Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Goblin Trap
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#33
"Uncle, Uncle."
Lee Ji-ah chattered away.
He listened with one ear and let it go in one out the other while staring out the window.
Surrounding objects whizzed past at high speed.
"A train, huh..."
As expected of the Empire.
Seo Woo-jin had heard stories about trains back in the day.
He hadn't had time to care about such things then, so he'd forgotten quickly.
But to think he'd end up riding one.
A train in a fantasy world felt somehow off.
"Well, with all the heroes who've been summoned over the years, it'd be weirder if something like this didn't exist."
Of course, considering the heroes' ages, it was hard to expect specialized knowledge in fields like this.
But all it took was a single idea.
That alone could change the world.
The train the heroes were on now looked similar in structure but operated on principles vastly different from Earth's.
For starters, the power source was mana, not electricity or coal.
"Rather, it's more surprising they don't have tanks..."
This world was always geared toward war.
Every few hundred years, the Demon King would descend and wreak havoc.
So you'd think military tech would have advanced, but surprisingly, it hadn't progressed much.
He imagined unleashing self-propelled guns on the Demon King when he appeared, followed by hundreds of Tomahawk missiles.
And in the end, boom—a nuke!
"Why am I getting goosebumps?"
Seo Woo-jin shuddered suddenly with a chill.
"Huh? Are you cold, Uncle? That's weird. They say the temperature and humidity control magic keep the cabins perfectly comfortable at all times."
Lee Ji-ah rattled off the train's features like she was doing a product placement ad.
"Nah, it's not that."
Seo Woo-jin shook his head.
The train interior was definitely comfortable.
They'd said all sorts of magic was applied, and it didn't seem like a lie.
"It feels faster than the KTX, right? Three hours to the Empire's western border."
The Empire's territory was vast.
Probably on par with Russia or Canada.
Crossing half of that in three hours...
Insane speed.
"It's magic."
Truly a magical phrase.
No matter how absurd something was, slapping "it's magic" on it made you nod along.
"You know what? I heard the Empire even has combat airships."
Lee Ji-ah whispered conspiratorially, like she was leaking state secrets.
"I know."
Not just the Empire—Siyon had them too.
Meaning most major nations operated them.
The problem was they were quite different from Earth's fighter jets.
"Those are basically just like balloons."
Most combat airships were early aircraft that floated by filling balloons with gas lighter than air.
Of course, in this world, they mixed in more advanced magic, making them a bit faster and safer.
"But that's it."
They had little advantage beyond flying, so they weren't used in large numbers.
Probably just for reconnaissance or aerial bombing.
"Oh, like those in that old movie?"
"Probably."
She seemed to be thinking of the doomed airship, Hindenburg.
Lee Ji-ah looked disappointed, as if she'd imagined something out of a fantasy game.
"Still, I heard Vershain recently developed something pretty groundbreaking."
Aileen, who'd been quietly listening from the next seat, joined the conversation.
"Vershain?"
"The superpower in the east. In terms of military might, they're not far behind the Empire."
He hadn't known such a kingdom existed.
"What'd they make?"
"Something called an aerial mobile carrier."
The name alone made his heart race.
Didn't it poke at every guy's dreams?
"I heard it's mainly for carrying dragon knights, handling maintenance, resupply, and acting as a mobile airbase."
"Dragon knights?"
Just imagining it made his chest swell.
"I'd love to see one..."
"If war breaks out, you'll see them whether you want to or not."
Aileen's words deflated Seo Woo-jin's excitement instantly.
Dreams were just dreams.
Those things were weapons.
"Aileen sis, what does Siyon have?"
At some point, Lee Ji-ah had started calling Aileen "sis."
"Soldiers and knights."
Siyon wasn't a particularly powerful kingdom.
But it wasn't weak either.
Because Siyon had "him."
"And Ban Slane."
Combat airships? Aerial carriers?
Bring a hundred of those.
Could they even block one strike from Ban Slane?
"Who's that? Cool name. A knight?"
Lee Ji-ah's eyes sparkled as she asked.
"My master? Teacher? Mentor? Something like that. He's a great noble too."
Despite Seo Woo-jin's half-hearted explanation, Lee Ji-ah nodded.
"If you say so, he must be amazing."
He was.
Amazing to the point of terrifying.
"No one at the current hero level could beat him."
