Goblins Are No Longer a Match
Now goblins were no longer a match for me. That’s why the large white figure I spotted a little deeper in stood out so sharply against the all-green forest. I could only see its back for now, but it was impossible to miss. Rydia, walking ahead, thrust her arm out to stop me and spoke in her usual clipped tone.
“It’s a horn rabbit.”
“Unlike goblins, this one actually looks cute.”
It was huge for a rabbit—about the size of a medium dog. Its snowy fur was fluffy and soft, and the way it nibbled grass made it look the very picture of innocence. Aside from the horn on its forehead and its oversized build, it could have passed for an ordinary rabbit.
“Don’t let the looks fool you. It doesn’t live this deep for nothing.”
“I already know the basics about horn rabbits, so don’t worry.”
“...Understood.”
Rydia nodded, her expression complicated. Did she still not trust me? In times like these, actions spoke louder than words. I gripped my dagger and strode straight toward the horn rabbit.
If goblins were defined by their cunning cruelty, horn rabbits were defined by speed. As expected of something based on a rabbit, it was absurdly fast. At the very least, its burst speed ranked among the highest on the first floor. It would charge in at that velocity, gore its target’s stomach with its horn, and that was its hunting style.
Because of that, the standard way to hunt horn rabbits was pretty well-known. Block the incoming charge with a thick shield, then kill the staggered creature while it reeled from the impact. Their hides were no tougher than a normal rabbit’s, so a few solid blows would finish them off.
That strategy had nothing to do with me—I didn’t have a shield, and even if I did, it would be too heavy for me to handle. The important point was that their speed was still something a cautious first-floor adventurer could react to. And I was confident my own burst speed was even faster than that.
In other words, a pure speed specialist like this would lose to me in a contest of velocity…!
Rustle.
“Kyuit?”
The horn rabbit turned at the sound of footsteps on the grass. Its cry was adorable, but it was essentially a declaration of war. Just as I predicted, it kicked off the ground and charged straight at me.
It really was fast. But if you asked whether it was too fast to track with the naked eye, the answer was no.
“Hup.”
I twisted my body just enough to dodge and slashed my dagger across its flank. Our speeds had been so high that the impact jarred my hand, and I lost my grip on the weapon. I spun to face the horn rabbit as it shot past me and raised my crossbow.
…As it turned out, that was unnecessary. The horn rabbit’s side had been torn wide open. It was already dying.
“Kyuiiit…!”
A mournful death cry. Its guts spilled out as it thrashed, but it soon went limp.
“That’s it?”
I’d expected a good matchup, but I hadn’t thought it would be this much easier than a goblin. I tilted my head and started walking over to collect the corpse—
“Kyuuuik!”
“Kyuaaaak!”
“Kyukkyukkyakkya!”
Cries erupted from every direction.
“R-Rydia? What the hell is this?!”
“Yona. You said you knew the basics. You didn’t know this?”
She sounded almost disappointed.
“Horn rabbits travel in family packs.”
“I knew that! But there weren’t any others nearby, so I thought it was alone!”
“They’re so fast that staying too close makes them bump into each other. That’s why even members of the same pack keep some distance.”
“I didn’t realize it would be this many…”
I’d designed horn rabbits as generic mobs, so I’d kept the concept pretty loose—horned rabbit, ridiculously fast, sometimes travels in groups. There were plenty of finer behavioral details I didn’t remember, but I hadn’t expected them to deviate this far from my expectations.
With the goblins, the only real difference had been their weird obsession with me, so it hadn’t mattered. This incident taught me something important: the setting knowledge in my head should only be used as a rough reference.
“Ugh! The second we get back I’m going to sit down and reread the monster encyclopedia they sell at the guild!”
I gritted my teeth and braced myself. I had no idea where they would come from, and multiple ones charging at once? Even I could die like this.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I casually sidled up next to Rydia. Close enough that I could duck behind her expensive-looking armor at a moment’s notice.
…I know I’m trash for doing this, but it really is the best option.
While I grumbled internally, Rydia patted my shoulder with a relaxed air.
“Good. Well said. Studying is essential for adventurers. And coming to me when you think you can’t handle it was also the right choice.”
“Huh? Ah, that wasn’t exactly a request for help… Um… Never mind. Yeah, please help me.”
“Leave it to me.”
Her tone was as deadpan as ever. But the faint smile on her lips was unmistakable as she reached into empty air and pulled out a massive greatsword.
She must have had some kind of weapon-storage artifact in her armor, but what caught my attention was that this sword looked nothing like the one I’d seen at the Twin Dagger Clan House. That one had been a longsword. This greatsword was a crude, heavy lump of metal that looked like it could double as a shield.
