Chapter 36

"Heya!!"

Moo-ga shouted and smashed the Goblin Leader with his mace. From a distance, Gratz was blocking the attacks of the Goblin Soldiers with his shield and slicing them with his steel sword. Mimi-mu cast the third-tier black magic, "Blazing Flame," at the Goblin Knight who was trying to escape.

Honestly, there were too many unnecessary movements. Moo-ga, the front-liner, charged forward without looking around, and Gratz, the shield user, was doing as he pleased from a distance. Mimi-mu was repeatedly wasting MP by casting overly powerful magic against the Goblin Knight.

"Rena, did you see how I handled my mace?"

"Stupid, look at my shield that can defend against any attack, isn't it amazing?!"

"You guys don't understand. Rena is a magician, how was my high-level black magic?"

Moo-ga, the front-liner, Gratz, the shield user, and Mimi-mu, the half-elf back-liner, accepted the Goblin General extermination quest to gain some knowledge as adventurers, but it might have been a mistake.

"What are you talking about? You're an elf, yet you're better at black magic than spirit magic, which is weird."

"I'm defending the attacks, so you can cast magic from a safe place."

"Hmph, are you jealous? Anyway, Rena, it's impressive that you can use both white and black magic at your age. How about joining our clan? Nina from earlier can join too if you like."

"Mimi-mu! That's a good point. If Rena is here, we won't have to worry about healing, and it will make a well-balanced party."

"...No."

I joined the party to gain experience and be useful to Yuu and Nina, but this is counterproductive.

"By the way, Rena, you cast magic without incantation. Do you have the skill 'Incantation Cancellation'?"

"...No."

"You don't have it? Then how do you cast magic without incantation? Could you tell me if it's okay?"

"...No."

The technique to cast magic without incantation is something Yuu taught me. He taught me despite his reluctance. This technique is something any back-liner would want to know.

I can't just teach such an amazing technique to anyone.

"Rena, don't say that. Come on, show us your guild card and start trusting us.

Of course, we'll show you ours too."

"Are you nervous? Moo-ga has a unique skill, you know. It's 'Goblin Killer,' perfect for this quest. I also have a unique skill called 'Beast Killer.'"

"Hehe, Gratz, don't reveal my skills."

While saying not to reveal them, Moo-ga didn't seem to mind. Gratz is a sweet adventurer to reveal his skills to me, a first-time party member. If Yuu were here, he would have lectured them for thirty minutes. The half-elf Mimi-mu talked non-stop about her spirit magic level 2 and black magic level 3, even though no one asked.

They are rank E adventurers, and having unique skills and black magic level 3 is impressive, but they are too full of themselves.

When I went to the guild after visiting the blacksmith, Nina was crying.

Laritt was pacing beside her. When our eyes met, he called out to me loudly.

"Yuu! Over here!!"

Honestly, it's troublesome. Nina seems to have noticed me and is running over.

It's good that she's coming, but her face is a mess of tears and snot.

"Yuuuuu~"

This is the worst. Nina clung to me, and my armor is now soaked with her tears and snot. Nina is talking earnestly, but I can't understand a word, so I asked Laritt for an explanation.

"What's wrong with that?"

According to Laritt, Rena went on a quest to the Great Forest with other adventurers to gain experience. It's not uncommon for adventurers to form parties with good friends, called fixed parties, or to form parties with different adventurers based on the required jobs and abilities.

"B-but... u-uh..."

"Forming a party with strangers isn't unusual.

But this time, Rena joined with rookies from the Crimson Meteor clan."

"Crimson Meteor?"

"They're the biggest clan in Kammer. Many rookies join Crimson Meteor because it's famous. However, many rookies who join think they are strong just because they are part of a famous clan.

The ones who invited Rena probably have potential but are overly confident."

"Hmm, if you're that worried, why didn't Nina go?"

"I... hick... won't form a party with anyone but Yuu."

(Come to think of it, Nina mentioned being attacked by adventurers before.)

"Wasn't it the Goblin General's extermination? It's rank 3, so with Rena, it should be fine."

"It's not just any Goblin General."

"Is it a named one?"

"Not only that, it's a black-skinned Goblin General.

A normal Goblin General has green skin."

Does the skin color make a difference? Nina and Laritt are looking at me with hopeful eyes. I understand what they want. They probably want me to check on Rena, but do I need to go that far for Rena? Rena is quiet, unfriendly, and rude from the start. However, she is unexpectedly caring and gets lonely easily.

And she sniffs people a lot. Despite my severe social anxiety, she doesn't give up and keeps coming at me. She takes my criticism seriously and works hard, which is not bad... Wait, something's wrong.

"Mana grass."

"Eh?"

"The mana grass is running out. I forgot. The Great Forest is the closest from here, right?"

"Yuu!"

"You... could come up with a better excuse... and you don't need mana grass unless you're an alchemist..."

"Going any deeper is dangerous."

"Indeed, if we go any deeper, we might encounter rank 4 or higher monsters."

"According to the information, they were spotted around here."

Honestly, I was suffering in this party, so I didn't care about the quest anymore. I want to go back quickly, smell Yuu's scent, and sleep with Nina's chest as a pillow.

"Can't be helped. Let's go back for today."

"For today? No way. I won't form a party with these people again."

"My skill can handle even a named Goblin General easily."

Moo-ga muttered regretfully. I was about to leave, but Mimi-mu seemed strange.

"Mimi-mu, what's wrong? We're going back."

"Wait. Something's off... the sounds have stopped."

Indeed, there were no sounds. Normally, the forest would be noisy with insects, birds, and other creatures, but the sounds had stopped.

"T-this... we're surrounded!?"

"By what?!"

Perhaps out of anxiety, Gratz reacted loudly to Mimi-mu's voice.

"O-oi... look at that!"

Goblins began to appear from between the trees as if they were springing up.

"Hehe... It seems the Goblin General and his minions have arrived!

With our skills, even if there are dozens of goblins, it won't be a problem—!"

The goblins surrounded us, and their number—easily exceeded 100.

It's not unusual for a normal Goblin General to have dozens of goblins, but having over 100 is unheard of. The number of goblins continued to increase, making it ridiculous to count. From the crowd, a particularly large black goblin appeared.

"Black... Goblin General? Could it be... even higher rank!?"

"Did the Goblin General rank up to become a Goblin King?

How interesting!"

Moo-ga ran towards the Goblin King.

The goblins surrounding us didn't interfere and just watched.

"Oooh!! Take this, Mace Technique 'Crushing Blow'!"

"Guh!"

The Goblin King laughed. In the next moment, Moo-ga's right arm flew into the air.