Chapter 5 "Surprise attack"

 　A troll is pulling a cart. A goblin, probably his employer, walks beside him.

The group stops moving in front of the gate of Shudras Castle.　

　The two goblins guarding the gate silently point their spears at them. The goblins show the gatekeeper a piece of paper.

　The gatekeeper looks over the paper and nods toward his partner.

The goblin partner hits the gate twice with the door knocker attached to the gate to make noise.

　After a few moments, the gate opens.

　The goblins went inside through the gate.

　The sky was dark and night was about to fall.

Several hours had passed since I settled down on top of a building near the gate.

　After leaving the store, I found a building close to the castle that stood in a position where I could see the gate, climbed up to avoid being seen, and thus observed until nightfall....

　It's hard to say.

First of all, the gatekeeper was probably strong there; if it was one against one, I could probably win, but if it was one against two, I could win, but it would take time, according to Rothfeldt's experience.

　Is Rothfeld weaker than I thought?

From what I remember, he took down quite a few goblins and brigands....

　Are the people here at a higher level?

　I don't know.

If it's just eliminating the gatekeepers, I could probably use the ring to feed them magic to get rid of them.

　It won't make sense though, because it would cause a lot of commotion.

　Next are the goblins coming and going. As I watched, three carts passed through the gate from about mid-afternoon to early evening.

　The contents of the wagons were covered with covers, so I couldn't tell what they were carrying, but I guessed they were mostly food and armaments.

　The carts came out after about 30 minutes.

I continued to observe, and the carts continued to come and go regularly.

　After the sun had completely set, the gatekeeper was replaced, perhaps because it was time for a change of shifts.

I continued my observation. After that, several more carts came to the gate, but they stopped coming when the moon had completely risen.

　After the carts stopped coming, the gate was opened, and the guards inside came out, and the replacement personnel came from the residence, and there was a change of personnel.

I had some free time while I watched, so I continued yesterday's practice for my own comfort.

　Take the root out of my finger. Put it back in. Put it out. Put it back in.

　Change the finger to put out as I get used to it. Put out the root from several fingers at the same time. Put them back in at the same time.

　The sun is rising.

　I keep practicing mindlessly, keeping my eyes on the gate.

　The sun rises completely.

　I just keep practicing.

　I went back downtown to have a meal, but I stayed on top of the house almost all day long.

　When I returned to the house, the residents almost found me, but I managed to escape.

　I kept looking at it like that for three days.

　Result.

　From morning to midnight, the luggage was brought in.

　At midnight, the gatekeeper and the personnel inside were replaced.

　Only on the second day, during the daytime, a hooded, robed...goblin? came and went during the daytime only on the second day. This would be an exception.

　As for how to get in.

The guys carrying the luggage and the guests had a pass? To get something like a "pass".

　This would probably get me in.

　The guests are irregular, so it's hard to say when they'll be back next.

　The carts would be the best target. If I kill them and suck out their memories, I can get information about what's inside and kill two birds with one stone.

　Let's do it.

　Let's leave town and ambush them on the street. Attack them when they're somewhere where no one's around.

Walk some distance away from the town to find a place where a raid could be done.

　Since this is in a mountain range, the roads are paved between and along the mountains.

　Goblins are intelligent, but not as intelligent as humans.

　The pavement is paved in a way that is a little out of character, although the grazing of livestock and the cultivation of vegetables are not out of place.

　I walked on the road before entering the town, and I guessed that the road was constructed to prevent the road from becoming muddy in the rain by burying rocks and bricks that had been cut and processed.

　Perhaps someone taught the goblins the basics of life?

I walk along the road while thinking about such things.

　The roads around here are basically single track. The exception would be the fork in the road that leads to a dwarven village, a troll village, and an orc village.

They probably buy goods from dwarven settlements and bring them to Shudras.

Should I do it at the fork in the road?

　The fork in the road is a bit wide. There will be guards and a lot of people.

　If the road is too wide, it would be a disadvantage.

Let's attack at a little distance away from the fork.

　I thought about the following wagons a little, but considering the interval between entry and exit, there would not be a lot of time, but there would be some room.

　Based on past trends, there should be two or three guards and one goblin in charge of the wagons.

　Occasionally there will be more than one goblin in a group.

　The guards are either trolls or orcs.

　Goblins are equipped with daggers, orcs and trolls with clubs or long-handled hammers... or is it hammering?

　The attack point was several kilometers from the fork in the road, and the road was a narrow defile between a sheer slope and a cliff.

A cart could barely pass through.

　Go up the slope and hide. When they come to the bottom, the operation begins.

　The process goes like this.

　First, a cart comes.

I draw them to the front of the cart.

When it is in front of the cart, I attack it from above.

The first move is to cut the legs of the nearest guards to take away their mobility.

The second and third are aimed at the neck and eliminated as quickly as possible.

Finish off the one whose legs have been cut off.

　Finish off the goblins.

　Dispose of the corpse.

So far, I don't see any critical problems.

Just to be safe, I repeat the simulation in case of failure or unexpected situations.

　Other than that, I was killing time by checking my equipment so that I could get into battle right away.

