Chapter 176. Ohooo...!
“Phew! Now that felt good!”
All the irritation I had built up toward Pastien, even after failing to vent it all in the Abandoned District...
I had somehow managed to let it out.
I’m pretty sure I originally intended to get along with her too.
“Great Warrior! This is my first time seeing you in person! Having only one ‘Great’ in your title is a waste! You should be the Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Warrior!”
“Shut up! Hiding stupidity is wisdom!”
An elder Badger hurriedly bowed toward me.
“Forgive us, Great Warrior! As you can see, our children have many problems!”
“It’s fine. They’ll come to their senses after getting beaten enough.”
I paused.
“With words.”
“H-Hieek! Just hit us instead, Great Warrior! We hate lectures!”
The younger Badgers were dragged away by the elders like children being hauled off after getting scolded by their parents.
To me, both the elders and the youngsters looked like kids anyway.
How the hell did they even tell each other apart?
“Next are the Goblins, I guess?”
I looked toward the Goblin elders.
“Why do those guys live separately? What a hassle.”
“Our dispositions are quite different from those of the Badgers.”
One Goblin elder sighed.
“The elders understand and respect us, but the younger Badgers only worship strength and never did.”
“...And the young Goblins?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Are they worse than what I heard?”
“That...”
The elder hesitated.
“You will probably understand once you see them yourself.”
Apparently, they weren’t very far away.
Let’s finish this before the day ends.
Haa....
I knew the road toward being called a ruler couldn’t possibly be easy.
But seriously.
This was such a pain.
What were the basic requirements of a nation again?
Territory, citizens, and sovereignty?
The Village Chief was currently wandering around looking for territory like some kind of real-estate agent.
And I was in the middle of gathering citizens.
Lastly...
Sovereignty.
If I wanted to do whatever I pleased, did that mean I really had to become king...?
I don’t think I have the face of someone destined to be king.
[Jjikjjiki: Master. Eye says she has something she wishes to tell you.]
While we were cleaning up the thoroughly wrecked Badger Village, Jjikjjiki contacted me.
Eye was...
The ninth one, right?
The one who awakened right before Doll?
That gigantic girl.
Most of the Holy Knight kids were big, but she was probably the fourth largest among them.
From head to toe, she was probably around six meters long.
“What is it?”
[Jjikjjiki: It appears to be a report regarding the task currently being handled by the Village Chief.]
“Ah~ Right.”
I nodded.
“Give it to me now.”
Something popped out of my shadow.
It looked like a tiny doll version of Eye.
It was cuter than I expected.
It was probably an extension of that doll Doll had once made that looked exactly like me.
Were the Holy Knights planning to use these for reports from now on?
It didn’t sound bad.
Though it also sounded kind of troublesome.
“Hello, Master.”
“Your tiny buzzing voice is cute.”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
The little doll bowed.
“Apparently, because this body is so small, the vocal cords became smaller as well.”
“May I begin the report?”
“Go ahead.”
Leaving the Badgers behind now that our business with them was finished, I boarded Flying Fish with the Goblins we still had business with and headed toward where the younger ones had gathered.
I could listen to the report on the way....
Probably.
“First, our first candidate.”
Eye began.
“A special region surrounded by a sea of lava.”
“Pass.”
I answered immediately.
“I hate hot places.”
“Do you like cold places?”
“Hmm...”
I thought about it.
“No.”
I heard a heavy clunk like she had thrown a sheet of paper into some kind of trash bin.
It sounded pretty weighty.
She must have prepared a huge amount.
And after that...
I listened to all kinds of options.
There were so many that I couldn’t remember most of them.
The Village Chief really seemed to love this kind of thing.
Last time I asked him to gather some information, he dumped so much on me at once that my brain nearly stopped working.
“Next is a castle built on top of a mountain currently ruled by the Demon King of Wisdom.”
Eye continued.
“Although it is located on a mountaintop, it is apparently quite suitable for living.”
“Hmm.”
That sounded a little tempting.
“Keep that one for later.”
We arrived.
Flying Fish really was convenient because of how fast he was.
“...!...!!”
I could practically hear Eye panicking through the doll.
Meanwhile, I looked toward the Goblins.
“Hmm.”
I scratched my cheek.
“I can already hear the insanity from here.”
A young Goblin stepped forward dramatically.
“Kukuku... Has the time finally come to reveal the cursed power that has long been hidden beneath the darkness...?”
“...Hm?”
What I had heard made them sound like delusional lunatics.
Or maybe sex offenders.
But what did he mean by hidden beneath the darkness?
And what the hell was this cursed power?
Why was the cursed power covered in darkness?
Another Goblin raised a hand.
“Oi, oi. Don’t overdo it. (Laughs)”
He shook his head gravely.
“If you get serious, things will become truly ‘dangerous.’”
“...?”
Another one clenched his fist.
“Don’t worry!”
He shouted passionately.
“If things become dangerous, then I’ll... sacrifice myself...!”
“Whoa....”
A fourth Goblin spun toward him.
“Don’t joke around!”
His voice trembled.
“Don’t speak of death so casually!”
He placed a hand on his chest.
“I will never let my comrades die!”
His eyes burned.
“Even if it means I’m the one who dies!”
“...I like the sentiment.”
I nodded.
“Yeah. That’s a good resolve.”
A Goblin girl sighed dramatically.
“Haa~ Looks like there won’t be any need for us to step in.”
Another crossed his arms.
“Do not let your guard down. That is your bad habit.”
“....”
Wow.
This was giving me a headache.
I understood now.
I had been taking these guys way too seriously.
Right.
They were young.
Of course they could be like this.
I landed in the Goblin Village.
The Goblin elders stared at me anxiously.
The Eye doll sitting on my shoulder was giggling so hard it made my head spin.
And even I felt like I was about to burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, all the young Goblins had gathered together and were confidently pointing their weapons at me.
“So you have finally reached this place... Wolf of the North.”
One narrowed his eyes.
“I hope you can entertain me.”
A Goblin girl tilted her head.
“Heeh~ So that’s the one who defeated the Badgers?”
Her lips curled up.
“Not bad... for a human...!!”
Another Goblin sneered.
“To think our tribe lost to a mere human....”
“What a disgrace.”
I stared.
“Wow....”
Seriously.
Wow....
What was I even supposed to call this?
I had no words.
Did all of them collectively develop middle-school syndrome?
Were the novels they had been reading actually light novels?
Wait.
Wasn’t it said that reading grimoires could make you go insane?
This wasn’t that, right?
Actually....
It sounded weirdly plausible.
Some of the original grimoires were novels written by the summoned old man.
If that guy had gone full adolescent-edgelord mode while writing them...
Then maybe reading those things really could have turned them into this.
...
Wow.
What was I supposed to do with these little bastards?
“Hey.”
“Y-Yes! Great Warrior!”
One of the Goblin elders immediately jumped.
“Please... speak.”
I pointed toward the youngsters.
“This is...”
I struggled to find the words.
“This is really...”
...
I love it.
This is exactly my taste...!
“What?”
The elder stared at me.
“I love this kind of concept!”
I burst out laughing.
“What’s wrong with it? This is fantasy!”
“Hahaha!”
