But I Met Her First

I ran as fast as I could, the metallic stench of blood thick in the air. When I arrived, the rookie mercenaries were desperately struggling against mere goblins, while the other experienced mercenaries had formed a protective ring around the merchant leader, carving through the monsters with ease.

Having overheard Undine's conversation earlier, I tossed my luggage aside and immediately cleaved through the back of a goblin's head as it prepared to pounce. Leaving the flying head behind, I leaped into the pack of goblins that the rookie mercenaries were struggling against. Putting the full weight of both arms into a horizontal slash, I harvested a bounty of goblin heads.

Thud. Thud.

Leaving behind the goblins spraying fountains of blood from their necks like martyrs, I searched for any survivors. The ones near the merchant leader had already been decapitated or sliced in half, so I didn't even bother looking at them.

Sein had followed behind me with his sword drawn, but because I had already slaughtered them all, there wasn't a single goblin left for him to touch.

Hearing a rattling noise from behind the carriages, I rushed over. The cauldron containing the soup we had eaten for breakfast was overturned. A few goblins had their faces buried in it, stuffing themselves, while others were rummaging through the cargo beds.

I wasn't the only one whose blood was pumping after hearing Undine's words. Sein, the original source of the magic stone contract rumor, rushed toward the goblins with frantic footsteps. However, his clumsy, half-hearted speed only served to announce his approach. 'Hey, look at me! I'm coming!'

The soup-eating goblins perked up their ears, raised their heads, splattering soup everywhere, and swung their chipped swords. Sein immediately swung his shortsword to parry, but due to the difference in weapon length, he ended up getting pressed down from above.

Realizing a tedious situation would unfold if I just watched, I lunged forward and sliced the arm of the goblin Sein was struggling against. Its sword clattered to the ground. Immediately, I thrust my blade deep into the face of another goblin charging at me with bared teeth. The sensation of piercing through its skull vibrated up the blade to the hilt. I kicked its torso to slide it off my sword, then slashed the remaining soup-eating goblin diagonally.

I tapped Sein on the shoulder and silently pointed at the goblin corpses. Understanding the silent command to clean up, Sein nodded heavily. Leaving the dejected boy behind, I quietly crept around the back of the carriage, where a fairly large goblin was greedily devouring our food supplies.

Despite being a mere goblin, it somehow sensed my presence, turning around with a sharp hiss. Seeing the horn protruding from its forehead, I realized this wasn't an ordinary goblin, but a hobgoblin.

Of course, being a hobgoblin didn't make much of a difference. I blocked its incoming horizontal longsword strike with the flat of my blade, then delivered a brutal kick straight to its groin. Its hips jerked back, and its arms went limp. Seizing the opening, I executed a horizontal slash across its throat. The blade caught on the neck bone, cutting only about two-thirds of the way through, but instead of pulling the sword out, I dragged the body away from the back of the carriage to prevent blood from splattering everywhere.

After pulling the sword from its neck, I stabbed just beneath the horn and carved it out. Didn't they say this is widely used as an alchemy ingredient? As I stood up and stretched my back, Sein came running over, having finished cutting off the ears of the goblins I had killed to claim them as my kills. When he saw the hobgoblin's corpse, he let out a startled gasp.

"A... a hobgoblin appeared too?"

"It's just an oversized goblin. Only the Shamans are a real pain in the ass. Anyway, how many ears did you harvest?"

At my question, Sein began counting the ears in his hand one by one. As I watched him, the other mercenaries ran over from a distance. As expected, the situation around the merchant leader's cargo carriages had been resolved quickly. After checking inside the food carriage, the merchant leader offered me his hand with a hearty laugh.

"Just as I hoped, everything is perfectly fine except for a few stolen emergency rations! Your quick judgment saved us!"

