After feeding them once, the mercenaries seemed to have developed a strange sense of familiarity with me.
A few of them checked their surroundings before casually coming over to linger near me.
They were obviously hoping that some scraps might fall their way, but that was not bad for me either.
At the very least, it was safer than being isolated on my own.
More than anything, fighting screaming Goblins while descending endlessly through a dark cave was an extremely unpleasant experience.
It was much more bearable to have someone nearby to talk to.
“How much do you usually get paid for finishing a request like this?”
I asked a large mercenary who was smashing a Goblin’s head with a hammer.
If mercenary work made good money, I would not mind running a mercenary company of my own.
“Usually, four or five people form a group to handle a request, so each person receives around one Gold Coin.”
The mercenary answered as he wiped sweat from his forehead.
“That is not as much as I expected.”
It was equivalent to a commoner’s monthly income, but compared to literally risking one’s life, it was not much at all.
They would also have expenses for things like equipment repairs and potions.
“Competition is fierce. For men who have nothing but their bodies, there are no other professions where they can aim for a fortune.”
The mercenary smiled bitterly.
True. There were no stocks or coins, and it was difficult to make a large amount of money by producing goods or studying in this world.
If someone wanted social mobility, there was no option other than picking up a weapon and making a name for themselves.
Become a soldier and earn military achievements.
Become a mercenary and build fame.
Become a criminal and rob the storehouses of wealthy families.
Unless a major war broke out, soldiers had little chance of succeeding, while criminals had obvious moral problems. Mercenaries were better than either.
“Still, this time, we were promised three times the usual reward because our role includes protecting and assisting academy students.”
The mercenary lowered his voice and whispered as though sharing a great secret.
“That is good news.”
The instant I heard that, I roughly estimated how much this Field Trip cost.
One Gold Coin per person, eleven people, then multiplied by three.
A full thirty-three Gold Coins.
That was the cost for two students. Applied to all one hundred first-years, it came to more than sixteen hundred Gold Coins.
It was equivalent to sixteen years of income for one hundred commoners.
They burned sixteen hundred Gold Coins on a single event?
It made me wonder just how large Beaumont Academy’s yearly budget was.
“Actually, we are the lucky ones for being assigned to you two. A fellow who handled a similar request last year said that the academy students were all children from wealthy families, so they were no help and complained nonstop. He said he did not feel like he had been paid much at all.”
Unlike his stern appearance, the mercenary was quite talkative.
“He teased me by saying that I would suffer, and it was so irritating. As soon as this request is over, I will go brag to him. I will tell him that we carried out our request very comfortably while eating plenty of delicious food.”
It was a compliment in the end, so I did not feel particularly bad about it.
“Injury! Treatment is needed!”
Just then, the mercenaries fighting around ten meters ahead stopped.
Hastol quickly checked the injured man’s condition.
“Are you badly hurt?”
“It is only a small cut.”
“How does that look like a small cut to you?!”
Hastol grabbed the arm of the mercenary who had answered calmly, frowned, and immediately pulled out a potion.
“To be injured by nothing more than a Goblin. It is too embarrassing to mention anywhere.”
The mercenary receiving treatment pouted.
“Goodness, you know it is embarrassing! I told you so many times to be careful! You know how expensive potions are!”
Hastol launched into a lecture. Another mercenary beside them lowered his head.
“The mistake was mine. I am sorry.”
“Fine work, both of you. Do not tell anyone you belong to the Never Mercenary Company. You will ruin the company’s reputation.”
Though he spoke coldly, Hastol quickly wrapped a bandage around the injured mercenary’s arm before letting out a deep sigh.
One of the mercenaries then gestured toward Hastol.
“Squad Leader, please look at this. This one is not an ordinary Goblin.”
“...It is a head taller than the other Goblins.”
Hastol’s eyes narrowed when he saw the Goblin corpse.
“A Variant Goblin. Damn it.”
Variants.
They were one of the factors that distinguished monsters from ordinary living creatures.
Even if an especially strong cat was born, it could not defeat a tiger.
But it would not be strange for a Variant Goblin to defeat an Orc.
Individual differences that surpassed the differences between species. A trait unique to monsters that could not be explained by something like mutation.
“There may be more Variants! Watch your surroundings!”
Hastol shouted as he looked around at the mercenaries.
Variants appeared extremely rarely. However, once a Variant was born, the chance of Variants appearing around it increased dramatically.
The Variant dealt with now did not seem particularly strong, but they could not ignore the possibility that stronger Variants were hiding nearby.
“Variant! A Variant!”
“There is a Variant here, too!”
As expected, Variants were discovered one after another.
Unlike before, we were prepared, so we were able to deal with them without major losses.
“The subjugation is suspended. We need to turn around and leave immediately.”
After reorganizing the mercenaries’ formation, Hastol approached Kyle and me.
“Tsk. If things are going to get tangled, they really get tangled.”
I had had a bad feeling ever since I ended up in the same group as Kyle.
The end of the cave was not even in sight. Continuing the subjugation in this situation was absurd.
If a group of Goblins made up entirely of Variants appeared, we would not be able to handle them.
“As requested, we will place both of your safety above all else, so do not worry.”
Hastol smiled as though reassuring us.
He was more dedicated to his profession than I had expected.
“I will take the lead! Follow carefully!”
