Chapter 32 Guardian of the Territory
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”So, I’ve made it past the halfway point,” I said.
It had been a little over two hours since I started waiting for my Mana Capacity¹ to recover in front of the room where the fifth-floor guardian likely was. Feeling my internal Mana Capacity return to over fifty percent, I pushed off the rock wall I’d been leaning against.
That’s about thirteen uses of Physical Reinforcement². Or twenty-six shots of Wind Cutter³.
If there are many of them, I want to use Fireballs to distract them and take them out one by one, like the boss on the fourth floor. I felt a little excited to see what kind of enemy was waiting as I reached for the wooden door. Even with a light push, the three-meter door swung open into the room on its own.
What I saw wasn’t a small room of rough rock, but a space with smooth stone walls. It was about thirty meters wide. A soft light came from the stones in the ceiling, and the floor was made of flat, even stones. Looking at the back of the room, I saw a Kobold⁴ in leather armor sitting on a stone chair. Two familiar-looking Kobolds stood on his left and right. Behind the chair, I could see a black gate.
”Hmm, so I’m fighting a Kobold King and two Kobolds,” I noted.
There was a reason I called him a ‘King.’ He was sitting arrogantly in that chair and wearing an animal skull on his head. I could call him a leader, but this room and the chair made him look like a king, so that’s how I named him. Kobold King⁵ is easier to say than Kobold Leader, anyway.
That Kobold King was leaning on the armrest, looking at me with a bored face. But the two retainers hunched their backs, looking like they were ready to jump at me at any moment.
”Two E-ranks and one estimated E-plus rank,” I said quietly.
I was glad there weren’t many. The weakness of a solo player is being outnumbered. I dropped my backpack and used Physical Reinforcement. At the same time, the two Kobolds jumped out. The Kobold King did not move.
”Ha! You think you’re safe!” I shouted.
If they don’t come at me all at once, it’s nothing. I fired magic at the Kobold on the right as the two tried to trap me from both sides.
’Fireball.’ ‘Wind Cutter.’ ‘Wind Cutter.’
The Kobold jumped to the side to miss the Fireball.
Thump!
But my Wind Cutter, which I aimed where I thought he would go, hit his shoulder and cut him deep. Seeing him stop, I used my small shield to hit the claws of the Kobold coming from the left.
”Oraa!” I yelled.
I hit him with all my strength using Physical Reinforcement. The Kobold’s arm was knocked back, and his body was forced open.
”Die!” I barked.
I didn’t miss the chance. I used my Machete to slash the Kobold from his shoulder to his stomach. I turned around and saw the other Kobold rushing me with one arm hanging down. I thought about using magic, but he might dodge, so I held up my shield to meet him. The cut on his shoulder must have hurt. The Kobold made a pained face and swung his good arm, but my shield blocked it. He stepped closer and tried to bite me.
”If you only have one arm, I guess that’s all you can do,” I muttered.
But I knew he would do that. I let go of my Machete, pulled the knife from my waist, and poked it into his mouth as he tried to bite me.
Snap…
The knife went through his mouth and out the back of his head. The Kobold stopped moving and fell over. I shook the blood off the knife, put it back, and picked up my Machete. Then I looked at the Kobold King, who had not stood up yet. I held out my shield arm and curled my finger to tell him to come closer.
”How long are you going to act like a boss, you dog? I’ll train you, so come here. Come on, do the ‘beg’ pose!” I teased him with a smile.
When I provoked him, the Kobold King finally stood up. He was about thirty centimeters bigger than a normal Kobold, maybe 150 centimeters tall. His body was full of muscle. He looked much stronger than the other Kobolds or Soldiers. The Kobold King picked up a big cleaver that was leaning against his chair and howled.
Awooooon!
Then he ran straight at me faster than any Kobold I had seen before.
”Good, you can ‘beg’ now. Next, spin around three times and ‘bark’!” I mocked.
’Fireball.’ ‘Fireball.’ ‘Fireball.’
