Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 136. Three Companion And The Forced Reconnaissance

“To the right! Yaralai!”

“I know!”

The deafening gunfire boomed without pause from above. The M4 carbine fired in rapid succession from the roof of the bouncing camper. It should be in semi-auto mode, but the firing rate was frighteningly fast. True to his word, every shot was a kill. He’s a man of his word.

From the passenger seat, I leaned out and aimed my Kuuligu at the cluster of goblins. The beasts were drooling, shrieking (and no, not battle cries) as they swarmed the camper.

I waited for Yaralai’s signal, drawing the beasts closer.

Thanks to Hagg’s incredible driving, the scattered goblins started forming into a tight group.

“Now, Akira!”

“On it!”

I channeled energy and focus into the Kuuligu in my grasp. I didn’t say it out loud, but internally, I shouted, “Machine Gun Lightsaber!”

Small, glowing bullets sliced through the dry air of the wasteland, turning the charging beasts into chunks of meat. Apparently, I had the most firepower when it came to destruction from a distance. My accuracy was pitiful, but I compensated by spraying shots everywhere.

Still, how is Yaralai hitting every single target while we’re on this shaky ride?

Meanwhile, what was the freeloading girl Faf up to?

“Heh heh heh… Capturing this on such a small screen is quite amusing.”

She was recording the battle with her smartphone.

She didn’t seem interested in fighting, so I asked her to do that instead.

Though I couldn’t actually see her filming, I was sure she was holding her phone steady despite the shaking.

“Akira!”

As a break in the goblins came, Yaralai tossed his empty magazine into the car through the window. I quickly reloaded the 5.56mm rounds into the magazine. We’d bought an extra 870 rounds, but about two-thirds of them were already gone. The reason was simple.

There were just too many goblins.

“Hagg! Watch where you’re driving! The tires won’t last much longer!”

“I know, I know!”

Hagg, the dwarf who learned how to drift the camper in two hours as promised, shouted back with the accelerator floored.

“Hagg! How did things end up like this?!”

“No idea! But! Maybe we got two hosts!”

“What?!”

“There was already a hazard, right?! Then if the elf girl was captured…”

“…I! Save! My kin!”

“I know! But focus on thinning their numbers first!”

“Right!”

“Heh heh heh…”

As more beasts swarmed out from the pit-like mine, I handed Yaralai the freshly loaded magazine.

How did it come to this?

Let’s rewind a bit.

===============================

After washing my face in the sink, I set up breakfast. Hagg was scarfing down a tonkatsu bento for breakfast. Faf, too. Made me queasy just watching.

Yaralai and I settled for sandwiches and coffee.

As for me, I was decked out in full U.S. military gear.

We filled up the tank with 20 liters of gasoline.

From last night’s briefing, we’d bought nine pre-loaded M4 magazines (30 rounds each) for 318,000 yen total. Along with 600 extra rounds of 5.56mm for another 240,000 yen.

After accounting for dinner, breakfast, and gas, we had barely anything left.

Remaining funds: 43,480 yen.

That was the result of our discussion as a group.

Even if we didn’t make any more money for a while, Hagg and Yaralai were willing to dip into their savings. That’s how much they hated goblins.

They were both dead set on extermination and didn’t complain one bit about the cost.

But still, with only 870 rounds, the supply was a bit thin. If we went full auto, we’d burn through it in no time.

When I voiced that concern, Yaralai puffed his chest out.

“One shot, one kill. Trust me.”

Cool as always.

With the money spent on ammo, all that was left was to carry out the plan. As promised, Hagg showed off driving skills equal to mine in just two hours.

…Still didn’t sit right with me.

The plan was simple: approach undetected in the camper, stash the vehicle in a container, and then circle the abandoned mine on foot for recon. We’d adjust based on what we found, then annihilate them. Reporting back to town was never part of the plan.

If, during recon, we decided the task was too much, we’d pull out and regroup.

We started in the morning because goblins were more active at night. They have good night vision, so blending into the dark didn’t give us much of an advantage. It was better to scout during the day when our visibility was better.

Dwarves can see almost perfectly in total darkness, and elves have excellent night vision too. Meaning, I was the only one holding us back…

But they brushed it off and told me to keep moving.

As planned, Yaralai advanced the camper until he could spot the beasts, then stashed the vehicle in the container. Faf just chuckled in the back of her throat.

Staying low, we kept to a distance where we could just barely see the outer edge of the mine and surveyed the area.

“This should work.”

“Running through here should be fine, but going fast will be rough. It’ll be like a roller coaster.”

“What’s that?”

“I mean it’ll be a bumpy ride.”

“That’s fine. Even that weakling elf should manage.”

“Oh…? Says the dwarf who’ll have the easiest time…”

“Alright, that’s enough. We’re halfway around. What now?”

“Of course, we’ll finish the other half. But first, we should check inside the mine.”

“Agreed…”

There weren’t any goblins in sight. Maybe they were all holed up in their nest?

Whatever the case, it worked in our favor.

“…Hagg, you’re the leader. What’s your call?”

“We should check it.”

“Got it. No need to split up?”

“I thought about that, but this team is well-balanced for recon. We can handle most accidents.”

“Alright. Let’s move.”

“Akira, lower your head more.”

“…Got it.”

Covered in sand, we crawled to the edge of the open-pit mine and peeked inside.

Everyone but Faf gasped at the same time.

“What… the hell?”

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

“Unbelievable…”

“Heh heh heh…”

The pit was massive. Incredibly massive. And crammed with bright green, humanoid creatures. At first glance, it seemed like the ground itself was green. The total number… Impossible to count. But there were way more than 500.

“Three thousand, at least.”

Yaralai muttered under his breath.

“This… isn’t good.”

“That’s way too many.”

“Yeah. This… wasn’t what we expected. We might need to retreat and gather more supplies and people.”

It was a rational judgment. Yaralai clenched his teeth but nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s… Akira, get down!”

Hagg’s huge hand pushed my face into the ground. I almost yelped, but seeing him also pressed flat to the ground, glaring at the path we’d come from, I swallowed my breath.

“Another group… This isn’t good.”

It seemed we were now caught between two goblin armies.