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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Have you ever made plans in your life?
When you were young, you might have drawn a big circle on a piece of paper and created a daily schedule.
As you grew older, you might have set goals for your future.
And when you reached the age of responsibility, you might have prepared for the future to secure a stable life.
And as anyone who has made plans knows,
Things don’t always go according to plan.
Usually, about 80% of the time.
A young man in his 20s lamenting like this might get a whack with a cane from his elders.
But I, Iyerpol, had already realized the truth that “life doesn’t go as planned” before even reaching my 20s.
More precisely, around my mid-to-late teens.
To understand how I came to know the bitterness of the world at such a young age, you’d have to take a peek into the teenage years of Iyerpol, a youth from a quiet countryside village…
But that’s a long story, so let’s save it for later.
Anyway, what you need to know is that I, Iyerpol, am a very diligent young man who works hard to repair the raft of my life so as not to be swept away by the waves of the world.
Why do you need to know this?
To explain why I accepted this current request.
“Are you alright, Mr. Iyer?”
“Of course, Village Chief. How much further do we have to go?”
“About a day and a half.”
“We’re almost there.”
At my nonchalant reply, the village chief’s uneasy gaze slightly shifted towards me.
Hmm.
I definitely felt a lack of trust.
But I thought it was understandable.
An adventurer introduced by the guild receptionist was guaranteed to be skilled, but if that adventurer had his eyes covered with cloth, anyone who saw him would be uneasy.
A blind swordsman who couldn’t see.
It sounded like a fictional character from a novel.
How could someone who couldn’t see move, distinguish friend from foe, or even swing a sword?
Most people would consider it a blessing if he didn’t accidentally stab an ally in the back.
Village Chief Andal felt the same way.
An adventurer offered to help the village, but this adventurer was blind?
He must have been both uneasy and perplexed.
On top of that…
“I apologize for the trouble of having you give me a ride, Village Chief, since I can’t drive a horse.”
“…It’s alright. I’m fine.”
Because I couldn’t see, I couldn’t drive a horse.
Therefore, a carriage had to be hired, and someone had to drive it for me to travel.
How could someone who couldn’t see possibly drive a horse?
So, Village Chief Andal hired a carriage and was driving it himself, transporting me.
Thanks to this, a journey that would have taken two days on horseback was now taking three.
He pretended to be fine, but I imagined the village chief’s insides were burning black with anxiety.
But well, there was nothing to be done.
“What are you doing back there?”
“Ah, just some preliminary work.”
As I answered while braiding the straw rope I had bought before leaving the city, the village chief turned his head slightly.
Actually, it wasn’t preliminary work for the subjugation, but for my personal hobby of straw crafting, but preliminary work was preliminary work.
I hadn’t lied.
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After another day and a half had passed.
Village Chief Andal’s carriage arrived at the village.
As the carriage pulled in, villagers who seemed to have been awaiting the chief’s return greeted us.
“Village Chief, who is this?”
“This is an adventurer I brought from Tillasden. Mr. Iyer, this is Jacques, representing the young men of our village.”
Following the chief’s introduction, I shook hands with the young man called Jacques.
His hands were quite calloused, suggesting considerable strength.
Perhaps excited by the introduction of an adventurer, Jacques’s face was slightly flushed.
“If there’s anything you need for the subjugation, please let us know, Mr. Iyer. We’ll do our best to assist you.”
“Your words are reassuring.”
“But… did you come alone?”
Jacques’s gaze swept behind me.
Even if it was small, it was still a monster settlement, so he probably hadn’t expected me to come alone.
Village Chief Andal had also been uneasy about that at first.
I deliberately patted my chest with an exaggerated gesture.
“You needn’t worry. I may not look it, but I specialize in monster subjugation. You said it was a goblin settlement, right?”
“Yes…”
“With enough time and effort, I can wipe out dozens of them. Don’t you worry.”
“I-is that so?!”
Well, if I had thought it was beyond my capabilities, I would have refused the job back at the pub.
It was true that I specialized in monster subjugation, and it was also true that I could wipe out dozens of goblins in a settlement given enough time.
I was taking this request seriously, as a professional.
The reason being…
“So, what should we start with? Please instruct me!”
“Hmm? Ah, yes. Let’s do that.”
I gave the eager Jacques a few tasks.
Ten strong men with good stamina and night vision.
One young man who knew the area best and the location of the settlement to act as a guide.
And another ten villagers with dexterity.
The problem was that since the village had fewer than fifty households, taking away twenty-one people significantly reduced its workforce.
