Chapter 4: Chapter 4
The scream from the goblin earlier alerted the nearby goblins which made them all simultaneously turn their heads at the commotion.
Looking toward it, they all saw three lifeless bodies of their companion and were perplexed as they alternate their gaze between the human and the bodies.
Kkekkeeke!?
Keekeke?
Kkeukkeke!!
Realizing it was this human who killed their companions, the goblins' screeches and cries of sorrow as their wails resounded throughout the area.
They all ceased their mindless killings and raised their swords high in the air as they began to madly rush at him.
'Shit! That damn goblin, it just had to make trouble for me'
Kaminari didn't hesitate and immediately bolted away after seeing the crowd of goblins frantically charging at him as their saliva flew everywhere from all the screeching and cries.
He headed toward the same alleyway the group of three went earlier while he ran while fending off a few goblins who lunged at him atop the roofs and tried to focus his sense of hearing on his surroundings.
'Now, where did you guys go?'
•••
In an alleyway...
A group of three was desperately running away from what looked like small green-skin creatures, though it's more appropriate to say that the man in the group was the only one running.
Ha~ Ha~
Naturally, the group was the same people who had followed Kaminari earlier and had gone ahead of him. They thought there were only a few goblins hidden in the alleyway, enough to fend them off which was the reason they headed this way
But it seems there were more goblins than expected, hiding in the alleyway which was a miscalculation on their part.
"M-Miss, where's the shelter in this place?!"
The middle-aged man driver felt exhausted from running as he had to carry two civilians on him while navigating through the alleyway.
"It's at the center of the city!"
"C-Center?! That... haa... T-Thank you... haa... miss"
With a destination to set off to, the middle-aged man halted his steps for a second and quickly analyze the shortest way to the center of the city.
'T-There! If I use that path, I will be able to reduce the time needed to get to the shelter'
The middle-aged man saw in the distance another alleyway leading out on the right which was the shortcut, deciding not to waste any more time. He braced himself up as he securely carried the two before sprinting toward there.
Ha~ Ha~
Arriving near the entrance, he turned right and went inside the alleyway when suddenly, he was greeted by a goblin lunging toward him with a sword.
"Wha-"
The goblin cackled in laughter as it swung its sword downward and was about to slaughter them when a shadow swiftly passed by and appeared right in front of the group.
Clang!
A crisp metallic sound echoed when the sword was blocked by a brass knuckle.
"Y-Y-Young master!?"
The middle-aged man immediately recognized that tall and broad back. It was his young master, Kaminari Ryuji of the Ryuji Clan.
"What happened to you? I've only been gone for what? A few minutes and you already look shit"
"Sniff... y-young master! You're safe!!"
The middle-aged man cried in happiness as snot dripped down his nose and was about to hug him when a hand blocked his face.
"Stop it! It's disgusting, you're going to get your snot on my shirt!"
"B-But... y-young master..."
His driver still wanted to hug him even though he was told not to.
"Stop, Jesus Christ. You still have a child in your hand. Your snot is going to fall on her"
Kaminari didn't hesitate to push him away in disgust and turned his attention back to the goblin.
Kekeukeke?
The goblin was confused by the sudden appearance of a new human but it didn't care and went back to its crazed state as it lunged itself at him.
Kekekeke!
The goblin felt the human was petrified with fear since it was just standing there and cackled even more at that thought when a sharp kick hit its stomach.
Bam!
Kaminari's kick made the goblin fly as it slammed itself on the wall on his right and bounced back right after, although the kick didn't inflict any damage to it but it did stop its attack.
And Kaminari didn't hesitate to finish it off before it could stand up as he launched a hard punch at the back of its neck, killing it instantly.
"Mommy, that uncle is amazing!"
Kaminari almost choked on his saliva when he heard the little girl call him an uncle and coughed, trying to hide the fact he was affected by her words.
"That's right! That uncle is in fact, my young master! A noble and great ma- keuk!?"
Kaminari angrily shoved his hand at his driver's mouth, covering it and hinting at him through his eyes to shut up. His driver realized his mistake and gulped as he quietly nodded, implying he understood his order.
He quickly took back his hand while silently grumbling in disgust as he quietly wipes off the saliva on his pants.
