Goblin Knight - Chapter 338



Only Noblemtl

EP.338 Once Upon a Time (18)

It felt like one misunderstanding had been corrected.

Because of the testimonies he had heard about the Demons up to this point, and the loyalty shown by the members of the Federation (mainly Yaul), Blanc had always thought of the Demons as something like the ‘royalty of the monster nation’.

That was wrong.

There is no such thing as a monster country. Each race lives with its own reproduction and culture, and the Demon Race… and the Dream Horses are no different from them.

If you take away their innate, powerful abilities, they are nothing more than a monster race.

They were even openly growling at each other with contempt.

‘… … Perhaps this was one of the reasons why humans were able to win the war. Because the monsters were not united as one at first.’

Moreover, their opponents were humans, whom the monsters looked down on and called ‘food’.

When they declared war, the vast majority of monsters probably thought nothing of the prey that would roll into their territory on its own.

Even when they heard that humans had won, rather than being wary of them, they would laugh at the defeated monsters and say, ‘What an incredibly stupid thing they did’…

I think it was called the Federation.

Those words, which were difficult to understand at first, I can now understand a little.

The word federation was not very suitable, as these races were so different from each other that they had to endure inconveniences and unite as one.

The drinking party continues, leaving behind the gloomy realization.

Blanc’s original next question was ‘What is your relationship with the followers of the Broken Moon?’, but since Nelivia had already asked that question, he turns to asking about Iscariot.

Who knows, maybe we could figure out his fatal weakness in advance when we face him in the future.

But there is no information that will tickle your ears, and instead, there is only a heartwarming story of childhood memories between Iscariot and the nun that becomes bitter the more you listen to it.

The conversation that followed didn’t go very well either.

This is because the presence of two women who were starting to get drunk played a huge role.

Sister Derk, who knows that Nelivia has no intention of using her abilities right now because of Blanc’s presence, gently provokes her, and in response, Nelivia commits blasphemy, a vicious cycle that continues.

In the end, the strange logic of competing with each other to see which race is physically superior based on their drinking capacity came out, and before anyone could stop them, the two women drank the entire bottle of wine and collapsed side by side.

“… … .”

Sister Derk, who appeared pious and innocent on the outside.

And Blanc let out a long, deep sigh as he watched the girl with the face of his love, Annelie, lying face down, hugging the bottle of alcohol.

Amidst countless other thoughts like how on earth am I going to clean up this mess, where am I going to sleep, and is it okay to just leave these women like this?

Blanc decided to remember just one lesson.

‘Come to think of it… I’ve never seen Annelly really drunk… … .’

It may have been to assist Blanc, but it may also have been because he unconsciously anticipated ‘this kind of situation’ and tried to avoid it.

After this, what she does should not happen.

That was it.

* * *

“hey.”

“Um, uh… yeah… Rajili?”

“Get up slowly.”

“Why… …? Is your mother calling you? But… the sunlight is so nice… just 5 more minutes… … .”

“Wake up and get out of bed, you sleepyhead!!”

“Huh!?”

The girl who had been sleeping unconsciously, drooling and lying face down on the table in the VIP room, suddenly woke up screaming.

Nellyvia, who had been staring at Blanc in surprise for a moment, glared at him and shouted.

“Wh, wh… What are you doing!? You wake up a lady who is resting her tired body like this? This is the bare minimum of courtesy-”

“The sun is setting across the sky! You’ve been lying there in that pitiful state for half a day!!”

“uh…….”

Nellyvia looked out the window with puzzled eyes.

Above the open window, where a cool and refreshing autumn breeze was blowing, the sun, which was spreading its warm grace today as well, was leisurely leaning toward the west.

The girl, who had been frozen for a moment, must have thought that this was a bit odd, and awkwardly wiped the drool from her chin.

Blanc sighed at the sight of the girl who couldn’t help but keep comparing herself to Annelie.

“In a way, I would say it was great. I cleared everything yesterday, went to the morning service with the nuns who had already risen, walked around the church, talked to the children who had let their guard down, sold the things I had hunted outside the city to secure supplies for the trip, finished the midday service, and came back here, and waited for you to wake up for about three hours.”

“… … .”

“To be able to sleep soundly for so long without waking up even once… You must be a species born with the ability to control dreams. I wish I could sleep like that just once. It would be refreshing, like being born again… … .”

“Would you please shut up?”

Nellyvia blushed and grumbled, then flicked her hand away.

The girl’s face, which had been in a state of disarray in many ways, was now neatly organized.

But when I saw something slightly ‘unnatural’ near the face, I thought maybe it was some kind of illusion magic that tricked me.

“Magic is convenient.”

“… … It’s just a stopgap measure. So, Goblin, what are you going to do now?”

“greeting.”

Blanc led Nelivia down to the first floor.

Sister Derk, who was diligently preparing for evening prayer, recognized them and approached them.

“It looks like you’re awake. You seemed to have overworked yourself yesterday. Are you feeling better?

“You don’t have to worry about anything! Can’t you see that I look fine?”

