Aiden and I walked towards the north at a speed that would not cause everyone else to feel weird.

The shops were becoming sparse, and once we saw that there weren't any more pedestrians, we dashed down the stone steps at the speed where we were almost going to fall off. After spending about 5 minutes walking towards the bridge above the river, we got past the eyes of the guard in the sentry post before running out of the village.

Unlike the wheat fields that stretched down the horizon in the south, the north of the village had a thick forest. A river circled the hill that formed the village and headed through the forests, extending out of both the north and south of the village. There was a small path with thin grass growing on the river bank.

No matter how far we moved, the scenery of the river on the right and the forest on the left never changed. Along the way, we passed by a lake and a slightly sloped region. I could no longer hear the sound of the bell on the tower of the village which was used to announce the time, and could only deduce the time from the sun that rose bit by bit.

Aiden and I continued to jog down the river, and if it were me from two years ago, I'd be completely breathless in less than 30 minutes. Luckily, now I seemed to have rather high resilience, and I felt that it's more comforting than tiring to move my body. I once suggested to Aiden to go a little faster but Aiden said that if we moved too fast, we might get too exhausted, and we wouldn't be able to move if we don't stop and rest for a long time. Well, his father is a hunter so he probably has far more knowledge regarding such a subject than me. So, I decided to follow his lead.

Just like that, we kept running for 2 hours at a suitable speed, but there was still no sign of the 'thing' in front of us. Speaking of which, based on the time now, it might already be time for lunch. If I don't turn back and return now, My family might become suspicious. The restlessness and anxiety spread through my mouth with a slightly metallic smell. Just as I was about to call out Aiden to head back, he broke the silence.

「I see it, Claude.」

I lifted my face, and as he said, at the break of the forest, I could see greyish-white rocks lining up.

Both of us dashed down the remaining few hundred meters left and stopped at the grassy patch that became gravel. I panted in a slightly heavy manner and looked up at the scene in front of me in a dumbstruck manner.

I am probably dreaming—the changes in area were too clear-cut, causing me to think of saying such a thing. There was only a very narrow buffer zone splitting it, and abruptly, it became a rocky mountain that was almost vertical. The amazing thing was that if I raised my hand, the places I could touch were covered with thin snow. I didn't know how tall it was, but there was pure white light flashing nearby.

The snowy mountains extended out to both left and right sides of where I stood until I could no longer see them.

「Is this...the Mountain range at the Edge?」

I whispered with disbelief. Aiden nodded.

「But wait........isn't the Mountain range the start of the deeper part of the forest? How did we end up here?」

I was at a loss of words. It's just like he said, the Mountain range is the start of the deeper part of the forest. I have heard the village hunters and soldiers discussing that their weekly patrols always end near the Mountain range as the difficulty of monsters exponentially increases past this point.

「...It's so close to us.」

I sighed as I continued and subconsciously tilted my head. It was a road that had no obstacles, no split paths and a distance that could becover in 2.5 hours just by walking faster. It was like— like it was luring us, luring the residents over to the area. Or it may be the other way around, inviting monsters from their territory to invade...

Aiden turned to me, who was trying to look relaxed and said anxiously.

「Then, let's hurry. Once we find the 'thing' and we pull back, we might even be able to go back to the village while it's still bright.」

「Ah, ahh... you're right.」

Well, I am already late for lunch. If I am going to get scolded anyway, might as well see this to the very end.

I looked over at where he was pointing at, and I could see that the river we walked down was being sucked in —or rather, flowing out—from a protruding hole in the wall.

「Is that it...」

I muttered.

We jogged in. The height and width of the wall weren't small, and on the left side of the trail of water that was flowing, there was a stone path wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The hole was completely covered in darkness, and there would occasionally be acold wind blowing.

「Oi, Aiden...how do we light this place?」

I had completely forgotten about the necessary items needed for exploring a cave and panicked when I said it. I mean I never expected to reach this far in the first place. Aiden nodded with an expression indicating to leave it to him and raised a piece of grass that even I didn't know when he had picked up. 

What are you going to do with a bristlegrass? 

Just when I looked forward in a dumbstruck manner, Aiden took out a match and started lighting the grass.

