Chapter 33.1 - Prince of Algore (1/2)

Chapter 33.1: Prince of Algore

◆Dark Knight, Kuroki

We’re flying above Akeron mountain range on Glorious. There’s a huge cave in the place where the mountains become slightly rugged.

Inside this cave is a den of goblins. Though not nocturnal, goblins inhabit in darkness. For this reason, many of them choose to live in a cave where light does not enter.

I’ll be leaving Glorious at the entrance of this goblin den.

Descending right after me is Kuna who was behind me on Glorious.

「Kuroki, is this Karon kingdom?」

Kuna is saying so while looking at the cave. I nod at her.

「Yeah, no doubt about it, but… This is also the first time I have come to this place」

Karon kingdom is located in the northern part of Akeron mountain range. In short, this goblin kingdom is just right before Nargol.

Thus, the goblin kingdom is also under Modes’s governance. This den of goblins is otherwise known as Karon kingdom. I don’t know how many goblins reside in this kingdom, but it seems their number is the largest among the goblin tribes in Nargol.

We approach the five goblins who are standing at the entrance.

My eyes are drawn to the goblin that is standing in the middle of their formation. An adult goblin’s height isn’t that much different from the height of a 10~12 years old kid human. But, the goblin in the middle is at least one size larger than the other goblins.

「Gob has been waiting for you, your Excellency Diehart. Gob’s name is Keneo」

The goblin in the middle is bowing to me.

「Gob?」

Though most words of this goblin called Keneo were hard to understand, I heard it loud and clear. However, the strange title I heard just now was just my imagination, right?

After that big goblin bowed to me, it then glanced at my side. Naturally, it’s looking at Kuna.

「Welgob to your Excellency’s honored wife, too」

It then bowed to Kuna. It seems that strange punctuation wasn’t just my imagination.

「Wife… Quite sharp eyes you have there」

Kuna muttered so. I wonder why. However, Kuna seems to be happy.

「Gob way please, our queen has been waiting for you」

Keneo told us to follow him.

He is guiding us into the den of goblins. Inside the dark nest of the goblins, the only source of light is just the lantern with light bugs inside. [TL: Not firefly but, light bug] Though I’m fine in the darkness due to my night vision, that lantern might be of great help for Kuna.

We were passing by many different goblins along the way.

Though they’re in similar size to that of 10~12-year-old human kids, their power rivals that of a human adult. Their head is as tough as a stone blade, so your usual weapon can’t crack those tough nuts. If one were to fight a goblin, one needs to aim for another place. But a good song is the best way to avoid a fight with them. They simply can’t stand a beautiful singing voice.

Normal goblins fundamentally live in a forest or a cave. The level of civilization is similar to the primitive man in the textbook.

That is the ecology of goblins taught by Ruugas. In fact, the goblins that I saw until now are textbook examples of that lesson.

But, it seems the goblins of this Karon kingdom are different from normal goblins. Their standard of living is higher, even the clothes they are wearing isn’t inferior to the ones I saw in Rox kingdom. The walls of the cave were also not just crudely dug; they had flattened the surface and maintained it well.

The pieces of equipment on Keneo, walking in front of me, aren’t inferior to a human knight’s.

Soon, we arrived at a wide space. This room is bright since it’s illuminated with several lanterns of light bug all over the place.

A gigantic goblin is sitting in the inner part of that room. Its size is around the same as me, but it might have a hard time to move due to its heavy weight. In contrast to the other bald goblins, this goblin has long hair. And then, I can feel a tremendous surge of magical power from this goblin. This magical power rivals the demon tribe’s magical power.

「Huge….」

Kuna is muttering so. I don’t know if it’s okay to say such things to this goblin, but this must be the queen of Karon kingdom, isn’t she?

「Gob excellency, over there is our queen, Datie-sama」

Keneo said as he points at the gigantic goblin. Yup, she really is their queen. To be honest, she doesn’t look like a goblin nor a woman, but I won’t say that out loud.

「Welcome to Karon kingdom, your excellency Diehart」

Datie is bowing at me.

I remove my helmet and then place it under my armpit. Though I’m more or less on a higher standing than her, it’s impolite to talk to someone with your helmet on.

「I’m Diehart. I heard that there’s some sort of a problem, but what happened really? 」

But, Datie is looking at me without saying anything. For some reason, chills run down my spine when I’m exposed to that gaze.

「Even though Kuroki is asking you a question, why are you not answering him? Kuna absolutely won’t forgive a silly reason!!」

Waves of magical power were being released from Kuna’s body.

「WHAT THE! Kuna!!」

I got flustered.

The goblins in this room including Keneo and Datie are frightened by Kuna’s threat.

It seems she wasn’t even considering Datie’s status at all.

「My apologies, your excellency」

Datie is apologizing to me.

「I-It doesn’t matter. Calm down, Kuna. So, what had actually happened?」

After soothing Kuna, I asked the same question to Datie.

「Yes, the truth is… Some humans have been trying to invade Akeron mountain these days」

「EH….」