We left the town and I asked Rondario-san to introduce his team again.
First was their leader, Rondario Sarkley-san. He was thirty-two. Born to a baron’s family. Since he was the third son and could not inherit, he left home at fifteen and became an adventurer.
Rondario-san specialized in magic swords and handled command and mobile support.
The subleader was Rondario-san’s childhood friend and closest companion, Mizeng Litt-san. He was also a third son of a baron. He excelled with the spear and acted as an attacker.
The archer was Reinser-san. At twenty-five, he was the youngest among them and in charge of covering fire.
The one in a robe holding a crystal-tipped staff was Zora-san, a mage. He graduated from the royal capital’s magic academy and joined the party after being helped by Rondario-san and Mizeng-san during his travels. He was the oldest of them at thirty-eight.
Last was Maritt-san, who handled scouting and gathering information. A thirty-year-old expert in throwing knives. He had such a faint presence that he would sometimes slip from sight.
「If you speak your names to the contractor card, it becomes yours」
Each of them gave their names, and I could sense the presence of all five.
I told them that exterminating one goblin would earn thirty-five hundred yen, and fifteen hundred yen would be taken as my management fee. None of them complained. They simply accepted it.
「Items that a contractor can buy are limited, and anything that leaves your hands will disappear after ten days, so please keep that in mind」
「Was it not fifteen days?」
「That applies to items I buy myself. For contractors, it is ten days. I do not know why. The contractor system was only established recently」
That useless goddess probably adopted the idea I mentioned without thinking it through. There is rarely a clear reason for these things. That useless goddess does this kind of thing a lot.
I told them a little about myself too. That I became a goblin exterminator at around twenty and had been traveling from place to place. The five only replied with an I see and did not pry further. Everyone has a history. It is not something you poke into.
「Ron. Wolves」
I turned toward Reinser-san’s voice. At some point he had already drawn his bow. Was it called nocking an arrow?
「Leave it to the others」
Well, we were on our way to exterminate goblins. Hunting wolves now would only get in the way.
「Do wolves appear often around here? This is my first time seeing them since arriving」
「Yeah. Young adventurers chase them off almost every day, but they keep coming back and attacking sheep. A real nuisance. We get called out to deal with them sometimes too」
「Do those wolves not attack goblins?」
「There are not many creatures that eat goblins. Maybe they would if they were starving」
So, goblins taste that bad. It means they practically have no natural predators. No wonder they multiply.
「That mountain. Information says many goblin nests have formed there」
「If people know that, no one goes to hunt them?」
「It is far from town, and they never come down to the foothills. No one is willing to go out of their way just to hunt them. The pay is not worth the trouble」
True. Walking half a day only to deal with troublesome goblins was nothing but a chore. If I remembered right, one goblin earned a single copper coin. No wonder no one bothered.
They were still far, so their presence was vague, but I could tell there were many. This was not a hundred or two hundred. There were easily five hundred. What did they even eat to survive?
We rested along the way and reached the spot that would serve as our campsite just before noon.
「There are stupid amounts of them」
There were so many that it was hard to pinpoint them. Throw a rock and you would hit one.
「…The smell…」
Even Ladarion pinched his nose. I felt like firing missiles and wiping them out.
「Let us eat first. Ladarion. Please」
「Got it」
I set down the packs, traced the bracelet with my fingers, and returned to my original size with an axe and shovel in hand.
「A g-giant!?」
Ah. I forgot to tell them Ladarion was a giant.
「Ladarion is a giant. She was using magic to stay small」
「Tell us sooner!」
Absolutely fair. I offered a sincere apology.
「Ladarion will dig a trench so we can build a simple fort」
「Is that necessary?」
「Better safe than sorry. I have been put through a lot by goblins」
I believed Rondario-san’s team would be fine, but I was not strong enough to say ‘we’ll be fine’ with confidence. I needed a safe zone or I could not relax.
「If we have the boys prepare the meal, why not hunt a few goblins until it is ready? If each of you takes down five, I can give you a bottle of wine for lunch」
They should not be so soft that a bottle of wine would ruin their work. If anything it would fuel them.
「Right. Me, Reinser, and Maritt will go. Mize and Zora, stay here」
No one objected to Rondario-san’s instructions. Good teamwork.
「How do you usually handle lunch? Do you build a fire?」
I asked Mizeng-san and Zora-san, who stayed behind.
「Lunch is usually bread and dried meat. No fire. The prey will run if we light one」
I see. And they fight on that? Ladarion would die on that diet.
「We have more people today and goblins will not come close as long as Ladarion is here. Let us make something warm so everyone can fight well this afternoon」
I had bought enough ingredients. With the pot I brought, it should be more than enough.
「We will leave the decisions to you. Use those boys however you like. We will guard the surroundings」
「Understood. Boys, gather stones and build a stove. Then chop the vegetables into small pieces」
I gave instructions to the boys and began preparing lunch.
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