Toward the Midday

By midday, we took out 5 goblins from the beginning, followed by 4 goblins, then 6 goblins, and another 3 goblins for a total of 18 goblins. We acquired 7 silver, 3 expensive-looking stones, 1 animal fang, and a half-cut reddish dagger out of them.

There weren't any fierce struggles in any of the four encounters. Our second run-in was a coincidence, and both Ken and I were able to kill all four without much trouble.

The last encounter was much like the first. The only difference was that only Chiaki and I carried it out.

It'd be the third fight worth mentioning.

"—Marc em Parc," Kikyou drew a sigil in midair with the tip of her staff, spreading her eyes as wide as they could with great focus. A familiar bead of light shot out from Kikyou's staff.

The detached party consisted of me, Chiaki, Kikyou, and Kanji. We hid behind a wall some distance away from the double-story structure where the enemy remained.

While the front wall of enemy's base is completely open, the back wall had very little damage, with half still standing from both sides. Half the roof of the second floor still remained as well.

There was a goblin dressed in full body armor, being the leader of the six goblins, with a lesser goblin standing beside him on the second floor. Kikyou's Magic Missile traveled toward the lead goblin. Around the same time, Kanji had drawn his bowstring, firing it at the goblin's partner. "—ah?!" Yeah, it missed by a hair's breath.

'—I really hope I can gained something from this fight.'

Chiaki and I quickly rushed into the base. On the other side of the building, Suzune should be able to see the lead and vice's movement as a signal.

There is a species of goblin called hobgoblin, noticeably larger than the rest along with two swords and spear gobs under the second floor. Those two were armed with shields to protect their torsos. The last goblin was a mace user. They're well-dressed.

The mace goblin kicked the half-sleeping hobgoblin out of his trance. Both of goblin shields each went to the two detached parties. '...I can kill them all alone if I desire so.' However, there's only so little I could gain from such a fragile creature— politely speaking, that is. In truth, it'll be pointless. I cannot find any way whatsoever that massacring them would've improved me even by a little. These pitiful goblins were merely worth fulfilling my inconsequential goal— much like their value. 

"Kiyotaka-kun...!" Chiaki cried out.

I looked up to the second floor. The lead goblin had regained some of its composure and was now aiming something at me. A crossbow, huh?

I sliced through the arrow it had shot casually. 'Try better.' It's pretty easy if you can make out the hand that holds the crossbow.

I'd gotten close to the building. The hobgoblin quickly swung its thick wooden club embedded with sharp objects. 'It seemed like bigger doesn't smarter for them.' I brushed it off, kicking Shield B as I did before piercing Hobgob's throat. I withdrew my blade and went to cut through Shield B's neck while simultaneously dodging Hobgob's last-ditch retaliation. 'Both of the upper goblins should've been making their move now '

"Orahhh...!"

Ken sweeps the frantic mace and shield goblin away. He hadn't killed them instantly. Still, that made it easy for him to tear their lives away. 

"—damn it...! They're just goblins, aren't they?!"

The lead and vice goblin had jumped off the not-tall second floor, as I expected, and currently engaged with Kanji and Chiaki. 

Kanji narrowly dodged each of the lead goblin blows. That goblin's attacks were heavy, for its size. And despite its height being a little shorter than Kanji's, it could overwhelm him with its skillful techniques. For its standard, obviously. Kanji was forced to defend himself using his machete because of that.

"...urk!" 

Chiaki groaned. It looked like her right wrist had been grazed. It's not that deep. She could still properly defend herself from Vice's nimble movements, maintaining her composure to fight back just as skillfully. Nevertheless, as a thief, Chiaki's job was more of a support role, striking the enemy from behind. It's not exactly an advantageous situation she was in. 

"—I'll help Kanji-kun. Kiyotaka-kun, please go support Chiaki-san." Suzune walked past me, a sword and shield ready in each hand. 'You sure?'

I turned to see the two priests on my back, returning to the front quickly. "Stay close to me."

I didn't know what Suzune was really thinking by leaving the two priests in my care. She'd said it herself that Ken and I'll be the ones fighting the most enemies on the front, while she took care of them getting past us. I'm pretty certain she knew that I am capable to handle them both without worries. 'Well, I won't be the one to land the decisive blow.' My petty pretense of teaming up with them will become worthless if I wasn't holding back a little.

I went to assist Chiaki. I purposely let my footsteps be heard. The goblin partially turned his body towards me.

Chiaki widened her eyes. 'Yeah, I figured.'

I brought up my longsword, allowing only a short amount of time for the goblin to grasp the situation it was in before my blade came tumbling down to him. "Geh?!" It frantically evaded in the direction I was aiming.

I glanced at Chiaki. She understood right away.

Chiaki proceeded to kick its rear knee, then grasped its jaw, burying her dagger deep into its neck. Her hand quivered slightly, but she quickly withdrew and repeated the same move continually, not allowing the goblin a chance to counter. "—ugh," she only released the goblin when it had gone completely limp.

"Ah, Chiaki, let me heal your wounds!"

Kei went over to her. While she does, she draws a symbol of sorts in the air, aiming it on Chiaki's scratch wound. "O Light, may Lumiaris' divine protection be upon you!"

A brilliant light burst out and draped itself over Chiaki's wound. Cure.

I couldn't spot the slightest scar after the light dissipated a few seconds later. How exactly do they work? I'll have to find out when the time is appropriate.

Suzune did an impressive job of handling the lead goblin. She possessed the skills in favor of the party leader. The reason she decided to go forth was no doubt similar to mine. That was to let Kanji acquire the experience of slaying an enemy with his own hands. And she performed her role adequately for Kanji to partake. If she wanted to, I'm sure she would've launched Punishment, a slashing skill similar to Rage Blow, until a while ago.

Suzune had been perfectly balanced with her defensive and offensive styles. The lead goblin had tried to flee several times, and each time it had, Suzune intercepted every attempt. Her shield easily repelled any of its attacks. Now and then, she'd resort to using her longsword to keep the enemy in place. She could corner the lead goblin despite Kanji being overly panic about the situation.

'I guess he is the most frail member of the party. Did Suzune let me handle Chiaki because she knew that? If so, that's kind of impressive.'

"—Marc, em, Parc!"

Kikyou cast a Magic Missile whenever the opportunity arose. For the time being, that was the only skill she had at her disposal. It served a purpose either way.

"Taste this, you damn goblin!"

Kanji can just nearly took out the goblin 'along' himself with his erratic machete swings.

"Stop, you—!"

He could very well have died if Suzune hadn't finished it off with Punishment. It went very smooth since Kanji's chaotic attacks 'did' completely sidetracked the goblin. I suppose Kanji hadn't been completely useless because of that.

Anyway, Yousuke had to tend to his nasty wounds with Cure. As for Ken, he easily took out the goblins with his brute force alone. It's a close call for Kanji, but, I think he can improved himself to be better in the future.

That's roughly what transpired during the third showdown. All the members had their share of fights. 'Kind of.'