Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Raising Civilization Level
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It wasn't long before Gaiola, the chieftain of the Red Lizardmen, stirred awake.
When did I drift off?
Gaiola, his mind foggy, clutched his head as he sat up.
He glanced around and noticed the room was dark.
Did someone draw the curtains on the way out?
A throbbing pain pulsed through his still-ringing skull, freezing him in place.
There, at the desk where he usually handled his paperwork, sat a shadowy figure.
It was a goblin.
The goblin, with silver hair nearing white, lounged in his chair, casually flipping through the documents Gaiola had been working on.
"Y-You! You bastard!"
Memories of the goblin's attack flooding back, Gaiola kicked off the floor and leaped to his feet.
The goblin's response to his shout was utterly indifferent.
"Not 'you bastard.' It's Havel."
"What?"
"My name is Havel."
Gaiola looked dumbfounded after the goblin so casually shared his name.
What the hell is this goblin's deal?
The commotion from the warriors outside was clearly this goblin's doing too.
Gaiola rubbed his still-sore jaw and spoke up.
"What the hell is your goal here? Why pull this stunt?"
The incident of a goblin attacking Gaiola, chieftain of the Red Lizardmen.
If word got out, it would spark war between goblins and lizardmen.
Naturally, the higher-ranked lizardmen would slaughter the goblins.
Even knowing that, he'd done this? Gaiola demanded.
Havel set down the document he'd been reading.
"I said it from the start. Let's talk."
Gaiola blinked at the response.
Then he exploded in anger.
"If you wanted to talk, you could've followed proper channels instead of barging in like this!"
Barging into the mansion uninvited and calling it "talking"? Absurd.
But Havel remained nonchalant despite the outburst.
"You're the ones who ignored words from a lower-ranked species."
Havel had clearly asked the gatekeeper to speak with Gaiola.
But the gatekeeper had dismissed him outright and treated him with contempt.
Even ordinary lizardmen like Gaul had done the same.
They dismissed goblins as inferior.
"Th-That's just common sense. We can't let in some suspicious nobody without verification."
"My status is next chieftain of the goblins."
It didn't mean much, but still.
A conversation between chieftains, past and future.
If they wanted to play the status card, Havel wouldn't back down.
Gaiola fell silent.
Whatever protests he made, the goblin's nonsense carried more weight.
After all, this was the guy who'd single-handedly broken through Red Lizardmen warriors.
In the face of the strong, the weak's words held no power. That was reality.
"...So what do you want to talk about?"
He'd come for a chat himself.
Better to get it over with and send him packing.
With that judgment, Gaiola asked, and Havel met his gaze directly.
"How do you raise a species' rank? Tell me."
Havel had concluded that clearing this floor involved species rankings.
His assigned species was goblin.
So he had to get goblins to number one.
"R-Raise the rank? Goblins?"
Gaiola wore an expression like he'd heard the most ridiculous thing.
But he wilted under Havel's glare, grunting in defeat.
"There is a way, though it's not easy."
Gaiola rose awkwardly from his seat.
He needed something to explain properly.
At this point, better to give the goblin what he wanted and boot him out.
Gaiola motioned for Havel to follow.
Havel hopped lightly from the chair and trailed behind, noting the chieftain's sudden cooperation.
The two left the room and started walking.
Soon, Gaiola witnessed the aftermath of Havel's commotion firsthand.
Warriors lay sprawled everywhere on the floor.
Some heads were dented, as if pummeled by fists.
The sight sent a chill through Gaiola.
He realized Havel had done all this alone.
What kind of monster is he?
Has a hero been born among the goblins?
That's when he spotted a lizardman shrinking timidly among the warriors.
"Ah, that's the guy. The one who brought me here."
Havel pointed casually at Gaul the Red Lizardman.
Flames flickered in Gaiola's eyes for a moment.
That traitorous scum. I'll chew him up and spit him out.
"Next time I come, find him and let me know. Remember that."
But his eyes quickly softened.
The lizardman would serve as a contact point for future dealings with Havel.
With that in mind, they soon reached the heart of the mansion.
A heavily guarded room.
Inside, Havel's eyes fell on a massive round table.
Atop it sat a miniature replica of the Red Lizardmen village, Bioram—astonishingly detailed.
Gaiola stood before the model and waved his hand over the sky.
Instantly, familiar strings of text appeared before Havel's eyes.
"As next chieftain, you must know this. Your village has one too."
Havel hadn't seen anything like this in the goblin village.
He'd bolted right after possessing it.
But from the explanation, it seemed goblins had one as well.
"To raise your species rank, advance your civilization stage. Surpass higher species in that, and the rankings flip."
Goblins were probably at stage 1, no doubt.
Havel clicked his tongue.
"Our chieftains aim to raise this stage as much as possible in their lifetime."
Gaiola beamed with pride at his sacred duty.
Then a pang of sorrow hit—him, of all people, humbled by a goblin.
His chieftain's pride felt thoroughly bruised.
"...How do you raise the civilization stage?"
Havel stared at the complex text with a furrowed brow.
It screamed difficulty at first glance.
"Simple: make our species prosper. Enjoy more wealth, grow stronger."
"Prosper?"
Havel's eyes widened slightly at the word.
"So, just make the whole species stronger?"
"Not wrong. When our warriors' overall level rises, literacy improves too."
Havel felt a glimmer of hope.
"But that's not all. Trade with higher species for knowledge, study their goods and apply them to daily life..."
"Thanks for the info."
Havel cut Gaiola off mid-sentence and strode out.
He'd gotten a straightforward answer.
The key to clearing this floor: strengthen the goblins.
And strengthening? Right up his alley.
"In the end, nothing in this world can't be solved with strength."
Havel rolled his shoulders loosely.
Time to toughen up those goblins.
Leaving the swamp city Bioram, Havel headed straight for the goblin village.
Soon, he spotted chaos erupting there.
"Uwaaaak!"
"Gobik! Eek!"
"Kill all the males! Loot the warehouses!"
Goblins were being massacred.
Species rank 11th: kobolds.
Wolf-like creatures rode wolves, butchering goblins.
They were also raiding the goblins' modest food stores.
Goblins swung crude stone weapons in resistance.
But against iron arms, they inflicted no damage.
Just one rank apart, and they're this helpless.
The goblins were utterly powerless against the kobolds.
As Havel sighed, a kobold atop a wolf spotted him.
"Male goblin!"
Without hesitation, it wheeled its mount toward him.
The chief's orders were clear: kill all male goblins.
"Die!"
The kobold thrust its iron spear.
Havel reached out and caught the shaft mid-thrust.
Then yanked, lifting kobold and all into the air.
Whoosh!
The kobold's eyes widened in shock as it dangled airborne.
Havel slammed it spear-first into the ground.
Then swung a fist at the snarling wolf lunging for him.
Crack!
"Kyaaang!"
"Kyaang!"
Kobold and wolf tumbled across the dirt, yowling in unison.
The racket was huge, but with goblin-kobold clashes everywhere, no one noticed.
The kobolds were dominating completely.
Havel didn't particularly care for goblins.
But seeing his future projects get wrecked irked him a bit.
That's when a brilliant idea flashed in his mind.
A damn good one.
"Perfect timing."
A plan to use the kobolds—and reshape the goblins.
Idea struck? Time to act.
He moved immediately.