Rosso on My Shoulder
Summer break had begun at the academy, and I returned to the general estate.
As for my plans during the break—one week from now I’ll head to Belle’s home in the Burst Territory. I’ll stay there for about a week, then from there we plan to go on to Phantasmo. The group going to Burst Territory will be me, Brother Gene, Sarah, Zack, plus Pearl and Rosso. It seems the trip by carriage takes about three days. For the two carriages, Snowy and Brother Gene’s beloved horse’s partner, Zex, will be pulling them.
Until then, during this first week, I’ll be busy with training with the private soldiers, going to the guild, playing with the twins… all sorts of things.
“Hello, Miss Lily. Here, I’d like to submit this.”
I handed over my guild card and the request slip.
“Oh, Joan. Let’s see… a hobgoblin subjugation in Westwoods… Alright, you’re good to go. Be careful out there.”
Normally, when a ten-year-old child accepts a solo subjugation quest, the guild staff should be obligated to warn them about the dangers… But since the one accepting is Joan, and since she has Pearl with her, plus the fact that she’s already an extraordinary D-ranker at age ten, nobody even bothers warning her anymore.
“I’m off~”
I climbed onto Pearl, and in just five minutes we had reached the entrance to Westwoods.
“Alright, where are you hiding, Mr. Hobgob?”
(Hmm… I bet it’s that cave again.)
“Oh? You think so? Then let’s check it out.”
Still riding Pearl, I headed for the same cave we’d found goblins in during a past subjugation.
“Come to think of it, Rosso, this is your first real subjugation, isn’t it? You’ve always stayed behind before. Not scared?”
(I am scared, but since you and Pearl are with me, I’m fine.)
“I see. That’s good.”
Before long, the cave came into view.
(It stinks!!)
Pearl, whose sense of smell was sharper than anyone’s, caught the goblin stench.
(Joan! Let’s hurry up and finish this!!)
“O-oh.”
Taken aback by Pearl’s unusually bloodthirsty tone, I nevertheless proceeded to the cave entrance. It didn’t seem like the goblins had noticed us yet.
Taking in a deep breath of that goblin-stinking air, I shouted toward the cave.
“Hey, gobliiiins! You stinky, stinky goblins, come on out! If you don’t, I’ll gouge your eyeballs out!!”
I borrowed a line from a certain famous anime.
(… Gouge their eyeballs…?)
“Well, I thought it might get them to come out… Look, here they come.”
Sure enough, goblins wielding clubs came pouring out of the cave. I counted—fourteen in all.
“Wow, that’s a lot.”
(It really is. Alright, let’s deal with the small fry quickly…)
FLASH!! CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!
A sudden burst of blinding light and thunderous sound forced both Joan and Rosso to squeeze their eyes shut. When they opened them again, all the goblins were lying dead from electrocution.
“Pearl…! Warn us first if you’re gonna do that!!”
(Seriously, you gave me a heart attack.)
(Whoops, sorry. It just kind of slipped out…)
(Haha. That’s just like Joan, isn’t it?)
(Oh? Is it? Ehehe.)
“…...”
Never mind Pearl’s excuse—Rosso’s comment about it was even more unsettling.
“… Alright then, let’s move on to the hobgob.”
Forcing cheer into my voice, I stepped into the cave.
Deeper inside, in the hall-like chamber we’d come to before, sat a hobgoblin slouched on the floor. Surrounding him were three female goblins—or so I assumed, judging by their larger chests compared to the others we’d killed earlier. In other words, like hostesses entertaining some old guy.
“Gyagaa!?”
Noticing us, the hobgoblin let out a startled cry. The female “hostess-gobs” squealed and scurried to hide behind him.
The hobgoblin rose slowly, hefted a massive log—far thicker than the clubs the others had used—and swung it about.
“Whoa, dangerous… And ugh, those hostess-gobs cheering him on are really grating on my nerves.”
(Hostess-gobs?)
“Oh, like women who entertain at drinking parties in exchange for money?”
(Ah, I see.)
While we were busy having this irrelevant conversation, the hobgoblin apparently took offense at being ignored and charged with a roar.
“Here.”
I pulled caltrops from my storage and scattered them in his path.
(Joan, what are those?)
Rosso, perched on my shoulder, asked.
“They’re called caltrops. They make it hard for the enemy to walk. It hurts when they step on them.”
(That makes sense. First time I’ve seen them.)
“I asked Grandpa Tom to make them for me. He’s amazing, right?”
As I praised Tom, the hobgoblin stepped on them, howling in pain as he stumbled and rolled. Even so, he refused to let go of the log, making it too dangerous to approach carelessly.
(So noisy.) ZAP!!
Pearl’s lightning struck, making the hobgoblin convulse violently. Taking the chance, I rushed in, kicked away the dropped log, and without hesitation delivered the finishing blow.
The hostess-gobs shrieked.
“Gyaa!”
“Gogyagyaa!!”
“Gyagya!!”
(Alright, my turn now. Ready… go!)
Rosso twirled his tail, and a gust of wind blasted toward the hostess-gobs.
“““Gya!?”””
The goblins screamed in surprise. But the more shocking sight was what followed—
“‘Eh!?’”
After the wind passed, three severed heads thudded to the ground.
(Yay, it worked!)
Rosso hopped excitedly on my shoulder.
“R-Rosso… that just now…?”
(Yep! That was my wind magic. Um… it’s called Wind Sever, I think?)
“W-wait… when did you learn something like that?”
(The other day, when you went to the guild with Belle.)
(Did someone teach you?)
Even Pearl seemed unaware.
(Yeah. Mama did.)
“…...”
Mother… what exactly have you been teaching Rosso!?
My source of healing had somehow turned into a final weapon…
Terrifying—Rosso on my shoulder.
“R-right… well, that was… amazing.”
(Yay!! Joan praised me!!)
When I scratched Rosso’s throat, he narrowed his eyes and purred happily.
What do you think about this chapter?
