Volume 3 - CH 5
Act 3-5: The Kingdom of Goblin
Kuroki was riding on Glorious’ back, flying over the Akeron mountain range. He was heading towards a huge cave located in a slightly steep mountain, a cave known to be the Goblins’ den.
Though Goblins weren’t nocturnal creatures, they still preferred to live in darkness. That’s why the majority of them chose to live in places devoid of sunlight such as caves and dense forests.
Once near the cave, Glorious descended in front of its entrance. He settled himself to allow Kuroki to slip off of his back, who was in turn followed by Kuna, who had sat behind him throughout the journey.
「Kuroki, is this place they call Karon Kingdom?」
Kuna asked while looking into the cave. Kuroki nodded in answer as he added.
「Yeah, it should be this one… but well, this is also my first time visiting this place.」
Karon Kingdom was located in the north side of the Akeron mountain range, in short, it was included in Nargol’s territory. And since it was in Nargol’s territory, the Goblins in this kingdom were naturally under Modes’ rule.
The name “Goblins’ nest” was just another name for Karon Kingdom. Though Kuroki had no idea how many Goblins lived there, it was said to be the biggest Goblin kingdom in Nargol.
They stood in the entrance and soon enough, five Goblins came to greet them. Kuroki’s eyes immediately focused on the Goblin standing in the middle.
Goblins never grew tall even when they reached adulthood, they would only become around the same height as 10~12 year old kids. But, the Goblin who stood in the middle was at least a size bigger than the other Goblins.
「We’ve been waiting for your arrival, Your Excellency gob. My name is Keneo gob.」
The oversized Goblin in the middle introduced himself while bowing his head to Kuroki.
「Gob?」
Kuroki tilted his head in confusion hearing the strange way Keneo ended his sentences.
Though generally it was difficult to understand a Goblin’s words, he still managed to understand what Keneo had just said. But still, the strange way he ended his sentences left Kuroki in bewilderment.
After bowing to Kuroki, the oversized Keneo then sent a glance to his side. Naturally, the one who stood beside Kuroki was none other than Kuna.
「And this one must be Your Excellency’s wife gob.」
He then bowed to Kuna too. It was at that moment that Kuroki finally realized that the “gob” at the end of Keneo’s sentences wasn’t just his imagination.
「Wife… you have discerning eyes.」
Kuna muttered happily, obviously elated when Keneo called her Kuroki’s wife.
「Please follow me, our queen has been waiting for you gob.」
Thus, Keneo led Kuroki and co deeper into the Goblins’ nest.
The inside of the nest was dark, the only source of light being the lantern with a light bug inside held by Keneo, who led the way. Kuroki had no problem with this situation as he could see in the darkness thanks to his night vision, however, the same couldn’t be said about Kuna.
They passed many Goblins along the way.
Though Goblins were only as tall as 10~12 year olds when compared to the human race, even after reaching adulthood, their strength was comparable to that of adult humans. Their head was as hard as rock, so much so that the blade of a normal weapon wouldn’t even leave a scratch on it. Which was why it had become a rule of thumb to aim for any other place other than head when fighting Goblins with a bladed weapon.
However, if someone only wanted to avoid fighting with them, all they had to do was sing a song to drive them away—Goblins were weak against beautiful singing voices.
In the past when he had seen the Goblins’ living arrangements in other caves and dense forests, Kuroki had figured that the level of their civilization was around the same level as cavemen back in his world. He recalled the Goblin ecology Loughas had taught him; the Goblins he met so far were all textbook examples of what Loughas had told him. However, the Goblins of Karon Kingdom were completely different from the average Goblins he had encountered.
The level of their civilization wasn’t behind that of the humans, they even wore clothes. Moreover, they weren’t just willy nilly occupying a cave, in fact, they had dug it quite well and flattened its surface and walls. Even as he looked at Keneo, he could see that he held equipment not inferior to that of humans.
Finally, they arrived in a spacious room. The room was bright since many light bug lanterns illuminated it from all sides.
