Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Charles looked at the somewhat annoyed Pazzani, shook his head and smiled. If Pazzani offered up the alliance agreement as soon as he saw him, Shui Yumo would definitely give him new instructions.

This trial of adulthood is perhaps more of an exploration of the power and responsibility that a king should have. Only by truly fulfilling these responsibilities can one be considered to have grown and become an "adult."

However, this "interlude" was somewhat unexpected for him. He remembered that Pazzani had said before that the Naga people received certain revelations when they worshipped nature.

"Could this also be a kind of forest whisper?" He waved his hand, urging the Naga prince to hurry up and set up the runeword Winter, and as he looked at the gradually quieting Feathered Serpent Kingdom, a smile couldn't help but appear on his lips, "It seems those goblins have been brought under control."

"Next, we need to gather all these goblins together and then go back to have a proper talk with Zunesha." Charles stretched, having prepared a large amount of Red Bull for all the participants before starting the battle.

If it weren't for Red Bull, he wouldn't have dared to risk using such tactics. Getting goblins to fight in the dead of night was practically impossible.

Soon after Charles gave the order to assemble, a goblin leaning on a bone staff came to him.

This goblin had dark skin, deep wrinkles on its face, and grayish-white hair. After it arrived, it looked Ciel up and down repeatedly.

"Are you the goblin that blasphemed Quetzalcoatl?" After looking at it several times, the goblin finally spoke up to ask.

"You are," Charles immediately recognized the slightly aged voice, "the High Priest?"

"You know me?" The high priest was clearly taken aback, but he quickly realized, "It must have been those goblins who told you."

Charles nodded, and then the High Priest pressed on, asking, "You also speak Common Language?"

"It's not surprising that you can speak the common language." Charles shrugged and spread his hands to indicate that it was nothing special.

"That's true. It seems you were also kept by humans," the high priest nodded slowly, a knowing look on his face. "Did those humans release you back into the forest? When was that?"

"Stop," Ciel raised his hand to interrupt the other person, "I am not a goblin kept by humans, nor was I released by any humans."

These words struck the high priest like a thunderbolt, leaving him speechless. "You...you weren't...you weren't raised by humans?"

"This, this is impossible," he murmured, gripping the bone staff tightly. "How could you, a goblin, possibly know Common Language? How could you know so much?"

"Why can't goblins speak Common?" Sharl tilted his head and smiled. "Not only do I speak Common, but several other goblins do too."

"Moreover," he pointed to his equipment and the goblins around him, "these things aren't difficult to learn. My men are already starting to learn how to write poetry and carve."

"This is impossible," the high priest's voice rose, and he tapped his bone staff several times. "Goblins couldn't possibly possess these things, these..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually faded, "Goblins cannot possess intelligence."

"Wisdom can only be obtained from humans, and only from them can one learn all sorts of things," the high priest murmured, then looked up and stared intently at Charles, as if trying to see through his soul.

Charles spread his arms slightly, standing there nonchalantly. "What you said makes some sense. It's true that many advanced technologies are in the hands of humans, dwarves, and elves, but that doesn't mean goblins can't obtain them."

"Goblins just need a stable environment and a group of qualified teachers."

“No, the goblins in the forest are too foolish,” the high priest said, leaning on his bone staff, taking two steps toward Sharl. “You know there are many goblins who cannot learn; their minds are not…”

He fell silent, as if remembering something, and the high priest's voice became somewhat choked up, "Do you know what price goblins have to pay to gain wisdom?"

"cost?"

"Fifteen goblins, all of them died, and only I survived," the high priest said, extending a trembling hand slowly toward Sharl's face. "I was raised by humans and learned a lot from them."

Charles took a step back, refusing the high priest's outstretched hand. "If you say you've learned a lot from humans, then I'm sorry, but I don't think you've learned enough."

"The goblins in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom are still unable to eat their fill, stay warm, or live peacefully. In fact, they used to be frequently driven out of the kingdom."

"No, you don't understand," the high priest argued. "This is the fate of goblins. We can't have more things in the forest, so we can survive better and prevent humans from massacring us."

"Just because of this?"

"Yes," the high priest nodded, "This kingdom cannot protect so many goblins. Once their numbers exceed a certain threshold, we can only let some of them fend for themselves."

"Your thinking is wrong. You believe that as long as goblins are poor and miserable enough, they won't attract human attention. Humans will just kill a few, pick their ears, and the others will survive," Sharl sighed and continued, "Have you never considered that human greed is also endless?"

"What else can we do?" The high priest gave a bitter laugh. "Rely on our skinny arms and legs and the wooden stick in our hands?"

"Young goblin, I don't know how you learned Common, but you should know that for goblins to survive, showing weakness is the only way."

"To show weakness? To be slaughtered like a chicken by adventurers, have your ears cut off, or even be captured alive and handed over to some unknown human, or to cower in a cave and pray for the protection of a tyrannical evil god?"

"At least Quetzalcoatl protected these goblins," the high priest slammed his bone staff down, "at least those powerful human warriors or mages won't gang up on us and kill us all."

Charles frowned and fell silent. To be honest, he was a human being, at least in spirit, and he could understand to some extent the goblin experiences the high priest had described.

He understood the principle that "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." If all these goblins were dressed in gold and silver, human knight orders would come here to "grind monsters" repeatedly, just like in those games from his previous life.

"I..." Ciel hesitated. He wanted to say that he would not let the goblins go down that path, but when he thought about his human identity, he felt a little strange. In a sense, he did use these goblins to fulfill his desire for revenge.

"Thankfully, the gods haven't abandoned us," the high priest sighed, his eyes fixed on Sharl. "After so many years, finally, a goblin can lead us on this journey."

