms of strength.

However, if the city’s forces were to be further dispersed to this side, there would be no real protection when the time came. We have no choice but to make do with the strength we have.

But Gii responded in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Oh, we’ll probably be fine.”

“Of course, we can’t take on the entire force, but the forest is full of magic these days. Both spirit magic and tree magic can be expected to be powerful. And I’ve been given Leticia’s magical water as well. I can take on a bunch of leftover soldiers.”

I shared five liters of magic water with Gii and Youmu, who had access to storage. The fact that a sorcerer can weave a magic formula without worrying about how much magic power is left is still quite amazing.

I don’t know how strong he actually is, but if he says he’s okay, then I have to believe him. I don’t have the luxury of worrying about other people’s problems in the first place.

“Well, that’s the thing, Leticia girl, there’s really no guarantee of life from here on out. It’s a deal that’s not even remotely worthy of your identity. Are you still going?”

Garum looks straight into my eyes and asks me a question.

I’m not sure what to make of it, but I think it’s a good idea.

So, as if in response to Shino, I too looked straight into Garum’s eyes.

“I’m going.”

Maybe I’m drunk from my own actions.

{Maybe it’s an outburst from the baseless confidence that comes from having gained the extraordinary power of a demon king.}

Somewhere in my heart, I may have been so confident that I would never die.

Still, it doesn’t matter.

I can come up with any number of reasons not to go save her.

I can even dismiss my decision as the ravings of a misunderstood fool.

But I don’t want her to die, I don’t want Luka-san to die. I didn’t want to lie about that thought, either.

“Well, then, I’ll leave the spearhead to you.”

Garum, somewhat satisfied with my reply, fluttered his hand down and looked away.

“Yeah, we’ll take care of the back.”

With that, we launched our invasion into the Goblin’s lair.