The battle at the Goblin settlement was gradually dying down.
That said, given the sheer number of Goblins, the fighting couldn't end in an instant.
But the annihilation effort that had begun at the settlement's edges was steadily narrowing the combat zone as the encirclement tightened.
Once that happened, it naturally became harder for Goblins to flee. They were cut down by adventurers one after another, their corpses rolling across the ground.
...And the Water Wolf seized every opportunity to devour those very corpses.
Since the shrinking perimeter had caused the Water Wolf — now larger than Set — to become an obstacle in battle, it had been relegated to cleaning up the dead.
With the fighting itself a one-sided rout, there was no need for the Water Wolf's strength on the front lines.
Having it dispose of Goblin corpses would, in the end, speed up the settlement's annihilation. That was the logic behind the decision.
"Woof... Woof!"
While gulping down a Goblin corpse, the Water Wolf spotted one darting out from beneath a body and swung its foreleg in a flash.
"Gyaa!"
The Water Wolf's foreleg was, of course, made of water — but the blow it delivered was devastatingly powerful.
Struck by that strike, the Goblin was sent flying, slammed headfirst into a nearby tree trunk, and died instantly from a broken neck.
The adventurers were thorough in their work, but given the overwhelming number of Goblins, some — like the one just now — had hidden beneath their fallen comrades' bodies.
Under normal circumstances, the adventurers would never overlook such a thing. But with this many Goblins in the settlement, there was only so much ground they could cover.
In fact, a small number of Goblins had managed to avoid the adventurers' blades and act before the Water Wolf arrived, successfully slipping out of the settlement entirely.
Whether those escapees could survive for long in the Treant Forest, however, was another matter entirely.
"Hey, how many have you cleared over there?"
"Not that many yet. ...Damn it!"
The adventurer who'd been spoken to mid-fight replied, looking genuinely frustrated.
Having seen the naked women used as meat shields with his own eyes, a fierce hatred for Goblins burned in his gaze.
The one who'd asked hadn't witnessed the shields himself, so he couldn't fully grasp why his companion hated the creatures so intensely. He could at least guess that the Goblins had done something terrible.
"I don't know what happened, but let's focus on taking them down first."
"...Yeah."
They exchanged brief words and went back to killing Goblins, one after another.
At the end of the day, the enemy was nothing more than Goblins.
An adventurer scanned for stragglers while checking on his companions. No one appeared to be injured.
The Lizardmen were the same — not a single one had sustained anything worth calling a wound.
Even so, with no way of knowing where Goblins might be lurking, the mental fatigue inevitably piled on.
The creatures' small stature made them all the harder to spot, allowing them to slip into any gap and vanish.
"Grrrrl!"
Amidst all of that, the one pinpointing hidden Goblins with unerring accuracy was Set.
His keen sense of smell could track a Goblin no matter where it tried to hide.
He found them one after another — dispatching each with a single strike. When a Goblin wedged itself into a gap too narrow even for Set to reach, he would call over a nearby adventurer or Rei to finish it off.
As time wore on, the encirclement drew tighter and tighter...
"Gyagya!"
With a shriek, the last Goblin was run through the torso by the Twilight Spear and fell still.
"That's the last one... but where are the High-ranking Species or Rare Species?"
Near the center of the Goblin settlement, Rei had just cut down the final Goblin.
Killed it — but that Goblin, while somewhat larger than the rest, still wasn't at the level of a High-ranking Species or Rare Species. It was an ordinary Goblin.
Which raised the real question: where were the High-ranking Species or Rare Species that should have been in this settlement?
A Goblin capable of building such a settlement, commanding a force of — possibly — up to a thousand Goblins, and possessing the cunning to use captured women as meat shields... that could not possibly be an ordinary Goblin.
"Did anyone see a High-ranking Species or Rare Species Goblin?"
Rei called out to the adventurers around him, but every response was a shake of the head.
Maybe the Lizardmen? He turned to Zozo nearby, but after asking the other Lizardmen, Zozo shook his head as well.
(Which leaves... the Water Wolf?)
The Water Wolf had been operating alongside Rei, but it wasn't under his command.
Because of that, even if it had eaten a High-ranking Species or Rare Species Goblin, there was nothing he could say about it.
"Water Wolf!"
At Rei's call, the Water Wolf — which had been swallowing fallen corpses and dissolving them from within — raised its head and padded over.
Its sheer size drew looks of surprise from a few adventurers, but most had grown accustomed to the sight and barely reacted.
"Woof?"
What is it? the bark seemed to say.
...Though the Goblin blood smeared around its muzzle gave those watching a mild start.
"Among the Goblins you ate — was there any that was different from the rest?"
"Woof... Woof."
The Water Wolf appeared to think for a moment, then shook its head.
How much to trust that response, even Rei couldn't say for certain.
But given the Water Wolf's high intelligence, he judged it unlikely to have simply forgotten what it had eaten.
Its wolf-like appearance made it impossible to entirely rule out the possibility that appetite had overridden memory.
"I see. ...Understood. Then I'll leave the corpse disposal to you."
"Woof!"
Happy to! The Water Wolf trotted back to its feast.
