Chapter 33

“We have to kill them.”

It was Geron speaking while spreading his tails. Four tails stretching straight toward the sky like splayed fingers. Seeing the spines packed densely into the tail tips made him swallow dryly.

Get stabbed by those and you’d die without even getting to scream.

“Quil, what did I tell you? I said those bastards would backstab us.”

Drich steadied his breathing while taking his stance. For someone who could supposedly fight, his form looked quite impressive.

Quilbion was also recalling useful sorcery in his head, preparing himself.

That’s when it happened.

“Stop it!”

A clear shout cut through. Lil, who’d raised her voice, stepped in front of Geron.

“I told you it shouldn’t come to this, didn’t I?”

“Those bastards are blind beasts. They don’t know what’s in front of them and just bite first. Things like that shouldn’t be left alive.”

“They’re scared too. You know what those kids saw, right? What kind of hell they experienced?”

It was an unexpected quarrel.

Quilbion relaxed the tension in his body slightly. Looking at how things were going, it seemed combat wouldn’t break out.

“Drich.”

But Drich had different thoughts. He was looking at the back of Lil’s head with fierce eyes. The moment he saw an opening, it looked like he’d handle not just the goblin but Lil too.

Because emotions had flared up.

He touched Drich’s shoulder lightly while telling him to calm down. Drich shot him a bitter smile as he dismissed his nark. The black hammer shattered into small pieces and disappeared.

The snake-head-like energy in Geron’s tails also drooped limply toward the ground.

Lil turned around with a deep sigh.

“It seems we can’t trust each other.”

“You brought up trust first.”

“We’re hiding things because we can’t trust you. Yet you guys are the ones pulling out weapons first? Does that seem normal to you?”

Drich raised his voice at those words.

“You keep a man-eating monster by your side and talk about feeling comfortable.”

“Geron is different. That’s why you were able to get here safely. Not just me, but those kids inside too.”

It was hard to refute, so Drich clicked his tongue.

“Alright. Let’s say we got here safely thanks to that goblin. But that alone isn’t enough to cover everything and trust it. We got help, whether it lured us here—we can’t make that judgment yet.”

The finger Drich extended pointed straight into the darkness beyond.

“Variables must be eliminated. That’s the best choice.”

“Are you saying we should kill people?”

“Not people. Something lower than people. You joined hands with that crazy monster—can we even call that a person?”

Lil’s tightly pressed lips trembled.

“Fine. There’s no reason to hold you back, so leave quickly. But absolutely don’t get caught. If you get caught, there’s a chance we’ll be exposed. If that happens, just keep your mouth shut and die. Don’t mention us for no reason.”

Keep your mouth shut and die.

The look in Lil’s eyes when she spat out those words was different from what he’d seen inside the house. Her gaze was alive. It was words that felt sincere.

He’d received what amounted to a curse, but it actually put his mind at ease. Because the words about not wanting to be discovered seemed close to the truth.

“Drich, let’s go.”

“You’re going to leave that thing behind?”

“We did get help once—that’s a fact. And if we fight now, it won’t just be the goblin…”

Quilbion looked at Lil. If combat broke out, she’d grab a broom or something and charge at them with that intensity.

“Well, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Drich turned around. Quilbion looked at Lil as he spoke.

“Still, be careful. No matter what anyone says, what’s next to you isn’t human.”

“You don’t know because you’re young. The cruelest thing to humans is other humans. Animals, you know—they don’t kill their own kind as a joke.”

He stared at Lil’s sharp eyes for a while before nodding.

“I agree that people are shitty. Well, anyway—let’s both try to survive well.”

He exchanged glances with Geron.

There didn’t seem to be any hostility. The eerie energy had disappeared the moment Lil told him to stop.

Lil and Geron. He tried to guess what kind of relationship they had, then stopped.

A goblin friendly toward humans.

If he accepted that such types existed, future battles would get complicated.

Simple is good. Yeah, that’s right.

Even so, he couldn’t help the uncomfortable feeling that clung to him. Al Terua’s words kept circling in his ears.

A being with desires, similar to humans.

Quilbion shook his head to clear the stray thoughts.

He formed a hand seal with his left hand and folded a talisman. Blue flames bloomed from his palm.

It was a Sitpin Yellow Form’s art, ‘flames without heat.’

He walked forward with the flames leading the way, following behind Drich.

“You slept well.”

How long had they walked while cutting through the darkness?

Drich, who’d been walking beside him, stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“You can drop the act now.”

“What are you talking about? What act?”

Drich’s eyes narrowed.

“What, you were really planning to leave them alone? You’re not acting to fool them?”

An incredulous sigh followed.

“Quil, you naive fool. Your mouth is rough but your insides are really, truly gentle.”

“I don’t know what you mean by gentle, but if you’re going to pick a fight, do it later. We need to conserve energy.”

“That’s not it.”

Drich gestured for him to sit down.

“You noticed it too to some extent, right? That the story about the kids in that house doesn’t add up.”

“Doesn’t add up?”

“Look carefully.”

Drich held up four fingers.

“She definitely said four years. That woman, Lil. She said she escaped four years ago with her own mouth, right?”

“She did.”

