77 – Belgrove (4)

“… .”

How long had it been since you entered the cave without a word?

The inside of the cave was no different from other caves. Stalactites hanging from the ceiling one after another and water droplets falling from their ends.

The clear sound of the drops of water and rocks colliding.

Its beady waves seemed to echo past us and into the depths of a dark cave.

Looking at the ringing time, the depth of the cave seemed deeper than expected.

tuk tuk-

Then someone touched my shoulder as I was walking ahead.

‘Raina?’

When I asked what was going on, Reina gestured to her feet.

After watching for a while, I soon understood her intentions.

‘Ah, this is it.’

Recklessly entering a monster’s habitat is, in a way, like an act of suicide.

This is especially true of oysters that are like the home grounds of monsters.

Although it may look like one road from the point of view of entering, these burrows have many passages connected around a large central passage.

It is like an ant nest.

That’s why, when the monster’s habitat is a cave-like place, no matter how experienced an adventurer is, it is standard practice to enter it accompanied by a magician who can detect it.

It didn’t matter because there was a minimap in the game, but it’s not virtual reality, and there is no such thing now.

But we have wizards.

Before entering the cave, at Hilda’s suggestion, we decided to go inside the cave to some extent, and then proceed by detecting the inside of the cave through her magic.

It was Hilda’s judgment that if mana was condensed in one place and then sent out in all directions in an instant, she would be able to grasp the surrounding geography to some extent, if not all.

And the place where Raina stopped me was the very first point.

When I looked behind me, I saw Hilda with her eyes closed and gathering mana in her hands.

And again, with a thumping sound, mana could be seen scattering in all directions.

After a while, Hilda slowly shook her head.

This meant that there was no clear passageway.

Repeat this method two or three times and move on,

“… There is.”

Hilda’s head nodded for the first time when she reached the place where the large cavity was exposed.

At Hilda’s words, everyone prepared for battle and prepared for the goblins that would emerge from the darkness.

But even after a few seconds or minutes, there was no attack.

“Did you see Hilda correctly?”

“… Whoops, two or three were detected. in front of me.”

The place she pointed to was the middle of the common area.

I could actually see something wriggling there.

Seeing this, Hans took out his longsword and spoke to me.

“Okay, let’s finish this quickly and leave. Take the lead, Altein.”

As Hilda said, two or three goblins were gathered.

I immediately approached them and brandished my black sword before they found us.

With a creaking sound, I felt the goblin’s head being cut off.

It was so simple. Would it have taken 5 seconds?

“… .”

“Are you done with this?”

“Whoops, there’s nothing around.”

“It feels too easy for a monster cave. Are you like this?”

“no. It must have been like that before they were called upon. If this had been left unattended, it would have grown so huge that there was no time to touch it.”

“I was really lucky. No, I must say the timing was right.”

As soon as we arrived at the village, the monster extermination request continued.

The presence of goblins, which are not so strong as it should be at the beginning of the game.

At the same time, the size of the goblin horde matched like a coincidence.

It’s really perfect for beginners.

‘Is a game a game?’

Mephistora had an accident, but there didn’t seem to be a big twist in the story yet.

Seeing that they give quests of such difficulty, the other side also—

thud-

Suddenly, the entire cave shook, and small piles of rocks fell from the ceiling along with dust.

“Earthquake?”

Everyone was staring at the ceiling to see if I was the only one who felt that way.

“Bae, Count… .”

“Elaine?”

It felt like Elaine’s blue eyes were expanding.

She grabbed me by the collar with a worried expression on her face.

Unknowingly, I hid Elaine behind me because of her unusually unstable appearance.

“Why?”

“I-I don’t know… I suddenly got scared… ,”

“Are you scared?”

“yes… .”

At Elaine’s words, I looked around for a while.

A while ago, a lot of stones fell due to the previous earthquake, but because the size was small, there was no damage.

As in the beginning, it was dark and there was only a cool wind blowing.

But suddenly, Elaine started to say that she was afraid.

If the atmosphere of the dark cave was frightening, he would have said it from the beginning.

Or is it because you’ve been patient and relaxed?

‘He said he didn’t know the reason.’

I asked Elaine again, but she always shook her head.

“Hey Altane, slowly… what?”

“never mind. He suddenly became scared.”

“Ha, come now?”

“… .”

“Hilda?”

Normally, it would have been Hilda who would have agreed to this with a bad laugh, but she continued to stare at the common entrance.

