Chapter 35

I’ll refuse only twice.

Venom: Neurotoxin Lv.3—do you think it’s a joke?
Unless a hobgoblin has poison resistance around level 10, it won’t escape death.

Even falling over is slow.
No… it’s not falling.

The hobgoblin didn’t collapse.
Instead, it swung its sword at me.

Whoosh!

The blade didn’t cut me.
It’s fairly fast—much better than the goblins I met by the riverside.
Just by seeing how it adjusted its distance to swing without making noise when hitting the ground, I could tell.

I responded by casting water magic.

“Blub blub!”

Nanaruk, who had been snoring, woke up.
Startled, she grabbed the axe she kept by her pillow.
She was the kind of veteran warrior who slept with an axe under her pillow.

Her swing was incredibly fast.

Swish!

But instead of striking the assassin’s neck, the axe passed over its head.
It wasn’t a mistake made in her sleep.
The assassin had stiffened like a plank and collapsed like a piece of wood.
Only then had the neurotoxin fully spread.

Thud

“Ghk… kgh…!”

It gasped, unable to breathe properly.

Reveal yourself—assassin goblin.

【Hobgoblin Lv.21】

【Traits】
[Assassin], [Hobgoblin]

【Skills】
[Stealth Lv.10], [Swordsmanship Lv.8], [Assassination Lv.7], [Poison Resistance Lv.8] …

So poison resistance really exists.
Stronger than I expected!

I was genuinely surprised by the goblin assassin’s strength.
Still, my neurotoxin must be powerful—it killed it even with Poison Resistance Lv.8.

But what made me truly happy came next.

• [Level has increased.]

What—?!

It hasn’t even been a full day since I leveled up.
That means the experience from that assassin goblin is incredible.
Far more efficient than hunting alone.

“An assassin… did Krok send it?”

Nanaruk muttered, her face pale.
Right… this isn’t the time to celebrate.

Pelerian! Wake up!

Pelerian popped out of the ring.
He looked half-asleep, raising a finger groggily.

—There’s another.

Something flew in through the window.
Nanaruk swung her sword.

Ting!

She deflected it midair.

“Poison dart!”

She picked it up from the floor.
It looked like it had been fired from a wind gun.
And the hobgoblin assassin who fired it was now crawling through the window.

Nanaruk threw the dart back with her hand.

Thwack!

I thought she was some martial arts master.
The dart struck the assassin’s shoulder.

But instead of collapsing, it charged with a sickle-like weapon.
If the poison is this weak, why even use poison darts?

Danger, Nanaruk!

I leapt out from the shadows.
The assassins wore no armor.
And for some reason, they boldly exposed their chests.

Then it’s time for the Heart-Devouring Serpent.

Crunch!

“AAARGH!”

I heard real assassins don’t scream when stabbed.
Seems this one lacked training.

The assassin fell, coughing blood, and spoke its last words while looking at me.

“…truly… a heart… devouring…”

Yes, that’s exactly what I am.

For some reason, I didn’t get the nickname “Ululululu.”

I preferred “Heart-Devouring Serpent” anyway.

“When you devour the heart of prey, you gain more demonic power.”

That was the perk of my title.
And I could clearly feel a large amount of demonic power being absorbed.
Kill just one more, and I’ll level up again. I was certain.

It had been a while since I’d leveled this fast—I was thrilled.

“Thank you! You saved me!”

Nanaruk hugged me in gratitude.
I felt a bit guilty for taking the last hit… but thinking about it, I did save her.

“Why are there assassins… Ah!”

She jumped to her feet.

“The chieftain—my father—is in danger!”

As far as I knew, Nanaruk was the strongest warrior of the Runga tribe.
Even among hobgoblins, she was exceptionally powerful, with many warriors following her.
Some even wanted to make her the next chieftain.

But would assassins really target only her?
If they came this far, they must have gone to the chieftain’s house too.

“Let’s go!”

I was already planning to.
Can’t resist leveling up.

