Chapter 4: Turn Tail and Run

Morning came, and Luigi dismissed all of our chores. He summoned us to the front yard and ordered us to load his luggage into a carriage.

"What a spoiled child…." I complained to Lily as she loaded his luggage into the wagon. It was just a lunch box, a sword, spare clothes, a buckler, and leather armor. I wouldn't complain since the forest is very close to the city. It was just 30 minutes ride by carriage. But the problem is that he wouldn't even carry his own sword and shield. I can only sigh in exasperation.

Beside us, twenty or thirty knights were preparing for their trip. All of them wore leather armor and a sword led by Silvester. He was also a spoiled brat since he lazed around while the knights loaded their rations. Unlike us, he will be gone for at least a week. But at least he carried his own sword, shield, and armor.

We rode out before the knights. Luigi wanted to show off his horseriding skills and thus opted to ride his own horse, leaving the carriage for ourselves and the driver. His horse slowly trodded upon the paved street of Verundra, followed by 2 knights in full armor and a carriage.

"Young Master has improved. Right?" Lily said.

"Yeah. He worked quite hard on swords and horseriding. Can you ride a horse, Lily?"

"I don't know. I have never ridden one." She said. This is just small talk. I knew for sure that Lily could ride a horse. She had the animal husbandry skill, after all. I don't know if Lily can ride a horse across the battlefield. But she definitely could ride a horse better than Luigi. She also tended his horse every day since she was born.

"Lily, since when were you a slave?" I asked while enjoying the scenery. The forest was already in sight, and we were going through them. Lily was patting and combing my fur with her hands while waiting. I am an adult on the inside, but the joy when someone stroked my fur is incredible. It was like when you scratched your head at the right place. I might get addicted to this.

"Ever since I was born. My mother is a slave, and thus I also became a slave. I was sold to Count Albert when I was seven. I think his name was Glon? I forgot…" She said.

"I was happier since I got to eat every day here. My previous master ran a mine, and my mother also died there. "She continued. Her story was depressing the more I heard it.

"Hey, Slaves! My sword!" Luigi shouted. Before I knew it, we had entered the forest. Luigi screamed for his sword. Lily immediately took it from his meager belongings and went outside the carriage.

"This is pathetic…." I whispered as Lily gave the sword to Luigi. A green pig was lying down helplessly as the knight wounded it.

"Okay! My first kill!" Luigi screamed and maniacally stabbed and bashed the poor pig without a single bit of elegance. The two knights cheered him on, trying to curry favor with him.

"Great job, young master! You have successfully killed a juvenile moss boar. Let us find more!" The knights cheered him on.

"Let's go deeper! I want to fight a stronger monster! I didn't get level up from that." Luigi said as he rushed toward the forest leaving all the horses and the carriage to the driver. After an hour, Another two boars fell victim to Luigi's bullying and ruthless killing.

"Those boar seemed delicious. Can we eat it?" I asked Lily.

"Yes… we can eat it. But Master Luigi preferred the curry we have brought from home." Lily replied.

"Yeah, leaving the brat aside, no one seemed to bring any food. Why don't we cook it and eat it together with the knights?" I replied. "Let's bring one and eat it when Luigi gets tired."

"But Master Luigi is still playing. I need to accompany him…."

What a disaster. They treated this as a picnic, not an expedition. Even real camping or picnic had more preparation than this back on the safe earth. For god's sake! This is a real jungle, not some kid's playground. A real harmful animal could appear out of nowhere.

"Look! A goblin! Finally! I will finish today's leveling with your corpse!" Luigi screamed. The goblin only carried a stick. But the knights quickly grabbed Luigi's shoulder and asked him to retreat.

"Young Master. Please retreat for today. We can find more boar later…." The knight advised

"What? Are you mocking me that I can't fight a goblin? I studied okay! This goblin is rank E, but since it carries no weapon except a stick, it can be categorized as rank F. it is as weak as eight years old children in one on one! I carried a real sword and armor! I can't lose to this cockroach!"

