Chapter 6: Coward Aselle (4)

Chapter 6: Coward Aselle (4)

The goblins who saw blood became frenzied. The face of a comrade, with a mace deeply embedded in it, was nauseating even from the goblins’ perspective. They all grabbed their weapons as if they had made a decision.

“Kyaah?!”

Then one goblin screamed, pointing at the altar. About half of the gathered offerings were missing. The completely crazed goblins screamed in horror and scattered in all directions.

Before long, they could spot a human slowly rising into the air.

“Keaaaak!”

“We’ve been spotted!”

Aselle gritted his teeth and focused his mind. He hadn’t attempted to levitate himself using telekinesis before.

In an instant, goblins swarmed around him, using each other’s bodies as stepping stones, leaping higher and higher.

“Kwaaaah! Get away!”

Various weapons barely missed Aselle. As he struggled with his legs dangling, he finally reached a height the goblins couldn’t reach.

He hurled himself toward a nearby tree. Stretching out all the joints in his body, he barely managed to grab onto an outstretched branch.

“Huuaaak...! Huuaaak!”

Suddenly, his thigh seared with pain, and he lowered his head. He saw blood trickling through a tear in his pants.

Suppressing the rising tears, Aselle shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Heck, Rohan...! Heck, I’ve climbed up!!”

At that moment, a shadow shot out from behind the tree Aselle was hanging onto.

The shadow rushed straight towards the group of goblins. The goblins, their attention on Aselle, didn’t notice Rohan approaching.

Thud!

Simultaneously with the appearance of a silvery arc, three heads soared into the air. Rohan, drawing his first stroke, realized his senses were still sharp, bringing him a sense of relief.

Swoosh! Two more heads, accompanied by spurts of blood, shot up.

“Kyaah? Kyaahaak?!”

Only then did the goblins realize there was another intruder. Of course, Rohan didn’t know that Aselle had already climbed up, so he paid no mind and swung his sword.

The struggling goblin’s torso was sliced vertically.

“Kyauek...!”

Blood sprayed out like an explosion, splattering everywhere. As severed torsos fell away, the tangled intestines unraveled, pouring over the goblins’ heads.

Suddenly, Rohan, who had reached the center of the group, stopped in his tracks.

“Ke-keruk...!”

“One... Two...”

The grim play was a great success. The frightened goblins couldn’t easily approach Rohan.

Rohan counted the remaining goblins while flicking his fingers. His arm was already throbbing, making him feel the need to train his body more rigorously.

Currently visible were thirty-one goblins.

“Fifteen strikes.”

With a kick to the ground, Rohan dashed forward, estimating the number of times he could swing his sword.

Dawn was breaking. The shadows of the trees and grass were lengthening in the gradually brightening sunlight. Birds began to chirp, and animals that had woken from sleep stretched and yawned.

It was a time when everything became beautiful. Except for the goblin lair that had fallen to ruin overnight and Rohan, whose body was covered in blood.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Aselle answered as he held his breath as much as possible. The stench of blood to the point of unconsciousness was vibrating all around. The area around the bonfire was a mess of torn-up Lunar goblins and their contents.

“Good job.”

Rohan patted his shoulder. Aselle nodded without much spirit. Scenes of Rohan’s battle were replaying in his mind over and over.

“What did I just witness?”

It was like a nightmarish scene. Rohan had depicted this massacre with exactly fourteen sword strikes. The slaughter, free of any excess, was oddly artistic.

Suddenly, Aselle felt pathetic.

All he had done was climb up the tree as Rohan instructed. Even without him, Rohan would undoubtedly have achieved a similar result.

“But... didn’t that mean I was unnecessary?”

“Hey, practical experience is important.”

“No, it was dangerous, and I felt like I was just getting in your way.”

“I asked you to do what you could. Eventually, there will be plenty of things only you can do.”

It was a matter-of-fact tone, as if explaining that ice turns into water when it melts. Aselle nodded, hoping it would be so.

“But what’s that on your leg?”

