Time passed strangely after that… Gray decided to be benevolent and let them sleep after overusing his technical skills.
They deserved some rest, and he felt worried seeing so many swollen private parts after penetrating without restraint.
When the first goblin woke up, it was with a low, confused moan.
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the light filtered through the leaves.
Her body still heavy, her head throbbing slightly, and her openings burning like hell, as if after an excess she couldn't quite remember if it had been fighting… or something else. She tried to move—and stopped.
The weapons weren't with them.
She suddenly raised her torso.
The other three woke up almost simultaneously, emitting guttural sounds of confusion, their hands instinctively going to where spears, knives, and hatchets should have been—nothing.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
They all looked around, alert.
That's when they saw him.
Gray was sitting a few meters away, calmly leaning against a large rock. Relaxed posture, elbow on his knee, chin resting on his hand. In front of him, embedded in the ground or arranged in a small pile, were all their weapons.
None broken. None stained with fresh blood. Just… collected.
He didn't seem tense. Nor threatening.
Just attentive.
Nilou stood beside the rock, quiet, puffed up more than usual, observing everything in silence.
The goblins exchanged glances.
"...Shit," one of them murmured.
The goblin with the scar—clearly the leader—was the first to stand fully up. She didn't pick up any weapons, because she couldn't. She just crossed her arms, suspicious, but without immediate hostility.
"What do you want now, human… doppel… whatever it is?" "She said, her voice hoarse but firm.
Gray slowly raised his eyes, observing them one by one. There was no anger there. No immediate sarcasm.
"Before anything else," she said simply, "I want to know your names. Mine is Gray. And I'm not a Doppelganger."
Silence.
The four goblins laughed.
One of them frowned, clearly confused by the question. The leader tilted her head, as if trying to understand if it was a joke.
"...Name?" she repeated.
"Yes," Gray replied. "Name."
The leader shrugged. She pointed to herself.
"Chief."
Then she pointed to the other three, one by one, without much ceremony.
"One. Two. Three."
Gray stared at them for a few seconds—seconds that were far too long.
He blinked once.
"…You're kidding me," she said, without raising her voice. "Are you stupid or just lazy?"
The three goblins reacted immediately.
"Hey—" "What the hell—" "Speak properly—"
The leader, however, raised her hand, telling them all to shut up. She stared back at Gray, her eyes narrowed, not angry… but clearly offended.
"Monsters don't have names," she said firmly. "We don't need them."
Gray tilted her head slightly.
"Seriously? How complicated."
[Explanation] Monsters generally don't have names because names, in this world, are managed by a high-level magical cataloging mechanism—not just an identification label. As mentioned earlier during Nilou's naming, giving a monster a name consumes a significant amount of magical energy (Mana) from the one who gives it. For ordinary creatures or weak tribes (like goblins and orcs in the beginning), there is neither enough culture nor strength to name each other.
Seeing Gray's face lost in another dimension, reading the message left by the System, the goblin leader commented:
"You're strange. Who the hell named you?"
Gray looked at her.
"That's an excellent question."
He then "looked" at the System, waiting for an answer. However…
[…]
Gray blinked once. Twice. The System's silence stretched on for too long.
"...I understand," he murmured finally, more to himself than to them. "When it's convenient, speak. When it's important, disappear."
The goblin leader raised an eyebrow.
"See? Strange."
Gray let out a short sigh, pushed the thought away, and looked at them again with genuine attention. The atmosphere wasn't hostile, but it was far from comfortable. He pointed with his chin towards the surrounding forest.
"So let's get down to business. Where exactly are we?"
The four exchanged glances.
"One" scratched her head. "Three" shrugged. "Two" opened her mouth, then closed it, as if trying to remember something that never made much sense.
The leader answered.
"In the middle of the continent," she said, as if it were too obvious to need explaining. "At least that's what the dumb merchants who showed up at the tribe kept saying."
Gray narrowed his eyes.
"Middle of the continent… that's too vague."
She huffed.
"You asked. That's what we know."
Nilou vibrated slightly beside the stone, as if approving of the raw honesty.
"Name of the region?" Gray insisted. "Any reference. Big city. Kingdom. Anything."
The leader pointed around, opening her arms.
"Albion Forest."
The name made Gray freeze for a split second.
"...Albion," he repeated.
"That's it," the goblin confirmed. "Old forest. Huge as hell. Full of deadly things."
"Two" completed, as if it were an unimportant detail:
"They say it's legendary."
Gray tilted his head.
"Legendary how?"
The goblins exchanged strange glances. The leader grimaced.
"Guarded," she said. "By the four sacred beasts."
Silence.
The wind passed through the trees, making the leaves whisper.
"Four," Gray repeated slowly. "Beasts. Sacred."
"Yes," the leader confirmed. "One for each corner, according to the stories."
"And you live here?"
The goblin shrugged.
"We live where we don't die."
"Three" crossed her arms.
"What did you expect? A drawn map? A welcome sign?"
