Nobina began rushing into the town, seeing every home and building light up. The protocol for a night attack was for all lights to be on. Goblins were far more suited to fighting in the dark, so as much light as possible was needed. As she reached the main street heading to the guild, she saw civilians leaving their houses and heading towards the guild. That was the second step, as it was far too difficult to defend multiple places. The evacuation locations for the civilians were the guild, the medical office, and the town hall itself. The guild and town hall were decently strong and isolated enough to avoid being affected if the goblins set the town ablaze, which was a strategy they might employ. As for the medical office, it was to be held until it was in danger of burning since it was where a majority of the medical supplies were.

Eventually, Nobina reached the guild, where adventurers were piling in for their orders. As Nobina managed to squeeze her way in, Sarah’s voice echoed instructions.

“All adventurers. Gather with your parties and head to the defense point two through five. Be prepared to shift to other defense points if the goblins begin encircling. Reports are the attack is focused on the north-west and no flank attacks are noted. If you need any assistance, ask me afterwards.”

Nobina recognized that those defensive points that covered the west-to-north side of town. Specifically, it moved adventurers to the south-west, west, north-west, and north side of town. This meant this was an attack involving the north-west goblin nest.

As she thought that, many adventurers left immediately as they had their assigned locations. However, there was still a decent amount remaining. Looking at them, Nobina could see that most of them were still in shock. Unfortunately, Nobina had no idea how to help them, so she went to Sarah to discuss things with her.

“Nobina,” said Sarah, finally noticing. “Many of the adventurers left won’t be able to join. We can’t expect all of them to be capable of mentally handling such an attack. For now, can you watch over them and provide any support they ask?”

“Of course,” Nobina responded. “Where’s Lare, by the way?”

“He headed to defense point two. A part of his theory is they might try to flank to defense point one, so he’s there to instruct if that happens,” said Sarah. “Hopefully they also don’t try to move to defense point six, but the guards there are more numerous at least.”

Nobina nodded.

With that, Sarah focused on assisting the adventurers with questions. At that time, Nobina looked at all of the remaining adventurers, many of them sitting down with their faces down. Some of them lifted their heads long enough to show either tearful, fearful, or blank looks.

“Nobina,” came a familiar voice. She turned to see Macy, who looked ready to head out.

“Macy,” smiled Nobina. “It’s great to see you.”

“Too bad it isn’t under… better circumstances,” she sighed.

“So what are you doing back here Macy? Are you… worried about the goblins?”

She shook her head.

“I had a lot of time to think about it Nobina and I was very close to quitting. However, Merrick introduced me to another adventurer who had lost her whole party of five to goblins. I would have thought it would have mentally destroyed them, but they were living a happy life retired. I told them I was planning to retire as well, but they told me their one regret was not continuing to fight until they were unable to. I was shocked hearing that, but they explained retiring probably killed more people than being active would have,” spoke Macy.

“But how can she blame herself for people dying while retired? Retired or not, people would die regardless,” said Nobina, surprising herself with how easily she said that.

“I told her that as well, but she told me that if she at least taught people her experience with goblins and perhaps trained others, perhaps a few adventurers who have died to goblins would have been alive to this day. In the end, she told me I could retire if I wanted to, but first ask myself if I’d regret not doing everything I can. Then I remember you saying I didn’t need to be an adventurer to help people.”

Macy took a breath before continuing.

“However, that doesn’t mean that’s the best choice. If being an adventurer means I can help the most people… then I’ll take my trauma on the chin and fight all my demons. If it means one more person lives, then it would be all worth it,” said Macy, her face reflecting how serious she was.

Nobina could only nod, absorbing everything Macy had just told her.

It was right then and there Nobina felt her words really get to her. She felt she herself could be doing more right now. Sure, the adventurers there did need people to comfort them, but she felt she had the tools in her bag to potentially save more lives. Especially considering how it was night time and they were fighting at a disadvantage.

“So what’s your plan now Macy?” asked Nobina. “Will you join the front?”

“If need be, but I’m here to comfort the adventurers. I hate to admit it, but I’m not that strong,” chuckled Macy. “If you feel the same Nobina, then I’m glad to join you in helping these adventurers, but… your expression gives it away. You want to be out there, right?”

Nobina gave a nod.

“Thank you Macy… For telling me that story.”

“Thank you for risking your life for all of us Nobina,” she smiled back.

Nobina headed to Sarah, who was finishing up helping someone.

“Sarah,” said Nobina. “I’m going to the front to help.”

