The Strongest Wingless Gargoyle Volume 2 Chapter 7

TLC: Reizenchuu

Editor: JFB

We managed to reach the quiet village at dusk.

This village was once a place where goblins would spend and enjoy themselves, but now the tree huts were burnt down, the field were all dug up, and the fences around the village were destroyed.

This was evidence of both a tempestuous raid and the Demon Lord Larne's merciless trait, even so, there was something which was not right.

"This is…"

As Daidalian set his foot into the village, his face tensed up.

"I thought about it since we arrived at the village, but there's no foul odor."

Daidalian gave nod as I said it.

There were traces of raiding, but, while lots of goblins seemed to have been killed in that very raid, the corpses were nowhere to be seen.

I wonder if we could take it as someone has buried the corpses.

Perhaps this was only wishful thinking on my part, but if by any chance…

"Perhaps, someone might have returned."

Daidalian looked around and let out a loud scream that reverberated in the entire village.

"I am chief Marida's son, Daidalian! Is anybody here?!"

After some time had pa.s.sed, the door of the black burned hut near the village's entrance slightly opened up.

"Da-Daidalian?"

"An-bou?"

"Mi…do? Sari-oneesan as well!"

Two goblins came out from inside the hut with the air of vigilance.

The one Daidalian called Mido was a young female goblin at about the same age as him.

Goblins generally had dark-brown skin, but a female's skin is slightly lighter in color than male's; that, and having big eyes was also one of their trait.

This time around, I shouldn't be mistaking the gender…really.(1)

The other goblin had a much larger build than Daidalian, around 2 meters in height, with more of a greenish skin.

Is that a hobgoblin? I wondered.

Hobgoblins belong to the same race as a goblin but they have undergone an evolution.

While the exact condition of said evolution is not fully known, some have inferred the condition to be the amount of magical power one has as well as their age.

That being the case, Daidalian should sooner or later evolve into hobgoblin.

Speaking of evolution, as for gargoyles…we can't evolve.

We retain the same figure from the moment we were born till the end of our lives.

It's a little sad but…I've been made for perfection from the moment I was born. I opted to have such positive thought.

That's the actual truth, I accept no objection.

"Daidalian! It's Daidalian, right?!"

"Yes! Yes! It's me! So you have safely escaped, Mido!"

Daidalian and the girl he called Mido stared at each other for awhile before they walked in each other's direction.

Their distance eventually grew closer…and then.

"Daidalian!"

"Mido!"

Upon their meeting, they hugged each other tightly, so tight that the sounds *gisii* could be heard.

"Thanks goodness! When you were being taken by that werewolf…I-I thought we wouldn't ever meet again…"

"Aa, two days ago, Larne had died, thus the mind control had been casted off and I was able to safely return."

"Larne is…dead?" Mido asked.

"Yes, Larne is dead."

"Aa…that's great. He finally died! With this we can live peacefully again."

"Aa…he's finally dead!"

That was surely a reunion which could bring whoever saw it to tears, but the conservation within was a hideous one…

As expected, a lot people were bearing a grudge against that guy, Larne.

He simply got what he deserved; there was absolutely no room for sympathy.

Deeply moved by their meeting, they hugged each other tightly once again.

10 seconds, 20 seconds, and then 30 seconds pa.s.sed.

I wanted to halt their drawn-out reunion, but the mood made it difficult for me to do so.

"I'm truly glad that you are safe, An-bou…I understand how you feel, but the people behind you seem troubled."

"…aah, I'm sorry Sari-oneesan."

And here I thought you would let them do whatever they like, hobgoblin onee-san.

With the steering words fired by her, Daidaian and Mido brought down the curtain on their reunion.

She gave a feeling of a reliable onee-san.

Daidalian apologized when he noticed Baum and I probably felt out of place.

"Daidalian, those people are?" Sari onee-san slightly made inquiries of us.

"Let me introduce you, I got to know them along the journey, they are Baum, a slime, and Albert, a gargoyle."

"Gargoyle…is it?"

Goblins and gargoyles didn't have many chances to interact with each other.

Mido fixedly stared at me as if she was looking at something marvelous.

Oi oi…for heaven's sake.

"Aa! I-I'm sorry for staring…"

Mido apologised as she bowed her head in a fl.u.s.ter. Her gaze was that of seeing something rare.

There is no problem on my side since it was not to the extent of incurring displeasure onto myself.

"Fufu, don't worry about it, young lady. Though, you should be careful because it might make Daidalian jealous."

Who is this guy…it's me. (2)

"Eh, aa…that is."

