"The name's Samuel. It's a pleasure to work with you."
A giant of a man in leather armor extended his hand. I took it and shook it a few times. Seeing the wooden shield he was carrying, he was clearly the vanguard.
"And this is Jemina, Tom, and Marlin."
"I'm Jemina. It's nice to meet you."
A brown-haired woman with two daggers tucked into her belt.
"I'm Tom. A pleasure."
A freckle-faced man with a large axe slung over his back.
"Marlin."
A cool-looking woman with a quiver and bow on her back.
These were the party members the receptionist had mentioned.
"Cloud. Let's get along."
"...Informal speech?"
Marlin muttered, her expression clearly displeased.
"You're doing it too. If the rest of you want to speak informally, go ahead. It's more comfortable that way."
"But, really..."
"Hahaha, no, sir. How could we possibly drop the formalities with a B-rank adventurer?"
Samuel clapped a hand over Jemina's mouth and laughed good-naturedly.
"Oh? Then I'll speak informally too."
But Marlin, whom Samuel couldn't stop in time, casually dropped the formalities. Seeing this, Samuel's face went deathly pale.
"Hey, Marlin, you...!"
"It's fine. You're the one overreacting. Anyway, are we leaving today?"
"What? Ah, yes. The sooner the better... Is there anything you need to take care of...?"
"Nope. Let's go now."
"Understood! Alright everyone, let's move out."
We headed out of the city gates.
"Our village was dirt-poor. We worked all day, every day, except when we were sleeping, and it was still hard to get three square meals. So the four of us made a promise when we were kids. We'd leave the village and make it big. Then we'd come back and save our home."
A day had passed since we left the city.
If I'd learned one thing during that time, it was that this guy Samuel talked way too much.
He kept rambling on about his past, which I had no interest in, but I could never find the right moment to cut him off.
And I couldn't just tell him to shut up, because the guy was being so damn nice to me.
So I was just letting it all go in one ear and out the other.
"And what happened then was..."
"Samuel."
"This guy Tom..."
"Samuel. Jemina's calling you."
Marlin smacked Samuel on the back of the head. Judging by the loud thwack, she'd put some real force into it.
Aren't you guys supposed to be friends?
"Ugh... Marlin, would it kill you to go a little easier?"
"Shut up."
"Tch... Jemina? What is it?"
"Shh!"
Jemina, who was walking ahead, put a finger to her lips and pointed forward. I crept closer and saw what she was pointing at: six goblins carrying a small wild boar.
"What should we do?"
"Mr. Cloud, what do you think is best?"
Samuel passed Jemina's question right on to me.
Jemina and Marlin glared at him with dissatisfied expressions, but he didn't budge, just waited for my answer.
"What do you mean? We follow them. If their lair is the one we're looking for, we clean it out."
"And if it's not? What if we go through all the trouble of clearing it out and it's the wrong one?"
"Marlin, you've been..."
Marlin said, her voice tinged with irritation. Samuel looked like he was about to scold her, but I just shrugged.
"If it's not, we'll just tell the Guild we killed some extra ones later. Enough arguing. Let's follow them. And keep quiet. It'll be a pain if they spot us."
Samuel, who had been about to reprimand Marlin, shut his mouth. Marlin clicked her tongue and turned her head away. We slowly followed the goblins.
These guys knew when to get serious; they didn't make any unnecessary noise while we tailed our targets.
After following them without incident, we finally found what looked like the goblins' lair...
...What the hell?
I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion as I watched where the goblins were going.
It was a massive cave, big enough for a large bear to enter.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just... isn't that cave too big for goblins? Why would they make their home in a place like that?"
Goblins have small, child-like bodies and are physically weak. Their claws are a bit tough, but other than that, there's nothing special about them. They're a species that wouldn't be out of place if they were weeded out by natural selection at any moment.
And yet, they've tenaciously survived in this harsh ecosystem.
That's because they are cunning and vicious.
They aren't natural-born hunters, but they know how to wait. They set traps and believe without a doubt that prey will eventually fall into them.
They aren't natural-born fighters, but they know how to kill living things. Overwhelming with numbers is their basic tactic, and ambushes are their favorite.
They are a species you should never underestimate just because they look weak.
The goblins in the world I was dragged to were like ants, digging tunnels just big enough for themselves to pass through.
To clear out a goblin lair, you had to either collapse the entire tunnel or pump smoke in to suffocate them.
The other option was to risk it and crawl inside to fight. Even then, half the people who went in came out injured, because all sorts of bizarre traps would be waiting.
But these cunning creatures were living in a place so wide open and easy for enemies to invade?
It was strange.
"Why'd they settle there? Probably just looked like a good place to live. What other reason would a goblin have?"
Marlin grumbled.
This time, Samuel didn't say anything either, apparently sharing her opinion.
Judging by their reactions, they seem to think goblins are just stupid creatures...
Tsk... So are the goblins here just idiots, unlike the ones from my world?
