The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

#10 New Adventurer Bern (8) – Plans vs. Reality

#10 New Adventurer Bern (8) – Plans vs. Reality

Bern surveyed the surroundings.

The goblin horde numbered roughly eighty.

Most wore crude armor woven from animal hides, while a tenth were clad in armor that appeared custom-fitted.

Their weapons were mostly wood and stone instead of metal, yet even those blades gleamed strangely, hinting at some poison.

This was a force strong enough to threaten a village or, if they were lucky, even a small fiefdom.

Normally, a swordsman and a mage piggybacking on his back wouldn’t even register as a credible threat.

“Rest assured, it would be simple to strike you down and claim your heads, but I am inclined to offer you one last chance.”

Knowing this themselves, the Goblin Lord continued with an air of nonchalant confidence, as if the outcome were already decided.

Or rather, that’s how it appeared.

‘…He’s stalling. Waiting for the hunting party to return.’

The Goblin Lord, seemingly trusting in his minions and leaving himself open, was in truth coiled tight, ready to spring. Bern understood this.

Normally, this force would be sufficient. But, there was always the chance of the “what if.” He desired to tip the odds even slightly further in his favor.

That calculation, that tactic, came naturally to the Goblin Lord, and he executed it seamlessly.

‘Good thing I found him quickly.’

Bern admitted it: that goblin was something truly special.

A heroic specimen of its kind, to put it bluntly.

More than just clever and physically strong, it was born with caution, boldness, and ambition all at once.

If given more time, if this goblin horde had devoured even a small domain.

And learned from its people the real techniques of metallurgy, tactics, and, above all, how to wield magic, it would surely have become a calamity.

“Surrender, humans.”

Having grasped the enemy’s intentions, there was no need to indulge in stalling tactics.

Knowing this, Bern nevertheless decided to engage in conversation.

He’d originally intended to conclude things swiftly, but the situation had shifted.

Examining the size of the shared cavern, the environment with its single entrance, the enemy’s deployment—it seemed, if managed well, they could be wiped out in one fell swoop, without chasing them down one by one.

“The signal, don’t forget it.”

“……!”

Muttering just loud enough for Blanca, strapped to his back, to hear, Bern addressed the goblin lord.

“Surrender? You ask us to become your fodder without a fight?”

“Only the incompetent and worthless are made into food. Human or goblin, there are no exceptions.”

“And we are not that?”

“Have you not proven your worth by making a mess of my territory?”

“Then it seems you should kill us all the more.”

“Eliminating you will not bring back my fallen soldiers. However, if I can make you my subordinates, my power will only grow stronger.”

“A tempting offer, but I’m afraid the thought of living as a slave in a cave isn’t very appealing.”

“Though I may reside in such a place as this now, that will change, you see. And I have no intention of treating you as I would some paltry slave.”

“Hmm.”

Bern uttered a sound of contemplation.

To an outside observer, it would appear as though he were genuinely considering the Goblin Lord’s offer, captivated by it, even.

Blanca, perched upon his back, might even begin to harbor suspicions.

Had Bern not whispered a warning beforehand, she might have fled already.

Feeling as though he truly might sway Bern to his side, the Goblin Lord’s golden eyes gleamed with intensity.

“Consider well, Human. In the mere span of half a year, I have built this force from naught.”

“Hoh.”

A ‘Hoh’ that truly meant, ‘The lord of this land left it to fester like this for half a year, you say?’ But the Goblin Lord, taking it as pure admiration, tilted his chin upward.

“Then what of this force, this nation, after one year, three, ten? What power, wealth, and glory would you attain through it?”

“Mmm. It is…tempting, I must admit.”

“Refusal promises only death. Acceptance, glory. What is there to ponder?”

It was then that a commotion arose from behind Bern.

-Grik!

-Griluk!

A stirring, a multitude of creatures swarming closer.

The goblins who had been out hunting had heard of the disturbance at the stronghold and returned en masse.

Though their armaments were cruder than those guarding the Goblin Lord, they were far greater in number.

And each of them was filled with a raging fury, radiating a savage intent, likely due to having been forced to wade through the Green Hunter’s scent wafting from the entrance, a most unpleasant experience for them, it seemed.

Bern, as if pushed by those goblins, gradually moved deeper into the hollow, and as a result, he found himself surrounded by the goblin horde.

“Tsk tsk, your hesitation has become your undoing. Had you sworn fealty earlier, you could have received good treatment as a loyal subject.”

The Goblin Lord spoke, seemingly with regret, but with a hint of mockery beneath the surface.

Bern asked.

“Was stalling for time your objective from the very beginning?”

“Well, does it truly matter now?”

“If I were to pledge my loyalty even at this moment, would you accept it?”

“Yes, I would accept it. However, the treatment will be less generous than it would have been initially. What can you do? This is your final question.”

As if echoing the Goblin Lord’s words, a triple-digit number of goblins surrounded Bern, pointing their weapons at him.

He could feel Blanca clinging tightly to his clothes from behind.

Bern answered.

Not with words, but with action.

*Shuuuwoook!*

The volleyball-sized cotton wad held in Bern’s right hand, despite its soft appearance, made a brutal sound as it flew towards the Goblin Lord.

