Chapter 46 - Paul's Strategy ②
Priest Williams and I hid behind a guard who was acting as a shield-bearer and watched the situation. During that time, McBurn-san and the others finished off the goblins one after another. A normal man wouldn't lose one-on-one. It was just as Marcelo-san had said. The part that differed from what I had heard was the part where I was told that goblins attack in numbers.
I thought the goblins would flee once the boss was defeated, but they continued to attack without any sign of doing so. Now, the difference in numbers was practically non-existent. And yet, they kept coming.
A goblin brandishing something like a stone axe came charging while screaming. A guard kicked its head, sending it rolling, and then finished it off by piercing its chest with a sword. Every time a blade pierced a goblin, blood splattered from its small body, and it died while letting out a scream.
The hunters were fighting back with bows and arrows against the goblins who were throwing stones from the holes in the walls, perhaps having run out of arrows.
"I'm out of arrows!"
"Me too. Stones! Use stones! Throw stones!"
It seemed they had finally run out of arrows on hand. The hunters began throwing stones while dodging the pebbles and sticks flying at them.
Just as I thought they had both started throwing stones, one goblin let out a shout. Goblins holding clubs jumped out all at once. They chose hand-to-hand combat. The hunters held their machetes and stood ready, charging into the goblins along with the guards.
The dull sound of being deflected by shields. The high-pitched death throes of the goblins. Slicing through flesh, severing bone, crushing heads. Amidst the splattering blood, the slaughter continued.
Why didn't they run? Weren't goblins supposed to be cowards? Even though the opponents were monsters, I wanted to look away from the gruesome sight, but Priest Williams told me to watch closely. He said that the prosperity of human society is not a pretty thing. We must know that it is built upon many deaths.
Indeed, since I became an adult, I have become a monster exterminator and have killed living things. I shouldn't be thinking that I alone can live a clean life now. Moreover, I am a priest. In whatever form it takes, and whoever the opponent may be, I have a duty to witness their death.
The battle ended, and finally, the screams could no longer be heard. Everyone gathered. Amidst the sound of heavy breathing being regulated, there were no cheers of victory. Everyone had grown weary of it halfway through.
I realized just now that it was surprisingly chilly inside the cave. It might be because I had discarded the Green Marble and was wearing only my work clothes over my undergarments.
As the clamor of the struggle subsided and everyone's voices echoed strangely, the assessment of damage began. Fortunately, there were no deaths. There were injuries, but they were simple cuts and bruises.
There were several hunters who were bleeding from their heads after being hit by stones, or who had been slashed on their arms or legs. I immediately used healing magic to treat them.
"Even if you can only use basic magic, you're a priest after all. It's a big help."
Paul-san went out of his way to say that and praise me.
There was one person who had tripped during the battle and sprained their ankle. Since it was beyond my capabilities, Marcelo-san took them outside using Teleport. The fully equipped guard squad was unharmed... apparently, minor bruises and lacerations count as unharmed. Fortunately, no one had been poisoned, so everyone was doing fine.
Paul-san said he had exhausted his mana and could no longer use magic. For a high-level mage to exhaust their mana, it must have been quite a desperate struggle, even if it looked one-sided.
It was just as McBurn-san said that all that was left was for the two from the workshop to blow up the hole.
"I can't let that happen."
Suddenly, a voice was heard from the ceiling. I thought it was a human voice, but it felt strangely grating on the ears. My hands trembled instinctively. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster.
"Who goes there!"
McBurn-san's voice rang out as he challenged the ceiling, and everyone looked up at once, but there was nothing there.
"Where are you looking? Over here."
This time it was heard from the direction of the passage to the cave exit. Our retreat was cut off.
"So you've shown yourself. You monster!"
McBurn-san stood as if to protect Priest Williams and pointed his silver knife. Beyond the tip of the blade, I could see a shadow-like figure wearing something like a cloak over a long black robe, and two red eyes. Priest Williams clung to one of the guards with both hands.
"What an insolent fellow. To call me a monster."
It seemed we had angered him. Even though he was holding a silver weapon, wasn't he being too aggressive?
"You're the one who cornered Adolf, aren't you?"
This time it was Paul-san. He walked until he was slightly in front of me, making a show of fluttering his shoulders.
"I shall be your opponent. Everyone, get back."
Everyone moved to the walls at once. They moved even further back than me, who was behind Paul-san.
"I am Paul, a hunter of Nakanohara and a high-level mage. I am somewhat well-known in these parts."
He started introducing himself. Did he intend to challenge him to a duel?
"Paul? I've never heard of you. Do you, a mere mage whose mana is exhausted, think you can be my opponent?"
The shape of his mouth changed. He seemed to be laughing without making a sound.
"You say you do not know my name? Then you had best remember it well. When one speaks of Paul..."
Paul-san suddenly dropped to one knee in front of me.
"Crazy!"
When I shouted the keyword, two beams of light were released from my chest and pierced the body of the red-eyed man.
"Gwaaaaaaaa!"
The man collapsed to the ground with an expression of shock. Something like smoke was rising from his body. Holy Lance worked... Just as Paul-san predicted, he isn't human...
"Y-you bastards..."
The figure, letting out a painful groan, nevertheless managed to get to its knees and stood up unsteadily along with the groaning. His red eyes seemed to be fading, as if they were losing power.
"Paul! Remember this! I shall not forget this humiliation!"
Whoosh! A wind whipped up, and everyone instinctively turned their faces away. And when we looked up, the figure had vanished.
"He got away?"
"Well, let's just be glad we drove him off."
Paul-san looked frustrated, but it was just as Angus-san said. Wasn't it good enough that no one died? Paul-san looked at the plate for branding Highway Cookies that he had taken out at some point, and then tucked it back into his breast pocket as it was before.
In the end, Paul-san's strategy worked perfectly.
Based on the assumption that if the mysterious red-eyed man was there, he would be watching the battle from somewhere, the hunters intentionally used up their arrows and Paul-san intentionally used up his magic. Marcelo-san, with his Teleport, retreated with someone who was injured or pretending to be injured. In that way, they made the opponent let his guard down, and McBurn-san retreated after making a show of his silver knife. Priest Williams showed the opponent that both his hands were occupied.
On top of that, while Paul-san was drawing the opponent's attention, the Holy Lance magic circles that I had tucked into the chest area of my clothes... no, the plates for branding Highway Cookies on which Marcelo-san had drawn magic circles, activated the magic along with the keyword.
As expected of Marcelo-san's magic. The effect was tremendous. He probably never expected to receive fatal damage from a priest who can only use basic magic. To be honest, if it had failed, I would have been the first one targeted. My heart was pounding, but I'm glad it went well. Since the opponent's parting words were also directed at Paul-san, I probably won't be targeted. ...Probably.
According to Paul-san, based on the opponent's attitude when he failed to kill Adolf-san, he seemed quite theatrical and prideful. He thought that if we stimulated that and made him let his guard down by thinking we were weak, he would fall for it. Certainly, both in Adolf-san's case and this time, we would have been easily killed if we had been caught in a surprise attack.
The latter half of the strategy meeting had been Paul-san's acting coaching. The acting skills that had deceived the town guard during the Revenant incident were put to use here as well.
Honestly, you never know what will come in handy where.