–Aegir POV–
The following day after we arrived at the village tormented by monsters, we head to the southern woods, which was believed to contain the nest of the goblins.
「It's really close, isn't it? It was pointless no matter how many times the goblins got defeated.」
It's exactly as Celia says. The distance between the village and the woods is short, even on foot. On horse, it would be so quick that we wouldn't even have time to eat.
「The nest is this close, yet nobody realized its presence until such a large army was formed?」
「They must have propagated too quickly...」
A goblin, who appears to be a lookout, comes out frequently from a bush to take a peek and is about to run away, but Pipi shoots it to death as if it was target practice. To Pipi, who regularly hunts animals that move quickly such as wolves and deer, the ugly goblin that ran bow-legged was not even moving.
「That's number three!」
「Good going, when we get back, I'll pet you as many times as the number you shot.」
Pipi's efforts really helps us successfully reach the woods before their army appears.
「Aegir-sama, what shall we do? There isn't much plant-life so it wouldn't be impossible for us to enter the forest on our horses...」
Unlike the plains, the woods is a place we have to be careful of what's above and below us and the cavalry's ability to deal with that is somewhat inferior. Although it may just be the woods, with trees scattered about, it doesn't look like we'll be able to gallop at full speed.
「No, we'll continue on our horses. Our opponents are goblins after all, so our horses will give us the height advantage.」
The height of a goblin is 1 m. As long as we are careful about attacks from the trees, they won't be able to put their hands on the cavalry. And even if they aim for our horses, we can still fight as infantry.
「I understand. Everyone, enter the woods on your horses! Move in a column at a fast pace!」
There are only 50 of them, but the sound of their hooves is quite pronounced. Even the goblins, who don't have sharp senses, won't be able to miss it. I thought that a large army would show up soon, but there wasn't much noticeable change in the situation.
「I thought the woods would be filled with goblins but that is unexpectedly not the case.」
We found several of them who were trying to run away earlier, but it's nothing like the hundreds of goblins that the village chief mentioned.
「Yes, it's strangely quiet.」
「That's weird. There aren't any birds or animals either... it's like this place is dead.」
Pipi has an uneasy look. Because Schwartz is taller than the other horses, a branch slaps me in the face, causing Celia to draw her sword on reaction to the sound. It seems she can't settle down either.
「Ouch.... Schwartz, lower your body more when you walk.」
Schwartz snorts as if telling me not to ask for the impossible. Geez, I've been with this guy for such a long time already, you would think that he would take care of me a little more. This spring, you were the one who got the horses for the carriage at the mansion pregnant, right? I thought it was strange how they were so attached to you, but you just work fast.
「Giiiih!!」
There is a sudden nasty cry and a dark clump comes falling down from the trees. When I look carefully, I see a goblin holding a spear, made from slicing the tip of a stalk of bamboo.
「It really helps when you cry like that.」
I skewer the thing that jumped down from the trees in mid-air and fling it away behind me.
「Gyiiiih–!」
Taking that as the signal, goblins start jumping off the trees to attack us from all directions.
「Maintain your formation! Ten in the front and the rest will alternate to deal with the ones on the left and right, on the double!」
It is within our expectations to get ambushed in the forest so we didn't panic. If we stood still, we would get surrounded and be at a disadvantage, but if we remained on the move with our horses, it would be impossible for the goblins to catch up to us with their short legs. The ones in the vanguard trample over the ones blocking the path in front and the soldiers in the middle of the squad pierce through the ones coming at them one after the other.
「Just roughly over 100, huh? These numbers are totally not enough.」
「Yes, these ones probably came out after reacting to the noise. The majority of them must be near the nest.」
Celia speaks while swinging her sword, splitting open the small monsters' heads and slicing open their stomachs. Pipi is also loosing her arrows quickly from close range. At first glance, she seems like a sweet little girl, but you can clearly see she's accustomed to this.
「Hoitto」
I pierce through the head of a goblin with my spear and lift it up. In the same manner, I skewer the second one that appears. The last one is slightly larger and is holding a shield, but I stab through the goblin, shield and all, making it the third dumpling on my stick.
「Chief, if there are this many of them, there might also be a tougher hobgoblin out there...」
「There's something amazing like that out there?」
Pipi pauses, but Celia continues on.
「It's probably the one at the tip of your spear...」
「This one? I thought it was strange that it was larger than the others and wearing armor.」
I confirm the lifeless creature stuck on the tip of my spear and was still holding its shield and see that it's about the size of a human.