Immediately, Sarah froze and stared at her. She was going to say something but went quiet for a bit.

“I see that look Nobina,” said Sarah. “Nothing I say is going to stop you, huh?”

She shook her head.

“I know that I’m not someone who can fight hundreds of goblins by themselves like Mimiki or Eric. I’ll have to keep in the back and be safe, but I can do things to help… That’s what I firmly believe. I can save way more lives out there than here,” said Nobina firmly.

“Then go,” said Sarah, her voice showing a bit of reluctance. “Promise me you won’t trade your life for another, at the very least. Else… I don’t know if I could live with myself letting you go.”

“I won’t,” said Nobina. “But if I can save more than one life… I can’t tell you I’d pick myself over them. That’s all I’ll say.”

Sarah shook her head.

“Godspeed Nobina. Godspeed.”

With that, she departed from the guild and headed to defense point three, the main road heading into the town from the west side. Getting closer, she could see the guard and adventurers engaged in an intense battle. There was barbed wiring along the defensive line where the adventurers, guards, and goblins were fighting. It was still dark, so it was hard to tell how many goblins there were, but it was enough that defensive lines were needed to stop them from advancing.

At the back of these lines were adventurers and guards who had either ranged weapons or abilities. Nobina knew this kind of battle wasn’t something adventurers or guards were used to. Thankfully, part of the preparation planning was rudimentary line fighting used in conjunction with the barb wiring.

Nobina had to study large-scale combat to help plan such a defense. She wasn’t sure if it was going to be effective, but it was paying off at the moment. She couldn’t call herself an expert in defensive planning, but she had taught enough that it seemed that everyone was holding the line well enough.

On a smaller scale, Nobina noticed how the defensive line was basically composed of adventurers in small groups, with guards filling the gaps between the groups. This was a part of the defensive planning, but seeing it in action made Nobina realize how critical her earlier work was. If she didn’t work as hard or missed out on any details, this scene could have been very different.

Eventually, Nobina noticed one of the guards giving orders from the back. She approached him and asked the status of the battle.

“Nobina,” said the guard, recognizing her. “The battle is in a deadlock. There are probably hundreds of goblins at this defense point. Luckily, there’s no sign of any Path goblins, so we are good on that front.”

She gave a nod.

“Oh, are you here to give us any orders?” asked the guard.

“I have tools at my disposal that should help out,” said Nobina.

“Then by all means.”

With that, Nobina took out her flashlight and began using it on the widest setting on max power. It began roaring, reflecting how strong the flashlight could be. Soon, the battlefield lit up thanks to her flashlight. It was mostly the front goblins that were more visible, with the back ones still out of range of the light, but it suddenly changed the flow of the battle.

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People around her were initially in awe before realizing they had a newfound advantage. The adventurers could see the goblins easier, while it seemed the light was forcing many of the frontal goblins to avoid looking directly at their opponents. Soon, adventurers began cutting them down left and right, with the range adventures and guards taking full advantage of the new visibility.

The battle went on for a good thirty minutes before the defensive point was cleared.

“Amazing,” said the town guard. “To think you had such a useful tool.”

“Yeah,” frowned Nobina. “It’s just… too bad it ran out of energy. I can no longer use it in battle.”

“I see,” he nodded. “No wonder this wasn’t in the defensive planning. You didn’t want to have us depend on something limited.”

“I wish I had more flashlights, but…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, patting her back. Look at the faces of everyone here. They are very thankful that you came to assist.

Looking around, Nobina could tell the guard was right. Many of them felt relieved and were looking at her and thanking her.

“There’s no time to waste,” called the guard next to her. “Those who feel able, move to the other three defense points. We might have killed hundreds of goblins, but there are probably hundreds more that are being fought right now. Move out to save your fellow companions!”

A cheer roared amongst the adventurers as they began moving to their next assigned defense point. As they headed out, Nobina found herself joining them. She felt the impact of her decision and realized that she really could save so many more lives being on the front lines.

With that, she headed to defense point four, which was the side of town closest to the north-west forest. There, the battle was far different from defense point three.

Unlike defense point three, the adventurers had been pushed back to the buildings. The barb wiring was working in forcing the goblins to head into specific areas, but those areas were now packed with goblins that made fighting difficult. It seemed like each person was having to fight off two goblins. Looking at the status of the field, it seemed like Defense Point Four was in danger of falling. At least, that was before their arrival.

“Reinforcements,” yelled the guard leading that area.

Soon, everyone was turning to see the large number of adventurers and guards arriving at the defense point. The goblins were now turning their full attention to the new targets, who were preparing to fight.

