I’m Off

And then, the next day. Apparently, because Orphe had slept while grabbing Kikori’s nose, Kikori’s waking had been slightly poor, but in any case, his physical condition had been properly restored.

“Take care, Kikori, Orphe-san.”

“I’m off, Aria-san.”

“Hmph.”

Orphe was the same as ever, but Aria waved to Kikori and the others.

While gathering the necessary things at the market, Kikori and Orphe arrived at the Hero Gate.

There, Kikori told the guard, along with the circumstances, that he wanted to head to the wyverns, but…

“I have also heard from the Defense Count that this would likely happen.”

“From the Defense Count?”

“That’s right. I have been entrusted with a message: please go carefully.”

It seemed the Defense Count was far more capable than Kikori had imagined.

Feeling that, Kikori bowed his head and said, “Thank you very much.”

With this, there were no problems anymore.

“…This is my personal opinion, but there is no shame in running from wyverns. If there are a few of them, they can destroy a small town. That is the kind of opponent they are.”

“Yes, I’ll be fully careful.”

“Yes. Good luck.”

Bowing his head to the guard once more, Kikori headed toward their destination together with Orphe.

Goblin seemed to have returned from somewhere to the forest near the Hero Gate, and even if they had given it an impressive name like the “Transfer Gate,” the people of the Fortress City were being made to realize that its vast range had not changed at all from before.

Kikori himself was attacked by goblins several times… and the frequency reminded him of his first day after coming to the Fortress City.

“How should I put it… Could it be that goblins have nowhere else to belong but here?”

“That’s possible.”

Kikori and Orphe pulled the mana stones from the goblin corpses, then continued briskly deeper in.

At this rate, goblins were probably appearing around the fairies’ new settlement as well, but… regarding that, perhaps he should offer the goblins his condolences and say, “My sympathies.”

Either way, the goal this time was the wyverns. There was no need to search for goblins and hunt them.

They walked and walked.

Kikori and Orphe passed through the Transfer Gate and arrived at the Kobold Plains.

As if the uproar from a few days ago had gone somewhere… the number of adventurers had decreased.

But there were no kobolds attacking them either.

“Tch, did they get wiped out?”

“Maybe. We did take down a lot.”

Passing by the adventurers having that conversation, Orphe let out a repulsed “Uwaa…”

“They say you answer numbers with numbers, but this is seriously off-putting…”

“Haha…”

Well, if that many adventurers had rushed into the Kobold Plains, of course it would turn out that way.

The kobolds themselves had seemed like they did not know how to retreat.

“What do you actually think? Were they wiped out?”

“I wonder. I think we won’t know unless we dig underground.”

They’re like ants… Kikori thought, but perhaps they might actually be something similar.

While thinking such things, they arrived before the Transfer Gate leading to the place where the wyverns were… the “Former Fairy Forest.”

“Then let’s go, Orphe.”

“Yes.”

Kikori readied axes in both hands.

Orphe also showed a tense expression.

And then, the two of them passed through the Transfer Gate.