The Two Leaders

by Kugane Maruyama

  “That’s the point…,” said Nfirea, explaining his idea.

  Basically, because of the beast’s keen sense of smell, it hadn’t been able to pinpoint where the pungent smell was coming from. The scent on Enri’s and Nfirea’s hands and bags had mixed with the general smell of the location they had been picking in. And as a lucky bonus, their body odors must have also been covered up.

  It might have even viewed the crushed herbs as a last-ditch effort by the goblin child to hide.

  They had a lot to thank the powerful smell for, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that if they ran, the smell might follow them and lure the barghest.

  “If that kid ends up being a sacrifice, then problem solved. As long as we don’t know how strong that thing is, it’s too risky to interfere.”

  At those coolheaded words, Enri looked over at Gokou in spite of herself.

  But it was a natural thing for him to say. The goblins’ number one priority was Enri’s safety. Of course, they would want to avoid combat with that magical beast—even if they needed to sacrifice someone of their own race.

  There was nothing strange about his statement whatsoever, according to his beliefs.

  But Enri hated it. Isn’t it wrong, as a human, to not save someone if you can? Even someone from a different race?

  Maybe it was just the foolish idea of a village girl who had never been attacked by goblins and lacked a sense of crisis.

  She looked at all the other goblins. They must have understood her feelings, but they kept their mouths shut. Next, she looked at Nfirea.

  “Nfi…”

  He sighed. “Let’s save him. He might be a good source of information. If we don’t find out why he ran all this way, the village might find itself in a tough spot later.”

  The goblins furrowed their brows.

  “We might not be able to beat it, ya know!”

  “That’s true. But barghests come in all different strengths. I heard barghest leaders are pretty powerful. From that one’s chains and horns, though, it doesn’t seem like it’s too strong. I’m sure we could beat a normal barghest.”

  “Hold yer horses. The boss lady’s here! We should avoid any danger.”

  Enri swallowed. These were foolish words spoken for her own satisfaction that would put not only her own but other lives at risk. Still, she had to speak. “Abandoning someone you might be able to save…is like allying with the attacker. I don’t want to be the kind of person who picks on the weak. Please!”

  About the time Kaijari looked at Enri’s serious face and sighed in defeat, the magical beast made a strange noise. It was a bark that was clearly sneering. Next, they heard the goblin child scream.

  They no longer had time to hesitate or confer among themselves.

  “Guess we got no choice. Let’s go!”

  The goblins leaped out first. Nfirea followed.

  Watching the warriors go to battle to make her wish come true, Enri felt a tearing pain in her chest.

  I can’t do anything but watch from back here.

  The least she could do was watch so intently that she didn’t even blink.

  The four who had charged out immediately caught sight of the barghest, which had tackled the goblin child. The reason the young goblin had new wounds but wasn’t dead had to be due to the barghest’s wicked desire to play with its prey.

  The barghest stopped moving and looked between the new group and the goblin child. It probably thought it had just been led into a trap.

  “Hey there, puppy dog!” Unrai jerked a thumb at himself and said, “If ya wanna play, I’ll play with ya! C’mon!”

  “Grrrrarr,” the barghest growled with open hostility.

  Out in front, Kaijari drew his machete from his hip in one smooth, natural motion. The other goblins followed suit.

  “Don’t hold back! I’ll teach ya some tricks—like ‘Down.’”

  “Agyahhh!” In response to the provocation, the goblin child pinned under the barghest screamed.

  The beast didn’t talk, but its actions spoke loudly: If you move, I’ll kill him. But—

  “Okay! Let’s slay this sucker!”

  The three goblins ignored the beast’s threat and charged.

  The barghest’s eyes wavered in confusion at the unexpected turn of events.

  The barghest didn’t know this, but the goblins hadn’t really turned up to save the child. They had simply heard Enri’s request and were invested on only the “it’d be great if we could save him” level.

