Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash vol. 1

17. Precious

Whether he could or couldn't, for as long as he was breathing, time would continue to flow. When he went to sleep, the sun would rise. When the morning came, he would have to go to the Old City of Damuro.

They ambushed two goblins, wounding one with the preemptive attack. Ranta and Yume took on the wounded goblin, while Moguzo and Haruhiro faced the unharmed one.

The unharmed goblin wore a dented helmet and rudimentary chain mail, and was armed with a damaged sword. It was a pretty tough opponent, but, that said, Moguzo was far larger than it and had the upper hand in terms of strength, as well. It seemed like he should have been able to ram his way through its defense, but Moguzo didn't do that.

Why not? Because Moguzo was afraid?

True, Moguzo wasn't as reckless as Ranta. However, he had good reason to be cautious.

The goblin happened to be wearing a helmet, so Haruhiro noticed something while watching the two of them. With a helmet, you wouldn't die from a slight blow to the head. However, without one, even a grazing blow could cause serious injury, so you couldn't help but be cautious.

The night before, Moguzo had said he wanted a helmet and plated armor. Not a sharp, new bastard sword: it was defensive gear he wanted. With equipment that defended him better, he could throw himself into the fight more fully. That was probably what he'd meant.

Haruhiro spent most of his time thinking about how to get behind the enemy. He didn't wear armor, so every enemy attack was scary to him. It was only a little bit of an exaggeration to say that one slash could be the end of him, so he avoided them with everything he had.

However, Moguzo had to face the enemy in a straight-up exchange of blows. If Moguzo were running around like Haruhiro, everything would turn into a total mess.

Because their roles were different, Haruhiro hadn't understood that. He hadn't seen anything. No, he hadn't tried to see anything.

"Moguzo...!" Haruhiro called out to Moguzo, slashing at the goblin as he did.

The goblin turned in his direction. Haruhiro backed away.

The goblin hesitated for a moment.

Just a moment.

The goblin spun back around to face Moguzo, but Moguzo was already thrusting his bastard sword at it.

"Hunghh...!"

The bastard sword buried itself deep inside the goblin's flank. But living creatures don't die that easily.

The goblin shrieked, "Gyagyahh!" and tried to swing its sword.

I won't let you do that! Haruhiro attacked the goblin from behind. The goblin's sword hand. Aim for its hand. The wrist.

"—Slap...!"

He wasn't able to lop it off, but his dagger reached the bone and the goblin lost its grip on its sword. Moguzo grunted and gave his bastard sword a twist. The goblin screamed, trying to grab a hold of Moguzo. Haruhiro grabbed hold of the goblin's helmet with his left hand, tearing it off with all his might, then slammed his dagger in under its chin.

"—There!"

Even after all that, it took some time for the goblin to stop struggling.

There were lives at stake here. Both sides were serious. It didn't get any more deadly serious than this. There was no way it was going to be easy. Hadn't Manato said that?

Just like they didn't want to die, the goblins didn't want to die, either. They killed them, taking their stuff, eating, and living on.

For the other goblin, Ranta and Yume's, Shihoru weakened it with magic and Ranta struck the final blow.