Looking southwest from the unexplored wasteland, fertile plains stretched out vastly.
A blue star would flow across the sky over those plains.
But one must not covet that fertility.
The plains are clearly a magic realm.
Powerful monsters hide everywhere.
The orcs living in tribes are especially problematic, their war drums echoing across the plains as constant reminders of their territorial claims. Their settlements of bone and hide move with the seasons, following ancient migration patterns known only to their shamans. Adorned with trophies from countless battles, these warriors revere strength above all else, their society built upon brutal rites of passage and the worship of primal forces.
Though they are also green-skinned, orcs are much stronger than goblins; one orc warrior could slaughter five goblin warriors alone, their corded muscles and battle-hardened reflexes making them formidable opponents even for trained soldiers. Their primitive weapons—crafted from stone, bone, and enchanted metals pried from the earth—cut through armor with terrifying ease, and their battle cries alone have been known to freeze opponents with primordial fear.
Looking north, that was human territory.
The Empire, the largest human nation on the continent, exists there.
Though it’s incomparably safer than the plains, they cannot encroach further.
If they did, the human armies would surge in.
Goblins are still a ragtag bunch. If well-trained soldiers pushed in, their formations would collapse instantly.
To the south are the sea and archipelago.
Goblins cannot live in the sea. They don’t know how to build ships to go to sea and catch fish.
Sailors live in the archipelago, and so do pirates. Goblins refused to move south.
The west is Solion’s territory.
Solion is also too powerful for goblins to confront.
Thus, the Goblin King established the kingdom’s banner here.
With mountains and fields, and a relatively mild climate, it was good for goblins to live in.
However, the king.
Nanaluk couldn’t smile.
“Blood, blood will flow.”
The Grand Shaman laughed.
Due to burning and inhaling unique herbs daily, the Grand Shaman’s teeth were stained black.
Those black teeth looked ominous.
“The king will die, and the kingdom will collapse.”
Nanaluk remained still, not even frowning.
She merely covered herself with a mantle made from griffon feathers.
“The warriors’ heads will be displayed on stakes.”
She finally frowned.
She missed the Grand Shaman from when they were in the Great Forest. When the tribe numbered only a few hundred.
She had a wise and warm soul.
But the goblin horde had grown too large.
Jadiram, once the tribe’s top hobgoblin warrior after Nanaluk, now doesn’t even rank in the top 100.
“Silence, shaman.”
“Uhuhuhu.”
The shamans are laughing.
Nanaluk felt her “dominance” weakening.
The horde had grown too large and too powerful.
The enemies are mighty, but Nanaluk is still weak.
She felt this way despite becoming incomparably stronger than when she was in the Great Forest.
“If I evolve, won’t such prophecies become useless?”
The Grand Shaman bowed his head.
“That is so.”
“Then it shall be done!”
Nanaluk climbed onto a rock, her mantle fluttering.
Countless goblins gathered below the rocky mountain.
From Great Hobgoblins to still-frail children.
All were her people.
“Behold, I shall once again surpass my limits and soar!”
Nanaluk.
Goblin Lord level 140.
Proclaiming yet another evolution.
“Nana-luk! Nana-luk!”
Goblins shouting her name.
And on the waving flags was the image of a white snake calling thunder.
“Ullullullu! Ullullullu!” “Ullullullu! Ullullullu! Ullullullu!”
It was at the point when the number of goblins gathered under her exceeded 300,000.
==
Ah.
Tired and hungry.
It rained on the night Lilah and I left the Imperial Capital.
That would have erased our traces.
It also helped us escape safely.
Honestly, it was thrilling.
How should I put it, it feels like breaking free, or maybe like setting off on a journey.
Since I’ve been roaming the continent continuously after leaving the Great Forest, traveling felt like my natural state.
The start was good.
But there was something I underestimated.
‘They said that if you use up all your luck with the Luck Incense, misfortune follows.’
I still don’t know what kind of luck I experienced.
Getting sucked down while bathing, going underground.
Setting a fire there and then escaping in a hurry. Can that really be called luck?
Unless there’s a secret that the Emperor or Sword Saint were trying to kill me or something.
So I didn’t think misfortune would come rushing in.
Don’t you need to receive something for a debt to occur?
How can debt arise when you’ve received nothing!
But that wasn’t the case.
‘How can one be this unlucky…’
It was good that we left the Imperial Capital.
We met a merchant on the way and bought dried provisions with money.
I bought plenty since Lilah eats a lot.
But while we were bathing in a lake we found, wild boars dug up and ate all our provisions.
In anger, we caught one and roasted it whole three days ago.
‘Let’s go further south for now.’
Though we lost our food, I wasn’t too worried.
Aren’t we accomplished monsters?
Even when living in the Great Forest, we didn’t eat dried provisions.
The forest was our restaurant, and the monsters and animals we met were like an omakase.
‘Let’s go, let’s go!’
“Uhoo!”
Lilah and I left the main road without hesitation.
And we entered the mountains to find food.
That’s when things started to go wrong.
‘Food… there’s no food…’
There are no monsters.
Well, there are some.
What forest doesn’t have rodents, and at the very least birds?
We could occasionally encounter things like deer too.
But while that was enough to fill my stomach, it wasn’t enough for Lady Lilah’s.
Above all, there weren’t many monsters.
“This isn’t a magic realm, is it?”
‘Gasp!’
Come to think of it, if monsters jumped out at every step, humans couldn’t live.
Plus, this place isn’t that far from the Empire’s capital.
Our expectations were based on Great Forest standards, and that’s where we went wrong.
The abundance of flora and fauna was different.
We wandered the forest like that for another three days.
We must have lost our way.
Because a tree we had surely marked appeared again.
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