Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: 4. Forest and Adventurer Anomalies
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Anomaly.
It literally means a situation that arises—something heterogeneous, different from the norm.
Such as a monster suddenly appearing somewhere outside its habitat, or exhibiting behavior completely unlike its usual habits.
These phenomena mostly occur when something that shouldn't happen in a given place does.
In simple terms... it means things are more dangerous than usual.
"What the heck. It's just a goblin."
"Damn it, we got all worked up for nothing."
"Haha! Should I smash it with my shield?"
These students had definitely attended classes on anomalies.
They couldn't precisely define what an anomaly was.
But their teachers had always emphasized that whenever a situation deviated from common sense, they must stay on high alert.
However, was it because their opponent was just a single goblin?
The careless trio of male students failed to notice anything off, relaxing simply because only one goblin had appeared.
It was foolish behavior.
"Idiots! Get into position right now!!"
Rasen shouted that as he immediately drew his sword.
He had already grasped the entire situation.
Behind the frightened goblin, he sensed four presences that felt somewhat stronger.
Of course, by Rasen's standards, they weren't much different, but something definitely more powerful was lurking silently in the underbrush.
If their lives had truly been in danger... he would have charged in immediately.
For adventurers, the moment they let their guard down was when their lives ended—but these were still protected students.
But it wasn't that serious.
They were intermediate-class students, after all.
A minor injury could be healed anyway, so he didn't rush to intervene.
In an instant, Rasen assessed everything and made his judgment up to that point.
And in the next moment.
"Keeek!"
"Kieek!"
Four Goblin Warriors—clad in armor and wielding sharp one-handed swords—burst out from the bushes simultaneously.
"...!!"
Among goblins, these were warriors, stronger than regular ones.
Despite being goblins, they were classified as E-rank—fairly powerful foes.
Such creatures charging in for a surprise attack, four at once.
Even a C-rank adventurer tank couldn't avoid serious injury.
"U-Uwaaack!"
"Hup...!"
Fortunately, Riley had kept her nerves sharp the entire time.
She had sensed something was off and was on edge, prepared for any sudden developments.
Thud-thud—!
The only one who hadn't relaxed, Riley, dashed forward in front of the tank Tom.
She swiftly blocked the swords swung by the Goblin Warriors.
Clang! Kang!
"Ngh...!"
"Kieeek?!"
"Kiik!"
The four attacked from different directions, targeting Tom, but luckily two were deflected by Riley's sword.
"Urk?!"
Bam! Creeeng!
The remaining two were barely blocked by Tom's shield as he reacted just in time.
They were C-rank level, after all; they managed to respond to this ambush.
Of course, if Riley hadn't blocked her share, some attacks would have gotten through.
The battle would have started with the tank Tom gravely wounded.
"Sh-Shit! Where the hell did these bastards come from...!"
"Wh-What the? There was definitely no detection..."
After barely fending off the initial ambush, Octo and Ens hurriedly readied their weapons and prepared for combat properly.
They had underestimated them as mere goblins, but they recognized how close Tom had come to danger moments ago.
One might think they were just F or E-rank, but...
Adventuring meant you could die from a goblin's thrown dagger if you got careless.
'Good thing. Riley reacted well.'
Riley faced off against two Goblin Warriors.
Rasen watched her with a proud smile.
For an adventurer, skill was important, but so was that kind of focus and instinct.
He was certain Riley would become a fine adventurer.
Clang! Slash!
"Fireball!"
Boom!
The Goblin Warriors, having failed their ambush, were no match for the group.
They were dispatched in moments.
They didn't even need the potions Riley had bought.
'Me, a C-rank ranger, failing to detect trash like that?'
As the battle ended—even the bait goblin slain—Octo fumed, his pride wounded by the realization.
It couldn't be helped.
It was his fault for letting his guard down.
Goblins had lower intelligence than humans, but they weren't beast-level either.
They could pull off crude ambushes or divide roles into close- and long-range with some throwing rocks from behind.
