ăChapter 7
âI think weâll take the quest to destroy the goblinâs nest todayâ
The next day, after Shinjiâs and Renkaâs shopping, the four members of <Running Wolves> gathered at the guild to choose a quest.
âGoblinsâ nest, huh? But, isnât that place is too small for Alvinâs weapons and style?â
âI know it. But I want to take itâ
Alvin stared at Shinji with a serious face. Milis and Renka are also staring at Shinji with the same face. âIs there a reason for this?â, Shinji muttered and tilted his head.
âYou know, there was a party with a lower rank than us that received the quest first. They must have failed because I heard they didnât return. And the party was from our hometownâ
âWe want to send their belongings to their families if possibleâ
âOf course, we also want to avenge themâ
âI seeâ
Shinji nodded and then he asked âDo you have the quest form?â. Alvin then handed the form to Shinji. He bowed to Shinji, who was making a difficult face as he checked the contents.
âIâm sorry, itâs completely personal this time. So, if you donât want to go, Shinji-sanâŚâ
âYou fool!â
Shinji smacked Alvinâs head to stop him from speaking.
Milis and Renka are also dumbfounded by Shinjiâs sudden chop.
âIâm sorryâŚ!â
âDonât underestimate me. Iâll go too. I just checked the details. The quest prize is appropriate for us too, so there is no problemâ
Shinji then handed the quest form back to Alvin.
Alvin smiled happily when he received the quest form.
âWhatâs that!? itâs hard to understand you! If you have a face like that!â
âIâm sorry about that. Itâs a wizardâs job to thinkâ
Alvin slapped Shinjiâs back as he shrugged his shoulders without seeming to be offended.
âItâs true! This time, Alvin is right!â
âThank you, Shinji-sanâ
Renka and Milis are also laughing along with them.
The heavy atmosphere is completely gone, and the usual cheerful atmosphere returns. Alvin then ran quickly towards the door of the room.
âAll right! Then letâs go, everyone!â
âYeah! (Un!) (Okay!)â
After that, the three of them followed Alvin and left the room.
This is a quest that is expected to be difficult. But the four of them can win.
Alvin was convinced of this.
* * *
After finishing their preparations in the city, <Running Wolves> visited the goblinâs nest in the morning of the next day. And after disposing of the dozing goblin guard, they proceeded deeper into the cave.
The cave is dimly lit and the passages are narrow. Renka, who is leading the way and held a lantern, is attentive. Behind her are Alvin, who had switched from his great sword to short sword, and Milis. Shinji also keeping a wary eye out for a back attack, and he had summoned his spirit, Freri, to detect any reaction from the goblin.
When theyâre at a junction and wondering which way to go, Freri, who was sitting on Shinjiâs shoulder, touched his cheek and pointed to the far side of the passage.
ââŚ! âŚâŚ!!â
âWell, it looks like thereâs still a living human response up ahead. And there seems to be no reaction from the goblin either⌠Wait, Renka!â
Suddenly, Renka rushed out in response to Shinjiâs words. Alvin and Milis also followed Renka. Shinji regretted his careless words, but he ran after the three of them.
The room in which they arrived is probably a âBreeding roomâ for goblins. After all, in the corner of the room, there are many women, who wear nothing with empty expressions. In the middle of the room, there is also a girl lying on the floorâŚ
âAkane!!â
âWait, Renka, itâs a trap!â
When Shinji arrived at the room, Renka had already touched the girl.
Alvin and Milis stopped at Shinjiâs shout, but it was already too late. As Renka shook the girl, whom she called Akane, something fell from near the ceiling of the room. As it hit the ground, a loud, high-pitched sound echoed through the cave.
âItâs an alarmâŚâ
Shinji muttered bitterly. Alvin frowned and Milis leaned closer to Alvin. Renka is shocked. The girl who is lied on the floor, Akane, only weakly repeats, âRun⌠Run awayâ.
But Shinji made up his mind. He is ready to risk his life.
âWe canât save ourselves if weâre surrounded in every direction on our way out. Iâll intercept them here. Alvin, switch to your great sword and go wild as usual. Milis will provide support. Renka⌠Renka! Donât just stand there. Weâll all hear your reflections laterâ
Then, Slap! Shinji slapped Alvinâs butt as hard as he could. Really, it makes a nice sound, and the cave echoes with his cries.
âItâs a bunch of goblins that look like theyâre setting a trap for us. We have some time before they gather and come to us. We must be prepared in the meantimeâ
âI know! Mil! Renka! Letâs go! Mil and Renka, gather the women to the back end of the room! Shinji, you set barricade with your <Kijin>!â
âY-Yes! Al! Renka, hurry up!â
âEh, okayâŚI got itâ
âGood grief, youâre a rough leader. Freri, Iâll leave you in charge of the Woodmanâ
ââŚ!!â
With that, each of them started to move.
Shinji took out three fist-sized seeds from his pocket and threw them on the ground.
