Goblin Reincarnation in Another World (Anime/Manga)

Page 9

Upon seeing the goblin, the villagers' expressions turned somber. Some even picked up their farm tools, which they considered weapons, and adopted a defensive stance. Just as Niu Zida had anticipated, if he showed himself, he would still be misunderstood by the villagers because of his goblin identity.

"I meant no harm. Last night, I helped you out by attacking the thieves with my maid."

"Goblins can actually speak human language..."

Hearing Niu Zida's words, the villagers naturally did not believe him. After all, the impression humans had of goblins was that they were lewd and despicable, only capable of abducting human women to harm them and then using them as tools for procreation. Sometimes they were even so cruel that they would eat humans when food was scarce.

"We did indeed defeat the thieves yesterday..."

"In short, you are absolutely not allowed to come near the village. You'd better leave now, or we won't be polite."

"I've heard that goblins have a way to control captured human women. These two are probably being controlled, otherwise why would they be talking to goblins?"

"There's a goblin here, so there are probably a lot of goblins around here. Are you trying to gain our trust and then attack the village?"

"Perhaps they are accomplices of the thieves, deliberately letting the thieves attack us, and then pretending to retreat so that they can be lured in to act as spies. Otherwise, how could such a strange thing as a goblin being able to control two women happen?"

"Hey...you bunch of people..."

As the villagers' accusations grew increasingly outrageous, Shizuku Sanshang became so enraged she nearly drew her weapon. Even Joel's fair face showed displeasure at these false accusations, but Niu Zida intervened and stopped her.

"Forget it, let's leave. We can't explain this here."

In fact, Niu Zida was also holding back his anger. He had worked hard to help the villagers drive away the thieves without asking for any thanks. He just wanted to go in and have a chance to see Aponia. However, the villagers not only misunderstood him, but even accused him of being an accomplice of the thieves. Niu Zida used to think that only protagonists in fantasy novels could encounter such a situation where doing good deeds was met with false accusations.

But staying here would only lead to more conflict with the villagers, and if a conflict really broke out, it would be even harder to reconcile later. Niu Zida calmly chose to leave temporarily, since the thieves would come back anyway, and he would still have a chance.

"Those country bumpkins actually doubted me, what a bunch of idiots."

After leaving the village as ordered by Niu Zida, Sanxiang Shizuku grumbled and expressed her dissatisfaction. Even Yue Er looked angry, because no one would be happy to be misunderstood after doing a good deed.

"It's alright, we'll stay here and wait for an opportunity."

"Don't those old fogies simply not believe us? What opportunity are you waiting for?"

“As I said, the fact that those thieves were able to collect their companions’ corpses and leave shows that their retreat was organized. If that’s the case, they will regroup and launch another attack. We can’t be so kind as to help them this time. We’ll wait until the village is breached before we act. That way, we can prove our sincerity.”

In chaotic times, blindly playing the good guy can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, so Niu Zida had no choice but to choose this pragmatic approach.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Village's Calamity

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Niu Zida first had Yole carry him and Misato Shizuku back to the vicinity of the farmhouse. Then he sent ordinary goblins to keep watch over the village and report back to him immediately if there was any movement. The original plan to have Yole get pregnant and have another litter this week was temporarily suspended until the village incident was resolved.

After returning home in the evening, someone boiled water. Niu Zida, along with the two maids, Yole and Sanxiang Shizuku, went into the bath to take a bath. Inside the bath, Yole naturally had to hold onto Niu Zida's small body to prevent him from choking on the water.

Niu Zida pounced on Yoel's large snowflakes, kissing and licking them. On the other side, Misato Shizuku watched, wanting to say something sarcastic. However, thinking about the battle in the village, Niu Zida's predictions all came true. Especially considering that Yoel's ability stats had surpassed hers under Niu Zida's care, she began to waver. Yoel, such a gentle and beautiful woman, was so submissive to this pervert. Did he really have something to offer? Moreover, after working together this time, she felt that Niu Zida's intelligence and understanding were quite good, and she began to have doubts.

"Master, really???"

Joel blushed with her delicate, snow-white face as she watched Niu Zida leave numerous kiss marks on her smooth, white flesh. Although she grumbled a few times, she still held Niu Zida's head in her hands, trying her best to raise her large breasts so that the other could kiss and play with them.

