Chapter 395 - 395: Off to Hunt Kobolds, Talking on the Way

"Can we not send the two in the clan?"

"Please look at the map. If a mark shows on the map, they are close, so I think it is possible."

I checked as told. No mark.

Too bad.

"You are clan master, so you can force a gather."

"Oh. I can do that."

"You cannot send them somewhere, though. They have to move themselves."

Hmm. That is a bit much.

They should be looking for Master-class monsters on their own. Call a gather once and it takes time to get back.

"No gather. We move the talk on."

"Yes. Then I think we should go hunt."

"Give the reason."

"First, if a Master-class monster is at the center of the kobold pack, we can earn mini-event score."

That is what a normal adventurer would think.

"Second, from what we heard, this looks like a monster that left its range. What Master is looking for."

Yeah.

So we have to go hunt.

"Fine. We Transport and fly now."

"Understood. What about the three messengers? Wait here, or send them back?"

"NPCs, no, villagers, can they Transport with us?"

"Should be possible up to six."

"Then the two from Airst go home. We take the Tubaite messenger."

"Transport."

The messenger's name was Poste.

"This is a path on the edge of the village."

Poste talked, excited. We missed the spot I aimed for.

He is happy. I will not pour water on it.

"I will guide you."

He started forward and we encountered. The field opened.

Kobolds, of course.

Three standing. Sticks, a rusted sword.

Nanao instant-killed them, of course.

"Oh. Amazing. Strength like the rumors."

Poste, excited again.

"The adventurers before were not this overwhelming?"

"No. Even six kobolds, they had it easy. But you beat them with one person. That is amazing."

Right. Nanao is the cheat.

"Remember the lineup?"

"Two in armor. One with a spear. One with a bow. The other two were in the back."

A party leaned on physical attacks. If the front has a rare class, maybe it balances.

"A spear would be Lancer, or the rare class of that. A Paladin should be able to use one too."

Akie explained.

"Right. Weapons only come from shops, drops, or quest rewards?"

We talked while walking. Encounters kept coming. Leave them to Nanao and it is fine.

"Sometimes a pack has gear as a plus-one bonus. After that, a blacksmith making it."

"That so. If something useful comes out, tell me."

"Of course."

Akie smiled, and what she is holding is still the Wood Stick. I want weapons lined up a bit more.

"Mizurii. Your sword and armor look fine."

"Yes. The sword looks fine, but it is a Paladin's basic Paladin Sword. The armor is Paladin Mail. It has a plus."

I opened status and checked gear. Paladin Mail+ was there. A bit better performance, maybe.

Full armor hides the face. Not my taste, so I have her take it off. When we start encountering something strong, I will make her wear it.

We reached the village, greeted the chief, declined tea, and left for the place we heard about.

Poste offered to guide. I refused. In the way.

"First we aim for the charcoal hut from the story."

"Yes, Master."

They answered together and we started walking.

"Hey, Lime. Can you equip gear?"

"Who knows."

"You can equip, but you are a monster, so a penalty probably hits and it ends up wasted."

Faster to ask Akie.

If you can equip, pull a costume card and a Slime Queen in a sailor uniform is possible.

Defense dropping during sex is not a problem.

Damn. The boy's school uniform is dull. I want to pull a dirty costume.

Not just kobolds. High Kobolds and Kobold Mages mixed in.

Mage means they use magic. Dogs, and smart. Dogs are pretty smart to begin with, maybe.

Nanao still instant-kills them.

"I see it. That."

Haruki found the charcoal hut past a bend in the path.

We beat six kobolds outside, went into the hut, and encountered there too.

Do not come in this far, dogs.

"Not much. The adventurers who went first could not beat them?"

"If they keep coming out, they probably could not."

"What happens if you get beaten?"

"If every character dies, the fight ends and you restart from base. You can lose character cards."

"I hate that. Do not die, you."

"Thank you. I will do my best."

Haruki reacted first. Devoted now, so she looks at me with sparkling eyes. Sturdy. I will make you suck piss again.

"Then it should get tougher bit by bit. Do not get careless."

"Yes, Master."

Six-body encounters became the default, and the kobolds' levels went up.

Nanao stopped being able to instant-kill. They still never got a turn. The front trio, Mizurii and Lime, ended it.

"Oh. This one is a bit big."

"Kobold Leader. A monster one step before Master class."

A size bigger than a normal kobold. Human height. Finally holding a shield.

Beat this and Master class is close, I thought.

That was wrong.

Kobold Leader encounters kept coming after that. One became two, two became three, and we encountered six Kobold Leaders.

Dense encounter.

"Level 50. What is going on?"

"A little off. Feels too strong."

Thanks to that, Akie and Nanao's levels go up well.

"Master."

Haruki called. Tense?

"What."

"I feel a presence past there."

She pointed past a big fallen tree. We approached slow and peeked over.

Kobolds, a huge gathering.

What a number.

Over a hundred, maybe.

After the number hit, my eyes went to clusters. People clusters. Dog clusters.

"What are they doing?"

I got it right away.

"Eh."

Akie and Nanao beside me held their breath.

The kobolds gathered in spots were taking turns raping human women.

"What is this. No battle field formed, right?"

"It has not."

A little shake in Akie's voice. She is looking at humans being raped by dogs.

"A man is hung over there."

I moved my eyes as Haruki said. A man hung from a tree, ragged, bloody. A kobold stabbed the limp man with a sword and laughed.

Do not laugh, dog.

"Is that a Master?"

Nanao's voice shook too.

A man tied, rolled on the ground. Robe like mine.

That hit hard.

Only character cards should join combat. Even in an encounter, the Master does not take attacks.

The man on the ground was bloody all over. When a sword tip poked him he twitched, so he was not dead.

We pulled our faces back behind the fallen tree.

"Lime. What is this."

"I do not know. I did not know they could do this."

"Anyone. A guess is fine."

Nobody could answer.

An abnormal situation.

"Anyway we save that Master and hear him out."

Even a hundred, an encounter is six. Beating them should be easy.

"Yes, Master."

Tension showed, and the answer was good. Dog hunt.