Carbanog Tells You to Get a Grip

"Ugh. That's true."

If he actually tried to build a moving castle like that, the Atali Kingdom might genuinely go bankrupt. Even so, Tae-hyun couldn't let go of his lingering desire and asked,

"This grand, magnificent, cool, beautiful, and splendid... castle. How on earth did you build it?"

A man who was popular with goblins no matter what he did! Tae-hyun's charm was several times more effective when dealing with goblins. The goblins began to chatter excitedly.

"Haha! Your Majesty. Building this magnificent castle was truly difficult. No matter how numerous we were or how outstanding our technology was, it would have been impossible."

"Then how did you do it?"

"We stole it!"

"...????"

The explanation from the Underground Alliance Goblins was utterly absurd. First of all, this moving castle was originally a perfectly normal castle standing outside. On top of that, it was built under the direct orders of Uipoatl himself! Since the Emperor had put his own name on it, it was easy to understand how outrageously expensive it must have been to build.

"We kept working in that miserable place while drawing up a plan. Hehehe."

"We secretly remodeled that very castle. Hehehe."

"...!!!!"

To think there were people in this world who would pull an eat-and-run on an entire castle! The goblins, who had been miserably exploited under Uipoatl, had secretly remodeled the castle using their Engineering skill. And then, on the day of the decisive battle...

"Sniff!"

Tae-hyun was deeply moved by the story. It was a hundred times more touching than any fairy tale he had heard in his childhood.

"W-Why are you acting like that?"

"It's just... so incredibly moving...!"

Tae-hyun's eyes actually welled up with tears!

"????"

He finds that moving?

Is he acting?

"Your Majesty!!"

Hmm. This is both helpful and completely unhelpful.

He had wondered how they built it, but they had literally ripped out the very pillars of the empire to make it! This was not something Tae-hyun could replicate. How could Tae-hyun possibly match the capabilities of the Asbian Empire at its peak?

But there was something else he could take away from this.

...Stealing someone else's castle and running away with it...!

Just thinking about it made his heart flutter. How beautiful was that?

"The capital of the Auston Kingdom? No, that's too ordinary. It's not bad, but I need a much larger and grander castle. The Erangs Kingdom is too dangerous. The Espa Kingdom has too many mountainous regions, so all their castles are small..."

"Hey, I know Kim Tae-hyun has always been weird, but he seems even weirder now..."

Cain said hesitantly. The party had just entered the gateway and was currently riding a goblin-style elevator down. Meanwhile, Tae-hyun was continuously muttering to himself. It was terrifying!

"Hypothetically speaking," Tae-hyun asked, looking at the Underground Alliance Goblins. "If I wanted to remodel a castle, could you guys help me?"

Unless the goblins had been shot in the head with arrows, there was absolutely no reason for them to agree to such a request! Yet, the goblins replied with shining eyes.

"We will help you anywhere!"

"If it is for Your Majesty...!"

The inside of the castle was dark and resembled a vast factory. In each sector, goblins could be seen tinkering with various machinery.

A skill that leveled up just by breathing. This place was heaven. A paradise for mechanical engineering blacksmiths!

If I brought the Mechanical Engineering Blacksmiths here, they'd probably hyperventilate and pass out.

Best of all, he could obtain blueprints for free. Tae-hyun searched with burning eyes, looking for anything good—preferably blueprints that would be highly useful in Territory Wars!

Shhhhh!

Every time he passed by, unidentified mechanical devices hissed and spewed steam. Some devices were so advanced that even when Tae-hyun inspected them, they only showed up as [Unidentified], refusing to reveal their true nature. This was proof of just how incredibly high-level these goblin mechanical engineering blacksmiths were.

Well, I suppose that's how they managed to hold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out while fighting Uipoatl.

Although the Great Desert was an extremely hot and agonizing place, it wasn't so harsh that Uipoatl or his subordinates couldn't traverse it. Honestly, someone of Uipoatl's caliber could even fight his way through the Demon Realm. The only reason they had successfully fended off the Empire's attacks using this terrain was purely due to the goblins' sheer skill!

These goblins used neither swordsmanship nor magic. They had fought solely with their Engineering skills.

"The elders are waiting for you."

The Underground Alliance Goblins were led by a council of elders—those who possessed the most outstanding technology among all goblins!

"Can't we meet the tailor first? The one who worked on the Emperor's clothes..."

"Ah. One of our elders is indeed that tailor. You will meet him as soon as you enter."

Wait, did they just ignore my question earlier? I could have sworn they called him a weird old goblin who peddled tailoring... These goblins were far more formidable than he had anticipated.

The Erangs Kingdom.

Prince Cain, the 4th Prince. He returned to his country in grand, majestic fashion, accompanied by holy knights.

"Hold it higher! Higher!"

"Ugh, this is so annoying I could die."

"Just bear with it. He's a prince."

