NOVEL NEXT Chapter 63
Chapter 63 – And a Goblin!
The next morning.
The wolves had stacked up dead moles and mice all over again.
「Thanks again!」
「Ruff Ruff!」
The wolves all started wagging their tails at once.
I rubbed as many heads as I could, and then looked at the mountain of rodents.
Due to yesterday, and just to check. Moofy watched my the whole time.
And because I was careful, I found a magic mouse in the bodies of mice again.
「A magic mouse.」
『We killed this one today too.』
「Good job, Femm.」
「Wuff!」
I petted Femm and asked,
「Have you found anything strange lately like this magic mouse?」
『We saw a goblin in our territory.』
「A goblin?!」
A goblin was a magic beast the size of a human child. It wasn’t that intelligent.
But we couldn’t let our guard down.
It was weak individually, but since they moved in groups, they were dangerous.
There WERE villages destroyed by goblins, after all.
『There have been goblins here before.』
「Many?」
『Yes, that’s why we all hunt them down. So don’t worry.』
Perhaps the ecosystem of magic beasts here was changing.
Before, the top predators in this area were magic wolves and bears.
The magic wolves took over, but I am sure that the magic bears still had a strong presence.
「Do the magic bears move around?」
『There are bears that want to move into our territory.』
「Really?」
『Yes, but we chase them off!』
Femm was very proud of the fact. Its tail was swishing back and forth.
「Good job, Femm.」
I thought about what Femm said while petting it.
There were changes happening in this ecosystem.
Because of the wolves’ strength, there were changes being made. However, it wouldn’t be strange if it hit a limit.
「I think I need to check this out.」
「Ruff?」
Femm looked puzzled.
I heard Moofy’s voice just then.
「Mooo.」
Moofy had been standing beside me quietly until recently, but had wandered off somewhere.
She came running from behind the storage shack.
「Moofy?」
「Mooo MOO!」「ＧＹＡＧＹＡＧＧＡＡＡ」
Moofy had a goblin in her mouth.
The goblin was flailing about, punching and kicking at Moofy’s face.
「Is she okay?」
「Rouf?」
Femm and I ran quickly to Moofy.
Moofy dropped the goblin to the ground, and I dispatched it with magic.
「Moofy, are you hurt?」
『Say thanks』
Moofy spoke in spirit speech, as I rubbed her head.
She might have gone at that goblin just to get some appreciation.
「Good job…but it was dangerous, you know?」
『I OK.』
As I rubbed her, I made sure she wasn’t injured.
She was punched and kicked over and over, but there was no swelling or bruises.
She used to be a giant cow. I guess that’s something that gave her super endurance.
A magic beast lost some of their abilities when they shrunk themselves. Even so, she was a sacred beast.
There was little if any ability that she had lost.
「Well, just be careful…that frightened me.」
「Mooo!」
After checking that Moofy was okay, there was something else I had to check.
「Where did this goblin come from?」
「Moo.」
Moofy started walking. She wanted me to follow her.
I quietly followed her, with Femm.
We walked three minutes from the back side of the storage shack when Moofy stopped.
「Moo moo!」
「You caught it here?」
『Caught.』
「Good job finding it.」
「Mooo!」
Moofy was happy to be complimented.
And almost as a response to her mooing, some goblins jumped out of the bushes.
「ＧＹＡＡＧＹＡＡ」「ＧＹＡＡＡ」「ＧＹＡＡＡ」
There were three of them.
They didn’t have the perception to tell how strong their enemies were.
They just jumped at us and attacked.
I immediately dispatched them with magic.
「Still some more. Help me search around.」
「…ruff」「Moo.」
We began looking around. Femm was either uninterested or tired.
After looking a bit, we found a hole. I remembered that I had made it.
『This is the hole that you got all that clay from for the house.』
「Yeah.」
When I built my house, I came out to the forest to find clay that I could form into bricks.
This was the hole left over from picking all the clay up with magic.
「You think that the goblins were using this as a nest?」
『It’s possible.』
Femm said as it sniffed out the scent.
I’m glad that Moofy sensed it. I rubbed her head again.
『They invaded our territory and were able to come this close. It’s an embarrassment.』
Femm looked deep in thought. Its tail was sagging limply.
「Moo.」
Moofy went over and licked Femm, perhaps to cheer it up.
Cows can smell very well, I guess. But wolves smell much sharper.
「How did you sense them, Moofy?」
「Moo?」
Moofy looked puzzled at me.
「Did you smell them.」
『I feel bad thing.』
「Hm.」
Perhaps a sacred animal like her has special senses.
She was also made a sacred creature by a hero like Cruz.
「Moofy, tell me if you have that feeling again.」
『OK.』
I didn’t search the three goblins for treasure.
The things you get from goblins are so useless they have no value.
When a goblin has a weapon, then you take it as treasure, but those are usually trash as well.
That’s why goblins are hated by adventurers.
If there weren’t requests to get rid of them no adventurer would purposefully go after them.
「Femm, do you eat goblins?」
『No. They taste horrible.』
「I see.」
Not only hated by adventurers, but magic wolves as well.
I just burned their remains with magical flame.
「We should search for more this afternoon.」
Goblins had tried to make a nest near to the village.
I can’t just relax and take this fact with ease.
So I decided to search for more after lunch.