NBAA Vol. 2 Chapter 3 Part 4
Meanwhile, on the hill overlooking Aferre…
The other Monster Tamer, Gaida, was growing increasingly frustrated: no matter how long he waited, no message came from Shuu.
The plan was to join Shuu in invading the village, after the latter sent the signal.
Gaida eventually decided to move: he jumped on one of the Goblin Knights and headed towards the village.
“What the…!? What’s going on!?”
“Ghyeeh!!”
“Shit!! Run faster!!”
Sounds of fighting could be heard from the village.
As soon as Gaida realized he couldn’t hear any villagers screaming, he hurried closer to Aferre, in order to assess the situation.
Before he could arrive, however, a shadow appeared before him.
“AWOOOOO!!!”
“What!?”
“GHYEEEH!?”
A wolf suddenly appeared in his way, howling loudly. Before Gaida realized it, the wolf — though its size was closer to a horse — had jumped one of the Goblin Knights, pushing it to the ground.
After a moment of panic, Gaida realized they had been ambushed.
Then, he heard a boy’s voice from above.
“Hey there!”
“Huh!?”
Gaida looked up and found a boy, standing on an Ice Block platform — Reito.
Reito jumped down, broadsword in hand.
Gaida, perceiving the approaching danger, jumped down from the Goblin Knight he used as a vehicle.
Reito’s broadsword swung down on the monster.
“Helmet Splitter!”
“GWEEEHHH!!!”
“What the…!?”
The blade of Reito’s broadsword smashed through the Goblin Knight’s helmet, and the monster’s massive body fell to the ground.
Gaida was surprised for an instant, but quickly gave orders to the other Goblins.
“You lot, get him!!”
“Ghyeeeehhhh!!!”
All the Goblins attacked at the same time, but Reito activated Muscle Boost and stood his ground.
“Flame Lance!”
“Ghyaaah!?”
“Gheeh!?”
Reito shot the flaming lance to the approaching Goblins: the others too stopped in their tracks.
Such a single moment of hesitation proved fatal: Reito did not miss the chance to swing his broadsword.
“Spin Strike!”
“Gweeeh!?”
“Ghyeeeeeh!?”
Reito’s horizontal sweep sent two Goblins flying. His momentum did not stop there, however: with the second rotation he struck another Goblin, destroying its armor and cleaving its body in two.
“One more!!”
“Ghyaaaah!?”
“GHEEEHHH!!”
Reito targeted one of the Goblin Knights with a rising slash: fresh blood gushed from the monster’s body.
Even the Goblin Knight, equipped with armor for Giants, could not endure Reito’s blade: the giant monster slumped to the ground.
Looks of fear and terror were painted on the Goblins’ faces: Reito, however, continued to mow them down.
“Haaaahhh!!!”
“GHYEEEHHH!!”
Spinning like a top, Reito cut down Goblin after Goblin.
After the last rotation, Reito stopped for a moment.
The only remaining Goblin was the Goblin Knight pinned on the ground by Ullr. That battle was about to reach its conclusion.
“GRAAHHH!!”
“GYEAHHH!!”
Ullr’s fangs tore the monster’s neck as the Goblin Knight screamed. Blood spurted from the wound, mercilessly ripped wider by Ullr.
The White Wolf stepped away from the Goblin Knight, spat out the monster’s flesh he had bitten and returned to Reito’s side.
Reito glanced at his partner’s blood-stained face, then looked around.
“Hm?”
The Monster Tamer Gaida was nowhere to be seen.
Reito thought of relying on Ullr’s sense of smell to track him down, but the latter was also looking around puzzled.
He then realized his opponent had to have used a Stealth skill.
“So he was an Assassin…? Guess we’ll have to give up…”
“Whiine…”
Reito sighed and rubbed Ullr’s back, then turned towards the village…but the next instant, he quickly turned back again and swung his broadsword.
“…as if!!”
“GWAH!?”
