Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: First Strike
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"E-Everyone's safe!"
After a fierce battle with the goblins.
As they entered the village, Dylan, who had come out ahead of time, greeted them with a sigh of relief.
"Do you have space for us to stay?"
"Plenty of space. Most folks are huddled around the village chief's place right now. The empty houses are all yours."
Following Dylan's guidance to the village center, the gathered villagers eyed the caravan members with a mix of worry and curiosity.
"...You've been isolated here for quite a while, haven't you?"
"The goblins first attacked about a month ago, so yeah, it's been around that long."
Perhaps because of the month-long isolation.
Even though Queta Village was fairly large, the people's appearances were far from good.
The stress of not knowing when the goblins might strike had left everyone with hollow looks, and unable to maintain a proper daily life, their bodies and clothes showed clear signs of neglect.
They were barely holding on thanks to the supplies they'd stockpiled beforehand. Without those, the community would have collapsed or starved long ago—their situation looked that dire.
"We're reaching our limits. Everyone who went out for help got taken out by the goblins. Now we're just waiting for someone to come save us."
And in the midst of this, Bolton's caravan—Jeon included—had arrived.
But even with mercenaries in the group, it was ultimately just a merchant caravan assembled for trade.
Dylan didn't expect much from them; he simply looked at them with pity and regret.
"To be honest... I'm sorry to you and Bolton. We dragged you into our mess and got you stuck here too."
As Dylan said, now that the caravan was inside, leaving the village easily wasn't an option.
'Even if we tried to break out... the goblins would throw everything at us.'
Jeon didn't know exactly why the goblins were isolating the village.
But it was clear they wanted to prevent any calls for outside help.
So if the caravan tried to force its way out, the goblins would come at them with everything they had.
'Better to deal with them here than drag the caravan along.'
Either way, a fight was inevitable.
Protecting the wagons and non-combatants while fighting would be far worse than preparing properly and engaging head-on.
In any case.
The caravan, guided by Dylan, settled into some empty houses and unpacked first.
But mercenaries and porters alike had just finished an intense battle, so exhaustion was etched on every face.
"Good work, everyone. Take a break for now."
Bolton ordered a rest for all.
"Dylan, I'd like to hear about the goblin attacks."
Despite fighting on the front lines, Jeon wasn't tired at all, so instead of resting, he cornered Dylan with more questions.
"Hm? The attacks?"
"He's the mage helping our caravan. Tell him everything—no holding back."
"Well... it happened like this..."
Dylan, about to head back after showing them around, was a bit startled by Jeon's grip but nodded at Bolton's words and began explaining.
"Up until that morning, everything was normal. But in the afternoon, a mercenary returning from outside reported seeing a ton of goblins."
According to Dylan.
The goblins' major assault had come without warning.
Around afternoon, a horde was spotted approaching from the village outskirts. Realizing the emergency, villagers, militia, and mercenaries prepared to fight.
"We were tense when we heard they were coming, but we didn't think we'd lose."
Queta was sizable.
It had a decent number of resident mercenaries and militia.
Seeing it was just regular goblins, they'd figured they had a solid chance.
"But the moment combat started, a goblin mage wiped out militia and mercenaries alike without mercy."
He described it:
A goblin mage holding a spellbook in one hand and a staff in the other. Every spell it cast swept away at least ten people effortlessly.
"It was overwhelming... If it hadn't stopped, the village would've been annihilated."
But after clearing the village's main fighting forces—the mercenaries and militia—the goblin halted its attack.
"Besides that first raid, they haven't launched a full assault. They do punish anyone trying to leave, though."
After realizing the goblins weren't attacking further, some villagers had rushed out en masse to seek help.
But they were all caught and killed. The goblins mutilated the bodies as a warning and dumped them at the village entrance.
No one had tried leaving since.
"When they first attacked, were there really only regular goblins?"
"Like I said, just the mage and regular goblins as far as we saw. Without that mage, we could've handled them."
"...That's weird. Ten of the goblins that attacked us were hobgoblins."
"W-What? Ten? No way!"
Dylan looked shocked and despairing at Jeon's words.
'If there were no hobgoblins a month ago, but they showed up now...'
There might be a connection between isolating the village and the sudden hobgoblins.
Of course, he had no proof yet.
But one thing was clear.
'The longer this isolation drags on, the worse it gets for us.'
People's conditions, supplies, the overall situation—everything favored the goblins the longer it went.
Waiting for them to move was suicide. They had to strike first.
"How many in the village can fight?"
"...Young men to able-bodied middle-aged, maybe 40-50. They can fight, but no real combat experience."
The rest were injured from the first battle, or kids and elderly.
"Good. Can you gather them tonight?"
