The Ice Saintess, Sharia Canape (2)

We couldn't help being thrown for a loop. This was not what we'd come here expecting.

"This is the village? Looks like a ghost's about to pop out!"

"Right? Maybe they already packed up and left?"

"It's a goblin village and they don't even post guards?"

Goblins are as paranoid as they are weak, which is why they always post sentries or at least rig a few traps. Here, there was nothing of the sort. Just as we were about to head inside, we heard someone approaching.

Shuffle, shuffle.

Someone was walking toward us from within the village. Looking closer, I made out a tall, elderly goblin coming our way, leaning on a staff. When we tensed, the goblin waved a dismissive hand and groaned.

"Aigoo… no need for that. Look here — have we threatened you? Drawn a blade, even?"

I looked around. Goblins shuffled out of the visible huts, every last one of them looking thoroughly dejected. Even counting them all, there couldn't have been twenty.

"…That's all of you? Your kind usually runs in the dozens. Hundreds, even."

"I am the elder of this clan. Dozens, hundreds? What old tales are you reciting?"

"Old tales?"

The story was getting weirder. The dwarves had definitely said they were being harassed by these goblins. Looking at them now, these guys didn't seem capable of harassing anyone. Abeiru could walk in here and still end up as their boss, that's how sad they looked.

I needed more information. I locked eyes with the elder and poured strength into my gaze, triggering my title.

"Haa… recently, our people have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been disappearing in droves. Whether they were kidnapped or something else, at this rate our clan is headed for ruin…"

The goblins around us sniffled. One scrawny goblin whimpered.

"My daddy turned all black and then he was gone…!"

It was bleak. We'd come here to beat the shit out of them on the dwarves' behalf. Instead, we were the ones getting our feelings wrecked. Lumina sidled up to me.

"These guys look fuckin' pitiful, don't they?"

Even if they were an unlikable species, looking like this, there wasn't even a spot left to hit.

"Elder. How did it come to this?"

"For some time now, our clan members have been vanishing one by one. At first we thought they might have gone hunting, so we sent a scouting party — but we lost contact with them as well. We did hear stories, though."

"Stories? What kind of stories?"

"From some point on, they say our people have been destroying their surroundings, setting fires, even attacking their own kind — all while completely out of their minds. But I swear, I never raised our clan members to act that way!"

The elder was under my title's compulsion. He was in a state where he'd spill nothing but the truth, even without anyone taking a thorn to his balls. So this was the real deal.

"As elder, I tried to stop it, but I was so worried about the clan members still here that there was nothing I could do. I just wonder if they're doing all right…"

I found myself looking away from the elder's eyes. Those guys are all dead.

Took a Dawncalibur to the face. Ahem.

The elder let out a sigh thick with old grief and shook his head.

"If this keeps up, our clan will fall. You may not know this, but we were the type who kept to a line. We weren't so bad that people would talk ill of us wherever we went!"

The elder poured out lament after lament. At this rate he was going to deflate like a popped balloon.

"Waaahhh!"

More and more goblins started crying. Once it became a sea of tears, the gloom only deepened. I looked around.

Huts so crude you could barely call them houses. Decorative paths made by jamming gravel into the ground, scavenged from who-knows-where. If these guys had been pillaging behind the scenes, they would never look like this.

There should at least be the smell of blood.

There wasn't. The place was clean — nothing like a goblin village. I turned to my companions.

"Someone definitely used some trick to kidnap the goblins."

There were plenty of methods. Illusion magic, hypnosis, even tool-based mind control like Lao used. But Auntie was smiling.

"I think I know."

"What? The truth behind all this?"

She nodded. Her orange-red, medium-length hair swayed.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm the finest Saintess in the Empire. We Saintesses each possess the Saintess's Eyes, which reveal the truth."

"Ah…!"

I was stunned. That's right — why hadn't I thought of that? The Saintess's Eyes!

The Saintess's Eyes. A special sight that, at close range, could distinguish truth from lies, and at greater range could even identify the true culprit of an incident. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠higher a Saintess's caliber, the more capable her Eyes became. Damn, my aunt is the best!

"Then you think you know, Auntie? The culprit behind this?"

"I don't think I know. I know."

She looked at the elder. The elder tilted his head, leaning on his staff.

"Pardon? What…?"

Auntie stared at the elder for a long while. Was the elder the culprit? Had he been acting this whole time? Auntie leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"There's a goblin in the hut behind the elder. Bring him here."

"Yes, my lady!"

I kicked off the ground, a grin spreading across my face.

Zzt, crackle! Vmmm! Aura blazing, I blew past the elder and burst into the hut behind him in a single instant. I turned my head.

The goblin who'd been hiding there looked like he was about to have a heart attack. I reached for him.

"Wh-what the hell? This bastard?!"

He slapped my arm away. Well, I had something waiting for that. I immediately drove a front kick into him.

Thud! Boing!

He crumpled into a stunned heap. I slung him over my shoulder and strode out like I owned the place. When I slammed him onto the ground, he barely came to his senses and started crawling toward the elder.

"E-Elder Grandpa! Save me, these bastards are framing me!"

What a load of shit. The elder shook his head in confusion.

"What is the meaning of this with my grandson? Why are you doing this? He's a well-behaved boy who never even leaves the village!"

His grandson? And he doesn't know?

Auntie stepped forward with a solemn expression. In this moment, she was the one and only Saintess recognized by the Empire.