Just when I was startled—

The tip of the grass Aiden grabbed onto letting out a bluish-white light with a *swoosh* and the brightness was enough to illuminate several meters of darkness. Aiden raised it and stepped into the cave.

My surprise didn't fade at all as I hurriedly followed him and walked beside him, asking,

「Ai-Aiden... just now, that was?」

Aiden frowned sternly, but showed a delighted expression as he answered,

「I already brought a box of matches just in case stuff like this happened. I have been planning this from last night you know?」

So he had been planning all this without knowing whether I would accept to go or not? Talk about counting your chicks before they hatch. Well, I am not the one to say anything since I came along anyway. In such an eerie place, the thought of playing a prank on him came to my mind but I gave up for now and stared at the darkness in front of me.

The moist grey stone path was meandering forward. The icy cold wind that could cut the skin blew over at me from the front. I had an ally with me, but I didn't even have a wooden stick, let alone a sword, which worried me.

「I say... Did something fall last night in such a place...?」

I couldn't help myself from muttering. Aiden silently used the glowing bristlegrass to light the ground.

「Ah...」

The bluish-white ball of light showed a shallow frozen puddle. The centre of the puddle was trampled upon, creating cracks all around. I tried to step on it, and the ice let out a cracking sound as the cracks became bigger. Aiden and I laughed at such a peculiar sight.

My back that had been tensing up for some reason relaxed at this point— and this moment.

There was a strange sound that came with the wind coming from the darkness in front of us. Aiden and I glanced at each other. 

*Gii*,*Gii*

That sound seemed to be some cry from a certain kind of bird or wild beast.

「Oi... What was that just now?」

「...Well... It's the first time I'm hearing this sound... Ah.」

「Wha-what is it this time?」

「Do you... smell something, Claude...?」

On hearing him say this, I tried hard to smell the incoming wind.

「Ahh... something, giving a burnt smell... and...」

The burnt-resin smell had a small underlying miasma of beasts init. My expression changed the moment I smelled this. This didn't smell that I could bring myself to relax over.

「What is this...」

Just when I forced out these words, another sound came, and I gasped.

「NOT GOOD!」

Aiden and I shouted at the same time as we dashed down the slippery stone path that had frozen on top. I was unleashed into the biggest sense of danger —so huge that I couldn't recall any other situation where I had had a stronger feeling—as it struck my body like ice, numbing my limbs.

Aiden and I continued to dash at full speed, relying upon the weak light of the grass. Our breathing became erratic, and whenever we inhaled, our chests would feel pain. We nearly slipped a few times, and the knees and wrists that hit the ice walls would continue to hurt. However, even if it was so, we couldn't slow down. We had to get out of here and that too fast.

Even though we continued to move forward towards the exit of the cave, the smell of burning wood and the wild stench became thicker. 

*Gii* *Gii*

The sounds could be heard with metallic sounds. 

*Gacha* *Gacha*. 

I didn't know what kind of people were following us, but I could easily imagine that they weren't some friendly guys.

Aiden's face was even grimmer than mine as he quickly dashed forward with tremendous speed. No matter what I couldn't possibly stop him.

Suddenly, there was an orange light swaying on the wall in front of us. From the reflection, it seemed that it was a rather large dome inside.

But how? We were heading towards the exit. How come we reached even deeper inside the cave. Did we take a wrong turn? I mean although we just had to retrace our path, not being familiar with the area might have resulted in us going off route. We should have left some marks before going into place. 

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

My skin felt a clear prickling sensation at the enemies' presence, there were many of them— a whole lot. I prayed that we would find as I stepped into the dome space with Aiden.

I have to look around and take the most suitable option— as fast as possible. I followed the deduction made in my mind and widened my eyes to access the situation like a wide-view camera snapping away.

The round dome was about 50m in diameter. The ground was covered by a thick layer of ice, but there was a large crack that opened in the middle, showing the bluish-black surface of the water.

The orange light came from two clusters of bonfires. In black metal cages, the firewood was burning away.

*Pacha* *Pacha*

Also, right around the two clusters of bonfires, there was a group of things that looked humanoid but were neither humans nor wild beasts, and there were more than 30 of them.