  If they didn’t kill the barghest now that they’d faced it head-on, it was possible Enri, who was actually most important, could end up hurt as well. That’s why they had to slay the beast once and for all. So actually, if it wanted to mess with the goblin child some more, that would mean it was taking pointless actions, which would help them out.

  Seeing the gleam of the three machetes, the barghest stopped moving again, realizing the child wouldn’t work as a hostage. It wondered whether or not it should finish off the small goblin.

  Ending his life would be extremely easy. It could kill the child in one bite. But while doing that, its enemies’ weapons would definitely come slashing.

  The danger to the barghest’s life forced it to do one thing.

  Ignoring the child, it leaped to meet the goblins’ attack.

  The barghest was heavier than the goblin warriors. The plan was to take advantage of that to tackle them before ripping out their throats.

  But that immediately went awry.

  The goblin the barghest aimed for nimbly dodged, and the other two sliced at it with their machetes from either side.

  The chains wrapped around its body blocked one of the attacks, but the other bit into flesh, spraying blood.

  At the same time, an open bottle came flying at its snout.

  “Rarrrr!” The barghest screamed at the awful stench that pierced its eyes and nose.

  The moment the beast stumbled to a halt, more pain assaulted it.

  The barghest could tell from the blood flowing freely from open wounds that the fight was going poorly. With tears in its eyes and a wavering field of vision, the magical creature charged. It aimed at the one who’d thrown the bottle—a human.

  But the charge lasted only a few steps. The bottoms of its paws adhered to the ground and stayed there.

  Below, a bizarre slime was spread across the earth. The strange liquid didn’t soak into the dirt at all.

  “This doesn’t have enough adhesive power to hold a strong magical beast! Let’s attack it all at once!”

  Following the human’s urging, the goblins shouted a battle cry and leaped to attack. The human launched powerful magic as well.

  “Raaaorrrr!” The monster mustered all its strength and ripped its feet away from the ground. They came up with the adhesive and the dirt stuck to them, so the monster was slowed down a little but could still fight.

  Seeing the goblins surrounding it again, the barghest, which was far more intelligent than regular animals, acknowledged that these goblins were formidable.

  It was convinced they were different from ordinary goblins—the risk of dying was very real.

  This barghest had three basic attacks. It could gouge with its horns, it could bite, and it could tackle and then scratch with its forelegs. That was it. Unlike a stronger barghest, its repertoire had no special attacks. But actually, there was one last-resort ability.

  It was an attack that completely abandoned defense, so that would be the end if it didn’t connect. At the same time, there was no reason to hold back any longer. The barghest was merely waiting for the right time to use it.

  After checking the goblins surrounding it, the monster howled madly.

  “Reinforce Armor!”

  The human’s spell made the goblins’ armor glow. The barghest panicked, guessing it must have been some kind of strengthening spell, but the goblins seemed calm.

  The warriors charged together in what could be considered a reckless attack that relie
d heavily on their boosted armor. It wasn’t a stupid plan, though. Some might even call it a brave step forward to avoid needless injuries in a protracted battle.

  That would have been true—if the barghest hadn’t been lying in wait for them.

  If it had been able to make major changes to its expression like a human, the monster would have showed them a satisfied smile.

  The chains wrapped around its body made slithering noises like a snake. They began to move as if they had come alive.

  The thick chains swung at a tremendous speed.

  Even if the special ability Great Chain Whirlwind didn’t kill the goblins, it would still deal serious damage.

  The barghest was desperate. This was a major skill that it could use only once per day. And during the approximately ten seconds it took for the chains to wind back up, the monster couldn’t protect itself with them. This was a very risky move indeed.

  The unexpected attack caught the goblins off guard, and their evasive maneuvers came too late. It was a fatal error. But—

  “Duck!”

  —a determined order sliced through the air faster than the chains could.

  The barghest had bet everything on that one attack. Its eyes widened at the shout from another human.