Kyle and I were placed in the safest position at the center of the formation, with mercenaries lined up before and behind us.
“The atmosphere is suffocating. Do we have to travel for over an hour like this?”
Since we had cleared the Goblins while entering, leaving would take relatively less time. Still, our objective had changed into returning safely after abandoning the subjugation. There was no reason to feel cheerful.
Moreover, the mercenaries who had been talking happily had tightly shut their mouths, making it unbearably awkward.
“You have no sense of tension.”
Kyle furrowed his brow.
“I have a way out even in the worst-case scenario.”
This world also had tools used as insurance against situations like being stranded.
But like most insurance, if it did not prove useful, it was merely wasted money. The people who actually did dangerous work could not use them, and they were regarded as little more than toys for the rich.
I only needed to buy one if things became dangerous, so it would never be a waste for me.
Since I had something to rely on, there was no need to become anxious.
“Stop!”
Hastol shouted urgently.
“A trap! The Goblins have set a trap!”
At the word trap, I craned my neck to look, but the distance to the front and the mercenaries blocking my view made it difficult to see directly.
Having the body of a short child was inconvenient at times like this.
“This is definitely the path we came through, correct?”
“Yes. The markers remain exactly as they were.”
One mercenary answered Hastol’s question.
“Tsk. This is troublesome.”
A trap had been placed on a path we had already cleared and passed through. That meant Goblins had gathered ahead again.
It might only be a few Goblins that had crawled out from hiding, but the Goblins might also have moved through an unconfirmed passage and taken up positions there.
The danger depended on their number and whether Variants were among them.
“We will advance slowly while clearing the traps.”
Following Hastol’s order, the mercenaries moved cautiously.
Their already slow pace dropped even further.
“Goblins are approaching from the rear!! There are at least fifty of them!!”
To make matters worse, bad news came from behind.
With no idea how many Goblins were ahead, we could not focus on the rear, either.
Fifty Goblins were sufficiently threatening even without Variants among them.
“Damn bastards are perceptive....”
Hastol gritted his teeth.
Beasts with sharp teeth generally tried to sink those teeth into the backs of enemies showing them their backs.
Goblins were not as intelligent as humans, but they knew how to use tools. We should have recognized that they could make at least that much of a judgment.
CHITTER—.
CACKLE—.
Goblin laughter could be heard from the front as well. They had clearly noticed that we were at a loss.
Goblins ahead and behind us.
There was no way to detour inside a cave where movement was restricted.
It was, quite literally, a situation where we could neither advance nor retreat.
“Everyone else, advance first....!”
“We will hold the rear!”
The two mercenaries assigned to the rear shouted resolutely.
“No! I cannot sacrifice you two!!”
With a deeply twisted expression, Hastol reached out toward them.
“If that was our last meal earlier, it was not a bad one.”
“Right. We would have felt miserable if all we had done was tear into jerky.”
The mercenaries stood before the approaching Goblins, raising their spear and sword side by side.
It was a rather moving sight, but....
“Please move aside for a moment.”
I forced my way between the mercenaries and headed to the rear.
“This side is dangerous!”
“Go quickly!”
The mercenaries who had been preparing to protect the rear were horrified. Regardless of what they said, I opened the Shop.
Boulders that were moderately heavy and moderately large.
Purchase, purchase, purchase.
THUD. RUMBLE. THUD.
Following the movements of my hands, large boulders fell.
A wall that blocked the passage formed in an instant. From beyond the wall, I could hear Goblins scratching at the rocks.
Even if dozens came rushing in, Goblins were still Goblins.
With their weak strength, they would not be able to move these boulders.
Variants were the variable, but even if an Orc-class Variant attached itself to the wall, it would hold for several minutes.
There was no longer any need to worry about the Goblins approaching from the rear.
“You do not have to block them with your bodies.”
The mercenaries stared at me with their mouths hanging open.
A slightly skilled mage could do something similar, though it would take time. But for mercenaries who were distant from magic, it seemed to be a rather shocking sight.
“If they appear from the rear again, I will block the path. Let us focus only on breaking through the front.”
I poked Hastol in the side.
It would not do for the person responsible for commanding and controlling the situation to lose his wits.
“Ah, understood.”
Hastol hurriedly nodded.
“Let us go, you bastards! Are you going to let our charges perform better than us!”
The mercenaries responded to Hastol’s command.
They eagerly removed the traps and opened a path. They accepted a little risk and increased their speed.
Oddly, the Goblins around us did not charge in and instead maintained a certain distance.
They only continued to let out chilling laughter, reminding us of their presence.
The laughter layered upon more laughter. There was no telling how many Goblins were ahead.
Even by sound alone, I could tell that the number of Goblins was steadily increasing.
How much time had passed like that? The Goblins’ laughter stopped.
SCRAPE. SCRAAAPE.
Something was being dragged along the ground.
A Goblin dragging a crude, enormous axe approached from far away.
Its body was far too large to be a Goblin. It was a size comparable to an Orc, but its thin, distinctive Goblin limbs remained unchanged, giving it a grotesque appearance.
Behind it were more than ten Goblins only slightly smaller, each roughly the size of a human.
In addition, the Goblins that had not attacked until now seemed to have joined in, and there were too many Goblins to count as they made their presence known.
In the dark cave, countless Goblin eyes gleamed.