Chapter 30

"…Ugh, stop it…"

Brother Antonio woke up.

He looked terrible, as if he had been having a nightmare. Well, considering he had almost died, it was no wonder.

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Who… Ah, Ricardo?"

"It's been a while. How’s your body?"

Antonio seemed to remember something and checked his left hand.

"It doesn’t have any strength."

His left hand looked healed on the outside, but the nerves and muscles that had been severed once didn’t seem to have fully recovered.

[Healing] is a low-intermediate level magic. It is effective for stopping bleeding and healing bruises, but in severe cases, such as Antonio’s, [Regenerative Treatment], an advanced magic, is necessary.

Ricardo had used magic to treat Antonio’s hand, but he apologized for not being able to heal it completely.

"There’s no need to apologize. It’s better that it doesn’t hurt."

It might take a long time of rehabilitation for his brother’s hand to function properly again. Even if it did, it might never be completely back to normal.

"Father?"

Ricardo shook his head silently, and Antonio, swaying, stood up and walked in the direction of his mother’s crying.

Ricardo stayed behind, comforting his younger brother and sister as he waited.

"Kuka, Kyuwa Kyu" (Rica, are you done?)

Monta’s voice came from inside the bag. Serge and Pamela looked at the shoulder bag in surprise.

"You can come out now."

Monta, who had grown tired of staying still, came out of the bag happily. He looked around, saw Serge and Pamela, and quickly climbed up Ricardo’s back, attaching himself to the back of his head and cried out.

"Kue" (Who?)

"They are my brother Serge and sister Pamela. This is Monta, my brother’s… familiar."

Some monster hunters keep familiars. They use the excellent sensory organs of monsters to help with detection. These familiars are specially trained monsters that have been raised by humans from a young age.

Monta moved to Ricardo’s shoulder and bowed to Serge and Pamela.

"Mo Kue Kyu" (I’m Monta)

"I’m Serge."

"Pamela."

For some reason, they were able to communicate.

The young brother and sister quickly became friends with Monta.

While comforting Monta and his siblings, Ricardo managed to recover his heart, which had fallen to the bottom.

Mother and brother returned. When Antonio saw Ricardo’s face, he asked,

"What do you think we should do from here?"

"While everyone is hiding in a safe place, I’ll take care of the goblin tribe."

"You alone against a large number of goblins?"

Antonio’s voice was full of surprise. Even though he knew Ricardo had become a magic apprentice, he couldn’t believe that his eleven-year-old brother could defeat the vicious goblins.

But there were three dead goblins in the house, and they were definitely killed by Ricardo.

"Are you sure you’ll be okay?"

Mother’s worried voice reached him.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Look, I’m a full-fledged magician now."

Ricardo showed them the certification tag and told them that he had passed the magician certification exam in the capital and joined the Magician’s Guild.

Mother and brother still looked worried, but they eventually understood.

"By the way, where is Brother Matteo?"

Remembering the existence of his second brother, Matteo, he asked. It turned out that Matteo had run away from the village a while ago.

"The village is so boring. He must have gotten fed up and left."

No one knew where he had gone. Given the state of the village, Matteo might have been lucky.

"By the way, is there a place to hide?"

Ricardo asked, and Serge suddenly spoke up.

"If you want a hiding place, the charcoal kiln is good."

It seemed to be his favorite hiding spot.

There was a charcoal kiln at the edge of the village, and it was apparently large enough to hide the entire family.

They immediately started moving. On the way, they encountered one goblin, but Ricardo finished it off with a single strike of his magic rod.

The family, watching this, was impressed.

They arrived at the charcoal kiln. Ricardo went inside and thought it would be safe to hide here.

He instructed the family to stay inside the kiln until he returned, and entrusted Monta to Serge and Pamela.

Ricardo left the charcoal kiln and headed south of the village.

Approaching the mayor’s house without being noticed, he peeked from behind a tree and saw that more than sixty goblins were surrounding it.

"Someone, help us!"

"Please tell the lord that we are being attacked by goblins!"

Cries came from inside the storehouse. The first voice was probably the mayor’s daughter, and the second was the mayor’s.

They didn’t realize they had been abandoned and were calling for help from the lord.

The goblins were trying to break down the storehouse door, but it seemed that a mere club wouldn’t be enough.

Ricardo counted the goblins and made a difficult face. There were too many for him to handle alone.

