Salia sat by the water mirror and sighed.
Even she had been surprised by her strong words earlier.
“I am so…powerless.”
The god seat was in a blue night, and stars shone around her.
On the other side of the water, she saw the kobold, curled up and sleeping soundly.
It was such a small back, for one who lived with the heavy weight of revenge. And yet she had added her own load, her grievances, on top of it.
‘Salia. Why did you do something so foolish?’
She thought of the words of the dragon god. Indeed, she was a fool.
He had said it many times. The first words he said were…
There, the wind blew endlessly.
The desert was vast, and sand was swept up in whirlwinds that carved out the terrain.
The blue sky looked pale, and even the sun had the color of iron pyrite in the sky.
And there, one figure walked. With golden hair and clothes blowing in the wind. Saliashe walked with bare feet.
Eventually, she reached a small stone hill, and she sat down, silently. The dust had sullied her clothes, and her hair had lost its luster.
“Salia.”
A voice from beyond the wind. Her lightless eyes searched the emptiness.
“Salia.”
She stood up.
“Where are you?”
She looked around. There was sadness in her face.
“Who are you!? Where are you!?”
“It’s me.”
The giant head of the dragon emerged from the dust. Salia sighed with relief, and then smiled.
“Are you on a little stroll, all of the way out here? Wanderer of this world?”
“…And what are you doing? Wasting away here?”
“This is my world. There is nothing strange about me returning.”
“To exist merely to expose oneself to remorse is a foolish thing.”
That was this world. Her smile faded, and she found herself shouting.
“So you have come to laugh at me! The fallen god who could not protect her own world! In front of my people that now lie under this land!”
“I have no taste for wasting my time in such a manner.”
The dragon waited for her to calm down.
“Would you give this land to someone who shares my blood?”
“…What do you mean?”
“As you know, we dragons do not have the strongest power in terms of reproduction. And there are few places that can accommodate our great size. It is quite difficult for a dragon to participate in the games amongst those other races, so young and full of life.”
“So you want to use up the resources, bones and all.”
The dragon sighed like a storm.
“You are like a king with no people to rule. However, if you were to become the guardian of dragons that lived here, you would regain a little power. One day, it might be enough for you to create a world of your choosing.”
“…Why would you do that for someone like me?”
“You said it earlier. About using up resources. Bones and all.”
In the harsh desert, the dragon’s voice was surprisingly calm.
“If one is going to chew on a bone, it would be better to enjoy the marrow as well. If you owe me a debt, then perhaps you might accept dragons into your new world. Am I wrong? Goddess of Peace.”
“Ah…”
Desire. Gain and loss. But the words were not just about that. And then, the dragon smiled awkwardly.
“It would be foolish to live while only looking at the past. I think it is time that you turn to the future? Well, perhaps a dragon who collects the old should not be saying that.”
“…Thank…you…”
And now, she was here, looking at her little subject.
‘Still…what made you want to join the games so much that you teamed up with such a monster?’
That question had remained in her heart.
‘Do you wish for revenge, little monster?’
Was she only talking to Sheto that time?
Salia chuckled and hugged her knees. Until that time, when her small monster would awaken.
The dull, heavy blow. The sounds of sizzling flesh. The effect of the goddess’s protection.
‘It’s working! Keep going!’
“Yes!”
Three days after his arrival, thanks to repeated battles, Sheto was not accustomed to the rust eater’s movements, and was no longer scared of fighting it up close.
He had never used a spear properly before, but when hunting boars and bears, he would sometimes ram into them. And every time, there would be the sounds of burning meat, and the smell of rust and heat filled the air.
The rust eater writhed and swung its body in every direction.
“Woah!”
The tentacles cut through the wind like whips. But the movements were not too fast for him to deal with.
‘There! Do it, Sheto!’
“Arghhhhhhaaa!”
As the rust eater tried to escape, Sheto moved around it and thrust his spear repeatedly. After that, it crumbled to the ground.
“Hah…hah… I…did…it…”
‘Yes, you finally did! And it looks like your level went up as well.’
The goddess said happily. But he did not feel any different. Though, his feet were so cold they could be frozen. And the slime on his fur felt repulsive.
“So, what happens when it goes up?”
‘It means I can offer you new protections… Well, we can talk about that outside. I don’t want you to freeze to death here.’
“Spear, it’s breaking. Is this enough for today?”
‘Mmmm… I suppose there is no point in rushing it.’
