15 – Goblin Slayer
“Kaaak!!”
The goblin bastards started to charge at me with their crude blades.
I adjusted my chest plate with a beep and prepared for the fierce battle.
Soon, one of them stabbed at me with a dagger from below.
He was so short that it was a perfect eye level.
I kicked him hard as he came at me.
“Keeeng!!”
The one who was kicked by me rolled on the floor and screamed.
But the flow of the battle did not stop for a moment.
As the one in front fell, the goblin behind him jumped over his comrade and rushed at me.
He attacked me even as he leaped over his ally… He must be a goblin from the great forest, his ferocity was no joke.
“Keeek!”
“Kwuk!!”
I turned on the chainsaw and blocked his sword.
Sparks flew into the dark cave as the rusty sword and the saw blade grazed each other.
I gripped the chainsaw tightly to counterattack in that situation.
Then I squeezed the trigger and spun the chainsaw’s motor at full power.
– Krrr!!
The saw blade scraped off the rusty sword and made a creepy noise.
I wanted to swing the chainsaw hard and knock him off, but the cave passage was too narrow to move freely.
As Shiz worried, if I had a long weapon, I would have been helpless and unable to react.
But I didn’t have to worry about that.
Fortunately, the chainsaw was a weapon that didn’t need to be swung.
– Kwajijik!!
“Kieeek!!”
I crushed the goblin who rushed at me with the chainsaw.
The chainsaw that dug into his shoulder came out of the opposite side in an instant.
The crimson blood splashed like sawdust and soaked my whole body.
Strangely, I didn’t feel any repulsion for the slaughter.
The abhorrence that rose to an absurd degree paralyzed those emotions.
“Kk, kkaaa!!”
The remaining goblin screamed and ran away as his companion died.
He seemed to be afraid even of the monster, having witnessed such a horrible death.
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I didn’t bother chasing him.
According to the information that the elves had given me, there was only one exit to this cave.
There was no need to rush and chase after him when I would meet him soon anyway.
Right now, calming down my racing heart was more important than a careless pursuit.
“Huff…”
I steadied my rough breathing and looked down at the goblin that was split in two.
The guy who had been spasming intermittently was dead with a terrified expression on his face.
It was a disgusting sight, but I didn’t feel any negative emotions.
Rather, I felt a refreshing sensation in my chest.
Was it like hunting a harmful jellyfish with great difficulty?
I didn’t want to admit it, but I felt a strange sense of accomplishment as well.
“What is this.”
It was clearly an abnormal reaction.
I knew that breathing too much mana would make me feel intense excitement, but even considering that, it didn’t seem like a normal response.
Something must have happened to me.
I tapped my breastplate and called out to Pii.
“Pii, are you okay?”
[I, I’m okay. A little dizzy, but.]
“Then take a look at this for a moment.”
[Huh? What do you want me to look at… aaah! What are you showing me!]
Pii, who had peeked out his head, hid back into the breastplate after seeing the goblin’s corpse.
I told Pii, without hiding, the strange feeling I was having right now.
“Something is weird. I don’t feel any emotion even though it’s a horrible situation. It wasn’t like this when I killed the monster.”
At my words, Pii poked his head out again.
Then he closed his eyes tightly and gave me an answer to my question.
[That, that’s because this guy is a demon.]
“A demon?”
[Yeah. Demons are beings that contaminate mana and are abandoned by the gods. If you serve the gods, you can’t help but feel disgust instinctively.]
“Still, this seems too extreme.”
[That’s normal in this world. It’s the instinct engraved in the creatures.]
You can’t help but feel disgust when you see a demon.
I chewed on Pii’s words and looked down at the goblin’s corpse again.
Crooked ears and nose. Teeth that were everywhere. Dirty green skin.
Of course, the appearance itself was also disgusting, but I felt the disgust from the instinct more strongly, as Pii said.
“So this is normal?”
[Yeah. Can’t you see my expression? Eww. I hate it too.]
