Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”But why are you so convinced there’s a greater power behind it?” Ron didn’t understand. ”Couldn’t it just be the power you discovered itself?”

”Baron Saran Lane ran tests. He was a very clever man and had long suspected there might be a problem with the power itself, but the results came back negative.”

That’s why he was bold enough to carry out that capture plan. From the Baron’s perspective at the time, he was just using himself as bait, which he didn’t think would be very dangerous.

”Perhaps the kingdom that came before you also discovered something similar underground...” Ron mused, stroking his chin. ”The difference is, they unleashed a deadly plague, and the Corruptor was believed to be their Last Queen herself.”

Just as Aiksuuri had said, there was no power in the names or events themselves; the power lay with the entity behind them. A creature on the level of an adult gold dragon might attract its attention and intervention, but those on Ron and You’s level would go completely unnoticed.

”If it’s ’fishing’ like that, won’t it just starve itself?” Sera scratched her head. ”Eating once every few hundred years?”

”One meal every few hundred years, but it’s guaranteed to be a feast. And as it devours more and more civilizations, more ruins and treasures are left behind on this land, which in turn attracts more ’fish’ to take the bait,” Ron said.

”In a region dense with the Southern City-States, this land is one of the few remaining ’pure lands.’ Just as Klade said before, as soon as someone establishes a foothold here, large populations, from the elderly to the young, will flock to them. This speeds up development and shortens the waiting time for the subterranean entity’s next meal.”

”Judging from the two samples we have so far, the entity doesn’t act directly. Instead, it uses plague and corruption to carry out its will. This actually gives us room to maneuver. If we prepare properly, we might be able to resist its encroachment. But to do that, we still need to gather more information.”

”I want to go too!” You chimed in eagerly. ”I still know quite a lot of things. I can definitely help!”

”And I’m an Undead Creature! I don’t need air, food, or sleep, so I definitely won’t be a burden!”

”Ahem...” A certain half-undead creature gave a noncommittal grunt. You’s appearance clearly posed a risk of her being relegated to the B-team, since Ron had already squeezed Silvia’s knowledge almost completely dry.

”Then let’s rest here for the night. We’ll set out tomorrow morning.”

Ron, however, didn’t notice Silvia’s slight moodiness. To him, she and You were completely irreplaceable by one another—You couldn’t make up for a lack of Arcane Magic firepower, and Silvia couldn’t pass through solid objects.

After spending a night in the newly established village, Ron led the group toward the mine that the gold dragon had marked.

That area was one of the few relatively dry regions in the Delusional Land. When they finally left the mud and stepped onto solid stone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

”Is this the mine? It looks like it’s collapsed.” Sera surveyed their surroundings, her gaze finally landing on a hill ahead that was composed almost entirely of stone.

”After the ancient queen emerged from the underground, she ordered all the mines shut down,” Ron recalled from the information in the scale. ”And that era was so long ago. There probably aren’t any creatures left here.”

”I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you,” You said after drifting around the area, quickly making a discovery. ”Look here! Fresh footprints!”

It was the transitional zone between the mine and the swamp. A large set of messy footprints led out of the swamp, heading in the direction of the mine.

”Barefoot, and with long nails,” Delaford said, carefully examining the prints for more information. ”They’re about as tall as you, and they’re hunched over.”

”I can understand figuring out they’re as tall as a person, but how can you tell they’re hunched over?” Aive asked Delaford, bewildered.

”Look at the footprints. Their center of gravity is shifted forward.” Delaford pointed at the tracks, which looked nearly identical to Ron. ”They walk like this. Let me show you.”

As he spoke, Delaford began to bend at the waist, crane his neck, and lurch forward with a limp. He wasn’t used to this way of walking, however, and tumbled over after just two steps.

”Ghouls!” Victoria recognized the creature Delaford was imitating at a glance, because the goblin’s impersonation was just too good.

These Undead Creatures, driven by an endless hunger for the flesh of humanoids, roam in packs through the night. Like maggots and carrion beetles, they thrive in places of rot and death.

”This swamp really has everything!” Sera said with a disgusted expression, grabbing Delaford by the scruff of his neck and lifting him up. ”Stop imitating that thing! Just thinking about them makes me lose my appetite!”

”Why?” Aive tilted her head at Sera. ”You have them in the north, too?”

”Those things are everywhere!” Sera frowned. ”Ghouls appear wherever they can feast on dead flesh and rotting organs. On the snow plains, as you know, the flesh of corpses doesn’t rot or get buried easily. These monsters roam the blizzards in packs!”

”Back home, we have a story to scare children: Never go play outside the tribe on a snowy day! When you get lost in a blizzard, don’t try to approach any figures for help, because they’re probably Ghouls!”

”How terrifying,” Silvia said with a frightened expression. Although she was a Vampire Descendant, it didn’t mean she felt any kinship with these distant undead relatives. ”Sera, have you ever encountered a Ghoul yourself?”

”I have. It was after a hunt!” Sera said in a low voice. ”I once made a drunken bet that I could hunt a mammoth all by myself!”

”I succeeded, but by then, night had fallen—and northern winters are brutally cold. To escape the blizzard, I cut open the mammoth’s belly and crawled inside. I was sleeping comfortably when, around midnight, I suddenly heard the RUSTLE RUSTLE of footsteps outside. Then, something started tearing and gnawing at the mammoth’s flesh.”

”My first thought was, what clueless predator would dare steal my kill? I gripped my axe in one hand, threw open the mammoth’s belly with the other, and came face-to-face with the disgusting, horrifying, corpse-like faces of five Ghouls!”

”Just then, they noticed me too and charged. We fell into a brawl. They were driven by an endless hunger and armed with sharp fangs and claws. I, on the other hand, had my fury and my old friend here!” Sera said, smugly hefting the giant axe in her hand.