Chapter 28 – Mines, Kobolds, and Senior Adventurers (3)
“Ha… That’s fucking shit.”
My mood was similar to Belita’s.
When I saw dog heads drooling with stupid faces in the dark mines, I couldn’t help but think of that.
Especially if those assholes are carrying weapons.
“Yoo, Mr. Yooseong…”
Seris called me with a trembling voice. Even so, the shield and sword are properly held. It meant growing up.
Gulp.
Kara swallowed. She was uncharacteristically nervous.
“Guys, don’t be too nervous. You have seniors. Don’t worry too much…”
-Kong! Sprinkle water!!
The kobolds immediately sprinkled water. More than ten kobolds poured water all at once, and we and our seniors were all soaked.
“What the fuck…”
I was wondering what I was doing, but when I saw our torches went out, I realized. These cubs wore their hair more than I thought.
“This isn’t good…”
It was as Patrick said. When the torches went out, darkness came in an instant. It was because the kobolds didn’t even have torches.
Whirly Rick. I heard something flying. It was dark, so I couldn’t see them flying. I just listened and moved my arms.
Pak!
I raised Ceris’s shield and blocked the flying ax. Had she stayed, she would have been lodged in her shoulder.
“Hick..?!”
“Calm down. Because it’s okay.”
He calmed the startled Seris and blinked her eyes.
‘It’s almost time to see it.’
I’ve been strangely bright at night. No matter how dark it is, if there is a little light, you can see clearly.
I’ve been to the hospital for this in the past, but the cause was unknown.
‘Perhaps this means that the senses that I mentioned in the discriminator are good.’
I blinked a few more times. Slowly, she began to see properly. I looked around.
“Kara, you stick with your sister. Yoosung? Where are you in now…”
Seris and Kara stuck together. I left it alone because I thought it would be safer for now.
Next, I turned to my seniors. They were also the same as the Celis sisters. They are huddled together in one place because they cannot see the front.
If there was anything different from the Celis sisters, it was that they covered their loopholes by standing back to back.
‘This must be the difference in experience.’
This time, I looked around the kobolds. They just glared at us and didn’t move.
‘Can’t you see these bastards too?’
I can’t see them either, so why did they turn off the lights? I suddenly remembered a story I had heard in the past.
It is said that dogs have good night vision.
Their eyes must be less accustomed to the darkness right now. But that too soon. If they can see well, they will run at us.
It would be difficult for the seniors to cope because they are blind, and of course that number is unreasonable for me alone.
‘I wonder if there’s any other way…’
I spotted a small ball of fire beyond a group of kobolds. It was a torch hanging on the wall.
’10 meters beyond them…’
If you run 10 meters past the kobold herd, you can pull out the torch hanging from the wall. The problem is that we have to break through those kobolds.
How to break through As I looked around, the body of the guide caught my eye. Seris next to me too.
‘…I wonder if it’s possible.’
I’m not sure. I have no choice but to trust Seris.
I dragged the guide’s body and approached Seris.
“Yoo, Mr. Yooseong? This is… Heeik?!”
“Calm down Seris. Calm down and listen to me. Got it?”
“Yes, yes… What, what is it?”
“Throw this as hard as I can in the direction I’m pointing.”
“This, this? But this is…”
“Seris.”
She put her hand on her cheek. She said in a serious tone.
“Trust me.”
Se-Ri’s eyes fluttered, and she nodded as if she had made up her mind. She accepted the usher’s body.
“That way. If you do one, two, three, throw it over there as hard as you can.”
I moved Seris’ arm to orient her. She got into her throwing position.
“One two…”
I am ready to run too.
“Three!”
“Hey, what are you guys doing right now…”
“Eight!”
It wasn’t until Belita finished her sentence. Seris tossed her body with all her might.
Whoa-!
The guide’s body flew through the windmill in the air.
-Kye?!
The kobolds colliding with her corpse fell like bowling pins. I’m glad it turned out the way you thought. I took my seat.
“Hey! Where are you going!”
“I’ll bring you a torch!”
They avoided the kobolds and jumped over those who fell. But someone grabbed my leg. He’s the guy who fell over after being hit by a corpse.
‘Have you come to your senses?’
I roughly stabbed him in the face with my dagger. The kobold laid my leg. As I tried to move again, a heavy blunt instrument was pointed at my head.
