Chapter 13

The arrows released by the villagers did not miss their mark, piercing through the goblins on both sides, two each.

On the other hand, Laura's Magic Arrow hit the head on the left side—however, it only struck the right shoulder on the right side.

"I'm sorry...!"

Laura said in a breathless voice.

The left side rolled its eyes and collapsed, but the right side only staggered.

"Guh!?!"

"What are you doing!?"

Garcia shouted in a biting voice and glared at Laura.

"Come on, shoot, shoot, shoot!"

Garcia hurriedly gave orders, but the second shot from the bow failed to catch the goblins fleeing into the cave.

"You clumsy oaf!"

Garcia spat out.

The goblins rushed into the cave, screaming loudly.

I picked up the stone that Laura had already cast the Lighting spell on and threw it into the cave.

The stone that flew into the cave illuminated the surroundings.

I could see more than ten goblins with crude swords and shields charging in with angry voices.

Garcia shouted.

"Villagers! Step forward! Hold back the goblins!"

"W-What are you saying!? Stepping forward is your job as soldiers, right!? Is that impressive armor just for show!?"

"To efficiently defeat the goblins, it's better for us, who have more offensive power, to provide support!"

"Are you exposing the villagers to danger!?"

I couldn't stand it anymore...

I pointed my right hand toward the cave.

Just as the leading goblin was about to rush out of the cave, I uttered the trigger word.

"Magic Arrow"

Boom!

A deafening sound, like a massive boulder falling from a cliff and hitting the ground, echoed.

The loud, screeching voices of the goblins fell silent.

At the same time, the voices of Garcia and the villagers arguing also stopped.

"W-What happened...?"

Garcia muttered in a bewildered voice.

A brave villager cautiously approached the cave and peered inside.

Then, he turned back and reported.

"T-They're dead. The goblins that were about to come out..."

"Ooooooh!"

The villagers and soldiers cheered.

"Y-You're a powerful magician...!?"

Gald looked at me with a surprised expression.

"...Not really..."

I shook my head. A man who can only use one spell. In a world where the number of spells one can use determines one's excellence, I am the lowest and weakest.

It's really embarrassing...

I asked Gald.

"Is that it?"

"N-No... I think there are about fifty goblins in that settlement. And there's a Goblin Lord deeper inside."

Goblin Lord—indeed, a very dangerous creature. Ordinary goblins can be defeated by villagers with strong arms, but the Goblin Lord can take down even skilled warriors if they let their guard down.

It's so dangerous that it was excluded from the target of this extermination.

I stood up and approached the entrance of the cave.

I extended my right hand.

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

With each word I spoke, a white arrow flew into the depths of the cave. Each arrow produced a deep, resonating sound as it hit the bottom of the cave.

My Magic Arrow bounces back. It reflects off the walls and pierces any soft flesh it finds, exploding upon impact.

The depths of the cave must be in chaos.

...I feel sorry for them, but there's no choice.

Laura's village has suffered real damage. We are humans, and they harm humans. We have to take action here.

If there are mosquitoes that suck blood, humans will swat them.

In the end, it's no different.

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow"

They said there were about fifty. Considering some might miss, I fired about a hundred arrows into the cave. This should be enough.

I turned around.

"Is it over?"

"R-Really...?"

The five soldiers, including Garcia, peered inside.

After confirming the quiet situation, they raised their voices confidently.

"Yeeeees! We're going to check the status of the goblins! Villagers, five of you come with me! And the magician too!"

They gave torches to the leading villagers and entered deeper into the cave.

As I was about to follow, a voice called out from behind.

"W-Wow, Mr. Albert... that's amazing..."

It was Laura.

"No, no... it's not that impressive..."

I shook my head.

Laura can use many more spells than I can. Her rank is higher. It's really embarrassing.

Laura and I proceeded deeper into the cave.

"Ha-ha! Amazing! Just goblin corpses everywhere!"

Garcia said in a cheerful voice.

As Garcia said, goblin corpses with exploded bodies were scattered everywhere.

Occasionally, a goblin on the verge of death would stagger, but Garcia mercilessly attacked and finished them off.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! This is my doing, mine! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Then, we reached the deepest part of the cave.

It was slightly different from the rest. A large, spacious room with animal skulls and wooden furnishings placed around, giving it a sense of goblin elegance.

It was probably the Goblin Lord's room.

Goblin corpses were also scattered around here, and Garcia gleefully finished off the ones still alive.

At that moment—

I noticed.

A pile of goblin corpses in the back of the room was trembling.

"GYYYYAAAAAAA!"

With a scream, something threw off the pile of corpses and stood up.

A giant goblin, over two meters tall, with a large battle axe in its right hand.

Garcia whispered its identity in a dry voice.

"G-Goblin Lord!?"