The players grumbled as they held up the banners. They had slogans written on them. Normally, they would never do something so embarrassing, but they were doing it for a quest.

Though the prince was obnoxious, his royal status meant gold practically overflowed from him even if he just sat still. The players had joined the prince's quest solely for Contribution Points and gold. The quest difficulty was incredibly low and easy.

All they had to do was make banners praising the prince, carry them around, and shout, "Long live the 4th Prince! Long live the 4th Prince!" and their quest contribution would shoot right up. It was rare to find a quest that was such a free ride!

"Long live the 4th Prince! Long live the 4th Prince!"

"Wow! He's truly amazing~"

"Praise him! Praise the 4th Prince!"

As they kept chanting, the players quickly ran out of things to praise. Honestly, they didn't even know what the 4th Prince had actually done, so it was only natural. They had zero interest in him to begin with.

Hey, what do we say now?

I don't know.

Just make up some cool-sounding stuff and slap it on.

"Leave the crisis of the continent to the 4th Prince!"

"Tremble, demons! The 4th Prince is coming for you!"

"Demons, evil cults, and basically anyone with 'evil' in their name, start running!"

"W-Wait, what?!"

Prince Cain, who had been marching proudly at the front alongside his holy knights, gasped in horror at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the shouts coming from behind. He hadn't wanted them to take it that far!

"Cough, cough... Impressive, my son."

The King of the Erangs Kingdom looked at Prince Cain with an impressed expression. His gaze seemed to say, Even a useless worm has its day!

His other brothers glared at him with eyes full of jealousy.

"Watch your back at night, kid."

"How dare a lucky bastard act so arrogant..."

But Prince Cain snorted and dismissed them.

"If you're so jealous, why don't you brothers try doing it yourselves?"

"This little punk...!"

"How dare you be so insolent...!"

"Enough! Cain's contribution to this matter was great. He has elevated the honor of the royal family, so he must be commended."

"Your Majesty! Since things have turned out this way, why not entrust the vanguard of the upcoming Demon Realm subjugation to our commendable Cain?"

"Subjugation of what?!"

Prince Cain was horrified. Did they just say "Demon Realm subjugation"? What kind of ridiculous nonsense...

"What on earth do you mean by that?"

"Haha. This was discussed while you were away. The fact that His Majesty fell into critical condition was entirely due to the wicked schemes of the demons! If we do not teach these demons a lesson, the honor of the royal family will fall to the ground!"

Indeed. While Prince Cain had been away following Nevuchadnezzar, the King, who had recovered his health, resumed his rule. And naturally, his very first order of business was revenge!

Normally, they would have hesitated because there was no way to reach the Demon Realm, but things were different now. Didn't they have a beautifully grown World Tree? The Auston Kingdom was practically non-existent at the moment, so there was no need to even ask for permission...

The Erangs Kingdom was currently summoning its nobles and knights, planning to give the demons who dared threaten the kingdom a taste of their own medicine. A counterattack that would shock the demons if they knew!

Of course, Prince Cain was also shocked!

"You can't do it, can you? Just admit you can't."

"I... I can't..."

Prince Cain was about to speak, but he froze. His brothers were sneering at him! That sight triggered his anger.

"...is what my brothers would say, but I am different!"

A classic case of his tongue acting independently of his brain.

"Your Majesty! Leave it to me. I will lead the vanguard into the Demon Realm first and show those bastards what we're made of!"

The vanguard's role was to find a suitable spot in the Demon Realm, establish a base, and hold out until the main army arrived. Naturally, it was extremely, extremely, extremely dangerous. The King knew this as well and tried to stop him.

"Do you even have the capability to..."

"I have an exceptionally outstanding knight!"

"Ah. That knight..."

"I have indeed heard that his achievements are remarkable, but..."

"Ugh. Why did it suddenly get so cold?"

Cain felt a strange chill. To feel a chill when they were deep underground in such a hot place was bizarre.

"It might be because the air conditioning in the factory is running so efficiently."

"They even have air conditioning... That's truly amazing."

Tae-hyun was impressed. These goblins were really something else!

"No, it's not that. It's something different... Uh... what is it?"

Cain hesitated, finding it hard to describe the sensation. Ah! That was it!

It's that exact feeling I get whenever Kim Tae-hyun is about to use me to pull off some crazy stunt!

"...K-Kim Tae-hyun. You aren't planning anything right now, are you?"

"??"

Tae-hyun stared at Cain as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

"If you are, tell me now! I'll do it anyway, so just let me know beforehand!"

At this point, Cain was prepared to do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever Tae-hyun ordered. So please, at least give him a heads-up!

"What are you talking about?"

"You're about to go into the elders' room and pull something, aren't you?!"

"No, I'm not. What's wrong with him? Did he get heatstroke?"

Not just Tae-hyun, but the rest of the party stared at Cain as if they couldn't comprehend his outburst.