Re:Monster Vol. 1
Author: Kanekiru Kogitsune
Date: 2016-11-07T18:00:00+00:00
Description: When a young man begins life anew as a lowly goblin, he forges past all obstacles with a combination of strength, smarts, and a monstrous appetite in this action-packed shonen fantasy manga! Tomokui Kanata has suffered an early death, but his adventures are far from over. He is reborn into a fantastical world of monsters and magic—but as a lowly goblin! Not about to let that stop him, the now renamed Rou uses his new physical prowess and his old memories to plow ahead in a world where consuming other creatures allows him to acquire their powers. **
Publisher: Seven Seas

Day 1

It seems that I was killed after being stabbed by the stalker who I had considered to be like a younger sister, and somehow I got reincarnated.

Wow that was a mouthful. And no, I’m not joking when I say that I’ve been reincarnated. You could say that my current state of mind hasn’t settled down from all of the confusion, so I’d appreciate it if you would save the comments until after I finish my story since it might sound a bit wild if you interrupt me. Ahem. So let me explain everything from the beginning…

Well, first let’s start with my name. I used to be called Tomokui Kanata. However since I was reincarnated, let’s leave it as “Nameless” for now.

I have a bit of a lapse in memory here, but I remember that after a hard day of work, I was invited by some colleagues for a drink. I accepted their offer and we went tavern hopping.

Since the following day was a holiday, even those with a low alcohol tolerance ended up drinking throughout the night. I even had to end up carrying a colleague home since she was too drunk to make it by herself.

She had fallen asleep and I didn’t want to wake her, so I left her on the bed. My constitution and love of alcohol was much greater than hers and at that time I had an urge to drink while watching the full moon, or so I thought as I opened the fridge.

I realized that the bottom shelf that should’ve been stuffed with beer and chuhai and all sorts of drinks was empty.

Yesterday I had finished all of my drinks and had planned to go restock it today—if it wasn't for my colleague’s invitation earlier.

I had completely forgotten about it.

That’s right–It was the biggest failure in my life to have finished drinking the stocks yesterday.

If only I had saved at least one.

I–no, no… first let’s hasten the conversation a bit.

I, who had wanted to drink sake by all means, went to a nearby convenience store which was open twenty-four hours a day, bought five beers, and headed home.

Summer was approaching, yet the night was still chilly. The full moon that was suspended in the clear night sky was very beautiful.

The clouds, which were slightly concealing the moon, were also pleasant. Indeed, drinking sake with the silver moon shining overhead would make it an even more delicious experience than usual.

While thinking about the alcohol, I noticed that under a street-light was a pretty girl. It was a face that I had recognized. She’s what the general public would have referred to as a ‘stalker’. My stalker was Kirimine Aoi, an active female college student in the local area. She’s 20 years old, 5 years younger than I was.

Our relationship isn’t exactly what you would call ‘normal’. You see, in my third year of high school I saw a couple of delinquents harassing a girl—the person whom I would soon know as Aoi. She was 12-13 years old at the time. I found her, saved her, and that was how our destinies had become entwined.

Well, while it wasn’t wrong to say that I helped, I’m not sure if that’s the correct thing to say.

Compared to how I am now, I used to be a cowardly chicken. At the time, you could clearly see that there was a girl being harassed by a pair of delinquents. Though it was deplorable, the surrounding people turned a blind eye to it.

As a person for whom ESP capability hadn’t yet awoken, I could either have chosen to help her or quickly run away.

However, either by fortune or bad luck, I had received a military stun nightstick as a birthday present from my uncle, a weapons enthusiast. He worked for small- to medium-sized corporations that had military relations, so it was easy for him to get it for me. Those companies were under the influence of one major company, Avalon.

Avalon, the company that had made my nightstick, had spread its name throughout the universe as a famous weapon corporation.

At that time, I didn’t have the courage to be in possession of such a dangerous object. It was worrisome to have such an unsafe weapon, so it was still adorned in my room without being used.

However, an ‘Ota’ friend of my uncle said he wanted to look at the nightstick. Soon after, he sent an email telling me that he was on his way to see it.

The message included a location where we could meet, so I decided to walk to it. I brought the nightstick with me so he could see it from the moment he arrived.

Which brought me to my current situation.

Although I was a coward, I used the military nightstick on the delinquents that were harassing the young lady. I can still remember feeling a kind of "lightness" from defending a pretty girl from harm.

After bashing the delinquents from behind, they got extremely mad at me. However, regardless of their anger, they couldn’t stand up against such a weapon as the nightstick. After a few more hits they were sprawling on the floor–foaming and twitching violently. I quickly took the hand of the girl that was panicking, and escaped with her to someplace safe.

I was really young in those days. Because of my curiosity and a whim, I had done a horrible experiment on those delinquents while managing to help Aoi at the same time.

After that incident, her affection towards me slowly grew. It was only a matter of time, but Aoi would eventually become my stalker.

It wasn’t very severe stalking until I found a job at my current place of work, where she continued chasing me. She even followed me to other planets, where I would occasionally be sent on business trips.

When dealing with stalkers, one should speak as naturally with them as one can, no matter how much they infringe upon one’s private life.

What I’ve told you so far might be confusing for now, but after I explain how I died, will become clear.

Anyway, after buying the alcohol, I met Aoi on my way home. It would’ve been nice to say that it was a coincidence. Yet while looking down, under the light of the street-lamp, Aoi was emanating a black aura unlike her usual puppy-like self; so I could only respond by tilting my neck in confusion.

Aoi, even as a stalker, was an existence akin to a younger sister for me; because of that I was able to notice the weird atmosphere at that time, so I called out to her.

There was no reply. Aoi's face remained downcast.

In that moment I felt a great uneasiness that couldn’t be expressed. Yet even so, I still approached her so that I could learn why. Before I knew it, I was being pierced in the abdomen by a stealth knife.

Even though I had a strong body, and the degree of injury was curable with regenerative medical treatment, I could still feel the severe pain that came from the blade that was being rotated which aimed at gouging out my internal organs.

It was within expectations that I would not die if the stealth knife used was made from a lump of ordinary metal, but what Aoi used was the [Nenekaruri]; a B-rank ceremonial knife with an additional thunder property created by SAKUMA Heavy Industries, Ltd. Ironically, it was one of the goods sold by the company my uncle worked at. Simply put, it’s a single molecular cutter with the abilities of a high voltage Taser and other weapons. It’s a kind of proximity equipment that increases in sharpness when the thousand tiny blades installed on its side start to spin like a chainsaw moving at very high speeds. Once activated, a high-voltage current pours through the victim that's been stabbed. The victim’s movement is then temporarily paralyzed. It’s also used by the military.

I didn’t even have time to think about why Aoi had such a thing. Nevertheless, I was pushed down, restrained, and stabbed by the stealth knife repeatedly. The amount of blood my mouth vomited was unusual as my body was being pierced relentlessly. Every time the knife penetrated my skin I could feel the meat and bones getting torn up while my blood splattered everywhere.

Before I knew it, the slender frame of Aoi riding on my body had been dyed red in blood.

Although I had become a strengthened human after undergoing a reinforcement operation, and exceeded ordinary humans because of my occupation–I was disappointingly killed by Aoi who was a mere civilian. What does this mean? I know the performance of the stealth knife may be amazing, but was it strong enough to destroy the body of a strengthened human? Was she really capable of breaking down my stance with a surprise attack? Even if movement was impossible due to the high voltage current, was that really so?

Why– Well, this situation is regrettable.

At that time, Aoi's figure, that was stained red with my blood, was too impressive to remember in detail.

Oh, well…

Anyway, I was killed. I was killed by Aoi.

A mortal wound can’t be cured even after receiving regenerative medical treatment. The last thing I saw was the knife’s point approaching my eyeball, which would mean it was approaching my brain; a uniquely unreproducible organ, was going to be completely destroyed. After my head was completely lacerated, my consciousness eventually melted into the darkness.

However, the story doesn’t just end there. The reincarnation hadn’t started yet. My consciousness remained steadfast and didn’t change in any way until I finally noticed it. I memorized that last scene right before losing consciousness, but didn’t I die? Was it just a dream or am I drunk? I rejected the idea momentarily. The answer was reflexive and indifferent.

I was killed for sure. I could remember the pain caused by the electric current running through my veins, and the coldness of the blade that cut through my chest. That was absolutely not an illusion. Yet I’m alive. As to why–I’d like to know myself. As I was thinking that, my heavy eyelid opened.

There I saw it, I was looking at something extremely ugly. It made me think that I’d been reincarnated. It was this conclusive evidence that made me realize… Oh… Sorry I suddenly feel sleepy, but it doesn’t end here–Tomorrow I’ll continue… It wasn’t the darkness of death but the result of being fatigued.

Day 2

I woke up with a click. When I opened my eyes to gather information, I couldn’t move my head for some reason. As a result, I wasn’t able to grasp a lot of information. Still, I was able to understand one fact: though it’s regrettable, the story about reincarnating wasn’t a dream, or a delusion which I had created while being drunk.

With a little more effort, and with my limited vision, I could determine a few more things. It appears that I was in the middle of a cave. Signs of it being handmade weren’t found, so the possibility of it being natural was high. The feeling of the rags I used as a blanket was the worst. They felt stiff—and they were clearly dirty. The soil on my back was uncomfortable, and a pebble was digging into my skin so it hurt a little, though it didn’t matter.

More importantly...

There were a lot of ugly children who had green skin and sharp ears. Although I was wearing cloth, they were asleep and stark naked. There were about 30 in visible range, with twenty of them being the size of a human baby. The others were the same size as a human child; adults I presume.

…Well, that was the conclusive evidence that I reincarnated. Considering that if I move my hands, I can see baby skin identical to that of the surrounding goblins, and on each finger a sharp black nail was clearly visible. If I wasn’t reincarnated, what else could it be?

Though I wonder if this in itself is solid proof. My arms were exactly like that of the baby goblin sleeping next to me.

Apparently, the ESP ability I gained from strengthening surgery seemed to have decreased in rank due to the new body. I cried for a moment, seriously. The body that I have doesn’t seem to move properly because I was a newborn. Today, like any other goblin child, I spent the day sleeping.

I wasn’t escaping from reality at all.

Day 3

I’m determined to survive in my second life, yet after reincarnating, I decided to give up moving since it couldn't be helped.

Through my previous job, I had learned that living dirty and having the capability to quickly change one’s thinking was an indispensable skill.

Apparently, the growth of a goblin is characteristically fast. Even though its only the third day since birth, my body has been growing rapidly.

While my body used to be that of a baby before I went to sleep, its figure is now that of an elementary student’s. Although its still weaker than before my reincarnation, compared to yesterday, my body’s power had sky-rocketed. I was able to stand up and even run at moderate speeds, so I felt indescribably happy. I frolicked instinctively, though it was childish. The stress of being unable to move as I liked had accumulated.

Well, this is only natural. When compared to the civilization built by humans, who grew up without worry of being attacked by a foreign enemy, goblins, since the moment of their birth, must deal with the fierce struggle for survival. The humans grew slower than the goblins who lived in the natural world, where the law of the jungle forced their offspring to grow faster.

Since my body could move now, I spent my time today learning this body’s limits. I did exercises with my body until I was comfortable with it, and in the end collapsed from exhaustion. Still, this bed… don’t we have anything better?

Day 4

I went hunting for the first time since reincarnating into a goblin. Those who do not work do not eat. Newborn Goblins were restricted to eating chubby caterpillars for nourishment–no, I’m not saying I don’t like them; they’re unexpectedly delicious, but we didn't have an unlimited supply of them. Hunting was unavoidable since rations were no longer available according to the goblin manager.

Only after the 4th day since birth is one forced to hunt. It teaches one the strict laws of nature. As expected, it would be too hard to do alone. I made a buddy/sacrificial pawn, named Gobukichi, by using some lies and flattery while we walked in the forest.

The goblins in this world seem to be idiots.

Well, at least that made it easy to trick them.

Oh, that’s right. goblin breeding can be done between the same race. However, the conception rate seems to be low. To overcome that, they kidnap women and violate them until they’re pregnant.

You see, yesterday I found a rusty sword near the back of the cave. While picking up the sword, I stumbled across a room with several women. Many of them were stripped to rags, even though their levels were higher than those of the goblins.

There was a beautiful child in an extremely cruel state. Her whole body was defiled by a cloudy liquid, and her vitality, which seemed to grow weaker with every breath, was ever more fleeting. She was surely on the verge of death–a severe incident to be aware of.

It was easy to guess that they had been kidnapped. At my current strength, I know too well the extent of what I can do, so I can only pray as I clasp my hands with a “Namu Amida Butsu”. This was only a mere consolation though.

Perhaps one of them was my mother? But that’s too depressing to think about, so I’ll leave it alone for now…

Indeed, It was better for two to work together than to hunt alone, but it was regrettable that Gobukichi tried to eat the prey without my consent, so I hit him with a tree branch to teach him about hierarchies. Eventually he rolled over, so I switched to dismantling the spoils.

The result of our first glorious hunt was a light, brown rabbit that had a 20 cm long horn growing out of its forehead, so I decided to call it a Horned_Rabbit. Though the horn was sharp, it was a bit small for a human to use. But because of that, it was the perfect size for a goblin. It didn’t cut like a blade, so piercing and thrusting it like an estoc would be a more suitable way to use it.

[ Goburou obtained small animal horn!!]

The moment I picked up the horn, an announcement resounded somewhere, but it was probably just my imagination.

Oh,yeah. I forgot to tell you, but my current name is apparently Goburou. The goblin elder named me that when I opened my eyes for the first time.

Even though its not exactly to my tastes, I tolerated it since I don’t want to use the name I had before.

Basically, I gave up.

Even though I acquired the Horned Rabbit's horn as a lethal weapon, it was still troublesome to peel the skin off of its body. It was even more difficult to ignore the stares of Gobukichi while he drooled, which made his face even more ugly than usual. Wanting some peace, I decided to divide the Horned Rabbit in half and gave one to him. I tried my best to peel the skin off of mine, but it grew too troublesome, so I ate the meat together with the skin.

I was able to procure a weapon and eat fresh meat. This was indeed a significant 1st day. The meat was delicious; while the mysterious insects weren’t bad, but they just couldn’t beat real meat.

Day 5

We went hunting for food again today. Gobukichi was forced to clearly understand our hierarchy, with who’s above and below whom, after going through my ‘instructions’. The experience yesterday helped us obtain prey immediately today. Although it was just another Horned Rabbit, it was at least twice the size of the one before. It might’ve been even more dangerous though because Gobukichi was only using a wooden stick, while I still had the horn from yesterday. Its performance in combat was better than I expected.

While Gobukichi caught the rabbit's attention, I smashed its spinal cord and gouged out its heart from behind.

Though a small portion of the horn was damaged due to the rough handling, the battle was still a success because of the spoils we had received.

Just like the rabbit that was killed yesterday, I broke off its horn.

I unintentionally called the weapon “The Most Legendary Horn”, but the announcement which came after corrected me.

[[[Goburou]] obtained Small Animal Horn!!]

I decided to ignore it since I don’t understand it very well. While I was thinking that, I found Gobukichi staring at the game with hungry eyes.

While munching the meat, crunching the bone, and slowly gulping it, I felt as though my entire body was brimming with life.

This convinced me of a matter that I had thought of yesterday.

It seems that even through reincarnation, I had retained the ESP ability [Absorption].

This means that I’m like in a New Game Plus mode since I inherited it. Though I wasn’t very happy about it in the start.

By the way, from the time mankind was able to advance into space and even several centuries before that, the probability to be born with an ESP ability was one out of a thousand. Some even say that the [Psychic] are an evolved version of the human race. Though some might say that, ESP abilities are a non-successive kind of gene.

There is no such thing as a [Psychic] with a one-hundred percent chance of passing on their ESP capability to their child. The probability of inheriting abilities isn’t absolute, so how they’re developed is a mystery.

ESP capability had become a natural part of everyday life. Even if somebody developed an ability through an unnatural way, like by coming into contact with aliens, because psychic powers were recognized as part of a person’s individuality, nobody would look down on that person. The time when [Psychics] were persecuted for their abilities was over. Though if a user was still uncomfortable with their power, devices that were capable of suppressing it could be bought in the market.

My [Absorption] ability was a major power, even rarer than the likes of [Psychometry], [Telekinesis] and [Teleportation], which were of the general class. It made it so, no matter how hard or poisonous something was, I would be able to eat it. My teeth could tear through the likes of iron and gold easily. While toxins would be restructured, rendered harmless and edible in my body. The characteristics of whatever I ate, whether it be an item or another living being, would be absorbed and assimilated into me, so that I could use them as well. This was an ability that could only be obtained at a fixed probability.

I’m not quite sure how it works though… Oh well, I just wanted to inform you about what my ability was. To question the principles of supernatural powers would be nonsense.

By the way, just because I’ve eaten something that has an ability, doesn’t guarantee that I’ll absorb its powers. For example, if what I just ate was a living being, its freshness is an important factor as to whether I’ll get an ability or not. After its death, I have twelve hours to eat it before the chance to absorb its abilities are gone.

That said, there are certain parts that give abilities easier than others such as the heart and the brain, where most of the power is concentrated. Physical strengthening, and an improved recovery rate, can be obtained in addition to the ability absorbed. Furthermore, if the being that I consumed was stronger than me, there was a certainty of simultaneously acquiring multiple abilities. Moreover, its possible to strengthen an ability that’s been acquired, by consuming the original ability owner multiple times. Although [Absorption] isn’t strong on its own, the more I eat, the stronger I become. Naturally, there is a limit though.

Before I reincarnated, I strengthened myself by devouring creatures of mass destruction and evil-doing espers.

Unfortunately, the abilities I had gotten from them seemed to have been reset. Since there were some useful powers the reset had made me full of regret, but I was fortunate enough to keep the [Absorption] ability which more than made up for it. Thus, food like the horned rabbit and the mysterious insects should be eaten without hesitation. It was mortifying, however, to know that it was the only ability that I retained after my reincarnation was good enough.

Since it’s necessary to eat for survival, common sense and ethics could be easily discarded. The ability I obtained this time was called [Escape]. “When fleeing or running away, the probability of escaping and adapting to the environment increases.” I wonder why the rabbit didn’t try to escape when we confronted it today… Oh well. After that two more horned rabbits were successfully captured and eaten. Going to sleep with a full belly was a pleasant feeling. It seems that the amount that Gobukichi is relying on me is rapidly increasing. It’s probably because the law of the jungle rules this world that contributed to him recognizing me as the superior being.

Day 6

Apparently, newborn Goblins are weak enough to be easily defeated by horned rabbits, and because of this, nuts were the staple food which most of them ate in order to survive, or so I’m told by Gobumi-chan. You see, Gobumi-chan was another Goblin from our generation, and although she had “beauty” in her name, it’s a pity that she wasn’t that beautiful. All the Goblins (the small fries) had the same ugly face, so there wasn’t much of a difference. Me? I’m no exception. I confirmed this while washing my body in a nearby river.

Well, according to Gobumi-chan, the other Goblins couldn’t compare to my good looks. I didn’t rejoice when she told me I was handsome. To what degree is a Goblin even considered handsome anyway?

I stared into the distance for a moment.

By the way, after asking Gobumi-chan for her opinion on Gobukichi, it turns out that he’s normal–that’s good.

Going back to the story, Goblins are fundamentally weak by nature. Therefore individuals with wisdom and luck seem to survive. Only a selected few with that degree of capability can be considered a true companion in order to survive. Tough indeed.

Well, I asked Gobumi-chan–precisely how many Goblins. She said many have fallen prey from the horn of the horned rabbit.

After hearing those words, I thought, “Eh? Seriously?” though the words flowed out of my mouth. After all, average sized horned rabbits are only a bit bigger than the Japanese rabbit. Moreover, apart from its length, the horned rabbit makes efficient use of its two legs to execute an overhead attack to kill Goblins…. Oh, I suppose that it’s possible.

After all, these primitive creatures aren't that smart.

To strike and kick as an attack was typical.

Fighting bare-handed will certainly get you killed.

The horn of the horned rabbit is a weapon. Only idiots will fight it upfront while being unarmed. Having a small body may also be a reason. The horn will pierce from below and towards the abdomen.

However, recently Gobukichi imitated me by equipping a wooden stick and I've even seen other clever Goblins equipping it here and there.

That day I made Gobumi-chan as the third person in hunting as a reward for the information. Horned Rabbits are seriously delicious.

Day 7

It was raining today, so we were relaxing and working in the cave.

Clonk-clonk sounds were reverberating while I was striking and grinding a mysterious obsidian like rock I found yesterday by the riverside. I’m trying to turn it into something knife-like.

No, I wished to have fur clothes soon. I wanted to graduate from the worn out cloth, but the horn was not suitable for cutting.

Partly because I was making a terrible noise, partly because they were interested in what I was doing, the goblins born at the same time as me drew close, however by ignoring them, while continuing to work they later scattered. Good riddance.

The older goblins for some reason were smiling while observing me. I don't know why.

Oh well, since I was able to make three pseudo-knives until slightly past noon, I’ll consider this good. Since both my hands were starting to hurt slightly, I decided to end it at that. The pseudo knife manufacturing halted since it is just something to do in my spare time.

There were two people, Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun who were staring at my work without getting bored--no, next time I will count not by person[People] but by goblin --I called for a strategy meeting concerning the formation of the next hunt.

Various opinions were noisily being voiced--although it is a field where I am mostly unchallenged, Gobumi-chan who is smarter than Gobukichi did offer her opinion once in a while. Gobukichi was constantly nodding, since he’s an idiot. During the meeting a remarkably wrinkled goblin approached us.

This goblin is Gobu-jii. This [Goblin Community]'s oldest goblin, he possessed a social position close to an adviser, and above all, my name Goburou was given to me by this grandfather goblin.

The strategy meeting was postponed for now, to listen to various stories Gobujii-san told us. No, Gobujii-san has had a uselessly long life but he has very extensive knowledge, so I do not want to miss this opportunity.

Well, because it would only take about 20 years or so to be called an elderly person, this body will not be able to have a long life...Hahaha.

I pulled myself together.

Gobu-jii told us many things about this world such as, the rules for levels and Rank Up, apparently such a thing exists, why in this cave except for us newly born goblins, there were only elderly goblins around, among other things.

Let’s leave this worlds levels, Rank Up and such for later, let’s first talk about the goblins who live in this cave.

Apparently the young goblins, maybe our goblin parents, are working away from home in the forest. Working away from home, in short pillaging right? I understand.

Eh, are goblins so weak that they easily die from horned rabbits? No no, that is a newborn goblin right? Goblins are certainly weak as a race however, isn’t this the reason for why the goblins who are born in this forest are able to move the day after, training to kill using a wooden stick and throwing stones in order to learn how to support themselves, literally learning cunning tactics and the skills needed to survive by risking their lives.

The weak die, the strong live, I understand this very simple yet severe law.

Really, so merciless I want to cry.

Well, lately there are many individual who imitated us by pairing up when hunting horned rabbits. Because of that the surviving individuals numbered more than ever.

While I was nodding and saying “I see!”, I saw that somehow Gobu-jii's loincloth began to change shape. Apparently his long life hadn’t dulled his desire to spawn progeny, or perhaps he sensed that his death was close.

Ugh, after almost puking, I wanted to stop our talk as soon as possible and averted my gaze.

As if I can gaze long at that thing.

Since our talk had ended, his face showing how pleased he was with himself, Gobu-jii got a look of lust and went to the inner parts of the cave.

A short while later, feeble feminine shrieks were heard.

I put my hands together and prayed twice for the sake of the captured women.

Doing anything more than this is at the moment impossible for me, someday I’d like to give those women peace.

Still, even living under those conditions is for sure unfair, I think. Even I felt that much sympathy.

Day 8

Our trio consisting of me, Gobukichi and Gobumi went out hunting this day. At any rate, for the past few days we have managed to become quite fully equipped, although the equipment is so crude that I don’t know if it should count.

From several horns, I chose two comparatively large ones which I dual wielded. In case I was ever hit, I created a simple body armor full of gaps by binding the remaining horns together with ivy which I fastened around my body. The horns are surprisingly hard, but against thrusting attacks the armor has little effect, however against blunt damage it’s quite effective. This should be plenty enough protection to ensure I don’t get any serious injuries.

Gobukichi is covered by wooden chest armor and is wielding a club. The club is so thick that he has to use both hands to hold it, and the handle was shaved using horns to make it thinner. Well, since he’s both the physically strongest out of us and the most stupid, hitting stuff with his full strength is the style that he can use the best to his advantage.

Together with the scraps from the horned rabbit pelts and a sturdy piece of ivy, I had constructed a simple staff sling, strengthening Gobumi's ranged capabilities. She used stones lying around as ammunition, and was our rearguard who could deal with birds and so forth, specializing in ranged combat. She was currently not equipped with armor, but given the time I’d like to construct some for her. By the way, the worn-out loincloth is still standard equipment. I want new clothes. However yeah, with increased numbers it gets easier as expected.

With Gobukichi as the vanguard, me as mid-range, and Gobumi covering the rear support, this formation was surprisingly effective, so the fruits of today's hunt was in addition to the horned rabbits also new prey. One was a poisonous snake with a length of 60 centimeters, a diameter of approximately 6 centimeters, covered with black scales with a speckled pattern. There were three of them and I named them “Night Vipers” (temporary name). Another one looked like a bat, although I fear that it’s probably something else, they couldn’t help but stand out since their wings were shining in seven different colors. We found one of them and I named them “Seven Colored Bats” (temporary name). The third one looked like what you get if you combined an armadillo and a racoon dog together, the back was covered with a hard shell. We found two of them and I named them “Armored Tanuki” (temporary name). And this time we routinely caught two Horned Rabbits. This is a perfect result.

However at any rate, Gobukichi and Gobumi seemed to be strongly hinting at something by staring at me with round and cute eyes while uncontrollably drooling. Well, it’s not like I don’t understand them. While the other goblins would have eaten the captured spoils on the spot where they caught them, because I wanted to appropriate the usable parts to make weapons of them, which compared with eating them took more time.

I also wanted to disassemble everything at the same time, so we didn’t get to eat in the middle of the hunt. That’s why I understood why’d they get hungry. But I ignored this, continuing the work. When they disappointedly hang their heads I felt that was enough. Oh well, It can’t be helped.

After removing the horn from the Horned Rabbit, I threw the body towards Gobumi and Gobukichi. Originally I wanted the pelt too, but the drooling appearance of Gobumi and Gobukichi was too pitiful to look at. But Gobumi and Gobukichi were for some reason staring blankly at me after receiving the meat, slightly bending their heads to one side in puzzlement.

Even though I told them not to eat I handed them food, so I think they were wondering what to do, so this time I told them: “Because this is going to take a while, go ahead and eat that". After looking troubled for a while, Gobukichi and Gobumi greedily munched on the simple food. Both goblins had bloodstains around their mouths.

After averting my eyes, I first decided to remove the shell of the Armored Tanukis. Since I couldn’t break the shell with the Horned Rabbit horn, I had no objections to using it for the construction of armor. Here the pseudo-knife I made yesterday of a material that looks kind of like obsidian became handy. It’s cutting edge wasn’t really stellar, however compared to cutting with the horn it was leagues better.

I already knew how to dismantle it, however it seemed like the Armored Tanukis shell had stuck together to the skin, so it was easier to remove the skin with the shells attached. After a slightly close fight, I managed to tear off the entire skin together with the shells and a mysterious announcement was heard again.

[ Goburou has obtained Shell beasts skin furnished with shells!!]

Like usual I thought, What’s this?. However, I soon concluded that I should leave it alone. I decided to also gain some nourishment before I continued, so I tore the Armored Tanukis heart, brain and right leg to pieces and ate them. I gave the rest to Gobumi and Gobukichi. There was still meat left after all. Nevertheless, the meat of the Armored Tanuki tasted good! The texture when chewing it was seriously awesome. When chewing the flavors mixed together into a wonderful blend. Aah, I’ll try to eat a bit of the shell to assess it.

Ability [Shell Defense] learned.

From just chewing it slightly, I learned the ability.It might have been because I ate the heart, brain, and right leg earlier. Incidentally, [Shell Defense] is the ability to when using objects made from organic shells increase defensive power, increase chance to block damage and reduce the chance of being hit with fatal attacks. Yes, it’s a fairly good ability. It’s profit, profit. Feeling good, I finished skinning the other Armored Tanuki quicker this time, since I now knew how to do it.

In my previous working place I got used to dissecting creatures, as long as you have the know-how it’s easy to do. This time I ate half the meat and I threw the remainder to to Gobumi and Gobukichi, after which I ate some more shells in order to raise the level of [Shell Defense] slightly. Ah, calling it levels is just an expression of mine, to make it easier to understand I’m just calling it levels and there's no specific meaning behind it. Understanding that the ability has gotten stronger is enough.

Next I started to disassemble the Seven Colored Bat. I removed the entire pretty seven colored wing, and drew out the fangs who looked like they were for sucking blood. Then I split the meat and we all shared it. The flesh of the seven colored was very tender compared to that of the Armored Tanuki, yes, a very good taste. Or how should I put it, ever since turning into a goblin, all food I’ve eaten has tasted good.

Is this perhaps because I’ve gotten the sense of taste of the race I was born as? Not that I really care anyway. I’m afraid that I didn’t learn any ability from eating the bat, however my physical ability seemed to be slightly increased, and after eating the meat my body felt a sense of fulfillment.

My ESP ability [Absorption] didn’t only give me abilities like [Shell Defense], but also could increase my physical strength, defensive strength and vitality and such, thus strengthening my body which I was very thankful for. Even so, I wonder if my ESP ability originated from my soul? I had the feeling I’d heard about how a famous scholar from somewhere had written a thesis named [Getting infected by a special virus causes ability to appear in compatible persons] or maybe I haven’t.

While looking slightly puzzled, I realized that I had no means to ascertain the truth of this matter, and since the knowledge wouldn’t be of any practical use anyway I decided to drop this line of thought. Finally I started disassembling today's main dish, the three Night Vipers.

First I cut off the head of the snake with my obsidian knife, but since the snake skin was awfully hard the edge of one of the knives got chipped. When I hung it up and tried to cut it again it tore off. I thought I could make something of the snake skins so I tore it off. With their heads cut off and the snakeskin peeled off, each goblin received one snake each.

We ate. It was quite delicious. Yeah, if this was splashed with sake and burnt, it would be the same as Kabayaki (eel dipped and boiled in soy sauce), is how delicious I thought it was. Just from imagining it, I started salivating. The Horned Rabbit and the Armored Tanukis crispy and slightly hard meat is delicious, and the super tender meat of the Seven Colored Bat is also delicious. However, the Night Viper slightly exceeded those in taste. This tastiness caused us to stop working, and all three goblins greedily wolfed down their share.

Ability learned: 【Thermography】

Ability learned: 【Venom】

Ability learned: 【Poison Resistance】

Ability learned: 【Sense Presence】

Ability learned: 【Evil Eye】

After eating it, I learned five abilities. Apparently the night viper was in a different league compared to the current me. When I eat something stronger than I am, the probability that I receive abilities from it significantly increases. This is one of the characteristics of my [Absorption] ability. But getting five abilities at once it truly a first. My guess is that this is because goblins are a weak species.

Well, I am truly satisfied with the results of this days outcome. The remaining poisoned fang could probably be used as a tool. However, if Gobukichi or Gobumi were to even graze it, they would without doubt immediately be on the verge of death since they don't have [Poison Resistance]. Worst case scenario is that they’d die instantly.

Besides this time I also received the ability [Venom], which I can use to apply poison to the tip of the horn that I’m using currently. If I’m not in direct contact this ability doesn’t manifest itself, but compared to the poisoned fang it’s a lot safer to use. That’s why just in case something were to happen, I ate the three heads of the snakes myself. Because this way is a lot safer.

Yeah, poison (which is completely harmless to me because of the two abilities [Poison Resistance] and [Absorption] working in concert) only made the food taste better to me by giving the food a slight sting. However, two goblins were directing envious gazes at me.

Hey, if you ate this you’d die, you know?

Day 9

It rained today. It was a downpour.

Thus, using the raw materials I acquired yesterday, I will work hard to manufacture new armor.

The goblin elder earlier told us about the needle like “Steel Grass” and the sturdy string like “Slender Ivy” that grew in the vicinity, so yesterday on the way back we made ourselves a supply to use when sewing with the Armored Tanuki skins furnished with shells and the Night Viper skins.

The first thing I made was my torso armor. I wanted to use the the Armored Tanuki skin for the front and back, but the most important part was that the rear part was sturdy, and the rabbit horns that earlier were used to protect the rear were used to patch up the front. I mostly succeeded in closing any gaps.

With this I have finally ranked up my garment from the worn-out loincloth.

The previous armor before? No, those were only horns fastened with ivy therefore it cannot be called clothes. Moreover, the worn-out loincloth is equipped by default.

Next I made a wooden square, I wanted to use the remaining shells to reinforce it.

Though it is still quite shabby, with this a sturdy shield is completed. This is a present to Gobukichi. No, I use the dual-wield style, and the shield is too over-sized for me to use. So, Gobukichi who is the vanguard should use it.

Besides, lately he had started to be able to use the cudgel one-handed, and not using one hand is wasteful.

When I hand it over, he was very much delighted. Gobukichi was equipped with his wooden cudgel which was the same size as his torso, the shield crafted from the tanuki’s carapace and the wooden torso armor. Yes, he’s starting to look quite good.

Next is Gobumi's body armor.

Utilizing the remaining snake skin and seven prismatic colored bat wings, and a small amount of the remaining horns, I stitched those together and a body armor that reminded me of a national costume was made.

Because it was made using the Seven Colored Bat’s wings it was quite vibrant, however the bat wings proved to be surprisingly robust and elastic.

Since the horn was arranged for protecting the vitals, the minimum required level of defense is expected.

After that I tried to make a necklace out of the Seven Colored Bat's fangs. Well, I felt that I didn’t really have many options for using them so it was more something like a bonus.

The finished product was presented to Gobumi. She was very delighted too.

That’s right, next time I craft something I’ll try to make weapons for myself, armor for Gobukichi, and a bow and quiver for Gobumi might be good I think.

Ah, today’s meal was what I ate during my infancy period (although it was just few days ago), caterpillar like insects. These could be gathered in the cave.

Because its unexpectedly tasty, this bug should not be underestimated. Though I did not learn anything from eating it.

Day 10

I went out hunting.

Today’s spoils were Horned Rabbits, Night Vipers and Armored Tanukis.

We were unable to capture a Seven Colored Bat. I felt that I was close to learning something from eating it, but it can’t be helped. Such things happen.

Ah, by the way, even though we encountered various creatures they all seemed to be a lot stronger than us, so we avoided them and hunted what we were used to.

Oh well, we’re steadily raising our level, so we’ll hunt them sooner or later.

Ah, since hunting is finished for today, I will explain levels to you.

Levels, to put it plainly, is partly a manifestation that makes different individuals strength easy to understand.

Though I do not understand the working principle, when you squint a number will faintly appear floating in your field of vision.

The maximum level that can be obtained is 100, and this number can’t be exceeded. Incidentally, right now my level is 86 and, as a goblin, it is fairly high.

I think it might have risen so much because I’ve been killing and eating high rank stuff like Night Vipers without receiving a single injury.

Also, although it might be inconsequential, Gobukichi-kun is 78 and Gobumi-chan is 55. We are getting stronger at a good pace.

Although to say that as a goblin, even when comparing a level 100 to other races we are still treated as small fry, so right now level does not really matter.

However, in this world there exists other interesting rules than levels.

According to Gobu-jii, when reaching level 100, growth stops there.

However those individuals with potential to grow further do not stop there, but instead can grow stronger through “Rank Up”.

In short, the individuals who have accomplishments can evolve into a stronger race, further increasing the individual's power.

If you assume that today I will keep growing as well, then generally I’d first evolve into a hobgoblin from a goblin, then into an ogre.

That is the general route.

Be that as it may, there exists other routes than to evolve into ogres. However, what race you evolve into will depend upon what actions you have performed.

For example, those who had turned into ogres, drinking the blood of prey willingly, who have a certain intelligence, strength, and above all a high pride, turn into vampires.

Those who had turned into ogres, preferring to use heavyweight weapons like axes and large swords, such individuals endowed with unusual strength and resilience turn into minotaurs.

Those who had turned into hobgoblins, continuing to eat rotten corpses’ flesh and bodily fluids willingly, and finally start to eat even souls, become a [ Ghoul ].

Those who were hobgoblin until now, that excel in handling certain weapons such as the sword, katana and spears, certain people who have intelligence and skills closest to a human become another existence completely [ Half Blood Lord ] it’s divided into various classifications of the [ Lord ] race system.

With things being as they are, following this system, by leveling up I’d turn into something related to an ogre.

This law of the evolution of species is to put it bluntly, very strange, however since it actually happens I can’t deny it, and for me who’s living in a world of survival of the fittest this helps me too.

Well, Gobu-jii says that usually [Rank Up] doesn’t happen early. Because I wanted to see how far I could go, I didn’t have a problem with that and decided to treat it as a challenge.

Nevertheless, for example even if I become an ogre, I wonder what sort of evolution I will have.

I don’t think I will turn into a Vampire, because I don’t really have very high pride.

Probably not Minotaur, since I prefer light thrusting class weapons more than heavier weapons.

I really don't want to turn into a Ghoul.

Well, the ghoul class is an undead, the same as the vampire, and there exist several different undead you can evolve into, for example the spell slinging Lich or the headless horseman Dullahan, according to Gobu-jii.

If you want to become an undead type monster, it is easier to turn into a ghoul than a vampire, however losing the flesh of your body is a definite weakness.

The evolution that seemed best to me from his explanation seemed to be the Lord, who uses various types of weapons.

Oh well, I still have a long way to go and it is not happening anytime soon. Having tired out from listening to his speech, I went to sleep since night had fallen.

Day 11

Although the results of today's hunting was only one kind of species, the Seven Colored Bat, we caught quite a few of them, numbering thirty.

Well, today we entered one of the caves we discovered while exploring because we were wondering if there was anything in it. The cave opened up into a large and gloomy room that had bats crowded together on its ceilings, when...

...Yeah, we were really saved by both of the 【Sense Presence】 and 【Evil Eye】 abilities that I had obtained from eating the Night Vipers.

If I hadn't anticipated the movements of the Seven Colored Bats with 【Sense Presence】 and limited their mobility with 【Evil Eye】, I wouldn't have had time to give instructions to Gobumi-chan or Gobukichi-kun and I'm certain that we would have died.

The unpleasant truth is that even though they were weaker than us, I was prepared for death because their numbers were at least ten times more than ours. This battle made me realize that numbers are important, after all.

However, it looks like the three of us survived without suffering any major injuries, such as losing a limb.

Although we weren't able to count the number of minor injuries that we had taken, we were able to survive because of the new armor that Gobumi-chan and I were wearing, as well as the solid shield that Gobukichi-kun was carrying.

Well, I think that it's important that we upgrade our arms, after all.

Anyway, lets put talk about such hardships aside. Although the majority were able to run away, I dismantled the thirty Seven Colored Bats that we were able to kill and secured their wings and fangs. Once that was done, we ate the meat that was left over.

The meat, which seemed to melt in my mouth as I ate it, was delicious.

