Chapter 120: Goblin Part 2

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Translator: Soafp

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I went to Commander Grano to hear the situation, but he seemed busy commanding.

While I was pondering what to do, Mom, without considering the atmosphere, spoke up.

“Nii-san, please tell us about the situation.”

Commander Grano, as a mage corps chief, must have judged our matter to be more important.

He delegated the remaining command to his subordinates and explained to us.

After listening to his explanation, here’s what happened.

The first half of the expedition had a large number of monsters, but there were no particularly unusual incidents.

The problem arose during the night, just as they were starting to consider retreat.

It was a goblin ambush. They were on the verge of being overwhelmed by a horde of goblins as far as the eye could see.

However, Grano’s judgment was accurate. They swiftly transitioned to a retreat and succeeded.

Up to this point, it was information I had heard at the Blue Ring Mansion. Hearing it firsthand made it feel more real, but the gist was the same as the reports.

From here, it was information we didn’t know.

Grano assessed that with Blue Ring’s forces, “eliminating them was impossible.” Continuing to retreat and unnecessarily bringing the goblins closer to Blue Ring would be a bad move. So, they focused on buying time for me and El to arrive.

Executing a strategy to lure the goblins away intentionally in a different direction, dissatisfaction erupted from Grano’s subordinates due to misunderstanding the intent of the strategy.

However, Grano earnestly explained and eventually reluctantly gained their support.

The reason they were able to buy time for so long was that goblins, despite being monsters, were living beings. Naturally, they needed food and sleep.

It’s unclear whether they were impatient about being delayed or thought they could defeat us if they pressed on, but tonight’s ambush was abnormal.

And so, for a total of five days, they had been drawing the enemy away in a retreat.

With three more days of holding out, they were fighting, believing that I and El would arrive at Blue Ring. Then suddenly, we appeared.

Grano narrowed his eyes and muttered just one thing.

“I’ve never been so proud to be the sibling of the biological mother who gave birth to Aldo-sama and Elphus-sama… As a sibling of Rafi.”

…I guess he has been treated badly for a long time. I felt sorry for Grano.

With this, I confirmed the general course of events. Now we needed to know where we were.

“We came over the ‘Abyssal Valley,’ so our sense of place is a bit off… Where are we exactly?”

I took out a map from my backpack and asked Grano.

“We should have had a base around here… So probably around here.”

Grano pointed to a place quite west of the Blue Ring.

I could confidently say that if we hadn’t come from the Abyssal Valley but had used the highway, we would never have met.

All of these people were truly prepared to use their lives to buy time… I felt the weight of their resolve again and even a little regret for my attitude toward the knights earlier.

Next time, I’ll apologize… I wrote it down in my mental notes.

Now that we knew the course of events and our location, we wanted to hurry back to Blue Ring, but our mana was precarious.

With only about one-third of our magical energy left for both me and El, using Condense Ray and magic shields, we decided we needed to take a break and recover our magical energy.

And if we missed this opportunity, who knew when we could rest again. We needed to rest here not only to recover magical energy but also to restore our mental and physical strength.

“I think we should take a break here.”

“Yes, mana recovery is necessary. Let’s take a break.”

When I told Mother, she agreed readily.

“Commander Grano, is there anywhere we can rest?”

“A place to rest… If it’s a carriage, you can rest while moving…”

“A carriage… If you could prepare one carriage and four horses, that would be great.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare it right away.”

After waiting for about 15 minutes, Grano and five knights arrived.

Upon closer inspection, one of the knights who had prostrated himself earlier was there.

“I apologize for the rude behavior earlier.”

They apologized suddenly, and I was surprised and didn’t understand what was happening.

“No, we… we were… protecting our families… no, we… we were just expressing gratitude…”

Grano spoke slowly to the knight.

“Calm down. Take your time. Speak your mind.”

The knight took a deep breath and exhaled once.

“Haa… I’m sorry for the sudden kowtow… I was just so happy. I thought my family would be saved. I didn’t know how to express my gratitude…”

“My power is nothing significant…”

Even Grano seemed surprised, including the knights.

“The recovery of mana also cannot be achieved satisfactorily without everyone’s cooperation. Let’s all work together to protect Blue Ring.”

This time, their faces showed bewilderment… Why?

The knights immediately regained their composure and bowed in the knight’s manner.

“We will protect the safety of everyone during your rest.”

For some reason, they seemed highly motivated as they said this.

“P-Please do…”

That was all I could manage to say… It was inexplicable.

The journey back to Blue Ring was by a cargo wagon, not a horse-drawn carriage.

It had enough space for us to lie down and rest, although it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

One of the knights served as the coachman, while the remaining four rode on horses to guard us.

“Thank you.”

I replied to the knight who was closest.

The wagon slowly began to move. The knights and wizards around us bid us farewell.

Their faces were stained with exhaustion, covered in dirt and sweat. However, they bid us farewell with smiles of satisfaction that only those who had accomplished their mission could wear.

Once we were out of sight of the expeditionary force, Mother began to speak.

“We need to replenish our mana. We’ll use sleeping potion.”

“””Yes.”””

All except Mom and Halva took the sleeping potion.

“I’m sorry, but Halva will keep watch. I’ll use air conditioning magic. We’ll rest once Al and the others wake up.”

“Understood.”

As soon as I drank the potion, drowsiness overwhelmed me, and I embarked on a journey to the world of dreams.

The last thing I saw was Ashera sleeping beside me, held in Halva’s arms as he moved her to a different spot.

I awoke to the rattling sound of the wagon.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I realized that dawn was breaking.

Looking around, I saw that Ashera and El were still asleep.

