Chapter 73 - Goblin Smashing
I mutter, feeling quite dejected.
I really wish she'd dry off sooner.
Because at this point, Angelica has moved past merely "aiming" and is now "riding" it.
I feel a soft, yet heavy sensation on the crown of my head.
If I were my usual self, I would be greatly agitated.
But since I am currently worked up before combat, I don't mind it all that much.
"You should handle that D-rank of yours more carefully. It's not something you should just rest on your father's head."
I provide some educational guidance, warning her that she'll lose her shape.
Angelica seems to have taken some sort of shock, letting out a scream like a stray cat as she pulled away.
"That's not the usual Papa!"
She threw that parting shot.
My usual self, huh?
I wonder what the "usual me" looks like to Angelica?
A slightly pathetic middle-aged man who gets embarrassed immediately when teased. An old guy who is easy to manipulate.
That's probably about it, I speculate.
But I personally feel that such things are merely superficial.
I feel as though my inner self is, how should I put it, much more hollow.
"Papa is angry... he's definitely angry... he's become an iron man..."
"How long are you going to keep making those weird noises? Come here. I'm going to Dispel it. Rio, you too."
I beckon to Angelica and Rio.
As the two of them cautiously approached, I reached out both hands.
"Dispel."
I nullify the Sacred Circle and cross my arms to enter a standby state.
"It's going to be a long one from here. I hope we can fix the raid location."
Normally, I would cut off my own arm, place it somewhere in the garden, and use it as bait.
My body contains high-quality magical power.
It apparently satisfies the palate in a way that is separate from the quality of the meat, making it an exquisite feast from a monster's perspective.
There is likely no bait more effective for narrowing down the spawn points.
However, if I were to use such a tactic, Angelica would undoubtedly end up crying, so it wasn't an option.
As expected, is there no choice but to wait while guarding Rio's surroundings?
It's a method I don't particularly like. When you shift to a passive stance, uncertainty inevitably arises.
No matter how weak the opponent's Race may be, if you are outnumbered and take a surprise attack, there is no telling what might happen.
"Should we fortify the defense?"
For the time being, I decided to apply Strength Enhancement
Even if the two of them were captured, this would keep the damage to a minimum.
I channeled magical power into my fingertips once more, raising the girls' physical abilities.
"Next is that. I'm counting on your perception."
Angelica straightens her back sharply.
She's probably happy to have been given a role. She is working with great enthusiasm to activate her skill.
The remaining one is Rio, but well, what should I do?
It wouldn't be right to leave her empty-handed, so...
"Keep your smartphone with you," I instruct.
Even if she were by some chance kidnapped by goblins, I want to make sure contact can be maintained.
And then... what else?
There must be something else I can do.
Setting traps? Even so, if I were to set such devices in this small house and involve Rio and the others, it wouldn't be funny.
So, setting that aside for this time, what can I do...
As I was pacing around the room like that, Angelica let out a sharp voice.
"Papa, they're coming from two directions. North and South. We're being flanked."
"That was fast," I mutter, stopping in my tracks.
Perhaps the goblins had already surrounded this house for a long time, waiting for an opportunity to invade.
For some reason, they had been unable to approach due to my barrier, and were being kept at bay.
Is that about it?
I peeked out the window and looked toward the directions she mentioned.
However, I couldn't see any human-like figures at all.
"They aren't there."
Are they still far away?
No, that's not it. Considering the ecology of goblins, this place is the most suspicious.
"—Below, then."
I order Rio and Angelica to get on top of the table.
After all, those guys are a Race that prefers the darkness.
Their primary habitats are caves, limestone caverns, mines, and underground.
If that's the case, my next move is predictable.
[Hero Keisuke consumed 295 MP. Activating Divine Sword skill. Attack power increased by 350%]
[You have entered a state of specialized attack against Spiritual Bodies, Demons, and Undead]
Almost simultaneously with me readying my sword, the floor began to bulge in various places.
Next to the table, in front of the TV, beside the dresser.
