Chapter 118: 118
Chapter 118 – Monster’s Hideout
The trees grew larger and larger as we went further into the south . Their green leaves covered the sky, as if seeking the blessing of heaven . It’s like we were marching in the middle of the night despite it still being daytime .
Me and Aaron immediately activated the Night Vision skill, while Miria relied upon the fire produced from her magic sword . We followed the trace of the Goblin Shaman’s magic .
[This, this is the first time I’ve come this far into the forest . ]
[Yeah, me too . The trees here are on a different league compared to those growing near the capital . ]
The thick tree roots rolled and tangled over the ground like snakes . If one was not careful, it’d be easy to trip themselves on those roots .
Since we were running so fast, a little slip up might lead to a huge accident .
Aaron seemed to be familiar with this condition already, as he easily made his way through the jutting roots on the ground . When I tried to imitate him, I slipped my toe a bit, but luckily I managed to keep my posture .
[O Fate . You are using Roxy’s body now, so please take better care of yourself . ]
[That’s right!! If you hurt Roxy-sama’s body in any way, I won’t forgive you]
[I’ll be more careful…]
I was just trying to let myself get more used to Roxy’s body, but was reprimanded . Now I wonder if Aaron will really protect me…
Since he seemed to be familiar with the place already, I asked where we were now .
Aaron, keeping it simple, explained .
[This is the oldest section of the hobgoblin forest . According to the researchers, it is four thousand years old . Look at that huge tree . The trunk is at least 3 meters in diameter . ]
[Ee, how many houses could be built if that tree was turned into building material]
[Hahahah, the capital will punish you severely if you do . When the capital was established, the hobgoblins had not settled here, and the forest itself was not called hobgoblin forest . Apparently it was originally a sacred ground . The ancestors of those who currently live in the capital were also said to be buried here . As time went by, that custom also disappeared . Now this place becomes the ground of the hobgoblins]
[The ancestors of those who currently live in the capital were buried here…?]
[It is just an old story . No need to keep that in mind . But the capital wishes to cherish the memory of those who fought and worked for the founding of the country, even if its’ people no longer remember]
[Alright, I’ll keep that in mind . Miria should too!]
[I get it already, alright? But it’s scary to imagine what if some zombie-san actually rose up from within the ground around this place?]
Miria quickly shook her head . Probably she had some bad experience with undeads .
I wonder why .
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[So zombies are a no-no for Miria?]
[Uhuh . Because… . . they smell bad when I cut and burn them with Flamberge . The smell sticks to my clothes…I can’t even get rid of it after taking several baths… . . just from remembering it, I feel my skin is crawling . On the other hand, skeletons are alright . They don’t smell bad when cut or burnt, because they’re just bones . If it’s skeleton, then I’m all for it!]
[I see…]
My initial guess was completely off . Turns out… . . she was overly sensitive and scared of it for a very girlish reasoning .
Nothing less from Miria . She’s always beyond my expectations .
[Well then, if zombie appears later on, I’ll fight it . ]
[No can do . You’ll only blemish Roxy-sama’s body . If that happens…]
Miria will fight it instead… . ? How sweet of her,
[We’ll just have to leave it to Aaron-sama!]
[Me!?]
Not expecting that he would get the short end of the stick, Aaron’s eyes went wide in near disbelief .
A girl who could use her mouth as adept as when she uses her sword! Miria will most likely grow into an outrageous woman in the future .
That said, Aaron soon smiled . Perhaps he had already considered Miria like his own granddaughter .
He also acted like this when Myne was still around . To Mimir who he had adopted, and even Shara who was just a maid . I’ll treat these girls like my own daughters, he once told me .
After the fight against the Lich Lord at Hauzen――Aaron was able to reorganize his feelings . What had been kept pent up until recently, was released all at once .
He once said to me when we were enjoying our drinks together . [I want to have a big family before I die!] . At that time I thought it was just random ramblings of a drunken man, but nowadays I came to wonder if Aaron was really serious about it .
Since Miria was an orphan, it’s possible for Aaron to adopt her into the family . That means she and I would be siblings!? With Mimir I already having a distanced relationship, that alone would… . .
Unaware of my worries, Aaron replied with a reliable yet mild face .
[Very well, if zombies come out, I will exorcise them all with my Grand Cross . ]
[How reliable! Huge difference from a certain someone…somewhere]
[Shees, stop looking at me like that . ]
Then she stuck out her tongue a bit, her face was that of someone who had pulled a prank . Miria then said with a crisp laugh .
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[I’m just joking . You actually fall for that so easily . Just as Roxy-sama said,『Fai is a bit gullible, he’s easy to joke around with . 』]
[Hahahah, that is true . Fate is indeed really gullible to women . You should learn more from Miria . ]
[Eeeee… . . I wonder about that~ . But, since it’s Fate-san we are talking about, I guess he should just give it up already . ]
Kuuuu~!! There will be a day when I can proudly look down on Miria… . . when that day comes, I’ll already become a gentleman who is good at wooing women left and right like Aaron! One day for sure!
As if seeing through that, Miria said to me
[It’s no good if Fate-san becomes flustered just from holding hands with Roxy-sama]
[Wha, what the hey!? Why… . that]
[I’ve been observing . How about holding hands with me as a practice?]
