Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Being treated as a "savior" twice left Charles somewhat frustrated. What was going on? How did I become a savior?

Before the words were finished, heavy breathing filled the mine, and then a tall figure emerged from the darkness.

The figure was about two meters tall and had a very muscular body. Under the illumination of the blue glowing mushroom on its head, one could see the yellowish-brown body hair on its body, the huge double-edged axe in its hand, and the two curved horns on its head.

"This appearance... looks like a minotaur?" Charles looked at the other party, feeling a little strange. He was surprised to see a minotaur here. He had read about minotaurs in books before. Minotaurs were very ancient creatures that only appeared in legends and stories, but there were no real official eyewitness records.

One theory is that minotaurs are a crazy race that have all sided with demons. Another theory is that these creatures only live in the Dark Dimension and cannot cross planes, so they cannot be seen in the material world.

But now, the minotaur has suddenly appeared in front of the goblin group, which makes Diana, who is next to Sharl, nervous.

"This is troublesome, it's a minotaur." She stood still, her body not moving much, but she gave the impression that she would draw her sword and charge out at any moment.

"Are they difficult to deal with?" Charles asked in a low voice. He had originally thought he would encounter cave trolls or some other creature here, but he did not expect to find such a warlike race.

Hearing Charles's question, Diana said in a serious tone, "It will be a bit tricky. You may not have seen this kind of creature before. It's called a minotaur. They usually live in the Eternal Dark Plane. They are attached to the Wrath of the demon lords. These demon lords sometimes use magic to throw some of their minions through the dimensional gate to the material world. The Crusaders have a record of dealing with demon incidents many times before, and minotaurs were among them."

"So, they were sent by anger?"

"That should be it," Diana nodded slightly. "These guys fight like madmen, they're incredibly bloodthirsty, and more importantly, they don't fight alone, they usually fight as a whole group."

As if to confirm her words, heavy breathing came from the mine again, and five minotaurs emerged from the darkness one after another. However, they were obviously not as tall as the first one, about half a head shorter.

"You mean these guys fight like madmen?" Charles frowned and moved closer to Diana.

"Yes, they like to use huge two-handed axes or hammers, and once a fight starts, they are the type to fight to the death and never back down. They are practically born berserkers."

"Does that mean..." Charles paused for a moment, then turned to the panting minotaur opposite him, his eyes gradually shining.

"You—" Diana didn't hear what Charles said next, and turned to look at him in confusion. But his expression immediately put her on guard. "You're not thinking of recruiting these minotaurs, are you?"

"It's not impossible, is it?" Charles smirked. "I remember reading in the books that minotaurs are all simple-minded guys."

"That's right, but..." Diana paused for a moment. She hadn't expected the goblins to have such wild ideas. The opponents were minotaurs, whose axes could easily cut a goblin in two. Moreover, it seemed that more and more minotaurs were coming out of the mine, and there were already more than a dozen blocking their way. If a conflict broke out, the goblin party would all perish here.

Hearing Diana's words, Charles waved his hand, interrupting her, "I want to give it a try. You said before that my tribe's troop composition was unreasonable. Now that I have such a perfect mainstay, how can I not give it a try?"

"Besides, they don't look too good either." Charles glanced at the opposite side. The minotaurs were gathering in increasing numbers, and they were all carrying weapons. However, their clothing was very shabby. Most of them only had tattered trousers. Many of the minotaurs' weapons were damaged. The handles of two minotaurs' axes were broken, making them almost like "one-handed weapons." As a race that revered battle, Charles did not believe that they would treat their weapons like this.

For them, that's their "food source".

Moreover, minotaurs are simple-minded, which means they might be a bit "stupid" and could be easily persuaded with just a few words.

When I saw the kobold clan council meeting before, I gave up the idea of ​​letting the kobolds join my tribe. Not to mention whether they would reach a consensus, the issue of "joining the tribe" would probably be debated for a year and a half.

"You don't really think that, do you?" Diana frowned. As the former president of the Crusader, she couldn't shake her impression of minotaurs. These creatures, who were attached to the demon lord, should definitely be an "evil" race.

"To be honest, that's what I really think." Charles nodded calmly, but his eyes gradually became fervent, because he saw a female minotaur, holding a nursing baby in her arms and carrying a one-handed hammer, appear opposite him.

Even the elderly, women, and children are going to the battlefield; it seems like the other side is having a very difficult time.

