Chapter 146: Goblin Tribe

During our little grinding session, we came across what seemed to be the group of Goblins those four we killed had belonged to. Following the small Goblin footprints and the sound of the monsters’ grumbling, we found their hideout in the middle of the woods.

Hidden in a depression within the forest was a tribe inhabited by Goblins. They had probably been living there since their dungeon had been cleared. If they weren’t inside it, they would remain in this world, continuously reproducing.

It was about six meters down to the bottom of the clearing; the place was vast, and I could see around thirty Goblins moving about. I estimated there were about fifty in total living there as some kind of tribe.

“Oh, looks like we found a great place to level up!” Erina said excitedly.

I agreed with her. It was as if we had stumbled upon a gold mine full of free farm. I could definitely raise my Valkyries’ levels here with ease.

While I was planning in my head the best approach to eliminate the Goblins, a sharp scream broke the silence.

“No, please let me go!” a young woman screamed as she was dragged away by Goblins.

The Goblins dragged the girl toward what looked like a wooden prison, where other women were being held. Even from there, I could see that some Goblins wanted to jump on the girls and have their way with them, but one Goblin holding a staff ordered them to keep their distance, while another accompanied the group.

“Are those magic staffs?” Justine asked me.

“Yes, those two should be able to use magic to some extent,” I replied.

“Rick,” Diane addressed me, “aren’t Goblins monsters with a strong sexual appetite? This might sound cruel, but why aren’t they attacking the girls?”

“I understand what you mean, Diane. Normally, they would go after the girls, but they’re holding back because of the hierarchy among them.”

“Hierarchy?”

“That’s right. In every Goblin group, there are those who give orders and those who obey. In this case, I believe the mages among them are higher-ranked, so if they give orders, the others obey simply because they’re weaker. If the opposite happens, the Goblins would fight each other right there to the death.”

“But it’s still strange,” Alicia pointed out. “That rule shouldn’t apply to the mages as well.”

“I believe they’re saving them for the strongest among them. If someone were found touching the girls beforehand, they’d definitely start fighting among themselves.”

“That means there’s a Goblin stronger than even the mages? What a headache,” Erina complained.

There were ten women imprisoned in that cell, and judging by their clothes, which were still intact, I assumed they were still unharmed. The Goblin leader was probably away, maybe out hunting. I looked at the current status of my new Valkyries after the small grind we had done.

[

Name: Diane Stollen

Level: 3

Class: Shadow Assassin

Title: Valkyrie

Master: Richard Forster

Health: 80 points

Mana: 66 points

Strength: 9 points

Defense: 1 point

Magic: 2 points

Agility: 7 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

[

Name: Erina Ashburn

Level: 3

Class: Marksman

Title: Valkyrie

Master: Richard Forster

Health: 70 points

Mana: 66 points

Strength: 10 points

Defense: 1 point

Magic: 3 points

Agility: 5 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

[

Name: Camula

Level: 5

Monster: Demonic Slime

Title: Valkyrie

Master: Richard Forster

Health: 122 points

Mana: 70 points

Strength: 7 points

Defense: 15 point

Magic: 8 points

Agility: 2 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

With our current setup, Erina would be our main damage dealer, Diane would be our eliminator, focused on picking off weaker, out-of-position enemies, and Camula would be our tank with the highest defense. ’I’d better go as well. After all, there are too many enemies for beginners.’

“Erina, you stay here. You’ll have a better field of view to attack the Goblins from up here. Diane, Camula, you come with me. The rest of you stay here and do not interfere—this fight is for training the newcomers, understood?”

“Understood,” they all replied in unison.

On the other side of the depression, there was a path that led to the entrance of the tribe, but that would mean walking all the way there—not to mention going in through the front door. Right in front of us was a steep slope, which wouldn’t be a good idea for normal people. But who said that, at this point, I was anything close to normal?

“Alright, let’s go!” I said excitedly.

“Alright, let’s— Waah!” Diane was startled as I lifted her into my arms. “Why are you doing this?”

“So we can slide down to the bottom,” I said to her calmly.

“Eh? Are you crazy?!” she asked nervously.

But I didn’t care about her complaints. “Ah, right. Camula, unfortunately I can only carry one of you.”

“Fufu, it’s not a problem, Master,” she said with a smile, then clung to my neck from behind, her legs wrapping tightly around my body. “This way is good enough for me.”

I could feel the gazes of the other four staring at Camula.

“Doesn’t she have any shame?” Justine asked.

“The moment we turn our backs, she jumps on him,” Alicia said coldly.

“As expected from a Demon created by Rick. A true pervert,” Sarah said.

But despite their words, Camula didn’t seem to care.

“Master, you smell so good,” she said, sniffing my neck.

“That’s enough!” I said, putting an end to their goofing around. “Let’s finish this already!”

“R-Rick, wait a second— Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” Diane screamed loudly as we slid down the slope.

I was right. Thanks to my increased level and stats, doing something like this was actually easy for me. Instead of slipping down the sandy terrain, it felt like I was surfing a wave on a board. It was actually fun.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”—except for Diane. She didn’t stop screaming the entire way down.

“Hey, hey, you’re going to attract the Goblins’ attention,” I teased her. “I thought you didn’t have a problem with heights.”

She replied irritably, “And I don’t, but I’ve never had to do something this stupid in someone else’s arms!!”

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