We descended about a kilometer and entered the mountain.
The goblins were not chasing us, but I still felt them gathering on the mountain from earlier. Were they eating each other?
I had Ladarion return to her normal size and we moved up to the middle of the slope.
「Ladarion! Shrink! Kainzel-san, we will scatter processed meat here to lure them, so please rest until everything is ready. Ladarion, we are heading back」
We returned to the Sefuti Home and bought processed meat, grenades and ammunition.
It was past three o’clock. By the time they gathered it would be dark.
Ladarion took out the processed meat and scattered it around.
I set up grenades and thin wires to prepare booby traps on the paths where goblins might climb.
I lit a fire and threw in chunks of processed meat to strengthen the smell.
After about thirty minutes of roasting, the goblins began to move. The mountain we came from was at least two kilometers away, but they could still smell it. What kind of sense of smell was that?
「The goblins are moving. We will head for the peak soon」
「Will they not gather from all directions?」
「That is why Kainzel-san will move one whole mountain away」
I had him equip the apport pouch and the glasses, then handed him a backpack with water, food and camping supplies.
「If the weather is still clear tomorrow, return to Lasagna Village. If it rains, stay where you are. You can get food through the apport pouch」
「Is it dangerous?」
「It is not dangerous, but I will be using something dangerous, so I want you far away」
「Poison?」
「In a way, yes. An odorless poison that flows downward from high places. If you breathe it, you die instantly. It does nothing when there is wind」
Everyone knew about dry ice. If we used it deep in the mountains where no one lived, no one would be bothered.
「Goblin extermination will continue for a long time. At least until the day I die. I cannot run from it, but Kainzel-san, you may leave whenever you wish if you ever grow tired of this」
Kainzel-san was a contractor. He could quit whenever he wanted. He had no obligation to stay with me forever.
But Ladarion was already bound to me by fate. That glutton could not survive on her own if she ever left me. When I died, Ladarion would probably die too.
「If I ever get tired of it, sure. Until then, I will stick with your group Takato」
He gave a sharp grin, shouldered his backpack and disappeared between the trees. Seriously, what kind of protagonist was he supposed to be.
「Ladarion. We are heading to the summit」
「Okay」
As a final push, I tossed processed meat into the fire and made my way to the top.
By the time we reached the peak, the sun had already set behind the mountains, so I switched on the LED lantern and lit up the area.
「Ladarion. Cut down the plants around here. I will start making dinner」
「Okay」
Ladarion understood her role, so she did not complain. She returned to her original size and swung the machete around.
I went back to the Sefuti Home and bought something a bit extravagant tonight: a beefsteak bowl and a gigantic hamburger steak.
After preparing them, I took a quick shower and filled myself up with a large katsudon.
I put on the VHS-2 equipment, grabbed the MINIMI magazines in both hands and stepped outside.
「Ladarion! That is good enough! Eat your dinner!」
「Okay!」
Ladarion returned to the Sefuti Home from where she stood. She really should pick a flatter spot to do that.
「The goblins are gathering fast」
The faster ones had already reached the base of the mountain. In less than ten minutes they would hit the booby traps.
While I was carrying ammunition out of the Sefuti Home, an explosion thundered through the air.
「They are here」
The grenades I had set went off one after another, wiping out nearly a hundred goblins.
Even with their companions dying nearby, the goblins showed no sign of fear. Their presence was soaked in madness.
「…They just keep coming…」
From the middle of the slope down to the base, the entire mountain was filled with goblin signatures, making it hard to tell anything apart. If I had a mortar, this was the perfect time to fire it.
「Well, I cannot afford one anyway」
Mortars were expensive, and the shells were even worse. Even if I killed a thousand of them, I would still be in the red.
While I sensed goblins gathering one after another, Ladarion came outside after finishing dinner.
「Smelly」
Ladarion pinched her nose. The goblin stench really did reach all the way up here. That meant the wind was blowing upward from below. I could not use dry ice like this.
「Ladarion. Throw the processed meat around the area」
I stuffed processed meat into sandbags and had Ladarion, back in her original form, toss them out.
By around eight o’clock, enough goblins had gathered to surround the entire mountain.
「There are easily two thousand of them」
Their presence alone was enough to make me feel dizzy.
「It is about time. Ladarion, let’s do it. Do not touch it with your hands. Use the pickaxe to throw it」
「Okay, I understand」
I returned to the Sefuti Home, bought ten kilogram blocks of dry ice, and sent them down the chute to the outside.
「Dry ice is expensive when you buy three hundred kilos」
Ten kilos cost three thousand eight hundred yen, so it was over one hundred thousand yen. This plan cost way too much.
It took an hour to unload everything, then I stepped outside too.
「Three hundred kilos might not be enough」
I thought it would be too much for the Sefuti Home, but out here it looked a little lacking. Maybe I needed five hundred kilos.
「Well, we will deal with that when it happens. Ladarion. Pour water on the dry ice from a distance. Do not crouch」
Carbon dioxide was heavy, and she would be pouring from a slope above, so she should be safe, but dry ice could be dangerous if mishandled. Better to be careful.
She sprayed water onto the dry ice with a water gun.
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