Zev took us to his brother's house, using a horse-drawn carriage. He said the carriage belonged to him.
In fact, he also said that he owned around four more carriages. It's rare for me to meet someone like him.
Usually, people who own a horse-drawn carriage are merchants.
But Zev has four carriages, which means… he's quite a successful merchant, right?
Then why does he still work as an adventurer and take missions from the guild?
—
"Get down," said Zev.
I got down first, followed by Yuu-chan and Hime.
It felt like returning to Lis-san's house, since the place was surrounded by many trees.
The carriage stopped in front of several houses lined up side by side.
Zev invited us to enter one of the houses, maybe the others were occupied by different people.
Inside, we were greeted by an old man with a white beard.
From the clothes he wore, he looked like a lumberjack. I also saw a saw leaning against the wall.
The old man came up to me and started patting my shoulder. He smiled, looking very happy.
"Finally, you've arrived! I've been waiting for people like you!" he said.
Zev held his head and introduced who the white-bearded man was.
"Yukito, he's my uncle. You can call him Max," said Zev.
"Ah, nice to meet you, Max-san," I said.
"Me too!" Max-san replied enthusiastically.
I wonder if every lumberjack's spirit is always this fiery?
Cutting down wood requires a lot of strength — maybe that's what makes their enthusiasm burn this bright too?
Max-san invited us to sit at the dining table, to talk about what was actually happening.
"You three have heard from Zev about the goblin nest nearby, haven't you?" asked Max-san.
"Is it really that serious?" I asked.
"Lately, many goblins have been leaving their nest and attacking us… fortunately, no one's been hurt yet," said Max-san.
That makes sense — if goblins suddenly leave their nest, it would surely make the villagers anxious.
"So, I asked Zev to find a party that could wipe out all the goblins in that nest," he continued.
Well, in short, our task was to go to the goblin nest and exterminate them all.
Most likely, it would be Hime and Yuu-chan who defeat them anyway. I couldn't help much.
—
Hime, Yuu-chan, Zev, and I went to the goblin nest that had been mentioned earlier.
Zev showed us the way to the goblin nest, and he asked us to hide in the bushes first.
He pointed toward a cave, where several goblins were walking back and forth outside.
It looked like they were guarding, making sure no one disturbed their home.
Suddenly, Hime pulled me close and whispered something in my ear.
"Yukito-san, I need your help," she said.
Hearing that, I got excited, since it's rare for Hime to ask for my help.
And since I thought it might be useful, I decided to help her.
"So, what you need to do…"
Hime continued whispering near my ear, while Yuu-chan and Zev were still observing the situation.
"Alright, I'll do it," I replied.
Hime's face looked relieved and happy — she must have already hoped I'd follow her instructions.
—
When we were about to go out and attack, Zev said he would stay here.
He said he didn't think he was strong enough, and that he might just get in our way.
If that's what he wanted, then fine — the three of us couldn't force him.
Following the plan Hime had explained earlier, I went out and drew the attention of all the goblins outside.
Then, I ran toward them, pretending to attack.
They got scared and ran back into the cave. It seemed Hime was right after all.
Honestly, I didn't expect to be told to do something like this.
She said goblin groups wouldn't dare attack if their numbers were too small.
Usually, they would go back into their nest and call for their friends to counterattack.
And if that was true, I just needed to wait at the cave entrance and let the goblins come back out.
There were probably only a few dozen goblins anyway. Maybe… twenty or twenty-five?
Even though Zev and Max-san said the number could reach hundreds, that didn't seem likely.
In the online game I used to play, there were only about fifteen goblins in a goblin nest.
So, it should be about the same here. Besides, being the decoy didn't sound so bad.
Grudak, grudak.
From inside, I heard footsteps that shook the ground. It seemed like something big.
Probably just a goblin larger than normal ones.
I was ready to use my Boost skill if necessary, though I wasn't sure if I could use it at full power yet.
Suddenly, from inside the cave, I saw a horde of goblins — far more than I expected.
Their eyes looked like they wanted to devour me alive.
I was a bit shocked and scared, so I turned around and ran away from the cave entrance.
After running some distance, I looked back and saw goblins in a number I couldn't even estimate.
"Ahhh… I have to run!"
RUN, RUN, RUN!!
I'M BEING CHASED BY A SWARM OF GOBLINS TRYING TO CATCH ME!!!
Damn it, why won't my Boost skill activate?! I glanced toward the bushes — Yuu-chan and Hime seemed to be preparing magic.
Alright then, I just had to keep running until my legs gave out.
Hime came out from the bushes and pointed her staff at me.
This is it! I'll be safe soon!
I turned and directed all the goblins behind me toward Hime's direction.
"Yukito-san! Duck!" shouted Hime.
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DUCK WHEN I'M RUNNING?!?!
I couldn't do it, and I ended up running past Hime.
"YUKITO-SAN!!" shouted Hime, now running beside me.
Since I didn't duck earlier, now it wasn't just me being chased — Hime was too.
Yuu-chan came out from the bushes as well, chanting a spell I couldn't understand.
"Yukito-san! WHY DIDN'T YOU DUCK EARLIER?!?!" shouted Hime, shocked that I didn't duck.
"How could I duck while I was running?!" I yelled back.
Seriously, these goblins just wouldn't stop chasing us.
Suddenly, I heard Yuu-chan shouting a spell.
"BIND!" she cried.
While I was still running, Hime suddenly grabbed my clothes, pulling me to a stop.
I saw Hime sitting on the ground, exhausted. I turned and saw all the goblins tied up by some kind of magic.
Yuu-chan pointed both her hands toward the goblins. It seemed that binding spell was her doing.
"Y-you two!! H-hurry up and finish them!!" said Yuu-chan, clearly struggling.
Hime immediately stood up and pointed her staff toward the goblins again.
"Level Four Spell: Fire Meteor!" said Hime.
A huge flaming meteor fell from the sky — as big as the entire group of goblins.
Yuu-chan quickly moved away from where she stood, heading toward us.
In an instant, the huge meteor struck the goblins.
Boom!
The explosion was so loud that I could only stand there in shock at the sheer power of it.
Not long after that massive blast, the goblins had completely vanished — as if they'd been consumed by the meteor.
The surrounding ground turned black, scorched by the meteor's impact.
Zev emerged from the bushes, looking a bit roughed up — he must've been hit by the shockwave.
I looked toward Hime, who was lying on the ground. Yuu-chan seemed to be casting a healing spell on her.
"Hah…"
I lay down on the ground as well, feeling exhausted after running so fast.
My mental state was also a mess after witnessing Hime's overwhelming power.
Honestly… there's no way I could ever beat Hime and Yuu-chan.