Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: This One?
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Ian and the mercenaries found themselves suddenly surrounded by goblins.
A dire situation in a cave with no place to escape, hemmed in from both front and back by the goblins.
Wondering where they'd been hiding, Rin muttered as she stared at the goblins swarming out in an instant.
"There really are goblins here...."
"I thought it was weird there were no animal tracks."
Facing goblins that looked ready to charge at any moment, everyone calmly chatted away.
They had long passed the point where goblins could scare them.
Rin even felt a bit glad to see goblins after so long.
Among the group, only the three from Ann's party—who still found goblins intimidating—clung tightly to Ian's side with frightened looks.
Airi's expression wasn't great either, but it had been that way since the expedition started.
Mika, who had stuck by Airi's side as a fellow rearguard, noticed Airi spotting the trap first and asked.
"How'd you know there was a trap?"
"There were footprints...."
Airi hesitated in her response, pointing at the ground.
"It's fresh, and these kinds of marks usually happen when something hides in a hurry for an ambush...."
"Whoa.... Hunters really are something else."
Hunter... not really.
Airi muttered that to herself inwardly.
There was a common preconception that all archers came from hunter backgrounds.
She'd just had to memorize every monster trace to move safely while operating solo. She'd never actually learned any hunter techniques.
But Airi couldn't correct Mika's misconception and just kept her mouth shut.
For the record, she'd taught herself archery because she hated getting close to monsters.
"...Anyway, tell us ahead of time if you see stuff like that from now on!"
"Eek! Sorry...."
"Hold on, Mika. Don't bully the newbie."
"I'm not bullying her!"
Airi flinched back with a scared look at Mika's words.
Mika put on an aggrieved face at Lia's remark, but watching the two from the side, it was undeniably bullying.
Meanwhile, Ian scanned the depths of the cave, searching for something.
Only regular goblins had come out to surround them; no sign of the leader yet.
Caves like this usually had a boss directing the pack.
And right as that thought crossed his mind, a new goblin emerged from deeper inside.
A goblin wearing longer cloth than the others, holding a staff.
It looked clearly different from the rest at a glance.
This was the leader of the goblin pack—a Goblin Shaman.
Not just Ian, but the other mercenaries also spotted the shaman appearing from inside and turned their heads.
"That must be the boss."
"Looks like a mage."
"It'll probably use magic, so be careful!"
"Yeah, it'll use something. It's a mage."
Everyone whispered while eyeing the Goblin Shaman.
Mage-type monsters usually dressed like obvious mages, making them easy to spot. The issue was what kind of magic they used.
If you knew the spell beforehand, it was easy to counter, but getting caught off-guard could lead to disaster.
Irritated by the enemies' leisure, the Goblin Shaman let out an unpleasant screech and raised its staff.
In the dark cave, the staff emitted a faint light.
Ian, who had been watching closely, muttered softly.
"It's a curse."
"A—a curse?!"
Tanya, who happened to overhear, cried out in surprise.
"The captain said it's a curse! Watch out!"
"What?!"
At Tanya's shout, everyone startled and reflexively ducked.
But there was no way a curse could be dodged that easily.
The black light flowing from the shaman's staff struck Rin, who was at the front.
"Kyaa!"
"Rin! You okay?"
Rin curled up. Voices calling her name urgently from behind reached her ears.
"......Huh?"
But right after the curse's light swept by.
Rin awkwardly tilted her head and slowly lifted it.
[Agility Decrease]
- During combat [Agility -5]
Kikikik.
A mocking laugh like the Goblin Shaman was asking how it felt echoed out.
"Rin? What's wrong?"
"No.... I don't feel anything."
Rin turned to Tanya with a puzzled look.
"It was a curse, right?"
"The captain... said it was, I think."
Tanya glanced slightly at Ian as she spoke.
Ian answered Rin in Tanya's place.
"That thing the goblin just shot was a curse."
"Huh.... It feels totally different from the last curse I got."
