Chapter 20

“Oh dear. I must have moved us too far at once, Lucy…”

Hayden, complaining of exhaustion after the teleport, tried to lean on me.

“I believe I said no unnecessary physical contact.”

Eleanor flicked Hayden away from me.

“Are you okay, Lucy? Are you dizzy?”

Theodore, for some reason, was worried about my motion sickness.

“Ah, I’m fine.”

And me…?

Looking at this strange combination, I briefly recalled the original story.

In the original too, Hayden and Eleanor bickered often. It was only natural since these two were fundamentally incompatible.

Each time, Theodore would just smile while executing “You’re right, and on second thought, you’re also right.”

‘This really is peculiar…’

The situation was similar now, but subtly different from the original. Probably because Lucy was in the mix.

‘Well, whatever.’

The combination itself hadn’t changed, and the overall picture was roughly similar, so it didn’t matter much. Unless Eleanor and Hayden were outright grabbing each other by the collar and fighting.

Anyway, after two teleports, we arrived near the Krag Forest. Following Eleanor’s decision that it would be better to walk from here, we decided to erase the teleport magic circle.

“Why not just leave it?”

Hayden tried to coax us, saying we’d need it again on the way back, but Eleanor was firm.

Her reason was that if we left it and the magic circle malfunctioned, other people could get caught up in it.

We agreed with that, so Hayden had no choice but to erase the magic circle.

“Do you have any idea how troublesome it is to draw one of these…!”

Suck it up a bit, Hayden.

You’ll be teleporting around without magic circles later.

After Hayden erased the magic circle, we set off immediately without rest.

That was because we had to return to the academy before the dormitory curfew. Except for Hayden, who had given up on the dormitory long ago.

“We’re almost there.”

After walking for a few minutes—

Looking around at Eleanor’s words, I saw a dark blue forest ahead. Even though it was still early afternoon, the forest was quite dark.

When we arrived at the forest entrance, knights were standing guard around the forest.

“Lady Eleanor!”

The knight who appeared to be the highest-ranking among them strode toward us and greeted her. Eleanor acknowledged him with a light raise of her hand.

“It’s been a while, Sir Arthur.”

“I received word that you were coming. But those people are…”

The knight looked at us without rudeness.

“They’re my friends… We’re going into the forest together.”

“They’re still academy students, aren’t they?”

“We’re only going as far as the forest entrance, so don’t worry.”

“But…”

Even at Eleanor’s words, the knight couldn’t readily answer, seemingly uneasy. At that, Eleanor said.

“I’ll take full responsibility.”

At Eleanor’s firm words, the knight stepped aside. As he did, he handed her a signal flare, telling her to use it immediately if anything dangerous happened.

“Let’s go.”

Eleanor took the lead into the forest. I checked on Theodore once and followed behind.

‘Ugh!’

The moment we stepped into the forest, the air changed.

Unlike outside, there was a heavy, eerie pressure. I unconsciously swallowed my breath.

Eleanor checked on me, and when I gestured that I was fine, she moved again. Hayden and Theodore were following well too.

“Wait.”

Eleanor suddenly stopped.

A moment of silence passed.

And only after I too felt its presence did it reveal itself.

“Kiiik…”

Green skin and a small, stocky build.

And a chipped blade clutched in its hand.

A rank 4 monster, ‘Goblin,’ has appeared.

The system kindly even put up a notification.

There hadn’t been anything like this with the single-horned hound—it seemed to appear only when facing ‘real’ monsters.

“Kigik…!”
“Kiiik…”
“Kekek, kik!”

Three of them for now.

Considering that goblins usually travel in packs, there were probably more of them nearby.

“What do you want to do?”

Eleanor asked without taking her eyes off the goblins. She was probably asking for my opinion.

‘It’ll be a problem if the pack shows up.’

Goblins themselves weren’t difficult monsters—they didn’t really have any particular weakness. You just had to aim for their vital points.

But goblin packs usually numbered in the dozens. Thinking about facing them alone was a dizzying number.

‘But I’m not alone, am I?’

The quest condition was to defeat ‘one’ monster alone. That meant everything else could be left to the others.

