The Goblin Tide

The noble family of the 4th floor expressed great satisfaction with the meal. They were particularly fond of the chicken, so I promised to teach their chef the recipe later. Once the meal concluded, I immediately approached the Baroness. "Baroness Helene, I would like to be supplied with magic items."

"Of course. Please, follow me." I trailed behind her as she led me to a stone building erected separately beside the main house. "It will be a difficult fight. The number of those disgusting goblins is endless..."

"By any chance, how long has it been since the goblin population began to surge?" The Baroness pondered for a moment before opening her mouth. "Well... they have been appearing in large numbers near the Forest of Darkness and the open-pit mine for about five years, but I believe they only started showing up near the village about a year ago."

"I heard you attempted subjugation a few times."

"Yes. We mobilized all the military force available to the territory and managed to push through to the open-pit mine, but there were simply too many of them, and goblin variants appeared occasionally. In the end, we only managed to clear up to the Forest of Darkness a few times; we couldn't even dream of reaching the deeper areas."

"By variants... do you mean goblin warriors or shamans?" I continued to walk, processing the information. Damn it, did the Baron not tell me about such important details? It’s not just a village with a high number of goblins, but there are variants too? I’ll have to get information from the villagers later.

"There was a knight-class variant, though there was only one. My husband and Sir Mikhail joined forces to kill it, but..."

"The presence of a knight-class means..."

"There is a very high probability that a higher species, a Goblin King, exists."

So, the Baron was going to request reinforcements from the Count, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then a seemingly overpowered adventurer appeared and took the request? How highly do they think of me? Well, given my stats and skill level, it’s impossible for me to get hurt by mere goblins, so even if it takes a long time, I can clear them out. It will take an immense amount of time, though.

"Thank you for accepting such a dangerous request."

"Well, an adventurer only takes on requests they can handle, so you don't need to worry."

"Actually, after seeing you hunt goblins outside the wooden fence, I have no worries at all."

Baroness Helene smiled and handed me a pile of scrolls stacked on her desk. Afterward, she brought out various potions. "For now, this is all we have."

The quantity was so large that I decided to examine them slowly later, and I stowed the items the Baroness handed me into my spatial backpack. "We are producing a little bit every day, so if you use them all up, please tell the servant. We will then have the crafted items sent to your room."

"Yes, thank you. By any chance, after I finish the request, could I learn the crafting methods related to artifacts?"

"Can you craft artifacts?"

"It is possible. Though my main profession is a blacksmith."

Baroness Helene looked bewildered. "If you complete the request, I will teach you every crafting method I know. May the gods bless you."

After receiving the magic items from Baroness Helene, I wandered around the village to gather information. "Oh, isn't that the adventurer fellow?"

"You look like you could be a Gold-rank adventurer, what brings you to a place like this? Anyway, thanks for last time."

The villagers were very favorable since they knew I had slaughtered hundreds of goblins to save them. They answered my questions kindly. "It's very annoying. Because of those bastards, a few people have died near the village recently."

"They are cunning creatures. Their intelligence isn't high, but they are good at playing dirty."

"They target children first, then the elderly... they prioritize weak prey."

"A single goblin is weak, but their specialty is swarming. By the way, I couldn't see your face last time, so I didn't know—are you from the Eastern Continent? Your appearance is exactly like people from there."

"The Eastern Continent?"

A man who looked like a merchant checking his carriage spoke up. "Sometimes ships come across the Sea of Death, and they were people with appearances different from ours. They said they came from a huge continent in the east. People have headed to that continent several times, but none have ever returned."

"I see."

"These days, goblins appear so often on the main road to the Alsace County that it's become hard to use. Thanks to that, I have no choice but to hire a bunch of mercenaries or adventurers to trade. I'm worried I'll end up penniless at this rate."

"Still, since you, who look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a Gold-rank adventurer, have accepted the Baron's request, I believe things will normalize soon."

