Chapter 160
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: After the Meeting with the Dragon
After his encounter with the dragon, Havel returned to the goblin village.
It was to pick out the talented ones, just as the dragon had advised.
"There isn't just one goblin village, is there? There are so many. Are you planning to check them all?"
Elashia asked, peering at the map they'd somehow acquired.
Even to Havel's eyes, the map was densely marked with goblin habitats.
As the lowest of the low races, they had to rely on their high fertility just to survive.
That must be why villages like these had proliferated everywhere.
"We'll have to visit them all."
"Ugh, that sounds exhausting."
"Don't talk like it's someone else's problem. You're helping too."
Elashia, who had been trying to slip to the back, put on a stung expression.
"O-Of course I knew that!"
She shouted, probably worried about getting scolded by Havel again. He unfolded the map.
"We'll start with the biggest ones. The village I was in didn't have anyone worthwhile."
It had been near the kobold village, after all.
So many goblins had died there that even the talented ones had been weeded out.
"There were a few with some real grit, though."
But in places rife with killing intent, a goblin or two with real viciousness always emerged.
Sometimes, even more than the naturally talented ones.
Those with grit could grow stronger still.
"I've already trained those ones up a bit, so I won't need to check on them for a while."
He could swing by when they started slacking and tighten the screws again.
"This floor is going to take a while, huh."
"That's just how climbing a tower works."
Elashia nodded right away.
"True. I've just forgotten that fact being around you, Lord Havel."
Clearing a tower wasn't something you did overnight.
It hadn't been long since he'd been stuck on the 6th hierarchy for over ten years.
Havel's ascent so far had simply been abnormally fast.
Towers were meant to be tackled over long periods.
"This is that process right now."
"Guess we'll have to work hard."
Elashia showed a bit more enthusiasm.
Seeing that, Havel pointed at the map.
"So we're heading here. Fly."
"Pardon?"
"Fly in your true form."
Elashia shot him a protesting glare for a moment.
But as soon as Havel narrowed his eyes, she dispelled her polymorph.
Thud!
She reverted to her white dragon form.
Havel hopped on top of Elashia without hesitation.
"You've ridden on my back plenty, so think of this as payback."
He'd carried her around often enough.
Elashia meekly accepted him aboard.
"But do we really need to go like this?"
"This way, the goblins will listen to me without question."
"Ah."
Elashia understood Havel's point.
Nothing drove home a point like something visible and immediate, no matter the creature.
A short while later, a goblin village nestled in the forest came into view.
As the map indicated, it was definitely large.
But size aside, the living conditions were abysmal.
They barely had any civilization to speak of.
No proper environment had developed.
The label of "lowest race" wasn't for nothing.
"Gyaack!"
"A dragon! It's a dragon!"
"Run! Save the goblins!"
The goblins panicked at the sight of Elashia in the sky.
She was a dragon, after all.
One breath from her could wipe them out.
To the goblins, she was a walking calamity.
"Hmph."
Elashia smirked slightly at their terror.
'I've felt it now and then, but...'
She secretly enjoyed this kind of thing.
She was even spreading her wings to look bigger than necessary.
"Cut the theatrics and land."
Elashia flinched as Havel patted her back.
No point puffing up in front of a caterpillar.
Acting tough in front of Havel would just embarrass her.
As Elashia flapped down to land,
the goblins all fled to their huts or into the forest.
They thought she was there to eat them.
But once she landed, Elashia did nothing.
She just stood there motionless.
Curiosity began to stir among the goblins.
Goblins had curiosity too, separate from their fear of dragons.
They wondered why she was here and doing nothing.
Sometimes, the bold changed the world.
Eventually, one goblin stepped forward hesitantly.
Elashia's eyes turned to him.
He flinched but carefully spoke up.
"Great dragon, what brings you to our village?"
Unlike a typical goblin, his speech was fluent.
And it wasn't in goblin tongue, but the common racial language.
"Lord Havel, this one's different from the average goblin."
