Black-Haired Alien From Another World 4

## Chapter 4 – Kobold Hunt

ㅡGack, ge-ge-geck…

The kobold, its head smashed, collapsed, its brains oozing out.

It was a lightning-fast strike. Judging by Elise’s decisive movements, this brutal headshot wasn’t her first.

Elise was a professional butcher.

A monster slaughterer trained properly.

“You pathetic pieces of shit!”

The other two kobolds, realizing the gravity of the situation, tried to flee, but I lunged forward and grabbed the scruff of the neck of the one that had barely started running.

Then, I shoved my sword between its ribs. My blade tore through the kobold’s soft flesh, forcing its way inside. The blade touched the heart.

ㅡGyugaga-gak!

It screamed and struggled with all its might, but even a monster with a survival instinct surpassing that of wild animals was helpless with its heart pierced. After twisting the blade a few times, it quickly went limp.

“Sister! That bastard’s getting away!”

As soon as I pulled my sword out of the dead kobold’s chest, pushing it with my foot, I launched a flying kick (I have a 3rd-degree black belt in Taekwondo) at the next target, but missed by a hair and fell to the ground. Shit.

“With light, He comes!”

Then Elise recited an incantation.

“Light Bolt!”

ㅡShooong!
ㅡThwack!

Unlike my blunder, Elise succeeded in subduing the kobold with a holy spell. A sphere of light gathered at the end of her morningstar, and the sphere, launched like a shot put, struck the kobold in the waist.

“Holy crap, that was awesome! Sister!”

I exclaimed in admiration at the spectacular sight.

ㅡKuguek…!

The kobold, sent tumbling across the ground from the impact of the Light Bolt after running with all its might, tried to crawl away, but Elise showed no mercy. The morningstar, raised high, drew a clear arc and shattered the kobold’s neck.

ㅡGehek!

Needless to say, it died instantly.

“Hmph, nothing special.”

Elise, catching her breath, spoke as she shook the morningstar. Blood was dripping from the star-shaped head of the flail, but her expression was utterly refreshed. It was as if killing monsters relieved her stress.

“Hmm, but it doesn’t look like there’s anything to salvage.”

I gathered the kobolds’ corpses in one place.

The ones that had been completely wrecked didn’t have anything on them.

Unless it’s a goblin or a hobgoblin with some level of intelligence, you generally can’t expect any drops. These kobold bastards don’t know how to use tools, so they don’t carry anything useful.

“Tch.”

To have fought so hard and get nothing was a straight-up loss. In fact, you wouldn’t even bother with these monsters unless the guild was offering a subjugation request to reduce their numbers. Her request was unusual.

As I was wondering what to do with these corpses, Elise suddenly pulled a dagger from her ankle.

“Wait, why are you slicing them up?”

Then, she sliced off the noses of the dead kobolds like ham and put them in her pouch.

Only the two she had killed. As far as I knew, kobolds were only good for their hides, so was this a hobby? Some adventurers are like that. Psychopaths who are extremely obsessed with certain trophies.

I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling that she might be a similar kind of psychopath. You really can’t judge people by their spending habits and looks alone. Still, well. These days, you could say that this was in the realm of individuality. Wasn’t this the age of ubiquity? Let’s respect individuality.

“What’s the use of those?”
“Ah, these are for offering. Since I killed them with my own hands, I must dispose of them with my own hands. Our God will be pleased.”
“Oh, my. I had no idea. That sounds amazing.”

It seemed to be a religious ritual.

When dealing with monster corpses, it’s common to take useful parts, but you don’t usually slice off useless parts as a hobby. If it’s a religious ritual, it makes sense.

Elise continued to explain.

“By killing evil monsters and offering their souls to our God, we can purify the filth of this world. And someday, paradise will descend.”
“I, I see.”

Apparently, this was the doctrine of the Holy Light Crusades.
But I wasn’t very interested in religion, so I didn’t really care what the reason was.

“Anyway, they’re not much of an opponent, Sister. They were really easy to deal with since they were out here.”

That’s right, these kobolds were ridiculously easy compared to the ones in the dungeon. These little [Kobold Workers] may be weaker than humans as single entities, but in the dungeon, they’re terrifying bastards that swarm from all directions.

If you dropped your torch or the mage’s light magic ran out when you were attacked by them in their cramped den, you were as good as dead.

They don’t have particularly good eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing are so well developed that they can move freely through the tunnels they’ve created.

That’s why I don’t go to kobold dungeons. I almost died once.

“Anyway, should we go where these guys were trying to escape? I think we’ll find something if we go that way. These guys instinctively run towards their group when they’re trying to escape.”
“Is that so? That seems like a reasonable deduction. Then, let’s do as you say, Katt.”

We casually moved the kobolds’ corpses to the side and headed in the direction they had been running. Since two of them had headed in the same direction, I was sure we’d find something if we went that way. There’s no way these dimwits would deliberately run in different directions to confuse us in a moment of desperation.

“A thicket.”

As we walked, we came to a place overgrown with bushes that reached my chest. Elise was about to walk straight into it, so I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.

“Sister. Let’s go around. It’s dangerous in places like this.”
“Understood.”

There’s bound to be something hiding in a place like that. Something smaller than the bushes, moving low to the ground. There are kobolds all around, so there probably aren’t any goblins or hobgoblins, but I still don’t like places like that.

We went around the thicket. We kept moving around, looking for footprints, and it took a while. It was hard to tell because of the dense trees, but I thought it must be past noon by now.

