Chapter 37

"Divine magic is not invincible. I never said I would allow even one to die. Get a grip."

At my words, they seemed to snap out of their reverie, taking a deep breath.

It seemed they finally realized.

Who this seemingly weak-looking young man, who had been assigned to their territory, really was.

"I'll personally take care of those who get injured, so keep that in mind."

Despite the heavy warning in my voice, they didn't seem to resist...

"For the lord's expectations, let's respond!"

"Crush them!!"

"Don't miss this chance! Crush their heads!"

The vigilantes already had a look in their eyes that suggested they didn't care about such things.

Their morale was amplified almost to the point of a berserker's frenzy, and the goblins' faces were turning pale. Did they realize the cause of this?

Certainly, the straightforward approach seemed disadvantageous, but the number of goblins was visibly decreasing in an instant.

The goblins must have been in a panic.

The humans, enveloped in an eerie light, were something the goblins had never seen before.

Because of that light, it was hard to defeat them and even harder to injure them.

When they managed to push through and inflict some wounds, the white light would heal their bodies.

They must have realized that this was not normal, driven by instinct rather than reason.

But what could they do? It was already too late.

-Keer!

-Kaaah!

Only then did the goblins, feeling the fear of death, start to flee one by one, but the fired-up vigilantes didn't let the fleeing goblins go.

The one-sided slaughter didn't last long.

The vigilantes, who had so much pent-up frustration, didn't give the goblins a chance to escape, swinging their weapons madly and charging in.

Finally, the last goblin, fleeing, was pierced by an arrow I casually shot, falling to the ground, marking the end of the last death.

For a moment, there was silence, as if they couldn't believe the unexpected outcome.

One of the vigilantes, sword hanging by his side, forgot to breathe and stood in silence, then trembled and raised his hands high.

"We... we won..."

"We won!!!"

"Yaaah!!!"

The mood spread like they had saved the world.

"Long live the lord!!"

"The saint is with us!!"

Their unabashed, corny lines made me feel quite uncomfortable.

-Your expression is slipping.

'Check if my hands are okay.'

-Physically, your fingers won't curl up.

Even as he said this, his expression seemed a bit awkward.

Watching them cheer for me, I couldn't shake off the feeling of embarrassment.

In the end, I had to remind them of something they had forgotten to disperse the atmosphere.

"What are you all doing? The citizens are still trapped! Move quickly!!"

"Ah!"

"Yes!!"

"Let's go!!"

Despite my very authoritative command, the word "blind faith" was already etched on their faces.

Almost like fanatics.

Carrot and stick.

I had tried to instill a mix of defiance and reverence, but now they were just shouting for the lord.

I had a nagging feeling that I had made a wrong choice.

17. It's raining outside! Drip! Drip! Drip!

The number of citizens is around 200.

Including the vigilantes and knights, there are about 30 to 40 of them.

Considering the number of citizens, the ratio of vigilantes is quite high.

From young boys to middle-aged men, they all picked up weapons to protect their territory.

With inadequate training, lack of skills, and insufficient funds for proper equipment.

When the goblins started their raid, it was a dire situation...

It's impressive they managed to hold out this long.

"Found them!"

While walking into the village and checking the goblin corpses, a vigilante came running up to me, breathless.

He was a young man who had shown intense anger towards the goblins.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

The distrustful look in his eyes was already gone.

It must have been a good high.

I hope they don't get addicted.

I calmly got up and followed the boy into the artificial cave.

The cave seemed to have been used as a food storage by the orcs.

Entering the roughly hewn cave, I saw vigilantes with weapons drawn, facing off against the goblins.

'Are they still here?'

-Even if they are not very intelligent, they can still learn.

There were about 10 goblins left.

A number we could handle quickly, but they were hiding behind the citizens they had kidnapped, holding rusted weapons.

Those weapons must have been looted from the territory. Though rusted, they were still dangerous.

On the other hand, the citizens, though bound crudely, were badly injured and exhausted, and couldn't be much of a fighting force.

The good thing was that the goblins hadn't touched them yet.

Goblins, regardless of race, are known to exhaust and rape female captives.

Since the kidnapping happened the night before, they hadn't had a chance to do so yet.

That's a relief.