Sitting in the innermost part of the room was the biggest Goblin Kuroki had ever met. It was even taller than himself, not to even mention its sheer girth.
This ultra-sized Goblin had long hair instead of the usual bald head. In addition, Kuroki felt a huge amount of magical power emitting from its body. The Goblin’s magical power even rivaled that of the demon race.
「Huuge…」
Kuna muttered.
（Kuna’s right, I don’t even know whether we can call this one a Goblin anymore. Is this the one they call Queen of Karon Kingdom?）
Kuroki further observed the ultra-sized goblin. There was a horn growing from its head, which was different from a normal goblin as they couldn’t grow horns. However, Kuroki had heard that once in a while, a horned Goblin would be born among their race, and that horned Goblin would end up more powerful than any other Goblin, and would be made as Lord.
Thus, Kuroki guessed that the ultra-sized Goblin in front of them was most likely a Goblin Lord.
「Your Excellency, this is our Queen, Datie-sama gob.」
Keneo introduced the giant Goblin. Just as Kuroki had guessed, that giant, fat Goblin was indeed the queen. Though it was only a wild guess since he really couldn’t differentiate the Goblins genders.
「Welcome to Karon Kingdom, Your Excellency.」
Datie bowed to Kuroki.
Kuroki removed his helmet and held it under his armpit. Though his status was higher than Datie’s, he thought that it would be rude to the other party if he spoke to them with his helmet on.
「I’m Kuroki. I came since I heard that there’s a problem in this place, may I hear the details?」
And yet, Datie just stared at Kuroki without saying anything. For some reason, Datie’s gaze sent a chill down his spine.
「KUROKI ASKED YOU A QUESTION, WHERE’S YOUR ANSWER! DON’T THINK THAT KUNA WILL FORGIVE YOU IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE AN INSIGNIFICANT PROBLEM!!」
Kuna’s magical power exploded, locking on Datie, ready to kill her at any moment.
「WHA! KUNA!」
Kuroki called Kuna with a flustered voice.
The Goblins in the room, along with Datie and Keneo, trembled in fear once they were exposed to Kuna’s killing intent. For some reason, Kuroki felt that Kuna was hostile towards Datie in particular.
「My deepest apologies, Your Excellency.」
In the end, Datie apologized to Kuroki.
「W-Well, don’t worry about it. Calm down Kuna. So, what kind of issue is your kingdom facing?」
Kuroki asked Datie again while trying to pacify the angry Kuna.
「Yes. The truth is, we found out that sometime ago some people had started invading Karon Kingdom’s territory.」
「E–」
Kuroki couldn’t help but be surprised upon hearing Keneo’s remark.
That was a big problem.
「C-Could it be that it’s… Reiji and co?」
Just to be safe, he had given Nut a mission to tail Reiji and his party. And according to Nut’s most recent information, Reiji and the others were currently in the western side of the continent.
（Since that was the case, when did they come to this palce?）
The prospect of fighting Reiji again sent chills running down Kuroki’s spine.
「Fortunately it’s not them, Your Excellency. In fact, this shouldn’t be a big deal but… just in case.」
In short, Datie called Kuroki since she had no idea what she should do to those people. If the one who invaded the territory was Reiji and his party, then Karon Kingdom would be the first to get targeted by them.
Last time, when Reiji and his party had succeeded in invading Nargol for the first time, they had just passed by without doing anything to Karon Kingdom. At that time, the communication network between Karon Kingdom and Nargol wasn’t maintained properly, thus Reiji and the others could slip in without being noticed by the Goblins.
Learning a harsh lesson from the battle that ensued, this time, Karon Kingdom decided to use magic tools from now on; they had installed one to inform Nargol of any suspicious events and another to use for major emergencies. This was of course emphasized by Nargol as they reminded the kingdom to report any abnormal activity regardless of how trivial it was.
Since this incident wasn’t reported with the emergency magic tool, Kuroki judged that it wasn’t a dire situation.
