Chapter 31

“I’d prefer my first title to be something dignified.”

Wouldn’t it be unnecessary to rush into finding a dungeon?
Instead, I could steadily grow here.
If I somehow level up and meet the evolution conditions, maybe I could evolve into something like a Big White Double-Horn Python.

No… that won’t do!
At this point, I’m no longer satisfied with an evolution that just adds something like “Big” as a modifier.
From now on, I want special evolutions—like growing more horns or having my patterns turn into something like a hologram.

And more importantly, there was another reason.

—There’s no way I can afford to waste time here.

Pelerian told me something.
That I’d probably been completely marked by the elves.

That psycho elf woman who tried to stomp me and even slashed at me was none other than a “Golden Leaf Investigator.”
When I asked what that meant, I was told:
Among the fairies, it’s a role granted to a recognized hunter, giving them full authority for investigations.
In other words, something like a one-person—or small-team—wide-area task force. A special investigation unit.

And the one appointed as a Golden Leaf Investigator who tried to kill me was a fairy named Iris Selena.
Apparently, she has a vicious personality and is like a mad dog that never lets go once it bites.
When I asked if Pelerian knew her, he hesitated to answer.
When I pressed him, saying he promised to be honest, he just said it was personal and brushed it off.

Anyway, that elf would be chasing me.

What did I even do wrong?
All I did was kill a chimera or two and wear Pelerian’s ring.

I thought, considering how vast this great forest is, could she really find me?
When I said that, Pelerian didn’t even smile—he just stated it plainly.
She would find me.
Find me, torture me, and experiment on me to figure out exactly what kind of monster I am.

Isn’t that just Pelerian-style thinking?
But considering the inhuman nature of the fairies I’ve encountered so far, it was more than enough to be afraid.

To deal with that, I had to change—and grow stronger.
Either evolve into something she wouldn’t recognize…
Or become strong enough that even the fairies couldn’t capture me.

If possible, the latter would be better.

“Ki-sit, kwi-ik. Chwering nanaruk!”
“Nanaruk-mi chwit kisit—tung.”

That’s roughly how the goblin language sounds. It’s a language with quite a bit of spit flying around.

I hid behind a rock and eavesdropped on the goblins.
It seemed they were waiting for a goblin named Nanaruk.

They had docked a crude boat by the riverside—big enough to carry ten people.
You push it into the water, climb aboard, and row. A primitive boat.
And also exactly what I needed to cross the river.

‘If I ask them for a ride, they won’t let me on, right?’
—Go ask them.

It seemed Pelerian had started making jokes.

—I’m not joking.

If a Serpent appeared, they’d attack immediately.
So what’s the next best option?
I asked my strategist for a plan.

—Let’s kill them all.

A massacre strategy, huh.
It’s a shame I can’t use fire—if the boat burns, everything’s over.
Still, that plan has a problem.

‘But then who rows the boat? I don’t have hands.’
—Leave one alive. Make that one row.

Is he a genius?

Instead of answering right away, I observed the goblins.
There were six of them.
Their appearances varied—there was one who looked like an old grandmother, and others who looked like young warriors.
One of them stood out.

A goblin with red skin.
He was taller than the others, with a muscular build. Definitely looked like a warrior.

【Hobgoblin Lv10】
【Traits】
[Goblin], [Warrior], [Cautious]

【Skills】
[Spear Technique Lv7], [Archery Lv3], [Shield Technique Lv3], [Running Lv10], [Shout Lv10]

【State】
[Anxious]

Spear, bow, shield…
Definitely a combatant.
If we fought, I’d probably still win.

But…

‘Instead of a massacre, let’s try persuading them. Hitching a ride would be better.’

The problem is, the others are also armed with swords and bows.
I’ve fought one-on-one plenty of times, but I’ve never faced a group. That’s risky.
I don’t know if this Nanaruk goblin is strong or weak either—and more might join them.

—Yes, that would be better.

Unexpectedly, Pelerian agreed with my choice.

Then there’s a problem.
How do I approach them without them panicking and attacking immediately?
For a terrifying-looking Serpent like me, this kind of thing is tricky.
Even this world runs on looks.

I came up with a method.

“It’s—It’s a Serpent!”

One goblin shouted in shock.
At that, all of them except the old goblin stood up at once.
Some drew weapons, others aimed bows.

