Vol 2 Chapter 31 – An Unexpected Request【Exile to the Empire Arc】

To give their coachman Palco a rest, Roy’s party arrived in Rakan Village.

“Looks like there are no wanted posters here.”

“Shoddy wanted posters, no checkpoints, and our only pursuers are the Black Helmet squad… Rumor has it the Black Knight Kairo doesn’t take his job seriously.”

“Yeah. Let’s head to the inn for now.”

They rented rooms at the inn. The hefty expense made Roy hold his head in his hands.

Roy and Yukino, Sophia and Sarina, Palco and Manabu—three rooms total. (At this rate, we need to earn enough for at least three more days, or we’ll be in trouble.)

“Roy-san, where are you going?”

After Roy placed his luggage in the room, Yukino called out to him. Incidentally, since it would be dangerous to entrust all their belongings to Yukino’s Item Box, Roy’s party had a rule: everyone carried their own things.

“I’m thinking of taking a quest tomorrow. This is just reconnaissance. Plus… I promised to treat Palco.”

Squeeze

Yukino grabbed Roy’s sleeve and looked up at him.

“I want to come too! Um, how should I put this… Is that okay?”

“We’re going drinking, you know? You’re still a minor in your world, aren’t you?”

“Ugh…”

In Roy’s world of Escute, you became an adult at eighteen, but in Yukino’s world, it was twenty. Yukino could only groan at his words, spoken out of concern for her.

“…Fine. I have an idea, so just follow me.”

And so Roy and Yukino headed to the guild.

They scanned the quest board, but it was goblin after goblin after goblin… Nothing but quests with mediocre rewards.

“Roy-san… If it’s goblins, we could split into pairs and—”

“No. True, if we split up we could earn quite a bit in one day tomorrow, but considering worst-case scenarios, it’s better if we all take quests together.”

With their current situation where he hadn’t fully grasped everyone’s abilities, splitting up would be dangerous. Especially since he didn’t understand Sophia and Sarina’s capabilities yet.

Roy fundamentally hated unforeseen circumstances—a trait born from his assassin background.

“Also, Yukino, aren’t you not counting Palco in those numbers? That’s pretty cruel if you think about it…”

“What!? No, um! I mean, I don’t want to leave anyone out… I was thinking it’d be fine since even I could whack them with my staff. I’m sorry.”

“Haha, sure, even a kid could beat one in a fair fight. But don’t underestimate goblins, got it? If you let your guard down, they can kill even a B-Rank adventurer.”

“I-I understand. About this, should I tell Palco-san—”

“He probably wouldn’t care anyway. Got it, I’ll keep quiet.”

As they chatted and examined the board, an older female staff member approached them.

“You two, there aren’t any good quests in a backwater village like this, right? Well, I’ve got good news for you. Ta-da!”

She held up a quest—a High Goblin subjugation request. It was what they called an “emergency quest,” with higher-than-normal rewards.

However, if you didn’t carefully examine the written details, you’d pay for it dearly.

“Let’s see… Black skin, D-Rank adventurer armor and weapons, scars from head to chest on the High Goblin. Uses basic magic with magic circles and understands human speech… Hey, this—”

“Yes, it might be that High Goblin from before.”

A while back, when Roy and Yukino were hunting goblins to reach E-Rank adventurer status, there was a high chance this was the High Goblin they’d let escape.

Especially the scars from head to chest—those were from Roy’s Shadow Edge.

“We’ll take it. Tell us where it is!”

“It’s an emergency, but there’s no huge rush. There’s Rakan Temple a bit north of this village, and tomorrow morning we’ll intercept it there. Fortunately, adventurers are being dispatched from the capital, so work together with them.”

“Got it. I’ll inform my companions too.”

“That helps. Make sure you earn big!”

After leaving the guild, Roy and Yukino invited Palco from the inn and sat at a table in the tavern.

“Boss Roy, you took that request?”

“Yeah. It might be our fault, after all.”

“You’re conscientious, huh? It might not even be the same one.”

“Sorry for dragging you into this.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. By the way, why is Boss Roy drinking milk? I heard you were already eighteen…”

“Ah, I can’t hold my liquor. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, really? But Yukino-chan is also drinking milk… Ah, I see. Better not pry any further.”

Palco caught onto Roy’s intent and used it as a drinking snack, gulping down his beer.

Yukino toasted with Roy and drank her milk, feeling a bit more grown-up. The other regulars also smiled warmly at the scene as they downed their drinks.

Vol 2 Chapter 32 – High Goblin Again【Exile to the Empire Arc】

The next morning, Roy’s party received a briefing at the guild and immediately headed to Rakan Temple.

According to the guild, the temple staff had evacuated, and adventurers dispatched from the capital should be there.

When Roy’s party entered the temple, they found other adventurers lying bloodied on the ground.

“Hey! Are you guys okay?”

