Chapter 59

*Thwack!* The arrow embedded itself in the tree with a light sound. Looking at the tree that served as the target, multiple arrows were stuck, but more arrows lay on the ground, having missed their mark.

Marifa, having finished shooting, was breathing heavily.

After purchasing the shortbow, Yu and the others moved to the Great Forest to test Marifa's archery skills. Yu, understanding that Marifa, who was undernourished and weak, couldn't be expected to perform well, was puzzled by her low accuracy despite having the 'Archery LV1' skill. He had forgotten that Marifa had lost her left eye.

"Come here."

Thinking she was being scolded by Yu, Marifa trembled and her ears drooped. She shuffled over to Yu, looking up at him with her head bowed.

"I'm not angry. I just forgot you only have one eye, so I'll fix it."

Marifa looked at Yu in surprise at the word "fix." Everyone knew that scars, aftereffects, and missing body parts could not be healed by ordinary white magic and required a large donation to a high-level holy magic user.

Without a second thought, Yu placed his hand on Marifa's left eye and channeled white magic. Having already tested that it could be healed, Marifa's left eye gradually began to repair itself.

"Can you see properly now?"

In response to Yu's question, Marifa nodded vigorously. She was amazed not only by the fact that Yu used white magic without incantation but also by the healing of her eye.

Since Marifa was so thin, she had struggled to draw the string of the shortbow, so Yu enhanced her with a blessing spell. With the effect of the blessing spell and her newly healed eye, Marifa's arrows now embedded themselves in the tree with force, the sound changing from *thwack* to *thud*.

If the target didn't move, she almost never missed, so the next step was to aim at a moving target—a goblin.

"Kiki!?"

For the first shot, Yu intentionally let her miss and aimed at the goblin approaching her. Despite her disgust at the goblin, which was drooling as it approached, she hurriedly fired a second shot, but the goblin deflected it with its rusty short sword. As she prepared for a third shot, the goblin was almost upon her, raising its rusty short sword.

"Kyaa!"

Before the rusty short sword could hit Marifa, it was severed along with the goblin's head by Yu's black magic, Wind Blade.

"Think before you shoot. Anyone can just shoot an arrow."

Originally, for elves and dark elves, a bow was meant to be used before being noticed. Marifa wondered if there was any point in being noticed. She also thought that if she hadn't lost her voice due to the neck injury, she could have handled a goblin with spirit magic or archery skills.

"You think you just need to shoot before being noticed, right?

What do you think this practice is for? It's not uncommon for there to be no place to hide in the labyrinth. Everyone knows it's easier to shoot before being noticed."

After being criticized, Marifa's ears drooped so much that one might wonder if she was really a dark elf. When she was given the shortbow, she had a vague feeling, but now she understood it was for combat, not for daily use.

Marifa changed her mindset and continued shooting at the goblins. She didn't just shoot aimlessly; she aimed at their feet and shot while moving. When she looked at Yu, he was casting necromancy on the dead goblin. This was to raise the level of necromancy and to bring more goblins. Incidentally, Marifa, seeing the necromancy, mistakenly thought Yu was a sage because he could use white magic, blessing spells, black magic, and necromancy.

"Resurrected monsters really are low in intelligence..."

Yu had learned from practicing necromancy with goblins that their already low intelligence decreased further, and sometimes they turned to ash. He wondered if increasing the level of necromancy would reduce the decrease in intelligence or the chance of turning to ash, but more testing was needed.

"Boo-boo!"

A Big Boa appeared in front of Marifa, who had been continuously shooting at goblins. It was a large creature, about 3 meters long and weighing around 500-550 kilograms. It was too much to ask Marifa to kill it with a shortbow, so Yu stepped in front of her protectively. Marifa looked worriedly at Yu's back.

The Big Boa charged forward with a snort. Just as Yu was about to release a Wind Blade, someone intervened.

"Know your place. You're just a beast."

With that, an iron sword cleaved the Big Boa's head in two. The decapitated Big Boa slid along the ground, its head scraping the earth until it hit a tree.

The one who split the Big Boa's head was a black goblin. While a normal goblin is about 1 to 1.4 meters tall, this black goblin was about 1.8 meters tall. It slowly approached Yu. Marifa, judging from its size and ability to speak, concluded it was a high-ranking monster and clung to Yu's sleeve in fear.

When the black goblin reached Yu, it knelt and bowed its head.

Yu checked its status.

