While feeling miserable, Kiel the goblin walked through the night forest. There had been many of them when they first departed, but it was just three others now.
“Hey, do you have anything to eat?”
“Shut up. Just be quiet for now.”
The voices of the others got on his nerves. From his shoulder to his back, he had been burned, and the pain was excruciating.
“Shut up? It was your fault for making us go to the road!”
“You agreed too! Don’t blame me!”
“Shut up! Be quiet!”
Nerigi, who walked in the lead, was in a worse state. The enemy Hero had blown off his hand.
The Hero had wielded a giant sword, and cut through them without mercy. They were lucky to even be alive. As long as they stayed out of sight and moved through the darkness, they may be able to reach the place where the others lived.
It was just as he thought that.
“Gah…ah…”
Suddenly, Nerigi crumbled to the ground.
“What is it…Nerigi?”
He approached him hesitantly, and saw that his comrade had taken an arrow in the temples, and was dead.
“Th-the enemy!?”
“Wh-where?”
Right after that, an arrow struck Sari, causing him to fall to the ground.
“Who-who is there! Show yourself!”
He knew that it was no use saying such things. The arrows would keep coming out from the darkness, and they would all be dead.
Still, he frantically pulled out his weapon and looked around.
There was rustling in the bushes.
“Huh…”
Kiel was stunned by the thing that appeared.
A single kobold. He put away his bow and stared back.
“Who-who are you? Why did you kill my comrades!”
He did not understand the reason at all. Was it because they had tormented him? But the little squirt didn’t look like he had it in him.
However, the dog-like monster replied in a chilling voice.
“I want, what you have.”
And then with one hand, he began to swing around something that resembled a net.
“Huh!? I don’t get it! We have nothing! Or do you want…our armor!?”
“That too. But what I want, is life.”
“Arghh….!?”
In an instant, the net was thrown, and wrapped around his neck.
“Gah! Ah, gahh!”
The sharp things in the net were digging into his neck. He tried to tear it off, but they dug in too deep.
“St-stop! I…I…we…are same!”
“The same?”
A white light appeared in the kobold’s hand. It traveled through the net and towards his neck. At the same time, he felt his skin grow hot and burn.
“Ah! Gah! Ahhhh!”
“Never, have I thought, we are the same!”
And then the kobold pulled on the net with all of his might.
“Goeeeeaaahhh!”
Kiel’s vision seemed to spin for an eternity.
By the time that Sheto returned to the shack he had built for this day, the sun was already in the middle of the sky.
‘You seem to have acquired a lot.’
“Aye.”
He put down the things he had been carrying, while also taking out the things from the shack.
The armor that the goblins had been wearing.
Plant roots and branches with fruits.
A bundle of arrows and sturdy bowstrings.
Tanned deep and boar leather, rope, and cloth.
He took everything out and inspected them.
“Salia. How are the Heroes?”
‘Thankfully, most of them were stationed to the north of the mountain range. It should take them at least two days to reach you.’
He nodded silently and bit into some hard bread and dried meat, which he washed down with water.
After that, he began with preparations.
He filled a helmet with water and placed it over a stove made of stone, and lit a fire inside. When the water began to boil, he placed the washed root inside.
He removed the fruits from the branches and put them into a leather bag. And after tying it tightly, he used a stone to crush them.
After that, he kept an eye on the boiling water and inspected the armor. He cleaned and checked for dents, and to see if any would fit him. He had no experience with altering armor, but sometimes when bear hunting, he would find fallen breast plates and gauntlets. So it was not too difficult.
Once a harsh smell began to waft around him, he covered his nose with a cloth, and mixed the contents with a tree branch.
As the water evaporated, the brew thickened, and so he added just a little water.
He then used some river sand and leather to polish the surface of the armor. Both to remove the rust and see how much of the metal had corroded. At the same time, he used a stone to adjust the shape so that they would fit to his body.
“Oh.”
He added more water to the helmet and weakened the flames. Then he returned to polishing.
