The tunnel was large with a slight downward slope. Ten men could walk abreast with room to swing their arms.
Could this be leading to some ruins hiding valuable treasure?
I hope so, because I'm broke. I don't want to have to rely on Ralph and his family's hospitality forever, that'd make me a deadbeat.
With hope and excitement, we descend deeper in.
Down, down we go. Almost no end in sight.
Surprisingly, we don't encounter any traps. It's just a plain slope.
"There's no traps?" I look around, half-expecting a giant spiked ball to come rolling down at us. It'd be the perfect area to place such a trap.
Alin nods. "It seems that wherever this tunnel leads, the destination is a place those goblins frequent. That, or it's been purposefully blocked to contain something."
"You mean a powerful malevolent being could be waiting on the other side?"
"Possibly."
"Why are we doing this?"
"We need to collect information," she responds. "Although we killed the goblins, no traces of the captives have been found. There were young, yes. One can assume the goblins consumed the captives after they served their purpose.
However, when I checked the remains, none of them belonged to humans.
That means the captives are elsewhere, and I have a feeling we're onto their trail, as well as something bigger."
My god, this is getting incredibly tense!
Aren't adventures usually exciting and full of fun?
Why is my first adventure full of so much death and danger?
Eh, whatever. I've come too far at this point, doubt and regret will only serve to cloud my judgement.
And I don't want to end up like a certain someone, with a poisoned dagger shoved up my ass.
Fortunately, we spot the end of the tunnel.
How am I able to spot the end of a tunnel without night vision?
It's because there are crystals of various colours lighting up the place.
Judging by the look on Alin's face, these are pretty valuable resources. Perhaps they're magic stones?
Whatever it is, I can see the excitement in her eyes.
"Jackpot," she mutters.
Jackpot indeed.
Despite striking it rich, we don't rush down to the crystals all excited.
It's not the roads that kill drivers, but the lapse of attention. Well, and the crash, I guess.
Hold on, a driver could still die if the road was incredibly slippery or because of another drunk driver, but that's besides the point.
Gotta come up with a better analogy next time.
My hand reaches towards the crystals on the wall, but Alin grabs my wrist.
"Don't touch them, we can report to the guild later and they'll give us proper shares. What you harvest now can't compare to the rewards they'll give you."
I nod, following her lead. It's much better to invest in credibility than short term cash.
We walk down to the end of the end of the tunnel, reaching the entrance to the crystal caverns it opens into. I can make out cliffs on the other side. All covered with bright luminescent crystals, beneath their gentle light, I can see glistering ore veins of unknown elements.
It seems we stumbled across an underground ravine magic ore vein of sorts.
Damn, that's a mouthful that I didn't think I could say in one go.
"Get down!"
Alin suddenly pushes me with such strength I momentarily mistaken her for a barbarian. The torch flies out of my hand and sputters out.
I shoot her an incredulous look that practically screams, 'What on earth are you doing!?'
She loudly whispers "look!" and points ahead.
I obey and see scores of green figures dotting my peripheral vision.
Directly on the other side of the ravine is an ant line of goblins engaging in cheap labour capitalists back home would drool over.
The line stretches on endlessly, sometimes thinning as goblins enter branching tunnels, at times thickening as empty carts come back in to collect the mined ores.
Surprisingly few crystals were among the ores being carted. Guess they are either worthless or something beyond a goblin's comprehension.
I tried counting the goblins on one of the smaller mining strips and lost track at twenty.
"Oh, for crying out loud. They're making a mine?"
"No. A colony."
"A colony?"
"Yes. It's complicated to explain, but in short, these goblins are led by a higher variant of goblins.
A typical goblin cave has a goblin chief who can lead a maximum of fifty goblins. Judging by the hundreds present, these ones are led by a goblin warlord."
"Does that mean Brooks is in danger!?"
"No. It's a hotbed of adventurer activity. For every goblin here, there's an adventurer to match in Brooks.
From what I can discern, these tunnels they're digging all lead to different places.
This ravine is likely a logistical hub for them to launch attacks all over the Frontier on small or isolated settlements."
'Phew!' I let out a sigh of relief. I thought we were about to enter a goblin apocalypse and see some gruesome scenes only ever depicted in… um, well, dark fantasy…
I'm seriously digging a hole for myself here.
Meh, whatever. We found a magic ore mine and a colony of goblins, surely this'll be enough to fetch a nice reward at the guild.
"Okay, the town's not in danger, we found a giant magic ore vein and have important info on large-scale goblin activity. Why aren't we leaving and reporting this to the Guild?"
"From the looks of things and based on the nest we exterminated, they're planning a large-scale raid on multiple settlements and villages, and it'll happen soon. I estimate we have less than a week's time before they finish carving the remaining tunnels."
My eyes widen in realization and fear of what she said, cold sweat running down my neck.
One of these places could be Ralph's ranch, or Tros.
There's no way I'm letting that happen.
"What should we do?"
The ranger thinks for a moment, "How many times more can you use that spell of yours?"
"Indefinitely."
"Can you cast them in frequent intervals?"
"One after the other in rapid succession," I answer. "But I haven't learned to mentally cast it yet, so I need to say the name out loud."
"Bummer, but no matter."
Before I can ask her what plan she has in mind, her head swivels upward to the ceiling in an attempt to scan for something.
Shortly after, she turns to me: "You see the large red crystal above us?"
