Chapter 20 : How Strong Was the Captain?
Chapter 20: How Strong Was the Captain?
“Sure, there were a lot of them, but they couldn’t have come all the way here just to turn back.”
In the settlement, there were all sorts of goblins—from young ones to wrinkled elders.
It looked almost like a small village.
A crude wooden fence had been built, and huts that resembled homes were set up.
Embers still glowed throughout the settlement, and over them pieces of unidentified meat were being cooked.
Around the fence, three or four goblins carrying Stone Axes walked back and forth as if on patrol.
“Goblin or not, they’re nothing. Let’s take them down.”
Torgen stepped forward eagerly with his axe in hand, but Paul shook his head.
“I don’t think we’d lose, but it’s best to minimize variables.”
“Torgen’s brain is all muscle, so please understand him, Paul.”
“What? Mirian, you’re one to talk.”
Just as Torgen drew his axe, Mirian drew her curved blade as if ready to charge in at any moment.
She changed her posture when Paul spoke, but it was awkward to anyone watching.
“Felix, how many can you take down with an ambush?”
“Let’s see… The ones at the main gate would be tough. If we circle around, I can take out up to four that are unguarded.”
“And if Brandok joins you?”
“Then ten won’t be a problem.”
Brandok nodded, agreeing with Felix’s words.
“Then we’ll do this. Felix and Brandok, head behind the settlement and kill as many as you can, then retreat. When their attention splits to the rear, Calimacos, Mirian, Torgen, and I will strike through the front gate.”
Calimacos, the captain, picked his ear as he quietly listened to Paul’s plan.
The others also seemed used to such situations and prepared to move as instructed.
“What should I do?”
“Robin, go with Brandok and Felix. Don’t do anything dangerous, no matter what.”
“Got it.”
If Robin stayed with the group breaking through the front, he would clearly get in the way.
No one objected to Paul’s reasonable decision.
Calimacos, who had been listening silently, finally spoke.
“Brandok, Felix. Protect Robin.”
“Understood.”
“Of course.”
Brandok’s voice echoed from within his helmet, while Felix struck his spear on the ground with a grin.
“Then let’s move. Time to give those thieves a beating.”
Robin followed Brandok and Felix toward the back of the settlement.
“Kekek.”
Behind the settlement, where mostly young and elderly goblins gathered.
Brandok took out his bow and gauged the distance, while Felix set his spear on the ground, drew a dagger, and crept forward silently.
Perhaps because their guard was lax, there was no fence at the back of the settlement.
Instead, dense trees and bushes grew thickly.
Unfortunate for the goblins, it provided perfect cover for Felix to sneak closer.
“Robin, feeling nervous?”
“I am.”
“Stay right next to me. I’ll only support from range while keeping my distance, so you won’t be in danger.”
Brandok, usually taciturn, spoke first to Robin—rare for him.
He must have been determined to carry out Calimacos’s order faithfully.
Felix, now inside the settlement, slowly raised the hand holding his dagger. It was the signal that he would begin the ambush.
Brandok notched an arrow to the bowstring, watching to see if any goblins approached Felix.
‘He must not be drawing the string to conserve strength.’
Taking in Brandok’s guarded stance, Robin turned his attention back to Felix.
A hunched goblin approached Felix’s position.
When the goblin came within three steps of the bushes where Felix hid, Felix leapt out and stabbed its neck.
At the same moment, he clamped its mouth shut. The creature couldn’t even scream before being killed in one blow.
Felix didn’t pull the dagger out right away. Only after dragging the body into the bushes did he remove it, and only then did blood gush out.
‘So that’s how you reduce blood traces when assassinating an enemy.’
The droplets that did fall while dragging the body were smeared into the dirt until they vanished.
With the first ambush successfully over, Felix pushed a bit deeper in.
Inside, three goblins lay on the dirt ground.
They seemed unable to move much, as if they could barely live another day.
Those waiting quietly for death fell asleep easily by Felix’s hand.
‘Good. That makes four already.’
“This isn’t good.”
Brandok muttered in a low voice.
He aimed his bow toward Felix, who had just cut down two young goblins in succession.
“What’s wrong?”
“There isn’t a single adult goblin.”
Felix had taken down four more in the meantime.
They weren’t adults, but he had still defeated ten by himself.
“Is that a problem?”
“You’ll see.”
Robin watched Felix carefully as Brandok said, but nothing unusual happened.
The goblins Felix had dealt with were all low in combat ability.
After Felix killed five more, Brandok whistled.
Peeeee—
The sharp sound spread beyond the settlement.
Felix stopped before going any farther and returned immediately.
Whether the goblins had heard the whistle or not, adult goblins began gathering one by one.
“Brandok, did anything happen?”
“No issues. Let’s return to the main gate.”
Felix obeyed without complaint.
He picked up the spear he’d left on the ground, and Brandok slung his bow over his shoulder.
Robin understood why easily.
“Kek! Kerrrrrk!”
“Kekek! Kek!”
The goblins had discovered the bodies of their kin and were enraged.
It was said that monsters became agitated when their own kind died, but this reaction went beyond that.
For monsters that attacked children and elders indiscriminately to react this way was ironic.
“Well, I did draw their attention properly.”
“Could they chase toward where we are?”
