The Story of the Goblin King

‘The Story of the Goblin King’ was something I heard of as a child.
The story was something of a fairy tale.

Born as a goblin, the weakest of monsters.
An outstandingly weak goblin even amongst the other goblins.
Born in ancient times, that goblin should have died immediately.
But, because it was so weak, it was much more cowardly than the other goblins and had a greater sense for danger.
Survive.
No matter the situation, as long as you live eventually you will grow stronger.
With that one goal in mind, the goblin simply survived.

One year, ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years, over the course of what seemed like an eternity, slowly but surely the goblin gained knowledge and strength.

Running from humans, running from dragons, running from heroes, but not just running.
Each time it ran it would learn something new, becoming slightly stronger.

And in the end, that goblin became…..

“The strongest goblin king.
With knowledge and magic that would lose to no one”

A fairy tale to teach children to put in effort and not give up.
That legend was standing right before my eyes.
Not to mention, clapping his hands with a tear in his eye.

“Well well, to think my past would be spoken of in that way.
Even if it was just to buy time, I’m a bit moved”

Yup, he figured it out.
Chloe hasn’t gotten up after being blown away and Reia isn’t returning from her rampage.

“You’re pretty interesting, Takumi-kun.
I’ve always been interested in you.
What kind of man the top of the adventurer rankings and strongest in the universe was like”
“Nah, I’m not anything special.
Honestly”

Stop, pay me no mind.
I’m not being humble or anything.

“There you go again, I know you aren’t an ordinary person.
My ancient magic is able to precisely gauge the strength of my opponent.
That’s why I always know the results of a battle beforehand.
But you Takumi-kun, I cannot predict your strength at all.
It’s the first time this has happened”

Because my strength is zero.
I want to tell him that my strength is not impossible to measure because it is unfathomable, but I won’t.

“It’s been a while since I was this excited.
I want to fight immediately but it seems that won’t be allowed”
“Huh?”

For some reason, the goblin king was staring at Chiharu behind me.

“To think that I was only able to realise now.
Or should I say, as expected of the great sage”
“…..Don’t look down on me you mere goblin”

I couldn’t believe my ears.
That wasn’t the voice of a young girl I’d been hearing until now but unmistakably that of an adult.
Not to mention that voice…..

“Chiharu you, Nuruhachi’s…..”
“…..We’ll talk later, there’s no time right now”

Chiharu was enveloped by an aura like balls of fire and flew towards the goblin king like a rocket.

In a panic, the goblin king put his finger in his mouth and blew.
As he did, his body began to swell like a balloon.
The charging Chiharu hit the inflated goblin king and bounced off.

“Needle Shower(Swallow a Thousand Needles)”1

The balloon like goblin king let out a deep breath, shooting out countless needles while deflating rapidly.
All of those needles flew towards Chiharu.

“Wave Sphere – Circular”

The ball of light that Nuruhachi used to defeat Reia appeared before Chiharu.
The sphere drew a circle as it rapidly orbited around Chiharu, repelling the incoming needles.

As expected, Chiharu and Nuruhachi must be closely connected.

The had goblin king fired all those needles in the span of one breath.
Chiharu pointed her right hand towards the goblin king in the shape of a pistol.

“Wave Sphere – Gun”

The sphere that was orbiting Chiharu flew towards the goblin king at an unbelievable speed.

“Bang”

Chiharu murmured.
And with it a great explosion occurred.
The whole area was engulfed in a vortex of light.

The battle had concluded.
Or so I thought.

“You should run.
That won’t last for long”

At the demon sword’s words, I scan my surroundings.
My eyes slowly began to adjust as the light was subsiding.
The goblin king was standing there.
His two arms were transformed into an enormous shield.

His clothes in tatters and covered in wounds, but the smile on his face said he could still go on.
In contrast, Chiharu’s breathing had become erratic and she was panting heavily.

“I don’t know whats up with that girl, but that’s the last dregs of her strength.
She was exhausted from the beginning, to the point of barely being able to maintain her current appearance”

Huh!? Chiharu’s in such a state…..!

“H-Hey are you listening? I told you to run away.
Why are you going closer”

Her true identity doesn’t matter.
I approach the goblin king.

