Any sane person, if they had bigger numbers, would first surround us then weaken us before going for the kill.
But even so, these goblins didn’t even make use of the terrain inside the forest and charged at us head-on blindly. That’s why, I was confused.
Maybe Ermenhilde also felt something, its voice was low.
Feeling the sacredness of the forest getting tainted by the smell of blood, my mood worsened.
“Are you fine?”
“Yeah, no problems. You seem fine as well.”
“I’m so tired I feel like crying though. I’ve had enough of monster subjugation for some time now.”
As i shrugged my shoulders I sighed.
I think I also heard fed-up sigh coming from my pocket as well.
“Your personality is really hard to understand.”
“Isn’t it the opposite. I simply hate trouble and want to live in peace.”
[Work seriously.]
Am I not working seriously? After all, didn’t I come to this forest to collect spirit grass?? Though I don’t really feel like doing that request anymore. I’m really tired. I want to go back and sleep.
But still, to think that we’d get attacked by goblins again when we both decided to go gather herbs together.
“It seems we have some kind of fate with the goblins.”
“Well, it’s not something good to have.”
He laughed a little.
I remember getting a request to subjugate goblins during the first time as well.
And this time as well, we were attacked by goblins. There really might some kind of fate.
With Goblins.
…….It’s really an ill-fate to have. I want to work more safely.
“Weren’t the goblins just now, weird?”
“Hmm….true, I felt that they were more bloodthirsty than usual.”
Putting a finger on that well-shaped face, the elf closed his eyes as if thinking something.
He might have something to think about this. The fact that he isn’t saying it out loud means that I’m still not trusted well enough.
Without really minding that, I kneeled near the goblin corpse nearby.
[It’s just a normal corpse. I can’t feel any kind of special magical energy from it.]
“Thought so.”
I checked through the corpse while keeping my knife unsheathed but there wasn’t anything unusual about it.
If Ermenhilde didn’t feel anything strange, then there really isn’t anything to it. Well, both me and Ermenhilde aren’t really familiar with magical energy though.
I could think of various possibilities but all had very low chance to be true. The Demon Lord or the demons could manipulate monsters but they don’t come out of their continent, Abenelm, normally. Now that the Demon God has been killed, the chances should be even lesser.
The sensation of blood on my fingers wasn’t really pleasant but it was usual stuff for me. I rubbed my fingers with the blood but there was still no change.
Am I overthinking this?
It really might be just a swarm of goblins.
“Well it’s no use investigating it without knowing anything, I guess.”
“That’s true. Also, if there was a change in the monsters in the forest, then we elves would have noticed.”
“I guess that’s true as well.”
Elves should be more sensitive to such things than me. Especially if its something inside the forest. Cutting out the proof of subjugation from the goblin, I put the knife in its sheath and breathed a sigh.
As the scent of blood stuck into my nose, I ended up grimacing. I have gotten used to the scent of blood but that doesn’t mean I’ll start liking it.
Also, my iron knife has also gone bad. I guess, sharpening it alone wouldn’t cut it anymore.
After returning to the Magic City, I should see if there’s a better weapon available somewhere.
……Though Ermenhilde would start sulking again if I do so.
“It’d be tiring to fight any more goblins. Let’s quickly gather the herbs and return.”
“Yeah, let’s.”
Even the Elf would want to avoid tainting the forest with monster blood.
Well, they don’t seem to forgive the existence of monsters inside the forest either.