I took his hand and gave it a firm shake. We still had over a week left on this journey, so losing our food supply would have been disastrous. My quick calculation to run here first had paid off. Trust flickered in the merchant leader's eyes. At this rate, he would probably agree even if I claimed sole ownership of all the magic stones from the goblins I had slain.

The entire caravan began cleaning up the goblin corpses. The rookie mercenaries harvested the magic stones and byproducts, while the caravan staff calculated the damages and cleared the area. Told to take a break, I stood with my arms crossed, observing the scene, when the Silver-rank mercenary standing next to me spoke up.

"You remember my name, right? Sharok."

"I'm..."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Sharok glanced around cautiously and whispered in my ear. Getting whispered to by another man is always a terrible experience.

"Judging by the number of goblins, there must be a colony nearby."

"So, what? You want to go raid it?"

"We're already delayed by a day anyway, so why not?"

"One hobgoblin and twenty goblins. Though the scouting party I saw earlier only had two..."

"Then the main nest probably has a similar number. Let's go talk to the boss together."

Sharok made a fair point. A goblin colony would be packed with miscellaneous gear and cargo they had plundered from unsuspecting merchants. And apparently, goblins in this world had no sexual desire. There were no female slaves in goblin colonies. When I first arrived in this world, I had assumed goblins captured human females as breeding slaves, but when I brought it up, I was branded a deviant for a while. They said goblins would rather eat humans than keep them as slaves.

At any rate, if the colony only had as many goblins as the raiding party we just fought, it was definitely worth plundering. Sharok and I could clear it out in just a few hours. If we offered to share the spoils in exchange for temporarily leaving our escort duties, the others would surely agree. It wasn't a bad proposal... but the main issue was that we didn't know where the colony was.

As the two of us conversed, I glanced back and caught sight of Sein. He was carrying a goblin corpse, but his ears were perked, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation. It seemed he was still bitter about missing out on the magic stones earlier. It would be troublesome if he got any foolish ideas. Now that I knew how to contract a spirit, I had no intention of meekly handing over this opportunity.

Once the cleanup was mostly finished, the merchant leader approached us. With a smile, he confirmed that, as expected, we would have to camp here for the day. Every day delayed meant a greater financial loss, so his relaxed attitude was rather surprising.

Sensing his chance, Sharok spoke up.

"I have a proposal for you."

"A proposal?"

Sharok spoke with confidence to the wide-eyed merchant leader.

"With a goblin raiding party of this size, there is bound to be a colony nearby. Since we're staying here for the day anyway, why not subjugate them and make up for your losses?"

Stroking his chin, the merchant leader replied, "A colony would be quite large, wouldn't it? If things go south, it won't just be a matter of financial loss—the entire caravan will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be in danger."

"Goblins typically send about half of their colony's strength when forming a raiding party. Since it was only one hobgoblin and twenty goblins, this friend and I can easily wipe out the rest."

The merchant leader stroked his chin, his brow furrowing deeply as he let out a low groan. Finally, he sighed and addressed Sharok.

"That sounds wonderful in theory, but as someone who has already suffered losses, I can't expect much profit from a colony subjugation. Furthermore, if something happens while our two Silver-rank mercenaries are away, the remaining forces..."

Since he had hired them himself, the merchant leader couldn't criticize them too harshly, but his message was loud and clear: If we get attacked while you two are gone, do you really think those rookie mercenaries can handle it? It was a reasonable argument, so I was ready to let it go, but Sharok was persistent.

"Though they were all naked, a few of them carried decent weapons. If we raid their colony, we might find dozens more of similar quality. If we can just find the colony..."

"That's only if we find it. I have no intention of sending away two Silver-ranks, nor do I want to waste manpower searching for a colony. This discussion is—"

"I—I know where the colony is!!!"

The merchant leader was about to draw the line on this tedious debate, but his words were cut short. Sein, the youngest of the rookie mercenaries, raised his hand, drawing everyone's attention. The other rookie mercenaries covered their eyes and turned away, thinking, This idiot just caused trouble again, while the higher-ranked mercenaries smirked, finding it amusing. Nervous under the sudden spotlight, Sein trembled, yet he kept his arm raised.

