91. Of the Goblin, by the Goblin.
“Is this the right place?”
“Oh, I think so.”
They climbed up the far-off rock and stood at the cave’s entrance, looking out over the scenery on the other side that seemed familiar. Although there was no wonderful sunset, the place was right there.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Ko Byeong-gap and Dorma moved into the cave slowly with their high-power lantern. The cool, damp air remained, but the presence that filled the cave had disappeared. They went deeper, and after a while, arrived at a crossroads. It was at the crossroads that the subjugation team found themselves at a few days ago.
They entered carefully.
‘It’s different from then.’
The traps that confused them no longer existed. Suddenly, Dorma spoke.
“The magic that spread out here has been lifted. Is it because the Lord killed him then?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go all the way.”
“Okay, I’ll take the lead.”
The cave was exactly how they saw it in the dungeon. There were signs of the walls crumbling, but its basic framework remained unchanged. About an hour later, they arrived in the room where the boss monster was. It looked the same there.
“No, it’s different.”
“What? What do you mean different?”
“It’s confusing, but there’s no trace of battle.”
Ko Byeong-gap clearly remembered the fierce match that day. The floor and the walls were all cracked and broken, but no traces of war remained here.
‘It’s true that the monsters lived here. I’m sure the place I saw in the dungeon was Ashvilam, but something is unnatural.’
Although the samples were far from sufficient, the dungeon was likely to be Ashvilam of the past. However, it didn’t naturally connect with the present.
‘What does this mean?’
As he was lost in thought for a few minutes, he recalled what Ea had told him in the past.
‘All the races that used to live on Earth disappeared overnight, hundreds of years ago.’
“Dorma, do you remember what she said when you first met Ea?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That all the races that lived on Earth in the past disappeared overnight.”
“Hm… was that so?”
Dorma groaned and frowned. He didn’t ask for an answer, so Ko Byeong-gap looked around the large space and continued.
“Hundreds of years ago, something must’ve happened in Ashvilam. Something huge that we can’t imagine.”
‘And it’s affecting the Earth as well.’
The Deep Impact, which hit the Earth 29 years ago. There was a lot of speculation, and humans had found out little about it. It was a mystery wrapped in a veil. Ko Byeong-gap thought about that day. Maybe he could uncover that huge secret.
***
It was a dark evening. Ko Byeong-gap stared at the Goblins while they ate as noisily as ever. On the other hand, the Harpy ate well, forming a harmonious relationship with the Goblins. No, was it correct to say that they were indifferent to each other? Anyway, there were no problems at all.
‘I don’t like this.’
It wasn’t that he was dissatisfied with the way they ate. He just didn’t like the food they ate, which was monster meat. Ever since he learned that the monsters descended from the ancient Ains, Ko Byeong-gap suffered from discomfort. With a little bit of thinking, it felt like the Goblins were eating even human flesh. He thought it was fortunate that he didn’t put monster meat in his mouth out of curiosity.
‘I can’t change their diet right now.’
If he cut off the supply of monster meat right now, the Goblins would face a food shortage in a few days. Of course, they farmed and raised livestock, but less than 20 percent of the table wasn’t covered by monster meat.
‘Still, we have to change it gradually.’
They had to change it, though. Not just for ethical reasons, but there was a more fundamental problem.
‘Because I can’t take care of you forever.’
It was impossible to catch food for them like a mother bird forever. He had to train the Goblins to live independently as Goblins of Ashvilam. That was the last task of Ko Byeong-gap, as a human and a Goblin Lord at the same time.
He finished thinking and went around the inside of the restaurant. He found Marilyn eating with Doran in the corner and approached her.
“Marilyn.”
“Oh, yes, Lord. May I help you?”
“I have something to ask you to do.”
“Do? What is it?”
“I can’t tell you here, but come to my place when you’re done eating.”
“…I see. I will do that.”
“Lord, can I come, too?”
“Yeah, come with her.”
Ko Byeong-gap went to his residence first. Soon after, Marilyn and Doran arrived, and they sat facing each other across the table.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Marilyn, you do something every day to regain your old strength. How do you feel?”
She gasped for a moment and licked her lips.
“Although I still need to do more meditating…I’ve improved a lot. I think I’ve recovered about 60 percent from my heyday.”
“About 60 percent.”
Ko Byeong-gap suddenly wanted to see how good she was. Was she above him now? However, he didn’t want to fight on this moonlit night.
“You know the general called Trovatin, right?”
“Of course, I know. It doesn’t make sense not to know his name as part of the Mandara Knights.”
“Comparing you with Trovatin in your prime, who is stronger? You said you were a deputy commander.”
She closed her eyes this time.
“I’ve only heard of his majesty, but he’ll still be much stronger. In the first place, he was the strongest man in Ashvilam’s history. If it weren’t for the king, I wouldn’t dare to confront him.”
“Hmm?”
“Is it about Sir Trovatin that you’ve called me here?”
“It’s not like that.”
Ko Byeong-gap paused for a moment.