As expected, just appearing as a Serpent draws massive aggro.

But I had already prepared something.

“Wait……”

The goblins hesitated.

“It’s holding a flower.”

I had a flower in my mouth.
Not just that—I had also placed one between my horns.
That shocking visual made even the goblins pause.
The fact they didn’t immediately shoot arrows proved it.

“A Serpent… wearing flowers?”
“That’s suspicious…”

The reaction wasn’t as positive as I’d hoped.

—This is embarrassing.

I was fine, but Pelerian was the one making a fuss.
As I got closer, they flinched and raised their weapons again.
Right, I hadn’t broken down their guard yet.

But I had learned something from meeting the centipede couple.

I hadn’t just brought flowers.

Earlier, I had caught a squirrel that was running along the trees.
I placed it down together with the flower.

“It’s… a squirrel…”
“I think it’s giving it to us…”

Right—there’s at least one smart goblin here.

I bowed my head in greeting.
The moment the other side accepts a greeting, that’s when “interaction” begins.

Some goblins awkwardly started to bow back.

That’s when one of them ruined it.

“What are you doing?! It’s a monster!”

It was the red-skinned hobgoblin.
You goblins are monsters too, you know.

“Raise your bows! Why are you trying to greet it?!”

I don’t like this guy.

Because of him, the atmosphere turned cold again.
Some even began drawing their bowstrings.

—Hmm, it’s not working well.

Can’t be helped.
Should I just wipe them all out?
I could even carve them up completely.

“Zadiram!”

At that moment, another hobgoblin came sliding down the slope.
A female goblin with her hair tied back tightly.
She was carrying a familiar young goblin on her back.

“What’s going on?”
“Nanaruk, a Serpent appeared.”
“A Serpent? Oh my…”

She noticed the flower stuck on my head.

“It brought flowers.”
“You too? Serpents are dangerous.”
“No……”

Then my eyes met the young goblin’s.

“Ululululu! Sis, it’s that Serpent! The Serpent that saved me!”

Ah… so good deeds really do come back, huh?

The boy I had saved from a pelican beast was now saving lives again.
Well—not mine, but the goblins in front of me.

“It saved Retch?”
“Oh my, so it’s true. How fascinating.”

The goblin called Nanaruk approached me.

“Is there something you want?”

Yes, thank you for asking.

I lifted my tail, tapped the boat, and pointed across the river repeatedly.
They should understand this.

“It wants to ride the boat and cross the river.”
“Absolutely not! What if it goes wild on the boat?”
“Would that really be a problem?”

An argument broke out among the goblins.
Some claimed we’d been charmed by a Serpent or something.
Nanaruk and the young goblin were friendly toward me, but the others were clearly frightened.

I wasn’t sure if this would work out.

“Kuruk, keluk… kurlok!”

That wasn’t the goblin language—it was coughing.
The one coughing like she was about to choke was the frail, elderly goblin grandmother.
Her entire body was covered in fierce-looking tattoos.

“Zadiram, Nanaru-k.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”

The two hobgoblins who had been arguing fell silent.

“Since ancient times, Serpents have been sacred creatures. Can’t you tell just by seeing that it understands our language? Cough!”

Well said, Grandma.

“Let it ride. The boat isn’t so small that it can’t hold one more…”

That grandmother was just a goblin, while the other two were hobgoblins.
It didn’t seem like being a hobgoblin automatically meant higher status.
After all, the one who had been yelling at me shut his mouth.

“Great, then. Everyone aboard. Let’s cross!”
Nanaruk said brightly.

I quickly climbed onto the boat.

And immediately secured a first-class seat—
right at the front, between the kind grandmother and Nanaruk.

“Here we go!”

As the boat was pushed from the riverside, it rocked with a splash.
Water sprayed everywhere.

The grandmother looked at me, clasped her hands, and bowed her head.
I bowed back.
Thank you.

The river wasn’t very wide, but the current was faster than expected.
The young hobgoblin rowed diligently.

—Goblins are looked down on as monsters, but they’re not as unintelligent as people think.
‘It seems that way.’
—Of course, their level of civilization varies greatly by tribe, but this place is fairly advanced. They respect elders, and their relationships seem relatively equal.

I had always thought of goblins as mere trash mobs that hide and shoot poison darts.
Once again, I reflected on my shallow prejudice.

