## Chapter 127 – D-Rank Adventurer Kim Kat
I woke up to the morning chill, my body stiff. Sleeping on a hard floor after being used to a bed was taking its toll. I never used to be like this, but my recent comfortable life had dulled my steel-like physique.
“…Ah.”
Time to get up. I carefully peeled off Cloudy, who was wrapped around me like a vine, clapped my hands, and woke up the party members.
“Hey, wake up. Time to work.”
One by one, they opened their eyes at the sound.
This reminded me of old memories, like training camps or school trips. It also reminded me of trips with friends, and, in a more extreme comparison, even the army. Except everyone here was a girl. It was the atmosphere unique to wake-up time.
“Huff, huff. Company wake-up call. Company wake-up call. All company members, assemble at the parade ground by 0645 hours for roll call. Over.”
After that bit of nonsense, Winia, who had barely opened her eyes, muttered, “What the hell are you babbling about, you darkie?” Yeah, I don’t know either. What the hell was that?
Unlike yawning Winia and Cloudy, Lina, knowing her place, quickly got up and opened the door. Good attitude.
We got up, stretched, and went outside. The air was cold.
Ouch, damn my back. My neck was cracking like crazy too.
Was it going to rain?
ㅡWhoosh!
After yawning, I drew my sword and performed the basic forms of the Chief’s Swordsmanship.
The sword strokes cutting through the air, the precise movements, and the powerful slashes created clear trajectories, flowing like water. My condition seemed good. My body was in perfect shape for handling a sword.
Soon, everyone came out, adjusting their clothes.
Overall, they looked exhausted.
“Let’s go to the village chief’s house. He told us to stop by in the morning.”
“Ugh… Katt. Carry me.”
Cloudy, rubbing her eyes, leaned on me.
If she wanted to be carried, I had to carry her.
“I’ll carry you right away.”
I immediately picked up Cloudy and started walking.
Winia, who was walking in front of me, glanced back at me and moved her lips as if to say something. What was it? It was too quiet to hear. Winia quickly turned her head back and walked ahead.
“…Damn it.”
“Isn’t she cute?”
Cloudy whispered in my ear after seeing that.
“What? Cute?”
“Yeah. Not bad in her own way. The more I look at her, the more I like her?”
“Oh my god… And I’m at my limit. Get down now.”
This older sister was already losing it.
“Already?”
“My back’s gonna break.”
We arrived at the village chief’s house and knocked on the door. As if he had been waiting, the village chief opened the door, greeted us, and told us to come inside.
It had been a long time since I had entered such an ordinary house, and for a moment, I wondered if I should take off my shoes, but it seemed like I didn’t have to.
The inside was quite spacious.
The village chief seated us at a large table. He said he would give us a more detailed explanation.
“First, let me tell you about the scale of the hobgoblins. We estimate there are about 20 to 30 of them.”
“Is that a concrete number?”
“Not really. Only about ten hobgoblins came to raid, so we guessed that there were about twice that number waiting inside the abandoned mine. That number is also based on the scouts from the self-defense force. It’s not completely accurate. But considering the scale of the raids, I don’t think there would be more than that.”
So, there could be more or fewer than that. If there were more, I might have to charge extra. I just hoped that wouldn’t happen.
“What about the risk of the mine collapsing or anything like that?”
“I don’t think so. Part of the tunnel collapsed about ten years ago, but I haven’t heard of anything since. We’ve been doing surveys every year since then. Did you see the map? It was last updated about six months ago, so it’s pretty reliable.”
I asked about everything I needed to know and listened to the explanations. In short, all we had to do was kill all the hobgoblins occupying the mine and come out. When I asked if I could set it on fire, he said no, because the support beams could burn and cause it to collapse completely.
Why not just collapse it since it’s an abandoned mine anyway?
“Darkie… Don’t you know that could cause a landslide?”
“Ah, right, that’s true.”
“Idiot.”
Winia chuckled at my stupid remark.
Damn it.
“Shall we get going then?”
Cloudy asked. But there was something I had to do first.
“Still, we’re in a village, so we should eat before we go. Village chief, is there a restaurant nearby? Since we’re in the village, I’d like to have a proper meal before we start working.”
I didn’t want to chew on some dry rations first thing in the morning. Now that I was D-rank, it was time to say goodbye to that kind of miserable life. I was going to live like a human being now.
“We’re just a village of people living together, so we don’t really have a restaurant… But if you want, I can offer you a home-cooked meal.”
“Oh, would you? Thank you. How much will it cost…”
“It’s fine. Just eat well and take care of the hobgoblins.”
What was this? Why was he being so nice?
It had been a long time since I had received such kindness, and I was a little dumbfounded. Was it because he knew skilled people had come because it was a D-rank request? Or was it because there was a mage? I didn’t know, but if someone offered kindness, I would just accept it with gratitude.
“Thank you so much, village chief. You truly have the magnanimous demeanor of a village leader. Ah, there aren’t many people like that these days. I’ve met a rare person from afar.”
“Hahaha, what are you saying? Honey! Prepare a meal for our guests!”
The meal we were served was vegetable stew.
It was a little bland, but it was a pretty good stew compared to what I had been eating. At least it was a hundred times better than the inn’s mystery soup. But what’s the difference between soup and stew anyway?
I exaggeratedly shouted that it was delicious and made a fuss.
There’s nothing better than praising the taste when you’re offered food.
“Wow… this is so delicious. Living with a wife who cooks so well, you must be happy every meal?”
“Haha, it’s not that great. Well, my wife is a good cook!”
After finishing the meal, we each took about thirty minutes to rest.
I went to the well to brush my teeth and wash my face. Everyone else spent their time similarly.