I swing my spear and fling all three bodies off. In the end, they're nothing but goblins.
We suffer little to no casualties, while the goblin corpses are piling up. Somehow sensing that we are different from the usual hunters and villagers they always attacked, the survivors start to run away.
「Alright, let's chase after them, they'll lead us to their nest.」
「Slow down so we don't get too close to them. Let them run.」
It really is a lifesaver for this to happen. It saves us the trouble of having to search around the woods.
「I thought things would be a lot easier...」
What appears in front of us as I slump my shoulders is a deep-looking cave, which I saw the goblins run into.
「If they just made their nest in the woods, it would be too open, wouldn't it...」
Naturally, horses would not be able to enter caves and it would be harder for us to wield spears. To top it off, considering many goblins have holed up in there, it would definitely smell and be quite dirty.
「Haah...everyone get off your horses. We'll go on foot.」
It's not like we could just leave the cave alone. If we had a ton of oil, we could pour it and set it aflame, but since we don't, we have no choice but to walk in ourselves.
「Those in the vanguard will hold the torches and it will get harder to swing your spears. Make it so that it's easier to unsheathe your swords when they jump at you!」
Following Celia's instructions, the soldiers enter the cave.
「They were probably multiplying inside the cave, so that's why they didn't get noticed.」
「That's probably the case. From what I can see, there has been no signs of digging, so it might just be a naturally large cave.」
They made their nest in such a troublesome place. Not to mention, as soon we got in, one of them jumps out at me from our flank, and when I smash it on reflex, some strange liquid comes out of it. The goblins are dirty and their bodily fluids smell. I should have left this to Leopolt.
The cave is large and deep, but its structure is simple and fairly straightforward to navigate. When we walk through the narrow corridor, tight enough that no person could pass by when they lined up beside each other, we reach a large circular cavity containing many more smaller openings leading to neighboring rooms. In that large space is the scene that we have long-awaited for.
「Roughly... 500, it's better in a place without trees, isn't it?」
Celia and the soldiers look somewhat overwhelmed by the numbers.
「Gigiiii—!!」
「Gyiiii!!」
Those disgusting shrieks echo in the cave and it's quite unpleasant.
「Chief... no matter how...this is too much...」
Pipi holds her bow at the ready and draws close to my side.
This much is nothing, in fact it's just right. Now, it's much less disappointing than having only 100 waiting for us, where the task will be completed after each of us crushes two creatures.
「Pipi, stand back and support me with your bow. Celia, protect Pipi.」
「But, then-!」
I grip my spear with all my might. The ceiling is pretty high so it doesn't look like my spear will scrape against it when I swing it around.
「Stand back. I'm going to swing with all my strength.」
When I smile and hold my spear with both hands, the nearby soldiers hurriedly puts some distance between us. I suppose they'll avoid me until I show my back to the enemy.
「Around 10 per person. Go! Wipe them out!!」
「Oooooooh–!!」
The soldiers shout and the goblins also give a louder shriek in response. Standing at the front, I charge in and let the enemy taste a large swing of my spear.
「Dorryaa!!」
It's a full swing of my spear with both hands. A group of five that clumps together to attack me scatter into messy parts all at once. The larger sized pieces fly back towards the other goblins and hit them, causing them to stumble. Stumbling amongst a large crowd of charging allies is fatal and they are crushed into formless paste beneath their feet. I may have achieved killing 10 of them in just a single swing.
I bring the spear close to me after swinging it out and once again prepare for another full-power swing, this time spinning my entire body as well to blow away enemies in all directions. There are some that jump at my chest, but a single kick knocks them out, rendering them motionless. To the goblins that are only 1 m tall, a kick from my iron-studded boots is a fatal blow.
「As expected, there are a lot!」
There are 100 of them mobbing around me. They aren't that powerful or quick, but they can be a handful for a single person to deal with.
「Maybe I'll use this.」
I hold my spear with one hand and use the other hand to grab the leg of a struggling goblin. It's a little short, but I can use it like a club. Even if it breaks, there are plenty of replacements.
I rampage while switching from club to club, beating down those small fries rather than slicing them up. After the leg of my third club tore off, the enemy stops coming at me head-on.
「Giiiih!」
Reacting to the noise from behind me, I contort my body to avoid the spear being thrust at me. I grab and break the tip of the spear, which is just a primeval object made with a sharpened stone on a stick, causing the goblin to have a clear expression of terror on its face. While thinking that they might actually have high intelligence, I use the tip of the spear to pierce its head.
