Gray followed behind them slowly, hands loose, eyes fixed on the path.
The Albion forest seemed too quiet… too quiet for some mystical forest with legendary beasts, what kind of forest was quiet?!
The goblins walked ahead in a crooked line, the leader clearing the way with steps too confident for someone who had just called her own village "the worst place in the world."
"Is it far?" Gray asked, breaking the silence. He was already quite uncomfortable with those four idiots being silent.
The leader replied without looking back, "Not too far. But you have to be careful. There are tons of animals, I'm even suspicious that we haven't run into any idiots looking for trouble."
"What kind of idiots?" Gray questioned, after all, information was precious at this moment, especially since he was literally a monster in a fucking cave!
"Gray wolf territory, those mangy, flea-ridden bastards," he said to "Two," as if he were talking about a mortal enemy.
Gray blinked once. He remembered the dry impact of the stone, the awkward snap, the body falling hard. He shrugged. "Oh. Right. Those weaklings."
The four looked at him at the same time.
"...Weaklings?" asked "One."
"Aren't they? You're much scarier." Gray spoke calmly, after all... Damn, they were scary when they started trying to eat him whole!
They exchanged blushing glances and continued walking in silence.
'They... took that as a compliment?' Gray wondered after clearly seeing that they were embarrassed!
Nilou in his lap gave a little shake as if to say, "Don't pay attention to them!"
After a few minutes, Gray started a conversation again. He was somewhat bothered by Nilou's jealousy and the goblins' embarrassment. "And your village? Is it… nice?"
The answer came in chorus, too fast to have been coordinated:
"It's trash."
"Totally awful."
"Horrible."
"The worst place in the world."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Enthusiasm."
The leader chuckled. "There are more goblins, if that's what you want to know."
"How many?"
"Quite a few."
"And leadership?"
Her expression soured. "There's the elder."
Gray tilted his head. "Respected elder?"
"Asshole," she replied immediately. "Incredibly annoying."
The others nodded forcefully, completely abandoning that embarrassment, as if it were a historical consensus. They focused for over fifteen minutes on how much they hated that place.
Finally, Gray scratched his chin. "Maybe it's better if I show up as a goblin."
They stopped.
"...What do you mean?" asked "Three," genuinely confused.
"Transformation," Gray said simply. "Less trouble."
[Goblin Transformation (Male)] the system sounded.
Before they could answer, his body rippled slightly. His skin darkened, his features changed, his body shrank a little. In seconds, where Gray had been, there was a male goblin—relaxed posture, an expression too bored for someone newly transformed.
The four of them gasped.
"Holy shit," murmured "One."
"He looks... handsome," said "Two."
"Three" circled around him, assessing him with excessive attention. "But—"
Gray sighed. "But what?"
"...Nothing," she said, looking away too quickly.
The leader crossed her arms, analyzing. "This might work."
Gray gave a crooked half-smile. "I just don't have any clothes."
The four goblins exchanged glances, then looked down almost simultaneously... and looked away too quickly.
"Yeah," said the leader, clearing her throat. "We noticed."
"One" crossed her arms, trying to maintain some dignity she never had and never will have. "Hard not to notice, the size of this thing is eye-catching."
"Two" scratched her cheek, somewhat unsure where to look. "You... forgot an important detail about the transformation, is it always this big?"
Gray looked at himself, then sighed. "That's right. Clothes don't usually come in the package."
Nilou vibrated in his lap, clearly irritated, swelling up a little more as if she wanted to cover certain areas with her own body.
"Three," who until then had been circling him with excessive curiosity, tilted her head and blurted out, completely serious: "Wait… was that on my butt before?"
Absolute silence.
The leader turned her face slowly. "Three."
"What?"
"Shut up."
Gray closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then opened them with a tired look. "No. Definitely not. It was bigger for sure."
"Ah," "Three" replied thoughtfully. "I really am a monster." She gave a victorious laugh.
"YOU. SHUT UP," the leader growled, giving a BONK! A dry blow hit her head, causing a bump. The leader's fist ached, but she clenched it, pretending to be fine. "Stop talking nonsense, let's go. We'll get him clothes in the village."
"Two" tried to change the subject too quickly: "Good! So! If you walk further back and we pretend we don't see anything, maybe no one in the village will notice."