Nevertheless, the villagers readily agreed.
After giving tasks to the villagers who volunteered for the dexterous work, I headed into the forest with Jacques, who volunteered as the guide.
“Can you see this?”
At Jacques’s words, the young man with the black cloth covering his eyes felt the ground.
After a few touches, he seemed to recognize what it was and spoke immediately.
“Multiple footprints of a small quadruped. Signs of fleeing.”
“Ah, excuse me.”
“It’s alright. I’m used to it. But the fact that the footprints are all pointing in one direction means…”
The young man’s head turned in the opposite direction of the footprints.
These were surely the tracks of small animals that had evacuated the area.
The reason was obvious.
A new predator had settled nearby.
There was no other reason for the sudden movement of animals in this forest, where the ecosystem rarely changed.
After staring intently in the direction from which they had come, the young man stood up and began to touch the nearby trees.
At the third tree, the fourth… and then the fifth, his hand stopped.
“Look at this.”
“What is this, Mr. Iyer?”
“It’s a mark goblins leave near their settlements. The fact that it’s clear enough to feel with my fingertips means it was made recently.”
It seems they’ve settled in for good.
At the young man’s words, Jacques’s expression turned sour.
He already knew of the goblins’ presence, having seen them himself, but it was different to hear a professional confirm their established presence.
“The problem is, umm…”
“What is it?”
“…Why the goblins migrated here. That’s the issue.”
“Do you have any guesses?”
“I do. But I’m prepared. Don’t worry too much.”
As expected of an adventurer.
Jacques thought so.
He had been taken aback at first when he heard the man was blind, but as they traveled together, he realized that Iyer was more sensitive and aware of his surroundings than someone who could see.
And his ability to grasp the surrounding environment and his knowledge of monsters, even without being told, were truly worthy of the title of adventurer.
He was more skilled precisely because he couldn’t see.
That was the assessment of Iyer that had taken root in Jacques’s mind.
Using the goblin markings as a guide, Jacques and Iyer ventured deeper into the forest.
What surprised Jacques was that the deeper they went into the forest, the denser the undergrowth became, making it harder for him to move, while Iyer seemed to move without any difficulty.
Moreover…
‘He’s not even leaving footprints. How is that possible?’
He even exhibited the strange feat of walking silently on the grass without leaving a trace.
A blind man walking silently on grass in a dense forest where even locals struggled to walk?
This wasn’t something that could be explained by the abilities of a blind person.
“We’ve arrived.”
They had reached the goblin settlement.
Crouching low, Jacques observed the goblin settlement from a distance.
He could see about twenty goblins.
Glancing at Iyer, he saw him with his head lowered, quietly listening.
Just as the question of whether Iyer was judging the number of enemies by sound crossed Jacques’s mind…
“A little over twenty.”
“…You’re right. That’s amazing.”
“But that won’t be all of them. Goblins are intelligent creatures with patrol systems.”
“How many more do you think there are?”
“We’ll have to find out.”
Iyer drew the dagger from his waist and made a cut on the root of a nearby tree.
He then sheathed the dagger and sprinkled something from a small pouch onto the cut.
He performed the entire sequence without making a sound.
After marking the tree, Iyer looked at Jacques and smiled quietly.
“We’ll have to stay here until late tonight.”
Jacques wasn’t able to return to the village until the next day dawned.
Lying still in the dense undergrowth that covered his body and watching the goblins all night had been a terrible ordeal.
Insects seeking his blood, hunger from not eating, and even the urge to urinate despite not having drunk anything.
He managed to relieve himself by digging a hole in the ground where he lay, urinating, and then covering it back up, but the insects and hunger were relentless.
Even Jacques, who grew up in the mountains, was used to insects, but lying on the ground, they crawled over him as if he were their home.
And having been out in the forest for so long, his hunger was worse than usual.
Despite having endured such hardship, Iyer showed no sign of fatigue.
“You’re amazing, Mr. Iyer. Aren’t you tired?”
“Huh? Ah… I’m used to it.”
Iyer smiled faintly.
As expected of a seasoned adventurer, different from ordinary people.
Jacques thought so.
After returning to the village and resting his weary body, Jacques went to the village center at Iyer’s call.
The ten strong men who had volunteered at Iyer’s request were gathered there.
“Now that everyone’s here, shall we begin the explanation?”
Iyer handed out rather heavy cloth bags.
They were the bags he had brought from the city, the ones that had been in the carriage’s luggage compartment.
The villagers received the bags and opened them.
“What’s this?”
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