　After a while, I see a cart slowly approaching.

　The contents of the cargo are unknown, but it looks like quite a lot. It was probably one of the largest loads I have ever seen.

　The number of people was also large because of the large amount of cargo.

　There were 5 goblins. No trolls or orcs.

　Hmm?　That's strange.

　If there were so many people, why didn't they bring in some trolls and orcs who boast of their strength?

　Or did they not hire them to cut down on labor costs because they were all going to share the load?

Although there are a lot of people, goblins are relatively easy to deal with. In a way, it's convenient.

I put strength into my hand that was clutching a club.

　A group of goblins is approaching.

　I prepare myself to get out immediately.

　5m...4m...3m...2m....

　...?

　Suddenly, the group stops.

　The goblin in the lead seems to have stopped the cart.

　The goblin pushing the cart looks around to see what is going on.

　Did he notice?

　While the goblin was wondering whether or not to attack first, the goblin behind the cart suddenly hit the goblin who was pulling the cart.

　The goblin that was hit almost fell forward, but was caught by the railing of the cart and stopped.

　A goblin further in front of him grabbed him by the chest and pulled him off the cart.

　The goblin was thrown to the ground, and the remaining goblins surrounded him and began to beat him into a sack.

　Ah, these guys....

　I had a general idea.

　They seemed to be accompanying the goblins under the guise of escorting them, killing them at random places and taking their baggage.

　While two of them were hurting him, the rest of them were looking around, so they must have been doing it on a regular basis.

Clearly, they were used to doing this.

　I wonder what it is.

　Two goblins are assaulting each other with very nice smiles.　

Even the wary goblins are glancing at them. I guess they are eager to join in.

　These guys.

　The goblin who is being assaulted is shedding tears because of the unreasonableness that came out of nowhere.

I've been thinking of something similar, but....

　I wonder why they look so happy when they hurt the weak or those who can't resist....

　My memories of before I was born scream and vindictive.

　For some reason, this is the only one that doesn't fade away, but rises up.

　No, it's fading. It's fading and this is it.

　Oh, these people are everywhere.... Before I was born, I hated this kind of people with all my heart, didn't I?

　Why does my body tremble with hatred when the emotion itself feels like someone else's?

　Gradually, the goblin begins to look like a classmate who used to torment me in school.

　The hand holding the club is getting stronger and stronger.

　But I don't know. I'm starting to like them.

　Why?

　I ask myself.

Because they don't hurt my heart, and I feel like I can beat them to death with ease.

　I look at the cart.

The four of them are happily playing soccer, as if their vigilance has grown irrelevant.

　One of them raises his big foot and steps down.

　There is a dry sound. The goblin twitches and stops moving.

　The four start giggling.

　Then they start to strip the corpse.

The moment they all turn to look at the corpse, I close the distance by sliding down the slope.

　I hold up my club as I run.

The four of them look at me as if they had been shot.

Too late. I'm already in range of them.

With a full swing, I hit one of them who was close to me. It perfectly hit the center of his face.

　His big, useless nose broke and blood spurted out. He swung through the air. He blows off and hits the mountainside.

　It's a terrible, exhilarating feeling. Oh, it's really bad.

　Apart from the mood, my head went cold thinking, ah... maybe these guys were in this mood too.

I swung at the top of my head in the manner of a watermelon splitter at the guy who crouched down to play with the corpse.

　Direct hit. I could feel the response of the skull being crushed.

The victim fell on top of the corpse with a strange sound coming out of his mouth.

　The other two seemed to have recovered from the shock of the surprise attack, drew their daggers, and attacked.

　They could not escape because there was a cart behind them. They had no choice but to move forward.

The two rushed at me with daggers poised at their waists. It was like a fictional Yakuza attack.

I take the attack boldly; two blades stab into my stomach.

Just as the goblin stops moving after stabbing, I pull out the kukri from my waist and stab one of them into the nape of the neck.

　Blood spurts out. The remaining one tries to rush back, but I grab it by the chest and pull it in the opposite direction.

Just as the goblin's big face came at me, I opened my mouth and bit his throat off.

　Blood spurts out from this side as well.

　I let go of his hand. He crumples to the ground, blood spurting from his throat.

　Without letting my guard down, I pull out the dagger from my stomach and ready it.

　I approach the first guy I hit. He is leaning against the slope of the mountain, motionless.

　I throw the dagger at him. It pierces his gut.　

　No reaction. I get close enough to him to grab his head and raise it up so I can see his face.

　One of his eyeballs popped out, and it was a big mess. I check for a pulse, etc. He is definitely dead.

I wondered if I would struggle. However, as far as the result is seen, I ended up unscathed.

　Even if it was a surprise attack, it was too quick...

　Too weak by any amount.

I thought I could kill them easier than the trolls, but I didn't think it would go so smoothly.

I remember the look of shock on the goblin's face.

　He looked as if he had never dreamed he would be attacked.

　Why don't these idiots ever think that what they are doing could be reversed?　

"I guess they are, actually..."

　I muttered to myself and looked up at the sky.

　It was a beautiful day.

　The blackness that had been welling up in my chest was also gone.