Chapter 27: CH 27

27 - The Old Man From The Countryside Personally Makes Sure

“Hiyaaahhh…!”

“Guh-gyaa…!”

Angry cries echo in the silent cave.

Porta was a swordsman, so he swung carefully to avoid hitting the cave walls and neatly sliced up one of the goblins.

“Oh, that’s good swordsmanship, isn’t it?” I say unconsciously.

It’s uncomfortable for me to just be standing around in the back even though the front is fighting desperately. However, since this is part of the job I’ve got no choice but to do it.

So, I decided to focus on their sword handling.

“They seem to understand it’s a closed space,” Selena said.

It seems she felt the same.

I can’t say much because I don’t know how the average Bronze Rank performs, but I don’t think Porta was doing poorly.

The shortsword was your common weapon of choice alongside the longsword.

The sharpness depends on the quality of the weapon and it had no distinctive features, but the length and weight are just right, it’s a widely used weapon from beginners to experts.

It’s an excellent weapon for flexibly responding to any situation. However, any weapon has its strengths and weaknesses.

In the case of both long and short swords… as with all blades, you have to be careful about handling them in enclosed spaces. You might hit a wall or a ceiling by accident.

“… Hm!”

“GAH… gyaah…”

A different goblin than the one Porta just cut down was killed by Salkatz, after he snuck up from the side and stabbed it with his dagger.

In these confined spaces, blades like daggers or piercing weapons like rapiers are easier to handle than swords, be they short, long, or broad.

Of course, daggers and their related weapons lack striking power and are difficult to defend with.

In that respect, Salkatz seems to have a good understanding of his specialization’s characteristics.

He never crossed in front of the vanguard and was thoroughly prepared to flank the enemy and stab any vulnerabilities he saw.

“Hi—ouuh…?!” Nedley gasped.

“Gyah-gyah…!”

Oh no, no, say it ain’t so.

Perhaps because of impatience, Nedley makes sideways sweeps with her sword, but she gets the blade caught on the wall, it bounces off.

And maybe the goblin saw it as an opportunity, it struck out with the club in its hand.

I don’t think a single blow would be a fatal injury, but… should I step in here?

“Nedley!!” Porta screamed. “Salkatz, help!”

“Yeah…!” Salkatz replied.

Uhh, was that worrying for nothing?

After Porta killed a second goblin, he quickly noticed Nedley’s crisis.

Roughly speaking, it seems that Porta and Nedley are forming a vanguard against the goblins and Salkatz is complementing them both well.

There are only 3 goblins left.

One is aiming for Porta and another for Nedley. And the third sees the situation and tries to attack Nedley again.

On that note, this is where the lightest, fastest person, Salkatz, does his best.

I feel like a parent watching over my kid’s growth.

“… Hah…!”

“Gugyih…?!”

It seemed he decided his dagger’s lethality couldn’t stop the attack, Salkatz tackled the goblin trying to take a swing at Nedley.

As the goblin was already swinging its club upward, the sudden impact from behind and at an angle knocks it down.

“Ne-Nedley…!” Salkatz said.

“Go-Got it!” Nedley cried back.

She took the opportunity and stabbed the fallen goblin.

There are only 2 left.

Goblins were inferior to humans when it comes to brute strength. Now that their advantage in numbers was gone, the party’s victory was assured.

If no one gets too full of themselves or gets careless, they should be able to win with the way things are going. And they don’t seem to be the kind of team that’d make that sort of blunder now.

“… It looks like it’s over,” I said. “How do you see it, Selena?”

“They’re good for Bronze,” she replied. “Porta is looking especially good.”

“Yeah, I think he’s doing a good job.”

As we exchanged our impressions, we see the three transition to mopping up post-battle.

Nedley seems to have recovered from her previous blunder and is now energetically chopping up the remaining goblins. Hmm, this is good.

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“… Wi-Wipe them out… then… let’s go…” Salkatz said.

While I can’t say they handled the 6 goblins perfectly, they’re almost unscathed.

The fight ends, as the party’s seeker, Salkatz confirms they’re all dead.

However, this is still just one part of the training.

Their mission is to completely clear out the dungeon.

This place looks just like a cave, though.

“Come to think of it, how often is this place used?” I asked.

After we had resumed walking, the question started to bug me.

Even if you call it a ruin with magical power, it’s a normal cave no matter how I look at it.

If it’s been used in the past, it’s strange that the monsters here haven’t been exterminated. If not, then they just sent beginners to an unexplored cave.

“… There’s an ecosystem here, and if you leave it for a while, small species will start moving in again,” Selena said. “There are other places like this. And that’s why they’re regularly used for training newcomers.”

“I see…” I said.

Is that why they know the distribution of monsters but can’t completely control their populations?

It seems Azalamia Forest really was a great training location.

Well, it’s an idea that doesn’t come to you if you’re stuck in the countryside.

It’s just like the Adventurer’s Guild to do this, you could say.

For sure, just swinging a sword at a training ground can’t give you a live battle experience. However, you can’t just send newbies who don’t have the practical experience to an unknown front-line. You’ll only increase the number of deaths.

The answer they seemed to come up with was to build a system that sends out newcomers to places where small species would easily thrive, and have them regularly supervised by their seniors.

The people in the city think a great deal ahead. This old man is impressed.

Afterward:

Including the first battle, we wiped out 12 goblins, 4 big bats, and 2 cave worms on the way to the innermost areas of the cave.

The training was successful.

“Now, all that’s left is to go home,” I said. “I’m glad we didn’t have to step in, right?”

“… Yeah, this has been pretty easy,” Selena said.

I’m not going to lag behind goblins but I’m still nervous about fighting while having to protect someone else. It’s a feeling you could never get in mock combat and I don’t want anyone to experience it if they could help it.

“… Selena?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

I’m suddenly curious.

It seems she’s had a bad feeling since earlier.

It’s not like something just felt off in her gut just now, but that she’s been thinking of it for a while.

“Nothing… it’s just that obviously, there’s not enough of them,” Selena said.

“And, what about it?” I asked.

Selena chooses and speaks her next words carefully:

“This place hasn’t been used in a while. There weren’t that many goblins in the cave and we weren’t attacked after entering Azalamia Forest… normally, there should be a bit more wild beasts or monsters.”

“Hmm…” I mumble.

Well, it is true that a forest of this size has a cave that’s suitable for a dungeon. Now that I think about it, it should have a few more monsters.

Well, I won’t figure out what’s going on even if I think about it.

I’ve got no choice but to conclude that the population happened to be small right now.

“Ms. Lysandera!” Porta cried, excited. “Mr. Gardenant! Let’s head outside!” he continues, pointing to the mouth of the cave.

“Yeah, we know, we know,” I said. “We’ll follow soon.”

As we get closer outside, we can feel the fresh air caressing our cheeks.

We’ve been in damp, enclosed spaces for a long while now so it feels especially good.

Porta heads outside, stretching absent-mindlessly.

Well, the sun is still high, and on the way back, we’re planning to refresh ourselves by bathing in the forest–

–Wait a minute.

From my experiences, sunset is still a long way away. The weather was lovely today so no matter how thick the canopy is, it wouldn’t be this dark.

And the wind feels slightly off.

My 5 senses gave me a strong feeling that something is off.

–Something’s above us!

“PORTA!!” I cried, breaking into a run. “HIT THE DIRT…!!”

Surprised, Selena turned to me.

For some reason, there’s a giant shadow falling over the mouth of the dark cave.

And almost at the same time, from standing near the exit Porta was suddenly blown away and disappeared.

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