9. Elven Archer
No doubt.
With a confident thought, as he continued to zoom in and enhance the screen, he could closely confirm the location of the revealed light.
“Keek.”
“Keek!”
‘…As expected. Just as I thought.’
An old, high-rise abandoned building with a steel frame skeleton.
Inside that building, goblins chattering were visible.
Next to the blazing bonfire, the creatures had spread charred pieces of common cloth like a tablecloth and seemed to be noisy, perhaps in the middle of a meal.
The crackling, burning mushrooms were the same kind Irina often used to eat before.
Occasionally, due to the magic infused in them, some mushrooms crackled and spat out blue sparks.
Surprisingly, goblins knew how to cook mushrooms, a fact that was unexpected.
It seemed that goblins, possessing the intelligence to use simple tools, meant precisely that.
As he surveyed their lair for a while, he muttered.
“These guys. Are the remaining four all that’s left?”
He looked around further but couldn’t see any more.
It was just as the information posted on the internet had stated.
Their numbers were few.
Although they were only four, Irina could probably handle them alone.
Of course, he could help too.
In times of need, he was confident he could divert the goblins’ attention at least once, and most importantly, Irina now had a long-range weapon, a bow.
Meanwhile, the goblins who had filled their bellies now lay down there and fell asleep.
Whether human or monster, sleeping at night seemed generally the same.
“Keii…”
‘Still, it’s a bit disappointing.’
Watching the creatures scratch their dirty green buttocks and sniff, he felt a sense of regret.
‘If only I could attack. If that were the case, I could handle it on my own without putting Irina in danger, right?’
What was it about that thought that didn’t sit well with him?
Unexpectedly, an intruder caught his words and elongated.
[With the exception of some exceptional circumstances, the god of races cannot directly interfere in earthly matters.]
‘Yeah, yeah, I know.’
He clicked his tongue at the system that constantly tackled him.
It was information he already knew, yet it bothered him to be reminded like this.
Certainly, that system.
He had been thinking about it from before, but it didn’t seem like a simple program.
That was a response that couldn’t exist without possessing intelligence.
The day broke.
It was Sunday morning, and Han, having had the bare minimum of necessary sleep, sprang up.
Of course, there was only one reason for that.
He now, as a habit, swung open the refrigerator door wide.
Perhaps if others were to witness this sight, they would surely think of him as a strange person, but at least not to Han.
What Han first faced there was,
the figure of Irina, rolling on the floor and shooting arrows.
Thud-!
With a triumphant sound of impact, an arrow stuck in the target.
Once again today, she was up early in the morning, starting a busy day.
“Wow.”
Han stared at her absentmindedly for a moment.
She was beautiful.
Like a painting come to life.
Irina, who was already a beauty with snow-white skin like eyes, seemed to radiate a bright and healthy beauty due to the dewy drops falling over her cheeks.
“Phew….”
The practice that had continued for a while soon came to an end.
Breathing heavily, she stretched.
Despite being soaked in sweat from the early morning practice, Irina had a refreshed expression.
Distant.
Her morning was nothing extraordinary.
At most, it was just a handful of mushrooms.
But even that seemed quite appetizing to her as she smiled.
Perhaps for her, who had lived wandering in a rough world, this alone was satisfying enough.
Often, seeing her like that made him want to pack her lunch again.
But one cannot always be abundant.
Even if her poor diet was pitiful, if he kept giving her meals to fill her up every time, she might eventually take it for granted.
“The role of a god should always be done when needed. If you help with everything, there is no future for that species.”
It was that moment.
Beep-!
Suddenly, a sharp warning sound announced the appearance of a monster.
[Warning! Danger elements detected in the surrounding environment! Please check quickly!]
…This sound? Could it be those goblin bastards?
Han’s expression hardened.
Instinctively, he began to scan the surroundings by zooming in on the screen.
‘…As expected.’
Soon, he could spot four goblins approaching not far away.
The direction they were coming from.
Without a doubt, they were the guys from the goblin lair he found yesterday.
“Krrr-.”
Han headed straight towards Irina.
He summoned his massive hand and lightly tapped her shoulder.
In response, Irina turned her head towards him.
“Milord?”
Han, with a smile, raised his hand towards the direction where the fierce snowflakes were blowing.
“Ah.”
At that sight, she seemed to have noticed something as she squinted her eyes slightly.
But it was only for a moment.
“I understand, Milord.”
Irina stood up from her seat with a determined expression.
Nodding her head once, she grabbed the bow and arrow placed beside her.
‘…Will it be okay?’
Han swallowed dryly, seeming somewhat wary.
Tension rose.
To be honest, it was inevitable.
Goblins had never been an easy or trivial opponent for her, Irina, until now.
Of course, he knew she had done well so far.