Catching a glimpse at Daidalian, Mido's face turned red.

I can also make some teasing jokes, you know. My other name was 'the supporter' though.

"Gezz…what do you mean by jealousy? Albert-san is…the person who saved me and helped me along the journey. He is a person who can be trusted."

"S-so it's like that, if Daidalian says it's alright then it must be so. It's late but let me introduce myself, I'm called Mido, a goblin."

"I'm Sari, a hobgoblin. Best regards."

Mido and Sari came to believe me, a guy whose appearance, 100% reeks of suspicion.

They seem to trust Daidalian greatly.

"I'm Albert, a gargoyle. Best regards for both of you."

"Bigii."

"Likewise, please treat me well, Baum-san."

Baum and Mido greeted each other using telepathic communication.

Since we introduced at each other where we stood, we then felt prompted to go inside the house where a short while ago, Mido appeared from.

The house was originally Mido's. It was slightly burned but had less damage compared to a lot of the other houses. Inside, there were lots of traditional furniture that still maintain its practical use.

We sat down on the wooden chair, making two rows separated by a wooden table.

As for Baum, he stood by on bed since it held no meaning for him to sit on the chair.

"Well then, Mido…may I hear what happen after I was taken?"

"I understand."

That day, the day when Larne's subordinates launched an attack. The male goblins bravely clashed against werewolves. They managed to gain time for the females to run away with the cost of their lives.

Owing to their persistence, the women were able to safely lead the children away and take shelter.

The escaped women seemed to live in private, hidden inside the forest up to 5 km from here to the west.

Since they didn't know when Larne's subordinate would return, as in, the area around the ruined village, two or three goblins periodically took their respective turns to come back to the village and observe the situation.

They told us that they had held a funeral for male goblin's victims, including Daidalian's father. Their grave is supposed to be located up to 200 metres from here to the north. Daidalian will be going there tomorrow morning.

It seems that the werewolves were a.s.signed as Larne's scouting party for monitoring Beria's troops. Their kind have a good sense of smell, and not only do they have ability to track an enemy, they also possess high fighting skills. You could say that a place with many obstacles, like a forest, is within their area of expertise.

Perhaps they discovered this village when they were in the middle of scouting Beria's army, and launched attack with the aim to gain provisions and the like. Then, while they were at it, decided to also stockpile troops. That's probably what happened.

Larne was also a werewolf. Though strictly speaking, Larne was a werewolf which had evolved into a fenrir…nevertheless, despite the opponent being from a race which could be said had a strength of a demon lord, they were still able to escape.

"…is that so, some of you are safe…I'm glad."

"Daidalian…"

Daidalian was relieved once he knew many had survived. He realised his struggle wasn’t to no avail, and tears started flowing down his cheeks. Mido, who had sat beside him, wiped his tears with her hand.

"I already contacted Menado-san and told her Daidalian has returned. I suppose she will come tomorrow morning."(3)

"Mother!"(4)

Apparently, Sari got into contact with Daidalian's mother, Menado-san, when we were hearing about the course of events from Mido.

Daidalian looked delighted realizing he could meet his mother for the first time after a long time had pa.s.sed.

But still…

"So the contact has been established…but I thought Menado was at the forest area around 5 km from here? Is telepathic communication able to encompa.s.ses such a far distance?"

Given that the talk had come to an end, I decided to ask about it.

"Yes, however, it can only works when you know their precise location. The end of the thought transfer's line, or in other words, the other party's exact coordinate have to be known to some extent, otherwise it's impossible."

Sari answered my question.

I was told that in this situation telepathic communication was possible since Sari knew the exact location of the hidden goblin's village the female goblins founded.

That meant currently, Daidalian was unable to get in touch with Menado.

Sari also added, 'Since we're slow, if we didn't have telepathic communication, we wouldn't have been able to run away from the werewolves.'

There was also another thing that weighed my minds, it was about the earlier monster topic.

On the way route to this village, Sari and Mido discovered 5 lesser orcs. But because Mido was there, they opted to avoid a fight.

For several weeks, from here to 5 km of distance to where she was, the monsters had frequently appeared.

And yet, they were not as much as before…

This means my deduction was correct. Slowly but surely, monsters who ran away from the war's central area are gradually returning to their original inhabitants.

Looking at how thing went, I asked whether it was safe for them to encounter monsters  when there were only female goblins left, and it turns out that was not a problem.

Basically, goblin males would go hunting while the female ones did housework inside the village and pick herbs. But they occasionally a.s.sist male goblin in hunting in their spare time.

