The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

Shire was certain that sentence hadn’t been in the notebook before. He had even closed it before going to sleep. But now, not only was the notebook splayed open in front of him, a line of blood-red text had appeared on it. ’This is definitely a warning from Lust.’

"In other words, it saw my little ’performance’ from earlier and was quite satisfied." Shire sat in his chair, picking up the notebook to examine it. "The handwriting is actually pretty good. It’s even an ornate script."

"But who could Envy’s Contractor be?" Shire’s gaze drifted upward to the fluorescent Mushrooms on the ceiling. ’I’ve come into contact with a lot of Races. Who could it be? Could those Earth Goblins be Envy’s Contractors? Are they also in the forest searching for something belonging to the Demon Lord of Envy?’

’But aren’t those Earth Goblins all dead? And didn’t they already find the Angry Long Horn?’ The more he thought about it, the more something felt off. ’It’s probably not the Earth Goblins.’

Shire opened his notebook and began to list everyone he had met recently, from the little goblins to the Centaurs, from the Earth Goblins to his newly recruited goblin subordinates. ’It’s not them. If it were, I would have definitely seen "Soul Contract of the Demon Lord of Envy" when I summoned the panel.’

’Then who else is there?’ He tapped the charcoal pencil in his hand. Slowly, a shadowy figure emerged in his mind. ’That guy... I think his name was Herbert. When I signed the contract with him for those potion bottles, everything seemed to progress a little too quickly.’

He recalled their meeting. After a few pleasantries, they had signed the contract directly, taking only a few symbolic sips of water. Later, in a conversation with Agatha, she had revealed that Herbert wasn’t such an easy person to deal with. ’At the time, I thought he rushed to sign because my order was so large he was afraid of losing a major customer. Looking back now, there was definitely something wrong.’

’That Mr. Herbert is probably like me—someone who possesses Magic. It’s even more likely he approached me specifically to find Envy’s contracted artifact.’ ’No wonder he insisted on meeting me in person to sign the contract.’

Shire tapped his finger lightly on the desk. ’I’ll have to be careful if I see him again.’

After analyzing the warning from Lust’s Clone, he stood up and stretched. His gaze swept over the mirror beside him. ’This is a good spot. The next time "goody-two-shoes Lust" shows up, I can put on a real performance for it.’

’First, I need to wake up Red Eyes and the others and deal with this corpse.’ He threw on some clothes and walked out of his stone room. In the huge stone chamber, the snores of the other goblins rose and fell. The most aggravating was Red Eyes’ "electric drill" snore. ’We need to step up the patrols. The Centaurs are on night watch outside the Fortress, but they can’t identify people who use Magic. I have to figure something out.’

Lost in thought, he paced past several small stone rooms until he reached Red Eyes’ quarters.

The massive stone chamber contained two levels of stone rooms, originally designed as an underground barracks. Shire had now assigned a few goblins to each room. Red Eyes’ room housed six goblins in total.

He walked over and kicked Red Eyes, who was still "sawing logs," right out of bed. "Get up. Time to work."

Red Eyes, now on the floor, dazedly picked himself up and rubbed his eyes. Then, a red, fleshy ball squirmed out from beside him.

Shire immediately backed away, eyes wide. "You bastard! You’re sleeping with the ’cat’!"

...

「In Yangjiao Town, at the Moonlight Inn.」

Elma put down a stack of wanted posters. ’I’ll just anonymously tip off the Adventurer Association. Then, all I have to do is follow the Adventurers, and I’ll be able to take care of those goblins.’

Ever since she’d seen Centaurs and goblins living together, Elma had been wracking her brain over how to deal with that particular band of goblins. There were too many of them, and they had well-equipped Centaurs living right next door. A rash attack would not end well for her.

But whenever she thought of Shire’s arrogant face and the several times he had humiliated her, she gritted her teeth in hatred.

CRUMPLE. Elma crushed a wanted poster in her fist, ignoring the name "Merlot" printed on it. ’I really want to hit that goblin with a few Magic Energy Bursts, over and over, until he’s nothing but a pile of meat.’

Unfortunately, she still held the title of Special Examiner for the Adventurer Association, and people might recognize her. If word got out that she was sneaking around the edge of the Nightmare Forest looking for a band of goblins, it would certainly attract unwanted attention. That could lead to strange rumors in the future. Besides, she had another purpose here: finding the "Eye of Lust."

’This plan should work.’ Elma tossed aside the crumpled wanted poster and began to formulate the wording for an anonymous tip and request. But as the wad of paper bounced across the floor and rolled to a stop by the mirror, her brow furrowed. ’It’s here.’

"So you knew I was here," a leisurely female voice drifted from the mirror. In the reflection, Elma’s own image appeared, but it was not her own reflection.

"Master," Elma quickly rose and walked to the mirror. "I’ve found a way to find the Eye."

"Oh?" Lust’s Clone was intrigued. It leaned forward slightly, pressing its beautiful face close to the surface of the mirror. "Do tell."

"I’m planning to..." Elma glanced at the face in the mirror and felt a pang of disgust. Although it was her own face now, deep down, she knew it truly belonged to her sister, Agatha.

She turned her head slightly, avoiding the mirror’s gaze. "I’m going to find some goblins and command them to search for it. Those creatures live in the forest year-round; they might discover something. And if I just grant them a little Ability, enough to defeat Adventurers, the stupid things will be more than willing to do my bidding."

"What a brilliant idea," Lust’s Clone said, clapping with a smile. Just as Elma looked back at the mirror with a hopeful expression, Lust said, "However, I no longer need you to search for the Eye."

"Master, I..." Elma was struck dumb. When she had signed the contract to receive her powerful Magic Ability, it was for a term of many years.

"I’ve already found another Contractor," Lust’s Clone said with a smile. "So, we can dissolve our contract. I imagine that’s what you were hoping for, isn’t it?"

"But, Master," Elma reacted instantly. "If the contract is dissolved..."

"That’s right. Once the contract is dissolved, I will reclaim the Magic Ability I gave you, and you will revert to your original appearance." In the mirror, Lust’s face began to transform. The features shifted and rearranged, gradually settling into a face that was somewhat similar to Elma’s old one, but plainer. "You will also return to your former state, with no Magic Talent. Even the Star Realm Snake you summon will only be this thick."

The "Elma" in the mirror smiled, holding up a hand and pinching her thumb and forefinger together, leaving a gap of only an inch or so.