After lunch, I went to check on the pit trap.
「…When an adult giant digs, it’s incredible…」
About three hundred meters from the house was a massive hole roughly thirty meters wide and ten meters deep.
「I’m glad giants are a gentle race.」
If they were a warlike kind, humanity would’ve gone extinct long ago.
「Takato. Is this good enough?」
Gorg called out as I peered into the pit.
「Yeah. That’s perfect. With this, the goblins won’t be able to climb out.」
If one ‘could’ climb out, I’d make a strategic retreat immediately.
「Just in case, drive some sharpened stakes into the walls.」
Even if a goblin dies that way, the reward should still go to Gorg. After all, this pitfall plan is his operation, and also a test to confirm that.
While Gorg and the others were setting the stakes, I checked the goblin trail and scattered the processed meat around the area.
「Once Ladarion gets back, have him toss the rest of the meat in.」
I told Gorg as he climbed up.
「Will this really catch goblins?」
「It will. They’re already starting to gather from the smell of meat.」
My radar picked up nearly thirty goblins nearby. If they’re impatient, they might fall in before the meat even gets tossed.
「Think the next pit will be done by evening?」
「Yeah. We’ll finish by then. We still need to make the slingshots.」
Funny how he’s that eager to make them. You’d think a bow and arrow would do the same job.
「What about the wine for payment?」
「I’ll drink while I work.」
Of course he would. Giants really are passionate when it comes to things they enjoy.
Just as he declared, Gorg and the others finished the second pitfall by evening.
I handed each of the men who helped us three bottles of wine, about seven hundred milliliters each, as their reward. They looked delighted as they headed home, even though it was only worth about a thousand yen for the day.
「Takato. Should I call for more help tomorrow?」
「No, that won’t be necessary. By tomorrow, we’ll probably have around two hundred caught already. You can handle the burying yourself, Gorg.」
「Haah… that’s gonna be some hard labor…」
「Do your best.」
That was all I could offer. Forgive me, Gorg.
「I’m home.」
Ladarion returned, looking worn out.
「Ladarion. Sorry to ask when you’re tired, but take out the processed meat and toss it into the pitfall. We’re having sukiyaki tonight.」
「──Got it!」
The moment I said the magic word “sukiyaki”, her exhaustion vanished. She hauled out the forty kilos of processed meat from the Sefuti Home and dumped it into the pit before nightfall. Sukiyaki truly is a powerful motivator.
After dinner, I stepped outside the Sefuti Home to sense the goblins’ presence.
「This isn’t just two hundred. Not even close.」
Seriously, where were all these things hiding? Or rather, how is there even enough food to support this many? Just how fertile ‘is’ this land?
No… maybe they’re drawn here because of the meat, meaning they’re suffering from food shortages? Or is there some other factor causing their numbers to swell? I hate how unpredictable fantasy worlds can be.
Could there be four hundred? No, maybe five hundred of them? Don’t tell me… another Goblin King has risen?
While sipping my black coffee, I tracked the scattered signatures of goblins. Then, one after another, their presences began clustering together, probably those falling into the pit traps.
「They’re like vermin, pests with the instincts of rats.」
After about two hours, the number falling into the pits started to decline.
「…Judging by their movements, it doesn’t seem like a king has appeared this time…」
Unlike the incident with the abandoned village, there was no unified motion, just scattered, individual activity.
After three hours, the goblins likely realized something was wrong. Their movements turned restless and cautious.
「Guess it’s about time to move in.」
When I put on my helmet and stepped outside, the world was pitch black, as expected. Without a single light source, I couldn’t even see my own hands, and that kind of darkness stirs up a primal fear in anyone.
「Let’s see what three thousand lumens can do.」
I switched on the 3000-lumen headlamp attached to my helmet.
「Damn, that’s bright.」
Honestly, even a 1000-lumen model probably would’ve done the job.
I’d considered getting a military-grade night vision device, but the price tag killed that idea fast. It’s not like I was fighting an army or armed enemies, just goblins. So, I figured, why not just shine a light on them instead?
Since this wasn’t an all-out extermination mission, I equipped my APC9 for some practice. I left the backpack behind and strapped a machete across my back so I could draw it with my left hand.
「This brightness is practically a weapon on its own.」
If you blasted someone with 3000 lumens straight in the face, they’d be screaming “My eyes! My eyes!” like that colonel from the movies.
「Man, those goblins are noisy.」
They’re probably getting crushed to death in the pit, I thought as I headed toward it.
The goblins wandering around the trap noticed the light and scrambled to hide behind trees and in bushes, but their movements were plain as day to me. I pointed my APC9 in their direction and fired a few casual bursts.
Moving around the pit, I picked off the hiding goblins one by one.
「Oh, I got paid.」
Looks like I earned about 1500 yen. Must’ve been one of the ones that got crushed, so the system must’ve counted Gorg as the killer. Fair enough.
More goblins kept getting crushed, and the money kept rolling in.
I moved on to the next pit and repeated the process, clearing out the stragglers hiding in the dark.
「There’s more of them than I thought.」
By the time I emptied all four magazines I’d brought, I was out of ammo.
When I returned to the Sefuti Home to restock, I found only two loaded magazines left. I hadn’t expected to use so much ammo, so I hadn’t prepped the extras.
Resigned, I switched over to my P90 and went back outside.
「Hm? A second wave?」
I felt multiple presences approaching, lots of them.
「Goblins aren’t… broadcasting some weird signal or something, right?」
I hurried back to the Sefuti Home again, grabbed my MINIMI Mk3 light machine gun along with a spare 200-round box, then climbed up a nearby tree and switched off my light.
「Looks like it’s going to be another long night.」
About thirty minutes later, several hundred goblins arrived.
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