Each of them, or it should be said that every single one of them, weren't large. The head of the thing standing was only at my height, but their bodies with slightly slouched backs were rather muscular, especially the arms that looked weird and the hands that had sharp claws on the ends that looked like they could rip anything apart. They had bright leather armour on, and their waist had all sorts of fur, bones and little bags jingling there. Also— even though they were crude, I could feel the power from their crafting machetes.

Their skins were dark greyish-green, and they had some light bristles growing on them. All of them were fully bald, without exception, and they were growing fur only on the side of the sharp and pointy ears, like wires. They had no eyebrows, and below the protruding forehead, some eyes were so big that they didn't match their body at all, all giving off a corroded yellow. They were extremely abnormal.

I had read about them. They were the low-level monsters «Goblins». Goblins were monsters used for beginners to train and gain experience and their stats were normally very low. However, this was not enough to put me at ease. There is no way that two 7-year-old's like us could take 30 Goblins head-on.

But then I noticed that all the 30 Goblins were on their knees and had prostrated themselves on the ground and were praying to a book. A Black Book that was radiating a bright white light. Even though I couldn't understand them, it could be felt that they were glorifying and praising it. I also noticed that none of them was looking directly at the Black Book or more like the light that it was giving off.

It looked like they had not even noticed us enter. I felt a little relaxed and thought that we both could probably silently walk away without disturbing them.

However, this relaxed feeling could only last until the one that was standing closest to Aiden and me discovered us and turned around.

My bones were frozen as well the moment I felt the expression coming out from the yellow eyes of that guy. Its eyes were showing doubt and surprise, which then changed to a cruel delight and endless hunger. That was enough to make me tremble like a small insect stuck in a large spider's web.

I realized this clearly amid my overwhelming fear.

The goblin and I stared at each other for less than a second, but it was enough to terrify me. As I didn't know what to do and could only stand blankly, the goblin in front of me let out a sound, *Giii*— which may be a laugh, and stood up. However, it did so after it bowed its head towards the Black Book as if it was thanking it.

And then, it made a weird sound.

『Ray, doh so! Teeso' meefa so meeray? Teemeesola 2 teelatee Laso lasotee meetee sofa latee!』

At the same time, there were cackles, *Gigi*, *Gigi*, coming from all over the dome. From the nearest one, the Goblins all raised their machetes and stood up, giving off hungry looks.

『Teeso Mee Tee Mee~? Mee Tee Sotee Ray Meeray So Tee!?』

A goblin shouted initially. At this moment, the roar could be heard from behind, and all the goblins stopped laughing. From amidst the monsters, there was a goblin that was twice as large as the other goblins.

This guy was equipped with scale mail, and the forehead had a decorative feather that was of primary colours. The eyes that had a tinge of red below the feather let out an overwhelming evil and icy cold-like intellect that could cause anyone to faint. The goblin leader smirked and bared its yellow untidy teeth before saying in a hoarse voice,

『Tee so' tee sotee teedoh la tee sotee ray sotee Laso. Doh sotee mee sofatee. Tee' sola la ray so tee so ray meemee tee.』

As soon as he said that, all the other goblins readied their weapons. Although I couldn't understand their language it won't require a genius to decipher what he might have said-

Kill.

To what extent should I accept this term? I was lost. I should be able to take away the possibility of real death here. As I was lost in such thoughts I remembered.

Oh yeah... Aiden, how is he?

I looked around and saw him beside me, Aiden was paralyzed to the spot, the menacing aura holding him in a tightening grip. He was probably still in shock. He looked terrified and had put his hands on his head and was squatting down at the same place he was once standing. He was muttering something in a feeble voice that I couldn't hear.

Just when I gave him a jerk to bring him back to reality, I interrupted my thoughts and focused on the scene in front of me.

The Goblin leader stopped speaking, the four henchmen near him drew their machetes as they walked over to us, slowly, carefreely, baring their teeth and cackling, looking like they intended to kill us.

The other goblins, that totalled more than 20, showed exciting expressions, all cackling with delight.

*Gigi* *Gigi*

In that case, what should I do—

「There's only one choice.」

I muttered

Of course, it wasn't that simple. The difference in battle strength was too great. While the 30 goblins were all equipped with machetes and armour equipment, we didn't even have a stick in hand. But even so, we had to go.

「Aiden.」

I stared in front and quickly whispered while keeping my eyes on the Goblins.

