Volume 5, Chapter 43 – Aftermath

After we defeated the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed), all the goblins—including the goblin army to the south—lost their cohesion and devolved into a disorganized rabble.

I had suspected the title was self-proclaimed, but it seems it actually was a Goblin King.

However, no matter how I look at it, it felt weaker than the formidable foes I’ve faced until now, so I think I’ll continue to call it the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed).

Now then, even after the sun went down, we continued to sweep through the goblins, relying on my light.

Once we had defeated every goblin in sight, we collected the magic stones of the Higher Species—such as the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed), Goblin Lords, and Hobgoblins—as souvenirs… no, as evidence.

The goblin magic stones I saw in Klaubretz were about the size of small pebbles, but the stones from Hobgoblins, Goblin Archers, and Goblin Mages were about the size of my fist.

The Goblin Lord’s was larger than that, somewhere between the size of a persimmon and an apple, and the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed) was even larger, roughly the size of a melon.

After holding a memorial service for the members of Chris-san’s mobile unit who had fallen, we returned to the town of Chi Tien.

In the end, of the fifty people in Chris-san’s unit who had headed for the northwestern forest, only fourteen managed to return alive.

It was already midnight by the time we returned to the city of Chi Tien, but the sentry soldiers opened the gates as soon as they saw us.

Apparently, people had been quite worried about us.

We headed straight back to the Governor’s mansion where we were renting rooms, and Yihua-san greeted us with a worried expression.

It seems I caused quite a stir by leaving after trapping the General inside a Barrier.

By the way, it seems the General was unable to break my Barrier and remained trapped for about thirty minutes. It’s a secret just between us, but since he’s spent so much time hurling abuse at me, I felt a little refreshed.

Once we returned to our rooms, we fell into a sleep as deep as mud.

Rеαⅾ оn KatReаԁіոɡСafe

◇ ◇ ◇

The next morning, after breakfast, a meeting was convened.

“Hey, Saint! How dare you lock me up! Because of you, my deployment was delayed!”

The General seemed to harbor a great deal of resentment over being trapped in my Barrier and unable to deploy.

His way of addressing me shifted from “you” to “kisama” (you scoundrel) ¹ 貴様 .

Neither term carries a shred of respect, but based on my observations, the General tends to use kisama for those he looks down upon or considers enemies.

Incidentally, there were two Goblin Lords on the south side; the General defeated one of them in the morning, and the other was discovered while he was trapped in my Barrier and defeated with the cooperation of the soldiers on site.

On the other hand, there were at least nine Goblin Lords in the northwest.

In the General’s mind, the total is three—two in the south and one in the north—but the reality is entirely different.

“That happened because your tactical vision is poor, General. You’ve spent so much time acting superior toward us, so this is simply what you deserve. Why don’t you reflect on your actions for a change?”

“What!?”

“If it weren’t for my knights, Christina and Lumia, and the fifty brave warriors who fought in the northwestern forest, Chi Tien would have fallen.”

“What are you talking about over a mere Goblin Lord! Most of the goblins were in the south, and I crushed them thoroughly. I sent your trashy attendants to a place where they wouldn’t get in our way just so they could claim some credit. To speak as if you’ve achieved some great victory! Are you even a Saint!?”

Enraged, the General roared and slammed his fist onto the desk.

With a violent crash, the desk split clean in two— *dan!*

Rеaԁ оո KаtRеαdiոgСαfe

The Governor and the other military officers turned pale at the General’s fury.

“Sigh. General, being so irritable is bad for your health and the health of those around you. I recommend drinking milk and eating small fish.”

“Gah! Who do you think is responsible for this!?”

The General heated up even further as I teased him.

Right, I think I’ve had enough of venting my frustrations; time to move the conversation forward.

“Now then, the General is completely mistaken, and I have the evidence to prove it. This time, the General was completely outmaneuvered by the goblins.”

I stood up from my seat and made the declaration, glancing around at everyone in the room.

“What!?”

“First of all, in this Monster Stampede, the boss was not a Goblin Lord, but a Goblin King who commanded multiple Goblin Lords.”

“What! You mean the Goblin King, the monster known as Calamity-Class!?”

The one who stood up in shock at my statement was Chi Tien’s Governor, Yan Lu.

“Hmph. I wondered what nonsense you’d spout. There’s no way your trashy attendants could defeat a Goblin King. If a Goblin King had been there, you’d all be dead if I hadn’t been there. Besides, everyone I assigned to the northwestern mobile unit were raw recruits with less than a year of experience. There’s no way fourteen of them would survive.”

I found myself appalled by the General’s words once again.

“General, I said I have evidence. Furthermore, assigning only inexperienced recruits to my knights… you really went out of your way to harass us, didn’t you? Seriously.”

I let out a deep sigh and continued.

Reaⅾ oո ΚatRеаdiոɡСαfе

“Now, getting back to the point, here is the evidence.”

I retrieved the magic stones of the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed) and the Goblin Lords from my Storage and lined them up on the desk.

“This large magic stone was taken from inside the Goblin King, and these are the Goblin Lord stones. I have purified them all, so there is no danger.”

“What… is that truly the magic stone of a Goblin King?”

“Yes. It was taken from the body of the giant goblin, which must have been ten meters tall, that we defeated yesterday. Would you like to see?”

“May I?”

I handed the magic stone to the Governor.

He examined it closely from all angles, then returned it to me with a word of thanks.

“I believe Goblin Lords were also defeated on the south side, as well as Higher Species like Hobgoblins and ordinary goblins. If you compare them, you will see that this stone belongs to a Goblin King.”

“Hmph. Aren’t you just showing a magic stone you already possessed?”

The General still refused to believe what I was saying.

“I shall take that as an insult to me. And it is also an insult to the brave warriors who fought desperately against the goblins in the northwestern forest. If you distrust me that much, why not investigate the northwestern forest yourself?”

“Guh.”

The General was speechless.

“Chris-san, approximately how many goblins fought in the northwestern forest?”

Rеaԁ oո КαtReaⅾiոgCαfе

“Yes. To borrow the words of the Goblin King: over ten thousand. Based on the actual fighting, I believe we defeated a number close to ten thousand.”

The General’s expression froze.

“Which means this: you swallowed the information of ‘a few thousand’ whole, failed to realize that the goblins coming from the south were a diversion, and concentrated your forces in the south. As a result, the General was played perfectly by the goblins. If my knights, Christina and Lumia, and the brave warriors hadn’t held them off there, the General would have been lured away by the second Goblin Lord in the south, and while the north attacked, Chi Tien would have become the scene of a massacre.”

“Guh.”

“Furthermore, by the General’s orders, we, who were originally meant to operate as one team, were split apart. If we had been even slightly slower in coming to aid, I would have lost two precious comrades.”

“…”

“General, I cannot welcome you as a traveling companion. You may indeed be at the pinnacle of individual martial prowess. However, I have no desire to travel with someone as selfish, inconsiderate, and condescending as you. Even if you were chosen by the Holy Sword, I would reject you.”

“…I see…”

With only those words, the General looked down and fell silent.

“Well, since the General has no further opinions, I have said what I wanted to say. Governor, do you have anything?”

“N-no, Saint-sama. I am terribly sorry for the trouble caused. And thank you for saving Chi Tien. Ah, but the reward…”

“Please don’t worry about it. It must be difficult enough with the fields being trampled and the loss of life. I’ll consider this one a free service.”

Saying so, I flashed a beaming professional smile.

The Governor was so moved that he burst into tears as he thanked me.