It was indeed an angry mob.
More than thirty goblins—spears, clubs, weapons in hand. Some even held burning torches as they swarmed my castle, shouting loudly and snarling at me. Worse still, there were two particularly large goblins who were literally twice the height of the others. They carried massive stone hammers and looked far more muscular and terrifying than the rest, with white chalk painted across their faces in claw-like patterns.
Are those evolved goblins that grow stronger as they level up? Or some special type? I wondered.
Either way, the sight sent a chill through me for a brief moment. It reminded me of old stories, making me feel like some evil tyrant—or Dracula—facing an angry mob. Except, well, I wasn't Dracula, and the mob was made of goblins instead of humans.
Of course, I couldn't understand what they were shouting, since I didn't speak Goblish.
But I could guess the meaning.
Did they somehow find out that I killed their kin?
But how?
Every time I killed a goblin, I made sure none escaped. And as they say, dead men tell no tales. Surely a dead goblin couldn't warn the others… right?
Unless—
The dead turned into ghosts and returned to their tribe?
Yeah, that was ridiculous.
Another possibility was that they had some kind of tracking ability.
Now that I thought about it, goblins did have unusually large noses. Could they be highly sensitive to smell, like dogs? Could they smell the blood of their own kind—the ones I had mercilessly killed?
…That was a disturbing thought.
Or maybe I had simply been careless, and some goblin had witnessed everything without me noticing.
Either way, it didn't matter.
The real question was—what the hell was I supposed to do now?
Should I try to bribe all of them and hope for the best? Maybe they'd forgive me and accept my offer of citizenship?
Or should I keep my gate shut and do nothing?
But before I could decide, the goblins attacked!
The two muscular goblins wielding the stone hammers charged forward, letting out thunderous war cries. The rest followed behind them, rushing straight at me.
I braced myself for impact.
As they closed in, the two giants raised their hammers and slammed them against my gate, trying to break through!
Oh shit!
I needed to come up with a defense plan, fast!
…
…
…
But then, moments later…
Bonk!
BONK!
BONK!
Erm…
Well, for some reason, it only tickled.
I knew those big goblins were trying their best, but… it was futile. It felt like someone was hitting your leg with a spoon over and over again—more annoying than painful.
Either way, the muscular goblins certainly looked terrifying, but that was only compared to the others, who were about the size of small children.
In truth, they just looked like some dudes who spent a lot of time at the gym. Sure, their muscles were bulky, but they were still too weak. Their blows couldn't even damage my gate in the slightest.
With that realization, all of my worries vanished.
Looks like I was scared for nothing!
After all, my walls were sturdy, and my gate was made of iron.
It wasn't something that could be broken so easily.
But damn, those goblins were persistent.
They kept attacking.
BONK! BONK!
Clank! Clank!
Some of them even tried committing arson. They hurled burning torches over my walls, trying to set me ablaze.
But… well, I was an empty castle. It's not like I had anything flammable inside. At worst, they could burn a bit of grass.
Still, I didn't want to take any risks.
So before the torches could even touch the ground—
I activated my inventory skill.
[DING!]
[Obtained: 1 Torch!]
Yoinked their shit!
And the stupid goblins kept throwing torches at me until they had none left!
In just a few minutes, they had handed me twenty torches! If I sold these, I'd get five points!
And when they saw that their torches had disappeared, they got even angrier!
Meanwhile, I laughed inside my mind.
Kaka! Let's see what else you've got!
Eventually, some of them decided to climb my walls. This time, though, unlike the last few attempts, they finally brought ladders! If they used them properly, they could climb me with ease.
I had to admit, these guys did know how to make basic tools.
After propping the ladders against my outer walls, several goblins climbed up. Soon, five of them made it into my front yard—including the two big, muscular ones.
Those guys began marching straight toward my main door.
That door was made of wood, so obviously it wasn't nearly as sturdy as my iron gate. There was a real chance that if they smashed it with their hammers, it would break.
So I did what I had to do to stop them in their tracks.
BAM!
A huge chunk of stone dropped down and blocked their path!
The goblins shrieked and jumped back.
Then I dropped another block of stone.
BOOM!
Just like that, I made myself clear.
Come any closer, and I'll crush you lot into mush with these stones!
"YARAAAA!"
As I did this, the goblins finally seemed to understand that invading me was a bad idea. Fear spread through the group, and they began to retreat!
Everyone was in complete panic now.
They hurried back toward the ladders!
But then, another evil idea popped into my mind.
Well… now that there's a free ladder inside my territory—
[DING!]
[Obtained: 1 Ladder!]
"YAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!"
When they noticed the ladder had disappeared, the five goblins screamed in terror and panic!
They ran around wildly, jumping at the walls, trying to escape—but no matter how hard they tried, there was no way out now!
TRAPPED!
Haha.
I laughed as they struggled. For some reason, it was incredibly amusing.
I could have dropped stones and killed those goblins right then and there. But after thinking it over, I realized I probably shouldn't.
Because… the other goblins outside were watching.
They were all terrified now.
The goblins inside were screaming and begging for help.
Then, to my surprise, the goblins outside dropped to their knees and began groveling before me! They begged me to spare their friends!
If I killed them now, it might ruin how they saw me, and my plan to turn a goblin into my citizen would go up in smoke.
So…
I opened my gate and released them.
The goblins scrambled back to their friends, hugging each other in tears.
The leader even bowed deeply toward me, showing gratitude, and apology, for attacking me earlier. Even though I couldn't speak Goblish, that gesture was impossible to misunderstand.
I had shown them mercy.
I truly hoped this would lead to a better future.
That soon… I would finally gain goblin citizens.
But then—
I realized…
I fucked up.
As the group regrouped, the elder goblin placed a wooden stick in front of my gate. It was decorated with grim skulls. After that, it turned back and shouted something to the others.
Then they all left.
At the time, I didn't understand what it meant.
But soon, I realized…
It was a warning sign.
It was saying:
"Fellow goblins, DO NOT ENTER THIS CASTLE!"
And it worked.
For the next few weeks, even when goblins wandered near my castle, the moment they saw that skull-marked stick, they immediately turned back!
And just like that, I had lost my main source of point income forever!