The last one has not moved from the same spot.
It is obviously a unique individual. This is the kind you absolutely cannot afford to let escape.
「Is there something there?」
「My gut says there’s something in the cave that would be bad news if we let it get away」
「It’s a goblin, right?」
「Yeah. That part is certain. One that looks like it’s about to die, but just won’t. We’ll have to kill it directly」
「How? The cave entrance has completely collapsed」
「We dig」
It is collapsed, but only enough to block it. As long as there is a hole big enough to fire a grenade launcher through, that will be enough.
「I’ll do it. Step back」
She pulled out a small stone from her jacket pocket and tossed it at the collapsed area. What are you doing?
She murmured words that were not quite words, and the earth began to gather, forming a golem. Amazing. There’s magic like this too? This is real fantasy.
「Mishinie, you’re an incredible mage. I’m honestly so moved I might cry」
I have seen fireballs and magic arrows, but a golem is pure fantasy. This is the first time magic has genuinely excited me.
「It’s a plain spell」
「What are you talking about? This is plain? It’s incredible. A golem. A golem. How many can you make? If you could make five, you could do something amazing」
I cannot use it myself, but the possibilities are exciting. Is this earth magic?
「If I have ash magic stones and gold magic stones. That one was an ash magic stone, so I can only control one」
Controlling a two-meter-tall golem with such a small stone is impressive enough.
The squat golem dug into the cave entrance and pierced through it in less than a minute. It is even more capable than I thought.
「Can that golem change shape?」
「Yes. Though it cannot exceed its capacity」
Then I had it become a supporting wall to hold up the cave.
「I never imagined I would be made to use it like this」
「If it can freely change shape, it could even become a wagon. You might be able to make it run like the Pioneer」
「I see. I’ll try that next time」
Yeah. Go ahead and test it. If it works, sell it big and make a fortune. The roads would get better too.
「Bisha. Put on the gas mask」
I gave the order and put on my own gas mask.
「Mishinie, stay outside. The air in there is bad for the body」
Explaining the gas mask would be a hassle. Just wait outside this time.
「Bisha. There’s only one goblin, but it’s an unidentified one. Don’t let your guard down」
「Will it attack?」
「I don’t know. But it’s definitely persistent. Even burning it didn’t kill it」
It makes me wonder if it’s really a living creature. If it turns out to be some kind of cyborg goblin, I’ll curse that useless goddess every night.
「I’ll go in first. Bisha, cover me」
I switched on the helmet light and the light mounted on the VHS-2, then advanced along the wall deeper inside.
After about twenty meters, the space opened up, and deeper inside there was… a sphere of water. Huh? A sphere of water?!
「Takato!」
At the same time as Bisha’s shout, she grabbed my backpack and yanked me back, and something sharp pierced the spot where I had been standing.
…I was attacked…?
「W-we’re pulling back!」
I jumped to my feet and headed outside.
「What happened!?」
「I-I don’t know! I was attacked by something like a water sphere!」
What was that? What just happened? It did not look like a goblin at all, and the attack was not goblin-like either. And yet, I could clearly sense a goblin presence. What does that even mean?
「A water sphere? A slime?」
This world has slimes too? And it attacks right away? That’s definitely an evil slime.
「No. It wasn’t a slime. There was a female goblin inside the water sphere」
Bisha said that. How could she see that in such a brief instant? Just how good is a beastkin’s eyesight?
「I don’t know what that thing is, but I’m certain the water sphere attacked us」
It happened in an instant, but it had enough power to shatter rock. Going in with shields raised would still be dangerous.
「Mishinie. Can you control that golem and send it into the cave?」
「It’s possible, but I can’t control it precisely if I can’t see it」
So it’s visual control. I guess that’s the limit of thinking in this era.
「That’s fine. The cave path is straight. More importantly, was the magic stone you used for that golem expensive?」
「Not particularly rare. It comes from insects. At that size, it’s about one silver coin」
About ten thousand yen. Not cheap, but depending on how you use it, maybe reasonable.
「Then sell it to me for two silver coins」
「No need. I want to see how you use it」
Since he said that, I accepted it without hesitation and had him reshape it so it could pull a handcart.
I bought three twenty-kilogram gas cylinders and loaded them onto the handcart, then had the golem carry a gasoline-filled jerrycan on its back.
Since its weak point was the magic stone, I fitted an iron plate around its chest to keep the stone from being destroyed.
「Golem. Go」
With that simple command, the golem started walking. Seriously, how do its joints even work?
Once it entered the cave, I opened the gas cylinders and stabbed a knife into the bottom of the jerrycan.
The golem moved deeper inside. After a while, the sounds of it being attacked echoed out, but it wasn’t destroyed instantly. I heard repeated heavy impacts.
「It’s been destroyed」
Breaking through iron plating. What kind of structure does that thing have? A liquid metal body?
Still, once it stopped moving, the attacks stopped as well. That water sphere seems to react only to moving objects and can’t leave its spot.
About an hour later, once the cave was filled with gas, I lit the fuse, meaning the gasoline, and dashed away, or rather, I didn’t have time to dash away before the cave, no, before I was blown away.
──A gas explosion has this much power?!
I screamed inside my head, but my consciousness faded to black almost immediately.
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