The Skill Imitator

Chapter 4: The Merchant in Dire Situation

It's been three days since I arrived in this world. I managed to survive by eating fruits and hunting easy prey like deer and wild boars. Thanks to my hunting skills and a newly acquired fire magic. I was able to make a meal despite missing the taste of cooked rice and the softness of bread. 

When you have handy Fire magic at hand, every problem is solved. That would be an easy life if only I had at least seven hours of sleep at night, but no, thanks to the night prowlers of this forest, sleeping was not easy.

After walking aimlessly, trying to find a way out of this thick and depressing forest, I finally reached the end of this ridiculously massive forest full of dangers in every direction.

"Grab your weapons!"

Is that a human voice?

Finally, another human encounter who probably won't try to kill me on sight.

I peeked my head from the bushes and found two merchant carriages currently being surrounded by a bunch of dark green-skinned midgets with annoying high-pitched laughs.

Definitely Goblins.

And just five humans were protecting the carriages. Three of them were armed with swords and shields, and one was using a staff. While the other two looked like they were merchants.

And from the looks of it, they're in the middle of a losing battle due to the overwhelming number of enemies.

Two darker-skinned and taller goblins came out from the forest while carrying a spiked wooden bat, definitely high-ranking goblins. 

I can clearly hear the panic screaming of the cornered people.

That's bad news.

I can't just look and let them die in my watch, am I?

I walked towards them and burned down all the goblins on my way as I walked through the hordes of goblins.

I joined them and fired multiple Fireballs, primarily targeting the massive goblins approaching the carriages.

However, I'm aware that small fireballs were not enough to defeat the massive goblins.

So, I focused my Fire magic on them and completely burned them to ashes. It's dangerous when it's done in the middle of the forest, but not on this dirt road.

My attacks caused enough devastation to make the goblins flee for their lives, leaving us alone. I exhaled upon seeing the goblins finally gone.

I looked at the five people protecting the carriages, and they were looking at me like I was some kind of oddity.

Besides the fact that I literally came out of nowhere, maybe suddenly interfering in other people's business is considered rude.

I scratched my head. "I hope I didn't interrupt something."

"No, no, you didn't. You're a big help; I don't think we could easily defeat such an amount of goblins," said the one who had a sword and shield in his arms. I think he's an adventurer, if adventurers exist in this world.

"I see." I exhaled. "Was that kind of attack a common occurrence around here?"

He nodded. "Yes, due to the abundance of goblin bases around this isolated road, we have expected their appearance, but we didn't expect them to bring not just one but two leader goblins with them."

The merchants ran towards me.

"You have my deepest gratitude for helping us," said the blonde-haired young man. "My name is Ross." He pointed his finger at the blonde girl next to him. "And this is my little sister, Ann. We are wandering merchants."

Don't they look too young to be a wandering merchant? Ross looks like he's just the same age as me, which is eighteen.

Well, you better start a business at a young age, am I right? 

I nodded.

 "My name is Troy Hercules, and I'm a.... traveler."

"That's unusual clothing for a traveler. Mister Troy," Ann commented while checking my clothes with a smile on her face.

It's unusual clothing even in general, yes. I looked like a demon minus the horn, of course. I scratched my head. Should I tell them I was summoned here while at work? Maybe not. They'll freak out or maybe label me as an insane human. 

No, I must keep it to myself. Maybe the news about those middle-aged men summoning people to their bidding might have spread already, and maybe those hunters who tried to hunt me were on guard now, probably hunting those bald men and those humans they had summoned before me. 

Luckily, I killed those bastards, so no one knew I was summoned here. The next thing I should do is change this costume. These were too fancy and super standing out for me.

"Ann," Ross cut her sister. "How could you say that to the person who saved us?" 

"Sorry," Ann asked an apology to me, which I answered with a smile. 

"How can we pay you back for your help? Maybe there's something we could do, maybe a ride to the next kingdom? It's just a few hours away from here," Ross said. 

Now that I think about it, I need some necessary things to live in this world. If I want to go to the nearest human settlement, I need that specific thing to live.

I stared at Ross, waiting for my response.

"I need some currency and a shoulder bag... a handy one," I said. 

Both Ann and Ross did a brief pause but immediately nodded and smiled. "Of course."

It's a good thing that I met them.

Their journey continued, and they insisted on me taking a ride with them towards the nearest kingdom.

I opened the leather shoulder bag that Ross gave me and put the cut-in-half horn headband that I received from Mom back home inside the bag with the coins inside.

I don't know how much they gave me; all I know is it's enough to support me in the meantime and buy a pair of clothes. 

I need to find a proper job sooner; not every day you could find someone who would willingly grant you this much.

I raised my head and nodded my head to the adventurers with me. The mage one and the other swordsman, while the third one who talked to me earlier, was currently driving the carriage while following Ross' carriage in front of us. Both of them nodded and smiled.

Yep, this is definitely my new life now.