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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“Kieeek—!”
“Yikes.”
Hendricks, who had been peeking outside while clinging to the wall near the entrance, quickly retreated. Almost simultaneously, stones and rusty daggers flew in from outside.
The goblins, having picked Jackson’s bones clean, were looking up at us furiously.
“Damn it. It’s a good thing these goblins are stupid. Otherwise, they would have built a ladder and attacked us by now.”
Hendricks picked up a dagger and threw it outside. We heard goblins scream, their rage intensifying.
Roland, watching this, frowned.
“Don’t provoke them.”
“Oh, I’m so scared. What? Are you going to kill me too? Go ahead, try it. Don’t think we’ll go down without a fight. Even you, a great knight, can be crippled. And if that happens, you won’t be able to escape either!”
Hendricks scoffed. Roland’s hand went to the sword at his waist. Hendricks raised his loaded crossbow, and the other mercenaries drew their swords and stood in front of him.
Though Roland’s skills were exceptional, four mercenaries armed like knights were a formidable force. Especially Hendricks, a skilled crossbowman, posed a significant threat.
Silence descended, and a suffocating tension filled the air. That’s when I stepped between them.
“Is this really the time to be fighting amongst ourselves? If you want to fight, do it after we get out of this hellhole.”
Roland took his hand off his sword, his eyes still fixed on me suspiciously.
Hendricks and the mercenaries also lowered their weapons, sighing in relief, which suggested they had been genuinely tense. It seemed they hadn’t actually intended to fight.
They were probably just trying to warn Roland not to repeat his earlier actions. After all, loyalty among mercenaries wasn’t worth much.
“Sir Roland. What’s the plan now?”
“I don’t think we can break through the front. It’s not impossible, but we don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side.”
If, after fighting our way through the goblins, we were met with an even more powerful monster, we would be dead.
“Then…”
Our gazes simultaneously turned towards the darkness stretching before us. It felt like the gaping maw of a beast. We had lit torches, but they only illuminated a small area, the darkness remaining impenetrable.
“It could be a dead end.”
“Or it could be an exit. It’s better to check than to rush in blindly.”
“What do you experienced mercenaries think?”
“Tch. I hate to admit it, but he’s right.”
I nodded.
“Then it’s decided.”
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We decided to march forward, into the unknown darkness. As we formed a line before setting off, Roland spoke.
“Master Allen should lead the way again.”
“Hmm. Didn’t we try that before, and we were surrounded because our offensive power was too weak? That’s why you had to take the lead and clear a path.”
“The problem is that the goblins might follow us. That’s why I should stay at the rear.”
Despite our lengthy rest, the goblins hadn’t tried to climb up. No, they couldn’t. His claim that he needed to stay at the rear to guard against the goblins was just an excuse.
He simply wanted to be in the safest position. Roland was becoming increasingly blatant.
“Hmm…”
I feigned reluctance and took the lead. Then, unnoticed, I smiled. Roland didn’t know that I wanted to be in the lead.
“This looks like a man-made passage.”
Hendricks, walking right behind me, shone his torch on the walls of the passage. The passage we were walking through was a trapezoid, widening as we went deeper.
With our arms outstretched, we could touch both walls, so we walked in a single file, like children playing train.
Of course, I was at the front.
“And these protrusions look like they’re for candles.”
There were square protrusions on the walls, just the right size for a candle.
“So, this isn’t a dead end?”
“Most likely not.”
It was a glimmer of hope in the endless darkness. The gloomy atmosphere brightened slightly.
However, someone rained on our parade.
“Don’t let your guard down. Monsters might be drawn to our voices.”
It was Roland.
“We’ve been walking for thirty minutes, and we haven’t seen a single monster, or even a bug.”
Roland’s words wouldn’t sway the mercenaries, who were already at odds with him after Jackson’s death. Hendricks smirked and looked at his comrades, who all nodded in agreement.
Roland’s face contorted.
“Are you trying to provoke me?”
“You started it.”
Roland and Hendricks glared at each other, sparks seemingly flying between them. We had stopped walking. I shook my head and stepped between them.
“I know everyone’s on edge, but let’s not fight amongst ourselves.”
“I won’t fight unless someone provokes me.”
“Look who’s talking!”
I shook my head and returned to the front. As we resumed walking, the mercenaries started talking again.
“This passage is ridiculously long.”
“Tell me about it. I wish a monster would just show up already.”
“Idiot. Be careful what you wish for.”
Roland frowned but didn’t reprimand them like he had before. However, the mercenaries would pay the price as soon as he deemed it safe.
The mercenaries weren’t foolish enough to be unaware of that. I realized that when I heard a low voice amidst their chatter.
“How much do you trust Sir Roland? Oh, and don’t look back.”
It was Hendricks whispering. He had intentionally antagonized Roland to create a diversion for their conversation. He was trying to take advantage of the subtle shift in the dynamic between Roland and me.
Roland didn’t seem to hear Hendricks over the mercenaries’ chatter. I replied in a voice just loud enough for Hendricks to hear.
“Sir Roland and I are close friends. Why do you ask?”
“Heh, friends? I doubt he feels the same way. Didn’t he try to get you killed from the beginning?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
I raised my voice slightly, feigning trust in Roland for Hendricks’s benefit.
“Tsk, tsk. Are you really that stupid? You still don’t get it? He could have saved Jackson, but he killed him. Why? Because he knew we would be in his way when he tried to take the artifacts for himself…! You’re not safe from him either.”
“Sir Roland would never do such a thing.”