So I just need to take down one easy one!

‘And well, if it really comes down to it…’

I glanced at Hayden. At that timing, Hayden, who had met my eyes, winked at me. Seeing that, he must be fine.

‘Then I’ll tell him to escape with his movement skill.’

Eleanor would be fine, so I just needed to ask him to help me and Theodore.

Having finished calculating in my head, I drew my bow. The softly glowing pure white bow drew the goblins’ attention.

“I’ll only ask for help when it’s really dangerous, Eleanor.”

At my request, Eleanor gave a small nod.

I swallowed. If I moved as I’d simulated yesterday, there shouldn’t be any major problems. Definitely.

“Kyaaa—!”

Thump, thump.

My heart pounded like crazy. This was my first time fighting a real monster, not an illusion magic circle.

The monster I actually faced was more…

‘Gross!’

I squeezed my eyes shut once and opened them.

But perhaps thinking I’d looked away, all three goblins lunged at me simultaneously.

However, they were still within range.

A distance neither too close nor too far.

“Hoo…”

I calmly drew the bowstring.

And released.

“Kieek—!”

Thwip thwip thwip—

A dozen or so arrows embedded themselves in the ground. The goblins that had been charging fiercely hesitated.

‘Now!’

I crossed through those arrows and closed in on just one in the middle. Perhaps thanks to the Check skill’s effect, the remaining two couldn’t charge at me.

So I’ll end it in one go.

“Kyaak!”

As I instantly closed the distance, the goblin I’d targeted screamed and swung the dagger in its hand. The chipped dagger dug toward my shoulder.

‘I’ll just knock it away.’

I easily deflected the dagger with my bow.

Next, I grabbed an arrow and aimed for its neck—

“K-Keek—!”

Huh?

The goblin disappeared.

No, it didn’t exactly disappear—it was slammed into a tree over there.

‘Ah, damn. She’s a strength-based character, isn’t she?’

Given she could send even fellow awakened individuals flying, a goblin—which was treated as rank 5 when not in a pack—was nothing.

“Kiek…”

But since I’d only meant to lightly knock it away, the goblin was still alive.

And the two beside it also seemed to have shaken off the skill’s effect and started charging again.

“Ah, crap!”

I urgently drew my bow and used Check Shot. Then I drove an arrow down into the neck of the goblin groaning against the tree.

With a thunk and a cheerful notification chime.

You have defeated a ‘Goblin!’

[Sub Quest Success]
: You have defeated a rank 4 monster alone!
Check your success reward. (Click!)

!Important Notification!
: Level System activated! (Lv. 1)

Notifications popped up all at once.

But there was no time to check them.

Thwack!

I kicked a goblin charging at me hard. Then I drove an arrow into the abdomen of another that lunged after it.

You have defeated a ‘Goblin!’
You have defeated a ‘Goblin!’
Level Up!

Compared to how tense I’d been, the battle ended too anticlimactically.

The goblins were weaker than expected, but it was also thanks to Lucy’s stats being quite usable.

‘More importantly, level up already?’

Without even wiping the monster blood off my cheek, I checked the status window first.

Status Window
▸ Name: Lucy Saint Lv. 2

It’s real.

A level was written next to Lucy’s name.

Level 2 from three goblins! Of course, the required experience would increase as I went, but at low levels, that was a very cost-effective number.

Unable to hide my excitement, I turned around. My eyes met Eleanor’s. But Eleanor still seemed unable to let her guard down, her face serious.

“Let’s move now.”

“Huh?”

“Their pack will be swarming here soon.”

Eleanor gestured for me to come back. She was right. Goblins travel in packs.

Following that line of thought, I was about to go to her when I stopped short.

‘Wait, a goblin pack?’

The goblins about to swarm this way—at least dozens.

The number of goblins I’d needed to level up earlier was just three.

Which means…

‘This is a perfect leveling opportunity…!’

Kieeek—

In the distance, my precious experience points were approaching.

I flashed a bright smile at the three behind me and drew my bow again.

“Lucy?”

Let me just level up a bit before we go, guys.