The temperature has fully shifted to autumn, and the wheat harvest has begun.
「There are quite a lot of people out here」
With so many people gathering for the wheat harvest, it is no longer an environment where we can carry out goblin extermination.
「The whole village takes part. The town and even adventurers get mobilized」
In this era, harvesting really is an all-hands battle. Without machinery, it must be hard.
「So. What should we do?」
With so many people appearing, the goblins have fled. Maybe we should head toward the mountains too.
「Then why don’t we go to Mirand Pass? There were a lot of them there, right?」
Mishinie makes the suggestion. Mirand Pass, huh. We are currently across the river and just before the town of Misrim, so we can get there in about an hour.
「Miriel. Switch drivers. Write down that we’re heading to Mirand Pass」
To keep everyone informed of our situation, Ladarion and I return during breaks, while Kainzel-san sends updates from the home base by having snacks delivered. That is the system we decided on.
I don’t know Kainzel-san’s current situation, but if no snacks are sent during a break, we will assume something is wrong and go to help. Since we hold daily meetings and share our locations, we should be able to reach each other within about an hour.
「Takato-san, may I use a gun as well? If there are no people around, it’s okay to use a rifle, right?」
「A rifle right away is dangerous. Start with the APC9. Once you’re used to it, then the rifle」
She still doesn’t have much leg muscle, and she’s only fired a Glock so far. It’s better to get used to things little by little. I started with the MP9 too.
「…Understood…」
「Don’t look so disappointed. Or rather, Miriel, can’t you use attack magic?」
You can use incredible healing magic, so shouldn’t you be able to use attack magic too? Like destroying the body through super healing or something?
「…I can use sleep magic…」
「Sleep? How strong is it?」
「I can put anyone to sleep instantly within a five-meter radius」
No, that’s already an attack. Wait, is that how she survived losing both legs? That’s clearly a brutal ability.
「All right. Let’s test it on goblins. If that sleep works on goblins, it’ll be useful」
「Useful, you say?」
「Yeah. If we can capture goblins alive, we can use them for training, or as targets. Most of all, we can sell them」
「Sell them?」
Question marks bloom over their heads. Well, it’s not surprising they don’t get it.
「When you take on a powerful person as a client, you sell them goblins. Those people can’t easily go out exterminating goblins themselves. In those cases, you sell one for about ten copper coins」
「Ten copper coins for one goblin? Would anyone really pay that?」
Mishinie looks skeptical.
「You said it yourself. You can’t go back to bad food. Once a taste is carved into your mind, you can’t forget it. You end up craving it again, even if it costs a lot」
Ideally, we should eat the food of this world and use the weapons of this world. But if we exterminate goblins, we can eat food from our original world. Who would be stupid enough to throw that away? At least, I can’t.
「We make the acting lord our client and sell goblins to her」
Some people might say the guild master is already a client. But given his position, he can’t spend all his time exterminating goblins. In that position, can sweets and alcohol alone really satisfy him? Can anyone be content with just sweets and alcohol? I can say for sure it’s impossible. He will definitely reach for other things too.
「Of course, we can’t focus only on capturing them. That means we’ll ask adventurers to capture goblins for us. Once that flow is established, the number of goblins should decrease」
I have other intentions as well. But at the very least, the number of goblins in Koraus will go down. Even if we leave the territory, the acting lord should have no complaints.
「…Takato, you really think about strange things…」
「I’m just laying groundwork for the future. Koraus has a lot of problems. At the very least, we need to make the acting lord our ally」
Someone like her would definitely use anything bought with a client card for political purposes. I can’t imagine exactly how she would use it, but I can say with certainty that she would. She seems like the type who uses available means effectively.
「You’re scary, Takato. I wouldn’t even think about competing with the guild master」
「I’m not trying to compete. I’m just trying to pull her onto our side」
I would never think about going up against a couple who should never be made enemies.
「Haa… You really are something else」
「I’m just an extremely ordinary nobody」
「Would an extremely ordinary nobody think about things like that? That’s the kind of thinking smart people do, and the kind of thing people with guts carry out」
「It’s what cowards desperately think up, and what weak people who fear death end up doing」
If I were smart and brave, I’d be fighting in a completely different way. Because I can’t, I have no choice but to rely on underhanded methods.
「Well, all of this depends on how effective Miriel’s sleep magic really is」
Counting skins before the hunt. First, we have to see if we can actually put goblins to sleep.
I return to the home base to leave a contact note, then switch drivers with Miriel and head toward Mirand Pass, praying that the sleep magic will work.
Leave a Reply