“Heh, don’t lie to yourself. If you truly had no doubts, you wouldn’t be whispering to me like this. Am I wrong?”
I fell silent. Hendricks didn’t press me. The mercenaries continued their noisy chatter, and Roland didn’t intervene.
After a suitable pause, I spoke.
“So, what do you suggest?”
“It’s simple. There will come a time when he reveals his true colors. When that happens, we’ll join forces and fight back.”
“Hmm…”
“Only if he attacks first. If he doesn’t try to kill us, like you said, this conversation never happened.”
I hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded. A faint chuckle escaped Hendricks’s lips. He must have thought he had successfully manipulated me, but I wasn’t so sure—
As soon as my conversation with Hendricks ended, the mercenaries fell silent. Silence descended once more, broken only by the sound of our footsteps echoing through the passage. However, the noise had masked more than just our conversation.
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Splash. Splash. Splash.
A light, almost barefoot sound approached us.
“Something’s there!”
Just as Roland shouted, the shadow in a recessed, darkened area on the lower part of the wall halfway down our line suddenly expanded, engulfing one of the mercenaries.
“Aaack!”
“Marco!”
“Damn it, what was that?!”
The startled group lowered their torches.
“Goblins!”
A goblin was on top of the fallen Marco. Marco had dropped his sword, and the goblin was crawling up his body, aiming for his unprotected face.
“Marco!”
A nearby mercenary kicked the goblin with all his might. With a thud, the goblin crashed against the wall and collapsed, blood and whitish brain matter oozing from its crushed skull.
“There’s more than one!”
There were several holes in the lower part of the walls, just big enough for a goblin to squeeze through. We hadn’t noticed them before because the shadows cast by our torches had perfectly concealed them. It was clearly a deliberate design, taking into account the position and effect of the torches.
“Kieeek!”
Goblins poured out of the holes.
I had switched to a one-handed sword from my backpack during our previous rest stop. I swung at a leaping goblin, cutting it diagonally. Then, I swung my torch, keeping the other goblins at bay.
When another goblin charged at me, undeterred, I kicked it away, taking it out of the fight.
“Keek.”
I had quickly dispatched two goblins, but I couldn’t relax. More goblins kept pouring out of the holes in the walls.
A shadow stretched out from behind me. A goblin was attacking from the rear. My body reacted before my mind, stepping forward and cutting down the goblin in front of me.
Using the momentum, I turned and thrust my sword into the spot where I had been standing just a moment ago. A long, pointed shadow, like a spear, emerged from the shadow that had been about to engulf me.
“Damn it! Help us in the back!!”
The goblins were focusing their attack on the rear. It was a trap, designed to cut off our rear and target our most vulnerable point.
Roland had thought the rear was the safest position, but it was actually the most dangerous. He had inadvertently helped me.
‘A teacher’s grace is truly boundless.’
I would definitely repay him. But not now. Roland still had a role to play.
“Calm down! There aren’t that many!”
I made my presence known and helped the mercenaries. The goblin ambush had been effective, but they were all dead by the time the fight was over. The difference in skill was simply too great.
However, it wasn’t entirely without consequence.
“Marco—!”
Marco, who had been knocked down earlier, still hadn’t gotten up. I shone my torch on him. He was sitting on the floor, using a torn piece of cloth to staunch the bleeding from a wound on his leg, surrounded by a pool of blood.
“Let me see. This is a deep wound…”
After cleaning the blood, a deep gash was revealed. It was near his Achilles tendon. Marco quickly tore off another piece of cloth and wrapped it around the wound. Then, he tried to stand up, using the wall for support.
“Don’t fuss over me! It’s nothing.”
Despite his words, he couldn’t walk without leaning against the wall.
We exchanged glances. A thought crossed our minds. Could we afford to look after a wounded man when another ambush like this could happen at any moment?
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Marco quickly raised his voice.
“Damn it! This is nothing! I’ve had worse injuries fighting bigger monsters!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The rough sound of drums echoed again, coming from the holes in the wall where the goblins had emerged.
“Let’s move.”
Roland, who had been standing apart from the group as if it had nothing to do with him, started walking without hesitation.
He had claimed the rear was the most dangerous position, yet he was now leading the way when the rear was actually in danger.
Suppressing a sneer, I followed closely behind Roland. I needed to gradually reduce the number of mercenaries. I was the only one who needed to escape this place alive.
The other mercenaries, spurred by our actions, silently looked at Marco. Did they sense the change in atmosphere? Marco shouted angrily,
“Don’t worry! I can keep up!”
The mercenaries exchanged glances, then quickly followed me without a word. Roland, walking ahead, chuckled at them. The mercenaries didn’t react.
The drumming grew closer. We also quickened our pace.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Marco naturally began to lag behind. His ragged breaths echoed in my ears, but no one looked back. We all pretended to be deaf.
Only when Marco had fallen far behind, his body half-consumed by the shadows, did he speak.
“S-Slow down! Slow down!”
We didn’t stop. We had silently agreed to abandon Marco, who would only be a burden.
Chuckle-
Roland chuckled again.
Marco’s voice turned into a desperate cry, and darkness swallowed him whole. His faint voice gradually faded until it was no longer audible. Then,
A sound pierced the suffocating silence.
“Prrrrrr…”
It sounded like the snorting of a horse. Without a word, we all flattened ourselves against the wall. The source of the sound was in a large chamber at the end of the now-visible passage. That creature was the reason I had brought everyone here.
Hendricks, his face hardening, muttered,
“A Troll…!”
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We need more bigger monster to fight right, goblin is an ezpz anyway.