One after another, the tatami mats swelled, forming small mounds. Eventually, the peaks of those mounds burst through with a cracking sound.
The fibers were violently torn, and the holes widened.
With a thud. A withered demi-human arm thrust out from the depths of a hole.
Though its length was comparable to a child's, it was covered in well-developed muscle and tendons.
The tips of its claws were sharply pointed and filled with plenty of dirt.
Its skin color was gray, making it clear at a glance that it was not human.
Goblins.
Given this skin color, they were likely the type of goblins that made their base in underground tunnels.
If so, the countermeasures are easy.
"SHAAAAAAA!"
A single goblin poked its face out from a hole.
It let out a strange cry and was licking its lips, but overall, it had a humorous facial expression.
Its pupils were very small.
It had a countenance like two black dots drawn on white paper.
The underground is a gentle space.
One rarely encounters external enemies, and the temperature and humidity are stable.
It is not uncommon for species to lose organs that should be essential for surface dwellers, even regressing their eyeballs, melanin pigment, and sometimes even their limbs.
Underground goblins were no exception, being a Race whose trademark was pale skin and round eyes.
They had lost the strengths goblins originally possessed, and were renowned as the weakest among the many subspecies.
"Human! Human! Meat! Woman! ...Man?"
Blankly, the underground goblin in front of me tilted its head.
Its nose twitched as it gazed at my face with curiosity.
Because these creatures have extremely low vision, they perceive information about their surroundings through sound and smell.
"Human man...? No, Worm? Tunnel Dragon? Manticore? What are you bastards?"
"You don't even know what I am?"
It seemed to have sensed that I was a higher existence than itself.
However, further analysis seemed impossible with this creature's sense of smell.
A pitiful existence.
I chanted a mid-tier Light-attribute magic, [Flash].
It is a spell mainly used when exploring dark places, and it can also be used as a flashbang.
Since it is daytime now, it would only feel a bit bright to human eyes.
But when the opponent is a goblin that lives underground, it can cause blindness in a single shot.
"Gugya!"
I sequentially decapitated the goblins as they covered their eyes with both hands.
The feeling was like a gruesome game of whack-a-mole. I mechanically hunted the small imps as they poked their heads out from the holes in the floor.
"Gagya!"
"Agyaaaaaa!"
"Eyes! My eyes!"
One, two, three, four.
It was a task closer to mere slaughter than combat.
I finished them off efficiently, with the minimum amount of effort.
The fifth one.
The last one was captured alive for interrogation.
I grabbed the arm of the goblin that was trying to flee underground and hauled it up.
"Let go! Let go let go let go!"
The pitiful little imp flailed its legs.
Its eyes were blinded by the flash, and traces of incontinence could be seen on its crude loincloth.
While frowning at the pungent stench, I asked a question.
"If you have other comrades, spit it out. Every time you name one, I'll extend the time until I kill you by one hour."
Between me and this goblin, I wonder which one looks more like a demon?
Looking down at the goblin while feeling disgusted with myself, its response was...
"Gagya!?"
A death rattle.
—A light bullet?
A single magic shot flying from the back of the room had pierced through the goblin's temple.
It was an instant kill.
I turned my face, wondering if Angelica had cast it.
But she had both hands to her mouth, so I couldn't see her immediately after a chant.
Rio cannot use magic, and there are no other monsters.
Then, who?
Could there be someone else still lurking in this house?
I set the goblin's corpse down on the floor and held my sword in a mid-level guard.
So that I could respond to attacks from both above and below.
I gradually advanced my feet toward the direction the light bullet had come from.
The location was beyond the hallway. Toward the bathroom.
What was the intention behind that previous attack?
Was it meant to assist me? Or did they want to silence the goblin before it leaked confidential information?
If it was the latter, there is no mistake that they are these creatures' employer.
"—Shh."
I took a deep breath and stepped into the bathroom with instantaneous speed.
And there, was...
"It has been a long time."
There was a nostalgic face, one I had spoken with countless times in another world.