「At first, they had only attacked a few Goblin tribes in the south, but then, they crossed the peak and came inside Karon Kingdom’s territory. We had thought that it was simply a quarrel between tribes to prove their supremacy but… our messenger then told us that it wasn’t a conflict between Goblin tribes.」
「Is that how you realized that the ones who raided your territory were humans?」
Datie nodded to Kuroki.
「It seems they couldn’t go farther than across the peak, but the problem is that they keep on coming back again and again. I don’t know what their goal is… I’m really scared, Your Excellency.」
Kuroki thought that the scene of Datie wrapping her thick, fat arms around her body might be scary enough to send those intruders running back to their home. Seeing how his thoughts were becoming a bit rude, Kuroki then started pondering about the reason behind this invasion instead.
Was it for a mere Goblin subjugation?
「Though you said that Reiji wasn’t among them, do you have any more information about those people?」
Though he knew that Goblins couldn’t differentiate the humans’ appearances aside from their gender, he tried to ask, just in case.
「I would know right away if a handsome man like the Hero of Light is amongst them, Your Excellency. If he comes again, I shall make a plea to him to not attack Nargol by myself…」
For some reason, Kuroki felt sorry for Reiji the moment he heard Datie’s remark.
Sometimes, he forgot that the aesthetic beauty for the different races of this world was pretty much the same as humans, thus, many monsters favored beautiful men or women from the human race.
Thus, Kuroki wondered if Reiji might have caught Datie’s interest.
「According to our information, the one who raided our territory is called the Hero Parsish of Algore. I had a skilled painter make his portrait. After seeing it, I’m convinced that the man called Parsish isn’t the Hero of Light. Though the man called Parsish is no doubt a handsome man, he is leagues behind the Hero of Light.」
Datie spoke as she shook her—as eerie as ever—body, in fear.
Kuroki decided to ask further since he heard a familiar name in Datie’s remark.
「Algore… Regena’s birthplace?」
「That’s it, Regena’s birthplace.」
Kuroki fully remembered after hearing Kuna’s remark. Algore Kingdom was the country Regena’s father had governed before her exile. Kuroki had almost forgotten about that fact since Regena rarely spoke about her life before she came to Nargol.
（Why in the world would that Hero of Algore come to exterminate the Goblins in the southern side of Algore’s mountain range?）
Though he might understand the situation a little bit better if he asked Regena, Kuroki couldn’t bring himself to ask her about it. Regena’s family was murdered by the person who currently governs Algore. Asking her about her previous kingdom might open an old wound in her heart. Moreover, he felt that this particular hero might have played a pivotal role in her family’s exilement. All the more reason no to ask her anything.
（Does Regena want to avenge her family? Since Regena never says anything about it, I don’t think I’ll ever know the reason unless I ask her.）
Though Kuroki realized that there was no way she didn’t resent the current Algore, he had no intention to help Regena even if she wanted revenge. Kuroki would close his eyes and let her do whatever she wanted to do. He didn’t think it was good to keep her, a human, in Nargol for a long time, a country ruled by monsters. Sooner or later, he knew that he had to go looking for a suitable place for her; somewhere in a far away country.
As he was musing, Kuroki suddenly felt someone’s heated gaze on him.
When he raised his head, his eyes met with Datie’s.
「Is something the matter?」
「No, I just think that Your Excellency turned out to be a handsome man that could rival the Hero of Light. GUFUFUFUFU.」
Datie was smiling while licking her lips. Her gaze felt as if she was sizing him up. Kuroki yet again felt a chill run down his spine.
「HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT HIM WITH SUCH EYES, GOBLIN QUEEN! KUROKI IS KUNA’S!!」
Kuna was enraged upon finding that Datie was eyeing Kuroki.
「S-Shuush Kuna! Okay, we understand the situation! Leave the matter about that Algore Hero to us!! Let’s go Kuna!!」
Kuroki left the place in a hurry while pacifying Kuna.
Though Datie seemed to want to stop them, he blatantly ignored her attempts. His gut kept on telling him that this place was dangerous and that he shouldn’t stay here any longer.