"Still... I can't wrap my head around how it can enjoy Goblin meat like that," one of the adventurers beside Rei muttered, visibly baffled.
A murmur of agreement rippled through the others.
Rei shared the sentiment.
"It came from another world. Its entire sense of taste is probably wired differently from ours."
"But it seemed to enjoy the grilled fish we made this morning, didn't it?"
The adventurer sounded faintly indignant.
If he thought his grilled fish was being lumped in the same category as Goblin meat, it was understandable that he wasn't thrilled.
"Nah, I wouldn't read too much into that. It seemed happy enough with the Orc meat I cooked last night too. I don't think its taste is different, exactly — more like... its range of what counts as delicious is just wider, maybe?"
"...Not sure if I should be jealous or feel sorry for it. Kind of a mixed feeling."
A palate that found Goblin meat delicious was both enviable and pitiable.
Rei nodded in agreement with the adventurer's assessment.
If someone asked Rei whether he wanted a palate that made Goblin meat taste good, he absolutely could not bring himself to say yes.
In that sense, he was nothing but grateful to Zephyle and the members of the Zephyle Clan for giving this body a normal sense of taste.
"Anyway, if the Water Wolf doesn't know either... that's a problem. If it's still hiding, Set or the Water Wolf could track it down — but there's no sign of that. Which means it most likely escaped."
"Wait, but... could it really have gotten away in that situation? We had this place completely surrounded, you know?"
There was no way they would have missed a High-ranking Species or Rare Species Goblin.
Rei nodded at the adventurer's protest.
"I think so too. But nothing is ever absolute. Especially in a settlement like this — there are quite a few places to hide."
Trees had been felled, but only to a limited extent.
Beyond that, there were crude dwellings — simple structures of wood and grass that the Goblins had cobbled together.
And since Goblins were more than capable of digging holes, hiding spots were hardly in short supply.
Of course, if they knew exactly where a Goblin was hiding — or if the search area were smaller — it would be far easier to flush them out.
But with a settlement of this scale, and while simultaneously fighting and shrinking the perimeter, even a High-ranking Species or Rare Species could slip through unnoticed.
(Well, even so, I don't think it would be that easy to pull off.)
After all, the adventurers and Lizardmen included more than a few veterans.
"Lord Rei. Given that it escaped, should we not consider what to do next rather than dwell on how?"
Rei nodded at the words written on Zozo's Stone Tablet.
He was right — obsessing over the method of escape wouldn't accomplish much.
More importantly, the one who had devised and ordered the meat shields was, in all likelihood, a High-ranking Species or Rare Species.
Since Rei had been right there when the shields were deployed, the chance that one had been lurking nearby was high.
Which meant the failure belonged to the adventurers present at that location — Rei included.
(Yeah, better not to chase that thread any further.)
Since he couldn't even confirm whether that theory was correct, Rei decided to move the conversation along.
"The real concern is that if the High-ranking Species or Rare Species escaped, it could build another settlement somewhere else."
"Exactly. If we end up getting hit by Goblins again, that'll be a massive headache. Finding a new settlement... well, with you and Set, we might manage somehow."
- Might we?* Rei wondered.
"The one running this settlement is smart. Would it really repeat the same mistake that got it discovered this time — felling trees? ...Though in the Treant Forest, building a settlement this size without cutting down trees would be difficult."
Rei's working theory was that with Set — who could fly — on their side, the escaped leader wouldn't make the same blunder twice if it tried to rebuild.
Which meant that if it established a new settlement, it would take steps to make it far harder to find.
"Best case, it recognizes that people like us operate in the Treant Forest and leaves entirely. But do you think that's likely?"
"Hard to say. If it was smart enough to maintain a settlement this size and slip away without us noticing... I think it's possible it would judge this place too risky."
The adventurer holding a spear offered his assessment.
With high enough intelligence, it wouldn't build the same kind of settlement in territory controlled by the very people who had destroyed its last one.
...That would be the ideal outcome from Rei's perspective. It would be — but...
"Even if it leaves the Treant Forest, that's fine. But if it goes and causes trouble somewhere else, that's not something I can just laugh off."
An erroneously clever loose like that — building a new settlement elsewhere would be a genuine problem.
The fact that it had conceived of the meat shield tactic and learned of its effectiveness was particularly troubling.
"Anyway, the Goblins are dealt with. Shouldn't we head back? You can't stay here indefinitely, right, Rei?"
"True... but the reason I'm staying is right here."
Rei glanced at the Water Wolf, still happily munching on Goblin corpses, and replied to the nearby adventurer.
The only reason Rei had remained at the campsite today was that the Water Wolf recognized him alone as a negotiation partner.
Without the Water Wolf situation, he would already be raiding the hideout of the organization that had targeted his life in Gilm's Slum District.
"Woof?"
The Water Wolf — still savoring its meal — lifted its head and looked over, as if it had caught Rei's words.
Rei shook his head as if to say it's nothing and gestured for it to keep eating.
"Either way, we should report this to Lord Daskar. If we just leave things as they are, it's bound to cause problems down the line."
Everyone nodded at Rei's words — then blinked in surprise.
At some point, without anyone noticing, the Water Wolf had finished eating every last Goblin corpse.