“We shall fight for Lady Nobina,” yelled one of the adventures.

“What,” said Nobina in shock. “I’m not…”

However, her words were drowned out by the roar of the adventurers. Arrows and other ranged abilities began flying out, causing the goblins to panic a bit. However, the goblins were still very much fighting rather than retreating. Seeing that, Nobina had an idea that was a bit risky. She still wasn’t pulling out the grenades due to the risk of hurting fellow adventurers and revealing a tool she didn’t want people to know she had. However, she had a firecracker that could perhaps scare off the goblins if thrown amongst them.

“Hey,” said Nobina, approaching a torch-wielding guard. “Can you hold that still for me?”

“Uh… sure,” replied the guard.

Nobina took out her firecracker, preparing to light it up.

“I’m launching my attack,” Nobina yelled.

The people around her were initially surprised, but they focused back on the battle at hand. With that, she lit her firecracker and tossed it as far as she could. It wasn’t too far, but it reached past the line of adventurers and landed amongst the goblins. The fuse was long enough that it started going off a few seconds after it landed, causing small explosions. She only had one firecracker and wasn’t sure if it was going to do anything, but to her relief, it seemed to work. The adventurers and guards there suddenly yelled out a roar as the goblins began panicking due to the sudden firecracker, causing the goblin line on their side to collapse. None of the goblins were aware it was a one-time thing, but it was doing enough. Combined with the reinforcements, the goblins began to route, which allowed the adventurers to cheer as they all ran.

As Nobina watched the goblin’s route, she felt relieved. There was no guarantee those firecrackers would have done anything, but perhaps it merely tipped the battle in their favor. The real heroes were the other adventurers who were actually killing the goblins, at least in her mind. Eventually, the adventurers returned when it seemed the goblins were routed enough.

“That was crazy,” said one adventurer.

“What kind of ability is that?” asked another.

“It’s clearly a special object. Did you see her pull it out of her bag?” spoke a third.

“What? Do we have more of these things?” asked the second.

Soon, discussion formed around Nobina’s action, making her feel embarrassed. However, another call went out.

“Everyone. Prepare to move to defense point five. We shall route the remaining goblins!” yelled a C-rank adventurer.

“Yeah,” they all responded back in kind.

Soon, the adventurers began moving out, with Nobina following right behind them. Before that, she was stopped by one of the guards.

“Nobina,” said the guards. “Can you report to the guard that a few goblin archers were spotted? They luckily didn’t attack, but that just means we need to be careful of an attack.”

As he said that, Nobina suddenly felt something on her side. Screams came, and guards moved to shield her. She turned to see an arrow had landed on her side, causing her to fall to the ground as the pain shot through her.

“Damn it,” said a guard. “Get that arrow out of her. We can’t apply the healing potion until its out.”

“Right,” said an adventurer, joining Nobina.

Before she could say anything, she screamed as the arrow was removed. An adventurer moved to give her a healing potion, which she poured onto the wound. It began to heal, but Nobina was feeling light-headed. Soon, she found herself unconscious.

…

Nobina found herself awake in Medical Mage Kim’s office, lying in one of the beds. There was Kim, who was looking relieved.

“Oh thank god you're awake,” said Kim.

“What happened,” asked Nobina, slowly getting up. To her surprise, there was no pain or even indication of her getting hit.

“You got hit by an arrow,” said Kim. “There was one goblin archer that probably was aiming for the guard leading the whole thing. However, you made yourself a target and it landed a hit. It was rather far away too so the guess is it used a skill to land such a far hit.”

“That’s… terrifying,” said Nobina. “They were running, so I guess they were waiting for us to lower our guard.”

“Right… If it tried to target the head… well… It probably would have missed… hopefully.”

Nobina could see it in Kim’s face. She must have seen such horrible things, considering how strained her smile was.

“What happened in the battle?” asked Nobina. “Did they counter attack when I went down?”

“It’s over,” replied Kim. “The goblins routed right after that attack. It’s now daytime and I’m working on healing everyone I can. I have a few uses of my ability left in case the raids come back, but if too many people are hurt…”

Nobina could see the sadness on Kim’s face.

“We have to hope that they will all make it back safely,” said Nobina. “I need… to head back.”

Despite saying that, Nobina felt tired. Even with the sleep she had, she guessed that her body was still recovering from an arrow. It reminded Nobina that despite getting stronger, she still had a long way to go before she could even take hits like that.

