Looking at the pendant, I curled the corners of my mouth into a smile. With this, I could truly undermine those Artezia scum.
They likely profited from this before my regression, but not anymore.
I wouldn’t allow it. Instead, they’d suffer a significant loss because of it.
With a chilling smile, I gripped the pendant tightly.
This pendant held no special power, nor did it contain some immense dormant force. It merely contained the hidden shame of House Artezia. No more, no less.
Martel the Educator. This is the pendant his grandchild carried.
Martel, the old man known by the moniker of ‘The Educator’.
He wasn’t exceptional in combat ability, nor did he possess an incredible bloodline, but he held one unique talent—the talent for teaching.
Without exception, everyone he taught ranked among the continent’s top 100 strongest, and his fame reached even the Emperor, who invited him to personally tutor some of the imperial princes.
So why was the pendant he gave his grandchild here?
It was because of a scheme by the Ducal House of Artezia.
In the past, the Artezias wanted their son educated by Martel. But Martel didn’t accept just anyone as a disciple, and naturally, their son failed to meet his standards.
When Martel refused their request, their pride wounded, they kidnapped Martel’s grandchild and attempted to stage a hostage situation.
Of course, they weren’t making the insane demand to ‘teach our son since we have your grandchild.’ They simply planned to claim that the Darkspawn from the North had kidnapped his grandchild, and that they would heroically step in to help.
But as fate would have it, during the kidnapping, Martel’s grandchild was brutalized and killed by the mercenaries.
The Artezias hastily killed those mercenaries and erased all traces of the incident, going so far as to eliminate the entire mercenary group and destroy any evidence of their involvement.
Furthermore, the Artezias attempted to burn the grandchild’s corpse to ashes, but before their death, the mercenaries had claimed they had already fed it to Darkspawn, forcing the House to abandon their search.
In any case, even if they searched for the corpse, no evidence remained to link them to the crime.
However, they didn’t know—a recording device had been left on the pendant.
In my previous life, I would have destroyed the recording device and claimed I’d found the grandchild’s keepsake to make contact with Martel… but not this time around.
My eyes flashing, I slipped the pendant into my pocket. I wasn’t certain what content it held, but I knew that if I took this to Martel, he would be filled with rage and turn against House Artezia.
Well, I hardly supposed this would be enough to utterly destroy them, but I could at least inflict considerable political damage.
I smiled, anticipating what would happen next.
“Now let’s head back and—”
The moment I was about to tell Lancelot to return with me, he interjected in a tone stiff with fear.
“...Lord Louis, isn’t that thing awake?”
Lancelot stretched out a finger and pointed at the giant Goblin that had been sleeping.
The Goblin, somehow now awake, snorted through its pimple-covered nose, its flabby belly jiggling.
After a moment, the giant Goblin—no, the Goblin Lord—let out a roar into the air.
“GRAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Immense magical power exploded outward. The hut burst apart, revealing the settlement outside.
Krah! Kraah!
The Goblins raised their rusty daggers and other weapons, approaching us. Anger marked every face; some enraged that their king’s resting place had been invaded, others spewing rage upon realizing we were the ones who had burned the settlement.
I eyed the Goblins with a small sigh, then glanced at my companion. “He started the fire.”
“Oi, you scoundrel!”
…I mean, someone has to survive.
* * *
Although there was a slight mishap, the battle against the Goblins was, in its own way, a decent struggle.
Despite wielding an excellent sword, Lancelot kept swinging it clumsily. Even so, goblins began dropping one by one to his sloppy technique.
“Bahahaha! These things are nothing special, are they?”
“Calm down. Getting that excited just from killing regular Goblins... the Guard would weep at the mention of your name.”
An arrow pierced through a Goblin’s head and struck the one behind it. When they got too close, I’d wield my short spear to pierce their necks, or push them away with the bow before shooting more arrows.
“I’ve got to say though, they are disgustingly many.”
I let out a faint sigh, watching the Goblins swarm like a pack of dogs. To be honest, if it was just sheer numbers, I could resolve it quickly with a few Multishots.
The problem was the Goblin Shamans and Goblin Generals who intermittently charged in from the distance, and among them, the Goblin Lord, glaring all the while it dragged its massive body over.
A few arrows wouldn’t suffice to deal with them. But the problem was that, due to the nature of archery, my supply of arrows was limited.
“Hah... I’ll have to push myself.”
“Sorry?!”
“I wasn’t talking to you, so mind your own business and do your job. And when we get back, you should take up a spear instead of a sword. That would suit you better.”
After telling Lancelot what needed to be said, I drew my bowstring.
The Goblins charged toward me, but I paid them no mind, steadying my breathing with the bowstring drawn.
As I exhaled deeply, the Goblins gradually drew closer.
One of them was already nearby. I fired my bow.
Divine Archer Original: Full Bloom.
