I came out into an open space with Melinda.
Melinda, wearing hard, sturdy armor, stood before me with an axe in one hand and a shield in the other.
“Come at me, you bastard!”
“Since this is only a test, you do not need to take it too seriously. It would be a problem if either of us got hurt.”
“Do you think that crude sword of yours can put even one wound on me?!”
Melinda hopped up and down as she provoked me. She was so short that even hopping up and down did not look as though she was jumping properly.
“That might be true, but I think it will hurt a little if I get hit by that axe. I am not wearing armor either.”
“Try to dodge with those stilt-like legs of yours! Here I come!”
With a deep sigh, I pointed my sword at Melinda, who was toddling toward me on her short legs.
Then I fell into thought.
‘What is this? What am I supposed to do?’
The sword I held was not an extreme weapon. It was reasonably efficient against unarmored enemies, of course, but it was also fairly effective against armored enemies.
When fighting an armored enemy, the usual method was to stab an appropriate weak point with the tip of the sword.
‘How am I supposed to stab this?’
Armor’s weak points. The neck, armpits, backs of the knees, and buttocks.
But none of those weaknesses applied to that dwarf.
Her center of gravity was low. Far too low.
To stab her armpit, I would have to bend one knee myself. The neck was at least possible to stab, but that would not be easy either, and if I made a mistake, it would be a fatal wound.
‘Hmm…….’
I watched her footwork. It was difficult to see because her legs were so short.
‘It is good?’
It was not merely that she seemed to have some talent. It was openly a warrior’s step.
“Hyaaaah!”
Melinda’s axe came for my lower abdomen. I held my sword at an angle and let the attack slide away.
“You have some skill…… Hm?”
“You are remarkably vigorous yourself, ma’am.”
My wrist throbbed. Even considering that she was a dwarf, it was tremendous strength.
Her posture when swinging her weapon was not bad either. If an ordinary warrior rather than me had been hit by that attack, he might have been knocked out in a single blow.
“It is good to loosen up after so long! Keep taking them, you bastard!”
“You are too much.”
I received several more of her attacks. But I could not think of any way to pierce that armor and land an effective strike.
“Aaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Hup, cha!”
I put strength into my foot and drove it straight into her head.
Since she was barely half my height, I could attack her head even with a front kick. Of course, the effect was not great.
“Hmm.”
“Is that all you have!”
Though I was the one who had kicked her, I was the one pushed back.
It felt as though I had kicked an enormous boulder with all my strength. I had heard that dwarves were tough, heavy, and steadfast, but I had not known it would be to this degree.
“Let us stop here.”
“What? You meant to test me with only this much?”
“Yes. I have confirmed that you are not someone we need to escort, but a warrior who can protect us. That is enough.”
“Indeed?”
Now I needed to bolster her pride. If she was a client worth seven hundred Gold, she was someone it did not hurt to gild a little.
“Yes. In fact, the moment you came out in armor, I felt it. Judging by the material, that looks like dwarven metal…….”
Dwarves had a strong desire for recognition. They liked being praised for their skill, but praising their race, arms and armor, or ancestors was also an effective method.
“A dwarf warrior wearing dwarven armor made of dwarven metal. There is no need to see more. There is probably no warrior in our mercenary company sturdier and more steadfast than you.”
“Hahahahaha! Yes, yes. You are a young man who knows a thing or two.”
I was fortunate.
I did not know why a warrior like this wanted to join a mercenary company in battle while ‘paying money,’ but in any case, with Melinda there, there was no need to worry about mere goblins.
“Mother! What are you doing here?”
“Hm?”
“I said the stew was ready! Good grief, I cannot live like this. What were you doing with the mercenary sir? Tell me the truth!”
“No, wait. You remember the ingots we lost to the goblins last time? I am going to go get them back with this mercenary young man…….”
“What are you talking about now, Mother?!”
The argument grew heated. I stepped back to give the two space to fight.
“You said it then! You said that because of those goblin bastards, we lost every one of the ingots…… Right?”
“No, the guards said they would find them themselves!”
“It has already been over a month. When will those lazy people ever move?”
“Even so, Mother, there is no need for you to put on armor and run there yourself! How much did you offer?”
“Seven hundred Gold.”
“Are you insane? Mercenary sir, is it right to take our mother with you for that money?”
“Uh…….”
Melinda’s daughter glared at me. I had nothing to say.
If I received around seven hundred Gold, the proper price would be to resolve a goblin extermination request without a word of complaint.
“Your mother said she wanted to come along.”
“Mother!”
“Why are you glaring like that? Has your mother done something she should not?”
“You have! And where did you find that armor? I really hid it well this time…….”
“Your hiding places are always obvious. In any case, your mother is going to loosen up after so long!”
“It is not as though there will be a problem if we get the ingots back a little late!”
“Of course there will be! You were crying your eyes out at home because you would have to pay a penalty for missing the delivery date!”
“Why are you telling people that in front of someone else?!”
“You know your mother was an adventurer in her day, right? I will beat those goblin bastards and bring back the ingots, so stay home and guard the house well!”
“Aah…… There goes Mother’s stubbornness again.”
After clutching at her hair, Melinda’s daughter turned her head toward me.
