Volume 3 - CH 9

Chapter 9 – Suicide Squad1

When Eto and his party returned to the inn after having a night battle against the Goblins, a guild staff was waiting for them there. He was there to inform Eto that the Grand master requested him to visit the guild in the early afternoon. And since he seems to be exempted from the defensive battle that night, Eto decided to accept the call to the guild and rested until noon.

As he entered the guild guided by the guild staff, Eto saw the higher-ups of the kingdom such as the knights’ captain, leader of the magic corps, the general of the army, and the leader of the garrison gathered inside. But what made Eto more surprised is that even prime minister Bismarck, who was the top civil official who supported the king, was also there. Although Eto only got acquainted with him when he was still in the Hero’s party, it is rumored that Bismarck is a very talented man with a strict personality to the point he was called the unparalleled prime minister.

“So, you’ve come. Eto-kun, you and your party can sit there.”

From the way how serious Trie looked, Eto knew that the situation clearly had become more urgent.

Eto was worried whether it was fine for him to be in that place alongside those important people, but since he was told to sit, he thought it would be rude to reject it, so he sat down as instructed. And his party members also sat next to him.

It seems among the people who were gathered there, Eto’s party was the last to arrive. Sitting near them were two A-class adventurer parties whom he had talked a little to in the guild before. Yes, the two A-rank parties and Eto’s B-rank party are currently the best adventurers the royal capital had.

Because of the Goblin’s raid, all routes that connect the other towns and the royal capital were closed. Although the Goblins didn’t attack during the day, with hordes of Goblins lurking in the immediate vicinity, even adventurers couldn’t go anywhere. Only two A-rank parties happened to remain in the royal capital when the raid happened. Although there are other B-rank parties, only Eto’s party has a fighting power equal to that of an A-rank party.

“The reason we gathered everyone here was because we have a proposition to end the Goblin’s raid. I’m sure everyone already knows that hordes of Goblins have been attacking the royal capital for a week in a row since their first attack. Even if they didn’t attack in the day, if this continues, the royal capital will surely be paralyzed. The exhaustion of the defensive side also has reached a level that cannot be overlooked. Thus, to end this situation, we proposed to form a suicide squad.”

With a grave expression, Trie explained the reason why he called them there. Needless to say, the prime minister and the other leaders of the kingdom probably already knew about Trie’s plan beforehand. Every one of them was looking straight at them in silence, maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.

“Are we adventurers the only ones participating in that suicide squad?”

Zenith, the leader of an A-rank party 『Arrow of Light』, asked. He squinted his eyes, as if trying to determine the true intentions of the big shots attending the meeting. And that expression was telling them that he couldn’t accept the fact that only adventurers were sacrificed in that plan.

“The purpose of the suicide squad is to subjugate the leader of the Goblins. For that, the core of the team would be made of  adventurers, who are already accustomed to subjugating monsters. Besides the adventurers, the knights corps will also send 10 elites, while the magic corps will send five elites to the team. In addition, the knights and the Royal Army will form a 2,000-member cavalry to pave a way for the squad to go straight to the leader of the Goblins.”

“And the adventurers who will participate are us 『Shrine of Aragami』, 『Arrow of Light』 and them?”

Aram, the leader of 『Shrine of Aragami』, who was known for using a large shield, asked. And his sight was fixed on Eto and his party.

“That’s right. Although Eto’s party is a B-rank, they have the power equal to that of an A-rank party. And I think you guys know about it too. I mean, I am sure you guys have never heard a B-rank party that could wipe out a Wyvern herd unscathed before. Fufu, I hope they could give their party a name that we can easily say, though.”

Trie said, loosening his cheeks while looking at Eto and his party.

“I understand what Trie-sama wants to say. And since the objective of the suicide squad is the leader of the Goblins, please tell us about the information that we currently have regarding it.”

Eto put his answer regarding the participation of his party to the suicide squad on hold. That was because he felt he needed to get as much information as possible about the white-skinned goblin, as they didn’t have enough information to devise a plan to subjugate it.

Then, Trie and Sidrake explained to them about the red-eyed, white-skinned goblin that the investigation team had seen. And it seems, they already named the said goblin 「Red-Eye」.

Red-eye never showed itself in the night raids, and its existence was confirmed only by reports from the investigation team. Other than that, Sorano was also asked by Puke to talk about the folklore of elves. However, even if they knew that it could use powerful magic, they still have no way to counter it without knowing what kind of magic it is. With that, it confirmed that they didn’t have enough information to devise a plan.

“In other words, we only have little information about Red-Eye. I know it is very irresponsible for the guild to one-sidedly give the adventurers a subjugation request of an enemy that even we don’t know much of. However, if this situation continues, the royal capital will be doomed. And in the middle of a situation where we didn’t know how many Goblins are waiting out there, defeating their king is undoubtedly one of the most effective strategies to end this. Because of that, I won’t say something annoying such as this is the obligation of you guys as adventurers. I just want you guys to think carefully about how you can increase your chances of survival before deciding. The rewards for this mission will be 5 million per person, and an additional 10 million per person if the mission is successful.”

As if excited, the tone Trie used while saying that became cruder. Probably because his sense of when he was still just an adventurer has reawakened.

And hearing what Trie said, the adventurers were surprised at the high reward the guild provided for that mission. However, as expected of A-class adventurers. They began to discuss the risks and rewards of joining the suicide squad, and what would happen to the royal capital if the situation continues.

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When Eto looked at his party members, all of them just stared into his eyes and nodded. Seeing that, he thanked the reliable party members he had from the bottom of his heart.

“We will participate. If this continues, the damage may spread to our hometown, after all. With the help of the higher-ups of the kingdom, we have to defeat the Goblins as fast as possible.”

Aram announced the participation of his party to the suicide squad. Eto have heard that the hometown of Aram and his party is a small village in the west from the royal capital before. And Aram said that there was a place where a local God called Aragami was enshrined there, and that’s also where he got his party name from.

“We will also join the suicide squad. Because at this rate, the situation will gradually worsen, and as A-class adventurers, there is no way we would run from that.”

Zenith also said, following Aram. The other members of his party have also made up their minds.

“My party will also join the suicide squad. Hence, I think it is better to have the members of the suicide squad to experience my support magic in advance to have them get used to it. As long as I raise everyone’s power with my support magic, I’m sure our breakthrough power and survival rate will increase.”

Eto also announced their participation in the suicide squad. Although the risk will be high, if they just wait, the situation will definitely worsen. Thus, Eto thought that as long as the knights and army still had plenty of soldiers, they had to try any plan to end the raid.