Lunch ended and the dining hall was getting crowded, so we went outside to hold our meeting.
「Takato, you are good at drawing maps. I wish we had someone like you when I was a soldier」
I did not think they were that well drawn, but the difference was probably between someone who relied on Google-sensei and someone who did not.
「Mubando Village is east from here. We have to go fairly deep into the mountains」
「Yes. You could say it is near the top of the mountain」
「Can the Pioneer reach it?」
It was only about three kilometers away, but if it was up a mountain, walking would take a long time.
「Yes. A carriage can get there, so the Pioneer will be fine. The road is not wide though, so passing someone will be difficult」
With the Pioneer’s horsepower, we could reach the top before any carriage came down.
We left at one in the afternoon. Since Kainzel-san had been there before, I left the route to him.
As always, the road was rough. Even at thirty kilometers per hour the vehicle shook up and down a lot.
The elevation gradually increased, and once we passed through the forest, we entered Mubando Village.
It seemed the people lived by planting potatoes, beans, and a few other vegetables on the mountain. As someone raised in the modern world, I could not help but wonder if people could really live in a place like this.
As we climbed a slope, the village came into view.
It looked like a village of about two hundred people. How did they get water this high up? Rainwater? That would be hard. Did they go all the way down the mountain to fetch it? That sounded more like torture than hard labor.
When we arrived, the villagers gathered to see what was happening.
「We accepted the goblin extermination request. Is the village chief here?」
The request had been issued under the chief’s name.
「I will call him now」
We got out of the Pioneer and waited for the village chief to arrive.
The villagers only watched us from a distance and did not try to speak to us. They were probably thinking something like outsiders are not welcome.
After a while, the elderly man who had asked us to deal with the Maanu yesterday showed up.
…That settlement was more than ten kilometers away. Sending a request in just one day was impressive.
「Thank you for accepting the request」
「Think nothing of it. Could you tell us the details of the damage?」
「Yes. Please come this way」
He led us to the village chief’s house and explained the situation.
A pair of Maanu had settled here in early spring, and four children had already been eaten. They had apparently sent a request to the Adventurer Guild once, but the Maanu never came close and were too fast to shoot, even for the hunters.
With that speed and skill at hiding, hunting them really was impossible. I wanted to know who could hunt them instead.
「Takato. Are there any goblins?」
「I do not know if they are Maanu, but there are a few. Maybe they are eating potatoes?」
「No. Goblins do not eat potatoes. They know the sprouts are poisonous. They are probably searching for mice or moles」
Ah, the sprouts. So goblins were weak to poison? I thought creatures that ate insects and mice would be tougher.
「For now, we should confirm if they are Maanu」
We headed toward the presence we sensed and used binoculars to check.
「They are Maanu. A bit bigger than the ones from yesterday」
They were about two hundred meters away, so it was not clear, but yesterday’s were the size of a medium dog while today’s were closer to a large dog.
「Yes. It might be the parent」
Which meant there could be cubs too. That was troublesome.
「Kainzel-san, do you want to try as a warm up?」
He chose the HK-G3. A fairly old battle rifle. There were newer ones, but it seemed he liked the look of the G3. He seemed like the type who picked things by appearance.
「Are you sure? If I miss, it will run」
「I do not mind. I already memorized its presence」
Recently I had started to sense the difference between goblin signatures and my detection range felt wider. If this was their territory, they would return. We should be able to take them down while the weather was still clear.
「Think of it as training」
I felt sorry for the villagers, but we had accepted the request for a low reward. Letting us use this as training should not be too much to ask. There was no deadline for when we had to kill them anyway.
「All right. Let us do that」
Kainzel-san spread a mat on the ground, used his backpack as a rest, lay down prone, and aimed the rifle at the Maanu through the scope.
I watched the Maanu through binoculars.
I could not tell if it was male or female, but it sniffed the ground like a dog. It was probably searching for moles.
At two hundred meters it showed no sign of caution. It must have known we could not catch it.
After about a minute Kainzel-san pulled the trigger.
It was his first time using the G3, but maybe because he had used the MINIMI and the Scorpion, his shot hit the Maanu in the thigh. It jumped and tried to run, but Kainzel-san stayed calm and seemed to predict its escape route. His second shot hit as well.
「Well done」
This was what people called talent. Comparing myself to him felt rude.
「Kainzel-san. Fifty meters to the right. Three hundred meters out. Another Maanu is there」
「Understood」
He showed no excitement at his hit and responded calmly while shifting his aim.
Even though its partner had died, the second Maanu did not run. It rushed toward the fallen one.
If they were human this might have been moving or sad, but there was no such sentiment toward goblins. Kainzel-san seemed to feel the same and pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit its neck. It toppled, tried to stand, and the finishing shot landed. Not even twenty minutes after arriving in Mubando Village, the request was complete. Excellent work.
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