Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.\n
<h1 class="has-text-align-center">Companion Number 2: Goblin</h1>
Â
Milo and I continued on our journey for some time.
Indeed, heâs really convenient. It was annoying to deal with minotaurs as enemies since they didnât die because of their toughness, but as an ally, itâs quite reassuring. Heâs been beating down every single monster that came in my wake with his large axe.
Well, if he ever missed and one actually came close to me, Iâd of course fight it too though.
Even so, he really put me at ease. Those were my honest thoughts.
âGuooohhh!!â
As Milo fought and I sightsaw, we continued to advance forward.
There arenât any strong ones on this floor. Truly, there were at best only minotaurs⊠which I wouldnât be able to kill in one strike, that is.
As a matter of fact, the swarm of hornworms that chased us were also dealt with in one swoop by Milo. Originally, it wouldnât be strange to find minotaurs living in lower floors either with their strength.
âKikii!!â\n</ins>\n
âGuooohhh!!â
As we progressed, what appeared before us were a group of monsters called Redcaps.
If I were to simplify, theyâre incredibly strong goblins. Although their physique isnât all that different from normal goblins, their strength is completely different. Faster than wolves, moreover, if theyâre in a large group, they surround in packs of ten. Even I was flustered the first time I saw it.
These critters bearing red caps unlike regular goblins surrounded Milo and attacked him.
Among them, one also came after me.\n</ins>\n
âKikii!!â
âWhoops!â
I swiftly sidestepped away, dodging the redcapâs attack.
It was quite fast, but at this level, thatâs all it amounted to. If it were the lower levels, then thereâd be plenty of faster monsters than them.
For now, I kicked the one that approached me away. Although, my aim was a bit off, so I didnât get a clean hit.
Either way, it was blown away by my attack.
âKi⊠kiiâŠâ
âGuooohhh!!â
Whoopsie daisy.
Meanwhile, Milo continued to splendidly defeat the redcaps.\n</ins>\n
Although his movements were sluggish, his toughness was guaranteed. No matter how many times the redcaps attacked him, he showed no sign of falling.
And then, the one I had kicked away stood back up. As expected, I didnât kick him hard enough, did I.
In that case, another attack shouldâ Oh, now that I look at it.
âAhâŠâ
âKIKII!!!â it screamed.
And with that, it started to attack the other redcaps that were supposed to be his allies.
Internal disputeâ was what I thought for an instant, but that was not the case.
Anyhow, the reason was that around the redcapâs neckâ hung a silver locket.
âUwah, you serious?â
I involuntarily pressed the bridge of my nose.\n</ins>\n
Till now, it activated for none of the monsters besides Milo, so I never imagined that my companion count would increase by one already. Even though I hadnât even ascended beyond the level I made Milo my comrade from.
Just what was the reason? Did I trigger something weird?
âGuooohhh!!â
âKikii!!â
These two who had become my comrades, who Iâm not sure what would be more appropriate to use to address them since they were monsters and not people<sup>«1»</sup>, continued to cut down the remaining redcaps.\n</ins>\n
Since Milo couldnât deal with some of the considerably fast ones alone, our new comrade, the redcap, would come slice them down. Moreover, it was only this redcap that seemed like it didnât intend to defeat Milo during its frenzy.
Thereâs a mysterious coordination between them.
â⊠«Analyze»â
And thus I casted Analyze on it.
It already had that locket, so it should have that Subordination Locket skill that Milo had too.
Name: Gilancia Dolan Herbert Grifism<sup>«2»</sup>\nJob: Goblin LV 43\nSkills:-\nSwordsmanship LV 31\nSteal<sup>«3»</sup> LV 28\nTaijutsu LV 22\nSubordination Locket
âThatâs a long ass name!â
The hell is Gilancia Dolan Herbert Grifism! Itâs kinda cool though.<sup>«4»</sup> Itâs too good for a goblin!<sup>«5»</sup>
More like, Iâve been calling him a redcap, but turns out he was a really high level goblin! What is this? Was the system such that their caps change color if their level rises?
As a plus, my Monster Tamer level also rose to 3.\n</ins>\n
Whether it was Monster Capture or Monster Training, both of them also leveled up. Their rise seems automatic. Well, I have no idea what changed after it rose though.
Should I have perused through the Divine Job Tome? You know, about an explanation for the job and what not.
