Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash vol. 1

11. Don't Go

"There's one headed your way, Ranta!" Haruhiro called out, and Ranta responded immediately.

"I already knew that!"

One of the three goblins Moguzo and Manato had lured to the front line was headed for Yume and Shihoru in the rear. Haruhiro and Ranta were the middle guard, so they were supposed to try to catch the goblins from behind or to the side, but they needed to defend the back line as well. So Ranta, who was closer to the two of them, went to face the goblin.

It had been thirteen days since they had begun fighting goblins in the Old City of Damuro, so they could pull off this sort of team play without a word to each other. Though, every once in a while, Ranta would obsess over his own fighting style or skills, shooting whatever teamwork they had going in the foot completely. Fortunately, this time he was fine.

"Ha! Anger!"

—Or not.

Ranta leapt in from outside his opponent's range, longsword outthrust, to use his most recently acquired skill. It missed spectacularly.

"—Wha?! You're no ordinary goblin, are you...?!"

"It's clearly just a normal goblin, man!" Haruhiro said, looking to Manato with a wink.

Moguzo and Manato could be counted on to handle their two goblins. Haruhiro ran over and got behind the goblin that was pressuring Ranta with a rusty sword.

"Dammit...!" Ranta deflected its rusty blade, glancing to Haruhiro.

Don't look at me, thought Haruhiro as he took aim.

Ranta wasn't the only one who had learned a new skill. Each of them had learned a new one from their guilds. However, they had only just learned them, so they only just knew how to perform them. Haruhiro wasn't confident that he could use his skill effectively in battle, but if he didn't make an active effort to use it, he would never get past that point.

I paid good money to learn this skill, and I swear I'll master it, he vowed. "...That's easier said than done, though."

The goblin was cautious, turning often to watch its own back, hopping around nimbly and swinging its rusty sword to keep him in check. Haruhiro just couldn't line up a good strike.

If Ranta could keep it occupied, he'd be fine, but he figured it would be a mistake to count on that actually happening. Ranta wasn't the type to let the enemy's focus fall entirely on him. Neither was Haruhiro, for that matter. Both of them were too afraid to get into a serious exchange of blows, so they tried to circle around to get behind it, or at least to the side of it. Because of that, they went in circles around the goblin and, of course, the goblin spun in circles trying not to let them get behind it, so no one had any clue what was going on.

"Geez! What're you two doin'!" Yume pulled her machete and came at the goblin swinging.

It looked like she'd taken it by surprise. It froze up for a second.

Yume swung her machete as if drawing an X-shape. "Diagonal Cross!"

The goblin cried out, falling back from the sudden onslaught, but it took a shallow cut to its shoulder. Its back was to Haruhiro.

Now, thought Haruhiro, but his body had already moved on its own. In a breath, he closed the gap and thrust his dagger into the goblin's back with a twist. This was his skill, Backstab.

Perhaps because the goblin was only wearing soft leather armor, Haruhiro's dagger sunk in a good 10 cm. The goblin tried to turn around, so Haruhiro wrenched his dagger out of it, falling back. The goblin coughed up blood, and whatever it had been about to try to do next, it collapsed. It was still twitching, but Haruhiro could tell it was at death's door. If it hadn't been, it would have flailed about more violently.