Roy lifted one of the fallen adventurers, and when he heard regular breathing, he felt relieved.

“Y-you guys are…?”

“We’re adventurers from Rakan Village. What happened here!?”

“Actually—”

According to the adventurer, when they arrived, there was a chair in the center of the hall with a High Goblin sitting on it all alone.

If they defeated it before Roy’s arrival, their party could monopolize the reward, so they charged in. The result: defeat. All of them suffered serious injuries and were somehow left alone.

“Where’s the High Goblin?”

“H-he went to the courtyard… There should be one more party coming, so… you should wait! Cough! Hack!“

“Yukino, can you use Feo Regenerate?”

“Yes!”

“Sarina, give potions to those with light injuries!”

“…Got it.”

Since the middle floors of the Tower of Agni, Yukino had become able to use the advanced strengthened “Feo-class” version of Regenerate.

This rank could save even moderately serious cases if given enough time.

Incidentally, the ranks went: basic → Feo → Ur → Thorn.

While waiting for their arrival, Manabu and Sophia kept watch of the perimeter, and Roy headed to scout the courtyard.

He peered through a gap in the door leading to the courtyard.

(That guy… It really is that goblin from before. But why is he reading a book in the courtyard?)

What Roy saw was a goblin sitting in a chair in the courtyard, reading a book. Normally, this would be impossible.

Normal goblins evolved into Hobgoblins or Mages. From there they branched into Lords, Kings, and various other forms, but rarely an individual would evolve into a High Goblin.

The probability was roughly one High per thousand Hobs. Roy himself only knew from what his parents had told him, but he’d never heard of even High Goblins reading books.

(No, maybe… it’s in the middle of evolving beyond High.) With that thought, Roy’s spine went cold, and he regretted not pursuing and finishing it off back then, even if it meant pushing himself.

A few minutes later, another party arrived, but a problem arose. Roy’s party rank was D, and the reinforcement party’s rank was inexplicably E. He wanted to curse at the emergency quest’s rank-disregarding acceptance system.

“In that case, we’ll have to defeat it!”

Left with no choice, he instructed Roy’s party to handle the subjugation while the new party would escort the injured and request backup.

“Hey! Wait! We came here to make a name for ourselves, don’t just assign us to escort duty!”

The leader of the newly joined party objected to Roy. He probably thought escorting the injured was an unglamorous role.

“You’re this party’s leader, right? You saw the notice, didn’t you? ‘Party Rank C or dungeon completion experience recommended.'”

“You guys are Rank D, aren’t you?”

“True, but everyone in my party here has cleared the Tower of Agni, so we’re more than qualified. We’ll split the reward, so just do as I say.”

The leader then looked over Roy’s party as if appraising them, then laughed through his nose.

“Silver-haired Lady Sophia, the airheaded and useless-looking Yukino, bookworm Manabu, sullen villainess Sarina, bland old man Palco—even if it’s just a beginner dungeon, you don’t look like you could clear it.”

The opposing party was all male, wielding sword, axe, spear, and bow respectively. Among them, the man with the axe carried a huge backpack, from which Roy could deduce the contents were potions and food.

“Yukino might be accurate, but—”

“Roy-san, that’s mean!!”

Roy occasionally teased Yukino like this for his own amusement, naturally drawing protests, which he ignored.

“The fact is, we’ve already cleared it. Also, as a senior, let me tell you: your party has too many flaws. After this is over, I recommend reorganizing your party in the capital.”

Roy spoke out of kindness.

“From what I can see, your party has no mage or healer. If that’s the case, at least hire a porter. Porters assess the battle situation and manage appropriate item usage—making your vanguard carry luggage is third-rate at best.”

“Wh-what did you say!!”

Roy dodged the man’s lunge and tripped him. The man ended up in an undignified position with his rear stuck out, then stood up and reached for his sword.

“Huh?”

The sword wasn’t there.

“Ah… my bad, disarming people is a habit of mine. Here, I’m giving it back.”

Having suffered the ultimate disgrace as an adventurer, the man backed away with a bright red face. Seeing this, Sophia sighed, stepped in front of Roy, and pulled out a necklace from her pocket. The necklace held a red gemstone that radiated faintly warm magical power.

“Look at this. The Fire Spirit’s Amulet—this is proof we cleared the Tower of Agni. If you understand, then do as we say.”

“Hey Sophia, you never told me you had that?”

“The empire is in the north, so it’s cold. That’s why… you know?”

“Fine… whatever, it’s fine. Wait—”

BANG!

“Ungh—!?”

With a bursting sound, his vision flickered. (A flash bomb!?)

When his vision began to return, Yukino pointed at the exit.

“Those people went outside!”

“Those guys left the injured behind and went outside—don’t tell me!?”

Just as he suspected, the rookie party had gone outside, circled around, and was heading to the courtyard through the back entrance.