Took An Arrow To the Knee, huh

A plate armor set, full body metal armor. The kind you see decorating the mansions of the rich.

It was armor with overwhelming defensive power and an extremely high price. Only nobles, knights and the like could afford something like that.

So why was there a suit of plate armor in a tiny countryside village like this? If it were just plain iron I might manage with the physical boost I got from leveling up. But this was a fantasy world.

Magical metals like mithril had to exist. And the plate armor in front of me had a dull black shine I had never seen before.

The armor gave off small, muted clinks, quieter than I expected as the man in plate armor came toward me (I assumed he was a man based on the shape of the armor, though the helmet hid his face).

Was he a knight? He smoothly drew a sword from his hip, a longsword you could use even on horseback. If he had been carrying a tower shield he might have been a tank, in MMORPG terms, but he looked like a knight.

Why would a knight be in a place like this? Well, there’s no point wondering about it. One was right in front of me with his sword raised, after all.

This man was nothing like the wannabe village militias I dealt with before. He was a real warrior, someone who had undergone proper combat training.

There was not a single opening in the way he held his longsword. A cold sweat ran down my back.

Plate armor had high defensive power, but it was heavy. Ideally, I would drag him into a battle of endurance and wear down his stamina, but this was enemy territory.

I had no idea when reinforcements might arrive. If someone fired an arrow at me while I was fighting the knight, that would be the end.

A short fight was preferable. But could I really win a short fight against a knight in full plate armor using only my bare hands?

The knight did not seem inclined to attack first. He held his longsword in a centered forward guard, leaving no openings.

Calm down. Focus.

I took a sharp, controlled exhale to steady my heartbeat. The strange breathing sound made the villagers flinch, but the knight did not move at all.

First, observe. Back to basics. I focused my eyes on my opponent.

Something about the knight’s stance felt wrong. I had never trained in swordsmanship, but the fundamentals of martial arts were the same.

What was this faint sense of wrongness I felt from him…?

Right… it seems to be his center of balance. I once damaged my meniscus years ago. After a long rehabilitation, I managed to move the way I used to, more or less. But even now, it is not perfect. When it gets cold, it hurts badly.

The way this knight held his weight was the same as I did back when my knee was injured. He might have retired from knighthood because of an old knee injury.

That did not make him any less dangerous, but it did give me a sliver of hope. Knees play an important role in both offense and defense.

Like when you’re pushing off the ground. Sending the power from the legs through the torso. Absorbing the shock from incoming strikes. Making sudden changes in direction. Whether attacking or defending, the knees are essential.

Many athletes retire because of knee injuries; they cannot perform the way they did before.

This knight could not be in perfect condition either. If I could exploit that weakness, there’s hope I could win.

Still knees, huh? Knees… Yeah, it’s a classic. You know, that thing. “I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow to the knee…”

“Pffft—”

In the middle of all that painful tension, I remembered the meme. The trainer at the Adventurer Guild who used to be strong, but took an arrow to the knee.

The image of a dejected old man popped into my head, and I couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

The knight seized that opening and thrust straight at my neck. I barely dodged, but the skin at my throat was sliced thinly, and blood trickled down.

At the same moment, I had already moved into close range. The lack of spring in his knee slowed him down just a bit.

Had he been in perfect condition, that thrust would have pierced my throat, and I’d be dead.

The knight had been inside getting armored up, so he hadn’t seen my previous fight. Maybe he tried a thrust since it has the widest reach.

Even if he were countered, he probably thought bare fists could not break through his plate armor defense.

I dove into close range. The knight didn’t panic and carefully guarded the gaps in his armor at the knee, armpit, and neck.

Attacking where he’s expecting would only get me countered. But that’s not my aim.

I switched to southpaw, and as I did, I rolled backward, reaching for his left ankle with both hands as I tumbled backward.

I yanked the foot toward me while sweeping behind his right knee with my left leg and pushing his abdomen with my right foot.

His left foot lifted, his right knee gave way, and with the push to his stomach, the knight lost balance and toppled over.

I trapped his left toes in my left armpit and cranked his heel with my arm.

The heel hook was set. Despite the name, the target is the knee. The knight’s right knee was already bad, so this time I’d destroy the left.

A dangerous man from long ago once said this: “When you lock a joint, break it immediately.” As I twisted his heel upward, a sickening sound came from his knee as the ligaments tore.

“Aaaaaugh!”

No matter how sturdy the armor he wore, it did nothing to reinforce his joints. Unlike karate, I did not have a dedicated skill for joint locks, so I was unsure whether a heel hold executed from such a complicated entry would work. It gave me some trouble, but the physical strength I had gained from leveling up did its job well.

Wary of a counterattack with the longsword, I moved away the moment I destroyed his knee. But the knight seemed too overwhelmed by pain to do anything.

Leveling up does not get rid of pain, after all. I did it myself, but I still felt a bit sorry for the knight, whose remaining good knee I had just destroyed.

He fell onto his side and grabbed at his knee, groaning in agony. I moved behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck. His neck was protected by armor, so I could not choke him with moves like a naked choke.

But I could still target the joints in his neck. With the arm I slipped under his neck, I pushed up on his jaw, tilting his head back. He tried to resist, but I locked his arms and torso with my legs.

Keeping his jaw lifted, I twisted as if rotating my own shoulder upward. Not with arm strength, but with back muscles, using my whole body to wrench at a diagonal.

After a crack, the strength left the knight’s body. I had known how to do it in theory, but I never imagined the day would come when I’d actually kill someone by breaking their neck.

