Chapter 30
Thwack!
Gailson's axe embedded itself deep into the Goblin King's thick neck.
Was it finally over?
For a Goblin King, that was surprisingly anticlimac-
"Guwwooooarrrgh!"
-tic, it was not. The bastard was still alive.
The massive figure, covered in mud and blood, staggered and forced its upper body up.
Opening its bloodstained mouth wide, it let out a roar that seemed to tear from deep within.
"H-huh?"
Smack. Clatter!
Trying to pull his axe out, Gailson took a direct hit from the Goblin King's fist and was sent flying backward.
Seeing him lie perfectly still where he fell, things did not look good.
"Gailson! Goddamn it!"
While Nick cursed in despair, the Goblin King stood up and regained its footing.
Breathing heavily, the monster grabbed the axe handle sticking out of its neck.
As it twisted and pulled the weapon out with its thick hands, sticky blood spurted into the air.
Splash!
"Gurk-!"
Spraying blood, the staggering giant glared in our direction with a mangled, bloody face.
Its eyes were bloodshot.
It was a deeply engraving glare, as if swearing never to forget our faces.
'Damn it, I don't even have any mana left.'
What do I do? Should I swing my staff?
What difference would a staff make against a monster that took an axe to the neck?
My head spun at the desperate situation.
Strangely enough, the monster didn't immediately lunge at us.
"...."
The Goblin King glared at us for a moment before...
Splash. Splash.
It suddenly turned around and disappeared into the forest, kicking up mud in its wake.
'Is it running away...?'
Just then, Geminic and Charlie came running up behind us.
"Riv!"
Seeing their faces covered in small scratches, the fight below must have been quite intense as well.
Only after the Goblin King completely vanished from sight and the mercenaries arrived did my tension finally melt away.
"Phew..."
I slumped to the ground and waved my hand to signal I was okay.
Come to think of it.
"Where's Piren?"
I hadn't seen him for a while; where did he go?
"That bastard, he was fighting a goblin one-on-one and..."
Listening to Charlie's brief rundown,
Piren had engaged in a dramatic solo duel with a goblin, got completely wrecked, and Charlie had barely dragged him out.
Charlie said he only gave him some basic first aid and tossed him into a nearby bush.
...Is this guy really cut out to be a mercenary?
"Gailson!!"
Geminic yelled and rushed toward the collapsed pile of rubble.
Gailson was lying there, unconscious.
"Cough-!"
Blood was violently spewing from his mouth.
He must have suffered internal injuries; the bleeding wouldn't stop.
Even in the midst of it all, his arms were bruised dark blue, a sign he had tried to defend himself.
Clearly, marks of blocking that punch.
...It punched through that guard and damaged his organs?
That monster was definitely not normal.
"But,"
Nick spoke up.
"The Goblin King... why did it run away?"
I had been wondering the exact same thing.
Considering its momentum, it could have easily steamrolled us and finished the job.
"Well, it wasn't in its right mind either..."
As my voice trailed off, Geminic, who was tending to Gailson, spoke up quietly.
"Do you know why the Goblin King is called that?"
"...No."
I shook my head.
Isn't it just because it's the strongest individual among the goblins?
Geminic took a shallow breath and opened his mouth.
"The Goblin King is strong. That is a fact. But what's truly terrifying is-"
Geminic paused and looked toward the distant forest.
"It has the power to 'gather' goblins."
"Gather... them?"
"There was an actual case in the past. A higher-tier goblin once established a Kingdom centered around a massive Jungle on the Southern Continent."
A brief silence fell over us.
Geminic slowly continued his explanation.
"For a whopping two hundred years. It is said to have survived while fending off attacks from neighboring countries."
Two hundred years....
I couldn't quite grasp how incredible that was, but it was definitely impressive.
"Ever since then, we started calling those massive and intelligent individuals the 'Goblin King'."
"So that's..."
I thought it didn't live up to its name, but I guess it really was a Commander type?
"The reason it ran away was probably because it judged there was no need to take unnecessary risks. It was already injured, and taking all of us down in its current state would have been too much."
Rather than fight to the death while injured, it decided to plan for the future.
It was an extremely realistic and appropriate choice.
Then again, this isn't a game.