When I evade another goblin that charges at me, it trips and falls forward. I rest my foot on its head and look around me. It appears I charged too far forward and separated myself from the others, causing the soldiers to get surrounded. Celia is shouting worriedly but I'm having an unexpectedly enjoyable time fighting over here.
The overall state of battle isn't bad. There are a few people who have gotten injured and have fallen back to the corridor leading to the entrance, but despite being surrounded by a large difference in numbers, it doesn't appear their formation is cracking. They are aligning their 2 m long spears in a box formation and are getting tired in their attacks. A fair amount of corpses are piling at their feet and if they continue to persist, it should get easier soon.
「Gyiiiih–!! Gyiiih—!!」
Oops, I forgot my foot was still on its head. I shift the rest of my weight on my foot to crush the goblin's skull and survey my surroundings. The goblins are constantly trying to intimidate me with their loud shrieks, but are not trying to jump at me. As a test, I thrust my spear at them and kill two, but they just widen their circle. It's a good time to return to Celia, I guess.
「Aegir-sama! Geez! Don't just charge out there and overdo yourself to that extent!!」
「I'm alright. What's the situation like?」
「8 injured, two of which are in critical condition.」
They've taken quite a beating, but the enemy's numbers have clearly taken a hit. Just one more push.
「I'll buy a prostitute for those that stay alive. The one who kills the most will get many high-class prostitutes to entertain them!」
The soldiers cheer and the line of spears, once listless and unmotivated like drooping dicks, regain their vigor and point up at attention.
「Advance forward! Push them back!」
The soldiers thrust forward and pull back according to orders and the enemy collapses in front of them one after the other. They instantly recover the distance lost in the beginning and are continuing to move even further forward. The goblins' numbers continue to decrease and they are starting to get indecisive. When they try to run but couldn't get away, they realize that the only exit they could escape from is behind us.
「Fuh-!」
「Yah!」
The enemy is being pushed back, but some of them occasionally use their own allies as a platform to try and jump over our wall of spears. However, they get shot down in midair by either Celia's knives or Pipi's arrows and get reduced to pathetic falling objects.
The outcome of the battle has been decided, and just when I thought the only thing left to do was to kill every single one of them, a large axe struck the wall of spears and knocked the soldiers on their butts.
「It's huge...」
「This one's the boss?!」
「In any case, he's hugee!」
「It looks like the boss finally makes his appearance.」
I smile at Celia, but she's glaring at the boss with eyes of scorn.
「This filthy...piece of crap!!」
The boss is around the same size as I am. It is similar to a hobgoblin except slightly larger, however it isn't large enough to be anything special. The problem with the enemy, who is equipped with iron armor, is the thing between his legs. His large dick is swinging around.
The ordinary goblins aren't particularly trying to hide their crotch area so you could say they are exposing themselves too, but this one is obviously larger.
Celia couldn't stand the offensive sight and threw her knives – one bounces off his armor and the other one gets deflected with his axe. It appears that this goblin is the boss based on his skill and not just because he has a big dick. If he bulldozes his way forward, he may kill some soldiers.
「Guoooh」
The boss looks at Celia, the one who threw the knives, as his cock swells up. It's true Celia is a nice woman, who you'd love to fuck, but that act deserves a thousand deaths.
「I'll do it. Stand back.」
「Ultimately, it's only the size of a child's arm! Please show him that Aegir-sama's is that of an adult's arm!」
Are you telling me to show off here? After Celia shouts, she realizes that she basically professed familiarity with my superior member and she turns deep red.
The other small fry goblins don't appear to have the courage to attack me anymore and are hiding behind the boss while shouting. Once I beat this thing, the rest will easily be annihilated.
「Fuh-!」
「Guoggh」
There's no need to state my name when facing off against a monster. In one breath, I charge forward with a thrust and aim for his throat, but it blocks the attack by turning his axe sideways. Following that, I also aim for his chest and stomach, but both attacks were met with his axe. Since he didn't hold a shield, he was able to move quite deftly.
As I'm in admiration as to how this thing can be so ugly yet so skilled, the goblin swings his axe at me thinking I've faltered. I swing my spear and meet his weapon with the blade of the spear. As soon as I did so, he slips backwards and loses balance.
The power behind the swing of my spear is incomparable with a thrust. Not to mention, my spear is probably heavier than his large axe. The fact that he's trying to compete with me in strength already means the end of the line for him.
