Swordsmaster Fox-girl

After finishing our meal, we went to sleep. Well, only kid Ihwa did since I stayed up to stand guard. However, when I saw Fenris get into the tent with her, I got jealous.

‘...It should’ve been me, not her!’¹

I could already imagine myself in kid Ihwa’s place, hugging the fluffy Fenris.

That aside, the night was pretty uneventful. 

“Good morning,” kid Ihwa yawned as she got out of the tent while hugging Fenris with her right arm.

I gave her a nod and began making breakfast.

“Smells good,” kid Ihwa briefly remarked as she sat down on the log.

As I was about to bring the pot over to her, I heard something rustling in the nearby bushes. Kid Ihwa and I exchanged brief glances before we both drew our swords and readied ourselves for a fight.

Soon, from the bushes, three green-skinned figures rushed out.

‘Gob— no, Goblin children?’

They were about half as tall as a normal goblin. Donning purely fur clothes and wielding no weapon, they looked harmless. 

However, it would be suicidal to let my guard down.

And, I was correct. However, it wasn’t in the way I’d expected. As soon as the Goblins got into my range, a tree behind them was snapped in half and thrown toward them, and by extension, me.

Staring at it with blank eyes, I used [Aura sharpening] on Kirion and slashed. As the log was split into two, I could see the perpetrator—an ape-like Monster as tall as two adult humans with fur covering its entire body.

‘Coldsape? It’s a 1-star Monster but… what is it doing in [Goblin nest]?’

I was slowly getting more convinced that something was wrong. However, I didn’t have time to think about it further as the Coldsape suddenly roared and began rushing madly at me.

“Oi, shut up. My baby eardrums can’t handle that.”

Of course, it couldn’t understand what I was saying. Continuing to roar annoyingly, it brought its fist down to the ground, knocking up layers of snow into the air in the process. 

However, I’d already moved behind it by the time the snow settled down. Off-guard, and, with a sharp cut to the heart, the Coldsape died.

‘One down, three more to go.’

As I turned around and was about to kill the remaining Goblins, I saw said Goblins, all three of them, huddling together on the log that kid Ihwa and I sat on and eating the stew that I painstakingly prepared.

But it wasn’t as if they were eating it uninvited, as kid Ihwa was feeding them with twinkling eyes.

‘Seriously?’

I sighed and decided to let them live… for now. I wouldn’t want to bring kid Ihwa’s mood down this soon, and maybe I could get information out of the Goblins…somehow.

As they finished the meal, the Goblins exchanged glances with each other before they all stood up simultaneously and bowed to me.

‘Is this…them displaying gratefulness? What the fuck?’

These Goblins were abnormally clever. 

Then, one of them rushed toward kid Ihwa and tugged on her sleeve, beckoning her to follow it. Similarly, the remaining Goblins walked up to me and pulled on my sleeves.

‘As long as I’m careful, it shouldn’t hurt to go.’

“Follow them, but keep your guard up.”

We let the Goblins lead the way for an hour or so before we finally saw something of note. 

Tall stone walls, a big wooden gate, and several green-skinned sentries stationed atop said walls; it looked just like a big town.

‘O-Okay, now something’s really fucked up.’

Was this Status’ idea of a “nest?”

‘Speaking of Status… I should probably consult it.’

“Status, remind me of the clear condition,” I muttered.

‘2-star? Hobgoblins? What?!’

W-Wasn’t this supposed to be a 1-star Dungeon!?

-”Nova.”

Hobgolins? Seriously? It’d only be slightly more annoying for me to fight Hobgoblins but…

-”Why aren’t you listening to Noona...”

…2-star Shaman… 3-star Berserker…however strong I might’ve been in my previous life, I knew that I couldn’t take them out in a direct fight in this current body. Well, maybe I could take on the Shaman if I’d just be less stubborn and summon Avaron, but I’d rather not feed that haughty sword any more Mana t—

“NOVA!”

Someone shouted and shook my shoulders violently.

‘Oh, I spaced out.’

After blinking a few times to make sure that I wasn’t spacing out anymore, I realized that the one who shook me was kid Ihwa.

“What happened?” I asked.

She heaved a sigh of relief and pointed toward the town I saw earlier. Now, the big door was open, and the Goblins children were beckoning us to enter. All the while, the sentries on the walls were pointing their bows at us.

Beyond the door was buildings made of… concrete? It definitely didn’t look like any Goblin settlements I’d ever seen before as it was more akin to a small(ish) human town.

‘Well, I’ll be dammed. We’re dead if this was a trap.’

It looked like we didn’t have a choice either. As soon as we turn back, we’d most likely be turned into child-sized pincushions. The only thing I could do now was enter the gate as confidently as possible.

With firm steps, my chin up high, and the usual expressionless face, I led kid Ihwa into the gate. As soon as we went beyond the wall, an armored Goblin, this time an adult one, rushed up to us and raised one hand straight up into the sky.