I climbed naturally onto Nanaruk’s shoulder.
She ran far faster than I could crawl.

“Assassins! Warriors, gather!”

She shouted as she ran.
There seemed to be some basic defense system—someone rang a loud bell.

The chieftain’s house was at the center of the village.
As expected, shouting could be heard from afar.

Several goblins lay dead.
The taste of blood hung in the air.

All the dead were from the Runga tribe.
Some were the ones who used to fuss over me, calling me Ulumulkulu.

I jumped off Nanaruk’s shoulder.

One assassin was fighting warriors rushing to support the chieftain.
The house was already on fire.

“Please!”

Nanaruk understood my intent the moment I leapt down.
We really do communicate well.

I’ll eat you.

The assassin charged at Nanaruk—

• [Basic Elemental Magic: Earth Lv.4 is used.]

A pillar of earth rose and trapped its legs.
But it rolled once and broke free.

At the same time, it threw something from its cloak.
Three crude daggers shot out at once.

I dodged lightly—

Slash!

…What?

They were faster than I expected.
My skin split open, leaving a long wound.

• [You are poisoned.]
• [Poison Resistance proficiency increases.]

It hurts!

The wound burned as if on fire.
I can’t hesitate here.

Trust my poison resistance.

I chained Leap and Acceleration.
Both skills had leveled up quite a bit—I shot forward like an arrow.

I’ve never seen a goblin react to this properly.

“Hup!”

So there was one.

The hobgoblin assassin had incredible reflexes.
Its blade nearly split my body in two.

I twisted midair, barely avoiding it.

Why is it so strong?!

—Tsk. You underestimated hobgoblins.

Pelerian’s nagging voice.
But he wasn’t wrong.

Things went well when I ambushed them at Nanaruk’s house.
But that was only because I had the element of surprise.

—You forgot how a Serpent hunts.

He kept lecturing, but again—he was right.
I had grown arrogant.

I’m only two months old.
Just because I learned some magic, did I start looking down on the world?

There’s a reason assassins give so much experience.
To face them head-on, I have to risk my life too.

• [Basic Elemental Magic: Water Lv.1 is used.]

A stream of water poured onto the assassin’s face.
And once a mask gets soaked… it becomes hard to breathe.

“Upph—!”

Unable to breathe, the assassin panicked.
The moment he hastily tore off his mask—

I had already bitten his ankle and passed by.

“Ghk!”

This hobgoblin also seemed to have poison resistance.
But now, I had remembered how a Serpent hunts.

I immediately retreated and hid.
I’ll eat the heart next time.

Eventually, the assassin collapsed.

Still, the results were quite rewarding.

• [Level has increased.]

Right… don’t forget today’s lesson.

Thanks to my efforts, the situation quickly settled down.
The Runga tribe’s hobgoblin warriors arrived and took down another assassin.
They stormed into the burning chieftain’s house.

Soon, Nanaruk came out supporting the chieftain.
It seemed the assassins inside had also been dealt with.
A pity none were captured alive.

The chieftain had three wives.
All three ran out, trembling in fear.

Nanaruk was covered in blood.
Not hers—it looked like the assassins’.
No… she was injured too. Blood dripped steadily from her forearm.

—An impressive hobgoblin. She might evolve further.

Even Pelerian sounded impressed.
I agreed.

Good job, Nanaruk.
You saved your father.

Now comes the emotional scene where father and daughter embrace in relief—

That’s what I thought.

But the chieftain didn’t care about his wounded daughter at all.
He only fussed over his concubines.
From what I knew, Nanaruk’s mother—his legal wife—had passed away.
That’s probably why the children lived separately.

Only after quite a while did the chieftain approach Nanaruk.
I expected him to say, “Thank you, my daughter.”

Instead—

“This is all your fault, you wretch!”

Slap.

The sound of him striking Nanaruk’s cheek echoed.

I couldn’t understand what was happening.
But the other goblins didn’t seem surprised.
They watched the conflict with strange expressions.

