NOVEL NEXT Chapter 63
Every time there’s a showdown between masters in movies or comics, there’s a scene that inevitably appears.
It’s a battle of wits, often referred to as a standoff, where it’s not just about striking a pose and glaring at the opponent; rather, it involves maintaining distance while gauging each other’s skills and momentum.
This was also the setup I despised the most. The moment I’m on guard, my abilities become easier to counter. After all, my skills weren’t combat-focused; they were purely for crafting items and structures, hence the unavoidable limitation.
I wished I had at least one simple skill specialized for combat.
Something like manipulating fire or ice would have been nice. It would have been handy for survival.
“…Never mind. This isn’t the time to think about that.”
First, I needed to figure out how to handle the hop goblins lurking almost 100 meters away.
“Um, can you use a skill to create a wall or something?”
“It’s not magic; it’s a skill.”
“Skill level, huh? Life sure isn’t fair…”
It seems skills are recognized in this world too. Eventually, whether you’re a saint, knight, or witch, the presence or absence of a skill is treated as equivalent to having talent. So when I’m called a skill level player with some lavish skills, I can’t even refute it.
…The real problem is making it through all this to reach the true ending.
“Don’t you have a skill too?”
“…How did you know?”
Don’t pull that suspicious look now before I decide to toss you to the goblin feast. When I glared at Sif, she averted her gaze and lowered her tail. Still, with a stealth skill, she could actually be pretty useful. I just wasn’t sure if it would help in this situation.
“!)@$#*&)!!”
“W-should we run? How can we deal with that thing together?!”
“Don’t freak out. It’s just a goblin.”
If we’re just measuring raw power, it’s probably on par with a troll. As long as I could get close enough where my skills could work, handling it afterward would be a breeze.
The real problem was the weapon the hop goblin was wielding.
“If it hits wrong, I could get split in half.”
Where did it even get such a huge axe? Oh right, it was born in this dungeon, so it must’ve been made here. Looking at the gigantic axe that was bigger than me, I doubted a wall of dirt would hold against that swinging blade. If I relied on a dirt wall, I could end up being cleaved in half.
Still, I had to try. I pulled out a pouch filled with poison powder from my bag and handed it to Sif. She took it with a bewildered expression and asked,
“What’s this?”
“A lifeline. Sneak up and sprinkle it on the hop goblin.”
“…So it’s poison?”
“Don’t even think about using it on me. I’ll just take you down with me before I go.”
“…I wasn’t thinking that!”
As if. Just a moment ago, she perked up at the mention of poison.
“Hide those ears and that tail before you speak. Anyway, I’ll draw its attention, so make it quick.”
“…Got it. Moon’s Grace.”
Sif’s body started to blur. That was the skill, Moon’s Grace, that had troubled the players. A grand name, but it just obscured the user’s body—nothing more, nothing less. It might not be much for an assassin or thief, but right now, it was pretty useful.
I gripped my shovel tighter and leisurely closed the distance. I could hear the goblins around the hop goblin chattering as they looked at it. Naturally, I couldn’t understand them, so I had no idea what they were saying.
“It would be easier if I understood their words.”
Still, I could tell roughly what the conversation was about. All the goblins were eyeballing me with cautious expressions. The conversation was obvious enough.
“Kill that guy.”
I clicked my tongue as I watched the goblins grab their weapons.
At least four of them were holding staffs. Talk about poor luck for those without a ranged attack. I could already see four fireballs flying toward me, so curses just slipped out. How could they have fun with a shooting game while I’m here?
Those fireballs were really annoying. With four of them, it would be tough to block with this soft ground. It would be easier to dodge. The problem was the hop goblin.
If I dodged the fireballs, that thing would come charging at me to kill me.
There was no guarantee I wouldn’t get hurt when dodging and then being attacked by the hop goblin in a compromised position.
Of course, if Renny were here, she’d just swat the fireballs away with her palm at Mach speed and leave a finger-sized hole in the hop goblin’s body… but I couldn’t do that. Hitting fireballs with a shovel would literally be suicide, so that was out of the question.
Still, I had to attract as much attention as possible.
I stuck the shovel into the ground and activated my skill.
“Crafting.”
Creating a wall to shield myself. The delicate dirt wall was destined to be obliterated in front of the fireballs, but that alone was enough.
“Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.”
I deliberately created walls in a large circle. It was a trick to make it difficult for them to aim their magic directly at me. There’s no way they’d be able to see through the walls to know exactly where I was.
“!*@(&(!#$!!”
The hop goblin seemed displeased with the long line of walls. Or perhaps the fireballs released by the goblin sorcerers were just smashing all the wrong walls. The hop goblin, visibly frustrated, kept slamming its axe into the ground. Seeing the ground being dented like that made me think that one hit could send me straight to the afterlife.
