Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: 7. Greenback Forest
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Greenback Forest.
Though it was known as the third largest forest in the Preta region, its scale wasn't all that impressive when compared to the entire continent.
It was roughly the size of a mid-sized city home to ten or twenty thousand residents.
Preta was the empire's capital, after all, so most of the surrounding land had been developed into satellite cities or villages. In that context, this forest was considered quite large for the area.
And that's where the problem arose.
Developing the surrounding land meant stripping away habitats for monsters and beasts.
As a result, the surviving large forests like Greenback Forest or underground caves had become overcrowded with monsters.
These creatures engaged in fierce competitions for food, and the losers—or even the victors left wanting—often raided nearby villages or cities.
That's why, despite all the developed land teeming with people, adventurers never ran out of work.
Anyway, Greenback Forest stood out among them. Its internal food sources were exceptionally abundant, and its size was considerable.
It was one of the few places where the monsters inside didn't face overly intense competition for sustenance.
The beast-type monsters that had long dominated the forest kept a tight grip on it, deterring most outsiders from entering.
At most, you'd find goblins skulking around the outskirts.
But lately, orcs had been spotted out of nowhere.
The goblin population had surged, with higher variants like warriors and archers appearing.
All of this stemmed from a massive upheaval in Greenback Forest.
"Kek! Kakuta!"
"Kyaek! Keeaek!"
Greenback Forest was divided into the outskirts, midsection, and depths, with the midsection forming a ring around the core.
The anomaly had erupted in the eastern part of that midsection.
Goblins that had scraped by on bugs and scraps in the outskirts had suddenly invaded the midsection.
Naturally, the midsection's residents—dire wolves, blood deer, pain foxes, and other D-rank beast-type monsters—were thrown into chaos.
It was only natural to panic when puny things not even worth a single bite came storming their turf.
But something was off.
"Kyeng!"
"Kiiik—!"
These goblins were bite-sized snacks.
The kind they'd casually snag from the outskirts for a light meal when bored.
Yet this time, they were far too strong.
Each individual had grown tougher, but they were still weaker than the beasts on average.
However, when they started banding together in groups of ten, twenty, fifty... it became impossible to handle.
Especially since a few exceptionally powerful ones were mixed in among them.
Those outliers matched or even surpassed D-rank beast-type monsters in raw power.
"Kyeng!"
"Kiing kiing!"
In the end, the beast-type monsters couldn't withstand the onslaught and ceded the bountiful midsection.
The survivors fled to the outskirts or other parts of the midsection.
Some were even captured by the goblins as prisoners and were now being exploited for labor.
"Kikikiki."
In the eastern midsection of Greenback Forest stood a massive goblin fortress.
Hundreds of goblins bustled about inside, tending to tasks.
Astonishingly, wounded orcs and beast-type monsters growled as they hauled logs and stones.
Some goblins supervised them like overseers, cracking whips made from tough vines.
It was a terrifying goblin kingdom.
One powerful enough to enslave other races.
But even they were plunged into crisis mere days after establishing their realm.
"Kreg. Kyagak."
"Kiik... kiik..."
Their king, the Goblin King.
His heir, the Goblin King Junior, had suffered a grievous wound battling a pack of dire wolves that stormed the fortress.
The dire wolves couldn't forgive the goblins for enslaving their kin.
They rallied nearby packs and assaulted the goblin stronghold.
The goblins were numerous and strong, but incumbents had their advantages.
Each dire wolf was baseline D-rank, tougher overall than orcs of the same rank.
Orcs were rated D-rank mainly for their breeding rate and brute strength; otherwise, they were closer to E-rank.
Dire wolves had superior balance, and groups of five or more rivaled C-rank monsters in coordinated hunts.
So of course they were formidable.
The goblins had no choice but to fight with everything they had.
Their superior numbers clinched the victory, even letting them capture more dire wolves as slaves.
But the goblins paid dearly.
Dozens perished, and the severe injury to the king's offspring was a devastating blow.
Goblin leader variants propagated solely through bloodlines.
Otherwise, they could only pray for a one-in-millions mutation, like the current Goblin King.
In short, the heir's injury was a dire crisis.
They urgently commanded their shamans to brew potions.
But goblin-level tech yielded pitiful results; the young one was barely clinging to life.
"Krack..."
Watching his bloodied, writhing child, the Goblin King had an epiphany.
If goblin shamans couldn't do it...
What about humans?
He knew what humans were.
Before awakening as Goblin King, he'd glimpsed them wandering the forest.
Humans radiating overwhelming power.
His only instinct was to flee on sight.
But fear paralyzed him.
Luckily, some were injured and overlooked his presence.
That's when he saw it.
The strong humans sprinkling something on wounds, healing them in seconds.
After becoming king and commanding shamans, he learned it was a "healing potion."
But goblin versions fell woefully short of what he'd witnessed.
Only one solution.
To obtain superior healing potions, they had to raid humans.
Conveniently, scouts sent to the outskirts had recently died without returning.
They weren't weak enough to fall there, so humans must have arrived.
The Goblin King was clever.
Attacking a human village now, with damages from the dire wolf battle unrestored, meant certain doom.
Even ten of those powerful humans he'd seen would overwhelm them.
Instead, target the reckless humans venturing into the forest.
Even if they vanished, humans wouldn't retaliate immediately.
As that thought crossed his mind...
"Kak! Kyakak!"
"Ki-gik?"
A subordinate rushed in, reporting intruders.
Humans.
They had come.
"Incredible. It's a full-on fortress."
Qumel let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the massive walls built from logs, stones, and boulders.
The goblins had erected such an astonishing stronghold, which was disorienting.
And understandably so.
Goblins were typically F-rank bottom-feeders—even untrained farmers could handle two or three.
Wild dogs had more fight in them.
Yet here was a fortress rivaling orc strongholds, if not surpassing them.
No wonder it was shocking.
"This confirms it. We're dealing with a Goblin King."
"......"
As Qumel said.
It matched expectations of king-level forces.
Nothing short of that could build—or need—such a massive fortress.
The situation had grown grave.
They couldn't afford to treat this as mere student training.
'If things go south, I'll have to join in and clean it up myself.'
A Goblin King would soon expand, threatening nearby villages.
Especially with orcs as slaves—it was a ticking bomb.
This needed resolution before further delays.
With that resolve, Rasen prepared to dive in himself, external training be damned.
"Enough admiring. Let's move before the goblins spot us."
Shnero pointed atop the fortress as she spoke.
"Keaek."
"Kyaaak."
Goblins patrolled the log walls with crude bows.
"Should I just blast them?"
Shnero asked Qumel, suggesting a wide-area spell to shatter the walls.
"No, too risky. They'd swarm us instantly, and with over three hundred, better conserve mana."
"Got it."
Shnero nodded at Qumel's advice.
The student party pondered breaching the fortress.
"How about luring them out? Fighting inside puts us at a disadvantage."
Rin and Shnero mulled Qumel's proposal and agreed it was the best option now.
Infiltrating to sabotage from within was tough in their state.
They lacked the manpower for it anyway.
Rin could chip away stealthily, but solo was too grueling.
As they finalized the plan...
"...Should I make it easier for you all to move?"
Edin interjected.
"Things look pretty serious, so... mind if I lend a hand?"
Edin spoke sheepishly.
The students nodded.
"Sure. Support's always welcome."
"Help's appreciated."
Teachers typically didn't assist during external training unless it was dire.
But this was exceptional, and mere support—not direct intervention—shouldn't violate rules.