“Good luck!”
“Yes. Rest easy. We’ll bring you their heads.”
After the break, we set off for the abandoned mine.
“Hmm, even if we finish by tonight, we’ll have to sleep here one more night.”
The high pay was good, but the travel time and everything else made me feel a little less excited. Well, even so, it was still better than doing a few E-rank quests, so I guess it didn’t matter.
“O-Oppa? Did you just say one more day?”
“Yeah. The carriages don’t run at night. So we’ll have to go tomorrow. Do you want to walk?”
“…”
But not for Lina.
For Lina, one day’s pay was 5 coppers, and it was taking three days. Poor thing. She got stuck with a shitty job because she was a barbarian F-rank. Of course, I wasn’t going to give her any extra money.
You have to raise your younger sister tough.
“Hmph, I want to go back soon. The sleeping arrangements are uncomfortable. I can’t do whatever I want. Looking at it this way, I think I’ve become too used to settled life. Isn’t it too comfortable?”
“Me too.”
Cloudy, who had been wandering for a long time, had also become accustomed to a stable life. The same went for me. I was already missing the bed in the lodgings.
“Winia, are you okay?”
I asked Winia, who was walking silently.
She glanced back at me and said quietly.
“…I’m fine.”
“That’s good.”
“Because I’m with Darkie.”
Winia’s face was slightly flushed as she said that.
What!
What did she say!
“Why?”
“Ah, no… that…”
“Then get lost.”
I lowered my head and went back to stand next to Cloudy. Cloudy, with a strange smile, leaned in and poked my cheek. No, why did I have to feel this way? I didn’t know.
Embarrassed, I shouted at Lina for no reason.
“Hey, Lina, are you okay? Aren’t you sweating too much?”
“I-I’m okay! No problem…”
“Really? That’s good.”
Actually, she wasn’t sweating at all, but I just felt like saying it. After what felt like two hours, we arrived at a place that looked like an abandoned mine.
We immediately lowered our bodies and scouted the area.
It was important to hide because the hobgoblins might find us first. Since they were smart, they would definitely go and tell their comrades if they found an intruder.
That would be annoying.
Slowly and carefully, we searched the area and cautiously approached the abandoned mine.
“Katt, there.”
“Yeah. I see it.”
Finally, we began to see the entrance to the abandoned mine ahead. The old, black support beams hanging at the entrance like a door frame gave off the feeling of a true abandoned mine entrance.
Two hobgoblins were standing there.
Were they guards?
I strained my eyes and examined them. They had generally reddish and bumpy skin. They were only about a head taller than goblins. About Lina’s size.
Their noses, unlike goblins, were not long, but rather sunken like pig noses. They were basically different monsters, not just goblins.
To put it simply, they were short, ugly, pig-nosed dwarves with bumpy skin. Still, they seemed bigger than goblins. Not comparable to humans, but… It didn’t seem like their individual combat power was anything special.
They were armed with wooden clubs, and most importantly, they were wearing fur.
They knew how to wear clothes and use weapons.
They could even post guards.
Even if their individual combat power wasn’t great, it was clear that they would be difficult to deal with in groups.
It seemed true that they were smarter than goblins.
About 20 of those guys… It would be harder than I thought.
“It’s best to kill the guards quickly. Katt, you can do it, right? It looks like we can each take one.”
Cloudy drew her curved sword.
“Wait. Let’s take a look first.”
There was something I wanted to check first. I didn’t think they would only post those two as guards, and I thought they would definitely have a shift change.
I wanted to check that first, so I told them to wait a moment.
“Darkie, what are you thinking so hard about? They’re just weaklings. Just go in, kill them all, and come out. Orcs are different, but they don’t even use bows.”
“Oh, really?”
“What’s with that reaction? Darkie, don’t you believe me?”
“No, it’s not that… Oh, wait, aren’t you not supposed to use fire magic inside? If it catches fire and the mine collapses, we’re all screwed, landslide or not.”
Now that I thought about it, since I had been told not to set it on fire, it wasn’t a good idea to use Winia’s fire magic. If we weren’t careful, the fire could spread to the support beams inside and the tunnel could collapse.
Of course, that wouldn’t happen easily, but it was better to be careful.
“Darkie… Do you think I only use fire magic?”
“You don’t?”
“I can’t even hit you, damn it. If you’re a mage like me, you should know at least two types of elemental magic, right?”
“Really? I’ve never seen you use anything else…”
“I don’t usually have a reason to use it.”
Anyway, Winia urged us to go in, trusting in her magical skills, but I didn’t think so. Hobgoblins lived in groups. Wouldn’t there be some who had gone out to find food?
If about 10 of them were out, as the village chief said, then raiding the empty house would be a good choice.
But what if we went inside and the hobgoblins who had gone hunting returned? Then we could be surrounded in the dark.
Even if we had Winia, the vicious mage, Cloudy, the cruel warrior, and me, the ultimate fire swordsman of steel and conviction, things could still go wrong if we went in recklessly.
Hobgoblins weren’t ordinary monsters.
As you can see now, they were smart.
No matter how strong a warrior you were, you would die if you were careless against such an opponent.
The legendary Philistine general Goliath didn’t get killed by that dwarf David for no reason. It was all because they underestimated and were careless of the enemy.
If it was a monster I knew, I would just go in, but hobgoblins were new to me, so I had to be especially careful. That was my habit. It was right to be careful of anything new.
Dryad was different, but the situation was what it was, so I just ran into it.
I had to approach anything I saw for the ‘first time’ and ‘didn’t know’ carefully, considering all sorts of conditions.
I swallowed and glared at the hobgoblins.