Thus, Kuroki left Karon Kingdom in a hurry.
Kuroki was riding on Glorious’ back, flying over the Akeron mountain range. He was heading towards a huge cave located in a slightly steep mountain, a cave known to be the Goblins’ den.
Though Goblins weren’t nocturnal creatures, they still preferred to live in darkness. That’s why the majority of them chose to live in places devoid of sunlight such as caves and dense forests.
Once near the cave, Glorious descended in front of its entrance. He settled himself to allow Kuroki to slip off of his back, who was in turn followed by Kuna, who had sat behind him throughout the journey.
「Kuroki, is this place they call Karon Kingdom?」
Kuna asked while looking into the cave. Kuroki nodded in answer as he added.
「Yeah, it should be this one… but well, this is also my first time visiting this place.」
Karon Kingdom was located in the north side of the Akeron mountain range, in short, it was included in Nargol’s territory. And since it was in Nargol’s territory, the Goblins in this kingdom were naturally under Modes’ rule.
The name “Goblins’ nest” was just another name for Karon Kingdom. Though Kuroki had no idea how many Goblins lived there, it was said to be the biggest Goblin kingdom in Nargol.
They stood in the entrance and soon enough, five Goblins came to greet them. Kuroki’s eyes immediately focused on the Goblin standing in the middle.
Goblins never grew tall even when they reached adulthood, they would only become around the same height as 10~12 year old kids. But, the Goblin who stood in the middle was at least a size bigger than the other Goblins.
「We’ve been waiting for your arrival, Your Excellency gob. My name is Keneo gob.」
The oversized Goblin in the middle introduced himself while bowing his head to Kuroki.
「Gob?」
Kuroki tilted his head in confusion hearing the strange way Keneo ended his sentences.
Though generally it was difficult to understand a Goblin’s words, he still managed to understand what Keneo had just said. But still, the strange way he ended his sentences left Kuroki in bewilderment.
After bowing to Kuroki, the oversized Keneo then sent a glance to his side. Naturally, the one who stood beside Kuroki was none other than Kuna.
「And this one must be Your Excellency’s wife gob.」
He then bowed to Kuna too. It was at that moment that Kuroki finally realized that the “gob” at the end of Keneo’s sentences wasn’t just his imagination.
「Wife… you have discerning eyes.」
Kuna muttered happily, obviously elated when Keneo called her Kuroki’s wife.
「Please follow me, our queen has been waiting for you gob.」
Thus, Keneo led Kuroki and co deeper into the Goblins’ nest.
The inside of the nest was dark, the only source of light being the lantern with a light bug inside held by Keneo, who led the way. Kuroki had no problem with this situation as he could see in the darkness thanks to his night vision, however, the same couldn’t be said about Kuna.
They passed many Goblins along the way.
Though Goblins were only as tall as 10~12 year olds when compared to the human race, even after reaching adulthood, their strength was comparable to that of adult humans. Their head was as hard as rock, so much so that the blade of a normal weapon wouldn’t even leave a scratch on it. Which was why it had become a rule of thumb to aim for any other place other than head when fighting Goblins with a bladed weapon.
However, if someone only wanted to avoid fighting with them, all they had to do was sing a song to drive them away—Goblins were weak against beautiful singing voices.
In the past when he had seen the Goblins’ living arrangements in other caves and dense forests, Kuroki had figured that the level of their civilization was around the same level as cavemen back in his world. He recalled the Goblin ecology Loughas had taught him; the Goblins he met so far were all textbook examples of what Loughas had told him. However, the Goblins of Karon Kingdom were completely different from the average Goblins he had encountered.
The level of their civilization wasn’t behind that of the humans, they even wore clothes. Moreover, they weren’t just willy nilly occupying a cave, in fact, they had dug it quite well and flattened its surface and walls. Even as he looked at Keneo, he could see that he held equipment not inferior to that of humans.
Finally, they arrived in a spacious room. The room was bright since many light bug lanterns illuminated it from all sides.
