Fog Ahead, Falling Hazard
It had been nearly a year since Inti left. She dropped one last so-called "hint" by showing her face and then vanished the same day, cold as the Siberian tundra. Wasn't that a little too heartless?
Anyway, after Inti departed I went back to teaching myself, but thanks to the magic book she left behind, my skills improved steadily. I had gotten the hang of most of the 3-circle spells in the book and was now practicing 4-circle magic.
The only problem was that it was starting to feel burdensome. I couldn't tell if my mana pool was simply running dry or if 4-circle spells were just that heavy by nature.
The spell I was currently practicing was Fire Javelin. Think of it as the superior version of Fire Ball. A few additional control formulas had been layered on top, resulting in vastly improved utility—shape alteration, projectile homing, speed enhancement, and so on.
Unfortunately the casting time was much slower and the mana cost felt three to four times higher, which was a real pain. I'd tried cutting corners on the guidance control to reduce the mana drain, but the spell slammed straight into the mansion's outer wall. The wall exploded in a spectacular shower of stone and debris. Thankfully it was just the weapons warehouse, so there were no casualties, but my brain still filled with a single resounding thought: I'm fucked.
Damn it. I'd gotten complacent because things had been going smoothly without any incidents for a while. Looked like I was in for another massive scolding from my parents.
The world I'd reincarnated into was the kind of disgusting medieval fantasy setting where monsters roamed around as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
From the classic fantasy staples like goblins, orcs, ogres, and slimes to this world's own unique species, the place was crawling with them. Even regular wild animals would have been terrifying, but the beasts here could wield mana to use magic or similar abilities. Naturally, the lives of commoners were far worse than anything I'd known from Earth's Middle Ages.
If left unchecked, the commoners would be wiped out and farming would collapse. The nobility, of course, had found a solution. In the Luxid Kingdom where I lived, they had chosen the knight meta. Powerful families and regional knight orders conducted regular subjugation campaigns to keep monster numbers and threat levels under control.
In any case, as the son of the Southern Knight Commander, I'd always known something like this would happen eventually. I just hadn't expected it to come so soon.
The punishment my father handed down for blowing up the wall was conscription in all but name. I was forcibly added to the knight order's regular subjugation schedule. A ten-year-old kid—fresh and green as spring grass—was about to be thrown into combat against monsters. This was straight-up child abuse!
"We'll now begin the briefing for today's operation."
The man speaking was Paul. I called him "uncle" out of familiarity because I'd seen him so often, but he was actually the 3rd Unit Commander. He led five senior knights and, with four subordinates assigned to each of them, effectively commanded a combat unit of twenty-five knights. When you factored in the squires and other attached personnel, it was a heavier responsibility than it looked. On top of that, he was a top-tier Sword Expert and a seasoned veteran. He was probably the most skilled person I knew in the order, which was why he'd been personally assigned as my guardian and instructor.
"This is a scheduled regular subjugation operation. Our primary objective is the extermination of goblins in Nebelbaum Forest."
Goblins were demi-human monsters and, true to their reputation as the weakest monsters, were considered the bottom rung here as well. They lived in tribal societies and possessed a primitive but genuine level of civilization. Their insane breeding rate meant that if left alone they would multiply uncontrollably and eventually become a localized disaster, which was why regular subjugations were necessary. Today's operation was no different.
"Even though they are goblins, you must not underestimate them. Especially since Young Master Alvaro is participating today, remain more vigilant than usual."
At Paul's warning the knights' expressions soured inwardly. Subjugating goblins was already difficult enough; now they had to babysit a brat who hadn't even come of age. Just one more piece of baggage to carry.
Well, what could they do? I'd been dragged here by my father's orders too. We'd both just have to endure the mutual discomfort.
"Kieeeeeek!"
"Multiple goblins on the left! Block the left side first!"
The real subjugation had begun.
A horde of goblins armed with stone spears, stone swords, and the occasional gleaming metal weapon came charging in. Countless goblins fell beneath the knights' blades, but even more poured out of the forest without end. The sight alone made it painfully clear why regular subjugations were necessary.
"Fire Ball! Fire Ball!"
"Fire Ball!"
