The trio of Sun Bacchus looked just as invincible as I’d planned. Whew, but manipulating them sure was hard work! In fact, there were several times where I was so focused, it looked to others like I was slacking off. I promise I’m doing my part too, Commander! Air Cutter, Air Cutter! See? I lopped that goblin’s head off just now, so leave me alone! Phew, this is tough.
“Medium-size enemy spotted! It’s an orc warrior! Wait, no—there are large-size enemies behind it too! A Death Serpent?! You gotta be kidding me! What’s the ‘Reaper of the Forest’ doing here?!”
“Mages, switch to your most powerful spells! Fire!” On the commander’s signal, the mages released a volley of spells. Yeah, yeah, I’m doing it too. Air Cutter, Air Cutter. Sorry, jeez. Man, what a chore. Huh? No, I’m not just pretending to fight, commander, I promise. Look, I’ll take out that big one over there to prove it to you. There, it’s dead. See? I’m doing my part, so you don’t need to pay any mind to what I’m doing over here!
✦ ✦ ✦
The orcs and I got close enough to see the town. A nauseating number of monsters had already gathered around Solasidore, both those who’d been driven out of the forest and the goblins who’d led them here.
More importantly, Karina was right there, before my eyes! She was on top of the town’s wall, eliminating monster after monster with her magic. Even from a distance, I’d never mistake her sleek black hair for anyone else’s. So she was a mage, was she? That would be handy in battle once she was mine.
“Listen up, you orcs! That’s her. That’s Karina! Capture her right now!”
“I apologize, but we won’t be able to get close without reducing their numbers first.”
Rrgh... How frustrating! You useless bunch!
Still...the townsfolk were putting up more of a fight than I would have guessed. I expected the goblins to get mowed down, but even the orc assassins were failing to take the enemy unit by surprise, and the adventurers were even retaliating with attacks of their own!
“Dammit! You Solasidore bastards are better than I thought!”
But three adventurers out of the bunch were especially dangerous. After killing the orc assassin trying to take him by surprise, one of the trio zigzagged across the battlefield, eliminating grunt monster after grunt monster. There was an adventurer that skilled in Solasidore?! Shit, I had no idea!
“Your orders, King Bareas?” the orc general asked.
“Rrgh... That tears it! Release the Death Serpents! They’ll crush any adventurer underfoot, no matter how skilled!”
I ordered the orcs to bring out the twin Death Serpents—but not even a moment later, one serpent’s head fell to the ground. Huh?! Why?! What just happened?! That serpent wasn’t anywhere near that adventurer trio—so it was someone else’s handiwork?!
Now headless and spraying blood everywhere, the Death Serpent fell to the ground. What should I do now?! Do I have any other options?! Am I gonna die next?!
“Your orders, King Bareas?” the orc general repeated. Is that all you can say, fool?!
“How should I know?! Aren’t you supposed to be a general?! Then you think of a plan! Ahhh, dammit, I guess we have no choice but to fall back. I don’t think they noticed me, so as long as I survive, we can just keep trying as many times as—”
“I can’t allow that,” said a voice. It didn’t belong to the orc general, or even the orc assassins. It was the snot-nosed goblin I’d been using as my personal armrest.
“Huh? You can’t allow that? You think you’re the boss of me, now?”
Wait, this thing could actually talk?
“We have no provisions left. If we don’t capture the town, we goblins will have no future.”
“Ha ha! Think you’re a smarty-pants, do you? Since when did you learn such advanced vocabulary?!”
“Bareas. You were useful in growing my forces, so I let you do as you pleased. But if you’re just going to run away, then I’ll take over from here. From now on, I’m king.”
“Huh? King? You’re just a cheeky little goblin. I’ve had enough out of you.” I was about to punt him away—but he grabbed my leg! Huh? Were goblins always this strong? Oh well, it didn’t matter.
“How dare you resist me, brat! Dominion!” I thrust the jewel at the snot-nosed goblin, intending to silence him for good—
“Kee!”
“Gyaah!” The goblin bit my hand?! O-Ouch! It hurrrts! “Aaah! Shit! You bit my hand, you— Huh? My finger!”
I felt the pain in my finger disappear instantly, and a chill ran up my spine. My finger was gone—the finger with the Dominion ring!
The snot-nosed goblin moved his mouth like he was chewing. N-No way, you gotta be kidding me! Blood kept gushing from the stump where my finger used to be. Meanwhile, I heard a gulp come from the goblin’s throat.
“G-Give it back! Give my finger back, you brat! What have you done?!” I was so angry I temporarily forgot my pain and grabbed the goblin by the throat. First I’d rip his neck apart, and then...and then... Rrgh, goddammit! “Hey, one of you orcs!” I shouted to the orc general and orc assassins. “You do it instead! Come kill this bastard! Tear him apart and get that ring back!”
But neither of them said a word, instead kneeling to the snot-nosed goblin and bowing their heads. “Shall we, O King?”
“Go ahead,” the goblin said. “As I said before, this man has outlived his usefulness.” He then blew a wad of snot from his nose.
“Wh-What...?”
“You control the goblins by smell, correct? Then I just had to stuff up my nose with slime goo to defend against it.”
“Huh? You intentionally stuffed up your nose to avoid Dominion?!”
You’re kidding me! It was that simple?!
Come to think of it, this guy was always dripping snot. Wait—how long had he been doing this, though?! And how long had this bratty goblin been by my side now?! How long had he been investigating me?!
“When we heard about a goblin village where a human was coming and going as he pleased, how could we not get suspicious and investigate? I infiltrated the village myself to check.”
“Huh? Then from the very start... No, even before then?!”
“That’s right. You’ve been my target for quite a while now—because I wanted that power of yours. Thanks to you, our forces have grown larger and more powerful than ever.” He gave me a repulsive grin.
“N-Nonsense! You’re telling me a goblin could come up with all that?!”
“You really are thick, aren’t you? After all this time, you still can’t tell the difference between an orc and a goblin.”
“Wh-What do you—” Wait, this guy was a goblin, right? L-Looking closer, his face actually looked more similar to the orcs... Agh, the pain from losing my finger was so intense that I couldn’t think straight!
“I am the Orc King. The strongest and wisest being in the forest!”
“The Orc King?! The one who stands above all breeds of orc?! It was you all along?!” The Orc King was the most formidable monster of all, a disaster-level being said to cause stampedes! In other words...they’d been playing me like a fiddle this whole time?!
“We have the strength we need at last. Bareas, the strange human able to bend all to his will using a magic stone in his ring—you are no longer necessary. But as a reward for your usefulness, your death will be swift and painless. Orc assassin, will you do the honors?”
Before I knew it, the orc assassin had gotten behind me. Huh? W-Wait! I felt the sensation of cold metal on my neck—and at nearly the same time, a searing heat. My vision flipped, and I was looking up at my own body. My headless body. So that meant...I was decapitated? Huh? Why? What happened?
“Do not worry, we will destroy the town you so desired in your place.”
You’re just going to leave me here?! I tried to shout, but nothing came out.
“Rest in peace.”
With those final words, my head was crushed underfoot.
#Side: END