"Gather them?"
"Yeah. To break this siege, we'll need everyone."
"Break the siege...?"
"What's your plan?"
Dylan looked stunned, and even silent Bolton pressed Jeon.
It was hard to believe there was a way out.
"Yes, it's possible. Please gather the villagers. Bolton, round up everyone from the caravan who can fight too."
Jeon nodded firmly despite their doubts.
'We move as soon as we're ready. That's our best shot.'
Plans to lure and engage the goblins were forming in Jeon's mind.
Three days passed since arriving at Queta Village.
That first evening, Jeon gathered everyone, shared the rough plan, got their buy-in, and started preparations.
By last night, basics were done. Today, Jeon rose early and headed outside alone.
No companions.
He simply strolled out leisurely on foot.
'About time they showed.'
Walking slowly, practically shouting "I'm out here!", presences soon surrounded him.
"Keeek!"
The presences were, predictably, goblins.
One hobgoblin led about ten regulars, blocking Jeon's path.
But they didn't attack.
They just drew weapons and gestured for him to back off.
"What? Not here to fight?"
"Keeek! Kieeek, kieeek!"
The lead hobgoblin gestured again and chattered in response to Jeon's question.
It wasn't understanding him—just issuing a warning. But Jeon understood perfectly.
'Back off, or your comrades are in danger...'
Even knowing this, Jeon didn't retreat.
'I came out here to meet you guys.'
Instead, he scanned around and asked the goblins directly.
"Just you guys here, right?"
And at Jeon's question.
"Ki, kieeek?"
"Keeek!? Kieeek, kieek, kieeek!?"
"Keeek! Kieeek!?"
Not just the hobgoblin—all the goblins freaked out in shock.
And understandably so.
Jeon had spoken in the goblin tongue.
"Ahem, oof, their language really shreds the throat."
His throat scratched from imitating it perfectly, Jeon cleared it lightly.
Meanwhile, the goblins stared in disbelief.
"Keeek? Kieeek, keeek, keeek!?"
Some demanded how he knew their language.
"Keeek! Keeek, keeek! Kieeek?"
Others asked if he understood everything they said.
"Kieeek! Kieeek, kieeek!"
"Keeek, keeek. Kieeek!"
Some tried fleeing to report it.
"Can't let you do that."
From prior fights, he'd anticipated they'd bolt at anomalies.
Before they could, Jeon unleashed his prepared spell.
Compression
[Rune Magic]
Krunch!
With one word from Jeon, the ten regular goblins' heads were crushed and torn off.
"Ki, kieeek!?"
At the sudden, pathetic demise of their group.
The hobgoblin leader looked around in disbelief.
In that instant, Jeon channeled mana to shape Elderlake into staff form and charged.
"Keeek?"
The hobgoblin tried reacting.
But Jeon was far faster.
Wham!
Slipping into striking range, Jeon swung Elderlake into its gut.
"Kiee... guh!"
As the hobgoblin doubled over, Jeon grabbed its jaw and slammed it backward.
Thud!
Straddling the fallen hobgoblin, Jeon menaced it in goblin tongue.
"Now, spill. Where's your mage?"
"Keeek, guh! Grugh!"
The pinned hobgoblin thrashed to escape, to no avail.
Jeon's mana-enhanced strength outclassed it.
"Guh! Keeeugh!"
Yet it shook its head stubbornly, loyal to the end.
"More loyal than I thought."
Jeon nodded, surprised—but not enough to stop.
"Let's see how long that lasts."
With those words, he funneled mana through his hand clamping its mouth.
"Grrrrgh!"
The mana seeped into its jaw, twisting muscles slowly.
From facial muscles to neck, arms, chest.
The distortion spread as mana flowed.
The hobgoblin clenched its teeth, trying to endure.
But internal muscle-twisting pain was beyond bearing.
"Guh, grrrgh!"
"Hm? Ready to talk now?"
Soon, writhing in agony, it nodded frantically, offering to speak.
"Loyalty's overrated."
Jeon dusted his hands and stood.
The hobgoblin, still reeling, staggered without rising.
"Hey, get up."
It flinched.
At Jeon's urging, it bolted upright with all its strength.
"Move. Not straight to your lair—take me somewhere overlooking it."
The hobgoblin guided Jeon devotedly.
Thanks to it, he soon reached a hill with a view of the goblin lair in a nearby mountain.
"Swarming like ants."
From above, the "lair" was massive—hundreds visible, larger than a village.
Jeon whistled softly.
"Eh, about what I expected."
He'd anticipated numbers like this.
Now, execute the plan step by step.
"Time to punch first and punch hard?"
First strike wins.
That was step one of Jeon's plan.