I Am Not A Goblin Slayer

The view of demons as barbaric and uncouth is merely a stereotype; in truth, their society also has multifaceted human interactions.

If they dared to mock an officer from an alien race, they might be dragged out and beheaded as a spy the next day for stepping into the grand tent with their left foot.

Gauss quickened his pace only after moving away from the clearing.

He could feel a few gazes focused on him earlier. Fortunately, his acting skills seemed to have gone unnoticed, avoiding further scrutiny.

The further he walked in, the more demon tribes he saw.

Gauss bypassed several of the Green Dragon’s main troops’ encampments, moving only through the gaps between small tribes.

Sometimes, he would encounter patrols on the road, and he would even hide beforehand in those goblin tribes.

Due to the discipline of the wild goblin tribes, they couldn’t detect this outside intruder slipping in temporarily.

Or rather, these goblin tribes were a mix of temporary, ragtag groups, unfamiliar with each other, merely summoned by the Green Dragon Queen, unable to refuse instinctively.

An elder goblin, perhaps seeing him as someone who only had a Wooden Shield and no decent weapon, was too pitiful, took him to a tent that stored weapons and handed him a slightly rusty Short Blade.

As Gauss accepted it, he kept an eye on the patrol outside the camp with his peripheral vision, seeing them still welcoming a descending dragon outside before squeezing out a grim smile at the ”companion” in front of him.

This guy could be considered one of the rare ”kind-hearted folks” among the goblins.

From its appearance, it seemed to be an old goblin.

Wrinkled skin, noticeably shrunken stature.

Possibly thirty years old? Or even older?

For the lifespan limit of ordinary goblins, human research seems to lack a definite figure.

Because 99.9% of goblins never need to consider the luxury of lifespan limits.

Those with enough potential, breaking through to become stronger individuals naturally increase their lifespan.

And those ordinary goblins without enough potential generally don’t live to see the day their life expectancy runs out.

The world of demons is far more cruel than the human world, thousands of times over.

Lone goblins with declining body functions, unable to gather enough food, naturally starve or become the prey of other beasts and demons, becoming their meal.

Even being part of a tribe, they still have a tough time dying a natural death.

Before getting old, those who could only consume food without providing enough value would be exiled early.

Thus, even though Gauss had killed so many goblins, the ”old ones” he actually saw were very few.

The age distribution of goblins is likely a very extreme spindle shape, with a super short development cycle and an extremely short elderly period, leaving all the active ones as young adults.

From this perspective, goblins indeed make excellent soldiers.

Thanks to the Spell ”Fluent in Language,” Gauss had already learned the goblin’s ”dialect,” even speaking some simple expressions.

Compared to the human common language, the goblin language is straightforward, even considered crude.

So even at his level, Gauss was capable of managing.

With the intelligence of goblins, many of them might not even express as fluently as he could.

”New kid?”

”Yeah, thanks for the weapon.”

”No need to thank me. It was the queen who distributed the weapons, every goblin can get one.” The old goblin shook its head, subtly patting the dagger at its waist.

Perhaps living too long, its ability to express was noticeably clearer than most ordinary goblins, even surpassing many Elite Level and Commander Level goblins.

The old goblin slightly raised its head, looking at this young, strong, yet bewildered creature in front who forgot to claim a weapon, showing a trace of sympathy on its face.

Maybe it feels like it doesn’t have many days left, so it decided to do something good.

Thinking of such a bewildered creature soon entering that meat grinder of a battlefield, it couldn’t help but feel compassion.

After looking around and seeing no other demons and kins gazing this way, it lowered its voice and spoke.

”Kid, remember, when the war comes in a few days, don’t foolishly charge ahead.”

”Run slower.”

”When other demons fall, you also lie down beside a stone and then find a chance to run backward.”

”Alright.” Gauss continued to mimic a clueless expression.

But he couldn’t help but marvel internally that even among the bottom goblins, there were ”smart ones” capable of cunning survival.

No wonder it managed to survive to old age even with such weak abilities.

No doubt, this pretend-to-be-dead act wasn’t a first-time occurrence.

After the human and demon war broke out, the bottom goblins, used as cannon fodder, definitely died the fastest and the most.

Not all goblins could ponder survival techniques like this elder goblin.

Perhaps seeing Gauss not behaving savagely like other goblins, the elder goblin even shared some advanced tricks with him.

Gauss also waited for the dragon in the distance to leave.

It seemed to carry a sufficiently influential high-level Monster Legion officer landing nearby.

So, Gauss wasn’t in a hurry to continue his journey, silently staying with the old goblin.

He had made adequate psychological preparations before departure.

Even at a slower pace, he must minimize risks.

Especially on the front lines of this Monster Legion, caution is paramount.

”We should be marching again soon.”

Actually, by this point, Gauss had discerned the old goblin’s mentality.

Instead of saying it was guiding this newbie,

it was more about its overwhelming fear of the impending war, and it happened to chat with this low-intelligence companion to soothe its deep-rooted anxiety.

Wisdom was the source of its pain.

Unlike other goblins living in oblivion, it fully grasped the terror of the forthcoming war but happened to be too weak to enact any change.

It could only pin its hopes for survival on scant luck.

”Did you see that dragon earlier?”

”They are likely messengers of the Green Dragon Queen, here to deliver marching orders.”

”On the battlefield, stay far away from them, their fighting movements could shatter your little frame.”

The elder goblin sighed.

Continuing to march means that war is inching closer.

Driven by blurry eyes, it bewilderedly scanned the surroundings, many goblin companions were still fighting each other on the clearing, baring teeth and growling at each other, completely oblivious that their lives only have a few days left.

As a rare sage, yet without a Magic talent, it constantly felt out of place within the goblin tribe.

Toward its race, it felt pathetic, pitiful, yet hateful.

Whenever seeing this group of foolish, green-skinned race people fighting for a bit of food or other things, or pressing other creatures to vent desires, it felt a rejection arising deep inside.

Such filthy, stupid, abominable creatures.

Yet, when looking down at its skin identical to these beasts, the desire to retch would soon transform into a profound despair.

Because it is, too, a member of these beasts.

Its skin, its flesh, its blood, all testified to that fact.

Gauss took a covert glance at the beside depressed elder goblin.

Outside the camp, the dragon rose into the sky again, presumably the queen’s messengers mentioned by the elder goblin might be flying to other tribes to announce the queen’s decree.

Taking advantage of the old goblin’s emocional gap, he stood up again, and continued towards the direction outside the camp.

Beyond this legion’s encampment zone, heading deeper into the forest, the chances of encountering demons would start to decrease.

Then, he could officially proceed to the Dragon’s Nest.

After Gauss left, the elder goblin belatedly looked to its side, realizing the silent young goblin was no longer there, and it sighed again subtly.

Left already?

This little guy, even though they just met for the first time but unlike other goblins, left a very good impression.

Perhaps, it might actually be, like itself, one of those rare smart guys?

Thinking of this, it stood up, deciding to search for the other party once more.