"Yeah."
Havel had noticed right away.
He'd wondered who the brave one was.
Turned out this village had a smart goblin after all.
Havel leaped lightly down from Elashia.
As he landed, the goblin's gaze shifted to him.
His face filled with shock.
A goblin jumping off a dragon's back?
How could he not be stunned?
"You. What's your name?"
"Y-Yes, uh, M-Mob, sir."
Mob answered with a bewildered look.
The situation was utterly baffling.
Havel approached and gave him a quick once-over.
Being able to converse already put him in the top 0.1% of goblins.
Brains: pass.
And smart ones always had something extra.
His body was clearly different from the average goblin's.
'This one's eaten well.'
Goblins ate whatever was in front of them.
They didn't distinguish poison from food.
But this smart one had picked wisely.
'Goblin racial trait.'
As the lowest race, they couldn't enjoy diverse foods.
So they needed iron stomachs to eat anything.
That birthed their unique racial trait: Gluttony.
But fully reflecting material effects also meant the bad ones hit hard.
Unlike other races, goblin growth varied wildly by individual.
Some stunted from bad eats, others robust from good ones.
And occasionally,
Gluttony awakened special abilities.
Though most were crude and laughable to other races.
Still, it hinted at diverse potential.
No other race produced such variety from one species.
"Mob, among this village's goblins, is there anyone else as useful as you?"
Mob glanced around at Havel's question.
No other goblin had moved since he stepped up.
Most were still frozen in fear.
He slowly shook his head.
"No. They're all just goblins."
It was as if he'd long accepted the race's limits.
Regret filled his eyes as he looked at them.
That emotional depth alone spoke to his intelligence.
"Fine. You come with me then."
"P-Pardon? Where to...?"
"To a new future for goblins."
Mob looked like he'd stepped in something bad.
But with a dragon right beside Havel,
he had no right to refuse.
"Don't worry. It'll be good for you too."
The path might be rough,
but for Mob, it'd be nothing but upside.
Ignoring Mob's anxiety, Havel grabbed the scruff of his neck.
Before he could resist, Mob was whisked onto Elashia's back.
"Whoaack!?"
He screamed, suddenly atop a dragon.
Shocked at the contact, he huddled up.
Flap!
Elashia spread her wings and soared into the sky.
The vast heavens opened up.
Mob's eyes went wide, body rigid.
It was the first such sight in his short goblin life.
Overwhelmed by the view,
he stared in awe.
"Mob, right?"
Havel spoke from behind him.
"Just one question."
Mob's gaze finally turned to him, puzzled.
"Mob, what do you think of goblins, the lowest race?"
Goblins were bottom-tier.
Always hunted, hiding everywhere.
Their grotesque looks earned constant scorn and disdain.
For lesser races, it was daily life.
Mob was born one such goblin.
Growing up ignored and dismissed.
But his sharp mind couldn't accept it.
He saw his life as unfair, yearned to change it.
So he'd used Gluttony: eating only the best he could find.
It was all he could do.
Yet reality remained goblin.
He couldn't escape the lowest-race mold.
"Goblins... are goblins..."
Mob answered blankly.
He couldn't grasp Havel's intent.
A dragon appearing in the village.
A goblin riding it, no ordinary one.
What connected them? Why kidnapped?
Yet somehow,
his life of eternal bottom-rung drudgery
felt like it might veer elsewhere.
"I brought you to change that about goblins."
Mob's eyes shook at the words.
"...Change them?"
"Yeah. Make goblins rank one. That's my goal."
Mob looked dubious.
Was that even possible?
But riding a dragon? Magic itself.
For Mob, who'd hated his lot forever,
this chance might never come again.
"...What do I do?"
Havel smiled slowly at him.
Smart, quick-witted ones were the best.
Spot a win for themselves, and they dove in hardest.
"I'll lead you in every way you desire."
That was how devil's pacts worked.
"You get strong."
The strongest goblin.
Let's make one.