This Hero is Too Curious! - 75 This Hero Returns To Ruks!

We stood in the destroyed goblin camp. The bodies of the little green monsters littered the ground, their blood dyed the grass a deep crimson. I examined the nearby area for anything of importance before I moved on to the tents. They were made out of wolf or rabbit pelts. It seems like the goblins had hunted any creature that they could skin in order to make these makeshift accommodations.

“Hello? Anybody home?” I asked as I stepped inside while I brandished my dagger. Of course, silence was the only response. I looked deeper inside for anything of importance or value before I left. The only items that could be considered a good value were the pelts that made up the bedding, but even these were in poor condition.

I decided to leave after I finished a quick investigation. The smell inside the tents was difficult to describe, but it was reminiscent of manure. Do goblins bathe? Actually, do monsters in general bathe? Are there monsters with human level intelligence? Mully the Mulaplix was able to communicate and think like a human, but she didn’t develop things like tools or weapons. Goblins seem to be capable of hunting and skinning as well as use basic tools like weapons. Since goblins are low on the ladder of monsters it’s entirely possible that there are creatures with an intellect that far surpasses humans.

“Find anything?” Tael asked me.

“Nada.”

“Well, I didn’t expect us to. Goblins don’t use money and they don’t trade so finding anything of value would be incredibly rare.”

“Hey wait, if they don’t trade or use money, where do they keep getting all their weapons? Surely they don’t steal all of them?”

“Well, stealing is certainly the main thing that they do, but most of the time their weapons just… appear.”

“Appear? What do you mean?”

“What he means is goblins just show up one day with a weapon in hand. There’s no rhyme or reason for it.” Kany emerged from a nearby tent and said.

“Huh? No, there totally is a reason for it! Goblins and other minor monsters are assigned roles when they’re created! The roles can range from guard to hunter to leader!”

“Um, no. They fight for those roles. It’s a tribal society.”

“They do not fight for those roles! It’s only when their tribe crumbles that they fight for dominance! Even then, if a leader exists then they follow them!”

“You’re wrong! You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Oh yeah Mr. Sparkles? What makes you an expert on goblins?”

Erana slowly walked towards me to join my argument watching. This is the closest thing I get to television now, so I may as well just enjoy it.

“”So… Are we done with the camp?” Erana whispered into my ear.

“Yeah, probably. I don’t think there’s anything of value here.”

“Okay. Are you going to tell them or should I?”

“Rock-paper-scissors?”

“Okay kids, we’re gonna head back into town now. I don’t want to get stuck out here tonight.”

“Quit calling us kids!”

“Yeah yeah whatever. Let’s go!” I said as I began to walk back towards the town.

Kany and Tael grumbled as they quickly followed behind me. Erana stuck to my left as we began to head to the road. Kany and Tael quickly resumed to argue as they walked.

“Ask yourself then: where do the weapons goblins drop go when you kill them?” Tael smugly asked.

“Wait, do they disappear or something?” I turned around and began to walk backwards to engage with the conversation.

“Yeah, what do you think happened?”

“Well what happens to them?”

“They vanish into thin air. Remember that shortsword you took a while ago? Where is it now?”

“Wait… what?” I stopped moving and removed my rucksack. I can’t believe I never noticed this before, but he’s right. Where the hell did that shortsword go?

“Yeah see? Thin air.”

“No! It’s not thin air! They turn into essence that spawns more goblins!”

“How are you so certain?”

“I read it in a book!”

“Are you sure you did? Last I checked you were illiterate!”

“I’m not illiterate! Just because the rest of us don’t spend every second of the day reading doesn’t mean we can’t read if we choose to!”

“Well maybe if you spent more time reading and less time stealing then you’d know that goblin equipment disappears into thin air!”

“Grrah! Fine! When we get back we’re going to the library! I need to prove you wrong!”

“Fine by me! I’ll even use my bookworm class to find the exact page that proves you wrong!”

They each stared daggers at each other. I could almost see the electricity flowing between the two of them.

“Tael-san, Kany, please don’t fight.”

“We’re not fighting Erana. I just need to prove her wrong.”

“You mean prove me right!”

I began to knock on my own head in frustration with their arguing. I can’t imagine having this much energy after clearing out an entire camp of goblins. From the looks of it, Erana is done with their issues too. Thankfully, the drawbridge is in sight. I won’t deny that I began to quicken my steps the closer we got.

“Oh, you’re back! The boys and I just finished our bets. I’m 2 for 2 on you buddy!” The guard walked up and patted me on the shoulder. A part of me felt pride when he said this, but another part felt a bit frustrated with the fact that people apparently doubted me.

“Well, I’m glad that we could make you some spare pocket change then.” I grit my teeth as I said this. Getting angry at a guard only ends up causing problems.

“Hah! Spare pocket change isn’t even the half of it! I bet a fat thousand juns on you and you quadrupled it the first time! This time I’m only gonna make 200 juns but that’s still a nice amount.”

Five thousand juns? I gotta get in on this…

I think Erana could detect my mind going to nefarious places because she lightly pushed me when I started thinking about the gambling.

“Thank you officer. My companions and I appreciate all the hard work you do.” Erana bowed to the guard as she said this. He seemed embarrassed by this seemingly genuine gesture since he lightly backed away in response.

We began to walk back into town. Unlike the way out, it felt as if nobody was watching us now. I can’t deny that this is relieving. It’s not that I’m self conscious or anything, but the feeling of being watched is just disturbing no matter what context.

“Okay. So Kany and I are gonna split off from you two and go to the library.” Tael came up to me and stated.

“Alright. Remember: 10:30 A.M. at the guildhall. Make sure you have all your stuff and all your affairs in order before then.”

“Got it.”

“Also don’t skimp out on the 500 juns.” I placed my hand on his shoulder as I smiled. “I know you won’t forget, right?”

“R-Right! Haha! I totally won’t forget! Don’t worry about it Kenji! I promise to do my share!”

“You too Kany.”

“Yeah yeah Onii-san. I got it. Let’s go Mr. Sparkles. I can’t wait to prove you wrong.”

Tael began to head off with Kany. I could hear the last bits of their conversation before they turned a corner.

“Whoever’s right owes the other one dinner.”

“I can’t wait for you to pay for me! I have the glutton class after all so don’t expect to get away with it!”

And then… silence.

It’s roughly around 1 P.M. now. People are wandering the streets and the town is very alive. Erana looked towards the ground for a moment before she raised her head and spoke up.

“So… It seems like it’s just us, right Kenji-san? Or do you have a prior obligation that you need to take care of?”

“Huh, me? Nah. What about you?”

“On days I have off I like to spend them looking around the city. It’s so big that every time I go exploring I find something new.”

“Huh. Well, I’m not doing anything so do you want to go ‘exploring’ together?”

“Wait… a boy and a girl by themselves going places together… I’m pretty sure this would be a date, Kenji-san!”

“Oh uh…” Ability Boost: Brain Power! I used my power inside of my own head. Fortunately, it seems like this worked as everything slowed down like it did before.

Okay… What do I do? Do I just own it and go “yeah it’s a date!” Would that work? N-Nah! She’s probably just trying to see if I plan on taking advantage of her or something! I’m not a bad guy Erana! …I’ve got it!

I dropped my ability as time resumed normal speed once more. While it felt like several seconds had passed, in reality barely even a second had passed.

“It can just be a date between friends. It doesn’t have to be anything weird if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Hm… Okay then! Let’s go on a ‘friend date’ then!”