Gray stared at the four for a few seconds. Then he let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"...I really don't know what I expected."
The leader gave a crooked half-smile.
"That's right. That's it."
He stood up from the rock, stretching his body, and walked to the pile of weapons. He picked one up—the leader's hatchet—and threw it lightly in her direction. The goblin caught it in mid-air by reflex.
"You don't seem interested in attacking me," he said. "And I have no reason to kill you now."
"Now" doesn't reassure much," commented "One."
Gray shrugged.
"Honesty."
He sat back down, more relaxed, but with his eyes alert.
"Last question for now. These four beasts… has anyone ever seen a real one?"
The goblins fell silent.
This time, none answered immediately.
Finally, the leader spoke, more serious than before:
"Those who see… usually don't return."
Nilou vibrated, slowly and heavily, as if something in that detail had caught her attention.
Gray rested his chin on his hand again, looking at the treetops, thoughtful.
"Albion… four sacred beasts… middle of the continent…"
He exhaled slowly.
"Great. I landed right in a place that isn't exactly discreet."
The leader tilted her head. "Your problem."
Gray smirked.
"Probably. But now… it's also a little bit yours."
The leader frowned, crossing her arms again.
"What do you mean the problem is ours too?" she questioned suspiciously. "You fell from the sky naked, killed wolves, mated with us, shoving your enormous penis into all our holes like a maniac… and now you're saying the forest is our problem?"
The other three nodded immediately.
"Yeah, that doesn't make sense." "Your problem." "My butt hurts."
Gray observed the small chorus of indignation with excessive calm. Then… he smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile. It was that crooked, overly calm smile that gave the clear impression that he had already decided something—and the rest of the world just hadn't realized it yet.
"Simple," he said. "You're taking me with you."
Silence.
"...What?" "...No." "...It hurts too much...it went really deep into my butt."
The negatives came quickly, overlapping. The leader was the first to shake her head forcefully.
"No. No, no, and no. We don't take strangers. Much less crazy doppel-whatever."
"I'm not crazy," Gray replied naturally. "I'm just efficient."
"This doesn't help at all!" complained "Two."
Gray sighed as if he were being too patient. Then he blurted out, as if commenting on the weather:
"I can give you names."
The effect was immediate.
It was as if the world had choked.
The four goblins froze. Eyes wide. Mouths slightly open.
"...What?" whispered "Three."
The leader stepped forward.
"Are you... kidding?"
Gray kept smiling.
"No."
A second later—
The four knelt at the same time.
It wasn't elegant. Nor coordinated. It was absolute chaos of knees hitting the ground, arms extending, heads lowering too quickly.
"MASTER!" "WE ADORE THE MASTER!" "YOUR WORD IS LAW!" "WE, YOUR LOYAL SUBORDINATES, WILL FOLLOW FAITHFULLY! YOU CAN USE MY BUTT WHENEVER YOU WANT!"
Nilou vibrated strongly, clearly surprised—but also proud. And nervous because of the last goblin, who kept complaining about having received the master's staff. Nilou would have loved to receive it in her place, but her body was made of water.
Meanwhile, Gray just chuckled lightly.
"...You just said no," he pointed out.
The leader raised her face, now smiling from ear to ear, too radiant for someone who had been cursing her two seconds ago.
"That was before," she said. "Now it's after."
"After what?"
"After you said 'names'."
"One" raised her hands as if receiving a blessing.
"Names are for important people. We want to be important people!"
"People who exist, strong people!" completed "Two," emotionally.
"And not die easily, resilient people!" added "Three."
Gray slowly ran a hand over her face.
"...You are incredibly easy to convince."
"Thank you!" three replied at the same time.
"That wasn't a compliment."
Gray turned seriously to the leader, stared at her and said:
"You realize this is hypocrisy, right?"
The goblin blinked.
"Hypo... what?"
"Hypocrite," she repeated. "You said no, you were offended, and now you're kneeling and calling me master."
The four exchanged glances.
The leader looked at Gray again, seriously.
"It seems like an illness."
"Is it some kind of magic?" commented "One."
"Is that a bad thing?" whispered "Two."
"Three" shook her head.
"It must be a good thing, like putting that big thing in our butt—"
"Shut up," said Gray.
This number three likes anal. I'll make a note of it, since I'll be living with these crazy idiots.
[Noted: Number 3 likes anal.]
'System… are you getting as dumb as the goblins? That was sarcasm.'
[…Hmph.]
'Ah… she got sulky.'
"Very well, supreme leader!" said the leader, smiling. "Please follow your loyal subordinates to our lovely village!"
...
Note: Well, he might seem like an idiot at first.... To be honest, I believe he starts to improve around chapter 5. I ask for a little patience!
The first chapters will be a bit longer.
Don't forget to add the work to your library and support me with Power Stones — it makes a big difference! Also, for every 300 Power Stones I will post an extra chapter!
I'm counting on you 💙