There's no reason to charge in blindly when you only have 1 HP left.
If you're at low health... it's only right to run away.
"If that's the case, we should have finished it off this time."
As I muttered to myself, Geminic answered while supporting Gailson.
"Well, it's a shame... but we'll have to wait for the Guild to handle it now."
Right, we don't necessarily have to kill every single one of them.
It's not like the weight of the world rests solely on our shoulders.
"D-damn it, hurts like hell."
Gailson mumbled something, but his pronunciation was so slurred I couldn't hear it properly.
However, judging by his tone and the look in his eyes... it was definitely a curse.
Even after taking a beating like that, his temper hasn't changed. That's honestly amazing.
We roughly gathered a few Subjugation Tokens and went to look for Piren, who was supposedly lying in a Bush.
And the moment we saw him, everyone was speechless for a second.
"...Piren?"
Lying face down in the Bush, Piren slowly lifted his head.
His face was a teary mess, and the Bandages wrapped around him were soaked red in several places.
"Hic... sniff..."
It seems he got hurt pretty badly.
With the Bandages covering his entire body and the tears streaming down his face, he looked exactly like a battered game character.
"It's all over. Let's go."
When Charlie spoke quietly, Piren hesitated, lowered his head, and replied in a small voice.
"...Yes...."
He must have been embarrassed about it too.
He soon stopped crying and followed us.
It was a huge relief that Piren could still walk.
Phew, I almost had to carry him on my back.
Just like that, taking the two wounded with us, we slowly made our way back to the Village.
***
By the time we arrived at the Village, the sun was already setting.
A Village Resident who saw us hurriedly brought the Village Chief, whose eyes widened when he saw the state of Gailson and Piren.
"Oh my, what on earth happened?"
"The subjugation... was a success, for now."
As my words trailed off, Geminic stepped up to speak on my behalf.
"There was a Goblin King. The monster managed to escape, but we cleared out the settlement."
"...A Goblin King, you say?"
The Village Chief was at a loss for words for a moment before urgently calling for someone.
Soon, a few strong men from the Village came running, and they carefully lifted and moved Gailson and Piren.
The two were moved to a room in the Inn, and thanks to the resident Herb Gatherer in the Village, the basic treatment was finished quickly.
Gailson, who I thought was in critical condition, was surprisingly fine.
I couldn't tell if he was just naturally tough, or if he hadn't been hit that hard.
"Fortunately, it doesn't look life-threatening. He'll have to stay in bed and only eat porridge for a while."
Hearing the Herb Gatherer's words, Gailson made a horrified face.
Since he was a guy who filled his stomach with Beer every single day, it was understandable he'd be shocked by that.
The Herb Gatherer glanced at Piren and spoke again.
"Compared to him, this one is pretty fine. His side is deeply cut, but it missed the organs. He'll be perfectly fine in a week."
Piren was curled up under the blanket, with only his face sticking out from the Bandages.
He must have still been embarrassed about getting caught crying.
Honestly, even a fleeing Goblin wouldn't have looked that pathetic.
Now I shouldn't just call him a coward, but crybaby Piren.
After hearing the positive diagnosis, I stepped out of the room filled with the scent of Herbs.
"...Um, Riv."
Nick cautiously approached and spoke to me.
"That Magic from earlier, that was you, right, Riv?"
Magic? Ah, I suddenly remembered what I had forgotten.
Gerangi! Is this little guy safe inside.
When I opened my Pouch, the guy was thankfully curled up asleep inside.
Phew, I thought I left him behind.
"Yeah, well. I guess so."
"I see. Really... thank you."
Nick bowed his head and quietly expressed his gratitude.
I really should be thanking Gerangi, but there was no need to wake the sleeping guy up.
After all, the Bear does the tricks, but the Owner gets the money.
Thump! Clank! Thump! Clunk!
Urgent footsteps echoed from the Stairs.
A moment later, Barret rushed up the Stairs, panting heavily.
"Huff... huff... Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah, well. Nothing life-threatening."
At my words, Barret looked visibly relieved.
He had mentioned his Mercenary Group was cut in half a month ago, so it must have been terrifying to almost face a similar situation again.
Later, after hearing the whole story from Geminic, Barret bowed toward me.