"Next, we just need to wait for the thieves to attack and then have an opportunity to deal with them. We can also deal with those thieves later if the opportunity arises."

While toying with Yoru's big snowball, Niu Zida muttered his next strategy, while Misato Shizuku, somewhat worried, said:

Will those villagers accept you after that?

“If we can really rescue them when they are in danger, they will be grateful to us, but that’s not the point. You’ve also seen that there are almost no young people in any of the villages, but a group of uncles and aunts are very well organized. Aren’t you curious about who trained and commanded them?”

"It seems the master already knows who it is?"

"Although I'm not sure yet, I roughly know some things."

Niu Zida answered confidently. After all, Aponia was in that village. Having witnessed it firsthand, Niu Zida probably already knew what methods Aponia used to unite the villagers.

After resting at the main house for two days, they received a report from the goblin outposts at the front. The bandits had returned and besieged the village again, and the fighting had started again.

"This time I'm not in a hurry. Let the thieves give those uncles and aunties a good beating, otherwise they won't recognize good people."

Recalling the last time she rescued someone only to be inexplicably suspected, even Misato Shizuku had to agree to Ushio Tatsu's suggestion this time. However, Ushio Tatsu wasn't just waiting there. This time, he dispatched three goblin sentries to the front lines to closely monitor the situation, requiring them to report back every three hours. When new people arrived, someone would be sent to the front lines to relieve those who had returned to report. This rotation system perfectly solved the problem of shift changes at the front lines.

About a week passed, and Niu Zida finally received the report. It was said that the thieves had broken through the fence last night, and the villagers were gradually being suppressed and could only hold their positions inside the church. Hearing this, Niu Zida decided to take Yol and Misato Shizuku and launch an attack.

Yoel quickly arrived at the village carrying Niu Zida and Misato Shizuku. On the way, Yoel used his stealth skill because he was in a hurry, which immediately revealed the difference in speed between him and Misato Shizuku. Several times, Yoel realized that Misato Shizuku couldn't keep up and slowed down. This made the proud Misato Shizuku extremely conflicted. She never expected that she would be the kind of person who would be a burden at such a crucial moment.

Because they arrived quickly, reaching the village in about an hour, they found the situation to be similar to what had been reported from the front lines: the bandits had already stormed the village, and flames were everywhere, with some buildings already ablaze. However, most of the bandits were besieged near the church, which appeared to be the villagers' last stronghold. The three of them went to a nearby high ground to observe the situation in the village.

"Master, should we make a move?"

"No rush, let them continue playing for a while longer."

The church was the only stone building in the village. The thieves attacked it several times but seemed unable to break in, and even lost two people. In the stalemate, the thieves suddenly pushed out several kidnapped children, no one knew when they got them, and pushed the children to the church door and started shouting, ordering the people inside to come out and surrender immediately, or they would kill the children.

A commotion broke out in the church, which had been putting up a stubborn resistance. After a while, the door opened, and the middle-aged men and women inside, as expected, opened the door and shouted in surrender:

"Don't hurt the children."

"If you hand over the money and food, we will not harm the children."

Hearing the thieves' words, the elderly men and women had no choice but to put down their weapons and let the thieves enter the church. Soon, a sound of smashing and looting came from inside the church. Then the thieves took out all the valuables they could steal and ordered the villagers to take out the remaining grain and valuables.

"Master, shouldn't we make a move?"

"Don't rush, let's see how it goes."

Niu Zida, who was lying on the high ground overlooking everything, was not in a hurry. Having learned from the first misunderstanding, he decided to wait and see before making a decision.

Is this all you have?

"We've taken everything we could, we've given you everything, just let the child go."

The leader of the thieves ignored the villagers' pleas and continued to kidnap the child, ordering his accomplices to quickly load the grain and valuables onto the carts. He then continued:

“Three days later, have Aponia bring people and three carts of grain to our land in the south to pay the ransom, exchanging herself and the grain for the child.”

"You bunch of bastards, where are we going to get any more food? Besides, how can Lord Aponia be used as a bargaining chip?"

"If you ask for less than one thing by then, you can prepare to collect the child's corpse. Get out of here."

