Chapter 13
Screeech!
Goblins suddenly sprang from all directions, charging at the soldiers.
—”Fire!”
It was Baron Jerome.
With his thunderous shout, dozens of arrows flew towards the creatures.
Screech!
Gurgle!
Some goblins were hit straight through the head, while others took arrows to the legs and started tumbling.
This was the definition of a blood-soaked battlefield.
Of course, I didn’t just stand idly by.
Lightning.
I activated my magic through a mixed-casting method and hurled it at the approaching goblins.
Crackle!
The speed of the lightning was like a bolt of light itself. A normal lightning spell would have only singed a goblin’s skin, but my magic was different.
As the arc of electricity left an afterimage, it swept through more than five goblins at once.
Their bodies were roasted until they were incapacitated, clearly out of the fight.
‘This is easy.’
Perhaps it was due to my body remembering past experiences, but not only was my magic powerful, the casting speed was in a league of its own.
Casting one spell was as quick as firing an arrow.
After completing a second Lightning spell in an instant, the bolt once again streaked through the goblins.
In the brief moments before the creatures could reach the soldiers, more than half had already been wiped out by arrows and magic.
The goblins that survived the onslaught faced an impenetrable phalanx that awaited them. It was a formation so precise, there wasn’t a single gap.
Large square shields reinforced with wood and iron stood tall, with long spears poking out between them. Some goblins, perhaps brave or just foolish, charged headlong into the formation, only to be pierced by spears, screaming in agony.
By now, even the dumbest goblin should have realized something had gone terribly wrong.
The bodies of their comrades littered the ground around them, and they were vastly outnumbered by the humans.
Ker… kerrrk?
Gurgle…
Overcome with fear, the remaining goblins dropped their crude daggers and clubs, frantically turning to flee.
But, unfortunately for them, it was too late.
Arrows and spells chased after them, wiping them out completely.
The first battle was over, and it had been laughably easy.
***
Before entering the forest, some of the soldiers stood guard while the others rested. The journey from the territory to this point had been long, so they needed to recover their strength.
Soldiers expertly harvested goblin parts—eyes, teeth, even ears. Despite being low-grade, these parts could still be used as magical ingredients, providing a nice bonus income. The spoils from monsters hunted during a subjugation were typically sold in bulk and the profits divided among the soldiers. It was a system designed to boost morale.
That explained the eager gleam in their eyes, even though it was tedious work.
As for me, the son of a noble family, I was relaxing unlike the soldiers, enjoying the lunch Erciel had packed for me.
‘Tasty.’
With high-quality ingredients and a lot of care put into it, it would be more surprising if it wasn’t delicious.
Nearby, Baron Jerome had removed his helmet and was eating bread and jerky.
As we ate, the Baron casually struck up a conversation.
— “That spell you cast earlier, was that really a 1st Circle Lightning spell?”
“Yes.”
— “I was truly shocked. To think a 1st Circle spell could have such power… I’d heard rumors that you overcame the Hermemu, but seeing it in person, your talent is awe-inspiring. Ha ha.”
He wasn’t lying about being surprised. His favorability towards me had risen to 36, showing that just one battle had increased his favorability by four points.
“It’s nothing much. I was merely providing a small bit of help. Honestly, if the soldiers hadn’t been so well-trained, how could we have held back over a hundred goblins? And with not a single injury, no less. Clearly, my older brother is the remarkable one here.”
At my words, Jerome’s face lit up.
He was clearly delighted by the praise for Adolf.
It must have made him think it wouldn’t be too hard to sway me to his side.
— “Haha! Yes, indeed. Though the second son is still young, his swordsmanship is already renowned throughout the Empire. His ability to train such elite soldiers is due to his tireless effort and research.”
Jerome then eagerly started extolling the virtues of Adolf, emphasizing his skills, his cool-headed judgment, and his warm heart for his soldiers.
My response to all that was predetermined.
I simply nodded occasionally, letting the words go in one ear and out the other.
Was that really all it took to make him so happy?
Jerome’s face was full of smiles.
If I left him alone, he would probably spend all day praising Adolf.
I needed to change the subject.
“By the way, how far into the forest will the subjugation force go?”
— “We’ll likely advance to the middle. With our numbers, going all the way in would be too risky.”
The middle, huh?
I’d prefer if we went all the way into the depths.
That way, no one could escape easily.
Deep inside the forest.
What if ogres sprang out from there?
Alongside the baron and his knights, Adolf’s trained soldiers could be wiped out in an instant.
‘Losing a unit of this size would surely be a significant blow to him,’ Kyle thought.
While it wouldn’t be a fatal blow, it would certainly be infuriating.
— “So, how much time are you estimating?”
“I’d say about four days. By the time we clear out the smaller settlements inside and return.”
— “With such a wide forest, finding them will be quite the task.”
“Yes, first we’ll need to find signs like droppings, and then we’ll narrow down the search area. Plus, given the location, the risk of ambush is high.”
After a light conversation, they finished their meal.
An hour of rest later, the soldiers started advancing deeper into the forest.
‘A search party, huh. I could help with that,’ Kyle mused.
He knew magic that could aid in the search process, as well as in dealing with the monsters. With his assistance, the mission would likely go much smoother.
If he lent them a hand, the pace of the march would quicken, and once the subjugation force gathered momentum, they wouldn’t turn back easily.
