Chapter 26
"...This is it."
"Hmm, this is just the place."
After traveling by carriage and spending the night camping, we set out again the next morning. Several more hours later, we reached the outskirts of the Azalamia Forest.
With a vast forest stretching out before us, we got off the carriage and walked for another half hour.
A cave, as if gouged out of the side of a low hill, awaited us.
It seemed a little underwhelming to call it a dungeon, but I suppose it was just right for training rookie adventurers.
Apparently, there are ruins crawling with all manner of vicious monsters and instant-death traps, but that doesn't sound appealing. It really drives home that adventurers stake their lives to earn fame.
"Last night was comfortable. You all seem used to this."
"N-no, I'm honored!"
Porta shrank back and replied to my offhand comment.
Adventurers have it rough, having to camp out, too.
It's not as if all their assignments are day trips, so I suppose it's only natural.
Apparently, the trainees are generally responsible for preparations like that so they can gain experience, and Surena had deliberately left them to it.
Nobody told me to prepare anything, so I didn't. Looking back, even if it was relatively close by, heading out on an expedition with nothing on me was pretty reckless. I'm truly sorry for being so ignorant.
Incidentally, if they hadn't prepared adequately, they'd have to turn right back then and there.
The training would be over.
Apparently, anyone who can't anticipate the number of party members and the route to the destination, then prepare appropriately, is unfit to be an adventurer in the first place.
By that measure, this team had apparently met the standard.
Surena didn't say anything in particular, and so we made it through the night without incident.
"Well then... I'll get ready..."
The five of us gathered in front of the cave.
The one who spoke up was Salikatz, the team's Seeker.
He took a quick look inside the cave, then placed a hand on the bracelet around his left wrist.
Seeing the bracelet glowing faintly, I realized something.
"Could that be a Magic Tool?"
"Ah... yes, it is..."
Salikatz-kun answered my question timidly.
At first glance, he seemed like the difficult-to-communicate-with type, but with people like this, you shouldn't push too hard or hold back too much. If you act naturally, you can get the conversation you need.
That's what they call the wisdom of age. Not that it's anything to brag about.
"Could you explain what it does?"
"O-oh, yes..."
He nodded in response to my follow-up.
Then he stood in the middle of everyone and raised his left arm slightly.
"Um... this lights up when there are living things nearby... There are five of us here, including me, so... if there are more than five, the light gets brighter..."
"...I see. It's suited to scouting."
Salikatz did his best to explain, haltingly.
The bracelet Salikatz had was basically a detector of some sort.
The closer living things—people or monsters—got, the brighter it glowed. If they checked the brightness for the five of them first, they could be somewhat prepared if anything else approached.
The light was only faint, so it was unlikely to give them away. In any case, they'd need torches or something in dark places.
Magic Tools really are convenient. It's not like I'd have much use for one, but it still makes me want one. I can understand why Fissel got hooked on collecting them.
"A-all right! Let's go, then! Salikatz, we're counting on you!"
"O-okay... I'll go..."
At Porta's rousing cry, we entered the cave.
Salikatz was in front, followed by Porta and Nidly. Surena and I brought up the rear.
Watching them, I noticed Surena had barely spoken on their own initiative since we'd entered the Azalamia Forest. The three rookies seemed to understand that and weren't approaching Surena either.
I figured that since Surena was only there as a supervisor, they wouldn't offer advice or anything. The rookies had probably also been told not to rely on their supervisors.
Hmm.
In that case, me talking to Salikatz might not have been ideal for the training's original purpose. This old man will reflect on that.
The five of us continued on without saying much.
The cave held a chilly, damp air. Amid the characteristic smell of an enclosed space, there was also a faint, somewhat foul odor.
"...They're here."
"It would seem so. Though it wouldn't be much of a training exercise if they weren't."
Keeping my voice low, I murmured, and Surena answered in a quiet voice as well.
Well, it wouldn't be much of a training exercise otherwise. They were also here to assess their combat abilities.
"What monsters should we expect?"
The rookies should have been told what monsters they were likely to encounter before the training. Otherwise, they couldn't prepare.
So I figured it was all right to ask.
"Mainly goblins. There are also Big Bats and Cave Worms. Let's see how they handle themselves."
"I see."
The names were familiar.
Goblins were the typical small monsters that lived in forests and caves.
They weren't particularly strong individually, but they always traveled in groups. If rookies didn't handle them properly, they could easily find themselves in unexpected trouble.
They were exactly the kind of opponents suited for training.
Big Bats and Cave Worms were, well, just big bats and big caterpillars. They didn't have any special abilities, and were prey you could deal with using the same skills as ordinary hunting.
I'd hunted them now and then when I lived in Bidden Village, so I almost felt nostalgic.
Man, I'm glad we're up against something even I can probably handle.
Of course, we couldn't let our guard down. What mattered here wasn't whether I won, but whether I could properly rescue them if they were in danger of losing.
"...They're there. Further ahead, probably several...!"
Salikatz, who was walking at the front, sounded the alarm.
"O-okay... Nidly...!"
"Y-yes...!"
The moment they heard him, Porta and Nidly tensed up even more.
The two swordsmen seemed to be using standard short swords. They each drew their weapons, ready to encounter the enemy.
Salikatz also drew the dagger at his waist, preparing for battle.
――Gya, gya.
An unpleasant sound that could not have come from a human echoed through the cave.
From the depths of the dim cave, the source of the sound emerged, its outline hazy.
It was a scrawny creature about the size of a child.
It wasn't particularly muscular, and an adult human would probably be more than a match in a contest of sheer strength.
But its green skin, which could never belong to a human, its pair of bared fangs, and its wide-open, reptilian eyes inevitably dispelled any such complacency.
The goblin, the quintessential small monster, had appeared.
"Sensei, I assume you understand, but..."
"Yeah. Let's see what the youngsters can do."
I nodded in response to Surena's murmur.
Of course. If I charged in and attacked here, it would defeat the purpose.
"Six...!"
"Six against the three of us...! Let's do this, you two!"
"Y-yes!"
The three of them steeled themselves and faced the monsters.
In a cave far from human habitation,
the rookies' practical training quietly began.