More Than Expected

As Kikori and Kuon continued deeper, they could tell the forest’s appearance had drastically changed.

Trees had been cut down, and crude walls and something like a gate had been built.

It even reminded them of the Hero Gate, but far cheaper.

And above all—

“It’s… destroyed.”

Yes, it had been smashed to pieces.

To Kikori, the most fitting description was “a fallen fortress.”

“Well yeah. If monsters build a fortress in a place like this, of course people will destroy it.”

“That’s true.”

They could only imagine why the monsters had built a fortress here, but it clearly hadn’t gone as well as the Hero Gate.

Even if someone wanted to reuse this place, it looked like everything would need rebuilding.

“Well then Kuon, wait here a moment.”

“Okay.”

Still, they had to be cautious.

Leaving Kuon there, Kikori passed through the broken gate… and an axe came swinging down from the shadows.

But Kikori was already no longer there.

“Gi… Gugya!?”

The hobgoblin struck by the Magic Axe lost its posture and took Kikori’s axe to the head.

With a heavy sound, the hobgoblin died, and after confirming nothing else was around, Kikori called Kuon.

“You can come now.”

“Okay. Was something there after all?”

“One hobgoblin. Well, if you know it’s coming, it’s easy.”

“We just struggled against a hobgoblin recently though.”

“Compared to the General, it’s just a small fry…”

“I definitely don’t feel like sparring with you now.”

At Kuon’s wry smile, Kikori thought, well, maybe so…

He had become stronger than expected.

He didn’t even need to use War Cry against a hobgoblin.

That was probably related to what Kuon said about mana becoming muscle strength.

At the same time, it also meant that against opponents it wouldn’t work on, situations where he’d be forced to use Charge would increase.

Well, that itself wasn’t much of a problem…

“Still, it’s more than expected, how should I put it…”

“It feels like a frontline base. Even if it’s ruins.”

Collapsed houses. Something like the remains of a furnace.

It was built in a way that showed the goblins had tried to live here.

Still, it wasn’t a scale that could be built in a single day.

“Something big probably happened over this place too.”

“Probably. We should thank the seniors.”

Looking closely, there were signs the furnace had been used recently… whether senior adventurers camped here or the goblin army from before used it.

“…Well, whatever.”

Either way, it wasn’t something that would cause problems if left alone.

Kikori and Kuon continued on, passing through the ruined fortress.