âHmmmmâŠâ
However, thereâs one thing I understood.
Milo and the redcapâ Gilancia had both become my comrades. And there was one thing common between them.
That was the fact that âI couldnât defeat them in one hitâ.
I had pretty much killed off all the monsters in the lower levels with one strike. That was because I remembered the weak spots of the formidable ones I encountered. Areas where my attacks would be most effective, or areas where Iâd be able to one-hit-kill them.
Moreover, I had always braced myself and was on my guard wherever I moved down there. Because of that, as a side effect, Iâve become quite lax here, and Iâm aware of that. It was because of that, that my aim was off when I had kicked Gilancia back then.
In other words, the condition for Monster Capture was that âI have to strike them to point that theyâre on the verge of deathâ.
While I was busy with my self-analysis, Milo and Gilancia seemed like they were done dealing with the rest of the redcaps.
And in Miloâs case too, it seemed like he never bothered attacking Gilancia since he was affected by my âSubordination Locketâ.
Both of them looked at me, as if awaiting further instructions.
âMilo.â
âGururuâŠâ
âGet along with Gilancia.â
âGuru.â
âKikii.â
Both Milo and Gilancia dropped their weapons and started shaking each otherâs hands.
Yup.
This is an incredibly surreal sight.
I wonder if there were anybody else who has seen a minotaur and a goblin, who basically had a size difference like that of an adult and a child, shake hands like this.
Well then, letâs get out of here, shall we?
I might have to defeat some of them from now on rather than leaving it to Milo and Gilancia all the time so that I could run inspections in the future. By holding back as much as possible.
âWell then, letâs go shall⊠Hmm?â
And then, in the direction where the corpses of the defeated redcaps dispersed into mist.
I saw what looked like the figures of a bunch of adventurers. A light-armoured Warrior, a Mage woman in robes, and a Priestess.
Huh⊠I feel like Iâve seen them somewhere before.
Or rather, if you glance at them, theyâd seem fine.
The three of themâ were scattered about on the ground.
I carefully approached them.
Adventurers dying in labyrinths like this wasnât unusual. Maybe they were assaulted by the group of redcaps that appeared some time ago.
Geez, even after I went through the trouble of saving themâ Not even those feelings arose.
However, this was also a providence of the labyrinth. The strong live and the weak perish. If one recklessly charges into the deeper levels like this, of course theyâd lose their life.
ââ! Still alive!â
The Warriorâ Kite had already stopped breathing. The same goes for the Mage woman.
However, one of themâ the Priestess was the only one barely holding onto her breath. Looks like she wonât last long, having one of those redcapâs sword lodged into her stomach.
But if sheâs still breathing, I can save her!
â«Heal»!â
The healing spell I knew of was not that powerful. Compared to the Priestess job, it can be considered insignificant.
However, as long as a sliver of life remained, this spell would be able to lend a hand in accelerating the bodyâs self regenerating abilities.
In accordance to my spell, the sword that was lodged into her stomachâ bit by bit, started to come out.
I shouldnât needlessly pull it out, since she would quickly bleed to death.
I had no choice but to wait for the flesh to heal and the sword slowly to dislodge itself.
And then, as my mana continued to flow, I heard the sword fall with a clank.
With this, the injury should be fine. Other than that, I didnât see any other particularly serious injuries.
âHuh⊠uhâŠ?â
âYou finally awake?â
Ah, thank goodness.
Even if it was just one of the three, I should feel glad that she was saved. The Priestessâ eyes slowly opened and locked onto me.
Her eyes met mine, and⊠<sup>«6»</sup>
It then fell ontoâ Mino and Gilancia standing firmly right behind me.<sup>«7»</sup>
âKYAAAAAA!!??â
âAhâŠâ
She lost consciousness again.<sup>«8»</sup>
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Translator: AngryMidget
<sup>«1»</sup>æ°ăă«ćăźä»ČéăšăȘăŁăäșäșșăšćŒăă§ăăăźăäșćčăšćŒăă§ăăăźăăăćăăăȘăäșäœăă: Okay this is a VERY Japanese thing; the use of different of counters for different things. Noah is basically saying he isnât sure if itâs more appropriate to address them as âfutariâ (äșäșș) which is literally âtwo peopleâ or ânihikiâ (äșćč) which is âtwo creaturesâ. The latter is a counter used for small animals, such as dogs and cats etc. So, yeah.