Was she actually going to use it like one?
I watched with growing excitement—using a greatsword like a shield was something I’d only seen in comics and games—when the sound of something rushing through the underbrush rapidly approached.
“Yona. Duck.”
“Yessir.”
I reflexively lowered my head.
…And what I saw exceeded my expectations by a ridiculous margin.
BOOOOM!
The impact was so loud my ears rang. A gale strong enough to make me squint swept through the area, and a beat later, something that looked like a bloody clump splattered onto the ground.
Thud. Thump.
“Uh…”
So she had swung the flat of that greatsword like a fan, created a pressure wave, and turned the entire pack of horn rabbits into meat paste?
“Hieee! Rydia, that was amazing! You’re insanely strong!”
“Hmph.”
Her face remained expressionless, her voice flat as always. But the way she planted a hand on her hip and puffed out her chest made it obvious she was preening.
“As expected of a high-ranking adventurer with a title! You can do this much without even using aura!”
“Keep praising me.”
“That weapon’s different from the one I saw before, right? You prepare different weapons for different situations? Incredible!”
“Hehe.”
“And on top of that, you’re beautiful, kind enough to earn the title ‘The Noble,’ and even though your chest is huge, you’re so strict about chastity that people call you the Chaste Rydia behind your back!”
“…That last part didn’t sound like praise.”
I flashed her a bright smile as she tilted her head in confusion.
“Whoa… I thought you were just a day-fly adventurer who blows every copper on gear and food and lives like a total mess, but if you’re this strong, it’s totally justified! Yes! Our Rydia can do whatever she wants!”
“…I knew it.”
Rydia narrowed her eyes and rapped her knuckles against the top of my head. It was a series of light, painless noogies. I hadn’t exactly meant to tease her, but when someone who was usually so stoic started acting smug, I couldn’t help myself.
Only after I let her get it out of her system could I finally look around.
The grass lay flattened as if a giant had stomped through. Scattered across it were chunks of red meat.
“Wow. The magic stones actually survived? The horns got pulverized, though.”
“The magic stones of living monsters are quite durable. They’re weak to divine power, however.”
“Divine power… You mean something like holy energy?”
“Yes. The same goes for aura and mana.”
Well, that made sense. Both were, strictly speaking, powers that belonged to dead gods. I nodded to myself as I plucked the magic stones from the bloody mess. I also collected the horn from the first horn rabbit I’d killed myself.
Watching the monster corpses crumble into dust, I renewed my resolve.
“Up we go! Come to think of it, this is the first time you’ve helped me fight, isn’t it, Rydia?”
“It is. Until now you’ve handled everything on your own.”
“Since I messed up for the first time today, I’ll do even better from now on! Let’s move on to the next area!”
“Positive attitude. I approve.”
Rydia gave a small chuckle and took the lead again. I followed her and resumed hunting.
Now that I knew I could lose my dagger from the impact and that a dying rabbit could call its pack, I adjusted my combat style accordingly. Instead of swinging my dagger at the perfect moment, I fired my crossbow along the path of their charge. I made sure to finish them instantly so they couldn’t call reinforcements. Or I positioned myself with a tree thick enough that even a horn rabbit couldn’t pierce it at my back, limiting the directions I had to watch.
As if making up for that first mistake, I cleaned up goblins and horn rabbits without a single error. Whether it was good or bad luck, we ran into more monsters than usual today, so my backpack filled up quickly.
We’d hunted enough for this trip, so I was thinking it was about time to head back when—
“—…You…bastard…!”
“—…over…already…!”
Clang! Clang!
“Huh?”
Faint voices drifted from far away, followed by the unmistakable sound of metal clashing.
“Rydia, that sounds like…”
“That way. Someone’s attacking another adventurer.”
Maybe it was because her senses were far sharper than mine. Rydia had caught the half-missed conversation and immediately understood the situation. Without hesitation, she changed direction.
I never expected the first other adventurers we’d meet in the labyrinth would be in the middle of a robbery. People who quietly hunt monsters in the labyrinth are adventurers. People who kill those adventurers and steal their magic stones and gear are called plunderers.
Obviously, no one bats an eye if plunderers are executed on the spot. The ones who’ve survived this long are either ridiculously lucky rookies, cunning veterans, or so strong it defies common sense. One of those three.
Since Rydia was heading over, they probably wouldn’t even be able to put up proper resistance before they collapsed. I’d just seen her power, after all. No first-floor adventurer could touch a single strand of Rydia’s hair no matter what they tried.
With that optimistic thought, we arrived at the scene.
And there stood two people I hadn’t expected to see.
“…Huh?”
The two con-artist elves who had swindled me out of eight coppers before. They were the ones being attacked.