'Ugh... I'll make a mental note to wash my hands after this'
Kaminari grunted and kick the goblin's dead body away out of annoyance when all of a sudden, wails and cries appeared and echoed in the air.
Kekkeekeke!!
Kekeukke!
Screeches and cackles were heard in the distance behind them, making them realize that they were still being chased.
"Tch... these goblins just don't know when to quit"
Kaminari scoffed and signal the group with his hands to move before the goblins catches up with them.
"Let's go!"
The group began fleeing away from the area when the goblins finally arrived at the alleyway they were on, luckily they had already run away and gained some distance between them.
Though that didn't last long when the goblins saw them running away and started chasing them frantically from behind.
"Wataru, do you know where you're going?"
The middle-aged man driver or Wataru nodded, expressing that he already has a destination to set.
"Y-Yes, young master! We're going to the center of this city, where the shelter is located at"
"Hmm... then you go and lead the way, I'll cover you guys from behind"
Wataru nodded and started to speed up, passing Kaminari as he ran up ahead at the front when a sharp whistle echoed behind them.
Swish~
Out of instinct, Kaminari ducked as a small rugged sword flew right past above his head, lunging itself to the ground in front of him.
He turned around and glared at a goblin that was on the roof, wanting to curse but decided not to as he continued to run while letting his guard up for any possible sneak attack again.
Swish~
And just like he thought, another sword flew toward him at an alarming speed, and immediately bend his body to the left as the blade just missed by an inch.
"These goblins are one persistent creature, I'll tell you that"
Kaminari grab the rugged sword that was lunged on the ground as he was running and hurled it right back at the goblins.
Bam!
The rugged sword swiftly flew and left behind an echo of a sharp whistle slicing through the air as it strikes an unlucky goblin. It was unfortunate that the sword wasn't enchanted by mana or it would have already pierced the goblin.
Still, it did manage to knock the goblin back, making it slam against a few goblins that were behind it which disrupted the flow and rhythm of their chase.
Kekeuke!?
Keekekeuk!!
The goblins cried out in surprise when the human they were chasing used their own attack against them which was more accurate and disrupted compared to theirs.
"Heh..."
Kaminari grinned amusingly after seeing the startled and confused faces of the goblins and felt a slight contempt against them.
'So these are goblins, huh... they're much dumber than I thought'
The goblins realized the human was making fun of them when seeing the amused smile and the hint of contempt in the human's eyes as they screeched violently at that thought.
KEUKKEEKEE!!
They all madly rushed at him as their speed started to increase at an alarming pace which made Kaminari regret his actions earlier.
'Ahh, this is what happens when I let my arrogance get to me...'
Kaminari learned a valuable lesson today to not provoke monsters when you're already in a very precarious situation.
KEKEKEUKEE!!
They've become so passionate about wanting to kill him that it slightly scared him. Even if he can take on two or three goblins, a pack of them is enough to straight-up butcher him.
Especially when he's in a narrow space and can't move as much which makes dodging or maneuvering a pain in the ass.
"Run faster"
Kaminari patted Wataru's shoulders, making him turn his face around which made him pale at the sight of rampaging goblins heading their way at an alarming speed.
"A... Ahhhh!?"
The sight of the ugly and maniacal faces of the goblins as well as the fear of death that hung above his head made Wataru run like an Olympic runner.
"Huh..."
Kaminari watched stupefied as Wataru's back slowly fade away in the distance, leaving behind dust and wind in his trail.
Swish~ Swish~
As he was thinking about how Wataru managed to run so fast, numerous swords were hurled at him suddenly as sharp whistles echoed in the air.
'Shit!'
Kaminari instantly ducked and weave the hurling swords while he redirect some that he couldn't dodge through his brass knuckle.
Clang! Clang!
Kaminari sweated and turned pale as he tried to protect his body from the blades as much as possible.
'There's too many of them!'
Unfortunately, there were still some swords that managed to graze him even after all the dodging and maneuvering he had to do.
Swish~ Swish~
The more time passes, the more injuries form all over Kaminari's body. Although the injuries were small and minor, however, the amount inflicted was quite a lot.
Ha~ Ha~ Ha~
Kaminari realized he was slowly becoming tired, it could have been because he has been moving without rest or the anemia was getting to him.
