Even in the daytime, the dense foliage of the forest made it as dim as evening.
"Oops!"
Gis, who was walking beside me, stumbled and let out a short cry. That was the fourth time already.
"Would you please shut your mouth? You're advertising our presence to the monsters."
One of the knights, unable to bear it any longer, cautioned Gis. He was the knight who had been standing guard when I first visited the knights' barracks. His name was definitely Boris.
"I can't see where I'm stepping. We're not primitives—can't we at least carry torches?"
Gis's complaint made me chuckle.
"Did you hear what he just said? Why don't you hand out flyers to the monsters while you're at it? 'Fresh human meat available for free, now open for business.'"
My remark caused several knights to snicker. Gis frowned deeply.
"If you're trying to intimidate me into performing poorly, it won't work. I know goblins are low-level monsters."
"From their group behavior, we're dealing with hob goblins. Don't underestimate them."
"I'm not falling for that. Either way, I'll just prove my healing abilities. I'll be the one to become the Princess's physician and enter the Imperial Medical Office!"
Gis proclaimed confidently. But confidence wasn't particularly helpful when exterminating monsters.
"Shh."
Tanya, who was walking ahead, put her index finger to her lips.
The five knights exchanged hand signals and formed a formation. Each gripped their sword firmly.
"Charge!"
At Tanya's command, the knights rushed behind the bushes.
"Hah!"
"Kieek!"
The dull sound of swords striking down was followed by phlegmy screams echoing through the trees.
After it quieted down, I looked over the bushes to find three goblins cut in half, rolling on the ground.
They had demonstrated impressive skills, truly worthy of the title Sword Expert.
"This is goblin territory from here on. Stay alert for any signs, and eliminate them immediately before calling for reinforcements."
Tanya ordered. The other squad following behind us understood the situation and began moving busily.
"Are they really in groups? Do we need to be this cautious when hunting them...?"
Gis tilted his head while looking at the goblin corpses.
This guy still doesn't have a sense of reality.
I kicked a pile of wood lying among them and explained.
"Look at this. These are traces of someone trying to light a fire. They were either planning to camp here or they spotted us and were preparing to signal their main force. These creatures normally don't have the intelligence for such things."
I nodded toward Gis and declared with certainty.
"It's clear evidence there's a leader. Stop complaining."
"When did I complain... Since when are you such an expert on monsters, Young Lord?"
"Your assessment is accurate. You've studied well. Let's continue."
Tanya affirmed my statement. Only then did Gis firmly shut his mouth.
We continued following the goblin tracks through the grass for quite some time. The knights immediately eliminated any creatures we encountered along the way.
At the end of our path, we discovered a dark cave entrance in the face of a cliff.
"It leads here."
"Goblins living in a cave? That's rare."
"Master, from here we'll need torches, which could make the extermination more dangerous. Should we proceed?"
At Tanya's question, Father seemed to consider for a moment. He discussed with the senior healers who were evaluating the test.
While they were deciding, I searched around the cave entrance.
"Found it."
I discovered an animal skull and showed it to Father.
"Look at this."
"Leftover bones from a meal?"
"These weren't decayed but deliberately stripped with tools. Not for eating, but for ritual purposes."
"Ritual purposes?"
"It's possible we're not dealing with hobs, but rather a shaman controlling the group."
My statement caused a stir among the knights. The healers, on the other hand, didn't seem to grasp the severity.
Gis asked, "A shaman means a goblin that uses magic? What's the difference?"
"The difference is huge! What's inside is an army of magically enhanced goblins. In guild rankings, hobs and shamans differ by D and C ranks!"
Boris scolded Gis.
Tanya offered her opinion.
"Though it's not confirmed, if there really is a goblin shaman inside, we should expect some casualties on our side. Of course, our knights have the skill to eliminate them. But we cannot guarantee the safety of the healers."
The healers shrank their shoulders in fear. Father nodded.
"An Imperial physician must heal their lord in any situation. While we should consider such scenarios, we cannot risk lives during an examination."
Father made an immediate decision.
"We'll request the guild to handle the goblin shaman extermination at a later date. The examination will continue with clearing monsters in the vicinity."
It was the right choice, given that they had healers in tow who weren't professional adventurers.
However, I had noticed concerning signs, so I asked Father one question.
"When will the extermination take place?"
"The guild will need to commission adventurers, so probably in a few days."
"I wonder if the abducted villagers will survive until then."
"What did you say?"
I ran my finger along the cave wall.
Sticky blood came off on it.
"Judging by the coagulation state, this is less than six hours old. The goblins seem to have abducted someone and dragged them inside."
"Hmm...!"
Father's expression grew serious.
Gis objected to my statement.
"That might not necessarily be human blood, right? It could be from animals they brought in for food."
