Chapter 21

Thank you to everyone who read this.

There is a bit of graphic violence. Please be cautious.

I will make additions and corrections to typos later.

It has been about a week since the Roomba came to the Coirat village. I couldn't stay in the mansion all the time, so I offered my home as a place for it to stay.

It's more luxurious than the village inn, right?

I had expected it to throw a tantrum, but it readily agreed without any fuss.

If it can't cook, it can always go to Selia's restaurant, and as an adventurer, it should be able to cook a thing or two. If it has no money, it can always hunt in the mountains. It seems that Roomba has a decent amount of savings, so it should be fine.

I might as well start building a third base.

Today, I decided to walk in the forest with Roomba. The reason is to get some wisdom from the adventurer. I need to get something out of it, or there's no point in offering my home.

"I told Nord, but is it okay not to invite Elinora?"

"Because if Elinora comes, she'll probably charge in and start slaughtering everything."

"That's true."

Roomba doesn't move around like the robot vacuum cleaners on Earth, which scurry about. It walks quietly and precisely.

Roomba seems to have different generations, like the first and second. The third generation apparently has obstacle mapping and visual functions, which is pretty cool.

This Roomba's mechanism for defeating monsters is amazing too. The AI might be a bit suspicious, though.

When I walk, I end up stepping on twigs and making a crunching sound.

"Try to pay more attention to your surroundings. For now, just try to suppress your presence."

"Got it. I'll try my best."

I try not to make noise in the grass and avoid stepping on twigs, but when I get close to deer or rabbits, they still notice me.

Roomba, on the other hand, silently parts the knee-high grass, approaches a wild boar, and throws a pebble at it.

How can it suppress its presence with such a large body?

The wild boar, enraged by the pebble, charges. Roomba catches it with its proud arms and effortlessly throws it away. It's too impressive.

While struggling to suppress my presence, Roomba blocks my path with its hand.

"Is something there?"

I whisper to Roomba.

"It's a monster... but just one goblin."

"Monster!?"

The moment Roomba mentioned a monster, my spine tingled, and my body stiffened.

I slowly turn my gaze to the small path ahead.

The rustling of the grass and leaves grows louder, and a goblin emerges from the underbrush. It has a small, green body with pointed ears and a large nose in the middle of its face. It seems to be a lone goblin, looking around nervously.

"Al, have you never seen a monster before?"

"I've seen one from a distance once."

I saw a Wind Wolf, a wolf-type monster with white fur. I was so scared by its sharp eyes that I immediately teleported away.

"Well, it's just one goblin. If it were a violent one, it would be equipped with a sword, but this time it's just a log, so it's fine. Do you want to try taking it down with a sword, Al?"

"No, a log is heavy enough for a six-year-old. Besides, if I fight, I'll use magic."

"Oh, that's true. You're better at magic, aren't you?"

While we're talking, the goblin seems to notice us and lets out a low, guttural cry, then charges towards us.

"If you want to take it down safely with magic, you need to close the distance. It will come to close combat, you know?"

Roomba readies a sword as tall as itself and focuses on the goblin.

"Hey, where's Al?"

"Over here!"

I call out to Roomba, who is far away.

"What? Why are you so far back?"

"Because I'm scared of close combat!"

"You're scared? What the heck, when did you get so far away?"

Well, I just teleported to keep my distance. Now, I'm about thirty meters away from the goblin.

Roomba, intending to let me take it down, starts running towards me, guiding the goblin.

The goblin, being small, is a fair distance from Roomba, but it still runs with its legs spread wide.

I create two ice pillars with ice magic. The cold air converges in front of me, instantly forming the ice pillars. The air around me drops sharply due to the ice pillars.

"Roomba! I'm going to cast magic, so clear the line of sight!"

"Got it!"

Thanks to Roomba moving to the side, the line of sight to the goblin is clear.

Sorry, Roomba. I just got lazy because I teleported away.

Imagining a large, stationary crossbow used from ancient to medieval times, I quickly launch the two ice pillars.

"Ballista!"

The ice pillars, with a heavy sound, slice through the air. One pierces the goblin's chest, and the other blows off its arm and pins it to the ground. The blood is not the familiar red but purple.

If it were red, I might have felt sick and vomited.

When I get close to the goblin, it's already dead, not moving at all.

Thinking that I killed it makes me feel very dark. The image of the ice pillars piercing the goblin won't leave my mind.

I've hunted rabbits and wild boars before, and I thought I could rationalize it as necessary for survival.

However, killing a humanoid creature makes me feel a chill in my heart. I couldn't rationalize it, even if it's called a monster.

Maybe I'm just scared of killing a humanoid creature with my own hands, using any excuse like safety, long-range, and magic.

I take a deep breath and try to change my mood. Roomba, sensing my feelings, stands beside me with a serious expression.

To move forward, I need to be strong and look down at the goblin's corpse.

"...That's pretty gruesome."

"...Your magic did that."

No, Roomba. This is a serious moment...

Thank you.