“Whoops… .”

Then he bursts out laughing.

The only thing that bothered me was that she was smiling as she looked away and not in our direction.

‘I don’t have anything?’

Hilda has a very mysterious image.

Usually when kids like that show weird behavior, there’s something going on.

“Hilda. What are you looking at?”

“Whoops… Apparently, the request hasn’t been completed yet… .”

“yet? Are the goblins still there? Even if it’s a passage through which I passed—”

“no… The cave is clean.”

“If the cavity is cleaned up and the inside of the cave is clean, is there a habitat that hasn’t been discovered yet?”

“Maybe it looks like that. Whoops.”

“Hey, Altane!”

As soon as Hilda finished speaking, Hans’ urgent cry was heard.

“Hans?”

“… There are still goblins left.”

“A goblin? I would have just taken care of everything.”

“Try using the magic eye. I learned in class, so I can do that much, right?”

I wrapped Mana around my eyes at Hans’ words and looked towards the entrance of the cave Hans was pointing at.

All I could see through my bright, distant vision was a swarming horde of goblins coming my way.

‘Ah, fuck.’

Somehow it wasn’t too much.

It’s small, but there’s no way they’d use such a large cave as their habitat.

I was thinking too simple.

“I can’t figure out the number.”

“What is certain is that there are more than the guys who were here. Because the entrance doesn’t look right.”

“If they come into the joint, there will be no more answers. We have to block it in the street corner.”

Fortunately, they are goblins who do not possess outstanding intelligence, so they will just line up and enter.

It would be fine if you blocked off the not-so-wide cave roads and moved forward slowly.

If they come into this cavity and pile up, even the goblins can have a hard time with an overwhelming number difference.

“Elaine, you must stay in the rear. Heel from the rear… No, focus on treatment.”

“Ah, I see!”

“Hans, you stand in front with me. Will there be any problem?”

“… of course.”

Hans and I deal with the goblins from the front, and Reina and Hilda’s magic creates gaps in the back.

And if Elaine’s heels come in every moment, the current situation isn’t that difficult.

And as a last resort, Ishtar remains.

‘Ishtar.’

… .

Borrowing Ishtar’s power is a last resort.

Whatever it is, it will take a toll on this body.

‘The remaining mana will be enough.’

Shortly after changing positions, I began to hear the cries of the goblins from across the aisle.

It was quite a number, and the entire cave was shaking slightly.

“I’ll use magic first when I get closer. Wait for the signal until then.”

Blue crystals gathered around Reina and began to form a mass.

It was an ice storm, a skill I saw during the midterm evaluation.

Wait an ice storm?

“Raina! If you use that magic, the whole cave will collapse!”

“… I know that much. Do you think I don’t even know that?”

The blue orb wriggles and shrinks back in size.

“Of course, we will control the power. Because this is enough for the goblins. Just in case, I’ll leave the next attack to Miss Hilda.”

“Whoops, good.”

Reina slowly reached out and sent the orb flying.

The sphere left a blue tail and slowly lit up the passage, and soon reached the side infested with goblins.

Because the aisle was illuminated by the sphere, the group of goblins could be seen at once.

“… crazy.”

It was a word I said without realizing it.

“Oh my gosh… .”

“Whoops… .”

“Where on earth did these goblins come from?”

Seeing the goblins lined up outside the entrance even after filling the aisle, the group sighed simultaneously.

Too many.

Monsters usually gather in groups of 15, but that number looks like dozens, let alone 15.

Where the hell did these guys come from? There must have been nothing around here.

“Keeek-!”

“Keeik!”

The goblin leader who spotted us screamed and looked behind us.

It’s like letting you know there’s an enemy in front of you.

As if they had heard the screams of the lead goblins, screams came from the ends of the group as well.

“Kik! Kik!”

As the lead goblin raised his tiny fist high above his head, those behind him followed suit.

Then, as if performing a ritual, he waved his hands up and down at his command and slowly began to approach us.

Dust and debris continued to fall from the cave ceiling as the goblins began to move in unison.

“Wait still.”

Even in the rapidly changing situation, Reina’s voice was calm.

The blue orb she sent earlier had arrived in the middle of the goblin crowd.

Perhaps the magic from there will cause chaos, and that moment will be me and Hans’ turn to attack. It’s important to hit them quickly so they don’t react.

I lightly glanced at Hans and tightened the hand holding the black sword so that he could run away at any time.