## Chapter 27 – Goblin Extermination
Saint’s expression was utterly serious. It was as if setting this place on fire was no different from stating that a person dies of thirst if they don’t drink water—a perfectly obvious thing to say.
“No, set it on fire? Won’t that cause a forest fire?”
“It’s not autumn, and we’re just starting a fire in front of the cave. It’s not going to cause a forest fire.”
Come to think of it, seeing all the greenery, it didn’t seem likely to cause a fire unless some serious fire demon was involved. Forest fires don’t happen easily in the summer. If I just think of it as an extension of a campfire, well, it makes sense.
“If we light a fire inside the cave entrance, the smoke will fill it up. Then the goblins inside will come running out. We can easily catch them when they do.”
“Ooh, I see. Good idea.”
I clapped my hands at that. Goblins aren’t exactly known for their intelligence, so they probably didn’t bother with things like ventilation systems when they made the cave. If we light a fire, they’ll either suffocate from the smoke or come crawling out in a frothy mess.
Good idea.
Is the ability to think like this a matter of experience?
Setting a fire really does seem like the best approach.
I was just thinking about whether to charge in or not, but Saint took a different approach, inducing the enemy to come out. And if we roast the goblins with smoke and pull them all out, exploring the inside of the cave becomes much easier. It’s almost like killing two birds with one stone.
For reference, goblins have a habit of hoarding `things that can be turned into money` inside their lairs. They’re such kind and lovely creatures. The fact that treasure goblins drop rare items in games wasn’t just fiction.
“Then shouldn’t we set up some traps in front? Hmm, that would be great. They’ll trip as they come out.”
Maria said. It was such a groundbreaking idea that I clapped again. Even a simple pit would cause more chaos when the goblins, blinded by smoke and fire, came rushing out.
If they tripped and piled up on each other, we could even hope for accidental crushing, and the ones with limited movement would have a higher chance of suffocating from the smoke they’d inhaled.
And as the entrance becomes more congested, they’ll have trouble escaping. Then we can easily slaughter them.
“Wow. Where did you get such a good head?”
“This is just basic stuff.”
She smiled brightly, pleased with her idea. The curve of her eyes made anyone who saw it feel good.
“It would be good to set up a simple barricade too.”
Gibson also offered his opinion in this productive atmosphere that resembled a highly engaged elementary school class meeting.
“Incredible! Such a method!”
I praised Gibson with exaggerated gestures. Setting up a barricade would be perfect. We could literally massacre the goblins trapped by fire and smoke with ease.
There’s a reason teachers nag elementary school students to participate in class meetings. Such helpful ideas! If I could go back, I’d like to participate more diligently in class meetings.
“Then everyone, gather materials. Things like branches to burn, or thick trees to set up a simple barricade.”
Following Saint’s instructions, Maria and Gibson moved to gather wood. Then my job would be digging, right? Thanks to my experience in the military, my digging skills were in the realm of mastery. I’d dig some nice pits and make them the goblins’ graves.
“Ah, I’ll dig the holes. I used to make a living digging in my younger days.”
“Do so.”
I immediately decided to dig using a blunt branch and the scabbard that were lying around. Considering the goblins’ small size, digging just a little would be enough for them to trip easily.
“Ah, there’s no need to dig the holes deep. It’s enough to just trip them up when the panicked goblins rush out in confusion.”
“Understood.”
And so, our work progressed smoothly. Even if Maria was a woman, there were three men in their prime, so the work went quickly. Maria piled the gathered branches and bushes inside the cave entrance, and Saint and Gibson gathered trees of a suitable size to set up a simple barricade.
I also got into the swing of things and quickly dug the pits.
But why weren’t these goblin bastards showing their faces? Logically, no matter how stupid they are, wouldn’t they at least peek out if someone was pulling this kind of stunt in front of their house?
“Did these bastards take sleeping pills or something? It’s so noisy outside, but they’re not coming out.”
We were trying to maintain a quiet and secretive operation, but even so, it was strange that it was so quiet. Are goblins usually like this? I only had experience hunting them in small groups in the field, so I didn’t know the details.
“They said they raid at night, so maybe they sleep during the day? Or maybe they’re deep inside?”
“Don’t they have guards?”
“Goblins aren’t orcs. I don’t think they’re smart enough for that.”
Then that must be it.
There must be a reason why goblins haven’t become a mainstream race, unlike the powerful monster group, the orcs. I decided not to care too much. They’re all going to die anyway, so there’s no need to worry about them.
Time was a little tight to be having useless thoughts when I couldn’t even hold a funeral for them.
I should just dig diligently.
“Hmm… I think this is enough.”
After some time, the work was completed.
I finished the small, wide pit traps in front of the cave entrance, and Gibson and Saint built barricades that were a little less than waist-high behind the pits. Maria had already brought in a lot of kindling made of bulky bushes and branches inside the cave.
People are really good at their jobs.
Should we start soon?
“Shall we start the fire then? I have a fire starter.”
I turned to Saint and said. He seemed a bit clumsy at first, but now he was practically the party leader. As expected, experience from age and muscle was reliable. Muscles don’t lie.