「Listen up. You are going to escape no matter what. Don't move.」

「G-got it.」

I immediately heard the response. Just as I expected, the heart within him was rather strong. Even in such a situation, he could collect himself in a short amount of time. And here I was still trembling in fear. I could only remain collected because I had an ally, had I been alone I would have been in the same state as him.

「I'll count to three, and then we'll knock down those four at the front to break through them. Our sizes are different, and we'll succeed if we're not scared. I'll take the left, you take the right, and we'll throw the fires into the lake. Don't throw away the lit grass. Once the flames are out, pick up a sword from the ground and cover my back. Don't think of trying to beat them. I'll use this chance to deal with the big one.」

「O-ok!」

He probably looked a little surprised as I had come up with a plan in such a short time. Never thought that the book, "Basic War Strategy's", I read for fun would help me such a dire situation. At least I had some sort of way to deal with them. Even if I was going down, I would go down while putting up a fight, Dammit!

「Let's go... one, two, three!」

We were on the ice, but Aiden and I didn't slip as we ran at the fastest speed we could muster. We kept praying that this luck would continue till the end, and I roared out from the bottom of my abdomen.

「UWOOOOHHHH!!!」

Aiden was slower by a bit as he shouted

「WAAAAAHHHH!!!」

It sounded like a scream, but it did seem to be effective as the 4 goblins widened their yellowish-green eyes. However, they probably weren't stunned by the shouts, but by the fact that we both lunged at them.

I ran 10 paces, kept my body down and aimed for the left-most goblin and the one beside it. My right shoulder lunged right over. Maybe it was the unexpected action and the correction effect of the difference in size that the two goblins turned twice and skidded off on the ice.

I continued to charge and accelerated towards the goblin circle. Likely, these guys didn't seem to have much response-ability as all of them could only look over blankly without standing up at all, including the leader.

Yes. Just stay around like that and don't move! 

I prayed as if I was scolding them as I ran past the gaps between the goblins and dashed across the last few meters.

At that moment, the goblin leader, who seemed to have slightly higher intelligence than the rest, roared angrily,

『So' Tee Ray Tee Tee Ray Latee—』

But he was a little late. Aiden and I rushed to the fires and kicked them over to the water. A large amount of ash scattered around as the two large bonfires sank into the black water, leaving behind a *syuuu*sound as they were extinguished with a cloud of white steam.

The dome was immediately in complete darkness for a moment—and then, a faint bluish-white light scattered the darkness. It was the light from the Black Book they were praying which was situated between both the bonfires.

At that moment, two lucky things happened.

The goblins surrounding us all screamed out, some covering their faces and some turning their backs. I looked over and saw that even the goblin leader facing the lake was bending his upper body back and using his left hand to cover its eyes. Looks like my assumptions were true.

「Claude... this is...?」

Aiden whispered in surprise. I simply answered him.

「Most likely...these guys are scared of the light this Black Book gives off. Now's our chance!」

From the weapons placed messily around the lake, I took out a crude straight sword that looked like a large metal sheet and a curved knife with a slightly wider volume at the front end. I put the knife in Aiden's hands.

「This knife can also be used as a short sword. Listen, use the bristlegrass' light to hold them off and chase off the guys closing in to you, towards me. Start running while looking for an exit and get help from the village.」

「Cl...Claude? But that means—」

「I'll take down as many as I can until then.」

I simply answered and looked at the Goblin leader that was glaring from through the gaps between the fingers covering his face. I held the straight sword with both hands and quickly swung it left and right. Unlike its appearance, it felt a little dull, but it was a lot better than the wooden sword that was overly heavy.

『 Soso! Tee Laso Laso...tee Sotee Mee Sotee So Solaso Lala Sosoteela-!?』

The leader glared at me with one eye and closed in on me as it roared, drawing the large machete at its waist with its right hand. The pitch-black blade had blood that seemed to show signs of rust on it, giving an abnormal pressure.

Can I beat him—!?

Facing this enemy who wasn't tall, but a lot heavier and more muscular than me, I panicked for an instant. However, I immediately gritted my teeth and moved forward. If I didn't beat this guy and save Aiden, it would become a situation in which I have brought about the worst fate to both of us. The size wasn't a problem, I had countless mock battles with father who was almost twice my size under the conditions that I would be gravely injured if I lost.

