#8: 8: From A Certain Adventurer’s Perspective (1) — An Ordinary Recruit's Monster Life (WN)

With a sigh to make sure the man next to me noticed, I adjusted the angle of my deep-navy witch hat to hide my expression.

Our team was originally a pure extermination outfit—search missions were never our specialty.

If we didn’t even know exactly what we were looking for, it was all the more natural for complaints to spill from my mouth.

When the job was simply “kill the target over there,” straightforward and free of complications, we could trade lives without a care.

But the fact that we’d been given a request like this meant the “Fullretos Great Forest” exploration must be going badly.

Most likely, the guild had lumped all the monster hunters—searchers, exterminators—into the “adventurer” category, but when results didn’t meet expectations, they began sending the more capable ones on these so-called exploration jobs.

And if far fewer returned than were sent… well, that spoke for itself.

“Honestly, we’re not cut out for exploration work.”

I muttered, uttering my complaint.

“Don’t say that. If our standing with the guild improves, we’ll get better jobs in the future. We can take one bad draw in stride.”

The red-haired man walking beside me—Liesel—tried to calm me down. But having been forcibly shifted from the “kill or be killed” line of work into something more tedious, and now having more piled on top of that, I felt entitled to grumble.

I crossed my arms under my chest again with a, “Honestly,” making my displeasure plain.

That lifted my ample bosom, and I caught him sneaking a glance into the cleavage.

(If he were a bit more my type, I might even let him have a go.)

After working together so long, feelings like that weren’t entirely absent.

But since he was outside my tastes, I was both slightly disappointed and relieved it stayed that way.

We passed through the open doors of the guild we knew so well, and I felt several sets of eyes turn toward us.

Because shady men often tried to talk to me, I’d long since gotten used to going about with Liesel.

He was a convenient partner to have at my side, and while we chatted idly, we stepped from the guild into the main street—only for a waiting pair of men and women to have the woman call out.

“Brother! Is it true you’re taking on the forest exploration!?”

A girl in white priest’s robes rushed toward Liesel, but I guided her into a different path with my staff so that she instead dove willingly into my chest.

Deep-navy dress robe overlaid with white priest’s robe, I stroked her long, beautiful golden hair.

She accepted it without resistance, and Rena smiled at me broadly.

“Yes, it’s true, Rena. Your brother here has seen fit to have us ‘wander all around the Great Forest.’”

I said this in a grumbling tone while petting Rena’s hair, and her brother Liesel hastily offered a defensive explanation.

“Cut me some slack, Diera… Thinking ahead, we couldn’t turn this one down.”

“Well, the Great Forest or not, we’re not going deep in, right? If it’s just a bit beyond the old imperial territory, the worst we’d run into would be a forest tiger. That’s manageable. And if they haven’t even told us ‘what to find,’ we can just claim we found something suitable.”

The dark-skinned, black-haired pretty boy beside Rena cut in, as if to say it was no big deal.

He wasn’t wrong—but the problem was how far “something suitable” extended.

With a team of some renown, the guild wouldn’t be satisfied with something anyone could dig up.

“If those elves hadn’t suddenly declared ownership, we wouldn’t be in this mess… What are those long-eared folk thinking?”

It all went back to five years ago, when the Republic had suddenly claimed the Great Forest—covering almost the entire old imperial territory—as their own.

“Yeah… First they warned everyone it was ‘dangerous due to contamination’ and made it a no-entry zone, then they’re the first to break that. Doesn’t add up.”

“No, I think they intended that from the start—and the whole ‘contamination damage’ thing was an elven ploy.”

“Jista, you really hate elves, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m still holding a grudge over being dumped hard.”

“That so?”

Rena teased, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Not at all!”

He barked back, but Liesel joined in, and we melted into the bustle of the main street.

I’d thought this usual scene would go on forever.

I’d wished for it to.

The situation couldn’t have been worse.

Our tentative target—the ruins of an old imperial base—was exactly what we found.

Ogre, swarms of goblins… I knew immediately these were what had doomed the previous expeditions.

Even though we’d been on guard, we were already completely surrounded. Imperial facilities really were cursed.

I could almost understand the feelings of those who hated “science.”

While knocking aside approaching goblins with my staff, I used quick, small techniques to keep them at bay—when you were surrounded, you avoided big moves and held out until the front-liners thinned their numbers.