Gray shrugged. "It works for me."
Nilou vibrated loudly, as if to say it doesn't work for me, but ended up settling in better, doing her best to cover what she could.
The leader started walking again, shaking her head. "Follow me, you idiots. And you too, goblin with… that enormous thing." She said.
Gray smirked and followed behind them. After all, if that village was already a complete mess… him arriving like that only made everything more coherent.
Thus, time passed as Gray followed them, carrying Nilou in his arms.
Until a certain point, Gray's legs began to complain well before the first hour was over.
By the second hour… they were already cursing Gray for using them too much!
The goblins' pace didn't slow down.
They advanced through the forest as if that tangle of roots, bushes, and uneven terrain was simply… ordinary ground.
They dodged, jumped, and passed through almost invisible trails without hesitation. Gray, even though he was used to moving well, began to feel the real weight of the walk.
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered after tripping over a thick root for the third time. "You said it wasn't far."
The leader replied without even looking back: "I said not very. Two hours walking the safe path."
"TWO HOURS?" Gray stopped for half a second, resting his hands on his knees. "This isn't a path, it's punishment."
"One" looked over her shoulder. "You prefer the fast path?"
"There is a fast path?"
"There is," replied "Two." "With about twenty wolves patrolling the path."
Gray resumed walking, huffing. "Okay. The safe path is fine."
They continued for a good while longer in silence, broken only by the sound of leaves, footsteps, and Gray's occasional grumble. Nilou, in his lap, already seemed too comfortable, vibrating slightly as if this were a sightseeing tour.
That's when Gray finally asked, too tired not to be direct:
"Is it really that problematic dealing with these wolves?"
The leader slowed down a little this time. She didn't stop, but her tone changed.
"Yes," she replied. "Very." She pushed a thick branch aside and continued: "They're not just ordinary wolves. The problem is the leader."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Leader?"
"A named imbecile," she said, spitting out the word as if it were an insult. "Some idiot gave that animal a name."
Gray frowned. "And does that change that much?"
"It changes everything," the leader replied. "The wolf evolved. It became an Alpha Gray Wolf."
The others joined the conversation, each completing the explanation in their own way.
"He thinks."
"He plans." "Use the others."
"Before," the leader continued, "wolves and goblins were fifty-fifty. They attacked on instinct, we defended ourselves with numbers and tricks. A somewhat balanced food chain."
She made a vague gesture with her hand. "Now?" A bitter smile. "Seventy-thirty. For the wolves."
"Because of intelligence?" Gray asked.
"Exactly," "Two" replied. "The difference between wolves and goblins has always been that. They had strength and teeth. We had brains."
The leader nodded. "With that wretch coordinating everything, the difference disappeared. They surround, divide, force errors and battles on strategic terrain. It's no longer just about surviving, it's about avoiding."
Gray was silent for a few seconds, absorbing it.
Then he commented, sincerely: "You explained that very well."
The leader stumbled slightly in her own step. "...What?"
"That was a clear analysis," Gray continued. "Food chain, impact of intelligence, shift in balance. Well thought out." He spoke, genuinely curious; after all, they were quite stupid until recently, now they even seemed human…
She looked away, muttering something almost inaudible. "I like reading human books," she murmured.
"The old ones. The ones nobody wants," she said, blushing and turning her face away, seeing that her secret had been exposed and that he liked intelligent women.
"Three" widened her eyes. "HEY. THAT WAS A SECRET."
"SHUT UP," the leader replied automatically.
Gray smiled slightly, even though he was tired. "So it makes sense that you're still alive. You have limitations, but you're quite interesting, right?" He let out a calm laugh; those little goblins were truly captivating him.
She didn't answer, but her step became a little firmer. After a few more minutes, the leader pointed ahead.
"See that crooked clearing over there? Beyond it… you can already smell the village." She said, with a disgusted look on her face, "And it seems those idiots only captured carrion again."
The leader didn't answer immediately.
Her pace quickened, her shoulders tense, her hand clenching into a fist as she advanced along the trail.
The smell coming from the clearing ahead seemed to truly irritate her—a rancid mixture of over-burnt meat with something sour, almost rotten.
Gray noticed the change instantly.