I fired Fireballs at the Kobold King, timing them to where I thought he would move. The Kobold King jumped to the side to miss the first one. But the second one came fast, and he had to roll to miss it.
’Wind Cutter.’ ‘Wind Cutter.’
I fired Wind Cutters at him. He rolled two or three more times to get away. But the second Wind Cutter hit the Kobold King’s forehead. It blew away the skull mask and cut his head.
Yelp!
”That was your ‘bark’!” I shouted.
I moved in close and swung my Machete at the rolling Kobold King. But he blocked it with a big cleaver that was much larger than my Machete.
’Wind Cutter.’
I used that chance to fire a Wind Cutter at his leg from very close, cutting the skin above his knee.
Snap!
”Oops,” I said quietly.
Because of the pain, the Kobold King started swinging his cleaver and his other arm wildly. I moved away from him. The Kobold King tried to stand up while dealing with the pain in his leg.
”Hey, you looked so cool before, but you’re all bloody before you even touched me. Right, poochie?” I laughed at him. He couldn’t open one eye because of the blood, and his right leg was bleeding a lot.
Grrrrr…
The Kobold King looked at me with eyes full of hate.
”Next is ‘sit.’ You can do that, right?” I said. I held out my left arm and moved it up and down to give the command.
Gyaon!
He fell for it easily. He ran close and raised his cleaver.
”You’re full of openings, idiot,” I muttered.
He was so slow it was boring. I kicked the Kobold King right on his hurt knee.
Ow!
The pain hit his leg again. The Kobold King couldn’t help but drop to one knee while holding his cleaver up.
”Good boy.”
As a reward for ‘sitting,’ I swung my Machete down on the Kobold King’s head with all my strength. He tried to block with his cleaver, but his balance was bad. With a loud sound, he caught the blade, but my strength was too much and he dropped his weapon. Then the Machete hit the top of the Kobold King’s head and split his skull in half.
”That’s what you get for acting tough, loser,” I said to the Kobold King as he fell over. I kicked him to pull my Machete out.
To be honest, the Kobold King wasn’t strong enough to act that way. He should have fought together with the other Kobolds. Even though he has a dog’s face, he doesn’t know how to hunt in a pack. And like the Soldiers, he was bad with weapons. I think the weapon made him weaker. He might have been scarier with just his hands, since he was fast and strong. Well, I was the one who hurt him from far away so he couldn’t use his real power. But losing without even scratching me is just embarrassing. I watched the Kobold King turn into black dust. A Magic Stone⁶ was left on the ground, and I picked it up.
”The size is like a normal Kobold, but it’s more dense. Must be E-plus,” I noted.
An E-rank Magic Stone is 200 DP⁷, so this is 600 DP. That’s six thousand yen. Not bad. I’d hate to fight a group of them, though. Now, let’s get the other stones.
* * *
”Oh! A silver treasure chest… and a small box?” I said.
After picking up the stones, I went to the black gate behind the chair. There was a silver chest over a meter wide and a small box with gold decorations next to it.
”I can take both, right?” I asked.
Would one go away if I opened the other? I hope this isn’t a test for greedy people like in that old story.
”No keyholes. I’ll just open both at the same time,” I said.
The chest and the box were right next to each other. I put a hand on each lid and opened them both at once.
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Summary:
The protagonist enters the 5th-floor boss room and encounters a Kobold King and two retainers. He swiftly kills the two Kobold subordinates using magic and close combat. He then taunts the arrogant Kobold King into a clumsy charge, disabling it before delivering a fatal blow. After the fight, he discovers a silver treasure chest and a mysterious small box as rewards.
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Character Insight:
The protagonist uses psychological warfare to win. He breaks the Kobold King’s calm with insults, forcing the monster to make mistakes. His thoughts show he is very smart about how monsters fight and how to win without getting hurt.”
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Behind the Scene:
The ‘old story’ mentioned is ‘The Tongue-Cut Sparrow,’ where a greedy man chooses a big chest and finds monsters inside. The author uses this to show the hero’s caution.”
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T/L:
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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