“Now that you’ve recovered, the Goblins… no, look at the Sarahons.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Teach them to write.”
“…Write?”
At present, there weren’t many people who knew how to write in Ashvilam. Only Ko Byeong-gap, Dorma, Marilyn, Goblins knew how, so there were only 34 in total.
‘Since planting the seed of enlightenment, the children have become smarter, but that doesn’t mean they have the knowledge they need.’
Currently, the Goblins were, at best, primitive, and they were living in an environment that was too advanced for their level. It was entirely thanks to Ko Byeong-gap being their cheat key. To enlighten them in a true sense, they had to sharpen their learning.
“The kids don’t know how to write. I don’t know right now, but if you want to live in the future, you should at least know how to read and write.”
“That’s right… wait. Doran, do you not even know how to write?”
Doran, who remained still, was surprised. Her face turned red.
“Well, what’s the big deal?”
“How could that be? I’ve never met a child as intelligent as you….”
“Shut up! I never learned!”
“Doran, be quiet.”
“Oh! Yes, Lord. I’m sorry.”
When Ko Byeong-gap muttered softly, Doran quickly became quiet.
“Anyway, I’ll make the arrangement, so teach the kids how to write every day from now on. I’ll also provide you with a spacious classroom.”
“I’ll follow your directions. Is that all I have to do?”
“There’s one more. Teach them writing in the morning and warfare in the afternoon.”
“You mean war strategy?”
“Yes, from now on, you’ll oversee training the Sarahons. We’re bringing in some professional soldiers. Simply put, we’re building an army.”
He continued as he scratched his chin.
“Hmm… right now, we have 4,500 men. Is that enough? Decide it on your own.”
“L-Lord, I’m training the kids, right?”
“You’re just beating the kids up.”
“Ugh!”
She beat them up well, and their textbook achievement rate increased but continuing it was by no means an efficient method.
“Since you’re the deputy commander of the Mandara Knights, you’re probably the most knowledgeable among us when it comes to warfare. More than me.”
“Lord, don’t talk down about yourself. As a king, you must always have everything under your feet.”
“That’s enough. It’s true.”
Ko Byeong-gap was, of course, an expert in combat. However, players and coaches were on different fields. When it came to training soldiers, Marilyn would outperform him. He hesitated and added.
“I’m not saying this as Lord, but I lack in many ways. That’s why I must ask for the power of talented people like you. Even so, you should do your best. Anyway, when it comes to training the soldiers from now on, you are the Lord.”
“Me… the Lord?”
Marilyn’s eyes grew wide for a moment. She looked blank for a few seconds, then she nodded.
“I will obey your orders.”
“Yes, I trust you’ll do well.”
“I won’t let you down.”
“Lord! Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”
“No. You’re doing a good job right now. That’s enough.”
“Ah… hehe.”
Perhaps due to the compliment, Doran smiled. Ko Byeong-gap checked his watch and said, “It’s late. We’re done talking, so both of you go out.”
“I hope you have a comfortable night.”
“Goodnight, Lord.”
The two women left Ko Byeong-gap’s residence after bidding their farewells. Marilyn’s expression as she left the door seemed somewhat complicated.
***
The language class started with Marilyn, some King Goblins as instructors. Ko Byeong-gap bought 3,000 sets of writing equipment and distributed them to Ashvilam. People who didn’t know would think they were setting up a study room. The Goblins were naturally awkward since they had never held a pencil in their life. Most of them didn’t even know what writing was, let alone studying. Still, they showed the utmost cooperation with their Lord’s order.
Meanwhile, five King Goblins were sent to Somnium to teach writing there and help with mining. While the Goblins struggled with learning, Ko Byeong-gap sympathized with their pain. He had to learn farming and livestock while leaving his main job as a hunter.
‘When I was discharged from the army and was declared an awakener, I never imagined I’d be studying farming or anything like that.’
At that time, he thought he would die without farming even once in his entire life. He tried to learn more about cultivating paddy fields and farming, characteristics of each crop and growing environment, and harvesting and storage methods. Also, how to build livestock cages, characteristics of each livestock, how to make feed, how to breed animals…
“Wow, it’s difficult.”
He had never looked into farming and livestock, but he didn’t know it would be this difficult.
“We should leave it as a national treasure and hand it down to the generations.”
In front of him was a handwritten note tightly written in the Ashvilam language, not in Korean. He looked down at the note with a happy face, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. In the distant future…
“Will the Goblins remember that there was a human being like me?”
He put down the pen for a moment and imagined the future 200 years from now. By that time, the seeds of enlightenment would grow into solid trees, the Goblins would be worthy of its old name, Sarahons, and Ashvilam would’ve regained its former prosperity.
“I want them to remember.”
Ko Byeong-gap’s desire for fame wasn’t that great, but once those days came, he just wanted them to know that one human being sweated for the Goblins.
‘It would be better if there was at least one portrait or statue left of me.’
He smiled happily and grabbed the pen again.
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