Around 6:10 in the morning, the sun rose over the mountains.
The Mokudan that had been howling through the night were gone, and goblins began pouring out in droves.
「They’re on edge from hunger」
Like wars of old, “take food from the enemy”, huh? It’s a hassle for the goblins being forced into it, but it’s an even bigger hassle for us on the receiving end.
「Ladarion!」
I ordered the giant-form Ladarion to throw out the processed meat.
Two burlap sacks, each the size of a ton-pack, were tossed outside the fortress. Since they weren’t tied, the processed meat scattered everywhere.
The goblins swarmed over it like starving ghouls. Even from here, I could feel the frenzy in the air.
The feast is in full swing. Time to begin.
「Ladarion, do it!」
She fired a grenade from the M32 grenade launcher into the sky.
It arced through the air and “livened up” the feasting goblins even more.
「That’s pretty brutal」
Well, it’s a weapon meant to kill people, so of course it’s brutal. But with his giant form, it’s basically bombing…no, more like an air raid. Carpet bombing, even.
Just twelve shots, and we already made around two million yen. That said, more than a thousand goblins didn’t even get to join the “feast”.
Ladarion shrank back down, ejected the spent casings, and loaded fresh grenades.
Even after taking that kind of attack, the goblins didn’t flee. Instead, they started devouring the torn flesh of their own kind.
「They must’ve been starving」
「Firing again!」
「Spread it evenly!」
Grenades rained down over a wide area, adding nearly another two million yen.
「Even so, we haven’t eliminated half of them」
The sheer scale of eighteen hundred is really hitting me now.
「00 to 02. Commence attack. Split them apart」
I contacted Kainzel-san at the front gate and gave the order to begin.
「02, understood」
At the front gate, Kainzel-san and Bisha opened fire with the MINIMI.
「Mebi, take out anything that looks like it’ll get in the way」
「Roger that!」
Using a sandbag as a rest, Mebi pulled the trigger of the H-Sniper again and again.
There were higher-ranking goblins mixed in with the horde. If those survived, they would become a problem later. Better to exterminate them now.
「This is 03. We’re moving to attack」
A transmission came in from Miriel.
「They haven’t fully split yet, but there are more on the west side. Around six hundred. About four hundred on the south side」
「Understood. Then we’ll send Gorg’s group to the west. We’ll take the south side ourselves」
「Roger. There’s a detached group of about a hundred hiding on the south side. Be careful」
The one with the strong magical presence is probably leading them.
「Yes. I’ll put them all to sleep at once」
The fact that it sounded more like “eternal sleep” was probably just my imagination. Probably.
The battle, no, the extermination, was generally going in our favor. Judging from the reward total, we had already taken down around six hundred.
…Even after all this, the profit is only around three million yen. It almost makes me want to cry…
「A giant has appeared on the west side!」
One of the lookouts came running over with the report. So Gorg’s group had charged in first.
A giant using a shotgun. Even through earmuffs, the sound was overwhelming. Good thing I told everyone to use earplugs.
We standardized them with Benelli M4s, loaded with birdshot, and the reward total began climbing at an absurd pace. Though with my cut only being fifteen hundred yen each, it still only amounted to a few hundred thousand.
Since most of them were beginners, reloading took time, but the numbers were dropping steadily enough.
「Adventurers have appeared from the south!」
So Miriel’s group had charged too.
I wanted to go check on them, but I needed to make sure the Demon King Army commander knew I was here.
At this point, I’m definitely going to end up on the Demon King Army’s watch list.
…Once this is over, I should casually spread the word that there’s a Hero in this world…
Miriel’s sleep magic detonated, and the dwarves must have started rampaging, because the reward amount suddenly jumped.
──Pirooon!
The electronic chime rang in my head.
──You’ve passed thirteen thousand kills! Your enemy is one of the Demon King Army’s Sixteen Generals, Rodos of the Roaring Thunder. If you defeat him, many of the problems in this region will be resolved. Oh, and if you want to free Misaro of the Demon Flute, just destroy the flute. That’s what’s binding her～.
An hour after the battle, no, extermination, began, came that useless goddess’s unnecessary report… and one actually important piece of information. You should’ve said that earlier!
「Azur Rise. Can you see the enemy commander? Front, slightly to the right」
I peered through the monocular and relayed the position to Azur Rise.
Standing beside me, Azur Rise held the Barrett at the ready without moving. He’d been like that for over an hour. How is that even possible?
「I see him. He’s irritated」
Well, his forces are on the verge of collapse. Makes sense he’d be irritated. If he weren’t, I’d start getting annoyed instead.
「Provoke him. You can hit him if you want」
He had a physique that rivaled Azur Rise’s and eyes burning with anger, but there was still intelligence behind them. If that’s the case, then we take it to psychological warfare.
「Got it. I’ll hit him」
The commander was about four hundred meters away. A skilled shooter could make the shot, but Azur Rise had only been using the Barrett for a few days,
….and he hit him!? Talent!? Was that pure talent?!
「Tch. Missed」
No, you definitely hit him! What were you aiming for?
「He’s tough. And his healing ability is high」
The shot struck his shoulder, blowing off the shoulder guard. Blood flowed for a moment… then it healed almost instantly.
「When one possesses life magic stones, their healing improves. That one likely has quite a number of them」
So that’s it. Then the reason goblins are so stubborn must be because of those magic stones.
「I’m heading out. Cover me」
「Leave it to me. But don’t go too far」
「Got it. I won’t push too far」
This plan depends on Azur Rise and Mishinie. I won’t go somewhere they can’t reach me quickly.
I sheathed the heat sword at my right hip, grabbed a P90, climbed down from the wall, and stepped outside the fortress.
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