chapter 18
18. Hard road (5)
“Come quickly. Lady Dioria will catch them all.”
“That’s all right… Will it be okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Catching goblins. It might be a bit difficult for a man.”
“If that’s the case, don’t worry.”
I must be an ordinary man.
I don’t want you to compare me with the men who are thin and don’t match my appearance here.
How would my colleagues react if they saw me worried about catching a goblin?
Even if you were worrying for nothing, you thought of me first.
I shrugged lightly and continued.
“It’s not like I said I’d protect you by my side.”
“…Yes.”
“Also, wouldn’t it be strange that you couldn’t catch a single goblin with the bow skill that Shione praised?”
“That’s it.”
Shione, who had returned to her tone before she knew it, came down from the carriage.
Dioria seemed to have started responding to the goblins, and a hoarse gasp could be heard from far away.
As long as the expert knights start to appear, there won’t be a single one left if we wait any longer.
I hurriedly gave her her hand.
“Hold my hand. I’ll let you know quickly.”
“…Is it really necessary to hold hands?”
“I’m not afraid, but I think it will be easier to tell Sione about the battle if we hold hands.”
“I can’t help it.”
I held Shione’s hand.
Her hand was too small and fragile to hold a sword in the past.
I grabbed Shione’s small hand tightly and hurriedly moved.
“Aren’t you holding on too tight?!”
“Excuse me for a second.”
As I headed toward the carriage in front, I saw Dioria’s back from afar.
He drew his sword and leisurely cut down the goblin that was charging at him.
Goblins are monsters that live in groups.
Since there were still quite a few left, it was worth dealing with.
I pressed myself behind a tree at an appropriate distance.
Then, I looked at Shione, who was maintaining her awkward posture while holding my hand.
It seems like you’re doing that just because you held hands with a man once.
What should I do in front of my fiancé?
I dragged Shione this way.
I said to Sione, who came in as if I was being hugged into my arms.
“What, what are you doing?”
“The advantage of a bow is distance. Our archers start most battles by avoiding the enemy’s gaze and launching a surprise attack first.”
“That, can’t you fall?”
“Won’t you get caught if you fall? Please bear with me if you feel bad. Now, look at that goblin.”
The height of a child of about 10 years old, with dark green, wrinkled skin. Angry eyes like a person who has been covered with all the evil in the world with an unsightly upturned nose.
A monster with pointy ears, probably because he wanted to resemble an elf, a race of beauty.
The goblin was calling out in a cracking voice to Diolia from afar.
“Fishing a moving enemy is much more difficult than hitting a stationary enemy. The key is to anticipate the enemy’s movement and aim and shoot.”
“Ah, I see.”
Shione’s body looked quite stiff after answering that.
Why is he doing this after only seeing one goblin? Isn’t the courage too small?
“You don’t have to be nervous. You’re a goblin at best, aren’t you?”
“…Not because of the goblins.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t it because you’re too attached…!”
“Ah.”
“Go away!”
Just this much.
I know it’s common for women in this world to be a bit easy-going….
Because I’m shy.
I moved a little away from Sione and quietly pointed an arrow at the string.
“…This distance is enough.”
Nodding.
Only now did Shione’s eyes turn to me and the goblins.
Whoops.
I stopped breathing for an instant as the tension was pulled.
Pan!!
From the demonstration, fierce arrows flew through the air.
Since there is no need to aim for a long time against an enemy of that level, the attack was made quickly with a sliding release.
“Kek!! Kek…!!”
When the arrow pierced the neck of the goblin that was charging at Dioria, the goblin lost strength and collapsed.
After he succeeded in catching the goblin, Dioria and the other goblins drew attention for a moment.
At the same time, three goblins started running towards me at once.
Since I’m a man, it must be because I seem easier to deal with than Dioria.
But unfortunately for the goblins, I’ve even pierced the brow of their king, the Goblin Lord.
I opened my mouth, keeping my eyes fixed on the goblins.
“Of course, the archers have to move when they are discovered like this. It’s dangerous to stand still and shoot arrows if you don’t have enough escorts or skills.”
I walked slowly around and fired my bow whenever there was no obstacle in sight between the goblin and me.
Pang!! With the sound of protests returning to their places.
“Kek!!”
I heard the goblin’s short screams.
I shot one more time like that and looked at the goblin that succeeded in approaching me.
Can you see the corners of his mouth that went up in a bad way?
Now that you have approached me as a bowman, you seem to think that you can play with me without much trouble.
Unfortunately, the only reason this goblin approached me was because I didn’t want to kill it.
What do you do when you just shoot a bow? What Shione was curious about in the carriage was a single-edged sword.