Thinking he needed to reduce their numbers, he took out the catalyst for [Shrapnel Rain]. Ricardo had two [Shrapnel Rain] catalysts and two [Gale Fang Array] catalysts that could perform area attacks.

He also had a [Scatter Spear] catalyst, but it was a high-power magic aimed at large targets rather than an area attack.

Aiming at the area where the goblins were clustered, he activated [Shrapnel Rain].

The atmosphere swirled in the sky, and after a few seconds, dozens of shockwave rains fell on the goblins on the ground. With that one strike, over a dozen goblins were downed.

The goblins, not knowing what had happened, started to scream and panic.

Ricardo fired [Shrapnel Rain] again. This time, another dozen goblins were downed, leaving about thirty.

One of the goblins noticed Ricardo hiding behind a tree and shouted.

All the goblins turned their gaze towards Ricardo.

"…Trouble, I should have thought out a plan before attacking."

He looked around for an escape route. Ricardo came out from behind the tree and ran east along the main road in the center of the village. Naturally, the goblins chased after him.

While running, he took out the catalyst for [Gale Fang Array] and prepared the magic. Ricardo turned around and fired [Gale Fang Array].

Dozens of wind blades attacked the pursuing goblins, and about seven were downed. The remaining goblins, with their usual faces, shouted in anger and threw pebbles.

Ricardo fled into a maze-like alley on the north side of the village.

As soon as he entered the alley, he cast the [Mud Bind] spell on the ground.

The leading goblin, grinning, raised his club and was about to bring it down on Ricardo when he sank into the mud, only his nose and above visible.

When the second and third goblins chasing him fell into the mud, the goblins finally understood the situation.

Ricardo and the goblins faced each other across the small mud pit.

The alley was narrow, and it was impossible to pass without avoiding the mud pit.

The goblin in front laughed mockingly at his sunken comrades.

The laughing goblin (let’s call him Goblin A) seemed to have judged that he could jump over the mud after checking its length. He took a run-up and jumped.

He flew through the air towards Ricardo.

Ricardo stepped just to the edge of the mud pit and pushed Goblin A back with both hands.

"Guwo"

Goblin A let out a rough cry and fell into the mud. Struggling in the mud, he couldn’t get out and looked at Ricardo with a resentful expression, spitting out mud from his mouth.

The next goblin, Goblin B, looked at Goblin A, whose head was sticking out of the mud, and grinned as if he had an idea.

"Guhiya"

Goblin B, laughing eerily, also seemed to be preparing to jump. He took a few steps back, gained momentum, and jumped.

Goblin B’s landing point was on Goblin A’s head. He intended to stand on Goblin A’s head and attack Ricardo.

Ricardo saw Goblin B’s smug face in mid-air.

He kept his distance cautiously. Then, Goblin B landed.

Goblins have shaved heads, which are very slippery, especially when covered in mud.

Goblin B slipped and fell into the mud.

"Idiot!"

Ricardo couldn’t help but shout.

The ridiculous actions of the goblins made the tension he had felt due to his father’s death dissipate.

"Damn, I feel like all my tension has been drained. Could this be their strategy… No, that’s impossible."

He heard a noise from behind. Another goblin had come around from a different alley.

Gripping his magic rod, he ran towards the noise. Turning right into the alley, he found two goblins. There was no time to use magic. It turned into a close-quarters battle with clubs and the magic rod, and he managed to take down the two goblins despite taking a hit on his left shoulder.

"Ouch… I guess close combat isn’t a magician’s way of fighting. I need to seriously think of a countermeasure or I might get seriously injured one day."

The goblins who had jumped over the mud pit chased after Ricardo. He wanted to use the [Healing] spell to treat his shoulder, but there was no time.

He ran through the maze-like alley, fighting as he went. Using the shockwaves from his magic rod to blow away the goblins and using the remaining catalysts to cast spells, he reduced their numbers, leaving only three goblins.

"Still here… I’m tired."

Ricardo was exhausted from running around and using magic.

He checked his catalyst pouch for any remaining attack catalysts.

"Only one [Earth] catalyst for low-intermediate level… [Scatter Spear] or [Mud Bind], I guess."

Ricardo decided to go to the main road in the center of the village for the final showdown.

He boldly stepped into the middle of the road, and the goblins followed.