The more monster parts the soldiers gathered, the more they’d profit. Greed would grow.
The officers, wanting to report even greater achievements, would benefit the more monsters they captured.
On a lucky day, greed comes naturally. To assist in this, Kyle knew he would have to summon someone capable of aiding the search.
‘Can I summon it?’
Summoning magic.
It was one branch of magic.
The method of activation was quite simple.
All you needed to do was draw a magic circle that could call forth the desired entity, then infuse it with mana.
The difficult part was figuring out the shape of the magic circle. But Kyle had already mastered most of them.
Since the techniques he’d used in the game worked here too, it was highly likely that summoning magic would function the same way.
With that, Kyle began circulating his mana.
He crafted a magic circle near his heart, a design featuring several intricate symbols, and infused it with his mana.
In an instant, a blue mass shot out from his chest.
The summoning had succeeded.
— “What… what is that?!”
The baron, startled by the blue figure that had emerged from Kyle’s chest, drew his sword.
The knights around him reacted in the same way.
They must be genuinely shocked.
“Don’t worry. It’s something I summoned.”
— “…Excuse me?”
“It will be of great help in the upcoming search.”
The blue mass wobbled and began to take shape, as if sculpted out of clay.
A few moments later, the form of a small dog emerged.
Whimper.
The little creature, lying on the ground, immediately jumped onto Kyle’s shoulder.
— “…What is that?” the baron asked, incredulous.
“It’s a familiar I summoned using magic.”
A mana hound.
While it had almost no combat abilities, it excelled in tasks like tracking.
‘I remember searching long and hard to find the magic circle for this one.’
It had been one of the hidden Easter eggs.
It took him about a week of dedicated searching to finally locate it.
Although it wasn’t very useful in combat, Kyle felt it could be incredibly handy in this particular situation. The hound’s sense of smell was extraordinary.
— “…Is there really such a familiar? I’ve never seen anyone summon one like that before,” the baron remarked.
His astonishment was understandable. While summoning magic existed, no one had likely ever seen someone summon a small blue dog.
“I developed this summoning magic myself.”
— “Really? Is that true?”
“Yes, it’s more suited to search and tracking than combat. It will be very helpful. Its sense of smell is even sharper than a wolf’s. Let’s start by looking for traces.”
Panting excitedly, the blue hound stuck out its tongue as it sat on Kyle’s shoulder.
The baron, still somewhat skeptical, reluctantly nodded.
— “Everyone, find traces of the monsters!” he ordered.
The soldiers had been scouring the forest for only about ten minutes when one of them shouted.
— “There’s some droppings here!”
Kyle and the baron quickly made their way to the spot.
‘Found it.’
I gave a simple command to the mana hound.
“Woof!”
It soon picked up a scent, facing a direction and barking.
“That way.”
— “Have you already found it?”
“This little one has quite a sharp nose. Trust it just once.”
At my words, the baron nodded.
It seemed he didn’t want to oppose me, so he decided to follow my lead for now.
The soldiers started moving, following the mana hound, and it wasn’t long before crude huts came into view from a distance.
— “…It’s real…”
“I believe you can trust me now.”
— “Yes. If we have that summoned creature, the search process will be much easier.”
“Let’s finish this quickly. I’ll set the place on fire first.”
— “Understood.”
Whoosh.
As the flames roared and swept through the huts, goblins began pouring out from everywhere.
And towards those goblins—
Whoosh!
A barrage of arrows rained down.
Caught by surprise, they were quickly overwhelmed.
***
Two days passed since we entered the forest.
Our advance was nothing short of unstoppable.
Whenever we found even the smallest trace, it didn’t take an hour before we located the monster dens.
From goblins to gnolls and even orcs, the monsters in the outskirts of the forest were swiftly wiped out. Naturally, the soldiers’ morale soared.
Being able to locate monsters first was a significant advantage.
Having the initiative was as good as securing victory.
The saying “strike first, win first” wasn’t just an empty phrase.
With my magic supporting them steadily, the monster by-products began piling up higher and higher.
— “Whew, we’re going to make quite a fortune this time.”
— “Let’s grab a drink when this is all over.”
The soldiers, smiling with satisfaction, were busy stripping the by-products from the monster corpses. So far, it seemed Adolf was still maintaining control well.
They still appeared as ordinary soldiers to anyone watching.
But no one can suppress their dark nature forever.
‘In two months, things will get interesting.’
The successor ceremony.
By then, those men will be completely out of control.
All the dark urges they’ve been holding back will explode at once.
Even if we manage to contain the thousand soldiers we see here, compared to the entire 5th Corps, it’s like a drop in the ocean.
Someday, I’ll have to root them all out.
‘Will there be a way?’
While I pondered, the baron approached me.
— “I have something to discuss.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
— “Originally, I had planned to pull back after reaching this area, but the soldiers’ morale is very high right now, and the subjugation is going smoothly. I think we could push a little further in and finish them off. What do you think, Young Master?”
The baron’s eyes gleamed with ambition as he finished speaking.
Well, it made sense.
In a situation like this, choosing to retreat wouldn’t be easy. His greed must have been steadily rising.
Since he was practically asking to step into a trap, I had no reason to refuse.
I gave him a broad grin before answering.
“If you think it’s a good idea, Baron, I have no objections.”
And so, the army of a thousand continued advancing deeper into the forest.
—
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