“Ugh?!”
I ducked to the side and barely avoided it.
“Mr. Yooseong?!”
“Are you okay! Do not come!!”
I stopped Ceris from jumping out in surprise and threw her body on the floor. She rolled over and dodged her spear.
It was possible because the kobolds were still blind.
Moving away from them, I got up and ran toward the torch. He snatched the torch from the wall and threw it hard.
Torches spun and flew away.
Tup. The kobold jumped up and grabbed it. Deng Gang. The kobold’s head was cut off. Belita snatched the torch.
“All of these chews are searched.”
Belita stabbed and slashed the kobolds. When it doesn’t work out, I kick it. In front of her inaction, the kobolds collapsed helplessly.
“Ugh! What!”
The other seniors behind them also started to move.
Each time Andrew’s sword moved, the kobold’s limbs fell off one by one.
Joey assisted Andrew, and Patrick intervened whenever his party was in danger and protected them with a shield.
It was only one torch, but the difference between having and not having one was huge.
The kobolds started to be pushed behind by the veteran adventurers little by little.
I ran towards Seris and Kara. I stabbed the back of the neck of the kobold that was approaching them, kicked the kobold next to me, and then jumped on top of it and slashed my dagger.
[You have acquired 5 Karma.]
[You have acquired 5 Karma.]
“Ceris, Kara are you okay? Calm down. Just fight like before. Kara, never get excited. Slow down, okay?”
I was speechless because I was speaking hastily. Still, the two seemed to understand what I was saying.
The kobolds begin to actively move.
It’s the start of a dogfight.
* * *
“Ha… Ha… Isn’t anyone behind?”
Belita took a rough breath and looked around her. She approached each one with her torch to ensure her survival. After checking everything, she sat down on the floor.
“It’s fucking hard…”
She sighed. She. Thick kobold corpses lay all around her. Right or left, no matter which direction I looked, there was nowhere to be seen.
It is a sign of a brutal dog fight.
“Seris, Kara, are you not hurt anywhere?”
“Yes, we’re fine… Yoosung?! It bleeds from your head, it bleeds! Are you okay?! Doesn’t it hurt?!”
Ceris hesitated as she tried to wipe her blood with her sleeve. It is because what she is currently wearing is her quilted armor. If you wiped it with that, it could have made the wound worse.
“Brother, are you okay?”
Kara wiped it instead. Her sleeves were wet with my blood.
“Are you okay. It’s a bit torn, so there’s no need for this.”
Kara carefully pushed her arm away. I was grateful for her kindness, but it’s hard to drain blood when doing laundry.
“I was worried, but I’m glad you all seem to be okay.”
Said Patrick as he approached us.
“Yes… More than that, Mr. Patrick, how did this happen? Didn’t the chief say that at most you wouldn’t be over 15?”
“I either lied or I really didn’t know. I’ll have to check the details once we get out of the mine.”
At that, Patrick clapped his hands.
“Come on, stop resting and get up soon. There may be other kobolds. Take a break when you get out of the mine.”
We headed for the exit of the mine. I was a little lost because the guide had died, but I got out safely without encountering other kobolds.
After leaving the mine, we walked straight to the village chief’s house.
“Ah, it’s already over… Huh!”
The village chief’s eldest son saw us and was horrified. All of them were covered in kobold blood. Especially Belita was the worst.
“Hey.”
“Yes yes?”
“Call your father and fuck him.”
Belita got nervous.
* * *
“What, what are you doing?”
When the village chief entered the room and saw us, his eyes widened.
“Can’t you see?”
“Stop Belita.”
“Ha… Fuck.”
Patrick stopped. Belita wiped her hair roughly with a towel, as if her temper was not resolved. Blood, darker than the color of her hair, came out on a towel.
“Excuse me, what happened inside?”
The village chief asked cautiously. Patrick said, placing his clenched hands on the table.
“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”
“…Yes?”
“I didn’t know, so I asked.”
Patrick didn’t act like his usual sassy uncle.
A stiff face and a low voice, plus kobold blood all over his body.
It was enough to make the village chief feel the pressure.
“I don’t know what you mean… Could you please explain…”
I carefully looked at the village chief’s face. Eyes wide open and mouth slightly open. It was a really pitiful expression.