As Ricardo started to chant a spell, one of the goblins barked. They seemed to have learned something from the repeated spells he had cast.

One of them dashed to finish him off before the spell was completed. The judgment was correct, but the timing was off. The spell was completed, and [Scatter Spear] was activated.

A large stone spear appeared in the air and flew towards the two goblins in the back.

The scatter spear pierced the goblin on the left and exploded, opening a hole in the side of the goblin on the right, who then fell.

The final goblin engaged in close combat. The details of the subsequent battle became hazy. When Ricardo came to, the last goblin was on the ground, and he himself was in a sorry state.

"…It’s over."

Breathing heavily, he started meditating on the spot to recover his strength and magic power.

After a while, he returned to the charcoal kiln.

"Everyone, it’s safe to come out."

When the family came out of the kiln, they were covered in soot.

They went back home, washed up, changed clothes, and took a breather.

Afterward, when he told the villagers hiding in the mayor’s storehouse and others that the goblins had been defeated, the villagers came out.

When they learned that Ricardo had returned as a magician and defeated the goblins, they were very grateful.

However, the villagers’ expressions were not bright. Many of their families and friends who had been lively until yesterday had been killed by the goblins.

The burial of the dead villagers and the disposal of the goblin corpses were carried out.

Incidentally, the goblin horns could be used as catalysts, so Ricardo collected them carefully.

After things settled down in the village, Ricardo had a family meeting.

"What should we do from here?"

Mother Julia asked with a worried voice.

"I’ll work hard and take Father’s place."

Hearing his brother’s solemn declaration, Ricardo glanced at his brother’s left hand and shared his opinion.

"Brother, you don’t have to push yourself. We can all move to the capital."

"But, Ricardo, you just joined the Magician’s Guild. It must be tough."

"Don’t worry. I’ve made some friends in the capital, and I’ve even acquired some land."

"Land… Are you planning to start farming?"

"No, I want to grow monster trees."

"Eh? What are you going to do with those?"

"Monster trees can be sold for a high price as catalyst materials, and I have some experiments I want to try."

"Experiments? I don’t understand, but you’ve changed, Ricardo. You must have studied a lot to become a magician."

After the discussion, the family decided to move to the capital.

They negotiated with the mayor to buy their house and farmland. However, the price the mayor offered was minimal. The mayor wanted to buy it at a higher price out of gratitude to Ricardo, but his finances were tight.

They asked the villagers to pass on a message to their brother Matteo if he returned, telling him to come to the capital and find Ricardo at the Magician’s Guild.

They packed their belongings into a storage crystal. Mother and brother were surprised, and the younger siblings were delighted.

"You have such tools. That’s amazing."

Antonio was impressed.

"If it’s known that you have such expensive magical tools, you might be targeted by bad people, so keep it a secret," Ricardo said to Serge and Pamela, and they nodded.

"Hey, Rica, can I use it too?"

Ordinary storage crystals are equipped with metal protective shells, magic control circuits, and magic conduction rods to make them usable even by those who cannot control magic. However, the storage crystal Ricardo used was a simple cylindrical metal can filled with cotton and a blue jade tree crystal.

The idea was that as long as he could control the magic himself, he only needed something to protect the crystal. To use it, he opened the lid, touched the storage crystal, and channeled magic into it.

"This is for magicians only, so it’s not possible."

"Then I’ll become a magician like Rica."

"Pamela too."

They were cute younger siblings. Whether or not they would become magicians, he decided to give them a proper education.

Mother carried Pamela, and Antonio carried Serge, and they slowly headed for Delb.

Ricardo and his family arrived in Delb after three days and took a two-day rest in the town.

According to the information they heard in Delb, goblins had also appeared in the mining town of Pakito. Moreover, in the hundreds, and soldiers and magicians who had gone to Pakito had defeated them in a fierce battle.

While the family was resting, Ricardo went hunting in the forest where the monster tree Trill was abundant. He planned to make magic rods to earn money since he would need various funds when he returned to the capital.

In two days, he hunted six monster tree Trills and obtained twelve branches.

According to Bernardo, the magic rods Ricardo made were popular, and several people were waiting for them to be restocked.

Although he was concerned about the battle in the mining town of Pakito, he didn’t want to run into Alessandro, who had returned to Delb, so he left Delb on the morning of the third day.

After that, they continued their journey smoothly and arrived in the capital.

2017/4/23 Typo corrections