Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

In the forest, Shire sat on the elephant's neck, watching an elderly elephant walking forward in the distance.

"Are you really not going to reconsider?" Charles gently patted the top of Zunesha's head. Behind him, several worker ants carried a small group of goblins.

This time, since he was accompanying the Elephant Lord on his trip to the Elephant Tomb, Charles didn't bring many subordinates. He left his men behind to build the Forest City, hoping that the city would take shape as soon as possible.

After only a few exchanges with the elephant owner, the owner still insisted that the elephants would leave after spring, leaving Shire somewhat at a loss.

"We need to roam the forest," Zelda's voice remained as resolute as ever.

"However, staying here won't cause any problems, and you'll have plenty of food and drink, plus my people will take care of you," Charles said, bending down to continue patiently persuading her.

If the elephant herd leaves, he will be the one in trouble. Without the elephants to help carry and lift heavy objects, those houses will be difficult to build, and the goblins will once again become a race living in burrows. This is not conducive to the development of the tribe. Not to mention that the elephant's huge and heavy body can compact the ground as if it had been rolled over by a road roller after just a few walks.

In the southern area, a simple road has already been laid, and they are waiting for the black clay to dry completely. This method of road construction is much faster than building a road with stone slabs or blocks by humans.

"I am required by my master to patrol the forest, partly due to the elephant herd's lifestyle, but also because I have my own tasks." The elephant shook its trunk, clearing away the branches in front of it.

"A mission? What mission?" Charles sat up straight. This was the first time he had heard Zunesha talk about his situation.

"We need to find something in the forest."

"Looking for something in the forest?" Charles opened his mouth, then asked somewhat suspiciously, "Your master isn't some strange thing, is he?"

He really wanted to say, "Your master isn't a demon lord, or a contractor of a demon lord, is he?"

Looking for things in the forest—only those guys do that all day.

"Why do I always encounter things related to demon lords?" Charles thought to himself. He had directly come into contact with three of the six demon lords and indirectly with one. He hadn't yet come into contact with Pride and Greed.

However, it is estimated that there will definitely be a day when they come into contact with each other in the future, as long as they are both "incomplete".

"My master is perfectly normal; he's just a lich." Elephant's tone was calm, as if he were recounting that I graduated from a certain school.

However, the word "lich" still made Sharl frown. The Crawler Claw had previously mentioned that its master was a lich, also in the Nightmare Forest. Could it be that they shared the same master?

But upon closer inspection, that's not necessarily true. After all, liches are necromancers, and high-ranking archmages at that. Such mages are not favored by human kingdoms, and they often hide in all sorts of strange places. Hiding in the Nightmare Forest is indeed a good choice.

"Your master," Charles said, pausing for a few seconds before continuing, "what exactly is he looking for, a bone?"

"No, it's a magic circle," Elephant Lord explained.

"Oh, a magic circle," Charles smiled. "A magic circle is good, a magic circle is nice."

As long as it's not something like eyes, ears, or nose, it's fine. A magic circle sounds much more normal.

What would a high-ranking archmage look for if not a magic circle?

"He said that the magic circle has existed for thousands of years and is the only magic circle in the world. Only by finding it can we find the highest point of magic."

"Hmm, hmm." Charles nodded with a wry smile. A lich searching for a magic circle at the highest level of magic sounds no less dangerous than searching for ears and eyes.

"I might as well find some kind of eyeglasses," he muttered to himself.

"That's why we patrol the forest," the elephant said, shaking its trunk. The elephant in front of it was quite old and clearly not as strong as the elephant, so the elephant had to stop and wait for it to catch its breath.

"How about this?" Charles stroked his chin, thought for a few seconds, and said, "Let me talk to your master. I'll help him find that magic circle, and the elephant herd can stay behind. How about that?"

Anyway, I have the ability to map the domain. As long as I take over this Nightmare Forest in the future, I will definitely be able to see this magic circle.

