When morning arrived, I got up early as usual and exercised lightly before having breakfast.

Harold-kun and Alf-kun arrived a bit later in the dining room with tired faces, Ethel-chan seems to still be sleeping. Once the two of them arrived at my table, they started eating the food that, just as expected, was pretty bad.

By the time I finished my meal, Ethel-chan finally arrived with a very sleepy and tired face even though she was the last to wake up. I decided to wait until all 3 ate as I would ask what was the decision they reached in the end. I understand the atmosphere is bad at the moment, but if I don’t ask now, I will have no other opportunity.

When they finished, their faces tensioned up until Alf-kun got enough courage to ask. “… Hey, can we really win if you’re with us?”

Still asking this kind of thing…? “Didn’t I tell you to decide by yourselves? I’m here to accompany you.” They were the ones that took the request after all, it only makes sense they take the decisions.

Well, I can sympathize with them, considering their first subjugation ended up like this. “But we don’t have the means to judge rather or not we’re capable of it…” Alf-kun continued.

I suppose I should give them one more hint. “Are you aware of what Goblins are capable of? What about me? If you aren’t, why didn’t you ask? I’m your escort and here to help you, but how much of my help did you use?”

“Then, can you please explain those things to us? Have you fought against goblins before?” Alf-kun asked again.

“Isn’t it obvious? Why would the guild send me here if I hadn’t?” I answered.

“Then, since Onee-sama knows about the goblins, do you think we are able to beat them?” Ethel-chan asked.

“That’s hard for me to answer since I don’t know what you’re capable of. I can imagine it at least though.” I answered.

“Then please tell us what you can.” Alf-kun said.

“Well, generally speaking E-rank adventurers won’t lose a one-on-one fight with a goblin, maybe they might suffer a minor injury, but unless you get too nervous or in a disadvantageous situation, you should still win. However, being your first fight against monsters might be the exact reason why you get excessively scared and unable to fight properly, which is why it would be best if the three of you attacked a single goblin at first.” I explained.

“Then, it’s still too early for us to fight goblins one-on-one?” Alf-kun asked dejectedly.

“Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying you’re not good enough to do so, what you lack is experience. Lacking battle experience can be deadly for anyone and can easily cause death. So it’s best to take caution when approaching your first fight.” Harold-kun glared at me as I said that, but he eventually sighed and turned his eyes away.

“I suppose you’re right, we’re still amateurs, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.” I’m glad they understood, I don’t want them to die after all.

“What about you, Onee-sama, are you able to defeat 60 goblins at once?” Ethel-chan asked.

“I can. I’m actually going to clean the nest by myself if you decide to go home.” I think it’s important to assure them that the village will be fine even if they choose not to fight.

“Then we don’t even need to fight…?” Alf-kun asked… That’s the wrong kind of question though.

“The three of you are the ones that took the request, if you give up I’ll handle it alone, but otherwise you should participate.” There is no way I can allow them to reap the rewards without putting the work on it, otherwise they’ll just lose the trust of the guild and they won’t be able to recover it if that happens. They need to make a decision and accept the responsibility that comes with it.

“Then, if we fight the goblins, will you help us? Please lend us your strength, because we won’t be able to otherwise.” Alf-kun asked.

That’s the spirit, it’s important to acknowledge your limits after all. “Alright, but you need to get at least 10 kills, just like the original request. So let’s prepare for the trip now.”

We returned to the room to prepare, and at 8am we left to kill the goblins.

“Is there really a nest ahead?” Harold-kun asked while we walked through the forest.

“Possibly. The village chief told me that there is a clearing nearby, the goblins wouldn’t need to take the trouble of cutting trees if they built their nest there.” The basic thing for an adventurer is getting information, right? It’s why I asked about their possible location to the chief last night.

About one hour after getting in the forest, we arrived at their hideout. “Incredible” one of them muttered. There was a makeshift house in the middle of it, and lots of other smaller ones in the surroundings, all filled with goblins. It’s as if a whole village moved in one go.

“Are you ready? I’ll attack first and you should follow afterwards, be careful to not get surrounded.” When the three of them nodded, I started casting a spell. “Scorching Flames, burn everything in your path. Fireball!”

My spell summoned 5 fireballs at once that exploded upon the big house, creating a large noise that stirred the goblins.

The three of them seemed astonished by my spell, so I talked to take them out of their stupor, “I’m going ahead while they’re still confused!” and then rushed ahead.

The goblins reacted to me and tried to fight back, but I cut 2 of the 3 attackers with a single swing of my sword, I let the third pass through me to let the newbies handle it.

While I fought with more incoming goblins, I glanced towards the newbies, while they were struggling with the goblin, it seemed obvious the three of them would win. That relaxed me, it will only get easier for them from now on.

As more goblins came out of the houses, I threw a Fire Arrow at them to keep their number controlled, while also throwing a few more at the other houses to spread the fire faster.

And of course, kept cutting goblins down with my sword while intentionally letting a few pass through to give the 3 of them something to fight. And they seemed to slowly get less rigid and more used to the battle.

After about 2/3rds of the goblins were exterminated, a large goblin came out of the biggest house, the Goblin Lord.

Goblin Leaders are a bit faster, taller and more skilled than ordinary goblins, but the Lords on the other hand are nearly 2m tall and have enough strength to break through walls by themselves.

Leaders by themselves are already too much for E-rank adventurers, not to mention a Lord, so I rushed towards him by myself while cutting any goblin that crossed my path.

The lord swung the club on his hand, but I easily avoided, while said club smashed a few other goblins to death.

Meanwhile I ran towards his knees and cut it with my sword, forcing him to fall on the ground. After dodging his fall, I avoided a desperate attack he made with his club while trying to get up, and cut his head off with a single blow.

The rest of the goblins panicked and started fleeing, so I immediately gave chase, it would be a problem to let them escape as they could rebuild to fight again after all.

The three newbies followed suit and started pursuing the enemies by themselves, I occasionally glanced towards them to be sure everything was well, but they seemed to be doing just fine.