Chapter 16 - Combat
Chapter 16 - Combat
The march to hunt goblins continued without end.
The thirty adventurers walked, and walked some more. Of course, they stopped when night fell. But every other moment was spent walking.
There was no rest time either. They simply ate and drank while on the move.
Surprisingly, when people got tired enough, they could fall asleep while walking. How I found that out... I'd rather not say.
Anyway, by doing that, we reached Notra City on the Adens Plain in just two days.
"Haah. I thought I was gonna die from exhaustion."
Still, there was some reward for walking like that.
Because we arrived fairly quickly among the hired adventurers, we got to make various preparations for battle.
"They say there's no need to buy food. We already checked the weapons before coming here, so let's head straight to the assembly point."
"Right."
Surprisingly, the city was providing all the food for the extermination force!
That was because this city had extremely high productivity.
It was already built on a plain perfect for farming, and the priests of the Earth Church blessed the land every single day of the year, keeping the soil fertile.
The wheat produced here fed all the surrounding cities.
When productivity was high, the population grew, and with more people came more taxes, which naturally meant plenty of wealth.
'So that's why the goblins are attacking this place.'
With so much food around, of course they'd target it.
There was a reason the standing army was so large. More people, more money.
'But with this much, couldn't they just hire standing troops from other cities?'
Hmm. Apparently there were nobles who occasionally refused to borrow strength from other lords and insisted on solving things with their own power.
Whether it was a matter of pride or some complicated politics I couldn't understand as a commoner, I didn't know. Probably the latter.
"We're here."
While I was lost in thought, we had arrived at the assembly point.
Everyone was gathering in front of what looked like the city hall, and the numbers were quite large. It really seemed like they had scraped together every available person.
"There are a lot of people."
"Way more than promised."
Indeed.
The number of adventurers, expected to be around two hundred, looked closer to four hundred.
Even accounting for our early arrival, it was an enormous number. If everyone showed up, wouldn't it reach six hundred?
They really must have money rotting away. Hiring this many mercenaries just to deal with goblins.
"I think they're trying to reduce the losses to the city's standing army. Mercenaries are much cheaper than regular troops."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Ah! Someone's coming over there. Looks like a knight."
The knight was a middle-aged woman with short black hair.
She wore a black eyepatch over one eye, and a long scar ran from the corner of her mouth down to her neck.
She was clad in full plate armor, minus the helmet, and every step she took produced an impressive clank clank sound.
"Looks like everyone's gathered."
Her imposing presence was enough to silence even the rowdy mercenaries, who usually had no manners.
"I am Anders Hyorel, deputy commander of the goblin extermination unit. I'm also the one who hired you."
A specialized goblin extermination unit.
There was nothing strange about that. Goblins were one of the monsters most harmful to humans.
"As you all know, this city is currently in a precarious state. The goblin legion camped outside is on the verge of invading."
Anders Hyorel quietly scanned our faces. Maybe she was trying to boost morale.
Unfortunately, the only way to raise mercenaries' spirits was money.
"So I hope you'll all fight with everything you have."
The mercenaries neither cheered nor jeered at the knight.
They simply clapped to save the employer's face, with little real enthusiasm.
"Sorry to those of you who came from far away, but you'll be deployed into actual combat the day after tomorrow. According to the messenger, a horde of about a thousand goblins is approaching from the west."
"A thousand...!"
Was that the vanguard of the goblin legion?
What an absurd number. How had they been left unchecked until it grew this large?
"Then get some rest for tomorrow. Ah, and meals will be supplied by the main force."
With those words, the imposing knight quietly withdrew.
The mercenaries stared blankly until she disappeared, then dispersed.
They needed to conserve their strength for tomorrow's battle. After all, tomorrow might be the last day of their lives.
"Karl, let's rest a bit before we go."
Karl nodded instead of answering.
From her expression, she was clearly dying for a drink.
The next day dawned.
The mercenaries rose early, gathered at the assembly point, and marched outside the city.
Their numbers had grown to around seven hundred. With that many people, they really did look like a human wave.
Maybe the goblins weren't an excuse after all. Maybe they were planning to invade the territory. Otherwise, they wouldn't have multiplied this much.
The adventurers gathered on the plain held weapons of every kind, making the scene look chaotic.
Most were armed with spears and clubs. Only a few carried swords, which were harder to handle.
"They're coming."
"What?"
"The ground is shaking. That means something's approaching."
Karl's words were right. A messenger on horseback was galloping toward us at high speed.
Wait, they were attacking already? This fast!
"Emergency! Emergency! Goblins are incoming! Approximately one thousand in number! Maintain formation!"
Just as the messenger said, a green wave appeared in the distance.
'There's really a fuckton of them!'
The numbers were so great it looked like the grass itself was moving.
"Anyone holding a spear, get to the front! Stab them before they even reach you!"
The adventurers with long spears scrambled forward.
Unlike a proper army, however, the mercenaries had no training in changing formations, so it took a long time.
By the time the goblin horde was right in front of them, the adventurers were already pushing and shoving each other.
"Tear them apart!"
-Shaaaak!
The two armies finally collided.
Most of the goblins in the front line were skewered by spears and axes, screaming as they died.
The ones behind them were no different. Their necks were slashed, their hearts pierced. Some had their jaws kicked sideways by military boots.
"Come at me—! You green lumps!"
The most outstanding fighter among them was Karl.
She broke away from the formation and plunged straight into the goblins.
Every time her axe flashed, at least three goblins died, and after repeating this five times, a circular clearing had formed around her.
"Gyaaah!"
"These dogshit...!"
I thought it was a one-sided massacre... but it wasn't.
While the front-line goblins were being crushed by superior reach, the ones rushing in over their dead comrades were inflicting heavy casualties.
'Now that I look, they're only charging the ones with spears!'
Spears had such superior reach that goblins couldn't approach if the wielder kept stabbing and retreating.
So the goblins attacked in groups of five against the adventurers holding spears.
When three died, the remaining two would trip the adventurer and bite them.
They were so skilled at it, as if they had done this many times before. They really knew how to use their numbers.
'What the hell. These aren't the kind of bastards who can pull off something like this!'
It looked as if someone had given them a strategy.
"Fuck! Block the front a bit! We're all gonna die at this rate!"
"Ack!"
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, the adventurers fell one after another.
And on top of that...
"What the hell! You said there were only a thousand!"
At someone's scream, I turned to look and—good god! A goblin horde numbering at least several hundred was charging straight at the flank of the formation!
No, what the hell were the standing army bastards doing while something this close was approaching?
"The side's been breached!"
With the front already hard to hold, the flank attack turned everything into chaos in an instant.
A brutal melee began.
'I thought my turn would come later!'
I had been feeling relatively safe in the middle of the formation, but now I had to fight properly too.
'From what I can see, the adventurers are generally overpowering them...'
The problem was that the enemy was coordinating attacks.
The reason goblins were weak was that even when they cooperated, it was sloppy.
Of course, that was still dangerous for beginners.
But these goblins, even while being slaughtered, always attacked in groups of two or three.
Even humans couldn't do this without proper training!
"Alright. From now on, let's fight calmly."
Staring at the goblins charging toward me,
I gripped the handle of the flail tightly.