chapter 9

The moment I touched my sword, the goblin lord roared.

「ＧＡＡAAA」

The goblin lord shifted its attention from the girl, and became more vigilant about me.

As expected of goblin lord. Although it is a goblin, it does have the ‘lord’ attached to it.

Its reaction was pretty quick.

「You can still escape if you want」

「Stop interfering! You should be the one running」

The girl put on a brave front.

As I drew the Devil King’s sword out, I leapt at the goblin lord and swung the sword down.

「GA……」

The goblin lord tried to block my slash with its steel club.

「Let’s see whose weapon’s stronger!」

I am not a genuine warrior. I don’t know any techniques nor skills when it comes to swordplay.

I just slammed the sword down at the club with all my strength.

A deep cut appeared in the steel club.

It seems that the Devil King’s sword is stronger than it.

「GA！」

The goblin lord’s stance broke as the slash carried too strong a momentum for it to bear.

I then sent out a horizontal slash. I might have swung it too much, as the large sword only hit the tunnel wall.

Eh, nothing to worry about.

――Rumble

Cutting up the wall, I approached the goblin lord.

「G……」

The goblin lord had an expression of fear for a moment.

――Slash…………

I cut the goblin lord along with its club.

The goblin lord is sliced into two from its abdomen. Despite that, it’s still alive.

「ｇ……」

While groaning, it raised its hands and pled for its life.

However, there’s no reason for me to let a goblin live.

I mercilessly stabbed the Devil King’s sword into the goblin lord’s throat.

Immediately, the goblin lord stopped moving.

I then asked the girl.

「Are you alright?」

「You…… No, who in the world are you?」

After saying that, the girl showed an expression of sudden realisation.

「I am very sorry. My name is Shea. Thank you very much for saving me from danger」

She deeply bowed towards me. She seems like a pretty polite girl.

Before asking for someone’s name, you should first state your own. She probably just recalled this policy.

I can’t believe that she’s the same girl who told me that she didn’t need help or that I was interfering.

Perhaps she said all that so that I would escape without hesitating.

It makes sense if I put myself in her shoes.

An F-rank adventurer, coming here to exterminate goblins, only to encounter a goblin lord.

That’s how Shea probably sees me as.

She’s not wrong.

Officially, we are a three-man F-rank party.

「I’m Rock. An F-rank adventurer」

「You’re lying」

Shea doesn’t seem to believe me. That’s why I had a triumphant look on when I showed her my adventurer’s card.

「Y, you really are an F-ranker……」

「I told you, didn’t I?」

「Why are you so proud at being an F-ranker……」

She sounds quite shocked.

After asking her, I learnt that she is a B-rank adventurer.

B-rank is for top grade adventurers. She must be pretty good to be one at such a young age.

「It’s abnormal for an F-ranker to possess strength like yours」

「Well, I have my reasons」

「I see」

Shea didn’t try to dig deeper.

Adventurers each have their own secrets.

That is why it’s bad manners to pry.

At that moment, somebody called out to me.

「……Rock, are you alright?」

「Sorry. We ran away without you」

It’s Ario and Josh. They were probably worried after noticing that I didn’t run with them.

「No problem. I was the one who told you to run」

「But……」

「We’re really sorry」

While I was talking with them, Shea examined the goblin lord’s corpse.

Ario bowed at her.

「Thank you too」

「Don’t worry」

Shea accepted their gratitude with a smile.

There’s something I have to ask her.

「When you were fighting the goblin lord, you mentioned ‘mere goblin’」

「Did I?」

「Yeah, you did. Does that mean that there’s something even stronger at the back?」

「……」

Shea went silent.

Might be something she’d rather not say.

「Well, don’t worry if you don’t want to talk about it」

I can’t leave it alone. We defeated most of the goblins.

However, if an even stronger monster is behind it, the nearby village will never be at peace.

I have to subjugate it.

I then tell Ario and Josh,

「Sorry but can you wait for me here? I’ll see what’s further in」

「Wait, Rock. What do you think you’re doing. Isn’t that too dangerous?」

「Yeah. There might be something even stronger than a goblin lord, you know?」

Ario and Josh are both panicking.

In order to calm them down, I calmly persuaded them.

「I told you that I am not young anymore. I’m pretty old compared to you guys」

「You did say that, but…… wait no, so what if you are?」

「Well. I’ve been fighting things stronger than goblins for a long time now. I just decided to register as a warrior at the guild the other day, but I have quite some experience in combat」

Ario and Josh both nodded at my words.

「No wonder……」

「I see. I thought that your movements were way too good for a beginner」

「Your sword’s also extremely imposing. You don’t look like a newbie with it」

Despite being newbies, they aren’t prying into others’ affairs.

They’re excellent for F-rankers.

「I’m quite strong so don’t worry about me. If it gets dangerous, I’ll just run. Though it may not look like it, I am pretty fast at running away」

As I persuaded them, I started walking deeper into the cavern.

「Rock-san, please wait」

「Even if you are a B-ranker, you’ll only be a burden without your sword, you know that?」

「Ughh」

Shea had a frustrated look on.

Josh then asked Shia.

「Why don’t you use this?」

「Ummm…… Is that okay with you?」

「Yeah, I’m an archer, after all」

What Josh handed Shea was an ordinary broadsword.

A goblin we defeated was carrying it. Its quality isn’t very good, though.

「As long as I have a sword, I will not be a burden to you!」

「Well, alright then」

We then started walking deeper into the cavern.