Such a powerful building as the Magic Summit will definitely be marked on the map. Since we need to find it anyway, having an extra magic circle won't be too much of a hassle.

Charles's suggestion silenced the elephant. It seemed to be thinking, keeping its head down as it walked. After a few minutes, the elephant's hesitant voice slowly rang out: "This requires the master's consent."

"Yes, I understand." Charles nodded, but he didn't know if the lich would agree.

However, he felt that his suggestion was more feasible. Compared to elephants, which only follow fixed routes, goblins were obviously more suitable for finding items in the forest. If you scattered thousands of goblins into the forest, you could find even three-legged toads.

However, he felt that his suggestion was more feasible. Compared to elephants, which only follow fixed routes, goblins were obviously more suitable for finding items in the forest. If you scattered thousands of goblins into the forest, you could find even three-legged toads.

If that doesn't work, I'll cast the [Mind Deprivation Curse] and [Language Curse] on myself and see if I can fool that lich.

If it can be explained logically, that would be best.

As the group moved forward, Charles fell silent again. He was still thinking about the city's layout. Because of the elephant herd, the planned underground farm in the western district had to be postponed. The mimics and slimes could only continue to be kept in the underground fortress. The elephant herd was now working hard on road construction, and the main roads had to be tamped before they left.

This slowed down the construction of the ranch and prevented the expansion of red cattle farming in the fortress.

His original plan was to move the Mimicry Monsters and Slimes to the eastern district of Forest City, and then develop the entire underground fortress into a Red Bull plantation.

But now we have to make way for other projects.

Just as Charles was lying on the elephant's back, constantly planning the future development of the name, he suddenly heard the elephant's voice in his ear, "We should have arrived."

"Are we there yet?" Charles straightened up and looked around. The trees here were all normal, with nothing strange about them. The only thing that bothered him was that the leaves of these trees were very dense, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate and resulting in a dim light.

"I've lived for so long that I've almost forgotten the exact location of this place." The elephant king raised its trunk, its gaze fixed on the old elephant in front of it. Although it was the leader of the herd, it had lived for many years due to its special ability. Even the elephant king itself couldn't say exactly how many years, while these normal elephants still remembered the location of the elephant graveyard.

Charles held the elephant's trunk tightly with both hands, and then he was lifted up and placed on the ground. The old elephant at the front of the procession, as if it had found something, walked straight into the depths of the dense forest.

"This area..." Charles frowned. He noticed that there was no Elephant Tomb marked on the map, and there were no special indications for this part of the map.

"Keep up." The elephant flapped its large ears a few times and caught up with the old elephant, while Charles hurriedly started jogging as well.

Once deep into the dense forest, the old elephant changed its previously hesitant approach and instead walked confidently along a natural path.

Charles deduced that this must be the road to the elephant graveyard, a natural "animal trail" trodden out by the elephants.

There are many such paths in the forest, which are naturally formed by wild animals. Goblins also travel along these paths when they hunt.

Of course, adventurers hunting goblins will also follow the "beast path" to search for them.

It's like an ironclad beast path with ever-changing goblins.

Soon, a downward-facing opening appeared ahead. The opening was gentle, suitable for elephants to walk downhill, and it was well concealed by several dense trees and shrubs.

"This entrance is even more well hidden than the one the kobolds used to have," Charles muttered as he followed Zunesha down the path.

The goblins behind him jumped off the worker ants' backs and quickly lit torches.

The group quickly caught up with the two elephants.

Upon entering the cave, Charles smelled a strange odor, somewhat like rotting meat, but not as strong. However, it was mixed with the earthy smell and other unidentified odors, which made him frown.

However, the thought that there might be a lot of elephant bones inside made the smell less jarring.

After walking a distance further in, the elephant in front stopped.

Charles walked over, somewhat bewildered. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No," Zanpakuto shook its trunk, "it has arrived."

The old elephant in front lay down on the ground, its trunk drooping weakly, only its ears still twitching slowly, proving that it was still alive.