「NO! I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE YOU ON! —I'M GOING TO CONQUER YOU!」

I shouted, partly directed at the leader and partly directed at myself as I immediately dashed through the remaining distance.

My left foot took a large step forward, using the sword to slash down at the left shoulder of enemy diagonally.

I didn't underestimate the enemy, but the goblin leaders reaction was a lot faster than I had imagined. It ignored my attack pattern and swung its machete horizontally. I kept my body down and barely managed to dodge it. I felt that some of my hair touched it since it felt like they were ripped off. My sword hit home but only shattered the metallic shoulder armour.

I would have been overwhelmed by force if I stopped. Having such a thought, I kept my centre of gravity low and moved beside the enemy, aiming for the opened flank of the abdomen before swinging a horizontal attack. This time was the same as well. Even though I had the feeling, I couldn't break through the simple scale mail and only managed to send maybe 5-6 sheets of metal flying.

SHARPEN YOUR OWN SWORD PROPERLY!

I told off the owner of the sword with which I was fighting in my heart, dodging the counterattacking strike that came swinging down from above. The thick blade of the machete pierced through the ice floor on the ground, and I shuddered in fear of the goblin's arm strength.

I definitely couldn't handle this if I simply used single attacks. I made this decision, and while the goblin recovered from its frozen stiff state, I took a huge step forward and launched my counterattack.

The first strike that came swinging upwards from the bottom-right position grazed past the enemy's left leg and stopped his motion.

The second strike that swung from left to right horizontally sliced the chest plate of the armour and made a light cut on the flesh inside.

The third strike that quickly swung down from the top right side sliced apart the left arm the enemy raised to defend himself from slightly below the elbow.

The fresh blood that came out from the sliced off the surface was shown as pitch black under the bluish-white light. The left arm of the goblin that flew off, *kuru kuru* fell into the lake on the left side, letting out a heavy splash.

—I won!

As I firmly believed this, I was thoroughly shocked.

The goblin leader with its left arm sliced off was different from the polygon monsters, as it did not stop for even a moment

The goblin leader with its left arm sliced off was different from the polygon monsters, as it did not stop for even a moment. Its flashing yellow eyes didn't show any signs of fear nor emptiness, just overwhelming hatred inside. The pitch-black blood flowed out from the wound as a scalding roar—

『Dohsoso!!!』

And quickly swung the machete in its right hand.

I couldn't dodge the incoming heavy blade that was flying horizontally in time. The area near the tip grazed my left shoulder, and the pressure alone sent me flying by more than 2m as my back landed hard on the icy surface.

At this moment, the goblin leader finally crouched down and put the machete in its mouth and used the right hand to grab onto the sliced off part of the left arm. *Misa misa* - a terrifying sound could be heard. The goblin leader forcefully crushed the flesh to stop the bleeding.

「Claude! Are you hit!?」 

Surprised by the voice I saw slightly further away, Aiden used his right hand to hold on to the curved knife while his left hand held onto the glowing grass to hold off the goblin's henchmen.

I widened my eyes and shouted-

「YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO FIND AN EXIT AND LEAVE ALL OF THEM TO ME!」

「B-but how could I leave you here to die?」

So he realised, huh?

Yes, this was my plan from the very beginning. As there is no way that both of us could face all of them head-on and come out unscathed or the worst-case scenario even come out alive. The best course of action would have to be that one of us stays behind to gather their attention, acting as the bait while the other escapes. Of course, this means that the one who stays behind would have to die.

In that case, only I would be the one to die here then. Aiden who has many prospects ahead of him in life and is rather proficient in swordsmanship or a useless third son like me who doesn't have anything to his name with no notable qualities. Any sane person would never pick Aiden to stay behind and fight.

「JUST GO!」

I wanted to say more, but my stiff tongue couldn't move like I thought as I nodded with a trembling voice. As I used one hand to support myself onto the icy surface as I stood up—

A burning feeling came out from the left shoulder, feeling like it was going to burn through all my nerves. *Saka Saka* — sparks appeared in my sight. I couldn't help but cry out as my throat let out a groan.

Such— tremendous pain!

