People often said goblins were weak, and yes, I’d fought and defeated one myself, but I would never underestimate them. Goblins fought with the intent to kill. Losing was the same as dying. Old Badger had been killed by those very goblins.
“They’re just ahead, right? Yune, Kiri, prepare yourselves,” Liluetta said, her voice full of confidence.
“Wh-What? Are we really going through with this?” Yune whimpered.
I couldn’t understand what Liluetta was thinking. I didn’t know why Yune was preparing either. Why did they want to keep going? Why were they acting like the decision had already been made?
I finally managed to force my words out. “No. We need to turn back.”
Both of them were clearly shocked as they stared at me.
Why are they surprised? I’m the one who should be surprised here.
“What exactly do you mean, Kiri?” Liluetta asked. Her words were polite, but her tone was cold—dangerously cold—and brimming with undisguised anger.
“Goblins are monsters. If we leave them alone, they’ll harm others,” she continued sharply. “They might attack hunters or woodcutters who come through here or ambush merchants and travelers on the main road. In the past, monsters have even scaled the town walls. If we know they’re here, then it’s our duty to eliminate them right now.”
She was serious and earnest—so earnest that she’d lectured me about professionalism and respecting the townsfolk. Given her mindset, her reasoning made perfect sense.
But that was exactly the problem. Her attitude was far too upright and far too good. Now I finally understood what Chikka had meant. Liluetta wasn’t suited to being an adventurer. She wasn’t broken enough for it. If she kept going like this, she would die.
“We’re turning around. We’re leaving the mountain right now,” I said firmly.
Liluetta was righteous, logical, and extremely angry. A small voice in the back of my mind told me trying to persuade her would fail, but I refused to back down.
“After we’ve come all this way?” she retorted.
“How far we’ve come doesn’t matter,” I said.
We were almost at the summit and so very close to the mana pool. Even I didn’t want to give up after coming this far. But judging from the goblin prints, we were facing the worst possible scenario.
“Look.” I pointed at the trail. “Right there, where their footprints merge with ours. Can you see how there are a lot more goblin tracks gathered in that spot? They must’ve stopped there to talk things over. They probably realized someone regularly uses this path.”
Hearing how uncertain my voice sounded, full of “probablys” and “must’ves,” was annoying. I should’ve pretended I knew everything for sure.
Old Badger or Chikka would’ve been able to interpret a lot more from the footprints, and they would’ve sounded perfectly sure about it. Compared to them, my lack of experience and confidence was beyond frustrating.
“The goblins are following our tracks,” I explained. “They’re probably planning to ambush us somewhere up ahead.”
Yune’s eyes widened into perfect circles, and Liluetta’s jade-green eyes narrowed skeptically as they both stared down at the footprints. I hoped this would be enough to convince them.
We were in a bad situation. The goblins knew we were here, and every part of me was screaming, Turn back now! There had been five of us in our party when Old Badger had taken us up this mountain, and even then we had decided to retreat rather than risk a fight. Then, when I had hunted goblins with Waine’s party, the goblins hadn’t noticed us at all. That had given us plenty of time to prepare. This time, our situation was completely different. There were only three of us, and the goblins were likely waiting and ready to attack.
“They might have just followed our path because it’s easier to walk on,” said Liluetta.
I gritted my teeth. “Maybe. But assuming that would be careless.”
“If we already know they’re planning an ambush, we can just stay alert,” she insisted. “If we’re prepared, we can handle it.”
“It’s hard to see clearly on a mountain trail,” I argued. My throat felt tight. “Goblins are small. If they hide behind trees or rocks, spotting them in advance is almost impossible. We won’t be able to react fast enough.”
“So what if we get hurt?” Liluetta shot back. “We have Yune. She’s a healer. She can deal with injuries easily.”
“I don’t know much about healers,” I said, “but she can’t heal us if we’re all dead.”
“Goblins are among the weakest of monsters,” Liluetta countered. “We’d have to mess up pretty badly to lose to them.”
“But we’re even weaker than those weak goblins.”
Liluetta let out an exasperated sigh, giving me a look that was no longer angry. Instead, it was filled with disappointment and pity. “All right, I understand perfectly now. You’re just a coward.”
I squeezed my fists until my palms hurt and clenched my jaw so hard I heard a grinding noise.
Does she think she’s invincible? Does she think a goblin’s claws and weapons are made of cotton?
“We’re adventurers,” she continued coldly. “If all we do is avoid danger, we’ll never accomplish anything.”
Does she think calling herself an adventurer would somehow protect her from harm? Facing the goblins would be like walking to her death. But my thoughts didn’t matter, because I had failed to convince her. Any chance of persuading her was gone.
So I played my last card, the one I never wanted to use.
“I’m the leader here,” I said. “You both agreed at the start to follow my decisions.”
As the party’s leader—as someone who had very slightly more experience as an adventurer—I tried to make the newcomers obey. It was the lowest tactic I could use, and I hated myself for resorting to it.
Liluetta knitted her brows. Even Yune looked uncomfortable. I had a feeling this would destroy our relationship, and we would probably never adventure together again. That was disappointing, and it hurt, but I couldn’t help it. After all, I knew that if we went ahead, I didn’t have the strength to keep them safe.
If ruining our friendship meant the three of us would make it out of here alive, that was far better than letting them die.
“I see.” All expression vanished from Liluetta’s face.
Both of them were so earnest, I never doubted my tactic would work. I knew it would be effective as a last resort.
“You’re right,” said Liluetta. “To you, we’re nothing more than temporary party members. And the same goes for us.” She turned her back to me. It was like she was telling me loud and clear that there was nothing left to say.
✦ ✦ ✦
But that wasn’t the case. Not yet, anyway.
“Our party is disbanded,” Liluetta announced. “Let’s go, Yune.” She began walking farther up the path.
Why is she going that way?
“W-Wait!” I shouted. “I said you could leave if you didn’t want to follow my lead, but I never said you could keep going!”
“Our party is disbanded,” Liluetta repeated coldly. “You have no right to tell me what to do anymore.” She ignored my protests and continued up the mountain.
Liluetta was silent, then, and she didn’t look back. Even so, I felt like she was saying, Don’t follow me. As I watched her walk away, I knew I was no longer welcome.
“W-Wait for me, my lady!” Yune called nervously, hurrying after her. She glanced back at me once with a troubled expression on her face before joining Liluetta.
All I could do was stand there, dumbfounded, and watch their backs grow smaller as they disappeared from view.
In that moment, only one thing was clear: I had failed to do what Old Badger had done.