Each goblin received ten Seven Colored Bats, and the amount of meat caused our stomachs to swell as we ate them.

Ability learned: 【Echolocation】

Ability learned: 【Pump Up】

Ability learned: 【Vampirephilia】

As a result, I was able to obtain three abilities. Well, I guess I would obtain something if I ate so many of them.

With this, I've acquired all the abilities that I can get from the Seven Colored Bats. Since I can't reinforce my body and abilities anymore by eating them, it looks like they can only be used to help fill my stomach from now on.

Given that the growth rate is bad because the Seven Colored Bats are weak, I figure that it's not necessary to force myself to hunt them in the future. That being said, I will eat them when I want to since they're delicious.

Anyway, it's good that we discovered their nest at the level we're at. It looks like all of their abilities will be useful.

【Echolocation】 is a suitable ability for understanding and moving my body in the surrounding terrain in addition to using my sense of sight. It looks like it'll be a good way to prevent surprise attacks, as well.

In nature, the struggle for survival is intense, so I expect that it will be a very useful ability.

Day 12

As usual, I went hunting in order to obtain food to eat.

Today we hunted Night Vipers and Horned Rabbits, and we successfully hunted some Armored Tanuki as well. Afterwards, since the sun had started to set, we returned to the cave the same way that we always do.

Unlike Humans, Goblins are born with 【Night Vision】, so the darkness itself isn't a threat.

For that reason, I think if we could, we would continue to hunt since we can more or less see, even at night. However, there are many species that are stronger and more ferocious than Goblins that are active at night, so it's pretty dangerous.

Well, Goblins are basically a weak species.

These include the following:

"Red Bear (Tentative Name)," which resembles a brown bear with red fur.

"Triple Horned Horse (Tentative Name)," which is a monster that's similar to a horse. Its entire body is covered in light brown scales and it has three horns lined up on its forehead.

"Demon Spider (Tentative Name)," which is a spider that's approximately sixty centimeters in size. It has a characteristic yellow line carved into its black carapace, which appears to be stronger than steel.

"Green Slime (Tentative Name)," which is a small-fry monster like the Goblin, but it appears to possess a 【Nullify Physical Attacks】-like ability for some reason.

And so on...

I don't have any motivation to kill them though, since the probability of them killing me is higher than usual.

As it stands right now, I'd probably be incapacitated in no time if I was hit with a high enough level poison.

Well, that's why we return home and don't go out at night.

Having said that, we returned to the cave, which appears to be in a safe location.

After that, I was attacked in my sleep.

However, I was able to avoid the attack at the last moment while laying in my bed, so I wasn't injured. This was due to my 【Sense Presence】 ability, which is always active.

The main offenders were Goblins from my generation.

There were six of them, and they had some intelligence, since they had recently copied my group and started using tree branches as weapons.

There's a corner that I habitually sleep in, which I claim whenever I go to do so. Nature won't go easy on someone even if they're attacked by their own family with tree branches, though. While they were surprised that their surprise attack on me had failed, I didn't miss my chance to launch a counterattack.

The outcome of this was that I turned the tables on them.

I ended up killing one of the Goblins because I made a mistake in the creation and use of the venom that was dripping from my weapon thanks to my 【Venom】 ability, but that couldn't be helped. Since they were the cause of the situation, they couldn't do anything about it.

For the rest of the attackers, I successfully created and applied a muscle relaxant poison and used it to simply stop their movements. Just like that time with Gobukichi-kun, I beat them from top to bottom with a tree branch, but I didn't kill them. In the end, they were rolling around the area.

I'll hear the circumstances behind their attack tomorrow. Since they were injected with a non-fatal poison, they should be better by then, so I'll have to find out why they attacked me at that time.

As for Goblins, our self-healing abilities are high because we grew up in the wild.

It's already too late for one of them, though. I'll say this again, but that couldn't be helped.

However, because there was such a commotion, Goblins that were sleeping soundly had started waking up. It's only natural that the entire cave started to get noisy as a result.

I thought that they would say something, but Gobujii, the leader of the older Goblins, simply thought that it was survival of the fittest at work, so nothing in particular was said. They simply turned towards the body with a slightly pitiful look in their eyes.

Since I thought that I would be punished for killing a member of the same species, I was thankful that they didn't blame me for the death.

However, Gobumi-chan didn't understand the situation and was the scariest of them all.

Even though I pacified her as I restrained her from behind, I couldn't laugh at the situation because I had the most trouble saving the Goblins that attacked me. At the same time, I was thinking things like "No! A Goblin's skeletal structure won't let their arm turn that way! It'll break!" and "Their neck won't turn around anymore! You'll tear their head off!"

Oh, by the way, Gobukichi-kun was sleeping soundly the entire time. Well, it's said that sleep helps a child grow. In fact, he's physically bigger than most of the other Goblins from our generation. Is he ten centimeters taller than I am?

Because I can rely on him as our vanguard, I think I'll ignore the fact that he shamelessly continued to sleep during the commotion this time. On top of that, I wouldn't welcome it if the number of rampaging Goblins increased because he woke up.

Anyway, in this way, I calmed down the agitated Gobumi-chan.

I created and spread a weak sleeping poison, which I released from my toes. After she lost consciousness, I carried her back to her bed.

After that, I took the corpse outside since it was unpleasant to leave a corpse of the same species near my bedroom in a pool of its own blood...or maybe it was because it had started to smell.

Thanks to my normal strength being twice what it should be at my current level, as well as it being enhanced by the 【Pump Up】 ability that I obtained from the Seven Colored Bats yesterday, it was unexpectedly easy for me to finish moving a corpse that had almost the same physique that I have.

Gobujii said to place the corpse in a slightly remote location so that other monsters would come and eat it, and then told me to run away right after I did so.

However, once I had carried the corpse a certain distance, I hid myself and ate it. I did this because I was interested.

My thoughts? Yeah...it wasn't delicious, but it didn't taste unpleasant either.

This was the first time I didn't think something was delicious. I cocked my head to the side and thought about this for a moment. Since I thought that one arm was already enough, I left the rest as planned.

Well, that being said, today wore me out, so I went to sleep.

Day 13

We were exploring a mountain located a little deeper in the forest today, when we discovered a species of pig faced demi-human walking through the mountains with a pickaxe on its shoulder. The color of its skin was brown and its stomach was sticking out, but I could tell from its slightly muscular appearance that it had trained its body to some extent. In addition, the clothes it was wearing were just a little bit better than what a Goblin would wear. It wore this clothing on both the upper and lower portion of its body.

I felt just a little bit irritated by this fact. The initial clothing that a Goblin has is just a loincloth, after all.

The superb item that was hanging at its waist was too large, and I want to take the item which can be seen slightly protruding from its clothes by any means necessary.

Yeah, I want to chop it up.

It's likely that I've discovered an 【Orc】, a monster whose fame is equal that of a Goblin.

Unlike the Goblin, which has the physique of an early primary school child, its height is 170cm...or maybe even more than that? Man, looking at it with my current body, the Orc is huge!

If one's unlucky, there'll be approximately a forty to fifty centimeter difference in height.

After observing it for awhile, I determined that the Orc we found is something we have a good chance of defeating, even if we launch a frontal attack and fight it alone. However, the problem is their numbers.

Orcs appear to be a stronger species than Goblins, and there's a big difference in their physiques. As for my current self, aside from going one-on-one with it, I may not be able to protect Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan if we're exposed to several attackers.

If there's too much of a difference in our numbers, even I don't know what will happen. I can't get rid of the possibility that we won't be able to escape, either.

Having said that, when we discovered it, it looked like it was a stray Orc.

Just in case, I used 【Thermography】 to check our surroundings, but I have to be careful doing so because my eyes will become useless if I look at the sun. It's troublesome that it's so difficult to use during the day, so I used 【Echolocation】 to carefully search the area as well.

As a result, I found that there were no other Orcs around, so we decided to launch a fierce attack on it.

At first, we closed the distance with it as we remained hidden in the thick bush. Then, Gobumi-chan used her Staff Sling to fire a stone that was completely soaked in venom at the Orc's eye. Her talent with it has recently blossomed and the stone hit its target, with the poison successfully invading its body after crushing its eye.

I was worried about her handling stones that had been coated in deadly poisons similar to instant death poisons. In the first place, it's impossible for the fight to end with this, since I can't refine the poison to the Orc's ability level, yet. However, since it felt acute pain in addition to losing its eyesight, it couldn't keep its composure.

Then, Gobukichi-kun had matched his timing with the attack and smashed his very thick club into the front of the Orc's knee with all of his strength, causing a dull sound to resound as the knee twisted at an angle that shouldn't be possible.

The Orc rolled around on the ground and screamed as its ugly pig face became even uglier.

Because Gobukichi-kun has completely disregarded wisdom and intellect since we began hunting, he was probably able to crush the Orc's body to this extent because his current body build stresses his offensive and defensive capabilities. This incident confirmed that it's possible for him to break bones, as well.

Gobukichi-kun. This guy, he's producing results beyond my expectations.

However, he's an idiot (this is a compliment).

Having said that, I enhanced my leg strength with 【Pump Up】 and stomped on the back of the Orc that was rolling around on the ground, pinning it down and keeping it from struggling. Then, I used the two horns I have to stab it in an area that I think would be near the kidneys if this was the back of a Human.

The Orc inhaled a breath as it prepared to call for help.

However, Gobukichi-kun swung his club down on its head before it could scream, and an unpleasant sound could be heard despite the fact that he hadn't crushed its skull. After that, the Orc's blood soaked into the club as it was swung down repeatedly.

In the end, it wasn't able to scream.

As for me, after sloppily churning its internal organs with my horn and simultaneously releasing a muscle relaxant poison from the pointed end that I stabbed it with, I removed the horn and continued to stab the Orc with it until it died.

In this way, we successfully hunted our first Orc.

Of course, we ate it after that.

Gobumi-chan had both arms and the left leg, Gobukichi-kun had everything else below the lower back, and I ate everything else that remained.

As for the taste, it was like a pig after all. Rather, it was more like high quality pork.

First off, Orcs are delicious. Pork is delicious!

Ability learned: 【Libido】

Ability learned: 【Orc Language】

Ability learned: 【Detect Analysis】

These are the abilities that I was able to learn from it.

It was good luck that I learned 【Orc Language】 and 【Detect Analysis】. However, as for 【Libido】, although it would allow me to perform outstandingly if I used it, since I'd have to choose a time and a partner in order to do so, I'll leave it alone for now.

It looks like I'll be able to talk to Orcs from now on with 【Orc Language】. Since there's this sort of ability, if I were to acquire one from this system for the Human language, then I would be able to deal with them.

Now we come to 【Detect Analysis】, which appears to let me understand the abilities of an object I've examined (restricted to goods), though this depends on the ability's level as well. When I used it on a nearby fruit, I was quite surprised that it even displayed whether or not something was poisonous.

Yeah, it looks like I was able to obtain a very useful ability.

Man, it was really good luck that I was able to eat an Orc here. However, why it possessed an ability as convenient as 【Detect Analysis】 is a mystery.

Oh, that's right. I didn't mention it before, but I also collected the pickaxe that the Orc had. It's likely that we'll be able to use it for something.

After that, we hunted more Night Vipers, Armored Tanuki, and Horned Rabbits than usual. Because the sun had started to set, we returned to the cave.

We've gotten so used to dismantling that I could do it with my eyes closed, and we were able to finish the preparations without putting too much time into it. The results of today's hunt wasn't just split between Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan and myself. I also let the Goblins in the cave that couldn't move well because they've been starving for a few days now eat as well.

It's unpleasant, but the reason for yesterday's attack appears to be mostly due to the food situation of the Goblins from my generation.

Anyway, as for the attack's direct perpetrators, it looks like they wanted to help the Goblins from my generation that hadn't eaten anything decent in several days because they lacked the strength or wisdom to find food even if they moved around in search of it. There were more females than males among these members.

However, the attackers were barely able to obtain enough food for themselves, so it wasn't possible for them to support the others.

Therefore, since I was able to enjoy the most substantial meals, they wanted to beat me up and make me surrender. Then, they planned to have me gather food for the others. A number of them had gathered, and they thought that it might go well if it was me. It was simple, really.

Although I was able to laugh and ignore such a thing, it would be troublesome if it happened again in the future. Since they were depending on us to eat, it couldn't hurt to sell favors for the time being.

Man, I want to say that I don't know those who can't obtain food on their own, but from what Gobujii told me afterwards, it appears that there are inept Goblins like them in every generation. It looks like most of them died, but as one would expect, they're too pathetic as the same species as myself.

This will be the first and last act of compassion that I'll do.

Having said that, they expressed their gratitude to me. They were crying as they said thank you.

Because I don't need their thanks, I told them to pay me back by catching their own share of prey to eat.

For now, I gave the pitiable guys a lecture on how to hunt Horned Rabbits.

I had some of them form parties, and advised them to put all their weight on their foot and crush its backbone after they block its horn by deliberately thrusting it into a tree branch. It's simple, but I judged that it would be plenty.

Anyway, this method will be tested in actual combat tomorrow. In exchange for this, I told them to bring their share of the food they ate from today's spoils to my place when they can.

This was probably the first time they've had meat for food since they were born.

I taught them how to hunt as well, though it was just the basics.

If I do this and they repay my kindness with ingratitude, then I won't hesitate to use them as sacrificial pawns. To be more specific, I can use them as decoys to lure something into a trap if it doesn't look like I can defeat it without being harmed. I'll wait for that moment without expecting too much from them.

Also, the five Goblins that attacked me have already become my subordinates. Naturally, they're completely obedient to my orders, so I assigned them some daily responsibilities.

The goods they presented to me for today's assignment was five Horned Rabbits, which I distributed to the starving goblins.

As for the phrase "survival of the fittest," it's really good when you're one of the fittest, you know.

I grew tired after I finished distributing the food, so I went and shut my eyes as I rolled into my bed, which had been improved a little with Seven Colored Bat wings.

Sleepiness immediately came over me.

【Your level has exceeded the minimum required value.

Since special conditions ≪Overrunning Lively Motion≫ and ≪Unique Behavior≫ have been cleared, it's possible to 【Rank Up】 into a 【Hobgoblin - Variant】.

Would you like to 【Rank Up】?

【≪ＹＥＳ≫ ≪ＮＯ≫】

Although I had a feeling that this was being displayed in my mind, since I was very tired, I picked ≪ＹＥＳ≫ right away and went to sleep.

【Goburou has obtained the 【Divine Protection】 of the Great God governing ≪Origin and Demise≫.】

Day 14

When I woke up, my body had changed so much that it couldn’t compare to how it was before I went to sleep.

The changes to my body shocked me, I thought hard about what I heard yesterday before I went to bed. I see, so this is a Rank Up, huh. The mysteries of this world make me shudder.

No, no, from my own experience I can understand however, the natural laws of this world are so amazing, that it’s beyond scary.

After killing and eating the Orc yesterday, in one night I went from the physical body of a 7-9 year old, to the size of a medium-sized human. My physical strength, eyesight, and hearing had increased dramatically. Even the abilities I had gained before yesterday had also become more powerful.

This is scary. Even though my body has grown a ridiculous amount, I didn’t feel any sense of discomfort at all from my new form. Even though such a huge change should’ve made me go insane, that didn’t happen in the least.

Even though my body had grown so much, I didn’t feel any muscle pains from it at all, instead, I felt overflowing power that was incomparable to before, like a temporary feeling of omnipotence. Freaky, right? Seriously.

Now, if I was an ordinary guy I would’ve probably be so happy that I would do stupid things until the feeling passed, however, the reality is that I wasn’t even close to being as powerful as I felt, and therein lies a trap.

That’s why the rules of this world are scary. Now, that aside.

It was interesting to watch Gobukichi, who had grown bigger as well, just stand there with a confused look.

It seems that he also passed over level 100 after the battle with the Orc yesterday, causing him to undergo a Rank Up. However unlike mine, his skin didn’t turn black. In fact, I couldn’t see any difference in his skin color at all, he was still the same old green.

Well, let’s put that aside as well.

What interested me the most was his face.

He no longer looked like an ugly Goblin like he had used to be. His naive look, in some aspects held some attractiveness. His ears were still pointed, and his nose looked somewhat hooked. Nevertheless he looked a lot like a human. Having green skin might not be very human-like, nonetheless his looks were approaching to that of one.

Then, what about me? Wondering this, I checked the obsidian knife for my reflection.

What I saw was, with black skin, my face from when I was young before I reincarnated. …Yeah, as one would expect I was completely stunned until it settled in. For now, I went to the wall close by our sleeping place, grabbed a caterpillar-like mystery bug, and started munching on it from the head.

After I had calmed down, I grabbed Gobukichi and went to look for the Goblin Elder.

That’s because if I didn’t make use of the Goblin Elder at times like this, his existence wouldn’t have any point at all.

Just in case, because it felt risky, I wouldn’t mention the [Origin and Demise]-ruling [Divine Protection of the Great God] that I also received. What I learned was:

1. Upon turning into a Hobgoblin, my body and appearance became closer to a human. The reason for this is unknown. It’s one of the mysteries of the world. Apparently because of the Hobgoblin’s human-like appearance, they could even live in human towns. However, there is a long past of Goblin slavery, and most of those coexisting with humans are still slaves. Those with good looks have become sex slaves for human perverts.

2. The difference between Gobukichi's and my skin color is because I am of a subspecies. Subspecies are generally stronger and have special abilities when compared to the standard ones. Unless special conditions are cleared you can’t become a subspecies, which is why they’re rarely seen, so apparently I’m kind of unusual.

3. Furthermore, my skin color is black. Black is the symbolic color of the oldest god of the world, the one who controls the beginning and the end of something-something. Even among the subspecies mine is the absolute rarest while being the strongest, and with studying, they’re capable of learning the strongest magic possible.

4. Also, to the believers of this god, I’m somewhat like a living idol, an object of worship. If that’s not the case, then parts of my body are thought to be materials used in rituals to communicate with the god, so I have to be careful when it’s late in towns and stuff. Religion is scary no matter what world you’re in.

5. How should I put it, becoming a Hobgoblin when not even a month had passed is supposedly very strange in the first place. The old man who’s still a Goblin said so, so it’s probably true. By the way, of the Goblins who left to work away from home, (apparently exactly 40 Goblins), only 3 had turned into Hobgoblins.

6. Also, because Gobukichi and I had become Hobgoblins before we left the cave, we were allowed to freely use the human women in the cave as we’d like. We also received the right to take things from the warehouse, and use them however we want.

Oh-. Is that so-?

…Yes, because he was kind of long-winded, I ignored most of what he said by repeating those words and pretending to listen. Particularly around point 3, and the reason for that is obvious. Like I said before, no matter what world one is in, religion is scary. Even more so now that I’ve obtained the [Origin and Demise]-ruling, and [Divine protection of the Great God] characteristics with my Rank Up. It makes me think that it’ll probably turn into more trouble than it’s worth. I thought that this was something I should hide, as long as possible.

As expected, we didn’t even consider going hunting today. I practiced martial arts together with Gobukichi in order for us to accustom ourselves to our new bodies, the sparring was especially intense. Gobukichi's power was too much for him to know how to utilize it, making him quite warlike.

Though I, who has had an interest in many different forms of martial arts never lost, I could conclude that Gobukichi's power was at least somewhat stronger than how he was before. As expected, it seems like his abilities are specialized in being the vanguard.

He wasn’t very intelligent or quick, but his offensive and defensive power had increased tremendously, making him a powerful tank and damage dealer, a hybrid character. Once we concluded our martial arts practice, the afternoon was dedicated to replacing our now too small and old armor.

Since I’ve grown, the horn and obsidian knife I’ve been using have become too small for me to handle effectively. However I’ll just have to bear with it today, my venom by itself is an adequate weapon, so I can overcome this handicap for now.

That’s why todays plan is to use the stockpiled materials from the Armored Tanukis, Night Vipers and various other monsters to create new armor.

We used the armored shell from the Armored Tanukis, and the snakeskin from the Night Vipers, to create new equipment. I was satisfied with the results, the armor we created was light, flexible, and quite robust.

To put it simply, it was armor based off of leather. We didn’t make cloaks, but since it looked like light brown leather clothes, with long sleeve arms and full-length pants it should be alright. The metal shells were placed in strategic locations, which further increased its defensive capabilities. We thought about our freedom of movement while creating it, so when we tried it out, it performed far better than expected. It barely obstructed us at all.

We even finished crafting Gobumi-chan's armor that we couldn’t complete earlier because of insufficient materials.

Since it’s mainly made out of Seven Colored Bats it looks a bit gaudy though. It somewhat gives the feeling of being a national costume from somewhere.

By the way, the food tonight was prepared from Horned Rabbits caught by the other Goblins.

It wasn’t filling enough,but it was still better than nothing. Since it tasted good I pardoned them.

Day 15

Our first hunt since our Rank Up to Hobgoblins.

Since we were displaying the might of our new bodies for the first time, I’m a bit nervous.

Today, the first prey we encountered was a humanoid with the head of a dog and fur all over its body. I don’t know where it got them from but it was wearing rusted armor with a just as rusty long-sword. I decided to name this monster, “Kobold”. From observation, it seems the Kobolds are a higher rank than Goblins and about the same rank as Orcs.

If we include the equipment, then compared to the Orc we ate, it’s probably an even higher rank. In physical strength, the Orc would be more powerful, but the Kobold would be superior in terms of speed and agility.

These two traits are embodied in the Kobold.

If it were the ‘us’ from before, we would’ve retreated immediately, or more likely, used my abilities to avoid the fight altogether. Using Gobumi-chan's accurate, poison-covered stones as support, Gobukichi and I faced the Kobold from the front.

Excluding myself, who has evolved into a subspecies, Gobukichi's combat ability increased significantly thanks to his equipment. His cudgel was reinforced by wounding shells around it while his shield was made out of shell. The Kobold only had its rusty armor while Gobukichi had various shell armors to help him. Gobukichi attacked the Kobold directly.

Rank Up is scary isn’t it?

Someone who was weak only just yesterday turned into a great warrior in one day.

Gobukichi got some minor wounds and had Gobumi-chan treat them using some of our medicinal herbs. The Goblin Elder taught us about medicinal herbs earlier.

While they did that, I took the opportunity to strip the Kobold of its possessions. On his waist hung three stones. Using my [Appraisal] ability, I discovered that they were “Fire Spirit Stones”. Apparently non-sentient low-level fire spirits dwell within the stones. I pocketed them and then started stripping off him of his armor. I hung the slightly rusty long-sword together with two books I had on my waist.

From the corpse, I took the brain, the heart and the right arm. Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan decided to split the rest evenly.

They left an impression as they had a strange texture. Although the taste is subtle, they were still delicious.

Ability [Kobold Language] learned.

Ability [Predict] learned.

As I thought, Kobolds are stronger than the average Hobgoblin. The reason Gobukichi could win was because of the huge difference in gear quality. On the other hand, I could win due to my numerous abilities and combat experience.

Also, after eating the three Fire Spirit Stones, Ability [Pyrokinesis] learned.

I gained the ability to produce fire. In the natural world, it’s hard to overcome this difference. With this I can finally make yakiniku, I thought…

And this was the outcome of the battle.

After that, we hunted some Horned Rabbits, then returned.

Today, the tribute my Goblin subordinates gave me was Horned Rabbits mixed with Armored Tanukis, which surprised me. “These guys, they’re finally growing up…” I lamented to myself. I think I’ll give shell shields to the Goblins who are sent to fetch Armored Tanukis in the future. For the evening meal, I grilled the meat the others brought, and we had a yakiniku party.

Day 16

Today, the other Goblins of our generation begged to me something like: "Please teach us the art of killing" while prostrating themselves. The Goblins inside the cave were in a row alongside each other prostrating themselves. It was quite the surreal scene to watch.

You see, the Goblins that brought me food had managed to survive by killing Horned Rabbits, as expected. However, they also had Night Vipers to fight as opponents. Since we’ve been able to kill them, the Goblins want us, or I should say me, to teach them how to survive against the Night Vipers.

“What do we gain from this?” We asked, and when we told them that they said that they’d give us tribute for it.

Well, it’s no great loss for us, so before the sun had reached it’s zenith, most of the surviving Goblins, together with Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan, had a combined practice session.

It’s a dog eat dog world. So, from the start, I’m thoroughly going to drill into their bodies that I’m superior to them. No matter if the trainee is male or female. Also, since dealing with insurrections is troublesome, I’m going to make obeying me an instinct, by endless repetition if I have to.

I aim to stop training at the last moment to ensure they don’t have any spare energy, while preventing their bodies and minds from breaking.

The result was that everyone, including Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi, had no strength left to move.

For the Goblins who trained and worked to the point of collapsing, I planned on using the tribute they’ve gathered to make something for them.

I had the motivation to do something, but its probably better if I didn’t do anything absurd. It’s the end once you die.

Gobumi-chan lays exhausted and trembling among the other females, with extreme pride showcasing her armor and necklace, but let’s pretend I didn’t see that. In the afternoon, I went hunting alone for the first time since my reincarnation.

I don’t know how it was in the beginning, but now I can move around this forest like it’s my home turf. When I somehow managed to procure enough for the ones who couldn’t move, I concluded that days hunting.

That evening, I went into the inner parts of the cave, where the human women were held captive. Since I turned into a Hobgoblin, I’ve become closer in appearance to a human, so I thought having a conversation might be possible.

Well, the outcome was – I couldn’t have a conversation with them. They were completely broken. Their eyes were utterly dead, and they were drooling uncontrollably. There was a faint smell of corpses around them.

Compared to how they were the last time I saw them, they were a lot worse off this time. Also, in this short period of time, the youngest of the girls had gotten pregnant. It was an inevitable event, but I still felt a lot of pity for her. I couldn't help but think that a girl this cute would have married into a nice family, yet she ended up here only to be repeatedly violated.

I didn’t want this to continue, and so I asked,

“Do you want to die?”

If it was the me from before, I’d end up pressing my hands together to offer a prayer, but now that I’ve ranked up into a Hobgoblin, I asked. The way I am now, I’d be able to kill or help these girls if they asked me to. Since even if I was found out, my safety was guaranteed. However, my question was left unanswered. There was some movement; her small, weak lips moved slightly, and as if she just remembered how to, a tear fell from her eye. Having understood the women’s intentions, I took from my pouch a small, liquid filled bottle that I had obtained from hunting the Kobolds, which I left behind. After I handed it to them, I walked back to the cave bedroom. I didn’t look back.

Day 17

I woke up early and went to the interior of the cave. The captured women were all dead. They all laid still, as if they were asleep. From the look of things, the girls had drank poison and died in their sleep. Where they got that poison is, however, a mystery. Truly, a mystery.

After taking the small empty bottle that was laid close to them and storing it inside the bag hanging from my waist, being the one who discovered them, I went to report to Gobu-jii.

Gobu-jii hurriedly rushed over, and in front of the limp pseudo-Goblin that had spilled from the beautiful girl’s womb, he cried bitterly whilst grieving however, I couldn’t care less.

For the girl’s corpses, I took responsibility for their disposal, and because it was a pity to just let wild animals feed on them, I decided to cremate them. As payment for my labor, I took a heart, stomach, breast, and uterus.

Since the [Pyrokinesis] ability I got the other day wasn’t enough, I thought about what I usually do, so I collected a bunch of [Oily Grass] to make it burn well and a bunch of twigs were used to ensure the heat was enough.

After using my [Pyrokinesis] to ignite the fire, I prayed for the girls happiness in the next world whilst looking at the pillar of blazing flame.

Namu Amida Butsu. (Buddhist prayer)

Among the girls, there seemed to be those with adventurer skills. Quite a lot of them of actually.

This group of migrant workers was perhaps unexpectedly strong. They might only have looked weak because they were captured.

Ability [Human Language] learned.

Ability [Continental Letter Deciphering] learned.

Ability [Mental Mapping] learned.

Ability [Job-Magician] learned.

Ability [Job-Light Swordsman] learned.

Ability [Job-Druid] learned.

Ability [Job-Craftsman] learned.

It’s unusual for me, but I didn’t feel the slightest inclination to learn about my new abilities. After morning practice, I sent out Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan to go hunting since I wasn’t in the mood, I tried making shell-based shields, armors, and swords from the materials accumulated to this day.

Lately, crafting has become somewhat of a hobby of mine…

Ah, it seems my new skill [Job-Craftsman] became useful immediately.

The goods I crafted came out a lot better than before. The ability, like its name implied, corrected the mistakes.

Speaking of which, the shield and armor came out successfully, the shell-based sword ended up in failure.

As for my meal, Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan shared a part of what they hunted, together with the tribute that had increased since yesterday.

Ah, this might be a bit late, but Gobumi-chan had also turned into a Hobgoblin today.

She has became quite cute, it was intimidating.

The difference from when she was a Goblin is remarkable.

Because her old equipment is now too small for her, I lent her my spares.

She made a subtle expression, happy while unsatisfied, so I decided to make her brand new equipment at a later date. Truth is, I would have happily made it today, but there wasn't enough time.

Day 18

After finishing morning practice the three of us came upon some Kobolds while out hunting.

This time there were three of them, two of which were equipped like the earlier one with armor and long-swords, the last one had a short bow and a quiver.

While thinking “Is this the second day in a row to strengthen Gobumi-chan?”, I checked the surroundings for additional enemies, in order to make a decision.

With it being all clear, I chose to commence the assault.

With the Kobold that could attack from range with the bow and arrows being a higher threat level compared to the others, a sneak attack with a poisoned stone from Gobumi-chan's staff sling was the decisive action.

With the poisoned stone hitting the Kobold right in the eye, we stole away the bow wielding Kobolds usual composure and vision.

Not wanting to waste the time the other Kobolds were in a panic Gobukichi and I moved to utterly defeat the two Kobolds who possessed long-swords that looked slightly better than the one we got earlier.

My long-sword might be worn-out, but for my current body it’s just the right size. I've also gotten used to my body, so separating the Kobolds head from his body was easy.

Right now, the horn I used earlier is more like a knife now, which might have made me feel the difference all the more.

Gobukichi broke all his opponent's bones violently, which was kinda gross to look at.

Gobumi-chan, with the pseudo-knife I gave her earlier made of obsidian-like stone, slit the bow wielding Kobold's throat and gave it a finishing blow.

Apparently, Gobumi-chan's evolution direction lay in brains and speed.

To use weapons cleverly, intelligence was needed after all.

After that, we worked hard at disassembling the body. We collected the armor, Gobumi-chan got the short bow and quiver, and I took the slightly better looking long swords for myself.

Because there was no suitable loot for Gobukichi he will have to wait for the next time.

While these Kobolds sadly didn’t have any fire spirit stones, my collection of small bags increased by three.

One I kept for my own use, and the other two I gave to the other Goblins for putting medicinal plants in it. Now, if something were to happen, I’m sure they will be of great use. Each Goblin got one body to eat.

I didn’t get any new abilities. I felt that with just a bit more I’d gain something new and the ability that I already had, [Predict], got slightly stronger. [Predict] lets me see my opponents attack trajectories as red threads, so in battle it can be incredibly convenient. After that we hunted whatever we came across, after which we returned to the cave in order to sleep.

Day 19

After completing morning practice, I didn’t go hunting, instead I went to look at the warehouse in the inner parts of the cave. Since some of the captured girls had adventurer-like abilities, it occurred to me that items relating to those abilities might have been captured together with the girls.

From just looking at the stuff, even a genius like me couldn’t decide what’s trash and what’s worth keeping, however now thanks to the ability I got from the Orc, [Detect Analysis], I could see the items details.

In addition, since analyzing stuff gave the ability experience, even analyzing duds wasn’t a waste of time.

With such a carefree mood, it seems I found a treasure trove. A fairly large one at that.

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Staff] Beginner Magician’s stave]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Staff] Blessed Mistletoe stave]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Sword] Iron Estoc x3]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Dagger] Bowie Knife x4]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Axe] Iron Battle-Axe x2]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Ranged] Crossbow x2]

[ Goburou has obtained [Weapon-Consumable] Iron Tipped Arrow x50]

[ Goburou has obtained [Protection-Shield] Iron Round Shield x2]

[ Goburou has obtained [Protection-Armor] Damaged Breastplate]

[ Goburou has obtained [Protection-hand] Solid Iron-Wrought Gauntlet]

[ Goburou has obtained [Medicine] Health Potions that may have gone bad x6]

[ Goburou has obtained [Medicine] Mana Potions that may have gone bad x8]

[ Goburou has obtained [Medicine] Holy Water Bottles of the Enrique Faith x3]

[ Goburou has obtained [Storage] Backpacks x2]

[ Goburou has obtained [Storage] Field Pack x3]

[ Goburou has obtained [Book] First Volume of “World Wandering Journal: From Imperial Capitals to Unexplored Regions”]

[ Goburou has obtained [Book] Second Volume of “Introduction to Magic – Basic Sorcery”]

[ Goburou has obtained [Book] “Nature of God’s Prayer: Scenario of Receiving”]

[ Goburou has obtained [Book] “Recommended Guide to Erietta Continent’s Alphabet”]

When going over it, I found treasure after treasure.

At first glance it seems to be composed entirely of unusable scrap, however below the uppermost layer, lots of useful stuff laid sleeping. Yeah, it seems this place truly is a treasure trove. While there’s no great difference between the estocs I found and the long swords I’m carrying currently, since the estocs were in a better condition, I decided to swap.

Comparing the obsidian knife I’d been using till now with the Bowie knives, their blades were longer and their edges sharper. The blade is single edged, and only at the tip of it is double-edged. I suspect it’s meant to be used as a hunting knife, so I took the knives as well. Four knives might be a lot, but since the production of pocket knives already has begun, there’s really no problem.

I looked forward to a later time when I’d disassemble the knives to learn how they were made.

After that, except for the estoc I picked and the long sword I swapped for it, I ate the rest of the swords.

Ability [Improved Slashing Power] learned

Ability [Improved Piercing Power] learned.

I learned [Improved Slashing Power] from eating the long sword, and [Improved Piercing Power] from eating the Estocs.

In order for the reader to understand this, I’ll tell you about my [Consumption Absorption Ability].

I learn abilities from more than eating living beings. However, for items above a certain level, the power of the learned abilities depends on the the quality of the item. For the abilities to enter my mind I must use the item a certain amount. If I haven’t, then eating the item would be pointless, and in that way I have to keep wondering, “I wonder if this will go well now”. I’ve had to practice that perception quite a bit. Even if I make a mistake I’ll recover. I tell myself to be brave enough to keep trying.

Reaching the top feels really good.

While I was doing that by myself, Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan came by. Apparently they thought it odd that they couldn’t see me around, so they went looking for me. They came at a great time. I’d taken the potions and other stuff that you could hang on the belt and put in the Field Pack. I crammed as much of the rest as I could into the backpack. I asked Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan to carry the rest that I couldn’t fit inside my bags.

Gobukichi graduated from his shell-wrapped cudgel to a rustic looking battle-axe, and swapped his wooden shield with pieces of carapace sewn on with an iron round shield. Since there was a hole in the middle of the round shield, we had to make an impromptu fix by attaching a piece of carapace there.

After that I had him equip the breast plate instead of the shell reinforced leather armor I made for him two days ago. Together with the shell-helmet I made for him two days ago, Gobukichi's defense was the highest by far out of us three.

He totally looked like heavy infantry.

He kept the cudgel he had used till today strapped over his back as a spare.

I gave Gobumi-chan the two crossbows and 50 arrows. In addition, I gave her the obsidian knife I had been using till now in addition to one of the Bowie knives to use as insurance, but this was the limit when considering the weight of all the stuff she was carrying.

Nevertheless, out of the three of us, the one with the highest ranged offensive power was her and with her deft handling of the two knives, her offensive potential shouldn’t be made light of.

She gave off the impression that she was a hunter or an archer from how she looked.

And at the end, myself. My two long swords were replaced by an estoc, with a small shield reinforced by shells similar to the one Gobukichi has. This shield was made so it could be fixed to the right arm, and still allow me to move my wrist without problems.

To protect my left hand, I equipped the gauntlets wrought from solid iron. The gauntlets had less defensive power than the Round Shield, however if the aim was just to deflect attacks then it should be enough.

This way I had reasonable defense whilst not hurting my ease of movement too much. With the effects of the ability [Job-Light Swordsman] added, I feel like it’s risen by another level again.

And also, since today the Goblins collected an earlier unthinkable amount of tribute for us, we returned the rest to them. I couldn’t eat it all; it was far too much.

Day 20

The morning was spent on combat practice. Compared to when we started, the expressions of the goblins had changed. Yeah, because goblins mature quickly, startling changes can be seen even in a short time, if training is done in earnest. This might be because, if they don’t quickly adapt to their surroundings, they’ll simply die.

In the afternoon, we hunted. We caught 10 Night Vipers, 14 Armored Tanukis, and 5 Kobolds. This is probably because our equipment had rapidly become a lot better. Or perhaps I should say, the deadly combination of Gobumi-chan's powerful and accurate shots with the crossbow together with the rapid firing of the short bow was brutal. Because Gobukichi and I acted as her shield, it became even more brutal. To bring the battle to an end, Gobukichi used his high defense and his battle axe to decapitate the remainder.

Together with my abundant abilities that I used to continuously vary my attack pattern and the direction of the battle, opponents like Kobolds didn’t pose the slightest threat for us. Perhaps with how things stood right now, even if the Kobolds turned up with twice our numbers we probably wouldn't have any problems.

What I truly wanted to eat was Orcs though. This was in order to strengthen the ability I got from the Orc earlier; after that one time, we hadn’t seen even one Orc. I quickly wanted to find more Orcs; however, today I went back ahead of time to the cave in order to read books.

Well, having the ability [Job-Magician] is nice and all, and my magic power being increased by my subspecies was also nice, but because I had no idea what magic was, I couldn’t actually use any magic. That’s why, in this way I was reading “Introduction to Magic – Basic Sorcery” until morning came up the day after.

You might say I had a surprisingly difficult time getting a grasp of it, which made it a rough trial. Or rather, I feel there’s a limit to how much I can understand just from reading books. And what’s more, I started from the second volume of three!

If only I could see someone use magic one time! Time, without listening to my screams, steadily moved forward.

Day 21

The morning practice hasn’t even been going on for a week, yet Goblins who’ve turned out to be somewhat useful are popping up here and there.

As I thought, because the realm of nature is a severe living environment, or perhaps because we belong to a precocious-type species, the Goblins who underwent the soldier training program had their strength grow considerably. The training program is something that I had composed from useful parts I gleaned from my company’s servers before I died.

Recently some of the underlings even managed to kill Night Vipers. Even the worst of them at least manages to kill Horned Rabbits by themselves.

Those Goblins, who couldn’t even get their own food a few days ago, can all manage by themselves now. As their teacher I feel mightily proud about this fact.

The Goblin Elder and his cronies found the results genuinely astonishing, and they treated me with stares filled with affection and awe. I think the special treatment is kinda handy, but it's still slightly depressing. Well, it doesn't do me any real harm, so I guess I can just ignore it.

When the sun arrived at its summit, I personally began training with the Goblins; I spent the rest of the day doing this. This way, I can get a grasp on each individual’s abilities. I can also catch any weaknesses or bad habits they’ve developed and teach them the proper way. Also, being able to single out the best individuals is useful, and above all it also serves to strengthen me. In this strict world there are no disadvantages to having a well trained body. That’s why I thought 38 battles in a row was good practice.