  It should have been too late for the goblins to dodge, but they agilely ducked down as if energized by the voice.

  The barghest strained its slightly blurred vision, peering at the commander standing behind the caster.

  Machetes cut into both of its forelegs and one of its hind legs. The monster shrieked at the pain. It managed to wind up the chains and bare its teeth in a menacing way, but the goblins didn’t seem the least bit scared.

  “Boss man. We won’t need any more support magic. Please just keep an eye on our surroundings.”

  Realizing the battle had been decided, the barghest tried to run.

  But its normally agile body was unusually heavy. Of course it was. Three of its four legs were now useless. Still, it struggled to escape, but the goblins wouldn’t allow it.

  Sticky blood spread across the grass, dyeing it red, and the smell of iron completely overpowered the odor of the herbs. The barghest’s spilled innards were still so warm they were practically steaming. The goblins shifted their gazes from the dead beast to the child.

  The little goblin was so heavily wounded he had completely lost the energy to run, but he had enough mental fortitude to sit up and lean against a tree.

  “Wh-who are ya? What tribe are ya from?” he asked, half–on guard, half-terrified.

  Enri’s goblins looked at one another. They were exchanging glances to decide what sort of attitude would benefit them the most and how much information they could give away, but Enri felt there was something else that needed attention first.

  “More importantly, shouldn’t we do something about those wounds? What can we do, Nfi?”

  The goblin child’s injuries seemed deep, and they were still bleeding. Left like this, he would surely die. Enri didn’t have any way to save the child, but her hope that her friend would be able to do something was immediately answered.

  “All normal herbs can do is stop the bleeding. They can’t put the lost blood back in, so he’ll still be in danger, but…” Nfirea rummaged in his bag. “I have the potion we made with the new method. I should probably give it to Sir Gown, but…can I see the wounds?”

  Nfirea moved swiftly to the front and took out the potion.

  “Wh-what’s that freaky-lookin’ juice? It’s not poison, is it?”

  When he saw the purple potion, the goblin child became hostile, though he was still scared. To Enri, and maybe to Nfirea as well, it was a perfectly normal reaction. Being wary of something that looked toxic was only natural. But to the goblins, it was apparently unforgivable, and they immediately launched into a tirade.

  “Hey, kid! This is our boss lady, who decided to rescue ya, and the boss man. Ya owe yer life to these people, so ya better watch yer mouth. They’re trying to help ya!”

  The goblin child’s eyes flitted to the bare machete blades. He may have been a child, but even he could tell the goblins were in a foul mood. He quickly withered.

  Enri felt the threats probably weren’t necessary for a child, but she was aware that goblins probably had their own way of doing things. Butting in with human common sense was no good in a variety of ways.

  “I-I’m sorry.”

  “Ah, nah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Nfirea sprinkled the potion on the child as he spoke. The cuts all closed right up.

  “Whoa! What the heck? It’s a gross color, but it works amazing!” Then he seemed to catch sight of the goblins looking at him and trembled. “Er, I mean, th-thank y-you.”

  “That’s right, kid, gratitude is important.”

  “Great. Now we can tell Sir Gown that the experiment was a success.”

  Enri and the goblins understood why he was going out of his way to seek their agreement, and they nodded.

  Nfirea was conducting research in potion making with ingredients he received from Ainz Ooal Gown, the greatest caster of all time and the village’s savior. It wasn’t as if he was being paid, but all the materials were being provided by someone else. It should have been clear who the results belonged to.

  There were major issues with Nfirea using a potion without permission, but a clinical trial was a fine excuse.

  I bet if we told him what happened, Sir Gown would forgive us, but…maybe there is some kind of rule for apothecaries.

  “Y-ya experimented on me?!”

  Enri and Nfirea winced as the child interpreted things differently. But, of course, someone who didn’t know the backstory couldn’t help but think that.