A subtle camellia scent drifted through the air as the dry branches all around began to stretch. Blossoms opened along the limbs, and wherever petals or branches touched a goblin, its head burst apart, sending its limp body crashing to the ground.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
In an instant, dozens of Goblins lost their lives; among them were Goblin Warriors and Generals. The Goblin Shaman hastily tried to raise a magical shield, but my subsequent arrow pierced its neck, ending its life.
K-KRAH!
With fleeting death throes, most of the Goblins perished, leaving only two Goblin Generals and one Goblin Lord glaring at me.
“Whew... My head feels like it’s going to split.”
Most of the Divine Archer’s techniques demanded extreme Aura control, making my brain throb every time I used one. Worse still, I only had 5 arrows remaining.
I had to face those creatures at once with merely 5 shots.
...I figure that’s impossible.
Left without a choice, I turned to Lancelot and said, “You handle the two Goblin Generals.”
“Huh? Me?!”
“Were you planning to just stand idle? If my wife discovers you did nothing while I was dealing with them alone, she’d be greatly disappointed.”
“...I’ll do it! I said I will!”
As soon as Lea was mentioned, Lancelot scowled and gripped his sword tightly.
With a small sigh, I picked up a rusty spear a Goblin had been holding and threw it to Lancelot.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Fight with that. If you fight with that sword of yours, you’ll be dead in less than three minutes.”
“Are you looking down on me, sir?!”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to join the Demonic Realm investigation team? Refuse the spear, and I’ll have no intention of recommending you.”
Lancelot grit his teeth, clenched his fists hard, and spat a torrent of curses. Then, flinging his sword to the ground, he grabbed the spear I had offered him.
“I’m gonna die anyway, so I’ll at least swear one good time before I bite it!”
“Go on then, let’s see.”
“Man, you really shouldn’t live your life like that!”
“Truly a fiery curse. It’s so insulting it almost brings tears to my eyes.”
I snorted a laugh and tuned out Lancelot.
He would likely survive if he used the spear. His physique was suited for a spear rather than a sword, and for Northern knights, spear fighting was a martial art learned during basic training.
It would surely be superior to that bizarre sword fighting of his. His lacking spear technique could be supplemented later, so it wasn’t a concern.
Assuming he figures out how to survive… Now, is that one the real problem?
I turned my head to face the massive Goblin Lord.
The club in its hand contrasted oddly with its splendidly shining armor. The armor couldn’t hide its belly fat, but regardless, it surely possessed strength enough to easily block a couple of Aura-infused arrows.
I let out a faint sigh and drew the bowstring toward the Goblin Lord.
Fwip!
CLANG!
The Aura-infused arrow hit the Goblin Lord’s helmet, but as expected, the arrow bounced off.
“GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” In sudden pain, the rage-filled Goblin Lord charged at me.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The ground shook, and snowflakes swirled. The Goblin Lord, having gotten within striking distance, raised its club and smashed it down toward me.
BOOOM!
“Tch!”
Hastily moving away from that spot, I nocked an arrow to my bow and shot again.
Swish!
The arrow flew at high speed but was blocked by the club the Goblin Lord swung, reduced to a mere decoration on it.
Now, only 3 arrows remained. But killing that beast with just these was nearly impossible.
“...Revenge is so goddamn hard, really.”
Letting out a faint sigh, I pushed off from the spot and moved toward the corpse of an already dead Goblin.
If arrows are lacking, can’t I just reuse them?
Pulling the arrow from the dead Goblin’s head, I nocked it to the bowstring again and aimed at the Goblin Lord.
“Let’s see who tires first.”
Fwip!
Thwack!
The arrow was once again reduced to a decoration on the Goblin Lord’s club, but it didn’t matter. Because here, on the fallen bodies, there were still hundreds of arrows left.
Again, I moved position to pull out an arrow, then nocked it to the bowstring and shot it at the Goblin Lord.
Fwip!
CLANG!
Again, I moved position. Nocked the bowstring.
Fwip!
CLAANG!
Moved position. Shot an arrow.
CLAAANG!
Again.
Again.
Again.
After dozens of attacks, the Goblin Lord—who had initially withstood them—began to stagger, struggling against the shockwaves from the arrows.
And then—
CRACK!
The club in its hands finally gave out, splintering apart. The Goblin Lord raised its arms to shield itself, but its armor wasn’t indestructible.
CRUNCH!
The armor shattered, fully exposing its massive frame. I nocked my last arrow and muttered a parting word.
“Die.”
The arrow—loaded with every last drop of Aura I had—shot forward. It struck the Goblin Lord in the neck and exploded, tearing a massive hole through it.
“GUURGGGHH...!”
The Goblin Lord collapsed with a great thump, shaking the earth and signaling the end of the battle.
“If you’re done, help me out a bit too!”
...I could’ve sworn I heard someone shouting nonsense nearby.