Chapter 112.1 - Forest's Old Tower

Chapter 112.1 - Forest's Old Tower

I, who unluckily got involved in a fight between the salamander and black T-Rex, was currently walking briskly in the forest after once again being reminded of the dangers of other world's dungeons.

「... For some reason, the number of Gomas has been increasing lately.」

I said so, looking at the third Goma's troop that was annihilated by me. The one who came to attack first was them, thus I felt relieved for a while now. Yes, I felt relieved since they're the enemy that I was familiar with.

Anyhow, though I've been walking in the densely grown simial forest, I lost the sight of those idiotic monkeys upon entering this forest, only to be replaced by numerous Gomas instead. In addition, the Goma who positioned itself in the middle of the formation, the one with a height to similar a human, made me recall that Macho Goma's hunting team that I’d obliterated before.

I’d fought them three times in total, but to be honest, that was an inevitable encounter after smoothly avoiding the many other hunting teams that I discovered beforehand. From that fact, I understood that this forest was their territory.

「No, they might ... Build their living place nearby.」

The chances of that happening weren’t nil. Goma, the human-shaped monster was a cave dweller, similar to goblins, they weren't supposed to build communities like a village, or so I assumed. Though their ecology was still surrounded by many mysteries, Goma, who has a lower IQ than a human but more than a monkey, would definitely think about building a den-like place of dwelling somewhere in this forest.

The mysterious skeleton that was left behind in that ancient magic facility in this dungeon was definitely Goma's skeleton. That's why I more than convinced that they're not monsters that popped out of nowhere like in the game, they must have some sort of community, or village to raise their children.

That's why I had no doubt that the rising encounter rate with Goma's troop was definitely because I was about to arrive at their village.

「Honestly, I don't want to go any further than this though.」

I think this much was still within my safety margin. In the worst case, I won't be easily defeated by a small Goma's hunting party.

And yet, several battalions with a Goma-like macho in each, on top of that, a fortress-like base surrounded by fences to prevent any intruder ... Was not the kind of structure that could be breached just by me and Rems.

I didn’t have the slightest idea about their maximum number of troops, but looking back at the army of Jiras in the underground lake, it wasn’t strange for them to breed until they reached those numbers.

「Even so, my compass is pointing straight ahead.....」

I was in deep trouble since the magic compass's arrow which served as my one and only guide was pointing ahead and not telling me to go back or take a detour. It was as if it were saying: "Go forth, Youth, believe in the future.”

Damn it! I refuse to believe in you, damned compass! I mean I see nothing but a bleak future in the direction you're pointing .

「But still, I really have no choice but to go forward.」

I mean, the compass has no function of pointing the road. In short, I'll become a stray child in this forest if I were to ignore the direction it pointed. In that case, I could kiss a good-bye to the chance of escaping from this labyrinth.

It was the trio of Ueda, Nakai, and Shimokawa, otherwise known as the Totem Pole Trio. It seemed like they were being surrounded by the Gomas.

If I'm not wrong, yeah, they're the very reason for Souma Yuuto's harem party temporary separation. Because Shimokawa used his water magic to kidnap Takanashi Kotori just before the teleportation, Souma Yuuto, who leaped to save her, was left behind as a result ... His actions and courage to save the damsel in distress even at the risk of being left behind was something too amazing for someone as petty as me to do.

I was more surprised knowing those three were still safe and sound even after such a hostile act against THAT Souma Yuuto. The majority of the reason might be attributed to Souma Yuuto's hatred for killing a fellow human. And the rest to the fact that despite the difference between their individual power, the three of them were strong enough to not run away from a fight against Souma Yuuto- the proof was right in front of me- the Totem Pole trio could drive those Gomas who has far superior number this far with their abilities.

Anyway, I've been told that Shimokawa's vocation was 『Hydromancer』. Upon a closer look at their do-or-die formation, I assumeed that Ueda's vocation was 『Swordsman』 and Nakai's 『Warrior』.

「YE BASTARD! SHOW ME MORE OF YER GUTS WILL YA!」

I heard a man yell loudly when the Totem Pole trio was about to be defeated by the Gomas.

「He's, let me see ... Yamada-kun, right?」

His shaved head, bumpkin-like face, and catcher-like build was the template of baseball players. In fact, he really was the catcher of our school baseball team.

But it doesn't mean that Yamada-kun had a good relationship with Takashima-kun who I found dead in the beginning, they didn’t seem to be battery combi of pitcher-catcher either.

Well, it wasn't that rare for classmates who went to the same club to not having any sort of contact. I mean, I was the same as them, only talking to Nagae-san who was also in literary club in business-like manner. There's a slight relationship gap between the male and female member of our literature club.

That matter aside, Yamada-kun went to distract the Gomas by himself while riling up the Totem Pole trio.

It felt like that he has the same 『Warrior』 Vocation as Mei-chan when I saw his axe-wielding stance but ... It seemed there's a power gap when I compared him with Nakai who had the same 『Warrior』 vocation as him. Or should I say that their fighting style and footwork were completely different?

His style was completely different from Yoshizaki-san who also had 『Warrior』 vocation. What is this, someone please tell me why his fighting style was so different from the others ...

「Ah, that's right, attack me with all you got.」

Warrior was a vocation that excelled in power, thus they could use heavyweight weapons such as an axe with ease. One of Yamada-san's swing struck the Goma right in its crown, and continue downward, splitting its body in two. But such a show of brute power will definitely cause an injury as long as a warrior wields an edged tool. So that's the reason for those Gomas to dodge his attack, huh, I mean it's a one-hit-kill type attack after all.

But, Yamada-kun who threw away his gakuran and was only wearing a slightly dirtied tanktop-like shirt could stop the attack of the Goma with his bare skins as if he wore some sort of invisible armor.

Gomas’ rusty knives and spears couldn't pierce his defense at all. He didn't budge even after receiving an attack from a blunt weapon. And forget about arrows, those are already repelled by his iron-like skins.

「It gives a similar feeling to Souma Sakura's 『Oracle Field』, nay, this is more like a reinforced muscle.」