Chapter 5. Conviction and Reality (3)

Tsk, I'm a little uneasy.

In situations like this, isn't an enemy who "looked weak but was actually incredibly strong" supposed to jump out?

It wasn't quite enough to call it "common sense," but it was enough to call it a cliché.

Well, seeing as the Saintess, Ria, and even Lee Si-yoon, Han Yu-ri, and Glaria all properly appeared in the main story, it might be an opponent without any major issues.

Besides, we weren't alone either. Unlike the past few dispatches, Hunters of a level capable of protecting "high-status individuals" were spread out all around us right now.

On top of that, a mobile team was on standby behind us so we could flee at a moment's notice. The area beyond here had been checked to some degree, but it still wasn't a place that had been "completely occupied."

The Hunters were crouching silently, and that peculiar tension reached us as well. Without speaking, we too quietly crouched and followed behind the Hunters.

A quick motion.

The Hunter at the very front raised a hand.

We all stopped walking at that signal.

Glaria was in a protected position, but she was still a princess who had come from a civilization that actively used Magic. Naturally, as a princess, her skill in using Magic was solid.

If this world were to interact with another world's civilization, the reason would usually be knowledge of Magic or creatures, after all.

......Though I don't really know what Glaria's world wanted from this world.

"......That thing."

Glaria murmured.

A faint emotion could be felt in that voice. It wasn't...... fear.

Rather—

"That's— a 'Gubling.'"

If I had to express the emotion in her voice as she said that, it was probably close to "disgust."

The kind of emotion you'd feel seeing a cockroach crawling by in the distance.

"Gubling?"

The Hunter beside her asked.

A doubtful voice.

Beyond Gates, the ecosystems often don't match to the point where people are nearly certain they're different worlds. There are many places where not just the flora and fauna but the atmospheric conditions or gravity don't match at all, making it hard to say they're simply far apart.

Of course, there are many, many people in the world, so there were also those who said the worlds beyond Gates were just planets.

So, strictly speaking, it would be normal for Glaria to be unable to recognize a creature we were "seeing for the first time."

"......Take a look. There's nothing to worry about. It's not that powerful of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Magical Creature."

But Glaria answered as if she didn't particularly care.

Ria and I looked at each other's faces, then moved forward a little more until we were near the Hunters.

A rustling sound could be heard. It wasn't from our side; it was the sound of something far away.

And what was there—

"......Goblin?"

I ended up murmuring without realizing it.

Green skin, short stature. Yet muscles that looked quite well-trained. It was wearing clothes, but no top, so I could see its belly bulging out compared to its developed muscles.

Looking at the short height and large nose, it was unmistakably a "Goblin." The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind of Goblin often depicted in Japanese manga and anime.

......Hm.

Since the platform is what it is, following the tags properly is common sense, but what kind of setting the author cooked up outside the novel is unknowable unless it's depicted in the novel.

After all, there are all sorts of people in the world, and there are authors who sometimes want to screw over the readers who read their novels somehow.

Whether they think that's art or what, I don't really know either—

"......."

The other party didn't seem to have noticed us.

It was holding a fairly large wooden club in its hand, and its face was very fierce. No matter how I looked at it, it looked like something that deserved to be called a Monster—

Crunch.

I heard that small sound from beside me, turned my head, and was startled.

Glaria was floating some kind of crystal in her hand. The tip was sharpened to a point and cold air was flowing from it— ah, it wasn't a crystal, it was an icicle. Attack Magic.

"Wait a moment."

I grabbed Glaria's arm as I spoke.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Well, disposing of it, obviously?"

Glaria tilted her head as she spoke.

"Disposing?"

"Gublings are trash-like creatures."

"......."

Uh, she was really making an absolute judgment there.

"What kind of Magical Creature is it, for you to say that?"

A Hunter asked with a cautious expression.

"They live in packs and survive by plundering."

Glaria's eyes narrowed.

"Simply plundering isn't the problem. They also capture women and young boys and use them to grow their numbers. If left alone, they'll definitely cause problems."

"......."

That...... that, what's it called.

She had phrased it indirectly as “growing their numbers,” but she meant they used them for that. So... was that really what this was? The kind of Goblin you would expect from a Japanese eroge, or from a more extreme manga or novel?

Glaria's eyes looked at my hand gripping her arm.

Only then did I let go of that hand.

"If what you say is true, then disposing of it would be best......"

The Hunter nodded.

Well, sure, that's true. Even to my eyes, it's a "Goblin." At a glance, it looks incredibly fierce, and honestly, it doesn't seem like we could communicate with it.

And even thinking about it rationally, part of my mind thought that was the right judgment.

I...... know about the original work, don't I?

Web novels, of course, were heavily influenced by all sorts of manga, anime, and movies. So the material used in those places often appears almost unchanged.

