Chapter 2-11 : The Girl And The Dark Elf Help A Mysterious Woman
Having decided to proceed, Elle and the others continued walking the dark tunnel after a short break.
「Eww…」(Yoyo)
「Uhh, do we have to go this way?」(Elle)
「Unfortunately, yeah…」(Ingrid)
To proceed to the second-floor boss room, they had to pass the place where Flamberge fought the goblins. He cut them up with his blade into pieces, and as a result, the path was covered with blood and meat chunks of the goblins.
「You didn’t have to go this far, you know?」(Ingrid)
『These bastards were tough. I was just making sure they were dead.』(Flamberge)
「Right… Well, we have no choice. We can wash our shoes later.」(Ingrid)
「What about me? I don’t wear shoes.」(Yoyo)
「I’ll lend you my shoulder. Come.」(Ingrid)
「Oh? Don’t mind if I do.」(Yoyo)
Yoyo, who didn’t want to touch the goblin’s blood with his paws, climbed up Ingrid’s back and sat on her shoulder.
After that, Elle and Ingrid walked slowly past the foul-smelling path while covering their noses and trying to avoid stepping on the meat chunks. Flamberge and Prox were following by flying.
「Eek!」(Elle)
Suddenly, Elle gasped.
「What’s wrong?」(Ingrid)
「I think I stepped on something.」(Elle)
Elle felt something beneath her foot. It was hard, so it didn’t seem to be a chunk of goblin meat.
「This is… A staff?」(Elle)
Judging from its shape, it seemed to be a magic staff.
「No way… This staff is…」(Ingrid)
「Ingrid, you know what this is?」(Elle)
「A handle made from the World Tree and a seven-colored crystal on its tip… It’s an exceptionally fine staff a high-ranking mage would use. You can cast a catastrophic level spell with this.」(Ingrid)
「Catastrophic…」(Elle)
「Luckily, the goblin shamans didn’t have the capability of using such spells. If they did, we would have been the ones turned into meat chunks.」(Ingrid)
「No way… Thank you, Flamberge, for defeating them.」(Elle)
『Just doing my duty~』(Flamberge)
Flamberge tilted his blade. Elle could tell he was being proud of himself.
「So this is not just a staff. Why would a goblin have something extraordinary like this?」(Elle)
「They probably stole it from a mage.」(Ingrid)
「But you said only a high-ranking mage could use it. Could someone that strong be defeated by goblins?」(Elle)
「Not sure, but my guess is this person was ambushed by a horde of melee goblins. A magic user is done for if they get too close to the enemies. Either they came here alone, or they came here with a party, but their party members, who were supposed to be the vanguards, were injured or killed, so they couldn’t protect this person.」(Ingrid)
「I see. Do you think there’s a chance for them to escape?」(Elle)
「If they have an escape card, yes.」(Ingrid)
「If the owner is still alive, I think we should return it to them.」(Elle)
「Nah, the rule is you can keep everything you find in this labyrinth. Finders keepers. Elle, I think you should keep it. You can use magic, right?」(Ingrid)
「Just a little. I don’t know catastrophic level spells, though.」(Elle)
「Still, it’s too valuable to ignore. I’ll grab it for you if you don’t want to touch it.」(Ingrid)
The staff was covered in goblin blood.
Ingrid thought of holding it for Elle for now, but when she was about to extend her arm, Yoyo stopped her.
「Oi, oi, you don’t want to touch that thing, do you? If it’s not too heavy, I can lift it.」(Yoyo)
Yoyo held his paw toward the staff and used his telekinetic power to lift it.
「Oh~ Well done.」(Ingrid)
「Think of it as my thanks for lending me your shoulder.」(Yoyo)
Finding an unexpected valuable item among the goblin corpses, they continued onward.
Right after they passed the sea of goblin blood, Elle took out a water magic stone and an herbal soap, and they started washing their shoes and the staff.
Elle scrubbed the staff with the plant fiber that had been applied with a lot of soap as hard as possible.
Watching her, Flamberge giggled.
『Haha! Elle, are you a germaphobe?』(Flamberge)
「I’m not.」(Elle)
「Anyone would act like this if it came to goblin blood.」(Ingrid)
「Hmph. Someone who doesn’t have a nose will never understand our suffering!」(Yoyo)
「Gyau! (Noseless!)」(Prox)
『Haha… Alright, I’m sorry.』(Flamberge)
「….lp…. he….」(??)
「Hm?」(Yoyo)
While they were washing, Yoyo, who had good hearing, felt like he heard a voice. He raised his ears and turned in the direction of the voice.
「Everyone, you hear that?」(Yoyo)
「What’s the matter, Yoyo?」(Elle)
「I think I hear someone’s voice.」(Yoyo)
「Voice?」(Elle)
Elle stopped washing for a moment and looked in the same direction.
「He… lp….. help….」(??)
Something was crawling from the darkness. It slowly headed toward the group.
It looked like a human, but it was green and foul-smelled just like goblin blood.
「An enemy!?」(Elle)
「Dammit! What the hell is that!?」(Ingrid)
Seeing the weird creature, everyone quickly took a fighting stance, except Yoyo.
「Whoa, chill, guys. I don’t feel malice from it. Also, it’s not a monster. Look closely.」(Yoyo)
「Eh?」(Elle)
As Yoyo said, it was a human. A woman, to be exact. She was covered in goblin blood for some reason.
She was crawling slowly, seemingly in agony.
「Ah! It’s a woman!」(Elle)
「Looks like she’s hurt. Elle!」(Ingrid)
「Un!」(Elle)
Now that Yoyo had said she had no malice, Elle and Ingrid could approach her without hesitation.
「Help… Please…」(woman)
「Oi, are you alright!? ーUgu!」(Ingrid)
「Ugh!」(Elle)
They hurriedly ran toward her but immediately stopped after smelling the intense stench coming from her.
「This is horrible… Elle.」(Ingrid)
「Un. Lady, please cover your face for second.」(Elle)
「Eh…?」(woman)
Elle held the water magic stone she was holding toward the woman and shot water at her.
「ーAbababababa!!」(woman)
Now that the goblin blood had been washed away, Ingrid crouched in front of her and helped her sit.
「Uuu… Thank you…」(woman)
Now they could see her face.
She was a young woman with long green hair styled in a half-updo. She was wearing rounded glasses that fit her smart-looking young face. For some reason, she was wearing a wizard’s cloak that was too big for her slender body.
「Are you hurt?」(Ingrid)
「No… But I’m…」(woman)
ーKuuuUuuuUuuuu~~ *stomach growling*
「…hungry…」(woman)
「Ah…」(Ingrid)
「…..」(Elle)
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]