Simply breaking the neck does not kill immediately. Paralysis leads to eventual death, but it is not instant. I have no taste for making someone suffer needlessly.

To sever the nerves, it needs to be twisted off in one swift motion using a lot of force. Trying to do it with arm strength alone will not work. You have to use your back muscles and your whole body.

The villagers looked at the fallen knight with a look I figured spelled out “despair” well enough on its own.

“Village chief, you are the only one I need to see. If you do not want to get involved, stay quietly at home.”

When I said that, the villagers scattered like spiders and ran back into their houses.

“Hey, village chief.”

“W-what is it? Try laying a hand on me and see. I am kin to the lord.”

A sick snapping sound like a twig breaking rang out.

“Aaaaagh!”

“Do not say anything unnecessary.”

The village filled with the village chief’s screams as his finger bones were broken.

“You bastard! How dare you do this to me—agh!”

Snap, snap. The sound of fingers breaking came one after another.

“You still do not get it, do you, chief? I told you not to say anything unnecessary.”

“Ugh… o-okay.”

Snap, snap, snap. This time I broke three bones in quick succession.

“Ahhh! Wh-why? I did exactly as you said.”

The chief’s face was a mess of tears as he spoke.

“I said do not say anything unnecessary. If you understand, just nod. When did I ever tell you to speak?”

“Ugh…”

Red with anger and humiliation, the chief gave a stiff nod.

“I want the bounty for the hobgoblin I killed, the materials, the gear, and compensation for what you did to me. That is only fair.”

The village chief said nothing.

“All right, I will permit you to speak, chief. But the only things you may say are ‘yes’ or ‘I understand.’”

“I understand.”

“Knowing how selfish you are, you will have hidden anything valuable where you can watch it. Show me to your house.”

After a long pause, the village chief gave a slow nod.

At the chief’s house, I received a bag of coins that seemed to be this world’s currency. Likely copper, silver, and gold coins.

The chief initially tried to hide the gold coins. When I reminded him he still had ten toes to break, he brought them out.

I also took clothes that fit me, and things useful for traveling.

After that, I brought the chief to the town square.

“Village chief, this settles the compensation for the hobgoblin”

The chief looked relieved.

“Now I will make you answer for trying to kill me”

His relief turned to fear in an instant.

“I figured it would be cruel to do this in front of your family, so we will finish this here”

“Ridiculous, you killed my son, wrecked the village, stole my money, and it is still not enough?”

I glared at him.

“Chief, you started this. You tried to steal my hobgoblin and tried to kill me.”

“My son had nothing to do with it.”

“Your son attacked me first. That is self defense, as I already said. Even after that, we could have talked things out. But you chose violence.”

“Why, why must I be killed!?”

“You try to kill someone, but refuse to accept the same in return. That is not how it works. Accept it.”

“No, I do not want to die. Damn you, Gerhalt, what kind of knight were you, always acting high and mighty, yet beaten so easily? If that girl had not treated you, none of this would have happened. Useless fools, all of them. Villagers, help me. I cannot die here. Hey, someone, someone help me!”

No one came.

“Ungrateful fools. Thanks to me, this village prospered. You all live thanks to me, useless trash. Damn you all, I will curse you. I will drag you all to hell with me!”

The chief glared at me with crazed eyes, spitting foam as he spewed curses. I slowly approached.

“Hell? Sorry, but I am an atheist. I do not believe in that. Wait, I did meet a god once, so I guess gods exist, but that lazy god is not managing any hell. So no, I still do not believe in hell.”

“What nonsense are you talking about you lunat—ahhhh!”

I did not care to hear more. I brought down a hand strike on his head. Same way his son died. Let them spend eternity together in whatever hell he believes in.

No villager stirred as I washed the blood and mud off in the well and changed into the clothes the chief had given me.

This was the first time since arriving in this world that I wore real clothes instead of animal hide. Maybe a year or more spent in just furs and a loincloth. The clothes seemed like hemp, but I am not sure if this world has hemp.

A bit rough and scratchy, but nothing I cannot handle. Goodbye savage living, hello civilization. I was moved, standing alone by the well, but now was not the time.

I headed to the clinic where Village Girl was. I took a deep breath and knocked. She opened the door.

“Mr. Goblin, I am ready.”

“Do you not want to know how things went with the chief?”

“I heard everything.”

“I see.”

Does she hate me now, for killing the villagers? The words rose to my throat, but I swallowed them.

“I will carry your luggage too, so take as much as you can.”

“Is that okay, Mr. Goblin? Do you not have things to carry?”

“I have a base in the forest, but nothing more than preserved food.”

“Then I will trouble you.”

I could have sold the weapons and armor of the villagers that fought me. The knight’s plate armor, for example.

But it seemed too much, and I did not want to strip them of everything. The villagers were not entirely innocent; they did not stop the chief’s son from trying to kill me or hurt the girl, but maybe they could not.

From my perspective, it was passive approval, practically abandonment. Unlike the village girl, I could not look kindly on them.

I did not feel like killing them, but I did hope they have it a bit hard. Serves them right. My heart is smaller than a bottle cap.

Still, taking everything did not feel right. Selling the armor would get them money to move to another town at least.

They might struggle, but that is no longer my problem. I have no family here to worry about me, no friends to care.

I have taken a life. If I think about it too much, I might break, so I will not. I will live my way, as I decided.

As these thoughts ran through me, the girl finished picking what she wanted me to carry.

“Hey, Village Girl.”

“Yes, Mr. Goblin?”

“Your luggage is piled high.”

“Yes, do your best.”

This girl really doesn’t have a good personality.