Goblins, in most web novels, are low-grade Magical Creatures. They're extermination targets, and depending on the genre, they do various things...... that is, things that would be used as material in "erotic fiction." Listening to Glaria, it seemed like it was the same in her world.

In the original work too, I never heard anything about Goblins and humanity having some kind of interaction. They might simply not have encountered them before the main story, but this Gate was rated as the safest and most useful Gate among those managed by this Association.

Which means, rather than simply never having met them, wasn't it more likely that they were just recognized as "Magical Creatures" and exterminated?

Among the Hunters, those who could use Magic also slowly prepared their spells. Here and there, icicles like the one Glaria had prepared, or small fireballs, appeared.

The Goblin still hadn't looked this way. Had it not noticed? Even if there was light, we had our own camouflage screen deployed on our side too.

"Why?"

Seeing me fidgeting, Ria quietly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asked.

"Is there something bothering you?"

"I, I......"

Should I prepare to attack too? It didn't seem like there was only one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goblin. If it was a scouting party, there were definitely more than one.

Right. That's the problem.

Yesterday's Magical Creatures were no different from beasts—charging boars and the like. They were essentially pests, so we had to drive them away or, if that was impossible, kill them.

But those Magical Creatures weren't wearing clothes. They didn't use tools either.

They were just packs of beasts roaming around.

That Goblin, at least to my eyes, didn't look like that. It was wearing clothes, and in its hand it held a weapon— a tool.

"......."

Ria's eyes looking at me were quite serious.

"What do you think?"

Ria asked.

What do I think?

To be honest, "disposing" of it just like this bothered me.

It's unavoidable that the people of this world's Earth have become relatively desensitized to these situations. They've experienced all sorts of incidents because of the Gates.

So, my sensibilities might be the strange ones.

"It's an important question."

Ria said.

She didn't seem to be joking, nor did she seem to be making small talk.

It was simply the face of someone asking a genuinely serious question, as though she truly wanted to know my answer.

"What do you want to do with that Magical Creature over there?"

"......."

People are emotional animals. No, there are no animals that aren't emotional. We value reason and rationality, but ultimately those two concepts are nothing more than things that emerged to supplement human emotion.

And because of those emotions, ironically, we sometimes confuse reason and rationality.

And the emotion usually in that confused category was "disgust."

We define something as "evil" because it looks strange to our eyes, and we conclude something is "good" because it looks beautiful, because it looks useful.

Even though living beings don't need such distinctions.

......The reason humans didn't immediately annihilate Elves the moment they encountered them, the reason they didn't define Elves who used Magic so well as "Magical Creatures" and drive them out, was probably because those Elves' appearances were "beautiful humans."

Because they looked human, they must have built a civilization, and therefore rational and reasonable interaction must be possible.

"How does it look in your eyes?"

Ria, who had been talking to me about Magical Creatures just a little while ago, was now throwing that question at me.

"I......"

"If you've thought of something."

Ria said calmly.

"Try doing it. ......I'll support you from beside you with everything I've got."

At Ria's words, I turned my head back to look ahead.

"Screech!?"

The Goblin finally looked this way.

It seemed the Magic being prepared was visible even through the barrier.

Including Glaria, everyone was ready to launch the Mana hovering above their hands forward.

How would the Goblin act? Would it charge straight at us? Would it immediately recognize us as enemies and try to attack?

No. The Goblin didn't do that.

It urgently turned around. The weapon in its hand fell to the ground. It seemed terrified by the nearly invisible threat.

"Screeech!"

And then, it shouted with all its might.

Other bushes rustled, and Goblins raised their heads.

The Goblin that had turned around once more shouted as it fled.

The other Goblins also quickly turned their bodies and fled in a panic. None of them were without clothes. Some were even fully dressed, including tops.

One Goblin fell.

I reached out my hand toward that Goblin running at the very back—

"......."

I think that was about when I decided what I was going to do.

"Wait a moment!"

I shouted with all my strength and sprang up from my spot.

Light shone from the sky, and the Magic being prepared around us was assimilated into that Holy Power and vanished.

I couldn't know what kind of being the Being Above was—but at the very least, it seemed to agree with what I was doing.

Was even that one of the plans to drive me into some pit? There was no basis to claim that everything it had shown me so far wasn't hypocrisy.

The way I trusted Holy Power was the same as the way I trusted a person who showed me kindness. If the Being Above changed its mind now, there was nothing I could do about it.

......If that wasn't the case.

Was that being also agreeing with my words?

Honestly, I don't really know.

"F-first, let's capture it alive!"

At my shout, the Hunters who had been looking at me with bewildered expressions sprinted forward with all their might.

Glaria looked at me with an expression of incomprehension until the very last moment.

And I, having received that expression, was extremely embarrassed.

Ah, I really went and did it.

I wrapped both hands around my head and crouched down on the spot.

Still, at least Ria, my knight, stood calmly beside me.