TL Note: Just a heads up, there won’t be a chapter in the coming Saturday and Sunday because of exams.

Also the TOC gets updated every chapter, so if you’re not seeing the chapter there, try refreshing the page. It should be updated.

Volume 2   Chapter 1

nd day of the Mine Monster Subjugation Request

~Side Ryouma~

Just like yesterday, we will also be subjugating monsters today.

Although I said I’d become independent, the truth is I’m still being spoiled by Rheinhart-san and the others. So even if it’s just a little I need to start doing my best.

There’s no problem with where I’m going to be living since I’ll be staying in the abandoned mine. As for my training and my discipline, I’ll just go with my previous life’s routine and also meditate. Aside from that there’s nothing else left except taking requests from the guild, getting along with others, and piling up my experiences in this way.

The problem is my cost of living. But it’s not like I don’t have any money. I have the reward money I got from subjugating that bandit called Melzen of the Red Spear, which totals to 700 small gold coins. And I also have the money I looted from all the bandits, which total to 40 medium gold coins. And then lastly, although it’s not much, I have the money I got from selling off the equipment of the Fang of Orbtem’s members. So for a while I should be able to live a bit luxuriously.

As for making money, if I were to accept the guild request to clean out the latrine pits. Then if I were to clean all 30 pits, I should get 3 middle silver coins, totaling to 3000 suits. For a normal guy, this should last for 30 days.

Moreover, if I were to sell the iron ingots and the water proof cloth wholesale to Serge, I should be able to make more than enough.

While I’m not particularly troubled over it, but because it seems like I’m making money too easily... and because there is high risk involved when working as an adventurer. I figured that I should also think of a different way to make money.

That method doesn’t have to be anything special or make me too much money. In fact, I would go so far as to say that as long as I can make just barely enough to get by then it would be fine.

Why? Because ever since I’ve come to this world, until I met Rheinhart-san and the others, I haven’t used a single suit to keep on living. 100 suits a day should be more than enough for use in case of emergency... and as for the rest of the time, I’ll use it to train myself.

“Ryouma-kun. Hey~, you listening~?”

Ah, no good. I got too caught up in my thoughts again...

“Sorry, I was thinking of something. Is something the matter?”

Syria-san shook her head.

“It’s not good to be distracted in the middle of a fight... is what I thought I’d say but...”

“Even though you’re not really here with us in spirit, you still managed to easily dispose a magical beast.”

Wereanna glanced at me.

“Not even a single beast came over to us, you know?”

“Ah, sorry. My body just moved by itself...”

“Eh, forget it already. Rather than that, I’d like to stop killing monsters nonchalantly while muttering something, nya. It’s really scary, nya.”

“That’s... I’m sorry.”

Was I unconsciously speaking out loud...?

Jeff-san glanced at me and asked.

“About that, Ryouma, are you having problems with your finances? You said something about living expenses so...”

“Actually...”

As I tried to talk about my situation, a male adventurer came.

“Immediately gather by the entrance of the mine! We’re having a meeting!”

Seeing the anxious adventurer, Wereanna asked.

“Did something happen!?”

“The goblins made a village in a corner of the mine. What’s more is that it’s quite big. Fortunately, no adventurers had died, but there are many G Rank adventurers who have been injured.”

“A goblin village, huh? If we don’t get rid of it quickly...”

“I’m gonna go call the others too, so you guys hurry up and gather by the entrance!!”

As he said that, the man left hurriedly. We also left hurriedly and gathered by the entrance of the mine. A lot of adventurers had already gathered there. After waiting for a while, the guild master went up on the stage that was prepared just a while ago.

“I think you’ve already heard most of the story, but I’ll explain it now! Just a while ago in the tunnel where the goblins were, we found a village in that area! Because of this we’ll be starting an operation to completely wipe out the goblins! Consider this to be a mid-scale operation! There should be around 500 goblins! In order to lessen the damages as much as possible, D Rank adventurers up will be the ones to lead. Each rank should gather together and follow orders!!”

After that the guild master finished talking and called out to me.

“Ryouma, you here?”

“I’m here.”

“Although you’re an F Rank right now, in terms of ability you’re already E Rank up. Also, this request is for your E Rank promotion, right? So although it’s a bit early, I’ll have you participate as an E Rank.”

“I Understand.”

“No one has any complaints, right?”

At guild master’s words, no one came to object. I guess it’s the effect of yesterday’s incident.

