TGWR 09

chapter 09

The downside was that it was still difficult to create things like sword aura or sword energy.

I could imitate sword aura to some extent, but it was softer and less efficient than conventional sword aura.

Even so, it was an abnormal situation where there was no reason to be pushed back even when fighting against sword aura.

After retrieving the prison keys from the corpses, I began opening the cells one by one.

However, those who had been imprisoned seemed to harbor fear towards me and didn’t come out easily.

“Are you Verus’s son?”

When I spoke to the young dwarf who was locked in the cell with a dazed expression, his eyes widened as he looked up at me.

“What are you all doing? Come out. You need to return to your families.”

After speaking calmly, I resumed walking.

Only after I took the lead did the prisoners begin to trickle out of their cells, as if gauging the situation.

“Cu-culprit… GAAAH!!”

“Ugh, AAAAAH!! Monster! It’s a monster!!”

“Save me, please! Ugh!”

Upon exiting the underground, the interior of an old building came into view.

Most of the knights stationed in the dilapidated building were at best Aura Users.

In other words, they were low-ranking knights.

This likely meant that significant forces weren’t necessary to guard this place.

Originally, most of the imprisoned were ordinary citizens, and this was a hidden location.

There seemed no reason to go through the trouble of deploying high-level forces beyond Expert class here.

What if they get discovered?

Who cares? There probably won’t be a single piece of evidence left.

“Yo… Young Master.”

Just then, a woman who had escaped from the prison cautiously approached me. She was a woman who ran a flower shop, the wife of the man who operated an apothecary, one of the Count’s business ventures.

According to the report, the apothecary owner also seemed to be acting as if possessed, trying to cancel contracts and liquidate his business.

How could he focus on anything with his wife held captive?

Because he kept silent for his family’s sake, Melissa probably couldn’t find out the details.

At least one thing was certain.

Tibel’s schemes to destabilize the businesses would no longer be effective.

“By the way, does anyone here know the way back to the territory?”

This forest wasn’t the Demon Forest that the Count’s territory strictly monitored.

During the process of coming here, my vision had been blocked, so I didn’t know the way down from the forest.

I wondered if others might know the way, but…

“I’m sorry. Hardly anyone ever comes this deep into the forest.”

It seemed no one knew the way, as it was such a remote location.

If I had known this, maybe I should have kept one of them alive.

That regret was short-lived. It wasn’t even a matter worth pondering in the first place.

“It’s fine. I’ll just ask someone who knows the way well.”

“Someone who knows the way well?”

I turned my head towards the forest.

Then, small green-skinned goblins began revealing themselves one by one from within the woods.

“Eek!? Goblins!!”

In response to the terrified reactions of the territory’s citizens, I waved my hand dismissively.

“Don’t be scared. They’re our navigation.”

Goblins.

One of the lowest-tier monsters, and undoubtedly one of the most overwhelmingly numerous monster species in the world.

Their reproductive rate is incredibly high, and they are quite clever, possessing enough intelligence to understand human speech to some extent.

While they lack the skill to create objects or intricate traps themselves, they are quite perceptive and can steal items or learn how to use them.

In terms of danger, they aren’t actually that high.

Despite their cleverness, their physical capabilities are fundamentally lacking.

Additionally, only a fraction of individuals are clever; most are stupid.

Now, if such a goblin is wearing rags that cover its private parts, how should one interpret this?

There is only one answer.

That bastard has attacked humans and stolen their belongings.

If a goblin in the forest possesses human goods, the answer is simple.

That bastard has been down to human settlements before and has a record of stealing items and fleeing.

Right now, this was a fairly important issue for me.

KIIIIIAAAH!!!

The goblins charged ferociously towards me and the exhausted territory citizens, seemingly without a trace of fear.

There were ten of them.

Considering the number of imprisoned citizens, we could easily handle them, but the thieves held rusty daggers in their hands.

Moreover, the citizens were utterly exhausted, so without me, even if they had managed to escape, they wouldn’t have fared well.

“You… Young Master!”

“Wait behind me.”

The dagger I had used since escaping the underground was already too damaged to use effectively.

It wasn’t like I was using Aura in a stable way like sword aura; I was forcibly wrapping myself in overflowing Aura, so a sword made of poor materials couldn’t possibly withstand it.

I couldn’t just go back now to fetch a spare sword either.

If there are no teeth, use the gums.

After loosely loosening my wrists, I explosively activated Aura throughout my body.

BOOM!!!!

Then, I slammed a knuckle sandwich down onto the head of the goblin trying to stab its rusty knife into my body.

It was a commonly used martial arts technique, a single strike.

CRUNCH!!!

Along with a ghastly sound of tearing flesh, the goblin’s head burst, spraying bright red blood.

Following that, putting centrifugal force into my movement as if spinning my body, I kicked the following goblin’s body like a soccer ball, sending it flying.

THWACK!!!

The heavy kick crushed the goblin’s face, repelling it.

Having lost two in an instant, it was only natural for the remaining goblins to hesitate.