The goblin swung the toothless sword in its hand and lunged at me.
I calmly unleashed my sword and at the same time cut the right arm of the guy holding the sword.
“Keack!!!”
Seriously, how could such a voice come out of the throat?
With a scream sharper than the scraping of a chalkboard, he let go of the weapon in his hand.
I immediately plunged my sword into his throat and ended his life.
“Keek….”
It’s a pretty cruel look, but this much.
I grabbed the sword and brushed off the blood once.
Sione, who saw the entire series of processes, stared at me intently.
There was an inexplicable pity in her eyes.
“…You’re good at it.”
“It’s just a goblin.”
“Have you ever been trained like this before coming to the county?”
“I have been trained in archery and sword combat against goblins on a regular basis.”
“It must have been very difficult for a weak man to do…”
At her words, I recalled the memory of the previous owner of my body.
Apparently, he had a hard time catching even one goblin.
He was a weak person who had a gloomy day all day when he saw blood.
But that’s what.
“I finally got used to it.”
That’s what the previous owner of this body said, because I don’t mind.
Saying that, as I collected and arranged the arrows, Dioria, who had completely wiped out the goblins, came to announce the end of the situation.
“You’ve dealt with all the goblins that got in your way. The recent increase in goblins seems to be true.”
“Good job, Sir Dioria.”
“As Sione-nim’s escort, I just did the obvious thing.”
After getting on the carriage, it started moving forward again.
And I.
“…Is there something on my face?”
“No, it’s nothing. That…”
“Yes?”
“Do you want a cookie?”
All day today, I received incomprehensible consideration from Sione.
Well, the taste of the cookie wasn’t too bad.
* *
It has already been the fourth day since we camped out at night and set out again when the sun rose.
Meanwhile, during this life in a wagon, I cooked noodles, and if it was a watch, I would stay awake.
Because I had to take care of all the troublesome things, I had a pretty hard time.
It’s fortunate that Ian, the family male priest, and Diolia helped a little bit from time to time.
If I had done everything by myself, there were a lot of things that would be quite cumbersome and would take some time, so it’s not once or twice that it would have been difficult.
I think Sione is not the second daughter of a count.
When I finished my work, I would go back to my wagon and roll around.
Life in the past has been hard for me.
For Shione, it must be about fun camping.
While looking out the window of the carriage with such thoughts in mind, Shione brought up her words as if she was tired of sitting and looking outside.
Her tone of voice eventually returned to her original tone of manners.
“There will be a village soon, so let’s take a day off there.”
“You mean the village?”
“Yes, Sir Dioria informed me this morning. We will arrive at a small village during the day, so how about spending the day there?”
hahahaha
Shione sighed as she stared at the ceiling of the carriage in awe.
“I got off the wagon and ran for 3 days, but it hurt so bad I couldn’t do it.”
“…….”
It was really amazing that moths were sore from rolling around in the carriage, just like they did in my room.
If you take the lead in washing the dishes and making soup like me, at least you won’t get stuck in the wagon and get sick with moths.
As I stared at Shione, who was making the sound of her stomach full, she looked up at me.
I still looked up.
That bastard is lying on the wagon floor with a blanket spread over him.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“…Nothing.”
“Isn’t it hard to sit still? Why don’t you lay down on a blanket too?”
“The wagon is too small for me and Sione-sama to lie comfortably, so it seems like we have to lie next to each other… Is that okay?”
“Ah, that…”
Shione covered my face with a blanket.
“On second thought, I think you’d better stay seated.”
“…Yes, I will.”
Are you telling me to sit down or lie down?
The desire to put a real arrow into the chimney was like a chimney, but somehow I endured it.
“Haam…wake me up when you arrive at the village.”
“Okay.”
No, I heard it hurts. Are you going to sleep again?
Yeah, if you think about it, he was a person who stayed in his room for years, eating snacks and sleeping.
I have given up on understanding Shione’s thoughts any longer.
But in the village, I can rest a bit.
While looking out the window without thinking, expecting the village to appear.
[Quest has been formed]
「For her safety」
「An ominous current is flowing from the small town you are heading to. Recently, people with fanatical belief in demons have been hiding in the village, and they have finally formed a stable faction. The people of the Cianella family, who have inherited the spirit of annihilation for hundreds of years, are like their nemesis, and the count’s position is no shield against the wrath stemming from their fanatical belief. Avoid their eyes and keep Sione Cianella safe until she leaves the village.”
「Reward: Increased bond with Sione Cianella」
「Failure: The Death of Sione Cianella」
My expression crumpled infinitely when I read the words, “Cione Cianella’s death.”