As Charles stepped forward, the torchlight gradually illuminated the surroundings. Charles stared in shock at the piles of bones scattered around him. The bones were all grayish-white, scattered on the ground, intricately intertwined. Some still showed a rough outline, while others had completely turned into piles of broken bones.

"So many," Charles murmured. The piles of bones here were no less than the goblin skeletons he had seen in the Feathered Serpent's Cave, and even more numerous and larger. After all, an elephant is much larger than a goblin.

"Is it just lying there like that?" Charles returned to the elephant's side and pointed to the old elephant not far away.

"In that case, it is indeed..." Charles nodded, while looking around at the surrounding skeletons. This mysterious and quiet place was indeed very suitable to be a burial ground for a clan.

The old elephant lay motionless on the ground. Charles wondered if it was reminiscing about its life, from its birth as a baby elephant to its lonely death, filled with both joy and sorrow. Now, lying there, was it happy or sad?

The elephant lord also stared motionlessly at the old elephant, like a funeral attendant personally sending off a member of his tribe on his final journey.

"Do we also need a cemetery like this?" Charles pursed his lips. Goblins don't have their own funeral culture. If you have to say they do, it's probably the "iron pot stew" culture.

But this doesn't stop Sharl from considering setting up a large cemetery for the tribe, so that all dead goblins will no longer be simply buried but can also be laid to rest in the cemetery.

A race’s attitude toward death can also reflect its level of civilization.

"We can go back and think about it slowly. Right now, the most urgent thing is to wake up the elephant's master." Charles held up a torch and tried to move into the underground space.

The area ahead was filled with enormous bones, making it difficult for Charles to approach. He even saw several huge elephant skulls with curved tusks, but he didn't know how long they had been dead, as the tusks had lost their luster and become as gray and rotten as the bones.

"Hey—" Charles shouted loudly, but only the echo could be heard in the underground cave.

"Calling like that should wake her up, right?"

He muttered to himself, but the only response he received was the swaying trunk of the elephant behind him and the flapping ears of the old elephant.

"Is your master sleeping so soundly?" Charles turned his head to look at the elephant behind him, and then he heard a sound of bones grinding not far away.

"Is he about to wake up?"

Charles turned his head, his tone somewhat delighted. He even tugged at his clothes, preparing to make a good impression on the other party.

Unfortunately, what happened next made Charles's eyes widen in surprise.

As the crunching sound of broken bones rubbing together continued, a huge animal bone crawled out from the mountain of broken bones. Judging from its shape, it could be identified as a forelimb of some kind of animal.

This forelimb is very large; the claw alone is almost half the size of the old elephant's body.

"What is this...?" Charles stared wide-eyed as the giant claw slowly rose up and then seemed to be searching for something in the air.

"No way." He gritted his teeth, then suddenly ran backward. With a "boom," bones flew everywhere, and a lot of bone fragments scattered in all directions. The giant claw slammed directly into the spot where Xia Er had just been standing.

"What the hell is this?" Charles scrambled to escape the giant claw's reach, then pulled out a [Grease Your Feet] magic scroll from behind him, while clenching his other fist. If the giant claw continued to attack, he planned to counterattack directly with [True Magic Burst].

Anyway, there are still three daily bonuses, which should be enough to cause considerable damage to the other party.

However, the giant claw did not continue to pursue. Instead, it slowly withdrew, and the dragging motion produced another "crackling" sound of bones rubbing together.

"Your master doesn't seem to want to get out of bed." Sharl, holding the magic scroll, returned to the elephant's side. Unlike the goblins who were on high alert, the elephant and the old elephant acted very naturally, as if they hadn't seen the giant claw at all.

However, the attack had a real effect, and several pieces of bone fell from the old elephant's body.

"He just doesn't want anyone to bother him." Zelda flapped his ears, his eyes gazing deeply into the depths of the pile of bones.