After the appearance of the Lord, several Green-skinned Goblins immediately struggled to carry a very large, crude wooden chair into the center of the clearing.
Bang!
With a single kick, the Goblin Lord sent a slow-moving Green-skinned Goblin flying, then plopped itself down onto its own special seat.
“Gah-oh!”
The Goblin Lord shouted, carelessly pointing at the food roasting over the bonfire.
A few Green-skinned Goblins hurried to bring over a huge slab of half-cooked roast meat and placed it before the Goblin Lord.
“Gah—”
The Goblin Lord licked its lips, drooling copiously and spraying saliva all over the Green-skinned Goblins carrying the meat.
Casually placing its stone axe beside the seat, the Goblin Lord grabbed the roasted meat with both hands, not caring if it was hot, and took a big bite with its mouth wide open.
Crunch!
Bones and all, it chewed everything together in its mouth.
Crunch! Crunch…
In less than half a minute, the slab of roast meat—big enough to equal three Green-skinned Goblins combined—was devoured.
While it ate the roast meat, two Green-skinned Goblins were already standing by with a bowl as large as a basin, filled with soup, in which floated chunks of meat and various fruits.
The moment the roast was finished, the Goblin Lord grabbed its bowl of soup.
“Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!”
With just three gulps, the entire bowl of soup was gone.
“Gah—”
Tossing aside the bowl, the Goblin Lord licked its lips in satisfaction, patted its belly, and then called out lazily to the many Goblins.
“Gah!”
Finally given permission, the Goblins immediately rushed at the food, unable to contain their impatience, quarreling and shoving as they scrambled.
Some Goblins lost teeth in the scuffle; others were tripped and stomped on by the rest.
Although the scene was extremely chaotic, there was still a certain order of hierarchy.
The Goblin Mages charged in first, enjoying the best food.
The Big Goblins followed closely behind, wanting to step forward but not daring to, so they could only sniff the aroma and drool helplessly.
Once the Goblin Mages had their fill, the Big Goblins surged forward, grabbing and fighting over the food.
When the Big Goblins gradually dispersed, the largest group—Green-skinned Goblins who had been waiting eagerly for a long time—finally had their chance.
By this time, only leftover soup and cold scraps remained, but the Green-skinned Goblins went wild anyway. Even for a bone with a bit of meat left by a Big Goblin, they would fight until heads were broken and blood was flowing.
The higher-level Goblins didn’t stop the lower ones’ frenzy—instead, they watched with great interest.
The Goblin Lord, especially, sat on its special chair, watching the spectacle with relish, occasionally letting out “Gaha, gaha” laughs.
“Gaji—!?”
At that moment,
A cry of pain rang out from among the Big Goblins.
The surrounding Goblins were startled and quickly looked over.
They saw that the Big Goblin who cried out was lying on the ground in pain, clutching its stomach and moaning incessantly.
Hearing the cry, the Goblin Lord, who had been enjoying itself, showed an expression of displeasure.
“Gah!”
It roared in that direction, ready to continue watching the Green-skinned Goblins fight over scraps.
“Gaji! Gaji… …”
However, even after its command, that Big Goblin didn’t stop groaning, making the Goblin Lord instantly furious.
“Gah-oh—!”
It stood up, grabbed its axe, and let out a furious roar in that direction.
The entire tribe immediately fell silent.
The Green-skinned Goblins, who were just fighting madly for food, now crouched in terror, not daring to make a sound.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Goblin Lord strode forward heavily with its axe, heading straight for the fallen Big Goblin, even kicking away another Big Goblin that was standing too close along the way.
The Goblins who had been gathered around the fallen Big Goblin instantly scattered.
The Goblin Lord came up to the Big Goblin clutching its belly on the ground, looking a bit confused, but still roared at it.
“Gah-oh—!”
The Big Goblin trembled and pointed shakily at the boiler not far away, then at its own stomach.
“Gaji, gaji… …”
Trying desperately to explain.
The Goblin Lord only grew more confused, and not knowing what was happening made it even angrier.
“Gah-oh—!”
For the Goblin Lord, anything it couldn’t understand wasn’t worth thinking about.
Bang! It kicked the belly-holding Big Goblin away, then turned and yelled at a few other Big Goblins.
“Gah—!”
Those Big Goblins immediately ran over, lifted the unconscious Big Goblin, and carried it off to a certain house for imprisonment.
Watching the Big Goblin being taken away, the Goblin Lord’s anger subsided a little, but its interest in the show was gone.
It turned and headed toward its own hut.
From the corner of its eye, it saw the Green-skinned Goblins still lingering near the boiler, and immediately let out another angry roar.
“Gah—!”
The Green-skinned Goblins shrank back, reluctantly eyeing the food nearby.
“Gah——!!”
But with an even louder roar from the Goblin Lord, the Green-skinned Goblins scattered in panic.
As they dispersed, many Green-skinned Goblins cast resentful glances at the house where the Big Goblin was imprisoned; at least half of them hadn’t gotten any food.
In their minds, it was all the Big Goblin’s fault. Although they usually went hungry, if it hadn’t gotten sick at that moment, they might’ve gotten at least a bite.
Once the Goblins cleared out,
Outside the tribe, from a tree, a sigh could be heard.
“As expected, plans never keep up with changes… …”
According to Hurem’s plan, if she was going to use poison, it would have been best to kill the Goblins outright or knock them out, but there were no such herbs nearby.
Fortunately, Hurem still found an herb that, when ingested, would give someone a bad stomach. Of course, this herb worked on Goblins as well as many other creatures.
To mask the herb’s pungent odor, Hurem specifically mixed in several other herbs before grinding them together.
Once the mixture was juiced, she coated the Goblins’ stored food with it.
When she saw the Goblins gathering for a meal, especially when they boiled the food into soup, Hurem was secretly delighted, since the stomach-wrecking herb worked even better in water, and the smell was less obvious after heating.
She hadn’t expected that some Goblin would sneak a bite in advance, causing the effects to show up for that one before the rest. Luckily, the Goblin Lord was not smart enough to realize it was poisoning. But thanks to the commotion, at least half the Green-skinned Goblins didn’t eat the tainted food.
This made the situation rather complicated.
Now that the high-ranking Goblins were all poisoned, how much could these low-ranking Green-skinned Goblins do…? All she could do was take things one step at a time.
The time for meals in the Goblin tribe depended on when the Lord woke up, so it was still broad daylight. Even though the Green-skinned Goblins hadn’t eaten, there was no shortage of work to do.
Sure enough, under the roars of a few Big Goblins, a group of listless Green-skinned Goblins hung their heads and dragged crude wooden clubs as they prepared to go hunting.
“Gaji——! Gah——ji?!”
As one Big Goblin kept berating the Green-skinned Goblins, its face suddenly contorted, and it collapsed clutching its belly.
“Gaji?! Gaji?!”
That Big Goblin writhed on the ground in pain, holding its stomach.
The other Goblins looked at each other in confusion, unsure what was happening, though some seemed to recall a similar scene but didn’t have time to say anything.
“Gaji?!”
Another Big Goblin clutched its belly and fell down.
Then the third, the fourth…
In a very short time, a large number of Goblins collapsed across the entire tribe, all lying on the ground and howling in pain.
“Gah-oh——!!?”
The Goblin Lord, who had just gotten ready for another nap, was infuriated by the noise outside. It kicked open the door and stormed out with its stone axe.
What it saw left it dumbstruck.
“Gah-oh?”