Chapter 14: The First Assault

A short time later, Tsubaki was digging a hole in the ground.

Tsubaki, who had dug a wonderful hole, had a very satisfied look on her face.

“I didn’t expect it to be finished so quickly. I might have underestimated it, to be honest.”

“Phew. It was a strange feeling, not like digging in the dirt.”

Tsubaki is showing a relaxed face, but the work was breathtaking. In less than 30 minutes, she had dug a deep hole of considerable size. She had already finished leveling the pile of dirt she had dug up.

“I was surprised at how soft the ground was. I could hardly feel the weight of the soil.”

“Well, you must still be tired, right?　Take a break for a while.”

“Yes, actually, I think it’s pretty hard on my arms.”

Tsubaki replied with a laugh, and was about to head back toward home.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Suddenly, we heard a noise nearby.

Looking around in a panic, i spot several figures a little further into the forest.

“What?　Tsubaki, stay inside the house!　Don’t come out until I call you!”

I instructs, leaving my  gaze on the figures. Since they are in the forest, they are not clearly visible, but it is obvious that they are not human. The figure was about one meter long and had the appearance of a goblin.

The goblins noticed us and came toward us, their voices raised. The cries were within the expected range, but the appearance was far beyond what we had expected.

“Ggah, ggah, ggah!”

Three goblins approached the ward, holding up what looked like thick sticks in their hands. They must have noticed the existence of the ward, because they were trying to hit it with the sticks and push it away.

(It’s very unexpected to get a humanoid out of nowhere, and their faces are so evil. ……)

My heart has been beating badly since a while ago. I’m scared that they can come with such a murderous intent, no matter how small they may look. And their faces are bad too.

(First, trap one of them. ……)

After backing up a little, I give the one in the middle permission to enter. Then the goblin that was pushing the warding comes in, losing his position.

“Gah?”

While It was startled, I hurriedly willed it to be banished – and as soon as it disappeared from in front of me, a voice came from inside the hole I had dug.

“Ggah!”

(Thank goodness …… succeeded for now.)

After confirming that the one in the hole couldn’t get out, I dropped the other two into the trap at the same time. When I looked into the hole as if peeking out from inside the ward, I saw that the three goblins were confused. They were gawking and ranting as they looked at me.

The tension between the story and the reality is far greater. My heart is still beating loudly. Through the glass door of the house, I could see them sneaking a peek, so I beckoned them to come over – and they did.

“It worked. ……”

“It’s a classic goblin, but it’s so scary to see in person ……. Ugh, his face is so scary.”

Both Tsubaki and Sakura seemed scared by the goblins they were seeing for the first time.

“There is fear, but this is a chance to level up. Even if we have to push ourselves , I want us to defeat them one by one here. Maybe if we don’t experience this now, we won’t be able to kill them for a long time to come.”

I said this to them in a slightly stronger tone, and after a short pause, they said, 

“I’ll do it.”

“Don’t worry.”

They responded as if they were trying to shake off their fear with their spirits. However, the hole is too deep to attack directly, so I think about how to defeat them.

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on them, so bring me the block in the storeroom.”

Fortunately, the impact of the fall seems to have hurt their legs, and two of the three goblins are unable to stand. Then, somewhat later, I finish carrying a few blocks. Naturally, I was the first to try.

“I’d like you to watch if you can, but if you can’t, that’s fine.”

I stand in front of the hole; the three goblins are still noisy. I throw the block down as hard as I can on the one that is still unable to stand.

“Gah …….”

The goblin’s head crumpled and caved in. I won’t go into details, but it was a pretty gruesome sight. All sorts of things popped out that shouldn’t have been visible. The goblin that fell down stopped moving, but the corpse remained intact.

(Wow, a pattern where the corpse remains? ……)

As I was thinking that, a kind of black mist came out of the goblin’s body, and the corpse was dissipated.

(Thank goodness.)

Apparently, it didn’t die instantly. The body that had been there a moment ago had vanished without a trace. Sakura’s face was drawn, but she looked relieved when it fizzled out, and Tsubaki was surprised that the goblin had vanished.

The moment of the kill was gruesome, but I think I can handle this.

“I think I can do it too. I don’t find it so repellent.”

After me, Sakura and Tsubaki were able to defeat the goblins in that order. Tsubaki, by the way, took out the one that was running away with a single blow without any hesitation.

After defeating the three goblins, I was done for the day. At this point, an announcement echoed in my head.

『The unique skill release condition <first attack> has been achieved』

“Ability Unleashed”

It seems that the release condition was the attack of a monster . This time, the ability seemed to have increased, but unfortunately, there seemed to be no expansion of the site. Well, I would like to put this matter behind me. Anyway, I was so nervous that I couldn’t do anything else.

“I’m so tired ……. I’m kind of mentally exhausted .”

The three of us fell into a heap on the spot.

“If this was a case were the corpse was left behind, I might have been out at the last minute.”

“It was certainly scary. But I have a tolerance for grotesque things, so it’s not that bad.”

“Hahaha, here comes the theory that Tsubaki-san is the strongest.

“You’re right, you do have an aptitude for other worlds.”

“Is that a compliment?　Are you kidding me?”

We were relieved that we were able to defeat the goblins without incident and laughed at each other’s jokes to counteract our fears.

By the way, the reward for defeating the goblins was a magic stone smaller than a pinky fingernail.

With the bonus of a stinky waistcoat.

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