“You guys, leave just one alive. The one that looks the smartest over there.”

As I pointed at one goblin, they broke into a cold sweat, their eyes darting around nervously.

“The rest will die. Why are you hesitating?”

BOOM!!!

It didn’t take much time to annihilate the goblins.

Rather, most of them were so terrified that they tried to flee, so it took more time to catch and kill them.

I had hunted countless monsters.

In terms of sheer number of fights, there was likely no monster I had killed more than goblins.

“Goodness…”

“Is the Young Master that strong? I don’t recall him being like that…”

“He looks like the Count from before.”

Some of the citizens who vaguely knew me looked puzzled, as if they couldn’t easily accept my capabilities.

Of course, no one outright asked, ‘Why are you so strong?’

Partly because I rarely engaged in external activities and didn’t have many close acquaintances, but also because the citizens harbored a degree of fear towards me ever since I slaughtered the knights underground.

Kii… Kiiiik…

The goblin I had initially selected was left alone, trembling and cowering on the ground.

I slowly pointed at the rags it was wearing.

“Where did you get that?”

In response to my question, the goblin’s eyes darted around before it hurriedly tried to take off its rags and hand them to me.

Having lived by stealing since birth, it seemed to mistakenly think I wanted its rags.

Of course.

WHAM!!

KIIIIEEEEEEK!!!

A strategic nuclear bombing descended upon its head. That was only natural.

“Why are you showing me filthy things? I asked where you got this.”

I wasn’t asking because I expected a verbal answer. I had seen plenty of goblins in the Sword Sanctuary, but the way to handle them was surprisingly simple.

Continually remind them of a single objective, beat them until they understand, and they tend to catch on quite well.

I didn’t know if these goblins here were the same species or shared the same habits as the ones I saw in the Sword Sanctuary, though.

“This.”

Kiiii…

SMACK!!!

This time, I delivered a clean slap across its face.

“I asked where you got this. Guide the way.”

SMACK!!

“Can’t understand? Don’t worry, your head will start working once you’ve been hit enough.”

SMACK!!!

With the continuous beating, the goblin’s teeth were mostly shattered, and it couldn’t even cry out properly.

So much so that…

“Uh… Young Master. Th-that, ouch… It’s nothing.”

Would the citizens look at the goblin with sympathetic eyes?

How irritating.

“I came all this way to rescue you guys.”

“Well… At first, you were captured and brought too…”

“What, then should I leave you behind?”

The citizens, gauging my mood, quickly backed away.

“No! How could we possibly interfere with what the Young Master is doing! What kind of idiot is running their mouth about the Young Master’s actions!”

“Yeah, who is it!”

Even though they were the ones who just spoke…

When I turned my attention back to the goblin, it desperately had to rack its brain.

Then, its eyes glinted, and it reached out to me as if to stop me, struggling to stand up.

Kiik… Kiiii…

Then, it pointed towards the far side of the forest, as if saying it would guide the way.

Its gaze was filled with fear of being hit again.

“See, I told you it understands.”

“Uh… Young Master. I’ve seen goblins a few times too, but… this is my first time seeing something like this.”

“If you are sincere, others will respond in kind. Later, if you get lost, look for goblins wearing weapons or rags. Those are the ones that have attacked humans before.”

“Huh? Yes, well…”

The Cascadia territory is surrounded by massive walls.

This is because on one side of this territory, managed by the Frontier Count, lies a forest containing an ecosystem of extremely dangerous magical beasts.

While the forests on the other sides are ordinary, the fact that one side contains exceptionally dangerous beings means the position of Frontier Count is recognized to protect the kingdom’s territory.

Originally, it was also for this reason that he is allowed to possess forces beyond what a noble would normally be permitted to have.

Of course, the current military strength of the Count’s territory is pitifully low.

The gates of the Count’s residence each have different roles. The location currently guarded by Hanson the guardsman and his junior is a particularly quiet area.

“Yaaawn… This is damn boring.”

“Senior, isn’t this still better than the South Gate? This gate is quiet, isn’t it?”

“Hey, do you know how many merchants used to pass through the South Gate daily? Even though it’s decreased a lot now, the allowance you can earn from a day’s duty there is substantial.”

The South Gate of the Count’s territory was the gate primarily used by merchants coming and going for trade.

Consequently, many merchants would slip money to the guards for quicker entry.

The merchants are happy to get in faster, and the guards’ pockets get fat! Their faces beam!

Time is money for merchants, after all.

“But what about here? Not a single ant in sight. While others are earning pocket money, we’re completely idle here.”

“Still, I think it’s better than the gate connected to the Demon Realm.”

“I’ll admit that one, heuh heuh heuh.”

Recently, due to the uneasy atmosphere in the territory, guard duty had been quite tiresome.

Just then, the junior guard looked towards the distant forest and tilted his head.

“Senior, aren’t those people over there?”

“What are you talking about? No one went out through this gate today.”

The guards who had just shifted duty also said no one had passed through, so originally, people shouldn’t be coming from that forest.