“Gagoo, gagoo! (Intruder!)”
A sharp alarm shattered the silence of the forest clearing.
The goblin sentry lurking by a dead tree near the lair's entrance let out a series of urgent, rasping warnings from its throat.
A pair of beady eyes locked onto a figure emerging from the tree line.
It was a cloaked humanoid, strolling unhurriedly toward the lair.
A commotion broke out inside the cave.
Goblins dancing around a campfire scrambled to their feet. Some grabbed stone axes propped against the walls, while others gripped sharpened wooden stakes.
A slightly larger goblin poked its head out from the cave entrance, grunting a muffled question back to the sentry.
The cloaked figure paused and shouted back at the sentry in an equally squeaky voice:
“Gwagwa-gaga-ga! (I am a goblin!)”
The pronunciation, intonation, and lilting cadence at the end... were identical to a goblin's.
The sentry tilted its head, scrutinizing the figure suspiciously. It tilted its head the other way, thoroughly bewildered—how could one of its own kind be so tall?
A moment later, it lowered its wooden spear and relaxed its shoulders, calling back into the cave.
“Gaga-gwa! (One of us!)”
The atmosphere in the lair immediately relaxed.
The sentry even waved at the cloaked figure, gesturing for them to come closer and talk.
The cloaked figure walked forward while replying to the sentry's questions in Goblin.
By the time she reached the sentry, the goblin had completely lowered its guard, even leaning its wooden spear against a tree trunk as it jabbered away, complaining about how cold it was lately, how hard food was to find, and how difficult villages were to raid.
The cloaked figure nodded along while stepping closer to its side. Then, she drew her sword in a flash.
A single thrust pierced straight through its throat.
The goblin sentry clutched its throat, its green face a picture of total confusion.
It couldn't comprehend why one of its own kind would suddenly turn on it.
Rosie paid no mind to its bewildered glare.
She yanked her blade from the goblin's throat, wiped the blood on its tattered grass skirt, and looked up at the cluster of goblins inside the lair, all staring at her in stunned disbelief.
They were still in the relaxed state from when the sentry had declared "one of us," their expressions shifting rapidly from confusion to terror.
Whoosh!
Rosie executed a Charge, rushing forward while raising her blade and shouting at them in Goblin.
“Gwagwa-gaga-ga! (I am a goblin!)”
The moment the words left her mouth, she slashed at the nearest goblin.
The goblin's head flew off trailing an arc of blood, tumbling twice across the ground. Its green face was frozen in blank confusion, seemingly still wondering what this "fellow goblin" had just said.
The goblins finally erupted into utter chaos.
“Gagwa-gwaga! (It's an enemy!)”
Panic erupted. Some scrambled for weapons while others crawled and tumbled toward the back of the lair, shoving and trampling one another in a chaotic mess of green bodies.
Rosie pursued them with her sword drawn, swinging as she shouted in Goblin, “Don't attack! I'm one of you!”
She slashed as she shouted, her tone sincere, her strikes ruthless.
...
After departing from Lawrence Mine, Rosie had been traveling south.
The snowstorm ebbed and flowed, making travel treacherous and slow going.
Whenever she spotted signs of goblins, she would track them down and exterminate the little greenskins. It raised her weapon proficiency while charging up her Goblin Slayer progression at the same time.
And ever since acquiring Ancient Language Proficiency, she had started attempting to converse with them.
The little greenskins were hopelessly foolish. As long as Rosie shouted that she was a goblin, they would genuinely believe her, allowing her to approach for an easy ambush every time.
This was already the fourth goblin lair she had purged.
Yet these greenskin brigands seemed practically endless.
Firelight illuminated the relatively spacious interior of the cave.
The last few surviving goblins huddled together in the deepest corner, letting out pathetic wails.
Rosie flicked the blood off her blade, about to step forward to finish them off, when a system prompt suddenly popped up before her eyes.
[Level 2 Swordsmanship: 200/200 → Level 3 Swordsmanship, Constitution +1]
A warm sensation surged from deep within her body.
Her muscles and joints relaxed, and the fatigue accumulated from continuous travel and combat vanished instantly.
“Leveling up through real combat really is fast.”
She let out a breath, then casually delivered two strikes to cut down two trembling goblins in the corner to celebrate her level-up.
Just then, the system panel flared to life once more.
[Goblin Slayer Progress: 100%]
[Please select a goblin trait: Fecundity, Bully the Weak, Petty Theft]
Fecundity — Extreme fertility; the more offspring produced, the stronger the tribe becomes.
“What on earth?”
Looking at this baffling trait, Rosie didn't even consider it for a second before skipping right past it.
Bully the Weak — Increases intimidation against weaker targets, decreases presence against stronger targets.
It sounded like it had some tactical value, but true power didn't rely on such a trait to scrape by.
Petty Theft — Permanent Agility +1, slight boost to nighttime stealth.
“Finally, a proper option.”
The Agility stat directly affected attack speed, reaction speed, and movement flexibility—its value in melee combat went without saying.
Although the nighttime stealth boost was described as merely "slight," for an adventurer who often had to travel alone in the wilderness and venture into unfamiliar territory, an extra layer of stealth meant an extra way out.
Rosie chose the third option without hesitation.
[Title 'Goblin Slayer' activated: Intimidation effect against goblins doubled, granted trait 'Petty Theft'.]
Her body felt noticeably lighter.
She flexed her fingers and rolled her shoulders, feeling the coordination between her limbs flow even more smoothly than before.
She glanced at the remaining goblins cowering in the deepest recess of the cave, covering their eyes in terror, then at the bodies strewn across the ground. Rosie sheathed her sword at her waist and turned toward the entrance.
“Consider yourselves lucky.”
As she walked out of the cave, a slightly bolder goblin in the corner let out a tentative call, its voice trembling with timid relief after surviving the ordeal.
“Gwagaga! (Enemy is gone! We're safe!)”
Then came a scattered chorus of agreement, filled with the joy of survival.
Rosie shook her head, speechlessly.
She found it truly difficult to connect these idiots with the creators of ancient war golems.
After offering roughly two seconds of silent tribute in her heart for the once-glorious gnomes, she turned around and walked back inside.
A moment later, Rosie walked out once more.
The cave was completely silent now.
“I really am too merciful, personally sending you off to meet your grand ancient ancestors.”
Rosie tucked her chin into the fur lining of her cloak collar and stepped out, continuing her trek south.
The wind and snow raged on, but she was stronger now.
Rate on N.U.