When I casually asked the merchant about the ranks, he explained that the adventurer ranks consist of Iron > Bronze > Silver > Gold > Platinum, and that from Gold rank onwards, one must be able to use mana to ascend. He added that since most people become knights from Gold rank onwards, there are almost no adventurers of Gold rank or higher. Hmm. If this world continues to connect as I climb the floors, it wouldn't be bad to obtain an adventurer's license. It might be troublesome since I have no identity to prove. I'll go with the backstory that I'm the second son of a noble family who was shipwrecked from the Eastern Continent and ended up here after encountering an inexplicable phenomenon... Wait, I'm getting distracted.

I gathered as much information about the goblins as possible from the residents. "They have a keen sense of smell."

"If goblins confirm that their kin has died, they let out a loud shout to gather the surrounding kin."

"If you don't kill them and leave them alive, they run toward the tribe. They scream and wail for help, calling their kin, and since they usually rush in without thinking, only about 5 come at a time. If you have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the stamina and strength to kill them one by one, you can kill quite a lot of them in one spot."

There was a lot of information I already knew, and some useful information I didn't. Now, it was time to head out for the hunt.

Checking the scrolls, there were certainly many spells that seemed incredibly useful. I don't know magic, but could I craft scrolls if I copied the mana circuits? It was a satisfying harvest. I walked around the market stalls and bought a few items. Among the goods sold by the NPCs inside the Tower, there were many items and materials, so I mainly bought herbs.

"I want to start doing alchemy soon too!" There are many things I want to do and make, but I have no time. I guess I won't be bored in the future. I also stopped by the blacksmith and checked the goods, but most of them were Normal-grade items. The blacksmith was a young man. Most of the items were used for farming, there were a few spears for soldiers, and no swords were visible.

Hmm, maybe it's because the blacksmith is young, but his skills are quite lacking. If I clear this floor and continue climbing in this fantasy world, I should use bribes appropriately on the Baron to get a recommendation letter and such. The greatsword I saw last time didn't have this level of performance. Anyway, the territory tour and information gathering are over. Now it's time for the hunt.

"We prohibit entry past the wooden fence when night falls. However, if you show this tag, you can enter, Adventurer-nim." As I stepped outside the wooden fence, the guard handed me a wooden tag.

"Thank you."

"May the gods bless you."

I greeted the guard who was blessing me and headed toward the Forest of Darkness. The forest, where I had discovered Emily a day ago, felt as if the atmosphere had sunk even further in that time. Above all, the sounds of wild beasts were barely audible.

"Did the goblins hunt and eat them all?"

While installing traps to secure an escape route just in case, I had Emily write "Danger: Trap Ahead" on a piece of paper, which I attached to the upper part of the traps where the goblins would have a hard time spotting them. As I advanced for a while, dealing with the traps, I saw three goblins. They had hunted a deer and were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠greedily tearing into it with their faces buried in its belly.

Thwack! Bam! Crunch!

I simply crushed their skulls and sent them to hell, then hung them upside down on a tree to set it up so the surrounding goblins would gather. "First, the Forest of Darkness." The area near the village would be handled by the soldiers and the knight; I plan to clear the forest, clear the open-pit mine, and then find the goblin den.

-Kereuk!

I hid in the trees and ambushed passing goblins from above. I hid in the bushes and ambushed them. At first, several ambushes were successful, but after the goblin corpses piled up and the scent of blood grew thick, and a large number of goblins gathered, I judged that further ambushes were impossible and began killing every goblin I saw.

"Die, die!"

I advanced, grinding the green wave into dust with my war hammer. Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack! Mana was coated onto the war hammer, minimizing the recoil as I sent the goblins to the afterlife.

-Thud! -Ting!

The poison needles, daggers, and arrows shot by the goblins couldn't pierce my armor and all bounced off, and I just lightly dodged or deflected the attacks of the ones who occasionally came with swords as I continued the hunt. I hunted an incredibly large number of goblins, but the living goblins rushed at me with blind hostility. Thinking back to the goblins on the 2nd floor who lost their will to fight and ran away, this was definitely a strange situation. There is clearly something making these guys go berserk. I began to traverse the Forest of Darkness while steadily killing the goblins. As I crushed their heads one by one, the thought that came to mind was that area-of-effect attacks were desperately needed.

'Melee classes can't help it. It’ll be different once mana projection becomes possible.'