Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Peak of Life
If there was a golden age in life, surely it was right now.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Loyalty: ★★★★★ (MAX)] Ever since Hobbes' loyalty had hit the five-star max...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [A new stat has been unlocked for 'Goblin-Hobbes.'] [Would you like to activate the new stat for your 'Familiar Monster'?] I checked the messages popping up one after another and nodded without hesitation.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚔ Goblin-Hobbes [Lv. 10] ⚡ Combat: F 🎯 Hunting: F ⛏️ Mining: F 🧠 Knowledge: F 🧪 Alchemy: F 🌾 Farming: S 🌺 Gardening: S+ And just like that, the stat window for Hobbes now included the 'Alchemy' trait I'd been longing for.
'Hmm... F-rank?'
The one regrettable thing?
The letter next to the Alchemy trait was the lowest grade possible: 'F'...
Should I be happy or not?
As I pondered that...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [You can upgrade your familiar monster's stats using 'Loyalty Points.'] [Loyalty Points: 3] I immediately dumped all my Loyalty Points into Hobbes' Alchemy trait.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 🧪 Alchemy: C 🌾 Farming: S 🌺 Gardening: S+ The Alchemy stat, which had been at the lowest F-rank, jumped straight to C. At the same moment...
- Kiruk...
Hobbes' eyes changed.
The little guy alternated between glancing at the flower nectar in the mortar and the purified water, tilting his head and mumbling in goblin tongue.
- WAIT, kiruk...
It looked just like he was calculating the ratio of flower nectar to purified water.
Then, with his knobby fingers, he dripped a few drops of purified water into the mortar and began stirring slowly.
Not mixing blindly like before, but carefully watching the flow as the purified water blended with the nectar all the way through.
A moment later, Hobbes tilted the mortar and filled a small glass vial to the brim.
Just as I was about to shower him with praise for successfully making a potion...
'Huh?'
I noticed there was still a good amount of Lumina flower nectar left in the mortar.
Hobbes dripped in a few more drops of purified water and repeated the process.
And just like that, a second vial was complete.
'Two potions from a single petal?'
Even I couldn't do that.
As I gawked with my mouth hanging open...
Hobbes scraped up the last of the nectar from the mortar, completing a third potion.
I stared at the three vials of mana potion shimmering with blue light and asked Hobbes,
"You... just made three potions from one petal?"
Hobbes blushed and scratched his head.
- YES, kiruk...
"By calculating all the ratios for the potion yields?"
- BE... YUL? Kiruk?
"No, seriously, you're a genius goblin?"
- Ki, kirruk...!
"My pretty baby! I'm gonna love on you so much!!"
- Kiruk, kiruk, kiruk!
I roughly ruffled the round head of Hobbes, who had gone from 'the guy' to 'my pretty baby' in no time.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [You have gained a Loyalty Point from familiar monster 'Goblin-Hobbes.'] [You have gained a Loyalty Point from familiar monster 'Goblin-Hobbes.'] [You have gained a Loyalty Point from familiar monster 'Goblin-Hobbes.'] Messages flooded my vision.
Of course, I invested all the points straight into Alchemy!
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 🧪 Alchemy: A 🌾 Farming: S 🌺 Gardening: S+ Hobbes' Alchemy trait had leaped from F all the way to A in one go.
I wanted to test his Alchemy skills right away, but...
All the purified water had run out.
I hurriedly placed a bulk order for purified water from Necromancer Ha Do-yeon.
And with the desire to raise Hobbes' Alchemy to S...
I unleashed another barrage of praise, roughly ruffling his round head again.
- Kiruk...?
But his Loyalty Points wouldn't budge anymore.
Seemed like canned compliments weren't cutting it now.
Whatever. I still needed to pick up that bulk purified water from Ha Do-yeon.
And grab a massive inventory artifact to store the finished potions.
So I couldn't just obsess over my pretty baby's Alchemy rank.
For now, I'd be satisfied with pulling his Alchemy from F to A.
'So busy, so busy...'
Finally, I planted a 'Seren Rose' in a secluded corner of the flower field.
"Spray water on the petals periodically! They dry out fast and die otherwise!"
- YES, kiruk!
I entrusted the flower field to Hobbes and quickly exited through the gate.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ If there was a golden age in life, surely it was right now.
As Hobbes tended to his master's flower field, a memory of his unhappy past suddenly surfaced.
'Hobbes hate hunt.'
Hobbes utterly despised having to kill innocent lives.
The animals' screams echoed in his dreams like haunting echoes.
The bloodstains on the ground filled him with the terror that he had become a monster.
Every time he saw them accept death without resistance, Hobbes' soul felt like it was shattering into pieces.
'Hobbes hate raid.'
He also couldn't stand raiding other tribes, trampling their hard-earned belongings, and looting them.
The sight of young goblins clinging to each other and wailing tore Hobbes' heart to shreds.
Couldn't everyone just live together in peace and happiness?
