Chapter 9

In the evening, we finally arrived at the village.

This village, where goblins once lived happily, now had blackened, burnt wooden huts, fields that had been dug up, and a broken fence surrounding it. Each of these remnants told the story of the intensity of the raid and the ruthlessness of the Demon King Rannu, but something was missing.

"This is..."

Daidarian stepped into the village with a tense expression.

"I've been thinking this since before we arrived, but there's no smell of decay."

Daidarian nodded in agreement with my words. The traces of the raid were still vivid, but there were no bodies of the goblins who had been killed in the raid. This suggested that someone had mourned them. It might be an optimistic view, but perhaps...

"Maybe someone has returned."

Daidarian looked around the village and called out loudly, his voice echoing throughout.

"It's me, Daidarian, the son of Chief Marida! Is anyone here!"

After a short wait, the door of a soot-blackened hut near the entrance of the village creaked open.

"D... Daidarian?"

"Anbo?"

"M... Mid? Sally too!"

Two goblins emerged from the hut, cautiously. One was a female goblin about the same age as Daidarian, called Mid. Goblins have brown skin, but females are slightly lighter and have larger eyes.

I shouldn't get the genders wrong this time... really.

The other was a goblin about a head taller than Daidarian, around two meters tall, with green-tinged skin.

(Hobgoblin, right?)

Hobgoblins are a more evolved form of goblins.

The exact conditions for evolution are unclear, but generally, age and magic power are considered necessary for evolution. If Daidarian continues to grow, he will eventually become a hobgoblin too.

By the way, about gargoyles... they don't evolve.

They stay the same from birth to death.

It's a bit sad, but I try to think positively, that they are complete individuals from birth.

It's a fact, and I don't accept any arguments against it.

"Daidarian! It's really you!!"

"Yeah! Yeah! It's me! You managed to escape, Mid!"

Daidarian and the girl called Mid looked at each other, then walked towards each other. As they got closer...

"Daidarian!"

"Mid!"

They hugged each other so tightly that you could almost hear a sound effect.

"I'm so glad! I thought the werewolves had taken you away... I thought I'd never see you again..."

"Yeah, Rannu died two days ago, and the mental control was broken. I managed to return safely."

"Rannu... died?"

"Yeah, Rannu died."

"Oh... I'm so glad. Finally, he's dead! Now we can live in peace again."

"Yeah... finally, he's dead!"

It's a touching reunion, but the conversation flow is intense...

He must have really been hated.

It's his own fault, and I have no sympathy for him.

The touching reunion, the two hugging...

10 seconds passed, 20 seconds passed, 30 seconds passed...

I want to stop them, but it's hard to interrupt the atmosphere.

"Really, I'm glad you're safe, Anbo... but I understand your feelings. The people behind us are getting worried, though."

"...Sorry, Sally."

I thought I'd let them have as much time as they wanted, but the hobgoblin lady, Sally, stopped them.

She seems like a reliable older sister type of goblin.

Daidarian, who had been somewhat left out, apologized.

"Daidarian, who are those people?"

Sally asked Daidarian.

"I'll introduce them. They're Baum, a slime I met on the way, and Albert, a gargoyle."

"A gargoyle...?"

Goblins and gargoyles don't often interact.

Mid stared at me as if I were a strange object.

Come on... stop it.

"Ah! S-Sorry for staring..."

Mid bowed her head hurriedly and apologized.

Her gaze was that of someone who had seen something rare, but it wasn't unpleasant, so I didn't mind.

"Hehe, it's fine, miss, but Daidarian might get jealous, so don't overdo it."

Who said that... me.

"Eh, a... ah..."

Mid blushed and glanced at Daidarian.

My charm skill isn't useless.

It's also known as a supporting role.

"Stop it... Albert... jealousy. This person helped me on the way and is trustworthy."

"O-Okay, if Daidarian says so, it's fine. I'm Mid, a goblin. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Sally, a hobgoblin. Nice to meet you."

Mid and Sally, who trusted me despite my suspicious nature, seemed to have a lot of trust in Daidarian.

"I'm Albert, a gargoyle. Nice to meet you both."

'Pigii'

"Baum, nice to meet you too."

Baum and Mid's group finished their telepathic greetings.

Since standing around talking isn't ideal, we were led into the house Mid had come out of.

This house was originally Mid's, and while it was somewhat burnt, it had suffered less damage than the others, and most of the furniture was still usable.

We sat at a long wooden table and chairs, two on each side.

Baum, who didn't need a chair, stood on the floor.

"Okay, Mid... can you tell me what happened after I was taken away?"

"Sure."

On the day of the raid by Rannu's subordinates, the male goblins fought bravely against the werewolves, sacrificing their lives to buy time for the females to escape with their children.

Thanks to them, the females and children managed to escape safely.

The escaped females are now living in hiding in a forest about 5 km west of here.

They return to the village in groups of two or three to check on it, as they don't know when Rannu's subordinates might come back.

The bodies of the male goblins, including Daidarian's father, have already been mourned, and their graves are about 200 meters north of here.

Daidarian plans to visit the graves tomorrow morning.