"They are an evil race," Diana said in a low voice, solemnly reminding Charles.

However, Charles pointed to the opposite side and said, "Look at how poor they are. Do you think these guys are an evil race? If they were really evil, they would have enslaved the kobolds long ago."

"This..." Diana frowned. What Charles said made some sense. She glanced at the other side and also thought that no matter how tenacious the kobolds were, or how far the magic crystals were thrown, it would be difficult to stop these tall minotaurs from going crazy.

"I'll go see if I can communicate with them." Charles pulled out a scroll with the "Grease Your Feet" technique from behind him, tore it open, added a magical effect to himself, and then stepped forward under Diana's watchful gaze. "I'm here on behalf of the kobolds to negotiate with you."

"The Bloodhoof Clan does not accept negotiations." The first tauren, wielding a double-bladed axe, slammed his massive hoof down on the ground with a loud thud.

The surrounding minotaurs also raised their weapons and echoed with "wooo" "wooo".

Seeing that the other party had directly rejected his suggestion, Xia Er confirmed once again that the effects of his [Group Intelligence Reduction Curse] and [Group Language Curse] were still in effect, and then smiled and took a few more steps forward.

"I think we should talk, since you won't lose anything."

"The kobolds are arrogant, trying to enslave the Bloodhoof tribe!" the tauren shouted, then slapped his chest twice with one hand. "Bloodhoof will not accept enslavement."

This surprised Charles. He had originally thought that it should be the minotaurs enslaving the kobolds, given the huge height difference between them—one minotaur was almost twice the height of a kobold.

Had something happened before? He remained expressionless, spreading his hands to indicate that he posed no threat, then softened his tone and said with a smile, "Perhaps there's some misunderstanding here. I think we can all sit down and clear things up."

"It's not a misunderstanding at all," the minotaur holding her child chimed in loudly. "They want us to help them mine, but they're only giving us a tiny bit of food. The insects don't taste good, and they're not enough to fill us up."

The minotaur stretched out her hand, putting three fingers together to indicate that the kobold had given her a handful of food.

"This is indeed a bit too little." Charles's lips twitched. The amount the kobolds gave was probably only enough for one meal for themselves, but for the minotaurs, it would be completely insufficient.

Well, Charles sighed. He felt like he had encountered two ridiculously stupid races.

"So, I've come to mediate," he said, slightly opening his arms and trying to make his tone more sincere, "If you feel you're not getting enough to eat, I can consider providing you with food."

"You?" The tallest minotaur, clearly the leader of the Bloodhoof tribe, sized up Shar, his tone laced with disdain. "A green-skinned dwarf, only slightly taller than a kobold. How much food can you provide?"

"Not much, but enough to fill you up." Charles smiled and nodded. "How about it? Consider it?"

"Would you lie to us?" the minotaur asked before the leader could speak, clearly worried about her children.

"These guys are all untrustworthy. Have you forgotten the faces of those kobolds?" the minotaur leader immediately rebuked. "We talked to them about food before, and they've been dragging their feet for almost a month without giving us a reply."

"The parliamentary system is a killer," Charles thought to himself, then put on a smile. "I'm not a kobold, I won't be like them. Besides, I'm a tribal chief. If you join my tribe, you shouldn't have any problem getting enough to eat."

Upon hearing this, the minotaurs began to whisper among themselves, "A full meal?" "Are you full?" "I don't want to eat insects anymore."

Listening to their discussion, Charles leisurely took a few more steps forward, quietly waiting for them to finish their discussion without any intention of urging them. Sometimes, letting "fools" discuss things on their own makes them more convinced of the results of their discussion.

"Are you lying to us?" The minotaur leader stared at Charles and asked in a deep voice, but Charles could detect a hint of insecurity in his tone.

"First of all, I have no reason to lie to you," Charles said slowly, holding up a finger. "Secondly, you can come with me to my tribe; it's much better than staying here eating bugs."

"We can't get out; it's too cramped out there," several minotaurs muttered in low voices.

These words angered the minotaur leader, who glared at the tribesman, clearly annoyed that the man had spoken the truth.

"I must say, the entrance is indeed quite low." Charles nodded with a smile. When he first entered the mine, he was afraid of bumping his head at the entrance, let alone these minotaurs who were nearly two meters tall.

"I still think you're deceiving us." The minotaur leader looked the goblin up and down again, his gaze cautious, clearly having learned his lesson.