  For those two, it ended with a wince, but there were others who weren’t so composed. The goblins seemed to be getting pretty riled up—to the point where one of them muttered, “Stupid brat,” while he sucked his teeth.

  Enri gestured for them to calm down. “Okay, that’s enough.” For someone who didn’t know the situation, it was a natural reaction, and they were talking to a kid, so it was no wonder he couldn’t grasp the big picture.

  “If ya say so, boss lady… Shall we get moving? Something else might smell the blood and come over here.”

  “We won this time, but boss lady, give us a break, okay? Our mission is to protect ya.”

  “Seriously. I was surprised when ya shouted out, too!”

  “I think that saved us, though, so we can’t really— Hey, punk, don’t be running away! We’ve got a mountain of questions for ya. If ya don’t want me to cut yer legs off, come quietly.”

  “Unrai…”

  “It’s for the sake of the village, boss lady… C’mon, kid.”

  The goblin child trudged forward. His wounds were completely healed, so he didn’t have any trouble moving. It was his rebellious spirit slowing him down.

  Gokou, holding his bloody machete, spat on the ground.

  Enri looked to Nfirea for help, but he silently shook his head. Next, she looked at the other goblins, but she was met with steely gazes that said they supported their comrade’s actions.

  “Boss lady, don’t worry, I won’t kill him. I just want to ask him what happened. Besides, do ya think he’ll make it if we leave him alone here?”

  The question was clearly aimed more at the child than Enri. He seemed to understand, and the resistance in his eyes vanished.

  “I get it… I won’t run away…”

  “Okay. Then let’s move quickly. Do ya know for sure if there was only one barghest, kid?”

  “No. There should have been a few ogres, too. I don’t know if they came after me or not… And don’t call me ‘kid.’ I’m Arg, fourth son of chief of the Geeg tribe, Ar.”

  “Arg, got it.”

  “‘Kid’ seems good enough to me, but…”

  “We can talk later. And we don’t need to fight. If he wants us to call him Arg, then wouldn’t doing that help us build some mutual trust?” />
  “Yer so mature, boss man. All right, let’s grab our bags and go.”

  The party followed Kaijari’s instructions. Keeping their guard up, they walked in silence.

  Enri wanted to lighten the mood with some conversation, but the forest wasn’t a world that belonged to humans. She couldn’t do something so careless when there might have been other monsters coming after them.

  The group emerged from the dim forest, with its patches of deep darkness here and there. Bathing in full sunlight banished the tension that had been reigning over Enri’s body. She felt relaxed, like there was room to breathe again. For a moment, she keenly sensed that she was back in the human world.

  Nfirea, walking next to her, seemed to feel the same way and let out a deep breath that could have been taken as a sigh or a yawn.

  The goblins’ bristling tension had also faded. Arg was the only one whose expression was still strained. He looked confused by all the sunlight and wide-open space, probably because he had been brought up in the forest, where there were plenty of places to hide.

  “Uh, the village is that way.”

  Looking in the direction she pointed, Arg frowned. “What’s that wall? It looks like…the Structure of Ruin.”

  “The Structure of Ruin?”

  “Yeah. It’s a horrible place that just got built in the woodlands. No one who goes near it comes back alive. I heard there are undead lurking around it.”

  “You seem to know quite a lot, considering no one ever comes back alive.”

  “When the Structure of Ruin was still small, a brave warrior from our tribe saw bone monsters building it.”

  “Have you ever heard of this place?”

  “No, sorry, boss man, but I haven’t. If we go too far into the woodlands, we might run into a monster even our boss can’t beat, so we can’t go in very deep.”

  “…Hey, so what tribe are ya three from? Yer stronger than any goblins I’ve ever seen. How…?” Arg glanced at Enri. Then he said in a tiny whisper, “I think it’s a human, but…” Then he asked, “So ya work for this human?”

  “Is that weird? Pretty sure it makes sense to ally with someone strong.”