After the session, I once again came to the realization that Gobukichi and Gobumi-chan are, amongst their generation, head and shoulders above the competition.

Regarding the results for Gobukichi from the recent training, it seems he's learned how to limit the power of his attacks to not cause accidents. Creatures of this world seem to change in direct relation to how much they contribute when in a party. By killing enemies, they get experience that raises their levels and leads to the creation of surprisingly robust bodies by the mysterious laws of this world.

At the present time, if I don’t use my abilities he is a tough opponent. If all the Goblins except me and Gobumi-chan were lined up to challenge him in order, they probably wouldn’t be able to get even one win.

Gobukichi, however, would not leave without incurring some damage.

Gobumi-chan is slow when compared to me, however, the other Goblins aren’t even a match for her speed. Since she’s a Hobgoblin, her strength is also better than the other Goblins; she’s also grown her nails to be pointed and sharp, and I taught her how to use the nails skillfully. This is in order for her to be able to fight well, even without a weapon. She's got speed, and if I didn’t have my abilities she’d make a formidable foe.

However, you might say she’s still a cute little thing. Speaking as an opponent, when both are unarmed, Gobukichi is still more dangerous in close quarters fighting.

When the practice sparring was over, we broke the group up in order to go hunting. Usually we would go with our standard members, however today we had an additional member in our party.

This additional member was a female, Gobue. In our generation, she was the next most influential person after us three, and when the Goblins were kneeling in front of us, she was the one in the front.

Well you see, while the two backpacks and three field packs were a fabulous find, Gobukichi is carrying a giant cudgel on his back, and I don’t think Gobumi-chan can carry any more than she already is.

Frankly speaking, with me carrying one of the backpacks, one was still left, and while Gobumi-chan and I were each carrying a field pack, one was still unused. That’s why we required one carrier, and Gobue was singled out. She’d also barely be able to keep up with our hunting. Also, increasing our members with one more strong companion isn’t bad at all. Yes, and of course she’d be carrying the backpack as well.

When equipping her, we gave her the old leftover shield that Gobukichi used before, together with Gobumi-chan's old staff sling. We also gave her the carapace reinforced ceremonial looking costume, the obsidian knife and a bowie knife. Compared to the Horned Rabbit's horn she’d been using till now, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Also, because she was going to carry our luggage, carrying any more than this is unnecessary. Or how should I put it, when we’re hunting, our prey will become her luggage, so having her equipment be heavy would be really stupid. Just enough to protect herself from injury is sufficient.

Following that reasoning, this time’s hunting was a lot easier than usual. Because unlike before, when everyone had to share the burden of carrying the prey, now Gobue was doing most of the lugging; we finished the hunt without feeling fatigued.

Carrying heavy luggage, Gobue was tired, but compared to us who easily concluded our battles, there was not such a large difference. Also, since Gobue was also contributing by shooting stones with the sling, she managed to also raise her levels by gathering experience. Perhaps Gobue's day of turning into a Hobgoblin like us is close.

We didn’t find any new types of prey, however, our stomachs were filled.

Meat is very tasty, isn’t it?

After returning to the cave, I read then went to sleep.

Day 22

Today I crushed a Goblin who was growing a little impudent.

Of course I didn’t kill him, but recently he was becoming too overconfident in his new abilities, he’ll die one day if I don’t correct him like this. For that reason I steeled my heart and punished him.

I think this is a reasonable thing to do in an environment where carelessness means death.

Well, even if this Goblin does develop some rebellious sentiment against me I can just beat him up again, no problem.

Today the four of us went out hunting again as usual.

We searched for and found some Kobolds that I could gain new abilities from.

There are six of them, it’s the largest group we’ve come across up to now, but as we are now we can crush them without a problem. Although they have numbers on their side, we have superior individual abilities and equipment.

We decided to give it a try. Gobumi-chan, armed with a crossbow and short bow, aimed at a Kobold and prepared to pull the trigger, but then it came out from behind the rocks.

A Kobold of small stature wearing on its head what looks like a triple horned horse skull by the three horns growing on its forehead, and a twisted and crooked wooden staff in its hand, it approached the group while muttering something.

From its appearance, I think it’s a Kobold Mage.

I knew since I heard from Gobujii that Goblins and Orcs and other lower-class monsters like Kobolds are generally unable to use magic to interfere with the laws of the world, with the exception of subspecies.

But exceptions do exist where ordinary Kobolds and Goblins can wield magic.

These are called Kobold Mages and Goblin Mages. It is a highly prized and rare ability though not as rare as a subspecies.

Without a sense for handling magic I couldn’t wield magic at my leisure yet, and this time I’m facing a Kobold Mage accompanied by six Kobold followers. This could be difficult.

Even so, this is a good chance.

If the Mage used magic, perhaps by observing it I might be able to learn to wield it. Even if not, I can just take the ability anyway.

Thinking that, we tailed the Kobold party and that somewhat troublesome mission was a success; we were able to see magic being used for the first time. The victim of the Kobold Mage’s magic was a Green Slime.

Even with the ability “Invulnerable to physical damage”, the Slime’s bodily fluids evaporated before the roaring blaze of fire, leaving behind a green stony core. It was quite the flashy scene.

But having seen that I gained a general understanding of magic. If I go back to the cave and practice a bit I think I could do it without a problem.

With that matter settled we went on the attack. The enemies were promptly annihilated.

The Kobold Mage died instantly from a poisoned arrow to the back of the head by Gobumi-chan. The rest were silenced by me and Gobukichi, with the help of Gobue-chan's poisoned stones and Gobumi-chan's rapid fire. No matter how strong, they’re no problem if we crush them before they can show that strength.

We stripped the ordinary Kobolds of equipment and put it in Gobue-chan's backpack, then I secured the Kobold Mage’s staff. Moreover, we took eight “Water Spirit Stones”—strange stones that give off water when tightly gripped—, six “Thunder Spirit Stones”—strange stones that discharge a strong electric shock, and ten “Fire Spirit Stones” like the ones I ate before, all separated into three small sacks.

I took the Kobold Mage and the six hearts for myself, the rest are eaten by the others, two for each Goblin.

Incidentally, I also ate the Green Slime core.

Ability Learned: 【Physical Damage Reduction】

Ability Learned: 【Internal Mana Control】

Ability Learned: 【Magician's Knowledge】

Ability Learned: 【Intimidating Roar】

It seems the Green Slime did not have “Invulnerability to Physical Damage” but the reduced version “Physical Damage Reduction”, but that’s remarkable enough as it is.

This way we now know how to deal with green slimes the next time we should encounter one: Simply burn them down with the Ability [Pyrokinesis].

Then, I ate the Kobold Mage's staff and the three kinds of “spirit stones”. Doing this to gain abilities has become sort of a habit of mine.

Ability Learned: 【Hydro Hand】

Ability Learned: 【Aqua Tolerance】

Ability Learned: 【Electromaster】

Ability Learned: 【Lightning Tolerance】

Ability Learned: 【Flame Tolerance】

Ability Learned: 【Mana Operation】

Yes, these are good abilities. By practicing these I can finally use magic.

After that, we encountered Armored Tanuki and Night Vipers on the way back. They were killed mostly by Gobue-chan to gain experience then eaten.

Ability Learned: 【Endure】

Ability Learned: 【Evil Eye Tolerance】

With this it looks like I have learned all the abilities I can from Night Vipers and Armored Tanuki. Well, it was good food nonetheless.

After that, night fell and I went practicing by myself.

It was hard at first but after one hour I figured out the trick; although it needed a bit of activation time I was able to do it without problem.

Incidentally a Green Slime decided to attack me under the cover of night, and seeing it as a good practice target, I decided to take care of it. I crafted a lance with magic and shot it at the Green Slime, killing it in one hit with fearsome power.

I took the core that was rolling around and began to eat it.

Ability Learned: 【Self-Body Fluid Property Manipulation】

And with that I gained this ability.

Yeah, I’m now able to turn my sweat into acid whose movements I can control mentally, which is useful and makes me satisfied.

However, the fact that my equipment didn’t corrode when I used it is another strange mystery of this world.

Day 23

It was raining today. Because of that we could not go outside and instead held a festival inside the cave.

I don’t know when it started, but the Goblins in my generation had begun to operate as a group led by me, and this so-called festival is actually a round robin event that will decide the ranking within the group.

The results are exactly what you would expect.

At the top there was me, then Gobukichi-kun, followed by Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan.

After the event, with the ranking settled, we did a study group. Because the ones on top have the responsibility of teaching, the ones below had to strictly follow the orders of those above them. Then we promptly decided on a few more rules.

With this orders can be relayed efficiently. While I’m at it, it seems like I’ll be using military ranks.

At the top, there was me as a Colonel, Gobukichi-kun was a Lieutenant Colonel, Gobumi-chan a Major, and Gobue-chan a Captain, after that there was a huge gap to Sergeant, to match the difference in power. Well, it was appropriate due to our still small numbers.

Day 24

Today after morning practice, the four of us, Hobgoblins and Goblin, went hunting again.

And the first thing we encountered was a 70 centimeter long, black spider with yellow lines. I decided to give it the temporary name “Demon Spider”.

Because it’d made a nest, I burnt it to a crisp with my [Pyrokinesis] ability.

I had some trouble preventing a forest fire, since the thread burned and the fire followed it over quite a few trees.

If it had turned into a conflagration, we’d also have died.

Ability [Spider Thread Creation] learned.

And thus, I learned how to secrete spider thread from my fingers—no wait.

Since I’m a Goblin, it’s Goblin thread? Anyway, at my will it was gushing forth from my fingers.

Seeing thread come out from my fingertips vigorously with a “buryuryuryuryuryu”-like sound, it felt quite surreal, however it’s unquestionably an extremely useful ability.

Unfortunately, as I am now I can’t make delicate work. Skillfully manipulating the thread like a spider is impossible for now. The best I can do is to simply immobilize the target.

If I make the slightest complex movement, I’ll wind up tangled in the web myself, unable to move. Yes, compared to sewing, spinning webs is in a league of its own.

Thus, in order to freely be able to control the thread, I decided to search for more Demon Spiders.

After a little while, I discovered some, and this time I tried killing the spiders with electricity before eating them. Soon I had three corpses.

Ability [Thread Wielding Arts] learned.

With this I became able to delicately manipulate thread. The thread was very durable, so I thought about making clothes and such with it. Also, the Demon Spiders carapace seemed sturdy, so I decided to make use of it when I construct armor next time.

After that, while walking, we saw our first Orc in a long time.

The place where we found them was close to where we found an Orc the last time.

Because this place was quite far away from the cave we hadn’t really explored the area, and I was berating myself over how we should have come here earlier.

The Orcs we found were in a group of six, and different from the previous one who carried a pickaxe. These Orcs carried quite heavy and splendid looking weapons like halberds, staves, hunting knives and long swords, while wearing breastplates or full plates.

Moreover, I think that the halberd-wielding Orc, with the best physique, was the group commander—the Orc Leader.

Still, we decided not to attack them. However, gathering intelligence is another matter so we followed the Orcs down the mountain for an hour until we discovered the location of the Orcs base, a mine.

I saw dozens of Orcs with pickaxes, and the sound of their efforts could be heard even from where we were watching them.

For the present, I was satisfied with climbing down the mountain. If we try attacking this many opponents we’ll die.

True victory was if we four could sneakily escape with our knowledge and remain undiscovered.

At least that’s what I thought, but then I spotted three Orcs climbing down the mountain.

Even if they raised the alarm, since the other Orcs were far away, it would take a considerable amount of time before they could bring reinforcements; so we decided to quickly attack them.

Hiding in the thicket, we waited for them to reach our shooting range.

Gobumi and Gobue killed one Orc each with their crossbows. The last one was stunned by my lightning, after which I calmly walked up to him and slit his throat.

To transport the corpses, Gobukichi and I each carried one Orc, while Gobumi and Gobue helped each other with the last Orc, until we reached a place I deemed as safe, where we leisurely took our time to eat.

Ability [Stench] learned.

Yes, plainly an ability I don’t need. [Stench], seriously? Well, Orcs certainly have a distinctive smell. But since their flesh is really tasty, it’s something we’ll have to live with. Moreover, if by any chance I were to discover a use for the ability, I’ll consider it a profit.

Day 25

It was currently the end of our morning sparring practice, and some individuals seemed to be having a hard time. So far no one (who has attended my practice) has died during a hunt; although some did get hurt. This being the case, I felt relieved knowing that my training hasn’t been squandered.

Afterwards we went hunting, and while hunting the likes of Night Vipers, Armored Tanukis and Demon Spiders, we found a new prey that undoubtedly possesses better individual abilities than the spiders.

They were a pack of wolves, with black fur that almost looked as if it was made of metal. Without making it complicated, I decided to call them “Black Wolves” temporarily, and for the time being I decided to quietly observe them.

It seems that the pack consists of 16 Black Wolves, who currently seem to be engrossed in eating. Luckily, we are standing leeward, so they have yet to notice us, however were that to change we could end up like that the Kobolds the Black Wolves are currently eating.

They were 4 times as many as us, but above all the Black Wolf Leader seemed incredibly dangerous. He was considerably larger than the other Black Wolves.

If we went at them from the front, we’d probably suffer a great deal of damage. Because they had greater numbers, the advantage was heavily stacked in their favor. But even though that’s true, an advantage can be turned using a surprise attack.

Gobumi-chan let loose an arrow from her crossbow, piercing the body of the wolf leader who was still in a daze from eating the Kobold meat. At the same time, an arrow from Gobue-chan went through the neck of a nearby wolf.

The Black Wolf Leader wouldn’t die instantly from an ordinary arrow through the body, but because the arrowhead had been painted with my venom, after several seconds the wolf staggered unsteadily and then collapsed, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

Even so the Black Wolf Leader didn’t die immediately, it was barely hanging on, its life slowly slipping away. By the way, without resistance against the fast-acting poison, the ordinary wolf that got shot through the neck died quickly.

With this we were able to prevent the wolves’ quick teamwork. Considerable time is needed to decide who is going to replace the top member in a pack. You could see the panic in the wolves’ figures when it suddenly happened.

Making full use of the mess we created, Gobukichi-kun and I moved closer and attacked.

Though it was the first time since I was reincarnated that I fought a wolf-type monster, I was sure that I could easily deal with it so long as it didn’t have any special abilities. On approach the wolf bared its sharp fangs at me so it could strike me with its most powerful move “Bite”, in response, towards its mouth I thrust my estoc; dripping with venom. With the force of the charge from both sides combined, I easily tore through flesh, drilled through bone, and destroyed the wolf’s brain.

I caught a glimpse of a wolf trying to escape the confusion, so I charged a high pressure water blade with electricity and slashed at its feet.

The battle axe-wielding Gobukichi-kun couldn’t hack through the stiff-furred Black Wolves, but his attack forcibly broke its spine and ribs and using his running momentum forcibly broke the neck of the Black Wolf that collided head on with his shield.

In the midst of all that, the enemy numbers are further reduced by Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan's sniping.

After a while the pack of Black Wolves had lost the teamwork that was their greatest weapon and the effectiveness of their bites had been nullified. Not even one wolf was spared.

Once finished, the three of us went to work on cutting up the wolves’ bodies. The wolves’ fur, for later use, had to be kept in the most pristine of condition, both for function and aesthetics. Incidentally, Gobukichi-kun had to be excluded since he was incredibly clumsy and therefore couldn’t be entrusted with such a task.

Because of this, I placed Gobukichi-kun on lookout duty. Due to my 【Sense Presence】 ability, having Gobukichi-kun on lookout was unnecessary. However, in this world where one is constantly engaged in a violent struggle, the experience of such a task is vital; especially for one’s own survival.

Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan cut up this much without any trouble, they seem to have gained the ability [Dismantle]; so their fingers began to appear skillful.

After that, we gathered the fur and ate the meat, four to each Goblin.

Ability [Pack Leadership] learned.

Ability [Pack Hunting Proficiency] learned.

Ability [Steel Hide] learned.

As I expected, the Black Wolf Leader had superior abilities befitting its status.

[Pack Leadership] and [Pack Hunting Proficiency] were a huge bonus for group operations.

[Pack Leadership] allows me to quickly identify who can contribute the most aside as well as being able to give them instructions. It enhances the ability of the group as a whole.

[Pack Hunting Proficiency] all allies will move efficiently to obey my commands as if I were repeating them to each member individually.

[Steel Hide] the ability increase the defense of fur and leather-based armor in addition to one’s own skin and hair. It definitely doesn’t hurt to have the ability to increase defense at will. I’m certain it will come in handy in the future.

I hunted some Demon Spiders and Green Slimes before going back. After having dinner, I went to bed.

Day 26

When morning came, Gobue-chan had turned into a Hobgoblin. To congratulate her, we gave her a gift. It was an accessory made from fangs that gave off the vibe of being from a tribal people.

Usually when combat practice ends, the Goblins end up scattering for the day's hunt.

However, this time, everyone underwent an arms inspection.

The lowest and most numerous private weapons that Goblins use are Horned Rabbit's horns, [Shell Reinforced Shields], and their regular clothes. At the inspection place we only counted them, then after 30 minutes had passed, everyone left the cave together. This time our plan was to raise everyone’s level and to increase my number of skills. So, I decided to launch a surprise attack on the Orc’s mining base. We didn’t have a particular grudge against the Orcs, we simply did what we needed to in order to survive.

Therefore we attack. Attack and eat.

And now I shall announce the results. Our camp had only light injuries and we didn’t have a single casualty. Of the Orcs in the mining base, they all died. This included the Orc Leader and his warriors. The main reason for this was the training we’d been undergoing focused not only on offense but also defense. This was also helped by how decisive, stern, and relentless I was being during sparring. That’s why their defensive power was so high. Although, a large part of the cause would be that the majority of the Orc Leader’s fighting potential was impeded by my Goblin thread and then pricked to death.

What? Cowardly? I disagree, in the natural world such behavior isn’t an issue. Because when you die it’s over, so no matter how cowardly you act, the survivor is the winner.

Only the winners gets to decide what was right and what was wrong.

In order to always be a winner, I must steel my heart from weakness.

After the battle had ended, we pulverized the medicinal herbs [Healing Grass] we brought, soaked cloth wraps in the fluid, took those cloth wraps and applied them to the wounds. It is a very simple medical care, but surprisingly effective.

For patients who bore life threatening wounds, with my [Job - Druid] I proceeded to use my blessed healing skills to cure their wounds.

I thought my magical practice could be useful, so I tried various ways until it worked.

Even if one of their arms had been chopped off, if my healing skills were used it takes some time but adhesion was possible, for a while you’d have an uncomfortable feeling, but compared to losing an arm this is nothing. Moving the arm also seems possible after rehabilitation. I have to say that this healing skill is amazing.

I am truly thankful for having this ability.

Towards the woman who once was a [Druid], I truly harbored feelings of gratitude. This is because if I didn’t have this ability, our numbers would have dwindled considerably. Once I wouldn’t have blinked an eye no matter how many of them died, but after training with these guys for a while, I’ve started to see them as my subordinates and disciples.

Thus if they need help, I’ve developed the desire to aid them. While I think of those girls who died, I offer them a prayer.

While I was administering medical treatments, Gobukichi-kun together with the other uninjured Goblins ran around gathering Orcs and their equipment. When I finished the treatment I immediately changed to the next stage of the plan.

It seems like the Orc Leader’s Halberd was reinforced with magic materials, so it had an incredibly sharp edge. It was just the right size, so I decided to make it my new weapon. Swords are nice, but I’m used to using longer weapons. There were lots of other weapons as well, and with this everyone received better weapons. The lowest ranking Goblins went from using horned rabbit horns to using short swords, which is an extremely significant difference.

And above all, other than the large quantities of Fire Spirit Stones and Lightning Spirit Stones, there were also Wind Spirit Stones and Earth Spirit Stones that I still haven’t eaten yet. And within the mining base there seemed to still be stuff to discover.

After we hurriedly stripped the Orcs of all their possessions, we all gathered to eat the delicious meat. To be more prudent we decided that the food division would be decided by the member’s rank where higher rank meant more food. Orc Leaders and Orc Mages etc. main battle potential units were of course destined to end up in my belly.

Ability [Rallying Cry] learned.

Ability [Improved Digestion] learned.

Ability [Halberd Proficiency] learned.

While also indulging in the Orc barbecue, I alone ate Fire, Lightning, and Water Spirit Stones together with the newly acquired Wind and Earth Spirit Stones as snacks.

Ability [Aero Master] learned.

Ability [Storm Tolerance] learned.

Ability [Earth Control] learned.

Ability [Earth Tolerance] learned.

But more importantly, the Orc barbecue party was really satisfying.

Orc flesh has got this peculiar taste and texture, where it feels like extra special high quality pork, and what’s more, there are large quantities of it. No matter how much we ate, there never seemed to be an end to it.

Even so, I missed cooked rice and alcohol. I especially missed alcohol. I missed it so much I nearly couldn’t bear it. When I think back on it I haven’t drunk a drop since I reincarnated. On the way home after buying alcohol I was stabbed by Aoi. I began to wonder what happened to that alcohol.

And just like that I longed even more for it. After that, before it became dark, we went back to the cave to sleep.

Day 27

The next day, we were training in a vacant lot outside the cave as usual, when an unfamiliar group of goblins arrived.

Although they looked unkempt, I saw three-fourths of them carrying a number of chipped short swords and battle axes that looked well-used hanging at their waists. They were also wearing blood-stained leather armor on top of dirty chainmail shirts. There were even three Hobgoblins among them.

Will a war for survival break out for a second day in a row? We got a little excited but it seems to be the return of our parents’ group who were away with work.

Goblin Elder who was watching us practice stopped my attack stance for now, and separated us.

Oh I see, so they weren’t enemies. I realized that I must go greet them properly.

“I better go greet them then”.

Although hidden in the shadows of the Goblins who, obviously being underlings, were carrying large backpacks—in all likelihood the fruits of the raid this time—were the figures of five young women who had their hands and feet bound and their mouths gagged to prevent them from becoming violent, being carried by several similar underling-looking Goblins.

Judging from their clothes four were ordinary people, and the last one who was wearing leather armor was probably something like an adventurer.

Only the girl who looked like an adventurer had slight visible traces of having been hit in the face, and their clothes didn’t seem to be in disorder so they probably hadn't been raped yet. Though, it's only a matter of time. We could no longer see the shape of the Goblin Elder, who was covering his nether regions which were revoltingly swelling with a worn-out loin cloth, and the Hobgoblin who was talking to the Goblin elder.

Anybody could tell what they were talking about, even if they didn’t want to.

I don’t have the slightest hesitations about killing and eating others, however forcing others is not a thing that I like. Of course I understand the instinct of living creatures to leave offspring, but to decide if its right or wrong, such things are a very different matter.

I’ve also, when going to dangerous places for work, had sex with female co-workers to relieve the stress, but in those situations there was mutual consent.

Being forced like this makes me sick. The cute ones should be loved… right?

For weak Goblins that oppose humans, numbers are necessary. After a strenuous military campaign if the numbers have been reduced considerably, the ranks will need to be filled back up.

Still, like I care about that! It's not like I'm going to change the way I think in the short amount of time since I've been reincarnated.

With things this way, I decided to help them.

Is that hypocrisy? Yes, but it is no problem because it's even more hypocritical to do nothing.

The Hobgoblin leader was talking to the Goblin elder when I asked him to leave the women to me.

I don’t know why, but the Goblin elder looked at me with a weird face which I ignored.

The Hobgoblin Leader made a face as if saying “what are you talking about!?”, but nevertheless I repeated the request.

It is important to discuss everything first. No matter how much you dislike the opposition, you should start by discussing your problems. Any hostility should be put aside if possible. I tried to persuade him patiently but the Hobgoblin Leader wasn’t willing to listen. That wasn’t all, he started to become irritated at me who kept obstinately asking.

I continued to attempt to persuade the leader, but soon realized that it was a waste of time and stopped before the other Goblins in his group got irritated.

The Hobgoblin Leader pulled out his short sword and waved it at my throat in ridicule. As I’m about to pull out my sword, behind me Gobukichi-kun does the same as me, holding his weapon at the same level and waiting.

I’m me, and because of that, persuasion is troublesome. Then, should I kill him? I parried the Hobgoblin Leader’s short sword and at the same time pull out the estoc at my waist.

At that moment, the atmosphere clearly changed.

The Goblins from both sides took aggressive poses fully displaying their weapons, and if either I or the Hobgoblin Leader made the slightest move, the status quo would be disrupted. Of course everyone would be trying to kill the enemies in front of them. The reason no-one moved was because we held the executive decision making power, but also because instinct told us that if a fight started here, each side would take lots of damage regardless of who won.

They numbered 28 while we numbered 39. In pure numbers we had the advantage, however in real fighting experience and experience of fighting together they were far above us.

Honestly I had no idea of which side would win if fighting broke out, and to start the fight under such conditions would inevitably turn into huge damage for each side, which is why I didn’t move.

Incidentally, the group of older Goblins were watching us. However, they didn’t do anything and seemed to prefer watching what would happen as neutral observers.

For a short while we glared at each other, but since I thought such actions were more trouble than they are worth, I prepared myself to trigger the fight by adapting a forward-bent pose.

With my estoc holding hand filled with power, I pointed the tip of the sword straight towards the Hobgoblin Leaders heart.

My leg was bending in order to prepare myself for the dash where I would pierce the Hobgoblin when—

—just at that moment, a voice suddenly reverberated. Everyone instinctively stopped moving, and turned towards the source of the voice.

The owner of the voice was a Hobgoblin with 3 Goblins at it’s side.

It was the only Hobgoblin that could use magic, besides me, judging from appearance it was a female and she was holding a staff. It was something like, “Don’t involve us in a personal war” “The leader is the strongest that decides the policy of the group” is what she said. Because the Mage seems to have higher intelligence than the other individuals, she seems to have a calm judgement even in this situation.

Aren’t you, who can use magic, stronger than this guy? Hearing this, the leader backed away unwillingly.

It was thus concluded that a fight to determine who reigns at the top of the “Goblin community” was to be held.

The rules were very simple: use of weapons were forbidden, and while killing was permitted, the fight ends when one party faints or gives up, it was that kind of barbaric rule.

Goblin Elder would be acting as referee for the fight. It was an appropriate position for the sagely Goblin Elder who held a neutral opinion.

Nevertheless, I was surprised to find that the Goblins on their side began to make bets in the middle of preparation. So they had a gambling mentality huh? Furthermore, I was told that copper and silver coins were being exchanged.

Well, this kind of thing is certainly well-suited as entertainment.

Meanwhile, the Goblins on our side were sitting with impeccable manners. They were staying still to watch the fight that was about to take place. Yep, this is surreal.

At any rate, the five women who were being offered up as the prize were worried they had done something wrong. It was because we were pointlessly scaring them. Well, this is all for their sakes. Just bear with it for now.

Then after the preparations were finished, the fight to decide the leader began.

On one side was a long-serving soldier full of scars who had drawn many companions to himself with his achievements.

On the other side was me, who had thoroughly trained those of my generation, and had ranked up and become a Hobgoblin subspecies.

Apparently most of the bets the Goblins placed were on him, but that doesn't matter to me, so I immediately attacked.

Well, I’ll only say the result. Of course, I won.

I stopped his movement like a frog glared at by a snake with [Evil Eye].

The opponent cowered at the sound of my roar when I used [Intimidating Roar].

I confused the enemy by using both of my abilities at the same time and then wrapped his body up with my thread. While doing this I was simultaneously closing the distance, and without missing a beat when I got close enough I hung him from a tree like a sandbag.

Goblin Elder wanted to know what the thread was, but it was definitely a part of my body. It’s kind of like saliva. Since it comes from my body, it can’t be considered a weapon. Therefore there aren't any problems. Since it isn’t a weapon, I didn’t violate the rules even if I use it. We’ll look to decide. Yeah, it’s safe.

After turning him into a makeshift sandbag with my web, it was time for violence. I tried going easy so as to not kill him for the time being, but this guy belongs to the Hobgoblin race, who are tougher than Goblins. Because he was impertinently shouting things like “I’m the leader! How dare you, you impostor! Do you have no shame!?” that shows he has no comprehension on his own situation, so I got a bit serious.

Well, it can’t be helped. It was like an act of God. That was what I decided to call it.

First of all, to prevent him from saying something boring like “I give up” I stuffed a gag made out of thread in his mouth.

After that, I beat him up to silence him for about three minutes, but he still had spirit, so I did that again for ten more minutes until he was just a bloody bag of soft moans. I didn’t kill him though. By the way, even though I beat and kicked him for ten minutes incessantly I still have plenty of body strength left.

This was the result of having a regular training. Then I stopped because the enemy had fainted. Judging from touch it seemed his bones were just barely at the point of breaking and his internal organs had not ruptured. If I left him like this he surely wouldn’t die.

Even then, I tried making, out of several grasses and herbs, “Healing Grass” and several kinds of insects mixed in with fresh water, just in case. I forcibly gave it to him to drink and the home-made healing potion-ish thing had an effect, even if just a little. I then cut the thread and let him roll to sleep.

Not having any resilience whatsoever, for the time being I proved the feasibility of healing little cuts, and given that, his insides should be more or less better by tomorrow. I really don’t want to stay awake any longer.

Having finished the job, I became aware that the others had drawn away from me, while basking in the feeling of having achieved something.

While the Goblins on our side seemed to take it better than the others, but there is still a hint of terror in their eyes. Afterwards, they would casually try to run away whenever I approached, It hurt my feelings a little…

Eh? What is it Gobumi-chan? They were completely unable to understand my thread, and that tragic scene that befell me before was because I was making a scary face? But isn’t this my normal face?

Ah, I'm the only one that thinks that huh.

But it really isn’t that big a deal right Gobukichi-kun? Ah.. don’t be like that.

Even Gobue-chan…? Okay okay, if it’s like that then fine, I have no allies here.

After letting out a sigh, I asked if there were any more challengers. By making my position clear now I hoped to reduce the possibility of any trouble coming up later on.

In the end, because there were no more challengers, I had officially become the Leader of this “Goblin community”.

I then declared that it is strictly forbidden to touch the women and that there would be a more detailed set of rules given in the future before dismissing everyone.

Afterwards, I removed the gags and untied the hemp ropes around the hands and feet of the five women and had them enter the deepest part of the cave where those pitiful women from before were kept, made to reproduce and die in despair. This was done because it would be troublesome if they escaped.

Well, the women escaping is fine, but five unarmed women running around in this dangerous forest can only lead to them being killed or eaten. And since I have gone through the trouble to save them, I won’t allow this to happen.

I decided to bring them to the inner cave and have a chat as my ability [Human Language] fulfilled the minimum requirements needed to speak with them.

It wasn’t long before we arrived. I took the torch I made beforehand and lit it to provide a light-source.

Goblins have [Night Vision] but it would be difficult for humans to see well in the darkness.

After these preparations were finished, we began our conversation. I promised them that I will not take their lives and that I will ensure food and other necessities are provided to them. I also told them that if they were assaulted, I would judge the individual and punish him/her and that it would take some time but I would return them to their home and such things.

I think probably 5 or 6 hours passed. Either because of my insistent persuasion, or some other reason that I don’t know, but the girls began to speak.

The first one who regained their composure was the adventurer girl, with short flaming red hair, who possessed a vigorous beauty, and a cuteness that reminded me of small animals.

From the conversation with the Redhead girl, I concluded that the four women were hawkers in a Peddler group, the “Star God's Pavilion”.

As for the Redhead, she was a member of the adventurer association “The Sword of the Weak” and had been hired on as a guard for the “Star God's Pavilion”. The adventurer association “The Sword of the Weak” seemed to consist of young adventurers. As I thought, such an occupation existed. It is a type of guild whose main policy is to nurture the strength of their individuals by mutual support, a typical clan, and the Redhead as a holder of the [Job - Warrior] as a greenhorn wanted to obtain power by serving as a member with them.

And why did such things happen? They explained it to me briefly. The party of girls went through the highway towards the defense city « Trient ».

→ They were ambushed by a Goblin raid with poisoned arrows (so by our parent generation).

→ Their leader and his fellow members who had command were all killed by the first attack.

→ There were a number of experienced escort adventurers, none were novice adventurers. But the Goblins (parent generation) were skilled at methodical group work (particularly the 3 Hobgoblins) so they couldn’t compete.

→ There was also the dangerous presence of the Hobgoblin Mage whose attacks are difficult to defend against.

→ When opposing magic-wielding mages, it is doubtful whether there is anyone who held higher combat ability than those individuals who have the [Job - Magician]. Although, the number of times magic can be used is limited, but magic items like scrolls or wands, that enable even children to use magic, are needed. However, there was no way a wandering adventurer can buy such a high-class item.

→ As a result, they were subjugated without resistance, their weapons and goods plundered, the men were killed, the girls who survived were carried off, and we arrived at the present situation.

I shouldn’t be the one to say it, but it was a difficult story to hear. Not to mention everyone was annihilated besides these girls. Well, there’s nothing to say but to call it bad luck.

After telling me that much, they couldn’t bear it anymore and burst into tears.

As expected, they could not even put their feelings about living together with Goblins who killed their friends in order, so I thought that any more than this would only be painful. I told them where I left the torch that I prepared along with some blankets, then I went back. Now I should just do them a favor and let them cry their feelings out.

Well then, I suppose I should now start talking about [Jobs]. For non-human beings like demi-humans, beastmen, and other monsters, there is a law in this world called [Rank up (evolution)]. As you could probably guess from my phrasing, the law of [[[Rank up]] (evolution)] does not apply to humans.

But in exchange for that, there are a large number of [Jobs] they can take.

Humans are fundamentally less powerful than monsters.

So, to strengthen themselves they carry many [Blessings/Improvements] in their bodies gained from the acquisition of a large number of [[[Jobs]]]—each with their own requirements, and the requirements become more strict as the jobs become stronger—becoming a powerful enemy in the process.

Moreover, anyone could easily raise their [[[Job]]] level by spending time, and if one has the prerequisites, it is possible to [[[Rank up]] (promotion)] to a higher position.

Also, as for those who are called [Great Men] and [Heroes], the improvements from their [Job] are great. And don’t laugh, because it looks like people with the [[[Job - Hero]]] really exist.

To put it in really simple terms, a monster’s [[[Rank Up]] (Evolution)] is influenced by its characteristics, and can dramatically increase its potential all at once, whereas a human’s [[[Rank Up]] (Promotion)] grows more slowly than monsters, but anyone is able to gain power if they spend the time on it.

It’s like: either rise several levels in one leap, or slowly but surely rise one level at a time. Either that or a difference in quality and quantity. By the way, this was confirmed by the Goblin Elder.

Day 27 Sidestory: Redhead's POV

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Day 27 Sidestory: Redhead's POV

It should have been a simple common quest. However, it did not end so easily, in fact it ended in complete failure.

The quest was to escort a medium sized group of merchants from the Merchant Guild «Star God’s Pavilion» to the city of «Trient» whilst protecting them from bandits and monsters. It should have been an easy going job without much risk. I'm a fledgling adventurer with no reputation, so I am viewed with a lack of confidence and competence. However, I can acquire work, as I am part of the Adventurers' Association «Sword of the Weak». A standard sized group doing this journey would normally number a dozen or less. This group that I was a part of however, had 18 fledgling members and 6 senior members for a total of twenty-four people. The large number of participants lowered the income, but we put up with it, since this was to help us gain experience.

At first everything was fine. The road we traveled had recently issued monster subjugation requests; clearing out most of the monsters, thanks to this it was much more secure. Still, there is risk involved. The large chicken monsters that are 70 centimeters tall called «Misuteddo» would attack in groups of two or three. Encountering these monsters help the fledgling adventurers that hunt them get some good experience.

For me and one other fledgling adventurer, this was our first escort quest; however, because the journey did not have much of a danger, the rest of the group wasn't nervous at all. Inevitably, because there was a lot of free time, most of the it was spent talking; and as it turned out, I was the only woman adventurer this time. Fortunately, everyone was openhearted and carefree, the seniors spoke of stories which were full of information. This will be useful for the future. Blacksmith Emery Furado gave me a cheap ring and a necklace. Sisters Alma and Felicia made me sweets. Alchemist Spinel Fean gave me a home-brewed stamina recovery drug (Life Potion). Although her potions are inferior to commercially available ones, stamina is very important. My life could well be saved by this one day. Stamina recovery potions are essential items for adventurers; however, they are expensive, so they are usually out of reach for a fledgling like me. So, above all I was thankful.

With the unexpected income I relaxed my guard. I started thinking about how the quest had gone on without a hitch and how I would have a drink in the tavern when we arrived.

But that was not to be.

Suddenly arrows came flying out of surrounding forest and struck the side of the seniors. Apparently the arrows had been coated in a fast-acting poison. We quickly began treatment, however, the seniors died while blowing bubbles from their mouths. And though it was not the first time I had seen people die, I couldn't help thinking of the seniors I was once familiar with that are now a pile of corpses. But now was not the time to think about it. This is because a large amount of monsters had just jumped out from the bushes near the forest and are now heading towards us.

"Ttsuaaaaa!!"

Whilst listening to the roar of fighting spirit I draw my sword, a parting gift from my uncle, «The Sword of Love» a steel short-sword.

【Rubellia Walline Battle Technique(Arts) 【Slash】 Sword】

I was taught the [Warrior] occupation by my uncle and can handle the basic Battle Techniques. A pale red light is lit on the blade of my sword, deadly intention is confined to the blade. With distinctive green skin, pointed ears, and ugly faces «Bandit Goblin» the enemy is a Goblin tribe. I aim my blade to cut off his head, however, the enemy easily parries my sword. With the collision between swords a high-pitched sound occurs and sparks scatter. The impact is so hard my hand becomes numb. My hand has weakened but I can still firmly grip my sword. It's okay I can still fight. However, for the Bandit Goblin in front of me it's different. The shock of the previous blow caused it to drop its sword leaving it unarmed. Regarding my combat profession that's at level 10, I am a considered a low-level [Warrior]. It has only been a month since I became an adventurer. However, I originally grew up with my family as a [Farmer] and got to level 48. This caused my muscle strength and durability to increase to make up the difference between us.

The hard day-to-day farming operations made my arms strong and hands sturdy helped me keep hold of my sword and not fall back. Only for a moment I think back on those days. I desperately swing my sword again aiming for the kill. But the Bandit Goblin blocked my sword with a round shield at the last minute. I slightly damaged the round shield but was unable to strike a mortal wound. The enemy is also desperate. However, I was able to still break the posture of the Bandit Goblin. Without giving it the opportunity to escape I aim for the exposed thigh not covered with Hide Armour.

"Ttsua!!"

【Rubellia Walline Battle Technique(Arts) 【Slash】 Sword】

The blade's sharpness is increased by the Arts. It tears through the meat, but momentum slows as it cuts into bone. I still succeeded in cutting off the leg. Fresh blood spewing from the wound. I raise my short-sword high in order to give the decisive blow on the Bandit Goblin who groans in pain while clutching the cut leg desperately. I hammer in the single blow into the crown of the head. Without resistance my sword cuts through the skull, splattering brains and staining some of my leather armor with blood.

"Behind you!! Look out!!"