"How can you trust me?" Charles glanced at the minotaurs opposite him. Although these guys were dressed in tattered clothes, some of them were injured, and they looked obviously listless, they had large frames and could be identified as strong warriors. Moreover, these guys had thick necks, even thicker than human thighs.

There's a saying, "Never mess with a man whose neck is thicker than his head."

Upon hearing Sharl's question, the minotaur leader snorted out two gusts of air, raised his double-edged axe, and swung it twice in the air. "Only by defeating me can you prove your strength."

"That's typical Minotaur way of speaking," Charles muttered, pursing his lips. "Can I have my subordinates fight in my place?"

These words clearly surprised the minotaur leader, but he lowered his hand, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, and said, "Fine, but even if you send someone else, the outcome will be the same."

Charles smiled, said nothing, and turned to walk back to his own group.

"How about it? They seem pretty excited." Diana frowned, her gaze fixed on the minotaurs gathered in the distance, mooing and groaning.

"It's settled. They should accept joining my tribe." Sharl smiled and shrugged.

"should?"

"Yes, there's one step missing."

"What steps? Signing and fingerprinting?"

"No," Charles shook his head with a smile, "the step is you; you need to defeat their leader."

"Hmm, that sounds pretty good, wait," Diana took a half step back, "Why me?"

"Only you can do that in the team, otherwise these tauren wouldn't want to join."

"I'm asking, why me?"

"Oh, I told them that one person from my team would fight, and they agreed. You're part of the team too, right?"

"You, you really are something," Diana shook her head in annoyance, "We made a bet, and now you want me to go up and fight?"

"Yes," Charles nodded with a smile, "As a member of the team, you also have an obligation to contribute to the team."

"You were planning to trick me from the very beginning."

"How could that be? I didn't know there were minotaurs here at first."

"I really..." Diana muttered under her breath, clearly dissatisfied with Charles's arrangements.

However, Charles was right. She was also a member of the team. As the former leader of the Crusader, Diana knew the importance of the team as a whole. After cursing a few times, she finally pushed Charles away and angrily walked towards the minotaur, gripping the hilt of her sword.

"Don't kill him," Charles shouted from behind.

His response was Diana raising her middle finger.

Soon, the two sides took their places in the middle of the arena: the two-meter-tall minotaur leader wielding a huge double-edged axe, and Diana, who was only 1.5 meters tall and carrying four daggers, looking up at the minotaur with her head held high.

"Let's do it!" she shouted, but to her surprise, a roar came from the minotaur ranks behind her.

"I may die, I may die, roar, roar," a minotaur sang loudly in a strange tone.

The other minotaurs echoed, "Roar, roar."

"One step up, one step up, roar, roar!" The lead minotaur began to stomp his hooves and pound his chest.

"Roar, roar." The other minotaurs also began to stomp their hooves and beat their chests.

"Raise your weapons, stomp the earth, roar, roar!" The lead minotaur wore a fierce expression.

The other minotaurs also showed the same expression, "Roar, roar."

"Unstoppable, until victory! Roar, roar!" the leading minotaur roared.

A chorus of "moo" erupted all around.

"This...is war dance?" Charles stared, stunned. He hadn't expected the Bloodhoof Tribe to pull something like this.

The minotaur leader, standing in the middle, raised his hands and mooed.

Diana, standing opposite him, sighed and shook her head.

"Leader, defeat him!" The minotaurs behind finished their war dance and cheered for their leader.

"I chopped her down with an axe. She was so short, she looked very weak."

"Go, leader!"

"Unstoppable, moo!"

Hearing the chaotic shouts, Diana pursed her lips. "Can we begin?"

"You can still surrender now," the minotaur leader said in a deep voice, looking down at his opponent.

"No need, I have another match to fight." Diana stood there expressionlessly, her hands hanging naturally at her sides, seemingly uninterested even in drawing her sword.

"You will pay the price for underestimating your enemy." After saying this, the minotaur leader slammed down his two-handed axe with a "whoosh."

With a loud "bang," rubble flew everywhere, dust billowed, and a crack appeared in the ground.

But the minotaur did not see his opponent in front of him.

Where are they?

He had barely uttered a few words when he felt a sharp pain under his left rib, and his whole body swayed to the right.

"Don't move."

The sword's edge was held against the minotaur leader's neck, its chilling edge penetrating his skin.