Eventually, the armor regained its shine. He wrapped it up in leather and returned it to the shack.
As for the contents in the helmet, it had now turned into a mixture of dark green and black. And it smelled so bad that he nearly fainted. He removed it from the fire, and placed it next to the shack, before covering it in branches.
Then he stretched his limbs and ate some meat and dried grapes. After this short rest, he inspected the arrow shafts.
‘Sheto. Did you find those in the human settlement?’
“Hunter’s lodge.”
Humans used arrows with metal heads, but he did not have such things. And so he just sharpened the points with his hatchet and then added barbs.
And he added many. Normally, he would not do this, as it would damage the skin of his prey.
‘Is this the other forbidden thing?’
“We never take from humans. Hunter’s lodge. Has many tools. But we do not take. Once taken, the humans fear us. They know of our presence.”
‘…That’s why you wanted to know if there was a kobold settlement nearby.’
“Aye.”
He had meant to work quickly, but the sun was already starting to set in the forest. He tied up the finished arrows with string, and started walking.
Eventually, he came back to the ‘swamp’ that he had created.
Dead rats and birds were littered around it, as was a fox that had been attracted by them.
“…Sorry.”
‘So this is the secret.’
“Corpse poison.”
The flesh of the corpses were bubbling and bleeding. It was a horrible sight that was difficult to look at.
“Pa said that if I ever used this, I would probably die.”
‘You used the corpses of different animals and blood to create a swamp of poison and disease…’
“Lot of bad dirt too. Wounds would become infected.”
This was not a hunting technique. It was knowledge to inflict pain. And yet, his father had told him this. Because he knew that a kobold’s ate was to be swallowed up by the malice of the world, and to be killed.
In order to live, you had to kill.
Sheto then dipped the arrows into the mud.
“After being infected with this, the enemy will suffer for half a day.”
‘Now that I think about it, you threw all kinds of things into it…”
“The goblin sorcerer. Found a way to increase corpse poison.”
It was ironic. Knowledge from his mortal enemy was now being used to help him survive. However, he had no other choice.
“Now, just soak until tomorrow. Poison weakens in sunlight. Will put them in quiver in the morning.”
‘What will you do with this swamp?’
“Don’t worry. Will erase the poison.”
The next morning, before it was light outside, Sheto rose.
He ate the remaining preserved food, and then poured the cooled contents of the helmet into a bag with the poison fruits in. And then, while dragging a small barrel from the shed, he made his way to the swamp.
Sheto then collected the arrows and carefully placed them in the quiver. When that was done, he went to the water and poured the contents of the helmet inside.
‘So that’s what it was for.’
After mixing it a little, he then poured the contents of the barrel in as well.
‘What is that?’
“Oil.”
He then took out an ember from a pot and threw it in.
The swamp erupted into flames, and pillars of fire rose as it bubbled.
‘The fire purifies it. While using the gas from corpses and the oil as fuel.’
“Use fire. Helps to deal with the poison. Pa did the research.”
After seeing that the fire had spread sufficiently, he quickly drew back. He had been taught that the smoke rising from the flames would also be poisonous.
‘What if the forest catches fire?’
“Right now, young sprout season, forest is full of moisture. And I cut down plants around the swamp.”
‘Cunning is a stronger power than military…’
“What?”
Salia chuckled.
‘Someone once said that. You should use your head and give it your all.’
“…Pa told me. If you want to live, use your head.”
‘Because you are weak.’
He gathered his things and returned to the campsite. He then ate a few dried grapes, and then took out the gauntlets and leg guards.
‘Sheto.’
“What?”
He used glue and leather to reinforce the armor.
‘The invasion has begun. They will have surrounded you by tomorrow.’
“…So I was just in time then.”
‘If I was able to buy you a little more time, you might have been able to set at least one more trap. I’m sorry.’
Sheto shook his head and strapped on the armor. Thanks to the adjustments, they fit quite well.
“It’s fine. Now, only small work left to do.”
And so the hunter continued with the preparations.
Towards the hunt that would soon begin.