“Begin.”
I took out the fire starter from my pouch. It was a convenient tool that I had used once before with Sister Elise when we were camping out, and it could easily start a fire.
“Ah, this is a bit scary. Anyone here like arson? A great chance to enjoy your hobby.”
“…”
“…”
While everyone was giving me puzzled looks, Maria said,
“Hurry up. You’re huge but so scared.”
What’s the use of a barbarian who’s afraid of fire?
“Tsk, I’ll do it.”
I split the fire starter in half. Seeing the small flame burning inside, I put it in the bushes.
“Oh, it’s catching. It’s catching.”
“This is tense.”
Before long, smoke began to leak out. Then the inside of the bushes began to burn, and finally, it caught fire.
“It would have been easier if we had a mage. One gust of wind magic could have pushed all the flames and smoke inside.”
“I agree.”
The small fires grew bigger and bigger. Finally, the entire bush was burning, spewing out black smoke. The smoke seemed to be going inside the cave. The flames were stronger than expected, so we threw all kinds of branches inside to add more fuel.
“Burn, burn.”
It was a truly mesmerizing sight. If Hassan were here, he would surely be delighted, saying, `I didn’t know the people of this world had such beautiful customs.` Since ancient times, there has been no content more enjoyable than watching a fire.
Fire has a magical power that captivates people. Now I could almost understand the psychology of notorious arsonists. The fire devoured the wood and grew bigger and bigger.
“Get ready.”
After throwing in some kindling, we lowered our bodies behind the barricade and stared at the cave, following Saint’s instructions.
ㅡGulp.
A tense moment.
“They’re coming.”
Saint said.
ㅡKiyaaaaaak!
At that moment, when I was extremely nervous and my fist holding the sword was clenched, the evil cries of beasts that seemed to tear the world apart echoed from inside the cave. The sounds that flowed out from the depths gradually became closer.
The goblins were escaping.
ㅡKeryak!
ㅡKiyaak!
ㅡKeruk! Keruk!
“They’re coming out!”
ㅡKwaeeeek!
Soon the goblins appeared.
“Oh, you little shits!”
“They can’t get out?”
“It seems so.”
However, the guys who appeared screaming didn’t seem to be able to get past the burning pile of bushes. The shadows of the goblins behind the flames were just screaming and stomping their feet.
Even if they were in a hurry, they weren’t crazy enough to break through the fire, were they? But they had no choice.
“Won’t they all burn to death like that?”
“They’ll start popping out before they suffocate.”
Saint answered Gibson’s question. As he said, they started to take action.
ㅡKerak!!!!!!
Then the craziest goblin at the very front bravely broke through the burning pile of bushes and rushed towards freedom.
After that, one, two, three, four… countless goblins tried to follow, screaming in agony.
ㅡKereuk!
ㅡKeryak!
ㅡKeryak!
But they couldn’t.
The guy who rushed out so bravely tripped over the pit in front of the cave and fell over, and the guys who followed also tripped over the guys who had fallen in front. And as if that wasn’t enough, the guys who came after that just kept falling over again, creating a scene of hell.
And then they burned. It was quite funny.
ㅡKrellyak!
Along with the mournful cries, the smell of burning and the smell of meat cooking wafted through the air.
The goblins, panicked and confused, were just trying to escape to the side without smoke and fire, but now the entrance was saturated with the guys who had fallen and already died. We were forcing them into a desperate situation where they couldn’t get out and couldn’t escape back into the cave.
“Now!”
Saint aimed his spear and advanced. All the party members stuck to his side, forming a line and approaching the goblins.
ㅡThwack!
ㅡKrak!
We attacked the goblins as they were. I stepped on the heads of the goblins who had already fallen, and repeatedly stabbed and pulled out my sword between the collarbones of the goblins crawling over their fallen comrades.
They no longer had the will to fight. This was not a battle, but a one-sided massacre.
The goblins seemed to have only four words in their heads: `escape`, `flee`, `run away`, `nigeru`. They were burned by the fire, suffocated by the smoke, and stabbed to death by the sword, but they just crawled and crawled to escape.
This was the first time I’d experienced such an unexciting battle. Compared to the scale.
“Ignore the ones who escaped!”
Even in the midst of that, a few lucky guys managed to break through the encirclement. We missed a few, but that didn’t matter at all.
“Die! Die!”
I kept stabbing and cutting the goblins with my sword. The goblins were mostly falling and tripping, desperately trying to climb over the corpses of their own kind, so I could easily kill them without any resistance.
“Kihyat! You bastard! You bastard!”
ㅡBang! Bang!
And then I witnessed the surreal scene of Maria repeatedly smashing the foreheads of fallen goblins with her shield, but I focused on my work. It was only natural that battle brought excitement to people.
“Huh! Huh!”
Saint was also skillfully wielding his short spear, making holes in the goblins’ bodies. Creatures tend to bleed and die even if they have only one small hole in their bodies. Bleeding damage wasn’t a dot damage, but a burst damage.
Gibson, who still looked like a boy, was also showing a merciless hand, cutting down the goblins. That’s how the corpses piled up at the entrance.