“Hey.”

It was Nanaruk, the hobgoblin woman.
She had cat-like golden eyes.

Come to think of it, my prejudice about appearances was also breaking down.

Regular goblins looked like I had imagined—
small bodies, pointy ears, green skin, not exactly handsome.

But hobgoblins looked quite decent by human standards.
Aside from their slightly reddish skin and somewhat larger eyes.

“What’s your name?”

My name?

Right…

I couldn’t exactly use the three-syllable name I had back in Korea.
Should I come up with something cool?
Like Zhuge Yuryong or Namgung Cheonma.
Ah yes, I am White Double-Horn Python Hwangbo Baeksa—

—Don’t answer!

Pelerian suddenly interrupted me.
That startled me.

—You don’t have a name yet, do you, Serpent? A name carries great power. Don’t just make one up carelessly.
‘How am I even supposed to answer?’

Come to think of it, Pelerian can be a bit of an idiot.
Even setting aside the fact I don’t have a name, I can’t speak anyway.

I just flicked my tongue.
Nanaruk didn’t seem to expect an answer either.

“Look at this.”

She dipped her hand into the river.
When she pulled it out, astonishingly, a fish was biting onto her finger.
Nanaruk laughed and tossed the fish to me.

I caught it in one bite and swallowed it whole.

“Good thing you got on the boat. If you tried to swim across, you’d have been reduced to bones in no time.”

No kidding.
This was one brutal river.

The fish had sharp teeth, and even Nanaruk’s finger was bleeding.
But she simply sucked her finger once and grinned.

I almost fell for her.
She’s a goblin. I’m a Serpent!

It didn’t take long to cross the river.
On the other side, tall bushes grew thickly—about chest-high, swaying in the wind like a summer reed field.

“We’re here!”

The young goblin stood up excitedly.
The boat rocked because of it.
An adult goblin grabbed him and scolded him.

“Stay still until the boat stops, you brat.”

Just as he was about to jump off first—

Huh?

Something shot out from the bushes.

Thwack!

An arrow pierced the goblin’s eye—the one who had just been scolding the boy. Deeply.
He stiffened and collapsed.

Splash!

Water sprayed.

And at the same time, I felt a sharp sting in my back.

Thud!
—Oh, that’s an arrow.

I didn’t need Pelerian’s commentary to know.
An arrow had lodged into my body.

It hurt! A lot!

“Arrows! It’s an ambush!”

Nanaruk shouted loudly, pushing the boy’s head down.
All the goblins except the grandmother and the boy leapt off the boat.

Why did I get hit by an arrow?!
I was pressed flat against the bottom of the boat—the least likely to be hit!
I thought my luck had been good lately, but of course misfortune strikes like this.

“Get them! Those bastards ambushed us!”
“Zadiram! Don’t go in alone! They’re trying to lure us into the bushes!”

The arrow hadn’t gone in very deep.
My skin had toughened a lot after evolving.

But the wound to my pride ignited my anger.

…Let’s go.

I jumped off the boat as well.
The bushes rustled—those arrows came from inside.
Arrows flew sporadically, but it didn’t seem like they were aiming carefully.

“Advance in formation!”

Nanaruk was an excellent commander.
Goblins are small—finding enemies hiding in the bushes wouldn’t be easy.

Of course, for me, that wasn’t the case.

‘Old man, you can see from above, right?’
—Me? Hmm, yes, I can.

Pelerian could float around within a two-meter radius of the ring.
That meant he could observe from above and track movement in the bushes.

‘Then guide me.’
—Easy enough. Go straight ahead.

I slipped into the bushes.
Unlike the goblins, the foliage didn’t shake when I moved through it.

—A bit more… slightly to the right. There are ten of them in total.

Isn’t it common sense to be wary of Serpents in thick brush?
Especially an extremely angry venomous one.

—Two of them are together.

As I pushed through the bushes, I saw two goblins holding bows.

So it’s you bastards.

Leap.

Acceleration.

And then—
into the goblin’s exposed chest, unprotected by any clothing—

I bit down.

Crunch!

I landed on the ground as blood burst from the fallen goblin’s chest.
The other one, witnessing it, screamed.

“Aaaah! It’s a heart-eating Serpent!”

‘Heart-eating Serpent…?’

That… might just become my first title.