Out of nowhere, Rohan asked with a serious expression. Looking down at his leg, Aselle discovered a long scratch on his thigh.

“Huh? Oh, this was from earlier...”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t hurt?”

Aselle shrugged, as if it was nothing. It was a wound he sustained while climbing the tree, not too deep, so he didn’t mention it on purpose.

****

The first to notice the change was one of the rowers.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“Why are you stopping?”

“Huh, why isn’t the raft moving?”

“But... what’s this?”

Only after that did they finally see the approaching demons with swords in their mouths.

“Eeeek!”

The once-distant gap was rapidly closing. Rohan’s face appeared through the splashing waves, looking terrifying beyond words.

Feeling the danger, the men drew their swords in a hurry.

“Ah, he’s just a kid! No need to be scared!”

“That’s right, kid! If you value your life, turn back now!”

At that moment, Rohan disappeared beneath the water’s surface. Suddenly confronted by the unexpected silence, the men tensed up, on high alert. The only sounds were the gentle flow of water and the rustling of the wind.

-Splash!

Then, a trout leaped out of the water, and simultaneously, with a splash, Rohan emerged from below, landing on the raft, creating a spray of water. In his hand, the black fish he’d been holding was now clenched.

“You damn bastards! I’ll cut your hands off and stuff them up your arses!”

“Kill him!”

The men charged. As Asel had been staring at the raft all along, he turned his head.

The clanging of metal soon turned into desperate screams, resonating over the river.

“Yaaah-!!”

Rohan was undoubtedly keeping his promise. By tomorrow morning, they would find the bodies of the two men downstream, their buttocks impaled.

It was a nightmarish sight he’d rather not imagine, yet for some reason, the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

“Ah... hahaha...”

His lower half felt cold. His body was submerged in water up to his waist. After sinking his ankles into the riverbed, he finally managed to bring the raft to a halt.

Splash!

Aselle’s body fell backward. Like a puppet with its strings cut, he couldn’t move a finger. The inexperienced boy didn’t know that this was due to his mana being depleted.

Floating in the water, he gazed up at the blue sky. It felt like Rohan’s voice was echoing in his ears.

“You said there would be many things only you could do, but I didn’t expect this.”

“Well, practical experience is good...”

The river breeze was refreshing. The clear sun cast a golden hue over the river.

The longest night in Aselle’s life had come to an end.

****

“Why is this kid like this again?”

“Ugh... Rohan... I can’t move...”

Rohan returned alone, rowing the raft.

He managed to lift Aselle, who was floating on the water like a jellyfish, and placed him on the raft. Even tickling his side would only make him laugh weakly, and he seemed completely exhausted.

A streak of blood adorned one corner of the raft. Aselle didn’t bother asking what had happened to the men. Rohan, who had stopped rowing, sat down next to Aselle’s head.

“You stopped it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah...”

“Good job.”

Rohan started poking Aselle’s side again. Aselle chuckled weakly, feeling both helpless and satisfied.

In addition to praising him, Rohan mentioned how much Aselle’s skills had improved to an unbelievable extent.

“Eek, s-stop it! Heh, honestly, thank you.”

Only wind-like sounds came out of Aselle’s mouth, his strength for laughter exhausted. To him, it was an astonishing improvement.

Just a few days ago, he had hesitated about even hanging a single child, but now he could stop a heavy raft. The events of the previous night felt like a long dream.

“Ta-da!”

Then, Rohan held out a sack in front of Aselle. Aselle raised an eyebrow.

“Huh? This... doesn’t seem like ours?”

“Right. It belongs to those thieves.”

It was a sack that hadn’t been there before. Unlike the items the boys had brought, this sack was made of thick, sturdy leather. It was the item the men had left(?) behind while trying to steal the raft.

“They were desperate to protect this. It looks like they stole something else before we arrived.”

“Could it have something to do with the cries we heard in the forest?”

“You’ll find out when you open it.”

Rohan undid the string sealing the sack. The knot was so tightly tied that cutting it might have been easier.

Finally, after untying the knot, Rohan turned the sack upside down. Something with a bluish glint tumbled out.