Chapter 22
—Raust—
「Kh-!」
The sadistic glint in those hobgoblins’ eyes that started to move made me realize I didn’t have time to think about the anomalies that currently happened .
There are so many of them .
If they’re not defeated as soon as possible, the damage might extend to the city folks .
The moment I determined that, I strengthened myself and started to run toward the hobgoblins .
Seeing I willingly approaching them, the hobgoblins curved their mouth into a smile .
Their expression was one that didn’t take account they could lose against us .
「Gaaaa!」
However, their smile vanished the moment I cut off the arm of the leading hobgoblin .
The hobgoblin that got its arm cut off raised a murky scream .
Along with that scream, the hint of ridicule in its eyes vanished and it started to raise its vigilance against me .
On the other hand, even though my expression didn’t change, I felt a little surprised inside .
The attack that cut off the hobgoblin’s arm was supposed to take its life instead .
I didn’t go all out with my strengthening when I cut the hobgoblin’s arm off .
Even so, that attack supposedly capable of killing an orc in one hit, never mind a hobgoblin .
The hobgoblin, however, capable of reacting to the attack, which made me only able to cut its arm off .
That strength was abnormal for a hobgoblin .
…… If all the hobgoblins here are also that strong, common adventurers wouldn’t be able to fight them even if they group up .
If these hobgoblins appear in the other places too… Thinking so, my expression distorted .
In that case, there was no doubt some damage would occur even in this Labyrinth City that was accustomed to fighting monsters .
「If it’s us, we can handle this . 」
That was why, it was a blessing in disguise that the hobgoblins appeared before us .
They wouldn’t be able to react if I increased my strengthening a bit more .
Knowing this, I was convinced once again that the hobgoblins weren’t strong enemies for us .
The hobgoblins, understanding they couldn’t beat me, tried to use their numbers to attack me, but that, too, also ended in vain .
I was used to getting attacked from other directions, so it didn’t really matter whether I was surrounded or not .
Zieg-san entered my line of sight, he looked to do fine against the hobgoblins too .
Despite not using his magic sword, he kills several hobgoblins with a single blow .
It doesn’t seem like I need to worry about Zieg-san .
Seeing the number of hobgoblins steadily decreasing, the city folks were gradually regaining their composure .
There were people trying to escape blindly at first, but now, they were watching us overwhelming the hobgoblins .
Seeing those people, I let out a sigh of relief .
With this, it’s possible to defeat all the hobgoblins without any damage .
「Retreat!」
When one of the hobgoblins raised its voice, it was when I felt so relieved .
The one that raised its voice, without checking the reaction of its friends, turned its back to Zieg-san and me and started running .
The other hobgoblins also started to run after the one that escaped .
At that moment, I knew the fight was over .
Now that they had escaped, the hobgoblins were no longer hostile .
The hobgoblins escaped in unison gave me an eerie feeling, but monsters escaping wasn’t unprecedented .
Even then, I need to kill all the hobgoblins as soon as possible anyway, there is no need to worry about anything else .
Deciding that, I re-gripped my dagger with a more relaxed attitude than before .
Indeed, annihilating this amount of hobgoblins was troublesome, but with the difference of physical ability between us and them, it wasn’t impossible .
Even considering that, it wouldn’t be as troublesome compared to before because now, the risk of damage to the surrounding was smaller .
Maybe because I had a thought like that that I became careless .
At that time, once the hobgoblins turned their back to me, I immediately decided that they were no longer willing to fight .
I realized that was my misunderstanding the moment I noticed the direction the hobgoblins went to in order to escape being annihilated .
「………Ehh?」
The next moment, I turned around and became dumbfounded when I saw the hobgoblins were turning toward the city folks .
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For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes .
The calm part of my mind warned me that the hobgoblins were trying to take the city folks hostage .
And yet, I did nothing in regard to that warning .
What hindered my movement was the common sense that monsters weren’t intelligent enough to take hostage .
Of course monsters might try to attack their weakest enemies first and might even form a party themselves .
