Volume 14 - CH 15

We're searching the area around Mox Village to get rid of the goblin.

「Hey there, you're the leader, Alec-kun, right?」

A young man in white armor and a white cloak came up to us. He asked me with a smile.

「Yes, but who are you?」

「I'm Sky of the B-rank party "Blue Sky". Fuh.」

The gesture of scratching up his long blue hair was annoying. First of all, cut your hair.

「Hey, Saki, do you mind if I take a quick look at this guy?」

「Hmm, I don't think so.」

Saki smiles bitterly, but I think she knows that I don't like him.

「I heard about it. I heard that goblins have appeared near here. But! Now that I'm here, you can rest assured. Can you gather the leaders of the parties here first? You.」

「Why?」

「It's obvious! Because it'll be faster if we divide up the search by location than if we search separately.」

「Ahh, yeah, yeah, Sky-han, that's already been decided, hasn't it?」

「No, no, it's between you and the Knight, right?」

「Hmm? Yeah, but ......」

「Okay, let's rethink this. Since I'm a B-rank and I have higher rank you, I'll be in charge of this matter.」

「You're a superior, huh. Can't you even tell the level of the other parties?」

「What did you say? Mumurgh, That sword, Mithril Sword and Flame Sword? Th-That's ridiculous. ...... kkuhh, are those dragon scales on your armor? Wha, They're all first-class item rarities. ......!」

The open-mouthed Sky was disturbing, but he seemed to have a decent eye for appraising equipment.

「Let me introduce ourselves. We're the A-rank clan the "Black Cat of the Wind".」

「What, you're ace-ranked!?」

We pronounced it as "A", but Sky said it was "Ace". It's so annoying.

「Well, it looks like you got it, so let's go.」

「Yes, master.」

「W-Wait a minute!」

「You know, we're busy, too. If you think I'm lying, you'd better check with the guild first. Our leader is not short-tempered, but he's a little pissed off. I think you might die.」

「Oh, no, no. I'm sorry. I didn't expect to find an ace class to be here. Please, let us help you.」

The misunderstood Skye has changed his attitude, so we'll let him help.

「Well, that's fine. You guys go look for the west.」

I'll tell them where they won't run into us.

「Yes, sir!」

As soon as Sky and the others heard my instructions, they dashed off to the west.

「That's a B rank. I wonder if the rank on the Kingdom of Vernia is lukewarm?」

Saki said as she looked at Sky and the others moving away.

「No, Murphy's group was also B-rank, so I guess it's not that different.」

「I guess you could say that. But when we were B-ranked, I think we noticed the higher rankings right away.」

「We were ranked A for speed. We were probably better than the rest.」

「That's right.」

When Saki was easily convinced, we resumed our search.

「Master, the smell is continuing this way.」

「Good.」

I'll follow Meena, but maybe...... If she's here, we wouldn't have had to call in the clan?

Well, I don't mind, because I'm ready to expand the search area.

「Hmm?」

The bushes in the forest rustled, and we stopped to take precautions.

But it was Serina and the others who came out.

「Oh, Alec.」

「How's it going over there?」

「We haven't found them yet. It's pretty hard to find an enemy.」

Nene and Fianna were with the Serina group.

「I see. I thought your [Enemy Counter] would be useful here.」

「No, you can't. Because every single time I use this skill another Kamadouma gets caught. My skills don't allow me to determine the type of enemy.」

「I see.」

「Master, the goblins are close by. There are three of them.」

Meena told me, so I searched the area visually, but.....there it is!

The goblins are hiding behind a tree, keeping a watchful eye on the area.

「There they are! Over there!」

Immediately, Saki whistles and informs the others nearby.

「Serina, you go around from the other side.」

「Roger that!」

「Gigig!」

「Oh this is bad! A ningen, or an adventurer!」　(TLN: Ningen = Human)

Nene started the guessing game.

「Nene, do you know which way they're going to run?」

「No, I can't read them that far. ――It's all right, My Honey, don't worry. I'll protect you no matter what happen!

Serina turned around and attacked one of them.

「Gyaaah!」

「Giiii!」

「Nooo! Darling! Stooop it!」

「Gigii.....」

「Kkhh, q-quickly and get out of here while you still can. ...... No matter what happens, I'll always love you, my honey.」

Nene, stop doing that because it's going to make it harder to defeat them.

「Hmph, I'm not going to let you get away! Fireball!」

Furthermore, Serina relentlessly pursued them.

「Gyaah!」

When there's only one left, I stop her.

「Wait a minute, Serina!」

「What!? We're dealing with goblins! And Nene, don't say anything else.」

「Y-yes」

「No, that's not what I meant. ...... Well, I guess they're all taken care of.」

But one of the goblins was still breathing, so I ran over to it.

「Nene, come here.」

「Y-Yes, sir.」

「Where did you guys come from?」

I ask the goblin.

「Giii!」

「Avenge my darling!」

「Tsk. it's futile, huh」

It seems that the goblin doesn't understand our language, and even if it did, it wouldn't answer.

I picked up the magic stone that the goblin that turned into smoke dropped.

「I'm sorry, Alec, you were trying to get information out of them.」

Serina seemed to have realized what I was trying to do, and apologized uncomfortably.

「You don't have to worry about it, Serina. It was useless anyway. Meena, can you track these guys?」

「I'll give it a try.」

Meena smelled where these three goblins had come from and began to track them.

As we followed her, keeping an eye out for enemies, we saw a large group of goblins coming toward us.

「What the hell is that?」

「It looks like a Kamadouma, but there's something strange about it. Are they trying to attack us?」

「No, look, that one is running away from us. They're all over the place. It doesn't look like they're targeting us.」

「Yeah. Why are they moving around so much?」

「Are they ...... being chased by something? I see.」

I remember reading about this situation in a book. It was a pattern of weak monsters fearing a powerful monster that suddenly appeared and started running away all at once.

Mystery solved.

「No more chasing them. We'll head back to Mox Village.」

「「「 Undestood! 」」」