"Huh?" Charles was taken aback for a moment, and then he saw the high priest trembling all over, trying to kneel down.

"No." He immediately stepped forward and reached out to support the high priest. This was not because of any particular reason, but simply because Charles still had the habit from his previous life and could not accept that his older peers were kneeling before him.

"No," the high priest stopped Charles, "you must have been blessed by the gods and enlightened by them. Goblins could not possibly learn that knowledge on their own. We have finally been favored by the gods."

With that, the high priest knelt down and proclaimed, "I am willing to lead these goblins to surrender to you. Please lead us to survive."

Charles frowned as he looked at the elderly high priest. This was the first time he had ever seen such an old goblin; in the Nightmare Forest, it was rare for goblins to live to this age.

Should I tell him now that I am actually human?

Ciel was conflicted. The other party seemed to be just an ordinary goblin, raised by humans and having learned many things. Now, the other party was praising him so much, and it sounded like he wanted to help him become the king of the goblins.

"A human has become the king of the goblins." Charles couldn't help but smile bitterly, but when he thought about what he had to do, he had no choice but to continue playing this "role".

"Get up, I agree to accept you." After thinking for a few seconds, he made up his mind. He didn't know when his curse would be lifted. He had heard Agatha and Sophia say that it might never be lifted in this lifetime, but he still had to take revenge. At the very least, he would turn the mastermind behind the scenes into a goblin and let them experience it.

If one day he can really turn back into a human, then he should train a qualified goblin successor.

Or perhaps, one day, a kingdom will be established where humans, goblins, centaurs, dwarves, and other races live together, then whether one is human or goblin will not be so important.

Upon hearing Charles's words, the High Priest immediately stood up with delight. "Chief, Quetzalcoatl has entered hibernation. What is your next step?"

"You've changed a bit too quickly," Charles frowned.

"At least you don't need sacrifices," the high priest said in a slightly hoarse voice. "I don't think you'll drive your tribe members away either."

"Well, in principle I wouldn't do that." Charles nodded and said firmly, "As long as they are loyal enough, I will find a way to feed them and enable them to survive in the forest."

The high priest didn't reply, but instead smiled at Charles, which made Charles a little embarrassed. It was the first time he had ever seen such a "kind" expression on a goblin's face.

"By the way, I'd like to know, what's the weakness of this Feathered Serpent God?" Charles didn't get caught up in his emotions; he still remembered what the biggest crisis was right now.

"A weakness?" The high priest thought for a few seconds, then shook his head and said, "As far as I know, there isn't one."

"No?"

"It has no weaknesses against goblins. Quetzalcoatl can fly, dive, and breathe lightning." The high priest said slowly as he recalled, "Several times before, Quetzalcoatl killed several powerful magical beasts. At that time, it showed great power. Those high-level magical beasts were quickly entangled by lightning in front of it, and the battle was over almost instantly."

"Is it that powerful?" Charles smacked his chin. "It seems I underestimated the strength of this evil god. Fortunately, with Zunesha around, I believe Quetzalcoatl's lightning will have limited effect on him."

Thinking of this, he asked again, "Since it's hibernating now, what if it suddenly wakes up?"

"Probably not." The high priest thought for a moment. "Such things rarely happen in the past. After Quetzalcoatl hibernates, he doesn't wake up until after spring."

"That's for the best," Charles laughed, "that makes things much easier."

In the distance, the goblins, under the "stick-wielding" lectures of Red Eyes and the others, had obediently lined up in a long queue, waiting to receive their first serving of forest soup from White Hair.

Several goblins were already squatting down by the side, slurping their bowls of thick soup. They weren't using any spoons; they were just holding the bowls and licking the soup. Even when it was so hot that they grimaced and switched hands, they didn't slow down their drinking speed.

Meanwhile, the goblins at the back of the line also noticed these few goblins. The aroma wafted through the air, and each goblin drooled, staring longingly at the front of the line. If they weren't patrolling back and forth with their eyes wide open, these goblins would have definitely caused chaos and ended up overturning the pot.

"Aren't you going to get a drink?" Charles looked at the high priest beside him. The old goblin didn't join the queue but stood there leaning on his bone staff, looking at the long line with a look of satisfaction.

"No need, the smell in the air is enough to fill me up," the high priest said with a smile.

"Just drinking the wind will do?" Charles shook his head with a smile, then waved his hand, preparing to have his men bring him and the high priest two bowls of forest soup.

The group moved in an orderly fashion, with all the goblins craning their necks to look at the large spoon in the white-haired goblin's hand. The sounds of slurping and swallowing filled the air, and no one spoke. Only the gulping sounds of swallowing saliva could be heard.

Just as Charles reached out to take the forest soup, the ground suddenly shook, followed by a huge roar: "Damn insects, how dare you betray me!"

A loud "boom" echoed from afar, and suddenly a bright bolt of lightning shot straight into the sky from the darkness, illuminating the surrounding night sky.

"It's over, the evil god has awakened." Charles's outstretched hand paused, and the bowl of forest soup spilled onto the ground.

"Impossible, Quetzalcoatl rarely does this," the high priest murmured, looking up at the sky. "How could he wake up? How could he wake up?"

"It's no use saying anything now." Charles immediately ordered his men that they could no longer get any more soup and had to leave as soon as possible. At the same time, he looked into the distance and saw the towering figure of the dark tower in the night sky, which was revealed in continuous flashes of lightning.

At the top of the tower, the red dragon flag fluttered in the wind.

"Mr. Elton and his men have already made their move. Hopefully, they can buy us enough time." Charles turned and ran towards the central "square" of the Goblin Kingdom, where Pazzani should have already set up a magic circle.

With a deafening roar, the tower was blasted into pieces amidst a flash of lightning, and a giant winged python shot into the sky.