“That’s not the problem… goblins never attack alone…” The knight tried to reason with him

"Shut up! That goblin IS alone! Maybe his pack was slaughtered by some adventurers or wolves! This is a chance! Even if ten of them exist, it is your job to protect me! You guys are knights, right? One of you should be able to defend against 10 goblins!" Luigi said and forced his way to the goblin. The knights can only sigh while following him.

Luigi charged toward the goblin. The goblin evaded his first slash, but the second slash cut into its shoulder. After that, he pulled his weapon, slashed at its head, embedded his sword into its skull, and killed him.

"YES!! I am now level four!!" Luigi said with glee.

But his joy didn't last long. A screech was heard across the forest, and 20 goblins emerged from the bushes.

"Ambush! Cain! Bring master Luigi back into the carriage!" The knight said. Lily watched in a daze as Cain picked up Luigi and tried to leave his comrade behind.

"Lily! Follow him! If we were to be separated, we would die!" I warned her. My alert level was at MAX now. This is not a game where you can save and redo everything. I need to watch my surrounding.

Our escape was cut short as 5 wolves appeared before us. "Saldrak! There are 5 wolves here!"

"What?" Saldrak followed behind us while occasionally swinging his word to ward off the incoming goblins.

"Lily! Take Luigi's sword and use it! You are a better swordsman than him!" I said

"N-No… I can't do that…" She said while eyeing the sword. Ah, I forgot. The collar prevented her from harming her master. Does it extend to borrowing his things?

The goblin and the wolves charged at the same time. Cain immediately put Luigi down and rushed back toward the wolves while Saldrak dealt with the goblins.

The goblins and the wolves couldn't harm the knights as they wore full armor. But those wolves and goblins soon noticed that at the center of the formation lies two helpless kids. They tried to circle the knights, and the knights were forced back. Soon the two knights were mere steps away from us.

"I am Luigi! Son of Count Albert!" The brat soon charged toward the goblin.

"Lily! Follow Luigi!" I ordered her. I couldn't care less what happened to the kid. But we need that sword.

The brat stupidly charged at the goblin, and after he killed one, he was quickly surrounded by another 5 and ganged up on. Saldrak came to his rescue and swung his sword, creating a distance before the bleeding Luigi. He was hit by tree branches on his head.

"Uwa!! It hurts!" he cried. "Knights! Kill them!!"

He soon dropped his sword to hold his bleeding head, and at that moment, Lily quickly snatched the sword, and I ordered her to slash at the incoming goblin. She bisected its head in a quick motion.

"Run!!" Several hunters ran in a panic to our location. Behind them, two giant troll-like monsters followed.

"They have a cave troll." I couldn't help but whisper a meme after looking at the scenario.

"Damn it! They passed that monster to us! I will carry Young Master!" Saldrak shouted

"But, the wolves..."

"Ignore them! Just run!!" Saldrak shouted. He tried to pick Luigi up, but the troll charged at him. With a roar, it slammed a thick branch at him. The tree splattered them beyond recognition. Looking at the scene, Cain immediately ran away while screaming, leaving us alone with goblins, wolves, and trolls.

Lily was frozen with fear, but I hadn't given up yet.

"Lily! Don't run! If you run, the wolves will definitely catch up to you. Unlike the knight, you don't have armor!" I shouted. My mind was somewhat calm as I have seen this kind of scenario several times in games or books.

The troll swung its tree branch at Lily, But with my instruction, she dodged them flawlessly. Lily tried to slash back at it but to no avail. Its skin was too thick for Lily's strength to penetrate it with her sword.

"Lily. Run past the troll and escape in that direction!"

"But that would lead us deeper into the forest…." Lily hesitate. She knew that was the only choice she had. If she ran the other way, the wolves would get her.

After a few moments, She trusted me. She ran while passing the troll and leaving the wolves and goblins behind. They didn't try to engage the trolls and instead chose to hunt the escaped hunters.

And so, we went deeper into the forest.