Volume 16 Chapter 3 Channing Village Homecoming Part Ii
"I thought there would be a lot of villages right after crossing the river... Hey, Al, what's that smoke?"
The next morning, Al flew over the Muriel River with Mary and his attendant Neville, sitting on a chair transformed by the 'Carrier' spell.
At first, Al thought it would be easier to explore alone, but after discussing with his father and former attendant Myron, they decided that Neville should check the situation across the river to help plan for the future.
Mary, the one who suggested the trip, insisted on coming along, so they ended up taking both of them.
The Sipree Mountain were uneven, making it hard to see far. As the 3 flew over the river, they couldn't find the Barbarian settlement along the riverbank, but they did see smoke rising a little to the south.
"Is the forest on fire? There's no way someone is attacking the Barbarian settlement, right?"
Al tilted his head.
"Let's go check it out."
"Yeah."
After crossing a mountain, they saw a slope that looked like it had been cut away, revealing reddish-brown soil mixed with rocks.
Smoke was rising from the base of the slope, and the trees around the mountains had been cleared over a wide area.
"What could this be...?"
Neville murmured.
'Sensory Boost'──Enhanced Visual
Al enhanced his own vision, then Mary's and Neville's in turn. From high above near the mountain's peak, he carefully looked down at the base.
There, he saw small towers made of stones stacked about 3 meters (10ft) high, with smoke rising from them. Around the towers, many humanoid figures were moving.
Goblins, and some larger ones mixed in. They must be Hobgoblins.
"Are they burning something with those stones?"
'Hmm. I don't know!'
It seemed even Glee couldn't figure it out. At first, Mary and Neville were restless with the new spell, but once they got the hang of it, they focused on observing the base.
"I'm curious about what the goblins are doing, but it's too far to see clearly. I'll get a little closer."
Al lowered his altitude and slowly approached from downwind.
The area around the hill was being cleared of trees, exposing the ground, and part of the hill had been hollowed out, spreading reddish stones everywhere.
About a hundred goblins and hobgoblins were working hard. Some were stacking stones, while others were breaking down a blackened tower-like structure.
"I can't tell. Should we attack, or go back to report...?"
If he went back to report, Al would have to head to the border city Parker, and he wouldn't find out what the goblins were doing.
Mary tilted her head and murmured that they might be performing some kind of ritual.
The towers they were building with stones seemed to have firewood and some kind of cloth bags inside, which the goblins were spreading and squeezing.
The flames inside the tower grew larger and stronger every time the goblin squeezed.
"This feels... kind of like a blacksmith's place."
Neville muttered.
'Could it be that they're making weapons?!'
Goblins usually don't have weapons, but the higher-ranked ones might. This meant that weapons were being made somewhere. Could this be one of those places?
That meant they couldn't just leave it alone.
"They might be making weapons. There are a lot of them, so we can't ignore it. But with this many, maybe we shouldn't report it," Al said.
If he reported defeating a hundred Barbarians, it would definitely stand out that the Channing family, with only one knight and 2 squires, did it alone.
"If Sir Al says he defeated a hundred, Sir Nelson would probably faint."
At Neville's words, Al quickly shook his head, smiling wryly, saying he didn't mean that at all. The reward for goblin hunting in the capital was one silver coin per goblin. For a hundred, that would be one gold coin.
In the border city of Lester, it would be 3 gold coins. Al knew that the Channing family's finances couldn't handle that.
"Oh, I see. My apologies. However, if this is some kind of metal mine, I think we should report it. I want to collect samples from inside that stone tower," Neville said.
Al nodded at Neville's words. Depending on what kind of metal it was, if a mine was found, the Margrave might decide to develop the area across the Muriel River.
Whether that would be good or bad for Channing Village...
"I'll leave the decision to report it to my father," Al said, his expression thoughtful. "But it does seem wise to collect a sample." He took a deep breath, preparing for what lay ahead. "Alright, I'll get a little closer and cast 'Magic Tornado' from the air."
He glanced around cautiously, adding, "So far, we've only seen goblins and hobgoblins, so I think it should be fine, but let me know immediately if you spot any goblin archers or goblin mages."
Against goblins and hobgoblins from the air, they would probably just pick up stones and throw them. They likely wouldn't use slings.
Being 30 meters (98ft) up should be safe, but just in case, Al cast the 'Shield' spell. Then, they slowly approached the goblins.
'Magic Tornado!'
A bluish-white light shot from Al's hand with a whoosh, heading straight for the center of the goblins and hobgoblins.
The moment the light hit the ground, a roaring wind sounded, and white light swirled and spread out like a blooming flower.
"Gya gya gyaaa!!"
The sudden attack caused screams from the goblins and hobgoblins. They looked up at Al and the others, but it was rare for them to throw stones. Most of them hid behind rocks.
'Magic Tornado!'
As it circled above, a second ruthless bluish-white light shot from Al's hand. This time, the light swirled and spread out in a different spot.
Gya Gya Gyaghh!!
Once again, the screams of goblins and hobgoblins echoed. How many times had this happened? The goblins and hobgoblins in the area had disappeared.
"Phew... is it safe now?"
As Al muttered this, Mary, who had been closing her eyes, slowly opened them.
"They're goblins, but if it's this one-sided, I have to think about it a bit."
"Hmm, sorry. I don't think that way. Against goblins, that kind of thinking can be deadly."
At Mary's words, Al shook his head and gripped Glee's pendant tightly.
"I'm going down. Be careful."
Saying this, Al carefully descended to the ground. Along the way, he mercilessly finished off a goblin that moved with a 'Magic Missile' spell. He walked around the place where the goblins had been working.
He knocked down a tower made of stones next to the unmoving goblin corpses and waited for the red substance inside to cool down. After a while, Al picked up a cooled, grain-like object.
'Analyze.'
Cast Iron 94%...
It seemed to contain various other things, but cast iron was the most abundant. This cast iron was definitely a type of iron. He must have been 'Extracting' it from the red stone-like objects lying around.
'Extract'──Cast Iron
The grain in his palm changed into shiny metal particles and a bit of fine soil. It didn't seem to have changed much in size from the original grain.
"Probably an iron mine."
"I see. I'll have it checked at the blacksmith just in case."
At Neville's words, Al nodded. He used the 'Carrier' spell and prepared a chair that had been reshaped into a disk. Neville, who had collected various materials including the previous grain and reddish stones, sat down there.
Mary seemed to be thinking about something while looking at the goblin corpses, but at Al's urging, she sat next to Neville.
"Let's head back for now."
It wasn't good to leave the goblin corpses lying around, but there were just too many to deal with right now.
After all, they couldn't leisurely dig and bury them in this undeveloped land, and the button-shaped magic tool couldn't be used in front of others due to the circumstances of the 'Transport' destination, so there was no way to carry them.
After sending the two off, they would have to collect them later with the magic bag and think about where to dispose of them. This method might only be possible during the winter.
It was still unclear whether the storage room would stay cold all the time.
"Yeah, let's go home. Just defeating this many goblins and hobgoblins must have some value."
Mary said this as if reassuring herself. Al nodded in agreement. Surely, this would reduce the number of barbarians crossing the river to invade.
"Let's go."
Al floated lightly into the air. The 3 of them headed straight for Channing Village.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)