Rimuru, accompanied by the goblins and the newly joined dwarve trio—Kaijin and his brothers with toes—finally met up with the goblins waiting at the edge of the Jura Forest.
Their time in the Dwarven city had stretched to five long days. Things hadn't gone exactly according to plan, but for the most part, they'd accomplished what they had set out to do. Still… Rimuru couldn't shake the feeling that something had been forgotten.
Taking a deep breath, Rimuru began introducing Kaijin and his hapless friends to the goblins. "We'll be working together for a while," Rimuru explained. "So it's best to start on the right foot."
The dwarves, however, were having none of it. The sight of the Tempest Wolves had them screaming, jumping back, and waving their arms in terror. "Gaaahh! How could you ever…?!" they wailed, their voices perfectly synchronized.
It took several tense moments to calm them down, give them some breathing room, and prepare for the journey to the goblin village. Just as everyone was about to set off, a distant shout cut through the air.
Rimuru's stomach dropped. In the distance, a tiny dot grew larger, faster—approaching at alarming speed. Soon it became unmistakable: a spiky purple-haired goblin riding a Tempest Wolf was hurtling toward them.
"Oh… crap. I completely forgot about him," Rimuru muttered bashfully, scratching the back of his head.
He hadn't meant to leave Gobta behind. Punishing him in Bagworm Hell for dozing off during serious moments had been enough; he hadn't intended to push it further. But what could he do? Rimuru had been arrested and dragged to the Dwarven King's court—he simply hadn't had time to rescue Gobta. Still… that excuse would never fly with Gobta, the airheaded fool.
The purple-haired goblin's wolf skidded to a stop just in front of Rimuru. Gobta leapt off, grabbed Rimuru, and began shaking him violently. "Why did you leave me behind?!" he demanded, his face comically close to Rimuru's, the shaking so intense it almost looked like strangulation.
Rimuru blinked, caught between amusement and mild panic. "I… I didn't mean to! Really!"
Gobta's wild flailing finally slowed, and Rimuru took a careful breath. To make it up to him, he offered a promise that lit up Gobta's round face with a mischievous grin.
"When we get back to the Dwarven city," Rimuru said, "I'll take you to a bar with pretty elves. Drinks included. My treat."
Gobta's eyes sparkled. "You… really mean it?"
"I do," Rimuru replied, still holding back a chuckle. "But first, let's get to the goblin village in one piece, okay?"
....
With that, they began moving through the forest.
Since there were extra members now, Rimuru had to transform into a Tempest Star Wolf to carry Kaijin and his brothers—Ranga, for his part, clearly wasn't fond of letting the dwarves ride him. He gave them a look that made his opinion painfully obvious.
So Gobta ended up riding Ranga as they sped through the Jura Forest.
Though Rimuru's transformed wolf form looked more refined and imposing, Ranga himself was incomparable to any ordinary beast. His dark purple fur shimmered under the forest light, a faint star-shaped mark gleaming on his body. A majestic horn rose proudly from his forehead, giving him an almost mythical presence. Among all the monsters Gobta had seen in the Jura Forest, none came close.
It still felt like a dream.
He—a mere hobgoblin—was riding such a powerful creature.
But Gobta didn't have the luxury of daydreaming for long.
They were running at nearly sixty miles per hour.
The wind tore past Gobta's face so fiercely that it felt like invisible hands trying to rip him off Ranga's back. His small, light body could easily be blown away if he lost focus for even a second. If he hadn't evolved into a hobgoblin, he wouldn't have lasted a heartbeat.
Even as he was now, it had taken time to adjust. At first, he couldn't even keep his eyes open because of the rushing wind. But the journey to the Dwarven Kingdom—riding all the way from the heart of the Jura Forest—had been good practice.
Now, he leaned forward instinctively, gripping Ranga's dense fur tightly as they tore through the trees like a streak of black lightning.
After successfully summoning the tempest wolf earlier, Gobta his connection to them had grown stronger—especially with Ranga. It hadn't even been the wolf that responded to his desperate summoning call. Maybe that was because Ranga had been assigned to him first, back when Rimuru named them all.
Gobta still didn't fully understand how summoning worked. It felt vague and mysterious. But somehow, guided by instinct, he could now repeat the process without much trouble.
Gobta might be an airheaded fool.
But he wasn't stupid.
In this world, strength was everything.
His trip to Dwargon had reminded him of that once more. Just before entering the city, they had been picked up and restrained by humans. That helpless feeling—it lingered.
Still, it wasn't his worst memory.
Once before,not long ago, he had been beaten black and blue by humans.
And it wasn't just humans. Monsters preyed on the weak too. That was the rule of the forest. The rule of the world.
Before, hoping to become stronger had felt pointless.
But now?
Now there was a crack of light.
A small, fragile hope.
And Gobta wanted to reach for it.
He glanced back briefly at his fellow goblins, who were struggling to keep up with their partner wolves' speed. A little light of determination flickered in his eyes that went unnoticed by everyone.
He tightened his grip on Ranga's fur.
The wind howled in his ears as they blazed forward through the forest, a black flash cutting between the trees.
A/N: I am just building up the environment for the first chapter. I won't just give him all the strength with bullshit reason. But he will get hella strong with proper reason.
I know I should not expect much from only 2 chapter but the dead response is kinda disheartening.