“Then Pereira and Orlando should follow while maintaining a safe distance. We move immediately. Kid, what’s your name?”

“B-Billy.”

“Right, Billy. Ride with me on my horse and guide the way.”

“Y-yes. Thank you.”

The group moved quickly with the child. Bertel, who had been driving Natalie’s carriage, switched places with Orlando and mounted a war horse.

Orlando and Natalie agreed to follow at a distance and monitor the situation.

“Should I set up a barrier around the carriage for concealment and defense, just in case?”

“That would be good.”

“But if you attack from inside, the barrier might break, so any attacks need to be made from outside the carriage.”

“We probably won’t need to provide support, but even if such a situation arises, support attacks would likely be made from some distance away from the carriage.”

“Then I’ll cast the barrier now.”

As Natalie formed hand signs and quietly recited a spell, a thin, transparent membrane like a soap bubble enveloped the carriage.

By the time they passed through the forest and reached the winding hillside, the group knew they were approaching the village. Even before visual confirmation, faint screams mixed with what were clearly monster howls drew their steps forward.

“Q-quickly! There, just past the cornfield below is the village!”

The child’s urging cry sounded almost like a wail or lamentation.

“Hiyah!”

As they cracked their whips and began descending the hillside, a small village that could house perhaps a dozen households at most came into view below.

“Whoa!”

McClain halted his horse at the village entrance and leapt off, shouting to the bewildered child.

“It’s dangerous, so stay in that carriage! Munash and Muki, enter the village with me. Bertel and Jorel, circle around to the opposite side and attack from behind!”

“Yes!”

“And…”

McClain continued his orders, fixing Natalie with narrowed eyes.

“Pereira and Orlando will wait here and deal with any that slip through. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

McClain already had a heavy greatsword in his hand as he dashed forward.

Having heard the group’s approach, dozens of goblins poured out from inside the village as if to welcome them.

“Huh!”

Natalie involuntarily gasped at the hideous real appearance of goblins, creatures she had casually skimmed over in monster encyclopedias.

Green skin, small stature that wouldn’t even reach an adult’s chest, and eyes gleaming yellow like beasts. At first glance, they almost looked like several dozen children who had rolled around in green paint.

Kraaaa! Kieeee!

However, hearing their inhuman shrieks that clearly revealed their non-human identity sent chills down her spine.

“T-there are goblins…”

Billy, who had somehow approached her side, tugged at Natalie’s clothes with trembling hands. Left alone, he seemed likely to faint from fear before even getting into the carriage.

Natalie took the child’s hand and patted it reassuringly.

“Come, you should get inside the carriage. I’ve placed a magic barrier around it, so you’ll be safe there.”

“B-but I need to see the knights rescue my mom and sister Maria…”

The child shook his head stubbornly while tears dripped down. It seemed his mother and sister had blocked the goblins’ path to help him escape.

“Those men will definitely rescue your mom and sister.”

Natalie tried to reassure the child, pointing to the members who had just engaged the goblin horde.

“Spread out!”

Following McClain’s instructions, the Muki brothers spread wide to either side.

McClain, who had been charging at the front of the formation, had already cut down two goblins.

Whoosh, swish, thud.

Natalie watched, entranced, as the man traced arcs of destruction.

‘As expected. Befitting someone who transmigrated into a game and focused solely on leveling up.’

His figure, wielding his sword while surrounded by bright sunlight like a halo, was quite impressive.

The elegant sword paths he traced while leaping over the goblins’ heads, dancing. His movements were so graceful like a dancer yet so fast that she could barely follow them with her eyes—enough to make her tongue-tied.

Well-trained muscles that flexed with each exertion, plus the cold-bloodedness with which he carelessly shook blood from his sword after cutting down monsters. The entire sequence, from swinging his sword again to striking down the next creature, flowed as naturally as water.

He looked just like the male protagonist she had chosen as her favorite before her transmigration.

Though inappropriate to say in this situation, his handsome face combined with his actions made for quite a spectacle.

Despite seeing their kind mercilessly slaughtered, the goblins didn’t stop charging. However, the black mass of creatures was instantly cut down, tumbling to the ground with dull thuds. Goblin corpses steadily piled up in his wake.

McClain, who was just pulling his sword out of a goblin’s chest with a kick, noticed Natalie’s gaze fixed on him and narrowed his brows. He nodded as if telling her to get inside the carriage quickly.

