Chapter 428
Chapter 428
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Off-Road (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
****
“200 million!” “Kyaack! 50 million!”
“A fully intact city regular train, plus enough fuel and mana stones to run the workshop for half a year, all for 50 million? Has that tiny skull of yours shrunk your brain too?”
“Stolen goods, wanted stolen goods, stuff that city folk will snatch up the second we don’t buy it here, for 200 million? You’re insane! Insane!”
Bam!
“170 million! The alloy in that train’s outer armor alone is worth this much!”
“We know how to work metal too!”
“You can’t make dwarf-grade alloys! You’re all amateurs at metallurgy!”
“Kaibuen doesn’t know big numbers! 50 million! Can only count up to 50 million! So 50 million!”
“Then cough up 50 million three times!”
“N-no! Not giving my money!”
“You little shit—!”
“Kyaack!! No! Won’t give! Nooo!”
“Then I won’t sell either! I’ll just dump it!”
“Th-that’s even worse! Buy it! Buy it!!!”
.
.
.
.
Ah, goblins, really.
If you ever find yourself holding something a goblin covets and end up trading with them for it,
I guarantee you’ll despise them by the time the deal’s done.
“Kiik, eek, hit, heung, huhuk, gaeack....”
Clang!
“You haggled me down to 100 million for something even money can’t buy, and now you’re crying and bitching? I took a clear loss here!”
“Kuuk, kkeuk.... That’s why I’ve got no money right now. That’s why I’m sad.... Kuhuk!”
Goblins. A greenskin race famous alongside trolls and orcs for breeding like rabbits, but now rarer to spot than pureblood elves.
They’re known far and wide for their greed, but dig a little deeper and you’ll see they’re quite removed from the common view.
The biggest misconception is that old legends paint them as innately evil at heart.
-Sniff!
“Human, lots of money. Where spend from now?”
“Well. Planning to hole up here a day or two first, so I’ll scout options slowly.”
“Our house clean. Pretty. Tall races sleep too.”
“How much?”
“F-fifty thousand sills, meals extra....”
Slash!
“O-one thousand! Feed you, house you, play with you!”
“Village tour included, 4,000.”
“D-do it! But you tell Keruzaru story too! Kaibuen take good care of you in return!”
“Sure, why not.”
It’s a misunderstanding born from their innate greed—they cling so hard to coin that a bad image stuck naturally.
“But why Keruzaru? Know him?”
“Of my twenty-five brothers, three survived! One here, two outside!”
“Family, huh.”
Surprisingly sentimental, with a deep well of delicate cultural traditions. Not the primitive raiders who ambush villages and tear into raw flesh like the tales say.
Take the incredibly crude-yet-intricate torches seen entering this place, or the guest token around his neck—close inspection reveals it all.
‘A race that outstrips even dwarves in magitech wouldn’t be savages to begin with.’
Those torches lining the underground structures look like dry branches wrapped in oil-soaked earthworm shells, but listen close and you hear the hum of activated mana stones inside. Portable lights powered by mana stones, converting attributes to spew cheap, sooty flames like real junk torches.
The necklace seems like junk threaded on cheap string, but it uses no string—instead, each material’s end is delicately carved and fitted fluidly together.
Beyond that, buildings that look like holes dug in trash heaps are actually piled with perfect calculations for durability that won’t collapse until the whole structure crushes. Or how running, yelling, and firing mana cannons in this underground space never lets vibrations escape outside. Everything here boasts performance opposite its trashy appearance.
“Kiik! That’s goblin ‘art’!”
“Making your creations look like trash is?”
“Not trash! Like raw gems revealing beauty only to those who know value, it shows worth only to those who see! That elegance! Grace! Like a beautiful woman baring all only to her lover.... Gaeik! Ignorant human!”
Their “primitive” stereotype stems from this unique aesthetic sense.
A racial trait of ignoring appearances entirely, focusing solely on essence.
“Value! We cherish an object’s true value!”
“Value, huh....”
