Inside the thick bushes.Rustle-rustle-.All of us hid our bodies in the brush, sticking only our heads out to observe the goblin colony.A small settlement formed around the entrance of a cave. A crude wooden palisade surrounded the mouth.Beside that palisade stood a shabbily built watchtower, and goblins holding torches were pacing back and forth on patrol.Judging by the scale of the place, there were roughly a hundred goblins inhabiting it.A much larger colony than expected—enough that there could easily be a goblin shaman or even a hobgoblin among them.Freya, who had been carefully observing their movements, turned to me and asked,“What do you think, Loen?”“There are more than expected, but it’s still doable.”No—more than doable.In terms of raw strength, Freya alone could mow down dozens of goblins like cutting grass.The only variables were traps, poison arrows, or daggers they’d prepared—but even those, she could handle with ease.If I handed Aegis to Freya and let her charge in alone, she’d slaughter everything and come back without a scratch.'But there’s a fundamental question here.'I frowned as I stared at the goblin colony.How could a goblin colony even exist in a place like this?Yes, this was an undeveloped area, but it still bordered the Union.Autonomous golems patrolled periodically, sweeping out monster habitats, and instructors were occasionally dispatched to manage the monsters’ quality and numbers.One or two stray monsters like an Owlbear could drift in and live here, but a goblin colony of this size forming and surviving was nearly impossible in this environment.In that sense, there was something very suspicious about this colony.Just like how that pack of Dire Wolves suddenly appeared.'For now… I’ll have to check it myself.'I nodded and raised my hand, signaling as we’d agreed beforehand.Then—Thwack-.An arrow and a Magic Arrow came flying out of nowhere and blew off the head of the goblin standing atop the watchtower.That was Hakone and Yulina’s work.Kieee-!As their comrade fell, the goblins guarding the palisade howled and took up alert positions.Their eyes turned red as they swung their clubs wildly.“Die!”At that moment, Gaurel and Karon sprang out of the bushes beside us, slashing the goblins’ necks.Slash-.Kieek!It was as if they were venting their humiliation from the Dire Wolves and the golem incident—cutting down goblins around the cave entrance one after another.A dozen goblins fell in the blink of an eye to their swords.And when Freya joined in, it was over in an instant.After subduing the goblins guarding the cave entrance, we formed formation with Jimmy’s shield in front.Clack-.We blocked ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the entrance and surrounded it in a semicircle.After waiting a short while like that, goblins poured out from inside the cave.Kieee-!But since our formation was already in place, their fate was obvious.Thud-.Each time a goblin burst out from the cave, we easily cut them down with arrows and swords.'Going smoothly.'After a few more were slain, no more goblins came running out.Perhaps they’d learned, choosing to give up reclaiming the entrance and fortify themselves deeper inside.Since they didn’t come out, Hakone suggested,“Loen, what about lighting a fire inside the cave~?”As she said, blocking the entrance and smoking them out would make things easy.However—“If there’s a ventilation tunnel deeper inside, it won’t work. And if the smoke fills it, we’ll have a hard time collecting the magic stones later. We’ll hold off.”“That’s true~”“Anyway, since they’re not coming out, we’ll have to go in. Enter according to the pre-arranged formation.”At my signal, the team swiftly formed up.Hakone and Gaurel, skilled in trap disarming, led the way; Jimmy the shield-bearer and Freya, our strongest fighter, guarded them.The rest of us followed behind, with Karon covering the rear.Each of us lit an oil lantern and entered the dark goblin cave.The moment we stepped inside, a pungent stench unique to goblins filled the air.“Ugh, it stinks~”We’d killed plenty of monsters before—blood, filth, rot—but this was another level of foul.“Damn, smells like rotting corpses.”“Hey, did you really have to say that out loud?”“Quiet down, all of you.”“……”The team murmured among themselves.I said nothing—just wet a handkerchief and covered my nose and mouth.“……”Freya glanced at me silently, so I took out a spare handkerchief and handed it to her.She nodded slightly in thanks and covered her own nose and mouth just the same.We advanced deeper into the cave.The further we went, the stronger that strange, familiar feeling grew.I kept walking, following that unexplainable sense.Here and there were crude traps, but Hakone and Gaurel disarmed them without difficulty, allowing us to move safely inward.Clatter-.The arrows the goblins shot from inside were all blocked by Jimmy’s shield, and those archers who gave away their positions had their heads blown apart by Yulina’s magic.Kyaaak-!They fired poison arrows wildly and threw torches to block our advance, but it was all in vain.The gap between our team and the goblins was simply too large.Cutting down the goblins ahead, we pressed on until we reached the innermost chamber of the cave.