If led by someone intelligent...
They could dig traps, devise tactics, hold their breath, and mask their presence.
On top of that: goblins familiar with the forest versus humans unfamiliar with it.
Plus, a bait to divert attention.
Even a skilled ranger with sharp senses couldn't detect them without full focus.
As Octo trembled with frustration, Rasen and Edin were inspecting the corpses of the Goblin Warriors and the bait goblin.
"...Goblin Warriors, huh."
"That's not particularly unusual in itself."
As Edin said, Goblin Warriors appearing at the forest's edge wasn't odd.
They showed up occasionally anyway.
But the problem was how meticulously these Goblin Warriors had executed their strategy.
Using bait to distract, hiding their presence...
Goblins weren't normally that clever.
Such anomalies appeared when higher-tier goblins like shamans or chieftains were in the habitat.
"...And right on cue, orcs appearing."
Rasen muttered softly.
Higher goblin species emerging.
Orcs suddenly appearing near human settlements.
"Something's happening in the forest."
It definitely wasn't normal.
Something was clearly going on in Greenback Forest.
'This seems to have crossed the line beyond training exercise.'
Judging so, Rasen immediately ordered the students back to the village.
"We're heading back to the village. That's enough scouting."
They'd report to the Adventurer Guild on the way back.
An investigation team would come check the forest's condition.
Whatever it was, they'd figure out what was happening and adjust the request accordingly.
If it turned out to be nothing, it'd just buy time for the orcs to breed—but better than dragging students into danger.
"Already? The sun's still up."
"Going deeper would be risky. High chance something worse than orcs is involved."
Rasen's judgment was reasonable.
The boys looked a bit dissatisfied, but after nearly getting ambushed and hurt by goblins...
They agreed to head back, feeling a chill.
"If we leave this at the entrance, it could be dangerous, so let's dump it a bit further in."
He had already scanned with his senses; no dangerous monsters within 100 meters inside.
So Rasen and the students carried the goblin corpses deeper into the forest a short way.
It was nearly the entrance, but leaving bloody corpses could draw forest beasts or monsters out to raid the village.
"Oh. Mr. Rasen. Hold on a sec."
The group paused at Edin's call as they moved.
"What's up, Edin... sir."
Rasen hesitated on the address, but since they were fellow instructors here for training, he settled on "sir."
Edin gave an awkward smile, seeming a bit embarrassed by it.
"Mind if I pick some herbs real quick? Two minutes tops."
"...Sure."
He scanned the surroundings—no dangers.
They had bloody corpses, but two minutes should be fine.
Edin nodded gratefully and headed to the herbs he'd spotted.
Clean Mush.
A type of mushroom that grew wild on the roots of great trees deep in dense forests.
It absorbed purified water from the forest soil, then drew even cleaner water from the tree roots.
Growing on ultra-pure water and nutrients with almost no impurities.
This pristine, blank-slate Clean Mush absorbed impurities in the body the moment it was ingested, acting as a purifying agent.
It was a mid-grade ingredient for making antidote potions, and sometimes deliberately infused with elements like Edurium ore for extraction.
However, any foreign impurity drastically lowered purity, requiring highly precise technique—a tricky material.
'First time harvesting like this, taking my time.'
Any impurity caused instant absorption and quality drop.
Easy to spot, hard to harvest.
To minimize impurities: sterilized scissors and latex gloves.
Precisely cut where it connected to the tree root to preserve it long-term without spoiling.
Cut too high, and internal components leaked out.
Too low, ripping the root—it treated even that as impurity and absorbed it.
Top quality demanded extreme precision.
'Focus.'
First time harvesting with such focus.
It took longer than potion-making concentration.
But once focused, Edin's hands moved like the divine.
Snip—swish, snip—
Perfectly severing root connections, he harvested about 20 stalks of top-quality Clean Mush.
First try, yet textbook flawless.
Total time, including focus: just 1 minute 30 seconds.