Published: July 31, 2025
Today, episodes 5 and 6 are updated simultaneously.
This story is episode 5.
After making peace—or at least coming to an understanding—with Beck and the other five, and asking them to spread the word about the drainage ditch as much as possible, several tens of minutes later, it was time to start the operation.
“All units, take your positions! If we’re lucky, the enemy will arrive soon! Stay alert!”
At Prolia-san’s words, everyone tightened their resolve, and a tense atmosphere hung in the air.
I gripped my bow and stayed on guard. About ten minutes later, the first goblins appeared.
“They’re here! Three in front! More coming from behind!”
“Yo!!!”
Beck, who had climbed a tall tree, reported the first sighting, and voices rose around us. The goblins seemed to have noticed us too, but they charged straight ahead. Goblins aren’t very smart to begin with.
Of the first three goblins, one didn’t notice the ditch and fell in by itself. The second noticed the ditch and stopped but was pulled down by an adventurer wielding a sickle-tipped pole. The third tried to jump over the ditch but misjudged the distance and fell in.
Their agonized cries were silenced within seconds by the acid slime. More and more goblins kept coming, all meeting the same fate.
Occasionally, there were goblin archers who kept their distance and took aim, and goblin mages who used magic. But even those were no problem, easily taken down by adventurers’ arrows and spells.
By the way, all the arrows we used had poison applied by poison slimes, making poison arrows. Even minor wounds quickly stopped the enemy’s movements, so no damage had been sustained from arrows or magic at all.
Archers were easy to spot because they held bows, and goblin mages were easy to detect thanks to the mana sensing skill. Even if goblins could use bows or magic, they weren’t very skilled, so their movements were slow. We could shoot them down after sensing their mana but before they finished casting spells.
The situation was clearly in our favor. However, there were more goblins than expected.
So far, almost no one was injured… but the number was unlike anything we’d seen before. The goblins we had defeated so far were said to be part of over 500 in their nest. Something must have happened to the main force?
Gradually, the acid slime couldn’t keep up with digesting all the bodies, and a few goblin corpses began piling up in the ditch. Not yet an emergency, but if it went on like this, it would be bad…
The other adventurers around us began to hesitate.
“Isn’t something off here!?”
“Surely, there are just too many of them.”
“At this rate, we’ll run out of arrows!”
“We’re almost out of arrows here too!”
“Don’t waste your arrows!”
“Huff… huff… why are there so many goblins... how long are they coming for!!”
Goblins are about the size of human children and weak, but they have enough intelligence to use weapons. And above all, they breed quickly and in great numbers. Underestimating them because they’re weak could get you eaten in no time.
They eat both animal and human flesh indiscriminately. Even though they look somewhat human, there’s no way to be friendly with them.
Even if their techniques are crude, swinging a blade is dangerous, and if there are many of them, you can’t face them alone without some level of skill. According to what I heard in meetings, there are more than 100 adventurers here, but more than half are F- and G-rank. They’re barely able to fight goblins one-on-one. At that level, they can’t be sent to the front lines for a chaotic battle.
So, naturally, only E-rank adventurers hold the frontline. But that’s not enough. E-rank adventurers are still rookies, only beginning to gain some skill through training.
Moreover, not all E-rank adventurers can engage in close combat. Some use magic or bows, and some specialize only in healing magic. As a result, only 28 people are on close combat duty. Those holding the frontline from the start already showed signs of fatigue. Some had been injured multiple times and returned to the front immediately after receiving healing magic. It was clear their limits would soon be reached.