"What was that?" she asked, frowning. "You suddenly got nervous."
"Two" answered before the leader could explode. "The males must have returned from the hunt."
"Is that bad?" Gray asked.
"Depends," "One" said, grimacing. "Usually it is."
"Three" crossed her arms. "If they brought 'trash' again, she'll freak out."
Gray tilted her head. "Trash like what?"
"Two" sighed, clearly tired of the situation. "Carcass. Leftovers. Monster that another stronger beast already killed, ate half and left the rest."
Gray let out a short, almost automatic laugh. "So… literally trash."
"Exactly," the three said in unison.
The leader muttered something incomprehensible and sped up even more, practically forcing her way through the bushes. As they passed a thick, crooked tree, the forest simply opened up.
The goblin village appeared.
Gray slowed his pace without realizing it.
More than twenty-five goblins were scattered across the uneven expanse of the clearing. Makeshift huts made of rotten wood, bones, poorly cured leather, and scraps of torn human tissue piled up haphazardly. There were no real walls, only crooked fences. The ground was hard-packed, muddy in places.
And the goblins…
They were small. Too thin. Ribs visible, thin arms, sunken eyes. Some carried makeshift spears that seemed more dangerous to the wielder than to any enemy. Others simply watched the central campfire with a mixture of expectation and resignation.
It was… deplorable.
Gray felt a strange tightness in his chest.
The leader didn't stop.
She marched straight to the main campfire, where three male goblins were laughing loudly, crouching around an improvised spit. On it roasted dark, irregular meat, clearly ripped from something that had already been partially devoured.
One of them smirked proudly: "Look at this! Today there's meat for everyone—"
The kick came before the sentence was finished.
The leader landed squarely between his legs.
"UUUUURGH—!!"
The goblin fell sideways, clutching his testicles, yelping in a high-pitched voice and writhing on the ground.
The entire clearing fell silent.
"ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IS MESS THINGS UP?" the leader yelled, her voice echoing through the village. "WHAT IS THIS? HUH? IS THIS FOOD?"
She kicked the spit, throwing the strange meat onto the ground. The smell worsened instantly.
"Carrion!" she continued. "MONSTER REMAINS THAT EVEN YOU DIDN'T KILL!"
The goblin on the ground tried to speak between groans: "B-but… but it was this or nothing…"
"THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BROUGHT ANYTHING!" she shouted back. "You call this a hunt? Even wolves do better!"
Some goblins lowered their heads. Others pretended not to hear. An older one, leaning against a crooked hut, simply watched with a sour expression—clearly the elder.
Gray stood still for a moment, absorbing the scene. Then he took a step forward, still in goblin form, Nilou vibrating softly in his arms.
"…Now I understand," he murmured.
The leader breathed heavily, her fists clenched, trembling with rage. "See? This is the trashy place you want to live. Gray." She said, calling him by name for the first time…
[ALERT!]
[MISSION REGISTERED]
[TITLE: PRESERVATION OF THE GOBLIN RACE]
[Category: Racial Intervention / Territorial Balance]
[Description: A disruption in the ecological balance between local races has been detected. The presence of a named individual has resulted in advanced strategic behavior and the systematic elimination of goblin villages.]
[The goblin race presents: Severe food deficit, continuous population reduction, current inability to respond strategically]
[Primary Objectives: Neutralize or correct the influence of the Alpha Gray Wolf, Restore the balance of hunting and territory, Ensure a stable food supply for the local goblin population]
[Completion Conditions: Alpha threat eliminated, subdued, or displaced.] [Goblin survival rate stabilized]
[Rewards: Race affinity [Goblin], [???] (A hidden reward dependent on how the named monster is dealt with)]
'Mission in… will this always happen?' He questioned, 'Well, considering my current stats… I guess everything's fine.' He said smiling as he saw his stats in a side tab of the mission.
[Status]
[Name: Gray]
[Race: Doppelganger (SSS)]
[Level: 7]
[Strength: 32]
[Vitality: 33]
[Agility: 31]
[Intelligence: 21]
[Mana: 256,000]
[Abilities: Aberrant Existence (Unique), Reflectionless Body (Passive), Basic Regeneration (Rank-F), Predator (Rank-S), Imitation (Rank-SSS)]
...
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 💙