We walked through the forest, still full of greeneries but strangely, or maybe not for someone who lived in one of the most polluted cities in the world, Manila, the scene is not stale at all and otherwise, it was captivating as if I want to be here forever and never go away. I mean, getting to other places besides this forest is a good thing and all, after all, who wouldn't want to be on an adventure if you got transmigrated into another world right?
But still, this forest calms me down, Not being in the spotlight, not being the center of attention, someone who can feel insignificant, someone who gets the feeling of need to get better, these things are all new to me and this forest is the one who provided all of it.
As I was thinking of such things, a sight of extreme gore beheld in my eyes, heads brown in color pig in shape, arms as thick as the trunk of a medium-sized tree, and legs of creatures at least six feet in height can be seen loitering all over the entrance of a cave too big to be called a mere settlement, but that sight didn't get my eyes out of the putrid sight of blood splattered in the grass nearby.
I noticed that the body parts except for the limbs of the orcs are missing, At least Kabuto has enough sense to not leave bloodied corpses at the entrance of the cave, I thought of that whilst looking at him.
When Kabuto noticed my piercing gaze, he immediately looked the other way, while saying in a stuttering manner:
"M-master... We have arrived at the potential resource point of your future legion..."
I raised a brow slapping Kabuto's legs.
"Will you not say anything?"
I asked him, in my head, of course.
"Erm... Sorry for the mess?"
_Not exactly what I want from you, but at least you know your mistakes._
I just thought of that sighing while nodding my head weakly, my eyes still looking at the gore my subordinate has ensued, it is like an abstract art with a message that says: "Fat ass n*** deserves them ."
Or that was my interpretation, Just interpret it on your own, It just really looks like Kabuto doesn't even consider orcs as proper living creatures.
"Kabuto, why the gore? Why can't you just kill them precisely?"
Kabuto finally looked at me, with his burning eyes, full of spite.
"Because I feel like those lowly pigs are being disrespectful of My Lady, living in a place that will be hers earlier than her."
See, I told you, his reason is something so racist like that. That's how subordinates of evil monarchies act, though I am not evil, so I don't know why in the world he is acting like a narcissistic retard.
I set aside those thoughts and decided to just go inside the cave, Kabuto, Even though not thoroughly inspected the area still found an underground lake, I would be seriously angry if he couldn't find a body of water that big inside a compacted space like a cave.
"Now then, let's go inside."
I started to walk, but as I was about to step on my first one, Kabuto suddenly exclaimed and hastily lifted me in the air.
"My lady! The blood of those pigs has created poodles on my carelessness and we do not have any knowledge of what microbes their putrid fluid has."
He then, like a father, tucked me in both her arms and placed my lower body close to his chest
"Thus, as a reward- I mean punishment, let me carry you in my arms so that your precious flesh wouldn't be exposed to the danger of being infected!"
I looked at him and looked at my subordinates, now in a semi-top view as I saw that Kabuto's eyes were beaming with excitement while Philo and Lyra were just staring at us.
"Alright, I appreciate your concern, but this is embarrassing, so can you please put me down?"
He shook his body in shock as if not believing that I didn't want to be carried by him, I mean, why would I want to?
"B-but how about the"
I sealed his mouth with my hands and asked [Guide].
[Guide], am I prone to infections despite being blessed by a god?
[Master, no, you are a prospect for the god of the undead, thus his blessing includes complete immunity to viruses, only injuries wounds, and poisons can harm your health.
You should already know this after so long.]
Okay, it seems like I don't need Kabuto's carry, but why are you giving shade to my question? Of course, I do already know, after all, I didn't contract any viral disease after so long and like I always do, this is just for affirmation.
[Master, I presume that you're lying.]
Sh-shut up! It is not like that didn't cross my mind or anything okay!? I mean, how would I think of disease if my first encounter in this world is a rabbit eating my food!?
[Guide] didn't respond which I ignored and immediately said to Kabuto.
"Kabuto, I can't contract diseases and your concern is unfounded."
Kabuto, not wanting to give up his case so that he can carry me, argued.
"B-but how about what you said earlier?"
I shook my head, acting disappointed but I just want this embarrassing shit to end already, and replied.
"Did you not understand my intentions?"
"I told all of that so that you can learn the value of proper scouting, You are my scout, my spy, and my assassin, not my mindless murderer and I don't want you to turn into one, The lesson is, it is better to properly execute your orders and be late in reporting its success than reporting your mission accomplished by skipping proper procedure."
Kabuto, suddenly dropped me, causing me to be shocked, is he mad?
But my assumptions are proven wrong because with seemingly enlightened eyes, he said with a little bit of madness:
"Ah~ to be expected of my lady! To have such wisdom, Indeed, indeed I have learned my lesson and thus I shall serve you forever bearing this knowledge in this feeble one's mind~!"
I looked at him and smiled awkwardly, thinking what would I do if he became insane because of my random bullshit, but I didn't show it on my face, can't show them when I'm sweatin' after all.
Well, at least I evaded an embarrassing moment.
Thinking as such, I still don't like stepping on bloody puddles, so I jumped around the scattered limbs and heads of the orcs who had a height that reached my belly.