But that was about it .
I had never seen or even heard the case where monsters taking hostage in my long years of being an adventurer .
That was why I was losing my composure .
「Kuh-!」
However, the current situation where the hobgoblins kept getting closer to the city folks with their crooked smile reminded me that it wasn’t the time to be shocked .
Apparently, nevermind getting an answer to this anomaly, the hobgoblins didn’t appear to gave us enough time to be shocked either .
「Run away!」
Understanding that, I shouted at the city folks who still didn’t understand the situation and chased after the hobgoblins .
At the next moment, I strengthened myself to the limit of my physical reinforcement and shorten the distance between me and the hobgoblins .
……Even so, I still wouldn’t make it in time to the hobgoblin that was the closest to the city folks .
After I made that judgment, I brandished my dagger without hesitation .
「Haaaaaaaaa!」
The unreasonable movement under fairly strong physical reinforcement for the preparation to throw the dagger put a strong burden on my body, but I ignored that and swung my hand down .
「Gahh!」
「Gigiii!」
The result was the dull pain in my arm, but it was worth it, the dagger flew to the hobgoblin that was the closest to the city folks, piercing the head of the hobgoblins that was in the way in a straight line, killing them all .
「Uwahhhhh!」
「Q-Quick! Run away!」
At the same time, the city folks became aware of the situation and started running to escape from the hobgoblins, but those without combat skills were unable to escape from the hobgoblins .
Soon after, the next hobgoblin caught up with the city folks and reached its hand out .
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「Just in time!」
「Guu Gii」
However, just before that, I grabbed the hobgoblin swollen head and slammed it to the ground .
Its face crushed on the ground, immediately killing it .
「Annoying, Human!」
The hobgoblin behind the one whose head I crushed spat at me as I stood to block their path to the escaping city folks .
However, it was sneering, maybe it saw my bloodied hand without any weapon and thought it was an opportunity .
That was the end of that hobgoblin .
「Is this the last?」
The next moment, a streak appeared on the hobgoblin’s neck, and then its head rolled down, still smiling .
「…Fuh,」
After a moment, the hobgoblin’s body collapsed, revealing Zieg-san behind it . The breathless figure of that hobgoblin made me realize that the fight was truly over, it gave me a relief .
I was flustered for a while, but it seemed to have worked out .
「It’s alright now! We already defeated them all!」
「Eh, no way!」
「All those big goblins? Really?!」
On the other hand, Zieg-san informed the people that running away that the fight was over .
Though, from his expression, Zieg-san was also shocked by the hobgoblins .
「What were those hobgoblins really all about??」
I leaked those words as I collected the dagger that was stuck in the wall of one of the house, and then wiped the blood and grim of the hobgoblins of it .
The intelligence of those hobgoblins was simply too abnormal .
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In the first place, monsters from the labyrinth appearing in the city was already an abnormal situation that had never happen before .
Moreover, the monster was extraordinarily powerful .
How much the disturbance they would cause if they didn’t appear close to us?
「Hah~…」
While thinking so, I sighed, as despite the hobgoblins were already annihilated, I felt like the trouble would still continue .
「………!」
The next moment, I noticed something unusual .
While praying it was only my imagination, I stopped my breathing to listen carefully .
「We annihilated the hobgoblins, but why the screaming still…」
——And then, once I realized what I heard wasn’t wrong, my face stiffen .
The hobgoblins who came to us were definitely annihilated .
And yet, the scream didn’t stop .
It was easy to get to the answer .
「There are also hobgoblins in other places!」
The conclusion sent me into a shock that almost stopped my heart .
If the hobgoblins appeared near the adventurer guild, there wouldn’t be any problem because Narsena was there .
But if the hobgoblins appeared around the place where Marry-san and others lived, the situation would become really bad .
Because from there, it was a long way away to adventurer guild and there were hardly any adventurers .
「Zieg-san, I will leave the people over there to you!」
After I said that to Zieg-san, without waiting for his reply, I started to run…