「Well, I guess this is about right」
The explosion was weaker than what I had imagined, but it was enough to send the goblins into a panic, so I’ll call it a success. Yeah.
「Ladarion, bring the guns and ammo. Bisha and Mebi, rest. Kainzel-san is… he seems fine」
He was only lightly sweating. A healthy man in his fifties.
「There was a gap of a few years, but I didn’t train in a way that would leave me exhausted from something like this. Though, staying up all night does take its toll」
Soldiers really are something else. The castle soldiers were fighting monsters like wazur with just swords and spears. I’ll make sure never to fight soldiers. Yeah.
「So, what about the king?」
「The Guild Master is handling it. It’s still a fierce battle」
「The Guild Master? Cyrus-sama?」
Huh? Did I tell Miriel that the Guild Master came with us? I don’t remember. That probably means I didn’t.
「Yes. Somehow, things just worked out and the Guild Master became a contractor, so he came along」
「I thought he had settled down after becoming Guild Master, but it seems he hasn’t changed」
Looks like the Guild Master has always been like that.
「Hm? Gorg is heading this way」
After a while, an utterly exhausted Gorg arrived. The moment he saw us, he collapsed.
「Just rest there. We’ll handle the rest」
He couldn’t even respond, and soon fell asleep as if he had passed out.
「Kainzel-san. After you rest a bit, please go to the Guild Master. I can’t provide any support」
「Understood. If anything were to happen to Cyrus-sama, I wouldn’t be able to face Mishard-sama」
So, he’s still loyal to the Koraus Family. Even after falling so far as to beg.
After eating a delivered K ○ meda Coffee Shop pork cutlet sandwich and washing it down with orange juice, I strapped two large kukri knives to my waist and ran off.
「What happened to the G3?」
「It broke, so I threw it away. The P too」
「Takato, I’m sorry」
「I’m sorry」
Bisha and Mebi apologized with guilty expressions.
「Don’t worry about it. Guns are consumables. If they break, we can just buy more. More importantly, eat properly while you can. This isn’t over yet」
They eagerly stuffed the cutlet sandwiches I handed out into their stomachs.
They’d been up all night, yet their stomachs were still going strong. Meanwhile, even drinking an energy drink was rough for me…
「Is Ladarion okay?」
She hasn’t eaten much.
「I was eating while shooting, so I’m fine」
「I see…」
Seriously, what a skill.
「Ladarion, go back and look after those two and Gorg. I’ll take care of what’s below」
「Got it」
Leaving them there, I slid down the cliff and finished off the goblins that were writhing, their lungs likely scorched by the flames.
Once I’d dealt with most of them, the reaction of the goblin facing off against the Guild Master vanished.
「A battle to the death lasting two full hours. Both of them are monsters」
Just how tough are the humans of this world? If they got serious, they could probably wipe out goblins entirely. Instead of dragging me here, they should’ve just motivated themselves more. Damn it.
「Now then. The king has been defeated, and about eighty percent of the goblins under him have been exterminated. It’s safe to say your scheme has been crushed. Do you still want to continue?」
Some of you might be thinking, what is he talking about? Honestly, I’m thinking the same thing. But this is a gamble. A bluff. If nothing happens, it’ll be pure embarrassment. I might even writhe in shame. Even so, this is the moment. The moment when I let my guard down.
Silence followed. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds passed. Just as I thought this might become a lifelong black mark, a woman with her face hidden by a veil emerged from among the trees.
She wasn’t human. I could sense that. Still, her presence was faint. It was there, yet strangely thin.
I thought she might be suppressing her presence to hide, but maybe she was simply faint by nature.
「To think there’d be one among the goblins with a completely human form」
When I said that, the woman’s face twisted with rage. Terrifying. Seriously…
「……I am human……!」
She insists on it, but the fact that I can sense her at all means the woman in front of me is a goblin. Even if she has a human heart, even if she looks human.
「You can claim whatever you want. I can sense you. And I can hear the sound of the flute on your chest」
It’s probably that ocarina-like instrument hanging from her neck that she’s using to control the goblins. If she tried to say it was just fashion, I’d call fraud and lose my temper.
「So you really are a goddess’s apostle」
Hey, useless goddess. Care to explain yourself?! This is all stuff I never heard about!
──Piroon!
Demon King Army Executive, Misaro of the Demon Flute. A human-goblin hybrid. Pretty shocking that it even worked, right? Oh, and don’t go hoping for any erotic developments, okay? ♥️
「Nobody’s hoping for that! Shut up already, you damn goddess!」
Why does that useless goddess always know exactly how to piss people off?! Try thinking about the person who’s being forced to clean up your failures! Damn it!
「……You seem to hate the goddess……」
「I was dragged from another world against my will and forced to exterminate goblins. How could I ‘not’ hate her?! Damn it, damn it, damn it!」
If I had the power, I’d punch that useless goddess as hard as I could.
「Then come to the Demon King Army. Lend your strength to the Demon King, who also hates the goddess」
「No way! I’m human! I don’t want a life where I become humanity’s enemy and kill humans!」
If I stay in this world, the day might come when I have to kill a person. And when that happens, I’ll suffer for it. But choosing that path myself? No thanks.
「If you say you’re human, then come over here! I’ll see you as human, just as Misaro!」
Huh? What am I saying? Didn’t I just say something completely insane?
「──S-Shut up! Be quiet! May humans perish!」
Shouting like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum, she vanished into the trees.
I stood there in a daze for a while, and then, all at once, the tension drained out of me and my knees gave way beneath me.
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