“Alright! Everyone ready yourselves! If there’s anyone of you that needs some equipment, then come over here! Once you’ve finished your preparations, go gather with your respective ranks and start the operation!”

After that, I gathered with the other E ranked adventurers and took with us the G and F ranked adventurers. Our mission is to block the path of the goblins fleeing and to kill them, making sure no one escapes.

I then entered the meeting of the E Rank. There, the leader that was elected, a female adventurer named Poly, pointed her finger at a point in the map and began explaining the operation.

A, B, C, and D ranked adventurers are going to attack the tunnel and village from both directions, sieging and breaking into it. They will kill all the goblins running away except for those going a certain direction. And the ones waiting for that certain direction are us, the E, F, and G ranked adventurers. We are hiding in wait a little distance away from where the goblins fleeing are headed to. When they get here, we will be killing every single one of them without letting anything escape.

“I believe everyone already knows this, but our mission is to lay here in wait for the fleeing goblins, and then kill them all without letting a single one escape. Also, because we’ve taken with us the F and G ranked adventurers that have no experience, we need a way to ensure their safety. If anyone has any suggestion regarding this matter, please feel free to speak up.”

Many people raised their hands and gave their suggestions. I also gave my own suggestion, which was to use the method I had applied while I was in the forest.

“It was Ryouma-kun, right? What is it?”

“Yes, I have a method when dealing with a great number of goblins. What we could do is to dig a ditch between the nest and the place where we are waiting at and then fill that ditch with acid slimes. And then...”

I took out from my item box, a long rod with a knife attached to it, making it out to be something like a scythe.

“The goblins that have come near can be dealt with, with something like this together with the acid that has been poured into the hole. As for the people from afar, they can be dealt with archery and magic. With this method, the goblins that have fallen into the hole are powerless. Only a few of them should be able to climb up, and while they’re climbing we can pierce them with our spears. And then as long as we stay wary of the goblin archers and the goblin mages we should be fine, and even the beginner adventurers will be able to fight.”

There were quite a few people that liked my idea, and from the looks of it, it seems they have taken it into consideration. They also asked questions about it, and together we were able to hammer out the details. In the end, it was decided that we will be going with my proposal.

I took with me several adventurers that can use earth magic and went to an area in our waiting point, where there were cliffs on both sides of the path. Then using earth magic, we dug a hole that was 4m long, 50m wide, and 3m deep.

Inside the ditch we had just made, holes could be seen here and there. Deep inside this hole is a hollow area. This hollow area is for the sake of hiding the nucleus of the acid slime. In order to keep the slimes from being killed in an extremely unlikely case where a goblin is able to hit their nucleus, they can hide their nucleus in here.

The slimes will extend their tentacles from inside the hole, and melt the goblins that have fallen. The acid slimes start producing acid, and after a while they were able to make a pool of acid and digestive fluids.

When we started this operation, a different group had brought our luggage. The contents of the luggage were the long rods cut out from the nearby trees, and the scythes of the cave mantis that we’ve killed.

The cave mantis’ scythe isn’t that sharp but it’s strong in its own way. Because of that we decided that it’s good enough if its purpose is just to drag the goblins down the hole. I sent an order out to the sticky slimes in my mind, and had them glue the rod and the scythe together with their sticky liquid.

We also used the earth we dug out with earth magic to create some railing on our side, so as to prevent ourselves from falling in to the hole we had just made. We also made a small tower for magicians and archers to stand on. With this, they’ll be able to shoot from quite a distance.

The small tower is quite conspicuous, so I put up an anti-physical barrier with barrier magic to protect from the goblin archers. It’s also important to note that the anti-physical barrier can only block physical attacks and magic attacks will pass through, so everyone still had to be careful of the goblin mages.

It would be great to have put up the barrier on everyone, but unfortunately I’m not that proficient at it and the strength of my barrier is still not that strong. My barrier can work against arrows, but against blunt objects, it’ll break quite easily. Also, if one were to get hit by enough arrows, the barrier might also not last either. Because of this we should put the subjugation of the goblin archers and the goblin mages at maximum priority.

The adventurers ranked F and G are responsible for subjugating the goblins near the ditch we made. As for the E Rank adventurers, they are responsible for fighting in close combat at both sides, driving the goblins down the ditch, and assuring the safety of the F and G ranked adventurers. As for me, I’m waiting right at the center of where we’re waiting for them, striking the goblins from a distance with my bow.