The Goblin Lord, instinctively sensing danger, quickly rolled to the side.

As if proving that was the correct response, the chair he had been sitting on crumbled the moment the cotton wad touched it.

It was a sight akin to being struck by a massive iron ball.

The Goblin Lord, rolling on the floor, shouted.

“Kill him!!”

– *Grryyiiick!*

The goblin soldiers surged towards Bern as one.

Blanca, who had kept her silence, finally reached her limit and cried out,

“What are you going to do now?!”

“I’m going to do this!”

Bern’s body shot forward.

A dense throng of goblins, weapons raised, blocked the path ahead, but Bern paid them no mind.

Thwack!

-Ggrk!?

Bern’s body launched into the air, and a goblin shrieked, its face crushed beneath Bern’s boot.

He continued onward, using the goblins’ very heads as stepping stones, hurtling towards the wall.

Blanca, having somewhat adjusted to being carried on his back, found the situation absurd.

One graze from the goblins’ weapons could slice her feet and legs clean off.

Even if she weren’t cut, a moment’s loss of balance amongst the unstable footing would bury her alive in the enemy ranks.

Bern seemed not to even consider such possibilities, confidently, relentlessly pushing forward.

And then, at last, Bern’s foot landed on something other than a goblin’s head.

At the same moment, the world spun for Blanca, hanging on his back.

It couldn’t be helped.

For where Bern had stepped wasn’t the ground, but the wall of the massive cavern they were in.

This cavern, selected by the Goblin Lord as something akin to an audience chamber, was not just wide, but impossibly tall.

Across the rough and uneven wall, Vern, moving diagonally upward, called out to Blanca.

“Center! Fire! With maximum force!”

“Are you out of your mind!?”

“If you’re an adventurer, you’ve got to do this much!”

No adventurer in the world does that!!

Blanca wanted to shout that, but even as she did, her hand reached out towards the ground without hesitation.

Most of the mana remaining within her drained away at once, quickly transforming into a massive surge of fire.

Annoyingly, the haphazardly thrown magic from running around had paid off, and aiming proved surprisingly easy.

『Rock-Burning Magic』

Whoosh!

The goblin lord’s pupils widened at the searing heat above.

However, he was no ordinary goblin.

‘That size of fire… is not enough to wipe us out!’

Roughly ten, or perhaps dozens when considering their close-packed formation, might fall, but most of his forces would survive.

He swore to kill them afterwards, grabbing two nearby goblins and using them as shields to cover himself.

His calculations weren’t wrong.

If only that giant wad of cotton, soaked in the equivalent of an entire orcish barrel of oil, wasn’t embedded in his throne.

No matter how great his innate intelligence and talent, it was the limitation of a goblin lord who had only experienced a narrow world.

The fire Blanca unleashed struck the chair, quickly igniting the surface of the cotton.

The moment the compressed oil burst forth and came into contact with the flames.

KWA-aaaNG!

Light. Heat. A shockwave.

Even the two figures perched nearly at the ceiling could feel its dizzying power.

Blanca, barely managing to open her eyes, gaped unthinkingly at the scene spread out below.

The green horde, armed with good equipment and possessed of a discipline quite unlike goblins.

It was… utterly swept away.

Those goblins closer to the center were charred black and instantly dead, while those further out were consumed by flames, writhing in silent, agonizing screams.

And among those who survived, however barely, was the Goblin Lord himself.

“Ghk, guh-HUH, GYYYaaaH…!!”

Thanks to a physique naturally more robust than his kin and a cruel wit that swiftly deployed others as shields, the Goblin Lord was in better shape than most of those engulfed by the blast.

But ironically, that was precisely what amplified his suffering, and made it last longer.

The fire, clinging to his skin as if glued there by some kind of oil, tormented him relentlessly. The Goblin Lord crawled across the ground like a bug.

He couldn’t comprehend this situation.

No, he didn’t *want* to comprehend it.

He was a being born with a special destiny.

He was the one destined to surpass the limitations of the goblin race, to elevate his brethren to greatness.

And this was how it ended? So futile, so anticlimactic, before he had accomplished anything at all?

Toward Bern, who was approaching him with an impassive face, the Goblin Lord forced out words laced with venom.

“Don’t get… cocky. If I… only had a little… just a little more… time! Then, someone like… YOU…!!”

Bern, facing the Goblin Lord, furrowed his brow for a moment.

He spoke then, in a tone laced with disbelief.

“…Wasn’t it you who shortened that time, though?”

“What?”

“If you needed time, you should have been discreet. Cautious, building your strength gradually instead of rashly expanding your power. If you had focused on internal growth, those around you would have been much slower to notice the shift.”

Bern delivered his verdict calmly, yet with a cruel edge.

“You weren’t unlucky. You simply ruined yourself through your own blunders.”

The Goblin Lord’s eyes twitched.

Without hesitation, Bern severed the slumped head and collected his trophy.

Then, turning to Blanca, he said,

“A decent outcome for our first commission, wouldn’t you say?”

Blanca simply stared at Bern, wordlessly.

Her gaze held the vastness of a cat contemplating the cosmos.