Three months after the attack, the female refugees made wooden spears and bows, using their dexterous hand, and hunted down lesser orcs and the like, taking over the role of the deceased males. With their skill, which could put a male to shame, they didn't have to fret about securing their own meat.

In short, apparently they could do everything. They were strong right, the female goblins. The Goblin tribe was indeed a tribe which got through their lives by hunting, but ordinary goblins would have a difficult time handling lesser orc nonetheless. That's not to mention the young Mido.  Thus hobgoblin Sari accompanied Mido to observe the village as a guard.

I spend the time leisurely till dusk with the reunited goblins.

After I had a chat with everyone, suddenly *bang* the cabin's door opened.

Daidalian's mother, Menado-san, seems to have came. While she was also a hobgoblin, been parents and child as they were, somehow she resembled Daidalian.

Hm? But, wasn't she supposed to come by tomorrow morning? Not even one hour has pa.s.sed since we arrived here. Surprised at his mother's sudden appearance, Daidalian stood up from his chair.

"Daidalian!"

"Mother!! Why? Ah!"

"Idiot! I hurriedly came here when I know you made it back alive! How could I wait till tomorrow morning?!”

She seemed to come have crossed the forest despite it already being dark outside.

Well, for a hobgoblin, 2 or 3 lesser orcs were nothing…like when with Mido, the mother and child, tightly hugged each other upon their meeting. A deep emotional scene had laid out once again before me.

*Gutsu* *Gutsu*

Hmm?

I looked below and saw Baum continuously stomping on my foot.

*Gutsu* *Gutsu*

Aah, this was their reunion after a long of time, does he want to convey 'let's let them have a little time for themselves'?

Okay Baum, got it.

Considering how they feel, the nuisance will take a leave now.

These days, even if I can't use telepathic communication, somehow I got a hunch of what Baum tries to say lately.

To even be concerned about their feeling, he is truly man among men… (5)

Baum and I went outside and left the goblins inside the hut.

The veil of darkness had been put down. Soon it would become total darkness.

Estimating that a good amount of time had pa.s.sed, we turned back to the hut.

"I'm sorry that you had to mind about us," Daidalian greeted me who was entering the hut.

"Oi oi, it would be rude to interrupt the reunion between a mother and her child, would it not?"

After all, I was a man among men who was capable to read the mood.

Forgive me, I lied.

Well, everything was thanks to Baum.

"I'm Menado, Daidalian's mother. You had rescued him from wyvern on his journey, How can I express my grat.i.tude?"

"You don't owe me anything since the favor has been paid by Daidalian himself. Rather, it was me who want to give my thanks."

"Such a thing, it's me who should say so…"

"No, no, it's  me who should say so…"

I need to put a stop to this or else it won't come to an end.

Daidalian who was slightly embarra.s.sed was charming. (6)

"By the way mother, what is your plan after this?"

"That's right…"

Since Daidalian's father – the tribe's chief – had pa.s.sed away, apparently, as his wife, Menado took a role of goblin's mediator since three months ago.

"We have to ask everyone's opinion concerning the matters from here on out. Though, since Larne had died, I want to return here…but…"

Menado furrowed her brow as she pondered about it.

"The location which underwent an attack by werewolves should now be well known to them."

"That's right…it is not impossible for them to attack us once again."

Even though it had been under attack, they still want to live here, in this place which was their hereditary hometown packed out with memories.

Besides, rather than open up the forest by lumbering trees from the beginning, it is way more easier to rehabilitate the location that has been cleared up before.

However, since this location had been under attack once, if they happen to get in the same situation ever again, they won't have any chance to get away since now their men were already gone.

"Ummm, in short, is it alright as long as the werewolves can't set their foot inside the village?"

"Eh? Y-yes…that's right, but…"

The goblin's expression turned blank at my question.

"If it's only to that extent…I probably could do something about it"

I couldn't afford to fix all their problems, but I decided to give them a little bit help.

TN and ED Notes:

(1) TN: At chapter 2, Albert was mistaken Daidalian as a girl since his screamed voice sounds so…. like a girl. And Albert excitedly rushed out to help ‘her’ lol.

(2) TN: he is proud of himself for able to crack such jokes *bricked*

(3) ED: Only women left. *sigh* Goblin Harem. TN: LOL. Yeah. Spoiler: wait till he meet with the elf

(4) ED: *Cough* Umm not including her >.> <>

(5) TN: Not all hero wears a cape!

(6) TN: This line is so out of the blue, but that's what the raw gave me <>