-It's an unreasonable situation. If they were touched, they might be shunned even when they return to the territory...

"K... These cowardly bastards..."

Even with the buffs, we couldn't move fast enough to prevent the goblins from hurting the hostages.

That's why the vigilantes and knights couldn't approach the goblins recklessly.

"Hmm..."

I let out a short groan at the sight.

"Gordon, Freeman. When I give the signal, cut them down."

"Lord?"

At my words, the two vigilantes, and everyone else, looked surprised.

We had attacked the goblin village to save them, but my words about the hostages seemed to confuse them.

All I could do was shrug at those looking at me with shocked eyes.

"What are you all doing, are you going to spend the night here?"

"Lord! The goblins are cunning! With hostages, we can't just charge in..."

-Haha, you lack faith. Unbeliever.

"Let me clarify something."

As I finished speaking, light emanated from my hands again.

Hostages?

"Where are the hostages?"

As I finished speaking, a white light enveloped the tired and injured captives, as if wrapping them in a shell.

It seemed the goblins, who had fled the battle, had taken hostages here.

They must have realized what the light was.

The green monsters' faces were turning blue in real time.

-Kaaah!

-Kyaaah!

I shouted at the goblins, who were instinctively screaming and trying to flee.

"How long are you going to stand there? Charge in quickly!"

"Huh?! Die! You bastards!"

"Kill the rapists!"

The vigilantes and knights, who had realized what I had done, charged in and stabbed the goblins' necks.

Even if they tried to flee, we were blocking the exit, so they were cornered and all beheaded.

The last one, spewing blood, cried out in apparent injustice and then slumped, becoming a cold corpse.

For a goblin village of over a hundred, the conclusion of our straightforward assault without any strategy was quite anticlimactic.

I calmly took out a prepared blanket and approached the citizens who had been taken captive.

They were seeing me for the first time.

Their faces were dazed, not understanding what had happened to their bodies, but the light was gradually healing their severe bruises.

I smiled at a small girl, who was looking up at me with a dazed face, and wrapped her in the blanket.

The most important thing for those in fear is to reassure them.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."

"Sniff... sniff..."

Tears began to well up in the girl's eyes, which had been half-empty from the calm smile.

How scared she must have been. She soon clung to me and started crying, and the other citizens, realizing they were saved, also began to sob.

"All citizens have been rescued!"

One of the vigilantes approached me, who was silently patting the girl's back, and reported with a crisp salute.

"Good. Then what are you all waiting for? We need to get back quickly, don't you want to go home?"

"No!!"

At my words, holding the crying girl, the faces of the vigilantes and everyone else lit up.

* * *

Perhaps because I had led most of the vigilantes on this mission.

The vigilantes who had been guarding the old castle with distrust and anxiety looked puzzled at the rapid return of the raiding party.

"What are you all doing! Jimmy! Remove the barricades immediately!"

"The lord is coming in!"

"Move quickly, you slugs!"

But soon, at the shouts of the vigilantes who had followed me, they hurriedly removed the barricades.

They still looked puzzled.

What had happened to make them show such blind faith in me?

I couldn't really explain it, so I just kept silent and walked on.

"There might still be some goblin villages left. We'll clean them out periodically."

"Yes!!"

The distrust was already gone. At my shout, they responded loudly as if it was a matter of course.

The remaining vigilantes, who didn't know what had happened, just looked confused at me and the other vigilantes.

"Dismissed! We'll be very busy from tomorrow, so don't overdo it and regret it."

"Long live the lord!!!"

"Long live the saint!!"

...

At my shout, the vigilantes raised their hands and cheered, and even the citizens in the territory started looking at me with strange eyes.

They must think I put them under a spell, but I only did something healthy.

-Honestly, isn't it the same as giving them drugs?

'Noisy.'

Ignoring Perseus's chuckle, I quickly left the platform.

If I stayed, it might really turn into a cult, which was quite burdensome.

But it should be fine after a few days. They must just be unusual.

It didn't take long for me to realize how foolish I had been.

* * *

So... it started with the remaining vigilantes and I climbing the mountain to erase the lingering distrust in the territory.

As soon as it was light, I asked Amy to investigate the internal affairs of the territory and led 10 vigilantes and 3 knights up the mountain.