Episode 9: Are They... Goblins?

Unable to cut off my lingering attachment, I returned to the spring once more to check. But, as expected, the “Spirit of the Spring” did not appear. I couldn’t touch the spring either, so it seems I’m completely disliked. Reluctantly, I gave up and left the spring.

At that moment, I noticed something shining at my feet. Picking it up, it was a cylinder made of something like metal. It was about 15cm in diameter and length, with a thin thickness of 2-3mm.

After wiping off the dirt, it revealed a dull gold color. The inside was smooth and polished, but the outside was engraved with complex patterns. This is clearly an artifact. It looks like metal at first glance, but it’s remarkably light, feeling like holding a piece of wood. However, it’s quite strong; it didn’t budge even when I applied pressure with both hands.

Thinking I could use it as a bracer for defense if it were a bit narrower, I casually slid it onto my left arm. It was loose, and just as I was thinking it was too big, it shrunk on its own and fitted to my arm.

What the—!

Surprised, I hurriedly tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t move at all. Fortunately, it didn’t constrict my arm and fit perfectly as if made to order. But a cylinder shrinking on its own to fit an arm shouldn’t be possible. Moreover, once the shape settled, the central part of the complex pattern transformed into a design resembling three dragon-like creatures intertwining.

What on earth is going on? Metal changing shape and patterns rising to the surface—it’s like watching a magic trick.

Is this magic?

A nasty thought crossed my mind. Is this a punishment from the Spirit of the Spring? Am I cursed?

While thinking such irrational things couldn’t happen, looking at the bracelet that moved in impossible ways like magic, I felt it was plausible. In Japan, I’d laugh it off as nonsense, but in this world where anything could happen, it’s eerie.

I fiddled with the bracelet in various ways, but I couldn’t get it off no matter what. Gradually, fear grew, and in desperation, I bashed it against a tree. The bracelet took absolutely no damage; conversely, the surface of the tree was gouged out spectacularly. It certainly seems excellent for defense…

I gave up and started walking. In my heart, I desperately apologized to the Spirit of the Spring and prayed there was no curse.

I walked for a while, but there were no particular changes. As usual, beasts and insects attacked or approached, but I repelled or dodged them. My libido would spike uncontrollably after fights, so I relieved myself in the shade of trees several times.

The bracelet is a mystery, but so far, it doesn’t seem to be a curse. However, masturbating with this on my arm made me feel like the Spirit of the Spring was watching, which was unsettling. I ended up burdened with unnecessary stress.

No matter how much I walked, the forest continued endlessly, and it didn’t seem like I’d exit it anytime soon. I was currently climbing from a valley toward a ridge, harboring a faint hope that once I reached it, there might be something on the other side.

When I got quite close to the ridge, there was a spring, so I replenished my water and quenched my thirst. It didn’t completely restore my energy and stamina like the Spirit’s spring water, but taking a breather was a relief. At this moment, I regretted not filling my canteens with that spring water.

I washed and ate some tree nuts I picked along the way. They were small, apple-like nuts that I saw an animal resembling a squirrel eating, so I figured they were safe and picked a few.

Biting into one, sourness flooded my mouth, but it wasn’t that bad. It seemed unripe, making my mouth pucker, but I was happy to eat something other than meat. I prayed I wouldn’t get a stomachache later. If these are okay, since they grow everywhere, it will save a lot of trouble with meals in the future.

While resting, I strained my ears to listen to the surroundings. Focusing on my hearing, I heard the various bustling sounds of the forest, but at the same time, I faintly heard voices and sounds of fighting in the distance.

It felt vaguely like one beast fighting multiple entities. It felt like the multiple entities were calling out to each other. I headed over to see what was happening.

As I approached the destination, the sounds of battle gradually grew louder, and I could see the situation from a distance through the gaps in the trees. The ones fighting were green-skinned dwarfs, the same kind as those dead in that laboratory-like place. About five of them were confronting a beast, surrounding it, but several had already been killed.

The opponent beast resembled a dog but had stripes on its lower body, looking very much like the Tasmanian tiger that went extinct in Australia. I remembered seeing it on TV before; it looked like a cross between a tiger and a dog. However, this one was over 2 meters long, likely double the size of a real Tasmanian tiger.

While I was approaching, one of the dwarfs was bitten to death. The dwarfs are only about a meter tall, so they are completely outmatched in physique.

The dwarfs wore ragged furs on their lower bodies and fought with crude weapons like clubs and stone spears. From this, I understood that the dwarfs were primitive level and had no connection to scientific civilization. Well, not that different from me right now…

I don’t know what kind of beings the dwarfs are, but I decided to help them for now. I might gain useful information. Since hitting the dwarfs by mistake would be bad, I didn’t throw stones but readied my spear and entered the fray.

The dwarfs showed surprise and stopped moving, but the Tasmanian tiger-pseudo instantly jumped to put distance between us. I thrust my spear while closing the distance, but the Tasmanian tiger-pseudo skillfully jumped between trees, zigzagging to evade. It was too fast for me to track with a heavy spear.