It was far more than my pain tolerance could handle. I couldn't do anything other than curling myself and pant lightly. Even so, I still tried to look behind to see the damaged part of my shoulder. The sleeve on the tunic was completely ripped off, revealing a large and ugly wound on the skin. It was more like a wound ripped by a giant claw than a sword wound. The skin and the flesh under it were completely shaved off as bright-red blood continued to spurt out. My left arm was only left with a numbing hot feeling as my fingertips were unable to move, as though they didn't belong to me.

So this is why you told me not to wander anywhere near the forest, huh? 

I cried out inside my mind as I remembered the advice father had given me.

I tried hard to look away from my wound and mocked myself before changing my thoughts.

At the front end of my vision, blurred by tears, The Goblin leader had stopped the bleeding on the sliced off left arm and silently watched me. Its eyes shot out a look of utter vengeance as the surrounding air seemed to rumble. It put the machete it was biting on into its right-hand and swung it. 

『...Sotee solasoso, tee' teela teeray soso teedoh la La latee tee sotee teetee tee solatee...lala, tee' mee sola!』

What the hell is he even saying? He does realize that I can't understand him right?

He swirled the machete over its head *Vun, Vun* and slowly closed in. All the other Goblins were also coming closer to me. I looked away from them, watching Aiden, who was still hesitating to leave.

My mind was thinking that I had to stand up, to stand and fight, but my body just couldn't move. It felt like the negative impression that had developed in me had become a restraint in reality and bound me...

I looked over to Aiden once more and spoke with what little strength I had-

「GO! I WILL HOLD THEM OFF UNTIL THEN.......go, please.」

The last part of mine came out in desperation. Probably sensing my strong desire for him to live, he wiped off his tears and started running towards the exit of the cave at a rapid pace, all the while I could hear him speak-

「I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorr—」

Until I couldn't hear him anymore. Staring at his back, I thought to myself

You didn't do anything to apologize for though, you idiot.

The heavy footsteps suddenly stopped in front of me. The air was rumbling, and I felt that the giant blade was about to be lifted. I quickly got up and countered him.

The goblin was startled at first, but he immediately regained his composure and wielded the machete skilfully with only one hand and parried away my attacks from left and right. For an instant, I forgot about my pain and yelled,

「NO MATTER WHAT, I AM TAKING YOU DOWN WITH ME!」

I continued to yell while losing myself and continued to swing the blade. My every single hit's speed was eye-popping, but unfortunately, the motions were too simple. The Goblin leader first looked like he was enjoying the resistance of prey as he continued to defend enthusiastically, and then, it roared and used his toes to kick my supporting leg. As I lost my balance and tripped, it easily raised its machete and casually swung horizontally—

I took a hit to the abdomen and was sent flying far away, landing right beside the place I was before with a blunt sound.

The wound was a lot more serious this time. My upper body was sliced open horizontally, and the jagged wound was bleeding out a lot of fresh blood at a horrifying rate. As I looked over the irregular workings of the organs inside the wound were laid bare to my eyes.

*Cough*

 With a heavy sound, my mouth choked out blood with bubbles mixed in. My eyes lost their light as they stared right above emptily. My mouth breathed out air that had some red mist mixed within, trembling as I used both hands to support myself off the ground.

At this moment my arms suddenly lost their strength. As I lay flat on the ground I could hear the Goblin leader saying something to the other Goblins while happily swinging his arms in the air-

『Tee teedoh la sotee tee, soso meeteedoh' sotee so laladohtee! Tee tee lala sofalatee sotee mee ray Sola Teelamee!』

The other Goblins started cheering after his short speech and then started to come closer to me.

Ah! So this is it, huh? Man if I knew I was going to end up like this, I might as well had gotten closer to one of the village girls or something. Dying single is kinda lame.

I thought to myself and smiled. As I waited for my death to arrive. It was then that I noticed that the Black Book was quite within my reach. I then spoke up in a pained voice-

「You bastards pray to this thing, don't you? Well at the very least I will destroy this thing before I go.」

Saying so I lifted my right hand and moved it towards the Black Book. The Goblin leader who probably noticed my intent shouted.

『Soso latee somee teelaso so soteeso so so someesofa so so teeladohtee!!!!!!!!』

But before they could even act my hand reached the Black Book. However, to my surprised something completely unexpected happened.

As soon as I touched it, the faint bluish-white light became brighter and started to envelop the entire room.....