Name: Iavn

Race: Black Goblin (Undead)

Rank: 4

Level: 31

HP: 1342

MP: 378

Strength: 478

Agility: 298

Stamina: ∞

Intelligence: 32

Magic: 193

Luck: 1

Passive Skills:

Swordsmanship LV3

Strength Boost LV2

Intimidation LV1

Dark Resistance LV1

Active Skills:

Sword Techniques LV2

Combat Techniques LV2

Unique Skills:

None

Equipment:

Weapon: Iron Sword (6th Tier): None

Armor: None

Accessories: None

"Are you... the Goblin King I resurrected?"

They had shared information through magic, but its appearance had changed significantly. Its race had changed to Black Goblin, and it had gained new skills.

"My king, your command?"

"Who's the king?!"

Yu couldn't help but chop the black goblin.

"H-However, my king, you defeated the Goblin King, so you are the new king..."

Yu, noting the smoothness of its speech, decided to hear the black goblin's report on the Great Forest. He had a general idea, but the black goblin had apparently hunted monsters for 24 hours and handed over 8 complete magic cores of rank 1-2, which surprised Yu. The black goblin had eaten incomplete cores, and Yu speculated that the condition for a monster's rank-up might be the absorption of magic cores.

"I got the general idea. From now on, you'll live with us."

"Y-Your residence... Is it alright?"

"You have an important job... and as a thank you for the magic cores, I'll give you some unused equipment. Is there anything else you want?"

"Could I have a name?"

Yu thought the name Iavn was hard to pronounce, but seeing the black goblin's sparkling eyes, he couldn't refuse.

"Then, how about... Kuro?"

"Thank you!"

Marifa felt a bit sorry for the black goblin at the simplicity of the name.

After disassembling the Big Boa and storing the items in her item pouch, Yu led Marifa and Kuro home. The two were amazed at the large house, which looked like it belonged to a noble.

"I'm home."

As they entered, Nina and Rena approached.

"Welcome back~ I'm hungry~"

"...Hurry up with dinner... Who are they?"

"The goblin is the Goblin King I resurrected, named Kuro. He'll mainly guard the house.

The dark elf is named Marifa, the same age as me, 13. She'll be joining us in the labyrinth."

"Nice to meet you~"

"...I'm a year older, so show some respect."

"These two are Nina and Rena, they're lodgers."

Hearing "lodgers," Marifa compared Nina's chest to her own, sensing the difference in combat power and bowing her head. Then, comparing Rena's chest to her own, she smiled faintly.

"...What does that mean?"

Yu led Marifa and Kuro to their rooms. There were plenty of spare rooms, so each of them got their own.

Marifa was confused by being given a room, but Yu misunderstood her hesitation as dissatisfaction.

"Let me tell you, my room is the same size."

Marifa hurriedly gestured that it was a misunderstanding. She wanted to explain verbally, but Yu had said he wouldn't heal her neck injury until she could use magic without incantation.

Kuro, having lived in the forest, was curious about human dwellings and looked around.

"Let's make dinner then."

Yu headed to the kitchen, followed by Marifa. Nina and Rena, understanding that helping would be a hindrance, waited at the table, looking pitiful. Marifa, not knowing the situation, blushed and her ears perked up.

"What are you angry about? Oh! By the way, I don't have a cooking skill, but I make it every day, so it shouldn't be bad."

Yu's misunderstanding made Marifa's face turn red again.

They ate dinner together at the same table. The Big Boa steak, seasoned with Yu's homemade sauce, was delicious even with just salt and pepper.

Despite being a slave, Marifa was allowed to take a bath and go to bed that day. The good treatment made her feel uneasy.

"I'll take care of it."

Kuro, kneeling before Yu, declared this. His expression suggested he was ready to protect Yu's life with his own.

"I'm counting on you. Your job is to prevent anyone from entering my bed... room. This job can only be entrusted to someone who doesn't need sleep."

Kuro stood guard at the door, ready to block even an ant.

About 30 minutes later, Nina and Rena appeared, and Kuro questioned them.

"What do you want? This is where my master sleeps. Leave immediately."

"Let us through~"

"...I will pass no matter what."

Yu, in bed, covered his head with a blanket, thinking that Kuro, a rank 4, should be able to handle it.

*Guaaaaaaah!*

It didn't work.

Name: Marifa Naguts

Race: Dark Elf

Job: None

Level: 5

HP: 36

MP: 46

Strength: 7

Agility: 16

Stamina: 7

Intelligence: 14

Magic: 31

Luck: 3

Passive Skills:

Archery LV1

Magic Eye LV1

Active Skills:

Bow Techniques LV1

Spirit Magic LV1

Unique Skills:

None

Equipment:

Weapon: Shortbow (6th Tier): None

Armor: None

Accessories: None