I thought I had gone crazy when I didn’t feel anything after killing a life, but fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed that the whole world had gone crazy, not just me.
Well, if I wasn’t wrong, I didn’t need to worry about it.
It was much better than crying over killing a demon.
I took my eyes off the goblin’s corpse and shook off the blood on my clothes.
Then, Pii poked my cheek and said.
[So you have to purify your mana quickly. Got it?]
“Hmm?”
Why is he bringing up mana purification all of a sudden?
As I lowered my head and showed my confusion, Pii pointed at the goblin corpse and said.
[To the others, you and the goblin will look similar.]
“Wha, what?”
I felt like I was hit hard on the back of my head and my body stiffened.
What is he talking about? I look similar to a goblin?
I pulled Pii out of my chestplate and shouted.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why am I a goblin!”
[Huh? I just told you. Monsters are beings that contaminate mana and are abandoned by the gods. You also have contaminated mana and are hated by the goddess, so you can’t help but look similar, right?]
“That applied to me too?”
[Of course! If you don’t purify your mana, the spirits and elves will continue to hate and fear you.]
I knew that the spirits and elves hated me, but I didn’t expect them to despise me as much as a goblin.
This was not a simple problem that I could ignore.
The disgust I felt when I saw a goblin was beyond my imagination.
I had to reevaluate the nature goddess and the elves who I thought were unlucky until now.
How did they not kill me and spare me until now? How did they recognize me as a druid candidate?
Looking back, Trias was a kind-hearted goddess and the elves were all saints.
“Then this is not the time!”
[Aargh!]
I shoved the beep into my chestplate and swung the chainsaw.
Now was the time to find clues for mana purification, not to mingle with goblins in the cave.
No matter how much I was a druid candidate, I couldn’t live being treated like a goblin, could I?
This kind of cave should be cleared quickly and get out.
I walked with determination toward the depths of the cave.
―――!!
I cut down all the goblins I saw without a shred of mercy.
The roar of the chainsaw echoed fiercely into the dark cave interior.
* * *
“Kieek!!”
Before long, the cave was filled with the screams of goblins.
They ran away from me to the deeper places.
I chased them slowly.
I already knew that there was only one entrance, and there was only one passage I had passed through.
The goblin bastards had nowhere to run.
The slow pursuit ended when I arrived at a fairly large hollow.
“That goblin is a bit big….”
There were four goblins gathered in the hollow that looked like the deepest part of the cave.
I thought a lot of them were running away from me, but it seemed to be a misunderstanding because I couldn’t distinguish the faces of the goblins.
But among the gathered goblins, one of them was unusually huge.
It was so big that it looked like a different monster, not a goblin.
It was three times bigger than the average goblin, so it must have been something special.
I tightened my grip on the chainsaw, feeling tense.
Then, a beep popped out of my breastplate and shouted in surprise.
[Oh no! It’s a hobgoblin! That thing is strong! Let’s run!]
I nodded in agreement with the beep’s words.
I wanted to turn around and run away as well.
I wanted to ask for backup from the elves, and return quickly to purify my mana.
But I couldn’t do that.
There was ‘one’ reason why I couldn’t do that.
“No. There’s someone trapped in the corner.”
The corner of the cave.
Beyond the goblins, I saw a human figure.
It must have been the kidnapped elf that Shizu told me about.
There was no movement from behind the goblins, so I had no way of knowing if they were alive or dead.
How could I find out their identity and status?
The one who solved my dilemma was, unfortunately, the hobgoblin.
“Ugh!”
The hobgoblin that was facing me grabbed the ‘ear’ of the person lying down and lifted it up.
He shook his head at me as if to show me, and let out a deep sneer.
Judging by the faint scream that came to my ears, the hostage was still alive.
But contrary to the information I had heard, she was not an elf, but a different race.
[Gaul! That person is a toin!]
For some reason, a rabbit beastman was captured by goblins as a hostage.
I gritted my teeth and twisted my face.
The goblins burst into laughter and provoked me.
“This is the worst difficulty.”
The situation was really sh*tty.