⟨ FIRE BALL ⟩
I provided intermittent support fire, but the destructive power was lower than I'd hoped. The trees in the forest kept blocking my lines of fire, and the fog was growing thicker by the minute. I was terrified of friendly fire, so I hesitated to shoot freely. With my limited mana, efficient usage was essential… but it was proving extremely difficult.
The knights, on the other hand, were pure close-combat cold-weapon users. In melee they could ignore the terrain and perform at full strength. While fog could cause serious identification problems against human or human-like enemies, right now they were fighting goblins. Fog or no fog, the knights simply needed to hack at anything small that moved.
Clang!
"Kwaak!"
"Goddammit! Sorry, Young Master!"
"I-It's fine!"
Fine my ass. I almost died. I'd barely managed to deflect some unknown knight's attack with my dagger.
It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes, yet the fog had thickened so badly that I could only make out vague shapes within five meters. In this soup, a ten-year-old human and a goblin probably looked identical, so they must have mistaken me for one that had slipped deep into their lines. The only saving grace was that the knights weren't charging with full power; they were conserving stamina against the endless waves. If they had been, I would have already crossed the Sanzu River for the third time.
"Form tight formation!"
That was Paul's voice. With visibility this bad, he probably wanted to use the densest possible formation to hold the goblins back. Still, even for a unit made up entirely of battle-hardened knights, forming a tight formation in a foggy forest didn't seem easy.
Clank! Clank!
The distinctive sound of armored men moving through the mist reached me. It sounded like they were obeying Paul's order and forming up, but I couldn't confirm it with my eyes. In that brief moment the fog grew even thicker, blurring even my sense of direction. Still, I started walking toward where I thought the formation was——.
Whoosh!
There was no ground beneath my feet…?
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Crash!
"Kuuuak! Kkueak! Kkuaaaaak!"
Oh shit, I'm dead! The fog had hidden the terrain so well that I'd stepped off a cliff. The slope was mercifully gentle, so instead of landing head-first I rolled down on my side. I slammed into a tree with a loud crash, but aside from my whole body screaming in pain, I didn't seem to have any major injuries.
"Keruk? Keruk!"
Fuck. After rolling down a cliff I had landed right in front of a goblin pack. Strangely, the fog was much thinner down here. My scream when I hit the tree must have given me away quickly.
"Keruk! Kekek!" "Kekekkek!"
There were a disgusting number of them. At a glance, more than ten. On top of that, they were unusually well-equipped. Most were carrying metal weapons; these seemed to be elite soldiers among the goblins. But why were they gathered here instead of joining the main battle?
"Kelkeruk! Keruk! Keruk!"
One of them pointed at me and shouted. He was holding an iron dagger in one hand and wore what looked like human-sized chainmail cinched ridiculously tight with leather straps. He had to be the leader. The moment his shout ended, four goblins charged straight at me.
"Keruk!" "Keruk!" "Keruk!" "Keruk!"
A quartet of keruk-ing that was enough to drive anyone insane. What was even more insane was the situation itself. A mage who had been safely sniping from the backline had suddenly been thrown into a close-quarters UFC match after playing WWE at range. This was completely fucked.
Clang!
I first knocked aside the fastest one's blade and immediately retreated. Distance. Distance was the highest priority. I needed to create space quickly if I wanted to make use of magic's advantages.
"Eat this! Fire Ball!"
"Fire Ball!"
⟨ FIRE BALL ⟩
Boom!
I ignored safe blasting distance and fired at point-blank range. Ow, it was hot as hell! The pain from what felt like at least second-degree burns flared across my left hand, but the sacrifice had been worth it. Two goblins who couldn't react to the sudden spell were taken out in one shot.
"Kek!"
The goblins looked panicked by the flames that had burst out of nowhere. Seeing my chance, I retreated even further, backpedaling to gain distance, but my back soon hit the cliff wall.
Damn it. The slope wasn't even that steep; if I took my time I could probably climb it. But trying to climb right now would be the same as politely offering my back for a knife.
"Kekeruk!"
The leader-looking goblin shouted again, and this time the rest of them all began charging. They didn't bunch up, though. Having seen the magic earlier, they were clearly wary of getting wiped out in a single blast. Damn it, if you're goblins then just shut up and charge already. I really didn't like a single thing about this goddamn medieval fantasy world.
"Fine then. Fuck it. Let's see whether I die or you bastards die!"