The unexpected bombshell left every goblin stunned. The elder in particular looked back and forth between us and his grandson, unable to believe it.

Judging by the elder's reaction, he really didn't know. Then the Goddess chimed in from inside me.

Wait, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knew too, Goddess?

Heeungh… my Goddess♥

She'd probably grown just like I had. That's right. Keep going just like that.

The goblin we'd dragged out started thrashing.

"What kind of bullshit is this? This is why humans are all pieces of shit! Fuck, kick them out! Come on, hurry!"

If we let this drag on, we'd waste time. Unfortunately, we weren't exactly swimming in it. So I'd play along.

I walked toward him slowly. He took one look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at me, freaked out, and started backing away. In a word, he'd pissed himself.

"Then let me ask you one thing."

"F-fuck off…!"

"Why? You're innocent, right? Aren't you?"

"Yeah I am?"

Idiot. I went straight for it.

"We ran into some goblins before we got here, see? One of them had your face drawn on his chest."

"What? What kind of bullsh—!"

"On that guy's chest, it was drawn exactly like your face — the pimples, the position of the eyeballs, everything."

"Ha, that's complete bullshit! They'd all be dyed pitch black, what the hell would you even see? Hey, Elder Grandpa! What are you doing?! Protect me!"

Got him, this son of a bitch. It was so funny I couldn't help laughing. The surrounding goblins looked at me in confusion. Lumina too.

Shall we peel this open?

"That's a pretty weird thing to say, don't you think?"

"What… now?"

"We said we saw goblins. We never said a word about their bodies turning pitch black."

At that, he finally panicked. He flinched, his pupils going haywire, then hurriedly shook his head, an awkward smile plastered on his lips.

"Th-that's… lately when our clan members get captured they turn black! That's all!"

I casually asked the goblins, including the elder.

"Anyone here who already knew about that?"

Not a single goblin raised a hand. Of course they wouldn't. The only one who could have seen the goblins who'd become Black Troops was the bastard who'd sold his own clan and watched it happen.

He grew even more panicked. If he was this shaken, how were the other goblins taking it? As I approached him, he screamed like a cornered animal.

"Y-you cheap bastard. You tricked me!"

"What's cheap about it? Shouldn't the ones saying that be the clan members who trusted you and took care of you?"

At my words, the elder's face twisted into something ugly. He immediately grabbed the bastard by the shoulders and pressed him.

"Putin, my grandson. Did you really do this? Why?!"

There was no hole left for him to crawl out of. But his name is Putin?

What a goddamn shitty name.

Putin shook off the elder's hands.

"Th… fuck! What did I even do? Am I the bad guy?"

"Putin…"

"Be honest, right? They can't hunt, they can't even build a house. Those kinds of bastards should be put to meaningful use, shouldn't they? So I sold them — they should be thanking me!"

The utterly heinous words coming out of his mouth left all of us stunned. Good lord, is this a goblin or a piece of human garbage? Even Satan would have to fold his heat.

I walked up and threw a punch at his face. I held back as much as I could.

WHAM!

"Gaaack!"

When he slammed into the dirt, the elder exploded.

"What did you just say? Those are your clan members! Your family!"

"Kh, family, my ass. Does family feed you? Does it give you money? Don't need it. As long as I live well, that's enough! The clan can go f—!"

I was genuinely speechless. So there was an Abeiru-type bastard here too. I grabbed him by the collar.

"Who approached you, and where can we find them. Spit it out."

Under the power of my title, the eyes that had been glaring at me turned meek. He submitted immediately.

"Th-the one who approached me was a messenger sent by a human named James. He came from the human capital, and he said it was to purify… the world…"

I didn't need to hear any more. This was genuinely ridiculous.

What the hell is James's deal? He's supposed to be a cardinal, but he's pulling more schemes than Lao, the cult leader himself?

Is that it? This guy's got ambition, so he's been running side businesses behind the cult leader's back?

The schemer-type villains you always see always pull this kind of shit. Was he one of those?

I turned to the elder.

"Elder, I'll leave this one's punishment to you. However, we'll be taking our share as well. Don't stop me."

"…What?"

I hauled the bastard up. Then I drew my sword and severed both of his ankles.

SHUNK. FWOOSH!

"GYAAAAAAAAH!"

I looked away from Putin, writhing and screaming as he crawled across the dirt. We boarded the carriage and left the village. That was one problem solved.

The mood in the carriage was excellent. Everyone praised me.

"Hero Lashu! You're the beeest♥"

"Lashu, I fuckin' believed in you! Shiiit!"

I shook my head. Instead, I pointed at Auntie.

"Today was all thanks to you, Auntie. Really, thank you so much. If it weren't for the Saintess's Eyes, I never could have done this. Truly."

At my words, Auntie smiled seductively. Even that look was beautiful.

"Hehe. It was nothing. I'll help you even more from now on. After all, the man I like… is you. ♥"

"You've always been that kind of person, Auntie. That's why I like you. It's reassuring!"

We returned to the mining camp. When we told the dwarves the truth, they were each stunned in their own way. Couldn't blame them. A goblin who sold out his own kind.

"Hrm. So goblins can act just like humans."

"He's like a demon."

"Still, that's one less thing to worry about. All right — now I'll show you the secret path!"

Were we finally going to see it for ourselves? We swallowed dryly.