Chapter 7: An Unlucky Day

This day was the unluckiest day of my life. Us adventurers were in the middle of the trip home on an escort mission, traveling from the Empire to the Kingdom. We were already more than halfway through our week-long trip. However, at a campsite two days away from our destination, we unluckily ended up encountering goblins.

Goblins aren’t really threatening monsters. In terms of power, an ordinary farmer is a lot stronger. And don’t mention magic, they don’t even have the intelligence to use bows. They’re the lowest E Rank on the Monster Ranking System established by the Adventurer’s Guild, weak to the point that even the Training School’s brats could probably beat them if well prepared.

However, that’s only if there’s just one of them. The goblins tend to swarm together. And when they do, they’re just as much of a threat as any other monster. Three of them and it’s D Rank, seven of them and it’s already acknowledged as C Rank. But right now, just roughly counting, there’s fifteen of them in front of us. It’s probably already in the classification of B Rank, and if we leave them be, a King would probably rise up.

A goblin alone is weak. They’re dumb and powerless. But when they form a swarm, they get stronger and a leader rises up. The leader is brutal, sly, and cunning. He grants the other weapons to fight, wisdom to use magic, and he tramples down upon the weak. The goblins multiply fast, and the more they increase the stronger the King gets.

There are records of a country destroyed by a Goblin King leading a swarm of more than a thousand goblins. That’s why the Adventurer’s Guild has released a permanent request to kill on sight, but their reproductive ability surpasses even that.

It’s likely that these ones were lucky enough to remain undetected, breeding until the swarm reached its current size. But as for me, I can only call it bad luck.

「Gha!?」 「Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!」

From my side, I can hear my friend Grey groaning and Lysha’s shriek from behind. Grey and I are both knights, but perhaps worn out from the unexpected raid, it seems like his stomach was stabbed by the goblin’s crude sword. Lysha and Grey are pretty intimate so I thought maybe it was just an overreaction, but this is quite bad.

Most of a goblin’s weapons are crude, chipped, and rusted. They don’t do any decent maintenance on them. And because of that, if you’re wounded by their weapons, there’s a hundred percent chance for you to get infected by some disease. If it’s just the limbs, then it’s still fine. But if you end up getting stabbed in the stomach, you need to have it healed immediately or else you’ll most probably die. And in our party, there isn’t anyone capable of using Healing Magic Arts. Grey’s not going to survive. Upon realizing that, Lysha broke down. She won’t be any use in this fight anymore.

「This is the worst…. Dammit… Why did this have to happen…」

Today’s the worst day of my life. That’s what I thought up until now. The feeling of losing a comrade. The feeling of being unable to finish our job due to my own weakness. I’ve probably been a bit too careless since we’ve been a bit famous lately. And what it resulted was this. Even if I start regretting now, it’s already too late. That’s what I thought.

And at this moment, I heard a voice.

「I’ll assist!!」

In the cold depths of despair, that voice seemed to have pulled us out. To find the owner of that voice, I looked around the area but there was nobody nearby. No, there is. An almost child-like innocent looking girl. With pink hair emphasized by the dim darkness, clothes that don’t cover much her pure white skin, and overshadowing them all, are her remarkably clear golden eyes.

「Don’t come here, run!」 I was about to yell so. If a young girl like her is caught by the goblins, what would happen next is perfectly obvious. Assault, ⓡⓐⓟⓔ, and then just discarded like a worn-out rag. That’s why I was about to tell her so, but the effect of the spell she chanted shut down my thought process.

「I ask, for the power to repel the injustice before us; I beg, for the atrocity right before us, to “Freeze”!!」

The moment that Magic Art activated, the goblins stopped moving all at once. No, they were forced to stop. There’s not even a single blink, it’s as if their time was forcibly stopped. Only one cast of Magic and that young girl immobilized ten-odd goblins in just an instant.

If it was one of Twelve Sages of Aureitas, then it might have been possible. And maybe the Empire’s Imperial Court Wizards could’ve pulled through, but right in front of me is still a young girl. If she’s already this strong, what kind of beast would she turn out in the future?

Even my comrades have their jaws dropped open, still dumbfounded and in shock. Especially our Mage Arisa, the shock she received must’ve been too much.

And the girl herself doesn’t seem to understand what she has done as she approached the dumbfounded us with a light trot.

「Haa, Thank god it went well. Are you alright?」

I was so out of it, I couldn’t remember much after that. When that girl noticed Grey suffering in pain collapsed next Lysha, she immediately ran towards them. After muttering something for a while, she held out her hands and used Healing Magic Arts. Without any Magic Power Medium nor any Magic Circle too.

I don’t even understand what’s happening anymore, but only this I know. Today may have been my unluckiest day ever, but still, it’s not the worst day of my life.