“Didn’t you provoke Chief Krok’s anger and cause this?! If you had just bowed your head earlier—!”

The chieftain’s voice trembled.
He was terrified of the assassins.

“Chief Krok must be misunderstanding something. Assassins…! We must send a peace envoy immediately. Shaman!”

“Chieftain, please calm down.”

“Calm down?! And listen to that girl instead?!”

“Chieftain!”

Voices clashed loudly.
I could roughly grasp the situation.

Their relationship was clearly not a good one.

—A likable fellow.

“That chieftain?”

—Cowards like him are very easy to handle.

…I kind of liked him too.
Enough to want to bite him.

Nanaruk slowly walked out.
She wasn’t crying.

When she saw me, she smiled faintly and held out her hand.
I climbed up her arm and settled on her shoulder.

It was a noisy night.

She didn’t say anything until we returned to her room.

People have different thresholds for tears.
Some rarely cry—but when they do, it’s like a dam breaking.
Once that floodgate collapses, they can’t stop until everything pours out.

Nanaruk was like that.

After sending her younger siblings away, she locked herself in a small room and cried.
Unorganized emotions and words spilled out along with her sobs.

Through that, I learned many things.

How cowardly her father was.
How deeply she missed her dead mother.
How utterly screwed the Runga tribe was.
And that Krok would eventually attack and kill them all.

And… that she was afraid.

The only reason I could witness her breakdown up close
was probably because I’m a Serpent.

She pressed her swollen eyes against my body.

Feels cool, right?

“Maybe this will keep my eyes from swelling…”

I hope so.

“…You’re not Ululululu, are you?”

I didn’t expect even her to ask that.
I shook my head.

Of course not.

“I wish you were that Serpent. Then you could defeat Krok too, right?”

Maybe.

But I’m not Ululululu.
I’m just a weak Serpent that barely managed to deal with a single assassin hobgoblin.

…Who knows.

If I evolve someday, could I become as strong as that Ulumullulu?
If so… maybe I could help this pitiful hobgoblin girl who was kind to me.

But not now.

“Don’t leave.”

Nanaruk spoke as if she already knew I’d leave in the morning.
I was startled.

“How did you know?”

“You prepared Life Water to take with you. And today you let my siblings mess around without complaining. People who are about to leave suddenly become kinder.”

…Smart kid.

But it can’t be helped.
If anything, staying here would be more dangerous.

Who knows when the fairy trackers will come.
And those psychopathic fairies—would they leave the goblins I’m close to alone?

—…Can’t deny that.

Even Pelerian agreed.

When I shook my head, Nanaruk looked sad.
Then, as if making up her mind, she spoke.

“You might deny it, but maybe you really are Ululululu.”

“I told you I’m not.”

“Maybe not now… but maybe you’ll evolve into Ulumullulu someday.”

“…Wait, could that be true?”

Maybe Ulumullulu exists somewhere in my evolution tree.
Who could say for sure?

“Wait here a moment.”

She suddenly became busy.
She pulled out a chair, climbed up, and carefully removed a wooden panel from the ceiling.
From inside, she took something out.

It was a small, tightly sealed box.

“This was left by my mother…”

What is it?

The box looked ancient, carefully sealed with melted beeswax.
Nanaruk tore it open without hesitation.

The moment it opened, a clear, fragrant scent spread.

“Try eating it. You might evolve.”

Hmm…

This is—

…

【Inner Core: Crimson Tarantula King】

Ah… well.

“My mother’s father hunted that monster with a death squad. They said eating it lets you evolve.”

No… eating an inner core doesn’t guarantee evolution.
And why give something so valuable to me?

Even if I like things that benefit me, this feels… too much.

But there was one being whose eyes lit up—
a fairy, to be exact.

—Eat it!

Pelerian shouted forcefully.

No, but still…

I slowly shook my head.

“No, try it.”

—Eat it!

What’s with both of you?