“This must be the deepest point.”Just as I swept my torch around the chamber—Kieee-!From the darkness, a goblin shaman wearing a crude feathered crown shrieked and swung its staff.But before it could even cast a curse—Slash-.Its head flew off, severed by Freya’s sword.Expressionless, she flicked off the blood and sheathed her blade.I shrugged at the headless corpse.“That must’ve been the last one.”We’d cleared out every goblin and reached the final room—but there was no treasure chest, no precious artifact waiting for us.Only crude tools and a few stored rations. Nothing of value.Gaurel scowled bitterly.“Tch. What a bust.”We’d risked our lives clearing the cave, yet the only reward was the magic stones harvested from their corpses—understandable frustration.“Expecting something grand in a goblin cave is the weird part~”“Weren’t we here to collect magic stones anyway?”“Can I go out first? The smell’s giving me a headache.”While they chatted, my eyes swept continuously around the chamber—searching for the source of that strange feeling.'That…'Then I saw it—a small altar tucked into a corner of the room.A space carved out of the cave wall, with wooden carvings forming a crude shrine.I approached and picked up a small, jet-black stone carefully placed atop the altar.“……”It was barely the size of a fingernail, a mere speck—but the power emanating from it told me exactly what it was.'A fragment of a Dark Magic Stone.'Vmmm-.I felt Derode’s Ring on my left ring finger react as I pocketed it.So this was why a goblin colony had formed here.The goblin shaman must’ve used the stone’s power to cast a cognition-interference barrier, keeping the golems from ever discovering this place.“Let’s get out of here.”By the time we emerged from the cave, the sun was beginning to set.We hunted a small boar nearby and set up camp.Gaurel and Hakone skinned and cleaned it, and soon our team was feasting on a delicious roasted boar barbecue.With yesterday’s leftover soup and bread, it was a hearty meal.***After dinner, the night watch rotations began again.Same as yesterday—Freya and I shared a shift.I followed behind her, continuing our patrol through the late-night fog.Tonight the mist was even thicker than before.A cold wind whispered, and only the faint moonlight beyond the fog dimly lit our path.“I heard about the Territorial War.”This time, Freya was the first to speak after a long silence.She must’ve read the reports about the recent war that had been the talk of the Union.“I don’t know your intent… but you did a good thing.”The follow-up articles hadn’t even been published yet, but she seemed to know the whole story.I replied while walking behind her.“There’s no ‘intent’ to read into. I only did what any Student Council President should.”Saving Izelin Academy, and even stopping Jerome’s invasion—it was really for my own benefit, but phrasing it this way was simpler and made sense.“Have you had a change of heart recently?”“…After dying once, I decided to live properly.”Same principle.If anyone asked why Loen the delinquent suddenly reformed, this was the only answer that fit.“……”Freya fell silent for a while, then finally spoke again.“Then… why did you never reply to the letter I sent you before…?”Just then—“Wait.”I stopped dead in my tracks and raised a hand to halt her.Then I stared into the darkness down the narrow path ahead.A strange energy—hard to describe, but distinctly ominous—was coming from there.I murmured quietly, eyes narrowed.“Something’s wrong.”“…What do you mean?”“I’m not sure. But stay alert.”It was odd that Freya—whose mana-sensing ability was far superior to mine—felt nothing. Yet an eerie familiarity prickled at my senses.Seeing me suddenly act strange, Freya sighed sharply and snapped,“Don’t stir up needless fear. It’s unsettling enough already…”“I’m telling you, it’s not that.”The moment I spoke with a hardened face—Shhhhhh-.A thick black mist surged forth, instantly obscuring our view.“!”The pitch-dark fog billowed out, spreading in every direction until it filled the area completely.At the same time, the surrounding mana density spiked sharply, and an unknown pressure began to crush down on us.“Ugh.”A clearly artificial manipulation of mana.The Howling Mountain Range did have unstable mana flows and dense fog, but it was still stable enough for the Union to use as a test field.There was no way this kind of sinister mana could suddenly appear naturally.“……”Freya, tense, gripped the sword at her waist and scanned the area.Then she muttered quietly,“This is a barrier.”“A barrier?”“Yes. And one cast by a very high-level mage. Far beyond even a professor—no, beyond a headmaster’s capabilities…”“……”A barrier… at a level surpassing even a Union headmaster?'…!'The thought sparked something in my memory—a villain from the Mirellin Saga.'A dark magician specialized in spatial and barrier magic.'One of the Twelve Venerables of the Dark Path—the main hostile faction in the game.As I stared at the faint silhouette within the fog, realization struck.'…Gillean of the Black Mist.'That loathsome name, regarded as myth or legend by the public, flashed through my mind—and from beyond the darkness, a beautiful, resonant voice spoke.“Nice to meet you.”Step-.“Loen de Valis.”

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