“Unlikely. I hid the bodies away from the escape route, so it’ll take them time.”
The goblins’ cries spread throughout the settlement.
When the number of armed goblins surpassed ten, they began searching the surroundings.
Each time they found a body Felix had left behind, the goblins’ fury grew.
Fortunately, they didn’t find Robin’s group, but their cries alone were enough to create immense pressure.
‘They’re really chasing in a direction away from where we are.’
The goblins did pursue Robin’s group, but the distance between them gradually widened.
Felix had even accounted for the possibility of pursuit and had manipulated the placement of the corpses.
It was an excellent deception tactic.
“I’ll reduce speed now.”
“Yes. At this point we can relax.”
Brandok, who had been leading, slowed his pace.
Robin let out a breath—he had been close to running out of stamina.
Felix did not let down his guard behind them.
By the time they reached the settlement’s main gate, a one-sided slaughter had already begun.
Limbs were severed, and heads rolled on the ground everywhere.
“Stop. We wait here until it’s over.”
“Whew. Thankfully it ended well.”
In the distance, Calimacos, Paul, Mirian, and Torgen could be seen tearing through the goblin settlement.
Calimacos’s combat prowess, which had once allowed him to toy with a Gnoll Leader, was outstanding.
Even though dozens of goblins surrounded them, they were not intimidated at all.
Rather, it looked like a predator that had found prey—another one-sided massacre unfolded.
Felix, thinking it was already over, twisted his body here and there to loosen up.
“How strong is the Captain?”
Brandok remained motionless even in this situation.
Felix answered Robin’s question.
“He’s insanely strong. Stronger than all of us in the mercenary group combined.”
“That much? But the others are strong too.”
“To be honest, I don’t know exactly how strong he is. I’ve never seen him go all out.”
“How did someone that strong injure his left eye?”
“I heard vaguely that he fought a knight and ended up like that. That alone is incredible. It’s rare to survive a fight with a knight, after all.”
Robin’s eyes widened at the word knight.
To think someone that skilled lost to a knight—it made Robin rethink how powerful knights truly were.
Waaaaaah!
The shouts of Calimacos’s group, having broken through the encirclement, echoed all the way to the gate.
There were still quite a few goblins left, but the tide had already turned.
They had won.
Paul, guarding Calimacos’s back.
Mirian, freely wielding her curved blade.
Torgen, swinging his axe like a windmill.
No one doubted the outcome.
Which was why, when Brandok flinched, Robin was able to catch that subtle movement.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, dust shot upward.
Calimacos’s group stumbled for a moment, losing balance.
A massive silhouette rising from beneath a hut appeared through the dust.
A body that had to be at least four meters tall.
Muscles swollen to the point of bursting, gripping a club as large as a person’s height.
Its green skin, primitive clothing, and pointed ears all indicated it was a goblin.
“What is…?”
Felix was too shocked to finish his words.
Robin’s mouth opened slightly—it was the first time he had seen a monster so massive.
“A King Goblin. The leader of a large-scale goblin colony.”
Brandok calmly raised his bow and set an arrow to the string.
Buuuuuuung!
With one swing of its club, the King Goblin forced the mercenary group to retreat.
The gust of wind alone blew the dust away, revealing its terrifying presence.
“Keeeeeerrrrrrrk!”
The King Goblin was not alone.
Numerous goblins rushed out from beneath the hut, screaming.
“We poked a beehive.”
“What do we do? Even the Captain would struggle against a King Goblin and that many numbers.”
Thump. Thump.
Felix’s worry vanished in an instant.
The King Goblin ran past Calimacos and charged straight toward the main gate.
Its eyes were clearly locked onto Robin’s group.
Its size gave it massive strides, easily twice as fast as a human sprint.
Swoooosh!
Brandok fired an arrow at the King Goblin’s eye.
Ting.
The King Goblin casually deflected the arrow with its club.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Blocked at the face, Brandok fired three more shots in rapid succession—aimed at its neck, abdomen, and legs.
His archery bordered on the divine.
Thud.
Using its club to guard its neck, the King Goblin took one arrow each in the abdomen and leg.
However, its massive frame meant the damage was minimal.
The King Goblin had already closed the distance to twenty meters.
“Felix, carry Robin and run.”
“Yes.”
Felix held his spear in his right hand and scooped Robin up with his left arm before running.
Robin didn’t resist and clung to Felix’s arm.
Arrows flew past from behind several times, but the pounding footsteps of the King Goblin did not lessen.
“Don’t worry, Robin. We just need to hold out until the Captain gets here.”
Something was wrong.
Right now, the real threat to the goblins was Calimacos.
Yet the King Goblin prioritized chasing Robin.
‘The King Goblin is after me? Why?’
In the jostling motion, Robin’s eyes caught sight of Felix’s shoes.
They were smeared with thick green blood.
Looking more closely, bloodstains marked not only his shoes, but also his pants and leather vest.
“Ah.”
It became clear the King Goblin was targeting Felix for killing the weaker ones.
How it sensed that from such a distance was unknown—but that wasn’t what mattered now.
“Felix! Dodge!”
Brandok’s urgent voice rang out, and immediately after—
Puuuuuck!
A terrible sound and a blunt impact crashed into Robin’s back.
Felix and Robin were launched through the air like trees torn out by a storm.