Magic Swordsman and Black Organization [3] – part 1
After that, we left the Magic Swordsman Association, and looked at the three request forms for the time being.
「Goblin, ogre, and chimera… I know the minimum information from rumors and pictorials, but I have never seen the real thing…」
Ria and Rose looked at each other with surprise for a brief moment.
「Is that so? I hear that the number of monsters has increased recently… So, we’ll probably get to see a lot of them…」
「Aa, I’ve heard that rumor lately, too…」
I don’t know if I should count myself lucky or otherwise, as I’ve never seen them before.
Then Rose tilted her head and asked.
「By any chance, were you born in a noble family, Allen?」
Perhaps she thought so because I said I have never seen a monster before.
Unfortunately, I did not have a sheltered upbringing, but rather an exposed upbringing.
「No no, I am from Goza village – a rural area in the countryside.」
「Goza village…? Sorry, I don’t know.」
「Haha, I bet not.」I chuckled.
Goza is a very small village with a population of less than a hundred.
Only the villagers or merchants who trade with the villagers, or local officials would know of it.
It is a village with a small presence and economic scale.
No wonder that Rose doesn’t know.
I cleared my throat and get back to the main topic that began to derail a little.
「Now, what do we do? From these three kinds… shall we start with goblins?」
Subjugation of five goblins.
The number of necessary subjugations is the highest among the three requests, but the fighting power of each goblin is not very high.
This is probably the easiest request of the three.
「Yeah… First, warming up with the weak goblins, and then moving on to ogres is the safe route.」
「I think that’s a good plan. We can leave the chimera for last.」
We were of one mind.
「All three kinds appear in the Zol forest… It’s too good to be a coincidence.」
「Certainly… Bonz-san is a very kind person.」
「Un, his round cute eyes are the testament to that.」
「Although, he looks scary, he’s a good person. Also, he seems to be acquainted with Leia-sensei since long ago.」
In any case, it’s helpful that all three requests were at the same location.
This saves us the hassle of travelling back and forth.
「Then, let’s move at once.」
「「Ou!」」
Thus we headed to the Zol forest, a little away from Orest.
■
It took about an hour on foot to reach.
As we arrived at Zol Forest, we looked for our first target, the goblins.
Naturally, dangerous monsters other than goblins also lived in the forest.
So we acted quietly so as not to make careless noises.
And then,
「Look there, Allen…!」
Ria whispered, as she pointed to the hoof prints on the ground.
「Are these… goblin footprints?」
「Yes, I’m sure of it.」
「It’s still fresh… The goblins are close.」
「Yoshi, let’s be more caution from here on.」
Ria and Rose nodded, and we erased our presence and searched for the goblins.
Two minutes later,
「…There it is」
We found seven goblins in front of us.
Green body surface.
Height of about 100cm and walking on two legs.
With a muscular body.
And a wooden club dangling on the waist.
(I’m seeing them for the first time… but they look exactly as I’ve heard)
Fortunately, the goblins don’t seem to have noticed us.
Seven of them were all gathered in one place and were in the middle of devouring nuts.
「I would like to bring down all seven together, but… that is certainly pushing it, isn’t it?」
「Yes, our goal this time is to train after all.」
「Un, let’s take them head-on.」
Our purpose this time is not just hunting goblins.
Fighting against goblins – that is, training aimed at gaining experience in actual battle.
Launching a surprise attack and taking down all seven in one fell swoop, defeats the purpose of training.
「Ria, Rose, are you ready?」
「Yes.」
「Of course.」
After confirming their nods, I deliberately shook the nearby bushes with my sword.
The goblins turned towards the rustling all at once.
「Gugya!」
「Gugyagya!」
「Gyagyagya!」
Several of them shouted something with their hoarse voice, and the next moment, all seven goblins rushed at the same time.
Ria and Rose firmly assumed their respective stances, and I fired a faint from long range.
「First Sword – Flying Shadow!」
The first Flying Shadow after the holy festival,
「Ha!?」
The power and speed had increased by threefold more than usual.
「Buhii!?」
「Buhya!?」
「Bugya!?」
As a result, all seven goblins were severed in an instant.
「E-Ehー…」
Honestly, this is no training.
As I turned back towards the two,
「A-Allen…?」
「…No way?」
The two, were baffled by the unexpected situation, with their mouths hanging wide open.
「E-Err… sorry, I ended it too soon…」
With a bitter smile, I lightly apologized.
「No, no, no, no…What was that? It wasn’t the usual『Flying Shadow』!? 」
「Is it a new technique…?」
The two curiously approached me.
「No, no, it’s the usual Flying Shadow…」
However, in any case, the current slash was『three-fold』the ordinary Flying Shadow.
Speed, Power, Range – everything was in a different league from the usual.
(W-What’s going on…?)
I dropped my gaze on my right hand in amazement.
And then,
「Anyway, let’s leave this place first.」
Ria saw the carcasses of the seven goblins and suggested moving to a place.
「Y-Yes, let’s move for the time being.」
Sooner or later, beast and monsters stronger than goblins will be drawn here by the smell of blood.
We should leave this place as soon as possible, so as not to encounter any of them.
And when we were about to move,
「Oh… wait a moment」
Rose quickly collected the horns of the seven goblins in an accustomed manner.
「That is…?」
「It’s the proof of the goblin’s subjugation. Without this, the request would not be completed.」
「Hee, is that so?」
As expected of Rose, an experienced magic swordsman.
「Well then, let’s go.」
「Yup.」
「Un.」
Then we quickly left the spot, and opened a discussion about the next target.
「Next is ogres…」
Subjugation of three ogres.
Although the number is less than the goblins, the difficulty is higher.
Ogres are just like goblins, but bigger in size.
Intelligence is much lower than the goblins, but its size is a threat.
There are individual differences, but even the smaller ones are as huge as Paula-san.
ーIn other words, ogres are huge.
Rumor has it that some mutant-ogres are over 10 meters tall.
「If you’re looking for an ogre… it has to be a place near water source.」
「Exactly.」
I nodded in agreement with Ria’s opinion.
As she said, the ogre’s habitat is almost always near water.
Because their intelligence is too low, they are unable to memorize the terrain.
In other words, if they leave the water site even once, they will not know how to return to it. If that happens, the ogres which couldn’t find the next water site, will die due to dehydration.
So they are instinctively inseparable from the water site once they discover it – they are unable to leave.
「A water site in the Zol forest… There was a small river to the west, wasn’t there?」
If I remember correctly, there was a small river running from north to south.
「Yeah, I remember that too.」
「Oh, I didn’t know」Rose said.
「Yoshi, let’s find the river first and then search for the ogres.」
「Un!」
「Okay」
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