“You filthy lizard… How dare you mock my master?”
He gritted his teeth, eyes turning red as he silently seethed in anger. Uh, not too much, okay, Ranga? I’m not sure if this lizard can take it. If he tried anything funny—well, he had it coming, but I wanted to avoid that if he really was some higher-up lizard guy.
“It would appear,” he said, “that you have been deceived. Very well. Let me use my powers to defeat this so-called master who has taken control of you. Who wishes to take me on? I would gladly handle all of you at once, if you like!”
Whoa… What the hell’s he saying now? Talk about a bad joke. This lizard really needs to know his place. You’re the weakest guy here, dude.
…Okay, I take that back. There’s Rigurd. He could probably whip Rigurd.
But that’s still a B rank we were talking about; king of the hobgoblins and probably their strongest warrior. If your average hobgob was a C-plus, that’s a pretty damn big leap—and with the Kaijin-forged armor he had on, I’d peg him at a high B right now.
That being said, he hadn’t really learned much of anything in terms of swordsmanship or battle tactics. Against a professional, I didn’t like his chances. I had learned not long ago that the presence, or lack thereof, of Arts could vastly change your worth in battle. And while Gabil had a big mouth and a pointless amount of swagger, he seemed to be well trained enough as a fighter in my eyes. He was certainly brimming with confidence anyway.
Our eyes met.
So who should I pit against him to start out…?
“Huh? What’re you guys up to?”
Gobta, without a doubt the best in town at popping up at the exact wrong time, executed this skill perfectly by waking up.
“You’re all right?”
“Oh, you have to listen to this!” he replied with a carefree smile. “I was swimming across the river, and this kind voice said I had obtained Resist Poison or something like that! So I felt a whole lot better, and then I woke up!”
Something told me it was a lucky thing he didn’t make it all the way across that river… I thought it’d be kinder if I didn’t say that.
“Wow! Resist Poison, huh? That’s pretty neat. I don’t even have that one.”
“R-really? Ooh, neato!”
Gobta seemed honestly proud. But his knack for terrible timing had already sealed his fate.
“Heh-heh-heh,” Ranga growled. “Very well. If you are capable of defeating one among us whom we deem to be worthy, we will listen to your story.”
Then he motioned toward Gobta. I knew he would.
“Wh-wha?!” he protested, eyes wide open. “What are you…?!” But it had been decided. Which was good for me. I wasn’t sure who to pick, myself. Everyone on our side was ready to beat the crap out of this lizardman, their eyes lowered in a threatening stance. In a way, it helped me keep my own head cool. Whenever someone gets visibly pissed off, it tends to put the brakes on everyone else in the room.
Really, though. Ranga can be pretty mean, too, huh? I could see it in his eyes, even. He was putting Gobta up as a sacrificial lamb.
It wouldn’t exactly be honorable to hurt this envoy, but if he struck first, that was enough of an excuse. I imagined that was Ranga’s way of thinking about it. Clever of him. Wonder where he got that from.
“Are you sure?” Gabil asked me, a triumphant look. “Because I would be happy to challenge you instead. Though, perhaps you’d prefer to have one of your underlings step up for you, rather than reveal to the world how powerless you are!”
Now he was just dissing me. He seriously thought I was running some large-scale con on Ranga and the rest. I wanted to punch him, full-strength. My head was distinctly no longer cool.
“Don’t show him any mercy, Gobta. Get him! Lose, and I’ll have Shion cook a five-course meal for you!”
“W-wait a second, sir! I—I guess you’ve already made your decision…but I’d like some kind of reward if I win, at least! And please, anything but Shion’s food…”
“I do not appreciate this line of conversation,” Shion sullenly added.
He was right, though. I had the stick; now I needed a carrot. I figured a taste of Shion’s homespun efforts would be enough to make him fight like his life depended on it. I knew it was pointless—I mean, he had no chance—but I wanted to think of a reward, then.
“All right,” I said. “In that case, I’ll have Kurobe make a weapon for you. How’s that sound?”
“R-really?!”
“Come on, Gobta, have I ever lied to you?”
“N-no, not lie, exactly…maybe kind of withheld things from me sometimes, but…”
“You’re just imagining it.”
“Am I? Oh, all right!”
This was why I liked talking with Gobta. He was so easy to work with.
Sensing our conversation was over, Ranga threw a signal my way. I nodded in reply.
“If you wish to lend us your power,” he said to Gabil, “then show us what you possess first. You may begin!”
With that, the battle kicked off—Gobta, ready for anything, and Gabil, calmly carrying his spear. Gobta had a cavalry lance on him, too, making it a duel between two long-range weapons. He had no chance, to be sure. His usual weapon of choice was a dagger.
“Hmph,” Gabil replied, lecturing his foe despite the fact that the fight had already started. “You may be more than a mere goblin, but even a hobgoblin is no threat to me! We are the lizardmen, the mighty descendants of dragons…”
“Aren’t you coming? Well, here I come, then!”
Ignoring the boast, Gobta hurled his spear right at Gabil. He was serious about this, more serious than I expected.
“Impudent fool,” Gabil listlessly muttered as he batted down the missile. That, apparently, was exactly what Gobta wanted. For just an instant, Gabil’s attention was focused on the thrown spear—and the hobgoblin took that instant to disappear.
Wait… What…?!
If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, Gobta had just executed a perfect Shadow Motion move to hide. Perfect enough that even Gabil lost sight of him. “Where are you?!” he shouted, furtively looking around. But by then, the battle had already been won.
Flying out of the shadow behind Gabil’s back, Gobta flung himself into a midair spin as he executed a kick.
I figured Gabil had no idea what happened. The rear attack came as a total surprise, and he took it straight to the back of his neck, immediately causing him to black out. Gobta had aimed right where neither Gabil’s armor nor his helmet could protect him, and he aimed well. Even the stoutest built of lizardmen couldn’t hold up against a direct attack on such a vulnerable collection of nerves. His scales would keep the blow from turning lethal, but he would no doubt take a while to recover.