But this was not a game she could easily retry.
With just one mistake, she could face great danger.
“Hmph.”
However.
A confident smile appeared on Irina’s lips.
It was a look as if the awaited moment had arrived.
Irina climbed to the top of the mushroom house to secure her view.
Soon, in her eyes, the four approaching goblins, who had struggled through the snowflakes, finally came into sight.
Squeak-.
She slowly pulled the bowstring of her bow backward.
From where did such strength come from her thin, white arms, she aimed towards the approaching goblin with the bowstring pulled back as far as possible.
“Phew.”
As she exhaled deeply into her lungs, at the moment when her breath and tremble ceased completely.
She released the bowstring.
Ping-.
Finally, the arrow flew accurately from the bow and pierced deeply into the goblin’s head.
Thud.
The goblin fell on the snowy ground without even a scream.
The fallen one’s expression, until the very last moment, maintaining the vicious look it had while charging, seemed completely unaware of how it died as it took its final breath.
It was an instant kill.
“Squeak?!”
It was truly a sudden and surprising strike.
Out of the blue, a colleague who was standing next to me suddenly collapsed weakly, leaving the others looking startled.
He was startled and jerked in surprise.
“Gasp! Grrr!”
The goblin shook my fallen colleague on the snowy ground to wake him up.
However, such actions were in vain.
As if to prove that he had already passed, blood gushed from the limp body, staining the white snow crimson.
My colleague was dead.
Realizing this fact belatedly, the goblin raised his head in a confused manner.
As his head turned in all directions, his gaze met Irina’s, who was once again aiming for the next target from the top of the mushroom hut.
“Grrr?!”
The moment the goblin revealed his teeth and showed fierce hostility.
Once again, Irina’s arrow flew out, landing smoothly on the goblin’s head, piercing deeply.
Thud.
That was the end of it.
In an instant, the two goblins were dead.
And before you knew it, the now familiar Irina repeated the same action twice, and in a flash, four goblins fell with arrows lodged in their heads.
“Wow!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Even the bystander was amazed.
Unknowingly, he jumped up from his seat.
Wow! Really amazing!
The goblins, who were once so challenging to face, were now easily dealt with in astonishment.
“The sniper is truly a sniper. The hunters praised her endlessly for a reason, huh?”
She displayed a skill that even seasoned hunters would admire, swiftly dealing with the goblins.
There was no sight like that of a medieval sniper here.
Of course, this was an era of ruin. Well, anyway.
Thump!
Irina agilely leaped down from the mushroom hut.
Then, she briskly approached the bodies of the dead goblins.
She pushed their bodies away, buried them at a distance, and took the wooden spears that were in their hands, stacking them neatly inside her mushroom hut.
In her house, several weapons of the goblins she had faced before were already piled up.
As far as I had seen, it was difficult to come across such materials easily in this desolate place.
Perhaps they might seem useless now, but someday, they might be needed.
Of course, amidst all this, she did not forget to pull out and clean the arrows stuck in them.
***
Irina prayed again today.
“Thank you, God. Thanks to you, I was able to get through today safely.”
However, the recipient of her prayers was a little different from usual.
This time, instead of looking up at the sky as she usually did during her prayers, she was directing her prayers toward a different subject.
Goooo-.
Irina prayed towards a hand statue resembling Han.
For a while, her body was tinged with a faint golden hue.
It was a strange spectacle.
What could this possibly mean?
The system, which would usually respond as if waiting, remained strangely silent this time.
As Irina finished her prayers and opened her eyes, the light emanating from her body vanished in an instant.
Ironically, she seemed completely unaware of this fact.
Rising from her spot, Irina, looking somewhat dazed, stretched her body and headed outside.
“Where are you going?”
After a final scan of her surroundings to ensure all was well, Irina, step by step, headed towards the ruins outside.
Crunching snow underfoot echoed around her.
Of course, amidst all this, her hands were not empty.
She held a sword as if she could wield it at any moment, with a bow slung over her back.
This was the wild world.
Given the uncertainty of when or where monsters might appear, being armed was a necessity.
Irina diligently scanned her surroundings as well.
Advancing in the direction Irina was surveying, she checked for any imminent dangers before Irina could even notice.
Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary was in sight.
“….”
All this time, Irina meticulously surveyed the area.
She rummaged through the frozen cityscape, occasionally uncovering the ground beneath the snow to inspect it or simply wandering aimlessly on the blank white canvas, staring into the distance.
What was she trying to do?
While Irina searched for mana mushrooms, she mainly explored the interiors of abandoned buildings rather than the snow-covered outside.
But this time, she just aimlessly wandered around the snow, seemingly without a purpose.
Perhaps she herself didn’t even know she was searching for something entirely different.