Since Rannu's subordinates were werewolves, they were likely part of Rannu's scouting force against the Beira army.

They have a keen sense of smell and high combat skills.

They probably discovered this village while scouting and attacked it for supplies, and also to replenish their ranks.

Incidentally, Rannu was originally a werewolf.

Technically, Rannu is a Fenrir Wolf, an evolved form of a werewolf.

It's impressive that they managed to escape, given that Rannu's subordinates are a race that can produce a Demon King.

"...I see, everyone is safe... I'm glad."

"Daidarian..."

Daidarian, relieved to know that everyone had escaped safely, had tears in his eyes, feeling that their fight wasn't in vain.

Mid, standing next to him, wiped away his tears with her hand.

"I've already contacted Menado. She knows Daidarian has returned and should be here by tomorrow morning."

"Mom!"

While we were talking to Mid, Sally had apparently contacted Daidarian's mother, Menado.

Daidarian looked happy to know he would see his mother again after so long.

Still...

"Contacted... but isn't it 5 km from here to where Menado is? Can telepathy really reach that far?"

Since the conversation had paused, I decided to ask a few questions.

"Yes, but it depends on knowing the exact location. You need to know the coordinates of the place you're sending the telepathy to, or it won't work."

"..."

Sally answered my question.

It was possible this time because Mid knew the exact location of the goblin's hidden village where Menado was.

In other words, Daidarian couldn't contact Menado directly.

Sally also mentioned that "without telepathy, we wouldn't have been able to escape the werewolves with our slow legs."

I also asked about the monsters.

Mid and Sally had encountered five lesser orcs on their way to the village.

They avoided combat because Mid was with them.

They learned that the number of monsters had been increasing in the area over the past few weeks, although it was still less than before.

This might confirm my theory.

Monsters that had moved away from the center of the war were gradually returning to their original positions.

I also asked if female goblins could handle encounters with monsters.

Apparently, it's not a problem.

Goblins generally have males hunt and females do household chores and gather wild plants, but females sometimes help with hunting when they have free time.

After the raid, the females used their dexterity to make wooden bows and spears, and hunted in place of the missing males, even killing lesser orcs, showing that they could do the work of males and not lack for food.

In other words, they can do anything.

Female goblins are tough.

However, goblins generally hunt in groups, so it would be difficult for a regular goblin to face a lesser orc, especially since Mid is still a child.

Sally, a hobgoblin, accompanying Mid to check on the village is likely for safety reasons.

We spent a relaxed evening with the goblins we had reunited with.

After talking for a while, the hut's door suddenly opened with a bang.

It seemed that Daidarian's mother, Menado, had returned.

She was also a hobgoblin and somewhat resembled Daidarian.

Huh? But she was supposed to come tomorrow morning.

We hadn't been here for an hour yet.

Daidarian, surprised by his mother's sudden appearance, stood up from his chair.

"Daidarian!!"

"Mom!! Why? Ah!"

"Idiot! When I heard you were alive and had returned, I rushed here! I couldn't wait until tomorrow!"

It seems she had rushed through the forest at night.

Well, as a hobgoblin, a few lesser orcs wouldn't be a problem...

Mother and son hugged again, another touching scene.

Gii, gii

(Huh?)

Looking down, I saw Baum pushing my leg from below.

What?

Gii, gii

(Ah, he wants to give them some time alone for their reunion?)

Okay, Baum, I get it.

I'll leave to avoid being a bother. I've started to understand what he's trying to say, even without telepathy.

(You're a real considerate guy, you know...)

I left the hut with Baum, leaving the goblins inside.

The night had fallen.

It was pitch black outside.

We returned to the hut at the right time.

"Thank you for your consideration."

Daidarian and the others greeted me as I entered the hut.

"Hey, I'm not that insensitive to interrupt a family reunion."

I can read the room.

(......)

Sorry, I lied.

But it's all thanks to Baum.

"This is Menado, Daidarian's mother. She says you saved Daidarian from a wyvern on the way, and she doesn't know how to thank you."

"Thanks are already given by Daidarian, so don't worry about it. If anything, I should be the one thanking you."

"Such a thing..."

"No, no, I should..."

We were about to go in circles, so I stopped it.

Daidarian, looking a bit embarrassed, was endearing.

"By the way, Mom, what do you plan to do from now on?"

"Hmm..."

Daidarian's father, who had been the chief, had died, and for the past three months, his wife, Menado, had been leading the goblins.

"After hearing everyone's opinions, if Rannu is dead, I want to return here... but..."

She furrowed her brow.

"The werewolves know where we are."

"Yeah... there's a possibility they might come back."

Despite the raid, this was their ancestral home, full of memories, and they wanted to live here if possible.

Moreover, it was easier to restore a place that had already been cleared than to start from scratch by cutting down trees and clearing the forest.

However, if the same situation happened again, without the males, they wouldn't be able to escape.

"So, in short, as long as the werewolves can't get into the village, it's fine?"

"Eh? Y-Yes, that's right..."

The goblins looked puzzled at my question.

"If that's all... I think I can probably manage it."

I can't do everything, but I'll help them a bit.