The fourth day of work finished without any particular problems.
It seems scattering the processed meat worked. Several hundred goblins gathered within my detection range. If it increases any more, they might enter a frenzy, so it would be better to stop here.
We returned to the fortress and discussed things with Rusul-san.
「How is the progress on the repairs?」
「I would say about sixty percent. We managed to prepare a few huts for sleeping and stored a fair amount of firewood as well.」
Sixty percent in four days? What kind of repairs did they do? There are already several huts standing. Just how capable are the people they brought?
「You are returning tomorrow?」
「Yes. It seems Milond Fortress, where Kainzel-san and the others are, will still take some time. So I thought I might go there as well.」
Because of monsters along the way, it took them three days to arrive. They only started repairs yesterday.
「There’s the demon territory of Raizom there」
Another ominous term just appeared. Demon territory? Raizom? I’m not interested in that kind of fantasy trouble.
「What kind of place is it?」
「It’s a place where humans cannot enter.」
Right. That sounds like somewhere unrelated to a goblin exterminator like me. Good. Very good.
「──Someone is coming!」
Just as I relaxed, the lookout shouted. I thought my heart stopped.
「From which direction!?」
Rusul-san shouted back. I didn’t know this person could shout.
「From the west! It’s still far, so I can’t tell clearly, but they’re armed! No, it’s a group! Around ten to fifteen people!」
「They might be people who escaped from the Kingdom of Magalusk.」
Apparently, there is a country called the Kingdom of Magalusk to the west of Miroid Fortress.
According to Rusul-san, the Kingdom of Magalusk has a slave class and forces harsh oppression on them. Because of that, people often try to escape.
「There are mountains between this country and that one, so there are no diplomatic relations. Because of that, some choose to escape to this side instead.」
It takes ten to fifteen days on foot to reach the Kingdom of Magalusk. Even for adventurers, it is a harsh journey. I’m surprised they managed to cross such dangerous mountains.
「It’s a herd of Roselan!」
Those escapees really have no luck, meeting this at the very end.
「Mishinie and Bisha, go out. Mebi, you support with me. We’re going up.」
It will be dark soon. If we don’t drive them away quickly, the fortress itself might be attacked.
Mebi and I climbed onto the rampart and looked through a monocular in the direction the lookout pointed.
「One person is holding back the herd of Roselan.」
A small man was struggling to keep a herd of Roselan, easily four times his number, from approaching by swinging an axe.
「Prepare the rocket fireworks! Mebi, use the H Sniper.」
I called the H Sniper over and handed it to Mebi.
「You don’t need to force a hit. Just buy time until Mishinie and Bisha arrive.」
「Leave it to me!」
Since Mebi has talent with firearms, I want her to grow as a sniper. Whenever we have time, I’ve been having her practice with a sniper rifle.
「Rocket fireworks, ready!」
I taught the lookouts how to use rocket fireworks as an emergency signal.
「Fire one first. Mebi, don’t miss the timing.」
「It’s fine. This distance isn’t one I’ll miss.」
The target was about four hundred meters away, and she called that a distance she wouldn’t miss. Is she some kind of child of the gun?
「One round, ignite!」
「Yes!」
The rocket firework shot into the air and burst overhead.
The herd of Roselan froze for a moment. At that instant, the armor-piercing round Mebi fired struck a Roselan in the shoulder.
「Ah! The bullet drifted! I’ll hit the next one!」
Just as she declared, the next shot struck the Roselan directly in the neck.
「Ignite the next ones in sequence!」
Before the Roselan regained their senses, we pushed them into further panic.
Mebi’s shots kept landing among them, causing even more confusion. Weren’t Roselan supposed to be intelligent?
Mebi swapped magazines and began aiming at the Roselan’s thick legs. It looked like she had no intention of letting them escape.
「Mebi. Stop. Bisha has arrived.」
Even for a beastkin, Bisha’s running speed is incredible. Just what kind of leg strength does she have? I should be careful not to get kicked.
It seems she brought the Heat Sword with her and is burning through the Roselan’s legs as she cuts them off. It looks like she has no intention of letting them escape either. Truly sisters.
Mishinie caught up as well and fired flaming arrows at the Roselan.
「Rusul-san. I’m going as well. Please keep watch.」
「Yes. Please don’t overdo it. Monir and the others, go as well.」
I headed out with a team of adventurers in their mid-twenties.
We had gone up and down the mountain many times over these four days, but doing it several times in a single day was quite exhausting. I’ll have Miriel restore me tonight.
「They’re dwarves.」
I thought the group looked unusually short, and then one of the adventurers muttered that. Dwarves!? So those exist too! At this rate, dragon might appear next.
「One person take the dwarves to the fortress. Two keep watch. The rest will dismantle the Roselan.」
It seems adventurers have their own hierarchy. When they gather in groups, it’s an unspoken rule to follow the higher-ranked members. Mishinie told me that those at the top should make sure to command those below them.
I had the team leader Monir decide the assignments, and I went over to where the two of them had finished the fight.
「Good work. Let’s dismantle them before it gets completely dark.」
Roselan are edible, so we’ll give the meat to the adventurers. If we leave it behind carelessly, goblins might gather.
There were five Roselan that had been taken down. Judging from their size, this group was probably a family.
The magic stones were also fairly large. It was easy to tell they had lived for a long time.
For the parts we couldn’t carry, we poured gasoline over them and had Mishinie burn them. That should keep the goblins away.
It was already completely dark, and the presence of goblins was stirring around us. It seems there are still Roselan nearby.
「Alright. Let’s head back to the fortress. Mishinie and I will take the rear guard. Bisha, turn on the light and stay alert.」
I called over a nine-thousand-lumen LED light and headed toward the fortress while waving it around as a warning.
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