A male adventurer named Charles, who was the same age as me, called out. I turned around equipping my shield in my left hand and pushed forward.

【Rubellia Walline Battle Technique(Arts) 【Shield Bash】 Shield】

Pale blue light wrapped around my shield as I struck the Bandit Goblin in the face. It was unable to avoid the instant surprise attack. Shield Arts are originally known for their great hardness. The strike broke the Bandit Goblin's nose causing a gushing nosebleed as the large Bandit Goblin's body fell back.

The【Shield Bash】 causes a 【Knock Back】 effect breaking their stance.

I seize the chance and rush in to cut off the head of the Bandit Goblin. I don't use Battle Technique here as they consume lots of physical and mental strength. I slash through the neck of the Bandit Goblin unopposed due to the broken stance from beforehand. I hit an artery, and fresh blood spouts out like a fountain. The blade was chipped a little when I cut through the bone. In the corner of my view I see a figure of an enemy aiming at me. I avoid the large spiked club that is clearly too much for my small shield to block and I jump back at once. "Tsuu!"

The club which was swung disturbed my balance. There wasn't any damage though, and I succeeded in getting back. However, that seems to have been the aim of the enemy.

"Ggyacacacaca"

「Why is a Bandit Hobgoblin here!!」

A formidable enemy, a «Bandit Hobgoblin» has appeared from my blind spot releasing a fearsome cry.

Hobgoblin's are a higher species of Goblin, slightly beyond the ability of the average human. It's a famous monster that fledgling adventurers must overcome once. A nasty opponent to kill one-on-one. I saw a battle with a Hobgoblin that had previously caught my Uncle and he had some trouble with it. Hobgoblins begin as Goblins who then Rank Up with enough experience giving them superior skill and physical prowess. This thing murdered a lot of creatures and Ranked Up rising from the bottom.

The Bandit Hobgoblin strikes out with its powerful fist. It doesn't hit me, I defended against it with the round shield which I defended with at once. However, because there wasn't time to use Arts, the round shield let an unpleasant sound, and was slightly damaged. I felt as if I collided with something huge. Just after that my body was flying backwards. Initially, as I rolled across the ground, I couldn't understand what had happened. But it was a simple story, there was no trick, just pure power. My round shield that took the attack is somewhat smashed at the part that was hit and the bones in my left arm are broken and unable to move well. As I continued to roll I hit my head upon a stone or something hard and started to lose consciousness. I caught sight of the blood which flowed over my left eye and dyed my sight red.

Exhausted, I want to rest but that's impossible. My body is physically bursting in pain and blood is gushing out. I pierce my sword into the ground to support myself as I stand. My legs are shaking as I look around but I can still stand. Hobgoblins apart from their skin color have features which resemble a human's, however, this one is quite ugly. It is the ugliest Hobgoblin that I've ever seen. It stares at me with eyes that are tinged with intelligence. It watched me with a vulgar smile on its face. A swelling crotch vividly expresses it what its thinking. I suppress the nausea to well up from the mental thought and I demand help from people with my eyes. It is strong. I am strong, but this isn't an opponent an inexperienced adventurer like me can handle. If there were three people, I can comparatively kill it. I must be able to defeat it somehow when I say three people if there are only two people. Somebody, Anybody. I looked around the battlefield desperately while rubbing my left eye that was blurry because of the blood.

However, there is no one else, everyone is busy just surviving.

The seniors that could have helped us were killed first. The fledgling adventurers have scattered, panicking. It has become a critical situation because we were inexperienced. I try to gather the remaining forces, only eighteen people, including myself. They are cut from behind as they try to flee. Others are being burned by fireball projectiles. There is a Hobgoblin Mage too! Mages are able to exercise the powerful art of witchcraft. I was attacked by an illusion, my visibility becomes dark. Fledgling adventurers will get massacred by a mage. If you have a long distance attack method such as bow you can figure something out. However, I do not have a long-range attack method as a [Warrior]. Most [Warriors] would be killed by magic before getting close enough to use a sword. I look around for the voice I heard earlier. Charles is more competent than me. I see two Bandit Goblins before my eyes.

This situation is the worst.

But I don't want to give it up. As an Adventurer I know how it will turn out if I give up. As a female I will be taken away and used to satisfy their desire. Continuously violated by force and impregnated with goblin children until I die. Such an existence, like being livestock, is disgusting. It's absolutely disgusting. I would rather be murdered. My parents have both died and I have no lover. So, it's better if I am killed. I can accept death. But I refuse to just be raped and left to die like an animal.

From the field pack around my waist I take out the Life Potion I got from Spinel. Luckily it was not broken and I swallow it at once. I taste a subtle sweetness in my mouth. I feel the pain my my joints decrease. My left arm can move freely and my fatigue is gone. I heard that this was inferior to the commercial version, however to me the effects seem amazing. I will fight. I wont give up!

It was no good though, Bandit Goblins had surrounded Charles, killing him. After that I got stunned and eventually was captured. My limbs have been restricted by rope and a gag was placed in my mouth. It's hard to understand the Goblin language but it seems we will arrive at their home soon. This is the worst. The bulging crotch of Bandit Hobgoblin who defeated me crosses my mind. The vision approaching has an obscene smile with a vulgar laughter. It's unpleasant. I do not want to be violated by that. I hate, hate, hate!, I hate it, I hate tsutsutsu! This will be my future. I should have fled earlier. I can no longer escape. My limbs are bound, I can't even bite my tongue.

As we are being carried I prayed to the God of Fate «Shikkuzaru». Surely in this world God exists. That God will answer my prayer is unlikely, but I have to try. Even if its a gamble there is slight hope.

But praying will not change the situation. I look up and see those who I was trusted to defend but failed. The other women who are in the same circumstances as me. Emery, Felicia, Alma, and Spinel. Even now they did not blame me. My heart aches. I cry. I feel sick that I am so weak. I am ashamed. Ashamed, I apologized to everyone with my eyes. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry I am weak.

I recall memories of my parents, memories of my uncle. Tears flow out without stopping. In the distance in this remote location I can see caves.

Suddenly my luck begins to change.

As we approach the cave we could see many Goblins but one in particular caught my attention. He had a body that was colored black. I could hardly believe my eyes. I have heard rumors of seeing brown skinned goblins living in mines. Usually their skin should be green. This one is dark black and paints a picture of darkness. He must be protected by one of the Gods. A subspecies that appeared after Rank Up. While I'm thinking this the black Hobgoblin approaches the Bandit Hobgoblin and begins to speak.

"Those women. Can you release them into my custody?"

On the surface was he is gentle-looking, but he has an overpowering voice. His attractive body has a charismatic charm. I am attracted to his power which I don't have. Coming here to meet him was my destiny. From here marked the beginning of my fate.

Day 27 Sidestory: Charles's POV

My name is Charles.

In January I joined Sword of the Weak, an adventurer's association. They sent us off on a simple guard mission. My weapon is steel longsword. It isn't a magic item, so it's the usual [Normal] rank, but it seems to be an excellent sword for cutting. It was hammered by a famous [Blacksmith] using good steel.

When it's bought, this to which considerable gold is necessary isn't the items for which I can buy the degree primarily.

Of course, because it can't be bought, it isn't an item I stole from a store either. When going out of the village where I was born and grew up, this is the thing which my uncle, who was an adventurer in the past, gave me.

My uncle is the benefactor of my life, a foster parent and is the master who my goal is one day to surpass.

When speaking, it became long, so when I thought consciously, around eleven years old, my parents were killed and eaten by a group of monsters after they attacked the village.

I was close to death then, too, but though my uncle who returned and had come by chance struggled with the long sword in one hand and carried an countless bruise, I succeeded to repulse, and it was a hero of a village. But my uncle lost a right leg in the battle, and a chronic numbness on the left side. Don't meet, for, an adventure person will be that my uncle stays in a village without possible possibility. I was taken back then and was brought up. Trouble has not also ceased after that.

My uncle who can't have all help of a village but lose a right leg and also move a left hand satisfactorily and I who didn't grow up. There was a field where my fathers left it, but it's my work to cultivate a field mainly, so the one which is being eaten is serious. But you told me the adventure my uncle often experienced actually, so it's apparent that it was fun. I decided and liked that every day.

Five years did that and lived together, and passed, and when it was also sixteen, a life also became stable, so I asked earnestly somehow, and did to tell the way against which I fight to my uncle. It'll be the adventure person who was admiration, like my uncle, concerning the world, from red snapper, if, when saying, it could be accepted easily relatively.

Oh, that occupies half of neighborhood of the reason, but truth is the childhood friend which is two years older, and it's big to say that Rushana in love conquers my uncle who was attacking Takeshi for a long time at last and has married secretly.

In other words, disappointed love was decided opportunity. It's a pitiable reason even I, this, a wife search was also a hard time at a village which declines small, so I thought I had to go outside sometime. He was a newly-married couple, so an uncle married couple had to stop his ears and sleep in the evening and it can also probably be said that the making up one's mind stuck to the thought that a maggot maggot was being done so far with this finally. I went between field labor, so practice has passed for about one year, but common practice was finished and I had leave, so I'll be an adventure person, and am here.

It has been begun by pitiable circumstances, but I who has finished uncle's practice am not proud, but there is an arm which is in a hurry and [Soldier] is also rather high ranking relatively.

The same bolt isn't discounted. When Gogo also piled up a blade, victory or defeat was almost decided. By the state that that also wasn't serious and controlled. I knew the top such as my uncles and the clan masters who will be because it was so, so I wasn't arrogant, subtle, it isn't quite satisfactory, there was felt time.

But I met her, Ruberia, her short red hair suits her well. I fell in love for the first time.

When saying that there was carelessness, it'll be up to that. But even if I didn't have that even if there was carelessness, I lost in Ruberia in the game. And a force was impartial to there, so it was possible to win the next game. I also play a game several times after that, but a well person wins, and it's repeated that a bad person discounts. Only either didn't become strong and was growing each other by hanging in the balance.

While probably fighting, I think she became interested. Ruberia, a peerless beauty. For it isn't a reason. But there was healthy beauty, and when seeing smile of the carefree whole face, the heart became lively heartbreakingly unconsciously. There may be a case that the smiling face which cries with everywhere says that there was a part similar to Rushana.

I also had a pure liking for Ruberia except for that freely. During spare time, I tried to speak to Ruberia after I was aware of that. And Ruberia found really akin to me. Like me who cries with my parents already, my uncle has them tell how to fight to me by an adventure person. There are a lot of similar places, and what is it also to say by oneself, but aren't we a well-matched couple? No, because I'm not confessing, it isn't also by a couple, too. But there was no opportunity, and you couldn't confess easily. I think really, I'm a heartless guy.

"Charles, when will you confess to Ruberia?"

If I think as a maggot , what has the looks which gets along well and is always making a party called such thing? Now is while packman's (peddler) group as Star God's Pavilion is the request which guards the defense city Trient front where I arrive at (Mission). Ruberia also is there to be seen in the members quite a lot more than usual. Though it's so, you say such thing, and I suggest you be heard by the person himself, if it was to do, it was be upset, but maybe they were talking Ruberia friendly with the females of the guard target and didn't hear. I was relieved and stared at a looks, and but I spoke while being embarrassed. I was laughed away variously and but declared only one for best friend's looks.

"After we finish this request, I'll confess."

I thought it was probably now to break on the heartless own. It was somehow, but I just thought I have to say. And you told a looks to exert yourself. Though the looks also isn't little and is well-disposed in Ruberia, you support. I was sorry and but thankful, and thought it'll be formed with Ruberia by all means.

It's such time, we who were advancing a highway when we were attacked by surprise.

A group of goblins had attacked us. They first ambushed and killed the seniors, who had the highest combat power among the company.

I'd apply a poison to an arrowhead from the superiors who shouldn't be a fatal wound just carried off and playing a bubble and dying, too. This quest isn't received by a bolt adventure person like us primarily, accompanying is permitted to add to the experience by using superiors' commanding by arrangement of a clan master as a condition. The seniors who could command us in such a situation, they all died. When all units for which immaturity is conspicuous lost a commander together, it was obvious what happened to the persons for whom it was left. When the person who is confused and runs away has, too, the person who fights against a goblin seems to be an adventure person and has, too. It was feared, and it couldn't move and maybe there was a person, too.

I fought with the love sword in the hand in it. I cross swords with the looks from which it was chosen to fight likewise and the goblins which were back to back and were armed with a dagger and an ax. The kind as the goblin is a small fish basically. In a hurry there is body ability, but there is no intelligence using that. The silly person advancing honestly to a fault. When there is something by which even an amateur will be a weapon such as hoes and clubs, so it's easy relatively to kill by one to one. But this group isn't weak. The thing in which a poison was used for an arrow shows the group of the van dittos goblin. Wisdom goes around, so they're very more troublesome than an ordinary goblin. Though this number can be killed too short when crashing in without ideas, they're obstinate. And two bodies seem to judge that I'm a powerful enemy during being probably left, and strike and come at the same time. When it'll be indeed so, it isn't possible to kill easily. When it is, unity was attacked and injured intensively, but when damage exceeded a constant value, I went down to the back, so it wasn't possible to kill. I try in order to kill other in the opportunity which became one to one then but a new goblin will strike and come immediately, so the number I keep occupied doesn't change from two bodies. It should be possible to kill unity by a blow, I had no ability to there.

Arms are exchanged while clenching the teeth in the chagrin, and a bruise is increasing gradually each other. An enemy changes several times, so I'm intenser for wearing.

I'll do that, and, you can finish attacking, without, when I'm here, the form of Ruberia suits the sight by chance. She was fighting desperately, too. Though I get injured, a goblin is being killed. But an enemy was approaching the back, so I raise my voice immediately. And she reacts and beats an enemy by a shield with strategy. I don't miss the opening where the goblin could be made warping by its effect and have dealt a fatal blow.

I have no time relieved at that, and the offensive of the immediate goblin is parried somehow. Then an opening could have enemy's flank in the good condition, so I thrust at that and flash. A crowded long sword ate in a side and shall hand heavy resistance down to me and but cut it in two. The upper part of body revolves around, and a stiff of a cut goblin scatters blood, and the lower part of the body falls in DOU and the ground. Though it revolves as a shriek is given by killing my company, and I happen to cut it from the back, and it's avoided by turning the other attack which has come down in the ground, and the ground may be rubbed, ashibarai. The goblin which paid both feet loses its balance, and is leaning forward and is reversed. I stand up immediately using revolving momentum, stamp a back of the goblin which struggles and go through a heart. I had the sense which took the life certainly.

It was painful, but you could win somehow. It's severe for certain, but it may be still somehow. When feelings had begun to spring, what did that show?

It's a mage. Mage where a goblin is also a hobgoblin without well that. It's a female from the feature and the cane which was put up from the place he left is seen. Blaze of the one intonation has finished already or the devil's fire burned in the point. That which shines brightly is fired at the same time as it was seen, and I who was moving unconsciously avoid a flame ball at the narrow escape. The one which could be avoided was just lucky. There would be no next. A body seems to burn by that heat wave which wrapped the back in hellfire, and bare skin is hot and painful. But it isn't a fatal wound, so much, I stand it and stuff the distance with mage. Even though I say mage, it's a Hobgoblin Mage. From me now, they must be a powerful enemy, but I can't think you can do from the amount of the magic in the body and fire in a hurry. Therefore you shouldn't be hesitated even a little and do rare time idly. Anyway when stuffing the distance, it should be easier to kill than an ordinary hobgoblin.

Mage was earliness and several steps more more than I made the next magic actuated because a judgement was fast actually, and it was possible to catch in the distance which can be killed. shi would be in a slightly impatient expression for me.

But my aim collapsed by another hobgoblin's appearance. The same female hobgoblin as mage with a sword. That was distinctive from the side, and I broke it between me and mage and entered.

My offensive strategy interweaved [Slash] and [Run]. [Soldier] which gave the momentum to which I run a ride and paid out (arts) was let run and or was avoided. There was a case that tsurugi sen grazes, but I don't come to a fatal wound far.

The enemy's arms paid out watch for a little chance in the strategy.

This hobgoblin is excellent at handling swords. When judging by sword skills only, she may even be better than me.

If I'm man, it would be equivalent to the [Swordsman] durability.

Such hobgoblin pays out, a hobgoblin with a sword couldn't attack so that he might think in zangeki aiming at the life mercilessly, and when the sword which draws near was received or it was let run, and he was being desperate and was fighting though it was damaged, jumped in the back suddenly. It'll be caught off guard perfectly, and you can't follow immediately.

A flame ball flies from the Mage, and I come one just after it. It was put in perfectly. A hobgoblin with a sword was ordinary temporization.

The flame ball which draws near. I'm approaching every moment, am being stronger in released heat than just now and am heating the whole body. It can't be avoided. I die. It's killed. Then you could find the world to have stopped. The sight which moves slowly and the flame which draws near. Only thought is high-speed and but a body doesn't move. How is it, it can't be done, and it's killed, it's just in front of, but, talk of my uncle who revives at such time.

My uncle seems to have that magic was cut with this long sword formerly. They seemed quite proud of this talk, so it's remembered well.

When hearing talk, they were skeptical, but I was absorbed, shook a long sword in a flame ball and dropped me off. It was a blow of the past best with strategy. I myself couldn't visually recognize it in zangeki of speed where myself have no things felt so far. If it can't be done, how do you have no choice but to die of this? But the included thought that I'm desperate didn't want to die, and surprisingly, cut, tore and showed a flame ball. A separated flame ball cuts it and falls in left and right, and the back earth burns. I wasn't just also interested in a consumed heat wave.

"Done...... is HA ZO which did?" Only a moment became careless for me in accomplishing by oneself. The result and I which did the act which shouldn't be done with the enemy at the front were killed too short. To kill me, when magic could be avoided, you cut a neck with the hobgoblin with a sword who was stuffing the distance from a blind spot. I cut it and saw my collapsing trunk in the corner of the sight which is judged from a transferred head. A looks was knocked down by others in the ground, and the form made by metta stabbing several goblins was also seen. That eyes would like to be opened rather widely, an expression of agonizing is striking. Other colleagues are killed by a man mostly, too. A guard target is also killed by a man, and a woman is captured.

The form that Ruberia is fighting with was a big hobgoblin. I wouldn't say that the ability difference is hopeless, but the number is different. Before long, Ruberia would be defeated. Will she be violated by a goblin now? She will be violated. Spirit bears a child of a goblin and breaks, and I'm dying in the rape at the end. If such thing is endurance, I don't have that, but how isn't consciousness able to do for immediately before me who disappears, please?

Yes, it's regrettable. Any more, consciousness won't last. The sight was dyed black. Nothing was prospective any longer from there. Any more, I'll hear nothing and be not felt. It's darkness, the darkness wrapped silently. Is this death? It's dark and cold.

God... at least, lend a helping hand to Ruberia.

Day 28

Maybe it was the weeping, getting tired, and going to sleep, but she seemed to have more or less recovered. Perhaps her recovery was simply fast, but when I went to check on the girls in the morning, the Redhead cheerfully greeted me.

The other four still seemed afraid of me, but that couldn’t be helped. Time was required to have them come to an understanding. Among the stolen goods that came with them there was a cooking kit. Using that I made a pseudo-stew for them.

Well, having my first civilized meal in a while really made me happy. It might be self praise, but the pseudo-stew really tasted good.

Eating is absolutely essential for healing and as delicious as the food is, that much of the soul is healed, it’s that kind of cure. When eating, I saw that the girls calmed down and began to lower their guard. I began to hear about them in more detail. If there is something I can do for them, I'll need to learn what that could be, was what I was thinking while listening to them talk.

By the way, I forgot to mention, except for the Redhead, the other four were holders of [[[Job]] - Peddler].

In the soft and comfortable atmosphere, I got to know that one of them was an [Appraiser], as well as a [Blacksmith], easily able to sharpen the blades of short swords and long swords. If I could arrange better facilities for her, she promised that she would forge equipment for me.

The two girls who looked similar turned out to be sisters, and they both held the jobs of [Tailor] and [Cook], so I arranged to have them be in charge of cooking and making clothes in the future. As expected, I cannot tell them to make clothes like Goblins who were their enemies, so I just told them to make clothes that they are used to making themselves.

As far as making food for everyone, I told them to just put up with it for now.

One of the women that looked coldly intelligent was an [Alchemist], so I asked her to make potions. I should have someone supervise them in case food is served with poison, if that happens, it’d be scary.

The Redhead is capable of doing farm work, but speaking bluntly that’s useless in this situation, so from here on out it was decided that she would participate in the training to get stronger. The women had to be able to protect themselves, particularly in situations like the one they were in.

After eating, we would have proceeded with training if we followed our usual schedule, however today was different. We were gathering all our belongings in preparation to move out of the cave. If you're wondering why, after the older generation returned, the cave was too small for everyone.

Until now, most Goblins that were newly born died quickly, that changed for my generation. That’s why we were moving to the Orcs' former mining base. If we relocated there we would have no more problems with space, and most importantly, since it’s a mine it had been reinforced to prevent collapses, so it was really sturdy. Also, I wanted to collect as many spirit stones as possible.

I sent out Gobukichi-kun to lead a group of ten Goblins to act as an advance party. The rest of them completed their packing and left an hour later. There were a lot of workers and backpacks, so we were able to move immediately.

Escorting the human women were Gobumi-chan, Gobue-chan and those few I could trust for this matter. The walk took over an hour but it seems we’ve finally reached our destination.

It seems like Orcs had once again came to settle the mine, however, Gobukichi-kun's group had already killed them. I received their hearts, and the rest of the Orcs were split between the members of the advance party as a reward. After that we set out to bring order into the interior of the mining grounds.

Since we didn’t have many decorations, the storing places of weapons and food were easily decided, and we put the sleeping area in order. Of course, we didn’t forget about preparing toilets either.

When we finished with the general stuff, I left the rest in the care of the Goblin elder and started to prepare the living area of the human women. Luckily I had my [Earth Control] ability so the work was easy. I quickly finished the Blacksmith’s smithy, the Sisters’ kitchen, the Alchemist’s workshop, and lastly their sleeping location. For their bedroom, I made them a simple bed. By taking a wooden frame and using my thread I made a mattress. It’s a somewhat bare structure, but fairly comfortable to sleep in.

Excavated spirit stones were used for drinking water and light sources so these weren't any problems. With a little creative thinking we also managed to get the smithy to produce simple things. Thus, we spent the rest of the day cleaning up and doing routine tasks. The food was prepared by the Sisters. As expected of those who possess the [Cook] profession, it tasted really good.

Day 29

Finally we started the training for the older Goblins. To start with, as an example we had them observe simple things like standing in line and combat practice. The older Goblins were surprised by that display. I was actually more stumped that they were surprised about the other Goblins taking orders from me.

After that we began the real thing. First of all, we started from the basics, like forming a line quickly and endurance running. Those who fell behind were gifted with push-ups as punishment amidst jeers, as if coming from some demon sergeant.

There was one really stubborn idiot that I had to hit, together with a punch to his face I broke his arm. After he screamed and spun around for a while, I straightened his arm out and we returned to the training.

The training continued in that way for a few hours, until I finished up by sparing with everyone. I got a strong sense of deja vu from the scene that resulted. At the end, no one could move.

While Gobukichi-kun and his buddies were off watching from a distance, they were saying things like: “Ah! I knew this would happen.” “I thought it would too.“ “Training's harsh when he gets like that!" As expected, the endurance of these Goblins were higher right now than that of Gobukichi-kun and friends, so the recovery time was fast and after a time that I chose at my own discretion the training resumed. We didn’t go hunting today, instead I spent the time ranking the older Goblins, deciding rules and stuff like that.

Day 30

It rained heavily today. Of course, I was having reservations about going outside.

Because of that, it was the right time to hold another festival to determine the ranking within the group. The method to determine the rough ranking quickly was somewhat convenient. Because there is a large difference in the basic abilities between Hobgoblins and Goblins, we will have two separate contests to decide the ranking.

The results, well, that is if you can call it properly settled, are thus: The top was me as always, the runner-up was Gobukichi-kun, next after him was the previous Hobgoblin leader, and after him was Gobumi-chan. The three Hobgoblins after her were generally at the same level of competency.

The Hobgoblin Mage Hobusei-san might have come after me if magic use is permitted, but that is not the case this time.

As the festival ended, we split into three groups: Gobukichi-kun's group continued with practice, Gobue-chan's group who carried picks continued mining, and the third group was studying things, like the rules that I had decided, the ranks, the Continental Alphabet, and so on, with Gobumi-chan as the teacher.

Meanwhile, I chatted about various things with Hobusei-san. I was interested in what kinds of magic she could use. Based on what I was told, the three kinds of magic Hobusei-san could use were [Fire], [Water], and [Void]. I pretended that I understood what she talking about, but in reality I had only read information from an incomplete source and in reality had no idea what she was talking about. After that, having exchanged all kinds of information, we each moved on to our own tasks. Hobusei-san went to Gobumi-chan's place to study, while I went to talk to the human girls.

When I went to check up on the situation, having fire and water guaranteed by the fire and water spirit stones, the Blacksmith's forge was in the middle of producing tools out of the spirit stones and iron ore that we got as the result of mining. She could do that without any problems thanks to several sets of tools that were among the things we looted.

While I asked her if she had any complaints, I noticed that the smithy had been repaired recently so it was easy to use. Because she was somewhat less frightened of me, I left satisfied.

Next, I went to the station where the two human sisters were. Since the cooking utensils were looted goods, the Sisters using them did not incite any friction with the Goblins. With that, things progressed smoothly. Though, after looking around the station, I realized that with just two people, preparing everyone's food would be an overwhelming task, and so I decided to sit down and help them.

The Sisters were still a bit afraid of me, and so I thought that if I was proactive and spoke to them more, they would begin to warm up to me. Once in a while I caught them smiling, which was great. The smile of a beautiful woman is always a good thing. While we were at it, I taught them all the recipes that I know.

After that I went to the Alchemist who spent all day making potions.

The equipment was already assembled here like at the other places, so that wasn't a problem.

I inspected her completed goods with my [Appraisal], but so far it didn’t seem like she had made anything poisonous. I was interested in the creating process, so I stayed to observe.

The Alchemist gave of an unfeeling impression, making me think of a disdainful Ice Queen. She didn’t talk at all while she was working, yet she was still a feast for my eyes so I had no issue with waiting. After she finished we had a short conversation then I went to my own workshop.

While there I tried using the Black Wolf leather to make defensive equipment. I stitched the leather with my thread, and using my practiced ability the crafting process progressed quickly. Nevertheless, it was late at night when I was done.

Before I went to sleep, I did some practice swings with my halberd in order to become used to how it felt. Because I had been fervently moving around I’d become tired, so I slept like a log.

Day 31

The heavy rain from yesterday continued, so we spent the day inside the cave.

The day went as usual. After the morning practice was over, I equipped the Black Wolf Armor that I made yesterday and the halberd, which I still haven’t tried using in a real battle, before facing a fully equipped Gobukichi-kun in a somewhat serious practice battle.

My new armor consisted of flexible black leather pants and a long black leather coat. On my left hand I was equipped with a solid wrought-iron gauntlet, and on my right hand I used the carapace reinforced, and in lots of different ways improved, round shield. I didn’t have anything covering my head, and on my feet I had a pair of sturdy looking boots that the older Goblins brought back from the adventurers.

Since my skin was also black, this equipment made me almost invisible during the night.

Gobukichi-kun's equipment was replaced with various items we got during the Orc raid.

His main weapon was a [Crescent Axe] that burned from having a [Flame Blade] made by embedding a battle-axe that I discovered, with Fire Spirit Stones. His buckler was a black iron tower shield made from a carapace-reinforced round shield, which had high defensive strength because of how heavy it was, that was strengthened through magic.

His armor was based on what the Orc Leader was using. Using my thread to bind it together, it was now reinforced by pieces of carapace and black wolf leather, which raised the defensive power and mobility.

Looking almost like a moving fortress, his armor coupled with his body that was amplified by his vanguard specialization, resulted in combat ability that was not something to joke about.

Truly, Gobukichi-kun had become strong.

I can sense it during his normal training as well, but facing him fully armed truly makes me understand how much he has improved.

Basically, I, who had strengthened myself by having a variety of abilities, confusing my opponents through the use of various techniques, and winning using methods of striking my opponents from behind, was bad in a situation like this where I had to fight head-to-head without an ability against a genuinely strong opponent like Gobukichi-kun.

He’s still an opponent I can win against with my abilities, but having my halberd with the force of my whole body behind it being almost perfectly blocked by his tower shield is, as expected, still kind of shocking. Each and every one of his blows is also extremely heavy, but above all his dexterous handling of his axe is worthy of admiration.

It seems like he knew from experience how to swing an axe sharper, faster, and heavier.

Well, the weapons he has used from the first hunt till now have always been similar, from cudgel → axe → axe which was probably the reason.

In our Goblin village the one who handles axes the best is without question Gobukichi-kun.

Also, his burning [Crescent Axe] was more trouble than I thought it would be. I’ve got the ability [Fire Resistance], so I didn’t get injured by his [Crescent Axe]’s [Flame Blades]. However, resistance is resistance and hot things are hot. Because of the blazing flame my vision was impaired and when the handle of my halberd got searingly hot from the long exposure to his flame, I excused myself.

Continuing like this, we spent quite a long time staging mock battles.

I spent some time manufacturing clothes, picked up the mined “Spirit Stones”, ate the food the Sisters prepared then went to sleep.

And then when everyone had gone to sleep, that event happened.

Eight bodies were moving towards the place where the five human women were sleeping, and my 【Sense Presence】 ability caught that movement.

When I looked at what woke me up, I saw the retreating figures of Goblins who were exchanging words in whispers between one another, speaking enthusiastically about assaulting the women.

The moment I saw that, I gripped the halberd that I kept near my bedside in one-hand and chased after them. I made sure to do this stealthily in order to get firm proof that they intended to assault the women's sleeping place. Conclusive proof that they couldn’t refute was extremely important.

After they've done it they can’t excuse themselves by saying that I made a mistake.

Once I was sure, I swung my halberd at the closest Goblin and moved down toward his neck.

His head flew, charmed by gravity it fell to the ground and begun to tumble, which I then trampled over and crushed flat in one breath. After squashing the head, my boots became soiled, but at that moment, I didn’t care.

I made sure to cauterize the Goblin ’s severed throat as I decapitated him; it helped save myself from the annoyance of cleaning up afterwards.

The smell of burning flesh sparked my battle instincts.

I dare say I was laughing while I was doing this.

The sudden cold-blooded murder instantly caused the atmosphere to turn serious.

Everyone’s gaze that was locked on to me were had a dumbfounded and confused state, ignoring their situation, I began to apprehend the rest of the Goblin s using my thread. Looking at the captured Goblins, I realized they were all subordinates of the former Hobgoblin Leader.

Then, I determined first of all that the former Hobgoblin Leader who attacked Redhead rolling in front of my eyes with a bulging crotch was first to bring it up.

I tried hearing his story before deciding whether I’d allow him his life, it seems like he was unable to suppress his sexual desires. When I asked why he didn’t just let it out on a female of his own kind, it seems having known a human woman’s body once, a female Goblin’s body can no longer satisfy him. The pleasure was different by an order of magnitude.

“Don’t you understand that!?”, was his argument. I hit him once then stopped the discussion halfway because the girls who were assaulted had part of their clothes torn. I’ve heard enough of what I wanted to hear.

I handed over some fine cardigans crafted from the threads I made yesterday to the shivering girls who were hugging their own bodies.

Because leaving them with torn clothes could make them a temptation for the other Goblins.

As I finished handing out the clothes, while rubbing her back I called out to and attempted to calm Redhead who was clinging to me and crying. I kept patiently calling out to her, who seems to be slowly calming down, although she was still bawling. Once Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan, and Gobue-chan hurried over, I gave them the order to put the Goblins I bound with thread in the practice hall near the entrance. Also to wake everyone who is still asleep.

I left the corpse and splattered head on the floor.

After making the order, Redhead seemed to have calmed down once I gave her some time; although, she still wouldn’t let go of my clothes. Somehow, she would not open her hands regardless of my intention, which was confusing. She was still faintly trembling, so it was unreasonable to try to get an answer. Although I actually thought that I had better not be burdened with having to look after her mental health from now on; but for now it can’t be helped so I took her with me. The other four girls, although trembling, either because they hated to be separated from me, who rescued them as promised, or because they thought they wanted to see things with their own eyes, or possibly some other reason, followed along at a distance.

Having made sure no one was asleep and that they had gathered in the hall next to the entrance, I pointed at the arrested goblins with the tip of my halberd. I explained that “What the likes of these guys did was this and that~~, what I said was etc. etc.~~”, made them understand, then I began the torture.

For starters, I cut off a bit of the tips of their fingers with a Bowie knife. Cauterizing the wound with a flame so they didn’t bleed to death and using a healing spell to restore both their vitality and body strength. I proceeded bit by bit, taking the utmost care that they wouldn’t die.

Their screams were noisy so I stuffed a gag of thread in their mouths. That was also to prevent them from biting their tongues. Well, you wouldn’t die quickly even if you bit your tongue to begin with so doing it was probably pointless.

Yep, I was putting everyone off.

Physically and mentally, they were drawing away.

Nevertheless, doing this to prove to the girls that the promise I made was not empty should be easily understandable. In the first place, there was clearly no need to say that there were a number of followers who do not abide by my, the current leader’s, words but instead followed the orders of the previous one.

Leaving behind things like this would certainly cause problems later on, so for the sake of the future I do this to nip potential trouble in the bud.

If in the end it’s “because I did not do this I was stabbed in the back and died”, that would be silly.

The six Goblin s were dealt with using various unique, colorful methods, and in the end, only one was left.

The last Goblin — the former Hobgoblin Leader begged for his life with his eyes, but even though I was so lovingly turning him into a sandbag this fool could not understand a thing, I could not see any value in his existence.

Within the group he held a position that was commensurate with his strength, but as I thought, it can’t be helped that fools will always be fools.

I don’t get those guys that could not even abide by the bare minimum number of rules that I established, so simple that even idiots could understand.

The fact that things ended up this way was because of this guy’s intentions, you reap what you sow.

Still, even I wouldn’t kill his followers just because I didn’t like them. Not unless I have a pretext for killing my opponent, like this guy. From the start, cases where it is fine if there were two powers within an organization are exceedingly rare.

Because of that, without hesitation, again and again I burned his arm, tormented him with water, trapped him under a heavy stone while whipping him, keeping him barely alive as I continuously tortured him.

Day 32

The time when the former leader finally died was the moment sunlight reached the entrance of the cave.

Clearly, I went kinda nuts and overdid it a bit.

Because his vitality was stronger than a Goblin’s, he simply didn’t die easily. I did, however, continue to heal him as well which contributed to his prolonged torture.

When I returned to my senses, I looked at my surroundings. Everyone was terrified.

Pleasantly smiling I laughed. “Have I made myself clear enough?”, I asked the gathered Goblins who all nodded their heads with astonishing vigor. Feeling satisfied with that answer, I disbanded the meeting and ordered everyone to sleep till noon. If everyone managed to sleep it would be nice, considering they’d been forced to watch my torture all morning they must be tired, but somehow I doubted anyone would fall asleep today.

So, almost everyone except those who had fainted didn’t go to sleep like me.

Thus I ordered everyone to sleep. I also told them that today’s training was cancelled.

After creating a water ball with my abilities to wash away the blood from my hands and face, I had noticed that Redhead, who had watched me work more than anyone, was shivering uncontrollably with vacant eyes.

In order to snap her back to her senses, I created another water ball and threw it at her.

Then I picked her up and carried her like a child to their bedroom. I disregarded it when she began to shiver even more. When I safely dropped her off, I returned to the spacious area again, and because the other four still couldn’t move themselves I repeated this four times.

After confirming that the other Goblins had returned to the bedroom, I also went to sleep.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the afternoon.

As a replacement for lunch I ate the hearts and stomachs of the Goblins I killed, whereafter I buried the rest of their bodies with my [Earth Control] ability.

Around this time the other Goblins woke up, and because I had said we would skip practice today, I and the three other Goblins went hunting.

I left the Goblin Elders, together with five of the Goblin minions, to protect the human girls. Earlier, I asked, “You know what’ll happen if they are assaulted, right?”. It was when they nodded vigorously that I decided the girls were probably safest with them.

Well, the girls were within a walled off area I had made with my thread, and with the short-sword wielding Redhead there, at the very least, they should be able to buy some time if there was trouble.

In addition, when we subjugated the Orcs at the mining camp, we found an emergency horn. I gave them to the girls in case an incident were to occur. If they blow it, we should be able to quickly return and save them.

With that taken care of, the four of us left with peace of mind. The first thing we encountered on our hunt was a Three-Horned Horse . At a glance it was covered with solid looking scales, and it was twice as large as a normal horse. It was such a big horse that with our current bodies we had to look up to see it. It was a creature that had evolved far above that of a Hobgoblin. And there were two of them. They were probably a couple; perhaps one was pregnant.

However, we don’t know that for certain, and in order for us to survive we need food, so we performed our usual surprise attack.

Our first attack went by the book. Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan shot poisoned arrows with their crossbows. One of Gobumi-chan's arrow went right through one of the horses eyes, while Gobue-chan's arrow was slightly off and bounced off the other horse’s stiff scales.

“Those scales are tough! Even though the power of the crossbows could easily pierce through a standard plate mail, it easily repelled it!!” I reflexively screamed out loud.

Moreover, I had placed poison on the arrowheads, a wonderfully strong poison, and yet the Three-Horned Horse didn’t instantly die, rather it began to act aggressively because of the intense pain. I had never seen such fierce vitality before!

While we were busy being surprised, the horse that wasn’t hit noticed us. It turned in our direction, pointing its three horns at us, and entrusting itself to its rage, it charged in an attempt to impale us. Well, with my thread and thunder combo I somehow managed to stop it, my thread was so thinly spread that the thought that it would just brush off the thread, annoyed, made my innards go cold.

Just how much horsepower did that thing have?

There was no question that its physical strength couldn’t even be compared to that of a Hobgoblin.

While Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan's sniping kept the riotous horse pinned, Gobukichi and I recklessly attacked it with my halberd and his burning axe. At first our attacks were simply repelled however after repeatedly attacking we found a way to chip off the scales. After that, the rest was quick.

My halberd and his [Crescent Axe] made the scales fly; once our blades reached the thick flesh below it we were successful at severing the head from its body.

The other one was weakened by my poison, and because we had already figured out how to kill it, this was an easier kill.

It was quite heavy work, however, we didn’t receive any major injuries; it was truly a significant hunt. We carried all the raw materials back, however since it was our first time hunting this prey, we decided to eat all of it ourselves.

Since it’s big, all the Goblins, except Gobukichi-kun, were set to diligently remove the scales in order to get the meat. Gobukichi-kun was once again stationed to watch the surroundings. We needed the right Goblin in the right place. And thus I ate six horns, two hearts and a fair share of the rest of the meat which was generously split four ways. After that I also ate the shells, since I thought I might get something from doing that.

Ability [Armored Scale Charge] learned.

Ability [Scaled Horse's Neigh] learned.

Ability [Rapid Recovery] learned.

Ability [Enhanced Leg Strength] learned.

Ability [Improved Charging Power] learned.

Ability [Triple Stab] learned.

After eating I had obtained six abilities. This was the proof that the Three-Horned Horse truly was strong. Because usually as a Hobgoblin I had to eat four bodies to gain an ability.

Also, this was the first time since I reincarnated that I obtained a physical attacking skill, which was big. I thought [Triple Stab] would stab three times in a row, when I tested invoking the skill against a tree holding my estoc, the result was that three holes were made in the tree. Yes, I actually only stabbed with my estoc once. Yet I made three holes. In addition to that they were arranged in straight line from top to bottom. After spending such a long time in this world the fact that I didn’t get how it worked now didn’t surprise me. However, I came to wonder if this from upper to lower attack ignored physical defense. I tried to think about it. However, the answer to this question will have to wait for another time.

After that we walked around for a while, hunting the usual things, bringing them back and finally going to bed. After I fell asleep, Redhead snuck into my bed, so we slept together.

I’ll say it to make it clear, but we didn’t do anything erotic. I reaffirmed that a person’s warmth was still a good thing.

Day 33

When I woke up, I tried to move but my body felt heavy and I felt trapped. I was lying with my arms spread wide, and for some reason I couldn’t feel them. I decided to figure out what was happening, so I looked to the left and right. When I looked to my right, Gobumi-chan lay on one arm and when looking to my left, I found Redhead sleeping on the other.

Yeah this is the so called ‘arm-pillow’. That dull sensation came from two heads disturbing the blood flow in each of my arms.

How did it turn out this way?

Truthfully I wanted to move my arms that quickly became numb, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake those two, who were sleeping soundly and happily. What I’d like to ask is, when did Gobumi-chan enter my bed? When Redhead snuck into my bed I was half asleep, yet I remember her slipping into the bed so I can understand her being there.

Could it be that she possessed such a powerful [Hiding] ability that my 【Sense Presence】 ability could not sense her? No, there’s no way.

Most likely, if the one being detected has no bloodlust or hostility towards the wielder of 【Sense Presence】, then the signal is weak, and because I was sleeping I missed that weak signal.

I was thinking, “For the time being I’d like to do something about this situation…” when Hobusei-san happened to pass by. Hobusei-san was the name of the Hobgoblin Mage, okay? The Mage’s name. You probably understand, but I thought it important so its worth repeating. I pleaded for her help with my eyes. She held back a chuckle, picked up my favorite book from my toolbox, [Introduction to Magic — Basic Sorcery vol 2 of 3], and then went away gracefully.

Crap. She’d better return that.

After that, Gobukichi-kun came over for morning practice carrying the [Crescent Axe]. I pleaded with my eyes just like with Hobusei-san. He was troubled for a little while, but ended up pressing his hands together in prayer and left. I bitterly watched his cheerful smile as he did so.

O~i, we’re friends aren’t we? Please help, will you?

After Gobukichi-kun, a yawning Gobue-chan followed. Recently she’d gotten into gathering beautiful gem-like “Spirit Stones”. She seemed to have formed a spirit stone mining group together with other Goblin girls. Considering her habits, it’s probably the leisure time before morning practice right now.

I imploringly pleaded with my eyes. Because she smiled wryly as if to say “It can’t be helped” I thought “Is she going to go away too?”, but just then she saw something and broke into cold sweat. While I was thinking “Huh?” she hastily went away.

Help me…my arms are gradually…

My plea for help didn’t reach anyone, and I was left like that.

There were some guys who sporadically came over to observe my predicament, but none of them offered me any help.

Then approximately one hour after I woke up, the two finally opened their eyes. As one would expect it was starting to turn dangerous for my arms, so the reason they woke up was probably because I was trying to save my arms by doing some stealthy and very slight movements.

Frankly speaking, having your arms used as pillows the entire time you’re sleeping is severe, especially when it’s both of your arms. For some time, I couldn’t even feel them.

Once I ate the breakfast the sisters prepared for me, I began the morning training.

Everyone worked to a degree that was scary.

Eh? When I looked slightly doubtful, Gobukichi-kun told me that since the higher posts suddenly got thinner with the death of the former leader, the Goblins understood that the only way to grab it, is to, like me, become strong, and the only way to become strong is to earnestly overcome your own limits. Putting together what the training Goblins said, that’s what we ended up with.

Yes, that’s right. I didn’t say it before, but since the Goblins number had increased considerably, recently, I had begun to take the role as supervisor of the training program.

Gobukichi-kun took charge of those with high offensive and defensive strength.Their role was to engage the enemy from the front. This role, in turn, made him the commander of our main group of the armed corps. We called it “Revolution”.

I still haven’t introduced the last Hobgoblin, who is called Hobusato-san. She gathered the Goblins who specialized in a high offensive “hit and run” fighting style, and turned them into a lightly armed combat corps that specialized in mobility, which we called “Red Surge”.

Gobumi-chan gathered the ones who were bad at close range combat, and became the commander of a fighting unit armed with short bows and crossbows, named “Tirard”.

Gobue-chan collected those who I judged lacked the required combat ability to belong to any of the above groups, training them to have enough defensive power to defend themselves, having them focus on cooking and fixing broken equipment, and thus made a logistical corp which we called “Patri”.

Hobusei-san was the only one with the exception of me who could use magic, so there is no option but to have her do individual practice; and thus, she became the commander of the magic-wielding unit, “Magician”.

By the way, if the different squads are added together, they number 59 Goblins. 39 from our generation + 28 from the former – 8 of which were killed during my torture.

For some reason no one wanted to be my sparring partner, even though I would be using a wooden sword.

Well, I can easily win even with a handicap anyway.

But if I were fighting 1 on 1 against Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan or Hobusei, it would be close. If I used my abilities I could win a fight alone against everyone together, but that would be in opposition to the original purpose of the practice, to increase the basic strength of the participants.

After that it was time for the afternoon hunt. This time everyone had things to do so I went alone. Gobukichi-kun was asked by the Goblins under his leadership to continue practice with him during the afternoon, Gobumi-chan was still teaching the Goblins who couldn’t remember things like ranks, the Continental Alphabet, and the simple rules I cooked up, and Gobue-chan was inside, accompanied by the members of her “Spirit Stone” mining group.

After departing, I first saw a Demon Spider.

I killed it the usual way and tore off its carapace. A Demon Spider’s carapace is useful because you can increase its toughness using [Shell Defense] on top of being light and strong. I was actually using one right now.

[[[Goburou]] got "High-quality Carapace"!!]

After putting the carapace in my backpack, I ate the spider’s remains whole. Since Demon Spiders aren’t edible spiders, the taste wasn’t very good.

Ability [Expanded Field of Vision] learned.

Because I felt good about acquiring a new ability, I turned a blind eye to the bad taste.

Next, I found another Triple Horned Horse. This time, unlike the last, there was only one. It was the perfect opponent to try my [End] magic on, so I started making the preparations to cast my magic.

Regarding magic, typically there are three components that must be connected.

The first is the chanting of the [Spell] to influence the workings of the world.

Second, [Internal Mana Control] to refine a necessary amount of magical power inside the body.

And then thirdly, [External Mana Operation] to control the formation of the magic itself using magical power outside the body—that is, magical power filling the air.

Also, because the third part [External Mana Operation] is several times more difficult than the other two parts, It is typical to use casting aid devices such as magic staves during the preparation.

I already had the abilities of a staff so having a staff makes no difference when handling magic for me.

I prepared a black lance I created with magic, then I threw it.

My aim with the black lance was true and the lance hit the Triple Horned Horse right in its fat neck, where it cleanly gouged a hole 20 centimeters in diameter.

The body that had its flesh torn off with a tearing sound stood still for a moment, until its strength left and suddenly collapsed on the spot. The impact from the scene was so powerful that I involuntarily shuddered. Yeah, this magic truly possesses a ridiculous amount of power.

You see, since I became a subspecies the incantations for basic magic has become embedded in my memory, I think I already mentioned that; but until now I didn’t know how powerful this lance was. Ever since I used magic on a Green Slime, I have been convinced of the effectiveness of magic; but the fact that you can kill an opponent in one hit, even a Triple Horned Horse, shows just how terrifying it can be.

I understood that the power of the magic was useable from trying it on Green Slimes among other things. But the fact that as long as I don’t miss it’s an instant death attack on Triple Horned Horse class monsters is kinda scary, isn’t it?

Still, [End] style magic is incredible, to put it mildly. And this is (probably) only entry level magic, at that. Well, the power in this magic is so high that it should probably only be used as a last resort, or I might end up hurting myself, I thought whilst dismantling the horse.

I sliced off all of the horse’s three horns; tore off the scales; bled it; and then ate. I did leave one leg for the others though.

Ability [Armored Scale Formation] learned.

Ability [Strong Frame] learned.

The ability to grow scales on my body; It is extremely powerful, however, because I’ll look kind of gross, I decided to refrain from using it. Well, as a test I used it once, and instantly black scales were growing closely packed on my arm…

This isn’t something you show others.

For an instant I felt like I had turned into a lizardman. Although this could be good in it’s own way. It’s fine as long as you can get used to it, but as expected, the appearance of the arm I tried the skill on is slightly hard to swallow.

I began to move around searching for a prey in order to fix my mood.

This time I found a Green Slime. I fried it till it became crispy then popped it in my mouth.

Ability [Metamorphosis] learned.

I am able to turn my arms so they function as whips. You see, when you talk about Green Slimes it’s just a lump made up of mucus. So I don’t think bones really matter when changing their body shape, once you know this it’s easy to understand.

And then this ability. Even though I have bones I can, using this ability, move my body in the same way the slime does. I can even turn my body into a puddle-like form copying the shape of a slime, and to test this I enveloped a Horned Rabbit in my body, using [Self Body-Fluid Control] I changed my body fluids into acid, and the Horned Rabbit was in this way turned into nourishment.

Besides, if I turn my limb into slime form before receiving the attack, and take the part that got blown away into my body afterwards, it seems I won’t even receive an injury. There might be some limits, although I think it’s an extreme method to use. This ability is almost like cheating. It’s not like I feel bad when I obtain a useful ability. But I should be careful of which people I show this ability to.

The day was about to set, and I was satisfied with my spoils, and was about to return when I found, or should I say encountered, him.

A huge looking rock covered with red hair, is what the Red Bear looked like with his large frame.

From doing a quick estimation, it was more than 4 meters long. You could tell that the Red Bear is bad news with just a look from a distance, an existence not to be messed with, everyone could see that it was a born warrior.

I doubt my halberd could easily slice through its red metal-like fur and even if I were to pierce it, it’s a sure bet that the thick flesh below the fur would easily stop the rest of the strike’s momentum.

One normally flees. Running away from the first moment. The only sane choice when facing such a being.

But before I realized it I already went into hiding while observing it, and started to devise a plan on how to kill the Red Bear.

No, even though I haven’t fought a dangerous opponent of this degree since my reincarnation, I have already fought and killed far more dangerous guys before it. And each time, I killed and ate them.

This is probably the reason why I really wanted to fight this guy.

I want to get its ability and devour it, one could say my instincts were whispering this to me.

Well, with such feelings, I prepared to use everything I possessed to kill the Red Bear. And so, the fierce battle begins.

Day 34

I fought so desperately with the Red Bear that when it was finally over, I noticed that the sun was already rising.

My body was seriously injured from when Red Bear tore at me with his fangs and claws. Moving around and looking for a safe place to rest would be an impossible feat. Moreover, my left arm was cleanly cut off below my elbow.

When I defended myself from one of the Red Bear's sharp claws, it got cut off and was sent flying, the cut off arm was then eaten by the Bear in the middle of the fight.

Because my left arm was lost beyond hope of salvaging I could only make a temporary fix by stemming the bleeding with my thread. In order to heal the wound properly countless systematic Recovery Skills would be needed. Fortunately Rapid Recovery has already activated, so the possibility that I bleed to death is unlikely.

There was a large amount of blood streaming from my body, why wasn’t it fatal? You might think this, but the blood that came out was already replenished by my ability. Contrary to appearances, the blood remaining in my body was sufficient.

Well, let’s talk about that later.

I can’t help but say the damage to my equipment is greater. Both of my estocs broke to their handles and became useless, my bowie knife’s edge crumbled into pieces, having a nicked edge, it was barely saved from breaking off the handle.

My primary halberd also had a terribly chipped edge, the long handle was distorted greatly from warding off the Red Bear’s constant attacks.

It hasn’t been destroyed, but it clearly needs repairing.

The protective gear which should have still looked new before the battle looks like a shadow of itself, its state is now a jacket and tattered shorts.

At first glance all you can see is a beaten dog. No, a defeated Hobgoblin.

I was in a horrible state.

But, I survived. I survived.

I did well not dying, truly.

[Rapid Recovery] and Recovery Skills, if there were no duplicate recovery abilities, I would have easily died more than 50 times in my current condition as a Hobgoblin.

If there were no Enhanced Defense abilities [Shell Defense], [Physical Damage Reduction], [Steel Hide], [Scale Armour Charge], and [Strong-Supple Frame] there were no Enhanced Defense abilities that were the same etc., it isn’t likely to have ended to the degree of damage of only losing one arm and there’d be lacerations to my entire body surely. Rather, even at my full strength, a graze from one of its strikes would send me flying. That’s how much of a foul play the Red Bear’s strike is.

I mean, that really was a cheat.

Even so, I still didn’t lose.

Starting from [Venom], [Electro Master], [Hydro Hand], [Spider Thread Creation] and various abilities, using simple combination attacks with various abilities as an effective way to whittle down its health.

Actually I’d rather use [End] type magic to quickly deal the killing blow; the problem is that right now my spellcasting is so slow that it’s practically useless in the middle of close range combat. Because the opening I’d give would be too big, I’d instantly die if I tried.

Moreover in the first place, when I tried to hit it with a sneak attack with a lance he dodged it, so chances are that if I even managed to get one off, it would just be a waste of time.

The beasts instincts were fearsome. Well, because it lost his left arm in the initial surprise attack, I was probably satisfied with that attack.

I was also lucky that my attacks with my halberd were extremely potent when buffed by my strengthening skills like [Improved Slashing Power], [Improved Piercing Power], [Improved Charging Power], [Improved Leg Power] and [Pump-Up] etc.

By the way, after using [Triple Stab] I confirmed it. It really turns out physical defense was ignored. However, there seems to be a requirement where the attacks pierce to the same depth as the middle attack.

Furthermore, the size of the hole naturally depends on the weapon used to make it: A hole left by a halberd is going to be larger than one left by an estoc due to the strength of the blow.

The ability that helped me the most was surprisingly [Vampirephilia] that I got from the Seven-Colored Bat.

This blood sucking action can ignore the target’s defensive strength only up to a certain extent, and the blood that was sucked can also be be used as my own blood immediately. It is thanks to this ability that I could replace the blood lost by the Bear’s attack that went through my defenses, which had been raised as much as possible, from the Bear itself.

In short, I was able to replenish my own blood using the enemy’s, and I deal an amount of damage proportional to the amount I took from it.

Because I currently can change a part of my body just like a Slime, if I turned my finger into something like a straw and pierced the Red Bear with it, by sucking the blood through it I needn’t worry much about blood replenishment.

Yep, if I had lacked any one of the abilities I have now, things may not have turned out the way it did.

Ah, that’s right, [Stench]. I guess I was helped by that, too. The very moment the Red Bear was about to bite my body I used [Stench] causing it to retreat, holding its nose in anguish. Well well, you never truly know what will turn out to be useful in the future.

Looking back at the fierce fight, for a while after the twilight, I turned my eyes in the direction of what was once the Red Bear.

In the middle of the trees flattened in the aftermath of a violent fight, was a great Red Bear that had ceased breathing. Its whole body was covered in injuries like me, but carved on its chest was a large mark as proof of my concentrated attacks.

My scarred figure looking down on it can be seen reflected on its empty eyes that had lost their light, and a bowie knife stuck deeply between its eyebrows, this was making me feel sad for some reason. I’ll say this over and over again, the Red Bear was truly strong.

Using my [Predict] I could see its attack trajectory as a red line, but even so, the attack was so fast there were times that I couldn’t dodge in time, its unique powers such as its explosion-like roar and its glare which was a technique that was inhibiting my movements were intermingled in the attack.

Furthermore, this thing is a Bear, and yet it blew fire like a flamethrower out of its mouth. “Really, what kind of Bear is this?”

Since I had [Fire Resistance] and [Hydro Hand] I didn’t receive much damage from the flames, but this and that are two different things.

Seriously, it was strong. A large part of me winning was due to luck.

But since I won, I have the responsibility to live on for the defeated.

I picked up the Red Bear’s hand that had rolled near its battered and whipped body, and I ate it in order to regain my strength.

Ability [Peerless Heavy Strike] learned.

Ability [Intimidation of the Strong] learned.

When I finished eating the right arm, all my exhaustion suddenly caught up to me and I felt my consciousness begin to fade.

During the fierce fighting I’d lost a lot of stamina, the body decided that the best way to survive was to cut off my consciousness and preserve my physical strength. Even now my [Rapid Recovery] and Regeneration are still restoring my body, so I’m confident that I wouldn’t die even if I fall unconscious. It’s my own body, so that much I can understand.

However, it’s obvious that I’m too defenseless if I faint as I am now. There is a high chance of getting eaten by other monsters during the time I was unconscious, so to remain alive I mustered what’s left of my strength and sent out my thread to make a wall around me and the Red Bear out of the trees that are scattered around as a result of being mowed down during our fight.

It was an impromptu shelter.

In addition to having the trees as camouflage, because I doused my thread in poison as I was sending it out, even if for example someone were to come and attack, surely the poison should do them in. If, for some reason, all this wasn’t enough, then that would be the end of me after all, I thought with resignation.

—As I used up the last of my strength to build the defenses, my consciousness—

You have exceeded the minimum required level.

Special requirements «Kingslayer», «Tyrant’s Swagger», «¦¦God¦¦» cleared, [Rank Up] to [Ogre:Rare Variant] now possible.

Will you [[[Rank Up]]]?

«YES» «NO» —With the last of my willpower I chose «YES» right before I lost consciousness.

Day 35

I woke up due to a strange urge. The lighting was dim, but I didn’t mind that very much.

I was stirred by a strange hunger that was unlike any I’d ever felt before, so I reached for the corpse of the nearby Red Bear. After removing the bowie knife that I had lodged deeply in the bear’s forehead, I used raw strength to tear its head off. When I brutally ripped off the skin, flesh, and cervical vertebrae, the sound could be heard from afar.

I hadn’t fully regained consciousness yet, so I was munching on the Red Bear’s head that was in my hand.

Ability [Lord of the Mountain's Piercing Roar] learned

Ability [Intimidating Glare] learned

Ability [All Elemental Resistance] learned

After I tore the hair off the head, crushed the cranium and slurped the brain for a few seconds, I judged that the bear’s pelt was needed, so I took the bowie knife that had somehow seemed smaller and carefully peeled it off.

I got the feeling that the Red Bear became smaller since I fainted, but my head wasn’t working right, so I couldn’t find a reason to why I felt that way.

It just felt right peeling the skin off the bear, I did it for no other reason.

Any other thoughts didn’t enter my mind.

My left hand from the elbow down was gone, however, this much could be fixed by my abilities so there was no problem.

Using my [Metamorphosis] ability, I was able to make slender fingers for my arm, which was gone from the elbow down, and pick up the pelt.

Though having difficulty using a small knife with my prosthetic fingers, I was able to finish flaying the pelt from the bear. After that, I started eating the flesh of the now naked bear.

As if suffering from intense starvation, I single-mindedly devoured its flesh and blood until nothing remained.

Ability [Lord of the Mountain's Stout Hide] learned.

Ability [Lord of the Mountain's Strong, Supple muscle] learned.

Ability [Consecutive Raging Strikes] learned.

Ability [Tyranny of the Beast King] learned.

Ability [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection] learned.

Ability [Complete Fire Resistance] learned.

Even chewing and tearing brought out its flavor, truly the best meat I have ever had, I drank the thick blood that almost tasted like wine, I could feel the Red Bear’s vitality as soon as I swallowed a mouthful of its innards, I devoured its crunchy bones and exhausted its bone marrow just like the minerals of a cave, at that point my mind has finally been cleared and started working.

I then looked at my body.

My body remained black, and although there were large quantities of blood covering it, I noticed some unfamiliar red lines that seemed to have some religious significance—–wonder if I should call it a tattoo?—-all over my body. And the size of my body is a full human arm length taller than that of an adult male, my belly has also turned into a 6-pack abs, it’s easy to realize that I am not a Hobgoblin anymore but a different species entirely.

And my hair, I am sure it wasn’t this long. Although my hair grew when I turned into a Hobgoblin, it couldn’t even reach up to my shoulders, comparing it to now, it feels like my hair has already reached below my shoulder blades. Aside from growing longer, it has also turned gray.

Lastly, two sharp horns had grown out from my forehead. When I touched them, they felt extremely hard. If I charged like a bull, I’m sure there’d be a “buzuri” sound when I stab the target. While I was checking out my new body in various ways, I remembered the message I recieved before I lost consciousness.

Yeah, it seems I have turned into a Great Ogre.

Not a subspecies at that, oddly enough I evolved into a rare type.

Well, if you kill this much then you’ll get enough to rank up, it can’t be helped if I turned into a rare species. I convinced myself that it wasn’t a bad thing at all.

In the same manner as when I became a Hobgoblin from a Goblin, when I turned into a rare Ogre, all of my abilities have been enhanced and my body is filled with a temporary feeling of omnipotence. However, I decided to leave the verifying of the enhancements for another time. I think it’s about time for me to head back. The others are probably worried since I haven’t returned yet.

As I picked up the halberd that might be reusable if repaired, I noticed something when I was about to leave. My clothes were so tattered up to the point where it didn’t cover the parts that need to be hidden. As a side effect of when my body grew, the clothes that I was wearing got torn to shreds.

Basically, I am currently naked.

My member was swinging and hanging out between my legs; it was so amazing I had to gaze at it for a while. I was worried as to what I should do, I solved the problem by taking the Red Bear’s pelt, which I had already skinned off, and strapped it around my waist to cover it.

I see, that’s why I skinned the Red Bear’s pelt, because I had a premonition that such a situation would occur. I thought about it while using a wind-blade to cut the tree and threads that I’d been using as a shield causing a “zuban” sound to occur.

Because my power had increased, even if I held back, it turned into a one-hit kill.

Judging by the position of the Sun, I’m guessing it’s around two o’clock now. I had slept for a pretty long time, I should hurry back to the base.

On the way back I found my backpack and field bag lying around, after that I recovered as many Estocs and Bowie Knives as I could; at least those that can still be repaired.

The Three-Horned Horse leg that I placed in my backpack was already stolen. It can’t be helped if the materials that remained such as the shell of the demon spider are damaged, I gave up.

The backpack is still useful even though it was already worn out.

Because I’d gotten bigger, and by abusing some of my abilities, I arrived at the mining base in the blink of an eye, where they were noticeably wary of me.

And since I had a large body and, with the use of my abilities, I have invaded the mining base very quickly, they’re all wary to an extent that I could only find admirable. Yeah, if an unknown Ogre suddenly appeared, this is what’d happen, I thought with a wry smile.

Also, they’re more afraid of me than they used to be.

Ah, since I’d turned into an Ogre I probably have a face filled with evil, I’m sure of it. I’m confident that it would be something like this:

Goblin? Ugly Hobgoblin? Human-like? Ogre? Some kind of Berserker?

My current state.

Something like this, I’m sure.

By the way, there’s no concrete proof, but I’m probably around two meters tall right now.

So in comparison to the shorter Goblins that were surrounding me, there was a huge difference in perspective.

I’m completely looking down at them. “They’d be in my blind spot if they got too close; I’d completely lose sight of them.”

Soon after, Gobumi-chan came out from the back and realized that it was me. Just like that, the rest of the Goblin’s wariness vanished. Gobumi-chan who identified me in an instant, had her facial expression turned into that of anger. And with all her might, kicked me in the shin.

It didn’t hurt at all, though I acted like I was in pain. However the one who truly felt pain was Gobumi-chan, so I casually healed her with my healing skills to ease her discomfort. As soon as her pain subsided, Gobumi-chan made me do seiza.

[T/N: Seiza means an upright kneeling position that is traditionally used in Japan in meditation and as part of the preparation in martial arts.]

She was really worried, saying things like “What were you doing?”, “How did you turn into an Ogre?”. I was being nagged. Since I lost my left hand, I couldn’t refute her nagging. Besides, I can’t talk back when I could notice her tearing up a little. I was about to say sorry for making you worry, but then Gobukichi and Redhead arrived after hearing the commotion.

Of course, they were surprised. So surprised they couldn’t even stop their mouths from hanging open.

Well, of course they would if they were worried because I didn’t return the first day, and then came back as an Ogre the next.

To offer a tentative explanation of the events, once the key members such as Gobue-chan, Hobusei-san, Hobusato-san, and Gobujii had been gathered, I started explaining. I chased the other Goblins out saying that I will tell them later.

Eh…, when I thought I should return soon after hunting I found a ‘Red Bear’. To test my strength, and partially because of instinct, I attacked it.

After that, the fighting that started in the evening continued through the night, it only concluded when the sun came up yesterday morning.

After that I couldn’t move because I had taken heavy damage, so I erected a barrier using my thread and slept in an attempt to recover my strength.

Then, a while ago when I opened my eyes I had become an Ogre. A rare variant at that, too. My equipment had become worn out, but I had the Red Bear’s pelt as a trophy, so it wasn’t much of a loss.

Well, I was just thankful to be alive.

After telling them that much, I noticed Hobusei-san, Hobusato-san and also Gobujii show a stupid look with their jaws hanging as if dislocated.

What is it Gobujii? Eh? Did I kill the Red Bear? I told you already didn’t I, while saying that I patted the fur wrapped around my waist to draw their attention to it.

Hmm? What is it Hobusei-san? Hm hm, so there’s a considerably strong, almost peerless bear-type monster called “Hind Bear” living in these forests, but it’s generally grey in color and can go up to three meters long.

Additionally, among those bears there are individuals that belong to a subspecies whose fur was red in color. That subspecies is unable to wield magic like a mage, but they have high intelligence and the ability to breathe fire, and they are also on a separate level compared to common Hind Bears in things like physical strength and sense of smell.

So in short, because that thing was the strongest among Hind Bears, it was the strongest in the entire area.

Therefore that Hind Bear subspecies was called the “Lord of the Mountain”. It has enough strength to easily kill and eat an Ogre, right?

I see. Somehow I doubt such a monster would be spotted twice, given its rarity in this wide world.

“Ouch, Stop attacking my head Hobusato-san.” Though it really doesn’t hurt. “Eh? You want to take a better look at the fur? It can’t be helped.” As I showed it to her, she said it was definitely the real thing.

Well, I even turned into an Ogre after fighting it, and of the abilities I got, there was even one named [Lord of the Mountain's Strong, Supple Muscle], so there’s no doubt.

Also, she said I who became an Ogre in such a short amount of time stopped being ‘abnormal’ and became an ‘impossible existence’. Although I retorted that this was unavoidable, she replied saying such a thing can’t be said so easily without knowing.

It’s unreasonable.

So we talked about various things for an hour before ending the meeting.

No, as expected the current situation is not good since I’m as exposed as a newborn. So I want to get some new clothes quickly. I feel ashamed; as expected, one can’t remain calm in such an embarrassing state.

Afterwards, I took sneak peeks around the place.

I decided to go to my workshop, but soon realized Gobumi-chan and Redhead had followed me. “What are you, my parents?”, I felt like telling them, but I refrained. I let them do as they please since there was no harm done, I went and greeted the rest of the women for now. I wanted to check if anything had happened since my absence.

They were really afraid. They were all screaming at me from the sudden meeting. I got tired quickly since the other Goblins started gathering to check the commotion and I had to drive them away.

The girl’s reaction made me want to cry, I told them what happened and even used my flames and threads, finally they realized who I am. I could still notice them shivering from fear, but I was glad that they finally each showed a relieved smile towards the end. I felt like saying “Good job!” since they all looked so cute.

“Ouch!”. I felt a little bit of pain from both my arms as the two girls behind me pinched me. Though I refrained from hardening my skin, since I thought of it as a punishment game for making them worry about me, afterwards we talked about various things.

I’ve asked Blacksmith-san to do some maintenance on the halberd that was damaged badly. I got scolded again for a while, “You’ve really done well making it so tattered”.

After the scolding, it seems like she’s using a spirit stone on weapons like I did with my old knife, I was told to check it later. “And if it’s okay with you I would like to try and create a new weapon for you”, I nodded immediately as soon as she asked me this.

I find it cute seeing her getting happy, albeit briefly, smiling with beet red cheeks. It made me involuntarily pat her head. So as not to hurt her I tried my best to control my strength. Still, I think it was nice seeing her look like a cute child getting tickled. As expected, a woman’s smile is the best.

For some reason the two pinched me even harder. Why?

I got fired up when I was told they would be making bear stew, so I went Hind Bear hunting for the [Cook] Sisters. “If you want bear stew, you will need to get this and this and that.” And so I ordered the Goblin minions to go and gather them.

Lately I’ve been working these guys so much, their level should be around 100, perhaps some of them could become Hobgoblins soon.

As expected, it’s hard for the two to do all the work, I wanted to at least help them cut some of the ingredients, so I appointed three female Goblins of my generation from the Patri group to assist the girls.

Though I took the consideration that it’s still dangerous for them to be with the males, these girls are incredibly tough.

Anyone; friends, acquaintances, relatives or even lovers that are killed or kidnapped by the Goblins will see them as enemies, yet you can see the difference when you look at these two. The mental strength and adaptability they possessed is remarkable even though such a short time has passed since their kidnapping.

Really, these two are amazing. Even if it is a miscalculation on my part, I’m still glad.

“You girls would really make good wives. Will it be okay if I made you two my wives?” I told them this as a joke.

As I was looking forward to tonight’s dinner, I told them that I’m not gonna stay any longer.

When they faced me blushing, showing their blissful smile, I found it really cute .

As soon as I left, I was struck in the back of the head by the two with wooden swords.

Though it didn’t hurt, it was still unreasonable.

Alchemist-san was concocting a potion as usual, there’s some kind of poisonous gas mixed inside. Though it’s not the type of poison that could painfully kill you, it will quickly enter your body and paralyze you.

I gave her a bitter smile and softly whispered to her the ways in which to use the poison. Whatever, this is for self-protection and the likes.

Because she understood that just like how there are all kinds of humans, someone like me exists among the Goblins that tried to assault them, she didn’t feel anything like wanting to mix in poison into the food, however she still made them because it’s scary to not be the least bit prepared, that’s how it was.

If asked “Don’t you hate them enough to want to kill them?”, then sure, there are Goblins she hates to the point of wanting to kill, but she’s become able to trust me ever since the matter that night. Besides, I think she managed to trust even the likes of Gobukichi-kun lately.

At the same time, she told me I show too much strength as an Ogre. I am of the impression that my body is beyond weird. My red tattoos were also a little frightening.

“I can’t help it though”, I said as I extended both my hands and stretched out my prosthetic fingers toward her and jokingly picked her up, then I sensed icy glares coming from the two behind me.

Their glares were so strong I thought, “Oh crap, I’m going to get killed”.

That being the case, I did the same with Gobumi-chan and Redhead to appease them. Then, I did the same thing to Blacksmith-san and the Sisters too.

My body aside, I felt emotionally tired because I had to be careful not to break everyone’s fragile bodies.

After that, I finally arrived at my workshop, my clothes were feeling itchy.

The Red Bear pelt that I considered making into new armor could not be processed yet, so I decided to leave it for now. In the meantime, I made shorts out of the Armored Tanuki hide that I had already tanned beforehand.

I don’t really feel cold being an Ogre, and since I thought that making a pair of trousers in my size would use up too much hide, so to save on materials I made shorts instead.

At the same time, I think that armor made out of Red Bear hide, like any other hide, will be enough protection. However, it’s from the Red Bear and I endured great pains to obtain it after all. I think that rather than making hide armor, it is better to make hard leather armor that has higher defense.

I nimbly finished making the shorts and put them on immediately.

With this I can protect my dignity as a person. That was what I felt.

After that, I went on to making the Red Bear hide harder by boiling it. Tomorrow I will work hard at making equipment to go hunting with, I thought. Although I have a different motive as well, since I’m now too big for the weapons we have at the moment.

Day 36

Out of the usual five Goblin minions, three became Hobgoblins.

I gave them a congratulatory gift.

Since they just turned into Hobgoblins recently, I told them to go get used to their bodies.

I called off morning practice today because my training partner almost died.

Woah, that was close. Even if I held back my strength to the utmost minimum, a light punch would send a Goblin to their death. More like, they would die unless treated immediately.

Gobukichi-kun, armed to the teeth, was pretty much trashed. His armor couldn’t stop the force as it creaked. Even his tower shield, made of black iron, had a fist-shaped dent.

Therefore, I stopped the sparring session.

I arranged the next session to be a one on one mock battle, where the winner of which could give one order as a penalty to the loser.

In the afternoon, I continued crafting the armor that I started yesterday.

I saw Gobukichi-kun, who was about to go out hunting with an extremely worried expression. I thought it would be dangerous for him to go out alone and thus paired up with him. This morning, the Goblin minions became partners to the individual Hobgoblins, and played more of a supporting role.

Gobumi-chan and Hobusato-san are both females with similar fighting styles, and they started to get along with each other so they led 4 Goblin subordinates and went out to hunt.

Hobusei-san was sitting beside me while I was crafting my armor. I told her to return the book after she was finished but was ignored. Gobue-chan mined spirit stones again today. As soon as she found a spot with a lot of spirit stones, she became very motivated. Her mining speed went up.

Redhead started training with wooden swords together with the Goblins that were left behind. Her seriousness in training roused the competitive attitude of the other Goblins since they didn’t want to lose, this brought the older Goblins closer to the Goblins of my generation. Really, she is such a tough girl.

While taking a break from crafting my armor, I decided to visit the girls. I first went to Blacksmith-san to check on the knives she crafted from spirit stones, I was happy at how interesting the abilities they had were. I also taught the Sisters how to make some simple dishes. I then brainstormed together with Alchemist-san for new potions ideas. It’s been so long since I’ve taken it slow.

Day 37

Two minions who were still Goblins yesterday ranked up to Hobgoblins.

While thinking “It’s the second day in a row, huh?”, I gave them a congratulatory gift.

The morning training ended without a hitch, and I ate the lunch the sisters prepared for me, Gobue-chan, who should have been in the mines, came to me flustered.

She was embracing something small and brown with a bright red jewel on its forehead, sharp cuts could be seen all over its body. It was covered in blood, just like me some time ago. I could tell from its erratic breathing that it would most likely die any moment.

I'm calling it “Carbuncle” for the time being, since Gobue-chan told me to help it with one of my Recovery Skills, I treated it with [Heal].

It would have been beyond saving if I was ten minutes late, I felt relieved when I was somehow in time as I’ve managed to heal the injury.

However even healing doesn’t return lost blood. Carbuncle fell asleep after I forcefully made it drink a potion Alchemist-san made, a “Hematopoietic Potion” (Prototype) made from blending various herbs that helped with blood formation. Luckily for Carbuncle I was sated after the meal so I didn’t feel like eating it. Besides, Gobue-chan asked me to help it so that’s what I did.

[T/N: Hematopoietic means blood producing.]

A few minutes later, the 30-cm tall Carbuncle opened its eyes and explained its situation.

It thanked us.

“Thank you very much”, it said.

According to the story it told us when I asked why it was covered in injuries, the Carbuncle’s name was Returner, and the reason it was covered in wounds was because it was attacked by some human adventurers.

The red gem, splendidly mounted on its forehead, looked like a super high-class item, if sold, it would probably be worth a hundred million gold coins—I think one gold coin is ten yen—, that seemed to be the adventurers’ objective.

When I thought Returner had it hard, this time it went down on its knees and requested/begged us to do something about the humans.

This is what I put together after hearing the story:

~ It seems that “Returner” is an artificial Carbuncle created a long time ago by the legendary magician Velvet who was well-known throughout the continent. It is the manager of [[[Velvet]]’s Hidden Treasury] — A structure recognized in this world as a dungeon — that Gobue-chan and the others broke through when they were digging for Spirit Stones.

~ Though its superficial wounds that I healed seemed to have stabilized, but the fact was that its “core”—though Returner was a non-living artificial Carbuncle without a set lifespan it seems that it would die if the core was broken — was deeply damaged when the humans attacked. The healing seemed to prolong the time until it disappears.

~ Within the innermost part of the Treasury, there lay [Legendary] Class gems and elixirs that topped the list of magic items that Velvet had painstakingly collected over his lifetime. If the treasure chamber was savagely broken into by those greed-stricken nitwits and its treasures were taken away, there was no way Returner could tolerate all that.

~ Returner wanted to solve this problem by its own, but its fighting strength was lacking and because its core was damaged, its time was limited.

In the dungeon were magical creatures: the “Skeleton Soldier”, the tougher “Skeleton Warrior” and the advanced level skeleton, “Greater Skeleton”, and against the party composition of the adventurers they were worse than useless.

That’s why it came to us who seemed slightly strong, to drive the adventurers out and on top of that, to bury the other entrances.

If we could help eliminate the problem, it is willing to hand over the contents of the treasure chamber to us as thanks. Velvet hated humans, so it might as well hand over the treasure to us.

After thinking on it for a while, I couldn’t think of any downsides.

I called Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan, Gobue-chan, and then both Hobusei-san and Hobusato-san to get properly armed. After that I asked Blacksmith-san to bring me the knife made from spirit stones. I thought having a weapon is much better than being unarmed.

Because the Spirit Stone Knife was flashy in appearance, it seems like it would be useful as a deterrent.

As I began instructing my Goblin underlings; Blacksmith-san, Redhead, the two sisters, and Alchemist-san looked at me, their faces full of unease.

That is because they heard the request to kill humans. They would feel some unease, even though they are strangers.

However, because Returner asked for it we will drive them out of the dungeon through and through, we will strike first against the adventurers and try to win without killing them.

First we will try to persuade them, if that doesn’t work, then and only then will we resort to the use of force. I said that since to protect ourselves we have to use deadly force, I’m afraid it will end with us having to kill them.

“If it’s for self-defense then it can’t be helped, otherwise we’ll get killed, right?” I said.

When I told them that talking is important, and showed them my smile, they more or less gave me their consent.

With the preparations complete, Gobue-chan lead us to the hole connecting to the dungeon that Returner managed.

In the end, this is what happened.

We killed all six adventurers, men and women, who had entered the dungeon and tried to kill Returner.

Well, I did try persuasion first.

Initially, to prevent them from being too anxious because of our superior numbers, I had Gobukichi-kun and the others hide and went to persuade them by myself. This was an act I did in good faith.

But the moment they saw me they said something flag-like “This dungeon not only has just Greater Skeletons, they also have Ogre subspecies here. This piece of shit has lots of weaknesses. Even though it’s a troublesome opponent, he’s no match for us. Let’s just kill it quickly. If we let it go we’re not gonna find anything like it ever again”, while beginning to attack me full of killing intent.

I was not an Ogre subspecies, but a rare variant. In the first place, they didn’t want to hear what I was saying, not even a little. That’s robbers for you, I thought.

Well, things like intruding on people’s houses (dungeons), recklessly killing its inhabitants (monsters)—although it wasn’t me—while recklessly abandoning and pillaging the treasure inside…This is, by no mistake, a murder-robbery case isn’t it!! Moreover, they’re not even aware of their crime; these people are beyond saving!!

Meanwhile, upon using [Appraisal], it seems that the robbers’ equipment were all high-class items endowed with magic or a craft similar to that, even by appearance the party exuded an aura of considerable strength.

However, I felt nothing like the despair I felt when I went against the Red Bear, because by being an Ogre [Rare Variant] I had increased my base specs, and because repeated use of my abilities was now possible, I felt that defending against the robbers’ attack was a simple matter.

I mean, I could judge that just by looking at their first blow.

Their attack was totally clumsy. Their aim is also relatively dull, not only were they unable to handle their weapons efficiently, there were hardly any unpredictable and complex feints to mislead the enemy mixed into their offense.

Their slashing attacks were quick, and their weapons were of a superior quality, so if a usual Ogre were to be hit he’d be slaughtered leaving only pieces, however, in my opinion their combat techniques were not on par with their body’s specifications, the impression I had of their attack was that it was crude.

Whether it’s because of body strengthening from their levels, or buffs from their [Job], they are certainly strong, but conversely, it could possibly be inhibiting their efforts to raise their potential. Without thinking where they swing their swords in front of themselves, raising the levels of usable techniques and so on, never noticing that relying on those techniques they are probably obstructing themselves.

So far they had probably been gaining levels by killing their opponents relying on brute force, thus they had naturally started to spend less effort when fighting.

I don’t mean to find faults in others affairs, but their current methods was excessively lethal for themselves.

If they had spent more effort, they would probably have been able to fight me on equal ground. That’s how high their base spec was, yet.

Having neglected their training they were not real opponents for me.

There was a margin of error allowed for me because they were weaker, and so all their attacks were easily defended against by my parrying. While this was happening I continued my attempt to persuade them.

Usually when robbers are trying to murder you, you don’t manage to convince them.

As I was talking to them, while still being attacked, from the deep part of the dungeon a young looking [Magician] came out and cast a [Lightning]-based magic which was followed with a *bam* as soon as it struck.

I didn’t collapse, but all the same I stumbled a step or two forward from the shock. The resulting damage was only to the degree that I felt quite sore.

Even though it looked like a small attack based on it’s size, I would’ve died from it if it weren’t for [All Elemental Resistance] and [Lightning Resistance] abilities. The power of it was so strong your head would evaporate without a trace.

Ah, as expected. Since you’ve done this much, it can not be helped. My patience was already reaching its limits.

I sent a signal to Gobukichi-kun and the others who were hiding to commence their attack.

Apologizing to Returner in my mind, I cut off the retreat path of the adventurers by destroying a part of a mysterious opal corridor that made me want to remark “What is this, a royal palace?”

And in order to attract their attention, I attacked from the front.

Yeah, although I originally thought the ability of the Spirit Stone Knife was only amusing, it actually turned out to be amazing.

While the blade itself has absolutely no sharpness, since the materials used were Water Spirit Stones, water was being ejected from the blade with each slash. When I swung that thing a little seriously, the water coming out at high speed became a water blade, it cut the adventurer’s armor in half along with its contents while making a loud sound.

“Awesome! Awesome!” was what Gobumi-chan said following with a question about whether or not she could cut them in two with it, but I replied with a no because if there wasn’t any force behind it the water didn’t cut the opponent, it would only wet them.

It seems like it was useless without suitable swinging speed, although it was still cool.

After killing all of the adventurers, we stripped the bodies and ate them. I took the upper portion while Gobukichi-kun and the others got to share the lower bodies.

Ability [Job-Assassin] learned.

Ability [Job-Crusader] learned.

Ability [Job-Guardian] learned.

Ability [Job-High Wizard] learned.

Ability [Job-Bishop] learned.

Ability [Job-Enchanter] learned.

Ability [Quick Thinking] learned.

Ability [Parallel Thinking] learned.

Ability [Horseriding] learned.

Ability [Anti-magic] learned.

Ability [Shortened Incantation] learned.

Ability [Chivalry] learned.

Ability [Intuition] learned.

Ability [Conceal Presence] learned.

Ability [Demigod of Mercy's Divine Protection] learned.

Ability [Demigod of War's Divine Protection] learned.

As expected even among humans being an adventurer means you need to be on a considerably high level.

Since they had a lot of high-quality equipment, a fairly useful magic item was found. I ate it immediately of course.

Ability [Conceal Self-Status] learned.

Ability [Item Box] learned.

What I ate were two different magic items; “Hermit’s Ring” and “Backpack Storage (Large) x6” I stored the rest of the adventurers’ gear in my item box–when I tried to retrieve an item, a *pon* sound could be heard and the item appeared.

The transfer item-like feature has given me a sense of nostalgia.

The ability allows me to store up to 1200 different items and the same-named items can be stacked up to 99 times each which is just cheating. Then Returner guided us to the entrance of the dungeon.

In the deepest part of the cave, we found a hidden entrance which we collapsed, now there’s no other entrance here except the one Gobue-chan made. After we have collapsed that passage, there will be no way to enter this dungeon.

Carbuncle guided us into the treasury, where we all saw it.

There were various valuable treasures; the previous adventurer’s equipment that we got our hands on looked dull compared to the vast number of powerful magic items here. Amidst this treasury crammed full of items, in the innermost part, was a mummy with a strange left arm shining in silver, enshrined in a throne.

Returner called this mummy its master. This probably means that it was Velvet.

Returner’s time was about to run out and before that he wanted to tell us something.

A wide variety of spirit stones could be gathered from the mines of our current home, it was the influence of this dungeon. Usually depending on the type of Spirit Stone it could found in a location that corresponds to their attribute —— places with good ventilation have Wind Spirit Stones, Fire Spirit Stones are found near hot places like volcanoes, Spirit Stones of different attributes aren’t usually found in one place.

However, because this dungeon was a place built by Velvet who excelled at handling spirits, somehow spirits who do not belong can remain here even now, and it’s possible to mine a wide variety of spirit stones because of the dungeon’s influence.

As soon as he finished talking, as if having reached its end Returner showed a faint smile as he faded.

Clink*, And only the jewel was left behind.

After I picked it up I ate it .

Ability [Golden Rule] learned.

For now, we gave a silent prayer dedicated to Returner.

And so I took all the riches in the treasury. Really, the item box skill is amazing.

I could afford to cram everything from the treasury, and I still had surplus space left. Yeah, it’s all thanks to the adventurer party from a while ago.

Thinking that, only the mummified Velvet with the strange-looking left hand remained in the lonely temple and treasure chamber, as I thought, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him as he is, so after recovering the gem-encrusted throne, I cremated the mummy.

Raising my face, I clapped my hands in prayer and said “namu”, and as the rumbling fire died out, only the strange-looking artificial hand, shining in silver, was left in its place.

“What is this?”, I thought as I used [Appraisal].

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Appraisal] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Name: Silver Artificial Arm – Airgeatlámh

Classification: Artifact

Rank: Legendary Class

Ability Effects:

~ Armblast

~ Spellblast

~ Self-Evolution

~ Elemental Echo

Details: A divine artificial arm previously worn by Velvet found in the depths of a certain ancient dungeon. Those who lost an arm can obtain an arm that they can equip and with it perform any movement flawlessly.

By taking in other kinds of metal, it is possible to change the shape according to the wearer’s intent, this ability improves with each use. Destruction of this item is fundamentally impossible.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Appraisal] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was.

Hm, is Velvet saying “I don’t need this any more, so I’m giving it to you” to me who had lost my left arm? I thought this as I picked it up at the elbow and brought it closer to my missing left arm. Somehow I was able to attach it.

My impressions: It was incredibly painful.

Well, somehow when I brought it close, the arm’s armor expanded and its metallic tentacles extended from its center and covered my left arm up to the shoulder. Then the tentacles did something that felt like it was eating my flesh, the pain was so intense that I almost blacked out.

Then after I had recovered from my screaming, my left arm had become Airgeatlámh up to the shoulder. The silver arm that was the size of a human’s when I picked it up should have been far too small for me who was an Ogre, but somehow it had transformed into the same size as my right arm in both length and girth; it suited me well.

This might be the effects of [Self-Evolution].

There was no discomfort even when clenching and opening all five fingers. It didn’t feel weird at all.

Moreover, I could tell when I touched things with it, and when I tried hitting a wall I felt no pain at all. Even though I could accept having no sense of pain because it was a prosthetic arm, I wondered how it was able to transmit the sense of touch.

I was incapable of understanding it, and since I had no idea how abilities work in the first place, I wasn’t going to think too deeply about it for now.

Then, the movement limitations of the elbow joint seemed to have outrageously wide range of motion, and here and there were all sorts of gimmicks. The wrist and fingers could be rotated like a drill, and I could move the elbow and the shoulder at angles impossible for the skeletal structure of an Ogre.

And then I confirmed that I could properly use my abilities through the silver arm. I was able to spin thread from the sharp pointed fingertips without a problem.

Yep, I had obtained an awfully good thing.

Even though I could somehow manage with the slime finger, but as expected, having a solid basis made dealing with problems easier.

After that, we returned to base and had a party. Since it’s the conclusion of a great battle, and among the things we got from the adventurer party —this is important—there were bottles of booze. If we’re not going to have one now then when are we going to have one?

This is also for sending off the souls of Returner and Velvet.

In Velvet’s case, maybe it didn’t matter because he died a long time ago, our worrying about it is because of the current atmosphere.

I explained the details gently and thoroughly to Redhead, Blacksmith-san and the others trying to get their consent.

Even though I persisted in trying to persuade them, towards the greedy humans it was useless. But, yeah, booze is delicious!!

Day 38

After ending morning practice, I went to Blacksmith-san to have the items we obtained yesterday appraised, classified, and sorted.

As expected of the legendary magician, almost every piece of inheritance of Velvet was outrageous.

I was still unable to identify many things, On the other hand, Blacksmith-san, being a member of the traveling merchants and having dealt with various equipment as a profession of [Blacksmith], has a high [Appraisal] ability. She easily assessed more information than I ever could have and then explained to me her findings and their meaning.

Although there seems to be many parts that still can’t be identified, but, it was really helpful.

I then spent the rest of the day sorting through all the items.

Day 39

After concluding the morning practice, and after thinking about what to do with the large amount of items we’ve obtained, because I judged that to fully equip them would only lead to complacency, I decided to only give magical items to the ten Hobgoblins–weapon and armor, and also stuff like magical rings to be versatile–and gave each Goblin a max of two items.

And the equipment the Hobgoblins previously used was passed down to those of a lower rank. In the end, the worst equipped member was using shell reinforced shield, leather armor and a short sword.

Since they have been practicing daily the group of Goblins had reached an unfathomable high level, additionally both the quality and quantity of the equipment had increased, even if they don’t do a surprise attack with poisoned arrows and attacked enemies from the front, fighting against mid-level adventurers would still have a high chance of winning against, according to Gobujii.

Well, I don’t know if it’s because of their competition for strength, but if the slightly lower rank Goblins attack in a swarm then the adventurers would probably lose.

In my eyes, this group is without question currently the strongest army corps.

In the afternoon I went out with all Hobgoblins which numbered 10 in total, along with Redhead since she desperately wanted to join us, in order to hunt the previously mentioned Hind Bears.

By the way, my current main weapon is something I found in Velvet’s Treasure Room, a vermilion longspear named [Starving Impaler of A Thousand Thorn (Kazikli Bey)].

[T/N: It's the same spear he is holding on the Alphapolis Banner. The one that looks something used by a Ritual Monk. Kazikli Bey is Vlad the Impaler's Turkish nickname, the Vampire Dracula was based on him.]

My armor is a long coat-type hard leather armor made from the Red Bear’s hide and the shells of Demon Spiders, and I am also wearing a pair of flexible red leather pants.

Usually on my flesh and blood right arm I have a black metal bracelet, however I’d quickly changed it to this sturdy hand protector that manifests its ability according to the intent of the wearer to increase physical strength –among other things– named [Fury of the Haughty King (Beowulf)].

The spear and the bracelet and the silver arm; all three are [Legendary] Class [Artifact]s.

Yes, it might be late to start now, but I’ll briefly explain about [Artifact]s.

[Artifact] is a word that inevitably appears when discussing items gotten from the few dungeons around the world termed [Ancient Dungeons] that are extremely dangerous yet unique places.

From what I can tell from viewing the item data of [Artifact]s, there’s an obvious difference in performance when compared to current magic items.

Even for disposable potions, their effects can be more than two to three times as potent.

An [Artifact] Class health potion heals 60 hit points, while the commonly made version of health potions restore 25 hit points.

Something along those lines.

Blacksmith-san told me that it’s a system that distinguishes superior quality items based on criterions on what type of item class it is.

Next I’ll talk about [Legendary] class items among other things.

This is something that shows an items rank.

Items are categorized accordingly into 7 ranks, starting from the weakest it’s [Inferior], [Normal], [Rare], [Unique], [Ancient], [Legendary] and [Phantasmal]

For example, the long sword with a nick in its blade that I got from the Kobold, and the shell encased gigantic club that Gobukichi used before, are both the lowest class of items, [Inferior], whilst the magic staff that Kobold Mage used, using this system would be ranked as a [Normal] Class.

The weapons that the adventurers we killed in Velvet’s dungeon used were mostly [Unique] Class, with a few [Ancient] Class weapons mixed in.

In short, even for a high level adventurer party, getting [Ancient], [Legendary] or [Phantasmal] Class items is quite rare.

If I say that a small country’s treasury probably doesn’t have items above [Unique] Class, does that make it easier to imagine how rare the higher class items are?

Or perhaps I should say, to begin with, [Ancient] Class magic items are mostly all at least [Artifact] level.

That’s why people are so desperate to dive into these old ruins.

I digress, but apparently when ancient dungeons are surrounded by castle walls, labyrinth towns can pop up around them, and so on. It sounds fun, so I might try diving into one of these sometime.

The fact that my red spear, bracelet and silver arm are all [Legendary] Class items is proof of how powerful Velvet was when he was alive.

Because the act of finding even one legendary item is enough to shake countries, I cannot help but think that he was truly someone worth respecting.

As to obtaining the highest class of [Phantasmal] Class items, it’s unimaginable so I let the matter drop.

I have far too little information on that subject, so I don’t really know.

Getting back to the original topic, the Hind Bear hunt was completed without a hitch..

The Hind Bears are certainly strong, however now that we were equipped with magic weapons and were capable of group tactics, so the Hind Bears are certainly formidable enemies but not something that will stop us.

The bracelet, red spear and silver arms abilities were beyond cheating, without even having to use my abilities, to stand in the front exchanging blows and killing were mainly the reasons, but my presence this time is in the end supposed to be nothing more than support.

That’s why I equipped Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan and the rest with high quality magical items, and to exercise the strength of the Hobgoblins is the main reason for today’s hunt.

This time the main purpose of the hunt is to raise the level of the participants.

Yeah, bear stew is incredibly tasty!

By the way, because of the recent problems, I want to drink more booze so much that I can’t stand it. Booze…I want some Booze…

Day 40

It rained today.

In order to determine everyone’s new rank, we decided to hold a round-robin tournament.

It’s best to fill the holes left by the previous Hobgoblin Leader.

While not many will rise in rank, I thought everyone’s motivation would increase by doing this.

But victory and defeat is obvious among Hobgoblins and Goblins, and it doesn’t even need to be said for me who’s an Ogre. Goblins decided their ranks amongst Goblins, and Hobgoblins who have decided their rank amongst Hobgoblins didn’t change.

There were people who rose and fell in rank this time, it was a fluctuation between happiness and sadness.

Yeah, the overall level has also risen, perhaps it’d be good to embark to a city with Redhead soon. I’ll think about it later.

When going outside, it might also be interesting to form a mercenary group. In the area where we’re active in now, since there aren’t anymore monsters which can’t be killed by me, my level doesn’t rise very easily either.

Once you’ve killed the Lord of the Mountain, this is an inevitable outcome.

Yeah, it seems I should go outside sooner or later. While thinking deeply on many things, I fell soundly asleep…

Day 41

As the early morning sun rose, I went out alone, searching for prey that I have never eaten before in places that I have not yet visited—I was walking in the blank area of my mental map that I decided to call the [Unexplored Zone].

The opportunities to take charge of the morning training have been getting fewer, and it has reached to the point where Gobukichi-kun can take over when I’m not present.

In other words, I now have free time in the mornings.

Having no one to spar with, the amount of free time I have is fairly large.

Though it would be problematic if something were to happen, like someone getting hurt for instance. For the time being, I had thought of a good alternative by spending time doing basic training, making sleeping bags or working on the unfinished clothes and armor. Unfortunately, both the clothes and armor as well as the sleeping bags made of shells have already been distributed, so my ingenious plan was now gone.

Which led me to decide that, for now, finding new abilities would be a worthwhile endeavor.

The first prey for today was a 2 meter-class Argiope with a distinctive carapace which had an enchanting, golden color.

Making a rustling sound when moving, the spider was capable of quick movement and the thread it shot out recklessly was both strong and abundant in volume. Its golden carapace was so much tougher that it couldn’t be compared to that of the Demon Spider.

I was struggling with those three threads, but I retaliated with threads of my own, burned it with my fire and finally succeeded in bringing it down by piercing through the Argiope’s carapace with my silver arm.

When the spider finally died, I stripped the expensive looking carapace since it could be used for trading and crafting, then ate the rest.

I found and ate 8 of these guys in total.

Ability learned: [Golden Thread Creation]

Ability learned: [Adamant Spider's Carapace]

As a result, the abilities that I learned increased my personal defense and the strength of my threads.

This ability makes extremely beautiful threads—and the ability’s name, does it refer to the golden color or that the thread itself is real gold?

It’s quite flashy—so I thought that I could give Gobumi-chan and Redhead a present using this.

Still, I doubt that making golden clothes with this thread would be in good taste, so it’s probably better if I make some ethnic accessories like the ones I made Gobumi-chan earlier.

My next prey was a Four-Eyed and Four-Eared Red Deer, sporting a pair of antlers that looked like they were made of Rose Quartz.

It appears that the Red Deer had a wild temperament. The two sharp and beautiful antlers sat on its head, thrusting into the trees in its way, shredding them like a drill, but I pinned its head down using the indestructible silver arm and injected it with poison from my fingertips.

The Red Deer began foaming at its mouth and died within four seconds.

Apart from the antlers that looked like they would sell at a high price because of their beauty, the rest of its fine pelt, that showed no obvious damage, seemed like it would be useful, so I quickly skinned it and threw it together with the antlers into my [Item Box], after that I ate its flesh.

Unfortunately, I could not secure any abilities, but after eating two or three there was something of a reaction not unlike learning a new skill, because I was able to strengthen my body, so let’s say it turned out okay.

After that, I found a beautiful woman, “Dryad”, who lived within the woods. However, I didn’t kill the nearly-naked girl who had a Greek-like appearance and extraordinary proportions that appeared in front of me, so yeah, I had second thoughts about eating her.

For now, let’s just say that having experienced all sorts of things, my [Libido] finally flourished. As I am now, there might be no problem even if I didn’t but it seems like Dryad-san had the racial characteristic ability Absorption, so I tried to counter it by using my tireless [Libido].

It was a very sweet time.

Moreover, she leaned onto me and sweetly whispered “Come again~” near my ear, it was extremely sexy the way her coy expression was directed at me.

Goburou obtain [[[Dryad]]’s Mistletoe of Love and Blessing]!

Well, it was like that.

When I parted with Dryad-san and walked back up again, I found a medium sized river. When, for no particular reason, I followed the river upstream, I discovered a large waterfall. I then decided to wash off my body in the small lake underneath it; my body was drenched with sweat and emitting a unique odor from doing the deed.

I took off my clothing to swim in the decent size lake, where I was suddenly surrounded by green scaled [Lizardmen] who approached while staying underwater.

That I was too negligent was also a factor but, with my current level of 【Sense Presence】, apparently if the enemy is in water the reaction will be slightly slower.

Becoming aware of their presence now was pure luck.

Because of this, I finally became aware that I was having an encounter with strong enemies that I couldn’t face head-on. I was getting chills in my spine.

Well, past events aside, I immediately refocused my thoughts. Based on their appearance, I decided to call the Lizardmen in front of me Green Lizards.

The Green Lizards each held a refurbished falchion—a sword that had a curved edge and a straight back—as a weapon. Also, they each had a buckler similar to a round shield that seemed usable even though they were obviously a little damaged.

Unlike Orcs or Kobolds, they were not wearing any leather or metal armor, at best, they were only wearing light clothes made of thick cloth to cover their groins.

The Green Lizards had no armor. But, the green scales packed together covering their entire bodies may be no different from armor, perhaps they are more effective than they seem, and I cannot make light of their attacks from my blind spot using their long and thick tails.

I should consider the tail a third arm. And since the tails were underwater, they represent an additional danger since it’s hard to spot them.

There were eight Green Lizards, which is a lot, and they seemed to be used to hunting in groups.

Moreover, they were pointlessly flashing their long tongues and falchions making incomprehensible noises like “hyacchahecchizo~ go~gyakutterowigya~ janbettenbachurua~”, but I could read the atmosphere that was filled with killing intent.

Because this hunt was a solo action to get used to my silver arm and confirm its abilities, I had no assistance from allies. They also had another advantage due to the fact that my lower body was restrained by being underwater. Perhaps they were thinking “Even if it’s an ogre, we can kill it.” —which reminds me, come to think of it, although it’s a little late, Gobujii never mentioned about the existence of [Rare Variants]. I’ll ask him when I have the chance—, yeah, there’s no question about it.

With my overlapping abilities active, I made my move.

With the bottom half of my body still in the water, I can propel myself easily by using [Hydro Hand], in the first place, my leg strength which was strengthened by overlapping my abilities had allowed me to move quickly in the water despite receiving heavy water resistance.

I gained an explosive burst of speed by controlling the water and, along with the help of the current, I was able to stomp the enemy deeply in the chest in an instant. I made a fist with both arms and, with more force than usual, fed them to the Green Lizard.

The Green Lizard reacted well, using its buckler to guard against the first strike of my silver arm at the last moment, but the buckler shattered uselessly in the blink of an eye and a life was crushed.

The blow from my silver arm sent the Green Lizard’s arm along with its buckler flying in pieces, without losing momentum I struck its body. The body fared no better than the arm, with scales crushed, flesh torn, and bones broken, all of which are results of the silver arm having penetrated through them in its path.

Incidentally, my flesh and blood fist was stopped after crushing the scales, bruising the flesh and breaking the bones. It was a magnificent blow, but it was incomparably weaker than the silver arm.

Well, I’d say it’s to be expected.

Repeatedly striking and occasionally kicking, it didn’t even take 30 seconds to kill the Green Lizards. I had caught the ones trying to escape with my thread and lightning earlier, so I didn’t unexpectedly lose any weakened prey.

After killing the Green Lizards, I put their armaments in the item box, and since their bodies are difficult to cut apart, I ate them whole.

Ability learned: [Aquatic]

Ability learned: [Lizardmen Language]

The Green Lizard’s flesh and bone had an unusual taste and consistency, It was rather delicious.

Wanting to eat some more, but unable to find any more Green Lizards nearby, I gave up for now.

I walked toward the Unexplored Zone of my mental map that was automatically created by my [Mental Mapping] ability.

After walking a little while I came out of the forest, from there I found a large expanse of grassland.

It was the first time since my reincarnation that I saw something other than forests, mountains or rivers. The blowing wind was pleasant.

As I was having such light thoughts, I found a cow charging towards me. I decided to name the human-faced cow with two sharp horns Bicorn.

“For the straight on charging Bicorn, I’d use nothing less than the Jolt Counter!!”[1] while thinking that, I hit it head on with my silver arm, and it sank all the way to the elbow and left the Bicorn as a splattered corpse.

Yeah, today I had enough confirmation of the silver arm’s usefulness. No matter how many times I thank Velvet, who I got the silver arm from, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Namu”. I offered a prayer for him again.

There was only one Bicorn and although I ate it until I became round, I didn’t gain any abilities, but I was satisfied with having yakiniku by myself on top of having my body strengthened. Furthermore, the Bicorn’s entire body tasted delicious.

I decided to hold a yakiniku party with everyone using the Bicorn I killed as soon as I got back. After that, since it was just the right time, I hunted some Night Vipers as a souvenir, came home, ate, and then slept.

1. Jolt Counter reference to Hajime no Ippo.

Day 42

Among my 5 Hobgoblin minions, I identified 2 who were suitable to become Mages.

I immediately transferred them from my direct command to Hobusei-san’s «Magician» corps in order to have them begin training.

As I accompanied them out of curiosity, I discovered that Hobusei-san had scores of magic-related books in her bedroom. From what I heard, it seems that each of them had been laboriously collected from the plundered goods until now.

Hearing her story, it seems that even Hobusei-san didn't start off knowing three systems of magic like she does now.

Individuals with magical aptitude had the spell for the basic magic system best suited for themselves—for me it was [End], for Hobusei-san it seemed to be [Fire]—inscribed in their head, like I was, and when their level increased, they gained additional spells, but only superior versions of the spells they had in the beginning; they cannot handle spells for other magical systems.

It was to be expected, since they wouldn’t have known the key spells.

However, as a result of studying from the books she gathered, Hobusei-san had expanded the range of magical systems she can use. She was such a hard-worker.

Then, it seemed that Hobusei-san was happy because this is the first time she had apprentices, so her mood was at an all time high to teach the two Hobgoblins the fundamentals of magic, and I got myself some books and laid down to read so I didn’t hinder their training.

“Hm hm, ooh, I see~”, I said as I studied ways of handling other magic systems, like [Fire] system magic, [Water] system magic, besides the [End] magic I had been using up to now for creating impressively destructive lances.

Well, it appears that the [Origin] attribute that I possess is convenient since it allows me to immediately make use of other magic systems. Having bad affinity with a magic system and only being able to bring out half the power or not being able to use it at all etc, others will, without exception, have problems, but I can do it easily. It also seems to strengthen my memory, so yeah, it makes it easy for me.

Well, putting minor details aside, since I can use it now I’m not going to complain. [Pyrokinesis] and [Electro master] are probably better, because there is an advantage in being able to use them without signs unlike Magic, it may be pointless to remember the spells.

Still, it was no problem since having a wide range of usable magic is not a bad thing.

After about three hours had passed, I picked up a new book from Hobusei-san’s collection and started reading it, I have finally found a use for my skill [Job-Enchanter].

Well you see, [Job-Bishop] is slightly different from [Job-Druid] but there were many similar portions so I quickly became able to use it, but [Job-Enchanter] is completely different when compared to [Job-Magician] so I couldn’t skillfully use it.

That was why I had halfway neglected it until now.

Oh, that’s right.

[Magician] is fundamentally a technique that releases something into the open, while [Enchanter] is an art that intervenes with materials.

Yeah, that’s how it is, while magicians can do things similar to enchanters like strengthening materials, leaving the issue of support aside, a magician’s enchants are much weaker than an enchanters, in exchange, enchanters are completely useless in combat.

Yeah, for now I think I’d better treat it differently to magic.

Leaving aside the hard part for a while, for now I can use the skill [Enchanter]. Since she had previous experience, I went to Blacksmith-san.

As soon as she saw my face she pouted a little which made me slightly confused, then she let me practice using various things that she had made.

I enchanted knives made from purified spirit stones and ones made from iron.

As a result, the knives made from Fire Spirit Stones could shoot out stronger fire, the ones made from Water Spirit Stones could spout more water, while the Iron Knives’ strength and sharpness increased drastically.

Yeah, I was surprised at how easy [Enchanter] was to use. You can make powerful weapons comparatively easier, than making them the non-magical way.

Well, behind the scenes there were numerous prototypes that were smashed up because of failed enchantments…

The success rate is low if the enchanter isn’t too familiar with enchanting. Then this and that happened, time passed, I went hunting, ate, and then slept.

Day 43

Gobumi-chan looks moody lately. It started around two days ago, I first noticed it when I returned from solo-hunting.

Why is it? I asked Gobukichi-kun about this and he just tilted his head saying he doesn’t know, when I consulted with Gobue-chan about this she told me that I know what I did, and as I asked Hobusato-san and Hobusei-san they just said “How nice to be young~” and such, in the end everyone evaded my question.

When I went to Redhead since I really don’t know why, she cutely puffed her cheeks and turned away. I was also told by Blacksmith-san that she was a little moody when I went to her place, “I’ve also been wondering about that since yesterday, Why?” as soon as I asked her this, she showed a shocked and slightly angry expression on her face and went somewhere.

While feeling worried, I tried going to the Sisters’ place, they forcibly fed me something with a little poison mixed in saying, “This is a prototype, please enjoy.” Without any emotion, when I tried eating it, it tasted delicious—just to remind you, poison won’t work on me—so I surprised them by telling them to make it again.

I wonder why?

Getting really stressed about it, I went to Alchemist-san and told her what I felt, she told me the reason while she was still looking shocked.

So yeah, it seems like the cause of it was jealousy. Well, when I had the affair with Dryad-san, she left a hickey on my neck and when they noticed it, they got upset.

Since it was harmless I didn’t really mind it.

So that’s why, having solved the reason I nodded but Alchemist-san suddenly hugged me tightly and greedily gave me a deep kiss.

Passionately, our tongues entwined ~wait what, we are exchanging saliva?! Is what I was thinking. After a while I was released.

“This is my thanks for saving me and my feelings for you.” was what she said, I replied “Is that so?” nodding, she looks at me for a moment, with teary eyes and quivering lips, losing her balance I held her close, and thinking what if I also touched here, I got in the mood and the situation escalated.

So as not to harm her, I lovingly embraced her body and as soon as we started flirting in a concealing manner, Gobumi-chan stormed in.

I looked like a husband caught having an affair in the way I panicked, but surprisingly I got embraced instead.

Then she said “Do it with me too!”

Compared to when she was a Goblin, as soon as she turned into a Hobgoblin she became really cute so my feelings for her wouldn’t be a problem, as soon as I was about to do this and that, intruders came in one after another!!

Well, I don’t want to explain what exactly happened next, truthfully I can’t do that. However, Blacksmith-san, Redhead and the Sisters who intruded, have decided to spend the night together in an orgy.

Using [Metamorphosis] and [Self-Body Fluid Control] was a big success. Not even in my dreams did I imagine that I would use my own twisting tentacle-like things this way since my reincarnation.

And I didn’t think I would use it on so many individuals at once.

After that, I didn’t expect I could use [Self Body-Fluid control] to turn my body fluid into an aphrodisiac.

By the way, I sealed off all the exits of the room with my threads in order to prevent the other Goblins from peeping; and used [Aero Master] to possibly prevent the voices from leaking out of the room.

My thoughts:

Yep, it was a satisfying night that felt awfully good.

It’s just that, because of my overwhelming stamina, I did not feel any weaker no matter how many times I came, on top of that, it was so strong that if I hadn’t used my [Metamorphosis] I would have broken them for sure.

“Nevertheless, it was very intense”, I thought.

I now have important people to protect.

Hmm.. I really didn’t plan any of this. Well, it can’t be helped. There’s no doubt I am happy with this.

Day 44

I felt something with my 【Sense Presence】 ability.

Because the ability’s level had increased recently, the name of the species—though it’s only the temporary names I've given them—will be displayed if I've already come across one. If I know their real name, then that name will be displayed. Furthermore, it will indicate whether it’s an ally or an enemy. It was a handy ability.

Based on that, it seems that the ones coming over are Gobukichi-kun and two of his subordinates. I started to get up wondering if something happened, then I became aware of the beings lying down cuddling me tightly.

Because I couldn’t bring myself to wake the girls who were sleeping soundly due to the fatigue from last night’s intense orgy, I slipped through using [Metamorphosis] to not wake them up.

Then I exited the room made from thread and had a talk with Gobukichi-kun. According to them, three long-eared humanoids had come strutting up to the cave’s entrance.

Whether to attack, kill, or invite them into the cave was an important decision that needed to be made by me as the leader. Because they couldn’t make the decision themselves, they had the strangers wait outside.

This is exactly they should've done, their education was bearing fruit. If it was before I taught them, they wouldn’t have thought twice before attacking them.

For now I took out a bottle (filled with water from the lake) from my [Item Box], I quickly washed myself with the water inside to give myself the minimum presentable appearance and went to meet them. The strangers were “Elves (Tentative Name)”. It was one man and two armed women who looked like his escorts.

The three had fairly good looks, both the man’s ceremonial dress and the two women’s light metal armor were superior quality products. Taste and other things aside, it was easy to guess their respective social status.

Judging from their appearance, the rapiers hanging from the hips of the two women in the back were [Rare] class magic items, other than that they also had ring-type and bracelet-type magic items, all of them [Rare] class.

Unless you have the appropriate social status, collecting equipment of this quality is impossible.

Incidentally, although I thought “The adventurers last time had some nice equipment huh?”, most of their high quality equipment were goods looted from dungeons. It is inevitable that high level adventurers will get high quality equipment.

For those who don’t venture inside dungeons, you'd have to be rich to get ahold of equipment of this quality, that’s just how it is.

Their fairly high-handed attitude was another factor that hinted at their social status. Well, that might be a racial trait.

While suppressing violent remarks like “For someone who came along without making an appointment, they sure act self-important, let’s tear them apart and eat them.” in my heart, I asked the reason for the visit. It seems that we fell under their jurisdiction blah blah blah.

Putting together what they said over the long chat, it seems the main point was that they wanted my followers and I to become their subordinates—which appears to mean slaves by the way they're talking.

Also, “There is information that supports the inferior humans are preparing an attack aimed at getting the Elves’ treasure soon, and to make some preparation, we wanted to get some strong pawns”.

They concluded that I would be a good pawn, because I killed the original Lord of the Mountain “Red Bear”—which seemed to have become a rumor lately. Well, a black Ogre wearing armor made of Red Bear fur would stand out.  The Red Bear had even preyed on the Elven hunters, so it appeared I was the most suitable.

The rewards they offered me were a large amount of food to be shared among the goblins and a [Unique] Class magic item and the two Elven beauties that came with him.

This is an exceptional reward for an ogre (according to Gobujii anyways).

Buying a [Unique] class magic item, even the worst of them, would cost over 10 million gold. And of course, the price varies by a lot depending on its abilities. It seems some of them are worth more than 30 million gold.

The reward wasn’t an [Artifact] as I expected, but it's still extremely valuable.

The two elven maidens he brought were very beautiful. It’s wrong of me to say this, but they were certainly more beautiful than the Redhead and the other girls. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I was somewhat surprised by the reward, but it isn’t hard to tell from the fact that they were willing to offer this much that they were at their wits’ end. While on the surface they seem to show composure, perhaps they would easily lose against the Humans when it comes to fighting strength. This is a typical story.

If they did lose the elven royalty would be enslaved, this was no laughing matter for them.

Fighting is about numbers in the end. Even if there are individuals with overwhelming power, there is plenty of precedent in stories where they get crushed by greater numbers.

I would’ve gotten on board with this story if it was a few days ago, but we had already acquired stronger and better quality magic items from Velvet's Inheritence, so my heart wasn’t moved.

It’s a shame about the two elven maidens, but well, I have no need for spies or traitors.

While appearance is of course valuable, but for long term relations, it’s what’s inside that’s truly important.

In the end, I clearly refused the Elves’ offer.

Leaving out the actual reason, I concluded the matter by saying “Why should I care about your situation?”

The inferior humans were not my problem and I had different concerns, so I don't want any part of any conflict that breaks out between them. But regardless of the war being good or evil, it’s certainly convenient for me because it was be a good opportunity to obtain a lot of abilities, and the rewards were nice.

They had lots of quality goods, there were only a few drawbacks.

But being unilaterally ordered around with such an obvious condescending attitude, who wouldn’t hate it? All the more if the job involves risking one’s life. I wanted to shout loud and clear “Show us some sincerity!”

“At the least, you could humbly get out”, I warned internally, though without any particular meaning.

A few seconds after, the Elven male’s face changed into a stupid expression. Apparently he thought he wouldn’t be refused. Using metaphors to call us fools, thinking that I wouldn’t notice — a common ogre has muscle for a brain, he thinks I am the same. He had an unforgettable condescending look.

Restarting —passing what would be a fatal amount of time on the battlefield — from the beginning, putting together what he’d seen and heard to understand what happened, the Elven male turned red from anger, before he could say anything I glared at him silently.

I overlapped [Evil Eye] and [Intimidating Glare] then used [Intimidation of the Strong], they worked perfectly.

Yep, it’s unexpected that you wouldn’t be able to breathe until I released [Intimidation of the Strong].

Finally able to breathe at last, his face paled from the terror which made me smirk, scaring him even more.

This was because an ogre’s face is scary among other things.

Making him this nervous gave me a feeling of satisfaction. Then I grabbed the Elven male by the neck with my silver arm and threw him down. I quickly moved into the other escorts’ line of sight, dragging the elf by his ear into his hidden escorts’ view and ordered them to lower their bows. An arrow was shot at my face at the same time, which I stopped it by grabbing it with my teeth.

I made some crunching sounds as I ate the arrow. I gave them a gaze that told them that if they did anything else I would shred his neck. Well, I merely flashed a grin and smiled.

They called out to me with a somewhat weak voice, but I just ignored them saying “Yeah, yeah, is that so”, while tightening my grip to send a message. I smiled again at the male elf who was giving orders loudly while in a state of disbelief, and confirmed that the escorts who concealed themselves did as ordered by overlapping my [Enlarged Field of Vision] and [Predict], then, without releasing him, I slowly warned the elf in his ear.

“I don’t feel like taking part in your ‘request’ so I’m rejecting it this time, but well, if it’s about your home being invaded by humans, then I won’t hesitate to cooperate. Since we live in the same forest after all, I’ll go deal with it accordingly. I’ve decided to do this much.”

“But, if you’re considering getting some kind of revenge for this and any of my subordinates or important people get injured, you’re getting eaten. You and all your allies will be killed and eaten.”, using [Intimidation of the Strong] once again, I drilled this into their heads.

And to make it clear that I was capable of that much I took out [Kazikli Bey] from my Item Box, stabbed the ground with the red lance, and used its [Army of Blood-dyed Crimson Spears(Tepes)] ability.

[T/N : Tepes is the Romanian version of his Turkish nickname, it means "impaler" or "spike".]

Red lances suddenly appeared in front of the eyes of all the Elves that came today. Even the ones that should have been hidden from my view.

After displaying my power, the looks on the Elves’ faces changed. While watching them run back home, I looked at the red lance in my hand.

I don’t understand the theory, but I can make red spears appear on anything stabbed by this Kazikli Bey and everything within a radius of 100 meters from the point it was stabbed into. This is only the second time I’ve used this ability, but having red spears come out of the ground and trees felt a bit surreal.

Well, its sharpness and length are good, it’s convenient for me who is an Ogre to use. I have nothing to be disatisfied about because it’s an optimal tactical weapon that specializes in “piercing and stabbing”.

However, there are many magical items that are capable of this and more, this world is really hard to comprehend.

From what I learned during the conversation with Redhead and other girls, if I think of this as a fantasy world where I made an inkling of progress, it’s obvious with the existence of such unreasonable bundles and overtechnology, this world is seriously twisted.

Some say that [Artifacts] are relics of gods, but I still feel it’s completely out of balance with the current civilizations.

Setting that aside for now, doing this much, I doubt the Elves will even consider revenge. It's unlikely, but I wouldn't say there's absolutely no chance. Well, I'll think about it when it happens.

Oh, yeah.

Apparently, the Elven male whom I threatened is one of the candidates for the next clan chief, it seems very fitting from his attitude.

The Village of Elves is deep inside the Unexplored Zone that I have yet to be map out. Going to see it next time might be interesting.

By the way, I was able to guess and infer the Elves meaning to some extent with the [Orc Language].

It is convenient to use the languages I've learned with my ablities with race's whose way of speaking is greatly different from ours like Green Lizards, but there are races of humanoids who have similar languages like ogres, goblins, and humans. Even if I haven't learned their languages, it’s still somehow possible to have a conversation with them.

This is how I understood the Elf's speech. I still didn’t have the language ability since I haven’t eaten any elves yet, but I managed to communicate with them anyways. It would certainly be easier if I knew their language, yeah, the ability would help with understanding the exact meaning of their words — namely their meaning within their dialect.

For example [Great] turns into [? tiring] and [Scary] turns into [? tiring].

Well, that kind of feeling. After chasing the Elves away, I went hunting as usual. Tonight will also be hot and intense.

Day 45

Early morning, today I wandered through the forest alone.

Going to the Unexplored Zone of my mental map, I discovered a Gray Slime (Tentative Name) that looked like a superior subspecies of Green Slime. The reason why I gave it this tentative name was because of its gray color, it’s size is twice that of the first Green Slime I met, the overall speed of its movement and twisting tentacles is different, and so is the digestive power of its bodily liquids as they scatter.

As soon as I fought it, I realized it was quite tough compared to Green Slimes. More like, it was somewhat strange.

I figured it was the same kind of monster, so I attacked it with a fire-based magic but it wasn’t very effective, “Then how about [Pyrokinesis]?” when I tried it out it died pretty easily.

It seems like the Gray Slimes are resistant to certain fire-based magic. I picked up the gray nucleus that was rolling around and placed it in my item box, then I searched for more Gray Slimes. I wondered what other characteristics they have, further investigation would be needed is what I said to myself.

After about an hour, I hunted roughly 20 Gray Slimes.

As things turn out, I can’t use any of the magic systems against Gray Slimes effectively except for [End].

Gray Slimes are resistant to magic itself, not just fire-based magic, unless it’s at a certain level, anything below that would be neutralized. If you add its ability to nullify physical attacks the abilities work perfectly together.

The basic slime ability [Physical Damage Reduction] can significantly reduce or nullify direct physical attacks below certain levels. The slimes are supposed to be weak against magic but these guys gained some resistance to it. With its decent speed and high digestive power, what should be a normal enemy becomes a formidable opponent.

That's weird though, I wonder why they die so quickly when I use [Pyrokinesis]‘ flames and [Electro Master]‘s lightning.

Are they not considered magic? I’m oblivious on that subject, I couldn’t really understand the “Essential facts/ Ways of Killing”, but I don’t care so it doesn’t really matter.

I took 20 pieces of the gray nucleus from the item box and ate them all at once. The candy-like nucleus is about 5cm in diameter. Though it is tasteless, it feels like candy when I pop it into my mouth and roll it around.

Ability [Physical Damage Resistance] learned.

Ability [Self-Replication] learned.

Ability [Infused Liquid Restoration] learned.

The ability I got from the Gray Slime wasn’t [Physical Damage Reduction] but a superior version named [Physical Damage Resistance]. I was convinced, it was strong.

By the way, it seems like a Slime multiplies by increasing its volume to a certain level then dividing itself into two. I was able to understand this as soon as I learned [Self-replication].

I bit my finger and let the blood flow, soon after the blood began twisting and wriggling, I created a crimson colored mini version of me. And it seems like me and my little self are connected to each other to some degree. I can share what I'm thinking and seeing with it.

I can see the clone in my own field of vision and I can also see myself in the clone's field of vision.  It was a bizarre situation

The feeling of skin and sense of touch seem to be impossible to share as expected, but it’s a good ability since it’s so convenient, even I think it’s foul play.

It’s not the kind of ability that could be appreciated immediately, but give it enough time to multiply and its usefulness would show. It can be used to gather intelligence or determine the opponent's battle strength easily.

The material needed seems to be my blood, though that’s easy to replenish it since I can suck blood from others. To end on a good note, I went hunting and ate animals such as Demon Spider, Argiope and the Triple-Horned Horse.

Day 46

Instead of hunting today, I planned to make presents for Gobumi-chan, Redhead, Alchemist-san, Blacksmith-san, and the Sisters.

Not armor, but rather cute clothes for traveling would be good is what I was thinking. I will measure their sizes for the time being. Though I may have already seen every corner of their bodies, I could only roughly guess their size. I don’t really know their exact sizes.

It shouldn’t be too flashy as to attract dirty looks from travelers when going into town, but I don't think the design should be too modest either. It also needs to be able to provide protection in case something happens, so I knitted a beautiful cloth (with prior loot) with normal thread.

In addition, I'm secretly making a small clone of myself with my blood and putting it on the back that will notify me in case of emergencies. If it comes down to it, it could work as a diversion before I arrive.

I made some clothing with threads and replication which have higher defense compared to the inferior armors from before. Feeling that they are a little lonely, I made some bracelets and accessories with the Red Deer’s Rose Quartz antlers and Demon Spider’s carapace as material. They aren’t exactly regal, but they are beautiful nonetheless.

They were delighted, seeing them so happy made the effort spent well worth it.

That night, everyone was a little intense.

Afterwards, Gobumi and Redhead wore the clothes everyday during hunting or training, though I don't think they should since they might tear the clothes. Well, I think it'll be alright.

Day 47

When I woke up as usual my [Intuition] sprung into action.

It’s telling me that I should stay in the cave and hide myself quietly, and that if I move I’ll regret it.

I activated [Hiding], that was boosted from [Job-Assassin], and [Conceal Presence] at the same time as I headed toward the back of the cave where Blacksmith-san, the Sisters, Alchemist-san, and Redhead made themselves at home.

I relaxed, lately it has become my hobby to fill in the unexplored area in my mental map, yesterday I created a replicate of myself of my flesh and blood that was as tall as my waist — the overall ability is halved, because it behaves in a certain way, it also has some free will — and sent it out.

This replica had the ability [Infused Liquid Restoration] that I got from the Grey Slime, which makes it so that if it receives damage to its limbs or gets pierced by something it can restore itself to a certain degree restore by absorbing the necessary amount of water, which is why I tried making it.

Its current combat ability is rather low compared to me, but it is still reasonably strong, so it won’t get killed easily. It can also run fast.

Using [Metamorphosis], the replica changed its appearance to that of a large wolf and sprinted outside. After seeing it off I went back inside.

I assigned some Goblins of my generation from the logistical support group «Patri» to assist Blacksmith-san, because it would be inconvenient all by herself, having considered making new cookery for the Sisters’ place. Then I analyzed the old medicine that for some reason hadn’t degraded at all which we secured from Velvet’s inheritance at Alchemist-san’s place. After doing all these things, time passed.

And then it happened.

The place where Gobukichi-kun and the others were practicing is linked to the cave’s entrance, it’s called the Great Hall. It was the largest space within the mine. Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan, Redhead, and the others practicing hard here, wielding wooden swords.

At that time my 【Sense Presence】 detected some enemy contacts approaching the entrance. The species name on display was “Elf”. Furthermore, the name of the Elf male I drove out the other day was mixed in among them. Even I didn’t expect that they would turn up this soon.

Quickly I called the Goblins inside and made preparations. Luckily, since they were already in the middle of training, they already had their equipment on, so they finished preparing shortly.

After a simple inspection of the equipment, we hid ourselves in the trenches we made beforehand near the Great Hall. We simply waited in place where it’s easy to spring a surprise attack against the invading Elves. I had Gobue-chan continue mining for the time being, the sound of her mining that can be heard throughout the cave will be used for cover.

A short time later, the armed group of Elves entered the cave.

Hobgoblins like Gobukichi-kun notwithstanding, for the Goblins to win against the twenty five quiet and swift yet bloodlust Elves armed with specialized weapons, even when facing them three to one, would be hard enemies to deal with.

The mood was already full of hostile intent, but still, I needed to capture them and hear their story first.

Alone, I flew out from behind cover while using my [Intimidating Roar] and [Scaled Horse's Neigh] together loudly and made them flinch, furthermore I immediately activated [Intimidating Glare] and [Snake's Evil Eye] which gave me the chance to capture them with my threads.

After lining up the captured Elves, I beat up the Elf who was the next clan chief's (and other titles that didn't concern me) face with my red spear while I had a quick talk with them.

Yeah, I seemed to have deeply injured his pride the other day.

After two days had passed, his fear of me faded a little bit. Once he was able to think a little clearly, he decided that he had no choice but to kill the one who looked down on them thinking, “Why does a noble Elf such as me blablabla…, if I’m not afraid of the likes of the ogre this and that…”, so he took along elite level Elves from among his subordinates, allowing himself to be controlled by his emotions and attacked. As a result, they arrived at the current predicament having had the tables turned on them.

I pity the other Elves for working under such a boss. The two female Elves from the other day also hung their heads before my eyes. I was a little curious and tried to speak to them, but they refused to listen.

The pain the subordinates had to bear for the sake of an incompetent boss struck a chord with me, so as expected, killing them as they were did not sit well with me, and I did the following more or less out of sympathy.

1. Give up on the next clan chief candidate Elf, he’s dead.

2. Fight in a mock battle with Goblins and Hobgoblins other than me. Without killing your opponent, make them faint or otherwise make them incapable of fighting. If you succeed at this you win.

3. If you win the mock battle, you won’t be killed, if you lose, you will be killed and eaten.

That was the gist of it.

As I finished explaining, I untied the threads for all of them except for the next clan chief candidate Elf.

When I did that, one highly loyal Elf tried to kill me, but I broke his chin with a punch and gave him a concussion. Then I grabbed the unsteady Elf by his head and shoulders, and killed him by twisting his neck until it broke.

I told Redhead, Blacksmith, and the other girls to stay inside until I came back, then I devoured the fresh corpse, heart and all.

Ability [Elf Language] learned.

The Elves didn’t stop trembling.

Because their bodies were frozen in fear, I said “The fight with the humans is close, and yet you’re fine with dying unseemly deaths in this kind of place? Don’t you want to live?”, to put some fighting spirit in them.

Those were my own words, yet they sounded shameless.

Still, for now it had an effect, everyone became motivated.

And then, the mock battle began.

The final result, of the 23 Elves who participated in the mock battle, 17 survived.

I had to say my condolences to the people who got Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan, and Hobusato-san. Of the ordinary Elves and Hobgoblins it’d usually end up with Elves winning nine out of ten times, but the strength of Gobukichi-kun and the others who have continued to train already greatly surpassed that of an average Hobgoblin.

Though it’s regrettable for the defeated who begged for their lives, there will be no mercy for those who come to kill us, I killed them after saying that.

It’s a pity, but this is war. Besides, it was the other side that pulled the trigger first. There’s no need for sympathy.

The six who lost — — all were male. No, it became that way after I rigged the matches because intentionally killing a beautiful woman is unpleasant—— were all delicious.

Ability [Inhabitant of the Forest] learned.

Ability [Elemental] learned.

Ability [Archery Proficiency] learned.

Ability [Tracking] learned.

Ability [Hiding] learned.

When I finished eating the losers, I turned to the winning Elves who were staring blankly in a dazed state, after putting all their equipped magical items in one place, I tied them up with thread again.

They complained about not being released, but I pointed out that I didn’t say they’d be “released”.

I only said that they wouldn’t be killed, it's not my fault if they misunderstood. Although I help those who are one-sidedly oppressed such as Redhead, I don't have an ounce of mercy for an “Enemy” that has attacked.

This mercy is “Not killing” them.

That’s how it is… Breaking it down, there are ten men and seven women, let’s cooperate to increase the number. Oh, I said I hated doing it by force before, and I will never do it by force. It’s true.

But I administer an aphrodisiac made from my body fluids to all of them. I had them thrown in jail and gave a strict order that they shall not be touched unless they they wanted to be touched.

Because they may relieve each other if they were in the same room, they were placed in their own separate prison cells.

Though the male Elves can’t bear any children, well, they could still be used for relieving one’s libido. They look good anyway.

But geez, I’m rather grateful for their timing. The Goblins of the same generation as me, and the older Goblins could no longer be satisfied with just the female Goblins, and a lot of stress has accumulated. Because of the harsh training we’ve had until now, they’ve somehow been distracted from this issue, but they’ve gotten used to the training so their limit is fast approaching.

That’s why I am grateful for this.

…Are you saying I’m acting like a villain? Nope, it’s troubling me that you’ve gotten the wrong idea. In the first place, it was the other side who started it.

They had lost while trying to kill us, and yet you tell us, who were attacked, to release the prisoners peacefully? That’s just not possible. We were unreasonably attacked, so if we strike back there’s no way that would count as being villains.

We didn’t even have rules regarding prisoners of war to begin with, so even doing things like this is no problem. What one does with them is up to them based on their own feelings.

Also, although I'm judging myself, let me say it first. I still believe I made the rules relatively fair.

At such a sight, the Elf ringleader began to say something, but I ignored him.

After the 17 Elves had been taken to jail, the one Elf left behind became material for various things. Things like new torture methods and lectures on vital spots of humanoids.

Of course, he ended up in my stomach in the end.

Ability [Overcharge] learned.

Ability [Discount] learned.

I ate a fair number of Elves. The individual abilities of those I ate were high and on top of that they held duplicates of the useful skills I already had and improved them. Yeah, I was so thankful that I could even pray for them.

Day 48

Today I went out hunting in search of Kobolds, Demon Spiders, Hind Bears, Argiope, and other creatures; it was a veritable monster buffet.

It’s been a while since I had such a peaceful and mundane day. Of course at night…

Day 49

When I woke up Gobukichi-kun had experienced a rank up and turned into an Ogre.

It was because he single-handedly killed a Hind Bear recently, I thought it’d be soon and it was as I expected.

He hadn’t turned into a normal ogre either, but a subspecies.

The color of his skin was “Dark Metallic Red”.

The body color was similar to that of the Red Bear. In most cases having red skin is proof that you have been blessed by the [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection].

When I asked if he could breathe fire, he blew fire as if he was a flamethrower.

He probably turned into a subspecies because of habitually using weapons with fire abilities like the fire spirit stone-studded [Burning Crescent Axe] and later the huge double-edged battleaxe that was tall as himself, a magic item from Velvet’s inheritance named [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat].

Also, his skin shines with metallic luster, this seems to be because of the [Demigod of War's Divine Protection] in addition to [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection], so says Gobujii. His arm responds with a metallic clang when lightly struck.

“Being supported by two divine protections is great isn’t it?”, I asked Gobujii. “It is unusual sure, although it's not as unusual as you.”, he remarked.

Ah, talent is it?

“So Gobukichi-kun, how about a spar?”, I asked him with a smile that was somewhat charming despite being an ogre. The result of his Rank Up: Gobukichi-kun was way too strong.

He was 2m 80cm tall, 30cm taller than me, with shakudou skin and muscular body, his base specs without abilities easily surpassed mine in physical strength and stamina.

I had increased my body’s abilities using [Absorption] and on top of that, I was a rare variant, so I didn’t think I would lose to Gobukichi-kun who was a subspecies, but yeah, it seemed I lost in strength because of build allocation.

Putting it in simple terms, if I was an all-rounder type with my points divided equally between my physical strength, endurance, and intelligence, then Gobukichi-kun was an aggression specialist-type who concentrated his points on battle-related stats.

It’s also obvious if you look at his muscles.

That said, I still surpass him in terms of hand to hand combat techniques. It was a close match, but Gobukichi-kun is unmistakably a worthy rival.

Concluding the spar, we gave each other a firm handshake and had a face-to-face talk.

Gobukichi-kun who I had initially roped in as a disposable pawn had grown this much, it's frankly speaking far beyond my expectations.

Right now he was my right hand man and a close companion, he was someone I couldn’t do without.

To congratulate him on his rank-up, I put some equipment in order for Gobukichi-kun.

His main weapon didn’t change from the huge battleaxe-type magic item [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat], but compared to when he was a Hobgoblin, where it was too heavy if he didn’t hold it with both hands, by becoming an Ogre he could wield the [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat] that weighed several dozen kilograms with one hand, so I once again equipped him with a shield.

The shield I gave him was an unrefined massive black iron wall-like tower shield known as the [Black Ogre's Chopping Board].

It was one of the magic items from Velvet’s inheritance like the battle axe, its rank is likewise [Ancient].

Its abilities are [Weight Reduction], [Durable], and [Impact Reflection] and it’s extremely sturdy. If Gobukichi-kun is equipped with these items, breaking through his defenses would be quite difficult even for me.

His armor was made from my thread, the Hind Bears’ furs, and some other stuff that Gobukichi-kun had hunted himself, these are again replaced with a portion of [Unique]-class metal armor from Velvet’s inheritance, customized to suit Gobukichi-kun.

Yeah, he has a great strength. Actually, he has an absurd strength.

Despite holding the huge double-edged two-handed battle axe lightly in one hand as if it were a tree branch, he still had the appearance of an experienced soldier that could handle it skillfully.

It’s easy to imagine a black, huge, and sturdy tower shield that covers three quarters of a gigantic body blocking enemy attacks, with magical items as support, a long coat that I made by combining the durable fur of a Hind Bear with the armor of magical items that doesn’t lose to the Red Bear’s, with an Ogre, yeah, he had become an existence I very much wouldn’t want to fight nor encounter, if I were human.

The intensity of the fully-armed Gobukichi-kun was unmistakably higher than me when I just became an Ogre. Equipment notwithstanding, it was something fierce. Well, there’s also the fact that it’s hard to compare to myself.

Nevertheless, after examining him for an hour, it’s as if he’s a machine soldier from somewhere, hm. Even I had to look upwards to meet his gaze, so if it’s a normal human, how are they supposed to do that. It’s easy to guess.

I spent the rest of the day inside doing various odd jobs.

The Elves have not yet succumbed to the lust, so they’re still in jail. It might be because of their sense of pride that’s suppressing their desire, or perhaps it’s their racial biology having a resistance to the desire itself, or maybe both?

“That’s why Gobujii, stop coming here every hour…”

1. Shakudou is a decorative alloy of gold and copper, reddish-yellow but can be treated to form an indigo patina.

Day 50

I had a dream.

It was quite the strange dream.

An old man that looks familiar was there saying something along these lines of, “Sorr— my thanks—” “—a favor” “This is —— Please”

When I woke up it felt like I have forgotten something, I cannot help but think this is something very important. Isn’t this something that usually happens on some flag-like scene?

I tilted my head trying to remember it in full detail, but it wasn't coming back to me. It feels like my memories were hazy.

Since I couldn’t recall it I decided to focus on other things. In the morning I had a spar with Gobukichi-kun, and in the afternoon I paired up with Gobumi-chan and we went out hunting for a couple of hours, flirting as soon as we got outside.

After that I checked up on the Goblins from the logistical support corps Patri who were studying about things like smithing and cooking.

I had fun with everyone today and soundly went to sleep.

Goburou obtained [XXX of Kin][1]!

Huh? It seemed like something popped up before I fell asleep…

My consciousness faded as I went back to sleep.

1. the [XXX of Kin]! means He gets a skill that he doesn't know what it does. Therefore he "understands" it not. Author decided to use XXX to simply imply that this skill is unknown at this time.

Day 51

When I woke up, 4 Goblins had turned into Hobgoblins. There are 12 Hobgoblins now.

Moreover, there was a Mage among the four, and another of them has the aptitude to work as a Cleric.

The large wounds received until now have all been healed by me, so having another one with a healing ability is something I’m grateful for.

I also can't rule out the possibility that some of the wounded might die before I reach them if there are a lot of wounded patients at once.

That’s why I have established a medical unit named “Prière”[1] under the new Hobgoblin Cleric Gobuji-kun as its captain.

Although he’s currently the only member of his unit, I hope that other individuals with similar skills will soon be joining him.

Incidentally, you might think that there should be more than twelve Hobgoblins, but I haven't miscounted.

Gobumi-chan, Gobue-chan, Hobusato-san, their 5 underling Goblins, and four additional Goblins that Ranked Up, which totals 12 Hobgoblins.

Hobusei-san was not mentioned here because when she woke up she had undergone her next rank up. According to her, it has been years since her first rank up.

Hobusei-san became a Lord based species called the Half Spell Lord.

Concerning Half Spell Lords; it seems that for Hobgoblins who practice magic becoming Ogres is not a common route. Although the probability is lower, mage-type monsters are races that advance on routes that specialize in using magic.

It's really like Hobusei-san who is good at using magic.

Turning into a race that best leverages her strong points is a good thing as well.

The specialization comes at the cost of lower physical abilities than other lord types, but magic is a technique to one-sidedly torment the enemy from a distance.

Since it's mostly a close-combat averse race that specialize in using magic, it's not really a problem.

A Half Spell Lord's appearance is like that of a human with two small horns. I haven't seen any besides Hobusei-san so there might be differences between individuals, but from her appearance, one could guess that Hobusei-san was in the her early twenties; rather than calling her cute, she was like Alchemist-san, an intellectual cool-type beauty who seems like she would look good in a suit.

She has Bluish-white skin that radiates life, green somewhat tsurime eyes[2] that show intelligence, a sapphire-looking round gem 3 cm in diameter between a pair of horns in the middle of her forehead, long ash grey hair that extends down to her waist, and black tattoos on her forearms with patterns similar to mine yet subtly different.

Measured by eye, her height is 180 cm.

Speaking of the person herself, the tattoos on her arms were something that originally weren't there, and apparently she doesn't know how they got there. She felt power gathering to the brim near them, so they didn't give off a bad feeling.

When I asked whether she had something like Gobukichi-kun's [Demigod's Divine Protection], she said no. Apparently she didn’t hold such a blessing.

Hrm, this is an enigma. Well, I expect that this will be explained in due time.

Gobujii told us that the "Half" in front of the race's name was because it had inferior overall specs compared to the true species—Spell Lord in this case.

Well, I already thought that much from the beginning because it was a "Half" Spell Lord.

People who don't quite understand what "Half" means, it's okay to consider things like Ogres and Hobgoblins like that, I think. Knowing that much already means being one step ahead.

It looks like the next time she ranks up she will become a Spell Lord.

Afterwards, to confirm the extent of improvement to her abilities when she became a Half Spell Lord, we set up a magic performance by the stream outside. Yep, it was amazing. No, incredible.

Among the magic that Hobusei-san could use, there was one that is classified as a second-grade fire-type magic called “Firestorm of Disaster”.

I think I was being cryptic by suddenly saying stuff like "second-grade", so I'll expound on that.

It seems <God> had defined all ten ranks of magic, from the lowest ranking "first grade", to the highest ranking "tenth grade" according to difficulty of invocation, destructive power, spell release level limit, and so on.

Like the way blessings are often something like [Demigod of Something], in this world, beings that stand one domain above us are real. The world is practically dotted with several places where one can meet Gods—the "Holy Places".

Well, let's put aside Gods and such for now and get back to the story.

After learning that it is only one step above the most basic spells, you might think it’s weak, but you would be gravely mistaken.

Even by only being able to handle the lowest first-grade magic, it's easy to kill several people at the same time.

Just by launching a single fireball of the first-grade fire system magic "Flame Calamity", several people can easily be incinerated.

By the way, the lightning system magic that hit me directly in the face before was a third-grade spell. If that's true it contains enough power to blow away an Ogre-class monster entirely.[3]

In my case I didn't become like that because the power was sharply lowered by my abilities, but it still hurt…

If you can handle a fifth-grade magic spell, even burning an entire city block is probably possible.

Going that far, you'd certainly be a monster that can "match a thousand". Redhead has heard of some people that could do the same or better, although only through hearsay.

…I wonder what kind of ability I could get if I ate one.

It’s fun to imagine the possibilities, since the High Wizard that I previously killed and ate could only at his best use third-grade magic.

There’s no telling when such an opportunity will occur though.

Going back from what I heard of “Firestorm of Disaster (Char’dei Dirou)”, Hobusei-san once upon a time used it and it produced fireballs with a diameter of ten centimeters, the magic then launched these fireballs five times in a row causing wide area destruction.

For Hobusei-san to cast it as a Hobgoblin, she needed considerable concentration and a long chant time, furthermore, for several days after she’d used it she couldn't use magic, those were the risks inherent in using it.

When thinking of the great risk inherent in using it, this destructive power could only be used as a last resort.

Now that she had ranked up, it had changed into magic that could not be compared to that of the old days.

The time needed to activate “Firestorm of Disaster (Char’dei Dirou)”, not only has it been reduced to one-fifth the cast time compared to before, but also the diameter of one fireball is now 35 cm, and the total number of shots fired have turned into twenty.

Furthermore, she no longer even gets a feeling of fatigue after activating it, with her current supply of inner mana, it seems she won’t receive any backlash even if she were to fire it twenty times in a row.

Additionally, she could use even more powerful spells than before now.

You wouldn't expect any less from a race-specific magician.

By the way, every shot was aimed at the sky. If she were to shoot at the ground, dealing with the damaged terrain would be a bother.

Even so, since she is still only a Half Spell Lord, it got me wondering how great the magic of a full Spell Lord would be.

No matter how hard I try to gather information about this world, the information I have is too incomplete, not knowing the limits of power is quite scary.

To congratulate them for their rank up, I did the same as I always do and gave each of the four Hobgoblins two magic items.

Hobusei-san got an item from Velvet's inheritance, a robe made from silver and gold thread combined with a red holy shroud that showed several special effects like [Auto-Amplification] and [Physical/Magic Damage Resistance] among others.

Another present I gave her was a magic staff named “Arannote’s Staff”, made from ancient wood studded with a red magic gem that used to be in possession of the adventurer with the [Job-High Wizard] who was killed in Velvet's dungeon before.

I also handed over a bracelet-type magic item that had the ability to store magic staves and gadgets that were usually in the way, just like the one I had given to Gobukichi-kun.

Due to the weapons reshuffling this time, the equipment that Hobusei-san was using until now, a staff and a grey robe, were given to two of the mage disciples that were used to be under my command but had been transferred to Hobusei-san's corps.

Now then, I’ve been grumbling nowadays since I found out the reason of their growth lately.

Yeah, somehow the Goblins from the same generation as me seem to generally have an unimaginably high growth rate—or experience point absorption ability. That had been demonstrated by Hobgoblins being born en masse before going out of our forest.

I've been told by Gobujii before, but normally, Goblins needed years to become Hobgoblins.

The reason for things becoming like this was undoubtedly me.

And so I thought about it a bit, perhaps due to their living environment one month or so after birth, their growth rate was not going to change in the future.

See, because Goblins as a species have a high growth rate, I speculate that the growth of their abilities are also higher than other species. I wonder if I could call it a growth period extension?

In the month since they were born, these Goblins have killed and eaten tons of creatures ordinary Goblins would avoid like the plague, undergoing a harsh training regimen repeatedly, which has caused their growth rate to greatly change.

Assuming that the growth rate of an ordinary Goblin is 1, the goblins that continue to strictly train, kill and eat until their bellies are full is 10, this is what it feels like.

There’s no way to confirm it, however I suspected that there’s a very high probability that this is true.

I can’t find any reason to deny this hypothesis either.

Also, it's very likely that there was assistance from my [Pack Leadership].

I already mentioned the effectiveness of this ability in raising my subordinates' abilities, but in order to fulfill the conditions for utilizing the ability, I had to come up with concepts for each corps, picking out individuals that I judge to be the most suitable considering their character and ability and assigning them there.

What I'm trying to say is that shouldn't it become easier to get more and more powerful than normal by using the effects of [Pack Leadership] for that purpose?

Well, having an increase in strong companions is something that should be welcomed. Let’s stop this talk here because I haven’t gotten any clear proof that I'm right.

It is vital that I thoroughly investigate the effects of ranking up into an ogre in the future though.

Among other things I have to figure out an Ogre’s lifespan.

If Ogres are as short lived as Goblins, of course it would be depressing.

Oh yeah, of the 17 Elves we have in captivity, one woman from the seven and three men from the ten have yielded to their desires.

Although I already had Gobumi-chan and the other girls, I was curious what Elven biology was like, so I made myself her first partner.

I will say that I intended to be as careful as I could to not hurt my partner, but I couldn't deny the feeling that I made her faint.

Well, yeah, it was awesome. Though I'm not saying anything. Not even that it's because beautiful girls are assertive.

After that, it was the other Goblins turn.

This group mainly consisted of Goblins from my own generation.

I had some strong orders for them.

The orders were mostly there for the sake of the older Goblin males… To have them make her feel good when she’s their partner.

I won’t allow many-to-one. It has to be one-to-one.

I would have thought that she'd be reluctant because she was a haughty Elf, but in reaction to being stimulated with drugs, she was delightedly gasping.

I thought "If she seemed happy about it then it's okay, right?" Well it can't be helped.

Because I gave them detailed instructions to treat the girls with care, and because the girls assigned rooms were better than the subordinate Goblins, they shouldn’t end up tattered and then die like what happened before.

Having given that much warning, particularly to Gobujii who was a repeat offender, it should be fine because I took action first.

Now let's talk about the [¦¦¦ of Kins] that I got when I woke up.

Yeah, I really didn't understand how it could be used. In fact, it's not even clear what effects it has right now.

I couldn’t even make a conjecture because the first few letters were blocked.

I wanted to say "Somebody teach me!"

Because it says "Kin", I thought that maybe something or other was messing with me, but…

If it's an ability I learn by myself, usually I could understand the way to use it, but this ability is probably something that I earned because of the rules of this world, so yeah, I don't get it.

I'm giving up on trying to figure it out for now.

1. Prière is “prayer” in french

2. Eyes that slant upwards, ending in a corner, usually seen on willful, proud, or intelligent characters in visual media. The opposite of Tareme, round eyes drooping downwards on soft, kind, or ditzy characters

3. This is the same lightning magic that was used in Day 36 where he was fighting against the adventurers pillaging Velvet’s Treasury.

Day 52

Since it had been a while, this evening I went hunting with Gobukichi-kun in a previously unexplored area, where we found a group of twelve armed men.

Their vigilance in watching their surroundings and speedy—although slow compared to us—advance towards the area where I think the village of the Elves is made me conclude that they were something like the human army's reconnaissance corps.

Motivated by curiosity, we decided to follow them.

An ogre taller than two and a half meters should be easy to spot, in fact I usually can’t help but stand out, but in this situation it wasn't a problem.

Since the fourth day after we were born, we were told to get our own food by hunting.

From that day on we followed my plan which was, rather than charging straight at our prey, we stay hidden, read its breath, then strike from its blind spot accurately as if we were assassins.

Because of this, Gobukichi-kun and I have polished our skill at hiding ourselves until it wasn't even comparable to the usual level of skill others have.

The gigantic figure of an Ogre merged with the surroundings, it’s an ability that makes the target unable to perceive you for over ten minutes.

In addition to this, I possessed the ability [Hiding] which boosted my ability to hide even more. I could easily support Gobukichi-kun as well, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

After tailing them for a short while it seems that we'd reached their target point, where the humans assumed a formation shaped like the letter "U".

As they finished moving into formation each human took one of their two crossbows in hand, erased their presence, and hid themselves.

If you didn’t know about their presence in advance, they’d be pretty difficult to spot even if you got very close to them.

Their hiding skill is very advanced.

Well, it's still at an inferior level compared to us who live in the wild.

Now that they were in position, they had a high chance of silencing their targets without being discovered using a surprise attack with their crossbows.

Since they had two crossbows each, they could fire them both in succession then enter close quarters combat.

That's what I would've done anyways.

I wanted to know what they were doing here, so I secretly extended a superfine thread, that was almost invisible even if you were to look at it closely, and listened in on their hushed conversations.

I learned their mission here was to kidnap the beloved daughter of the “Elven Round Table Conference’s Chairman”.

Apparently the Elves had adopted an institution where the representatives of several clans get together to make decisions.

They were preparing to kill the daughter's guards, or so I deduced from the conversation.

From the conversation I also established that the Elves had a traitor among them.

Though I don’t intend to do anything special with this information, I had no doubt that this was a very useful piece of intelligence.

The existence of those who betray their own comrades to save their own skin isn't all that unusual.

Many had been left battered after getting influenced by personal interests, and I didn't have anything to do with it in the first place, so I couldn't care less.

I’ll squeeze as much profit from this as I can if I get the chance.

After about two hours of watching how things would work out, an armed group of pretty female and male elves came along. Gobukichi-kun got tired of waiting long ago, so I let him go hunt close by. If anything were to occur I’d notify him with my thread.

The Elf sitting on a sedan chair being carried by a number of elves was certainly the Elven Maiden-san who was going to be kidnapped.

From her looks she seemed to be between her late teens to early twenties, and frankly speaking she was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.

She is what one would call an incomparably beautiful woman.

I couldn't help staring at her. While I was mesmerized I noticed a small change in the humans that were hiding.

I thought something was going to happen, so I called Gobukichi-kun back with the thread. At the same time the twelve humans moved simultaneously and accurately killed an Elf each with their first crossbow.

It didn't end there, they threw away the crossbows they just fired, took up their other crossbows, and fired once more. Another 12 elves died to the bolts.

The humans quickly rushed the eight remaining elves in the confusion following the surprise attack. The elves tried to take up their bows to retaliate, but were silenced by the blades of the humans.

The whole thing was over in only ten seconds. They worked at lightning speed; I have to admit, they are quite skilled.

The Elf-Maiden was the only survivor and the men approached her after they were done with the other elves.

Despite her struggling, they forced a cloth against her mouth and she suddenly went limp.

From what I could gather at this distance it appeared that she had lost consciousness.

The humans who were able to finish their mission flawlessly picked up the listless Elven Maiden-san and ran back the way they originally came from.

They withdrew without hesitation.

I assumed they would use the same path they used earlier, so I waited on the path to ambush them.

Their distance was close enough, I thought the time was right, so I jumped up from the ground and shot threads from my fingertips.

I activated [Earth Control] just in case, and I erected walls made from dirt on the three sides of them other than the front to prevent the twelve humans from escaping.

After the sudden turn of events, the expressions of the humans who were panicking was funny.

They were all was captured in one go.

Using the flexibility of the thread created by the ability of the Argiope’s [Golden Thread Creation] they remained in place. It was exhausting because the golden thread was heavier than it appeared. Its vulnerability to fire, which was the previous thread’s weak point was covered up. It’s also impossible to cut quickly because of its resistances.

They looked like bagworms as they wriggled around which was hilarious.

Now that they were captured they were determined to use the poison in the back of their teeth to kill themselves to prevent being forced to confess anything. As soon as they did, I cured them to prevent them from dying. They might also bite off their tongue, so I gagged them with my thread since it was troublesome to apply medical treatment.

To make sure they didn't undo their bindings I dislocated their joints. As I finished tying up their wrists and thumbs firmly Gobukichi finally arrived.

I gave the work of carrying all of the humans to Gobukichi-kun who arrived late.

Though his burden looks quite heavy, Gobukichi-kun was carrying them like it was nothing.

...Including the equipment, it’s definitely more than 1 ton right? I wondered this while tilting my head a little, but he looked completely unfazed so I didn’t say anything.

I was carrying Elven Maiden-san who was sleeping in my arms.

We'll return to the cave we dwell in after I've dealt with Elves' corpses.

The heads of Elven Maiden-san’s escorts were hollowed out from the bolts of the crossbows and separated from their necks by the blades of the humans.

The assassins were skilled, so the elves vital points were accurately destroyed and there wasn't anything I could because I don't have any resurrection skills. I took all their equipment and their hearts, then I properly buried them because it would be cruel if a monster ate and ravaged their corpses.

Ability [Luck] learned

Ability [Doom] learned

Guess I’ll have to activate the Luck (good luck) ability for now. I gotta be careful that I don’t accidentally activate the Doom (bad luck) ability.

Lastly, I clapped my hands together “Namu”.

I offered a prayer to them.

Hm? What will I do to the captured humans you say?

Well, after interrogating them I'll have them fight us for the experience. Afterwards, I'll use them as materials to give a lecture on torture. Since they’re all males they don’t look good. They don't even compare to the looks of the male elves.

Yeah, tonight will be busy.

That was what I thinking about, but then something happened. We encountered some Goblins on our way home.

These weren't unfamiliar faces. They were a group of the older Goblins, six Goblins who were once our seniors. Nowadays, even the goblin underlings who had carried Redhead and the other girls outclass them in true strength. These Goblins had become known as guys who couldn't keep up with training.

I already mentioned before that the Goblins of my generation were stronger than the older ones, but I'll add that because the underling Goblins were comparatively younger, they had shown some likelihood of growing reasonably strong through training. The fact that they had beaten out these guys was another story. Oh well, that's fine for now.

I wanted to ask what they were doing in this kind of place, but since they seemed to be in some hurry I just observed them in silence. It could have been resignation, but one of them raised his hand and spoke.

The reason: they could no longer follow me.

Not being able to sleep with the human women against their will was hard enough and they could barely stand the rigors of daily training. Even so, they endured, thinking that something would come up, but when the female Elf prisoners were also not an option, they couldn't take it any longer.

In their situation, sleeping with the female Elves was impossible; even if they held out their hand, they were limited to the males. The males were pretty boys so they weren't bad, but of course they wouldn't come close to the females' first-rate bodies in a lifetime. The goblins were helplessly tantalized by this situation.

Even to the extent of being half-dead. In an environment where they had some first-rate meals right in front of their eyes, but only those other than themselves can eat this well, what could they expect to do.

So, they moved out.

In other words, they want to leave the group.

After saying that much, they went silent and trembled.

Maybe they thought that they would be killed.

Ah so it's finally coming to this, I told myself, although it wasn't something I wanted to hear.

Well, at this point, it's not really necessary to keep these guys around who don’t want to comply. If they had told me that they want to leave, “I see” was probably what I would’ve said.

If it were Gobukichi-kun I would stop him to the point of pulling. He's my right hand man after all. Something like that.

I force everyone to adhere to the rules, but I haven't considered what to do to guys who were like "we don't like it, so we're leaving" yet. Since they weren't a big group it would be okay.

I might have to make-up some kind of violation that would make them leave.

Besides, my goal right now was not increasing our numbers, but rather to raising our individual abilities. Rather than increasing the number of burdens, we're okay right now, it might be better to consider adding children from now on.

It was not my intention to leave behind these already frustrated guys right now. Even if they had no talent, I wanted to extend my hand to those willing to work hard.

Nonetheless, to prevent gossip from leaking out, I should be tactical about this. No, I didn't think of killing them, at least at this stage. I won't kill them.

The weapons carried by these trembling older goblins, who were looking at me with a tense expression, were only [Normal] class items that I gathered and distributed to them. If you want to call it by rank, then it would be first-grade from the bottom.

With them they had [Normal] class weapons and armor, and several [Rare] class weapons were thrown in with them were taken out, the armaments were then handed out without a word.

They were certain, that they would be killed if they made a move.

It was the right choice.

Getting back to what I was saying, it is good that the Goblins were armed, but the best weapons quickly dwindled in number as they were distributed. Their chances to survive and thrive with their current abilities and quality of weapons they have would be uncertain.

Oh well, I decided that I will show them how merciful I am with a parting gift. So, I presented them with six knives taken from my item box.

This knife is one of the relics left from the Elf Guard-san who died earlier. Using my appraisal the blue knife appears to be made of the magic metal Mithril, which is normally too precious for a Goblin to have.

The knife does not contain any special abilities, but its sharpness is beyond compare to the standard steel short sword that they are currently equipped with. Would you believe me if I told you that Mithril can easily cut the blade of a steel sword without getting a scratch on it?

Only the elves have the ability to manufacture the Mithril Knife. It's so (Rare) that a low level adventurer could not obtain one.

Just to show the sharpness of the blade, I cut my fingertip and several drops of blood trickled out. Then I handed the blade back to a Goblin who sheathed it. The wound quickly vanished without a trace because of [Rapid Recovery].

The older Goblins just stood there with a dumbfounded look on their faces. Then Gobukichi-kun and I, smiling wryly, left them there without looking back, and took our leave.

Perhaps, destiny will allow us to meet again.

Well, even with the Mithril knife they still have a high chance of being killed by a group of adventurers or mercenaries. With the market value being so high, a treasure like that usually invites trouble.

I wish them luck for the future ahead.

Lastly, I simply said "This important point is a place where I shed my blood".[1]

1. This is likely a reference to the phrase, “lose a finger to save an arm”. He’s cutting his losses. He’s losing some forces, but it’s necessary for his plans.

Day 53

From the group of 12 humans I caught, I learned that their full force will advance within 20 days. Because the forest is full of powerful monsters like Three-Horned Horses and Hind Bears, mobilization of large numbers of people on specific routes was deemed impossible.

Naturally, I was told the routes they were going to take.

Normally one would think they wouldn't leak such important information since they are professionals, ha! First I broke their limbs then stopped the bleeding. Next I sliced their flesh and bones then healed them. Then I cut open their stomach then healed it, also eating them mercilessly in front of their comrades. I listened to the ones that were telling everything.

We are villains, there's no mistake about it, but if you look at history you would find things like this happens all the time, so I wasn't concerned. Don't take it wrong but most of the techniques I was using were ones that were perfected by our predecessors in the first place.

Oh, and I’m an Ogre now. I’m not human, so this isn’t a problem. That’s just how it is.

After I heard everything I needed to hear I ate their extremely delicious meat. Oh, and I also got magic items, armaments, and a lot of experience points.

Ability [Job-Secret Force] learned

Ability [Job-Monster Tamer] learned

Ability [Job-Vorpal Punisher] learned

Ability [Job-Hermit] learned

Ability [Read State] learned

Ability [Bribe] learned

Ability [Unlock] learned

Ability [Release Trap] learned

Ability [Sense Trap] learned

Ability [Sense Enemy] learned

Ability [Improved Assassination Rate] learned

Ability [Hidden Weapon Mastery] learned

Ability [Humanbane] learned

Ability [Vorpal Strike] learned

Ability [Aura Slash] learned

Ability [Back Attack] learned

Ability [Needleshot] learned

Ability [Throw] learned

Ability [Severe Pain Resistance] learned

Ability [Charm Resistance] learned

Ability [Assassination Resistance] learned

Oh the abilities.

[Triple Stab] was my only direct physical attack ability before, I’m thankful for the addition of [Vorpal Strike] and [Aura Slash].

There’s also [Unlock] and [Release Trap], I'm satisfied with so many useful abilities.

Elven Maiden-san slept soundly for a day thanks to the sleeping drug, she finally woke up in the afternoon.

She jumped in surprise when she woke up since I was looking at her beautiful sleeping face, then she had a lot to say like “What have you done to my private escorts?!” “What are you going to do to me?!” “No way, my chastity…”, so I made some imitation tea, with the help of Alchemist-san—out of medicinal grass, which settled her for now.

The tea's sedative effect kicked in immediately.

Afterwards, I told her what happened.

The escorts were all dead, I took their hearts and equipment as payment for giving them a respectful burial. I (Gobukichi-kun was excluded since he wasn't there at the time) was watching the situation from the preparation phase, I interrogated the humans before killing and eating them, that's all.

I told her everything without holding back.

Oh by the way, I never said anything about the Elven prisoners of war since it is unrelated. There might have been a problem if I told her, but I didn’t because it doesn’t relate to her.

Well, speaking of Elven Maiden-san’s reaction, she was extremely mad.

I was punched in the head and got hit a few more times, but to be honest, it wasn't a big deal. It was like getting hit by a small child. Repeated punches you say? That image is actually quite close.

Though I thought ‘Did Elf Maiden-san behave like that because there was a guy with reasonable position?’, but it's not like I don't understand her feelings, so I let her freely hit me for a while, then I countered with a flick of my finger—My hits are no joke. Even though it's just a poke I had to go easy on her and hold back—to her forehead.

TL note: what? '???' is kochira, this one, usually refers to rou himself or his side of the conflict. he’s been using achira/kochira a lot for that reason. - Vidar

Her swelling head moved back so she won't die, but it still must have been painful, she held onto the spot and scornfully stared at me with teary eyes, I don’t really know.

“The dispute between Elves and humans doesn't matter to us, but I was going to help, so stop hating me and stop complaining so much”, I declared. Then I told her that there seemed to be a traitor in their ranks.

Then she became silent, after a while she erupted into tears crying in earnest, I tried to comfort her. Gah, the sight of a beauty in tears is foul play.

After that, I wanted to escort Elven Maiden-san to her village, but we talked longer than I expected us to, so she had to stay here for the night.

I made a hammock for her to sleep in tonight.

Well, tomorrow we will go to the Village of the Elves. I wonder how it'll go.

Oh, and Gobujii, weren't you looking at me with expectant eyes saying "Did you catch Maiden-san?" What a bother.

It's not like she's an enemy, I'm not going to be hypocritical after spending two hours talking with her……

Oh, I began by asking about the male and female Elves I caught. There was no interest in them because they were the ones who meddled first, it's an implicit rule of the Elves, so I just went with it.

The line of goblins watching was a surreal scene, it went on and on. For the time being, I'm not going to say anything since they were following the rules.

Day 54

Waking up as usual, I felt a presence watching over me while sighing by my side. To ascertain who it was, I feigned sleep.

According to 【Sense Presence】, it was the Elven Maiden-san. For now, I want to ask “What are you doing?”

Later, Gobumi-chan, Redhead, Blacksmith-san, Sisters-san, and Alchemist-san all had me surrounded and were examining me closely as well, again I wondered what they were doing.

Since it is impossible to play possum forever, perhaps because of the looks from Gobumi-chan and the others I felt an eerie feeling, and because I felt this chill down my spine I opened my eyes.

Elven Maiden-san went into a panic, her movements were so funny that I laughed in spite of myself. I was hit by Elven Maiden-san.

Why me?

After that I finished my breakfast, then practiced against Gobukichi-kun. Because an Ogre could easily kill a Hobgoblin, Gobukichi-kun and I did not participate in the mixed training much.

While training was still going on, I told the Hobgoblin in charge of training that Gobukichi-kun and I were going to escort Elven Maiden-san to her village, then we departed from the cave.

After hunting Argiope for suitable materials for a while and walking for about three hours we finally arrived.

We were suddenly surrounded by elves, we could see 25 of them, but according to 【Sense Presence】 there were actually 48.

They seem to be aiming at the vital parts of Gobukichi-kun and I with bows and arrows made of Mithril. This wouldn't be a big problem for us though.

I could kill them all if I used all my abilities, and our bodies with our armor on could endure hits by an arrow even if it was at close range.

The life force of an Ogre should not be underestimated.

Frankly though, receiving a direct hit to an unprotected head would be somewhat dangerous, but I am confident we could be avoid an arrow even if it was shot at point blank range.

However, it is troublesome to fight for one important reason, Elven Maiden-san is here.

By reflex Gobukichi-kun was about to slaughter the elves surrounding him. He was able to equip the axe and shield immediately without actually carrying them around because they are stored into the magic bracelet item. By the way, the magic bracelet can hold 12 types of items and it is possible to stack 20 of the same type of item. I stopped him with a hand signal and Elven Maiden-san was able to talk down the surrounding elves quickly.

We were surrounded by an escort of guards called Watchdogs that were monitoring us as we moved forward into the Village of the Elves.

They live among giant trees in the Village of the Elves. I have a good understanding of the structure.

It is built around one enormous tree that you cannot see right when you enter the village. Traffic is handled by the other trees having scaffolds complete with stairs, residences, and suspension bridges along it.

The living area is primarily in the trees and not on the ground.

It’s unlikely that everyone are living in trees, since I can see things like stables on the ground.

It felt strange to be looked down on or should I say curiously. Although we were constantly being watched from above we continued forward up some stairs and across a bridge to arrive at our destination at last.

There were different mansion like residences of different sizes. Apparently Elven Maiden-san's home is here.

We went into a mansion, and I met with the father of Elven Maiden-san.

He had a splendid mustache, I should also say he looked like a Dandy looking old man with a fine toned body for an Elf. If I were a male Elf I would be jealous.

I tried to sit on a seat I was offered, but it creaked disagreeably, so I had to politely decline. Tea was served and as it got time to refill we moved onto business.

To summarize the contents of our agreement, because Elven Maiden-san received help I was going to be given reasonable compensation.

Even though this was not charity, I do not exactly know how much to ask for as this is my first time doing this. So, I told him to give me a reward that is worth the life of Elven Maiden-san. Does it really matter if it comes out to a paltry amount of money? He told me the amount he had in mind. I implied I wanted more.

He may hate me for it, but if he is being cheap, then Father Elf will be calm.

Depending on what type of personality he has, this will help indicate if he was being cheap.

His light response told me I succeeded.

To be honest the result was unexpected, but an [Ancient] Class [Artifact] ended up in my possession.

The magic weapon was shaped like a bow, according to the appraisal it was named [Failnaught].

I was told that it does not require arrows, when the bow is fully drawn the arrow is materialized by a mysterious power, therefore it will not run out of arrows.

An arrow that is shot will be a [Certain Hit] where it was aimed, unless the space was protected by a shield as the name "Certain Hit" implies. Though it has other abilities, it’s a pain to explain so I'll leave it at that.

This bow seems to be a family heirloom considering Elven Maiden-san's reaction to it. Nothing is impossible to exchange for his beloved daughter apparently. He must really be a doting parent. Whoa! I'm not saying anything.

So, I am glad I saved her, even if just to see that warm gaze.

So, after we received family heirloom, I was about to say “Okay, bye” but I felt a little bit awkward leaving with just that, so I decided to give him some information that I had

Also, I like Father Elf's character.

Oh, come to think of it of how far humans will go to keep this information secret, is there a strategy I should be using here? I hear that when you leak out a little of the details on the target, that the rewards will keep coming.

More awards were presented, 30 chain mail shirts made of Mithril, 30 Mithril short swords, 20 Mithril Ingot, and a few magic items that be convenient for day to day life.

I was well rewarded by someone who knows the importance of this information.

While I was absentmindedly watching Father Elf, who was writing down the information and about traps that I was aware of, I took out ten each of the knives made from water, earth, and wind spirit stones by Blacksmith-san and put them on the desk.

Also while I was at it, I brought out three shovel-type [Unique] class magic items with abilities suitable for Elves who excelled at handling spirits.

It's not like I didn't expect to gain his favor for later, but I thought that it would make up for the shortage caused by the loss of the elite Elves.

Our business was safely concluded with this. I exchanged a solid handshake with Father Elf while smiling amicably.

Only, when I was asked "Do you know the whereabouts of those elites?", I had no choice but to smile and say "I don't know".

As we started heading home, Father Elf gave me a souvenir saying "This is the Elf-made alcohol known as a secret medicine. Please take it". There were three casks of the booze.

Yep, this was thanks to [Luck] wasn't it?

Booze was a great pleasure of mine.

Father Elf said "If it's you then this is just cheap support.", I'll pay him back someday.

We got back at night. Since we finally got our long-awaited booze, I drank with everyone.

“Elven alcohol tastes so good--------!!” I screamed involuntarily.

Yeah, I’ll have Father Elf treat me again.

Day 55

I informed everyone about the goblins that left the other day. I told them if they want to leave they can leave, just tell me. I will send them off a parting gift, this was my policy, but in the end there wasn't anyone else that wanted to leave.

Well, that's fine then. Today I updated the rankings taking out the goblins who left, then went out hunting.

When I returned from the hunt, I worked on producing several items that I had been thinking about making.

Day 56

In the morning, I continued tinkering with the communication equipment (Self-made) that I started working on yesterday and now it’s finally completed.

I don’t understand how it works, but a production summary is as follows.

The Mithril ingot that I got from Father Elf as a reward was absorbed by the [Self-Evolution] ability of my [Silver Arm].

→ A part from the Ingot is pressed out from the tip of my finger creating a cuff.

→ Several drops of blood are shed from my fingertip.

→ The decoration created out of them resembles a jewel, then I fit that into the blue metal cuff.

→ With that the communication equipment is complete.

In short, it’s a means of telepathic communication utilizing my [Self Replication] ability.

From what Redhead has told me, this world doesn't widely employ the use of communication equipment. I expect that the ability to quickly share information will be extremely valuable.

At any rate, it has taken more time than I thought it would to enchant the cuffs.

I provided everyone with a cuff. I had to go through a multitude of struggles to make them.

The cuff is impossible to remove unless you cut it out by cutting the flesh around it. I designed it so that once the cuff is put on it fuses with the flesh, however I don't have to worry, as I explained [Regeneration], [Lesser Strength Increase], and [Lesser Dexterity Increase] and are activated if you try to remove it.

I grew tired from all the adjustments to the hearing I had to make and trying to make it comfortable for each individual, so I went to sleep.

I woke up in the evening and went for a good hunt before heading back to bed.

I went without sleep though, since Gobumi-chan and the others came in and I had another hot night.

Day 57

I want a pet. I have the occupation [Job-Monster Tamer], I should use it.

Thinking that way, the original group of 4 went out together, for the first time in a while, to capture some monsters.

My first target was a pack of Black Wolves. Because if it’s a wolf, it’s likely to make as good a companion as a dog would if I tame it.

Because the Black Wolf is a monster, despite its appearance, it has lots of power. If I train it properly, I could use it as a mount for long distance travel.

Reality isn’t that simple though. I couldn't find any Black Wolves.

I didn't have a problem with that though, since I captured five Three-Horned Horses and three Hind Bears today.

Not to mention Gobumi-chan, Gobue-chan's actions surprised me.

Though Gobukichi-kun and I tried hard, we ended up killing a few by mistake due to how hard we hit. It was good that Gobumi-chan, that I gave [Failnaught] to, was able to shoot in between the gaps in the scales.

This is certainly because of the abilities of the magic item. I had to admire the surging waves of shots that it could fire.

But, Gobue-chan who used her pickaxe single-handedly could overwhelm the Three-Horned Horses by herself, exceeded my expectations for her.

The pickaxe was something that she got from Velvet’s inheritance, a [Rare] class item that held the ability of [Difficult to Destroy].

Yeah, the mining technique that she had cultivated as her hobby was being demonstrated here.

The superior speed and power of just one of her swings wasn't normal.

The gigantic figure of the Triple-Horned Horse took a direct hit to the head, smashing its horn at the root and causing the head to rotate a half-turn at its starting point and fall from its body, was truly unbelievable.

She might be overshadowed by Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun, but I truly felt that Gobue-chan belongs in the fourth place of the Goblins of our generation.

Levels are important in this world, but with one concentrated swing she made me realize how important being able to use the whole body to support the power in your strikes can be.

I turned the Three-Horned Horse that was trashed by Gobue-chan into a “familiar” with [Monster Tamer]. Somehow it rewrites part of their brain. At most I can set two owners, and apparently the owners can talk with their pet telepathically. Isn’t this too convenient? I set the Three-Horned Horse’s owner to Gobue-chan and it turned into her personal mount.

The Hobgoblins, Gobumi-chan and Hobusato-san received Three-Horned Horses like Gobue-chan. Gobukichi-kun, Hobusei-san, and I got Hind Bears as a «Familiar».

There was one Three-Horned Horse left over, so I decided to leave it to the vice captain of Gobukichi-kun's troops, who was also a Hobgoblin.

The magic reins and saddle items we got from the twelve human members of the reconnaissance group could not be used on Hind Bears, but they could be used on the Triple-Horned Horses, so I gave it to them.

And then in the evening, five elves, three men and two women, succumbed to the desires.[1]

And so the same deeds were repeated again.

Yeah, it has been quite a significant day.

1. Last time it was three men and 1 woman… so all that’s left is 4 men and 4 women.

Day 58

I went out to look for Black Wolves again for the second day in a row. However, today I’m going out alone.

Gobukichi-kun and the others are in the middle of training to learn how to ride their Familiars. I learned it easily because of my experience in my past life and one of my abilities [Horse Riding].

Being able to communicate with my Familiar was a great help too. They were having problems, but I made it easier for Gobukichi-kun and the others to get used to riding by giving them reins and saddles made from my thread.

I will say, an armed Ogre riding on a Hind Bear is an awesome sight in many ways. I wonder what it would be like if the Hind Bear were also armed.

Today, I detected a pack of Black Wolves with 【Sense Presence】, and in the end, I caught 8 Black Wolves and 1 Black Wolf Leader.

Although the Black Wolves' running speed, endurance, and body strength was excellent, they still couldn't measure up to a Hind Bear. Even I didn't think that something with such a large body could run like this between the trees.

When they realized they couldn't get away the wolves stopped running. Initially they bared their fangs, but after I glared at them with my ability, they wagged their tails like friendly dogs, and so I healed them a bit.

Afterwards, I rewrote the brains of the Black Wolves the same way as the other «Familiars», then I returned to the den.

I gave the eight Black Wolves to the Goblins belonging to the light armored troops «Red Surge» led by Hobusato-san.

They struggled like Gobukichi-kun and the others to learn how to ride, I’ll do my best to figure out a way to make it easier in the future.

As for myself, I worked with my Hind Bear named Kumajirou to deepen our relationship.

The Black Wolf Leader named Kurosaburou had become my beloved wolf.

I was healed by their cuteness.

You couldn't see their previous ferocity at all as they were being stroked comfortably by Redhead, Alchemist-san, and the others.

Oh yeah, at some point I should add some «Familiars» to act as bodyguards for Blacksmith-san and the others.

The remaining two Elf females and two males gave in. The ones who had resisted to the end were the original two Elf escorts that accompanied the next Elf clan chief candidate.

I tried to be gentle like I always did, but I might have gotten a little rough.

Day 59

Redhead and I rode on top of my Hind Bear Kumajirou as walked through the forest. At our side was my Black Wolf Kurosaburou. The four of us made for an unusual party as we strolled through the uncharted parts of the forest.

Redhead has been improving her combat skills, but she hasn't killed anything so she hasn’t gotten any experience.

Basically, her level hasn’t changed.

Although her physical abilities have indeed risen from the daily training, it’s a trivial difference compared to the increase in ability from raising your level.

By the way, Redhead’s level is 18. Her level increased by ten during the hind bear hunt which is good, but frankly speaking she’s still beyond useless.

Her current physical ability is below any of the common Goblins.

With that being the case, Redhead could no longer win against the Goblins who went out daily to hunt and raised their levels.

The reason we went out hunting together this time was for her to improve her level.

Redhead wasn’t equipped with anything special today. There’s a high chance that an inexperienced person would mistake the performance of their equipment for their own ability, so she wasn’t equipped with any magical items.

Her weapon of choice is a steel kukri knife and she kept three ring daggers for backup.

For defense she has a Round Shield reinforced with shell, the same item provided to the general Goblin infantry which are [Normal] class items.

She was wearing her everyday clothes made by the Sisters out of hind bear fur and my thread, as well as a breastplate and a grey cloak.

Her forearms were protected by steel gauntlets. Her legs were protected by steel cuisses, steel kneepads, steel greaves, and steel sabatons. All this equipment together looks was quite heavy, so I enchanted it to make it lightweight and now it's actually quite light.

Because of this, Redhead’s movements were still nimble.

Her first prey was an Armored Tanuki.

She was struggling a little bit against the defense of its back shell, but because of the [Job-Warrior]’s ability to do battle corrections, or perhaps from the results of her training, or maybe both, Redhead succeeded in dismantling the Armored Tanuki.

The meat was given to Kurosaburou to eat.

The next prey were three Night Vipers. Even though she flinched from the piercing gaze, she calmly watched their movements and was able to guard against their attack with her round shield, and she succeeded in decapitating them.

Their meat was given to Kumajirou to eat.

Three Kobolds were up next. I quickly captured two with thread, creating a situation where she’ll be able to fight one-on-one. Perhaps they realized there was no way to escape and focused on Redhead, challenging her to a fight fair and square.

The Kobolds had superior physical strength, but Redhead's combat skills she developed by training with Goblins every day covered the difference in physical ability.

Dodging the Kobold’s slashes, sometimes parrying their attacks, Redhead managed to avoid serious injury and finally decapitated it.

After a short break so Redhead could recover her stamina to some extent, I released one of the Kobolds. Not to set him free, but to have it fight Redhead.

Although she got a few injuries this time, Redhead once again cut the Kobold’s body into pieces.

I asked the last Kobold for the location of the Kobold village before I had them fight.

As a result, I learned of its location.

While thinking on whether or not I’d go to the village if given the opportunity to go, Redhead who had more or less recovered her physical strength said “Next Please”, so I released the next opponent.

The final Kobold put up a better fight than the last two, but in the end Redhead sliced its head off with her sharpest slash of the day and killed it.

After healing Redhead's injuries and curing her fatigue, I let Kumajirou and Kurosaburou each eat a Kobold whole.

Right as I was about to start munching on the remaining Kobold Redhead told me that she’d like to try eating it too, so I grilled it and we ate it together.

I was impressed by Redhead's adaptability. She ate the monster meat without any hesitation.

Well, I’m not sure I could call the action she did “eating”. I’m sure even if it was raw or metal, almost anything would be gulped down.

Yeah, Redhead is very courageous, which is a good thing because it’s something you'll need if you’re staying with me in the future.

Ability [Mountaineering] learned

As I was thinking "Okay then, our next prey is…", Redhead tugged on the edge of my coat.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I looked down at her, her blue sapphire eyes were now a dull red.

What’s more, the once circular black pupil was now a rectangular shape resembling that of a monster’s.[1]

They still seemed somewhat different from a monster's eyes.

Rather than calling them ominous, her somewhat strange eyes gave off a chilling feel.

Somehow, she obtained a new [Job]. Maybe it was because she ate the Kobold, or maybe it was the training with the Goblins.

Well, putting that aside, I listened to her story.

Redhead obtained a [Job] called [Noire Soldier].

After greatly increasing their affinity for monsters, those with the [Job-Warrior] have a constant chance of obtaining this rare job by clearing the condition of "eating a monster they killed themselves".

As usual, I was the main cause of this huh? I didn't feel anything like regret though, I thought nothing of it.

Having gained a new [Job], Redhead's combat abilities rapidly rose.

There is an outrageous drawback that a [Noire Soldier]'s body will rapidly deteriorate and they will die if they don't consume monster meat or blood at fixed intervals, but their growth rate of their combat abilities is amazing.

She now had physical abilities equal to or better than that of a Hobgoblin.

Her combat power couldn't even be compared to how she was before.

Considering that earlier her combat ability was equal to or worse than a common Goblin, it was a huge improvement.

Redhead who kept saying “Awesome, Awesome!” while she deflected a Red Deer’s two horns, kicked its body so it flew up in the air and then cut its thick neck covered by strong muscles with the kukris blade, was somehow cute.

The horns were collected, the meat was shared cordially.

Ability [Wild Horn Dance] learned

Ability [Red Crystal’s Tone] learned

After that we hunted various things.

When evening came, I made a short stopover together with Redhead.

I confirmed that Redhead's new job [Noire Soldier] increased her abilities in a big way when she took in some of me.

So, by taking in stronger monsters, she would become stronger herself.

As for what she took in, that was a private matter.

During today's hunt, Redhead’s level rose to 34 and it was rapidly rising.

1. Google "goat eye" if you’re interested

Day 60

I noticed something was in the area with 【Sense Presence】. Even though it was 2 hours after midnight I still had plenty of energy.

【Sense Presence】's area of effect has grown considerably recently. I always activate it before going to sleep just in case, but it randomly wakes me up at times. It's very annoying.

I set it so only [Sense Enemy] will trigger it so it wouldn't wake me up at night. Now that I actually take a look there are a lot of enemies showing up, too many even for this hour of night.

For a moment I thought the humans had come to attack, but I realized that's unlikely.

At night the forest belongs to the monsters.

If the humans were to attack us now, they would be at a huge disadvantage.

While I was trying to figure out it was, I was able to confirm it wasn't the humans.

The species name coming up after using my abilities [Mental Map] and [Sense Presence] together was Kobold. I thought they might after revenge, but… that might be wrong.

I could tell there were 53 Kobolds by the number of red dots showing up on my [Mental Map]. There were also 38 blue dots that appeared to be chasing the Kobolds. At the very edge there was a rather large gray dot. Individuals of the same species show up as the same color, so that means there are three different species.

I didn't know what the blue and gray dots were. From what I could tell when the red dots made contact with the blue dots the red dots were disappearing.

It appears the Kobolds were under attack.

Stuff like this happens all the time which is why I usually ignore it.

It was different this time though, because the Kobolds were heading straight for our cave.

I’d rather not have anything to do with this, but they were getting closer and closer. I decided to wake up everyone in order to prepare for the possible intrusion.

I could easily kill the Kobolds so the real threat was the blue and gray dots.

The Kobolds ran as fast as they could toward our cave. They'd been reduce to 36 members. There weren't just males. The group included females, elderly, and children.

In the rear was a line of armed male Kobolds trying to hold off the blue dots. The blue dots were bleached white Skeletons armed with swords, shields, and armor. The Kobolds were desperately trying to slow the Skeletons down.

“….”

I was at loss for words.

When I was inside Returner's dungeon, I didn’t get to see a Skeleton. This is the first time I’ve seen the real thing. Aren’t these Skeletons the same magical creatures that were guarding Velvet's Dungeon?

Why are they here?… Ah, a Kobold got killed. It looks like I don't have that much time to think about it.

I gave out orders using the cuffs and told them to attack the Skeleton group with crossbows to start.

Getting a good hit on them is incredibly difficult. Even if they got hit head on, the bolt simply snaps. That’s how tough they were.

In all likelihood, there was an ability of some kind at work here.

Seeing that the crossbows were ineffective, I pulled «Tirard», our long-range force, back. «Patri», our logistical support corps, led the escaping Kobolds to the prison cells. I had Gobuji-kun administer first aid to anybody that needed it in the Kobold group.

I wanted them under surveillance and they'd only be in the way if they stayed here.

Seeing that long range attacks were ineffective, I ordered the main combat corps «Revolution» and light armed corps «Red Surge» to engage the skeletons. The black wolves also helped.

However, cutting through bone with just a sword is hard. It was a tough fight in the beginning.

That all changed when Hobusato-san, thanks to her experience, came up with breaking the bones with a scabbard. The Skeletons had a resistance to slashing attacks but are weak to blunt force.

I relayed that information to the everyone using the cuffs. Then, as if the tough time we were having was just a bad dream, we took out the Skeletons in no time.

Now that we knew their weakness, they were no longer a problem.

With his huge battle axe and tower shield, Gobukichi-kun was mowing through them like nothing.

The sight of that huge bellowing figure going through the Skeletons and turning them into dust was refreshing.

Gobue-chan was equipped with her usual pickaxe. It’s not an exaggeration to say that she already has a certain kill swing. She was swinging downwards crushing the skull in one hit making it all down the way down to their sacrum[1] without stopping. It was a terrible blow. The Skeletons were simply dug out.

Gobumi-chan, using the Failnaught's [Certain Hit] skill to hit them in the skull, wasn't very effective. She was able to work around that; not just with the amount of rapid-fired shots able to hit their mark, but also by changing the arrowhead which resulted in an increase of penetrating power.

The Skeletons did not have a way to defend against the rapid-fire shots that came at them like a wave.

Hobusei-san burned and scattered the Skeletons by using her fire magic. Of course, she didn't use her wide-area destructive magic because there were allies around her. Due to her ranking up, her magic effectiveness had increased. She didn't have much of a handicap against the skeletons.

As for me, well, I definitely wouldn't have any problems.

Unlike the Kobolds, we had plenty of ways to deal with the opposition. We didn't expect to lose against these Skeletons.

Adding in the Hind Bears and Three Horned Horses «Familiars», we had way too much war potential to be worried about losing.

I didn't think I was going to get a turn this time. Something seemed off though, the Skeleton's numbers weren't decreasing.

Despite the Skeletons inside the cave being crushed until they were nothing but a heap of bones, they kept coming and coming. There was no end to them.

While thinking about where they came from, I remembered what Returner told us about them.

There were superior beings to Skeletons called Greater Skeletons, which had the ability to produce Skeletons.

In addition, by absorbing the Mana from the surrounding darkness, the number of Skeletons the Greater Skeletons could produce during the night seemed to be near infinite. It was something you'd expect from Velvet-sama. It was worth boasting about.

“Ah, so that’s how,” I figured it out, “I should just go crush the Greater Skeleton.”

However, I changed my mind after considering how much EXP we could gain by killing the Skeletons over and over.

“This is a good time for a level up!” I thought.

I let everyone know what I was thinking. Even though it was past midnight, the EXP festival began!

The gray dot was the Greater Skeleton that was spawning Skeletons. It was still outside and wasn't moving, so I wasn't worried.

At the beginning everyone was wondering, “Has anyone been killed?”, but after a little while, everyone seemed to get used to fighting them so we got by with almost no injuries.

There was the possibility that something could happen due to fatigue. I had them attack in shifts to make sure nothing happened.

Even the long-range and logistical support corps could destroy them with blunt objects relatively easily while my bear made sure no Skeletons got away.

I munched on a pile of bones while I watched. Redhead came over to take a break during the fight to eat with me.

Blacksmith-san, the Sisters, and Alchemist-san came out during the fighting. I was wondering if the bones could be used as ingredients for anything, so I consulted with them.

Apparently the bones were indeed used as an ingredient. Not only are they high quality, but also pretty rare. That is why I saved some and stored them in my item box. You can also sell them for a decent amount of gold. I hope I can find someone to be a good source of gold to sell the bones to.

They had a lot of good information for me as you'd expect from peddlers.

When it comes to trading they are reliable.

Ability learned: 【Slashing Resistance】

Ability learned: 【Piercing Resistance】

Ability learned: 【Weakness to Sunlight】

Ability learned: 【Weakness to Crushing】

Ability learned: 【Nullify Critical Hits】

Ability learned: 【Tireless】

Ability learned: 【Bone Union】

Ability learned: 【Joint Magic】

Ability learned: 【Equipment Materialization】

Ability learned: 【Evil Miasma of Life】

Ability learned: 【Absorb Magic】

Ability learned: 【Nullify Negative Status Effects】

Ability learned: 【Cold Attack Nullification】

Ability learned: 【Thunder Attack Nullification】

Ability learned: 【Acid Attack Resistance】

Ability learned: 【Weakness to Light Damage】

Ability learned: 【Weakness to Holy Damage】

Ability learned: 【Weakness to Fire Damage】

Ability learned: 【Anaerobic】

I ate a ton of them, so I have secured quite a few abilities. There were a lot of useless abilities, but they won’t be a problem since I won’t activate them.

It’s been around 4 hours since we started fighting. It’s almost time for dawn to arrive. Everyone has gained a good amount of experience and leveled up a bunch, so I guess it’s time for me to end this festival.

More like, I wanna sleep.

Yeah, I’ve decided, I’m putting an end to this festival. I charged towards the entrance tearing the hordes of Skeletons asunder with my silver arm and red spear until I made it outside.

Right when I got a black long sword was swung at my head. I saw it coming though, so I parried it with the red spear and thrust my silver hand’s fingers at the enemy.

The “Greater Skeleton” was twice as large as the others and wielded an imposing sword. My silver arm smashed through its chest and brought this festival to an end.

His skull made a nasty grinding and rattling sound as I ate it. Of course, I'm still going to devour every last bit of it down to the last bone.

As expected of a higher species, you can gain a lot of experience by destroying it. The taste wasn’t bad either.

It hadn't occurred to me that bones would be this appetizing.

The high-grade bone had a nice consistency. Yeah, tasty.

Ability learned: 【Lesser Summoning: Undead】

Ability learned: 【Greater Equipment Materialization】

Ability learned: 【Negative Energy】

Ability learned: 【Lesser Damage Reduction】

Ability learned: 【Lesser Magic Damage Reduction】

At first I thought, “How dare these Kobolds bring us trouble,” but now I see them as dogs that brought us a gift.

Anyways, while the cleric Gobuji-kun was frantically healing the seriously injured Kobolds, I finished the treatment for the rest of the Kobolds and gave them drugs to make them sleep.

It would've been troublesome if they attacked us while we were sleeping.

We were extremely worn out because of the festival so we all went to sleep.

Evening finally arrived.

I woke up the drugged Kobolds and asked their leader, the Kobold Footman equipped with a short spear, and some of his associates what happened.

I was able to establish the following:

The Kobolds lived in a cave just like us (though they were a little airheaded, they didn’t do any expanding).

→ They lived by hunting in the forest and the mountain. Everything changed for them when they killed an Orc and obtained an iron pick axe.

→ The female Kobolds worked on expanding their home by digging while the males hunted for food.

→ Like this they were able to improve their living area. They were happy they were able to expand.

→ While they were expanding they came across Velvet's Dungeon.

→ The Kobolds didn't understand what the dungeon was at first. They decided that the male Kobolds would investigate the dungeon during the day. As they were covering up the hole a large mob of Skeletons appeared as it was night time.

→ They were forced to flee.

→ Fatigue, something a Skeleton doesn't have to deal with, soon overtook the Kobolds that were trying to fight them and they were mercilessly killed. It didn't matter if a warrior, old, young, male, or female, none were spared.

→ So… where do they all decided to run? Right. There was a cave owned by an infamous Ogre. They were all going to die as it was. Maybe if they got to our cave the Ogre would help them.

→ They were aware they might just be killed by the Ogre.

→ Their leader declared “Either way… we’ll all be finished at this rate if we don't do something… So let's at least try”

→ You know the rest.

… What the hell?

Uh, hmm… nevermind… as long as everything worked out in the end it's okay.

Once they finished their story I fiddled with my horn as I tried to sort all the details in my head. The Warrior and Footman Kobolds made a line kneeling before me.

Kobold Footmen were Kobolds who ranked up once. The Kobold lifestyle is fundamentally that of a Warrior or Samurai. I've only killed and eaten Kobolds so far, so I wasn't aware until now.

“We eat our own kind all the time. The strong inevitably feed on the weak. We kill and eat each other fueled by the ambition of one day becoming “Lord”.”

That’s right, Lord.

I am called “Chief” by the normal Kobolds, but the Kobold Footmen call me “Lord”.

A life saved is a life worth giving up in return was what they believed. That’s all there is to it.

If one of them betrayed me, their lord, the Kobold Leader would gladly execute him or her.

That's what he declared.

Well, nobody would believe him completely with just that, but looking at his eyes I believe he's telling the truth. Honest eyes shouldn't be ignored.

I decided to prepare something just in case they tried anything.

I opened my item box, took out the magic items I was looking for, and ate them all.

Ability learned: 【Enslave】

The items I ate were called the “Collar of Slavery”, which belonged to the adventurers that died in “Velvet's Dungeon”

It's obvious what they were for. Evidently, it was something you could put on your guards if you didn't trust them.

It's an incredibly useful ability. I was trying to remember why I've never used them before.

I remember now, I tried eating one as an experiment before. It tasted awful and was unpalatable.

I didn’t feel any texture from it. The surface was sticky and its contents were awfully hard. The more I chewed, the more I was overcome by a feeling of nausea.

It also tasted bitter, sour, and spicy. Should I say the taste from that triple threat was indescribably bad?

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten something this horrible. I kept these for convenience instead. I came this far though.

That is what you'd call “a moment of need”. You put up with what you have to because you need to.

There you have it, now I have the ability [Enslave]. It's an ability that prevents treason. This ability won’t do anything just by possessing it though. To do something with it, I should probably start manufacturing cuff-type communication devices that have this ability.

Eh? What will I do with the Kobolds you ask? I’ll think about it in the morning. For now they can use the cells.

The Kobolds are surprisingly obedient. I feel like I shouldn’t be too hard on them. What a dilemma… Do I kill them or do I let them join our ranks?

1. Sacrum - Triangular bone at the base of the spine, between the hip bones.

Day ?? Sidestory

【？？？ Perspective Extra】

【Time Axis： ？？？】

That's a dimly lit room.

The only light source was the huge screen in the wall, string of characters and pictures appear and disappear on it.

Light flickered intensely, is a little bar for the eyes.

And quietly looking at it, just somebody sitting on a chair.

【Project 【■ ■ ■ ■】 moved to Phase Three】

【Ability Restraint Function (Limiter) Released】

【ESP 【■ ■ Ability】 Ability Complete Liberation Started........ Liberation Confirmed

【Subject K's ■ ■ ■ ■ ――】

【On WA Axis' ――――】

【Key Figure PA is ――――】

【――――】

The one sitting on the chair continue looking everything displayed, ocassionaly saying 「Hmm」, deep on thought.

Nobody knows the true identity of the one on the room.

Let alone the figure or face, is it a man?, is it a woman?, is it a old man?, is it a old woman?, that and everything else is not know.

The true identity of the one sitting cannot be identified, the room itself have something inexplicable spread around.

「Well, well, well, what will happen now」

So, the unidentified one said.

Clap Clap, it clapped, Clang Clang, a high-pitched sound echoed. It sounds similar to hard, metal-like things colliding.

「I'm looking forward to it」

While watching the endlessly flowing information, the one who knows everything looks happy.

The story that is about to began, it will continue observing as a bystander.

All started due to that one's intentions.

This is, the behind the scenes of the behind the scenes of the story, somebody's story.

Credits

Author | (金斬児狐) Kanekiru Kogitsune
Illustrator | (ヤマダ) Yamada
Publisher | (アルファポリス) Alpha Polis
Translator | Re: Translation
Book designer | Armaell

Table of Contents

- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4
- Day 5
- Day 6
- Day 7
- Day 8
- Day 9
- Day 10
- Day 11
- Day 12
- Day 13
- Day 14
- Day 15
- Day 16
- Day 17
- Day 18
- Day 19
- Day 20
- Day 21
- Day 22
- Day 23
- Day 24
- Day 25
- Day 26
- Day 27
- Day 27 Sidestory: Redhead's POV
- Day 27 Sidestory: Charles's POV
- Day 28
- Day 29
- Day 30
- Day 31
- Day 32
- Day 33
- Day 34
- Day 35
- Day 36
- Day 37
- Day 38
- Day 39
- Day 40
- Day 41
- Day 42
- Day 43
- Day 44
- Day 45
- Day 46
- Day 47
- Day 48
- Day 49
- Day 50
- Day 51
- Day 52
- Day 53
- Day 54
- Day 55
- Day 56
- Day 57
- Day 58
- Day 59
- Day 60
- Day ?? Sidestory
- Credits