Ronin and the meat he was carrying attracted the attention of every goblin, and though they maintained their distance from him, they still surrounded him, waiting for him to share the meat with them.
At first, he wanted to return and enjoy the meat alone, but as memories of his past resurfaced, an ambition began to build within him.
He remembered the words of the Goblin Chief, who mentioned masters, referring to hobo-goblins and orcs. This made him wonder if he wanted to carve his own path or if he was destined to follow the same fate as in his previous life.
Looking at their faces, he couldn't help but sigh. "I'm ready to take a gamble on you all, but I have no idea if this plan will work," he thought, finally deciding to create a hierarchy among them.
"Sit!" he called out, but only three followed, sitting upon hearing his command. Ronin looked at two females and one male who sat, then shifted his gaze to the remaining three who hadn't followed.
Seeing Ronin glaring at them, one of the males finally sat, but two still refused. This confused Ronin, who wondered if beating them would make them obey. Still, he called out, first glaring at the female one.
"On your knees!" But the female didn't comply; instead, she gave an intense look to Ronin. He finally couldn't take it and stepped toward her, still wondering why she was different from the others.
Then he shifted his gaze toward the male whose eyes were fixed on the meat. Seeing Ronin step closer, the male goblin jumped to steal the meat, only to receive a kick in the abdomen.
"Awiii!"
Thud!
The male goblin cried out in pain, crawling towards others to join, but even after this, the female one did not flinch, giving Ronin an indifferent look before turning to leave, stunning everyone, including Ronin.
"This is not what I was expecting," Ronin thought, watching her figure disappear. He realized the female goblin was special, but when he tried to recall her name, he remembered that they didn't have names.
"I'll think about it later, for now..." Shifting his attention to the five in front, he said, "You want to eat the meat, right? But to have it, you have to earn it, or you can go hunt for yourself."
Unlike earlier, these goblins could now understand things, so they nodded but were still unclear about what he meant by "earn."
Seeing confusion in their eyes, Ronin spoke, "I'll give you two choices. Take this meat and leave, and we will have nothing to do with each other." He showed the piece of meat.
"Or train with me. I'll teach you how to hunt, how to become stronger and survive in this world, but only if you're ready to follow me. Otherwise, take this meat and leave." He extended his hand but saw no one move—until the male who had been kicked hesitated.
"I won't do anything," he said. Ronin handed the meat to him and then repeated, "Now leave if you want." The male hesitated, but seeing Ronin make no move, he began to walk away.
"So only you four wish to follow me?" Ronin asked, and the four goblins—two males and two females, who nodded.
He handed them their share of the meat and left to see the chief. Thinking that if there wasn't any meat left for the goblin kids, the elder must also have an empty stomach or be eating bugs. With these thoughts, Ronin decided to offer the meat and ask a few questions in return.
But the moment he reached the entrance of the cave—the goblin chief's resting place—he heard moans coming from the room. This stunned Ronin. His face went red while he felt a stirring between his legs.
He decided to peek inside, and what he saw made his eyes widen. Inside the room was another pile of meat, enough to last a few more days. On the ground was a naked human female, and the chief was climbing above her.
Seeing this, Ronin pulled his head back in embarrassment, emotions swirling in his heart. But the chief saw Ronin leaving and called from inside, "Wait, kid! I just finished breeding her."
Hearing this jolted Ronin, who couldn't help but think about the woman chained inside the chief's room. Then he heard a loud grunt from the chief, followed by silence.
A few moments later, he saw the chief come out of the cave with a satisfied grin. "Finally finished with the last livestock we had. I just hope she can birth more than the previous one before dying."
Ronin's eyes glared at the chief as he explained, "Oh, kid, you might not know this. Come, let me explain."
"We goblins might be a weak race compared to others, but we are blessed with fast reproduction and quick growth. Unfortunately, human women die after giving birth to dozens of children at a time. If not, our numbers would be greater than they are now."
Hearing the chief's explanation, Ronin couldn't help but ask, "Am I also a child... of a human?"
The goblin chief shook his head. "No... can't you see that you are special? How can you be a child of a human? Your parents were goblins like us, but they were ambushed and killed by humans."
This confused Ronin, who thought that if there are male and female goblins, then why do goblins abduct females from other races? But before he could ask, the chief explained.
"You can see there are female goblins, right? Your mother was one like them, and your father also great warrior of our tribe.
But you see, female goblins are different from males; they only give birth once in their lives, and to a single child. Females from other races also give birth once, but they can birth dozens of goblin children at once before dying, which is why we maintain our numbers. Otherwise, we would be extinct long ago."
"But this isn't your time, kid... hunt for the tribe. Only then can you attract female attention. As for livestock, well, let's not think about them for now." Just then, the elder's gaze landed on the piece of serpent meat in Ronin's hand.
"Where did this come from? Did you hunt this?" the chief asked, taking the meat from Ronin's hand.
Ronin answered, "Yes, I killed it."
Hearing his answer, the chief's eyes filled with hope and happiness. "Finally... finally... we have such a young warrior in our ranks." He couldn't help but pat Ronin's shoulder.
The chief didn't ask how Ronin killed it or why he didn't follow his command. He himself knew that only the weak follow commands, while those with strength decide their own path.
"Good... good," the chief muttered, lost in thought. "Finally, we can have freedom..." but then Ronin questioned, "Freedom?"
The chief wanted to ignore the question, but seeing Ronin's achievement, he felt that maybe if Ronin knew the truth, it would accelerate his growth.