"Thank you so much. Because you came along, Riv, everyone was able to return safely."
"Oh, well... I didn't really do much."
I meant it.
Honestly, Geminic took care of most of the Goblins, and Gailson and Nick delivered the finishing blows against the Goblin King.
It wasn't like I did nothing at all, but I felt I just did my fair share.
"No, if you weren't there, Riv... someone would have definitely died."
"...."
If he put it like that, it was awkward to deny it any further.
If I dragged this out, I'd probably just be told to tone down the modesty.
I just quietly nodded, and only then did Barret lift his head.
"Words aren't enough. I'll make sure to get you a separate reward."
"That sounds nice...."
Yeah, this is much better.
Doesn't his sincerity shine right through?
"Would you like to rest? Or perhaps, grab a meal?"
Grumble.
Just hearing the word 'meal' made my stomach react first.
All I had eaten today were a few Pieces of Hardtack in the morning.
"...Let's go eat."
***
[ You have reached the section. Please choose a perk. ]
'It's been a while.'
After eating a filling dinner and falling asleep, I suddenly found myself in a space filled with darkness.
Hmm... yeah, let's just call it the Level-up Stage for convenience.
It's been quiet without any killing for a while, so has it been almost a month.
Whoosh-
A familiar, somewhat divine sound.
Since there were no special triggers this time, three Cards slowly floated up as usual.
___________________________
[Maximum Health Increase]
[Maximum Strength Increase]
[Maximum Mana Increase]
___________________________
The appearing Cards were the same old ones I always saw.
Health, Strength... and Mana.
'I definitely have to choose Mana.'
With my Mana practically cut in half, I couldn't even call myself a Magician anywhere now.
However, choices that allowed me to pick Mana without any hesitation finally appeared.
Furthermore, the Mana increase Card-actually, the Strength increase Card was also glowing green-was shining with a green light.
It would have been better if it was Blue, but well, this was still something.
I chose Maximum Mana Increase without a second thought.
Watching the Card get absorbed, I waited for a moment just in case.
[ You have reached the section. Please choose a perk. ]
The voice echoed in my ears once again.
"Yes!"
Yeah, after suffering that much, this was only right.
Honestly, I would have been disappointed if it was only once.
I didn't actually kill that many Goblins myself this time.
With this, the existence of party hunting was definitely proven.
'If that's the case, what level am I right now?'
Unfortunately, there was no Status Window or anything like that, so I had to calculate it myself.
Kobolds, Thieves, Goblins. Hmm, would I be around level 7?
Wait, should I include taking down the Demonic Human? Let's leave that out for now.
Should enhancements be included in Level Ups too. I didn't even do anything specific back then.
If I consider the number of times including that, the enhancement happened exactly at level 5.
'Could it be that enhancements appear every 5 levels?'
If another enhancement popped up on the 10th time, this theory might be correct.
Whoosh-
While I was deep in thought, three new Cards floated up.
___________________________
[Maximum Mana Increase]
[Maximum Agility Increase]
[Blue Magic: Sea Fog]
___________________________
Seeing another Maximum Mana Increase almost made my eyes roll back, but the Magic Card next to it snapped me back to reality.
'Sea Fog?'
Unfamiliar with the word, I read the description.
[Consumes Mana to generate fog within a certain Range centered around the user.]
Simply put, is it just a Smoke Bomb.
It seemed okay, but something about it felt off.
I had chosen other Magic without a second thought, but this one felt ambiguous to pick right away.
'I wouldn't be able to see through it either, so isn't this just Troll Magic?'
In a normal game, a Smoke Bomb is thrown to block the enemy's vision.
But this specifically stated that it was centered around the user.
In other words, it was a Magic more suited for escaping or evading.
...Would it get better if I enhanced it?
For example, what if it added an option where allies could see through it, or the center point wasn't me?
Hmm, thinking about it like that, it might not be so bad.
My deliberation grew longer.
Swish.
In the end, what I reached out for was [Blue Magic: Sea Fog].
There was no special reason.
'It'll be helpful someday.'
That was the thought I had when I chose it.
I might regret it later, but I'll think about that when the time comes.
Feeling the Card get absorbed, I quietly closed my eyes.
Hoping for something better to appear next time.
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