I look up and spot a large crimson cluster pulsating light. "Yes?"
I have a feeling this is going to end like a Michael Bay movie. Flames and explosions.
Sure enough, Alin's next words are "Blast it." She goes on to explain, "The crystal's Detonite, hard to break, but once the inner core is breached, the air will react with the inner elements and trigger an explosion."
"What about the captives?"
"Trust me, it's better to kill them," she responds mechanically.
…
"Do you do this often?" I can't help but ask.
"A few times."
"What was the first time like?"
She was slow to respond. "Awful. A few of them had good futures, great potential- or so I heard.
In the end, it all came down to luck and readiness. Perhaps they ignored a blatantly obvious trap like the hidden shadowy side path, maybe the goblins had more numbers or a powerful trump card like a hobgoblin or shaman on their side.
Whatever the case, the result is the same. Regret, despair, and the permanent loss of one's purity.
It happens all at once, breaking one's mind, body and soul.
So believe me when I say it is better to let their souls return to the Great Cycle to be cleansed."
Gosh damnit.
I'll be frank, I don't really give a crap about innocents dying. I mean, sometimes it's unavoidable.
People die all the time, car crashes, murder, workplace accidents, etc.
Sure, it's tragic, but it's got nothing to do with me.
Yes, I know, I'm an apathetic shithead, but that doesn't mean I'm some android who shrugs off everything with indifference.
I might be indifferent to people dying like with Kael and Eric, but that's because I wasn't responsible for their deaths.
But committing murder, or in this case, indirect manslaughter? The me indoctrinated to follow Earth's norms and values can't possibly condone this…
Frick!!! Don't isekai bastards go through a moral dilemma several novels into the series! We're barely a third of the way through the first volume!
Wait… What the hell am I even saying!?!
As I'm stewing mentally, Alin mistakes my silence for hesitation caused by a moral dilemma (though to be fair, I am reluctant to kill the victims) and apologizes: "I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do this, but we're running out on time. From the looks of things, these guys are nearly finished carving out the final passageways..
Soon, they'll launch coordinated attacks all over the Frontier, isolating entire settlements and destroying countless farms. Hundreds will suffer at their hands.
It won't just stop here."
What!? How can it get worse?
"I used to be a warrior in my homeland. I know the events that'll follow. Goblins will ransack villages, the cities are forced to dispatch adventurers and soldiers to deal with the threat."
The heck? Was she part of the military? Why am I encountering so many former soldiers?
Also, where is she even from to be so experienced? Actually, better question, how old is she?
Unaware of the insulting thought I had, Alin prattles on: "While cities and towns are busy sending in adventurers and soldiers to tame the chaos, demons and other forces of evil take advantage of this opening to carry out their schemes and rituals.
We either sacrifice potential victims who may never integrate back into society, or assemble a larger party who knows when they'll arrive.
By the time the details are confirmed, the request gets issued, the group is organized and the gear is acquired, an entire village or two might have already been burnt to the ground with more on the horizon.
Right now their plan is still in the early stages of making the assault tunnels, if we can disrupt their tunnel system, we can delay them long enough to go report back to a guild and have them dispatch a subjugation force."
…
"Are we allowed to do this?"
"What?"
"You know, blowing up an entire crystal cavern and killing possible innocents? It seems like something we'll be reprimanded and investigated for."
She stares at me with a deadpan look, "You're joking, right? Unless there was another way, you think I would've asked you to blow this damn place?
After everything I said, you still hesitate!? You think I didn't go through a similar experience?
You are lucky. Whoever they are, they're strangers. You don't know these people.
Back in my homeland, there were times I had to put down my sisters-in-arms and those I grew up knowing! They died in my arms with a smile! A goddamn smile! Happy to be freed of the suffering they were forced to endure!"
She gives me a hard look, "So, what's it going to be? We can leave right now and call for reinforcements, or put an end to the colony early."
…
Why am I still hesitating?
In terms of pros and cons, the benefits clearly outweigh the consequences.
We prevent the colony from growing, I gain a ton of experience, use the soul consumption to get skills, save the neighbouring towns, and collect a hefty reward from the guild. Win-win for everyone.
But there's something about letting the captives die that just doesn't sit well with me.
Suppose it's the modern mindset clashing with the gritty realism of this medievalistic world.
Ignorant of my thoughts, Alin presumes I agree with her plan. "I'll cover you. Bring the ceiling down."
Like a shinobi out of a manga, she leaps up onto a ledge and takes position, ready to snipe the goblins that'll come running when the ceiling comes crashing down.
I aim my finger at the spot Alin pointed at.
Whilst I focus on the target, I offer a silent prayer to the victims of the goblins whose already ruined lives would be brought to an end by me.
Shit, since when did a character in isekai have to euthanize innocents this early on?
Actually, why the hell am I committing manslaughter in another world and being hunted by the church?
Fuck, I'm just glad I'm not in front of the poor saps.
If this whole world turns out to be some trash isekai novel whose idea of entertaining the audience is forcing me into dilemmas with vast far-reaching consequences, I am going to flip.
'Pfoo.'
Don't worry, think of this like putting down strays back in the animal shelter.
…
What!? It was for one day, okay! I accidentally got mistaken for an actual employee and had to put down five dogs!
'Hmmmm! Haaaa!'
I breathe in and out.
You know what?
FUCK IT!
"Eldritch Mote!"