“Fine. Let’s say back then Lil escaped alone. Let’s say Geron helped her because he’s a goblin friendly toward humans, as she claims.”

The moment he heard those words, Quilbion realized what Drich found suspicious.

“The number of kids gathered is strange?”

“Right. If he’d been continuously helping them escape for four years, a few at a time, it should be dozens of people, not seven.”

“It’s possible the situation wasn’t favorable and he couldn’t help them escape until recently, so he brought them here.”

“That’s possible. But I saw it. You were busy talking to that woman so you didn’t see, but…”

Drich’s voice dropped low.

“There were exactly eight cups in the dining area.”

“Because there are eight people. No, seven humans and one goblin.”

“Right, it’s a number that fits perfectly. But those porcelain cups—they had handprints caked all over them. You could clearly tell they were old.”

Old cups.

Quilbion frowned.

“It’s not that he prepared cups to match the number of kids he brought…”

“There were kids who used those cups in the past. Just how many kids were in that house? And where are those kids now?”

A sickening picture formed.

“No way. That can’t be. A goblin might be like that, but Lil—that woman is human.”

“Right, she’s human. That’s exactly why I can be more certain. She said it herself, didn’t she? That the cruelest thing to humans is humans. That woman was telling the truth.”

Old utensils and four years of time.

If Drich’s reasoning was correct, then the children who arrived here during those four years…

“That crazy bitch. She helped the goblin eat humans.”

“Wait a minute.”

Quilbion suppressed his agitation.

“What you’re saying might be true. But it’s a bit flimsy. Why would Geron do such an inconvenient thing? He could just eat them inside the dormitory. Plus, if they’re prey he brought here to eat, why bother taking care of them? Just eat them. You saw it too.”

Quilbion recalled the children who’d approached Geron without hesitation.

They’d built considerable trust. That kind of familiarity couldn’t develop in just a day or two.

Sharing affection with his prey and taking care of them?

For what purpose?

“Right. It does seem strange when you pick it apart like that. But you know, does this place we’re in run on that kind of logic? Hell!”

Drich raised his voice before glancing around and opening his mouth calmly.

“What if it’s preparation for nark?”

“Nark?”

“He said goblins can get stronger by consuming nark. What if not eating the kids right away and keeping them is preparation for growing their nark?”

Stacking assumption on top of assumption—there’s no end to it.

Ultimately, it came down to whether Lil and Geron could be trusted or not.

“Quil, remember. What those bastards did to us.”

Drich’s eyes turned fierce.

He thought of stray dogs prowling at the village entrance. Vicious dogs that would rush in and tear out your throat the moment you showed an opening.

“You want to kill them?”

“Quil, Quil! This isn’t a playground. If we don’t kill them, we’ll be the ones who die. No, even if my prediction is wrong, it doesn’t matter. The moment the seed of doubt sprouted, what we need to do was decided.”

Drich’s extended finger pointed straight into the darkness beyond.

“Eliminate variables. That’s the best choice.”

“To kill people.”

“Not people. Something even lower than the bottom. She joined hands with that insane monster—can we call that a person?”

Quilbion lifted his hand to run it through his hair.

“If possible, just Geron.”

“I’m telling you, that woman will immediately grab a weapon and charge at us. That woman’s eyes when she looked at the goblin were really sticky.”

“You mean she likes him?”

“Saying ‘likes’ is too light. That’s love. The deep intimacy between man and woman…”

Quilbion raised his hand to stop Drich’s words.

An unpleasant sensation crept over him. A feeling hard to put into words.

He knew very well what this meant. He turned his head. Toward the direction where the shabby house had been.

“Quil?”

“They’re coming.”

He lowered his posture. Drich also closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes.

Quilbion sent the heatless flames he’d created with sorcery flying into the sky. The floating flames briefly illuminated the surroundings before disappearing.

It was only an instant, but that was enough.

He’d seen Geron where the cluster of light had swept past.

“I knew it.”

Drich was smiling. It was an expression that said this worked out better.

At the same time, the surroundings brightened.

One of Geron’s tails was spewing blue light.

The area was dyed bluish.

Quilbion confirmed Lil sticking close behind Geron. She was holding a sickle with a short blade, and her stance holding the weapon wasn’t awkward.

“You should have just stayed. Then this wouldn’t have happened.”

Lil said.

“You piece of shit. Sticking to a monster—does it feel good? You’re rotten. There’s a line people should uphold, but you disgust me. Absolutely disgusting.”

Drich grumbled as he spread his hand. He could feel nark moving.

Soon a black hammer formed in Drich’s hand.

“You don’t know anything. You don’t know what kind of effort we’ve made, what kind of feelings brought us this far.”

“Of course I don’t know! I don’t eat people, so I wouldn’t know. Right, Quil?”

Quilbion fiddled with his wooden dagger before gripping a talisman in his hand.

His heart began beating rapidly.

This wasn’t a fistfight—it was combat against a monster. He’d practiced countless sorcery that might be helpful, but practice in a room and real combat would definitely be different.

The result a mistake would bring was singular.

Quilbion prepared his hand seal.

He hadn’t worked this hard to die in a place like this.

“Lil… Sister. Let me ask you one thing. Four years ago when Geron saved you—did you escape alone?”

Lil answered with a hardened expression.

“No.”