But if they're stupid, how did they survive?
They should have been wiped out by other monsters long ago.
Could it be that? The trope you see in manga where they have insane reproductive rates? Like, they pop out five or six babies at a time?
"Um... could you please make a decision soon...?"
Jemina came up beside me and urged me on.
I thought for a moment before speaking.
"Let's go in."
There was no way to collapse a cave that big, nor could we smoke them out. The only option was to go in and face them head-on.
Inside, the cave was so dark you couldn't see a thing without a torch, and the air was thick with moisture.
We advanced through the cave in the following order: Jemina, Samuel, Marlin, Tom, and Cloud.
Since they were young, Jemina had always been the most agile of the four and had the sharpest eyes. That's why she was taking the lead in this situation.
Tap, tap.
Marlin tapped Samuel on the shoulder. When he turned, she spoke in a voice low enough for only him to hear.
"What are you thinking?"
"What about?"
"Why have you been acting so servile toward that man?"
When she was a child, Samuel had been the leader of the village kids, a reliable older brother figure. He was the one who came up with the plan for the four of them to succeed and revive their village. Marlin had secretly respected him for that... so to see him acting like he'd give his own liver to a man named Cloud, it was only natural for her to be upset.
As if her taunt was the perfect opening, Samuel replied.
"Let me ask you something. What gives you the right to act so cocky to a B-rank adventurer?"
"What?"
"To put it bluntly, besides me at D-rank, you're all E-rank. So what makes you think you can talk back to a B-rank? Do you have any idea how much my heart was pounding on the way here?"
"Ha...! What's with this cowardly act? Where's the back-alley boss I used to know? Did you move to the city a year early just to turn into a coward?"
"I came a year early, so I've seen and learned a lot more than you, you idiot. High-rank adventurers are dangerous!"
If there was one thing Samuel had learned desperately over the past year as an adventurer, it was that high-rank adventurers were, without exception, out of their minds.
Some would beat up a tavern waitress for offending them.
Others would casually harass women or receptionists.
Sometimes, two drunk adventurers would leave a bar, and only one would come back, the survivor's sword dripping with blood.
The skilled and sane ones all went on to become stable guards or knights, so it was only natural that the Adventurer's Guild was left with nothing but psychos like these.
In a place like that, a title like 'back-alley boss of some hick town' was utterly useless.
Mentioning it would only get you laughed at or beaten up for being a moron.
So all he could do was keep his head down, bowing and scraping until he was strong enough to protect himself.
And in that situation, his younger friends, rookies who had just arrived in the city, were puffing out their chests in front of a B-rank...
Samuel couldn't help but feel anxious.
"I'll explain everything properly later, so just listen to me for now. Don't talk back to him, no matter what. And don't bother him."
"Hey. It's too loud back there."
"Ah, yes, yes. I'm sorry."
Samuel bowed his head toward Cloud. Marlin scowled, but when Samuel gripped her wrist tightly, she bit her lip and smoothed her expression.
And so, the party fell silent once more as they advanced.
Just as they felt they had gone quite deep into the cave, the party encountered nine goblins.
-Kiek?
The goblins counted Cloud's party. Realizing they had the superior numbers, they broke into nasty grins.
The goblins drew crude weapons like clubs and rusty daggers.
-Kiiiek! Kiek!
Do they think they have the advantage because of their numbers?
The goblins charged toward Cloud's party.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Swoosh. Thud.
An arrow shot by Marlin struck the lead goblin in the stomach. The goblin collapsed, but the others didn't stop their charge.
While Marlin nocked a new arrow, Samuel and Jemina faced the goblins.
-Kiek kiek!
Three goblins swung their clubs excitedly. But the size difference between them and Samuel was immense. With his shield, Samuel took no significant damage from their clubs.
Instead, he found an opening and swung his sword, shattering one goblin's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Jemina, armed with only two daggers, was having a much harder time. All five remaining goblins were rushing her.
Fortunately, Tom wasn't too late.
He swung his large axe in a wide arc. The goblins tried to block with their clubs and daggers, but the difference in weight was too great. Their weapons shattered, and the goblins' bones were crushed along with them.
-Kie... Kiek...?
In an instant, four of them were down.
They no longer had the advantage in numbers. The goblins quickly began to flee deeper into the cave.
"Hey! You think I'm just going to let you go?!"
The hot-headed Marlin drew the sword from her belt and chased after the goblins. Jemina, Tom, and even Samuel ran after her.
The heat of victory spurred them on.
"They're going too deep."
Among them, only Cloud remained calm. He advanced slowly into the cave.
Marlin was a girl brimming with confidence. Ever since she was a child, she'd always been good at whatever she tried.
This time was no different.
It's my first request, but I'm doing pretty well, aren't I?
-Kiek! Kiek!!
Just look at those goblins screaming and running away!
Samuel has really gone soft.
Cowering before a mere B-rank, not even an S or an A. What's so scary about that?
