Chapter 22
And that’s how we got here.
I was dragged along by Leira and began cleaning up monsters. “Let’s start with a simple test, junior. What did I say earlier about dealing with goblins?” “Uh… First assess the exact number of enemies. And prioritize killing the archers?” “Right. More precisely, if there are scouts, take them out first. Otherwise, focus on archers…”
Leira kept explaining various things as we walked toward the monsters. Most of it was a recap of what I’d heard earlier, but there were occasional new tips. There was one crucial difference this time. This explanation included a demonstration by a highly skilled instructor.
“Perfect timing. Watch carefully. Like this…”
Leira muttered as she glanced into the sewer darkness. The moment I strained my eyes to barely make out the outline of the goblin group, Leira vanished from beside me like a ghost.
“First, we take out the archers.”
Both me and the goblins turned to look where the voice came from – behind them. There, Leira had suddenly appeared. Her broom blade was already piercing through the neck of the rear goblin archer who had been walking last.
“Kh… gac.”
Fwish. Leira swiftly withdrew her blade, and the archer collapsed like a burlap sack. He convulsed, spouting blood, then died.
“GYAAAAK!”
“THERE’S A WOMAN! SHE’S KILLING US!”
“TH-THIS WOMAN IS TERRIBLE!”
The goblins frantically drew their swords while shouting various things. The shield goblin at the front clumsily tried to charge toward Leira. But it was already too late.
Leira leaped into the air at that moment. Her body spun at an incredible speed in mid-air.
“Next, the shield goblin.”
The instant her lightning-fast sword cut flashed, she had already landed and was ready to move on to the next target. A moment later, the shield goblin’s body cleanly split in half with a wet sound.
“Finally, we deal with the sword goblins after clearing the rest.”
In the blink of an eye, two goblins were down, leaving the sword goblins staring blankly ahead. They seemed to have lost their will to fight, trembling in their little legs or dropping their swords entirely.
Leira coolly scanned the remaining three with the same detached gaze she’d used on me earlier before lowering her broom horizontally.
“Single Slash.”
In the next moment, she swung her blade like a windmill. A silver flash trailed in its path. I was mesmerized, unable to look away from where the blade had passed.
“GY… UUH!”
One of the goblins let out a final shriek. The goblins looked equally confused. Of course they would be – even I was baffled.
The three goblins were simultaneously bisected, their lower halves still upright, staring blankly at nothing.
“You don’t have to follow the last part. It would be difficult for a beginner to take out three at once. I just did it out of convenience.”
In the center of the sewer, the five decapitated goblins lay scattered as Leira shook the blood off her maid outfit. Her tone was completely emotionless, as if this were an everyday occurrence.
She tilted her head as her motionless green eyes looked at me.
“Can you handle it?”
After a while of standing dumbfounded, I finally managed to nod. And I thought to myself again.
What was I thinking, planning to run away from a monster like her?
I must have been incredibly foolish.
*
“YAAAHH!”
I shouted and thrust my sword forward. Phht. The sword pierced through the thin leather armor of the goblin with a sound of tearing flesh.
But at that moment, my left shoulder, where an arrow was lodged, throbbed painfully. I unconsciously loosened my grip on the sword.
“GURRR… AAAAH!”
The goblin struggled. I hastily tightened my grip again and started vigorously twisting the sword back and forth. The goblin screamed in convulsions.
“GYAAAAAAH! GAAAH!”
The uncomfortable sensation ran down my spine, but I frowned and smiled at the same time.
This unpleasant sensation was proof of my victory.
Sure enough, the goblin soon spat out a mouthful of blood and died. I had won.
“Hoo…”
Only then did the tension leave me. I exhaled deeply, my field of vision which had narrowed due to adrenaline returning to normal as I scanned my surroundings.
Almost ten goblin corpses were scattered around. I reflected on the intense situation just moments ago.
“I never expected the goblins would form a temporary alliance among themselves…”
While I was hunting one group of goblins, another group walked by and joined in. Even though I had already taken down their archer, shield goblin, and one sword goblin, it was incredibly difficult to defeat seven goblins without the element of surprise.
“When surprised attacks fail, always target sword goblins first. Once it becomes a melee fight, the more melee combatants the enemy has, the faster your survival rate drops exponentially.”
Recalling Leira’s advice at that moment, I decided to take down the sword goblins I was fighting first before engaging the other goblins directly.
I eliminated them in the order of shield goblin, sword goblin, and finally the archer. As a result, despite getting shot in the shoulder and receiving minor scratches from the sword goblins, I managed to avoid fatal injuries.
“Amazing. I was going to step in if necessary, but looks like you can go alone from tomorrow, junior.”
