Chapter 322: The Signal of A Counterattack

　After the fall of their village, Viscount Danton’s soldiers and a band of adventurers were positioned on the great road leading to the capital in order to block the march of the goblin army toward the capital.

　Having lost their village once before, morale was low, and it looked as if they might be defeated at any moment.

　Then Tauro and other adventurers appeared as reinforcements from the royal capital, but for some reason the morale of Viscount Danton’s army did not improve.

“Thank you very much for coming… But this is still not enough.──I think you might’ve passed each other, but in fact, I have just sent a request for additional reinforcements to the royal capital.”

　The captain leading the territorial troops responded to Tauro and the others in a tattered appearance.

“More reinforcements? What do you mean?”

　Hulk, the leader of the B-rank team “Silver Goblin Hunters,” asked in a stern tone, perhaps feeling that they were considered inadequate.

“I’m sorry, ……. It’s not that we felt you were insufficient, but that the number of enemy goblins exceeded our estimate, unlike when we first asked for help. At first we thought the goblin general was leading about 400, but then 400 more goblins joined them and we were outnumbered and had to abandon our village. ……”

“A total of 800 goblins! …… No, even though I’m just starting out, I’m the leader of a B-rank team, the “Silver Goblin Hunters”. It won’t make any difference if they double the number of goblins now. Hey, guys!”

　Hulk is trying to be strong, but his face is drawn.

　Even an expert in goblin extermination would say that there are just too many of them.

　And with such a large number, it would probably be easier to defeat them in a group battle with an army than with adventurers.

　However, even if reinforcements were requested now, it would probably be several days before they arrived.

　If we are defeated now, the capital will be overrun in a few hours.

　With that in mind, we will have no choice but to stay here and defend to the death or hunker down in a small castle with low walls.

　However, if we were to barricade ourselves here, we would have to defend the area to some extent in order to evacuate all the people in the area, and more importantly, it is doubtful that we would be able to evacuate many people to a small castle.

　At a quick glance, it seems that the Viscount Danton’s territory is located close to the royal capital, where security is basically good, and there are not many territorial soldiers as far as I could see.

　Tauro confirmed that there were less than a hundred of the ragged territory soldiers and a group of about 40 adventurers. He thought that the basic strategy would be to break through the goblin army with the forces at hand, preserve the “Silver Goblin Hunters,” a tiger cub, until they reached the goblin general, and have them put an end to the war.

“It’s time to show what we can do. We’re experts at killing goblins, do you think we’ll be intimidated by some random goblin?”

　Hulk, the leader of the “Silver Goblin Hunters,” calmed down from his previous tense look, and said that he and his men would take the lead.

　…… No, no, no. You guys are saving your energy!

　Tauro was inwardly annoyed, but Hulk was probably so frustrated that Tauro and the others had stolen his spotlight that he stubbornly refused to listen to the persuasions of those around him. 

“…… Good grief. You may be a skilled adventurer, but you’re not the type suited to command an army. If I were a mercenary under his command, I’d slap back the contract price and run away as fast as I could.”

　Ankh shakes his head as he whispered this to Tauro.

“…Hahaha. That’s not going to be the case this time…For now, Let’s just follow the moves of the “Silver Goblin Hunters” and see what we can do next.”

　Tauro suggested this to everyone, and Aeris and the others nodded in agreement.

“I can’t stay in the rear guard this time either.”

　Aeris grins.

　Aeris is a good at close quarters combat as a punching stick, especially against goblins, which she is accustomed to fighting.*

“Aeris can rest assured that I will follow her through!”

　Ragune smiled and patted Aeris on the back.

“All right, everyone. Basically, let’s stay in  formation, stick together, and defend the rear of the “Silver Goblin Hunters”.”

　Everyone nodded in agreement with Tauro’s immediate plan.

　The goblin army began to move.

　There must be a goblin general behind them.

　There were so many that I couldn’t even confirm their presence, but I could somehow figure out where they were because the goblins were moving around where I thought they were.

　The first attack against the goblins was a magic attack by the wizard of the B-rank team “Silver Goblin Hunters,” the tiger cub.

　It was a range earth magic, not very powerful, but a rain of pointed flying debris spread over a wide area rained down on the goblins, killing more than a dozen of them and reducing their numbers.

　There, the leader Hulk also wipes out nearly a dozen goblins in front of him with a ranged attack using sword techniques.

　Meanwhile, a fellow thief throws a magical tool over the goblins’ heads, creating a flame that rains down on them.

　The goblins were engulfed in the fire and died one after another in agony as they struggled right and left to put out the fire.

　As one would expect from an expert in goblin slaying, their skills were just the right amount of ranged attacks to take down the goblins.

　In front of the “Silver Goblin Hunter” that took the lead, the goblins who got scared opened the way and the formation collapsed.

“With this, we can make it to the Goblin General. We’ll follow!”

　Tauro gave permission to attack to his companions, who had been waiting and watching the actions of the “Silver Goblin Hunters”.

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