What is that smell? It’s like body odor, strong, sour, and nauseating, and it’s getting thicker by the minute.
It’s definitely coming from the goblins, no mistake about that. But they’ve never smelled this bad before. Are these a different breed from the ones that appeared in the abandoned village?
…Damn. The stench is so thick it’s making me sick.
With both hands occupied, I couldn’t even put on a mask, so I took shallow breaths and just endured it.
In the darkness, goblins were crawling through the PVC pipe that led to the pit trap, one after another, wriggling through and dropping inside.
Judging by their presences, the pit was probably about three meters deep with goblins already. Good thing we dug it to ten.
Even though I could hear their squealing cries from inside the pit, the other goblins just kept diving in, as if driven by some frenzy.
…Could it be that this smell is attracting them?
I wasn’t sure, but if that were the case, we’d better avoid using the pit trap method again, especially anywhere near human settlements.
I endured the smell for an hour until the horde finally began to thin out. Even then, about a hundred goblins were still wandering around the area.
After waiting another thirty minutes, I slid down carefully from the tree branch. Thanks, Grandpa, for teaching me how to climb trees.
Carrying a 「light」 machine gun and a box of ammo up and down a tree isn’t exactly light work. Pulling it off makes me pretty amazing, if I say so myself.
I set the MINIMI Mk3 and the ammo box on the ground, switched on my headlamp, and aimed my P90. The goblins flinched at the sudden brightness, and I took the opportunity to mow them down.
I turned in every direction, front, back, left, right, cutting through the goblins as the four magazines emptied in no time.
I left the P90 and empty magazines beneath the tree so they wouldn’t get trampled and grabbed the MINIMI Mk3.
I’d checked how to use it when I bought it, but this was the first time actually firing it. Just treat it like practice, I told myself.
Switching to full-auto, I aimed at the thickest part of the horde and pulled the trigger.
The recoil was pretty strong, but I braced myself and kept firing, cutting down goblins and making sure not to waste bullets, focusing fire wherever they were packed the tightest.
Still, there’s no way I could hit every single one. If I got one kill for every five shots, that was already doing well. This kind of gun only really works when the enemies are packed tightly together.
Well, it’s good practice anyway, so let’s call it a necessary expense. Just keep firing.
After emptying two hundred rounds, I swapped out the ammo box. And only now did I finally put on my mask. Then I headed toward the first pit trap.
「There are some over there too.」
I ignored the ones hiding and focused fire in the direction where I sensed the most movement. In less than ten minutes, another two hundred rounds were gone. I turned off my headlamp and returned to the Sefuti Home.
I set down the MINIMI Mk3, took a moment to catch my breath, and drank some water.
…Man, wielding a light machine gun for extermination is way tougher on the arms than I expected.
As I stripped off my gear, I couldn’t help but respect the soldiers who fight while carrying these things.
Then Ladarion woke up.
「Takato.」
「Did I wake you? Sorry for the noise. I’ll be heading out again soon, so you can go back to sleep.」
Since most of the goblins were already dealt with, the Benelli M4 would do for the rest.
I filled my dump pouch with birdshot rounds and went back outside.
Switching on my headlamp, I began clearing out the remaining goblins around the pit traps.
By the time I’d emptied my ammo, most of them were dead, and only a few scattered presences remained.
Just as I was about to head back to reload, I noticed a light approaching. Ladarion?
It wasn’t the kind of glow you’d get from a torch, so yeah, it had to be her with a headlamp. Seriously, she should’ve just stayed in bed.
If things turned bad, she could’ve just retreated into the Sefuti Home. By morning, Gorg and the others could’ve taken care of the rest.
「Wait… Gorg’s here too?」
When I waited by the pit trap, Gorg appeared with a few men, each holding torches and machetes.
「What the hell happened? We heard the noise all the way in the village!」
I thought the sound wouldn’t travel three hundred meters, but apparently it carried loud and clear.
「Sorry for the noise. The goblins showed up in way bigger numbers than expected. I was dealing with the ones that overflowed from the pits.」
I had Ladarion help me explain to Gorg and the others.
「Hey! Spread out and check the area!」
One of the men said that, and the group dispersed into the dark forest.
「Gorg, fill in the pit. This stench seems to attract goblins.」
He’d probably brought a shovel for that purpose anyway, so I gave him the order.
「U-understood. This smell is unbearable.」
He drove his shovel into the dirt embankment and began filling in the pit.
Not long after, I started receiving the goblin extermination rewards. There were so many that I couldn’t even keep count, but by the time they were done filling the hole, my balance had gone up by about seven hundred thousand yen.
…Roughly five hundred goblins fell in, huh. That’s way too many.
We moved on to the next pit, and by the time it was filled, the sun was beginning to rise.
「Pulled an all-nighter, huh.」
I wasn’t sleepy, maybe because the adrenaline hadn’t worn off, but my body felt heavy. Ahh, I just want a bath and a cold beer.
Once the sun fully rose, both pits were completely filled in, and my total reward had climbed to around one and a half million yen.
「Guess that means about twelve hundred goblins in total.」
At least it ended in profit.
「Never thought there’d be this many goblins around.」
Even Gorg was drenched in sweat, it must’ve been grueling to fill it all in by himself.
「When goblins gather, they must release this smell to call their allies. If you ever do this again, make sure it’s deep in the mountains, far from the village.」
「After seeing how many showed up, I’ll never do this again. Honestly, I’m shocked there were that many. Are there still any left?」
「A few dozen are hiding nearby, but not a large number. Most likely, all the ones in the area gathered here.」
My radar still picked up a few scattered signals, but no dense clusters. They must’ve all come from within range of the scent.
「Ladarion, sorry, but can you take me home? Gorg, I’m leaving the rest to you.」
The long night had finally ended, and now I was ready for a long sleep. …Though that sounds a bit too much like I’m going to sleep forever.
Anyway, I headed home.
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