A measly B-rank... she could reach that level anytime she put her mind to it.
And look at him earlier. That B-rank guy didn't do a thing during the fight with the goblins.
He's no different from the village thugs who only know how to puff out their chests.
I'll use this chance to show Samuel.
Just how amazing I am.
She was chasing the goblins with these thoughts in mind when she suddenly felt something strange under her foot. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Ugh... what the..."
What did I trip on? Wait, my leg... it won't move.
Marlin looked down at her unmoving leg.
A sharp spearhead was sticking out, having pierced through the top of her foot.
Huh...? Why is this here...?
She had always dismissed goblins as stupid creatures. She naturally assumed there wouldn't be any traps, which is why she'd stepped right on the spearhead the goblins had planted in the ground.
And pain always comes after you register the wound.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
The pain of tearing flesh, something she had never felt before in her life.
Marlin couldn't hold back the scream.
-Kihihihihit.
The goblins, who had been fleeing so pathetically just moments before, saw Marlin's state and cackled. They began to approach her slowly.
"Guuuh. S-Stay away. I said, stay away!"
Marlin tried to draw her bow and nock an arrow, but there was no way she could do it with her trembling hands.
The goblins drew closer.
What... what do I do...
The girl who had been so full of confidence during the chase was now terrified of just five goblins.
S-Someone...
"Marlin!"
At the perfect moment, Samuel, Tom, and Jemina arrived. Marlin's expression brightened.
"Are you okay... Your foot...?!"
"I... I'm fine! Just kill those goblins! Kill the goblins first!"
Marlin pointed at the goblins with a blood-stained finger. Samuel nodded and gripped his shield and sword tightly.
"How dare you do this to Marlin..."
Samuel stomped toward the goblins.
The five goblins didn't run. They just stood there, cackling with the same nasty laughter as before.
Jemina sensed something was wrong.
"B-Brother, wait, stop..."
Too late.
THWACK!
Struck in the side by something heavy and blunt, Samuel went rolling across the floor.
""Brother!""
"Samuel!"
"I'm fine!"
Samuel clutched his throbbing side and managed to get up. He looked in the direction the blow had come from.
A goblin emerged from the darkness.
It was short, but its build was much larger than a normal goblin's, and the club it held was thicker than one a human would use.
Samuel knew what this goblin was.
"A Hobgoblin...!"
The Hobgoblin, one of the mutant goblin variants.
They were known to possess strength and toughness far surpassing that of ordinary goblins.
Samuel raised his shield and took a stance.
This is too much for my friends, who just started as adventurers today. I have to do this. With grim determination, he prepared to fight the hobgoblin...
"Brother, behind you!"
"What?"
Samuel spun around.
A large club was coming down on his head. He barely managed to block it with his shield, but he couldn't stop himself from tumbling pathetically to the ground.
"Kugh... Two hobgoblins...? What is this...?"
It's usually hard to find even one.
I didn't think our luck could be this bad.
At this rate, Tom and Jemina will have to take one, and in the meantime, I'll...
"B-Brother... I don't think it's just two...?"
Jemina's voice trembled.
"What?"
Samuel immediately swung his torch around, scanning the area. Red eyes glinted in the pitch-black darkness. In that brief moment, a horde of goblins had gathered.
Dammit... There's no way we can fight this many. We have no choice but to carry Marlin and run...
Samuel turned around.
He couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh at the sight before him.
Two more hobgoblins had appeared, blocking the path they had come from.
-Kihihihihihit
-Kihihihihit
-Kihi kihihihihihihit!!!
The goblins laughed at the foolish humans.
How could they not laugh at the pigs who had walked into the slaughterhouse on their own?
How could the prey, who mistook themselves for the hunters, not seem idiotic?
The red eyes, curved like crescent moons and clearly visible even in the dark, and the sound of goblin laughter echoing through the cave.
The four adventurers from the countryside trembled in terror.
They had believed they would one day grow into great adventurers. So they only listened to the stories of successful adventurers and ignored the tales of those killed by monsters.
They thought it had nothing to do with them.
But death always comes suddenly.
Now, it was their turn to become the protagonists of a sad story about four people who underestimated goblins and were killed for it.
...If there hadn't been one more person there, that is.
Shunk.
A blade pierced through the chest of the hobgoblin blocking the entrance.
-Kihihi... hi...?
The hobgoblin died mid-laugh, its expression turning to confusion.
As Cloud pulled his sword out, the hobgoblin slumped forward.
-Kie...? KIIIIEK!
The hobgoblin next to it leaped and brought its club down hard. Cloud twisted his body slightly to the side to dodge, then thrust his sword forward.
Just like before, his sword pierced the hobgoblin's heart.
He kicked the hobgoblin off his blade and pulled it free. With a sharp flick, he flung the blood from his sword and spoke.
"See? I told you they weren't stupid."
Without a hint of hesitation, Cloud stepped into the darkness filled with red eyes.