âTree, protect us. Hear the voice of the flower and help us. <Woodman>â
Using Freriâs magic, he cast a spell on the seeds.
And then, a root exploded from the seed, overlapping and binding together to form a humanoid form the size of a human. Itâs a wooden soldier with a club in his right hand and a shield in his left. When Freri took control, the wooden soldiers began to move and surrounded Alvin.
Next, another seed is planted in the center of the room.
âGrow it. <Ki Kabe>â
A wall of roots then grew up in the middle of the room, splitting the room in half with a waist-high barricade. And now, Alvin and the Woodman are at the entrance, Shinji, Milis and Renka are waiting across the barricade, and the women are trembling behind them.
âAlvin! There are no more seeds to make a woodman. I canât replenish itâ
âAll right! Iâll guard the front! You take care of them!â
âYes!â
âAl! Be careful!â
There is no response from Renka. After all, when Shinji checked on her, Renka is still pale and her hands are shaking as she held her bow. Because of her strong sense of responsibility, Renka still hadnât fully recovered.
âWhy, whyâŚdidnât she checked it first?â, She must thoughts so even though she should have known that it could be a trap. But it had all been blown away when she saw the person she knew. However, Shinji placed his hand on Renkaâs head gently as she continued to blame herself.
Then, Renka, who feels the warmth of Shinjiâs hand, calmed her messy thoughts. Renkaâs face, which had been downcast, rose up and met Shinjiâs eyes.
âWe all make mistakes. Thatâs why you have to work hard to fix it. And I hope you kill more goblins than Alvinâ
Strangely enough, Shinjiâs words resonated with Renka. Her pale, lifeless face regained its vitality. Shinji had not only used words, but also weak thought-inducing magic to turn Renkaâs negative thinking into a positive one.
Of course, Renka didnât realize that she was under the spell of thought induction. So, she turned her shining smile to Shinji and nodded.
âYou know how good I am with a bow, donât you? So, of course, I can do it! Al! Iâm the one whoâs going to kill the most! Watch it!â
âWhat the hell, Renka? Are you done with your depression mode! Letâs do it!!â
âLeave it to me!â
With that, Renka regains her normal energy. Milis smiled in relief at the sight and bowed slightly to Shinji.
âThank you very much for helping Renka-chan. If itâs me, Iâm sure I wouldnât have been able to regain her energy like that in such a short timeâ
âWell, Iâm the oldest of all of you. At least, I can do this easilyâ
âReally, youâre very caring, Shinji-san. Youâre like onii-chan to meâ
âHahaha, you can call me Shinji-onii-chan, if you wantâ
Shinji tries to be playful and Milis giggles.
And so, the desperate atmosphere is completely gone.
Shinji moved away a bit from them as Milis and Renka began their talks.
ââŚI think Iâve got a chance to win them with this situationâ
Shinji muttered to himself so that no one could hear him.
* * *
It was truly a fight to the death.
A horde of goblins invaded the room one after the other.
Alvin swung his great sword in all directions and kill the goblins.
Milisâs magical barriers are constantly put up to Alvin, deflecting the arrows and magic of the goblins and reducing injuries.
Renkaâs arrows shoot through the goblins that are moving around, one after another, trying to destroy Alvinâs blind spots.
Freriâs woodman beat the goblins while their bodies were cut down by them, and sometimes they became Alvinâs shields, crushed over time.
Shinji manipulated the roots of the barricade and bent them like a spear, killing the goblins with the thick roots as they closed in on the barricade.
After that, they continued to beat them down, and beat them down, and beat them down, eventually the swarm of goblins ran out of numbers and stopped their advance.
Then, Alvin cut down the last goblin.
âIs it⌠overâŚ?â
Alvin muttered with his face turning red by the splashing blood. Shinji then looked at Freri on his shoulder to confirm. And Freri tells Shinji that there are no more reactions from the goblins.
âAh⌠thereâs no more goblin reaction nearbyâ
Alvin shuddered at those words. And.
âWhoooooooooa! Weâve wonnnnnnn!!!â
He stabbed his great sword into the ground and howled.
In this way, despite the terrible crisis, <Running Wolves> has completed the extermination of the goblins.
Then, the exhausted members of the <Running Wolves> immediately called for help. The women who had been raped by the goblins were safely taken care of. But they donât know what will happen to the women who have been so traumatized. From there on, it was up to the guild.
And, all of the members of the lower-ranked party were confirmed dead except for Akane, the girl who had been raped. Alvin and the others are greatly saddened and sent their belongings back home.
After this quest, <Running Wolves> is promoted to intermediate-upper rank for its achievement in destroying a larger-than-expected nest of goblins.
Alvinâs favorability rating has increased!
His âsanâ in his name has been removed! (Shinji-san to Shinji)
Milisâs favorability has increased!
Shinji has earned the title of Onii-chan!
Renkaâs favorability has been increased!
Thought induction multiplied! (dirty)
