Chapter 35 – How Many Goblins Are Left?

… If I focused my consciousness and looked inside myself in detail, I could intuitively understand the power that resides within my body. At present, it seems that the amount of demi-human magic I could handle has risen significantly; if I did not use it, the gap between awareness of my increased magic capacity and sensation of my increased magical power will not be filled.

(So my affinities are still Wind and Earth…)

There was perhaps the possibility that I could only use Earth and Wind attribute magic. I do not know if it was because I acquired the new skill “The Roar that Inhibits Magic Circulation”, but I could strongly feel the presence of a different power residing inside me.

“Gaua…vogua garuaaouu, gurua.” (Well… looks like you’ve surpassed me again, Chief.)

I heard Buster grumbling about it, but if we sparred against each other, I’m sure he would be stronger than I am. I have a feeling that my development is leaning more towards a magic practitioner type role.

And since it was dangerous when sparring with friends, I do not use magic so I am at a natural disadvantage against the warrior types like Buster and Ax.

(… Alright, let’s work out from now on.)

As I finished gathering my thoughts, I suddenly felt a pang of pain.

“Kuh”

Speaking of which, the huge Goblin’s Axe had slightly cut my right shoulder. I did not feel the pain much during the fight, but now it stung.

“Kuon, kuruaan?” (Big brother, are you okay?)

My worried sister approached me, and after checking the wound on my shoulder, she started licking it up.

“…”

I wonder why beasts and Kobolds lick open wounds? The mothers in the settlement used to lick their pups whenever they were injured, but sometimes, it was too much and made the wound worse instead… Alright, let me get her to stop.

*lick*

“Wafuh.” (Ah!)

As I kept my sister from licking my wound by pushing her head away, Lancer, who had been trying so hard to fix her broken Spear since earlier, called out to me.

“Gurua, woafu kuruaanh.” (Boss, I think I can heal you.)

She extended her white, furry paws over the wound on my shoulder and focused her attention.

“… Kuruaonn.” (… Holy Light of Healing.)

“Oooh!”

My shoulder wound gradually started closing up as it was enveloped in the warm phosphorescence… It was the first time that someone among my brethren has been able to use recovery magic, but honestly, it was very reassuring to have a healer in the group.

“Waoan.” (Thanks.)

As I was expressing my thanks to Lancer, I noticed her hand that was missing the usual Spear…

Looking for something that could be a substitute, I saw that one of the Goblins who was caught on the Earth Fangs held a worn-out spear. It looked like a true Goblin Spear; its tip was made of metal even though it was rusted. So I grabbed it and handed it to Lancer.

“…Gurua, garuaoon?” (…Boss, are you telling me to use this?)

She had a subtle look of disgust on her face, but she reluctantly accepted it because beggars can’t be choosers, and we cannot stop after making a breach in the Goblin backlines.

“Hey, Archer, what are we going to do after this?”

“Gaoua…” (Well…)

Currently, the plan was to join up with the Werecats who had fled Lucua village. And to that extent, Liz would be leading us towards her brethren. After that, we could either use our current numerical strength to deal with the situation, or go back to the village and annihilate the Goblins with both the Dog race and Cat race people together, but I could not make my decision because I cannot determine the exact number of enemies and the strength of the Werecats.

Since there are many things we needed to confirm and there was nothing we could do even if we stayed here,

“Garuo, gaouoonh.” (Everyone, let’s retreat for now.)

I pointed to the forest on the west side of Lucua village so Liz could understand, and we started to move. She looked one more time at the bodies of her fallen brethren that were in the plaza before following us.

We then moved through the forest for a while, and after we were at distance from the Werecat’s village, I asked my companions to stay alert and hold ground as I returned alone to gather more information on the Goblins.

Considering that they left some of their forces in Lucua village, I was certain that the Goblins planned to come back. At that time, the group who chased the Werecats to the north side of the forest would surely come back, so I hid in the treetops, looking for a tree that would allow me an unrestricted view of the surrounding area.

And so, I hunkered down and waited for the Goblins, and they returned a little less than a quarter of an hour, I guess?

The first one that emerged from the trees was a squad of a dozen or so led by a hooded, sorcerer type Goblin, accompanied by two Werecat women whose hands were tied with ropes. Their left and right legs were also tied together with ropes, and they were prevented from running by limiting their stride.

After surveying the scene for a while, they found their large friend lying dead in the plaza, and began to check their surroundings again while watching out for the attackers.

In the meantime, about three more groups of Goblins emerged from the forest. They also had about four half-naked Werecat women with them, and from the way they were dressed, it could be seen that they had been defiled on the spot when they were captured.

Furthermore, they were also followed by a unit composed of tall, lean Goblins, and a squad of large, well-built Goblins, who seemed to be the last ones to return. Additionally, the squad of hulking Goblins had also captured two Werecat women.

(Roughly, there are only about 54 Goblins in their forces now. However, there are three odd ones and a few warrior-class ones under their command…)

At first, we took out five Goblins in the forest and another thirteen in the village plaza. And then, we found at least 10 Goblins that were likely taken down by the Werecat warriors during the siege.

(Hmm, so originally, there were about 80 middle-ranged ones that belonged to their horde, huh.)

After confirming that no new goblins have appeared, I jumped over the branches of the trees and returned to my companions.