In no time, I repeat my strikes a second and third time, and although he somehow blocks them, a step is taken backwards every time. The full-powered fourth attack shatters his axe and drops the goblin to its knees at the same time.
「Guoooh!!」
He reaches for a replacement club at his waist in a panic, but that wooden object shouldn't be able to block my attack. The club splits in two and his right hand was also sliced off.
「Gaaaaaaah!!!」
It's settled. I don't know whether I should kill him, but there are still many goblins. I need to show them that their boss is dead and turn them into a group of trapped rats.
I swing my spear down on the boss's head as he's holding his severed hand. The spear slams against the ground and after a brief silence, the boss splits in half vertically. The body fluids and entrails of the monster flow out and a tremendously horrid stench wafts in the air. The goblins standing behind the boss didn't make a sound and look on in shock. They no longer have any intention to fight.
「Crush the rest.」
「Everyone charge! Kill them all!!」
Following Celia's shout, the soldiers rush forward towards the goblins who are attempting to escape, settling an obviously won battle. In an underground area with nowhere to run, the soldiers are chasing after the goblins like they were playing a game of tag, and then turning them into corpses. The area was soon cleared of any living monsters.
「I'm sure all of them have been crushed, but check the side caves just in case. We made such a smelly memory together, it would be depressing if this cave returned to its original state half a year later.」
「Yes, we'll split up and search! If there is anything, we'll let you know!」
The soldiers divide themselves into groups to confirm the area. The majority of the caves are used as storehouses for decaying flesh or as toilets, but more problems arise.
「Uwaaaaah!!」
「Fireeee-」
Two soldiers catch on fire and roll back into the large cavity.
「What happened, did you turn over a pot of oil?」
The other soldiers flock around to pat the fire out, but the two of them suffered considerable burns.
「The goblin inside-! It can use magic!」
A goblin that uses magic? Does such a mysterious creature exist? I look at Celia and Pipi but they both shake their heads.
The soldiers look towards me in terror. I'm the person with the highest authority after all, and it won't be a good memory for the magician, but it can't be helped.
「Pardon my intrusion!」
I greet even though it's sort of ridiculous, but when I enter the small room through the hole in the side, a fireball is hurled to greet me back. The magical flame...hit the goblin stabbed on my spear and starts burning it. It didn't feel like anything tangible, but simply fire being thrown at me. Everything is still within expectations then.
There is still some distance between me and the goblin who fired its magic from the entrance, so even if I run towards the creature, I'll become a ball of flames before I get a chance to attack. I could always throw my spear at it, but I'll have the trouble of pulling my spear out of the goblin.
Thus, I use my opposite hand to pick up a rock and throw it. It weighs around the same as my spear and is an unshapely rock, but it'll have quite an impact if it hits. The rock flies horizontally through the air at the target.
When I hurl the rock at the goblin, it sticks out its hands to try and block it but after fracturing both its hands, the rock's momentum carries itself into the goblin's head, and cracks its skull with a dull sound. It's a joke that I was able to defeat a magic-user by chucking a rock. I went to check just in case, but with both arms and legs twitching, its death is pretty much confirmed.
「...Even if you didn't do something so outrageous, Pipi or I would have finished it off.」
Don't say something so ridiculous. I'd be in trouble if your pretty skin got burned.
「But this is...a book? A goblin with a book?」
「Something like magic, seems like it requires a considerable amount of knowledge. I've never heard of this.」
We can't do anything just by thinking about it. We should quickly search this cave and leave this smelly place. But that wasn't the only strange thing.
「Lo-! Look at this!!」
「Hey! Are you alright!?」
An unbelievable sight unfolds before our eyes in the relatively large space.
「How horrible...」
「......」
Even in the smelly cave, there is a conspicuous odor... an intense stench was drifting around the cave, horrid enough to turn your nose, and there are over 100 women laying sideways that could not fit into the cave. All of them are stark naked and looking at us with dead eyes. The fluid accumulating on the floor is probably the goblins' semen. They must have been fucked just recently, as there are many women who have fresh semen dripping from their crotches.
「...Call everyone over. We'll help them out.」
The soldiers pick up the women, who are covered in dirty liquids, but the females stare with hollow eyes and reflexively spread their legs apart.
「Ghk, it smells...」
「What a stench.」
On top of their excreting fluids and other dirty products smeared on them, the women, who continued to get raped by the goblins, are in such horrible conditions the soldiers don't even have the luxury to lust for them.