With this, we’ve finished our preparations, and are resting until the battle begins.

After that 1 hour passed, and the battle began.

“Everyone’s at their positions, right? It’s a bit early but the enemy is coming! Please be careful!”

At poly-san’s words we all riled ourselves up. And then after 10 minutes, the first goblins came.

“They’re here! 3 in front! And then there’s more coming from the back!”

“Roger that!!!”

After I reported that I’ve spotted them, the people around me raised their voices. The goblins also noticed us, but because their heads aren’t very good, they came at us in a straight line. The first one of the three goblins, didn’t need to be dragged down the hole and fell by itself. The second one became wary of the hole when it saw the first one fall, but then it got dragged in by the scythe-like rod of one of the adventurers. The third one tried to jump over the hole, but being unable to jump far enough, it came falling straight into the hole.

The goblins that have fallen, cried voices of suffering, but because of being spit on by the acid slimes and because they swallowed the acid, they died fairly soon and it became quiet again. Their bodies were then melted by the acid slimes.

After that, many goblins came one after another. Some of them were made to fall in the hole, while some were felled with arrow or magic. By the way, all the arrowheads I’m using have being dipped in the poison slime’s poison. Because of this even if it’s a light injury, they’ll immediately become unable to move. Like this we were able to put a stop to the attacks of the goblin archers and the goblin mages, and until now not one of us has been injured.

Because I have the Magic Detection skill I can instantly tell when the goblin mages are trying to use magic. And although they can use magic, it’s not like they’re particularly skilled at it, so their invocation is quite slow. As for me, I’m using my Magic Detection, so before they’re even able to invocate, I can shoot them down.

Until now there’s been no casualties on our side, but... what’s up with this number? There’s just too many of them. The goblins we’ve subjugated already number over 500... and on top of that, the digestion fluids of the acid slimes are failing to keep up with the body count, and the corpses are starting to pile up. It’s not a problem yet, but at this rate it will be quite troubling...

The surrounding adventurers also started to be confused.

“Isn’t something strange!?”

“True, there’s really too many of them.”

“At this rate we’ll run out of arrows!”

“My arrows are running low!”

“You there! Don’t waste the arrows!”

“Haa... Haa... why are there so many goblins... until when are they gonna keep on coming?!!”

Goblins are not strong for a magical beast, and they’re not something that’s hated either. With a stature not bigger than that of a human child’s, their power isn’t all that great. The only problem is that they possess the knowledge to use weapons. And the fact that they reproduce ludicrously fast.

Also even if their skill is bad, as long as they have something sharp and can swing it, then it’s more than dangerous enough. There’s also the fact that because there’s so many of them, it becomes rather difficult for a single person to fight them alone. As for us we have over a 100 people ourselves, according to what I‘ve heard in the meeting. But more than half of that is made up of F and G Rank adventurers. These adventurers aren’t very strong to the point where they actually find 1v1’ing a goblin quite difficult, so much so that they can actually lose. And when they do fight they are only able to take out one at a time, and have a tendency to forget their surroundings and can get hit easily when attacked from the side. Naturally, someone with that kind of ability can’t be sent out to the front lines to act as the vanguards.

Because of this, the E Rank adventurers are the ones who were made to fight in close quarters, but unfortunately, their numbers are just insufficient. And although E Rank is the level at which an adventurer is finally able to show some degree of ability, in the end it is still a beginner’s rank.

Also, it’s not like all E Rank adventurers can fight in close quarters. Depending on the person, there are people that specialize in the bow, in magic, and then there are also people that specialize in healing magic. In the end, the number of people that can fight in close quarters number only to 28. And although there are also goblins that have been felled with by arrow and magic, the people fighting as vanguards are already starting to show signs of fatigue. There are also people that have incurred some damages. Although they would come back to the front lines right after being healed, it looks like they’re already at their limit. It’s true that it was certainly possible to deal with a few goblins running away, but this number of goblins is just too much.

It’s fortunate that Poly-san hasn’t lost her calm yet, but if we don’t do something about this, it’ll be really bad.

“Poly-san should I take the front lines with my slimes? It looks like it’s going to be a long battle, so please let me take the front lines and during that time let’s allow the adventurers to rest.”

“Well that’s true. Can I entrust you with this?’

“Yes.”

“Everyone in the front lines! Right now Ryouma and his slimes will substitute with you! During this time, even if it’s just a little bit, please use this time to recover!”