[Gunununu…this must be your revenge for the head-patting earlier]
Miria grinned a fresh smile in response to that .
[Are you understand now? It’s just patting my head, don’t think that it’s gonna be that simple . I’m not that easy of a girl!]
[Fu~hn, are you sure~]
[What’s with that doubting face! Don’t make such an expression with Roxy-sama’s face]
[Should I~]
[Mou, Fate-san!]
Travelling in such a high speed, apparently we were nearing our destination, as Aaron gave us a hand signal to stop .
Then, he shouted at the both of us .
[It was fun to watch, but sorry, we need to be more cautious from now on . ]
[ [ … . . sorry ] ]
Again… . . My flow was disturbed when I am with her . The girl also seemed to feel the same, as she threw a glance at me .
The battle against the goblin shaman was just around the corner . What would Roxy say in times like these?
[Miria, are you prepared? We won’t know what is going to happen . ]
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[Why the!? Suddenly acting like Roxy-sama… But it did make me more motivated somewhat]
It appeared to be effective, as Miria began to move more cautiously with Flamberge tightly clasped in her hand .
Me and Aaron once again traced the goblin shaman’s magic power . Apparently it’s moving southward in a slow manner . It couldn’t travel fast due to its condition after all .
[In addition, I also sensed some monsters . Probably, hobgoblins . ]
[Umu, no goblin king around . Perhaps it already used up all of them in that last ambush . ]
[How neat…I wish I can detect my enemies that way as well . ]
[When everything is over, I’ll teach you how]
[Really! ? Yosh, it’s a promise . ]
[Well, we should first finish this battle shortly then . ]
[Yes]
As before, Aaron took point . Me and Miria stood behind him as support, creating a triangle formation .
Aaron would go straight to the goblin shaman, while I and Miria would fend off other monsters coming from the flanks .
Our main target was not visible yet, but it’d be quite obvious to tell that we were getting closer as the number of enemies kept going up . When dealing with larger number of opponents, the best way to settle things faster is to take down their leader .
If their leader is gone, with nobody to control them, the monster swarm will disperse on its own .
Whilst looking at us each with a sharp gaze, Aaron said .
[Are you ready?]
[ [ Yes ] ]
[Well then, let us go]
We got up from our crouching position, and rushed ahead like lightning . Ignoring the bad footing due to the jutting out tree roots .
As I said before, I tried to get used with my current body during our travel to this spot, so I could afford to increase my speed now .
I’m currently using Roxy’s body, who was a holy knight, so it could somewhat follow through without much problem . But what about Miria? When I glanced sideways, I saw her following despite the desperate look on her face . Before this, she had just consumed a lot of magic power from creating the huge fire wall . Yet she tenaciously followed to this stage .
At this point, asking [are you alright?] seemed pointless .
The hobgoblins who had been hiding behind the huge trees attacked as we rushed forward . Surprisingly, their numbers were well over one hundred .
We had no time to deal with all of them . So me and Miria just cut down all the arrows and spears that came towards us .
[Mu, what a nuisance . O Fate, can you still go on?]
[Of course]
The hobgoblin horde formed a meat wall in front of us . It’s like there is no end to them… I don’t know whether it’s something out of their desperation, but it’s the shaman’s last line of defense .
I poured my magic power onto my holy sword . It’s the signature skill of the holy knights―― 《Grand Cross》 . A powerful attack that deploy a high power holy attack in a wide area .
This would be my first time of using this technique while in Roxy’s body, but I found it extremely easy to control magic power . The compatibility between my soul and her body maybe was extremely good . To be able to do this much in less than a day, could I do the same if it’s other people’s body?
Circulating more magic power, the 《Grand Cross》 emanating from the holy sword also became more intense as I finally released it .
The ground under the hobgoblins’ feet started to emit bright light . Before they felt something unusual, the light that purified everything exploded out . The level of Roxy’s Holy Sword Mastery was actually fairly surprising . It has a quick activation time due to continuous training . The monsters blocking our path were instantly swept clean .
A lot of experience spheres obtained from defeating those monsters flew in . Although it’s not as large as that previous fight, it still sent an exhilarating feeling to every corner of my body .
Hunting monsters was actually this fun… . . no wonder there were many warriors and holy knights, this was probably one of the reasons .
With the way ahead opened, Aaron rushed forward over the strewn about hobgoblin corpses .
I could tell already――that hole among the roots of that huge tree was where the goblin shaman resided .
It’d be dangerous to just jump to that hole without any precaution . Aaron also knew that without me telling him .
Yes… . Aaron didn’t just run ahead recklessly . Even now he’s still charging more and more magic power to his 《Grand Cross》 . Not to mention that his status already belongs to Area E .
The power would be even more powerful than what I unleashed just now . There is this slight hesitation from the fact that it may also end up evaporate the tree growing in this sacred ground as well .
But if this monster was left unchecked, the people on the capital will also be in danger . In that case, which one to choose . Knowing Aaron well, it’s obvious to me what his next course of action is .
Raising his voice, Aaron shot the holy sword technique into the place where the goblin shaman is lurking .
[Grand Cross!!]
The light of purification which power has been raised dramatically was released in a focused manner rather than in a wide area . Raising a huge pillar of light that shoot out to the sky around that big tree .