This guy has entered his cycle of opposing for opposition's sake.
He's practically performing a rain dance, hoping I'll be wrong just once.
Go ahead and keep trying. See if I'm ever wrong.
-------------------
Diagnosis D activates.
Injury status: Bleeding
Injury location: Left forehead
-------------------
The blood must belong to a human for the diagnosis to activate.
It's quite convenient that diagnosis works even when seeing only part of an injury.
I said to Gis, "As a healer, shouldn't you be able to tell whether it's human or animal blood? See, it's human blood. And if we turn back now and miss the golden time... will you take responsibility?"
"T-that's..."
When I held out my blood-stained finger toward Gis, he fumbled for an answer.
I asked Father for his opinion.
"What would you like to do? The cave is the goblins' stronghold, so it's certainly dangerous to enter with our current formation."
"Hmm. Healer Lars, are you certain this blood is human?"
Father addressed me with a title since this was an official occasion.
I answered firmly.
"I am certain."
"Very well. Captain Tanya, prepare to enter."
"Yes. All troops, proceed in defensive formation. Position the healers in the center to protect them from ambush."
The knights moved quickly. They formed a circle around the healers for protection. Several held torches.
"We're going in. Stay alert."
We began moving.
As we passed through the cave entrance, darkness enveloped us, and the reduced oxygen made it hard to breathe.
The scouts at the front extended their long spears to check the wall structure as they advanced.
The main force led by Tanya followed behind.
...Tension filled the air.
No one even thought of making small talk.
Shadows flickered on the cave walls.
The torches were swaying in the wind.
Air was flowing from somewhere. This wasn't a dead-end cave.
"Captain, there's a fork in the path."
"Hmm."
Tanya seemed to be considering which direction to take.
Let me offer some help.
"Goblins that live in caves always create multiple exits. It's so they can escape at any time."
"Young Lord."
"But if they've abducted humans from outside, they don't need to keep them near an exit."
I wet my fingertip with saliva and held it up in both directions.
The wind was coming from only one side.
"The hostages are more likely to be in the dead-end direction. I recommend exploring the right path first."
Tanya's eyebrows shot up to her forehead.
"That's impressive knowledge. I'm amazed. Have you worked as an adventurer before?"
"No?"
I've been in the Hero's Party more times than I care to remember.
It was an extreme occupation. Definitely wouldn't recommend it.
"Then we'll head right. Front line, watch for traps."
We advanced more slowly and carefully as the path narrowed.
Since it was difficult to maintain formation, we switched to moving in separate squads.
Shortly after, Gis pointed urgently toward the end of the cave and shouted.
"Over there!"
Gis ran forward with a torch. In the corner of the cave, alongside animal carcasses collected by the goblins, two people lay collapsed.
"Wait! Don't break formation!"
Tanya commanded urgently, but Gis had already rushed to the fallen villagers.
Their condition certainly looked dire. Their clothes were torn to shreds, and their bodies were covered in bruises.
There was one man and one woman, with the woman bleeding from her head. She was clearly the one I had diagnosed earlier.
"I beseech the merciful Goddess in heaven! Here lies a lamb in need of your compassion..."
Gis opened his holy book and began casting a healing spell.
This could be seen as professional dedication, but right now it was reckless behavior.
—Kieek!
—Keek!
The cries of goblins echoed through the cave at that moment.
Goblins wielding clubs began appearing in droves from the darkness.
Their small, hairless bodies were as repulsive as ever.
"Huh!"
Startled by the sight, Gis fell backward.
The goblins moved as quickly as cockroaches, about to swarm over him.
"Hah!"
A bastard sword sliced through those goblins in an instant.
It was Tanya's blade.
"Ambush!"
"Everyone, battle positions!"
The knights drew their swords and entered the fight. In an instant, the narrow cave became a battlefield.
"W-where did they suddenly come from...!"
Gis trembled. I smacked the back of his head.
"Using treasure as bait to lure prey into a trap is their basic tactic. Being small, they can move through unseen tunnels or hide in crevices. Get a grip."
"Ugh, I-I understand!"
Gis wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and resumed casting his healing spell.
Other healers also gathered to heal the villagers.
I looked around to assess the situation.
The Gotberg knights are excellent. That's thanks to Tanya's good training. Even though they were ambushed, they could easily handle and eliminate goblins of this level.
The escort knights were also faithfully carrying out their duty to protect Father.
And Asella's head maid who was supervising...
...Hmm.
Somehow, she showed no signs of agitation despite the situation. It felt like she had already positioned herself appropriately to avoid the ambush.
I just need to protect myself then.
"Haap!"
No need to hold back—I swung my sword with a powerful shout.
—Kieek!!
A goblin that had rushed toward me took a hit to the head and collapsed.
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