Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 137. Three Company And the Unexpected Battle

“There are probably 200 of them.”

Yaralai squinted, glaring at the horizon.

“Can we avoid them?”

“It’ll be hard. They’re uncoordinated, just spread out.”

It wasn’t intentional on their part, but they were scattered like a search formation.

“What about breaking through?”

“With them spread out like that, if we fight one group, the rest will swarm us. They’ll come crawling out from their burrows.”

“That’s the worst.”

“Indeed, not an ideal situation.”

I brushed off Hagg’s hand on my head, focused my energy, and looked ahead. Sure enough, scattered green goblins were heading our way. Some were dragging zebra carcasses, and others carried strange dog-like creatures on their backs.

“Looks like a hunting party. At least they’re not heading toward town.”

“So, worst-case scenario, they could’ve attacked the town?”

“In a colony that size, food’s a matter of life and death. Normally, they’d breed in a forest where food’s plentiful. This time, it’s all exceptions.”

“So, what now, Leader?”

They were gradually closing in on us. I felt like prey hiding, and discovery was only a matter of time.

“… At this point, we have no choice but to go for it. Akira, get the car.”

I held my breath for a moment, glanced at the other two, and Yaralai nodded firmly while Faf only growled.

“Got it… I’ll pull it out on a 3-count. After that, stick to the plan. Hagg, you’re in charge of the route.”

“Understood.”

“Here we go… 3, 2, 1, now!”

I closed my eyes briefly, displayed the container list behind my eyelids, and selected the camper van at full speed. I stretched out my hand, and from my palm, a massive vehicle emerged.

“Get in!”

The goblins, now closer, spotted us and began to stir. When the engine roared, they joined in, howling in sync.

“Behind us! They’re coming out from the inside too!”

“Hmph! Just as well! We’ll drag them all out!”

Without waiting for a response, Hagg slammed the accelerator. The white beast surged forward, nearly knocking us over backward. The cries of the beasts ahead grew more intense. One goblin, armed with a crude hammer made of a rock tied to a branch, raised his weapon, but part of his head exploded. 

A gunshot rang out. More shots followed. To them, it must’ve sounded like the cries of a fearsome bird. Every time the devil growled, another head flew off. Even at a distance of 100 meters, not a single shot missed, despite not using a sniper rifle.

I quickly leaned out from the passenger seat, poking my head through the roof.

“Yaralai! You’ve got 10 preloaded magazines! Use them wisely! Faf, film this, just like I taught you last night!”

“Roger!”

“Heh, I’ll do it as you asked.”

I tossed Faf my phone, and she caught it effortlessly, starting to record with the quick skill I’d taught her.

“Akira, I’ll take out the enemies ahead. You focus on wiping out the beasts!”

“Me?”

“If you don’t rely on your lightsaber, we’ll run out of bullets.”

“… Got it.”

As I pulled out my weapon, the vehicle lurched to one side.

“We’ll circle around the nest from here! Don’t fall off, especially you, Akira!”

“I’ll be careful!”

With this driving, “I’m fine” didn’t feel like the right answer. I’d better hold on tight, or I’d end up diving out the window.

“Let the battle begin!”

With Hagg’s roar, the unexpected battle had started. It quickly spiraled into chaos.

An hour in. The sun wasn’t even overhead yet, but its rays beat down relentlessly. I bought ten water bottles and tossed them to everyone.

Remaining funds: 42,770 yen.

I cursed myself for not getting sports drinks approved. So far, our tactic of bunching up and wiping out goblins emerging from the nest had worked well. The lightsaber’s power was undeniable. My gun-crazy boss once said that when machine guns were first introduced, it was one-sided slaughter until trench warfare became standard. I wasn’t sure if that was true, but one thing was clear: a machine gun without ammo limits, even just one, was a serious force.

At the same time, I understood the obvious truth that “numbers are power.” No matter how many we killed, more humanoid beasts kept swarming toward the vehicle. There had been some close calls. Without Yaralai’s precise sniping, some would’ve reached us. It annoyed me that the horned girl seemed to be enjoying taking close-up shots of it all.

I was already numb to the aversion of killing living creatures. Not that my threshold had been high to begin with. But… if I’m honest…

Shouting, slaying. This primal action… Is a little fun.

Have I class-changed into a savage? As I watched humanoid beings get mowed down, green blood spraying everywhere, I found myself laughing aloud.

Smash! Scream! And die! Die! Die! Dieee!!

I don’t know how long I was out of it, but suddenly Faf’s face appeared right in front of me, snapping me back to reality.

“Whoa?!”

“Heh… You’re pushing too hard. Your strikes are too powerful.”

“… Oh, uh, sorry.”

“Heh, while I wasn’t planning to step in, since I’m already giving advice… there’s someone under that dead tree up ahead.”

“What did you say?! … Hagg!”

“On it!”

With a sharp turn, Hagg steered the camper toward where Faf pointed. As we got closer, sure enough, there was someone there.

“… Uthis?”

“What?!”

Yaralai’s voice was lost in the wind, but soon, we saw her… it was indeed her.

“What’s she doing here?!”

“No time for questions! Pull up!”

Kicking up dust, the camper screeched to a halt just shy of tipping over.

“Get in!”

I reached out through the door, but Uthis hesitated.

“What are you doing?! Hurry!”

“Damn it! We’re going to be surrounded!”

Yaralai was holding off a few stragglers, but at this rate, we were running out of bullets, time, and efficiency.

“… The elf… she went ahead as bait…”

“”What?!””

Both Yaralai and I shouted in unison.

“She said she didn’t have enough strength left to use her magic, so she went to draw them away…”

The direction Uthis pointed was… straight toward the mine.