The bandit leader kicked aside the villagers blocking his way and swaggered away from the village with the grain and the dozen or so kidnapped children. Sanxiang Shizuku and Yoel couldn't bear to watch this carnage and wanted Niu Zida to intervene, but Niu Zida shook his head and said:

"Don't rush, let's wait until the thieves leave before we talk?"

"Master, are you really going to let these people go?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Aponia

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"These thieves still want the ransom, so they won't kill the children for now. Their goal is to use these children to squeeze the last bit of food out of the villagers. They probably know that even if they can't squeeze anything out of them, Aponia will still come to them in person. So the children's safety shouldn't be a problem for the next few days. We'll go after they leave and appear when the villagers are at their most desperate to discuss cooperation. That's when they'll accept us."

Upon hearing Niu Zida's explanation, both Yole and Sanxiang Shizuku fell silent. In the past, they might have had different opinions, but after experiencing the villagers' misunderstanding last time, they could only feel that this was the only way to get the villagers to accept them.

The village was filled with cries of grief as the thieves plundered and separated families. After a long while, the village gradually quieted down as the thieves carried away the stolen goods, food, and children. Once the thieves were gone and it was getting dark, Niu Zida finally let Yoel carry him and went to the village with Sanxiang Shizuku.

Because the village had been almost completely ravaged, Joel wasn't discovered until he reached the church entrance. The villagers, their faces clouded with sorrow and filled with the wailing of those who had been afflicted by the bandits, vented their pent-up anger on these three again, and angrily addressed Niu Zida:

"Didn't you say the food wouldn't be delivered for three days? What are you guys doing back here again?"

"What do you mean, deliver the grain in three days? I'm here to see Aponia."

Niu Zida pretended not to know what was going on and asked a question in return, which made the villagers even angrier. They felt that the three thieves' accomplices were there to spy on them and were now making sarcastic remarks. Just as a conflict was about to break out, a sweet voice of command came from outside the church:

"Please come in."

Upon hearing Aponia's words, the villagers, who had been angry just moments before, seemed to calm down immediately and then restrained themselves, making way for Joel to carry Niu Zida directly into the church.

"Hello, I am Nun Aponia from the village."

Entering the ravaged church, a tall, beautiful woman with long, light brown hair stood there, her pale blue eyes filled with a sorrowful expression. She wore a slit nun's habit, and behind her were delicate, gossamer-like wings, making her resemble a vibrant butterfly.

Through the slit in her nun's habit, one could see Aponia's long, shapely figure, but what was most striking were her large breasts, which were covered by a breast curtain. Whenever Aponia moved slightly, the breast curtain would sway gently, as if her large breasts were about to be shaken out at any moment, making her already stunningly beautiful breasts even more eye-catching.

"Hello, Miss Aponia, I am Niu Zida, who has been here before."

Niu Zida greeted Aponia while perched on Joel's shoulder. To make the short Niu Zida look more intimidating, Joel had him ride on her slender, snowy neck, wrapped in a modified hunter's coat. Normally, he wouldn't need to wear it, as he was usually held inside Joel's sweater or perched on Joel's smooth, snow-white back. He only brought the coat because it was uncertain how long they would be in the wild on this mission.

"You're the one who helped harass the thieves and repel them last time, right, Mr. Niu Zida? Thank you."

Niu Zida was originally ready to confront them, but to his surprise, Aponia bowed her head and thanked him. This made Niu Zida freeze on his prepared accusations, as he had been hoping to use this rhetoric to gain the upper hand in future negotiations.

"Huh? This...you already know about what happened last time?"

"Yes, I later heard the villagers' description and realized they had misunderstood you. I am truly sorry."

After saying this, Aponia bowed again in thanks. The beautiful woman's humble attitude left Niu Zida with no way to criticize her, so he could only say:

"Ahem, now that you know about what happened last time, you can understand that we're here to help you this time, right?"

"certainly……"

Since Aponia was so frank, Niu Zida didn't want to beat around the bush anymore, so he directly stated his conditions:

"I can help you repel or even eliminate the thieves, and I can also help your village rescue the children. The first condition is that you become my maid. The second condition is that goblins are allowed to live around your village and cultivate wasteland. One-third of the cultivated wasteland can belong to the villagers, but the remaining two-thirds must belong to the goblins. I guarantee that the goblins will not disturb the normal lives of the villagers, but the village must obey my command from now on, and I will protect the village."