Mother looked a bit pale and seemed unwell.

“Are you okay, Mother?”

“I’m just a little low on mana. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Now that I think about it, this wagon is open, isn’t it? I once used air conditioning magic outdoors and was surprised by how much magic power it consumed.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t let you guys do all the work. I want you to take a proper break too.”

Certainly, without air conditioning magic, I would have woken up several times due to the cold. At worst, I might have frozen to death.

Perhaps due to our voices, El and Ashera woke up.

“Good morning…”

“”””Good morning.””””

Everyone responded to Ashera’s greeting.

Ashera, just waking up… I’ve seen her many times since childhood, but haven’t seen her lately.

I must have been staring too much because Ashera blushed and turned away.

The others looked at us with warm eyes.

Mother and Halva are sleeping in turns, of course, using sleeping potion.

Sorry, but I’ll ask Ashera to use Air Conditioning Magic. I intend to conserve mine and El’s magic as much as possible, just in case.

“El, Ashera, how’s your magic?”

“I’m fully recovered.”

“I’m also fully recovered, but it’s steadily decreasing.”

It’s not good that it’s decreasing despite just recovering. Looking around, I see a wooden box in the corner of the carriage. Peeking inside, it seems to be a waterproof cloth used to cover luggage when it rains.

With this, it should be able to reduce Ashera’s mana consumption by setting up a makeshift tent.

“El, let’s set this up to reduce Ashera’s magic consumption.”

“Set it up…?”

Not fully understanding, I spread out the cloth. Since Ashera will end up holding the cloth if we leave it like this, I search for a wooden pole to use as a support.

Looking around, I couldn’t find a suitable one lying around… A little further away, I found a young tree about three meters tall. I grip my dagger and rush towards the tree.

Running while holding my magic weapon (greatsword) at the ready, I swing it down. This tree is a bit too thick with branches in the way…

Slash. Once more… and again…

I swing my greatsword several times, shaping the tree to my liking while it’s still standing.

The carriage and horses stop, and the knights continue to watch with dead-fish eyes.

After shaping it to my liking, I finally cut it down.

Using that tree as a support, I set up the waterproof cloth. With this, the makeshift tent is complete.

Honestly, I considered having Ashera lie down underneath, but this waterproof cloth is made of thick fabric soaked in oil to repel water. Frankly, it feels slimy and uncomfortable. I can’t imagine Ashera lying under this…

Slimy… Ashera… gulp.

I shake my head to dispel those thoughts.

After about an hour, Halva and Mother wake up.

Since it’s dark inside the makeshift tent, I use Light Magic to brighten it up, but for a moment, they seemed confused about where they were.

“Where is this?”

Instinctively, I almost blurt out, “Who am I?” but respond normally.

“We’re on top of the carriage. We set up a waterproof cloth to reduce Ashera’s mana consumption.”

“Waterproof cloth… I see. It’s used to cover luggage…”

Mother seems intrigued by the cloth.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I haven’t fully recovered my magic, only about a quarter.”

“Well, I suppose that’s to be expected after just an hour.”

“With this, we can reduce mana consumption, so can I sleep for another three hours or so?”

“Yes, that sounds good. Should we let Ashera sleep for about an hour as well?”

“Who’s going to use Air Conditioning Magic then?”

“I’ll do it, as it hardly consumes any mana here.”

“…Understood. Ashera, did you hear that? Let’s get some rest.”

“I’m… not sleepy from sleeping too much…”

“Don’t be stubborn. Here, take the sleeping potion.”

“Yes…”

“Should we let Halva sleep too? We don’t know when we’ll be able to rest again.”

“Yes, I’ll let him sleep for another hour.”

With that, Halva moves to Ashera’s side, but Ashera runs over to my side.

With a somber expression, Halva falls asleep. I hope he has good dreams, at least.

Exactly one hour later, Halva and Ashera wake up.

“Good morning…”

“Good morning…”

“I don’t want to say ‘good morning’ anymore… I have a headache from oversleeping…”

“I see… How’s your magic?”

“Full.”

“In that case, could you take over the Air Conditioning Magic?”

“Got it.”

Ashera takes over Air Conditioning Magic from me.

Two more hours until Mother wakes up. From there, we’ll switch to riding horses for the journey.

After two hours, Mother wakes up.

“Mom, good morning. How’s your magic?”

“Ah… I slept well. My magic is full.”

Now that everyone is fully recovered, I speak to the knight acting as the coachman.

“Excuse me. We’ve fully recovered. We’ll be traveling by horse from here.”

“Understood.”

With that, the carriage stops, and the knights begin to dismount their horses.

The horses are given water and food and allowed to rest for about 15 minutes. They can eat as much as they want when we arrive at Blue Ring, so I ask them to be patient for now.

“Thank you very much.”

As I say this to the knights, tears start to well up in their eyes… Uh oh.

“W-Well then, we’ll take our leave…”

I felt sorry, but I wanted to leave this place.

Taking the reins of four horses, we head towards Blue Ring…

(Crap… This is bad… Their eyes were just like a friend of mine who got into religion… )

I remember when we met in the first year of university, she was a simple girl. But when I met her again in my third year, she had transformed into a heavily made-up woman who looked like a prostitute… She was saying something about gaining virtue for recruiting three believers. Their eyes were just like hers… I’m desperately trying to hide my embarrassment.

During the journey from the capital to here, it feels like we’ve experienced various events, but we haven’t made any progress in the main plot… First, we need to reach Blue Ring.

I look around at El, Ashera, Mother, and Halva. And as I ride the horses, I sincerely wish for the safety of Blue Ring.