Right after parting ways with the merchant slave caravan, the presence of goblins exploded.
「Did those guys do something?」
That was how suspicious I became, surrounded by goblin presences everywhere.
「We make our stand here. Ladarion, take the Benelli M4 and return to your original form. Kainzel-san takes the right, I take the left. Mishinie, mobile support. Take down anything outside our range. Sierra, stay by my side. Roz and Raigo, rear guard.」
I called over two MINIMIs and box magazines, handed Sierra an MP9, and took position.
「They are coming from nearly every direction! Do not let them get close!」
We had around five minutes before the goblins reached us, so preparations were perfect.
Mentally too.
I would exterminate every last one of them!
「Fire!」
The moment they entered range, we gunned the goblins down.
We kept firing for over an hour and wiped out the goblins pouring toward us.
Judging by the reward amount, there had to be at least five hundred of them.
Was the reason I could think of that as only a decent number because my senses had gone numb?
「For now, once we finish resupplying ammunition, we move.」
It was already past sixteen hundred. We had maybe thirty minutes before dark. We should move somewhere that did not stink of goblins.
That day, we found a place suitable for camping, and no goblins attacked us. But from the fourth day onward, we kept encountering so many that we could barely make progress.
That meant the chime would be coming soon.
──Piroooon! You have surpassed sixteen thousand goblins～!
There it was, right as I thought it.
I desperately wanted a mute function.
──The town in Count Ashikka’s territory is surrounded by a massive number of goblins. Please exterminate them immediately. Come on, earn more, earn more (*＞∇＜)ノ
Seriously, stop with the emoticons!
My blood vessels were about to burst!
「Damn it! Mishinie, do you still have magic power and stamina? If you do, run ahead to the town in Count Ashikka’s territory and go wild. Right now, you can kill goblins to your heart’s content.」
「Leave it to me!」
Even after all the fighting she had already done, Mishinie took off running.
I said it myself, but just how much stamina did you have?
「Takato, what happened?」
「According to the goddess’s announcement, the town in Count Ashikka’s territory is surrounded by goblins. I am going to Home for a meeting, so please rest here. If goblins attack, move ahead first. Ladarion stays behind and guards Sierra.」
We had properly marked our route the whole way here, and we knew the direction Mishinie had run.
Even if we got separated, we should regroup quickly.
「If you are calling reinforcements, the sooner the better.」
「Yes. I am calling the second wave.」
The moment that useless goddess made the announcement, I knew something was coming.
I had already planned up to the third wave.
It would end up being a piecemeal deployment, but the Goblin Extermination Guild did not have enough numbers to commit all forces at once. We were not even organized enough yet to send units into another lord’s territory. The third wave would just be hiring adventurers and having them come along.
In reality, the second wave was only a small elite group. Miriel, Bisha, Mebi, two dwarves, and three staff members.
There was no way that number could handle goblins surrounding a town.
More importantly, this was no longer extermination.
This was a war against goblins.
The whole purpose had already changed!
「Ladarion, stay here.」
After saying that, I went to Home.
It was around fourteen hundred, but because we had been fighting goblins since yesterday, even Miriel was maintaining firearms together with Misaro. Though both physically and emotionally, they still kept their distance.
「Miriel. This is an emergency. Send out the second wave tomorrow morning. Count Ashikka’s territory is overflowing with goblins. Misaro, make sure we do not run out of guns or ammunition.」
「Understood. I will notify everyone right away.」
The moment she answered, Miriel immediately headed outside.
She looked ready to depart on the spot.
「Misaro. Have you ever heard anything about the Demon King’s Army doing something in Count Ashikka’s territory?」
「I do not know. Even though I was an officer, I was not one directly under the Demon King.」
So it was a vertical hierarchy with no horizontal connections.
The Demon King’s Army might be a stronger organization than I had imagined.
「But I did hear rumors about a plan to increase the number of goblins. The Demon King’s Army does not exactly have an endless supply of talented people either.」
So even the Demon King’s Army could not run on monkey-pack bosses alone.
The real Demon King’s Army was nothing like dreams or heroic fantasies.
「There may be nonstop fighting from here on. You will probably be stuck in Home, so I am counting on you.」
「Do not worry about me. I like quietly working on things anyway.」
I wanted her to live more like a normal person among others, but considering Misaro’s position, that would not happen quickly.
We would just have to let her slowly grow comfortable with everyone.
「Yeah. Thanks.」
I patted Misaro on the head as she silently loaded magazines.
Her appearance might be outrageous, but I now understood that mentally she was her age, so I ended up treating her like a child.
「Then I am off to earn some money.」
Following that useless goddess’s words annoyed me, but if I did not earn, I would not survive, and I would never live well either.
Better to treat it as an opportunity and get fired up.
When I went outside, nothing had happened, and everyone was resting while staying alert.
「The second wave will depart tomorrow morning. Until then, we handle this ourselves.」
「Well, it should be fine. As long as Takato and Ladarion are here, we will not run out of ammunition.」
「We cannot resupply alcohol, though.」
「Fufu. Then the drinks after this will taste even better.」
There was not a trace of anxiety or impatience on anyone’s face.
Yeah. We would be fine.
With this group, we could take on a thousand or two thousand.
「Then let us earn enough to enjoy some excellent drinks later.」
I grinned and headed toward where Mishinie was rampaging.
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