“The guide the village chief assigned is dead.”
“…Yes?”
“Because I was struck by a kobold’s axe. The number of kobolds was higher than expected.”
I looked at each and every face in the room. Among them, the man who is the second son of the village chief had his eye on him for a long time.
He was glaring at Patrick with a disapproving look.
He looked around at the other adventurers with that expression, but when our eyes met, he clicked his tongue.
Just in case, I whispered the truth to Belita. Patrick was in the middle of a conversation so he couldn’t interrupt.
Belita turned her head to look at the village chief’s second son. Then she got up and she went over to him.
“Hey.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look straight into my eyes.”
“Oh, that’s why adventurers…”
“Look straight ahead.”
Belita grabbed the village chief’s son by the collar and lifted him by force. She forced his face back to meet her eyes.
“What, what?!”
“Is it you? You lied about the number of kobolds on the request, right?”
“Yes? Don’t bullshit, why did I…”
“But why can’t you look me straight in the eyes? Do you have anything?”
Seeing Belita’s fierce eyes, he kept lowering them. Then, in anger, she shoved Belita in her chin and said,
“Yes, I did. So what are you going to do!”
“Merrick… What do you mean by that?”
The village chief looked at his son with a surprised expression. It seems that the mayor really didn’t know. The village chief’s son said to his father as if he was frustrated.
“Isn’t your father worth the money? How much money have you spent on those bastards? If it weren’t for that money, we wouldn’t have to worry about taxes like this!”
“Is that so? Is that why you lied to the people who risked their lives?”
“We risk our lives too! How many miners died from gas and falling rocks in the mines! Before that, Jen died too. If we don’t pay taxes, we’ll lose our lives too! We risk our lives too, so why are they the only ones who are good enough and we have to live like this?!”
“You bastard… No matter how…”
“Are you sure I’m the only one who thinks like this? All my friends think so too. A lord who only takes taxes and ignores our requests! Those bastards who live on their fill while skipping our blood!”
He huffed and puffed for a while. Then he spat out words he shouldn’t have put in his mouth.
“Damn you bastard… To ask the adventurer’s guild to ask for the tax and eat it like that. I got sick and searched…”
Damn!
The village chief gave his son a strong slap on the cheek. His son’s jaw turned. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his father.
“Is this guy finally crazy?! I decided to kill everyone in the village!!”
“Ah, father…”
“Shut up! I don’t want to look like you, so get out!!”
The village chief’s son clenched his fists, glared at us, and left the room. Belita followed him out.
“I’m sorry. It seems the village youth are a bit perverse. I’ll apologize. I’ll give you a generous reward, so relax…”
The village chief held Patrick’s hand and bowed his head.
“We are fine as long as you pay the right amount for the job.”
“Thank you… And what he said earlier…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”
Said Patrick, turning to us. Me, the Celis sisters, and even the other seniors nodded.
“Thank you… Thank you…”
The village chief bowed his head.
I looked at it for a moment and then came out of the room. Out the window, Belita was seen beating up her second child.
She looked around and grabbed her second child by the hair and dragged her down the alley. Her second found me and she waved her hand, begging for help.
I looked back. The village chief was still bowing his head to Patrick.
I quietly closed the door.
* * *
After that, we went into the mine to see if there were any remnants of kobolds left.
Fortunately, there were no other kobolds to be seen.
We got paid by the village chief and left the village. He gave me a large sum of 10 silver, probably with the cost of silence mixed in.
‘I insulted the nobility…’
Insulting nobles is really dangerous. If a commoner did such a thing, the whole family could be executed.
I recalled the image of the village chief bowing his head. It kept overlapping with her dead mother, and her heart was stuffy.
“It looks embarrassing.”
On the way back, Patrick, sitting across from me in the carriage, looked at me and said, I smiled bitterly.
“I guess I saw it like that. Does this happen often?”
“Not often… But often. Because everyone is worth their money. You better get used to it.”
I leaned my back against the backrest.
‘You have to get used to it…’
It was as it was said.
I had to become strong to clear the main quest, and I chose an adventurer based on that.
“If you keep thinking bad thoughts, you will be buried there. Forget about that and think about the money you will receive.”
Patrick grinned and jingled at his money bag.
-Lol…
Cerys looked at her money bag and fumbled.
I stopped laughing.