The merchant leader let out an audible sigh and asked, "Right... you know where the colony is?"

"Yes!!! When I went to wash the dishes earlier, I saw the cave the goblins were coming out of!!!"

A cave? I hadn't seen any cave when I killed those two goblins and scanned the area earlier. As I looked at Sein with doubt, I noticed Undine hovering by his ear, cupping her hands and whispering excitedly.

"There aren't many scouts around, and I—I can fight too! I'll act as the guide and go with the mercenary!"

Shouting at the top of his lungs, Sein pointed straight at me to finish his sentence. Sharok was the one who had brought up the subjugation, yet Sein wanted to go with me. If I were in Sharok's shoes, I would have been furious. True to form, Sharok's face was turning a deep, angry red.

The merchant leader didn't look particularly interested either. If things kept going like this, the atmosphere of the caravan would turn completely sour. In the end, I stepped forward to smooth things over. Besides, I was curious about what Sein was planning, so this worked out perfectly.

"First, if the merchant leader permits the subjugation, I will take this kid and another rookie mercenary of his rank, and the three of us will handle it. Since Sharok was the one who brought it up first, it would be best to give him a share of the spoils afterward."

"You seem quite keen on this subjugation..."

Deep fatigue was etched into the merchant leader's eyes. He had already suffered losses, and now more of his escort wanted to leave, which was bound to give him a headache. However, persuading men like him was second nature to me.

Squeezing Sein's shoulder lightly, I said, "We will head to the colony this kid mentioned. If it's actually there, we'll contact you before proceeding with the raid. If it's not, we'll return immediately."

"Hmm..." The merchant leader groaned, clearly wavering. I decided to deliver the decisive blow.

"And as Sharok said, we'll get at least dozens of weapons. If we're lucky, who knows how much loot from previously plundered caravans might be sitting there."

At my persuasion, the merchant leader closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. Then, he slowly nodded.

I glanced at Sharok and gave him a slight nod. His flushed face calmed down a bit, and my suggestion to give him a share of the spoils seemed to have appeased his anger.

Looking to my side, I saw Sein fidgeting, clearly realizing he had made a slip of the tongue, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while Undine hovered over him like an overprotective mother, reassuring him that he had done nothing wrong.

"So, when will you depart? If it's where you washed the dishes, it shouldn't be far..."

"Since we're already talking about it, we'll head out now. That works for you, right, Sein?"

At my call, Sein nodded vigorously.

"Yes! I'm absolutely sure! I saw it clearly—no, I definitely saw it!"

"Very well. Pick one more person and head out. Use this to keep in touch."

The merchant leader pulled a small blue sphere from his breast pocket and handed it to me.

"We'll be back shortly."

After a quick preparation, I set off toward the riverbank we had visited earlier, leading Sein and the eldest of the rookie mercenaries. Although it was still broad daylight, it would be troublesome if the sun set, so I pushed them from behind to make them run as fast as possible. Despite panting heavily, Sein wore a smile, clearly pleased with himself for having played ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a key role.

Seeing Undine floating beside him with a bright smile, I realized this was all her doing. No doubt she wanted to use the subjugation to gather enough magic stones to secure their contract.

As I observed Sein, the nature of their relationship became quite clear. They must have been together for a long time; Undine looked at Sein with eyes full of affection, while Sein, though shy in the face of her forwardness, clearly harbored feelings for her as he fidgeted nervously. It was almost sweet to watch.

I felt a slight pang of guilt. If I hadn't known how to form a contract, I might have cheered them on. But I already had a decent amount of magic stones in my possession, and I knew exactly how to make the contract. For the rest of the journey, my mind would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠occupied with one constant thought: how to seduce Undine.

With entirely different thoughts in our minds, we hurried our steps toward the goblin colony.