Sitting in the innermost part of the room was the biggest Goblin Kuroki had ever met. It was even taller than himself, not to even mention its sheer girth.
This ultra-sized Goblin had long hair instead of the usual bald head. In addition, Kuroki felt a huge amount of magical power emitting from its body. The Goblin’s magical power even rivaled that of the demon race.
「Huuge…」
Kuna muttered.
（Kuna’s right, I don’t even know whether we can call this one a Goblin anymore. Is this the one they call Queen of Karon Kingdom?）
Kuroki further observed the ultra-sized goblin. There was a horn growing from its head, which was different from a normal goblin as they couldn’t grow horns. However, Kuroki had heard that once in a while, a horned Goblin would be born among their race, and that horned Goblin would end up more powerful than any other Goblin, and would be made as Lord.
Thus, Kuroki guessed that the ultra-sized Goblin in front of them was most likely a Goblin Lord.
「Your Excellency, this is our Queen, Datie-sama gob.」
Keneo introduced the giant Goblin. Just as Kuroki had guessed, that giant, fat Goblin was indeed the queen. Though it was only a wild guess since he really couldn’t differentiate the Goblins genders.
「Welcome to Karon Kingdom, Your Excellency.」
Datie bowed to Kuroki.
Kuroki removed his helmet and held it under his armpit. Though his status was higher than Datie’s, he thought that it would be rude to the other party if he spoke to them with his helmet on.
「I’m Kuroki. I came since I heard that there’s a problem in this place, may I hear the details?」
And yet, Datie just stared at Kuroki without saying anything. For some reason, Datie’s gaze sent a chill down his spine.
「KUROKI ASKED YOU A QUESTION, WHERE’S YOUR ANSWER! DON’T THINK THAT KUNA WILL FORGIVE YOU IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE AN INSIGNIFICANT PROBLEM!!」
Kuna’s magical power exploded, locking on Datie, ready to kill her at any moment.
「WHA! KUNA!」
Kuroki called Kuna with a flustered voice.
The Goblins in the room, along with Datie and Keneo, trembled in fear once they were exposed to Kuna’s killing intent. For some reason, Kuroki felt that Kuna was hostile towards Datie in particular.
「My deepest apologies, Your Excellency.」
In the end, Datie apologized to Kuroki.
「W-Well, don’t worry about it. Calm down Kuna. So, what kind of issue is your kingdom facing?」
Kuroki asked Datie again while trying to pacify the angry Kuna.
「Yes. The truth is, we found out that sometime ago some people had started invading Karon Kingdom’s territory.」
「E–」
Kuroki couldn’t help but be surprised upon hearing Keneo’s remark.
That was a big problem.
「C-Could it be that it’s… Reiji and co?」
Just to be safe, he had given Nut a mission to tail Reiji and his party. And according to Nut’s most recent information, Reiji and the others were currently in the western side of the continent.
（Since that was the case, when did they come to this palce?）
The prospect of fighting Reiji again sent chills running down Kuroki’s spine.
「Fortunately it’s not them, Your Excellency. In fact, this shouldn’t be a big deal but… just in case.」
In short, Datie called Kuroki since she had no idea what she should do to those people. If the one who invaded the territory was Reiji and his party, then Karon Kingdom would be the first to get targeted by them.
Last time, when Reiji and his party had succeeded in invading Nargol for the first time, they had just passed by without doing anything to Karon Kingdom. At that time, the communication network between Karon Kingdom and Nargol wasn’t maintained properly, thus Reiji and the others could slip in without being noticed by the Goblins.
Learning a harsh lesson from the battle that ensued, this time, Karon Kingdom decided to use magic tools from now on; they had installed one to inform Nargol of any suspicious events and another to use for major emergencies. This was of course emphasized by Nargol as they reminded the kingdom to report any abnormal activity regardless of how trivial it was.
Since this incident wasn’t reported with the emergency magic tool, Kuroki judged that it wasn’t a dire situation.
