F Rank Warrior vs Goblin Lord
The Goblin Lord howled just as I put a hand to my sword.
"GAAAAA!"
It"s attention moved from the girl to me.
Even if it was just a goblin, there was a reason that these were called "Lords."
It was quick to react.
"You might as well run while you can."
"No, you are just getting in my way! It is you that should run!"
She said stubbornly.
I unsheathed the Devil King"s sword and jumped while holding it above my head.
"GA…"
The Goblin Lord attempted to block my attack with its steel club.
"Let"s compare weapons then!"
I was not a pure Warrior. It was not about skill for me.
I swung down onto the club with all of my strength.
It caused a large gash to appear on it.
It was clear that the Devil King sword was the stronger weapon.
"GA!"
The Goblin Lord could not stand the weight of the hit, and he lost his balance.
I struck repeatedly to his side. Perhaps I was swinging too much because my great sword was. .h.i.tting the walls of the tunnel.
But I didn"t care.
—GGGGGGGGGGGGG
Parts of the wall was carved out by my sword as it closed in on the Goblin Lord.
"G…"
For a second, I could see the fear in its expression.
—GGAAKINNN…
The sword cut through the steel club and slashed into the Goblin Lord"s body.
The Goblin Lord was cut into half at the waist, and yet it was still alive.
"GG…"
It moaned as it raised its hands in the air and plead for mercy.
But there was no reason to allow it to live.
And so I stabbed my sword into its neck.
It immediately stopped moving.
And then I asked the girl.
"Are you hurt?"
"You…no, what are you?"
Then she suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Pardon me. My name is Shia. Thank you for helping me when I was in danger."
She gave a low bow. She was rather polite.
You should introduce yourself first if you are asking for someone"s name. She had remembered that.
It was hard to believe that this was the same girl who said she didn"t need help and that I was getting in her way.
She had likely only said it so that I could run away without feeling bad about it.
I could understand her position.
We were pitiful F Rank Adventurers who were hunting goblins, only to b.u.mp into a Goblin Lord.
That"s what she would have seen.
And she was right.
According to the guild"s official records, we were a party of F Rank Adventurers.
"I"m called Locke. I"m an F Rank Adventurer."
"That"s a lie."
She did not believe me. And so I smugly showed her my Adventurer"s Card.
"Yo-you, you really are an F Rank…"
"See?"
"Why are you so proud to be an F Rank…"
She said with exasperation.
When I asked her, she said that she was B Rank.
B Ranks were great Adventurers. It was impressive given her age.
"It is very unusual for an F Ranker to be so strong."
"Well, it"s a long story."
"Is that right."
She didn"t ask any further.
People who worked as Adventurers tended to have a lot of secrets.
And so it wasn"t good manners to ask.
Right then, I heard a voice from behind me.
"…Locke. Are you alright?"
"I"m so sorry. We ran away without you."
It was Ario and Josh. They had come worried that I had not come out, and so they returned.
"Don"t worry about it. I"m the one that told you to run away."
"But…"
"We"re so sorry."
As I talked with Ario and Josh, Shia began to inspect the Goblin Lord"s corpse.
Then Ario lowered his head to her.
"And thank you as well."
"Do not mention it."
She said with a smile.
I had something to say to her myself.
"When you were fighting the Goblin Lord, you said it was a weakling."
"Did I really?"
"You did say that. Did you perhaps say that because you knew that there was a stronger monster deeper in here?"
"…"
Shia became quiet.
Perhaps there was something that she didn"t want to say.
"Well, it"s fine if you don"t want to say it."
I couldn"t leave it. We defeated most of the goblins.
But if there really was something even stronger in here, the nearby villages would not be safe.
We had to kill it.
I turned to Ario and Josh.
"I"m sorry, but could you two wait here? I have to take a look further in."
"No, Locke. What are you saying? It"s too dangerous."
"Exactly. You think there could be something stronger down there, don"t you?"
They said frantically.
I decided to answer them cooly in order to calm them down.
"I told you this before. I"m not that young. I"m actually quite a bit older than both of you."
"You did say that…but, uh, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Hmm. Well, I have fought much stronger enemies than goblins for a long time. I only registered as a Warrior the other day, but I actually have a lot of fighting experience."
I say this, and Ario and Josh nod.
"So that"s why…"
"I did notice that you didn"t move like a newcomer."
"And your sword is oddly impressive. A newcomer wouldn"t have something like that."
While both of them were new, they had followed the etiquette of Adventurer"s of not prying into personal business.
They were great F Rankers.
"So don"t worry, I"m pretty strong. And I"ll just run away if it"s too dangerous. I"m fast on my feet, in spite of appearances."
And so I persuaded them before walking down the tunnel.
"Mr. Locke, please wait a moment."
"I"m going to be blunt here. Even if you are B Rank, you"ll just get in my way if you don"t have a sword."
"Grrrr."
Shia looked conflicted.
Josh spoke to her.
"Would you use this?"
"This…are you sure?"
"Yes, I am an archer, anyway."
Josh handed her a plain broadsword.
It was something he had picked up from a goblin that we had killed. It was not of very good quality.
"I will not be called a burden if I have a sword!"
"Uh, fine then."
And so Shia and I walked deeper into the tunnel.