“Oh, of course you would. You’ve been sleeping for almost fifteen hours, so if you have a hangover, that’s okay-”

“Please, both of you, get there.”

Blanc, not wanting to go through the agony of being stuck among the drunks last night again, stopped the two.

Sister Derk said with an awkward smile.

“I just feel sorry for Meblang-sama. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to drink without feeling nervous, so I ended up making a big mess… … .”

“Wasn’t that the story that ended this morning? It’s enough that you helped me here and there. And I also got the next destination.”

“Next destination?”

When Nellyvia tilted her head, not hearing the story, Blanc pointed to his armor and said.

“As you can see, I desperately need a place to repair this armor right now.”

“Aha. You mean ‘full body armor’?”

“Yes. I was worried because it seemed like there wasn’t a blacksmith like that in this city, but the nun told me about a good place. Not too far north, there’s a place where many of her ‘relatives’ live… There’s someone there who might be able to help me. Right?”

“Yes. Are you leaving right now?”

“Everything that needed to be done has been done, and there is nothing left to worry about. There is no reason to delay any longer.”

Blanc turned his head slightly and looked toward the church.

Through the window he could see several pairs of eyes of the children he had saved looking at him.

“… … I hope everyone has a good future.”

“Of course it will be. They are children who were personally summoned by the Western Saints. Your Majesty will look into it.”

“huh?”

Nellyvia, who had been sleeping all morning and had not heard the children’s stories, tilted her head.

“I guess I can explain it to you on the way,” Blanc said, extending her hand to Sister Derk.

“I hope you and this church are at peace.”

“May your journey be filled with blessings, Meblang.”

“and…….”

Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

Blanc closed his eyes tightly, conflicted over whether he should tell the story of the future Iscariot in some form or not… and then opened them again.

“and?”

“No, take good care of your priest. He seems like a good and intelligent child.”

“You saw it well. Of course.”

That wasn’t a matter for him to get involved in.

The nun smiled and responded.

With that exchange over with, Blanc turned away from the church and headed out of the city.

* * *

When they arrived back at the stables, the horses pulling the carriage saw Blanc and their faces turned red with despair as if the horrible creature had come back for them.

There’s still some time left until the human form transformation is released, so how do you know? Animal sense?

Well, it might be better than having the transformation wear off mid-trip and then realizing it. Blanc retrieved his carriage and horse and headed out the north gate of the city.

After walking along the sparsely paved stone path for a few minutes, Nellyvia suddenly spoke to me.

“But goblin.”

“huh?”

“What was that conversation earlier? A gathering in the saints?”

“Ah… yes, I tried to explain. Do you remember how they reacted when we tried to send the kids back to their hometown? They were embarrassed, but they were reluctant to talk about it properly.”

“……however?”

“So, since I sent him back to the church as he wanted, I thought his guard would be lowered, so I asked him a question together with Sister Derk. And this time, he answered.”

Blanc continued speaking casually.

“Those children were children who had been called by the Pope and were destined to become saints. Soon, someone from the church would arrive to lead them.

But before they got there, he got involved in a kidnapping incident by the ‘rat pack’, and then he met me by chance and was rescued.

But when he tried to explain the situation, he remembered the church people who came to his house and told him to keep all of this a secret if possible. That’s why he couldn’t tell them.

I asked a nun just in case, and she also knew about it. It was called ‘a campaign to recruit children who show talent for the priesthood and educate them to become priests’ or something like that.

Well, fortunately it wasn’t as big of a deal as I was worried about… … .”

Blanc, who had been talking continuously, suddenly stopped talking.

That’s because Nellyvia’s expression while listening to the story was strange.

“Nelivia?”

“… … You showed talent for the priesthood?”

“I heard that’s what happened? Are there any special conditions? I thought it was a campaign to help children who are relatively bright and intelligent.”

“that is?”

Nellyvia asked, as if she really didn’t understand.

“Even if that guy named Grani is like that… ‘Those things’ showed a bright and intelligent side? No way.”

“… … Mongma, I kept saying it, but prejudice-”

“I tell you, Goblin. This isn’t some kind of bias. I’ve seen into their dreams myself.”

Still frowning.

“Ninety percent of them had no shining talents. Does that sound cruel? But it’s true. They were just ordinary, normal human kids with nothing special about them.”

“What is that… … .”

“I know I don’t know much about humans or religion, but I know this for sure. Whatever reason they were chosen, it wasn’t because of any kind of priestly talent.”

“… … A little more detail-”

The moment I was about to say, “Tell me.”

Blanc’s sharp ears perked up for a moment.

It meant that extreme danger had been detected.

“Get down!!”

“What- Hyaak!?”

The moment Blanc grabbed Nelivia’s head and pulled her down, a line of sword strikes passed over their heads.

An attack aimed exactly at Blanc’s neck.

It felt familiar.

“executor…….”

“… … .”

Three executioners, including the man in white seen in the forest a while ago.

The one in the lead glanced at the distinctive scroll, then tilted his head and spoke.

“Anyone who is not in the law…?”

“what?”

“… … No, the law is never wrong.”

He folded the scroll and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword again, thinking.

“Enforce the decree.”