“Nobina,” said Kim. “I want to tell you to rest up, but everyone was talking about how important you were in the battle. Many of them were happy you were there, but… there are people going around questioning why you didn’t make your tools known. Of course, the rules of adventurers dictate your personal abilities and equipment are yours to reveal, but…”

Nobina shook her head.

“I don’t know if I could explain it in a way to satisfy them. All I will say is those things were limited.”

“Then that should be good enough,” said Kim. “Regardless… people see you as a hero now.”

Nobina felt it was undeserved, considering she was depending on the Gaze for her special items. However, she wouldn’t deny people hope. If they wanted to see her as something she wasn’t, then she’d work hard to at least be someone who could be a hero. Perhaps it’d take a long time, but she wanted to continue to help people on top of her dream of being a writer.

“Then… it seems I have a job to do. Thank you Kim,” said Nobina, getting up.

“Be safe… for all our sakes Nobina,” Kim replied back.

Nobina headed out of the medical office and towards the guild. To her surprise, people were taking notice of her, whispering and asking if she was the “hero” of the defense. It made Nobina feel more and more undeserving, but she held strong. She had to keep the feeling of hope alive for all of them.

Eventually, she reached the guild, where she was given a path through. Seeing Sarah, Nobina made her way to her. Sarah, who was helping other adventurers, ran up to Nobina, hugging her strongly and crying into her.

“You idiot. You dummy. You… You said you’d be safe… You…”

Her words were lost in tears as Sarah hugged Nobina. Smiling, Nobina returned the hug, giving as much comfort as she could.

“I glad I’m safe too,” Nobina replied.

Everyone gave them space to have their moment. Eventually, Lare appeared. Nobina was wondering what he was going to say, but his tone reflected that their moment of victory was going to be short lived.

“We need to discuss what happened immediately,” said Lare, his face reflecting both relief and worry about Nobina being fine.

“Right,” said Sarah. “Attention all adventurers. Stand by for further instructions.”

With that, Nobina, Sarah, and Lare headed to the second-floor meeting room. There, they began discussing the matter at hand.

“Thanks to Nobina, we managed to prevent a lot of casualties. The barb wiring prevented the lines from being overwhelmed, all except defense point four. However, Nobina’s flashlight and whatever her explosive thing was turned the tides of two defensive points, leading to all four surviving. Luckily, there were no flanks either.”

Both Sarah and Nobina gave a nod.

“However, the attack indicates the culling of the north-west has failed. In the worst case…”

Lare went silent, making them both realize what that could mean. Tears flowed out of Nobina’s eyes as she looked Lare dead in the face.

“No,” she cried. “Mimiki is not dead. She… Something must have happened. She must be still fighting… Or maybe they just went around them… She… she has to be fine!”

Nobina cry grew as she started to doubt her own words. Lare expression didn’t hide his thoughts. He was showing a somber look, showing that he didn’t believe it.

“She’s right,” said Sarah, showing no tears herself. “We cannot just doubt Mimiki would fall to goblins. Even if they have paths, she has the ability to deal with groups of ten or twenty with ease. Even ambushes fail against her thanks to her ability. Something must have happened, or they really did avoid them. Goblins are smart and we can’t discredit that.”

With that, Lare gave a nod.

“Nobina,” said Lare. “I… I know Eric would be furious if I told him I didn’t stop you from going to the front. I swore on my life to protect you and yet I didn’t prioritize that as I headed to defense point two. I will apologize to him when he gets back. However…”

He went silent before speaking.

“I don’t want to abandon hope Mimiki’s alive. I want to send a group of C-rank adventurers to the north-west goblin nest. I want you to join them as well.”

Nobina was surprised by what he was saying.

“Why me? I… I’m still learning my abilities and I don’t have more of those two special items I use,” said Nobina.

“I’m sending you because no one will risk their lives on a high-risk mission unless you act yourself,” said Lare. “Despite the success of the town defense, unless they believe there’s a chance of success, they won’t go. I cannot allow too many adventurers to depart in case any of the other two zones fall. I’m also concerned that you leaving the town will hurt moral, but this is our only shot of potentially saving Mimiki.”

Nobina was taking in everything Lare was saying. Like he said, it was a mission that could get them all killed. Despite the team composition planning to be all C-ranks, the group could still fall easily against hundreds of goblins and a few Paths. From what Nobina knew, a Goblin Invasion was composed of thousands of goblins. They had slayed a lot already, but it wasn’t nearly close to a thousand. However, Nobina knew her answer.

“Let’s save Mimiki,” said Nobina, her face full of determination.