Ah… The illusion of her favorite male protagonist scattered like dust.

Natalie reluctantly nodded and quickly took Billy to the carriage.

However, she had no intention of hiding in the carriage herself.

“My goodness! Already so many!”

After putting the child in the carriage and turning around, Natalie couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight of more than ten goblins already transformed into dark red lumps of meat.

Hearing her, Orlando approached and spoke in a leisurely voice, like someone watching a sports match.

“Well, while the Munash and Muki brothers aren’t bad fighters, our Commander could probably clear out an entire goblin village by himself. We hardly need to lift a finger.”

His voice carried implicit respect and trust for his commander.

However, perhaps because there were too many goblins, a few occasionally broke through the members’ encirclement.

“Ah…”

Natalie stepped forward, thinking it was finally her turn to act. With just one or two goblins at most, a couple of Wind Blade spells should do the trick.

As she was about to select one of the spells she had memorized in advance, Orlando moved faster.

Thwack! Kraaack!

Seeing a goblin fall with an arrow through its head, Natalie turned with a disappointed look, and Orlando shrugged.

“I don’t think you need to step in. Why don’t you wait in the carriage with the child?”

Though he was acting friendly, this man also seemed to distrust her abilities.

Natalie shook her head firmly, trying to soothe her somewhat bitter feelings.

“No. If I’m going to adapt quickly, I think I should contribute something.”

“Then would you like to try handling the next one as a test?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

Natalie nodded slightly, recalling information about goblins she had memorized during monster physiology classes at the academy.

She remembered that occasionally variant goblins with regenerative abilities or the ability to use witchcraft might appear. But for regular goblins, not variants, the lower-level spells she had memorized should be sufficient.

Surely she wouldn’t have the bad luck to encounter variant goblins here.

She was trying to shake off this unlucky thought when—

“Kraaaak!”

A large, rough howl, with a completely different resonance from what they’d heard so far, drew closer. Urgent shouts from the expedition members followed.

“Catch it!”

“Don’t let it escape the village!”

Natalie’s confident expression, as she had been waiting for a chance to cast a spell, suddenly twisted.

When watching dramas or movies where a truck flashes its headlights but the protagonist stands dazed without thinking to dodge, she would beat her chest in frustration, wondering how they could be so stupid.

But right now, Natalie perfectly understood their feelings.

Despite having completed preparations to cast a spell just moments before, she was now staring blankly at the hideous giant goblin rapidly approaching.

This wasn’t a question of stupidity. It was a matter of how skillfully one could respond to such situations.

Fortunately, someone capable of handling such situations expertly was right beside her.

“Oh no! Please step back quickly, Pereira!”

Thwack– Thwaaack!

Arrows fired by Orlando flew one after another toward the goblin approaching Natalie.

It was hard to believe how quickly he could fire arrows in succession—rapid-fire so fast it was difficult to believe even while watching.

Unfortunately, even dozens of arrows were insufficient to stop the creature. Just as in her unlucky thought earlier, the creature charging toward them at full speed happened to be a variant goblin that could instantly regenerate from ordinary wounds.

“This won’t work. First, Pereira, you should get inside the carriage—”

Orlando was about to push her back and block the way when McClain, who had caught up with the creature, cut it down diagonally and shouted toward Orlando and Natalie.

“D*mn it! There are quite a few troublesome ones mixed in. Orlando! First take Pereira to a safe place, then—”

At that moment, Natalie, still standing as if nailed to the spot, widened her eyes.

The variant goblins McClain had just cut down were rising again behind him.

“Commander! Behind you!”

At Orlando’s shout, McClain turned around quickly, but the movement seemed to happen in slow motion to Natalie. She reflexively stretched out her hand toward the variant goblins about to pounce on the man’s back.

She had no specific spell in mind. It was an instantaneous, unconscious action born from desperation—the need to do something, the inability to watch someone get hurt before her eyes.

What happened next was astonishing.

Whoosh! Whoooosh!

“Huh?”

What burst from her fingertips was neither Wind Blade nor Wind Cutter.

But a fire-based magic spell of tremendous power that she hadn’t even thought to attempt until now.

It wasn’t even one of the lower-level spells of second or third circle that she had memorized. Judging by its power, it appeared to be at least a fifth-circle intermediate magic. This meant that a magic spell at least two levels higher than any fire attack spell she had memorized was now extending from her hands.