The Tower's New Resident
p>“Ugh, there are way too many of them.”
p>Knocking out goblins wasn’t difficult, but their sheer numbers had turned the job into a marathon. Still, we had half the time left, so I figured we were probably in the clear.p>
p>Moss had tasted great too. The thing was plump and bouncy, looking almost identical to those old sticky balls I used to love as a kid. It looked so full and firm that I half-expected it to pop if I poked it. Of course, I’d be spitting it out again later during the fight, but hey, at least it had been decent.p>
p>“Alright, let’s check the carriage next.”
p>I was dying to know what was inside it. After all, fifty intelligent goblins had been hauling it around. There had to be something valuable in there, right?p>
p>“…Huh?”
p>I opened the carriage door and froze. Instead of treasure, I found a woman curled up on the floor, wrists and ankles tightly bound. Her blonde hair was a mess, but it still glistened, and her blue eyes sparkled like polished gems. She wore a white dress that looked like something a noble would wear, with yellow accents that gave it a truly divine feel.p>
p>There was no treasure, sure, but the presence of a person left me stunned. A person had come out of the tower?p>
p>“Mmmph!”
p>The moment she saw me, she twisted and thrashed, gnawing frantically at her gag. I had no idea if she was terrified or begging for help, but I had to think fast. Should I free her?p>
p>The tower mission had zero mention of rescuing women, and what if freeing her just made her attack me? From everything I knew about the tower, this place wasn’t exactly friendly. This girl might be a trap meant to complicate my life.p>
p>“What do you think, Moss? Guild?”
p>I asked my two bugs. Since they weren’t dumb, they should give me solid advice. Guild just made an X and seemed to say “I don’t care either way.” Moss…p>
p>“Yeah, yeah.”
p>He simply bounced cutely. From that alone, I could tell he was in favor of freeing her. The others would never understand, but I got it. Helping someone trapped by goblins made total sense on a goblin-hunting mission. Maybe I’d even earn some bonus.p>
p>“Great, can you talk?”
p>I started untying the gag first. I wasn’t ready to free her yet in case she lashed out, so I figured we’d talk first. The second the gag came off, she sighed in relief. It looked like she’d been worried I was about to do something terrible.p>
p>“Sigh… Did I look that scary?”
p>She had dry, cracked lips. Had she really been gagged for that long? At least an hour, probably more. If a woman got captured by goblins, what did she expect? But her eyes looked intelligent. Were these goblins different? Or had I been wrong about them all along?p>
p>“Haah… Thank you for saving me.”
p>“No problem. Just stay calm for now.”
p>“Could you maybe free my hands and feet too?”
p>“Yeah, sure. I don’t know what’s happening right now, so let me think things through first.”
p>“Understood.”
p>“Why were you tied up like this?”
p>“That…”
p>She launched into a detailed explanation, like she’d been waiting for someone to ask. I was stunned. This sounded far too clean to be made up on the spot. She told me her name and everything that had happened. She and a soldier and a priest had been sent to investigate unusually intelligent goblins. During the mission, they got ambushed and knocked out. When she woke up, she was locked in this carriage.p>
p>“So the goblins have gotten smarter than I thought.”
p>“We thought the same thing. But… these goblins are far more cunning than we expected. They use traps and even dark magic and spells we never taught them.”
p>“Magic and spells, huh?”
p>I perked up. If goblins could use magic and curses, maybe I could too. …Well, I knew the skill book was off-limits, so I wasn’t really expecting anything, but still, a little hope was fine.p>
p>We talked a bit more. Her story was so detailed that I actually started doubting it was real. The more we chatted, the clearer it all became.p>
p>“So no one else came to help?”
p>“Unfortunately, we only found this carriage.”
p>“Ah…”
p>I gave her a bittersweet smile and freed her bound limbs. I could hardly imagine how she felt knowing everyone else had died. On the flip side, I wondered if I’d feel the same if my bugs were lost. The swarm bugs were already used to losing their numbers.p>
p>“…I can’t just sit here feeling gloomy forever.”
p>She stood up, as if shaking off all her worries. I was amazed. Even though she was in pain, she could still stand tall. She really was a priestess. Still, I couldn’t help her more than I already had. I’d saved her, but I couldn’t take her to the next floor with me. I didn’t have anything to carry her in, and I certainly wasn’t turning her into a bug. That would be a hard no. Maybe I could find her food with Moss? It was risky, but at least it would buy some time.p>
p>“…I just want to take revenge for everyone.”
p>“Huh? A priestess can still do that?”
p>“The God will surely accept my revenge. That’s why… could you help me?”