「Take them outside first. Also form an advance party with about ten people to check the surroundings...and report if there is a small stream or pond.」
At that time, one of the woman holds her stomach in pain.
「It hurts! It hurts, it hurts!! I don't want this...I don't want to give birth! I don't want itttttt!!」
After some unbearable screaming and grating shrieks, I could hear the familiar cry of a baby.
The woman gave birth to a goblin's child. Furthermore, similar cries in the back room started to work in harmony with the first baby's cry. When I part the worn-out cloth and peek in the room, close to a hundred goblin children and small child-sized goblins are crawling around.
「Urghghhh!!」
One of the soldiers couldn't handle the scene and pukes. So this is the answer to the question of how the goblins were able to reproduce so quickly.
「Hurry and carry the women outside... and then use something to seal off the front of the room. Once the women are all outside, set it on fire.」
It's been a long time since I've seen such a disgusting scene. I kick the small goblin at my feet all the way to the back of the room, carry women on both my shoulders and head outside. The expressions of the soldiers, who were rejoicing in their victory a little earlier, disappeared and are simply moving in silence.
I sit on the stump of a tree as I gaze at the billowing smoke coming out from the abominable cave like a chimney. The fire spreads throughout the interior of the cave, scorching anything and everything that could be set aflame, turning the inside of the cave into a blazing inferno hell. Oil was splashed everywhere, especially in the room used for breeding, before the fire was lit.
「Keep watch and ensure nothing comes out.」
Once I commanded the soldiers, I head to the area where the saved women have been brought. The women are gradually regaining their senses as they inhale the scent of the forest and bathe in the sun's rays.
「How are they, are they ready to talk?」
「It's impossible for most of them. But several of them...」
I speak to a woman who looks like she'll be alright.
「The goblins have all been killed. Are you ready to talk?」
「...yeah, yeah, I-, I-, I'm alright. S-s-somehow.」
I use a wet towel to wipe her face and drip water to let her drink. The woman is able to calm down and collect herself.
「Thank you... I'm okay now...」
「Alright, so why have you been captured there?」
「I was... in the middle of running away from the famine when I got attacked... and the men got killed...」
「How about the other women?」
「I don't know! Once you get brought there, you get raped and there is not even any time to rest! ! got... by five of them! And five of them were born!!」
It would be better if I stop listening now. I should be getting them back to the village first to let them rest their bodies.
It isn't that far from the village, but there aren't many women who could walk on their own. They aren't only riding on the horses, but also being carried on the backs of the soldiers. By the time we reached the village, it is already nighttime.
「How are the women doing?」
「They're sleeping like logs. They're physically and mentally worn out.」
The villagers were reluctant to accept the women at first because of the foul stench, but I shut them up with a single stare. Fortunately, it is summer time and they could dunk themselves in the well's water to wash themselves, but unless they thoroughly did so, they won't be able to remove the smell. In addition, the women would rather sleep than wash themselves, so they slept as though they were unconscious.
「There was a small river on our way back. Have everyone wash themselves there. It isn't just because it's unclean, they'll get sick.」
「Yeah.... When I counted, there are about 150 people. It's amazing how many were gathered.」
According to the scattered reports from the women, they weren't gathered all at once. Many of them were in the middle of moving from Treia to my territory in small groups before getting attacked by the goblins.
「It's true that the goblins used the women for breeding purposes but.... Normally, they shouldn't be able to gather several hundreds of them. Since it's impossible that many women travel alone without any sort of escort.」
The large number of gathered women will then get pregnant one after the other, and the goblins will instantly increase their numbers. It takes a goblin baby about a month to be born after the female is pregnant and the baby will become an adult in about two weeks. If a hundred women got pregnant, their numbers will reach the thousands in no time. The reason that it stopped only at a hundred women is because of cannibalism due to lack of food and in-fighting due to power struggles between comrades.
「Even at this moment, there are pregnant women. Before we take them to the village, we have to do something about that.」
「Send a forewarning and have a well-acquainted guy come. If the goblin gets born, they'll lose their place to stay.」
「Aegir-sama, you intend to bring the women back with you?」
There's no other choice. The men, who accompanied and brought them here, have all been killed. Most of them don't even have relatives.
「I guess so... it can't be helped.」
「It's nothing, don't worry about it. As long as their physical body returns, I'll comfort their hearts later.」
「That's what I'm worried about!!」
「Chief, you're finally going to have your orgy with 100 women?! Pipi wants in too!」
I embrace the two of them when they suddenly start making a fuss.
As long as I'm able to, I'll protect them all.