Reito’s broadsword struck Gaida, standing behind him with a dagger in hand, and sent him flying spectacularly.
Reito’s broadsword was dull, so its sharpness was inferior to a regular sword. If he held back, he could use it as a bludgeoning weapon.
Some of Gaida’s ribs were cracked because of the blow, but it had not been a lethal blow. He landed on the ground, a look of shock on his face, and managed to whisper a question despite his fading consciousness.
“H-how did you…know where I was…?”
“I had a hunch…I guess?”
“R-ridiculous…!!”
During his life in the Abyssal Forest, Reito had gained the ability to perceive incoming danger.
『Ai…cecream, please.』
『Have you finished the…ah, you tricked me!!』
『Wahaha!! You replied normally even if I didn’t say Airis!!』
『You cheeky brat…!』
『Anyway, yes, it’s over. With him, we’ve taken out three of the Monster Tamers.』
Reito communicated with Airis while carrying the unconscious man on his back.
Three Monster Tamers of the pro empire faction had thus been defeated. There were now only two controllers of the armed Goblins left.
Reito had asked the Aferre villagers not to kill the Tamer, so he managed to capture them alive this time.
『Two more, then…we should return to the guild first. Because of this accomplishment, you will probably be promoted, Reito.』
『That’s good, but…do you think these two know where the rest of the pro empire faction is?』
『I doubt it. Ultimately they are just pawns, so they are not given any truly valuable information. But one of the two remaining Tamers, the man called Gain, is different. He is one of the faction’s executives, after all.』
『The man Basil talked about…』
Reito had taken out three of the five Monster Tamers already, but Gain was clearly going to be not so simple an opponent.
『By the way, what’s going to happen to Aferre now?』
『The person who prevented them from contacting other towns or cities is gone. The village will be safe now, help will come very soon.』
Aferre’s troubles were all solved, apparently.
There was nothing else for Reito to do there, so he decided to return to the Adventure City Lunot.
『What should I do once I’m back in the city?』
『You should simply bring those two to the guild and explain what happened. Bal will take care of the rest, so this case is basically over.』
『Heh? It’s over? What about the other two Tamers?』
『Things went well until now, but the pro empire faction will become very suspicious because of the disappearance of their three Monster Tamers. You stood out too much in Aferre, Reito: the faction is surely going to find out about you. You should leave the rest to the guild and go back to leading a normal life.』
『Hmm, I feel there’s something off about all this…but yeah, it’s not something I can solve all on my own…』
『You have defeated three of the controllers of the armed Goblins, so you have done more than enough, really. Besides, your initial objective was to acquire experience in fighting against humans. Let us leave the rest to other people.』
『Yes, you’re right…got it!』
Reito was not fully convinced, but decided to take Airis’ advice.
~
The people of Aferre showered Reito with thanks and gifts. He refused to accept money this time too, however, and took a horse carriage instead: it could be pulled by Ullr and used to camp outside without worrying about the weather. It would also be useful to carry large quantities of luggage and, if equipped with a Barrier stone, could prevent monsters from getting too close.
Reito was looking at his new carriage, very pleased, when the villagers came to thank him again.
“Thank you so much, sir Reito…we will never forget this, as long as we live…!”
“Don’t think too much of it, I just did my duty as an adventurer.”
“You are too humble, good sir. Our village is safe now only thanks to you!! If anything happens, please visit again. I don’t know if we can do anything to help, but you will always be welcome here!”
“Ahaha, thank you. Be well, everybody.”
“Sir Reito!! Thank you so much!!!”
The carriage thus departed, pulled by Ullr. Shuu and Gaida were loaded on the back, their bodies tightly bound with ropes, grim looks on their faces.
“Tch…”
“Damn it all…”
“Woof!!”
Reito, Ullr, and the two captured Tamers thus headed towards Adventure City Lunot.
Reito’s involvement in the case would end when he handed them over to the guild.
As suggested by Airis, Reito had decided to leave everything else for other people to deal with and return to a normal life.