Hobbes had always lived harboring such thoughts.
'Hobbes like flower.'
Maybe that's why.
His current life of tending and harvesting flowers every day was bliss beyond words.
Even the process of brewing potions from the flowers he nurtured so carefully filled him with joy and fulfillment.
- Whoa, good job! My genius goblin!
- Master of flower cultivation! Master of alchemy!
- Goblin Hobbes is the best!!!
- Kiruk, kiruk!
He'd only done what he loved.
Yet his master showered him with endless praise, day after day.
And that wasn't all.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ['Lumina Spirit' lies on your shoulder and falls into a deep sleep.] ['Lily' begs you to continue the orc story she heard before.] Staying in the flower field all day long, he'd even grown close to the mystical spirits.
Hobbes, who adored all things pretty and lovable, cherished his time with the spirits more than anything. It made him happy.
"HAPPY... kiruk..."
Ever since meeting his master.
Every single day in Hobbes' life was filled with nothing but happiness.
So he was certain.
If his life had a 'golden age,' it was this very moment.
Just one problem, though.
"HEY, kruk."
Whenever his master was away, the bullying from 'Boss-Durak' was getting worse...
"YOU DIE, kruk."
Thwack-thwack-
Beating, cursing, trampling...
Day by day, Durak's violence escalated.
"IM FINE, kiruk..."
But Hobbes, who monopolized his master's affection, was no longer afraid of Durak's torment.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-
Even as he lay sprawled on the ground taking merciless kicks, Hobbes kept his eyes wide open, glaring up at the boss.
"HA...? Kruk?"
Durak seemed annoyed by Hobbes' attitude.
He glared down at the fallen Hobbes for a moment.
Then suddenly strode past him toward his master's flower field.
And with the very same foot that had been stomping Hobbes, he began ruthlessly crushing the flowers.
Hobbes' eyes went wide.
If his master saw the ruined flower field, she'd surely blame Hobbes, who'd been left in charge.
He couldn't let that happen, not even if he died.
"NO, NONO... kiruk...!"
Hobbes tried to push himself up with both hands to stop Durak's rampage, but...
He'd lost too much blood; no strength left in his arms.
In the end, all he could do was watch helplessly as the flower field was destroyed.
That was when it happened.
- Piiik!!!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ['Lumina Spirit' wakes from sleep at the screams of the flowers.] ['Lumina Spirit' witnesses the horrific scene and falls into deep rage.] - P-Pii...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ['Lumina Spirit' laments having no power of its own.] The blue spirit, woken by the flowers' screams, began stomping its feet and shedding thick tears.
"...Kiruk."
Pipiru- piruppi-
Whenever he felt lonely alone in the flower field.
It would appear out of nowhere, singing in a cute voice.
Dororong- dororong-
The adorable spirit that snored away on his shoulder every day.
Seeing it suffer twisted something deep in Hobbes' chest—a burning emotion beyond words.
"...DON’T WORRY, kiruk."
Hobbes gently set the blue spirit down on the ground.
Then mustered every ounce of strength to haul himself up.
He rushed to the flower field and curled into a ball, throwing himself under 'Boss-Durak's' feet as a shield.
He planned to endure until Durak's rage subsided.
Thud- thud-
Fierce kicks rained down on Hobbes' hunched back.
It hurt so bad he coughed up blood.
But better him suffering than the cute, lovable spirit grieving.
After enduring the brutal kicks for quite a while, Durak's rage finally seemed to cool a bit.
The kicks stopped amid heavy breathing.
Hobbes slowly lifted his head to look at Boss-Durak.
- Kiruk, kiruk.
But Durak's gaze was fixed far off, on a single spot.
The place where...
The 'proposal flower' he'd offered to his master was planted.
The flower he'd saved to one day confess handsomely to a female goblin who loved flowers and animals.
But he'd gifted it to his master as thanks for her boundless mercy... a single rose.
- Our ultimate goal is to propagate this rose!
- I'm going to turn the world upside down with the flower you gave me!
- So that rose above all... you must protect!
His master had earnestly begged him to safeguard that rose above all else.
- Kruk, kruk.
In that instant, Hobbes saw Durak's lips twist into a vile sneer.
"OH... NO... kiruk..."
Just as Durak's massive foot came down toward the rose...
Hobbes launched himself, enduring the pain of shattering bones.
But maybe from all the head blows from Durak...
His vision warped, his mind clouded.
"......!?"
Hobbes failed to adjust his trajectory.
And crushed the very rose his master had begged him to protect... with his own body.
Right then.
"...What the hell do you think you're doing right now?"
His master's voice—supposed to be away until tomorrow—came from behind.
"Aaaah...! My recovery potion...!"
She must have seen everything, including Hobbes trampling the rose she'd begged him to protect.
"Kruk-, krukruk-."
Durak's vile chuckle pierced his ears.
'Hobbes... hated by master...'
Hobbes closed his eyes slowly, engulfed in deep despair.