Chapter 43: The First Goblin Hunt

"Then I’ll do my best!"

"Oh? Seriously?"

Warren looked surprised.

But Qiu Nuoya could do his best when he needed to!

Where there is a will, there is a way! If you do not try, nothing will happen!

Qiu Nuoya understood that extermination missions were important duties for adventurers.

He could not keep running away forever just because he felt sorry for monsters.

He would do it!

"Now that we’ve decided, let’s go accept the mission!"

"Huh? Right now!?"

"When it comes to things like this, it’s better to act immediately after making a decision. Come on, Nuoya!"

And so, they immediately returned to the city, accepted a goblin extermination mission, and left the city once again.

Warren had taken so long to meet Igor because he said he needed time to prepare himself mentally. Yet somehow, he did not give Qiu Nuoya any time to prepare himself at all.

Thinking about that made Qiu Nuoya sigh internally.

Still, he felt relieved knowing that Igor would be accompanying them as their guide.

"Um, this might be a really basic question, but is my current equipment actually okay for fighting goblins?"

The grassland where Qiu Nuoya had gone every day to gather medicinal herbs was a wide open area with excellent visibility.

Aside from slimes that was bouncing around here and there, there were hardly any dangerous monsters.

It was a peaceful place and probably one of the safest areas nearby.

However, the place they were heading toward for the goblin extermination mission was in the opposite direction.

In fact, Qiu Nuoya had never been there before.

Compared to the familiar grasslands, this area had far more trees and much taller grass.

It was not dense enough to be called a forest, but for someone as short as Qiu Nuoya, the tall grass made it difficult to see far ahead.

For some reason, an uneasy feeling suddenly began creeping into his heart.

Of course, medicinal herb gathering missions were also available in this area.

There were even some missions that paid slightly more than the ones in the grassland area.

However, Qiu Nuoya had assumed that the higher rewards meant they were more difficult, so he had avoided taking them.

Because of that, this was his first time coming here and his anxiety only continued to grow.

According to the information available at the Adventurer’s Guild, this area was home to various monsters besides slimes.

Qiu Nuoya had originally planned to come here only after making better preparations. But this time, he had been swept along by the momentum of the situation and ended up coming all the way here.

Inside his head, he found himself repeating a line from some game he had played before.

"Are you sure you are okay with that equipment?"

No.

Emotionally speaking, he was definitely not okay!

"Come to think of it, Nuoya, your equipment is just that leather armor, right? What about a weapon? Do you have a knife or something?"

"I don’t have anything like that."

Qiu Nuoya was being taught magic by Viktor as a mage.

He had never planned on fighting enemies at close range himself.

Even so, he had thought that carrying at least one weapon would be a good idea.

However, he still did not have enough money, so he had postponed buying one.

"Wait, are you completely unarmed?" Warren asked in disbelief.

Qiu Nuoya silently nodded.

For some reason, he suddenly felt extremely vulnerable.

Even Mochi, the slime he was holding in his arms, was trembling slightly.

Perhaps even Mochi was feeling nervous.

"Well, Nuoya is a mage, after all." Igor calmly explained. "For now, you can defeat goblins with a Fireball. Just be careful not to get hit, and make sure you are ready to cast Fireball immediately if something happens. You should be fine."

Igor paused briefly. "But goblins have low intelligence, and they usually cannot use anything besides clubs. However, if there is a goblin among them that can properly use a weapon, you need to run away immediately."

"Why?"

"Because that means there is probably a large goblin nest nearby, and there is a high chance that a higher-ranked goblin species is present."

Qiu Nuoya became slightly uneasy. "Goblins have higher species too?"

"Even slimes have higher species," Igor replied casually. "Of course they do."

Igor said it so naturally that Qiu Nuoya could not help but wonder how many other monsters in this world had evolved forms he still knew nothing about.

"But higher ranked species rarely appear near large cities."

Igor continued calmly. "That’s because adventurers regularly hunt monsters like this. Unless something unusual happens, they usually never get the chance to grow that strong. So you two can just focus on completing the mission without worrying."

Hearing Igor’s words, Qiu Nuoya felt relieved for the moment.

If a Fireball could defeat them, then he should probably be fine.

Actually, he had to be fine.

Otherwise, he would be in trouble.

Suddenly, the grass in front of him rustled loudly.

Something jumped out from the bushes.

Qiu Nuoya instinctively let out a small scream and stepped backward.

The creature standing before him was a fluffy white rabbit, slightly larger than a slime.

A rabbit?

Was this really a rabbit?

It had a horn growing from its forehead.

"Oh, that’s a Horn Rabbit," Igor explained. "The people at the inn often hunt them, so you’ve probably eaten one before, right, Nuoya?"

Now that he mentioned it, Qiu Nuoya recognized the name.

Since it was called a rabbit, he had always assumed it was some kind of rabbit monster.

However, whenever adventurers brought them back, they were already butchered into pieces of meat.

This was his first time seeing a living Horn Rabbit.

The meat was tender and tasted similar to chicken.

It was actually quite delicious.

Still, he could not help wondering why a rabbit had a horn.

Qiu Nuoya stepped closer to get a better look.

Then Warren suddenly grabbed him and pulled him backward.

"Idiot! Don’t get close!"