「At first, they had only attacked a few Goblin tribes in the south, but then, they crossed the peak and came inside Karon Kingdom’s territory. We had thought that it was simply a quarrel between tribes to prove their supremacy but… our messenger then told us that it wasn’t a conflict between Goblin tribes.」
「Is that how you realized that the ones who raided your territory were humans?」
Datie nodded to Kuroki.
「It seems they couldn’t go farther than across the peak, but the problem is that they keep on coming back again and again. I don’t know what their goal is… I’m really scared, Your Excellency.」
Kuroki thought that the scene of Datie wrapping her thick, fat arms around her body might be scary enough to send those intruders running back to their home. Seeing how his thoughts were becoming a bit rude, Kuroki then started pondering about the reason behind this invasion instead.
Was it for a mere Goblin subjugation?
「Though you said that Reiji wasn’t among them, do you have any more information about those people?」
Though he knew that Goblins couldn’t differentiate the humans’ appearances aside from their gender, he tried to ask, just in case.
「I would know right away if a handsome man like the Hero of Light is amongst them, Your Excellency. If he comes again, I shall make a plea to him to not attack Nargol by myself…」
For some reason, Kuroki felt sorry for Reiji the moment he heard Datie’s remark.
Sometimes, he forgot that the aesthetic beauty for the different races of this world was pretty much the same as humans, thus, many monsters favored beautiful men or women from the human race.
Thus, Kuroki wondered if Reiji might have caught Datie’s interest.
「According to our information, the one who raided our territory is called the Hero Parsish of Algore. I had a skilled painter make his portrait. After seeing it, I’m convinced that the man called Parsish isn’t the Hero of Light. Though the man called Parsish is no doubt a handsome man, he is leagues behind the Hero of Light.」
Datie spoke as she shook her—as eerie as ever—body, in fear.
Kuroki decided to ask further since he heard a familiar name in Datie’s remark.
「Algore… Regena’s birthplace?」
「That’s it, Regena’s birthplace.」
Kuroki fully remembered after hearing Kuna’s remark. Algore Kingdom was the country Regena’s father had governed before her exile. Kuroki had almost forgotten about that fact since Regena rarely spoke about her life before she came to Nargol.
（Why in the world would that Hero of Algore come to exterminate the Goblins in the southern side of Algore’s mountain range?）
Though he might understand the situation a little bit better if he asked Regena, Kuroki couldn’t bring himself to ask her about it. Regena’s family was murdered by the person who currently governs Algore. Asking her about her previous kingdom might open an old wound in her heart. Moreover, he felt that this particular hero might have played a pivotal role in her family’s exilement. All the more reason no to ask her anything.
（Does Regena want to avenge her family? Since Regena never says anything about it, I don’t think I’ll ever know the reason unless I ask her.）
Though Kuroki realized that there was no way she didn’t resent the current Algore, he had no intention to help Regena even if she wanted revenge. Kuroki would close his eyes and let her do whatever she wanted to do. He didn’t think it was good to keep her, a human, in Nargol for a long time, a country ruled by monsters. Sooner or later, he knew that he had to go looking for a suitable place for her; somewhere in a far away country.
As he was musing, Kuroki suddenly felt someone’s heated gaze on him.
When he raised his head, his eyes met with Datie’s.
「Is something the matter?」
「No, I just think that Your Excellency turned out to be a handsome man that could rival the Hero of Light. GUFUFUFUFU.」
Datie was smiling while licking her lips. Her gaze felt as if she was sizing him up. Kuroki yet again felt a chill run down his spine.
「HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT HIM WITH SUCH EYES, GOBLIN QUEEN! KUROKI IS KUNA’S!!」
Kuna was enraged upon finding that Datie was eyeing Kuroki.
「S-Shuush Kuna! Okay, we understand the situation! Leave the matter about that Algore Hero to us!! Let’s go Kuna!!」
Kuroki left the place in a hurry while pacifying Kuna.
Though Datie seemed to want to stop them, he blatantly ignored her attempts. His gut kept on telling him that this place was dangerous and that he shouldn’t stay here any longer.
Thus, Kuroki left Karon Kingdom in a hurry.
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