Our front-liner should’ve been capable of that much, but against an ogre, and with goblins harrying him, Liesel couldn’t push through.

Worse, this ogre seemed to be a seasoned fighter, and once it judged itself to have the advantage, it shifted to a style meant to maintain that.

(Goblins as expendable pawns, huh!)

I smacked a leaping goblin aside with my staff, cursing inwardly.

The ogre didn’t care about goblin casualties, and while fighting Liesel, waited for an opening in my defenses.

The situation kept getting worse—and worst of all, they knew exactly how dangerous a mage could be.

That’s why one goblin with an oversized shield stayed planted in front of me.

(Who’s the idiot who let them steal an anti-magic knight’s shield!?)

With that in play, I couldn’t use my full magic to turn the tide.

My available spells weren’t enough to thin the goblin ranks—wounding them, yes, but not killing.

I could offer the occasional bit of support, but with them constantly trying to split me from Rena, who guarded my back, I couldn’t take risks.

I had to burn magic just to block thrown rocks and arrows, fend off goblins trying to interfere with Liesel’s fight against the ogre, handle the ones in front, and protect both myself and Rena’s rear.

Jista was acting as a roamer, cutting down goblins, but there were too many.

(Damn it, are they betting we’ll collapse before Jista can thin them out!?)

The thought spurred me on, but my stamina and focus were being steadily drained.

The breaking point came in an unexpected form.

From behind a pillar stepped a goblin carrying a staff as tall as itself, pointing it at Liesel.

A flash and a crack of thunder—by the time I realized it was a Lightning Spear spell, it was too late.

“Gah—ah!”

There was no time to warn him.

Paralyzed by the hit, Liesel couldn’t block the ogre’s follow-up: a massive club swing that struck him head-on.

When the ogre raised its weapon again, what was left of Liesel had a crushed skull and a broken body.

“Liesel!”

Jista shouted, moving to take his place against the ogre.

A goblin leapt onto his leg mid-turn, clinging tight.

He shook it off with a kick, but another leapt onto his supporting leg, toppling him to a knee and hand.

He slit the throat of one with his shortsword—only for another behind him to smash the back of his head with a club, knocking his weapon from his grasp.

At that, the goblins swarmed him, beating him down.

“GUOOOOOHH!”

At the ogre’s roar, the goblins charged us all at once.

A hasty spell without chanting wouldn’t amount to much.

Even against goblins, unless it hit a vital spot, it would only stagger them.

“Don’t underestimate me!”

I blasted one leaping for my face with a small explosion to blind it, then smacked it with my staff before sweeping into another’s side and sending it flying.

I kicked an incoming low-runner in the face, then swept my staff sideways again to knock back the one coming straight at me.

Then something struck me from behind.

(Threw… the shield!?)

With only goblin strength behind it, it just made me stagger—but in this situation, even that could be fatal.

Seeing the opening, goblins lunged.

I forced my stance back with my staff, dodging the hand of the first one—

For the first time in my life, I cursed having large breasts.

The goblin’s fingers snagged on my clothes.

Its weight yanked them down, freeing two full curves into view—and the goblins surged toward me.

My forward-leaning body was pulled by my clothes, but I kicked that goblin away and smacked down another leaper with my staff.

But I only managed to swat the first one.

They grabbed my skirt hem, pulled me off balance, clung to my arms, and stomped on the wrist holding my staff. When I refused to let go, one brought down a stone with both hands, snapping the shaft.

Rusty knives sliced my clothes apart, stripping away the fabric hiding my skin.

Even as they held down my arms and cut my garments, I kicked away one tugging at my underwear—but it toppled backward clutching the torn white cloth.

In that moment, the shield-bearing goblin at my feet stepped over its fallen comrade, wedged itself between my thighs, and gripped them tight.

I thrashed to free my arms, but all it did was make my chest bounce to the goblins’ delight.

The shield-bearer’s face loomed close, its tongue dragging along my cheek.

Its triumphant expression—practically screaming, “I’m going to defile you”—earned it a headbutt.

It clutched its nose, and I laughed through mine, only for mocking laughter to rise from the others.

I roared back in anger, and the goblins all fell silent.

It was clear this one was the leader—but knowing that now wouldn’t help.

Maybe it liked my headbutt, because it glared and reached for my chest. But my size overwhelmed its hand, making it sink in and its nails dig.

When I still smiled defiantly, it struck me in the face.

I kept my eyes locked on it—but that meant I saw.