I sent the sticky slimes, the poison slimes, and the scavenger slimes that were on standby to take the front lines where the goblins were. And then I also jumped down from the pedestal, then jumped over the ditch and when I got to the other side, I gave this order to the slimes.

Fight the goblins, and show me the result of all that training you’ve done until now!

When I gave that order, the slimes started trembling in excitement. And then every one of them turned a part of their body into a tentacle and faced towards the goblins coming their way.

The sticky slimes would skillfully manipulate the rod the goblins were holding, hit the goblins, knock them over, and stop their movements with their sticky liquid.

The poison slimes would pick up the spears the goblins were using, smear the spearhead with poison and pierce the goblins with it.

As for the scavenger slimes, they would slip through the opening in between the legs of the goblins, wrap their tentacles around the goblins’ feet, and topple them. When the goblins fell, they would then cling to the head. They would also slide underneath the feet of the goblins, and when stepped on they would move their body and trip the goblins.

Because their power is simply not that strong it’s not possible to beat the goblins dead, but without being killed in a 1v1 situation and through certain varying methods, the slimes were able to kill the goblins. Especially the poison slimes that were able to kill faster than the other slimes because of their poison.

While seeing that, I also fought. Since I got here on the opposite side, the goblins have been swarming.

I take out the two short swords I have by my waist. I jump at the goblins coming at me and strike at its heart, piercing it in an instant, and without stopping I pull out my sword. I then rush at another goblin and cut its carotid artery. Next, I cut a wrist of a goblin’s hand that’s holding a sword, and at the same time kick it down, and have the slimes finish it off. I dodge the spears of the goblin coming at me from behind and move behind them. Continuing that, I moved my short swords, and with them I struck at their medulla oblongata.

“Guki!?’

“Goga!”

“Gue!!”

“Giiiiii!!!”

As I killed them one by one, their guts and blood filled the air. I can hear the death throes of the goblin, but I don’t care. I continue to focus on only killing them one after another.

The goblins may have a similar figure to humans, but they are a magical beast race that has a far stronger life force than humans. Even if their stomach gets pierced, they can still live for a short while. However, that only means to say that they will last a bit longer than humans, in the end if they were to take a fatal wound, then they would still also die.

Moreover, they have one particular feature, which is something brought about because of their similarity to humans. What I’m referring to of course is their vital points. If I were to strike at their vital points, then it is possible to take them out in one hit. For example cutting off their wrists and cutting the carotid artery will cause them to bleed and incapacitate them.

As for the ogres and the trolls who are also similar to the humans it may also be possible, but I’ve never fought against them so I don’t know for sure. In any case, from what I’ve seen so far when fighting goblins, as long as I cut their vital points, they’ll bleed quickly and become unable to fight, allowing me to easily take their lives. Just like I’m doing right now. Like this, there shouldn’t be any problems with subjugating these critters.

Although there is one thing concerning, their numbers. Really, they just keep on coming and coming. Exactly how many are there of these things?

The goblins might keep on coming, but in terms of war potential, we’re hanging on. Because their numbers far outstrip ours, and because we were able to get some room, I made the slimes pick up the arrows that haven’t broken.

I can also hear the voices of the adventurers that are resting, and from the looks of it they seem to be properly resting.

In a place somewhat distant from where Ryouma was fighting, some of the adventurers were talking. One of the female adventurers, seeing Ryouma fight, couldn’t help but say,

“Wait... haa... what’s up with that kid? Isn’t he too strong? Even though... we suffered so much...”

“We’re saved...”

One of the men amongst them, calmly analyzed the situation.

“In any case, let’s leave it to that kid for the time being... He’s buying as some time right now, so let’s do our best and get some rest!! And then we’ll substitute again!!”

At that the adventurers replied in unison.

“Right!!”

“Hey, are those really slimes?”

“Those slimes are really good at using the spear. They might actually even be better than me...”

“Forget being skilled. Why are those slimes using weapons!?”

“There are a lot of things weird, but at least were saved... huh? Arrow?”

“!? Archers! The slimes are bringing over arrows! Hey you! Move aside! Let the slimes pass!”

Slimes using weapons are certainly strange, but, can you really say that you have the luxury to think about that right now?

As I was thinking that, I suddenly felt the presence of magic. Looks like there’s another goblin mage!

I sheathe the short sword I have in my right hand, take out a throwing knife, and then agilely throw it at the mage, killing it one shot.

We continued like that, while the other adventurers continued to recover.