"Labyrinth curses and ones cast by mages are different."
To be precise, what you got in the labyrinth was corrosion, and the side effect that built up from it was the labyrinth's curse.
Originally, curses referred to debuffs from shamans or dark mages like this.
But dark mages weren't popular party jobs anyway, and you rarely saw their faces. So the term "curse" naturally got taken over by labyrinth curses.
It was kinda sad watching dark mages get scolded on the boards for confusing people and having to add "dark mage" tags separately.
Anyway. A curse from a shaman at this level was predictable in strength.
Soon, the shaman's staff glowed again, this time extending light toward the goblins—a buff strengthening its allies.
"...Should we take them out?"
Rin, who had tensed up for nothing and now felt deflated, glanced at Ian and asked.
Ian nodded but then spoke to Airi, who stood quietly beside them.
"Try fighting like this."
"Pardon?"
A flustered Airi responded to Ian in a fluster.
"I—I only shoot from far away while staying still...."
Airi's gaze shifted to the mercenaries who had just charged out.
Everyone was moving around, taking positions, signaling each other, and dashing quickly.
To aim at enemies through that mess.
Airi's face went pale.
"Wh-what if I hit someone?"
"There's a barrier, so even if you miss, it'll be fine."
At Ian's urging, Airi reluctantly raised her bow.
"E... eek."
A single arrow loosed with a lack of confidence.
But Airi's archery was C-rank. A bit low for an archer, sure, but good enough that she wouldn't accidentally hit allies.
Contrary to her hesitant demeanor, the arrow flew straight toward the Goblin Shaman.
Kyaak!
With that death cry, the Goblin Shaman collapsed.
The remaining goblins, realizing their foes were far stronger, all started fleeing.
The cave, once filled with goblins, emptied in an instant.
"Phew...."
"Nice shot."
"Y-yes, sir!"
As Airi let out a sigh of relief, Ian suddenly spoke, startling her into a reply.
She wasn't used to conversations, so praise flustered her too. Her face flushed bright red as she bowed her head deeply.
After the goblins vanished, Ian and the mercenaries, finally relaxing, took a closer look around the cave.
A cave where goblins had gathered to pray, with even a shaman present.
It seemed like there had to be something special, but nothing stood out inside.
"The back is blocked off. Nothing here."
"Maybe a secret door?"
"Would goblins even have something like that...?"
Rin, who had gone to check the depths, returned quickly and reported.
She'd tried looking deeper, but it was sealed—no way in.
The mercenaries, having found nothing in their assigned spots, gathered one by one and plopped down.
"Is this it?"
"Doesn't look like anything special...."
...A bust?
Everyone chatted while resting, inwardly thinking the same.
It happened sometimes. Places that screamed "treasure ahead," but turned up empty.
This had felt like one of those cases too, but apparently it was just the goblins acting weird for no reason.
Then, as Ian slowly scanned the surroundings, he spoke to Rin.
"That one."
"Pardon? What?"
Rin looked around in confusion, but saw nothing nearby.
"The thing you're sitting on right now."
"This rock?"
Rin jumped up quickly.
It was a nice, flat rock perfect for sitting.
But looking closer after hearing him, it didn't seem like a natural stone.
Everyone brought torches close and examined it.
"Huh.... Doesn't look like just any rock. But what is it?"
"A statue... maybe?"
Lia murmured after studying the lump for a while.
From a slight distance, it vaguely resembled a human shape.
But it was too old and neglected, with lots of chipped and eroded parts. Hard to guess its original form.
"The goblins gathered because of this?"
"Probably this statue."
"Statue...?"
Ian nodded.
In monster dens like goblins that lived in groups, you'd sometimes find items like this.
Special statues or relics with abilities.
These counted as furniture items, so placing them in a base gave various effects.
...This one?
At Ian's talk of hauling it back to base, everyone eyed the statue dubiously.
It was one of those moments where Ian's inscrutable tastes shone through.