Gob Tensei - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I barely won

｢Hey, are we there yet–｣

「Fufu, Zaph, you sure don’t have any patience. Battle maniacs die fast, you know?」

「Just a bit more. We’ll see it when we pass over that hill.」

As their excitement welled up, the adventurers’ steps sped up. Since this goblin community is almost to the village level, magic stones should be saved up. And if you bring back some goblin ears, you get a decent reward. If the magician in the group plans a surprise attack, he can deal with hundreds lives all at once. It would be an easy annihilation; the goblins were just that weak a type of opponent.  Because of this, the group’s vigilance was low, and while slacking off, the archer’s presence detection was delayed.

「Nn? There is something coming from the rear left. One monster….no….2?」

The archer readied his bow and arrows; the swordsman drew his greatsword. The magician just lifted his staff since chanting was not yet necessary.  A few seconds later, a child goblin jumped out from the bushes behind them.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Tsk, my prediction was slightly skewed!
I jumped out from the bushes and noticing the small discrepancy in my plan, I revised the trajectory at bit and thrust myself through the group of adventurers――――――I ran like a raging four-footed beast.

「Wha, that goblin is fast!」

Fufun~, of course I am. I inherited that trait from my cat species mother. When I want to seriously speed up, I run faster if I run like an animal. Also, just in case, my nails are 2 cm longer, but it’s not as conspicuous as the traits of the beast folk. (Ren: Since i used to be an animal nut, the nails help with traction.) This half-assed trait shows the sad state of the goblin species.

The archer was clearly panicking. Of course, it must be frustrating for two footed creatures to try and hit, right, since four footed ones are faster than two footed beasts. After I gained a few seconds, the moment the archer settled on his target, I predicted the timing and I…..jumped to the side towards the back-side of a tree nearby. An arrow immediately smacked into the place where I was.

Heck yeah, thank you for that 1st arrow! That was a huge mistake, ya know. After all, right behind me was……………

「Uuuuuggggggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!」 (9: MPK FTW!!)

「The fu*-*, it was an ogre!」(IcedTea: *_*)

「Darn it! That damn goblin!」

The ogre, chasing my presence, burst out from the bushes right in front of the adventurers.
And then, at that moment, seeing that there were adventurers with weapons drawn, the ogre switched targets and started to attack them. Lucky! With this, the archer won’t have any spare time to nock another arrow.

The adventurers, who let an ogre get close to them, had their formation(?) broken, and their situation fell into an insanely deadly battle with the ogre.
The archer, who couldn’t take distance, drew the hatchet from the swordsman’s back; the magician was scratching his last arm, which was hanging loosely, and moved to the rear. (Ren: what happened to the other arm?)(9: he was suddenly injured, did not know when the happened) And looking at how he occasionally chanted, he should be quite experienced.

「Kukuku, the “train” was a huge success! Now then, I wonder who will win~~」

　　　　　　　　　　***

Retrieving my hand-made spear, I came back to the spot. The battle was still going on. The ones that had the advantage in the fight were the adventurers. However, the archer was on the ground, and the magician seemed to have used too many spells and was really exhausted. Right now, only the swordsman, who was covered in wounds, was fighting, shielding his party from the huge ogre.

However, the ogre was much worse off and in a horrible state. It had lost its right wrist, and its body was covered with big burns and sword cuts. Looking at the burns on its face, it looks like it had taken a considerable amount of the magician’s fireballs.  It’s roar was still ferocious too, but right now, I feel that its strength is obviously weaker.

And then, I, who was the only victor……as if captivated, I approached the battlefield. I think I was stimulated by the battle. I was drunk on blood.The ogre soon fell to the ground. I’m sure that it would be unavoidable that the injured adventurers would now retreat. I win

……….. but so what?

Since I won the battle strategically, my fighting instincts won’t settle down and admit that I’ve won already. You probably can’t deceive a goblin’s instincts that easily. My bloodlust throbbed. It was a beast nature: it flatters the strong and is cruel to the weak.  And there is weak prey just in front of me, right there. I, who was born weak, began to hallucinate of a place where the weak defies the strong. Even though fighting the injured is a cowardly move, I long for a victory bathed in blood. To murder with your bare hands, to raise your fangs against the prey, to spray forth a fountain of blood–this is the Goblin’s victorious killing. Man, I got reincarnated into such a troublesome body. I’ve completely lost to my instincts. My goblin life after this….it’s gonna be a difficult problem that I need to deal with until I die.  

――――――and because of that, I will only say.

I am as excited as my manhood is standing strong. This phenomenon is totally unrelated to my…….conscious reasoning. 
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
Ugaaaaaaaaa―――――………..