Was it getting late?

ㅡGyusat. Gyusat.

Then, we saw a kobold walking.
At the same time, Elise’s eyes lit up.

“Let’s kill it first.”
“Yes, Sister.”

We followed the kobold as if possessed and ended up ambushing and killing it.

It sounds like we’re some kind of crazy serial killers who can’t control their homicidal urges, but there was a good reason.

“Sister? What is this?”
“A very ominous sign.”

The kobold with the smashed head was wearing a strange hood, and I’m not lying when I say that I’ve never heard of a kobold wearing anything. They don’t understand the concept of clothing. They’re low-intelligence monsters that live covered in leather and fur.

The hood was painted with a crude but strangely distinctive pattern in what appeared to be red paint, probably blood. It felt really ominous.

“Let’s keep it for now.”
“Yes… You take it, Sister. I’m scared.”

It looked like an ominous object, so I just handed it over to Elise. It’s not like I’m going to blow my nose with it or anything.

As we continued in the direction the kobold had been heading, the surroundings suddenly became dark. When I looked up at the sky, the trees were so densely packed that they completely blocked out the sunlight.

“Katt. We’re in trouble.”

Elise, who was looking at the map, looked at me with a serious expression.

“Yes? Trouble?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure where we are.”
“Damn it, we’re screwed. But I was thinking the same thing. Haha.”

Actually, I had been feeling it for a while. I had no idea where we were. We had just come too far. But I remembered the way back well enough, so it should be fine.

Well, it’s not like it’s the first time. We’ve gone pretty deep, but we haven’t come that far, so we can get back somehow. Let’s think positively.

A priest who gave me bread a long time ago said that fate is determined from the moment a person is born, so you can just leave your body to the flow. When you find yourself in this situation, you can remember those words.

Well, it doesn’t solve anything, but it makes you feel better.

“What the hell are you talking about? Katt. I’ve been wondering since earlier, but what does `damn it` even mean?”

Motherfucker.

“It’s an adventurer’s slang for ‘awesome.’ Oh, and ‘awesome’ is slang for ‘amazing.'”
“I see. But more than that, aren’t we lost…”

We’re lost, you idiot.

Elise seemed a little uneasy. Actually, even though this friend looks better than me, I’m actually much older than her. Could this be the first time she’s gotten lost? It’s good to suffer when you’re young, so it’s good to get lost once in a while.

“Let’s finish what we were doing first and then think about it. More than that, look over there.”

It seems like we’re finally arriving at our destination. I’ve been hearing strange noises for a while now.

“Smoke? Is that fire?”
“It looks like a bonfire. Let’s go.”

Smoke was rising in the distance. The smoke wasn’t very thick, but it was clear that something was making a bonfire.

As we approached, sure enough.

“Shh.”

I put my finger to Elise’s lips and whispered.

“Sister. Is that it?”

Elise nodded slightly.

It was literally a pagan idol. Dozens of kobolds had used their teeth and claws to dig up mud, move it, and shape it, and they had piled up stones and wooden sticks. Seeing a severed kobold head placed on top of it, it looked like a star on top of a Christmas tree, which was pretty good.

Are blind people preparing for Christmas?

They can’t even see, but they made it pretty well.

And there was something like a flag, which was made of leather, and it seemed to be fresh kobold skin that had just been caught. Is that the owner of the head that’s being decorated? Are these bastards using human sacrifices now?

I felt a chill as if I could hear Cortez’s roar. What’s with the human sacrifices? This isn’t the Aztecs.

“I think so.”

The leather was painted with the same pattern in red blood as the one on the hood earlier. It was certain.

“So, we just have to break that and take the flag, right?”
“I think so.”

I think we’re screwed.

It was more pagan than I thought. It was more unusual than I thought, and there were more kobolds than I thought.

“Can’t we just steal the flag?”
“No.”

I suggested, staring intently at Elise’s face. Elise avoided my gaze. Still, this was too much, so I grabbed Elise’s shoulders and said again.

“Sister, think about it. Even if we break that, it’s impossible for us to take down all the kobolds. If a few of them survive, they’ll just rebuild it after we leave, right?”
“But…”
“If they rebuild it, then it’s the same whether we break it or not. And I think it would be meaningful to steal the symbol. That’s what I think.”

I conveyed my intentions to Elise with a determined face. Elise hesitated, then sighed and said.

“Katt. You mustn’t tempt me.”

I guess it’s not going to work… There are clearly more than 20 kobolds, so it’s impossible for the two of us to kill them all.

“But that makes sense. Let’s just go steal the flag.”
“No, Sister, you know what’s up. I think you’re the next generation of talent.”
“Talent, you say.”

Elise grinned. You have to be flexible even if you’re working your ass off. This is the wisdom of life. The church is similar to the military, so it seems to work to some extent.

“Then let’s set a fire, knock down a few of them, and then run away with the flag.”

Even I think it’s a great plan.

“Leave the arson to me.”

Before executing the plan, I checked the escape route. I was underestimating the kobolds a bit, but it’s not really a problem. They’re all workers, aren’t they? Thinking about it calmly, I think I can handle up to five of them alone, so I’m suggesting this plan.

The kobolds don’t have any weapons other than their claws and teeth, but my quilted armor can block all of those attacks, and their size only comes up to my waist, so I can kill them easily.

“Alright, Sister. I’ll go cause a ruckus first, so find a good opportunity to set fire to the idol.”