8 - Episode 4: The Ability of the Three Idiots - Geoglyph's Case
I am an old man trembling at the fact that terms like "give it to me in a ZIP" or "starting a thread without attaching the ZIP!?" are already terms used by the Internet Elders' Association.
There are monsters called Goblins.
They are the lowest rank of monsters, also referred to as small demons. They possess muscle strength weaker than that of an adult human male and a small physique on par with a child. They handle primitive weapons, but they do not possess wisdom like humans do. Even novice adventurers do not struggle against them, and they are monsters treated as mere fodder along the way at best.
However, that is only limited to when facing a single individual.
When an individual is fragile, that species basically has a habit of swarming. Naturally, Goblins are the same, forming a single colony with order and opposing humans with the violence of numbers. Furthermore, they are said to have vigorous reproductive capabilities, treating females of other races as surrogate wombs, and their numbers are said to double in half a year.
And now, intruders have appeared in the cave that is their colony. There are three of them. One of them is a human female. They are beings called adventurers among humans. When the Goblins sense this, they move to intercept. In a narrow cave, the geographical advantage is on their side, and they are superior in numbers. As long as they do not let their guard down, there is no problem even against adventurers. If mere villagers had intruded out of curiosity, they would be tonight's meal or breeding bags... there was a time when they thought so too.
"Ruru rira ruru rira genocide, I am a cheerful slaughterer, take this!"
"What is that?"
"Tra◯gan."
"Are you a human typhoon? Well, for Goblins, I suppose we are something like a typhoon."
They are the Three Idiots.
A pack of three comes to the peaceful Goblin colony (cave), and the poor Goblins, who are not without sin, are quietly exterminated without any particular mercy.
The Three Idiots, having started adventurer activities, took on a subjugation request after completing gathering requests for about a week. The story was that several Goblins appeared around a village near the Imperial Capital, so they were to exterminate them and, just in case, investigate the surroundings. Goblins are creatures that become a proverb, that if there is one, you should assume there are thirty, like those shiny black insects that appear in the kitchen. It was judged that it would be a problem if a colony had formed nearby.
And the three who arrived at the target village discovered traces of Goblins shortly after their conversation with the client. Since Later had been a hunter, tracking was a piece of cake. They discovered the colony quickly. Moreover, judging by the number of footprints, it was quite large scale. Normally, when a cave-type colony is discovered in this kind of request, it is considered correct to report it without making a move. This is because, unlike village types, the total number of Goblins cannot be grasped. If it were newly formed and there were only twenty or thirty, even novices might struggle but would manage somehow. However, if it were spread out like an ant nest with Goblins everywhere, it would be difficult for one party.
Because it is a narrow cave, handling long weapons is difficult, the geographical advantage is with the Goblins, and above all, they are inferior in numbers.
Normally, they would not charge. Yes, normally.
Even without receiving special skills from God, the Three Idiots, who embody that inheriting cultivated experience and knowledge alone is sufficient cheat, were not normal.
"---Decode."
Immediately after Geoglyph, holding a great staff topped with a jade-colored jewel, muttered, fifteen lightning arrows appeared around him, and then, at the speed of lightning, they ran through the cave and pierced multiple Goblins. There was a sizzling smell of burning flesh, and the pierced Goblins fell one after another.
"Hmm, that really is wonderful, isn't it?"
"It's convenient not having to chant during battle."
"Well, I'm chanting in advance. If you can use chantless magic clumsily, you'll be caught in this world."
The laws using magical power in this world---that is, in the system of "Magic," chanting is essential.
It is said that chantless magic was researched in the past, but it was discarded because they struggled with its application more than its difficulty of acquisition. Not needing to chant---the fact that magic comes out just by bundling magical power without any adjustment means it can be used even in dreams. In fact, in the past, there was an instance where a chantless practitioner cast a strategic-class spell based on what they dreamed during sleep, and a city was half-destroyed.
Since then, while chant abandonment or shortening has been researched, chantless magic has been sealed as a taboo.
Actually, Geoglyph is aware that he could use it if he wanted to, but he has not crossed that line to avoid such hassles. That said, a mage's chanting is fatal during battle. Therefore, he steered in the direction of chant abandonment or shortening---and reached an inspiration in a different direction.
Wait, if I compress magic before activation, can't I store it in storage magic in a standby state?
A PC-like way of thinking that the inhabitants of this world would not think of. Store compressed files in a folder and give the decode instruction at the necessary timing to use them.
In other words---give it to me in a ZIP.
Since it would be weird as it is, this technique, which he named Stock (Magazine Chant), is one of the trump cards Geoglyph uses regularly. He chants during peacetime and stores them in a dedicated sub-space using storage magic. When it becomes battle time, he gives the decode instruction arbitrarily to activate them. Through this, he performs everything from the retrieval to the decoding of an arbitrary spell with a single word, "Decode," rather than a whole phrase.
The merit of this is not just speed. It fits up to the limit of storage magic, and due to the influence of Geoglyph's thoroughly trained super-magical power, even he does not know how much can fit. On top of that, while magical power is used during chanting, almost none is used during the decoding process. Therefore, even now, his magical power is not being consumed at all. An average mage would be out of breath after that volley just now.
And above all, the standby is indefinite. Countless spells that he continued to chant whenever he had free time since he became able to handle magic are stored in his storage magic like the number of stars.
"Maybe it's fine with just this guy?"
"That's it, a one-man brigade. And the type that can actually do it, not as a joke."
"Could you not treat me like a Demon King? Besides, look, if you get close like this, both I and my allies might get caught up in it."
Behind the exasperated Later and Marianne, a Goblin was approaching.
Next time, again tomorrow.