The Tasmanian tiger-pseudo jumped to a tree behind me and attacked. Reacting to the attack from behind, I instantly dropped down to dodge and swung my whip. The tip of the whip hit the Tasmanian tiger-pseudo’s lower back; screaming, it lost balance and slammed its head into a tree.

“Gyan!”

I stood up immediately and thrust my spear into the belly of the staggering Tasmanian tiger-pseudo. The spear pierced deeply through its body, incapacitating it. Just as I was about to crush its head to finish it off, I was attacked from behind.

“Ugh!”

Turning around, a dwarf with a club was trying to pursue the attack. I instinctively jumped sideways to dodge, but the pain of the impact made me lose balance and fall. The remaining dwarfs attacked me all at once.

I hadn’t expected the dwarfs to attack me after I stepped in to help, so I panicked. I had completely let my guard down.

I swung the whip to eliminate one and barely dodged another’s stone spear. I blocked a club attack by thrusting my arm forward; luckily, it hit the bracelet, so I took no damage. Far from a curse, the bracelet is a lucky item.

I grabbed that one’s arm, took the club, swung its body around, and threw it at the other dwarfs. The dwarf’s body was light, probably less than 30kg. The ones hit by the thrown dwarf flew like bowling pins.

Those three seemed to have fainted, but their arms and legs were bent in impossible directions. The one hit by the whip was writhing, screaming with blood flowing from its gouged chest, so I knocked it out with the club.

However, the stench of these guys is abnormal. It’s an extremely unpleasant mix of odors, like being in a crowd of vagrants mixed with the smell of a sewage ditch. The smell stuck to the hand that grabbed the dwarf, so I scrubbed it with leaves and washed it with water from my canteen. I don’t want to masturbate with this hand.

With no one attacking anymore and the fight over, I exhaled lightly and took a breath.

The Tasmanian tiger-pseudo was still alive but immobile, groaning with the spear stuck in its belly. It would die if left alone, but letting it suffer seemed pitiful, so I pulled out the spear and thrust it into its head. With a death cry of “Gueh,” the Tasmanian tiger-pseudo died. As expected, a black mist appeared and then vanished.

I wondered what to do with the unconscious dwarfs, but I felt reluctant to kill beings shaped like humans, so I left them. With those injuries, they won’t be able to attack me anymore.

However, I think it was obvious I entered to help the dwarfs, yet they attacked me. They must have recognized me as an enemy. I don’t think they attacked thinking I was going to steal their prey.

I honestly felt depressed because I had hoped we might understand each other a little. Is there no one in this world who will accept me? The old man is sad.

Pulling myself together, I observed the dwarfs. They are shaped like humans, but looking closely, they are quite different. Their skin color is green, but rather than a clear green, it feels like brown skin mixed with a greenish tint. The blood flowing out is red like mine.

Their faces are quite hideous, with large, protruding noses and large, slit-like mouths. Their eyes have no whites like animals, with entirely dark pupils. Their bodies are generally thin, but their bellies are distended, making them somewhat resemble the hungry ghosts in Buddhist paintings.

The fur wrapped around their waists is crude and worn ragged, probably from years of use. Flipping the fur with a tree branch, human-like male genitalia appeared. Immediately, the stench became even stronger, making me want to vomit.

The male genitalia were quite large relative to their bodies, and the other dwarfs were similarly large. Only the reproductive organs seemed abnormally developed. There are no female forms, but maybe their reproductive organs are large too?

Setting that aside, if this is a fantasy world, aren’t these monsters called Goblins?

Suddenly, such a thought crossed my mind. I recall they are supposed to be imaginary creatures appearing in folklore, originally like little demons playing pranks or doing bad things to humans. But in games and anime, they are often male-only and set to attack human women or females of other animals to reproduce.

Either way, they are imaginary existences, so what does it mean that something close to them actually exists? Is it just a coincidence, or have I really come to a fantasy world? I’m gradually starting to feel that way…

If it really is a fantasy world, what should I do? This old man doesn’t know.

Judging by the earlier fight, the Goblins didn’t use Telekinesis or Space Movement, but if there are beasts that use magic instead of psychic powers, that would be trouble. Being burned or frozen with a single signal would be unbearable.

Well, there’s no use imagining and fearing this and that, so I can only hope it’s not that kind of world. So far, I haven’t seen any creatures that contrary to common sense yet. I left the place and aimed for the ridge.

Walking for a while, I finally reached the vicinity of the ridge, but the sea of trees didn’t seem likely to end. I was disappointed, but since I had anticipated it, I didn’t feel too down. I climbed the tallest tree in the area.

As always, the forest continues endlessly, but I could see a lake in the distance, and smoke was rising from near it. It wasn’t on the scale of a forest fire, so I felt like it was smoke rising for daily living purposes. That indicates there are those who use fire.

Could it be that I’ve finally found a place where humans are? Are they camping by the lake? Was the place I had been wandering until now an untouched nature park? If so, it makes sense that there was no one and only nature.

However, at the same time, it seemed more reasonable to think that smoke belonged to the Goblins. Actually, Goblins were hunting beasts here. They wore crude clothes and used tools. It seems better to assume the Goblins possess a fire-using civilization and live with this area as their territory.

There is a high possibility that companions of the Goblins from earlier are there, but I decided to head for it.