The ogre’s death cries cracked, as if fading away. It’s body had countless wounds, with the greatsword still penetrating through the stomach; it gazed dreadfully toward the skies.

The swordsman had rough breathing, and his body was full of wound, but soon, his breathe had settled again. The magician breathed a sigh of relief while holding onto his left arm.  Just as the swordsman raised his voice and took a step closer…….

shutatatata *running footsteps*

Looking over to the direction of the small footsteps, the magician raised a scream:

｢Zaph! behind―｣

「Eh?」

The warning didn’t make it in time. The swordsman, suddenly sensing the presence, turned around and had his throat skewered, pierced deeply by a wooden spear.

「Ah? Aboe?」(9: try speaking with your throat pierced by a spear)

「Zaph!!」

With an expression of incredulity, the swordsman vomited blood. Fresh blood from his throat spurted out. His eyes rolled back, showing the whites of his eyes, and he collapsed.

Standing in front of the swordsman was a goblin child holding a sharpened wooden spear bathed in blood. The goblin, with eyes that were human but dominated by the beast inside him, glared at the body.

「How….How dare you…..to my comrades….it’s all your fucking fault!」

With speed that you wouldn’t expect from a rear guard, he closed the distance and struck out with the staff in his right hand. The goblin received the blow with its spear, but the magician continued hitting wildly, as if he had lost any semblance of human rationality or heart.

「Bastard! Bastard! Die! You damn goblin bastard!」

「Ga-gya! Ugi!」

The magician might have known staff techniques, since his staff easily passed through the goblin’s defences and continued hitting. If the opponent was human, it would have the physique of a 4-5 year old, so it would not be impossible for a one-handed adventurer to beat the goblin down. Soon, the goblin’s stance broke. He tried to lean on the spear, but it was knocked aside. The goblin child who had now lost its spear stood there trembling as if its body were petrified. Because its leg was severely injured and bruised, it couldn’t run properly anymore.

The magician raised his staff and glared at his small enemy once more.
It’s just a goblin, with only this small body…….how and why did it become this way…….
The magician couldn’t control himself and screamed out his doubts:

「Damn it, even though we should have been able to easily slaughter the goblins! One tiny bastard small-fry like you………why, damn it! Am I seeing a fucking nightmare!?」

「……..It’s because you met with the wrong opponent, you know.」

「Wha? It tal–…」

Suddenly, he lost his focus……the goblin child spoke human so fluently. Taking advantage of that instant gap, the goblin stepped forward. The magician reacted too late to counter.  The staff smashed into the hard part of the goblin’s shoulder. At that moment, however, the goblin’s right hand pierced inside the magician’s arm and slashed at it, as if it were stroking it. (9:yes its inside)

「Eh? A…agyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!」

Blood spurted out from the insides of his upper arm down to his elbow. Beast-like claws extended from the goblin’s fingers.

With the tender interior muscles having been ripped apart, it became impossible for the magician to bend his arm. He screamed bloody murder while trying to run away. Then, from his rear, a small weight landed on his shoulder, putting more pressure on it.

「Oioi, for the great human, you can put food on the table just by killing other, but when you are on the slaughtered side, you sure become really ugly. Isn’t your resolve a bit lacking?」

「Eeeeek….Ee-help me please! I’m in the wrong, okay! I won’t attack the village anymore! Money or weapons too, I will give them to you, so please!」

Scared of the goblin with the unknown nature whispering so close to his ear, the magician begged for his life.

<Magician’s Point of View>

Even if it were a mutated goblin, I should have been able to kill it. It’s not even a goblin mage, or even a goblin leader, much less a goblin general. Though there were small differences, but without a shred of doubt, it should be a normal goblin. But to even “train” and ogre and lead it towards us, to cleverly escape a life and death situation, and right now, and even to speak so fluently using a language only humans can use.  Up until now, I’ve never seen nor heard of such a goblin existing. If this is a nightmare, let me wake from it immediately!!!

「Nn~ too bad. If you had said that you would teach me magic, then I would’ve thought about it. Well, I will gratefully use your money and weapons, so be relieved and please die.」(9: listening to “utada hikaru – first love” when i was TLling this one, kukuku.)

「Wa-wait please! I’ll teach you magic, so plea—」 (9: for some reason it’s easier for me to TL when someone is begging for their lives XD)

I felt a fresh, warm feeling on the nape of my neck, and at the same time, pain ran through me….*bite bite*. I despaired….I was being eaten. Immediately after, the carotid artery was bitten into pieces, and blood spurted out from the magician’s neck, and his life faded away.