“Silver coin—just soft metal with poor mana conductivity, stamped with some ancient human king’s face! But all civilized folk grant it universal value, making it ‘currency’! Transcends the metal’s essence! Attains almighty status, exchanged for all values—the transcendent of this world! Goblins think silver coins cool! Worship them! Want to be like them!”
Their mad craving for silver coins comes from this near-religious culture.
“Metallurgy! Bringing out a material’s innate value! Honest, good work, but yields low—100 to 101 or 102 at best!”
“Alchemy lets matter shed its essence for something new! Dirt to gold, oil to glass! 1 becomes 100—a beautiful act!”
So unlike dwarves who grasp essence, they disdain metallurgy and revere alchemy.
“Hearing this, goblins sound like serious, essence-seeing cool guys....”
“Kkeek! Human smart! Kkeek!”
“....Why do you go nuts over magitech?”
“Magitech—irregular! Value, everywhere!”
“Combine values! Link sticks, stones, metals, power to birth monsters!”
“If all other value changes rebirth world components, magitech births the never-before from those!”
“Gaeauze, Raukeaa! God’s domain! Through magitech, we become gods! Gods are free! The more free from world rules, the closer to true godhood!”
Thus, in magitech especially, goblins shed their racial delicacy without hesitation.
....Up to here, they seem purely likable, easy to understand.
“Free magitech.... Leylines.... Infinitely emanating value.... Perpetual motion unending, power....”
“Hey.”
“The world.... Power to overturn the world in an instant.... Oooh, truly great value, close to the origin that birthed the world....”
“....No way? You’re not doing that damn research here too?”
“Assembly reverse of disassembly, roots of great destruction lead to infinite value.... Goblins reach highest destruction to approach ‘eternal value’.... Gehehihi, geheehee....”
“Goddamn it. Stay the hell away from me from now on, you destruction-worshipping bastard.”
As seen, their damn value philosophy has the whole race hooked on world-breaking studies.
‘Speculating: their disregard for looks might come from knowing goblins are ugly, birthing a [value the inner self~] culture. Their destructive research bent could stem from ancient weakness imprinting power-lust instinctively.’
Not purely good or evil—just different like any race. They just dove too deep into free magitech, becoming endangered hermit engineers.
Clink!
“That’s Kiophu’s workshop. Handles power assists for large magitech constructs mainly.”
“That mushroom? Poison one?”
“Don’t kno—”
Clink!
“Put Gruelda mushroom in water full of blue-green mold, yellow powder floats up—scoop it, boil hard in hot water, gets sweet food.”
“What’s this place do?”
“Gaeak? Workshop. You blind?”
Clink!
“Wigen and nearby city smugglers come. Go straight, city folk seize contraband. Dismantle fully here, remake into new stuff—no records, perfect new goods. Sells. Get money! Lots!”
“Ah, so the workshop’s called the ‘Reincarnator’?”
“Silver coins, universal value! Buy lots of shards, even stone knights help! Built this place that way!”
Minus needing to tip coins every time, they’re friendly enough, know how to treat guests proper.
For someone like me always thirsting for new things, these chatty guys matching a few coins with endless yapping ain’t half bad.
‘Wondered how this setup got built right under Wigen’s nose—turns out Koern’s guardian’s a big spender in the smuggling den.’
Shard knights lose memories as they grow stronger, turning static like worldly old men or objects at master knight level.
Wigen’s stone knight’s probably foggy even on why he gathered shards.
That’s why shard knights obsess over shards lifelong—at first for strength to reach goals, then to avoid hunters or other knights, and at master level as empty shells, it’s all the memory left, fueling endless collection.
Tachellm gathers shards that way too—fed by Wigen’s lord, smugglers, even built goblin workshops turning smuggled goods into brand-new items for other cities.
Entered clueless, but a few minutes’ chit-chat with Kaibuen revealed this goblin village’s hidden truths.
‘Ah, satisfying.’
How long since such peace? Yesterday chased a lifetime quest for ‘that one’s’ traces; today, satisfying ‘exploration’ of a whole new culture.