"The sword is very sharp; if you move it even slightly, your head might fly off."

Diana spoke coldly, her longsword remaining motionless as she threatened the minotaur.

The minotaur leader frowned, realizing he hadn't seen his opponent's movements at all when he first swung his axe.

With just one move, he could kill himself; such an opponent was not someone the tribe could handle.

After realizing the situation, he slowly took two steps back, held the axe upside down, and said with his head bowed, "I... have lost."

Diana immediately sheathed her sword and stood still.

The minotaurs behind them, who had been standing there dumbfounded, suddenly came to their senses and quickly stepped forward, carrying their weapons and bowing their heads in salute.

"You're amazing." Charles's voice sounded from behind, and he came to Diana's side.

He had been watching the former president of the Crusader's movements, but in the blink of an eye, he saw Diana leap to the side of the minotaur, followed by an incredibly swift kick, and then a threatening sword strike—all in one fluid motion.

The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye.

As expected of the leader of the Crusader, a four-sword style girl carrying "four uncles" on her back.

Diana didn't reply, but just rolled her eyes at the goblin beside her.

Ignoring their actions, Sharl smiled at the Bloodhoof tribe and said, "Now you're willing to join my tribe, aren't you?"

"No," the minotaur chieftain glanced at Sharl, a hint of disdain in his voice, "We minotaurs only follow the strong, we will only join this man's ranks."

He raised his palm and extended it to Diana beside him, a look of respect on his face.

"Huh?" Hearing the other person's words, Sharl was taken aback. "I am the chief of the tribe."

"You? You're weak." The minotaur leader curled his lip, not even glancing at Sharl.

"You guys are really..." Charles was speechless. How could he, a third-rate "strongman" of Danger Level 1, still be looked down upon by minotaurs?

Moreover, Diana, standing beside her, looked smug, seemingly pleased with this turn of events.

"You think I'm weak?" Charles frowned, then decided to do something. He raised his arm and fired a [True Magic Blast] directly at the empty cave wall.

With a whooshing sound, a semi-transparent gust of air blasted straight toward the cave wall.

A flash of green light,

With a loud "bang," a cloud of rubble and dust exploded from the cave wall. Amid the ripples of the explosion, a hissing sound could be heard, like a whisper.

"How is it?" Charles looked up at the people in front of him, while the minotaurs and Diana stared wide-eyed at the shattered mine wall beside them.

"This, this magic..." the minotaur leader murmured softly, his expression somewhat blank, not even noticing that the two-handed axe in his hand had fallen to the ground.

The other minotaurs were the same; they all seemed to be stunned by the magic.

Immediately afterward, the minotaur leader knelt down before Charles with a thud. "My lord, has our master finally remembered us?"

All the tauren knelt down, looking at the Shire with piety, and some even lowered their heads and sobbed.

Charles was stunned: "An envoy? What envoy?"

"Aren't you the lord's messenger?" the minotaur leader said respectfully, then suddenly realized his arrogant attitude and slapped himself hard. "I misspoke, please don't take it to heart."

"Wait a minute, why do you say I'm an envoy?" Charles quickly stepped forward and grabbed the other's hand.

"The magic you just used was clearly the one used by our lord. We recognize it; only they can use such magic."

Who is your master?

The minotaur leader was stunned. He hadn't expected Charles to ask that question and blurted out, "Of course, it's the great Lord of Wrath."

"Uh." Charles gave a wry smile. How should he put it? He stole the demon's spell and then showed it off in front of them?

"I am not, not some kind of messenger." He had no choice but to say it directly. He couldn't very well tell the other party that their lord was in his bedroom, albeit only a part of it.

"No?" The minotaur leader opened his mouth, then lowered his head dejectedly. "I knew it. Our lord has abandoned us."

"Chief, we were exiled here."

"Our tribe was chosen because we were the weakest."

"They had ill intentions from the start."

The minotaurs behind him began to chatter amongst themselves, and as the chatter grew louder, the minotaur leader's back became increasingly hunched.

"Stop!" A furious shout interrupted the minotaurs' discussion and complaints, and everyone looked at the person who had rebuked them.

Diana stood with her hands behind her back, scanning the minotaur in front of her.

"He is a messenger, but only a messenger to take you away from here."

Read Kapibala's masterpiece, "The Forest Doesn't Keep Idle Goblins," now!