In Seo Woo-jin's eyes, Ban Slane was the world's strongest.
Hard to imagine a human stronger.
"What if we grow more? Could we still not win?"
He couldn't answer right away.
Right now, even the "Sword God" would get pummeled without landing a hand.
But if they kept growing?
At most four years until the Demon King descended.
If they kept developing...
"We could then."
No matter how strong Ban Slane was, he couldn't stop the Demon King.
But heroes could.
That alone showed how strong heroes could become.
"Eek, I'd love to see him."
Lee Ji-ah, curiosity sated, giggled once then resumed chattering with the spaced-out Kim Da-hye beside her.
The scenery outside was warm.
Utterly different from the northern frontier where they'd first gone on a subjugation.
Seo Woo-jin's heart was the same.
At least now, he no longer feared monsters.
"It's in ruins."
Seo Woo-jin frowned at the sight before him.
It looked like a forest hamlet of slash-and-burn farmers, now burned and collapsed into rubble.
"Seems like goblins."
Aileen pointed to a fallen corpse.
"Poison needle in the nape. A common goblin hunting method since they're weak."
Aileen was well-versed in monsters.
Even ones like goblins that didn't appear in the north—she figured it out from a quick glance.
"Ugh!"
"They're all dead..."
Meanwhile, the other heroes were retching.
A far cry from Seo Woo-jin, who was assessing the scene upon arrival.
The accompanying knights shot them pitiful looks briefly before hiding it.
Seo Woo-jin saw but said nothing.
He felt the same.
"How many?"
"At least thirty. But there can't be just that many."
Goblins lived in packs.
Traces here suggested thirty-odd, but the village likely had several times that.
"You okay?"
Seo Woo-jin asked worriedly.
Not about the heroes, of course.
No matter how pathetic they acted, they wouldn't die to goblins.
Maybe some injuries.
"We'd need more scouting, but..."
Nearby villages were probably all razed.
No way a tribe this size would settle for one hamlet.
"We should check the other squads' reports."
Currently, Seo Woo-jin and the heroes were split into ten squads scouting the area.
Over three hundred with the knights added to the hundred heroes.
Deploying them all at once would be wasteful.
So they split up for searches, agreeing to attack any found villages later.
"Should we head back for now?"
Seo Woo-jin said to the other heroes.
They'd identified the monster type and confirmed their presence—no need to push.
But the other heroes didn't seem keen.
"No, what are you talking about? Go back now and do what?"
"We need some results, right? If we go back like this..."
They opposed him as if it were obvious.
'You were puking your guts out just now.'
He couldn't fathom doing more scouting in that state.
"And you. Why do you keep acting like the leader? We have A-ranks here. You're just D-grade."
Basically, they didn't want orders from someone lower-ranked.
Seo Woo-jin sighed inwardly.
"What do you think?"
Unlikely to reason with them, he asked the knights instead.
At least they seemed sensible.
But the knights were frustrated too.
"We're just here to support the heroes. The decision is yours."
Like Aileen, they'd long identified the threat as goblins.
So they wanted to stay even more.
Goblins weren't a big threat.
The more the supported heroes shone, the more clout their kingdom gained internationally.
From the knights' view, pulling back now wasn't ideal.
"See? Let's go deeper."
The heroes still grimaced.
They wouldn't even glance at the corpses.
Their heads were filled only with catching goblins farther in.
"Fine, do what you want."
There was nothing more Seo Woo-jin could do.
If they wanted to suffer, maybe it'd teach them a lesson.
Seo Woo-jin and Aileen fell back a bit.
No reason to lead an unwelcome charge.
How long had they walked?
Something appeared before the pushing-through-heroes.
'Goblin.'
Green skin, about a meter tall.
And a rotten stench.
Undeniably a goblin.
It dragged a bundle as big as itself, perhaps loot from the raided village.
Seo Woo-jin scanned the surroundings first.
Suspicious of a trap.
Goblins were cunning despite weakness, often setting such ambushes.
But his caution was for naught.
"You bastards!"
"Monsters daring to kill humans?"
The heroes charged without a second thought upon spotting it.
"W-Wait!"
Seo Woo-jin tried to stop them too late.
No, they wouldn't have listened anyway.
To them, goblins were trash mobs killed before level 5.
And all too predictably, the heroes fell into the trap.