She sounded a little disappointed, and he felt bad. But he could not be reckless. He squinted his eyes as his surroundings grew brighter. Then Sheto blew air from his nose several times, as if to be rid of the terrible smell he had inhaled.
“But they really do stink. My nose will get stupid.”
‘Hahaha. Perhaps you should cover it next time then… Sheto!’
A scream so loud it made his ears hurt. That moment when he emerged from the cave, and could barely see due to the light. And his nose which did not work.
All of it had hidden the danger from the kobold.
The impact slammed into his shoulder, knocking him off of his feet.
“Arghh!”
“Got it! Got it!”
“Shut up!”
“Is the dog dead? Is it?”
His body was thrown to the cold ground, and horrible pain shot through his back and left shoulder.
“Ah, gah…”
“Kobold, kobold. A new toy.”
The voices, light feet, the stench of beasts.
All of it made Sheto’s hair stand on end.
‘Impossibel! Goblins!?’
“Ugh…”
“Hehehe. This one is all sticky.”
“Did it come for ore or rust?”
“They must not know that rust eaters can’t be eaten.”
The mouths full of sharp teeth, pointed ears, and gray skin. They had filthy furs draped over thin frames. And they wielded various weapons, such as russted spears, short swords and bows.
“Gah…”
‘Run, Sheto!’
He tried to move his body, but the pain from the arrow turned into something else that robbed him of movement.
‘No, it’s poison! If you don’t get out!’
“Sa…li…a…”
He desperately asked for help, but was unable to interfere from heaven. And going up one level was not enough.
“Oh, look! It has something good!”
A hand reached out to the stone around his neck.
“Give…it…back!”
Though he was poisoned, his hand reached out to retrieve what was taken.
“It can still move. How tough.”
“You. Impudent.”
A spear knocked his hand away, and he rolled on the ground.
“Gaffu! Ga, ahh, ahh!”
“You’re nothing but a kobold.”
“Should we kill it? Kill it here?”
“No. We shall make it a slave.”
His vision grew dark. The faces and sadistic laughter. They were going to take him away somewhere.
“Sa…”
He could not say anything else. The kobold had no strength.
“…!”
Salia struck the water mirror and screamed.
“Fool! Fool! I am such a…!”
She cursed and cursed herself. But none of it would erase what had happened.
In order to stay aware of the situation in the cave, she had used all her concentration on Sheto’s immediate surroundings. And the excitement of leveling up had made her lower her guard.
However, before leading Sheto here, she had studied the terrain and monsters. Indeed, there was one fortress where monsters lived. But they were far from the route that connected the town and fortress.
Unless there was some reason, most wild creatures would not leave their territory. But these goblins were arms. In that case…
“Some other Hero must have acted!”
Perhaps they had been driven away by the Hero. And they wanted to use the mines as a new base.
While dragging the kobold, the monsters talked until they reached the river.
“As I thought…”
Numerous other monsters were waiting.
Most were goblins, but there were orcs and ogres as well. About a hundred soldiers of the Demon King’s army.
They did not seem to be very united for any purpose. It was as if they were merely setting up camp before the sun came down.
There were some crude tents up already, and smoke from burning meat. There were barrels of ale that must have been stolen from villages. Ogres were currently splitting open donkeys, which must have served their purpose for carrying their belongings.
“Ga…”
Vulgar laughter and fights would erupt here and there. It seemed that individuals were responsible for themselves. Even if they were intelligent, their beastly instincts took priority.
‘Hey! I found something good!’
Sheto was dragged in and then thrown in front of the other goblins. He seemed like he was barely alive, but the protection of the goddess kept him breathing.
‘Ohh! A new slave!’
‘Is there a kobold settlement around here?’
‘Don’t know. It was in the rust eater cave. When it wakes up, I’ll torture it so that it will work.’
‘Torture! Torture! Torture!’
The goblins had a tendency towards cruelty. Their combat ability was rather high, which made them feared by humans. They were mischievous, and had no qualms against hurting others. Sadists from birth.
They did not question their roles as villains, as it was their true nature.
And they were quite within their element now.
‘This is what I put on the last slave!’
‘Oh! Put it on!’
“…N…no!”
The goblin laughed while holding the shiny iron ring. It was covered in rust and the blood of the previous wearer, and was connected to a chain.
“Don’t put that on him! You idiots! He is!”
But the goddess’s voice did not reach them. And so the unconscious kobold became a prisoner.
“He is…”
The collar dug into his neck, and the chain was wrapped around a stake in the ground.
“My…”
The useless goddess groaned at the water.
She could do nothing. And like that, the sun slowly descended.