Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”You’ve really got a silver tongue, human!” Delaford shrieked in amazement a good while after they left the earth goblin’s room. ”You’re the first person I’ve ever seen talk the boss into changing his mind!”

”That’s because he really needed to change, and I had good reasons.”

Ron let out a long sigh, the back of his clothes already soaked with cold sweat. Neither earth goblins nor regular goblins were the type to readily accept advice. Convincing them to change their minds while being in a position of weakness was no easy feat.

”Speaking of which, you don’t mind being assigned to me, do you?”

”You saved Big White, so Delaford will go with you! Besides, hunting is getting harder and harder. I don’t want to get chewed out for always coming back empty-handed!”

Delaford answered without a moment’s hesitation, nudging Ron’s leg with his elbow. ”Just you watch! I’m a top-notch Hunter. I’ll be a big help!”

”But human, don’t you even think about running away! I won’t show any mercy!”

”My first goal is to survive. Living freely comes after that,” Ron said, glancing down at the goblin with a helpless sigh. ”And stop with the ’human, human’ all the time. Call me Ron.”

”Alright, human. Oh, I mean, Ron.”

When Ron and Delaford returned to the butchering area, the brawl that had broken out over the ”goddess” was still raging. However, Davin the gatherer clearly had the upper hand.

Ron saw him mounted on another goblin, his fists raining down like a storm and beating the other’s face to a pulp.

As for Delaford’s large white rat, it was huddled under Davin’s cutting board. It only came limping over when it saw its master return.

The herbs could only provide basic treatment for its wounds. It might heal on its own if left alone, but a full recovery was unlikely.

Watching Big White interact affectionately with Delaford, Ron took the opportunity to check its condition once more before walking over to Davin, who was still busy pummeling his opponent.

”Davin, give me the key to the cell over there. Your boss gave me permission to let the Half-Elf out.”

”Huh? What’s going—Oof!” In the moment Davin was distracted, the goblin beneath him seized the opportunity. He shot out a kick, sending Davin crashing to the ground with a cry of pain.

”Damn it, this is your fault! Take your keys and get lost!”

Davin ripped the ring of keys from his waist and threw it at Ron. He then scrambled to his feet, tackled his opponent again, and the two goblins went back to rolling around on the ground in a heap.

The two champions weren’t exactly shattering the heavens, but every punch drew blood in the brutal brawl.

”We goblins are a martial race!” Delaford said, looking quite proud of the chaotic scene. ”Even if the boss gives an order, it’ll have to wait until we’re done fighting!”

’And then your leader will probably just beat you all into submission...’

Ron grumbled inwardly as he walked to the cell and began trying the keys one by one on the lock and chain.

The Half-Elf on the ground was still motionless. When Ron turned her over, her skin felt feverishly hot to the touch. The Half-Elf only let out a pained groan, but she didn’t move or open her eyes.

’So Half-Elves can get fevers and fall ill.’

Ron sighed softly. He saw four or five rodent bites on her ankles and legs. In other places, through the tears in her clothes, were even larger teeth marks.

The culprits were undoubtedly rats and wolves. This Half-Elf was truly lucky to still be alive after so many injuries.

’It’s a miracle. In my past life, a single bite from a lab mouse or rat meant an immediate trip to the hospital for treatment. And the rats and wolves here are obviously not as clean as those raised in a lab.’

Rodent teeth possess an almost cheat-code-level of a Trait: ”self-sharpening.” In simple terms, they grow constantly while always staying sharp. Couple that with having the strongest bite force for their size, and it means that a ten-pound small dog might have a hard time injuring a human, but a 100-gram mouse is guaranteed to draw blood with a single bite.

A classmate of Ron’s from his past life had been bitten on the finger by a large rat. Its sharp incisors had bitten straight through his fingernail.

’This ability to inflict wounds, combined with the various pathogens they carry... It wasn’t that humans in my previous world were fragile; it was just that the races of this world were incredibly robust.’

Fortunately, however, this wasn’t the first time Ron had dealt with a situation like this.

”Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!” When Delaford saw Ron gather another handful of herbs and offer it to him, his clear eyes instantly filled with terror. ”Get those away from me! There’s no way I’m chewing them a second time!”

’That stuff is just too damn bitter!’

”Alright, if you want to see other goblins prove they’re braver than you.” Watching Delaford back away, shouting his refusal, Ron smiled slightly. He then raised the herbs high in the air. ”Who wants to prove they’re braver than a Hunter!”

The goblins immediately stopped fighting, and dozens of eyes turned to stare in unison.

Goblins had a caste system, but that didn’t mean the lower castes were content to be treated like beasts of burden forever. Wasn’t this a chance to prove themselves?

”What do we have to do?” Davin was the first to ask.

”Chew the herbs in my hand, then spit the paste onto the Half-Elf’s wounds and spread it evenly—twice in a row!” Ron thought, ’I’m being absolutely wicked.’ ”Because Mr. Delaford’s current record is once!”

”Ooh, ooh, ooh—gimme, gimme!”

As soon as he said it, the goblins erupted. They swarmed forward and began snatching the herbs from Ron’s hand, even starting to fight again over who got more.

Delaford, however, wasn’t angry. He crossed his arms, waiting to coldly watch the other goblins make a show of themselves.

’You can only understand how bitter that stuff is by chewing it yourself—gotta hand it to this human, Ron, he’s a clever one!’

Sure enough, of all the goblins who had grabbed the herbs, half of them spat it out after a single chew. Of the remaining ones, two-thirds didn’t even manage to chew it completely. In the end, a mere five goblins completed the first challenge and applied the poultice to the Half-Elf’s wounds.

And without exception, none of them were willing to try a second time.

”Tch, a bunch of cowards!” Delaford laughed contemptuously. Then he saw Ron, a smile on his face, gather some more herbs and walk over to him again.

”We need one more. There’s a wound we can’t reach,” Ron said, offering the herbs to Delaford for a third time.

The Goblin Hunter’s face fell. ”Can I go outside and ’challenge’ other goblins instead? I’d rather go bite a stink bug!”

”Well... I suppose that’s not out of the question,” Ron said, ”thinking” for a moment. He then looked at Delaford with a surprised expression. ”But I didn’t expect you’d be willing to tolerate more goblins being ’as brave as you.’ You really are a good goblin!”

”You—”

”Right now, we have five non-Hunter goblins... and you...”

”Enough! Give them to me!” Delaford couldn’t take it anymore. He snatched the herbs from Ron’s hand, stuffed them all into his mouth in front of everyone, and began to chew vigorously.

He couldn’t speak now, but Ron could read his expression perfectly—it was a dead ringer for Daffy Duck from the old cartoons.

_You’re despicable._