Learned plenty today—tomorrow brings new hunts. But a peaceful day’s something.
‘Plenty goblins left in the village.’
Gawking at them’ll last three days. By then Wigen’s pursuers spread wide, escape easier.
....Escape, right. Need an exit plan now—can’t board Wigen trains anymore. Scout ahead.
Clink.
Hyde pulled a few silver coins from his pouch, tossing toward Kaibuen.
“Hey. Know any rides to Lordric? Smuggler carts or whatnot—”
Ting- cling—
“Other.... Huh?”
Definitely coin hitting floor.
But a goblin missing a tossed coin?
“Hek, hek, haak, gaehik, hiik, whoof whoof....”
“Uh.... Kaibuen?”
“Ah, whoo, coin, got coin. Geheack, whoof, whoof....”
“???”
Glanced over—panting like he sprinted full tilt.
Thought the huffing was from short legs matching human strides....
‘Eyes gone mad? Flushed face, ragged breaths, fidgety fingers, aimless steps.’
....Worked up over something?
Unless some goblin emotion I don’t know, he’s desperately craving something.
Like falling for something hard.
-Chill!
‘....Nah, no way.’
He’s male, and so am I.
He said they ignore looks himself.
‘Fuck no way. Even with all sorts I’ve met.’
Rising crisis sense—scanned surroundings quick.
Followed him gawking, ended up in a remote spot.
Faint goblin presences far off—small workshop in corner.
Traces everywhere: worn door handles, footprints—definitely this guy’s pad.
To see desires, check where eyes point.
Kaibuen’s eyes—bloodshot, unable to hold back—locked on!
‘....No! Not this kind of new I don’t wanna find!’
Right on my belt.
Oh light, shattered continent, saints and devils, good lord. What the....
“You, you.... What’re you thinking....”
“Ke.... Kehik? Ah, sorry. My discipline’s lacking. Gaeak, hard to hold back.”
“Whatever it is, hold it!”
“Value.... Amazing value! Eyed it since you entered. Kaibuen’s eyes sharp! Hiding won’t fool me! Incredible! Truly incredible! Blindingly so!”
“Uwaaak! Don’t notice that crap!”
For real. He means it!
“Took time luring you somewhere alone without others. I-I can’t hold anymore! Gotta see it! That thing!”
Click!
“Gotta see it! As engineer, must study that amazing value! Show me! To me—”
“Uwaaak!”
“Show me the Bankruptcy Blade! Human!”
“Bullshiiiit—!”
Whack!!
“Gehok!”
“....Huh?”
Short green monster lunging lightning-fast at my belt, rifle butt smashing precise on his crown.
Uh.... What’d he just say?
“Gaeack.... Bankruptcy Blade.... See it.... Taboo-level value quest.... Great, so great....”
“Uh.... This? Anti-Aura Sword?”
“Repair fee.... Just right at 100 million.... Gaeak.”
Thud.
Kaibuen stretched fingers toward my belt, the sheathed sword, till the end—then collapsed.
“Uh, um.... Sorry.”
“....”
“N-not my fault! Train engineers get bored, spin all kinds of weird tales! Trolls and tree holes,异族 with tastes you can’t imagine....!”
Finally realized my absurd misunderstanding, spat excuses—but he was down, foaming.
Damn.
Hyde eyed the goblin he’d knocked out by mistake, recalling his last words like a dying breath.
‘Repair. He said he could fix this.’
‘....Can he?’
A thing nicknamed [Cracked Bankruptcy Blade] for its extremely fragile durability, a hundred-odd-year-old relic, universally acknowledged failure.
After last swing split it down the middle—crack!—he’d half-given up, but the goblin spotted and approached first.
“Hmm.”
Bubble bubble, gaeack....
Leave him, he’ll choke on his own puke.
“....Knowing too much is a curse sometimes.”
Recalling that bald engineer’s night watch filth-talk that made him want to wash his ears, Hyde hoisted the fallen Kaibuen.
Repair aside, killing over a misunderstanding? Hard pass.
****