“Ashr ascY WsM,” it said.

‘Is that supposed to be a salute?’

 Then, it grabbed my hand and shook it. “AsUW Ders kieka!”

‘I guess it’s thanking me for saving the kids?’

“Uhhh… you’re welcome.”

“Fucwr doxa Tyersi?”

“Haha, yes.”

“Kiald sica aosj!”

“Uhhh… I guess?”

“Vebsa, sudv er Tirka!”

As soon as the armored Goblin shouted this, the three kid Goblins ran toward what I could only image to be the town’s center.

Clasping its hand together, the armored Goblin pointed toward itself and said, “Jaxt.”

‘Is it telling me its name?’

I glanced at kid Ihwa. She seemed to have the same idea as I was since she was copying the Goblin.

“Hi, Jaxt. I’m Ihwa.”

The Goblin snapped its head toward kid Ihwa and jumped up and down happily. “Ihwa?”

“Ihwa.”

She then pointed toward Fenris.

“He’s Fenris.”

The Goblin nodded and pointed toward me while looking at her.

“Hef ik?”

“He’s Nova,” Ihwa answered as if she could understand what the Goblin was saying.

“You know what these green guys are saying?” I asked.

Ihwa shook her head. “No. I’m just guessing.”

As soon as we completed our little exchange, the armored Goblin opened the door of a nearby concrete building and called our names out.

“Ihwa, Nova, ascu, ikasy!”

“She wants us to enter the building,” Ihwa commented.

“...How do you know that it’s a ‘she?’”

“Her voice is higher.”

‘Seriously? She can figure that out from the pitch of the Goblin’s voice? I’m not even going to question it.’ 

Not really knowing what else to do, I entered the building with kid Ihwa and Fenris. As soon as I did so, I could see a set of wooden chairs and tables laid bare before us, and Jaxt pouring some kind of liquid from a pot into some cups; liquid that, from the smell, was probably tea made from Kayled herbs.

Kid Ihwa and I excused ourselves and sat on the chair. Meanwhile, Fenris went under the table and curled up under my feet just like a dog. 

As kid Ihwa was about to drink the tea, I stopped her.

“Don’t, it could be poison.”

She sniffed the cup for a bit before shaking her head. “No. Not poison.”

“How would you even know that?”

“Poison smells different.”

Hearing the absolute confidence in her voice, I couldn’t help but frown mentally.

‘Just what kind of training did she have to go through?’

When I was her age, I had to go to the battlefield and carry spare pieces of armor for knights, but it seemed that kid Ihwa had it worse than I did.

As I was making assumptions about kid Ihwa, the door suddenly burst open. Reflexively, I grabbed Kirion readied myself. It seemed to be the right call as from the doorway, a green-skinned, hulking figure wearing a fur cape and some kind of skull as a helmet emerged. It pointed the huge battleaxe it was holding at me and roared in that strange language again.

“Bisx! Ty’arx!”

The axe split through the air and flew directly toward me.

The cold sweat running down my back warned me that I must avoid this attack at all costs! Quickly directing my Aura to my legs, I used [Star steps] and kicked the air, sending myself and the chair I was sitting on sliding back.

It was at this time that kid Ihwa finally drew her sword and got into a stance. She looked as if she was going to pounce at the Goblin at any second. 

Before things could escalate, however, Jaxt marched right up to the huge Goblin and kicked its shin. Of course, a creature as weak-looking as Jaxt couldn’t even make the Goblin budge, but it still managed to make the Goblin stop its attack.

Scratching the skull it was wearing, the Goblin said in a raised voice,

“Kint humax dyer!”

But Jaxt shook its head in apparent disapproval.

“Un terx ret! Noxt ru!”

The huge Goblin sighed. Before it could do anything else, however, another, smaller Goblin emerged from behind its back. It looked even more frail than Jaxt, but I could tell that it was much more powerful. It wore some kind of dark robe that looked warm, with a staff in its hand. 

Jabbing the huge Goblin’s arm to apparently rebuke it, the frail Goblin then turned toward us and extended its hand out.

“Tirka, dsxe.”

But I remained vigilant and scowled,

“What are you planning here?”

“Fucwr doxa Tyersi?”

“Fuck do I know what you mean.”

The Goblin scratched its head before its eyes lit up as if it thought of something amazing. Then, it raised its staff up as if to cast a spell. No, it was casting a spell.

I didn’t try to stop it. After all, the Mana that was swirling toward its staff was molded in the formation of a Buff.

[Blessing of Lughr]

A shimmering light descended onto Ihwa and I.

Before I could even process the fact that the frail Goblin chanted in Astorian, it extended its hand out again with what I could only assume was a polite smile on its hideous face.

“Ehem, can you understand me now? I believe that a re-introduction is needed. I’m Tirka the Shaman, advisor of Noxt the Berserker.”