"Haha! This is crazy!"
Although Kaminari was in such a dangerous predicament, for some reason, he felt a sense of thrill at the thought that he might die.
The feeling of life and death situation was something he has never encountered before, it felt new.
As someone who was spoiled since childhood because he was born into a rich family, he never got to experience anything life-threatening. It was the first time his blood boiled from excitement.
And before he knew it, he started to have fun.
"Hahahaha!"
Kaminari laughed happily as a sword whistled toward him and headed at the back of his head when he slightly ducked, making the blade miss by an inch above his head.
He didn't even turn around or look back, his body just moved on its own.
The thought that he might die from making just one mistake, made his instincts sharper and sharper. Before he knew it, the number of wounds on his body became less as time passes by.
Swish~ Swish~
Another two swords flew, heading toward him at an alarming speed when he sidestep twice, making the sword fly passed by him.
Kekeukee!?
Kekkeeke?
The goblins finally noticed the anomaly of the situation, they have been chucking their swords at him for the past several minutes but not one of them has managed to hit or even graze him.
He hasn't even tried to block or redirect their attacks anymore but instead, just dodges and weaves them all as if he had eyes at the back of his head.
It was starting to irritate the goblins, if they continued doing this then sooner or later they won't have any weapons to use anymore. Though they could pick up the ones they hurled away, unfortunately, they don't exactly have the best durability.
"Fireball!"
Out of nowhere a ball of fire flew and struck at the rampaging goblins as it erupted in flames, creating a small explosion that engulfed and burned the goblins to ashes.
Boom!
Kaminari was startled at the explosion that erupted and almost tripped due to the impact of the explosion. Luckily he was quite far enough from the explosion as he could have become collateral damage had he stopped running.
"What... just happened?"
Kaminari turned around and gaped at the burning goblins, the explosion was big enough to engulf all the goblins that were chasing after him except the ones on the roof but they already scattered away the moment the explosion occurred.
"We happened"
A voice of a man sounded from behind which made Kaminari look back just to see a team of people with armor and pieces of equipment on them.
This made him alert and cautious of the unknown group, making him vigilant and prepare for any sudden attacks.
"Now, now, there's no need to be cautious. We're hunters from the Mochi Guild, we are here to help you"
Kaminari knew they were Hunters even without him saying. After all, he just saw a ball of fire engulfing the goblins to ashes, saving him but that alone won't make him fully trust them.
"...thank you"
The hunter sighed, seeing the cautious look on the young man's face not disappearing, and rubbed the back of his head out of helplessness.
"Sigh... I guess that's good enough. Well, you should thank your friends though"
"Friends...?"
"Yes, friends... they are your friends, right?"
The hunter pointed his finger at the back of the team which Kaminari curiously glanced at and saw the familiar people.
They were Wataru and the pair of mother and daughter, it seems that they managed to ask for help from the hunters.
"Y-Young master!!"
Wataru immediately sprinted and was about to hug his young master when a hand grab his face which stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't hug me"
"T-That... apologize, young master. I got caught up with the moment"
Seeing the sad expression that formed on Wataru's face, Kaminari twitched his eyebrow a bit and helplessly sighed.
"Well, I'm glad you're safe... as well as you two"
After saying that, a pair of mother and daughter walked out from behind Wataru as the mother smiled gratefully at Kaminari.
"I don't know how to thank you enough, young man"
"You can thank me by taking care of your daughter, how about that?"
Kaminari slightly smiled and bent down as he rubbed the head of the little girl which made the mother smile warmly and bowed at him out of appreciation.
"I really can't thank you enough"
Kaminari just smiled and shrugged his shoulders at her words.
The hunter who was watching the scene from the sideline finally went up toward them after seeing their talk end.
"Now then, how about we escort you, people, to the shelter"
"W-We would be grateful for that"
Wataru bowed at the man in gratitude as the pair of mother and daughter joined in as well and bowed at them. Since the three bowed at them, Kaminari felt he shouldn't be disrespectful and bowed slightly at the man as well.
The hunter was slightly embarrassed and became sheepish at their gesture of gratitude which made his team member laugh at him.
"Cough... w-well, shall we go now?"
"O-Of course, please lead the way"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone