VOLUME 2: CHAPTER 103 – DEMIHUMAN VILLAGE
Status
Race Goblin
Level 37
Class King; Ruler
Possessed Skills Ruler of the Demon Children of Chaos; Defiant Soul; World Devouring Howl; Sword Mastery A-; Dominator; King’s Soul; Ruler’s Wisdom III; Household of the Gods; One-Eyed Snake’s Evil Eye; The King's Dance at the Edge of Death; Magic Manipulation; Soul of the Berserk King; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Blessing of the Underworld Goddess
Divine Protection Goddess of the Underworld (Altesia)
Attributes Darkness; Death
Subordinate Beasts High Kobold Hasu (Lv77); Gastra (Lv20); Cynthia (Lv20); Orc King (Bui) (Lv82)
Abnormal Status Blessing of the One-Eyed Snake; Protection of the Twin-Headed Snake
“I’ve brought news, Your Majesty.”
To strengthen the horde I had the rare goblins hunt the surrounding area, while I had the noble goblins go to the west to look for a path.
Gi Ji Arsil came to report their findings.
“We found a demihuman village. It’s about a four-day’s distance to the west and another day’s distance to the south. I was warned not to get any closer when I approached, so I took the others and went back.”
—Demihumans. After hearing about them from Shumea, I did expect there would be some villages to the west, but I didn’t think we’d actually stumble onto one. How fortunate.
“They warned you, did they? That’s not bad at all.”
Since they didn’t attack immediately, they must be intelligible. It’s good to avoid needless fights. I hope they’re willing to hear us goblins out, but if not, I’ll just have to take the human, Shumea, or the elf, Selena, along.
“So, describe to me these demihumans. How did they look?”
“They had legs like a spider’s, but their upper body was like a human’s. There might be other types in the other villages.”
Creatures not humans, but look like them. According to Shumea, some of these demihumans are friendly with humans, but there’s an even greater number of them living in the border afraid.
They were created by the god of wind and the god of earth, right?
I hear they used to live in the plains, but…
“Gi Ji, is that village situated in the plains?”
“No, it’s inside a forest. They built a nest of some sort. At first, I even thought it was a nest of annie spiders or giant spiders, but someone called out to us when we tried approaching.”
“Hrm.”
Well, it’s not like everything you hear is true.
I don’t know whether that’s always been their home, or they were driven away and forced to live there, but it is a fact that they are living in a forest now.
“Alright, good job. I’ll be paying that village a visit tomorrow. I’ll be relying on you to lead the way.”
“As you command.”
The next day, I took Gi Ji, Shumea, Selena, the shaman, Gi Za Zakuend, the wind mage, Gi Do, and the ferocious Gi Ba with his three-man cell group to the demihuman village.
I took only a few people with me to avoid alerting them. To ensure we had enough firepower, I made sure to bring the druid-class goblins.
According to Selena, the demihumans prefer to fight upfront rather than rely on magic. I’ve been talking with her to gather information ever since I got that report about the demihumans’ sighting.
It seems there is an old oath between the elves and the demihumans.
They would protect each other’s territories as long as they did not encroach on each other’s domains. The elves excelled in magic, while the demihumans used their strong bodies to hunt. I learned all sorts of things from Selena, from the way they marked their territories to the way they greeted each other.
Among the things I’ve learned was the favorite things of the demihumans. When I asked Selena about the spider-legged people, it turns out they were actually known as the Araneae. One of the araneaen tribes apparently liked fishes.
We were going to negotiate with them anyway, so I figured I might as well bring some gifts.
I checked with Kuzan whether it was possible to fish from the river flowing in the basement of the abyss, and apparently, it was indeed possible. It was just that the goblins preferred to eat meat, so no one ever really bothered.
When I got the fishes, I had to look for a way to carry them, as the distance to the village was quite far. They would spoil before we even got close. I figured I’d put them in some sort of container like a jar with water inside, but it turns out there’s actually no such container in the goblin villages.
With the container plan out, I thought I’d smoke them instead. But when I tried doing it myself, I failed.
“Now what?” I said to no one in particular when I noted Shumea passing from the corner of my eyes.
Wait, there is someone who can help!
“Shumea, can you spare a moment?”
“What is it, Boss?”
After explaining my situation, she agreed to help me smoke the fishes. It’s really inconvenient being a goblin. When the fishes were done, I placed them inside a box made out of bark.
They were poorly made, but it was better than nothing.
Along the way I conversed with Selena on matters regarding the demihumans. We moved a four-day’s distance west, and then another day’s distance south.
I had a normal goblin carry the box as we made way to the village.
“We’re near.” Selena’s halved elven ears twitched.
“You can tell?” Shumea asked.
Sharpening my ears, I looked around us.