Niu Zida knew that after the attack on the village, even the food had been looted, and the village was now in dire straits. The conditions he proposed were something that Aponia would absolutely not refuse.

"If we can really rescue the children, I'll agree to these conditions. But can you guarantee that every child will return safely?"

"If any children die in this rescue operation, all of the above conditions will be nullified, and after the village submits to me, I will be responsible for providing them with food for the winter and seeds for planting in the spring."

Hearing Niu Zida's confident assurance, Aponia naturally had no reason to refuse. To be honest, if Niu Zida hadn't appeared, she would have been prepared to sacrifice herself. What she feared was not the sacrifice itself, but the fear that even if she sacrificed herself, she would not be able to save those children.

"Aponia, given your combat strength, you should be able to easily deal with those thieves, so why did you train those villagers to fight?"

"I am not yet able to fully activate my Discipline abilities in this world."

Aponia was taken aback when Niu Zida suddenly asked her this question. She hadn't expected Niu Zida to know her so well, but she still answered the question honestly:

"I still can't activate the full power of discipline, but I can use hints to get villagers who trust me to accept my guidance. However, my power is too limited, and only those who are willing to believe in me will listen to my hints."

"So that's why you disguised yourself as a nun in this world to gain the villagers' trust, right?"

“You are very smart, Mr. Niu Zida.”

Aponia was surprised that Niu Zida had guessed almost everything about her in just a few words. Meanwhile, Misato Shizuku also gained a new understanding of Niu Zida. She hadn't expected this short goblin to be so clever, figuring out her background so easily. His observational skills were impressive. Of course, what they didn't know was that this was simply because Niu Zida, being a shut-in, had known these settings before his transmigration—a kind of advantage based on information asymmetry.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Thieves' Stronghold

Chapter Twenty-Five.

"The reason these villagers have been able to resist in an orderly manner is because of your ability to discipline them and make them obey your commands, right?"

"Of course, but objectively speaking, they really didn't want to be robbed by these thieves, so they held their ground according to the plan I gave them."

"These thieves left, then returned to attack you while you were off guard, which is why they were able to breach the village, right?"

"Yes, the villagers thought the thieves had left for some reason and wouldn't come back, so they lowered their guard and didn't expect the thieves to suddenly return a few days later."

Aponia nodded, fully acknowledging Niu Zida's guess. Of course, Niu Zida was fully aware of all this, so his statement meant that Niu Zida had indeed done the harassment of the thieves and forced them to retreat. Both sides were intelligent, and these words were almost self-evident.

"Leave the rest to me. Just send a villager to be my guide and let me know where those thieves' hideout is."

"Please make sure the safety of the children is ensured."

"Don't worry, as I said, if I can't bring every child back, all the previous conditions will be null and void. But if I can bring the children back safely, Aponia, will you become my maid?"

"Yes, of course, it's our agreement, and I will keep it."

"Alright, if possible, please choose someone to come with me as soon as possible. The best way to rescue people is to launch a quick raid while those thieves have just returned and haven't set up a perimeter. They will never expect that someone might attack them on the very night they return to their lair."

"Ok."

Aponia agreed with Niu Zida's suggestion and soon brought in a bearded man in his fifties, telling Niu Zida that his child had also been kidnapped and that he would lead the way.

"Lord Aponia, it's not that I don't trust you, but are these outsiders really reliable?"

"Right now, we can only rely on these outsiders; otherwise, we won't be able to rescue the child."

Aponia's words silenced the middle-aged man's distrust of Niu Zida. To save their child, they had to trust this goblin. In the past, these villagers might have been reluctant to cooperate because they disliked goblins, but now they had no choice and didn't even need Aponia to use her powers of discipline to persuade them.

After quickly packing up, the middle-aged man led Niu Zida and his group out of the village and headed north. According to the villagers, the thieves' lair was about 40 or 50 kilometers away along mountain roads, and they probably wouldn't be able to reach it even today.

"You seem to know this place very well. Have you ever lost it?"

"Before the war started, this was a peaceful little mountain village. Everyone followed Lord Aponia to cultivate the land. If there was any pain, everyone could quickly forget it with Lord Aponia's comfort and prayers. Those days were poor, but happy. It wasn't until the war started that most of the young and strong men here were captured and sent to the battlefield. After that, life really became difficult."