They sure are big, I must say.
My subordinates also followed behind me, while Kabuto already went inside, igniting the torches that were hung in the wall of the cave by the orcs, We finally reached the entrance in which the blood was still present but at least didn't make puddles, this is especially important to me because I am barefooted.
We entered the cave that had some chest plates made of hardwood lying around, some full of blood, some damaged, and some barely fine. Why would you use wood to make a chest plate? Why would you make protection to the hardest part of your body (according to [Guide] chest has the most muscles for orcs), Why are you not protecting your head?
Sigh... I can't even do any comedy skits and am just glad that Kabuto didn't leave me with stupid idiots who only know how to walk and can't even make and craft proper pieces of equipment.
"By the way, Kabuto, when you killed those orcs... What weapon do they use?"
Kabuto is backtracking his surroundings, being thought of as a lesson, he became more cautious so that I won't be put into harm, he just looked at me for a moment and went to look at the surroundings once more.
"My lady, those lowlifes used their fists to make a useless counterattack."
Man, this destroys the image Rimuru gave me about orcs...
Kabuto just snickered and nodded.
After some time, we reached the deepest part of the corridor we were transversing, This cave was as big as full-blown ones and had an underground lake.
I looked at the lake, reflecting my face that just looked like a baby, and had a lot of prospects at that. The water has a shimmering blue glow as if Maria Makiling*, but the water, is present, but because of the undead which is Kabuto present here, no marine life is present in the lake.
This lake is good for cleaning, and it seems to come out of a salty body of water, yeah, I tasted it.
[Master, the reason for this cave having an underground lake is because the Five-Pronged Forest is near a bay.]
Oh, I see, that explains it, but still, how are we supposed to transfer this to the place that needs sanitation? This place has a lot of passages that can be used as rooms for crafting, weaponry, lodging, and many more, it is a natural work of the world's architects in short. But because the monsters who lived in this place are fucking idiots it is untouched and the rooms I was saying have their shits in them, so I want to clean it.
Hmm... Should I proceed to hunt the goblin chief? [Guide], locate the chief.
[Master, as you command.
Locating the goblin chief...
Location Confirmed, the goblin chief is 100 meters away north directly in your direction, and getting near as of the moment.]
Getting near? What do you mean? Isn't he finding his daughter?
[Master, the Goblin Chief is the most skillful and also the most savage of the goblins of that particular village, thus his instincts, even though he knew he had to find his daughter, have been following the scent of blood instead.]
So, does that mean he's in mental agony because of his intellect and instincts?
[Master, Such is the case 97% of the time.]
As I was thinking of that, a lightbulb idea suddenly popped out of my head as I shouted mentally.
Lyra immediately answered, having an excited tone but an irritated choice of words.
"W-what...? You're so loud..."
I ignored her quite a rude reply as I continued.
"By any chance, are you a high-ranking person in your previous village?"
She didn't even bat an eye and immediately answered, I knew it you want to talk to me.
"Yes, I am, actually I can call myself a princess, fufu~ If you want, you can-"
I ignored her continuous rambling as I heard "Listen to me!" and immediately dished out an order.
"Smear yourself with the poodle of blood and lie on the ground without moving, Be quick!"
Which she immediately obeyed.
The human brain, when overwhelmed will malfunction in the form of mental slowness, forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating or thinking logically, a racing mind, or an impaired ability to problem-solve.
So just imagine, imagine a monster, with lower intelligence than humans that can't suppress their instincts,? And what if that instincts, will lead that person into finding someone he wants to find?
To ends up knowing, that the one he is finding is the one who caused his instincts to run wild.
A smile found it on my lips.
I wonder, How will their mind respond to that?
The one whom Sophia is plotting against doesn't have any idea what fate awaits him, he even doesn't have any idea what he is doing.
The goblin chief has a height of three feet, muscles as big and hard as a boulder, his teeth are grinding and saliva is oozing out of his mouth as his fist is clenched into a similar boulder size.
He smelt blood and blood he would find, he knew that he needed to find his daughter, he and knew that he couldn't just go and make his instincts drive him insane, however, as Sophia has said, he is not intelligent enough to suppress his instinctual urges.
Goblin Chiefs have no fear and will just move forward, they, even though called "Chief" are not a leader type for all EXP. He will get his kills is all his and will not be shared with his people, The same goes for his people and him, he is just the strongest warrior, the most intelligent, and the most savage.
He then, suddenly stopped in a cave with a pool of blood at its entrance, his feeble mind made him look closer, and saw his daughter, dead, with open eyes lying on the ground.
He didn't even consider and questioned that his daughter's body is too small to have this much blood, nor did he consider why his daughter's corpse is grey when the blood is still fresh.
He just stared at the corpse, confused, Why are his instincts leading him to find his daughter? And why when he finds her, she is already dead? And why is the scent of blood coming from his daughter?
Such are the questions that overwhelmed his mind, and, as a goblin, the adaptive mechanism for being confused, fearful, and all other emotions that are too much for their brains...
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*Maria Makiling is a diwata (anito) or lambada (fairy) in Philippine mythology, associated with Mount Makiling in Laguna, Philippines.