The first day went smoothly, but on the morning of the second day, after about an hour of travel, I sensed the presence of goblins.
「Bisha, stop. It’s a group of goblins.」
I called out to Bisha at the front and carefully confirmed their presence before they noticed us.
「In that direction, there are two to three hundred goblins gathered. We’ll take them down.」
It clearly felt like a separate unit. This is something we should definitely eliminate.
「With that many, won’t it be impossible to wipe them out?」
「We don’t need to wipe them out completely. We’ll break their formation and then take them down one by one.」
When they form a group, there is always a leader. If we take that one down, the group should collapse.
I took out a sketchbook and drew the goblins’ positions and direction, then showed it to everyone.
「Bisha and Gato, head around from the south. Once we engage and the situation turns chaotic, open fire. Confirm my position and don’t step into my line of fire.」
I explained the plan while drawing it in the sketchbook.
「There’s probably a boss leading them. We don’t know which way it will go, so if you spot someone who looks like the boss, regroup and fight together.」
If we can’t win, we retreat immediately. We agreed to fall back to Rihar Town.
「Once Bisha and Gato move out, we’ll scatter processed meat into the valley. Even if other monsters show up, don’t engage them.」
「Got it. Roz-ojichan, I’m counting on you to watch Takato. Don’t let him out of your sight.」
「If he’s always being protected, he’ll never get stronger.」
「Takato looks like he’ll die the moment you take your eyes off him.」
I couldn’t deny that, so I had no choice but to stay silent.
「Leave it to us. Gato, don’t let the young lady die.」
So Bisha is called young lady. What kind of hierarchy do the dwarves have for us?
「I know. I swear on my KSG, I won’t let her die.」
No, the KSG isn’t that valuable. I just let him use it because no one else was. Well, I don’t want to kill his motivation, so I’ll keep quiet.
Once Bisha and Gato moved out, I had the others eat calorie bars and drink water. After their stomachs settled, I bought thirty kilos of processed meat and scattered it into the valley.
We took position where we could aim properly, brought out the MINIMI, and held our breath as we waited.
「They’re moving.」
They must have noticed the smell of the processed meat. One or two started moving, and soon the entire group broke formation. It seems even a boss’s control is powerless in the face of hunger.
The valley wasn’t that deep, so goblins gathered from along the valley and down from the mountains.
「Move down toward the valley little by little.」
From above, branches got in the way and made it hard to aim. We would be able to eliminate more if we went down and swept through from below.
They started fighting over the scattered processed meat, and the smell of frenzy began to rise.
Now!
I leapt out from between the trees and sprayed two hundred rounds at the goblins.
Out of two hundred shots, I only took down sixty or seventy. A box magazine costs twenty thousand, so it was a decent profit.
「Wipe them out!」
As I ordered the dwarves, they charged into the goblin horde with battle cries.
What is this, a one-sided slaughter? Goblins were being sent flying through the air. Dwarves are terrifying…
I stored the MINIMI and my backpack in Home, drew only my machete, and returned outside.
I also jumped into the goblin horde and finished off the ones the dwarves had missed. Don’t call it kill-stealing. I’m just making sure we don’t get attacked from behind.
As we continued our rapid advance and wiped out goblins, a strong presence began approaching us.
「The boss is coming!」
I drove my machete into a goblin’s head, swung the sling back over my shoulder, and readied the VHS-2.
The goblin that appeared was a higher species with red skin, a Hoglus. If that’s the case, does that mean there’s also a Midary that uses magic?
「Fall back for now! It’s a higher goblin species!」
I’ll have the dwarves fall back for now and take a rest.
「Takato! It’s the red one!」
Bisha and Gato, who had been attacking from the flank, came down and regrouped with us.
「Resupply your ammo.」
I brought out P90 magazines and shotgun shells and had them reload.
「It’s coming!」
Three Hoglus, each over two meters tall, appeared. Not just one?!
I thought there was only one because only one presence felt strong! What kind of scam is this?!
「Gogaahhh!」
The Hogrus let out roars worthy of higher species. If I didn’t have all this experience, I would’ve panicked completely.
And right now, Bisha and the dwarves are here. There’s nothing to fear!
I seized the initiative and pulled the trigger of the VHS-2.
As expected of higher species, 5.56 mm rounds weren’t enough to finish them off. But combined with the P90 and KSG, they were effective. We killed one, one fled, and one charged at us.
「Finish it!」
I had the dwarves deliver the final blow.
「Bisha, Gato, take out the ones around us!」
I left the boss to the three dwarves while the rest of us cut down the surrounding goblins.
Since they had gone into a frenzy, their numbers had increased significantly from the start, but we still eliminated at least four hundred. That’s a profit of one million.
「Rest comes later. Fall back a bit.」
I’d like to douse them in gasoline and burn them, but we don’t have the time or stamina for that right now. We also need to resupply. First, we head back to yesterday’s campsite and regroup.
「Takato, the magic stones!」
Oh right, that’s true. Higher species should have magic stones. It would be a waste to leave them behind.
「Collect the magic stones from the higher species. Bisha, Gato, resupply.」
I left the magic stones to the three dwarves while the rest of us resupplied our ammo.
「Boss! We’ve collected the magic stones!」
「Good. We’re heading back to yesterday’s campsite.」
We haven’t finished resupplying yet, but I’ve got a bad feeling crawling up my spine. It’s a signal to get out of here fast. I’ll listen and retreat. Adieu!
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