Chapter 13

The next entities to appear were a Kobold Mage holding a staff and a Kobold Archer wielding a bow.

Unlike goblins, kobolds quickly escalated their scouting tiers, didn’t they?

“My lord.”

Gina glanced over to ask for my judgment, likely looking for instructions on how to proceed.

“Take care of the Kobold Archer first.”

Since I was a Mage class, I possessed decent resistance against magic attacks.

On the other hand, physical attacks like arrows could easily spell instant death depending on where they hit.

I gave instructions to prioritize eliminating the opponent that posed a greater threat to me.

“Understood.”

The moment Gina nodded, her figure vanished.

And right as the Kobold Archer drew its bow, its throat was slashed, ending its life instantly.

The Kobold Mage holding its staff froze in shock at the sight.

Naturally, anyone would be terrified if their ally was quite literally killed in the blink of an eye by a feat too fast for the eyes to follow.

This aspect of reality was probably something that hadn’t been captured in the game.

I should tuck that realization away in a corner of my mind for later.

As for Gina, perhaps reading the situation and assuming I wouldn’t do anything, she went ahead and struck down the still-frozen Kobold Mage as well.

Since I was the one at fault for getting too caught up in my analysis and standing idle, I couldn’t really complain.

If I didn’t learn how to fight while processing various thoughts at the same time, things would probably get progressively harder from here on out.

I decided to interpret realizing this while we were still in the Shoisa Cave as a stroke of luck.

“My lord, I apologize if I overstepped my bounds, but I went ahead and defeated them.”

“Good work.”

Even to my own ears, it sounded like an arrogant attitude, but if I didn’t maintain at least this much, I wouldn’t be able to uphold the authority of “Prince Rasta.”

Right now, losing my “princely authority” carried a pretty fatal risk, so acting the part deliberately was probably for the best.

In response to my words of praise, Gina held out the staff dropped by the Kobold Mage as loot.

“This item was dropped. How would you like me to handle it?”

What the Kobold Mage dropped was undoubtedly the “Kobold Rod.”

At the end of the day, it was an early-game item, and frankly speaking, it was less useful than the gear I already had equipped.

However, the Kobold Rod could be synthesized with a certain other item to craft a solid piece of gear called the “Fairy Staff.”

As Rasta, I probably lacked any real vocational aptitude outside of magic-user classes.
For a magic user, the Fairy Staff was a reliable item that would see plenty of use.

“Keep that one.”

“Understood.”

Gina opened her eyes wide in brief surprise, but she stored it away in the Asset without a word of protest.

“Kobolds might start showing up in large numbers next, so let’s call it a day and head back.”

Since this was still just the Shoisa Cave, Gina could easily handle them if she fought solo, but I would die.

“Understood.”

Gina nodded and followed my lead.