“If I flee and abandon her here, there’s no point in living on”
“…..Pou”2

Somehow demon sword-san turned slightly red.

“Hah! Uh you know, that pou!? earlier, not like that, it’s absolutely not like that.
Haah fine, it can’t be helped.
As a special service, I’ll help you out once more okay”

I draw demon sword-san from it’s scabbard.
A black aura begins to build up as countless black orbs suspend around me.

For the first time, the calm expression that the goblin king had disappeared from his face.

Subsequently, the situation took a turn for the better.

“Gaaaaaaaa!”

Chloe had recovered, rising from the sediment of the cave.
Transforming into a dragon as she arose.
At the same time, the sound of footsteps drew closer to me.

“Takumi-san, I have dealt with them all”
Reia returned in high spirits.
Is her deep red appearance due to the blood of the goblins or divine possession I wonder.
I can’t tell the difference.
Whichever it is, it’s terrifying.

Sweat falls from the goblin king’s face like a waterfall.

“I guess it can’t be helped”

Surrounded by four people, the Goblin King Jusrack raised his arms and shrugged his shoulders.

“Takumi-kun, it seems that incredible warriors(strong people) gather around you.
A great sage, a dragon, a disciple of divine possesion, a demon sword, and…..”

The goblin king tilts his head and looks at the sky.
I follow his gaze but there was nothing there.
Just the stars above.

Huh, for some reason I felt a bit cold.
My body shivered at the feeling of being watched by something.

The goblin king looked back to me and spoke.

“…..For now it seems, if I cannot defeat all of them, I won’t be able to reach you, the strongest in the universe”

The goblin king faced me and bowed.

“Allow me to call it here for tonight”

“Call it here? Do you think we’ll let you run?”

Chiharu took a step forward.
Reia and Chloe also close their distance.

“I will run.
It’s how I’ve survived so long”

The three draw near to the goblin king simultaneously.

At the moment everyone thought he was caught.

With the sound of a click, the goblin king exploded.

“What insolent behavior”

Chloe used her dragon form as a shield to protect everyone from the blast.

“Over there!”

Reia was the first to notice.

The goblin king, who was thought to have blown himself up, was growing more distant as he ran away at an incredible speed.
He seemed much smaller than before.

“Did he molt.
After him, we’ll end this here”

Chiharu and the others followed after the goblin king at similarly incredible speeds

“You’re not going too?”
“Do you think I can run at that speed?”
“Yeah that’s impossible”

It should have been time for me and demon sword-san to relax.
But there was one more person left here.

“…..You really are fearsome.
You’re the first person not to be fooled by my final trump card, Takumi-kun”

That murmur came from the remains of the exploded goblin king.
It appeared in the center of its destroyed corpse.
A Goblin King Jusrack about half my size.

“…..It seems that you are leagues above me.
Much more than I expected”

Chiharu and the others must be chasing after a dummy.
Well, it’s just that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with its speed though.

The goblin king knelt before me.

“Now, deliver the final blow.
It is my complete defeat”

The mortal battle against the fierce goblin king came to an abrupt end.

“Is it fine not to finish him off?”
“Aah, It seems he wont come back so its fine like this”

I let the goblin king go along with the promise to never come back to this mountain.
Somehow, the goblin’s weakened appearance reminded me of my own and I couldn’t kill him.
Chiharu and the others are still chasing after the dummy and haven’t returned yet.

“You really are soft.
You can’t live like that you know …..It can’t be helped, I’ll protect you for a bit”
“Hmm? Did you say something demon sword-san”
“I- I didn’t say anything”

My goblin problem may be solved but there was still a heap of problems left to deal with.
Chiharu’s mystery, the succession of the dragon king, Reia’s training, and the demon sword’s past.
The unresolved incidents are steadily increasing.

Plus, one more thing.

On this day, apart from me, there was one more person who didn’t fall for the goblin king’s dummy.

Translators Notes:
1: To swallow a thousand needles is a phrase from the Japanese version of a pinky promise as a punishment for those who break the promise.
2: In case of confusion this is just a sound the demon sword makes Its not like part of a word or anything.

I suppose I should’ve mentioned this sooner but for those who care the demon sword speaks in kansai-ben.
I’m not going to try and give it an accent, I can barely write regular English after all.

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