“Just let one hair on our mother be harmed. I know many people, including the guards, you understand? I will make sure your mercenary company can never do business around here again!”
With a hollow laugh, I pointed at Melinda.
“Look at her. What would I have to do for mere goblins to be able to hurt her? If there is a way, I would like to hear it too.”
Melinda’s daughter looked at Melinda, whose whole body was wrapped from head to toe in dwarven metal. Then, as though admitting that I was right, she let out a deep sigh.
It seemed she could not think of a way for goblins to hurt Melinda either.
“……All right. Still, please take good care of our mother. She is stubborn, so she might get hurt doing something strange.”
“I will certainly bring her back whole.”
Reluctantly, she went back inside. Melinda stretched an arm high into the sky with a confident smile. Even including that arm, her body was very small.
“So, mercenary young man. When do you intend to leave?”
“When will my armor repairs be finished?”
“Probably tomorrow?”
“Then we will leave right away.”
Much had happened, but the situation could not have been better.
A seven-hundred-Gold request. A request we could practically complete for free, with a fully armed dwarf warrior holding the front line.
I could not let this opportunity pass.
***
The goblin den was a little far away. My mercenary company left in the morning, but we could not reach our destination until the sun was about to set.
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
Melinda’s eyes were burning. I called my mercenary company together.
“The plan is basically the same as before. But Melinda will stand at the head of the formation.”
“An honorable position!”
Seemingly pleased, Melinda lifted her cute face and held her nose high.
“I will stand behind her, cutting down goblins and supporting Melinda. Niv will keep throwing her sling. Other than that, it is the same as before.”
One dwarf warrior. An absolutely unbreakable tank had joined us.
‘With this, it is certainly stable.’
I was a warrior who could cut down goblins even while surrounded.
But even for me, performance could not help but differ between fighting while surrounded and fighting with room to spare.
I would become a damage dealer. I only had to steadily cut down the goblins before me without fearing enemy ambushes and attacks.
This was a request that could not fail. To the point that I wondered whether it was all right to take such a huge sum as seven hundred Gold so easily.
“Let us go.”
We entered the den. Jema held a torch, and the other mercenaries advanced.
“It smells of those musty goblins! Disgusting bastards…….”
Melinda advanced confidently. As she said, there definitely seemed to be goblins here.
We slowly walked into the cave.
“An ambush will be difficult, but when we encounter the enemy, first stop and report-”
Before I could finish speaking, Melinda shouted.
“Enemies!!! Chaaaaaarge!”
“Ah.”
I was briefly flustered, but I had expected this much.
“Form up! Follow me! We have to cover Melinda!”
The dwarf warrior’s strength was great, but her accuracy was not remarkable by comparison. Nor was the speed at which she swung her weapon fast.
Melinda was ultimately a tank. Leaving her alone inside the enemy lines would be an act of putting her in danger.
“Screee! Keh!”
There was a large space inside the cave. This was probably the goblins’ hideout.
“Shorty! A shorty has come!”
The goblins, who had been sitting together in groups, scattered in every direction in confusion.
“Who are you calling shorty!”
Furious, Melinda began swinging her axe in anger. No goblin died after being hit by it, but the blast of wind leaking out from the axe was enough to instill the fear that, ‘If that hits me, I will die.’
“Screee! Fight! Take up weapons!”
A goblin who looked to be something like a squad leader urged his subordinates on, but it was already too late.
“Where do you think you are going?”
I lightly cut down one goblin that had been fleeing in my direction.
“You baaaaaastards!!!”
In the meantime, after swinging her axe around six times, Melinda finally succeeded with one axe swing. A goblin’s body split like firewood.
“Form up, then press forward slowly!”
Chaos was always on the goblins’ side. Order was always the goblins’ enemy.
Goblins were skilled at fighting in a melee, immediately rushing at the enemy in front of them according to the situation. But they did not have the strength to break through a perfectly prepared formation.
We dealt with a few fleeing goblins, but goblins who had fled deeper into the cave remained.
“Wait here.”
This space was wide. The passage was narrow compared to it.
“Tighten the formation. So Iris can immediately stab enemies as they come out of the passage.”
We could not stop them from calling reinforcements, nor would anything change even if they came.
If we had to fight anyway, it was better to fight on favorable terrain.
“Screee! Those bastards, few! We, many! We win!”
Before long, numerous goblins were pushing out from deeper within the cave.
“Good. Everyone, keep your wits about you!”
The battle began again. I continuously swung my sword, cutting down goblins.
“Hnngh!”
Iris, Anna, and the other mercenaries also swung their weapons from their respective positions. Dana sang the song that sharpened axe blades.
‘There are a little more of them than I thought?’
As I kept cutting down goblins, I felt a slight sense of wrongness.
‘Huh?’
They were so short that I had not noticed.
Melinda, standing a few steps ahead, had toppled over, seated on the ground.
‘Why?’
There was no way she had been hurt by a battle like this. Mere goblins could not possibly pierce her armor.
The moment I felt puzzled, she rose again.
With her back to the enemy.
“Ugh, ughhh, hnnngh, aaaaaaaaah!!!”
Her scream filled the cave.