I quickly ducked behind the wall again as the staffs pointed toward me. The roughly twelve walls I had set up hid my presence perfectly. I hadn’t closed the distance, but they should definitely be concerned about me. Still, it was better to have some insurance by drawing their attention toward Sif.
“Crafting.”
I created a platform. While dangerously balanced on top of the wall, I teased by skipping from wall to wall.
Naturally, their gaze would lock onto me rather than the obscured Sif. One mistake could lead to death. But death was not an option. I smiled confidently as I watched the fireball hurtling toward me.
I kicked off the wall, leaping over the fireball. The heat brushed past me, almost burning the soles of my feet. Behind me, I could hear the wall explode. The sorcerers yelled something and aimed their staffs back at me. It was a familiar routine.
But I had picked up a crucial piece of information from the nerve-wracking standoff with them.
It takes about ten seconds for them to fire another fireball.
Ten seconds. Long if you’re waiting but short if you’re moving.
Time to close the gap. And wait for the opportunity. By charging into melee, they were revealing that they had some intelligence—they’d try to create distance if I approached.
“Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.”
I was building walls like a madman. That alone could protect my body from the fireballs.
“Repair. Repair. Repair. Repair.”
The process of explosion and regeneration repeated. The newly created walls were destroyed again. The back-and-forth of spear and shield showed no signs of ending. However, by drawing their aggro like this, Sif should be able to deal a decisive blow.
Just a little longer. Just a bit.
…How long was Sif going to take? I knew she had to move slowly because a sudden move would expose her skill, but this was taking too long…
“Speak of the devil and she appears.”
“Eat this!”
I looked back to see Sif throwing a pouch behind the hop goblin. As the yellow powder sprinkled across the hop goblin’s head, it staggered and let out a perplexed noise.
The nearby goblins all collapsed to the ground.
Thank goodness the paralysis potion worked.
If it hadn’t, I would’ve just used Sif as bait and made a run for it.
“Time to finish this.”
I charged out from the maze of walls and dashed toward the hop goblin.
—————-
“Good job.”
“Uh, er, thanks! You did well too!”
I picked up the key that had fallen into a puddle of the hop goblin’s blood, which was sticky and unpleasant. I could endure it since I just needed to open the chest. As I stepped over the hop goblin’s corpse and approached the treasure chest, Sif followed behind me.
I ignored her and opened the chest first.
Inside were several silver ingots and a gold ingot. Quite a nice reward. With this alone, I could make quite a bit of money if I sold it, right? Lost in my thoughts of wealth, a voice came from behind.
“Um, um! Since I helped you, can I get released from this?”
“Why would I do that?”
“A-actually, doesn’t this clear my debt by this point?”
“The debt of your life outweighs a mountain of gold.”
Where does she get off trying to bluff? I might just crack her head with my shovel. As I casually lifted my shovel, Sif cowered, covering her head with her arms. The movement suggested she was used to taking hits, so I simply placed the shovel back down.
“Ah, um… I mean… okay. Just please let me live. Without me, my little siblings will starve…”
Sif’s ears drooped down. I quietly stared at her while fiddling with the shovel’s handle, then finally spoke.
“Do you remember what I said earlier?”
“Um. Ugh… X-ru?”
“Not that.”
“Uh… an offer I can’t refuse?”
“Exactly.”
“W-wait, what?”
Why’s she covering her chest with her arms? What on earth is she thinking? I gave her a light smack on the forehead.
“Not like that. I just want to make a contract. If we make a contract, I’ll give you this.”
I waved a silver ingot in front of her eyes. The palm-sized ingot could probably keep her well-fed for a month. Sif turned her head like a hypnotized person, following the swaying ingot.
“A c-c-contract? What kind of contract?”
“I want you to be my porter while I explore dungeons. I’ll pay you a reward every time we finish a dungeon. And if you find interesting information, I want you to share it with me.”
“Interesting information?”
“News of new dungeons, rumors about nobles with dirty secrets, stories about the gangs that rule the back alleys—anything like that. Just make sure to tell me everything you know every time we meet.”
For me, who vaguely remembered the upcoming developments, this was a crucial part. Assessing timings through external information and leveraging it for profit. Fortune had smiled on me, as I needed an outside informant, and now I had the option to hire Sif, who I could easily manage.
“Got it! I’ll do it!”
She was already too absorbed in the silver ingot to even care about the contract details.
I gently placed the silver ingot onto Sif’s palm. With that alone, she radiated pure joy, a smile unlike anything I had seen before, and her tail started wagging. She seemed really happy.
“Hehehe… a silver ingot…”
That despised monster persona hadn’t completely disappeared.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that sight.
“Then let’s start making our way out of the dungeon.”
“Let’s go! Captain!”
“Captain?”
“What else should I call you?”
“…Just call me that.”
It didn’t matter how she addressed me.
I left the boss room with my new subordinate.