Clap clap clap. Faint applause came from behind. I looked up wearily to see Leira there. She was coming toward me, clapping approvingly as if proud of her junior.
She looked at me silently as she stood before me, then started patting my head. Satisfied smiles spread across both corners of Leira’s mouth.
“Really well done. I’ll praise you.”
Am I a dog?
I was slightly upset by how Leira was treating me, but I didn’t have the energy to protest. Sitting down on the spot, I honestly thanked her.
“Well, it was all thanks to your advice. I just did what I was told.”
“Dear, advice is just advice. Applying it instantly in real combat is clearly a remarkable talent…”
Leira, who had gotten used to our conversations by now, smoothly praised me. Or rather, she started to praise me before stopping halfway. Her gaze was fixed on the arrow embedded in my shoulder.
Leira’s face stiffened. I scratched my cheek and explained while feeling a bit embarrassed.
“I had to take a few arrows going after the sword goblins first. Luckily, only one hit.”
Actually, two or three more hit me, but they bounced off my leather armor. It must be because the arrows were low quality, but anyway, leather armor is great.
Even though I explained casually, Leira’s face remained stiff and didn’t relax.
“Leira?”
“It’ll sting a little.”
“Huh?”
The meaning of her sudden muttering became clear immediately after.
Swish – she pulled the arrow from my shoulder in one go. An intense pain surged through me as if my muscles were being torn. Opening my mouth to scream, instead a stifled groan escaped my lips.
“Ugh… Le, Leira. What the…?”
“Just stay still.”
Leira was pressing her lips to the wound on my shoulder and sucking out the blood. My head felt foggy from the sudden situation. I could feel the warm breath coming from her lips and cheeks. Suddenly, Leira who had been diligently licking the wound looked up at me. I quickly averted my eyes from her wide-open ones.
Only then did Leira spit out the blood she’d sucked and said,
“Goblin arrows are coated with a weak paralyzing toxin.”
“Ahh…”
“It’s not fatal, but if not dealt with immediately, it’ll paralyze your body for about a day, making it impossible to move. This is first aid. Don’t misunderstand.”
“I, I see.”
That’s what you say. I thoroughly misunderstood. Please do first aid with some warning next time. Dammit.
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. Leira roughly tore off the apron and ruffles of her maid uniform and used them to wrap my shoulder, creating a makeshift bandage.
‘Hmm.’
I was quite surprised by her actions.
A very skilled movement. She treated wounds as if she were an expert.
“With this… it should be a temporary fix.”
Leira then made a triangular sling by knitting the ruffles together and placed it around my neck to support my arm. When she hung the sling around my neck, her body briefly pressed against mine and I took a sharp breath.
On the other hand, Leira who didn’t seem to notice such things stood up right away. Glancing at the minor wounds all over my body, she nodded decisively.
“Let’s call it a day and go back. Follow me.”
Without waiting for my answer, Leira started walking ahead. I touched the bandaged wound absently before quickly catching up.
“Hey, are you going back because of me?”
“Yes.”
She’s resolved.
Anyway, this is awkward. I haven’t even thought about what excuse I’ll give when we get back up to Hansenberg or prepared mentally.
Forcing a bright expression on my face, I swung my arm around.
“I’m fine. The arrow wound is nothing – it’ll heal with one potion.”
The comment was tossed out casually, but Leira looked much more surprised than I had anticipated, turning to me in bewilderment.
“…Potion? Do you mean healing potion?”
“Uh, so?”
“Junior, do you have potions?”
“Uh? Well…”
I barely managed to stop myself from shouting “Of course I do, Shiva!”
Calming down after stopping myself, I decided to compose myself. My mind started working rapidly. Then I remembered that Leira had shown the same reaction in my previous life.
‘I was quite surprised when I absorbed ether to strengthen or heal myself.’
Perhaps… In this world’s context, potions might be extremely expensive items. No, they may be difficult for the average person to obtain, even if not necessarily expensive.
‘This is dangerous.’
Just the fact that I have potions could make people suspicious of my identity. How plausible is it for someone who came here due to lack of money to have such rare items?
It only took about 10 seconds to think this through. In the end, I awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of my head.
“N-No, I meant that it’s just a minor wound. Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Leira made a nasal sound while slightly approaching me. She poked her finger into my shoulder where the arrow had been embedded. I involuntarily jumped.
“Ah, ow!”
“It seems to hurt quite a bit for a ‘minor wound’, junior.”
“…”
“Stop showing off and let’s go home and rest for today, alright?”
Leira smiled faintly and walked away.
I had no rebuttal. Having no choice, I silently followed behind.
